Philippi farmers call on region to rebuild stop off, renovate koker
-say crops valued millions under threat
A group of farmers of Philippi Village, Corentyne, in Region Six, is calling on regional authorities to begin immediate work on the stop off and koker in the village.
The cash crop and rice farmers told Stabroek News that the stop off was destroyed over a week ago by the recent high tide, while noting that if nothing is done and the water meets their lands, they will collectively suffer “millions of dollars in losses.”
The agitated farmers also complained about the koker in the village, which they said does not carry out its sole purpose of keeping out salt water, despite renovation works being done multiple times by the region.
“This koker a leak bad, them a make it steady and just May/June rain done abbie a get problem because the salt water a leak through,” said Ricardo Matteson, 49, one of the frustrated farmers.
“Them na block the koker good and when the high tide come up, the water a come in abbie field,” he added.
According to Matteson, they are pleading with the regional authorities to do proper renovations so as to avoid such issues in the future.
“Me get about two acres a plant tomato and pepper and the water done a run a go down as soon as it reach me things them damage,” added Kenneth Bagot, another farmer.
Meanwhile, when contacted Regional ViceChairman Denis Deroop told Stabroek News that a machine was deployed on Monday morning to begin rebuilding the stop off. He explained that the koker is an “old structure,” which is why the stop off was placed in close proximity to the koker to assist with blocking the salt water from entering.