I was always intrigued by the makings of this thriving village with its somewhat mystical and tropical intrigue, dreamy cottages and thriving businesses all set in a dazzling countryside layout that ignites a soothing allure to the mind upon visiting.

On landing there with my colleagues I was instantly enthralled at the hospitality extended by the people and the ready manner in which they were eager to interact with me and discuss issues of concern that either bothered or excited them.
As the children pranced and giggled in the streets, playing marbles and even cards in some areas, fathers were either dozing in hammocks as housewives busied themselves preparing hot stews by the stoves or mud daubed ‘firesides.’
This was the arresting village of Zeelugt located on the East Bank Essequibo, over fifteen miles from Georgetown.
This village is bordered nicely by De Kinderen to the east and the busy Tuschen to the west and is said to be over 3,000 in population, inhabited mostly by East Indians. The residents thrive there in a melting pot that oozes rich camaraderie, joyous laughter and welcoming smiles despite some trouble they encounter like some other locations.

Along the roadside young men guffawed riotously as they converged at the various taxi bases, cracking jokes that so often infuriated a weak at heart or those easily prone to be angered. All around there seemed to be a ‘hustle and bustle’ as villagers rushed about doing one errand or another or hurrying to their various occupations in and outside the village.

Chatting with villagers
These residents were certainly not bashful and 58-year-old Mohammed Shakoor was ready to indulge in conversation beaming at being the first target of attention.

He explained that the village does not seem to be plagued by an unemployment problem since residents are noted for finding something beneficial to do to make an honest dollar.
“This village nice bad bai… And almost everybody hea ah wuk. Dem people this does always find something or de otha to do fuhmek honest money. In dis village we get shop keepahs, vendahs, fishamen, and ah large numbah ah people does find ready employment ah de Uitvlugt Sugah Estate. Hardly in dis village yuh gon find people lazing abut de place without ah jab…. Dem people hea very hard wukking…”
Sarsattie Singh a thirty-eight-year-old house wife was concerned about the issue of school dropouts and uneducated youths in the village.
“Dis ah wan alright village fuh live in. Yes, Zeelugt ah wan really nice village but is dem young people wha deh bout de place doing stupidness dat does mek de place look bad. Dem gat too much ah young person not going to school when they should be and dem parents deserve some good lashes. If yuh come heh

aftanoon time yuhgon see how dem de bout the place, drinking and smoking, gambling and doing all kind ah thing. And if yuh try fu correct some ah dem, dem done redyfuh eat affyuh head and cuss yuh out.”
The woman expressed the hope that the relevant authorities should look into this matter. She also opined that if nothing is done to curb this serious problem, some of the youths could eventually become criminals.
She noted that in Zeelugt, a lot of children are absenting from school occasionally and gradually they have stopped completely with the blessings from some parents, who are mostly poor. She noted that children from around the ages of seven and most of them, being boys, are being solicited to do odd jobs around the area for money because of their financial constraints in many homes.
She said that some of them have formed small groups and they could be seen walking all around smoking cigarettes and in some cases tormenting elders and getting into mischief. She expressed grave concerns that in many cases these youths are being encouraged to drink alcohol and use illicit drugs by rogue

elements within the area. She fears that in order for them to fund their new habit, they eventually turn to crime. She said that in some cases when a crime is committed in the village, these youths are singled out and beaten by the victims without any proof of their involvement.
The woman described Zeelugt as a quiet community, and stated that while a considerable number of rum shops could be found in the village, only about one would be filled on any given day.

Strides in housing
Salim Khan a taxi driver was of high praise for the government for making available in 2013 to villagers and outsiders, house lots for building purposes. Today a new housing scheme is in the making in the village and this can be ascertained by the social and even economical mobility for residents.
Just last September according to reports some eighty five persons received house lots there and the building process is in its advanced stages.

This was made possible by the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) as it continued its move towards helping Guyanese achieve their dream of owning a home. This exercise had of course targeted single parents and low income earners. The second ‘One Stop Shop’ initiative for that year had taken place in the compound of the Ministry of Housing, Brickdam where 85 applicants pulled their lot numbers for plots situated at Zeelugt, Phase 2.
The 2013 One Stop Shops were conducted under the theme: “Live the Guyanese dream, home ownership made easier.” This allowed applicants to select their house lots, make their payments, and thereafter were issued with their allocation letter. At the end of this process, they would have obtained their Agreement of Sale and then made arrangements to access funds for building their homes.
Before getting underway with the processing of allocations, Minister of Housing Irfaan Ali had explained that the previous focus was to consolidate the existing infrastructure in the housing areas to encourage occupancy. He had noted that as a result, many housing schemes have seen rapid response to building and construction. However, the major challenge of electricity supply has seen close collaboration between the Guyana Power and Light and the Housing Ministry to fast-track this aspect.
The 2013 One Stop Shop saw the processing of applications made up to, and including 2006. Government had reportedly invested $90.5M in infrastructure to ensure that the lots are available to benefit 383 persons. Minister Ali had reported that the entire infrastructure has been completed with the issue of electricity to be dealt with early in 2014 at a cost of $5.160M.

This project was of course displaying Government’s commitment to providing housing to every segment of society, notwithstanding the difficult political environment framework existing in the country today.

Roads to the rescue
All around villagers were of high praise that the Government is turning its attention towards upgrading the roads in the area, just as recently as last week.
Commenting on this issue was Selochnie Pertab , a housewife who fussed like a lead hen amongst some feisty housewives who were gossiping inside the compound of the Zeelugt Primary School as they were waiting to pick up their kids.
“I am certainly grateful to the Government for paying attention to the roads here and are ensuring that the access streets are now well paved and maintained. Before now many streets would get real bad in the rainy weather, so we are really glad about what the Government is doing. I mean all the roads are not yet completed as yet. But this is a positive sign that the Government cares…”

This woman also said that she is very concerned about the drainage system which is very lacking in many areas. The evidence of this glared at us in the large number of drains and trenches that were clogged to capacity with weeds and other vegetation. In some places villagers were engaging in self-help efforts to rectify this situation.

