Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697742353019.pdf (Guyana)
t" t \ \ Sir, JJ; DEPARTMENT OF THE IlTTERIOR, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, 6, Brickdam, Georgetown, British Guiana.

4th July, 1962. .

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I have the honour to submit hereunder my report on the administration of tre Districts in the Interior for the y.ea:r 1961. .

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The De:p3.rtment of the Interior is responsible for the administrative control of three Administrative Districts viz: The Mazaruni-Potaro District with an area of 21,555 square- miles and a population of 12,025; the Rupununi District with an area of 37,380 square miles and a population of 10,043; and the North West Di.strict with an area of 8,507 square miles and a population of 12,733.

The Depi.rtment is also responsible for .Amerindian Affairs throughout the Colony.
A District Commissioner is in charge of each District.

Owing to the difficulties of communication with the Headquarters of the Districts at Bartica and Ma.baruma, the Upper Mazaruni .Amerindian District and the North West Amerindian District are in charge of Assistant District Commissioners am controlled from Head Office.

A District Officer of tho De:p3.rtment is in charge of Orealla Amer indian District in the Coastal Area.

ADMINISTRATION The Minister of Home Affairs was charged 'with the .

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responsibility for the Derartment of the Interior with effect from the 6th SeEtember, 1961, and the Department moved into the Ministry of Home Affairs' Building on the same day.

Fonierly, the Chief Secretary wae:·obarged with the responsibility for the Derartment • STAFF Mr. J.B. Bamford continued in office as Commissioner of the Interior throughout the year.
The Departmental establishment was made up of three District Commissioners, five Assistant District Commissioners, an Administrative Assistant, six District Field Officers, nine Clerks and th±ee .

Typist Clerks together with various subordinate poets.

To adequately cover such a large area with scattered population necessitates the breaking up of the Staff into small units.
staff problem due td, leave, sickness, transfers and the fact that it is difficult to recr&it personnel wtlling to serve in these remote areas.

.This constitutos a never ending Rupununi District: Mr. A • .A.M.

Learmond succeeded Mr. N.L.

Franker as District Commissioner on the 18th September and Mr. P.R.

Hughes, Assistant Di.strict Commissioner left the District on transfer on th• 25th August.

North West District: Mr. C.J.E.


Barker· continued to act as District Commissioner until the 4th July when he was succeeded by Mr. E.M. Cossou.

Mazaruni-Potaro Disti-ict i .. :Mr • .

F.B.

Green, .Assistant District Commissioner succeeded Mr. A.A.M.

Loarmond, District Commissioner on 12th September.

Mr. F.C.R.

Giles, Assistant District Commissioner was seconded to the Post and 1elecommunications Department in.

February and was subseq\lently transferred to that Department.
• ••• /Upper Mazaruni The Hon.

Minister of Home Affairs, 6, Brickdam, Georgetown, BJ::itish Guiana.

· ~lt~ -~ - 2 - Upper Mazaruni Amerindian District: Mr. P.R.

Hughes, Assistant District C.ommissioner succeeded Mr .

W.R. Seggar, Assistant District Commissioner on the 28th August.

North West Amerindian District: Mr. F.B.

Green, Assist ant District Commissioner succeeded Mr. R.G.

Prasad, ©lass I Cle~k on 24th-May and Mr. W.H.


Seggar, Assistant District Commissioner succeeded Mr. Green on the 6th September.

Orealla Amerindian District: Mr .• L.E.

Jekir , Class I Clerk was posted as Officer-in-Charge on the 10th Niay, 1961.

Visits by His Excellency the Governor His E!

:oellency the Governor, Sir Ralph Gr~y , K.C.M.G., K.c.v.o., O.B.E., visited t he Rupununi District from t he 9th to 17th January arrl Orealla on the 27th March.

On both visits he waa.


accompanied by tre Commissioner of the Interior.

Visits by the Minister of Home Affairs The Minister of Home Affru.rs, the Hon.

B,S.

Rai, visited the Rupununi District from the 17th to 21st of November.

He was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. J.s.

Douglas and t he Commissioner of the Interior.

The Commissioner of the Interior also made two visits to the Upper Mazaruni .Amerindian District, one tc.
the North West District, t wo to the North West Amerindian District, three t o the Mazaruni-Potaro District and two to St. Francis Mission, Mahaicony River.

The District CoilllT).is8iGner~ and Officers posted in the Districts made regular tours of their respective Districts.

FRONTIER RELATIONS The cordial relationship between r esidents on the country's borders with Brazil and Venezuela was maintained through out the year.
As a result of the devaluation of the Bol ivar, how ever, there was a consider able reductio~ in the movement of people between Venezuela and British Gui ana , A large :i;nrty of Economists and other Technical Goverl'.lillent Officers from Rio de Janeiro, who were touring the Rio Era.nee territory, paid.a flying visit to Lethem.

They took tre opportunity to hold di scussions with the Minister o!

