Several Amerindian leaders believe that education and job opportunities are key to transforming their communities and are voicing their concerns at the National Toshaos Council Meeting which opened on Monday.
Stabroek News spoke to several of the participants yesterday at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Liliendaal where the five-day event is being held under the theme “Advancing Development in a Low Carbon Environment”. The implementation of government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) was on yesterday’s agenda
Toshao of Muritaro (Region 10) Lester Fleming says the LCDS is going to mean a whole new way of life for his people.
“The understanding of changing the livelihood becomes difficult because it has to do with a new way of culture and we depend on harvesting of the forest for produce. Even though we’re trying to do sustainable management it calls for a total change of harvesting plus equipment,” he said.
Fleming said they will have to diversify and they have already identified projects to pursue and are awaiting the funds to do so. These include aquaculture and a focus on more traditional agriculture to ensure food security. Another area is eco-tourism, he said, while adding that development must come with a focus on their culture since it is that which will keep people in the village.
He added that this was critical to the very existence of the village which has a population of 350.
“Without the money our lives will be more difficult on the whole because our population has been decreasing. Every year actually you get less and less because of migration opportunities and education; parents are trying their best and children are trying for money,” he stated.
The toshao said there is no secondary school in the community so the children have to be transported to Linden which presents an accommodation problem and sometimes the children are unable to adapt to the urban lifestyle.
“The children cannot change their life from the hinterland to the city so then the child eventually comes back home, becomes a dropout and then becomes a mother of father at a very young age. Most of our children who left return without completing secondary school,” the toshao said.
As it relates to security, Fleming stated that there were no security risks in the community but noted that this could change with progress.
“We’re actually comfortable among ourselves but I recognise that if we should develop more we will need security because we have solar systems and people are attracted to villages that have electricity and boats and money so we probably will need to have an outpost very soon,” he said.
Meanwhile Ernest Dundas of St. Cuthbert’s Mission (Region 4) notes that his village of about 1600 people is more fortunate than most Amerindian communities because of its proximity to the coast. The village is located off the Linden highway. Issues with the access trail and water supply, he said, were being addressed for which they were grateful.
However he called for more teachers for the four-year-old secondary school which has some four teachers for 110 students.
“Education is very important and now that the children there have access to secondary education if we can have more help with additional teachers I think it would be better for them.”
But despite the village’s good fortune, Dundas said they suffered the same fate as other parts of the country as it relates to employment.
“Job opportunities are very scarce. I have looked at not only our village but in relation to Guyana as a whole. It is very difficult. How do we provide job opportunities for residents?”
He said the community has moved on from what it was years ago and residents now are unwilling to work for $30,000 per month.
“They’re looking forward to working for $150,000 a month, they’re looking forward to $200,000 and $300,000 and some of those guys work for that in the interior. So in offering a job in the village it is hard, especially in farming,” Dundas said.
He added the primary activities in the community are logging, handicraft and some subsistence farming. They are currently trying to overcome some difficulties in pursuing commercial farming in the village, Dundas said.
Meanwhile, the toshao said life in St. Cuthbert’s has become so modernised that chicken is now a staple food, just like on the coast. However, that progress has come with a price, most notably in the area of their culture and particularly the dialect of the Arawaks. Dundas said only residents above the age of 50 can still speak the language. He admitted that he could only understand some words and added that the language was completely alien to the youths.
“We tried teaching Arawak classes but it did not work; I don’t know why it didn’t,” he said. The toshao said a way would have to be found to ensure it is not lost to his people. The other aspects of their culture such as hunting, the food, and building techniques were “remembered” but not practiced as much.
“People would prefer to drink a sweet drink or vodka or some such thing you know,” he said.
Dundas, who is also a rural constable said crime was not a problem in the community with the only issue arising being disorderly behaviour when persons had too much alcohol to drink.
Theophilus Domingo, a senior councilor with the Santa Rosa/Moruca sub-region (Region 1) said their primary concern was the establishment of a training centre in the region which could provide skills training for the youths.
“The majority of young people who maybe failed CXC or dropped out are just there doing nothing so a training centre would be good, teach them wood work or masonry or other things,” he said.
Domingo also pointed out that there was one health centre in his village of Kamwatta which seemed only to have “pain tablets” to dispense and he decried the police response to reports.
“When you have a crime or something like that and you call them they never have transportation. That is a major problem. The community has to pool money and hire somebody private to transport the police so they can go and investigate,” Domingo stated.
As it relates to job opportunities the councillor said those are best sought out and the coast, a situation he thinks could be rectified with the set up of a training centre in the region. He was also critical of the electricity situation in his community.
“We request help time and time again and only in election time they promise but after election when them win them forget,” Domingo said.
He added that residents utilise small generators for power.
President Bharrat Jagdeo and his Cabinet ministers are expected to be part of today’s proceedings at the GICC.
