LUSH, green, enticing scenery greeted our eyes as the car taking us to Fort Wellington sped along the East Coast Demerara into the West Coast Berbice public road.

And the pure country breeze filled our lungs as the vehicle lurched around dangerous turns in the road, such as Letter ‘T’ and Adventure Village, and up the Abary Bridge. We were travelling at such an alarming rate that I had to reprimand the driver for speeding, to which he rudely mumbled some ‘mumbo jumbo’ under his breath.

I certainly didn’t care for his mutterings, since I was more interested in getting to Fort Wellington Village in one piece to conduct the ‘village focus interviews’.

Located on the West Coast of Berbice, about 54 miles from Georgetown, and with a population of close to 200 residents, the relatively tiny village of Fort Wellington is actually the administrative hub of Region Five, where can be found the Office of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), the Fort Wellington Hospital, Police Station, Magistrate’s Court, National Insurance Scheme office, Guyana Elections Commission Office and the Post Office. A People’s Militia building, a plant nursery that is operated by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), and a branch of Anthony’s Funeral Home can also be found there.

On a normal working day, large numbers of farmers, businessmen and other persons from other villages visit Fort Wellington to conduct business with its various administrative offices and institutions.

We arrived in this simple but impressive village with the midday sun scorching and the streets bare of activity, save for the areas around the Fort Wellington Hospital, Police Station, National Insurance Scheme, and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) offices.

Pre-evolution Fort Wellington
In former times, Fort Wellington was just wide open pasture with dense shrubbery and vegetation, occasionally clogged canals, and the scatter of houses which are popularly referred to as the Fort Wellington Housing Scheme.
It was one Berbice village that possessed lots of waste land that was quite perfect for farming and crop cultivation. Save for the presence of the then shabby Fort Wellington Community High School with its bustle of students, one had to walk quite far before encountering a house and residents.

This village always had a forlorn and dismal look, save for the little activity taking place at the hospital, as people visited and left the institution. Even amongst the cluster of houses next to the hospital, there seemed to be no activity, as residents were always in their farmlands, or occupied in various offices.
But there always seemed to be an underlying economic buzz at the RDC Office, Police Station and Post Office, even when those were just shabby buildings. Today, these buildings have been renovated and extended, and the ‘business bustle’ is even greater.

The building that housed the police station is now in ruins, but the station is now housed in a spanking new structure a short distance away from that building. Even the magistrate’s court has been removed to a ravishing new building a short distance away from its former building. The very impressive NIS office offers many services to its customers, even as it deals with their appeals and provides invalidity, constant attendance, survivors and funeral benefits; and makes available sickness benefit and spectacle and dental care services. Mothers can enjoy maternity benefits, while others are offered injury, death and disablement benefits.

One would today be amazed at some of the very posh houses and other buildings that have popped up in Fort Wellington. The open pastures are in many cases being transformed into impressive housing settlements, which in due time would ensure this village holds its own against the well-established others.

There are no supermarkets or clothing or variety stores in the village as yet, but these are things to come in the near future, as the hopes of residents will dictate. And Fort Wellington is indeed the ‘administrative haven’ for all Region 5, since it is this location that tends to the needs of normal residents, farmers and varying business officials.

There are a few small shops that sell kitchen supplies and fast foods, but there is need for more established entities.

Fort Wellington Hospital
Our first stop was at the Fort Wellington Hospital, and instantly I was taken aback by its now stately and elaborate appearance.
In the late 1980s, the Fort Wellington Hospital was just a shabby looking institution that housed a mortuary and a few other departments, and was fitted with a delivery room for pregnant mothers.
Today, due to Government intervention, the facility is accentuated with an X-Ray Department, Rehabilitation Centre, a Foot Centre, comfortable Waiting Area, Accident and Emergency Unit, and a VCT Unit for HIV/AIDS testing and counselling. There is also a department that caters for tuberculosis patients, and a Dental Section to aid in perfect dental care.