Home Affairs who happened to be visiting Lethem at the time .
Discussions were also held with District Officers.

AMERINDIAN AFFAIRS • It is estimated that the Amerindians now number between 25,000 and 30,000; they range from the primitive to the civilised and are ~hincy distributedt living I!X)stly in pl aces t o which access is difficult and co.stly.

It i s -the po;J..icy of Government to hel p them to advance to a stage where they will be able to take their.
·place with other groups in the general life of tre Community but the Administration is hampered in its efforj;_$ .. tO .im plement this policy because of limitations in Staff and.

funds.
funds.

There · are, al so, large· numbers of Junerindians who ar_e c.cmtent-·t o · continue thei r traditional way of life and show little enthusiasm for change; to pr ovide improvements, t h.erefore, requires a careful approach and sustained effoTt• Consequently, the task of weani ng the Amerindian from direct rule to l ocal authorit y may well prove longer than had been anticipated .
· Tho problem of tre rights of the Amerin dians in respect of land, and amendments to existing legisl ation a re still under consideration.

The basis of their future progress depends largely •••.•••• /on their •• ) )6 I on their right~ in respect of land.

- 3 - Trade Stores: The trade storQs at Lethem, Aisli,alton and Karasabai in the Rupununi -District continued to render satisfactory service to the District.

The cash takings ' of the .


stores totalled $121,180.63, of which $7,969.20 and $_10,395.91 were collected from the branch stores at Aishalton and Karisabai, respectively.

There were no new shops of any .consequence in the District but preliminary arrangements were being made by the Village Council at Annai to establish a shop.

The shop operated at Sand Creek by a group of Villagers continued to be successful.
Cash takings at the Kamarang Trade Store in the Upper Mazaruni Amerindian District totalled S-61,309.00 as against $64,531.71 for the previous year, the decrease being attributable to the estab lishment of ·other shops and the advent of hucksters and miners in :the area.

Trade: In the Rupununi District, corn and ground provisions fourrl a ready market, but some difficulty was experienced in the sale of tobacco owing to a glut on the market.

From .
From .

September, the Foot and Mouth Epidemic in the District restricted the sale of meat.

A comps.rison of sales of cattle and tobacco, belonging tc Amerindians, in the period 1959 - 1961 is as follows: 12j2 1960 1961 Cattle Tobacco $ 23,070.56 $ 24,122.82 $ 18,591.43 1,299.60 4,413.85 2,090.30.

Amerindian bleeders accountei"d for 384,083 lbs.

of the 432,832 lbss.

of balata produced in the District.

In the Kamarang District, 3,529 lbs.

of black eye peas and' 9~2 to Georgetown for resale.

lbs.
lbs.

of peanuts were purchased from Amerindians and shipped Training Centres: A course of instruction in cotton spinning, using a type of machine specially imported from India, began in September at Lethem in the Rupununi District.

If success ful, trainees are to be sent out as instructors to trn .surroundirg Villages.

· A tailoring course at Karasabai had to be discontinued on the resignation of the instructor.

· The adult education class at Lethem was continued· and good results were obtained.
The .. general response, however, to these special facilities was somewhat dis couraging.

Local Government: Village Councils formally established in :j;erms of the Aroorindian Ordinance, Chapter 58, were;;-in~:operation at Aishalton, Klaurdarnawa, Sand Creek and Annai in tho Rupununi District and· Santa Rosa in the North West District.
councils continued to operate at Achewil~ , .Awarawaunawa, Maruranawa, and Shea in the Rupununi District; Paruima, Waramadong and Jawalla in the Upper Mazaruni Amerindian District; Wakapau and Haimarakabra in the North West District; Kabacaburi and St. l\lionioa on the Pomeroon River; Orealla on the Corentyne River and st. Francis on the Mahaicony River.

Informal In the Upper Mazaruni Amerindian Dist~ict the venue.

of the annual meeting of Captains was changed from Kamarang to Jawalla Vg.llage.
The meeting was held in Deci:lmber and it was agreed to hold one annually in rotation in one of the four larger Villa;ges.

Elections for Captains and Councillors· were held at Phillipai, Jawalla, Waramadong and Paru:im.a.

In the Rupununi District, the li'ifth ·Annual Conference of Toucbaus (Captains) was held at Annai on~l5th November •.
Near~ all the Toucbaus in trn District atterrle&, and a wide range of subjects was discussed; Elections were held in December at all the major Villages where there are Touchaus.

At some Villages the • •••• /electiom ., ... 4 elections were keenly contested and unexpected results obtained .

The newl y el ected Touchaus will serve for a four-year period from 1st Janu~y , 1962.
The ~lection of of ficial and unofficial Council?o~s to serve a two-year period from 1st Je..nuary, 1962, was started but not completed by the end of the year.

