11/05/07

By Bianca Symonette, Guardian Staff Reporter

bianca@nasguard.com

Local farmers and fishermen on Long Island - whose livelihoods were devastated by Tropical Storm Noel - are now calling on the government to assist them during the holiday season. Their call came after the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Larry Cartwright declared the livestock and fishing industry on that island destroyed.

In a telephone interview with The Guardian, Cartwright, who is also the Member of Parliament for Long Island, said Tropical Storm Noel had a huge impact on the island's livestock, crops and fishing industry. Without giving a dollar amount of the damage, he said officials would look into how the government could assist those affected.

"No suggestion has been made as yet, as to what the government should do, but I am sure those in authority would be making suggestions as to what should be taking place this week," Cartwright said.

Jude Knowles, a fisherman who is also on the island's local government committee, said the only way people on the island would be able to enjoy the upcoming holiday season, is if the government had "mercy" on the fishermen and hold off on closing the grouper season, which could bring some much-needed revenue to the island.

"We have some fishermen that have lost small boats in Long Island and so they would have to invest thousands of dollars in new equipment before they start to make money," Knowles said. "Also, the rain water drained into the sea and now the water is very muddy, you can't see no clear way in the water and this is from Deadman's Cay to Salt Pond."

He added, "Long Island is not like Nassau that has other resources to rely on. On this island we depend on construction, farming and fishing, so I am asking for Minister Cartwright to ask the prime minister to allow the grouper season to remain open, at least for the month of December so that we won't be suffering during the holidays."

With the rain water draining in the sea, Knowles said fish including grunts and sharks had washed ashore and would create a serious odor once the water has dried up.

"We may not be able to fish for another two weeks, because a cold front is predicted for Long Island so that means we won't be able to go out to sea. So it's going to be a while before the fishermen can catch themselves," Knowles said.

And while fishermen asked for an extension to the grouper season, farmers on that island are calling for farmers insurance to protect their stock during natural disasters.

Bernard Knowles, a farmer, said he believed his farm might have lost the most livestock on the entire island. Although the flood water made it impossible for Knowles to get an accurate assessment of his losses, he said from his initial assessment he lost between 1,200 to 1,500 chickens and over one hundred sheep and goats, which he estimated to be over $100,000 worth of stock.

"We didn't anticipate all the rain from Tropical Storm Noel, so what I did was I saved my animals by priority. Those that were my prize animals were taken to safety and the others were left behind. But I don't know what is left on the farm because my farm is in Deadman's Cay and about six foot of water is out there," Knowles said.

In addition to the cries of the farmers and fishermen, local businessman Maxwell Burrows said assistance is also needed in providing quality shelters.

Burrows indicated that the shelters on the island were unusable because they are in low-lying areas which are prone to flooding.

"We need the politicians to stop the talk and do what is necessary. We need to get better shelter facilities because the only shelter we can use now is the clinic, and its impossible to evacuate persons to the clinic when you would need that for emergencies. We also need fresh water in Long Island because a boat was here on Saturday, but not many persons have water and with the wells contaminated we need water urgently," Burrows said.

He added that the government must also unblock passages and waterways so that when it rains excessively, the water would not remain on the land for long periods.

Settlements that suffered massive flooding included Hamiltons, Burnt Ground, were said to be the most extensive. Other settlements that are engulfed with water include Whymms , Deans, Simms, Miller's, Salt Pond, The Bight, Grays, Deadman's Cay, Berrys and Turnquest.

According to MP Cartwright, the food water was up to nine and ten feet in some areas.

"In one area a tractor head could only be seen and it was estimated that 9 to 10 feet of water may have been in that area. Other areas such as Miller's had four feet of water. Grays had three feet and Hamiltons sustained over four feet. Berrys had already subsided as of yesterday and its about two feet there now," Cartwright said.

"But there is still a considerable amount of water in Miller's and now only big school buses, bucket trucks, cranes and tractors could pass. SUVs, small trucks and cars cannot pass in Miller's. In Gray's the water is subsiding slowing and SUVs can now manage to get through. Small trucks like the S-10 can pass also but other cars like sedans can't pass."

Cartwright anticipated that Gray's and MIller's would remain flooded with water for the rest of the week, adding that the water had no wetlands where it could be drained.

"The water is moving very slowly and there is no where to pump the water, so we would have to rely on evaporation. It is locked in areas and so the water is moving very slow," Cartwright said. "Gray's and MIller's has no wetlands nearby so therefore the water isn't moving."

He noted, however, that plans were in the making to have the water removed. According to him, many people lost furniture, cars, tiles, sheetrock and appliances.

Meanwhile in other islands that were affected by the storm, residents said they were doing well but the water levels remained high.

Ellen Ferguson said in Exuma, persons were only able to move around in the large school buses which were provided by the local government.

"All the ponds meet and are running over to the sea, so its impossible to get anywhere without large vehicles," she said.

Another Exuma resident, Gladstone Road, said he hoped the government would find a way to drain the water off that island's highway, so that things could start to return to normal.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said recently that the government would take into consideration the extent to which it could provide some assistance to island residents, whose homes were affected by the floods caused by Noel.

Ingraham was unable to say what form the assistance would be given, neither was he able to put a dollar amount on the damage caused by the deadly storm.