Region Two cash crop and livestock farmers, who were affected by major flooding in May, on Friday received flood-relief grants from the Ministry of Agriculture.
The distribution process for the region was postponed two months ago after an initial list had to be revised in order to remove ineligible persons as well as to cater for several persons who had missed the registration period to apply for the aid. Over 1,312 persons benefited from the distribution process.
Speaking to the recent flood-affected residents at the Anna Regina Town Council, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said that the exercise was the second one in Region Two and was aimed at helping persons who were severely affected by the recent flooding to reenter their farms. Mustapha told the gathering that the money is not compensation for their losses and explained it is a help that the government is giving to persons in the sector to help their recovery from the flooding.
“Sometimes when we go around to other regions we got complaints that persons who were not flooded [that their] names are on the list and… that is the reason we took so long to come to Region Two, with the expectations that we will have a very accurate sanitised list,” Mustapha said.
He also said that more names from the region will have to be added to the list and Extension Officers will be visiting the prospective beneficiaries to verify their information.
“This flood has affected all the regions in the country. We have allocated $7.6 billion for this programme to ensure that farmers can go back to their lands as quickly as possible. Agriculture is a very important sector, Guyana is currently leading with its agriculture sector in the Caribbean,” he said.
Regional Chairperson Vilma De Silva thanked the minister and his team for reaching out to the people of Region Two, particularly as those farmers in the Pomeroon were severely affected by the flooding.
One of the beneficiaries, Marcel Persaud, was overjoyed. Persaud, who resides at Anna Regina, said the money came at an opportune time as her kitchen garden was destroyed by the flooding.
Government announced a raft of measures to bring relief to flood-affected residents and farmers across the country who suffered losses as a result of flooding, including $100,000 for homestead farmers, $50,000 for each person with a kitchen garden, and $50,000 for households excluding homesteads and those with kitchen gardens. Aid was also announced for livestock subsistence farmers, small-, medium- and large-scale farmers.
The Pomeroon- Supenaam region had experienced severe flooding in May, resulting in several acres of land being flooded. St Monica, Karawab, and Kabakaburi were predominately affected. The Charity Housing Scheme was also inundated by floodwaters.
