Second miner dies after Barama River tree crash

Another miner succumbed yesterday following a mining incident in the Upper Barama River in the North West District on Monday. Relatives of 43-year-old Ewert Michael Alleyne, of Grant Adventure, Lower Pomeroon, told Stabroek News yesterday that the father of six, who was on his first trip to the North West when tragedy struck on Monday, died while he was being air-dashed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH); he was transferred to the city hospital from Port Kaituma yesterday and was pronounced dead on arrival in the city shortly after 1 pm.

Another miner, Anand Pooran, 32, of Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, and Moruca in the North West District passed away on Monday afternoon after he along with Alleyne, Heston Boyce, 18, of Charity, Essequibo Coast, Jason Williams also of Charity  and Clifford Joseph, of Friendship, Lower Pomeroon were injured after a tree fell in a mining pit in which they were working at the mining concession. An excavator was being used to clear a section of the mining pit when the machine struck the tree which fell into the pit.

Williams’ condition is said to be serious and relatives told Stabroek News yesterday at the Suddie Hospital that medical staff stated that his condition was deteriorating. Boyce, who sustained a broken left hand and Joseph, were discharged from the Suddie Hospital as their injuries were not serious.

Alleyne’s relatives told Stabroek News that the man only travelled to the interior location some two Fridays ago to work with the dredge operation owned by Henry DaSilva.

His sister Anola Alleyne, who along with other relatives gathered at the hospital yesterday to view her brother’s remains, stated that the man’s spine was broken while he suffered other internal injuries.

His younger brother Shawn Alleyne meantime was yesterday admitted to the GPH after he sustained severe cuts to his left instep during a boat accident on Monday evening. He said that he and two other persons were on their way to Port Kaituma from Moruca to assist in transporting his injured brother and his colleagues to Georgetown when the boat hit a log along the river around 8:30 that evening.

In pain, the man related that he was seated at the front of the boat and while in the vicinity of an area known as ‘99’, the boat capsized. He said that the boat spun in the water and the engine’s propeller caught his left foot. His foot was bleeding profusely yesterday at the hospital. He was taken back to Moruca for treatment and was subsequently air-dashed to the city.

DaSilva told Stabroek News that the men began to work on Monday after arriving at the location some three days earlier. He said that he was going to stand all expenses associated with the incident.

There have been a number of incidents, some with fatal consequences, in the mining districts across Guyana in recent times. On October 27, 49-year–old  Charles Anthony Simon, known as ‘Corporal’, of 111 Miles Mahdia, Potaro Road and of Lot 53, Kendall Street, Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara died on the spot after a tree fell on him while he worked at a mining pit at Mahdia. Simon and the two workers were working in a pit in the area and as he walked around in the crater a tree located at the top of the pit fell on him.

There was also the incident in which French geologist Guy Rigottier-Gois, a director of River Gold Guyana Inc, died in the Konawaruk Backdam on April 3 last year. On July 3, 2008, miner Phillip France, 21, of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo died shortly after a sandbank in the Mazaruni area collapsed, burying him in the pit where he had been working. And on October 12, last year machine operator Leon Clarke, 59, of Hopetown Village, West Coast Berbice, died at his Mahdia worksite.

Police said the man was operating an excavator in a 40-feet deep pit when it caved in and covered him. In March this year, Karan Roopnarine, 32, of Triumph, East Coast Demerara and Keith Hibbeizt, 32, a Jamaican national who resided at Long Creek, Linden Soesdyke Highway, were both pinned at the bottom of a deep pit after its walls caved in while they worked in a mining pit at While Hole in Mahdia.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) have been working to curb such incidents within the mining areas.

http://coalmountain.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/second-miner-dies-after-barama-river-tree-crash/

Moruca mystery illness claims three more lives

The Ministry of Health (MoH) continues to monitor a gastro-like illness affecting residents in Region One (Barima/Waini) even  as new reports surface of  recent deaths in the Moruca Sub-Region .

