Moonilal begs Govt to help flood-hit farmers

SAYING this year’s flood damage was even more severe than the devastation wrought by the floods of 2002, Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal described (as “contemptuous”) the Agriculture Ministry’s pace in providing adequate compensation for the nation’s affected farmers. Persistent rainfall since late July has led to an over-saturation of the soil, and this has resulted in almost nationwide flood and untold millions of dollars in losses to livestock and food crops.

The plains of Central and South Trinidad were especially hard hit, recording water levels of five feet in parts of the Caparo Valley, Aranjuez, Penal, Barrackpore and Siparia in early November. Farmers in those areas lost a year’s worth of crops. In an interview yesterday, Moonilal called for a “timely response” regarding compensation for farmers’ destroyed crops, saying the Agriculture Ministry only distributed cheques for the 2002 flooding in September. “We are asking Minister Narine to expedite approvals for farmers’ compensation since the approval time for processing cheques takes almost a year and a half before monies are actually distributed,” Moonilal  said.

He added that a month usually elapsed between site inspections by agriculture officers and the time of reported flood damage by farmers.
He said farmers were unhappy with the money distributed by the ministry, saying a large delegation recently visited him to complain about the “meagre” sums. “Just imagine the ministry gave some farmers sums ranging between $21 and $40 to compensate for loss of thousands of dollars in food crops,” Moonilal said. He then lashed out at the “painfully slow” workings of the Social Services Ministry, saying residents were yet to see any measure of relief.

He added that a re-elected UNC administration would also move to reverse the decision to shut down the former Caroni (1975) Ltd, saying drains and waterways which had been previously maintained by the former sugar company were now left neglected and in disrepair. “It has been one full year since Caroni’s closure and we are seeing areas which had not previously flooded, experiencing tremendous damage because basic maintenance work was not being carried out on its estates,” he said.

Meanwhile, an official of the Agricultural Ministry confirmed officers were dispatched to flood affected areas whenever claims were made by farmers. The official said application forms were available at district offices, after which officers assessed and verified damage claims. However, he could not verify whether damage claims had been lodged at district offices, the areas involved or whether officers had been dispatched to investigate any claims. For the second day running, efforts by Newsday to reach Agriculture Minister Jarrette Narine for comment proved futile, since he was reportedly attending a series of day-long meetings.