By: Tassia Dickenson
With a population of approximately 430 persons, the indigenous community of Fairview – located within the Iwokrama Forest – is eager to share their traditional Makushi culture and history with the world.
As such, the village has decided to utilise the $15 million carbon credit grant it has received to build cabins in order to better accommodate guests in their community.
Persons can enjoy sporting activities, fishing, birding and visiting the petroglyphs during their stay at Fairview. Currently, the village does not have any cabins.
During a telephone interview with this publication, Toshao Bradford Allicock unveiled that the village submitted several priority projects that they will be executing this year. These include building two cabins to accommodate tourists, purchasing a minibus and repairing a Bedford truck, and lastly, drilling a well for the village.
However, he noted that subsequent to the submission of the village sustainable plan, he was informed by the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) that a well will be drilled in the community by the government.
“At present, we get a word from the Regional Democratic Council stating that a well would be drilled by the Government. So, what would have to happen here we have to take off the one that we have the proposal for. Once it’s [the well] coming from the Government we don’t need to use that money to do that. We would use it on another project,” Allicock told outlined.
According to Allicock, the village currently has one solar well that is used to supply the priority buildings and a few households.
“We have a solar well which is not too big that would supply the whole village. But we use that just for the main buildings, the school, health centre, teachers’ quarters, and the doctors’ quarters, and some on the homes close by have access to that well,” Allicock added.
Allicock shared that the construction of the cabins is currently ongoing and is expected to be completed within the next three months. The project is being executed by the villagers.
The Bedford truck, he noted, is used for transporting construction materials and goods for villagers from Lethem or Georgetown.
“We normally use it for transporting lumber, goods and to bring in our goods from Lethem [or] Georgetown. Villagers would normally hire it [the truck] or sometimes we get hired by outsiders to transport goods and construction materials and so,” Allicock shared.
He explained that repairs to the truck include; changing the cabin, overhauling the engine, purchasing new brakes and tires, painting the exterior, and more.
Fairview is a small Amerindian settlement that lies a few kilometres upriver from the Iwokrama River Lodge and is the only community located within the Iwokrama Forest.
$4.7B distribution
In February this year, a total of 241 Amerindian communities across the country received grants, ranging from $10 to $35 million each. This initiative followed the historic agreement signed with Hess Corporation for Guyana’s carbon credits in 2022 that will see the country earning US$750 million for its forest. A total of $4.7 billion (US$22.5 million), which represents 15 per cent of Hess’ payment for Guyana’s carbon credits, was disbursed in the various communities.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had explained that a strict mechanism will be followed to ensure accountability and transparency regarding how the funds will be expended. Each community is required to create separate bank accounts so the spending of the funds can be properly monitored. Moreover, the community cannot utilise the funds until a finance committee is named and the village development plan is completed and endorsed by the village.
Jagdeo had expressed that the plans should be focused on either empowerment projects in the social sector, job creation, and/or on food security efforts.
