Raymond Paul, a farmer of West Watooka, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice) is presently pleading for assistance in having a canal situated in close proximity to his farm cleared.
Paul says he has been a farmer in the area for several years, and farming has
The clogged canal
been his sole source of income; but he noted that he has been suffering tremendously as a result of blocked drains and canals eventually leading to flooding on his farm.
Paul noted that when the Agriculture Ministry did a canal clearing exercise in the area where his farm is located, his canal had been skipped ostensibly because of its location; but he is contending that that same canal used to be dug in previous years.”Right now, they’re cleaning up the canals in the area, and they start from the front going in to the back, and they skipped my canal and end up going to the other canals further up the road. So I asked them, ‘Why is it y’all skipping my canal at the back?’ They said to me, ‘No excavator can go behind there.’ So I said, ‘It going behind all the rest, because the other areas do, but just mine ain’t do’,” Paul stated.
The farmer indicated that the issue appears to be a political one. He explained that he has also consulted with Regional Chairman Renis Morian regarding the canal not being cleared, but this has been to no avail. “Any hour or two of rain, I in a major disaster. And there is no major system set up for when you lose — to get some kind of funds to start back; you have to start from scratch, so it’s difficult for me”, Paul told this publication.When this newspaper visited the site, the drains and canal were evidently in need of clearing, thus Paul is appealing to the relevant authorities to look into his situation. “At least, if the back canal could be done before the May-June (rainy) period, I would be grateful,” he explained.He further pointed out that during the recent clearing exercises, it was evident that 4-foot drains connecting the road to the canals were not being cleaned.”Most of those drains start to get blocked up. Those drains is what used to save the farmers dem with taking the water from the road to the back canals, or from the back canal to the road canal. They used to clear it 2 times a year, but now they got a machine working regular”, he noted.Paul has expressed the hope that everyone can put aside their differences and offer assistance to whomever so requires. He said a lot of other farmers in the area are suffering similarly, but they do not know to whom they should complain.
