New Baramita Toshao determined to improve lives of Carib people

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– Skills training centre, agri development among plans for next three years

– First female leader of the largest local Amerindian settlement

DPI, Guyana, Monday, May 28, 2018

Baramita Village’s first female Toshao Sharmain Rambajue, over the next three years, intends to work assiduously to improve the Carib people’s livelihood of the Region One (Barima Waini) community.

Baramita is the largest Amerindian settlement in Guyana and the biggest Carib Village in the Caribbean. It is comprised of 22 satellite villages with a population of about 3,500 residents.

According to Toshao Rambajue, she contested the village council elections because it is her wish to “really want to help the Indigenous peoples in Baramita, for so long the ex-councils didn’t really pay attention to the indigenous people here… I’ve seen their needs and so that is why I came forward and got onboard, and campaigned”

“Throughout my tenure as Toshao, I will work really hard for the Indigenous peoples and develop my community to build a better Baramita,” she added.

In the area of youth development, the Toshao plans to establish a skills training centre. This has been deemed necessary, she added, since it will provide many Baramita youths with an opportunity to develop a trade skill. This venture will also meet the need for skilled personnel in the community. “So instead of bringing mechanics from Georgetown, we will have them right here,” Rambajue explained.

The main economic activity of Baramita is mining and traditional ground provision farming. Toshao Rambajue aims to encourage more subsistence farming and will be partnering with agencies including the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) and National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to provide technical and other support.

She stated, “We have the miners in the area and also the school kitchen, however we have to send for greens (vegetables) and meat all the way from Georgetown. Therefore, if we have persons within the community supplying the miners and the school, again the monies will be circulated right here and it will also provide employment.”

Baramita is challenged many social ills, including alcohol, suicide, sexual and domestic violence, therefore the Toshao said she will also partner with other agencies and NGOs to tackle these issues. Rambajue explained that her ultimate goal is to eradicate the stigma associated with Baramita; she is in the process of crafting a three-year plan.

She also plans to reintroduce the toll gate system to monitor the amount of alcohol entering the community. This will also be a source of income for the village.

The new council is currently acquainting themselves with the assets of the village and meeting with business persons in the area.  Meetings will also be held with the miners, after which a general village engagement will be held.

Sharmain Rambajue was elected a village captain from a field of four candidates, comprising another woman and two men. Fourteen councillors have also been elected to support Rambajue and to serve the 22 satellite communities.

Rambajue campaigned under the theme, ‘A Fresh Face, A Fresh Start – Development for all of Baramita.’

 

By: Synieka Thorne

Images by Tejpaul Bridgemohan.