Lenky: (2015) fire was a real disaster for we on this side here because I can remember farmers lose them coffee, them irrigation pipes and ting. Couple of the cattle farmers lose them cattles and me lose a lot of fruit trees.
Interviewer: Paint me the picture of the day when you heard about a fire or you looked up and saw the hills burning.
Lenky: Well, we on this side was aware of the fire for about a week cause it take a week to reach here. Every day we were just hoping and hoping we wouldn’t be affected by it, but so bad lucky…we were.
Interviewer: Were you able to protect your farm?
Lenky: My farm me couldn’t really protect it cause me couldn’t take up a tree which was there from grandfather days, but the cattle farmers tried to lead them cattles to lower surface and who coulda manage to take up some of them pipes, yea… but we couldn’t do nothing much, it was bigger than us, we couldn’t even team together fi put it out. That’s how bad it was.
Interviewer: When you saw the flames coming closer to your farm, what did that feel like?
Lenky: Well…( pregnant pause) I just take it with a smile and say ,"there it goes".
Interviewer: How far are you now with recovery?
Lenky: No recovery... the roads them to get up there nuh good again so me can’t really take it up back to carry back trees. But we have it in mind to start uplift we roads by we self. If we could get some help from the government or whatever that would be fine. Farmers coulda get active again.
Interviewer: Is your farm far from here?
Lenky: (pointing to the scorched hills) As you can see up there… so you can judge it with your own thoughts.…it was like a mile worth of fire.
Interviewer: Were the crops you planted your main source of income?
Lenky: Yes, like the ginger and the pimento. Normally when we reap the ginger we add to it. . My plan was to dominate it (the farm) with ginger so as me reap me plant back but…
Interviewer: How do you earn now if you don’t have the crops?
Lenky: (without saying much and giving a smile he utters) Really and truly, I am a really extendable guy..