BETTER Hope North, East Coast Demerara is a community that depends mainly on fishing for its livelihood, but with this month being the season for rough seas, fishermen have been stalled at home for more than two weeks, and are awaiting the storm at sea to calm.Located some 12 miles from Georgetown, Better Hope is sandwiched between Vryheid’s Lust and Plaisance. Guyana Chronicle visited the community last Friday and spoke with a few of the fishermen who were ‘hanging out’ at the seaside, watching the crashing waves as the sea churned in the distance.

‘Black Boy’, one of the fishermen, told Guyana Chronicle two weeks had already passed since fishermen were unable to go out to sea. He said the water has since been too rough and the tide has been low since last week Tuesday.

Sipping wine with Peter, another fisherman, at a weathered makeshift shed erected beyond the seawall, the fisherman explained: “The water very rough, so we can’t get to work.” He said they visit the location daily, and socialise while they watch their boats and monitor the tide.

“We just watching the boat and waiting to see wha going on until he cool down.”

LIFE IS IN DANGER
Peter explained that the water sometimes remains rough for over a month, during which time nobody takes the risk of going out to sea.

“When you reach to that roughness like that, you take a lot of chance (in going out to sea). Your life is in danger…the waves are very terrible, and the boat can’t go through them. That wave would capsize yuh whole boat,” he explained.

He said this often occurs every year, towards its end and early in the New Year, and fishermen make preparations for this season financially by saving from the proceeds acquired during the good times.

One of the men, noting a recent report about a tropical storm developing in the Atlantic Ocean, added that it was one of those times when hurricanes become active.

“You expect them season this hay, so the lil money wha you wuk fuh, you save the lil money and prepare for this here.”

REMITTANCES
He said that, during this difficult period, families abroad would usually reach out to relatives at home, sending barrels and maybe some small change, enough to maintain those in need.

Almost every home in North Better Hope benefits from fishing, but Better Hope South is where cane-cutters mostly are found.

Another of the men, 55-year-old Cyril Persaud, said: “You can’t go to work. You remain and you start to study, and we tek lil drink and (stop studying).”
He tries his hand at casting net to catch fish in trenches and the Demerara River. This is to earn a living while he awaits the calming of the stormy sea.

“I does tek cast-net and throw, just to maintain my family. Life in Better Hope really hard; people ah punish bad,” he declared.

A woman named Dolly added: “It hard! It hard because if people don’t get fish and shrimp, yuh don’t get money.”
Her home is by the seaside, and she said most of the men at South Better Hope work as cane-cutters in Vryheid’s Lust and LBI estate.

Across at Better Hope South, “Life is good,” says a young woman who has been living there over two years now. The area is quiet, and for the two years she has lived there, the only social problems that stood out are suicide and poor garbage disposal arrangements.

VOTING AT LGE
At 18, she has never had the opportunity to vote, and looks forward to doing so at the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) scheduled for March 18.

“I don’t know what it is. I am gonna vote if I can vote, because the last time they said I was too young to vote although I was already 18.”

She said, however, that she is unaware of who the contestants are, and that people are hardly talking about the elections.

GARBAGE
Better Hope residents are facing a serious garbage problem, but Puran Brothers Waste Disposal Inc. charges $200 for a twice-monthly collection and disposal of garbage.

However, residents still dump garbage on the Better Hope beach. Residents who spoke to this publication expressed concern at this situation, saying that the beach has become a main recreational area for residents and visitors, but sometimes the stench emanating from the garbage is unbearable and drives people away. They are hoping that the situation can be resolved so that the area can become a popular tourist destination and one where people can comfortably do a commercial exchange of the day’s catch.