-Verama Basdeo hopeful of moving to De Kinderen lot
Verama Basdeo, 42, of the Parika Sea Dam , East Bank Essequibo, was busy in her tiny makeshift kitchen preparing halloca (ayaka), a Venezuelan dish that her customers had ordered.
This dish, which is popular at Christmastime, is wrapped in banana leaf, similar to conkie but has a meat filling. Her husband, Richard Moreno was helping to cut up the meat.
Verma, a Guyanese who returned from Venezuela to start a life here, was happy that she eventually got her house lot during the building expo in 2023.
Ever since, she and her husband have been trying desperately to save the money to begin constructing their new home.
She plans that after the holidays she would start “doing some work on the land.”
Like Verama, there are many other people from various areas who have received titles for their house lots but cannot afford to build.
As for the sea dam area, most of the residents are struggling and are finding it difficult to live in such harsh conditions; without basic necessities.
They were not as lucky as Verama to receive their house lots as yet though, and even if they did, they would also need “support from the government to build and relocate.”
Minister of Housing & Water, Colin Croal and a team had visited the area in March 2023 following an article in Stabroek News on December 25th 2022 that highlighted the condition in which the residents were living in.
He had advised the squatters on how they could find suitable housing and encouraged them to do the right thing and apply for their house lots.
Croal had reiterated that the sea dam and river defences are critical pieces of infrastructure that should be made easily accessible to regulatory agencies.
“This is not an isolated situation, squatting is an issue we must address and it’s being addressed across the country… So we are encouraging you to work with us as we address this issue.”
The minister had said too that no new instance of squatting will be encouraged, as continuous monitoring will be done in communities to discourage this activity.
Other residents who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that when the Minister visited, he promised everyone that he would identify an area for them to relocate to. No one from the Ministry visited the area to update them about that.
Humble kitchen
Verama took us in her humble kitchen to show us the hallaca as well as some pan de jamon (a Venezuelan holiday bread), she had already prepared to fulfill another order.
When we visited Verama two years ago, her rundown shack badly needed repairing. She also wanted to use her cooking talents to start a business, selling arepas, empanadas, pastelitos and other Venezuelan food.
It required a lot of money to purchase the food cart and fix it and to acquire other items to get started and she could not afford it.
It happened that a kindhearted US-based Guyanese, Deon Douglas saw Verama’s story and knew she had potential.
Deon and her family decided to send the money to renovate the house and helped her to set up the snackette at the Parika junction.
Verama is still running the business and said it has slowly started to pick up.
With no electricity, water and good roads and suffering from constant flooding during the spring tide and the inclement weather, life in the sea dam is tough.
Verama acknowledged that the area “is not for people live… this is the government reserve… And I hope everyone who gets their house lot can move and build and live properly.”
She said too: “Where we are going to done get currant, it done get water everything, road making… So I want to live a nice life… In the meantime I’m staying here till I build something nice.”
She was not ashamed to say that she would accept any help she can get to build so she “can move more fast.”
Happy with the way her life has started to change, she said, “I feel so pleased and I thank God for everything. As long as you have health and strength you can work…. That is the main thing, to work and develop in life and live properly.”
She is aware that if the government wants to do any developmental work, the residents can be forcibly removed from the reserve.
She lamented that she only moved to the area because she had nowhere else to go.
When she first re-migrated to this country, she started renting an apartment but the condition was very bad and she “had to pay high rent.”
In spite of the flooding, she is making the most of the yard space and plants cassava, eschallot, bandanya, bora, sorrel, sugarcane, passion fruit, papaya, lemon, lime, cashew and other fruits and vegetables.
Her house lot is located at De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara and she is excited to move there because “it is a corner plot and I would have enough space to do a lot of planting there.”
Not only that, she also plans to open a little restaurant and a shop there and is confident that she would do well as the area would become populated.
When she moved to the depressed community about four years ago, she joined over 40 other squatters. Some of them have been living there for almost 40 years.
The residents are not supposed to squat there and as such, they will never benefit from good infrastructure.
Ramesh Takah
After the Minister’s visit, Ramesh Takah, 46, was among some of the residents who took their applications to the housing department.
The Central Housing & Planning Authority (CH&PA), informed him via a letter that he qualified for a low income house lot.
It also stated that the CH&PA “will communicate with you, at a later date, the area available for allocation and the cost for the land.”
He was waiting to hear from the housing department, but now he plans to go in “after the holidays to find out…”
He does not want to continue living in the sea dam forever and wants to start building, “even if it is something small. We glad to move from here because the condition is very bad.”
Ramesh, who earns his living by guarding boats when they dock on the beach near his home, lamented: “When the spring tide raise, the yard does flood out. Plus we have some neighbours minding pigs and it smells very bad…”
The last time we visited, Ramesh, who is diabetic, had just gotten his toes amputated.
He had injured the second toe on his right foot while trying to dig a drain to release floodwaters in his yard.
The amputation of his toes was as a result of his wounds not being healed due to his uncontrolled diabetes.
It had also caused him to lose vision in his left eye and he was seeking treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The GPHC recommended that he travel to Suriname to correct his vision. The government paid half of the cost and he had to raise the other half of the payment.
He was stressed out because he still had to find money for food and accommodation. His worries were soon over when US-based Guyanese Davina contacted him and offered to offset his expenses.
He had also gotten help from other US-based Guyanese, Anand from Anand & Tara Foundation, Barbara Singh and Karen Prince. He was extremely thankful for the help and support he received.
Ramesh was supposed to return to Suriname for a post-surgery check up at no cost, but when he called, the doctor was on leave.
He ended up not going back because he “did not have any problem with the eye. I’m happy that every morning when I wake up, I can see my wife and my children.”
Now that his toes are healed and his vision has been restored, Ramesh is not having such a hard time controlling his diabetes.
Another resident, Amanda Jones, 62, who was struggling to take care of her foster daughter, now 13, and her five grandchildren was desperately trying to find a place to move.
She has since built a shack on the reserve at Ruby Backdam, EBB, and moved with the children.
She plants cassava, peppers and other produce to sell and does not have to worry about flooding.
Meanwhile, some of the residents have gotten so comfortable living on the sea dam that they are reluctant to move.
They also want to remain there because jobs are easily available on the boats that dock nearby.
