— Region Six farmers tell Minister Holder
RICE farmers in the Upper Corentyne area, on Friday, told Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder that “Right now rice is doing well in Region Six” but if he intervenes “it will be even better”.
Their response follows a question from the minister regarding the overall state of the rice industry in the region.

According to the farmers, despite some setbacks earlier in the year, “Right now, yield is good, price is good, paddy bug is low but we need to water to start the new crop.”

The farmers are up in arms over the unavailability of an adequate supply of water for the new crop which is scheduled to start soon.
They told the minister their fields have been prepared and are awaiting water from the main canals but they were told the region has only $10M available. This amount would not enable the region to pump enough water to supply all the farmers, especially those in the frontlands.

The water situation is one that has been plaguing farmers for years and is mainly due to blocked up canals and inadequate fuel.
Minister Holder said these matters fall under the Regional Administration but there are attempts to change this arrangement.
He explained that the government, having recognised the issue, proposed at Cabinet level to have the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) take control for primary Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) systems, including pump stations, away from the regional administrations across Guyana.

The regions, he said, would be responsible for internal drains.  This proposal was agreed upon and the regions were supposed to warrant the funds that were allocated for D&I from their budgets to the NDIA so that adequate fuel can be supplied to the pumps and machines for irrigation and cleaning of canals.
However, when the time reached for the funds to be warranted, the Regional Administration of some regions, including Region Six, reneged on the agreement, thus resulting in many of the issues currently being faced.
Holder said the regional administration should be blamed and called on farmers and councillors to apply pressure on them to change.

NDIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Frederick Flatts said, last year, there was a
similar situation of fuel shortage and the NDIA stepped in after an agreement was reached with the Regional Administration.

“NDIA decided to take fuel in after receiving a letter stating that the region will hand over the funds but after completing the task, no monies were handed over. Now, same thing is happening again this year. The Region does not have enough money to purchase fuel it would appear,” he said.

Meanwhile, farmers expressed their dissatisfaction at the condition of
the Seafort Canal that is clogged up due to overgrown vegetation.
NDIA representatives explained that today, an excavator will be deployed to clean the area. The engineers noted that with the overtopping at Mahaicony, resources had to be diverted there to save 1000 acres of rice.
The farmers, however, are asking for a second machine to be present as well
as longer hours of operation, given their timelines for the start of the next crop. The Agriculture Ministry team promised to look into their request.

The farmers also expressed dissatisfaction with the Number 52/74 Water Users Association. They noted that water should have already started pumping but the association governed by farmers did not make the request to the region.