Dhano happy with agriculture irrigation project

PRESIDENT of the Agricultural Society (ASTT), Dhano Sookoo, says a flood mitigation and irrigation project on state lands at the Orange Grove Estate, Tacarigua, which is being funded by its farmers, may prevent an increase in food prices and unemployment, as well as further foreign exchange woes.

"This is what you call direct intervention," said Sookoo, during a tour last week of the estate where work continued on a project to combat the harsh dry season conditions.

Sookoo hopes the first part of the dredging project will be completed before the rainy season begins.

She said it would have finished weeks ago if all arms of the government were on the same page as the society.

"If this project was not ongoing, you would have had serious fallout with labour in this country. We would have contributed to unemployment in this country. We would have been contributing to higher food prices in this country."

The project includes the clearing of channels to open reservoirs, which will capture water entering from outside sources, such as drains.

"The water is natural spring water coming from the ground."

She credited the Ministry of Works and Transport for supplying heavy machinery for dredging, but expressed dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management because of its apparent disinterest in a project which directly concerns them.

The farmers, she said, were paying operators' salaries, as well as the maintenance and purchasing of fuel for equipment.

"This is where you, as taxpayers, as citizens, are supposed to feel the impact of your taxpaying dollars. These are state lands, almost 3,000 acres of state agriculture lands, and if we did not do what we are doing now, in collaboration with the Ministry of Works, you would have find almost 75 per cent of these lands idle.

Sookoo said there are government agencies and ministries with adequate machinery sitting idle.

"At the ministry (of works), even where they have a few operators, they do not have fuel for the equipment. So the taxpayers, we are paying salaries to these people and no work is being done."

ASTT director and the project's manager Ronald Chan added: "So far (with limited equipment) we've been able to work on 250 acres. So compare that to 3,000 acres and you'll get an idea of the resources needed to complete the project."

He said the equipment on hand provided for only one-third of machinery required for the task.

They, however, pointed to a high-yield lot of dasheen bush for export as an example of an important crop saved by the irrigation project.

Had the crops not been salvaged, one director noted, it could have resulted in foreign purchasers seeking alternative suppliers and a loss of much needed foreign exchange.

Sookoo said the Ministry of Agriculture should have been more involved in the initiative as it would reduce or even prevent claims for losses from flooding.

“We will no longer have that (large-scale crop losses), once we do what needs to be done in an efficient way. At this time – for us to get the job done the way it should be done – we require much more resources, in terms of equipment.”