The Santa Rosa Area Council, in the North West raid Upper Pomeroon .Amer indian District, held fairl y regul ar fortnightly meetings through out the year, Elections for Captains for tle five ·areas within t he District were carr ied out without :i.ndident.
Water Suppl ies: In the Rupununi District, the system of inexpens i ve small wells by water j et boring, advocated by the Geophysicist/Hydrologist, was tried out with varying results .

.Three wells were laid down ·at $hul inab, and one at Maruranawa.

The installation of windmills, overhead tanks and pipe..:lines , as pat't of the 1960 - 1964 Development Programme, was continued during the year.
The i mprovement of tle ir water supply has made a great contri but ion to the health and welfare of the residents.

Jn the Mazaruni-Potar o District, a 100,000 gallon tank was erected, pipe- lines laid and a pump-house built at Ba.rtica to provide adequate fire pr otection and a piped water suppl y for the area.
Heal th: There was an improvement in the general standard of health in the .Amerindians in the Rupununi District largely attr ibutable to the use of medicated salt in the campaign against malari a .

The same can be said of the North West District where very few cases have been repcr.ted.

Molaria is, however, still present in both areas and there remains the other scourge , tuberculosis 9 which seems to be on t he increase.
The provision of milk for pr,c- school children would be of,-great benefit in the fight against these two diseases.

There has been no boat in which t h e Dispenser coul d tour the Villages in the Upper Mazaruni District and very few visits were made by him.

The Medical Ranger vis::L ted some of the outlying areas.

The Dispensary at Kama.rang is in need of im provement.
It has no r unning water or toilet facilitiesa IBnd Development: The Kumaka- Quebanru1 Scheme in t he North 1Jest Amerindian District wfuioh is finaneed mainly from Col onial Devel opment and Welfare Funds 9 consists of the building of 22¾ mi.les of roadway from Kumaka on the Maruca River to Quebanna on the Waini River to provide access to 25,000 acres of agri cultural land on the main ridge between the Maruca and the Waini River s. and some four miles of rompleted c i n&le track roa d made, At the Kurriaka and Krunwatta end of tbe road, 148 ten acre lots bad been taken up out of 200 available up to 8 mile s and a t the Quebanna end , 207 lots out of 204.
By year end the road trace had been c lea:r ed n.nd surve;}e d In the North Yvest Distr ict , a land development scheme known as the 11Wauna Project" was launched in August .

This scheme commences at the Wauna .Rive.r 9 left bank Koriabo, left bank Aruka and takes in initially an area of approocima tely 1,000 acres'.

By the end of the year, a great deal of preliminary ·work had been done and some machinery had arrived for ·tre 'cons t ruction of too road to join the Barima- Wanaina road at Wanaina.
The house for the Superintendent at Wauna.

had also been erected.

Sel f-Help Schemes : .

In a number of areas, -.Amerindians conti nued t~ make good use of the assistance furnished through sel f - hel p schemes and several projects were successfully completed.

Others ar e still under way.'

AGRICULTURE , North West Dis trict: The general pattern of agriculture •• • •• /in· thi s • ) ~ l ... 5 -;--"., in this District has changed little during the past few years.
A further drop in the p rice of coffee, f ruit arrl other farm produce has,'however, had a depressing effect.

The prices offered are quite une conomical and unless there is an improve ment soon, the plight of the farmers will ~every serious indeed.

During Se~tember there · was a meeting at which the Director of Marketing advis ed farmers of a proposal to establish a Coffee Marketing Board at a.n ea rly date when coffee would be graded and purchased at fixed prices with-a top price of 45¢ per lb.
·unfortunately, nothing more has been heard of the proposal and the farmers are even more discouraged .

Mazaruni- Potaro District : Other than aro und Bartica, and at a few sea ttered farms -in the mining areas, there is not much· agricultural activity .

The 1 ong-awaited appointment of an Agricultura l Superintendent for the District, which it is hoped will stimulate more interest i n agriculture, was made.
Unfor tunately, due to a housing shortage, he had to proceed on vacation l eave prematurel y in September a nd the District is once aga in without a Superintendent.

The dry spell in April/May affect ed both crops and cattle.

The supply of ground provis ions was short in the first half of the year but the situation :impr oved in t he l atter half; the production of green vegetables was good.

Citrus production is expanding and t he supply of other fruit was good.

Tobacco to the total of 500 lbs .


was reaped and, ge nera lly , farmers a r e res ponding well to the use of fertilisers.

Production of cattle is far below the level of local requirements but there was a substantial .increase in t he supply of pork, a n:l poultry rearing continued t o expand.

The bonus crop scheme has been accepted wi th caution and planting is done on an experimental bas is.
Rupununi District : Cattle ranching is the main agricultural pursuit and a lmost everything el se r evolves around it.

Agriculture amongst t he Amerindi ans, who constitute the greater part of the popul ation, is limited to subsistence crops, corn and farine for the cattle industry.

