Chaguanas farmers upset over bulldozed crops

SOME farmers in Petersfield, Chaguanas, are upset that they were not allowed to reap their crops before they were bulldozed on Wednesday to clear the lands they occupied for housing.

Petersfield falls within the constituency of Chaguanas West.

Inshan Salim, member of the Petersfield Farmers Association, said what happened was unjust.

Some 40 farmers who live at Petersfield and plant crops on lands along the Chaguanas Main Road, had their crops bulldozed on Wednesday.

He said, "They (Land Settlemenr Agency-LSA) told us we could plant short-term crops."

The farmers had no problem doing this, once they were allowed to reap their crops before the land was developed for housing.

Salim said, "The crop is about a month again to reap."

Two foot tall pepper trees, he continued, were amongst the crops that were bulldozed.

"They destroyed everything...1,500 pepper plants."

Salim said the crops farmers have been planting in Petersfield over the last 15 years are sold to locals and visitors "cheaper than in the market."

He said cucumbers, patchoi and ochroes were also grown in the area.

Salim also pointed to remnants of broken water pipes on the ground, formerly used by farmers to irrigate their crops, as further evidence of the destruction which took place there, two days earlier.

He was angry at the treatment farmers were getting from the LSA.

Salim said, "LSA is playing games right now. They keep promising, like politicians, to have consultations and they never reach."

He added the farmers were not making the matter a political issue.

"This is just people's livelihoods they're playing with."

Salim said Petersfield was a peaceful community and crime was unheard of there.

"We live with a love here. Negroes, Indians, Chinese."

He added that all the farmers want is compensation for the crops they lost.

Salim wondered how the farmers could start over.

"We lost thousands of dollars in goods."

He said chemicals which farmers need for their crops were very expensive.

Salim added that one farmer lost 15 acres of sweet potatoes.

Another farmer who identified himself as Ellis said he was the one who lost the 1,500 pepper trees.

He did not know why the lands were being cleared or who was the contractor doing the work.

"We're hearing through the grapevine is PNM...These people from Pointe-a-Pierre...(former) Petrotrin people."

Ellis claimed that farmers were given seven days to remove their crops from the land.

In a statement on Friday, the LSA said it had started the development of residential lots for former Petrotrin workers at Woodford Lodge in Chaguanas.

"This area was proposed for development since 2012.

The LSA said it had maintained the site and there had been regular communication between the Commissioner of State Lands (COSL), LSA and farmers in the area.

In compliance with Environmental Management Authority (EMA) regulations, the LSA said it held a public consultation in the community on February 2. The agency shared plans for infrastructural works on lands in the area at that meeting.

The LSA said that, after the meeting, it observed that farming had increased on the site.

"Since this could impede the infrastructural development of the area on March 28,2023, the land management division attached to the COSL, issued letters to the farmers to vacate the land."

The LSA confirmed the farmers were given seven days to do so.

On April 4, the LSA was notified by the COSL to proceed.

On April 13, the LSA instructed the contractor on site "to move forward with the development works."

The agency concluded by saying it remained committed "to preserving relationships and ensuring the smooth transition of infrastructural works."

Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally said a group of farmers approached him for help, in his professional capacity as an attorney.

Rambally said the relevant legal correspondence would be issued next week.

"Further details would be disclosed at that time."

Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram condemned the bulldozing of the farmers' crops.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ratiram called on the Government "to cease and desist from any further such actions."

He said, "Both farmers and residents are unsure as to which state agency is responsible for the destruction, as well as the purpose for which the lands are going to be used."

Ratiram claimed, "The latter has residents in a state of unease over their personal safety against the threat of invasion by persons unknown to the area."

He also claimed Government continues to disrespect farmers and neglect the local agricultural industry.

Ratiram said he was advised that on Thursday, a resolution was passed by the Chaguanas Borough Corporation to stop work on the lands.

There was no clearing works taking place in the area on Friday.