Waini residents plot future following land acquisition …access to fresh water cited as significant hindrance

Waini residents plot future following land acquisition
…access to fresh water cited as significant hindrance
Kaieteur News, 7 September 2007
Residents of Three Brothers in the Waini, one day after receiving their
land titles, were the recipients of a generous gesture by an
overseas-based Guyanese who preferred to remain anonymous.

The businessman donated in excess of $144,000 towards the purchase of a
cassava disintegrator that would double production of the cassava
products coming out of the region.

Kaieteur News understands that the man observed the progress that the
community has been adopting under the Northwest Organics product line,
which markets its products in North American supermarkets.

Three Brothers district represents the coming together of three
communities, St John's , Kachikamo and the Lower Waini . The community
also created history with the receipt of land titles given that the
residents had only applied in November of last year.

This newspaper understands that the entrepreneurship of the residents
is what caused the administration to look favourably on their
application.

THE FUTURE

The district's representatives, Maria D'Andrade (Kachikamo), Basil
Mendonca ( St John's ) and Michael Henry ( Lower Waini ), yesterday,
sat with media operatives and highlighted their plans for the community
now that the residents have been recognized as the landowners.

They noted that the first pressing issue would be the formation of a
district consulate that would form the administration of ‘Three
Brothers' and would be housed at St John's .

Critical on the agenda of the consulate would be the lobbying for the
construction of a school given that education delivery is virtually
non-existent in the region.

There is one primary school located in the Lower Waini that caters for
16 pupils of the hundreds that live in the district.

Because of the vastness of the region, the residents of the other two
villages cannot access the small primary school. Further, the residents
of the Kachikamo village have lived through generations of illiteracy
with literally no access to schools.

As it relates to agriculture in the district, the consulate will seek
to assist farmers to provide adequate drainage for their farms by
seeking to acquire the necessary machinery to improve drainage and
irrigation capacity.

The group also informed media operatives that also on the consulate's
agenda are the creation of value added products, with the
implementation of a forest management plan that would see the
construction of a crabwood oil and soap production facility.

A significant hindrance to any of the plans that the consulate would
attempt to implement would be access to fresh water.

The community representatives told media operatives that during the dry
seasons of the year, access to fresh water proves to be a significant
milestone given that at times they would have to travel as much as 70
miles to Hosororo and traverse hostile terrain to return water back to
their villages.

They noted that the consulate would immediately attempt to have the
government install wells in the district to alleviate the situation.