In February, an Offi cer was posted ~o the District f or ext ension services among the Amerindi ans .
He has since travelled ext ensively throughout the Distriet and the response to his efforts, though somewhat slow , has awakened a growing int er est in fanning, other than in t he t r aditional wa:y.

There is need fo r mor e than one such Officer.

A pilot project in connnunal farming was started at Nappi and encouraging r esults have been obtained.
Investigations by the newly a ppointed Ext ens i on Officer have re-emphasised the di fficul ties of successful economic farming where the farming lands l ie at gr eat distances from the Villages.

There is need for • a survey of suitable farmi ng areas in the District where development work can be fostered and promoted.

An outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease occu:o:ed in August and at the end of the year action was etill being taken to control it.
All shipments of cattle were suspended and at -year end it was not known when they would be resumed.

· \ ' North West Amerindian District: Coconuts remai ned the main economic cr op of the Moruca and Wakapau area s .

Citrus and coffee featured only in the internal e•onomy.

4 , 250 selected .

coconut seedlings wer e distributed.by the Agriculture Department and 105 acre s of coconuts establi shed.

Product ion of copra in the Santa Rosa and Kamwatta area totalled 91,297 lbs .

for the year.
for the year.

How far the incidence of Red Ring disease will affect • ••••• /copra • ( ' ' .

~ oopra production is not yet known.

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The production of f ood cI'Ops, especially yams and plantains, was increased and 400 banann suckers were distributed from the Agricultural Station.

Cultivation of peanuts, dholl, .

castor and green vegetables was introduced during too year but farmers nere very slow in accepting these crops.
Veget ables were left entirely to the 4H Club which was formed du.rin g the year and now has 46 members.

An Achievenent Day was held on 15th November.

Egg and poultry prodootion has improved as a result of the dis~ tribution of 220 R.I.R.

chicks am 100 ducks but f eeding and husbandry practice are in need of improvement.

Field sanitation an d pest cont rol, soil conservation neasures, fertilisation and various a s pects of crop husbandry were demonstrated during the year.
Despite these services, the Amer indian still O?lings to his non-perennial crops ani complains .of l ack of t ransport ani marketing facilities.

Up:wr Mazaruni Amerindian District: The Paruima Agriculture Scheme was changed on the recomTiendation of the Agricultural Officer from providing a pasture to t he setting up of individual plots becnuse the l and was considered nore suitable for teaching lurrerindians imf)rOved agricultural methods .
The area was partly surveyed into 10 acre blocks and given out to farmers .

Approxi1:1ately 5 acres were reserved for an exper imental station.

The principal crops grown throughout the year were blo.ok eye peas and peanuts, r ed beans and shalot, in addition to cassava, their staple diet.

Two crops were har vest ed and the yields were about average.
The diamond rush greatly affected ple.nting, FORESTS In the North West District another sawmi ll ceased operation reducing the number o :i:erating in the District to eight.

Tirlber production totalled 498,447 cubic feet comp:.red with Imports fron Venezuela 494,595 cubic feet in the previous year .

t otalled 9,931 cubic feet crabwood and 1,345 cubic f eet dalli.

· 3,978 l ogs of dalli mea.

:su.ring 64,406 cubic feet were exported to Surinam.

The production of mangrove bark was 640,512 l bs.


and charcoal 28,716 lbs, Mechanisatiofi was introduced into the industry with the purchase of a truck and trailer and three tractors by one miller n.nd of a tractor by a nother.

Producti.

on was, however, hampered by the abnormally dry conditions which prevailed through out the year• The North Wes t Divii,iol:'1 was responsible for cl earing a seven-nile water wey f r om Mora L-indir\g to Mo bina Creek in 'ihe .A:ruka River.
There was an increase of 4•2% in the production of t imber in the Mazaruni-Pota.ro District, the tota l for 1961 being 3,641,360 cubic feet.

This increase was accounted for by Class I timber, mainly greenheart.

These figu:res include tre Poineroon , which is under the control of tre Essequibo Divis ion.

Sixteen gun.rds attended a Forest Guards course, whi ch oonprised instructi on in Forest Administration, el ementary botany and silviculture, tree identification and elementary surveying.
In the Rupununi District more use was made of air strips in the shipnent of•bal~ta and more payr"lents were effected through the District Officers.

Royalty amounting to $493.75 was coll ected on lumber, ••••• /There wa s • }.

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~ There was little activity in the North West Amerindian District wher e the Manawarin River r emains blocked, The MoEuca Mouth Savnnills zre engaged in clearing in order to resume ex traction f r om the upper rea ches of the river.
MINING Gener al: The countr y ' s entire production of gold and din.mends came from t he Inter ior Districts ani an ounted to 112,679.95 metric caret s of diamonds ani 1,702 ozs.

3 dwts.

18 grs .

of gold as compared with 101,003.92 metric carats of diamonds and 2,364 ozs, 08 dwt s .

19 grs.

of gold in 1960.

Mazaruni-Potaro District: (a ) Gold: The production for t be year was 840 ozs, 13 dwts.

