00:00Tobago is already feeling the effects of the drought and some prices have already increased.
00:05This from some Tobago farmers as the TV6 News team visited the Scarborough Market
00:09and the Corlan Agricultural Project site.
00:12We have more from Elizabeth Williams.
00:15Yes, we are feeling the effects of the drought.
00:17Right now, my lettuce plants are suffering a lot because we don't have water.
00:21Our tanks are empty.
00:23We have four tanks and they are empty.
00:25We thank God if rain falls a little because the plants get stunted because of the stress that they have
00:32to go through.
00:33When you have drought, you have famine.
00:35And therefore, yes, prices will raise and it's going to be hard on the consumer.
00:42Farmer Kelly Peterkin, as she spoke to TV6 News at the Corlan Agricultural Project site,
00:49She, along with President of the Tobago Agricultural Society, Dionne Taylor,
00:55expressed concerns over the future of agriculture in Tobago.
00:58Mr. Taylor told the TV6 News with talk of an impending drought lasting into the new year,
01:06the real questions are not being asked.
01:09Nobody is asking the proper authority who is supposed to be, you know,
01:17dealing with our water situation, which is WASA.
01:20What are they doing to keep more of the rainfall that we've been having between the past couple of weeks?
01:29There's no talk about the reservoirs.
01:32There's no talk about water retention.
01:34There's no talk about anything else.
01:36But the first thing they want to talk about is that there will be a drought.
01:41Meantime, mixed views on the ground at the Scarborough Market,
01:44with some vegetable prices already increased,
01:48while some vendors said they do not intend to increase their prices, expect reduced prices.
01:55Would you be raising prices as a market vendor?
01:59No, I don't intend to raise any prices.
02:02I just want to keep the prices as low as possible.
02:05So I would just get to sell, you know, to how I buy, right?
02:09Just like how we're going here, just the same way.
02:11And if you're getting things cheaper, we sell cheaper.
02:14We used to get like a bag of dashi and for about $400.
02:18Now you're getting it for about $650.
02:21You understand?
02:23We're getting, um,
02:26Sweet Potatoes get like $300.
02:29You're getting it now, $400, $450.
02:32So these are the kind of prices I've been facing, and it's very difficult for us.
02:38Market vendor Jennifer Noel told us she purchases produce from Tobago farmers and some from Trinidad.
02:45She said her six children are today products of society because of her life at the market over the years.
02:53I have lawyers, I have nurses, I have politicians, I have working in the airport, I have, um, TRHA.
03:06They have done well.
03:08Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
03:10That's true.
