Ameen, Ratiram to address farmers' concerns

Solutions to praedial larceny and land tenure security for farmers in St Augustine have been promised by MP Khadijah Ameen and Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Minister Ravi Ratiram.

During a meeting hosted by Ameen at the Deolal Mungroo Shed in Orange Grove on July 18, farmers from Bamboo, Spring Village, Pasea, St Augustine South and Orange Grove had the opportunity to express their concerns about issues affecting their areas.

Ameen said that among the commonly noted issues, like flooding and poor road conditions, land tenure has been one of the most long-standing concerns in the farming community. She said since becoming a councillor in 2003, she has watched farmers in the area suffer from a lack of official recognition in terms of land tenure.

“I have watched my farmers toil hard and do everything to request leases to be renewed. But they have been denied flood grants and incentives.

“...Not having leases and the lack of security of tenure means that many of them were not recognised as fully registered farmers. Many of them could not access the benefits that the farmer government announced.”

She said she is working with the ministry and the Commissioner of State Lands to reform the land tenure process for farmers. She also said adjustments will be made to ensure that those farming on land they do not own can still be recognised as legitimate farmers.

An official from the Office of the Commissioner of State Lands said that despite challenges within the commission, it is committed to addressing the issue.

“Our intention is to make the backlog a thing of the past. We would have issues about 87 letter of intent to the Orange Grove farmers…similarly with the other areas we intend to do the same,” the official said.

Newly-appointed head of the Praedial Larceny Unit, Superintendent Floris Hodge-Griffith, said a main reason the unit is grappling with is a lack of resources. However, she expressed confidence in the government's ability and willingness to assist.

“Those issues will soon be addressed. We have had constant meetings with our minister and our woes will be ventilated and we have high hopes that things will improve. They will improve for us and our stakeholders, the farmers," Hodge-Griffith said.

Ratiram said his ministry will enhance the resources of the Praedial Larceny Unit which he said has been operating without sufficient resources. He said the ministry is working on preparing a Cabinet note which will integrate the unit into the Municipal Police Unit to enhance access to resources.

“Several of our farmers left the industry because they fell victim to praedial larceny and they felt there was no way to recover. We simply cannot have a Praedial Larceny Unit that operates without vehicles, without resources,” Ratiram said.

He said the ministry will continue its work to address flooding by enhancing the maintenance of waterways.