Plagued by mongooses

Chicken farmer Kimona Brown is praying for a significant decrease in the mongoose population.

Brown, 25, rears chickens in her backyard at her Iron Mountain home in St Ann. She told THE WEEKEND STAR that mongooses killed approximately 150 of her chickens one one occasion. The raiding of her fowl coop coupled with the less than favourable payment habits of some customers nearly drove her out of the business.

"When the people dem nah pay bad the mongoose dem nyam dem off. Dem mongoose yah walk up and down in the place like humans eno. If 350 people live inna the community, 400 mongoose live yah. Me never give up same way though, me just gwan raise some goat and plant," she said.

Brown was drawn to farming three years ago after she experienced difficulties in landing a job.

"Me never did have no job and me know me couldn't give up because me just have a little baby so me just buy 150 chicken and start a ting," she said.

When THE WEEKEND STAR visited Brown at Iron Mountain on Wednesday, she was busy plucking chickens.

"Me sell to the restaurants dem but dem not always good for business because more time dem take really long to pay me. All three and four weeks me have to wait on them more time," she said.

But debtors and mongooses are not the only problems facing Brown in Iron mountain. She said Iron Mountain is without running water.

"Me nuh remember ever seeing water in the pipes from the born. It is in other communities but never here so we just gwan work with the water truck, river and rain water," she said.