– farmers welcome intervention

FARMERS of Enmore and surrounding communities along the East of Coast Demerara will soon benefit from better access to farmlands to expand production and shade houses, planting implements, lands for cattle rearing and improved drainage works.

Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha made the commitment on Monday during an engagement with several agriculturists.

Minister Mustapha was accompanied by Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, and Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, who visited the community to deliver on pledges made by President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali during a recent meeting there.

Because of massive infrastructural works, among other things, both cattle and cash crop farmers had to be removed from the current lands they were occupying.

“At Enmore here, we will work with the farmers to establish shade houses. We will give them all the planting materials to start production once again,” Minister Mustapha affirmed.
He said that a new farming area would be identified and prepared, to drive food production.

Speaking with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Kishan Balkissoon, who has been farming for three years, said access to better farmlands will enhance his production to a larger scale.

“I am very satisfied that we will be moving into one enclosed area. All the farmers will benefit mostly from the greenhouse,” Balkissoon related.

Cash crop farmer Narissa English expressed, “The president came and I’m glad that the ministers also came today and they did what the president said he would do for us. I’m very happy right now.”

Another farmer, Rohan Nealchan, said he is happy with the swift intervention by the government.

“We feel nice because we depend on the land and he [President Ali] told us that he will give us lands…that is the work that we’re doing, farming, and we depend on the lands for this.”
More than 60 cash crop farmers were utilising the area to cultivate their crops, while several cattle farmers were using the area for their livestock.

Meanwhile, Minister Indar underlined that interventions will be made by the various ministries in relation to road infrastructure.

“We are here today to deal with the issues and to follow up with the residents to visit the farms and do the surveys,” the minister noted.

A team from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), GuySuCo, and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), will accompany the cattle farmers on Tuesday to inspect new lands which will be developed and to conduct drainage works.