01 gr.

compared with 1,052 ozs.

11 dwts.

20 grs.


in 1960, representing a continuation of the decline of the previous yea:r. (b) Diamonds : Mazaruni production fell and centres of activity varied there from Kurupung to Eping escarpnent.
Cuyuni production was up with the Ek:er eku, the mai n centre a nd to a lesser 6xtent, the Eterinbang, Towards the end of the yeer the Potaro production went up also, Total pro duction for the District shoi.ved a slight inc rease being 111,011.92 metric carats as c.ofu]Dred with 98 , 608,36 i n 1960 and 58, 082.69 in 1959.

During the latter po.rt of the year the boundaries of the Kaieteur National Park were varied and the area reduced to open u p mor e ar eas to mining.
· ( c ) Stone Quarrying : The production of stone amounted to 57,616 tons.

· Rupununi Distric t : ( a ) Diamonds: The r ecovery of diamonds was 1,665.46 metric carats as compared with 2,384.26 in 1960.

(b) Gold: Only 28 ozs.

13 dwta .

17 grs.

gold was r ecovered during the yeax a s against 106 ozs .

12 dwts.

19 grs.

in 1960.


North West District: (a) Manganese: Shi pnents of ore from the Manganese Company continued throughout the year, although the prolonged dry spell early in the year had a n adverse effect on production; nevertheless , 193,038 tons were experted , an increase - of 71,312 tons over t he previous year, (b) Gold: Production continued to f all, only 832 ozs.

17 dwts.

being produced as against 1, 205 ozs.

04 dwts.

18 grs .

for 1960.

( c) Diamonds g Production was nil.


LABOUR The labour force in the Interior continued to be engaged mainly on mining and forest act ivitl.es.

Rela tions be tween management and l abour were generall y harmonious.
One mining _dispute was hear d during the yero.- 1 From Sept ember , the cessation of shipments of cattle from the Rupununi to Georgetown, a nd lack of activity in the ca ttle industry cs e. whole, due to t he outbreak of Foot and :Mouth disease , widely affect ed employment in all sections of the industry.

HEALTH Drs.

Rutten a nd Giglioli visited the North West District in August in connection with th8 Malaria Eradication Programme and r eported t hat they were satisfied with its progress, l • • .
, .. /Facilittes • - 8 - Facilities for medical treatment were aintained at the Public Hospitals at Bartica, Lethan and Mabaruna, each under the charge of Gover:1ment Medical Officers.

The Di spensaries at Mahdia, Enachu, Acquero and Kamarang River Mouth were ~lso maintained under the cho.rge of dovernment Dispensers, as vras the Mobile Health Unit in the Korth West Diitrict, and the Health Centre at Morawhanna where there was a Midwife in charge.
Doctor was established by the :Manganese Mines Ltd.,, at Matthew's Ri:lge in -~he North Hes t District, for the use of their employees.

A hospital with a Resident Tn t:.ce Rupununi District, the cruch needed extension and improvements to the hospital building at Lethem were again deferred.
Overcro•,vding continues t0 presen:t · serious problems, as does shortaee of nur•sirig staff o The ante-natal and infant welfare c:;..inics e.t Let}1ein, "]foco Moce, and Nappi were discontinued as a result of staff shortages.- This was disappointing as it had been hoped that the se:~vice could be extended.

The Medi cal Ranger Seryice operated with varying degrees of efficiency.
In the Northern Paka ra~nas , the· Ranger was on vacation leave during the year and the re was no replacement; i-i;i the Southern Savannahs , the Foo~ o.:.

:.-1 I,i:o'-lth Epidemic restricted the movenent of the Ranger.

The hospital building at Ma,barurra in the North West D:Lstrict 'LBeds attenti_on, pa.rticularly the operating theatre.

After all these year:1 there· are still no Isolation and Maternity Wards .
In -yiew of the large number of cases of Tq.berc.ulosis, it is im _perative that something be done about this situation.

Du..~ing lute October, two Health Visitors spent two weeks in the District administering B.C.G.

vacc i ne to children.

At about the ~mne time Dr. J.J. Talbott, Amerindian Medical Officer, spent t1i:o .

months touring the more remote parts of the l}istrict.

He was seriously handicapped by laok of tra?sport.


1\'11!.GISTERI!iL .ium FOLICE (a) Magisterial: The District Comnissioners of t he Mazaruni-Pot.aro, Rupununi and North West Dis t ricts contirru.ed to serve as Magistrates within their respective Districts.

Presiding over cou:.cts at Lethem, Annai and Orinduik, the District Col!lr.

!issioner, Rupununi, disposed of 54 Criminal Cases; there were no Civil Cases.
presided over the quarterly sittings at Tumatumari, Mahdia -~ Issa.no, Enachu and Kurupung and o.isposed of:· 332 Criminal anf 21 Civil Case(:!.

