Byderabo
From 13A
Most of their time, he said, is spent smoking marijuana and involved in petty crimes and bigger robberies.
“It gives me great relief when I see the police patrolling the area. Their visits are sporadic,” he said, before adding that if these issues are not addressed, he fears that they will certainly lead to a time when persons live and cower in fear.
More than 50 years
Eighty-one-year-old Neville Smith was at home with Dorothy, his beautiful 85-year-old wife, who was busy in the kitchen. Born in Suddie and raised in Aurora on the Essequibo Coast, Smith was 19 years old when he left Aurora for Bartica to work along with his carpenter brother. He later moved on from carpentry and took up employment as a bulldozer operator in Wineperu.
“I liked Bartica immediately when I arrived here,” he said. “It’s breezy here despite the sunny or rainy weather. I like the sunrises here also. When me and my wife married, she was 31 and I was 28. The two of us been together for more than 50 years.”
In 1993, they migrated to the US and are now citizens. They come and go as they like but most of their visits to
Guyana are often scheduled for during the North American winter season.
An avid Seventh Day Adventist, Smith visits the church in Byderabo whenever he is in Guyana.
He shared that when he is in the US there is so much to see and do, that he goes travelling all the time. He pointed out that he notices that many American products are being sold in Guyana at unreasonable prices. His Skechers sneakers, he said, cost him only US$10 but he has seen the same brand being sold here for the equivalent of US$100 or more.
Now that he is home and does not have much to do, he spends most of his time reading his bible and other church books.
Asked about the developments he wants to see in the area, Smith mentioned a more all-weather road and for the completion of the construction of the river defence along Byderabo.