Moruca: A hinterland community in transformation
LIMITED water and land transportation, unpaved roads, small wooden shacks, meagre health services, poor education facilities and little access to the coast were all features of Moruca in the 1980s and early 1990s.

To find out what has been happening since; whether the lot of residents there has seen any improvement over the ensuing years, we travelled to the small Amerindian settlement, located in Region One-Barima-Waini to assess the situation for ourselves.

And our experience was truly breathtaking as we witnessed the transformation taking place in this region: Dozens of new businesses; huge homes and guesthouses; more vehicles; and a whole range of infrastructure.

Notable among the developments are the paved roads, which many persons say could only have been used in the past by heavy-duty vehicles, or by foot in the case of residents, who had no choice but to do so.


Road improvements

“As you can see, we recently had our roads done and this is good… The other areas also, they did grading of the roads, so you can have easy access. Right now we are seeing more vehicles, …which you know, and that is good development for our area; linking other communities, you know,” said Joseph James, who has lived all his life in Moruca.

Fitzroy Joseph, another elderly Morucan, said  he is excited about the developments taking place there. “In Moruca, things improve a lot in here; you have a lot of cars now with the road and everything; a lot of changes taking place in a very short time.”

We also spoke with young businessman, Murphy DeSouza who said the changes in Moruca are overwhelming. “ I have seen a lot of improvements over the past ten to fifteen years; previously it wasn’t like this: We had no really proper transportation; most of it was done by walking,” DeSouza said.

“In the past 15 years,” another resident remarked, “we have seen a lot of changes in Moruca; we are having… like road improvements and so on.”

Catching up with a young man who’s on his second visit to Moruca proved to be a revelation as well, as according to him, the landscape of the village has changed significantly.

“Well, at least from last year to now, I have seen a lot of improvements, especially with the vehicles on the roads. I see the road do up and so on, and they even have more cars, more buses and so,” the visitor said.

Imelda Rodrigues, who has spent the last 50-odd years in Moruca, said she is very excited about the future of the community, since the changes have been attracting more persons, which means better business for her. “We have electricity; we are getting lights. And with the  roads, we can see like… vehicles; we are getting vehicles,” Rodrigues said as she made a sale from her small grocery shop.

Residents say the development is so tremendous that more persons are now willing to invest in the community. Some even believe that with time, Moruca will become a force for other communities to reckon with.

We also caught up with a young man who left the area several years ago, and he too was impressed with the pace with which the region is developing. 

“So far, I am liking what I have seen; there is much improvement; it is like 75% better than it was, so…”
According to many, business is on the increase, as every day, more and more entities are opening up.  

Health-wise

As we traversed Santa Rosa and other neighbouring communities, development was evident, with residents expressing satisfaction with the changes that were occurring, and lauding the government’s investments in the various sectors, notably health.

“We have seen major improvements in our health sector as well…We have our own nurses, our medics. And though we don’t have doctors based here, we do have doctors,” said Murphy DeSouza, with whom we’d spoken earlier.

Residents are also grateful they no longer have to travel to the Essequibo Coast or the city to access certain basic services.

“The health services, that also improved tremendously,” said Joseph James, echoing DeSouza. “…right now,” he added, “we have sickness like dengue, we have access to having it tested right here and so on. I generally think its good… major improvements.”


Education

We were also afforded the opportunity of meeting and interacting with the Region’s top performer at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment Examinations, the results of which were recently announced, and she is young Diana John, who gained 508 marks.

The lass credited her performance to her teachers’ dedication and hard work, the availability of the relevant teaching materials, an improved school environment, and the unwavering support of her parents.

Some believe that the more the youths become educated, the better the choices they are able to make, with many of them now opting to invest their earnings.
“…our own youngsters putting their money to good use; buying their own boats and motors and vehicles, all because they are more educated now and can make the right choices. So I think the investment in the education sector is bearing fruit; that we cannot dispute,” a proud DeSouza said, adding:
“There was school before, but right now, our secondary school is producing outstanding students; Santa Rosa Secondary is one of the  top secondary schools; I think it is rated as the best secondary school in the country, hinterland-wise. Recently our CXC [results] wouldn’t have fallen below 7o%.”
Others also weighed in on the situation. “We are getting better improvements at the CXC and the National Grade Six Assessment, and this is because of the investment from government. We must say thanks to the government,” said one resident, who explained that he hadn’t this opportunity when he attended school over four decades ago.

The government was also lauded for its efforts at affording hinterland students an opportunity to further their education on the coastland.

“I think it’s improving. Last year, we had like four scholarships; this year, we have six…So I think the education sector is improving,” he said. 

Electricity

Residents also said they’d never dreamt the day would come when they’d have electricity, as they were prepared to live forever using either their own personal generators of kerosene lamps. However, this state of affairs has all changed.

“We now have electricity here…it’s now on all day and all night; we are getting electricity and this is a big step for us. We cannot begin to give our gratitude to the government for this; we are so happy about having electricity. Who could have believed that we will get electricity,” said  a 67-year-old man.

“We are now getting electricity, and that has eased us significantly, especially with the price for fuel,” another said, adding: “We are saving big-time on this, so we are so happy for the power in the area.”