Dear Editor,
It was very nice that several rice farmers from Huis’t Dieren in Region 2, including myself, were consulted at a public forum about the bad state of a koker with a concrete base and wooden walls, sited in a dual purpose trench alongside the school dam in the backlands.
During two meetings earlier in this month a week apart, first with the Regional Vice-Chairman and a representative from the Drainage and Irrigation Department and then with top officials including the regional engineer, a unanimous decision was taken for the old koker to be condemned and replaced with a new one. The site which was identified was some 150 feet in front of the old one.
The engineer and his team took measurements at the spot and indicated an estimate would be prepared to show that some progress was being made, much to the satisfaction of the farmers.
But last Monday (March 14) there was shock and surprise, when two officials, one of whom was a Ministry of Agriculture consultant and the other of whom was from the Good Hope/Pomona NDC, made an on-the-spot inspection of the defective koker with a view to repairs only being effected. The disturbing thing here was that the two of them did not have any discussions with the farmers whose interest was at stake, and questions were raised as to what criteria they were using. The farmers were not in favour of repairs, contending that a new koker would be far more long-lasting and would save taxpayers’ money from being wasted.
From our own knowledge the old koker has been in existence for 20 odd years now, and is located in a 24-foot wide trench with an 8-foot depth and has outlived its usefulness.
What is quite clear is that there seem to be too many bosses within the Region making a mess of farmers’ affairs, which is unacceptable. Better needs to be done to foster a better relationship to bring about further development.
Yours faithfully,
Abdool Kamal
