Barnwell, a 20-something-year-old squatting community aback of Mocha, East Bank Demerara and ignored for most of that time has been thrust into the limelight in a negative way for the second time, following a stabbing death there last Saturday.
On this occasion, a 33-year-old man, Anthony Mark Fredericks, died a day after he was knifed allegedly by a woman to whom he had reportedly made sexual advances. Nearly six years ago, in November 2007, Barnwell had also made the news when the bruised, battered body of nine-year-old Sade Stoby was discovered not too far from her North Barnwell home. She had been reported missing after she did not return home from school on a Friday afternoon and her body was found that Sunday by her father and brother. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and murdered. Two boys—aged 16 and 14 years old—had subsequently been charged with murder. They have not yet been tried.
Originally a canefield, Barnwell was later transformed into farmlands tilled by residents of the contiguous Mocha Arcadia community. Some farmers later moved to where their farms were and over the years have been joined by a hodgepodge of Guyanese – some from as far away as the Pomeroon. Some have built solid homes, while some still live in shacks, but it is estimated that the population of Barnwell is now around 700.
There are no roads, expect those carved out by residents; no electricity and no running water. Those who can afford it run generators and use the now ubiquitous black tank to store rain water for use. Those who can’t, use flambeaux, torches and candles; the canal running alongside the community serves their water needs.
Sometime around 2008, the Ministry of Housing and Water’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) began moves to regularise the area. It was divided into two communities—New Prosperity and Barnwell north. Housing Minister Irfaan Ali announced in January this year that the preliminary cost for basic infrastructure was estimated to be in the vicinity of $90 million and the beneficiaries would be required to pay a subsidised cost of $72,000 for a house lot in the area. The CHPA said there would be 86 house lots.
There was no explanation of what the basic infrastructure would comprise, but if other housing schemes are to be used as examples it would be possibly involve the demarcation of house lots; one main street that would be tarred while the others would be built with loam; potable water that does not get into persons’ homes and a promise of electricity. None of which would take the people of Barnwell North/New Prosperity any further than they are today.
A visit to the area by this newspaper recently revealed that there are some 13 streets and swathes of fertile farmland. However, the self-help roads make getting produce to market expensive, if not impossible.
There are countless children who rarely make it to school on a dry day; this situation intensifies when it rains. The closest health facility is miles away at Mocha and the only reliable means of getting there is by walking; again this cannot be done on a rainy day.
Like its sister settlement Plastic City, Barnwell is home to what is generally a grassroots and underprivileged population. And like every other squatter community, ought not to have been allowed to grow without its development being first addressed. But as usual the tendency is for the powers that be to be reactive.
Unlike Plastic City, however, and other squatting that has appeared in the city on government reserves and along the banks of canals, Barnwell does not have to be moved. What it requires will take the demonstration of some amount of foresight and a significant sum of money. This includes, but is not limited to electricity, including street lights; proper roads and a reliable supply of potable water. And that’s just for starters. In the long term there should be at least one school, land set aside and developed for community activities, which would include recreation for children. This is the sort of development that would be necessary to erase the hopelessness that is evident in communities like Barnwell and beyond and to ensure the safety of the Sade Stobys who hope to lead productive lives in them.
