Land of Canaan

Story and photos by Gaulbert Sutherland

There’s Egypt in the Land of Canaan.

“I does come here and chill…is like I living here cos I like it,” said a Canaanite (if they may be called that) lounging on a stand under a tree with her friends, their voices loud over the noise of their chattering children playing on the dusty, potholed road.

The streets in Egypt, Land of Canaan may be dusty, potholed and nothing much to boast about but bars, barbers and boom-boxes

make the main street lively on a Friday afternoon. Children run barefoot in the streets following a truck packed with music boxes while one of the women jumps from the stand and dances crazily on the road.

Egypt is just a small part of Land of Canaan, the community on the East Bank of Demerara best known for having the five-door sluice which drains water from the East Demerara Water Conservancy into the Demerara River. Egypt began as a squatting area and residents worked to have it regularized and it now has lights, running water and the still-bad roads that are being worked on.

The Egyptians like their portion of Land of Canaan. “This village is the best village,” said Candace Edwards. There are no robberies in the community, she said. “You could sleep with the window open.” It appears to be a commonly-held view that crime in the sprawling community is minimal. Never mind the “kick in the back door” remark by one of the women referring to the raunchy song.

The young are gainfully employed, residents said. Job opportunities in Land of Canaan include the timber company Barama, Gafoors manufacturing complex, a bakery, a guest house, F&T designs, a cement bagging plant, a gas station and many persons boast skills such as carpentry and masonry which are needed as new houses are being built. Land of Canaan is clusters of homes interspersed by thick bushes, some of which are being cleared.

Danwantee Paul has lived in Land of Canaan since she was 11. She and her mother visited an aunt there regularly. One day, she said: “I left with she and I married right this side.” At the time, the area was surrounded by cane fields. Now, 46-years of marriage and six children later, the love between her and her husband Albert Paul still shows. “That’s a good something. Married all these years without leaving one another for a single day,” Albert said.

Danwantee is a housewife and her husband is a pensioner. They operate a little shop to supplement his pension. There are many such shops in Land of Canaan. At every turn and at every corner, it seems, there is one. The Pauls are content in the community. “So far we deh real quiet around this area here. We living around here like family,” she said.

Not so content was a resident who declined to give his name due to what he said was the fear of victimisation because of his outspokenness on issues in the community. He said that drainage is very poor and the back street in the Sugar Industry Welfare Scheme, built less than five years ago when a minister’s daughter was getting married, is already deteriorating.

The man moved to the area in 1980 when there were only six houses in the scheme. “This is one of the forgotten areas,” he said.

According to the resident, former prime minister Dr Ptolemy Reid had called the place ‘Tarzanville’ due to the state it was in at the time. There were no proper roads, lights or running water. Dr Reid assisted them with the drainage. “He was very helpful, drainage-wise,” the resident said. Now, the Cadral Koker which drains the scheme and surrounding areas is blocked by thick bushes. “We pay rates and taxes but what we get for it? Nothing in return,” the man said. He said that there is no development of a playfield for the kids of the area due to “poli-tricks”.

Otherwise, he said, Land of Canaan is a “lovely village” with not much crime. “Most of the young people in here occupied doing something for themselves,” he said, adding that many have trades such as carpentry and masonry and others work with private people. He noted that the scheme was intended for sugar workers but many have sold their lots.

At her snackette, close to the cement bagging plant and scrap-metal yard, Onicka Cunningham said: “We’re into food.” She sells to the workers of the plant. She related that there are no schools in the community so the children attend schools in nearby communities. There is a mandir, a mosque and a church in the village, she said. There are no health centres.

Clair Paton said that the community is in dire need of a playground because the children play on the road and sometimes break windows during their games. She said that Egypt was probably called Egypt because, at first, it was a squatting area but now it has been regularised. It has been re-named Higginsville after the resident, Carlotta Higgins, who was the representative for them during talks with the Central Housing and Planning Authority, she said. But many persons just call it Egypt.

Further along, Joseph Narine, 67, makes birdcages for a living. Originally from the North-West District, he said, he came to farm but the drainage was not good and he has been living in the community for over ten years now. His sister deals in wildlife, he said.

Land of Canaan is the location for the five-door sluice which is crucial for draining water from the East Demerara Water Conservancy into the Demerara River. A plaque on the bridge informs that the enterprise was financed jointly by the EDWC Board and the government of British Guiana. The sluice is capable of discharging 2000 cusecs at an operating level of 57.0 GD at all stages of the tide, the inscription informs. The contractor was Taylor Woodrow (Overseas) Ltd of London.

“Everything going smooth so far,” said Joel Collette, 45, who was relaxing on the bridge with an elderly companion who glanced around suspiciously.  Collette said he was born and grew up in the community. In Land of Canaan, housing schemes are going up and the bushes are being cut down. An excavator operator last week was badly stung by bees as he cleared the land.

Egypt appears to be the liveliest part of Land of Canaan. A truck loaded with music boxes, the DJ shouting loudly, passes. And the children and one big woman dash after it and begin to dance. That’s how life goes in Land of Canaan, it seems.