MEMBERS of the Co-operative Society at Number 5 Village, West Coast Berbice are calling on the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) to change the direction of their agricultural lands, which run from north to south. They want these lands to run from east to west, so that these lands can benefit from drainage and irrigation services.Earl Morris, Chairman of the Co-op, explained that the historical alignment of agricultural lands in Number 5 and the neighbouring villages of numbers Three and Four has stifled agricultural production and deprived residents of the means of improving the quality of their lives.

He gave this explanation to this publication: “Historically, the lands in these villages were surveyed and laid out to run in a north-to-south direction. The problem here is that, as a result of this alignment, the plots run parallel to the drainage and irrigation system; so the owner of a plot of land in the middle of the village cannot access either the drainage or the irrigation channels, which are essential for agricultural production.”

Morris said the solution to the problem is that the current north-to-south alignment of these lands must be changed to an east-to-west alignment.

The MMA/ADA, he said, had for years promised to measure the acreages of these lands in their north-to-south orientation and apportion similar acreages of the same lands to members of the co-op, but this time oriented in an east-to-west direction. In this way, the plots would be situated at right angles to the drainage and irrigation system, so that owners can access irrigation at one end of the plot and drainage at the other end.

This realignment of agricultural lands, he said, would be a highly welcome development for the people in the villages of numbers Three, Four and Five, who have not been able to productively utilize their long ribbon-like strips of land.

He said a ray of hope had appeared for the villages of numbers Three, Four and Five in the early 1990s, when the MMA/ADA had actually started surveying the lands with a view to realignment.
But within a few months, and for reasons not known, the MMA/ADA effort fizzed out, and this most important and highly welcome exercise was abandoned.

“The MMA/ADA needs to apply itself to this task, which is basically a land reform activity which has been long outstanding,” Morris declared.

He also disclosed that due to the intended realignment of the lands in Numbers 3, 4 and 5 in the 1990s, transports and other forms of titling had been withheld. The realignment of the lands would make it possible for residents to get titles, and to use these titles as collateral for other economic activities, which would lead to poverty reduction and generation of wealth.

“This matter affects the welfare, wellbeing and development of a large group of rural people, and we are hoping that this will be recognised and attempts made to revive the process of land realignment in these villages,” he said.

Morris said the newly resuscitated Number 5 Village Co-operative will continue to press for a realignment of the agricultural lands of the three villages, so as to make these lands economically viable.