BUXTON DOES NOT HAVE CRIMINALS, IT IS A PEACEFUL VILLAGE!

So we have been observing the ongoing debate on television stations over the past few days and nights about the situation in Buxton. We must definitely be getting ready for St. Peter, as it appear that our senses are failing us. We could remember a few years ago that a number of villagers from Buxton, through the PNC/R in the days of Hoyte and now Corbin lamented the state of the backlands as "the drainage and state of land was so poor that the villagers had given up on the land and that is why they were turning to crime". Now low and behold, when the military has embarked on an operation to clear the backlands of dense overgrowth, one man suddenly announces that he has over 2 million dollars in crops, another is saying that he makes 30,000 dollars a week from his cash crops. That boils down to 120,000 dollars montly (TAX FREE). Wow! We want to be farmers now.

Then there was a meeting yesterday, between the Minister of Agriculture and residents of Buxton on the situation in the backlands. A female jumps up and shouts "we na gat no criminals in Buxton, why we cyant go down dere (the backlands) to we farms" another man says "Buxtonians na thief from no one, we a wuk hard and we want go back to we land weh we have we crops ready for reap" and another says "if i had de power i would clear out the military from Buxton in 72 hours, we don't need the military here, we don't have no criminals here" this is a nice one "Buxton is a peaceful community why deh Police and Army always harassing we".


Well quick question. In which village did the Guyana Defense Force last encountered heavily armed gunmen and engaged in an intense firefight which resulted in the deaths of two gunmen err sorry (honest church going farmers) armed with an AK 47 and hundreds of rounds "worth 2,000 each" err sorry (armed with a fork and seeds to plant) in the backlands?

And their argument went further, one said "is only farming we have to turn to, as when we go looking for a job from the time deh hear is Buxton we from, that it. No Job!” We could remember just recently when the PNC/R argued that there were no jobs in Guyana, which is why these decent young men were turning to crime. Now it’s because they are from Buxton. Some Quick Questions: How did Buxton get such a bad reputation? Who was/is responsible for this phobia with Buxton? Why are people so skeptical to employ persons living in Buxton? (and finally) If Buxton is such a peaceful, loving, crime free village, how come so many Police/Soldiers/GUYSUCO workers/Kidnapped victims etc. died in the village over the past 5 years? Did they all commit suicide?

The fact is that not all Buxtonians are criminals or are linked to criminals, but there are quite a few villagers who provide an environment of support for the gunmen and in turn they are provided with assurances of not being harmed by the gang members and are provided with money and other articles from their murderous robberies.

It is also clear that this exercise to clear the backlands, is being met my stiff opposition despite the fact of a compensation desk being set up and assurances that after the exercise, Buxtonians will be allowed to return to the land. But now they will benefit from improved drainage and a farm to market access road which will not only assist the Joint Services to go after the criminals hiding out in the backlands, but also assist farmers to take their produce from farm to market in a more hassle free way. Now anyone who objects to this definitely in not on the side of good sense and has an agenda! We will get to the agenda in our next posting.