Minister within the MoH, Dr Bheri Ramsarran, told  Stabroek News yesterday that  he has observed reports in the media about new cases and  had spoken to his staff at the Ministry, advising them “to get coordinates together” as the unit  monitors the illness. He said some of the cases may be from the past but may have been reported as new cases. When questioned about the analyses of tests conducted on samples taken from affected persons in the area by health team officials who visited Region One last month, Ramsarran said that the Director of the Regional Health Services (RHS), Dr Narine Singh was dealing with the issue. When contacted yesterday, RHS staff told this newspaper that Dr Singh was on vacation leave.

This newspaper was informed by a resident in the Moruca Sub-Region yesterday that there had been three recent deaths within the past two weeks in the area. The resident said that the deceased were from the village of Kariaco, located several miles away from Santa Rosa along the Barama River. Two of the three persons were identified as Compton Toney and John Charles, both middle-age men who had been experiencing symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting prior to their deaths. The other person was identified as a toddler and according to a source at the Kumaka District Hospital, at Moruca, one of the two men was taken to that medical institution for treatment prior to his death.

Stabroek News understands that officials from the health department, including medex Lalita Rebeiro, who is attached to the hospital at Moruca, has since ventured into the Kariaco area to distribute medicine. Residents in the Moruca-Sub Region told this newspaper that the situation is worrisome noting that they are still to receive information on the results of sample tests conducted by a visiting RHS team last month. One resident informed that persons displaying symptoms of the ailment are still being admitted to the hospital at Moruca while there are also reports of similar cases at the Mabaruma District hospital. Attempts to obtain a comment from Regional Chairman Fermin Singh yesterday were in vain, while a staff member of the Administrative Office of Region One, located at Mabaruma, said that Regional Executive Officer for the region, Mary Williams was in Georgetown.

Early last month, this newspaper first reported on the deaths of four persons from the Moruca Sub-Region who had complained of feeling unwell and displayed symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea. These included 32-year-old Moruca resident Calvin Charlie and his 63-year-old mother, Helena Charlie, who passed away one week after her son died. At the time the Regional Chairman reported that two other persons from Port Kaituma, also in the North West District, succumbed to the ailment. Richard Allen, Vice chairman of the Neighbourhood  Democratic Council at Port Kaituma, had told this newspaper around that time that 15 persons were admitted to the hospital in the area suffering from  dehydration due to diarrhoea and vomiting but were discharged a few days later after being treated.

Calvin Charlie’s death, according to his death certificate which was seen by this newspaper, was as a result of dehydration, even though he had been hospitalized for four days and given IV drips. His mother’s cause of death was listed as a result of diarrhoea and vomiting.
Several days later, 10 month- old Troydon Thornhill and pensioner Albert De La Cruz, both of Moruca, passed away after experiencing bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting. The deaths of the two Moruca residents were disputed by the Ministry of Health, with the  RHS Director stating that Thornhill’s death related to a kidney problem while De La Cruz succumbed  to heart failure.

Dr Singh had said that the Moruca Sub-Region was usually affected by diarrhoea and vomiting whenever the rainy season begins as persons there usually use water from nearby creeks and rivers for cooking and consumption. He urged residents living in outlying areas to take precautionary measures where the use and consumption of water is concerned.

A Cuban doctor has since been placed at the hospital in Moruca 

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/news/local/08/18/moruca-mystery-illness-claims-three-more-lives/

Tree crushes man at Moruca

FEBRUARY 15, 2009 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS 

A man attached to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Ravel La Rose, 30, was pinned to the ground at his camp at 104 km; Unamco Road, Upper Berbice River, when a tree fell into the camp at approximately 14:00 hours on Thursday last.
La Rose subsequently died from the injuries he received when the tree fell on him.
The five other men who shared the camp with La Rose escaped without any injury. The body of La Rose has since been brought to Georgetown, and is at the Lyken Funeral Parlour awaiting a post mortem examination.

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/02/15/tree-crushes-man-at-moruca/

Man killed in Sunday crash identified as Moruca farmer

had been pinned under bus

The man who was killed in Sunday’s New Hope, East Bank Demerara accident was yesterday identified as Cornel Ferreira, a 26-year-old farmer of Moruca, North West District.

Cornel Ferreira

The positive identification was made at the Lyken’s Funeral home yesterday morning by a close relative who had read of the incident in the newspapers.

The man’s grief-stricken brother, Angelo recounted to Stabroek News that at the time of the accident, Ferreira was travelling to a relative’s home in Prashad Nagar, having earlier visited him at his Kuru Kuru, Linden/Soesdyke Highway home.

