‘The world is now moving with tsunamic speed and ferocity.
Do not let Guyana be swept away into oblivion. Let us populate the interior not only with Guyanese but also with pioneers from around the Globe.’
THE United States will always remain a permanent monument to the world and living testimony of what could be achieved through pioneering spirit and the will to achieve the almost impossible.
Students of history will be aware of the movements westwards of early settlers in quest of riches and a better life that beckoned those who dared to venture west against fearful odds that included, but were not limited to hostile territory filled with wild animals, fierce native Indian tribes and the military of rival European nations competing to get a piece of the cake.
There were also greedy men seeking gold and other precious minerals, and others out to grab the most fertile land for cattle and farms. But by far the most dangerous threat was the hordes of warring tribes that asked no quarter and gave none.
Notwithstanding so numerous imponderables that also included burning of homesteads, scalping, torture, slaughter of entire communities and even whole battalions of troops, the West was slowly but surely tamed.
And today there are prosperous States and beautiful Cities where untamed jungles once stood and where many fierce and bloody battles were fought.
The moot question is what is there to stop pioneers of Guyana from going Southward into its deep bowels that hold untold opportunities and abundant wealth?
I spent three years with Aroaima Mining Company as Personnel Manager and those years were perhaps the very best of my life.
The Hinterland got a hold on me that was almost like ‘crazy glue’.
I was amazed at what Reynolds Metal Company had done in less than seven years. They built a lovely township called Mapletown with well laid out roads that were well-kept all year round.
Electricity was generated from a mobile plant that supplied power to the bauxite mine site and the entire community. It was operated by the press of a button and not by scores of workers – only a lone Security Guard had to be around.
In those three years I only experienced ‘black outs’ when I returned to Georgetown on my occasional trips.
Water from the taps was clean and wholesome to drink so there was absolutely no need to boil it. The air was pure and healthy.
The entire community was well-disciplined and everyone knew everybody by ‘First Name’ or ‘Nick Name’. I have a broad smile on my face when I recall that my ‘Nick Name’ was ‘Five Star’.
It was real life in an excellent natural atmosphere, especially when you woke up to find a deer lying on your front porch and a wide variety of exotic birds chirping as they flew overhead.
Now if we cannot harness the Interior by ourselves, certainly we ought to have partnerships from abroad to join with us.
In days gone by pioneers came from Barbados, St Luica and Grenada in particular and went straight into the Hinterland to settle and search for gold and do farming.
The Brazilians are very interested because they have the pioneering spirit. Then let us go Southward and establish townships like Mapletown as Reynolds did at Aroaima.
And finally there is certainly no good reason why Guyana cannot enter into an arrangement with the United Nations to relocate skilled displaced persons and refugees from around the world in our hinterland.
I recall that there had been a proposal at the end of the Second World War to resettle the Jews in the Rupununi.
But this was aborted by the British, perhaps for good reason. We need to have more forward planning if we are not to revert to the Dark Ages.
The world is now moving with tsunamic speed and ferocity.
Do not let Guyana be swept away into oblivion. Let us populate the interior not only with Guyanese but also with pioneers from around the Globe.
It was the skills from many nations that helped make the United States the most powerful nation on Earth.
