– Life as the only resident of Speculation Village

For Rajendra Ramnarace, life isn’t a ‘bed of roses’, but he lives comfortably as the only resident in a small village in East Canje called Speculation.

Being the lone villager along with his wife, there isn’t much speculation in Speculation Village.

His house sits on a plot of land that is cleared and all around him is forested, and he has a one-of-a-kind wooden ranch-style house.

Ramnarace is multi-talented and can do many things to earn.

Early in the morning, before 08:00hrs, he would complete his fishing near an area by the New Forest Pump Station before returning home to do other things.

The 50-year-old moved to Speculation Village five years ago, having left his home village of Fort Ordinance and settled with his second wife.

He would fish for hassar and store it during the week and on weekends, he would journey to Port Mourant, Corentyne Market, where he would sell the fish.

The father of two stated that in his village, there are no other houses and being the lone resident, he was the victim of theft on many occasions.

He was storing his hassar in an old fridge with water and when he wasn’t at home it was all taken away by persons unknown.

“During the week, I would catch as many as I can and store it up, and on the weekend, I would go and sell it at the large market at ort Mourant, especially on Saturdays,” he said.

There is a small creek by the first Pump Station and it is a good place where hassar have their nests.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that one time, recently, he had in storage more than 100 live hassars which he was supposed to sell, but when he returned home, it was all gone.

That would have been worth about $12,000.

Having suffered such loss, he had to make other arrangements to store his hassar.

Ramnarace would use his cast net to catch fish and store it in his homemade fishing quake (a basket-like container used for holding caught fish) and would return home via his bicycle, a daily routine in which he makes a living.

Since there is an abundance of bamboo in his village, he decided to utilise his skills and started making bamboo fishing quakes for sale.

Based on orders among people in nearby villages, he would gather up a quantity of bamboo, strip it and began plaiting it to make the fishing quake which is time-consuming.

Depending on the size of the fishing quake he would set a price between $2500 and $3000 and would deliver it to the buyer, on his bicycle.

For Ramnarace, life is simple but it entails hard work and he does more than one job as a self-employed person to provide for his home.

The lone resident of Speculation Village, East Canje, Berbice, told the Pepperpot Magazine that it would usually take several hours, an entire morning, to plait a fishing quake.

He explained that it is an acquired skill and growing up he had a lot of practice and today, he is almost perfect.

Ramnarace added that he had some creole fowls that survived after the flood, but thieves took away all.

He has a few chickens he bought and a turkey. He was forced to get a dog for security.

Ramnarace can also knit cast nets and when the team caught up with him later that day, he was at his home, knitting a damaged cast net he uses for fishing.

Based on his orders, he would know how to manage his time between fishing for hassar and making fishing quakes.

“This place is nice, peace, no neighbours, absolutely no one else in this village but me and my wife. We have a lot of space and we try to get by without the basic necessities such as, light and water,” he said.

Ramnarace disclosed that the air is very clean and fresh in his village because of the many trees that grow there and there are only visitors passing through daily.

In the night, he would lock up and use a flambeau or a lamp to illuminate the place until he is ready to retire to bed.

Ramnarace plants his own vegetables and would make the necessary purchases at the shops in other populated villages along that stretch of road.