Angelo said that he later learnt that his brother did not reach his destination and he became worried. He added that their father was returning to the North West the following day (Monday) and Ferreira was to travel with him.

Angelo said that his father travelled alone but kept in touch with them. Yesterday his sister informed him of the death.

Meanwhile, a man who was on the scene of the accident said that from all appearances Ferreira was pitched out of the bus which eventually landed on him.

He said that about 13 persons were removed from the minibus which had careened into the trench and were taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.

He said that after the police left the scene a man decided to go looking for valuables. The man returned minutes later and said that he felt a body in the trench and persons on the scene urged him to pull the body out. The man however expressed fear of doing this.

The police were recalled to the scene, the man said and the body was found pinned under the bus.

Police had said in a press release that the accident occurred around 5:50 pm when the driver of minibus BLL 2836, “overtook a line of vehicles travelling north along the roadway and in doing so was confronted by vehicles proceeding in the opposite direction”. The driver then attempted to go back into the lane of traffic but collided with a car and lost control of the vehicle which ended up in the trench.

Police are continuing investigations into the accident.

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/news/stories/10/27/man-killed-in-sunday-crash-identified-as-moruca-farmer/

Moruca

Recently we have been discovering more and more that Guyana is a place where anything is possible. Illegal fireworks can be bought from your first form students outside the market, juice bottles can explode spontaneously and blackouts can last for a week. Everything will make so much sense when we get back to England as we seem to spend most of our time in a state of confusion. The past two weeks have been very busy with work and travelling.
This weekend we went up to Moruca, an Amerindian village north of Georgetown, to visit some other volunteers. They are also staying with a world teach volunteer from Cambridge and a Peace Corps volunteer from LA who are both slightly older and more experienced! To get there we had to cross four rivers – the Berbice, Demerara, Essequibo (which is 20 miles wide!) and down the Pomeroon and up the Moruca river. The journey was amazing especially the last bit in a speedboat through the jungle. On the way back the speedboat leaves at 5:30am so you get to see the sun rise over the jungle whilst speeding down river. It is incredible. Moruca is really beautiful – a world away from New Amsterdam. The Amerindians are quiet but friendly people. We visited the secondary and primary school and were shocked at how peaceful the place was despite having 400 kids in fairly small class rooms. Since there are no Amerindians in New Amsterdam and the population is made up of loud and lively Afro and indo Guyanese this was a big surprise to us. It was a world away from the New Amsterdam – it didn’t feel like we were in Guyana. While the people may be quiet, the jungle definitely is not. I was woken by the sound of howler monkeys at 3am on the first night which was really bizarre. There was also a tarantula on the wall of the bathroom and hundreds of army ants working together to lift leaves and flowers many times their size. Apparently we have to go back in the rainy season to see all the monkeys and snakes. We were interrupted at 2:30am on Friday (whilst searching for the diamonds we had dropped under the table) by the neighbours telling us to call a doctor because their son was really sick. We went over to see him sweating and barely conscious on the floor. After considering the possibility of septic shock we smelt the alcohol on his breath and realised he had just passed out from drinking. They wouldn’t believe us though since their son ‘never drinks’. Even in the jungle things aren’t so different from home. The Amerindian men drink a lot and cheat on their wives a lot which makes the whole place feel slightly uneasy and claustrophobic in my opinion. It wouldn’t be a nice place to fall out with your neighbours since there is no way of getting away from them. On Saturday we got a pick up to a nice sandy beach by a creek and went swimming and fishing, Jolene caught two Hussars which we could have curried but didn’t know how.
Moruca is in a strange stage of development. They have just got mobile phones and everyone has one. Digicell (the mobile phone company) is everywhere – there are Digicell signs in the middle of the jungle. The village seems to have lost a lot of its traditions since getting contact with the outside world. A lot of people have had a glimpse of what else the world has to offer and get depressed with their own lives. There have been several suicides in the village recently. Whether the two are related I don’t know but it could be a case of ignorance being bliss. Either way I don’t think any thing will stop the village from developing – there are plans to get the Internet. Whether good or bad, things in the village are definitely changing quickly. As for education, access to the outside world can only be a good thing but at the cost of the traditions of the community.
Back at school, our head teacher came into my chemistry lesson to invidulate it with no warning. I also just happened to be teaching moles and Avagadroes law – the hardest thing to first learn in chemistry. Luckily she doesn’t know much about chemistry though so she couldn’t comment on the content! She was pleased with my teaching but concerned that I hadn’t written every small detail of what I had done and said in my lesson plan. It seems that they would rather it looked like you were teaching well on paper than actually teaching well. I am still enjoying the teaching although Jolene and I are finding it ever more concerning (but amusing) that we make up the chemistry department in the best school in Berbice.
Tuesday was a public holiday since it is dewali (or deepvali) the hindu festival of light. I spent the day cooking with our neighbour and spent the evening walking around the village looking at all the Diya (small lights people decorate their houses with), fireworks and small kids spinning burning steel wool around their heads. The Guyanese have a fascination with fireworks and bangers (they sound more like bombs here though). There have been several every day at school which usually involves a loud bang screaming kids and lots of smoke. There was also a firework set off outside the staff room today which meant the police were called to school.
The blackout lasted a week and we have had consistent power for a couple of days until today when it went off again. I am now in Georgetown as I have to attend a CXC chemistry workshop today and tomorrow. I am looking forward to finding my own way around Georgetown and pretty glad I have made it safely so far!


