Berbice rice crop crisis… Corentyne farmers descend on RDC, demands solutions to water shortage

Jan 23, 2020 News

Several rice farmers on Tuesday converged at the Region Six Democratic Council to express concerns over the current issue of the limited supply of water in the Black Bush Polder and 52-74 areas.

Farmers are complaining of no water in drought like condition at Berbice.

The group of men who travelled from the Corentyne to New Amsterdam were seemingly frustrated about what has been happening in the rice sector in Berbice, they are concerned that their time, labour and finances will be wasted if nothing is done to address the problem in a timely.
President of the Rice Producers’ Association, Lekka Rambridge, who were among the group present on Tuesday, briefed the media on the current status of the situation and their way forward. Rambridge said that their plea for irrigation water is even louder now since farmers are already losing.
“The region has over 60,000 acres in rice, in the front lands alone. The Number 52-74 community is close to over 40,000 acres of rice. We have on the ground over 20,000 acres of rice under threat in the rice lands and we can see losses in another few days and further threat in another few days,” the RPA President explained.
He called on “whoever is in charge” to ensure that the necessary steps are taken “urgently” so that water can be available to farmers.
He added that currently, there are only two pumps in operation at Black Bush Polder while one is

A few of the farmers at the RDC office, Region 6 on Tuesday.

working for the 52-74 areas. This, he said, is “insufficient” to service the farmers and their crops needs.
“We have five pumps there and I do not know why they are not starting the other pumps. We can’t say if fuel is the problem and so this is what the authorities need to tell us.
“In the 52-74 area over 40 percent of the crop is under threat. The entire cultivation is getting red; the water needs to be flushed and farmers are not having water,” he said.
He reasoned that if indeed two pumps were working day and night there would be a reasonable amount of water entering the fields, but he is under the impression that the pumps are not being operated in the nights and only in the day.
This was confirmed by another farmer who was present. He said that a cattle farmer and a rice farmer who ventured into the Canje Creek to tend to their crops, noticed that the pumps were not working at nights while they were there.
“They told me that right now in night time, no pump ain’t working in the Black Bush area. The farmers dem go in there and see if for themselves,” Ulic Mattheson said.
Meanwhile, after a meeting with REO Kim Williams-Stephens, Tuesday afternoon, Rambridge informed this publication that they were promised that instructions would be given to start the third pump in Black Bush Polder.
He stated that she said that there are issues with the dams, which are preventing fuel from being transported to the pumps.
But she also disclosed to them that “they have a machine working to fix the access dam so more fuel can go to the pumps”.
He and the other farmers are hopeful that the dams could be fixed as promised and fuel can be moved to work the pumps.