Farmers lose livestock to floodwaters

On Wednesday afternoon, Ricardo Francis and his neighbour Andre Mannings watched helplessly as six of their goats washed away in a nearby gully as raging floodwaters caused the pens to collapse.

The Penton Vale, Eleven Miles residents said, as they count their losses from the livestock, they are fearful that very soon they may also lose their homes, should the torrential rains continue.

"Everything just look surreal when mi see the pen crumble and four a the goats dem wash way. That is basically $120,000 just gone down the drain, literally," Mannings said.

Mi invest millions

Similar sentiments were echoed by Francis, who said that, in addition to his two goats, he also lost bananas and plantains.

As the rain began drizzling yesterday, Mannings said he will have very little choice except to vacate his home, as he believes that it could be next.

"The goats is a big loss yes, but that can be buy back easily. But mi invest millions in my house and mi can't just get up and build back a house just like that," he said. "Seet deh now, the goat pen gone so mi have to put the rest a goats on mi varendah and dem urine and mess harbour fly, and dengue a go round now so mi have to be careful. It rough and we really want the help or else we a go lose everything."

They told THE WEEKEND STAR that their lives were content until several years ago when a government agency had cleaned the gully and channelled the water in a different manner.

"When the tractor man dem come and we as the residents a tell them how to do it, them no pay we nuh mind, and do dem own thing. Them bank the water on we and it tear off the whole a we backyard. We a live on the edge and we never build our houses on the edge. About 40 feet a we land gone," Francis said.