Ward Maid, Camille Semple, working at the hospital for more than eighteen years, was more than elated to speak to us. She related that things have improved greatly at the hospital, and both staffers and patients visiting the facility are very comfortable.

“Things were not as bright as they are today, as compared to this hospital several years ago. Today we have a standby generator to aid us when blackout occurs, thus preventing mishaps if the ‘power cut’ comes when doctors are in the middle of medical tasks that require the use of electrical power.

“Added to that, we are now equipped with six doctors on call, so the service is much more efficient and speedy,” she said.
This hospital is now operating on a twenty-four-hour basis. In times gone by, it was operating with only two doctors, thus creating a long wait for patients seeking medical attention.

According to Semple, in previous times, there were many cases when the power would shut down whilst the nurses and doctors were doing infant delivery. She recalled the mad rush and scramble for phones and flashlights to provide lighting to complete the very technical tasks. She said they sometimes had to beg persons with vehicles to pit the beam from their headlamps in the direction of the delivery room windows so tasks could be successfully completed.

Complicated cases in terms of infant delivery are nevertheless still referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), because the Fort Wellington Hospital does not have a theatre and therefore cannot execute life-saving surgeries.

This hospital is also not fitted with a blood bank, so surgeries are not performed there, since most require blood transfusions for the patients being attended to.

Midwife Karen Haywood reminisced on the development of the hospital, and is joyful because conditions have improved greatly. “I can remember, as far as in 2002, when I came here, we used to sweep the concrete floor with pointer brooms and the amount of dust it generated was suffocating. Now we have tiled floors all around, and everything is spick and span.

“Gone are the days when we used torch lights and flambeaux (kerosene lamps) for deliveries. The GPSU’s efforts have ensured that we now have a much better hospital with almost all the amenities needed,” she said.

At the Rehabilitation Centre, staff members gladly shared their satisfaction at now having a relatively new and very comfortable building to work in.
Before time, such staffers were operating from a ‘small house’, as they chose to put it, and had welcomed the new building when it was built several months ago.

There are still a few challenges, in that they would love to have their location fully air-conditioned, and a few complained that there is the problem with spacing when they have a large influx of clients at one time.

This hospital also has an Audiology Department at which workers can do ear testing and hearing-aid fittings.
Services offered include also occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy.

The NDC Office
At this office, Tyrone Ritch from the Engineering Department informed us that while the job of this entity can be challenging at times, employees nevertheless try their best to please their employers, customers, clients, and those soliciting help in various forms from the entity. Ritch said this office is primarily focused on ensuring all runs smoothly in the Fort Wellington community and its environs; and they do everything in their power to ensure their duties are done properly.

He added that while several projects have already been initiated, the department is presently engaged in the $1M and $3M subvention projects in various locations on the West Coast of Berbice. He noted that this programme has so far targeted development and repairing of roads and community footpaths, and has made a significant impact in areas like Tempe Village, Seafield, and a few other locations along the West Coast Berbice. This is an ongoing process.

According to Ritch, a party is detailed to visit the villages and examine their features and infrastructure, and from reports submitted, the works are executed in the areas.

That aside, this very well established entity offers administrative and manual employment for residents of Fort Wellington and many other villages in Berbice. There are also cases in which persons from as far as Central Mahaicony are employed within its walls.

Charming character
Whilst walking into the NDC compound, we met an apparently extremely charming man who did everything to get our attention. But we were on the go, with little time to conduct a series of interviews, having to hurry on our way.
As I was leaving the NDC compound, this smiling man again blocked my path, and I was just about to explode with impatience when he shouted, “Hey Norma nephew, you ah play yuh nah know me, nuh?” That remark brought me to an abrupt halt, and my impatience quickly disappeared. Drawing closer it immediately dawned on me why he had seemed vaguely familiar when I passed him earlier on.

It turned out he was Richard Sears, who from my childhood days in Hopetown Village would have known me as ‘Putox’. He was a close friend of my aunt, Norma Goodridge, and would visit the home most times when I am there.

