Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 11, 2019 News
By Alex Wayne
As I can recall, Timehri was by far the most beautiful location I have encountered in all my village focus treks, but I have to admit, no other location seems to be able to match the serenity and humbled existence of Land of Canaan.
As I arrived in this village I was greatly impressed by the quiet and almost pure atmosphere, coupled with starry eyes smiles of little children darting about in the alleys and byways. The village was very quiet and I gazed with great yearning, at young men lounging under trees in hammocks, obviously dozing in contentment, fanned by waves of refreshing, pure country breeze.
This spectacle startling reminded me of how overworked I was, and the fact that I was not slowing down for some leisure time activities.
I smiled in amusement at neighbours chatting in the streets, ever so often, peals of laughter rent the stillness of the air. This village had a somewhat demure simplicity that pulled at my heartstrings. It made me reminisce on my childhood days growing up in the countryside, where the beauty of Mother Nature left quite an impact on anyone, who visited the impressive countryside locations.
The only thing that occasionally disturbed the peace and quiet of this village was the sudden roar of sand trucks as they sped on their ‘sand trekking’ exploits to and from Timehri and the dusty dunes of the Soesdyke, Linden Highway.
Land of Canaan Is located in Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica), some 14 miles (or 23 km) south of the city of Georgetown.
In some parts of the village there hardly seems to be anyone in the streets save for just a few who were huddled under umbrellas as they awaited vehicular transportation, or the few that were grabbing a light snack at one of the many fast food stalls in the village.
Land of Canaan in de days of ole
Land of Canaan presently is the total opposite of what it was in years gone by. Today there are posh houses and businesses, and avenues for sport and recreation. The village has taken on a much modern aura with the introduction of a few stylish houses, and the village can be no longer remembered as the land of scattered thatched roof huts and bushy open pastures.
Making the comparisons was village elder Eugenea Simpson who with a contented smile plunged into a tale that saw a girlish smile tugging at her mouth corners.
“I could remember my days as a young girl how we would run almost butt naked in dem bushy pastures, with our hair flying. When the rain came down we would splash and play in the muddy waters. But many times our mothers came after us with tamarind whips and there goes all the fun.
“Then in the afternoon we would go down to the two standpipes in the village, and many time fights broke out over whose turn it was to draw water.
“ As young girls or boys clash in battle, a large crowd would quickly gather, each chanting for the person they supported. It was a sight to see them roll around like pigs in the mud, flinging cuffs, pulling hair, or digging faces. The crowd would scatter in all directions when village elders arrived, parting the fights with slaps and whip lashes.
“In those days there was no electricity and the ‘flambeau’ was the going thing. You had to cook with it, do your school work with it and to save the cooking oil or kerosene, blow out the lamps before going to bed.
“Many families lived in small huts and only the wealthy were living in cottage houses. Mosquitoes were always a problem, but we used to light dried ‘cow dung’ and make smoke to chase them away. In those days, our fore parents told stories around bonfires and many times we would shudder in terror, when they told tales of the Baccoo, and the Ol Higue.”
She said by the early 1970’s the village began to show signs of development and it started with persons who began to erect a few small shops and stalls. Access roads were made to gain access to the village from various angles and things began to look a little brighter.
As the years rolled by, many other businesses sprung up and in 1991 the Barama Company Ltd. came into play offering extensive employment opportunities for residents of Land of Canaan and many surrounding villages.
The erection of the Gafoor’s Manufacturing Complex in the village also greatly boosted its employment scope and took it another notch higher in the world of economic and social development.
Clifton Sealy, who led a certain group of hire car drivers, was of the opinion that not much attention is paid to the maintenance and upgrading of some access roads in the area.
“ Bossman, we need something to be done to some of the roads in this village. Persons at the NDC are not fair at all… In the areas where the big businesses are located, the roads are okay. But in the areas where poor people and the ‘regular man’ reside the roads are not taken care of.
“The big boys at the NDC are looking at face and position when it comes to making representation for the roads to be fixed. We have to walk on the sand and mud. And when rain fall, some areas are in a bad state.”
Today the village also has a Karate School, Igloo Fruit Flavours Ice-Cream Parlour, the A. Azaamally & Sons Ltd. Lumber Yard and the Good Will Enterprises Inc. And of course there is the Boat House Sports Bar that offers fun and frolic and much leisure time pleasantries.
Barama Company Limited
One company that had created hundreds of job opportunities for villagers and outsiders is the Barama Company Ltd. This company is said to be the leading forest resource and wood products company in Guyana. It’s one of Guyana’s biggest employers with approximately 1,000 employees.
The core business includes the sale of hardwood logs and sawn timber and the manufacturing of plywood, decking and flooring products.
Dubbed the largest ever event held in the 20-year history of Barama Company Limited, the company celebrated its 20th anniversary with much fanfare at the company’s Buckhall Site on November 3, 2011
Barama Company Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samling Global Limited established in Guyana since 1991. It was granted a lowland, mixed tropical forest concession for approximately 1.6 million hectares in the northwest region of Guyana.
As a major contributor to Guyana’s forestry sector, Barama is mindful to adopt responsible forest management practices on the forest resources entrusted to the company.
The Guyana Forestry Commission Code of Practice for Timber Harvesting regulates the timber operations in the country. As good corporate citizens, it is expected to carefully conduct ourselves according to the laws of the land and like all other operators, is kept in check through continuous monitoring by the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Their business started with the extraction of logs, for the manufacturing of plywood and evolved to include veneer and sawn timber operation.
Barama is Guyana’s largest wood products company, contributing over 30 percent of the country’s timber exports, and has invested heavily in developing high-value products, creating downstream production lines and building valuable infrastructure.
Since operations began this company has exported logs and other products to markets like China, India and Vietnam, as a means to introduce Guyanese species to these emerging markets as they monitor and learn the usage of Guyanese wood species.
Livelihood
Many villagers are employed at the Gafoor’s Manufacturing Complex. But on the other hand, some persons sell vegetables and confectionaries in small stalls erected in their yards
Many farmers ply their trade in the backlands, while in many home there are kitchen gardens. That aside, some villagers are employed in administrative offices in other locations or in the city of Georgetown.
Harmonious existence
The village seems to have no room for ethnic division, as could be seen in the stirring camaraderie amongst the villagers. They all stuck together like a huge honeycomb, echoing their love for each other, in peals of mirthful laughter, happy conversation, and in some cases trading and sharing cultures through appreciative gestures to mode of dress, conduct and demeanour.
In the streets the picture of students frolicking as one big happy family would cause you to reflect much on Guyana’s motto, “One People, One Nation, One Destiny’. One scene that particularly stole my heart was a young girl taking that extra time to ensure an elderly person cross the very busy public road in safety.
I was well stirred up by this taking into consideration that youth these days have lost their morals and values and do not see such gestures as being of importance.
Join us next Sunday when we take our cameras to the breath-taking location of Supenaam, Essequibo Coast.
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