Dear Editor,
I am saddened to learn of the passing of Mr Paul Edward (Eddie) Fredericks on February 18, 2015. I feel very fortunate to have met him briefly only six months ago, and in one short visit he passed on a lifetime of wisdom.
Mr Fredericks was a native Buxtonian, and joined the sugar industry in 1960. Trained as a lawyer, he became the Executive Director of the Sugar Producers Association in 1966.
This was a crucial time in our history, as he reminded me, a time when industry and the social welfare of community were deeply entwined. It was also, as he stated, a time when expatriate senior managers were leaving Guyana’s sugar estates in droves, and Guyanese were stepping up to take their place (decolonization in practice). After playing a role in facilitating this transition, he left the sugar industry in 1971 (and went on to other leadership roles, including Justice of the Peace, Board Member of Demerara Mutual Life Assurance, The Netherlands’ Honorary Consul General in Guyana, among others). Over four decades later, however, he could still give me statistics off the top of his head: tons of sugar produced in 1960 (334,000), the number of expat managers v Guyanese staff in 1965 (260 v 150), the percentage of Indians living in Buxton when he was a growing up (30%); the miles of drainage canals dug by enslaved Africans (5000).
The latter point was important, he told me, because Guyana was the most efficient sugar producer, since its cane did not travel by road but by punts. He was an insightful man.
He was also a humble man, with an eye to “championing the man below.” He painted a vivid picture of aging cane-cutters, with arched backs from years of cutting & loading. He also made sure I wrote in my notebook that all across the Caribbean, it was the working people who were the conduit to independence. Not surprisingly then, when I asked Mr Fredericks why he never chose to migrate, he said: “I am a Caribbean man.”
He has given much in service to Guyana, and by extension the region. I feel blessed to have met him. But having met him, I also know there is an immense loss to Guyanese society – of kindness, of history, and of guidance – in his passing.
Yours faithfully,
Nalini Mohabir