On hearing of instances of tuberculosis in a remote, struggling community of indigenous people, the reporter travelled to Tobago Hill where he found the real story of his trip.
Tobago Hill is a relatively new settlement in the north west, five years old, the result of the encroachment of the Aruka and Barima rivers on their previous grounds. Amid the beauty of its natural surroundings it is also a scene of abject poverty, deprivation and squalor.
Were it not for NGOs and a religious organization it would have been in far worse shape. There were several cases of suspected tuberculosis which the toshao Mr Edmond Santiago said that the residents had complained of. Residents of the community were also reporting gastro-like illnesses, vomiting and diarrhoea usually associated with unclean water supplies and a one-year-old had succumbed at the Mabaruma Hospital from these symptoms.
Almost all of the 32 households there had someone being treated for TB and though a health worker had visited the area the residents had not been showing up at the hospital in the area. Those affected clearly needed Directly Observed Treatment, Short course as opposed to being invited to the hospital.
The larger picture was one of neglect and abandonment as opined by visitors to the community one of whom told the reporter that the residents appeared to be “on their own”. There are two water tanks in the area and the majority of families patently exist below the poverty line. While engaged in farming and crab-catching there appeared to be no hope for development in this community marooned as it were from the centres of authority in Region One.
Remote communities like Tobago Hill stand as immovable ripostes to both the government’s boasts and lavish plans. It also exposes the starkness of the collapsed local government system which has exiled places like this community to nothingness.
Presumably the money earmarked from Norway’s first-year tranche will trickle down to Tobago Hill and give it the clean water supply that it so desperately needs. Presumably this money will give it some real connection with the rest of Region One and hope for the future.
Still, why is it that Food for the Poor and the New Testament Church of God were required to provide basic facilities for this deprived community? Didn’t its toshao’s pleas impact the pretentious gatherings in Georgetown of the toshaos? Didn’t the head of the council Mrs Yvonne Pearson hear of their cries for help? Or is it the case that our leaders don’t have a problem with the paternalistic patronizing of these communities with handouts and the blandishments of very crude living?
Obviously the toshaos council and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs cannot reach every single besieged outpost but it seemed during the visit of the reporter that there hadn’t been any interest shown by either of the two in Tobago Hill.
On the grounds of poverty alone, each and every community in Tobago Hill would be immediately eligible for one of President Jagdeo’s laptops. Such presentations, however, would be foolhardy and wasteful. What could they do with a laptop? Let’s not wait for the pilot project for this initiative, Mr President. Give the people of Tobago Hill a safe and secure water supply. Give them real access to all of the basic facilities that they need just to survive. The laptops will come later.
Following the publication of the news item on November 6 a GINA press release reported Minister in the Ministry of Health, Dr Bheri Ramsaran as saying that some months ago, President Jagdeo had instructed him to pay special attention to the community of Tobago Hill after it was noticed that the village had experienced some “difficulty”. Since then, the Minister said that the Health Ministry has sent in teams to investigate the public health status of the community in an effort to address the needs of the community. Residents did not report this to SN and the GINA release seemed devised to do damage control. After all, the northwest is an important constituency for the government and pockets of misery like that at Tobago Hill will reflect poorly on it.
Tobago Hill is unfortunately just one of many small, underserved and neglected communities scattered in all parts of the country that are suddenly and fleetingly in the glare because of a media visit. Too often, as quickly as the glare erupts, the flickering light of hope is extinguished. We shall do our best to ensure that it remains in focus. It is also time that the government provides information on poverty mapping and the dormant Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme.
While completely unrelated, it is apt to note that at a symposium last week in Washington, the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Albert Ramdin, acknowledged that there are still significant challenges to the rights of indigenous peoples of the Americas that must be overcome.
He pointed out that despite several recent advances in terms of land rights, challenges for Indigenous groups remain. “Extreme situations, including contemporary forms of slavery, continue to exist in the hemisphere. The OAS Commission on Human Rights just last year published a report on the situation of captive communities, 600 families of indigenous peoples who were subjected to conditions of debt and bondage in one country”, he pointed out.
Tobago Hill is an extreme situation that should be relieved as soon as possible by the government.
