Region 10 flood-affected farmers grateful for cash grants

Flood-affected farmers and households in Region 10, will in the coming week benefit from direct transfer cash grants as was announced by President Irfaan Ali, in a recent press conference. Region 10 was one of the regions severely affected by the May/June rain and farming communities that were affected included Kwakwani, Hururi, Ladern’sville, West Watooka, Christianburg and Lower Kara Kara. Flood waters in these communities are receding, but the losses recorded are significant.

In this regard, the hundreds of farmers and households affected are expected to benefit from the financial assistance as announced by President Ali.

The categories in which persons are set to benefit from are homestead farmers -$100,000, kitchen garden farmers -$50,000 and households directly affected -$50,000.

“We are very much grateful; will come in handy since we have gone through a terrible disaster. I’m happy the government still remembers us and gives us a little hope, ” Gideon Hartman, Hururu’s Assistant Toshao told INFO 10 during a telephone interview.

According to Hartman, flood-affected residents were delighted on hearing the heartwarming announcement made by President Ali.

Maleka Russel, a shade house farmer of Kwakwani said, “it’s a good initiative, given the fact that it was and continues to be a tough situation on farmers and families living in the affected areas. The initiative is a commendable one, it just goes to show the government’s commitment to people, ” Russell said.

Russel plans on repairing her damaged shade house and purchase seedlings with her portion of the grant.
Meanwhile, Jean Williams, another resident of Hururu, said she’s beyond joyful for all the support that has been meted out to her village.

In addition to relief assistance for flood-affected farmers, 50 farmers of Hururu, a small village in the Upper Berbice River, on Monday benefitted from a number of farming materials and farming tools dispatched from the Ministry of Agriculture.