George Henry, Gleaner WriterMALVERN, St. Elizabeth;
Displays of fruits, vegetables and other ground provisions by farmers from the parish of St. Elizabeth, at next month's Annual Denbigh Agricultural Show, in Clarendon, are now in doubt, as farmers in sections of the parish express uncertainty about their attendance.
According to a group of farmers who spoke with The Gleaner on the weekend, vegetables and fruits, such as watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydew and tomatoes may not be in the best state to go on display at the agricultural show, as a lack of irrigation water has made preparations impossible.
Claude Taylor, who produces watermelons, cantaloupe and a host of other fruits at Flagaman in the South East section of St. Elizabeth and who participates in the agricultural show annually, told The Gleaner that farmers in the parish who depend on the Rapid Response Unit for irrigation water to replenish crops were experiencing difficulties.
He pointed out that over the past few weeks farmers in the parish have not been supplied with sufficient water whenever it was needed and, as a result, their crops have either wilted or dried up.
Mr. Taylor noted that the Rapid Response Units, which transports irrigation water from Hounslow, has five trucks that are used to serve the farmers. But, three of the trucks are having water pump problems, leaving only two with working pumps for the parish and this, he said, has resulted in a backlog of persons waiting to be supplied.
He pointed out that as a result of the lack of service from the Rapid Response trucks, farmers in the parish have lost crops and have suffered severe losses to the tune of thousands of dollars as their farms have become parched.
Checks by The Gleaner with the Hounslow pumping station revealed that efforts were being made to ease the problem.
According to Elemar Tomlinson, a dispatcher at Hounslow, efforts were being made to acquire a trailer with a functioning pump from St. Catherine to boost the fleet in St. Elizabeth and that the situation could be resolved within a short time.
