Farmer loses $8 000 in crops
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TROPICAL STORM (TS) RAFAEL caught many persons by surprise, but even more surprising is the significant damages that were left behind.
Austin Weekes, a farmer for over 25 years has almost three acres of farm-land that sits at the top of Foyes Estate on the outskirts of Newton Ground.
Over the weekend, the passage of TS Rafael caused a section of his farm to be completely destroyed, with more damage to come if the weather continues at its current pace.
Weekes explained that there is a ghaut located close to his farm, and during the storm the original path through which water flows got 'clogged' by dirt and debris, causing the flow of water to take an alternate route through Week's farm-land.
This flow dug a trench about two feet deep into Weekes' farm-land and made its path through a large portion of it, destroying both crops and top soil in the process.
"There is this ghaut next door to the farm and what happened is when the storm passed, the water and debris that passed through the ghaut came down but took a detour. Instead of flowing straight down through its usual pathway, it flowed through my farm.
"It dug a hole in the land and this hole continues right down to the end of my land and goes on into the neighbouring farm-land," Weekes said.
Weekes said that about a half acre of his land was destroyed, noting that he had just planted some vegetables including eggplants, sorrel, carrots, herbs, and cucumbers which would have been harvested just in time for Christmas which is just around the corner.
Weekes went on to explain that he had noted a loss of up to $8 000, and also noted that it would cost him a lot more to repair the land that was damaged.
"Just from what I have seen here, I have lost about $7 000 to $8 000 but to get this section of land back to working conditions it would take a lot more. I would not be able to put a figure on it right now but looking at it, it will cost a lot more to fix," he stated.
Weekes however noted that there is hope, as he has had the opportunity to speak to Hon. Timothy Harris, Minister with responsibility for Agriculture, who said he would have someone assist with the repairing of the land.
"One good thing is that I got the chance to speak with the Agriculture Minister, Dr. Harris, who told me that he would speak to someone and let them come over and take a look at the damages and see what assistance could be provided to help me get my farm back to normal,"
Weekes said that the ghaut needs rechanneling as soon as possible to avoid further destruction of his farm.
