Dear Editor,
Every human, I believe, has dreams of how they would like to enjoy their later years. This was certainly the case for 72 year old Lynda Gomes. The odds were certainly stacked against her at a fairly early age with having to find a way to provide for 6 children as a single parent. But she was not going to let those odds deter her. And so she dedicated over 30 years of her life to a career that she fell in love with – teaching. She worked her way up the ranks, with her zenith being Deputy Headmistress for the Santa Rosa Primary School, in Moruca, Region One. After retirement, she travelled to Georgetown, where she worked on a contractual basis for a Ministry of Education program called BEAMS and also worked at the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs on projects in the various Administrative Regions. In all of this, her dream had always been to return to her home village of Koko, in Moruca, Region One, where she planned to build a small, comfortable home on 1.5 acres of land she had inherited from her father many years before. Finally, four months ago, she decided to journey to her village to make her dream a reality. The land she inherited was one half of 3 acres, with the other 1.5 acres belonging to her brother Basil Gomes. When she returned to her land, she realized that over the years, villagers had developed a road which was directly through her land. The original road had become unpassable, so rather than repair, they started walking through her land, which eventually became the “new” road.
Having discovered this, and after numerous trips to the Toshao’s office, she eventually succeeded in having the boundary re-established. She also sought and eventually succeeded in getting permission from the village council to build a simple fence along her boundary line. Little did she know that this was going to be the beginning of a nightmare that she is still fighting to overcome.
Led by the village councillor of Koko, residents began to make her life a living hell. She has been verbally abused, threatened, and now lives in constant fear of what else to expect. Having erected a portion of the fence, villagers, again led by the infamous village councillor, proceeded to destroy the entire stretch of fence. They even stole part of the mesh she had gone to great lengths to acquire. Reports to the Acquero Police Station yielded no results, since she was told she needed to provide proof. With the election of a new Toshao, and village council, I am therefore calling for urgent remedial action to be taken to correct the injustice being meted out to this daughter of the soil. It is also my hope that this missive gets the attention of the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, and that she can mediate to solve this problem. Mention should be made that Ms. Gomes’ only means of realizing her dream of retiring modestly in her own home, is by using her pension. The fact that her fence was completely destroyed means that she now has to find additional cash to replace what was so callously destroyed. No person should be made to endure such treatment. Worse yet, to treat someone who has dedicated her life to teaching many of those who are now abusing her. Measurements do not lie. The entire land was originally 3 acres. It was divided in half. Basic common sense tells me that all that is needed is to ensure both sides measures 1.5 acres each, with the road separating the two sides. I sincerely hope that this is done as early as possible, so that this phenomenal woman gets the opportunity to enjoy her golden years.
Sincerely,
Andres Atkinson
