Caigual: Plenty land, no people

The history of Caigual is a rich one. Meandering through Sangre Grande, then North Oropouche Rd, twisting into Fishing Pond, just past Fleming Road, Caigual Two begins. The small community comprising, according to the residents’ assessment, approximately 250 to 500 people at most, is not only fractured along racial lines but misses many of the elements a community should possess: such as churches, and schools have left along with the people.

According to NALIS’ records, “Caigual began its story as a village as the 20th century began, and its birth and development came as a result of the enterprising St Rose Phillip, and his mother, Elizabeth Roberts, who were determined to plant cocoa and share in the fortune this crop was bringing to that region.

The name Caigual is Amerindian and presumably that of a bird.

A rich cocoa plantation was set up and the life of the community was centred on that. “By the 1920s and 1930s Caigual had grown into an extremely lively and popular village, thriving fast, feeding fat on the prosperity of its cocoa, and being a sort of focal point for people all over Manzanilla ward, and beyond. It became well-known for the bright cricket matches in its savannah; for its school concerts and dances — which attracted people from near and far — and it also became known for its vibrant community spirit...,” the historical records state.

Vast difference There is a vast difference between Caigual then and now. As Newsday drove through Caigual Two, there were no houses to be seen for miles. It made one wonder whether one was the in right space.

Driving along, Newsday met Rokesh Roopan, 63, who has lived in Caigual for all of his life.

While minimal changes have occurred over the span of his lifetime, there is much more, he believes, that could have been done.

He has seen the evolution of light and water but little else. A recently constructed basketball court – he could not state exactly when it was constructed — is of no use to the area. “The Government only wasting money by cleaning it. Here have no children. It have nothing,” he said.

Lack of employment and social activities drove many people, including the youth, from the area.

Roopan earns his livelihood from light farming, planting crops such as mangoes, oranges and coconuts.

Roopan, when asked if he knew who the area’s representative was, said he did not vote and would never since, “I don’t believe in that. We don’t get anything and I still have to work hard.” The first house that you happen upon in Caigual Two –which actually bore signs of life– belonged to 67-year-old retiree, Cecil Nichols. For Nichols, life in Caigual can be quite charming and peaceful, if you have the right amenities. He has his own car, which gives him access in and out and he does not have the hassle of getting to and from work on time.

Nichols admitted, however, that without those things, life in Caigual would be difficult. Caigual’s major challenge, to Nichols, is its transportation system or the lack thereof. But also of dire concern was the lack of anything for the area’s youth. His nephew, Kaiawa Brathwaite who lives next door said, “We do our little planting up and do our little jobs.” That’s how the youth earned a living. He too emphasised that, generally, “transportation is one of our biggest problems.” No school or church Events such as parties and harvests are things of the past, they both said. “There is no school.

There is no church. There is nothing.” The school’s closure was caused by the small school population. Approximately five to six children, attended what was Caigual RC.

Of major importance to Brathwaithe is growing the area’s population. “We want the community to grow, to manifest something more to uplift it,“ he said. “We need greater access to Government funding, in terms of land security. We have a lot of land in here.” He said when the area’s youth attempted to access lands in the area, the y were “shut down.” “We do not get assistance from councillors and we do not get assistance from the MP...we do not get ten days...we do not get URP,” he said.

For Brathwaithe, the jobs in the area were racially distributed and t he area lacked a bus service, whereas neighbouring Fishing Pond has access to a PTSC bus.

He believes Caigual is ripe for the Government’s drive toward agriculture, if only the requisite attention and resources were placed into it. But the assistance from the relevant ministr ies to further develop the industr y has not been provided. He added that jobs in divisions such as forest r y– for which the area’s youth were wellequipped- were often unavailable to them.

“Personally, I have records of letters, upon letters, upon letters that we have taken to the various ministries in Grande and they choos e to neg lect Caigual. They come to us only when they need it for some specific use,” he said.

More of the area’s youth, Brendon Aberdeen and Laura Charles, living in Caigual for over 20 years each, said they often had to walk to t he Manzan Junc tion if they wanted to get out of the area. “If you have to come in here late on night when you come from school you have to pay all $50/$60,” they said. If they had to map Caigual’s development, it would start with a community centre and some form of activity for the area’s youth to engage in.

“Something where everyone can interact and bring back the oneness in the community,” he said.

Coconut entrepreneur One of the area’s entrepreneur’s, Christine Baptiste, said she hopes her attempts at b ottling coconut water would bring some life back to the community. For her, the area is replete with coconuts and gives Caigua l a chance to be known for something and to be known at all.

Although she did not have a name for her business as yet she was certain that it would do something for her area. She, too, said Caigual’s development first needed to begin with proper repair of the roads and providing adequate transp or tation On the other side of Caigual, also known as Caigual One, The Paultoo and Sankar families sat resting. The daughter, Sandra Paultoo, sat on a bench and the mother, Sukhiya Sankar, sat at a wooden table. “We need somethings (sic). We need good roads, proper drains and stuf f. There is no school here, buses come and take up the children and bring them back and stuff,” Sukhiya said. “There are no events here at all. Is only from school to home and home to school. Nothing don’t happen here...if the roads fix and there is proper transportation people wi ll come.” Her daughter said she does not work because, “when you go they turning you down.” She has a primary school education. Asked about the racial divide that is said to exist, Sankar said it was rather a matter of waywardness on the other side and “them” not wanting to unite.

For Barry Lochan, counci llor for Manzanilla-under which Caigual falls- some of the problems faced are man-made.

In an inter view he said, Caigual Two ne eds employment. “All of the lands, in there, are abandoned lands.” The only areas of employment are URP and in the regional corporation and that, therefore, work was not steady. But for Lochan, many of the residents were also unwilling to accept the s easonal work given to them.

Political games, played by both residents and politicians, he said, hampered t he community’s development.

He, too, said that the area was not cohesive.

At Caigual One, he said, many of the residents were independent but had to rely on facilities in Sangre Chiquito for s ocial activities.

He has been lobbying, he said, to have the s chool returned to the area —which he hopes wou ld generate a sense of community among its people. The ground at Sangre Chiquito s erved all of lower Caigual and that community.

The votership in Caigual, Lochan said, was approximately 38 people.

“And half of them don’t particip ate,” he said.