Kaieteur News
PAGE 66
Sunday October 27, 2019
Versailles - a settlement abuzz with joyous people FOCUS
By Alex Wayne I felt really at ease in this village since it had a quiet peace to it, coupled with the peaceful calm that seemed to engulf it entirely. Here and there residents basked in the shade of jamoon and genip trees, while in some areas villagers longed in comfort outside food stall enjoying, fruit juices, the traditional home brewed mauby, or having mid-morning Creole snacks. I was in the village of Versailles, West Bank Demerara , one of the French-named places in Guyana, which is bounded by the villages of Malgre Tout and Goed Fortuin, and is situated about one mile north of the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Versailles is an estate and is located in Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, Guyana with an estimated terrain elevation which is said to be one metre above sea level. This was certainly where I wanted to be…In a village filled with mirth and laughter, where a certain refreshing joy seemed to emit from the conversations and interaction of residents.
Everyone I spoke to had a smile and many beamed in d e l i g h t d u r i n g conversations… It was as if the cares of the world brought no burden to the inhabitants and if they did, they certainly knew how to throw it and present happy and contented demeanours. Versailles is also said to have had a quite large soap factory, and a massive guava grove that disappeared as years went by. This village is predominantly inhabited residents of African descent, but the strong bond of filial love, harmony and camaraderie existing between them and the small number of East Indians (and other races) is palpable. In the early 1990s, what is now the beautiful Roraima Housing Scheme in Versailles actually used to be the location of the Versailles Sugar Estate. That estate fell into disuse several years ago, and was replaced, in 1995, by an extensive soap factory that supplied the laundry needs of a wide expanse of Guyana. But, in 1996, this soap factory also ceased operating, and the area was then taken over by the now
Yester-year styled buildings still remains in the village.
CEO of the Aracari Resort, Sase Shewnarain, who was in control and had responsibility for overseeing the entire location. At that time, this area was a very large guava grove with thick, wild vegetation, and was not really traversed by anyone. Shewnarain seemingly invested heavily in this very undeveloped land; and, over time, the formation of land plots could be seen, as well as the bustle of certified individuals measuring and conducting land surveys at his bidding. In the late 1990s, the still very bushy area was taken over by established land owners and a community was in the making. By the early 2000s, the Roraima Housing Scheme began to take form, and indeed became quite a very picturesque location. As historic facts suggest Versailles Village in Guyana was named (French pronunciation: [v[ sQj] after city in the Yvelines département in the Île-deFrance region, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the French capital, 17.1 km (10.6 mi) from the centre of Paris, Versailles is in the 21st century a wealthy suburb of Paris with a service-based
Villagers congregate on weekends at the Aracari Resort.
economy and a major tourist destination as well. According to the 2008 census, the population of the city was 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town founded at the will of King Louis XIV, Versailles was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of royal city, it became the préfecture (regional capital) of the Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. It is also a Roman Catholic diocese. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris,
which ended the American Revolution, and the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I. Today, the Congress of France – the name given to the body created when houses of the French Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, meet – gathers in the Château de Versailles to vote on revisions to the Constitution. Soaking up the Harmony My first stop was in the vicinity of the small jetty used by fishermen who plied their trade in the village. It was quite a bemusing spectacle as the fishermen sat around at nearby food stall wolfing down egg balls, channa, black pudding and of course roti and curried chicken or beef. I almost laughed out loud at the slurping sounds they made as they took large mouthfuls of food items, still attempting to fill their mouths more with large gulps of cherry juice, or golden apple drink. I rolled my eyes heavenward as they took their fingers and wiped up gravy from plate before sucking it off with annoying sounds. Some of them chased after each other like fun filled children and I just marveled at this spectacle. I introduced myself and one of the men moved over to make seating room for me on a bench provided. One of them mouthed, “Yuh gon drink something boss man?” and I accepted a cherry juice, readily. Joseph Hinds, a fisherman, readily plunged into the tale of arson
committed at the jetty, and how it affected their trade. “Boy, we just have to make we self merry. If we tek on anything, we ain’t gon enjoy this life at all. Imagine t h e o t h e r d a y, w e hardwukking fishermen was home sleeping and a stupid junkie bun down this whole jetty. You know how much things we lose? “Really…really expensive equipment we lose and we can’t get back anything because de police say the junkie is a madman. Now who gon give we back what we lost? Then people had to spend lots of money to repair back de structure because we got to work fuh eat and mind we family… I hope the Government or somebody will look into we situation.” Desmond Duke spoke of the livelihood of villagers and how they implemented measures to deal with what is lacking in the village. “This is a very peaceful village and we certainly do enjoy it too. In this village, you will find simple, peaceful and quite happy people. We ain’t get dem fancy thing you would find in the city but we learn to make do… “We do not wait on nobody to fix anything because they always take ages to arrive or they never come at all. Here we fix our bridges, build our dams, weed our parapets and dig our drains. People here have always adopted the self-help mode and it has been always working for us. “Many villagers here are fishermen, but we do have (Continued on page 67)