Community spirit alive in Wakefield, St Catherine
Published:Saturday | April 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer
WAKEFIELD-SAVANNAH:
BEADS OF perspiration washed the faces of members of the Wakefield-Savannah Producers Marketing Organisation (PMO), as they chopped, gathered wood and packed a large coal kiln under the scorching afternoon sun. It was one of their scheduled workdays, this time they were on Vivia Smith's nine-and-half-acre property.
The group was formed out of the citizens' association in January this year. Since that time, the 10 members have been rotating workdays to assist one another with land preparation and planting. Smith is one of three women in the organisation affiliated with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).
"I used to plant cucumber, carrot, pak choi and corn in small plots for family use. Since I became a member of the group, I have been really motivated to take on farming as a business, so I am planning to plant sweet and hot pepper and pumpkin on a large scale," said the excited young farmer, indicating that only a portion of the land would be used to cultivate these crops.
Meanwhile, Raymond Harrison, head of the PMO's working committee, told The Gleaner that the number of women in the organisation does not reflect those who have a penchant for agricultural production.
"Many women in Wakefield-Savannah are interested in farming, some in raising chickens, some cattle; others want to do cash crops, but they need motivation," he points out. " As a matter of fact, if one or two of them can get the chance to go on the Farm Work Programme and work some money and come back to invest in farming, this would be a boost," the articulate farmer asserts.
Veteran farmer
Harrison, one of the community's veteran farmers, started in the sector more than 20 years ago with coconut production. Since then, he has integrated other crops and now boasts 200 coffee trees received from the Coffee Industry Board.
"I grow banana, plantain, hot pepper, yam but my main thing is coffee," he told our news team when we toured his property recently. " I have been planting ginger, I got the first bag from RADA and out of that I reaped six bags, and now with guidance from RADA I am growing some more," the zealous cultivator explained that other farmers are benefiting from some of the ginger he returned to the agency.
In recent years, several persons in the community, such as Vincent Williams, have turned to tilling the soil to carve out a livelihood.
"Farming is good business because I make substantial profit from hot pepper and, as a farmer, I always have some kinda food for my family to eat," Williams boasts.
Harrison, having recently profited from hot pepper sales too, concurs. He believes that unlike other jobs, cultivation brings with it great rewards.
"Instead of going to a property and work like $2,000 per week, it better we do the farming, we can see a money better than working for people for $2,000 or $3,000 per week and we the farmers in Wakefield-Savannah are very serious about what we are doing," he said proudly.
No water, poor roads
But while Ruby Tenn, president of the Wakefield-Savannah Citizens' Association and member of the PMO lauds RADA for its guidance in best practices, she indicates that lack of water and deplorable road conditions have been a deterrent.
"We don't have any water and that's a long-standing issue. Another challenge, when we reap our crops getting transportation to take it out of the community is a headache, because the road is in a deplorable condition," Tenn bemoaned.
So bad, Lloyd Smith, the main transporter of water from Bog Walk and Buxton Town to the community, added that citizens can no longer manage to carry out minor repairs.
"The road was bad in certain areas, we used to fill potholes and do our little patching, but it terrible now so we can't manage it," the 56-year-old lamented. "Another thing, it mash up the front end of the vehicle and we have to keep spending to fix them, but I have to try to help out the people with water," said a concerned Smith.
At the same time, Tenn said efforts to meet with the National Water Commission (NWC) to work out a formula to cushion the water woes have been futile.
"The last time we had a meeting with the NWC was about two years ago. As a matter of fact, they didn't come here in Savannah, we went to Buxton Town," she said.
She added, "Some of us have pipes but we hardly get water. Some of the time when the water comes, it's dirty. It's typical dirt, it's not ready for human consumption at all," Tenn said.
Although piped water is scarce, some residents of the North West St Catherine community told our news team that they still receive substantial bills on a regular basis. They say their political representatives have failed to address their plights.
PHOTOS BY KAREN SUDU