By Svetlana Marshall

FOR hours, they walk in the blistering sun through a trail called the “Benjie Road”; but it’s not just walking, they have to climb steep hills and cross creeks using makeshift bridges just to get to school on a daily basis.

The situation deteriorates during the rainy season, when children would often slide down the hills en route to their schools, and would be forced to return home after being covered in mud; but those who make it to the creeks would have to be placed on the heads and shoulders of their parents, because the water would often be waist high.

“The children of Kalcoon and Mora Camps in Bartica deserve better,” residents said, as they complained bitterly about the lack of basic necessities: water, light and road.

Kalcoon and Mora Camps, located along the bank of the Mazaruni River on the opposite side of the Mazaruni Prison, were incorporated into Bartica when its boundaries were expanded to convert it into a town. These two camps now form part of Constituency Seven.

With 21 houses in Kalcoon and 23 in Mora, and with a population of approximately 160 persons, 60 of whom are children, these two camps need the track to be converted into a real road.

Thirty-one-year-old Latchmi Persaud, a mother of three who have been living in Kalcoon Camp for 12 years, said she would no longer remain silent about the plight facing residents, particularly children, in Kalcoon and Mora.

“Every single day, these children walk from Kalcoon to the Potaro Road just to get to school…They have to go uphill, come down the hill, pass through swamps and even high water just to get to school. This shouldn’t be,” the concerned mother said.

It was explained that Kalcoon Camp is one-and-a-half miles away from Mora Camp, but it takes approximately one-and-a-half to two hours to cover the 2½ mile stretch from Kalcoon to the Potaro Road, where the children would usually catch buses to attend school at all three levels: nursery, primary and secondary. Mora Camp is located one mile away from the Potaro Road.

Persaud said there is an alternative road, called ‘Monestry’, but it is longer than the Benjie Road and is dangerous for the children to walk because of the lack of houses in the area.

“The Monestry Road needs some repairs, but even when it is repaired, the children wouldn’t use it because it is dangerous. There are no houses…so we prefer to use the Benjie Road, where you have people walking up and down.

“Ah mean, it does be hard when you got to climb them hills, but we prefer that any day,” the mother of three said.

Vehicles using the Monestry Road would usually charge residents $3,000 a person to transport them to Mora Camp, and $5,000 to transport them to Kalcoon.

Another resident, Leonora Gonsalves, who resides at Mora Camp with her five children, said that in order to reach to school for 08:30h, the children would have to leave home by 07:00h, or they would be late. Those at Kalcoon Camp usually start their journey at 06:00h.

“We need betterment. I had to walk, as a child, to get to school; now I am 38. You mean my children got to walk too? No, they deserve better. I blame my parents for not standing up for us, but I will not sit idly by… It’s hard for our children; by the time they reach to school, they tired,” Gonsalves declared.

NO POTABLE WATER, ELECTRICITY
In addition to the absence of a road that is favoured by the people, and the definite lack of means to transport the children to their respective schools, the residents of Kalcoon and Mora have no access to potable water or electricity, Gonsalves said.

“Some people gat generator, but it’s expensive to operate. So the children does use lamp most of the time. They can’t even use daylight, because by time they reach home is 5-5:30,” she explained.

‘IT’S HARD, MAN’
Sattie Ramcharan, another Mora Camp resident, also complained about the situation.

She said: “These children punish a lot. When the spring tide come up them children can’t go to school, because you have to put them on your shoulders and bring them out. Sometimes you take off their clothes so they can cross the creek, but you can’t go and dress your girl child pun the hill. They can’t get to do their schoolwork, because is not every time you could afford gasoline to run the generator, plus they got to fetch water from the river. It’s hard, man.”

Jenny Pestane said that in addition to the struggle to access water and electricity, residents of Mora and Kalcoon have difficulty accessing emergency services in the area of health.

The mother of four, who has lost two of her children, said she lost her 10-year-old daughter to malaria because she could not have gotten to the Bartica Hospital on time.

“Years ago, you didn’t get the Benjie Road. It had the Monestry Road, and my daughter got sick with malaria, and you can’t get her fast enough to the hospital, and she passed away. Just as she entered the gate of the hospital, she died,” she recalled sadly.

She added: “I have a son who troubles with asthma, and I got to rush him out through the road right here (Benjie Road), because you know when things get worse is during the night, and many taxis don’t want to come in here at nights using the Monestry Road, because of the state of the road.”

Thirty-year-old Marian Roberts echoed similar sentiments. She said that for far too long the people of Kalcoon and Mora Camps have been neglected.

Mark Harrop said one of the solutions to the many problems facing residents would be the construction of a road using the Benjie route. It was explained that if a bus and a boat were provided, the children of Kalcoon could be transported to Mora Camp via boat, where they and the children of Mora could be bussed to their various schools using the Benjie Road. But this could happen only if the trail is upgraded to a road.

Harrop said that once the road is put in place, it would be easier for the authorities to supply residents with water and electricity.

“If we get the road, the current and water are already at the hill foot (Potaro Road). It would be easier to supply residents of Mora with water and electricity,” he posited, while pointing out that the river is heavily polluted.

SOLAR PANELS
He said that because Kalcoon is so far distant, it would be wiser to provide residents with solar panels for the supply of electricity.

Another resident, Joseph Gonsalves, an elderly man who has been living in Mora Camp for more than 50 years, said he wrote the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) over the years, but never got a response.

However, he said it would take millions of dollars to transform the Benjie route into a road, but as a temporary mechanism, it would be wise for the Government to upgrade the Monestry Road and provide the communities with a bus that would be able to transport the children to school on a daily basis.

Although they had felt neglected by the previous administration and local authorities, the residents said, they are now encouraged by the current Interim Management Committee (IMC). Upon hearing the concerns of the residents, the IMC promised to raise the issues with Central Government with the hope of acquiring a boat and engine to service the areas.