THE Honourable Minister of Amerindian Affairs, in an article that appeared in the Chronicle on January 1, 2014, said that 2013 was “a good year for the Indigenous people”. I grew up at Anna Regina in Region 2, and have had the opportunity to spend much time with the Amerindians at Tapakuma and Mainstay Lakes between 1950 and 1981.I also worked as a Ranger and as an Overseer with the Drainage and Irrigation Department in Region 2, and my responsibilities included the Dawa Pump Station and the conservancy, which included the Main Canal, Capoey, Mainstay and Tapakuma Lakes. Drainage and Irrigation hired many Amerindians to maintain the Dawa Pump Station and the various canals and lake tributaries in the Tapakuma Irrigation Scheme. These areas are truly beautiful and I enjoyed visiting the Amerindian communities and to see firsthand their way of life. My work allowed me to associate often with many Amerindians, and I found them to be truly able-bodied, tough,  resourceful, hard-working and stable. They are most competent, more especially with a cutlass and with an axe. They walk for miles every day and can work all day without food. They never complain and they work with unity and cooperation and their work is always the best.
During the PNC regime, especially when basic food items were scarce, Amerindians suffered the most. I saw starvation and severe hardships in the Amerindian communities. Many families were forced to move out from these Lake communities in search of a better way of life.
I last visited the Dawa Pump Station, Tapakuma, Mainstay and Capoey Lakes in 2007, and I was very happy to see much progress in these large Amerindian communities, especially in terms of population growth, housing, education and health. Without a doubt, not only 2013, but the past decade has been good for the indigenous peoples. Having spent a great part of my life with the Amerindians in the Tapakuma area, and having witnessed firsthand the hardships these great people suffered under the PNC regime, I am pleased with the positive report coming from the Amerindian Affairs Minister, Ms Pauline Sukhai. Now, thousands of Guyanese visit these beautiful lakes every year, especially the Mainstay Lake resort.
MOHAMED MAJEED
United States