Dear Editor,
It is time the people of the hinterland express themselves. We have four regions considered to be hinterland regions – One, Seven, Eight and Nine – and they are considered the ones with the most natural resources in the country. They are the home of our Amerindian brothers and sisters, and along with that they are becoming very integrated. The population of our country consists of approximately 748,000 people out of which about 80,000 live in the hinterland. We the Amerindians comprise different peoples; some of us speak our mothers’ tribal language. Those of us who call ourselves Carib are found mostly in Region One around Matthews Ridge, Baramita and Barama.
Our economic power is farming, fishing and hunting, and we also work a little gold. We seldom migrate to the city or other areas in search of employment because of the experience our brothers and sisters have had on many occasions.
We are not interested in politics much; they bring it to us. Some of us do not even know who the President of our country is. The Amerindians are docile people and we can easily be manipulated by the politicians because we like to accept, and at the same time we can live without any social rewards. We are not economically prosperous in terms of great wealth, although we would like to become millionaires similar to those who have guided the country into disaster. Some say we are not good planners, because from 1966 to now we do not have an Amerindian millionaire.
I remember a former Minister of the PPP/C telling us some years ago that the PPP/C could win any election without Region One votes; that was then, but not now.
The people on the coast and in the coastal hinterland would like to have local elections, but the present government is not in favour of that. They want everything to fall within their jurisdiction. If we managed to have local elections our villages, towns and city would have a decent environment that could be accepted by visitors if you are speaking about tourism.
Now look at our roads in Matthews Ridge, especially Heaven Hill and Hell Hill, while on the flat it is in a deplorable state also – Port Kaituma. Matthews Ridge has a problem with the supply of water; the source is very small and it becomes smaller in the dry season. Years ago we had more access to water but at present part of the water is being controlled by the manganese company. There is a creek at the back of the Mi Nab about a mile from the main village that has potable water and could supply Matthews Ridge. The people here have been generating their own electricity for many years now.
The roads in Mabaruma are in a similar condition. In a year you get four months of reasonable road while the electricity supply is for 7½ days per month.
The Region 8 Mahdia Road is also in an area that has a lot of natural resources. Whoever is in charge should plough back something into that region. We the people of the hinterland should stand up strongly for our regional development.
For the future of Matthews Ridge and Port Kaituma the government will have to put in place sustainable economic arrangements to create employment because gold will only be in the earth for a few more years. The government should start speeding up their negotiations with the manganese company which still has a very small staff. Gold production has decreased significantly.
Owing to government actions Region One has produced more miners who have no options. These miners have had to go to unproductive areas just to survive. They had to move from the big creek and Five Star because preference was given to favoured companies. Baramita is not doing too badly, but it is an Amerindian area, and permission is only granted to certain individuals.
These areas need more roads so you can get access to certain areas. Thanks to the Barama Company for opening roads which they use to do their logging. MZ is a few miles away from Yarakita. You can leave Mabaruma and go all the way to Port Kaituma through a trail with an ATV.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Francis
Miner
