By Ariana Gordon

MAHAICONY farmers, reeling from losses as a result of floods, want to see robust intervention by government to relieve them of their plight.The farmers along the Mahaicony creek say the “severe flooding” brought on by persistent rainfall has cost them millions of dollars in losses.

“We have been suffering since April and we are not seeing anyone. Every official that passes through goes to Moraikobai (an Amerindian settlement located up the Mahaicony River),” said Nizam, a rice farmer from Esau and Jacob, Mahaicony.

The farmer claimed he has lost approximately 40 acres of rice but was optimistic that assistance would be rendered by Government officials.

“The rice ripe to cut but you can’t cut it because the water too much,” said Nizam, who has been a rice farmer for more than 15 years. He explained that he would reap approximately 30 bags per acre, with each bag sold at $2700.

“The Minister of Agriculture never go in there…he sits in his office all the time while we suffer here…just like the previous government. The Government change but is the same things happening,” the frustrated man remarked.

The Minister, Mr Noel Holder, denied that government has turned its eyes away from the plight of farmers, saying that there have been interventions by a number of government agencies.

With the loss of income for approximately four months, Nizam said he is unable to pay for his two tractors that are currently damaged. He is fearful that the bank would repossess the tractors, as he has no money to pay for them.

But despite the complaints made by the rice farmers, General Manager of the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA), which has responsibility for water control, Aubrey Charles told the Guyana Chronicle that while things are not where they should be, government has assisted the rice farmers in the Mahaicony Creek.

“Government did a lot of work there…a flood embankment was built, a Mahaicony façade drain was dug and a pump station installed there,” he stated.

According to Charles, the flood embankment is not in the best of conditions due to the consistent rainfall but explained that the fixing of some of the issues in the Mahaicony Creek area will take time. “All the work the farmers want us to do takes time…they won’t happen immediately,” he remarked while stating that “it is not fair for them to be saying they are not getting help.”

Parbu Nowcharran of Pine Ground, Mahaicony Creek, said the water has receded slightly, but lamented the losses he has already faced; noting that farmers would have to wait for some time before the creek returns to a state of normalcy. “All farmers are affected… we can’t plant. We are willing to plant but we can’t get into the field. The dam is bad,” he explained.

Nowcharran said by the time the water recedes, it will be too late for farmers to plant the next crop. As such, rice farmers would have to wait until next March to begin planting again. He said he lost about 15 acres of rice due to the floods. He complained too that no government officials had gone to visit the farmers.

There is one drainage pump located at Pine Ground, but according to the rice farmer, the lone pump is not enough. “The pump is there but is only one and we need more to drain the water,” he told Guyana Chronicle.

IMPASSABLE
Nowcharran noted that he will attempt to “shy paddy” into the field as a last resort. He said the dam is impassable and poses serious danger to life and could also serve to damage equipment.

“The dam is really, really bad. I have got paddy ‘to shy’ but I have to walk and throw them,” he said. The frustrated rice farmer said the situation is taking a toll on his family as that is his only source of income. “It is very hard, very, very hard on me,” he said.

Mangru Bhogpaul of Gordon Table told Guyana Chronicle of his challenges. He explained that he leaves his village to go to neighbouring Pine Ground to work.
Bhogpaul explained that Gordon Table does not have any drainage pumps and with the constant rainfall, the farms remain inundated.

“We need the dam to be repaired,” he stressed as he explained that if the land was not flooded, “we would have gotten big rice.”

“We depend on the rice to look after our family and with the rainfall it isn’t possible for us to take care of our family… inside here you nah got work… you have to look for work and when we cut (rice) that’s how we get money,” Bhogpaul told this publication Monday afternoon after attempting to visit his rice field.

Meanwhile, Naranyan Chintamani of Pine Ground would only call on Government to assist rice farmers in the Mahaicony Creek area to “provide a hymac to fix the dam before the next crop”.

The dam which is an integral access point for farmers to their land must be fixed immediately, the Pine Ground resident stressed. He said for as long as the land remains flooded, rice farmers would not be in a position to plant.

With 100 acres of land under water, another farmer Mahendra Persaud, said the rest of the year is forecasted to be a challenging one if the flooding persists. He said the rain which started in April is nothing new to farmers but noted that the May/June rains are usually over in July.

NEED DRAINAGE PUMPS
He believes that placing sufficient drainage pumps in the area will reduce some of the troubles facing farmers.

“If the rain stops now, we’d have to wait a month and a half before planting back but it will be too late to start planting then… we won’t be able to work. When the land gets dry we’d have to prepare the land and wait for next March.”

Persaud explained that when cultivated late, the rice “gets diseases”.

“It is very difficult, very hard. I have lost about 200 bags of paddy…the dam is bad…I had to leave some in the back dam.”

The dam to access rice fields is inaccessible and Persaud has called for assistance in the construction of an all-weather road.
“Most times during the rainy season there is a problem…once there is consistent rainfall there is flooding,” the rice farmer added.

Another farmer Ramcharran Bholagosin told the Guyana Chronicle that several complaints have been made to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) but to no avail. He said he has lost about 30 acres of rice and it is proving to be really difficult for him.

“I owe for a tractor and I can’t pay my installment for it… the rice that I cut is just for fertiliser,” said Bholagosin. He explained that he has approximately 50 acres of land to plant, but due to the unfavourable conditions, he is not in a position to do so.

He explained that what is needed immediately is a proper dam so farmers can access their rice fields. The frustrated rice farmer said a representative of the NDIA, whose name was given as “Dave” would visit the area from time to time and promise to assist but “we call NDIA every day and they keep promising to come…this water nah drop!”

But despite the complaints from the rice farmers the MMA-ADA General Manager maintained that government has assisted the Mahaicony creek farmers. He said since the rainy season began, water has been pumped out of the land through the intervention of the NDIA.

“We have been doing that; we had hiccups to get fuel to the pump station,” he noted but said when there was daily persistent rainfall water would be pumped out every day. He said now the pumping schedule has been reduced.

“The rain eased so we do not pump everyday…we pump as the need arises,” he told Guyana Chronicle.

Charles explained that the Mahaicony façade drain is the main drainage channel in that area. The drain, he said, channels all water to the pump station at Pine Ground and that water is pumped into the Mahaicony River. That pump station was commissioned last year.

The MMA General Manager sought to assure that government is doing its best to assist the farmers and noted that assistance is not provided on an individual basis but collectively. He said however that in specific cases, individual farmers would have benefited from assistance.

“NDIA has an excavator in the area that farmers have access to,” Charles added. He said the excavator is used to help farmers move their paddy sacs from the land into the pontoons given the rainy season.
The Mahaicony Creek area is supervised by Moses Ramphall who visits the location regularly.