Dear Editor,

THE Amerindian community of Capoey is divided on many issues facing them due to the Village Captain Elections on the 21st July, 2015.It was alleged that there was a tie between Melrose Henry and the now captain Ester Rodrigues; as a result seven new voters were added to the tied list, all whom were deemed to be cousins of Ester Rodrigues and not living in the village for years, but were allowed to vote to break the tie. From that day of the alleged rigged elections, the village was separated by two factions.

There are frequent conflicts over a new cricket ground which was developed in the old workout sandpit by the Younges and some young girls who won several games and trophies for Capoey. There is only one cricket ground behind the school which is being utilised by one section of the youths over the Capoey Lake; the other section of youth lives on the other side of the sandpit area and for them to have access to the playground behind the school, they have to cross over the lake by paddle boats some distance and then journey back in the night by paddling their boats. This is a dangerous trek, so they have decided to use the abandoned and worked-out sandpit as their playground. This seems to have offended the captain, because this group did not vote for her. In fact, they opposed the rigging of the elections and she became bitter with them, so she would use all means to suppress their efforts to play their cricket.

Things went very bad two weeks ago. These ladies planned a fundraising activity to raise funds to buy materials and construct a pavilion at the old sandpit where their ground is located; they prepared flyers and advertised the fundraising activity one month before; they hired a music box, cooked meals and bought drinks from a wholesale department to sell. On the day of the activity, the captain turned up and prevented them from holding their activity, so they had to abandon their plans and all their foods were spoilt. They had to pay for the music set in advance, so they couldn’t retrieve their money and the stocks had to be sold over to a shop in the village.

It is evident that these two factions of villagers will not live in harmony anymore, because the nature and depth of the conflicts are widening every day. It is understandable that policymakers and ministers of these Amerindian communities have been increasingly occupied since the rigged elections of the captain to find solutions to resolve these conflicts. However, a number of techniques need to be employed for reconciliation between these two groups. The concept of a more representative village council will empower everyone. It was argued that while there may be cultural and societal constraints in arriving at a representative type of council, the advantages to be derived would certainly outweigh the disadvantages for who would not toe the line of the captain.

This captain is playing the politics of “divide and rule,” pitting the two major factions against each other. The Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs should not sweep this issue under the carpet, with the pretense that he does not know what this captain is doing in Capoey. At the same time, it must not be seen as an unsolvable problem. What needs to be done is recognition of the problem and implementing certain reforms in the Amerindian Act, whereby captains would be answerable for marginalisation and discrimination against their people. The captain of Capoey must find the means of cooperation, including power-sharing with the other Amerindians living in the community, she needs to reach out further and broaden partnerships at all levels.
By way of conclusion, this matter was brought to the attention of the Regional Chairman, Mr. Devanand Ramdatt, by me and he promised to look into it before it escalates.

Regards
Mohamed Khan