Aranguez group: Help landless farmers

HELP landless farmers in TT. Aranguez United Farmers Association president Pundit Satyanand Maharaj made this call at a news conference yesterday. Saying the number of landless farmers outnumber registered farmers, Maharaj said the Agriculture Society of TT's records show there are 1,800 registered farmers in the country. But he added that many farmers were not registered "because they need to find a piece of land to register."

Maharaj claimed there are many tenanted farmers in TT who are at the mercy of their landlords. He said there were places in TT where the lands that farmers occupied were owned by someone else.

He also claimed when flooding occurs, the landlords claim flood relief because they have farmers' identification cards. Maharaj said farming was a skill that was acquired over generations and not something that just anyone could do. He said when people bought fresh produce in the market, they were subsidised goods in many instances.

"A farmer is taking a loss to put food on your table."

Saying no one is doing anything for farmers in TT, Maharaj warned that one day farmers could down tools and say, "I will plant for myself to eat and let the rest of the nation starve."

He claimed farmers got some traction under the former PP government but bureaucracy seemed to be stifling those efforts. Maharaj appealed to Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat for help.

In response, Rambharat said, "I have already set out an approach to land tenure with priority given to current productive farmers whose leases have expired and those without leases."

In his budget presentation to Parliament on October 1, Finance Minister Colm Imbert proposed to remove taxes and duties on all inputs and resources for registered farmers.

Maharaj said land was not enough to classify someone as a farmer. He suggested that site visits be paid to people claiming they had land and equipment to determine if they were farmers. He thanked non profit organisation Sewa TT for donating $4,000 worth of seedlings for farmers who lost crops during recent flooding in Aranguez. Maharaj was concerned that farmers could still be affected by flooding. He called upon Rambharat and Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to address flooding concerns in Aranguez.

Maharaj said no one should describe flooding as an act of God.

"Rains are an act of God. Flooding are an act of man and of negligence."