By Robert Lalah, Staff ReporterFARMERS AND other persons dependent on the banana industry in St. Mary have been dealt a huge blow with the passage of Hurricane Ivan.
When The Gleaner visited the parish yesterday, all visible banana trees were down, evidence of being cut in half by the winds of the hurricane.
The St. Mary Banana Estates Ltd. was hit especially hard. Almost every banana plant was broken in two. Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke, who toured the estate yesterday, told The Gleaner that the area had been completely devastated. "The damage here is really bad. It will be at least another seven to eight months before we will be able to reap anything," he said. The minister said he visited with several small farmers as well, all of whom suffered the same fate. "The banana tree is a very fragile plant. It is very easily damaged," he added.
MILLIONS IN DAMAGE
Charles Johnston, chairman of Jamaica Producers (JP) who was also a member of the touring party, said the damage to the single facility would run into millions of dollars. He noted that yesterday was a day to assess the damage done to the area. "It is far too early now to give an exact figure but it will inevitably be very costly," he said. Sharing the minister's point of view, Mr. Johnston said, "The banana is easily affected by 80-mile per hour winds, so you can imagine what the 140-mile per hour winds of the hurricane did to them." He added that the country would be unable to export any bananas for the next seven to eight months.
Speaking to the effect this devastation will have on the small farmers from the parish, Clifton Wilson, director of technical services for the EU Banana Support Programme, said the hurricane hit the island at a very inopportune time. "We are in the middle of the whole back-to-school period right now. The farmers barely have any money left, and now every cent will have to be spent on rebuilding the farms. Banana is their entire livelihood; it is all they depend on for survival, so rebuilding is not an option it is a necessity," he added.