· -'I:\vo .courts were held at Kama.rang for the first time.

The District Commissioner, North West District, held twelve sittings of -the Court a-t Mabaruma , two at Arakaka, three at Acquero and one at nara~..:c.mni, disposing of 210 Criminal a nd 41 Civil Cases.

There were two preliminary enquiries, one involving murder.
The District Col!JJllissioner , Mazaruni-Potaro, Courts were held monthly at Bartica by the Magistrate from Suddie.

· (b) Po:..ice: In the North West DistricJi the Police Stc.tion a-t .A.rako.ka was closed in June nnd transferred to Matthew's Ridge so thnt there are still two ful l y staffed Stations in the District, the other being the Headquarters a t Mabar1.l_I!la.

A police post wo.s maintn.::.

:i.ed p.t Morawhnnna.


The Deput y Commissioner of Police pa:i d vis:..\;s in· January and Ma.rch and t he Su perintendent of the Division three visits during the f i rst ha lf of the year.

La.ck of adequate bont transport handicapped the Police in the errecution of their duties and it is hoped that they will soon be supplied wiU1 a new bonto Rl'J2}?~2ill:_7 ... ~ .At the beginning of the year there were five Amerindic.n policeTien stationed in the District.
One was subse quently dismissed, one retired nnd one taken on strength, leaving four at 31st December, 196lo Outposts were established for a while at Tokc.1.

o.nd Aishalton.

Two subordinate officers and twelve men.

were temporarily tjansferred to the Distric:t to assist in •• -• .,/controlling • ~ controlling the outbreak of Foot· 'and Mouth Disease.
- 9 - )~7 Mazaruni-:R:>taro: Police Stations were maintained at Bartica, Tumatumari, Mahdia, Issano, Enachu and Ku:rupung with 0·1at posts at Winiperu, Oranapa.i and Apg.iqua.

In November, the two man post at Tumatumari was reduced by one arrl he was sent to increase the strength at Enachu.

PRIOONS .

In the Mazaruni-Fbtaro District, the building at Kamalcusa was removed to Enachu and declared a prison with the District Commissioner as Officer-in-Charge.
The Prison at Mabaruma in the North West District needs rebuilding and something should be done about _keeping the prisoners usefully occupied.

The possibility of stationing an additional policeman at Mabaruma, who would be in a position to watch the prisoners who are wo~king outside the Police Compound, where there is plenty of useful work to be done, might be investigated.

.
.

In the Rupununi District, a total of fou~;>risoners under went sentences during 1961 compared with thirteen in the previous yea:r. .

.

REVENUE Revenue collected at the Offices of the District Commissioners and the Sub-,.Wardens at Mahdia, Enachu and Orinduik compared with 1959 arrl.
1960 figures are as follows:- Dis-gi,ct North West Ma.zaruni- Potaxo Rupununi PUBLIC WORKS 12.22 1960 1961 $ 25,91a.14 .$ 27,635.ao $ 30,461.78 .ru,a95.50 96,624.35 10,491.06 12,670.51 35,142.33 10,i62.3a The Interior Department continued to assist by supervising and accounting for works undertaken by the Public Works Dep:1.rtment in the Rupununi 1 North West and Upper Mazaruni Amerindian Districts.

In the Mazaruni-Potaro District this form of assistance was not required.
(a) Buildings: In the Upper Mazaruni Amerindian District reconditioning work on buildings on the Station at Kama.rang commenced with the arrival of the Resident Carpen~er.

A building for miners was also erected on the Station.

in the Wiaza,runi"Potaro District, good progress was made on the .

erection of the new tourist Rest House at Kangaruma -and plans ~ade for starting the one at Tukeit •.
Other works included an ex~ tension to the Caretaker's quarters, the Bart~ca Rest House and a new· boat house for tre Geological Survey Dernrtment which was built at Makouria.

In the North West Amerindian District, · an attempt to .

rep:1.ir the.

Dispensary at Moruca uncovered so many defects that in December a complete overhaul was decided on.

.

.

North West District: Eight buildings were reconditioned during the "ye~.

.
.

, .. .. .. Rupununi District:· Several buildings were· recorrli tioned at Lethem, including the Amerindian- Hostel where water was laid on.

Under the Developnent Programme, three new buildings were completed •• •• /being the ,6e ., -7 being the N.c.o.

at Lethem.
at Lethem.

• ·· - 10 - ·o quarters for the Distriot Field Officer at Annai, the Police Annai and for tle Technician, Post and Telecommunications at (b) Roads: In the Upper Mazaruni Amerindian District, tho Kamarang/Par:uima Road was cleared for a distance of 10 miles.

~twas necessary to alter the original trace to avoid swamps.

A section from the-six mile bridge was strengthened and an improved type of bridgo erected • In the.
Mapruni-Potaro .District, clearing of tre · new line for tre Bartica-Po~ro Road stopped at 20 mile.

