Story and photos by Jannelle Williams
“In all of East Canje, from Sheet Anchor to New Forest, Goed Bananen Land is the best village to live in.” This is the sentiment of the village’s oldest resident, 94-year-old Harold Bissoo. Goed Bananen is Dutch for ‘good bananas’. Nestled between the villages of Adelphi and Betsy Ground, the tiny village was established on land that was originally a Dutch cemetery. With some 63 houses on the eastern section (the actually cemetery) called Sadom (‘Sad’) and 92 houses on the western half known as Goed Bananen, the village has a population of just over 300 residents.
When Sunday Stabroek visited the area, Bissoo was tending to chores in his yard, but took the time to sit and chat. He described the village as “alright and very nice; people not worrisome. We never get quarrel with anyone.” Bissoo recalled that when he was a child, the village was sparsely populated. “They didn’t have plenty people living here… but over time, people start working at the estate and estate tell people to take house lot, make house and live”
The elderly man, who has lived in Goed Bananen Land for the past 90 years, expressed the desire for his village to be preserved. “Nothing shouldn’t change, how me know it, it should stay the same. I never get any problem with nobody. Me walk this street, me say good morning, good afternoon, me gaff with me neighbours and me go home,” he said.
Most of the predominantly Indo-Guyanese population of Goed Bananen Land work at Guysuco’s Rose Hall Estate right in Canje. Bissoo worked his entire life there and his grandson Danny is now employed by the same corporation. When questioned as to why the villagers seem to be gravitating to the estate for jobs, Danny said, “I was thinking about working somewhere else, but nowhere else ain’t deh fuh work, so I end up there. I think that the case with most people.”
As Sunday Stabroek strolled through the quaint village, a few houses from Bissoo, Kawalpattie Dayaram was found breezing out in her hammock. Known to neighbours as Aunty Brahash, the woman said she moved to the village in 1982 and has not once regretted her decision. “I like banana land because it is very quiet, the environment is nice. It doesn’t have too much of houses.” Aunty Brahash identified the canefields as one of the main attractions in the village. “We have a playfield right in front my house; in the morning when you wake, you see the canes at the back of the ball field and you see the sun rise – it looks beautiful.”
There are no schools in the village. The Goed Bananen Land Nursery School was originally housed in the Canefield-Enterprise NDC building located in the village. However, almost two decades ago, the nursery school was relocated to another building in the neighbouring village of Betsy Ground, but its name Goed Bananen still remains.
Aside from the Canefield-Enterprise NDC, Goed Bananen Land is home to a health centre and the Rama Krishna Mandir – the only place of worship in the entire village.
While the villagers see Goed Bananen Land as a lovely place to live, according the Aunty Brahash the NDC should do more to enhance its environment and that of the village. “We get the ball field and it was fenced, but the ball field fence now deteriorating and needs to be fixed. Boys come from all over Canje to play cricket here. I get to understand Rohan Kanhai and Leonard Baichan played cricket here,” and so the ball field is a major attraction for young aspiring cricketers. During Sunday Stabroek’s visit to the village, members of the Goed Bananen Land, Reliance, Betsy Ground and Adelphi Cricket Clubs were seen practicing at the ground.
Another suggestion made by Aunty Brahash was for the NDC’s surrounding environments to be better kept. “The NDC shares a building with the health centre, and so sick people go there for treatment and when they do they should be greeted by a better, more welcoming environment,” she said. “It’s not to say that I want this and that, but to make banana land beautiful this area where the ball field is, where the NDC is, where the clinic is, we get a lot of visitors and we need this place here to be beautified.”
Fifty-eight-year-old Lynnette who was sweeping her yard and trying to keep her immediate environment picturesque when Sunday Stabroek passed by, said the village is “a good place; nothing much nah happen here” but highlighted the need for more jobs for the youths. “Estate can only employ so much; we need more employment in the area.”
Among the 5% of villagers who are not employed by the estate is Harripersaud, owner of L&N Harripersaud Grocery and Parlour, Beer Garden and Off License. There are also three small shops in the village, but Harripersaud’s Grocery takes care of the general needs of the villagers.
“I’m living here over 60 years and never thought about living anywhere else,” Harripersaud said, revealing that his family moved to the village when he was 4 years old. He noted that the village has seen lots of development, mostly at the hands of residents. “When I was younger, we had to roll up our pants when we wanted to go out to the main road, because all here was bush and mud. Car couldn’t come in at the back here. But now, I actually spent my own money to develop here. The village was developed by residents, the NDC don’t do much.”
Pointing to some of the developmental works done by his family in the village, Harripersaud said “the drain you see and the bridge and concrete drive way, I make myself, with my own money and the NDC don’t even want to repair it. I have a business at the back here so I had to do self-help, couldn’t wait on the NDC to fix the road and clear the drains, did it myself.” The businessman said his establishment is flourishing as he “gets folks from all over coming to shop here. Everything the residents need selling right here; we sell cooking gas everything. We sell about a 100 cases of beer every week!”
Meanwhile, 49-year-old Jagdeshwar was very hospitable, offering Sunday Stabroek a glass of fruit juice made from fruits grown right in his backyard. The man, who is a driver by profession, was enjoying a leaf of seven curry after tending to his many fruit trees and flower plants when we stopped in. “Life is good; Goed Bananen Land is like a piece of heaven on earth. Listen and hear how quiet it is,” he said. Beaming with pride, Jagdeshwar boasted of his crime-free village. “Canje has a stigma of being a hub for criminal activities, but even though we in the heart of Canje, nothing bad happens in this village. We have no crime!”
