Aranguez farmers hope for fair compensation after floods

AFTER suffering hundreds of thousands of dollars in cumulative losses caused by flooding over the weekend, farmers in Aranguez are cautiously optimistic that some of their woes will be addressed.

Touring the area on May 18, Agriculture Minister Ravi Ratiram said he believes the compensation process and amounts for farmers should be revisited and promised to begin working on it.

On May 19, while the water had receded and crops were now visible, the soil remained waterlogged as showers continued intermittently.

When Newsday arrived, Barath "Mukesh" Rampersad and Malcolm Joseph were still tending to their crops, trying to salvage what they could and revive the wilted, dirt-covered plants.

“The recovery process is dependent on the weather,” said Rampersad as he took a break from spraying his crops to pump out more water from his field.

“We notice the rain is setting up, so we could be back in the same problem later if the rain come back. So I'm still monitoring the weather.”

He said trying to make sure his lettuce and celery survive was at the forefront of his thoughts but added it is a costly undertaking.

“It’s $300 for 500 ml of medicine to treat the plants, and I need, at minimum, two bottles.”

He said spending this money was still a gamble as the plants were not guaranteed to recover.

Rampersad said he is hopeful, though, that Ratiram will make good on his promise as the current compensation is so minimal that farmers feel discouraged from doing it.

“Yes we have flood relief, but if I get ten cents for one of my plants, I’m lucky. So it doesn't warrant me going through all the hassle to produce deed, ID and all the time it takes to go to the office.”

“A tomato plant that probably cost a farmer about 12 or $15 to produce, you know what's the compensation for that? About $2 per plant.”

He said the process is even more complicated for farmers in the area as the majority of them rent their land.

“You have to prove land tenure. So if you're renting, you have get a receipt from the landlord and people are very sceptical to give receipts when it comes to land because they're afraid it’s some sort of scam and they might lose their land. So the farmer is caught between a rock and a hard place to try to survive as well as to see if he could possibly get some sort of compensation.”

Rampersad added the compensation process also felt lengthy and inefficient, with farmers at the “whim and fancy” of state officials.

He explained it can take weeks for a farmer’s claim to be approved by Ministry of Agriculture officials who have to view the damage.

“They want to ensure your plants dead. So in three weeks while the grass growing, the horse is starving.

“I actually had a situation where I had enough time to plant another crop, and the officer come and telling me he ent seeing the damage. I say, ‘You feel after three weeks I could wait on you. How am I going to feed my family?’

“It's not a timely process. All these things need to be rectified.”

He accused the government employees of lacking compassion.

“Some of these public servants feel the money coming out of their pocket and they actually think we prefer compensation. We prefer to harvest our produce. But when in a situation and better can't be done, you have to take what you get and hopefully start again.”

Official: Compensation process can be lengthy

Newsday spoke with a ministry official who defended the length of the process and explained it would vary depending on crops.

“Some crops you don't see the damage right away so there is no point in officers coming to evaluate a claim the next day. If it is a paw paw tree for example, we won’t see the damage until a week or two has passed and the tree begins to show signs of dying.

"Smaller crops like cabbage and lettuce though, we can see the damage the next day so the claim can start to be processed.”

The official explained staff at the regional offices do not determine the compensation themselves.

“(They) use a computer model to determine the compensation. All the information like the crop type, age, number of plants, size of the land, everything, is plugged in to the system and the computer does its own calculations based on that.”

The farmers took offence to social media claims that the compensation is an easy opportunity for fraud.

“We are independent people. We are accustomed working for what we want. We don’t look for handouts,” said Rampersad.

Joseph said those criticisms come from a place of genuine ignorance.

“The money we get when we file a claim is way less than how much we put out. I lose between $130,000 and $140,000 over the past two days and I expect if I get back 20 percent of that I get plenty. So you really think I want to spend that kind of money just to get $20,000 or $30,000?”

He said he hopes the ministry can develop an insurance package for farmers and added he will gladly invest in it, comparing it to car insurance.

“When you buy a car you insure it, but that doesn’t mean you want somebody to hit it so you can file a claim. It is dead money you spend every year in the event that something happens.”

“So, crop insurance might be dead money if everybody do what they supposed to do and the place doesn’t flood, but it will be good to have that peace of mind that you wouldn’t lose so much of your investment.”

Agriculture Ministry representatives turned up on May 19 to see the damage themselves.

One of the representatives, who chose to stay anonymous, commented on the amount of garbage blocking the river.

“The problem is not only government and the rains alone...it is also us. We are too nasty as a people!

“Look at how many bottles in that river. That didn't get there by itself. We need to change our behaviour and look at ourselves and what we do.”

One of the ministry’s long-boom excavators arrived near to noon to clear the blocked drains and rivers in the area.

Although the farmers criticised the length of time it took for the massive piece of equipment to arrive, a ministry employee explained it had to be towed on the back of a truck with a police escort.

The employee added the team spent the entire morning working with affected farmers in Orange Grove, Tacarigua before coming to Aranguez.

Councillor thankful for new minister

Aranguez/Warner Village councillor Amit Sooknanan thanked Ratiram for his help in getting the equipment.

“It’s a great sense of relief for the farmers and people in the area and I just want to thank him for his rapid intervention that has materialised in just over 12 hours to provide the resources that are necessary to sort out the issues here this morning.”

Sooknanan, one of two UNC councillors in the PNM led San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation, said he believes the flooding was a result of neglect by the previous administration.

“These reports went into the previous administration repeatedly over the last ten years and it was never cleaned as easily as it was today. So it is clear the intention was not there before.”

The farmers, though, are unbothered about politics and say their only concerns are an efficient drain cleaning schedule and whether Ratiram will deliver on his promises.

They said without those things, they are better off gambling for a living.

“Farming is more gambling than Play Whe. At least that is 26 to 1. We don't know how much we're going to get for our produce!”