It was on October 24 last year that Matthew Charlie received it from the Ministry of Agriculture on behalf of the South Pakaraimas community. “It is in the village office not doing anything,” the Deputy Toshao of the Region Nine community told Stabroek News on Thursday. The pump is one of five that were handed over to communities in Region Nine in the Agriculture Ministry’s much vaunted El Nino relief package to the Rupununi. The others were handed over with no hoses too, this newspaper was told. Tiger Pond’s pump has not been used to date, said Charlie. It needs the hose.
This newspaper was directed to George Jarvis, the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry for comment on the issue, but several attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. However, later in an email, he said that small pumps with complete fittings “including extra lengths of hose” and black tanks had been distributed to several villages by the ministry. He said the ministry worked with the Beacon Foundation and the Regional Democratic Council of Region Nine to assist with the disbursement of the items.
The ministry had stated earlier that the five pumps were part of a package that included five 500-gallon water tanks, 2,000 packets of acoushi ant bait, a swing fog machine, five tanks to store processed cassava and five barrels of diesel. It had also highlighted a relief package totalling $49 million to aid affected hinterland communities, with Region Nine receiving the bulk of the assistance. The ministry said in a release that its timely supplies to Region Nine farmers had been beneficial and had aided in mitigating the effects of El Nino.
The village needed a pump, said Charlie, explaining that the creeks were drying up but the main waterway, along which many farmed, still flowed. They needed to pump the water to the fields, he stated. He said that they received no other assistance from the ministry.
The dry weather phenomenon continues to scorch the savannahs. “Creeks are dry, wells are drying up,” said Clarindo Lucas, Chairman of Region Nine; “I don’t know what we can do.” But people are surviving and not complaining, he added. “They are doing their best to overcome the difficulty. Survival is the order of the day and they are doing all they can.”
In the Deep South Rupununi community of Maruranau, water levels had dropped, said Patrick Gomes, the Toshao of the village. He said that the limited water in the wells had affected the School Feeding Programme in the community, and residents had to fetch water from long distances. He stated that the village’s windmill was not working and with reference to another well with a hand-pump, after a few buckets, the water became rusty. He disclosed too that there had been outbreaks of diarrhoea in the area.
The situation is much the same in Tiger Pond, said Charlie. Water levels in the lake after which the village is named, were dropping, he said. According to him, the lake never dried up and when it began to do so, this indicated the seriousness of the situation. While residents were surviving, if the weather continued, then the “real El Nino” would start, he said. He stated that in recent times, jaguars had been leaving the jungle and killing livestock. This was happening too in Maruranau, Gomes said. In the remote village of Arau in Region Eight, the Toshao, Devroy Thomas said that El Nino had been affecting them too and crops had withered.
In Region Nine, there are concerns about one of their major crops, peanuts. The planting season begins in May but there were not enough seeds, Gomes said. “Farmers try last year. They plant peanuts but the results were very poor,” Charlie added.
Lucas said that the Regional Democratic Council had written to central government requesting assistance in sourcing planting materials. He said at the moment, persons were clearing their farms in preparation for planting but there were not enough seeds. He said that they had sent letters asking the Agriculture Ministry to intervene but were not sure how much assistance would be offered.
The staple, farine, could still be seen on the market meaning that cassava from which it is made, was still available, he said. Lucas said that there had been a few scattered showers. Gomes and Charlie concurred in this, but said they were “nothing to speak about.” The Regional Chairman noted that government was trying to help and was “providing bits and pieces of assistance.”
Meantime, with regard to wells running dry, persons had been deepening their own and he had done the same, Lucas said. At Maruranau, the village council agreed to assist persons in deepening their shallow wells, Gomes stated. He said that they were not really relying on anyone and were trying to adapt to the situation, but some time in the future, would be looking for an intervention particularly as it related to securing planting materials for when the rains begin again.
