Moblissa beset by health, transport woes

A damaged road in Moblissa Newtown Settlement, Linden/ Soesdyke Highway. (Jules Gibson photo)
A damaged road in Moblissa Newtown Settlement, Linden/ Soesdyke Highway. (Jules Gibson photo)

By Zoisa Fraser

The Linden/Soesdyke High-way may have all the right ingredients for a day of adventure but some of those living in communities along this long stretch of road that leads to the mining town of Linden, have little to be pleased about.

Beulah MajorThough this is an area that several thousand persons call their home, health care facilities are lacking and there are no trained personnel in cases of emergency. On top of this, there are insufficient school places and trained teachers to educate children, transportation is not easily accessible and residents live without potable water and electricity.

Communication is another issue as the number of landline telephones is too few and cell phone towers don’t cover some areas.

Travelling along the highway is a breathtaking sight. The sounds of birds chirping and flowing creeks greet the ear giving a sense of peace and relaxation. One can even see farmers busy tending to their land. Persons in these areas depend primarily on farming as a means of livelihood.

One of the most affected areas is the Moblissa Newtown Settlement, which is located several miles from the Linden junction. Years ago, this area was buzzing, but it has now fallen away tremendously with very little economic activity.

When Stabroek News visited the area recently, serenity pervaded and only a few people were in sight although the community is home to more than five hundred persons.

A damaged road in Moblissa Newtown Settlement, Linden/ Soesdyke Highway. (Jules Gibson photo)Elder of the community Beulah Major stated that the two areas that need the most attention are health and education. Transportation is another factor that is linked to the two.

This newspaper found Major sitting in a roadside shop with two other women.

Major who gave her age as 74, said that if she needs to see a doctor she has no choice but to travel to Georgetown or Linden. The cost to do this, she stressed is too much as a bus ride to Linden cost $300 while it is either $700 or $900 to travel to the city. According to Major, as a pensioner, this is not affordable and that does not include the cost of something to eat and drink. It was this plight which first prompted her to pen a letter to Stabroek News and which resulted in this reporter visiting the area.

Major stressed that the Silver Hill health centre, which is located in her community, has no doctor and every third Thursday there is a clinic there for residents living in communities from Moblissa to Loo Creek.

The medex stationed at Long Creek would come on clinic day to deal with the complaints of residents but she doesn’t always arrive on time.

Major told Stabroek News that it is not only the elderly that are suffering but also the children.

“The health centre does be crowded. There are more people than the building can hold… Then there is the sand and dust. And you have to be careful because the sand carries an itch,” she said. Pointing to her foot, the woman said that she sustained a burn and she went across to the health centre to see if she could get some ointment or cream to put on it.

Holding the bandage, the woman said that she was surprised to be told by a staff member, who started working there about three months ago, that there was none.

Major who was the caretaker of the health centre up until a few months ago, said she witnessed a senior nurse showing the staff member how to mix vaccines for children.

“This goes to show that she is not even trained to give an injection. If a person gets into a serious accident what sort of assistance can she give,” the woman questioned.

According to her, she has written to the Ministry of Health on at least two occasions but never got a response.

Describing the situation as a serious one, Major said that the entire highway is in desperate need of medical personnel. She said that a clinic once a month to look after hundreds of people is not enough and then the time that the medex arrives makes the situation worse.

She said that a doctor who is stationed at Soesdyke is responsible for the clinic but he has not been seen for some time now.

Asked what happens when a pregnant woman is ready to deliver, she said that because the delivery unit at the medical facility at Long Creek was closed a few years ago, Linden is the closest place to travel to give birth.

She added that the women have their monthly checkups at the Long Creek or Silver Hill Health Centres but if anything is to go wrong, there is not much that can be done.

Transportation woes

Major said that not only the residents of Moblissa experience transportation problems but also the medex who travels to the community once a month.

According to her, the late arrival of the medex can be blamed on a vehicle not being assigned to the Long Creek Health Centre.

She explained that the vehicle that transports that medex has to make other rounds before heading to Long Creek and that is often the reason for the delay. If the vehicle does not come, then there is no clinic and this has been the case on a few occasions, Stabroek News was told.

Major added that children from the community have to travel to Linden to go to Secondary School and had it not been for two minibus operators who go to the community every day, they would find themselves in difficulties since one cannot get a bus heading to Linden before 11 am.

Children also travel to various locations on the highway to attend school.

She told this newspaper of a case where a child living along the Moblissa Road miles away has to attend the nursery school in Moblissa settlement.

Missing, she said, is the teaching of agriculture and sewing in the community, two things she believes is very important.

She said the school in the community was meant to be an all-age institution but because of lack of teachers, it only caters for nursery and primary school students.

She said the school has a headmistress and about six teachers.

Asked if all children in the area go to school, Major said that there is not enough earning power in the community to ensure this happens.

Mail

The mail is another issue for residents, as they do not receive their packages, letters and notices on time. In many instances deadlines for appointments are missed because of the late arrival of mail.

The mail van visits fortnightly and Major is the one who accepts it and then distributes. If she is not home, it is taken back to Georgetown.

According to Major, “the mail van is a car. It doesn’t come regularly and it don’t come and blow. If I am not home, it leaves”.

She said that people are not acquainted with the car that brings the mail or the persons who bring them and once she is not there, the vehicle leaves the area.

Major said that because of this residents are forced to take their mail to Linden. She said too that the van is supposed to bring their pensions but that does not happen so they have to travel to the mining town to get that which burdens them since their pension is already small.

No farming

Major who returned from living overseas because she loved her native country said that the settlement was built predominantly for farming purposes.

She said that between 1975 and 77, 200 residential plots were allocated and each plot owner was given 19-20 acres of farmland.

She said that she left her Buxton, East Coast Demerara home to take up this offer and it is a decision that she like many other residents is regretting today.

“I use to live abroad for five years but I wanted to come back home. Many times I asked myself why I come back here,” the woman said, her voice laced with sadness.

Major said that the majority left because there was no light, water and proper roads, problems that still exist today.

Besides the fact that water for crops is not easily accessible, persons burning coal have not only damaged bridges to access these lands that stretch from Moblissa to Loo Creek but have damaged the land itself.

Residents told Stabroek News that no one would want to fetch water for miles just to water crops.

According to Major, “we here got to depend on rainfall, if not we got to go to the creek for water. We had lots of promises for development but until now we ain’t getting nothing”.

Major said that there are three bridges leading to the farmland and all are dilapidated and it is due to this that people would not risk going in there.

She said that people, most of whom are strangers have been burning coals on the residential and farming plots leaving big holes in the lands.

The weight of the trucks transporting the wood and the coals, she added, has destroyed the access road.

Added to this, she said that the unoccupied plots are being sold to persons. “That shouldn’t be. They are fleecing those poor people. When they come here how are they going to build their concrete houses when there is no water,” she said adding that the water situation is so bad, that residents have to take their clothes to a creek to wash. She said because of the inability to farm and earn money, people are being forced to move away from the community to seek employment.

Need for an outpost

Petty crimes sometimes occur in the community and residents are calling for an outpost to be set up with at least two ranks.

Major said that many of these crimes, which include break and enter, are being committed by school drops outs. She said that if something happens and you need to report it, the nearest station is Linden and many times ranks there say that you have to provide transportation for them.
Major said that they were told that they needed to form a policing group and this is something that she fully supports.

“I have been living here since 1976 and it is actually worse,” she said, a comment with which many residents agreed.