By Nafeeza Yahya

MR. Fredrick Flatts, Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), visited the No.52/59 Scheme on Thursday last for a firsthand look at the situation facing the Corentyne Youth Farmers group, formed in 2010 and comprising 30 rice farmers.Those farmers have each pooled $8.5 million of their own finances to put up a massive total of $255 million to develop the land aback the No.52 to No.59 villages in the vicinity of the Canje Creek, and have been cultivating 100 acres each for a combined cultivation of 3,000 acres, making it one of the largest rice producing areas in Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne).

STARING HUGE DEBTS
These farmers have been cultivating the area since 2010, but inclement weather conditions and poor drainage have made them unable to cultivate any rice for the last crop, thus they are facing the huge debts which they incurred to set up the scheme.

These farmers have met with the Prime Minister’s Representative in Region 6, Gobin Harbajan, to apprise him of their plight, and he invited the CEO of NDIA to assess the situation and look at possible solutions.

“We want better drainage and irrigation here, so that we can ensure, when we plant again, everything is in place. Whenever the rain fall heavy, the place flood; and whenever it dry, we nah get enough water for the crops. We invest nuff and can’t afford to suffer losses,” one rice farmer told this publication.

Flatts and other officials made the trip by boat from the No. 52 channel to the Canje Creek, to analyze the situation on the ground and come up with possible solutions. In an interview with this publication, he said he was pleasantly surprised to see the extent at which the farmers have developed the area, and thus he knows for a fact that the sizeable investment means the men are serious about rice cultivation.

He said the farmers need help in quite a few areas, and he would take the information back to the office, look at the critical issues, and make a proposal for solutions, so that the farmers can resume cultivation of their lands.

“It was good coming down at the back here to look at the various crosses. What the Corentyne Youth Farmers have done with their own finances tell me they are interested in cultivating the area. I can see they need help in a lot of areas, but what they mentioned, or their main concern, is the cleaning of the drainage channel between Number 52 and 53 villages… What I will have to do is go back into the office, look at it, and perhaps ask them to make a formal request for help.”

The NDIA CEO explained that while cleaning the channels falls within the ambit of his agency, to do such a clearing would be very costly; and while an initial clearing would help get the ball rolling for the farmers, a few months down the road the problem could arise again, and more finances would have to be put in to have a repeat cleaning. This, he said, is one of the challenges he foresees, since the NDIA has to manage its finances to meet the needs of everyone, not just this group of farmers, and look at the cost-and-return benefits from the investment.

“The details of the arrangement would have to be worked out with the farmers since, across the country, other farmers face similar issues, and we need to be impartial in dealing with everyone. We would want to get an idea of land use in the area, because what you need to do is (this): when you clean a channel, you want to maximize its use; so the more persons that use it makes more sense in terms of cost-and-returns you get from cleaning a channel. We would be interested in whether or not farmers are willing to plant the areas downstream of the co-op land, since that would make it more interesting,” Flatts disclosed.

The farmers are also calling for the creation of a proper road/dam to take them all the way to the creek, since the journey is quite burdensome by boat. This, they say, would also encourage other farmers to cultivate the area.

“We hope after this visit that we can get some assistance for the upcoming crop; because we got loan we have to pay, plus it would be really good if they can look into getting an all-weather road so we can drive in all the way to the creek. Cause when you use the boat you gotta pull it over four dams before you can get to the creek,” the farmers have said.