Fixing Baramita

It was by way of a report titled ‘Impact of Mining: Survival Strategies for Interior Communities in Guyana,’ released by the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) that the troubling dysfunction in Baramita, Region One, was made public. The report revealed what can only be described as a debauched community, where people—men, women and children—could be found drunk in the middle of the day and where gang rapes and physical violence were par for the course. The GHRA said it found that the principle cause of the advanced disintegration of the community was mining.

According to reports, a non-indigenous man from the coast had moved to Baramita in the ʼ60s and introduced gold mining in the community. He also produced a large number of children with various indigenous women in the area. His offspring then took over from him, controlling some 20 dredges in the community where more coastlanders were imported to work, shops were opened offering alcohol for sale and the dredge owners, through their affluence, exerted undue influence on the village council.

In addition, the police were not investigating the numerous crimes occurring on an almost daily basis, leading to speculation that they were also in the pockets of the miners. In fact, according to the GHRA report, there was rampant “sexual abuse of young teenage girls… by adult miners, police and others… [and in some cases] parents [were] permitting sexual abuse of daughters in exchange for liquor.” It said young women took to arming themselves with pieces of broken bottles, which they stuck in their brassieres and which they would whip out to defend themselves.

While all of the above is horrible enough, it gets worse. Governance and Rights Officer of the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) Laura George said that her organisation first became aware of the social ills permeating the community in 2013. The organisation made no formal report to the relevant ministry, she said, because of the political climate at the time.

The truth is that there was no need for the organisation to make a report, the government of the day was aware of the situation; there was a community development officer in the community reporting to bosses in Georgetown. In May 2013, based on concerns raised by the village council, the ministry transferred two police officers who were stationed there to Port Kaituma. Additionally, it issued an edict to the other ranks to “exercise a zero-tolerance approach in the handling of noise nuisance, the illegal sale of alcohol and drug abuse.” There was no move to involve other government ministries and agencies in what was clearly a huge social issue.

Further, there is evidence in the media that between 2013 and 2015, when elections were held, various ministers and senior government functionaries visited the area. Baramita received various ‘gifts’ including a pick-up truck in 2013 and was listed as one of the communities that would be able to tap into a $5 million grant from the Norway funds to finance “a village shop,” then president Donald Ramotar had announced.

Zero attention was paid to the intervention Baramita needed most.

While some may want to argue that no report was made. The fact is that the majority of the villagers speak Carib and not English. In addition, the social degeneration was obvious. None of the daily drunkenness was being hidden, nor was the wanton violence. Reports of burgeoning suicide in a community of some 3,000 ought to have warranted an urgent outreach. Shamefully, disgustingly, nothing was done, even though the government of the day would have been aware that organisations such as the APA could have been contacted to assist. But as Ms George said, it was the political climate at the time.

The current administration began an intervention when it took over, creating an Inter-Ministerial Task Force (Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Social Protection and the Ministry of Public Health) and partnering with the Pan American Health Organisation to address the multi-dimensional crises in the community. However, it has not been nearly enough.

The GHRA report said that while police personnel had been replaced, there have been no systematic steps to tackling the underlying issues. A report, following a fact-finding mission by an inter-ministry team, that a large-scale miner had been doing a lot for the community and residents were grateful, raises further concerns given that the majority of the problems were imported into the village with gold mining.

While the language barrier could prove problematic to successful interventions, one way around it would be to have ground/field work done by persons who speak the native language. A community, which as Ms George put it, had “experienced years of cultural erosion” will not quickly recover.

There is a clear lack of understanding of the ancestral relationship indigenous people have with the earth – land and environment. And the disruption this causes is much worse in communities which have not assimilated. Economic activities such as mining, which are extremely invasive to the earth and damaging to the environment, therefore, could really erode their culture. Perhaps this is the case with Baramita. But there would be need for studies to be done. Suffice it to say then, that the damage done will not be a quick fix. Government needs to take this on board and use the necessary available resources to get it done. Baramita should also serve as an example of the kinds of intrusion indigenous communities should guard against.