Farmers grumbling — housing forcing them out of agriculture

Hundreds of farmers across the country are grumbling over the Patrick Manning government’s housing project, saying soon there will be no land in TT for agriculture and they will be “snuffed out” of a living. Speaking with Sunday Newsday last week at Arouca, members of the National Food Crop Farmers’ Association and the Bon Air East Farmers’ Association which is also part of the NFCFA, spoke about their concerns in which they feel they are being ousted from farming. They said they have no problems with housing but reminded Government of its role to feed the nation. With Government’s proposed National Housing Development project, there has been a mad rush to start housing developments across certain parts of TT to meet an election promise of housing for all.

A trip with farmers in the East showed just that — tractors busily smoothing away the soil and construction which has begun assiduously in some areas which the farmers called “grade one” or prime agricultural lands. This was especially so at controversial Ramgoolie Trace, Curepe, where construction has begun in earnest;  building structures are going up. The farmers said they have been promised some land for the purpose of agriculture from Government, but only about 15 acres of land, compared to the hundreds more being used for housing construction. There aren’t many prime agricultural lands left — among them River Estate, Diego Martin, Tucker Valley, Chaguanas, Santa Cruz, Maracas, Curepe, Caura and Arouca. “Maybe Government forsees we will be mixing concrete and water for meals,” said a sarcastic Norris Deonarine Public Relations Officer of the association. Deonarine felt that with such little emphasis being placed on agriculture, Government is taking the country out of independence and leading it back to dependency.

They also want to know how come foreign land buyers could acquire land at $200 an acre, such as with the case of Pernod Ricard Wine and Spirits farm lands at Orange Groove, Arouca. In the meantime they, who have been farmers all their lives, must pay from as much as $2,000 to $8,000 an acre per year for the use of land. “Is this not trying to frustrate us out of agriculture?” they asked. Bon Air East Farmers’ Association President, Walls Boodoo, has been a farmer all his life and has taken over from his forefathers who have been farming for over 60 years. He described the situation as a “sad day” for agriculture, saying while Government has offered them a lease for land for 30 years, the rent is way much too high. “The rent is $2,000 per acre for one year and the farmers are upset about this. If we can’t pay that rent it means that famers will have to stop farming. That rent is much too high,” said Boodoo. According to correspondence from the Lands and Surveys Division, Government agreed to grant a Standard Agricultural Lease for a parcel of State Land at Bon Air East, Arouca. However, under the terms and conditions, the following are a list of fees the farmers are required to pay.

No                                 Amount
1.Processing fees           $  100
2.Survey Fees                $1,200
3.First year’s rent           $1,660.14
4.VAT in first year’s rent $  249.02
5.Legal Fees                   $  236

They noted that nothing has been put in both last year’s and this year’s Budget for the farmers. “Mostly the larger farmers are getting the subsidy but the small farmers are getting nothing,” he said. Boodoo pointed out that while a lot of young people seem to have the desire for farming, they may soon have to find other occupations because there will be no land left for agriculture or will not be able to afford the rent on the land. Farmer Nazir Mohammed said: “This is discrimination against farmers because with that kind of rent the farmers will not be able to make. Government is trying to frustrate us out so that they could do something else with the land.” Deonarine pointed out that in foreign countries such as Canada, the US and the UK, agriculture is heavily subsidised and farming is a reputable form of living. “But not our Government,” they lamented, “they don’t care about agriculture.” Mohammed said in addition, nothing has been done to improve access roads to farmlands and there is no electricity and water and no decrease in the price of chemicals.

Sita Mohammed Secretary of the Arouca association said there is also the problem of praedial larceny. “There is a lot of stealing going on and they (the authorities) tell us we cannot build structures on the land but we need to build something to ensure security and have our guards,” she said. NFCFA President Terrence Haywood said the farmers are noticing that their lands were being taken away for other purposes and that TT was importing too much food from foreign countries. “We are asking Government to keep our agricultural lands in tact so that our children’s children could get something to do and survive, because if the oil and gas run out what will we do?” he asked. Deonarine described the entire “land grab” situation as  “land speculation” corruption, pointing out that land is being grabbed not just for housing, but for golf courses for foreigners and as consessions to friends and relatives of the PNM government. The farmers also reported other incidents in which some of their colleagues in nearby districts were being victimised, threatened and beaten because of squatters. With the number of concerns facing them, they are calling on Agriculture Minister John Rahael to meet with the farmers to see if the concerns could be resolved without court of law action against government. As a matter of fact, Deonarine indicated that former attorney general, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj is representing them and will be seeking an injuction against Government to help save some of the agricultural lands.