http://hazelhathwayinguyana.blog.co.uk/2008/11/01/moruca-4966285/

Moruca man murdered

Twenty-one-year-old Damian La Rose was murdered last night in  Moruca, North West District.

Details are sketch but reports received by Stabroek News said that the Moruca resident was beaten during an altercation with a group of men and may have been stabbed.

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/news/breaking/10/30/moruca-man-murdered/

THE MORUCA PROJECT

The Spanish Arawaks came to Guyana in the year 1817 fleeing prosecution by Simon Bolivar, and with them came their traditional lifestyles, cultures, and music. However over the years much of this rich history (which is largely oral) and culture has all but disappeared. In 2005 when the foundation made contact with the local community the majority of this music had been lost, for example there were only six (6) persons in the village who knew the songs and all except one had also lost their words or lyrics. In the place of voices violins are used. This served as the catalyst for the Moruca project. 

The project started in August, 2005 and aims to preserve local culture through music. The foundation works along with local musicians to help them preserve their musical customs. To date 3 violins have been donated to the community. The foundation also works closely with the school to provide training to school students and has provided training to 12 students. The foundation is also hoping to acquire the services of a violin teacher who will work with the young kids and try to rebuild the violin repertoire in the community. In 2008, with funding from a private person, the foundation also developed a documentary of the Spanish Arawaks in Moruca, which is available upon request.

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY & FOLKLORE

In an attempt to preserve Guyana's musical and cultural heritage beginning with its Indigenous communities and later arrivals Rohan Sagar has been working amongst the Spanish Arawaks of Moruca and the African-Guyanese community of Buxton. In this regard he has been able to research and document the following:  

Banchikilli - The music of the Spanish Arawaks of Moruca, Guyana. (A recording of 25 Arawak songs with related folklore.) 

Songs of Survival - African Music in Buxton Guyana. A research on the traditional drumming patterns and techniques, traditional songs composed on the plantations during both pre- and post emancipation periods. 

The Sambura - The Study and Uses of Instruments in traditional Music in Guyana.

Legends of the Patamonas - A collection of the Folklore of one of the last Indigenous nations in Guyana to have kept their culture largely intact.

La Rose - An Emancipation Festival first celebrated by  African slaves, and now their descendants in St. Lucia. Brought to Guyana in the early 1940's this feast was last celebrated in the late 1980s. A collection of La Rose music is presently being researched and attempts are on the way to discover the last King of La Rose.

Music of Kabakaburi - Kabakaburi is a sleepy little village 20 miles from Charity in the Pomeroon River. A collection of seven songs on cassette was discovered in a waste bin in an office ready to be thrown away. Contained are Arawak songs being performed to the  Mari - Mari rhythm. Also on the tape is a copy of David Campbells' "Kabakaburi Children Dancing In The Sun."

http://www.harpyeaglemusic.org/projects.html