Farmers in St. Ann Receiving Hurricane Relief Assistance

Farmers in St. Ann whose farms were destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in September last year, are expected to bounce back as relief assistance is being distributed.
Acting Parish Manager of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Pedro Worghs, told JIS News that 765 vouchers valued $2.677 million has been received from the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR) to assist poultry farmers in the Parish.
“To date we have distributed about 70 per cent of the vouchers that we received,” he said.
Mr. Worghs added that relief assistance was also in high gear for vegetable farmers in the parish.
“We have received 1,201 vouchers to a value of $5,360,000 and we are in the process of distributing these vouchers to these farmers,” he noted.
The Acting Parish Manager said that these vegetable farmers would receive agricultural inputs worth $5,000, including fertilizers, seeds and chemicals.
“All the farmers who have already received vouchers have been very receptive and co-operative. They are happy to receive the vouchers and are eager to continue in the rehabilitation process of their farms,” he said.
He pointed out that RADA, through the relief assistance programme, would be using the opportunity to register farmers in the Agro Business Information System (ABIS).
This system, he said, would provide each farmer with an identification number that would be theirs to use in order to access information from RADA as well as to acquire other services.
Commending the farmers, Mr. Worghs said they have been supportive and understanding in the waiting process. He appealed to the poultry and vegetable farmers who have not yet received vouchers to contact the RADA offices in their area, and encouraged them to become a part of the ABIS programme, as this would be beneficial to them in the future.