Moy Hall farm roads need urgent attention – farmer

THE TREE-SHADED, rugged and slender path leading to the coffee farms in Moy Hall, St Thomas, posed much of a struggle even for the big wheels of the automatic Ford Ranger in which a Gleaner news team was travelling as they made their way to the fields.

Referencing the vehicle which was forced to a halt almost halfway the journey, farmers in the area noted that the incident bore testament to the disgraceful conditions of the road on which one of the country’s most prized crops, Blue Mountain Coffee, is transported.

“The farm road needs more attention. A lot of production is taking place in this area. This coffee goes all over the world and provides a lot of incentive for the country,” shared Carey Powell.

The farmer, who operates on the Moy Hall Estate, just outside Cedar Valley, told The Gleaner that the poor condition of the road in the agricultural area translates to exorbitant transportation costs when delivering his produce to market or the various vendors.

“I don’t have a vehicle right now, and because the road is bad, I have to pay a lot of money to transport my goods. I’m picking coffee right now and it costs me up to $20,000 per week to pay a van man to take my produce and my workers down the hill, so it’s a deep concern,” he said.

When contacted, Member of Parliament for Western St Thomas James Robertson admitted that the farm roads are in a deplorable condition and in “urgent need of massive expenditure”.

“A lot is being done for the main roads in the parish and across Jamaica, but the Ministry of Agriculture, National Works Agency and the parish council have to look at the farm roads as well ... they need investments now,” Robertson said, adding his support of the farmers in the area.

The farmers shared that a reasonable investment into their roads and crop would be economically viable as they contribute greatly to the coffee industry, even amid the overall decline in productivity over the last few years.

Paul Williams, who supplies up to 500 boxes of Blue Mountain coffee per season from his ranch in Moy Hall, noted that, like the farm roads, he and his colleagues have been neglected by the relevant agencies over the years.

According to him, “The amount of people that work on this hill. A lot of people are employed here, but nobody nuh see us. It’s like we are on our own, there’s no one to help.”

Despite counting himself lucky to own a van, which greatly offsets product transportation costs, Williams also bemoaned the continued abandonment of the road leading to the coffee plants.

“Sometimes you’d see people heading down the hill with a bag or two on their heads and you can’t even help out the situation, it’s not easy. Imagine carrying a box of coffee that weighs about 65 to 70 pounds on your head, and sometimes it’s not only one box ... . It rough,” he said.

Admitting, too, that the price of the product is another deterring factor to coffee farmers, Williams noted that the recently increased cost is still insufficient.

“Presently, they give us about $8,500 per box of coffee and we have to pay people out of that, plus buy fertiliser, which can cost up to $14,000. My farm can take up to 13 bags and if you calculate the price you have to pay people and vehicle wear and tear; when you work it out, you see is just a little hand to mouth,” he said, adding that outside of production costs, maintaining the fields until harvest is also expensive.

He continued: “It’s very expensive and hard to produce and sell with these challenges, and at the end of the day, it’s not as rewarding as it should be.”