Dear Editor,
I grew up playing and enjoying cricket on the beach. That is where the unofficial test matches were held and it is where we also learned to swim. The modern venues now have swimming pools. It is quite sad that these pastimes no longer are possible owing to environmental issues relating to climate change. The beaches are now used to grow mangrove trees so as to protect the residents from the threatening seas. The mangroves will become hosts to mosquitoes and crabs. While it is obvious that this is necessary, the joy that these beaches provided will be sadly missed.
Just imagine striking a soft ball on the beach which with Bolt-like speed on the thinly compacted sand stretching for more than five miles. We always had to have a bicycle around for relief when retrieving the ball on the beach. When we had tired of the sand and it was time for the tumbling waves to reign, there was more fun riding the waves and sea diving. The Henrietta seawall was a hive of activity and was a popular site for the residents to go and ‘chill.‘ It was where I had also learnt to switch-hit (turning around the bat from left to right) since hitting the ball over the wall was prohibited. The stroke has become popular with Kevin Pieterson and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Chanderpaul knows about beaches). Today the site is full of vegetation and it may now even be a hunting ground for criminal activity following the emergence of these huge trees. Several residents live just next to the seawall and in fact only recently a liquor restaurant was robbed.
I cannot think of another suitable venue for kids who love adventure and nature’s beauty. The Henrietta beach was a fantastic site for sports and even for earning a living, since the fishing boats were moored there after coming in with their catches of fish and shrimp. The memories are enormous as the beach will remain an indelible feature of many residents’ childhood recreational experience. In fact the space will also be remembered for the rare sights of whales, manatees and numerous unknown species of fish. A new chapter has now emerged and the kids will have to find other open areas to explore. This environmental change is occurring throughout the length of the Essequibo coast and sport will soon become extinct on the beaches.
Yours faithfully
Elroy Stephney