It ie understood that a temporary seal is to be put on up to this p:,int, follo,ving which wo:rk will cease pending further instructions.

The usual maintenance on the remainder of tre road continued.

Tho Del Conte Group sta.

:bted work on the Parika-Bartica Road, at Makouria, during tm latter part of tm yea:r. In the Rupununi District, general maintenanoo was caITied ont on roads throughout trn District.
Tire bridge across the Saurab Creek we.a completed during the year and 5 miles of roadway s:heeted from Yamate Wau Creek to too Saurab.

The Manari bridge wae.

re-conditioned and an experimental causeway put down across the Moco Moco Creek.

From September, all work wa~ restri•ted by.

the un~erviceability of the D6 and D4 tractor&.
North West District: Work was hampered on the road" by the lack of a roller and a suitable vehicle for quick transportation, neverth~less, muoh work walil done, the main accomplishments being the surfacing of further sections of the Barirna ·swamp Sec t ion, the widen ing of maey parts of trn Mabaruma Section and the r econditioning of a section lf the road from Hosororo to Wanaina, ( c) AirstriEB: Surveying and clearing the site· of the proposed airstrip at Kaieteur in the Mazaruni-Potaro District were comple ted.
In the Ru.pununi District, :re.rt of the end of Lethem airstrip wasmeeted with gravel and levelled, and tho whole airstrip weeded.

Aishalton airstrip was weeded arrl improved.

The extensions of the air strip at Wichabai was begun but wae di scontinued in September for lack of suitable machirnry.

The stonn drainage was dug and minor works earried out.
· COMMUNICATIONS Communications to the lv1azaruni-futaro District included a thrice weekly steamer servic e between Georgetown and Bart ica for passengers and cargo, and thrice weekly air services be t ween tre same points arrl _ between Georgetown and Tumereng for l'E,ssengers.

Weekly lor:rj: s ervices _provided a link for passengers and cargo between Bartica, Potaro, Issano and Mazaruni; 1,700 tons of cargo and 6,635 pa.ssengers were carried during the year.
A light aircraft strip was built by Mr. G. Golas an the Kaieteur plateau.

In the Rupununi District which is entirely dependent on air communications, B.G •.

Airways (Govt.)

maintained scheduled flights by passenger and cargo carrying planes throughout the year.

I• the North West District a weekly s teamer continued to be operated by the Transport and Harbours Department.

The regu:la.r boat employed on the run is old and slow, and conditions aboard very cramped.
Opinion in the Distri ct has gradually been building up against this unsatisfactory means of communication , and it is to be hoped tha t - ei th.er a faster a nd more spacious boat wi.11 soon be provided or a regular air service again·establi shed.

The Pert:!lanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Works·~ t p.e ' Director of Civil Aviation.and Of~icials of B.G.

Airways (Govt.)

visited ~fubarum?.

on August 16th to examine the possibili tielil of an a-i:r:-strip.

Their report is awaited.


··· - ... · .

The !iforth West Amerindian District ·contimied to be served by a fortnightly steamer service, epera t ea by the rrransp:>rt 11 - I ~) ..., •.

t and Harbours Depnrtment between Georgetown and Pickerngill, Pomeroo n River.

In the Upper Mawrur.G!.~7.Amerindfa.n District, which is entirely dependent on air corrmunioations, B.G.

Airwnya(Govt.)

operatocl charter flights to the airstrip at Kamaran& River Mouth throughout the year.
In addition, hundreds of fliehts continued to bo made from this airstrip by the B.G.

Airways (Govt.)

Grumman plane and _privately owned light nircrnft trann1~rting stores and men to the diamond aren in the Ekereku, Cuyuni River.

rosT.AL AND TELECOMMUNI CATIONS Mawruni-Potnro: Radiophones are now working at Mahdia, Issnno and Enachu, and two public telophooo booths havo been in stalled at Bartico.

Tho Post Office at Tuma.tumn.ri was clos eel during tho year nnd a Postal Agency established.
Rummunii Radio c ommunications wero maintained at Lother.i and nt Orinduik.

Rndio tranami tter receivers with po,vor plants wero installed at Aiahalton nnd K.·no.sabai.

Lethem remained the only Post Office and there was no cho.nge in tho number of J'.PSta.l ti,t;encies.

.An ngency ia required at Kurukuboru in tho Noithorn Pakarair:ias • Details of busia•eo· conducted at Lethem and o.t tho largest agency, Annni, a:i.·o sot out bolow:- Leth em Cnsh Turnover $ 280._-,714.4 0 6,622.02.
North West IVi.itr:lct 1 Postal, telegraphic and.

radio telephone services were pr0Yided at MabnrUJllll.

Postal agencies \vere operated at Morowhanna, Arakakn., Port Kaituma, Mntthew 1s Ridge o.nd o n the Mobile Her..l th Unit.

