The Prime Minister appeared along with 8 Ministers and senior personnel from the Met Office in a press event that tried to address every issue arising from the floods: from crop to road damage, from NEMO’s disaster response to international funding response. Here’s the price tag for initial assessment of agricultural and road damage in all districts excepting Belize, for which the worst is still ahead.
Hon. Dean Barrow,
“Our road infrastructure has been battered to the tune of some $3.3 million according to the Ministry of Works’ preliminary estimate. In tourism, a number of cruise tour destinations have been rendered inaccessible, including Xunantunich and Jaguar Paw. But the biggest losses are no doubt in the agriculture sector. NEMO originally put estimates of losses there at around $7 million but later quantification by the Ministry of Agriculture suggests a figure rather of $12 million. The headline numbers there are $6,995,000 resulting from the
destruction of 12,349 acres of corn; $2 million from damage once again to papaya; and a half million dollars from damage to livestock.”
Hon. Melvin Hulse, Minister of NEMO
“Agriculture is the life for people, that is how they feed their families, that is how they make their living. So when somebody loses one or two acres of corn, they basically have lost their livelihood.”
Hon. Rene Montero, Minister of Agriculture
“In the Cayo District we’re estimating that the damage is about $5.4 million in corn, beans, and rice. In Orange Walk District we’re estimating the damage is about $3.5 million and it involves corn, vegetables, papayas, and the sugar cane fields. In the Corozal District we are estimating about $2.5 million and it is mainly in corn, beans, and rice. That will also have effect in terms of the planting. Right now is the planting season for corn, beans, potatoes, and onions. So the farmers will not be able to prepare their fields and plants these crops because of the wet conditions. So we are expecting that there will be lower yields.”
And as for monetary assistance for recovering farmers, the Prime Minister has also approached the Venezuelan government to ask if four million dollars granted for agricultural assistance can be re-programmed into direct cash grants for those flood-affected farmers.
