THE CURSE OF BEING FIRST – The plight of the “First Village” in Guyana

Jul 05, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

On the 7th November 1839, a number of freed slaves, banded themselves together and purchased a plot of land – Plantation Northbrook – measuring 130 rods wide and seven (7) miles deep. Those industrious unschooled men and women, who were schooled in the school of ‘hard knocks’ had a vision for their future and set about bringing it to reality.

What is remarkable of this event in 1839, is that this parcel of land, bought by these recently freed men and women, represented the first private purchase of ANY LAND, anywhere in the Western world, by freed slaves. Today that piece of land bears the Monika “VICTORIA VILLAGE’ on the East Coast of Demerara in Guyana.

What is remarkable about this so called “FIRST VILLAGE” I submit, is that it suffers from the “CURSE OF BEING FIRST”. Victoria Village is arguably the most written about village in the entire country of GUYANA. Almost every year as ‘Emancipation Day” rolls around, there is an article in some one of the daily papers, singing the virtues and achievements of our ancestors in having purchased this piece of ground. I continue to add my voice in applauding the achievement of my ancestors. I am extremely proud of them. WHAT I AM NOT SO PROUD OF TODAY IS WHERE THEIR DESCENDANTS ARE. Victoria is arguably – “THE MOST NEGLECTED VILLAGE IN GUYANA”.

Over the years, my ancestors established Victoria as being one of the most productive agricultural villages in the country and along the East Coast of Demerara, it was certainly part of the “Bread Basket” of the region. The village established the first Agricultural Fair to be held in the colony of British Guiana. We helped in producing the foundation documents that formed the basis for Local Government in Guyana. We helped to organise what became known as the “INDABA’ or Village conversation in the village that culminated in the National Parliament recognising the contribution of Victoria to the national conversation and brought about the established – Parliament approved – NATIONAL DAY OF VILLAGES – which is currently celebrated annually on November 7 each year.

Quite a list of achievements you may say, but alas this list belies the reality of Victoria today. In the last twenty-five years, successive governments in Guyana have used the village as great photo opportunities, but have FAILED MISERABLY in advancing the fortunes of this village community. In what became known as the “GREAT FLOOD of 2005”, Victoria was under water for over a month, with no government intervention until an article was written and published in the national and international press highlighting the village’s plight. In spite of this, the village ended up getting the short end of the stick, because the frustration of the villagers manifested itself in their unacceptable bad behaviour. As a result of this “bad behaviour”, all the villages and hamlets around Victoria benefited from relief supplies much to the chagrin of Victorians, but we did not.

Victoria is a “VERY RELIGIOUS VILLAGE”; alas though we profess to be “CHRISTIAN”, we are not. We are only religious and religion has NEVER saved anyone. Our hope should be in CHRIST. Our ancestors, unschooled though they were, were some of the most educated people in 1839 Guyana. They set aside land in the village for three things which should have been the pillars for our development: Church, School and Farms. Today each of the pillars is in dire need of repair. Persons in our community have neglected the church, the schools and the farms.

As the Bible reminds us – “Where there is no vision, the people perish” Proverbs 29:18. Our ancestors had vision, their descendants have derailed that vision and brought us to where we are today. WHAT WENT WRONG?
I would submit that what went wrong can be summed up in the effective operational National Current of Guyana. ‘ALL DOLLARS ($) AND NO SENSE (cents)’.

We are focused only on money and as such, as the Bible again warns us – “The love of money is the root of ALL evil” 1 Timothy 6:10. It is time to do some deep soul searching as to where we are and where we desire to go. As I write this article, my mind is plagued by a quotation from Jack Nicholson in the film “An Officer and a Gentleman” in which he responds to a request to tell the truth and he says “YOU CANNOT HANDLE THE TRUTH”.

Maybe that is reflective of what will result from those who read this piece.
Today, I lament the curse under which Victoria finds itself.

What is even worse is that we have been blessed with many visionless political leaders [local and national] who are desirous of being in the limelight or spotlight, but have no idea or plans that they can verbalise as to how they wish to see the village develop. Square pegs in round holes.

We are also blessed with a cadre of village youth who are intensely engaged in smoking dope, carrying fowl cocks under their arms for fowl fights, gambling and a plethora of deaf taxi drivers whose loud and lewd music only serve to corrupt the morals of our youth. While at the same time, the unemployed youth and others continue to steal the produce of the few farmers who struggle against all odds to maintain some agricultural production in the community. What is most disastrous is that a saying that I heard as a child seems very apt today. My mother used to say that during the days of slavery, when ‘Massa’ wanted to keep a secret from the slaves, they wrote it in books. Today we are still there.

Victoria has been failed by successive governments over the last twenty-five years. This Village has three urgent and vital needs among a long list of others; which successive governments have ignored, even though they have all been made aware. This village does not have a proper primary school.

The current one has no space for children to play, it has poor educational facilities and should be condemned as a place for learning. There is a dire need for a ‘Farm to Market’ road and last but by no means least, there is the need for a tarmac area where the multitude of taxis that clutter the corner of the main road can park. There have been repeated “near misses” with disaster at the ‘Four Corner’ from which only the “Grace of God” has protected us.

We are arguably one of the most populated villages in the country, we pay a lot of direct and indirect taxes, yet we are one of the most neglected villages in Guyana.
The three needs that have been identified as urgent above have been made known to successive governments, without any action. The tarmac was designed, costed and submitted to each of the previous two ministers of Works and Communication with NO result.

The previous ministers of Agriculture have been made aware of the need for the ‘Farm to Market’ road, NO results; the ministers have been engaged about the need for the school, still NO results. To ALL our political leaders, I wish to remind them of the biblical quotation – 2 Samuel 23:3 – “He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God”.

Our needs have been made known for years (over the last 25 years), yet in that same time, we have seen other community developments where Farm to Market roads have been built in other communities, tarmacs have been installed in other communities and primary schools have been built in other communities, BUT WE HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED AND IGNORED.

I can only conclude that we are suffering from the CURSE of being FIRST. What is ironic is that from a biblical perspective, the first-born is a position of blessing; however, in the hands of mankind, blessings have become CURSES. I hope and trust that this little exposé will cause those who have the power of change at their disposal to be motivated to be JUST.

Desmond Saul

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