ROCKED by an escalating suicide crisis, the small indigenous community of Baramita in Region 1 (Barima-Waini) came to light recently because of its high suicide rate, with a six-year-old recently attempting to end his life. However, the government has committed to a multi-stakeholder approach to arresting the situation.According to Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, the village is in “a state of emergency”.
Speaking at the launching of the Creativity Centre at the Diamond Special Needs School, East Bank Demerara on Wednesday, Dr Roopnaraine said “omnipotent control” could lead to Baramita being “a budding Jonestown”, given the current series of crises the villagers are facing.

The reference to ‘Jonestown’ recalls the death of some 909 Americans who reportedly died in an internationally notorious mass suicide pact at the Peoples’ Temple cult in northwestern Guyana on November 18, 1978.

Roopnaraine said an all-round government intervention is needed, given that “the persons who are reporting on the incidence are being threatened by various stakeholders within the village. He called for an increased presence of security personnel in the area.

Elaborating more on this revelation was Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, during a telephone interview with this publication. He disclosed that a meeting was held with various executives, during which it was “discovered” that Baramita’s Village Council has been disintegrating. The council, he noted, is not interested in moving on with its responsibilities, thereby causing the village to fall apart slowly in terms of order within society.

Baramita’s crisis began with the rapidly increasing suicide rate over a short period of time, which could be caused by the abundance of alcohol distributed within the village by the businesspeople, said Minister Allicock. He also noted that, just last week, a boy not more than 11 years (old) succumbed after being given “high wine (high proof alcohol) and Banko (wine),” to consume. Additionally, there is the issue of mistreatment of women and children, which also requires urgent measures.

Meanwhile, when the Guyana Chronicle caught up with Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, yesterday, he reiterated that the negative situation had indeed sparked an emergency over the months, but “currently it is not an emergency but a full-blown crisis.” “These are major issues which are affecting the community, therefore, all the key ministries, such as the ministries of Public Security, Public Health, Communities and Social Cohesion, will have to pool their efforts along with us to lead the fight against the crisis,” Minister Norton said, while highlighting that there is a plan to address the current situation as early as possible.
In the next two weeks, the necessary actions will be taken, as the National Toshaos Council is an integral part of the operations, and will have to be part of the initiative. As such, he said, “We must find the root causes and try to resolve these problems, because we believe it is more than what was explained.” At the launch of Guyana’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy recently, Norton had disclosed that, “What came to the front is the situation in the Baramita community in Region 1, (which) has a population of less than 1,000. It has recorded 48 suicide cases in the last four years. They [officials] have averaged that the community has a suicide every six weeks. We certainly would need to put more emphasis there.”

By Navendra Seoraj