TERENCE Walters, an elderly farmer of Cuffy Dam, Friendship, East Bank Demerara related that his village is a quiet, breezy and peaceful place to reside.

He reported that apart from flooding which often destroys crops, the villagers have no major issues. He is among one of the early settlers in the village but added that when he moved in the community, a handful of people was already there.

The 65-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that it was 26 years ago he settled in Cuffy Dam, Friendship, and it was a mud dam with little to no infrastructure.

He disclosed that Marfriends’ Land Coop Society manages the farmlands and comprises members, all of whom reside in the village.

Walters said they have an office building right in the same community for which meetings are held to discuss co-op affairs.

He is a full-time farmer who lives alone in his wooden cottage and from time to time, he would go for a vacation abroad to spend time with his children and wife.

“The back low and the front of the land is high, so you have to decide where to plant and what to grow here because the flooding is often and it would destroy all the crops. Only the plantain and banana survived and a few coconut trees,” he said.

The villager reported that each resident was given two acres of land to farm and the soil is very fertile. Almost anything grows there but it is just the floods that are worrisome and deterring quality food production.

Walters added that he is originally from West Coast Berbice but Cuffy Dam is his home.

Deborah Raymando, the Green House employee
The team also met Deborah Raymando, a mother of seven, one of whom was celebrating their birth anniversary and she was planning to go and make a special lunch to observe the occasion.

Both Deborah and her husband, Vernon Flanigan are employed at the nearby Green House, a privately-owned farm with state-of-the-art facilities that grow kale, lettuce, and tomatoes among other crops.

They have been living in Cuffy Dam for the past eight years and they are originally from Kopinang, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and relocated to have a better quality of life.

This family has a small nursery and they have sweet peppers, bell peppers and tomatoes in buckets due to the flooding. They are also in the process of building their flat concrete house.

The children are ages 20, 16, 11, 10, nine, eight and seven.

“The area is nice, the people are cooperative and things are just quiet here,” she said.

Parry Mcbeth, the farmer
Parry Mcbeth is also a resident of Cuffy Dam, Friendship and when the team visited that day, he was weeding his yard.

The 60-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that he has been living in Cuffy Dam for the past 10 years, and he is a cash crop farmer.

He is originally from Peter’s Hall, also on the East Bank Demerara and after relocating to Friendship, he feels very comfortable despite flooding challenges.

Mcbeth added that life is fair and the village itself is a good place because it is safe and there isn’t access to rum shops, so there isn’t any disorderly behaviour and the village itself has only one small shop.

The farmer disclosed that from time to time, representatives from National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) would visit to interact with farmers and distribute seeds and insecticides from which he benefitted.

Mcbeth added that there is a great need for drainage and irrigation works in the village being an agricultural village, they need the boost to increase food security and production.

“This soil is very fertile because it is made up of pagaase and clay but crops grow then the floods would come and destroy everything so I put some plants and crops in old tyres and buckets to preserve them,” he said.

The resident stated that life in Cuffy Dam is alright and he feels it is a place he will stay as long as he can.