Rising crime rate
The main concern of most villagers seemed to surround the issue of the rising crime rate in the village and almost everyone claimed that the police were doing a very ‘lack-lustre performance’ in trying to deal with the situation.
The very angry and agitated Sharon Persaud could barely contain herself as she expressed disgust at the police’s inability to curb the problem. “I don’t know what to say about these police nowadays sir. We are facing a situation where crime is on the increase all of a sudden. And this is fuelled by the fact that there are criminal elements here now that new persons are coming to reside in the village. We have a new scheme here and a few persons from all over the place is now living here and creating this chaos. Just recently two teenaged girls residing in the new scheme were attacked and raped by four strange males. The family were so terrified that they have locked up their home and have vacated the premises for fear of their lives.. Someone certainly needs to look into what is going on here…”

Safraz Ali a bus driver was equally angry and exclaimed that the police were just a waste of time.
“The police here are nothing but a waste of time. Not so long ago a robbery happened here in the old scheme and the police did not arrive until a hour and thirty eight minutes. And there they were rolling around in their vehicle as if attending the queen’s parade with smirk and leers on their faces. The police are passing the youths gambling and smoking in the village and they are doing nothing about it. Can you imagine that? There must be regular and more centralised police presence in this village so as to ensure our villagers are safe. What happen to all the police vehicles they have here? Yet we are only seeing one vehicle in the village sometimes”.

Shamad Ali, a farmer who lived along the roadside before entering the new Housing Scheme, noted that the criminals are getting bolder and would hide in abandoned houses and wait for persons when they approach the new scheme road and would pounce on them as they wait for vehicles to get to their homes.
Dis thing getting frum bad tuh worse sir! Dese young men, some of them total strangers are lurking on the dark and riding about on bicycles and snatching people’s valuables as they walk by. We live just next to the main road here and fear for our lives, because we have no electricity here as yet and de place does be pitch black in the nights. Dem thief hiding in them unfinished builds and rabbing people like crazy. And I don’t know why the police can’t be vigilant enough to stop this nonsense”
Shopkeeper Danmattie Surujpaul shared the same compliments…
“This thing has to stop right now!!! De otherday I hear ah woman screaming she head off. When I look out me window, two young bai chasing she down de road fuhrabb she, but de gyal is a Negro woman suh she put up ah fight and rundown the road and a mini-bus pull up and rescue she. And sir it was not even yet nine in the night when this was happening”

Entertainment and Religion
Entertainment is not really a highpoint for villagers and they seem satisfied with the weekend fiestas offered by the many rum shops around.
That aside, folks are quite excited to indulge in birthday celebrations, and the many wedding which pop up in the village ever so often. Most of the villagers would often journey to the nearby Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground where various promoters would often host mega entertainment ventures that attract large crowds. If they are so desirous, others travel to the distant Parika where they can unleash their entertainment fantasies with all the many options they have to choose from.
The religious at heart would customarily worship in their mosques and temples, or mandirs which offer much solace and refuge for laden souls. With just a sprinkling of Negroes residing in the village the prevalence of Christian churches is almost non-existent. Those practicing this religion in most cases worship at churches in nearby villages.

Zeelugt in the good old days
Today this village boasts an appealing infrastructure except for the areas where the squatters have taken up residence in the backlands and close to the seawall.
There are quite a few businesses there that give the village a certain distinct economic ambience, and among these are the Agriculture and Plant Shop, Sun Day Chinese Restaurant, Natural Vibes Repair Shop, Double Standard Taxi Service, A & K Internet Café, and others.
But in years gone by, according to the elderly Sarsattie Singh, the village was like any other, being underdeveloped and somewhat yester-year in its appearance.
“Zeelugt was wan very busy village and wid de sewalls suh near we bin a get flooding especially when dem big high tide come. We use to loose craps and otha things real bad. Dem nah bin get dem fancy buildings like today and dem roads bin bad. Indem day dah we bin a fect wata frum wan and two stand pipe or frum de sugah estate. We bina do all

we washing by dem pond or trenches and dem days we use to plant, do coconut capra and coconut ile fuh a living”
The beaming woman reminisced on the days when they would enjoy the fresh Atlantic breeze as they swung in their hammocks enjoying guava juice and Indian dishes as they mashed it around on their plate with their fingers. She said when one desired a ride around the village they would hop on a horse or donkey drawn cart or hitched a drop on the milk man’s bicycle.
In those days one welcomed the chug of the very ancient hire cars as they puffed blue smoke along the way, straining under their load of chattering passengers. Those were the days when the mosquitoes served up platters of great discomfort, especially to those who could not afford protective nets from the noisy, fluttering ‘biting dragons.’
But a lot has changed with time and Zeelugt is now on its way to ultimate development despite a few glitches here and there. And with the unfurling of time has come the modern transition which make this village a ‘must see item’ on your calendar.

As history suggests, this village derived its name from its close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The name ‘Zeelugt’ which is said to be of Dutch origin refers to ‘sea air’ which best describes the breezy ambience of this village.

Conclusion
Despite the trails faced by its jolly residents, Zeelugt never fails to impress with its sandy streets, lush waterways and oh, such jovial people. Let’s hop on a bus and visit this striking location. Well I hope that by that time these sweet people will be provided with more security by the relative authorities concerned.

(By Alex Wayne)