Chilpancingo, Mexico.- With Hurricane “Otis”, the farmers of the municipalities of Acapulco and Coyuca de Benítez never received support from the Government for the losses of their crops and now with “John” they once again suffered damage, denounced Ventura Reyes Uriostegui, a member of the state leadership of the Union of Agricultural Workers (UNTA).
In December 2023, after “Otis”, the field producers in the rural areas of these two municipalities were censused through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).
According to Ventura Reyes, there were 3 thousand hectares of lemon, coconut orchards, corn, bean and pumpkin plots that were counted as a total loss due to the rains. “It will be one year since ‘Otis’ passed and to date the farmers still do not receive the help that the Government promised them,” said the farmer leader.
Reyes Uriostegui criticized that due to Hurricane “John”, the federal government only announced support for the urban area of Acapulco when the devastation was also in rural areas.
This Friday, at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s press conference, the National Civil Protection Coordination assured that Hurricane “John” affected 236 thousand people in more than 67 thousand homes in Guerrero. In Acapulco alone there were 127,844 people affected in 39,941 homes in 39 neighborhoods and 18 rural communities. The Government announced that starting this Monday, October 7, the census of affected families will begin, who will initially be given support of 8 thousand pesos for cleaning their home. “The Government is falling short, since the damage was much more and in almost most of the 85 municipalities of Guerrero,” said Ventura Reyes. According to the UNTA leader, with information provided to him by regional leaders of his organization, it is estimated that there was a loss of 70 percent of the corn fields in the regions of Costa Chica, Costa Grande, Tierra Caliente, Montaña and Central Zone, including the Sierra. “In hundreds of communities in Guerrero, the roads are destroyed, there is a lack of supplies, there is no electricity service, internet, or medicine,” he said. He trusted that the new Sheinbaum Government will carry out a good reconstruction in Acapulco and in the other municipalities affected by the hurricane. “It is not possible that for each hurricane that arrives in Guerrero each year, too many consequences will be suffered due to the lack of good comprehensive planning in the construction of roads, highways, bridges, and housing complexes,” said the leader. The State Civil Protection Secretariat reported this Friday that 68 of the 85 municipalities of Guerrero were affected by Hurricane “John.” In the Mountain region, the Tlapa-Metlatónoc highway is closed due to a landslide that occurred in the vicinity of the community of Petlacalancingo.
#Farmers #denounce #lack #support #Otis #John