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A family of Aranguez coconut farmers were left confused and frustrated after their trees were toppled by an excavator which they claimed belongs to the Ministry of Land, Agriculture and Fisheries on Tuesday morning.
Newsday visited the property off Samaroo Trace and spoke to sisters Ronisha Joseph and Roneeta Deonarine who own the land.
Joseph and Deonarine said up to Tuesday afternoon they were not given an answer as to how the excavator left drainage works a short distance away and drove onto their property.
Joseph said she first noticed a few trees were toppled on Saturday and reported it to the police thinking trespassers were responsible.
However, while returning from Chaguanas on Tuesday, she saw first hand what happened.
"My husband and I drove over the Aranguez overpass to see if anything strange was going on. When we looked at the crops we saw an excavator with people, and more trees were knocked down.
"We didn't know who these people were. From the last we heard, it was the ministry but we still decided to visit the land and tell the people we were the owners.
"When we got there a man said he was the owner of the land, and my husband said we were the real owners. We told the people we were going to get our documents and come back to prove that.
[caption id="attachment_907876" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ronisha Joseph and her husband Jason Joseph walk through their coconut estate in Aranguez after it was bulldozed on Tuesday. - Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]
"I dropped my children off at their grandmother in San Juan and got the documents and we came back. From them to now everybody left."
Joseph said the land has been in their family for over 60 years and was a major source of income for them.
She also said their mother Indra Deonarine, 63, needs surgery on her hip and leg.
"She can't walk and is unable to work. This is what she survives on. She heard about what happened and she is devastated right now.
"We need compensation. First they (the ministry) said they were clearing the piece of land opposite to ours. We had no problem with that.”
The sisters said the land has been earning them $15,000 every six weeks and noted how long it took coconut trees to grow and produce a return.
Joseph's husband Jason Joseph said he too was upset over the incident, but also wanted to know what could be done to compensate the family.
"For now we want to know who to send the letter to because we're going to our lawyers now."
Councillor for Aranguez/ Warner Village Amit Sooknanan visited the family at the land when he heard about the incident.
Sooknanan empathised with the family and said the incident could have been avoided if councillors and other stakeholders were told of any major work beforehand.
"While the Ministry of Agriculture isn't mandated to let us as councillors know when they are entering our area, it's a matter of common courtesy so that we can render any assistance that we can to them.
"I want to ask the Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat who is responsible for state resources going into private property, because these people in these hard times were reaping coconuts to make ends meet."
Director of the Agricultural Society Safraz Ali also visited and called for answers.
"Why would a public resource be going into a private property? A government asset should never come into a private property without good reason."
Newsday called Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture Avinash Singh who said while he was not aware of the details behind the issue, he would liaise with officials on what happened.
"There is a clearly outlined process when these things happen. The farmers can make their complaints known to their county extension officer who is the line of communication for all goods and services to their endeavour, but I'll be sure to follow up on that."
 
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