The Chester residence remains a stark reminder of what Buxton once was

Aug 09, 2009 News

---

By Dale Andrews

 

 

Last week I was running through some files in the Kaieteur News Editorial department when a news item caught my eye. It appeared as if only recently I had done the story. The news item was the burning of the house of the Chester family on Brusche Dam and yes, really that was a long time ago.

In fact, last Friday marked seven years since that incident which was the real catalyst for what transformed the once militant but peaceful village of Buxton into a terror block that was on the lips of almost every Guyanese, both at home and abroad.

So much had transpired since then, people were killed, others fled their homes and those who ventured into the village told stories of entering a militarised zone with gunmen actually escorting you to your destination.

Today the village has lost that aura of terror but it will take a while before all things can be called normal.

On August 7, 2002, around 01:30 hours, I was fast asleep with my family two miles from Buxton. I recalled waking up desperate for a drink of water. I had to go into the kitchen, which is situated to the western side of my house and could not help noticing through one of the windows that the sky was bright in the distance.

My instinct told me that the brightness of the skies was being cause by a fire.

During that time my wife was very skeptical of me leaving the house at those hours so I dismissed investigating, knowing fully well that if I knew what was happening, I would have been persuaded to cover it. I went back to bed and it was not until day clean that I received the telephone call.

I jumped into my car and headed for Buxton.

The burnt out buildings were not too far from the Railway Embankment so I immediately located the scene. Walking towards the scene I saw a woman sitting on a bench hugging a small child. She turned out to be Edris Chester, the matriarch of the Chester family who had been the victim of one of the most shocking tragedies in the village.

Edris Chester lived on Brusche Dam with her family in two houses. She was a community leader in the village, an outspoken villager who did not condone wrong, so much so that it almost cost her her life, as well as those of some of her children and grandchildren.

I had heard that she was very outspoken against those who were criminally minded in her village and surrounding communities.

In fact, she felt that it was her duty since most of the young men who were criminally inclined had grown up around her.

Her children played with them and like all village homes where large families resided, hers was like a magnet for many. But the signs of things to come began to appear as early as April that year when gunmen opened fire on her son, Brian. Luckily, he managed to escape with minor injuries. But undaunted Mrs. Chester continued to speak to the young men, urging them to turn away from the path they had chosen.

I was told that there were also warnings that her house would be torched but she did not pay it much heed, probably refusing to believe that one who was a mother to so many would become the target of a few of the misguided.

Then the warnings increased and unknown to anyone, Mrs. Chester began sleeping away from her home.

But like all homeowners, she was uncomfortable and returned to her Brusche Dam residence, resigning herself to whatever fate would befall her and her family.

Yesterday, when I spoke with her she was reluctant to recall the incident and while she indicated that she was not opposed to me writing about it, she insisted that she did not need the spotlight to be focused on her again.

After all, she and her family have moved on with their lives, although it is nothing compared to what they were accustomed to.

On the morning of August 7, 2002, Mrs. Chester and one of her daughters had just completed some upholstery work and had retired to bed when it all began to happen.

That morning she told me that she had got up and found her kitchen cupboard on fire. Another daughter who occupied another house in the yard had seen the fire and was already trying to make efforts to extinguish it.

But what they did not know was that several gunmen had already surrounded their yard and just then the first gunshot rang out.

I recalled writing in my first report of that incident seven years ago that some of the gunmen had concealed themselves in a nearby genip tree. Pandemonium broke out. Mrs. Chester’s first reaction was to flee the burning house. But as she was leaving she suddenly remembered that she had left her grandson sleeping in one of the bedrooms so she ran back upstairs to collect him.

But as she tried to flee the house again, several gunshots rang out. It was as if the gunmen wanted to keep her inside the burning building so that she would succumb to a fiery death.

Mrs. Chester waited and waited for a chance to escape even as the blaze in the house got bigger and bigger.

But when the heat became overbearing she decided that it was time to flee.

After a while, holding her four year old grandson through one of the windows in the upper flat, she dropped him into the yard, knowing fully well that he could be severely hurt, but that was preferable to the certain death that would have occurred if she did not make that decision.

Finally she too jumped through the window and landed on the ground several feet below. She was relieved to know that her grandson was still alive and well. The gunshots still rang out and the elderly woman managed to crawl along the ground with her grandson until they reached a fence and could go no more.

She recalled hearing one of the gunmen saying, ‘Leh we damage everything’. Even two cars that were in the yard were set ablaze.

Shots were even fired at her daughter who fell to the ground as if she was hit.

That morning, Mrs. Chester had told this newspaper that she thought that her daughter was dead.

Her son managed to escape from the yard and run to a party of soldiers who were in the village effecting repair works to several roads that were dug up by angry residents. But according to the family, their pleas for help from the soldiers were met with the response, “We have to wait on instructions”.

During this time Mrs. Chester managed to secrete herself into a drain and covered her body with some freshly cut grass to avoid being seen by the gunmen.

Maybe those responsible thought that their mission was successfully accomplished and they eventually left the scene.

Mrs. Chester remained in her hiding place for almost two hours until she heard the voices of persons who she was convinced were soldiers.

The other victims had by that time sought refuge at a neighbour. When daylight came she was able to survey the damage that was done to her home which she had occupied for almost all her adult life. The terror was underscored by the fact that she got no help from the army. The Chesters realised that they were no longer safe in the village.

The entire family was scattered, some as far as Linden to escape the wrath of those who were trying to kill them.

Over the years several of the persons responsible have been killed and although some of the family members have returned to the area, the spot where their homes once stood remains a barren piece of land.

---

---