Farmers from the Flagaman community assemble in the Anglican church hall for a meeting with Member of Parliament for SW St. Elizabeth, Hon. Floyd Green and other Ministry representatives following the tour of the damaged lands on Tuesday, August 20.
Member of Parliament for South West St. Elizabeth, Floyd Green has pledged $1 million from his Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to the victims of the devastating fire in Flagaman, St. Elizabeth. Approximately 200 acres of farmlands were destroyed on Friday August 16, affecting 47 farmers at an estimated loss of 45 million dollars.
MP Green has been in the area since Friday assessing the damages and coordinating with the various agencies for a speedy response to issues of down power lines, cell service lines and other integral aspects to get the farmers back to normalcy.
Minister Green and a team from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries did a tour of the area on Tuesday. They were accompanied by members of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). They assembled the farmers following, for direct feedback, queries, questions and an identification of the areas of need from the farmers.
In his address to the farmers on Tuesday, MP Green said there is a plan underway to supply water to the Flagaman area.
“We have identified the Black River as the water source and have outsourced a company who has an ongoing feasibility study to determine best fit methods for the arable land and provide a cost for using the Black River to bring irrigation here.” Green stated.
He also announced that back-to-school assistance is being provided to farmers, in collaboration with his office and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Minister Green said a stimulus package too, is currently being crafted to focus on the implements needed to get the farmers restarted as soon as possible.
Flagaman has over 500 registered farmers and is one of the biggest farming communities in Jamaica.
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