Dear Editor,
I had planned to visit one of the oldest sugar estate heritage sites here on the Essequibo Coast, with Mr Tota Mangar and Dr James Rose ‒ both are historians ‒ some 15 years ago when both men and I were at the Devonshire Castle Martyrs’ Day wreath-laying ceremony where 5 sugar workers were brutally gunned down in 1879. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make it because the ceremony finished late in the afternoon and Dr Rose and Mr Mangar had to head back to Georgetown.
I attempted on many occasions to visit this heritage site at Aurora estate to see the condition it was in, since I was interested in history of the Essequibo Coast. I later learned that there were 37 sugar estates starting from Walton Hall in the north to Spring Garden in the south with an aggregate yield of 4,641 tons of sugar, the usual complement of rum and molasses and 30,305 pounds of coffee. The smallest crop was produced by Henrietta with 35 tons, and the largest of 325 tons, by Devonshire Castle. Sugar disappeared from Essequibo in 1936; the last estate which closed its operations was Hampton Court.
On Saturday, Febuary 11, I finally decided to leave my house at Cotton Field, to visit the heritage site at Aurora, some 25 miles away. The Misirs, I learnt, bought Aurora estate and settled there. As I entered the compound I saw Mrs Indra Misir standing in front of her beautiful house, and she agreed to show me and my wife the way to the old chimney. Her husband Bobby, joined me in my car while my wife and Indra decided to walk through a short passageway lined with fruit trees and beautiful flowering plants.
I drove on the sea dam which was built by Regional Executive Officer Rupert Hopkinson about 2 months ago, and when we reached the old, tall brick chimney, my wife took some pictures of it with the caisson sluice, furnaces, wash vats and punts where sugar works once stood. There is a large area of fertile land on the Misir estate for any description of cultivated product, unsurpassed on this fertile coast. The state of chimney is an example of how the previous government allowed it to degenerate; this heritage site needs to be preserved by this new coalition.
Bobby Misir told me that the rising tide levels and erosion began to threaten his property and land decades ago, and he appealed to the Jagdeo and Ramotar administrations for help to build the sea defence. But those who were in charge of the regional administration here in Region Two turned a blind to the issue, and the sea water started to overflow the little embankment which was left and washed away the land and chimney. The former Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn visited the area and did not authorize the building of the sea dam to prevent the sea from moving inward. According to Mr Misir he then sought the help of Mr Rupert Hopkinson, who immediately visited the site and mobilized materials, workmen and a machine and began to build the sea dam which was completed in one month. This has helped to save the heritage site and his property, and he has high praise for the REO.
Here is the messy truth: since I was moving along the southern side of the coast I did some political work to find out from people who used to support the PPP why they voted them out of power. They answered that the party when in government neglected them so they had no choice but to vote for another party. This should be a learning lesson for the coalition.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
