Residents of Crabwood Creek are calling for an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to replace the Crabwood Creek/Moleson Neighbourhood Democratic Council.
The residents staged a protest exercise in front of the NDC office on Monday, chanting that the “Chairman must go”.
Between November and December 2020, residents of Crabwood Creek picketed the NDC, calling for the removal of the then NDC Chairman Tero Arjune along with the overseer.
Weeks later Valmiki Dilchandr was elected as the new Chairman.
This is not the first time those residents have taken such actions. Back in March 2007, a similar exercise was held for the removal of the then Chairman.
It was done again in 2017.
On Monday, the residents said that they want an Interim Management Committee to replace the NDC, saying they are not satisfied with the service they are receiving from the NDC.
Organiser of the protest, Ramatally Kasim told this publication that they wanted to have Tero Arjune back at the helm of the Council.
“We take him out already but he was doing a better job than Valmiki Dilchandr, but we don’t want the NDC we want an Interim management Committee because the life of the NDC is finished since last year,” he pointed out.
One farmer, Feroze Dillawar, said they received promises from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and from the Regional Chairman and none of those promises were fulfilled.
When asked, he said the Regional Chairman promised that each household would receive a hamper as part of a flood relief package.
However, when the hampers arrived, they were only distributed to some residents.
“Those who are close with the Regional Councillor at Crabwood Creek.”
NAREI had promised to provide assistance for the farmers after there was a flood resulting from 23 days of rainfall.
“Lately they called us and give us 12 pounds of manure to we the farmers who farming for so many years and feeding this country.”
These residents said floodwaters have been causing damage to their farms every rainy season. They said there is a need for another sluice to drain the 8000 acres of farmland, noting that when they were doing less farming there were more operable sluices.
According to Kasim, over the past 35 years, the farmers at Crabwood Creek have been experiencing floods during the rainy season, and they lose their crops.
It must be noted that during the recent countrywide flood of which Region Six was one of the hardest-hit regions, Crabwood Creek was not considered one of the hardest-hit areas.
Nevertheless, Kasim said a few decades ago there were 4000 acres under cultivation in Crabwood Creek and this has significantly increased over the years.
“We had three sluices working then and now we have 8000 acres and we only have two sluices working to drain the whole of Crabwood Creek. We need an additional sluice so that we can save our crop.”
He said this needs to be done before the expected May-June rains.
Meanwhile, the residents vowed to continue their protest.
