– Facility now housing adults, and ‘all kinds of men’

THE Amerindian Hostel in New Amsterdam will be renamed Students’ Hostel, as it extends itself to cater for additional children being drawn from the Canje River, and who have received places at secondary schools in the Berbice township.Consequently, an additional $9M has been proposed within the 2017 regional budget to extend the current edifice situated at Lot 36 Mud Flat,Stanleytown.
Regional Chairman Permaul Armogan told this newspaper that $2M had been expended on rehabilitation works during the current year after reports of poor living conditions were highlighted at an earlier statutory meeting .
“It is the policy of the government to ensure that every student, every child is accommodated properly, in order that they have a good education. We have to ensure that we have suitable accommodation for these students.”
Further, the chairman is proposing that an alternative living arrangement be made for the adults coming out of the Berbice River, as there seemed to be some amount of difficulty controlling their behaviour.
“We will be looking for another building someplace else, where those coming from the Berbice River can be accommodated and leaving the current building to serve students exclusively from the Berbice River and Baracara,” remarked Armogan.
Regional Councilor, Patricia Lynch, at the recently held statutory meeting had stated that the New Amsterdam Amerindian Hostel had transformed itself from primarily being a residence which was intended for secondary school students from the riverain and hinterland areas to a building which now houses permanent families, and “all kinds of men.”
Further, she told the council that the building was also intended to accommodate persons on the lower flat, who would transport their agricultural produce and logs to the New Amsterdam township, and would need somewhere to stay for a few days until their respective transactions were conducted.
“However, persons are staying longer and are conducting all kinds of business, even as the hostel’s operations are being financed by the Region Six administration.”
During a visit, caretaker Sybil Morris said initially the hostel, which is housed on the upper flat of the two-storey building, catered for 12 students, with an equal amount of boys and girls, from the riverain areas, who had been awarded places at secondary schools in New Amsterdam.
At the inception, the reconstructed building was managed by the New Amsterdam Lions Club, under the presidency of Mavis Smith for four years, before it was handed over to the Regional Administration which was responsible for supplying food items.
Subsequently, a captain was appointed to manage its affairs before the selection of House Mothers, during which period parents had the responsibility to pay for their children’s upkeep. That money was intended to pay a salary to the House Mother.
But some parents failed to honour their responsibilities and their children were sent home. Other students were forced to return home due to a “spiritual attack” at the hostel, and yet others sought alternative living arrangements in the township.
Morris noted that it was a while before students returned. Permission had to be sought and received by the Regional Administration. On this occasion, parents opted to stay with their secondary school-aged children, and in the process, brought along younger children who were placed at primary and nursery schools in the town.
Although the upper flat was designed to accommodate 12 students, along with a House Mother, the population has exceeded the expected number, resulting in rifts amongst families.