Radio-telephone c?mmunic ntion was nvailablo fr~::, t he District Offices at Kama.rang, lloquero and Oreall,:: TRilTJE The volume of trade with Brazil, through the Hupununi ·· .~ District, continued to develop a ncl Goods to the value of $330,301.34 were re-exported.
Th ese included wheat fl our, toxtilos, shoes, batteries, cycles and cy ele pnrts.

Primipnl domestic exports- were ngaih beef, precious sto nes and bnlata; ehip-.1cnts o f ·t _oT!ln.toes were increasecl • CUS'roMs The preventio n of smuggling into t ho Rupununi District of tobacco and alcohol remains a major problem .

HEGIONAli DEVEIDFMENT Reg fonnl Devolopnent Corrnnittees an:1 their sub-committees met regulnrly during the year in the Rupununi, Mazo.runi-Potnro o.nd North West D:1.stricta.
MIS3IONS rum EDUCATION (u) Missions: Tho activities of t he Missions were maintained as in previoua years.

Medical tl"?Sistance to .the Villo.ges in the Rupununi District :bryro.•;!..ijh, t ho.

Unavangelised Fields · ...• 1,tission • • • • • ' I J - -- -- - - - ,,,,,-r, /I ., Missi on Doctor was widely extended.

- 12 - (b) Educat ion : Upper Mnzaruni Amerindian District: The averago attemla.nce at the f ive schools - 4 donornim.1.tioml and 1 government - in the District remained fair throughout the year.
The Educat ion Officer nnd School Fe_eding Officer vis_i tod and ins~cted a ll scho ols •.

Rupununi Di strict, Vfith the exception of the Goverment Schoo l nt st. Ignntius, all the schools are run by the Mi ssions.

The St. Ignati us School continues to grow nnd, at the e nd of the year, ove~ 80 children were housed in the temporary infant school.

There is urgent need for n new 1nfnnt school nnd quarters for the teaching s t..'l.ff.

The school still cf'l.


ters for pri!Jnry educn tion only nnd i t is hoped thnt, with the completion of the hostel, its stntus will be raised to thnt of n senior school with emphasis o n the pecul i ar needs of during the yenr.

t he are.--:i..

A now ochoo l was opened nt Moco Moco North West District: Thero wero · twenty-eight soho olo in th e District at t he end of December.

Vlith the exception of tho Santo.


Roan Roman Cntholio and Warrunuri Anglican, which became eovornmont controlled scl'.oole from 1st July, all the schools nre denominationnl.

The gonernl standard of education showod li ttlo improvement ond the principal iJJrobl ems remninod : ...

I · , / 1 (u) Tho lock o f suttably quali_i;icd teachers;r, (b) The provision of adequate ac oommodation fo";.· tea chers; and (o) The vastness of tho District • .
Onl y a f ew teachers arc willing to go t o the District becnuso of tbe unsatisfnctory living c ondi tio·as obtaining there.

Two in-.servico educn t i on c ourses for tonchei.• o were held but, while those courses serve a. c omnendnl)le purpo~..,,.

th~y c nnnot pretend to be n substitute ·ror the rrore npecinJ_~.1.sed training :bo be obtained n t the Goverrtment Tr n ining College• 't':.

t he (follege for trn.ining in Septo mber.

ench vonr for tlX!

next ten y~nrs, Q:.D d be pornund9d to remain ip.


the Dist:i::~t '· the r,n ttorn of oduont -'ion could be revolutionized.

Two t onohers were ndmi tted If two can be trnincd The AaC!11s-'-C-u.rit Ecluontion Officer pnic1 100 visits t o schools i n the Districts which involve<l tro.volling· n.bout 850 miles.

He now hns his own ~ont nncl has reported n r,rowing con sciousness of tho irnrortrmce of educntion in the District.
MISC1WLANEOUS • SOCill.L WELI•'AllE: The District Commissioner I s Of~ice at Bnrtion was urproachod co nt inunlly by porsona c lli:iiming to be ntrnndecl in the D:!.strict nrt:l seeking pnsses b:-i.ck to the city• In one instr..nco about 70 perso ns wer e issued pnsses.

misinformed nbout going to Dnrtica t o sook work with the Dol Conte Grou p .

Th o question of tro.

ianue of po.sses hns hoon raised w1 th the approp.r.in te ianis try.
i'hey hacl been F,LECTIOHS r The Genero.l Elections which t ook place in August wore car ried out w~th the a ss i st:.i.noe of nll Dist rict Offi cers, nnd, (,"8n ernlly open.king, were without incident.

~he result of the ~lectlon in the llupununi District ,vao the .

subJeot of nn olection petition which was still undecided nt the entl of tho year .

• .•.

~ •.

/ I should : , '1 I I I - 13 - I should like to record my t mui<:s to the entire staff for ~heir loyal co-operation throughout the year.
/ I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, Gommi ssioner of the Interior.

The Hon.

Minister of Home Affairs, 6, Brickdam, Ge0rgetown, British Guiana.

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