Roopnarine Ramsaran

micevan1l6

Residents of Parika Backdam are furious at what they say is Government neglect of the 1,500 persons who dwell there.They say that there are no proper roads, electricity, potable water or any convenience that a community should have.According to farmer and Vice Chairman of Parika/Naamryck/Ruby Farmers Organisation, Shameer Baksh, the residents of the community are farmers, and whenever their produce is harvested the road along which they transport their cash crops is in a deplorable condition.A canal that has not been cleaned for years.The harvest is packed in vehicles and transported to Parika and Georgetown. While coming out of Parika Backdam, the extent of damage that is done to the perishable produce eventually leads to a tremendous loss in the value of the product when it reaches the market.“We have a drought situation and we have a problem with fresh water for domestic use and drinking. All the canals are muddy because the water is being re-circulated from the rice field right around,” Baksh said.According to farmer and Secretary of Parika, Namrick Ruby Farmers Organisation, Deodat Seodat, he has been living in the village since 1973, and had not received a proper education because of the road. In the past there were no proper roads.He explained that school children would pay $100 to travel out along a four- mile road and adults $200. In rainy conditions it would almost be impossible to travel out since vehicles hardly ever go into the street. Children are left to suffer because of the lack of basic necessities such as electricity, potable water and proper roads.However, on the other hand when there is dry weather the dust is stifling and results in serious health issues.Another resident, Roopnarine Ramsaran, who claimed to have been living in the community for 35 years, said the conservancy which supplies the farmers with water is being controlled by rice farmers.Cash crop farmers thus have insufficient water because the water is not distributed in an adequate volume through the irrigation channel for the cash crop farmers.“The Government is encouraging us to produce but the papaw farmers need an export market,” Ramsaran also said.According to Loaknauth Persaud, the water level has dropped tremendously leaving farms without water. Farmers are not receiving markets for their produce, especially cassava which is selling at $10 a pound.“We have to pay labour $2,000 a day to harvest cassava, then $200 a bag for transportation and we only get as much as $800 a bag which cannot pay,” Persaud said.Another resident said the canals and trenches which contractors are paid to clean monthly are not cleaned properly, and are barely scraped in the middle and sometimes months pass and no cleaning is done.“Can you believe there is a canal that has not been cleaned in years and people are being paid to do these things?” the resident said.Another resident, Baldeo said that there is a bridge that was built 25 years ago by the Boeraserie Co-operative Society. It is rotting without maintenance. Tractors and heavy duty vehicles have been using the bridge that appears to be almost collapsing.(Rabindra Rooplall)