radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Farmers of Debe and Woodland are renewing their call for the Government to fix the drainage along agricultural access roads off the M2 Ring Road, in Debe, to prevent further loss of crops.
With the several major rivers in the Oropouche Drainage Basin still in need of complete dredging, farmer Sean Sookraj said with every major rainfall, floods enter their agricultural fields, destroying crops.
“We are calling on the Ministry of Agriculture or the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation, or Ministry of Works whoever is in authority to help us clear these drains,” Sookraj said.
He explained that if the drains are not cleared the floodwaters will back up and destroy crops.
“I have an acre of ochroes on the ground and I have tried to manually clear some of the drains but this is not enough. The tunnels are too small to accommodate the volume of water,” he said.
Another farmer, Ravi Sonny, said the floods washed away his field of ochroes and bodi.
“My garden is on the lower side and recently some work was done but they left the drains clogged. We want the drain to be cleaned as soon as possible before we get further rain,” he said.
The farmlands along the M2 Ring Road near the T&TEC sub-station were under water after major rainfall on Friday.
The roads leading to the agricultural fields have been in a state of disrepair. Some farmers have loaded gravel on their vehicles and patched the road as best as they could so they could get access to their fields.
Other farmers have no choice but to walk to their fields as the roads are no longer passable.