He was popular for telling stories around the fire as they gobbled up my aunt’s hot purri and fried fish she sold in a small stall in front of her home.

We began chatting, and that was how I found out that since I left the village he had taken up the job of a beverage vendor, pushing a large refrigerator on a makeshift cart with wheels he had created to move the ‘large cooler’.

Sears has been doing this job for the past fifteen years, and though it sometimes becomes challenging, his love for the job and his naturally unrelenting spirit surely keeps him going.
“This is a very hard job, and sometimes many days it’s difficult to net any form of proper sales, since every day is not Christmas. Having to face the elements of weather can be sometimes cruel to my health; but this is my job, this is what I have been doing, and I have survived despite the many challenges,” Sears said.

Sears gets up at around 06:00 hrs, packs his cooler with beverages, and hits the road by 07:30 hrs. He nets a few minor sales along the way, and makes his first major stop at the Fort Wellington Secondary School. Of course, with the weather now being as it is, the students are bound to want to make purchases.

He next moves on to the Fort Wellington Hospital, and he obtains much sales there as well from patients and staffers. However most of his day is spent at the gate leading to the NDC Office, and he certainly gets lots of sales from the customers going to and from that office, from staffers, and from persons visiting the Post Office.

He has to deal with the problem of persons crediting his beverages and disappearing or taking ages to pay in some cases, and it certainly deals a harsh blow to his ego.
“You know (that) in the countryside, out of love for our brethren, we would normally credit a few items. I got regular customers who pay up on time, but some would take ages to pay, and give me a good cuss out when I approach them for my money. And there are others who would refuse to pay, and disappear altogether without paying,” Sears said.

Nevertheless, Sears continues to ply his trade, since this is the only form of livelihood he has known for the past fifteen years.

Village gossip
In every village, there is always room for juicy gossip; and in some instances, the bits of gossip are fuelled by actual events which occurred in the area.
While questioning a few housewives, many of whom reared a little poultry, I realised that there still seemed to be much buzz and rancour surrounding a doctor who hit down a pedestrian with his vehicle and attempted to dive away. Even though the incident occurred since May this year, the housewives were still seething with anger at such cruelty from a man of such an esteemed profession.

And Samantha has no qualms about expressing her disgust at such inhumane actions on the part of the doctor. “Imagine that, eh? He is a big doctor and can do something like that. How terrible of him! If he can hit down a person and leave them to die, what else can he not do? Well, eh-eh, if someone gets him mad, he might deliberately give them a wrong injection. That man is a beast!!”

And these heckling ladies were referring to the incident in which a medical doctor was allegedly arrested at a police roadblock after he reportedly fled the scene of an accident in which a woman died.

The goodly doctor, who hailed from the Corentyne, had appeared before Magistrate Benn at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court, to face charges of failing to stop at an accident scene, and failing to render assistance.

While he was likely to face charges of causing death by dangerous driving, the matter at that time was engaging the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The 51-year-old victim reportedly died on the spot at Moor Park, Number 37 Village, West Coast Berbice as a result of being hit by the doctor.

Reports suggest that at around 20:15 hrs on the day in question, a policeman travelling behind the doctor saw the accident and had noted the number of the vehicle he was driving.

On noticing that the doctor had failed to stop at the scene of the accident, contact was made with the Fort Wellington Police Station, a roadblock was quickly set up and the doctor was apprehended.

Challenges
Despite its impressive appearance, Fort Wellington has challenges which, according to farmer Brentnol Sobers, may not be many, but need addressing. The farmer feels there is need to enhance the dams leading into the backlands of the village so that farmers will not face the rigours encountered during the rainy weather.

He noted the need for supermarkets and grocery outlets, since villagers are forced to travel to Bush Lot Village, some distance away, for supplies.
That aside, Fort Wellington is quaint and impressive, especially with the constant bustle and ‘business like ambience’ that seems to always surround this community.