WESTERN BUREAU — Farmers in the Hill Sixty area of Trelawny say they are losing thousands of dollars in revenue as a result of poor road conditions in the community.

The farmers say the condition of the road was made worse during the recent heavy rains, which caused a section of the roadway to be severely eroded.

“We are suffering…the trucks can’t come into the community to buy our produce because of the bad roads,” Michael Thompson, a farmer of Hill Sixty told the Observer.

“No vehicle can enter or leave the community because the road is almost cut in two. We are suffering for more than three weeks now and we need help fast,” Thompson lamented.

Hilly Sixty is one of the many farming communities in the constituency of South Trelawny and the over 200 farmers there are involved mainly in the growing of potatoes, yams, carrots and cabbage.

Thompson said that since the road broke in June, some farmers have been carrying their agricultural produce on their heads while others have been using donkeys to take their produce to the Lowe River main road to get transportation.

“This is a distance of almost two miles and it is very inconvenient,” Thompson said.

He added that because of the inconvenience of getting their produce out of the community, other farmers have chosen not to harvest their crops.

Devon McDaniel, the Jamaica Labour Party caretaker for the area, told the Observer that the plight of the farmers has been reported to the Trelawny Parish Council, is responsible for the Hill Sixty road, but nothing has been done to remedy the situation.

“The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is also aware of the problem,” McDaniel added.

He said if the situation is not addressed promptly the livelihood of the over 200 farmers would be greatly affected.

Superintendent of road and works at the Trelawny Parish Council, Brian Silvera, told the Observer that his department is aware of the plight of the farmers and the condition of the roads in Hill Sixty.

He said shortly after a section of the road was eroded during the recent heavy rains estimates totalling in excess of $1 million were prepared and sent to the Ministry of Local Government for funding. But he said he was yet to get a response from the local government ministry about the funds.

He added, however, that he will be visiting the community on Tuesday, with a view to do some remedial work.

“I will be going there to see if we can use a heavy duty equipment to do some work so that at least trucks can go into the community,” Silvera said.