After land title -- Residents of Three Brothers have big development plans

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56528544
After land title…
Residents of Three Brothers have big development plans
By Nicosia Smith
Stabroek News, Monday, September 10th 2007

Michael Henry

It took over 70 years, but residents of Three Brothers Village in the
north west, now hold the title for the 120 square miles of land they
call home; and at the forefront of their development plan is expansion
in education, health care and agriculture.

Last November, three communities - Lower Waini, St John's and Kachikamo
- decided to apply for a land title under the name Three Brothers. This
decision came several decades after the area was settled. Last week, at
Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, chairmen of the Community Development
Committees (CDC) of St John's and Lower Waini, Basil Mendonca and
Michael Henry and Maria P D'Andrade of Kachikamo told the press about
the Three Brothers Village Community Development Plan 2007-2011.

For the past seven decades, residents of Three Brothers have had to
endure high illiteracy levels and limited earning opportunities; floods
and travelling 70-80 miles for freshwater during the dry season. Henry
explained that Three Brothers is a riverain community and its
population is scattered along the left bank of the Waini River. There
are about 78 residents in his Lower Waini community. This is a
reflection of the high migration of youths from the area as they leave
in search of employment opportunities. Henry said the area's main
economic activities are farming, hunting, fishing, crab catching,
manicole (heart of palm) harvesting and scouring the forest floor for
crabwood oil seeds.

He said the rising water levels in the river pose a flooding threat and
to counteract this, higher dams need to be built. Though manual labour
is the core of the community's survival, Henry said, it needs a machine
to build the dams. The communities are seeking assistance from the
government or from non-governmental organizations, to build the dams
around the areas where the school and health centres will be located
and to provide protection for their agricultural lands. They are also
in need of a pump to facilitate drainage and irrigation.

Obtaining fresh water during the dry spells, which can last for several
months or year-round, is a tremendous burden. This year, the dry season
began in February and ended in June. During this period the villagers
have to travel as far as Mabaruma, some four hours away, for
freshwater. This trip is made fortnightly, at the same time that they
take goods for sale to the community.

Stabroek News understands that there is drilling equipment in Region
One that can be used to dig wells at Three Brothers to ease this
hardship.

The plan also has an area outlined for the wells, to allow for maximum
usage. It remains unclear what plans the Guyana Water Incorporated may
have for the residents of Three Brothers.

D'Andrade told the press that Kachikamo needs a school and a health
centre, since the area has never had a school even though the village
asked for the institution 20 years ago. The woman, now a grandmother,
says she cannot send her grandchildren to school as the nearest one is
four hours away by boat. D'Andrade said the rough waters pose a danger
to the children and there are also lagoons to cross during the journey.
Kachikamo now has a population of 135.

Co-founder of the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS)
Annette Arjoon, who has led numerous GMTCS-related activities in the
Waini area, commended the villagers' co-operation, which has allowed
them to obtain the land title in a short time. On Wednesday, President
Bharrat Jagdeo handed over the titles to Three Brothers and five other
indigenous communities. GMTCS hosted a luncheon at the Pegasus for the
Three Brothers Village leaders to celebrate the achievement.

Arjoon, under GMTCS, last April launched North West Organics (NWO),
where products such as casareep, crabwood oil and soap, cassava bread
and salted morucut are purchased in bulk from Region One and packaged
by GMTCS for domestic and export markets. Arjoon told the press that
their export market has, so far, outstripped their production capacity.

Through assistance from the German Development Bank (GDB), the GMTCS
was able to secure markets in Germany and Canada for some of its
products. The bank has also funded a fully-furnished multi-purpose
building in St John's, valued at $12M, which serves as the headquarters
for the Three Brothers Village council. The Lower Waini has also
benefited from GDB funds. It funded a US$53,000 fully-equipped,
including solar energy, food processing facility, along with a boat and
engine for the community. Arjoon said that the facility "can pass any
sanitary test."

GDB support has also helped to improve the Region One communities'
capacity to fill orders for the GMTCS. For example, Kachikamo has
received assistance from the GDB to obtain a mechanical grater and last
week St John got a donation of $144,123 from an overseas-based
businessman, to purchase a mechanical cassava grater. Arjoon said the
businessman saw products with the NWO logo in Miami and wanted to
support the communities. The businessman asked to remain anonymous.

To begin working on their plan the village will soon elect a village
council, Mendonca said. The plan, developed by People's Progressive
Party Parliamentarian Norman Whittaker, calls for the monitoring of the
natural resources by the village council and for the development of a
management and land use plan by the council. This land use plan will
clearly designate areas for farming and housing. It also includes
agricultural diversification, for example, using corn to make corn
flour, processing and bottling cassreep, processing crabwood seeds to
make oil and soap, and preserving fruits such as cherries and guava. In
addition, youths will be trained at the Guyana School of Agriculture,
in crops, livestock, forestry and management, to allow them to access
better job opportunities. The plan also includes the establishment of
basic health facilities staffed by qualified health workers. Currently,
the Lower Waini CDC chairman is the health worker in his community.

he