Farmers of Peravia in critical situation from lack of water

MATANZAS,PERAVIA. At the site of Quija Quieta between Matanzas and Las Calderas, a dozen goats eat the grass that grows INDRHI Marcos A. Cabral irrigation canal, which in ideal conditions should be able to irrigate with 12.9 m³ per second of water, the farmlands of Peravia province as far as the municipal district of Las Cqlderas.

According to the Dominican Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI), the Marcos A. Cabral canal uses water from the Valdesia reservoir 2 times a week, the communications director for this agency reported to the Diario Libre yesterday. Farmer Pedro Baez Santana, said that the information from INDRHI tastes bad. "In the last 7 months the only water we have received from Sombrero to Las Calderas is what the skies have sent us," declared the aging farmer. "I have 23 tareas of land planted with plantains, and avocados, and I have a family to maintain. I have not produced anything, and my sons have not produced anything. And we are in a very critical situation, because the INDRHI does not send us any water, and what we need is water," said Baez Santana while a group of more than 30 farmers were shouting and cheering him on.

The stretch between Sombrero and Las Calderas are part of the AC - 06 Maximo Gomez settlement by the Agrarian Reform in which there are some 200 parcels of land with an average size of 70 tareas, which means some 14,000 tareas of farm production. The area also includes the settlements of Quijá Quieta, Cañafistola, El Llano, and also Bocacanasta, and all of them depend mostly for the water that is provided by the canal.

Sufficient water

The farmers doubt that the INDRHI or the governor of Peravia can intercede in the face of what they report as a discriminatory attitude against the farmers in this area. "They say that the only thing here is our mangoes. And this is not true. Here we produce onions, plantains, avocados, milk, meat and other products," said Francisco Melo, the representative of the board of irrigation for zone 1A.

Melo assured reporters that there is sufficient water for human consumption and farm production, so that he is calling for the mediation of President Danilo Medina in order to solve this problem. "Five months ago we met with the governor, and there were representatives of INDRHI present as well as the governor, Nelly Melo de Guerrero, and they promised us that they were going to irrigate with 10 m³ of water in the canal and they have not done it," says Melo.

According to information supplied by the irrigation farmers, the water level at the Valdesia dam was at 140.36, while that of Jigüey was set at 516.60. "During the worst drought that we have had here, which is that of 2004 the water level at Valdesia reached 134, and they maintained irrigation for us. Why can't they do it now? Back then they used the water of the Nizao River with two pumps; they got 2 m³ and they did the work of guaranteeing us water and they found other ways to lessen the crisis," said Melo.

The farmers accuse the authorities of a lack of good management as the reason for which during this dry spell these farm areas have not been irrigated for 5 months. "What is most important, what we need at this time is water. Because they don't send us water, nor do they take advantage of the dry spell to repair the canal," said Jorge Jimenez, a farmer. Jimenez continued saying "if you go see the canal you will realize that approximately 40% of the sluice gates have been stolen, besides which we estimate that only 20% of the water filters into the subsoil which is irrigated because the canal is in such bad state."

The farmer warns that if there are no sluice gates they are not able to irrigate by sectors so that there is a better distribution. "This is another point. They don't go after the thieves of the irrigation gates nor the people who buy them."

Ramona de la Cruz, the president of the Maximo Gomez Association of Matanzas, called the condition the farmers are in "critical". "We have without water for 9 months, and this is putting an end not only to farm production. It is making these areas much poorer, because what are the people living on? The jobs are over there."

Juan de la Cruz Rosario, the representative of Las Calderas III Project, questioned the authority of the representatives of the government offices in the province. "We don't have any authorities. This is because they go back on their promises. In that meeting it was said that they were going to irrigate with 10 m³ of water and not even 5 (m3) reached the farmers," he said.

The Diario Libre tried to communicate with the governor of the province of Peravia, Nelly Melo de Guerrero; the representative of INDRHI in the province, José Altagracia Suazo who was called many times on the telephone.

Guillermo Contreras, a farmer

"The mango is grown as an export fruit crop. Last year they took 500 container-loads from the area. It will be very difficult that they achieve during the next year a number which is half of these containers."

Yaneria Rodriguez, a plantain farmer

"I just finished a cut of some new plantains, a first cut, and what I got out of there were just a few little plantains and all the others were the tail end of the bunch (in Spanish known as ‘rabiza'). This is a loss of RD $800,000 pesos. I did this based on a loan that has to be paid."

Franklin Pimentel, a farm producer

"Look at the bill. There is RD$15,800 each week just for diesel fuel to get water out of a well. It is not possible like this. What this means is that the wells are not the solution, what they have to do is send us our water. The canal is not receiving sufficient water."

Paco Delgado, a bankrupt farmer

"I mortgaged my house with the Agriculture Bank in order to invest in a plantain crop. For 10 months I have not paid anything. This is because I have not been able to get anything out of the farm. Last week they called me to renegotiate the debt. All this is due to the fact that there is no water."