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Cane View, despite not being directly in the path of the construction of the four-lane highway, found itself facing an insidious obstacle: their ethnicity. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating impact on Cane View orchestrated by the current PPPC government. Reflecting on the words of the late Winnie Mandela, “If you are to free yourselves, you must break the chains of oppression yourselves… Any acceptance of humiliation, indignity, or insult is acceptance of inferiority.” Sadly, the nine families advocating for fairness and justice were treated as inferior.
As a legislator, a family woman, and a member of the Mocha Arcadia community, I find it apt to describe the actions of this government as rooted in “race hate.” The inauguration of the four-lane highway should have provided ample time for the government to rectify the situation for the families of Cane View. Instead, the government not only demolished the homes of these nine families but callously went further by burying every conceivable piece of their personal belongings, along with some of their animals, manifesting a clear expression of race-based animosity.
Cane View was a tightly-knit African community with its distinct culture. The homes razed on January 5, 2023, belonged to economically independent families running their own businesses. These families had invested years in creating a better life for themselves. The government’s insistence on forcing them into smaller homes where continuing their businesses becomes impractical is a stark manifestation of the evident prejudice against African people in Guyana.
