Current COVID-19 measures have taken a severe toll on the economies of the indigenous communities of Orealla and Siparuta, according to Toshao Carl Peneux.
The measures instituted to prevent the spread of the virus have forced the toshao and his council to take necessary steps to provide for the more than 300 households belonging to the villages.
With the two communities situated more than five hours from the mainland on the Corentyne River, most of their shopping and trading is done at Corriverton.
Peneux said that the implementation of the national curfew as well as Suriname’s curfew has prevented the villages from freely traversing the waterways. “With Orealla and Siparuta facing two curfews, one from Suriname and one from Guyana, the Corentyne River was locked down. We couldn’t travel…. we managed to get some attention from the Civil Defence Commission [CDC]. The Guyana government and the Suriname government eventually came to some agreement for our boats to travel from here to Corriverton. The arrangement is that we have to put in for a request for a boat or more than one boat to travel from Orealla to Corriverton to carry out our lumber and farm produce and to purchase supplies to bring back to the village,” the toshao explained.
The restriction on access to the river started at the beginning of the curfew on April 3 and lasted until the last week of April before the river-pass initiative was put in place. According to Peneux, the process of getting the pass to travel on the river can be onerous as he is expected to give the CDC 48 hours’ notice before they can travel. The toshao disclosed that just on Wednesday he worked on getting a few more passes for five boats expected to be heading to Corriverton on Sunday. At first he said he would request up to two trips a week but that proved to be insufficient.
Owing to the limited horsepower of the engines, Peneux related, these boats can take anywhere between five to seven hours to get to their destination. Due to the lengthy travel and the curfew, these boats don’t make it back to the Orealla until two days after their departure from the village.
The incumbent government had promised the people of Orealla a road from the community to Corriverton or Moleson Creek as a road already runs from Moleson Creek to the Guyana/ Suriname ferry stelling, which the toshao posited would be not only less of a hassle to his people and quicker but will also reduce transportation costs. Regardless of which political party is sworn in as the new government, Peneux intends on bringing this matter before them again. If there was a road, he said, the average travel time would be an hour.
“One crew took out about a hundred and forty logs during last week. We drift the logs by raft with the small boats and we drift them downstream. That’s what we used to do years ago and now we’re doing it again because the saw millers’ tugs [were restricted] to come up the river by the Surinamese authorities. Our loggers cut these logs since January/February of this year and only now we’re getting a chance for our logs to be sold,” Peneux lamented.
Along with the exportation of lumber from the village, Orealla makes its revenue through the sales of the white sand that is abundant in the village. Purchasers would come with their barges, which would be loaded with sand after paying the village a royalty charged by the tonne. Unfortunately, the selling of sand was one of the trades that also came to a standstill. With the royalties earned from the past two weeks, the council took the initiative to put together hampers for the 230 households in Orealla. “I average if they stretch it [a hamper], it should last them about two weeks.” Siparuta is said to have an average of 110 households and Peneux expressed the hope that the council would be able to prepare hampers for these families next week.
Despite the restrictions, the toshao remarked that illegal drug trade is still alive and well and while he doesn’t know from where exactly it originates, he believes that drugs are being brought into the village from the coast. Asked how it is possible for persons to do so, the man replied that it is said that persons are traversing the river at night. There are also rumours, he said, of a farm with marijuana that is situated somewhere along the river and that persons are coming to the village to ply this illegal business at nighttime. Although there is a police station in the village, there is only a corporal and two constables who are responsible for patrolling both Orealla and Siparuta villages. Several days ago, their all-terrain vehicle broke down and even patrolling just Orealla has become difficult. The presence of the Guyana Police Force in the two communities he said, is inadequate and is requesting that more officers be stationed in the two villages.
Just this week, a COVID-19 team was put together by the village council to adequately deal with the issues affecting the health, education, and economy of the communities. Public servants residing in the villages are being paid through the bank therefore have to take one of the boats transporting cash crops to be sold at the Corriverton Market to uplift their salaries and they can only return to the village and their work whenever the boat is ready. The health sector was said to be underequipped as there is only a doctor in the village and in many cases, persons have to seek medical attention on the coast. However, the village has a river ambulance and in cases of an emergency they can traverse the river without a pass.
Regarding persons receiving their pensions and public assistance, Peneux acknowledged that the relevant authorities went to his community a month ago to distribute these monies, a move he applauded, while adding that he hoped the same happens next month. Last month villagers received their pensions and public assistance for both April and May. “It was very helpful to the pensioners and we don’t want our pensioners to have to travel all these hours and to be exposed to this virus. We want them to continue doing this,” the grateful toshao said.
Worried about the safety of the villagers with regard to the coronavirus, the village council has decided that not more than seven persons at a time are allowed to travel out to the coast. They are expected to wear their masks at all times once they leave the village.
