The Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) has said that it is owed over $1 billion in fees by some farmers, who nonetheless continue to benefit from its services to them, including drainage works.
“Farmers have not been paying MMA, they have not. Now, there was a period of time when we were doing all of these works and we were not receiving any money, but the Ministry of Finance has made it clear to us, that we have to collect the money owed from the farmers to carry out the necessary maintenance work,” General Manager of MMA/ADA Aubrey Charles was quoted as saying in a Department of Public Information (DPI) report yesterday.
“If we are supposed to collect $100 [million] to cover the cost of maintenance, and we only collect $60 [million], it means we can only do 60% of the works. It’s simple, we can only do 60%; the 40% has to come from the farmers who are not paying,” Charles stressed.
The report said the MMA/ADA has been sending notices to farmers along the Mahaicony River. However, it said some farmers—and some in the First Savannah area were singled out—have refused to pay their fees.
The authority has been trying its best to meet with the farmers, the report added, and it has proposed a payment plan option but the farmers have still refused.
Despite these factors, the MMA/ADA has still been trying to have works done in the area.
For the past two weeks, MMA/ADA Drainage and Irrigation Manager Mahendranauth Ramjit said, unusual high tides and rainfall have been pounding this area. He said since the start of the month an excavator from the National Drainage and Immigration Authority (NDIA) was deployed and it “has been assisting individual farmers in improving the low spots on the land and clearing the drains so they can have faster drainage.”
In addition, the Pine Ground Pump Station has been working around the clock for the past two weeks to assist with faster drainage along the Mahaicony façade. The engineering team had identified some threats to overtopping along some points of the canal but the MMA/ADA is working to reinforce these weak points.
Ramjit also refuted a report from a daily newspaper that the lands at First Savannah were flooded and that losses incurred were over $7 million. “We have not seen any loss of crop or verified that any losses have occurred. We have staff in the area, they check the area and they have not verified any losses thus far,” he was quoted as saying.
The MMA/ADA, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, is primarily responsible for managing, operating and maintaining all drainage and irrigation works in Region Five and to administer all state and government lands there for the benefit of farmers/residents and National Development.
