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By Ralph SeeramThe area was of mixed use, pasture, some housing,Bart Starr Packers Jersey, but mostly pig pens, cow pens, donkey pens and some farming. The houses were mainly located along “Cow Dam” stretching from Smythfield to Vryheid about a mile long on the outskirts of New Amsterdam.The area Vryheid was purchased by former employees of Blairmont Estate. Over the years folks who wanted to get out of renting in New Amsterdam opted to build what can be described as little more than shacks. They rented the land for as little as a dollar a month.My parents saw the potential of a corner lot at the junction of Smythfield and Cow Dam. They wanted to build a house and use the bottom level as a grocery store. They saw the potential because they were privy to the “Barker Plan” which was a blueprint for the development of Greater New Amsterdam, consisting of Vryman’s Erven, Smythfield and Cow Dam, which lies east of the town, it was the only land left for the town to expand.The Barker Plan was named after former chief planner in the Ministry of Housing.That plan called for the orderly development of those sections of the town, including reserves for roads,Rickey Jackson Saints Jersey, engineering works and playground.The residents of Smythfield had recently purchased their house lot from the estate owner, George Kardar,LaDainian Tomlinson Jets Jersey, for about $1000 which gave them about four house lots each.My parents, Arthur Soman and Beauty Soman,Kenny Stabler Raiders Jersey, who were the first President and Secretary of the Smythfield Coop Society, negotiated with the owner of the estate to pay the amount over ten years. After the purchase was made, the Ministry of Housing stepped in and told the residents that they cannot build houses “willy nilly” that they had to conform to the Barker Plan.This did not sit well with the new owners as several houses had to be relocated to leave reserves for future road use. However because of that requirement by the then PNC government in the late 1960’s today Smythfield has an orderly development, with roads reserves and playground. Unlike the adjacent Cow Dam, Smythfield avoided being a slum and a squatters’ paradise.Cow Dam which was later renamed Angoy’s Avenue after a former District Commissioner for Berbice was really the name of the dam stretching from Smythfield to Vryheid. It was renamed Angoy’s Avenue after District Commissioner Angoy who was instrumental in converting the dam into a paved road.At the time some people had purchased their lots while some rented for the monthly fee of a $1.00 a month. My parents purchased two lots for a $1000 each, a great sum of money then in the 60’s and 70’s.Fortunately,Charley Taylor Redskins Jersey, the owners were willing to hold a mortgage payable over seven years. Most other former tenants purchased their house lots this way.Unfortunately there were some tenants who felt that the land should be given to them free. This group of people belonged to the PNC branch of the party in Cow Dam. At that time the Burnham government was seizing land from land owners,Chris Doleman Vikings Jersey, and giving the land to its members and supporters. This PNC group urged the government to seize the land from the owners, as the land owners were “exploiters”. The PNC government went ahead and seized the lands and paid them the value of the land as valued in 1939. This was outrageous as most owners paid an average of a $1000 for a house lot, but were being paid a pittance of about a $100 or so.These so called “big landowners” turned out to be poor people who were struggling to “make a living”.At that time I was the Berbice Correspondent for the then government owned Guyana Broadcasting Corporation radio station. I can recall dozens of residents gathering in my yard in Smythfield urging me to tell the Government not to seize their lands. They were in my yard everyday asking me to report their plight.However the PNC government gave more weight to the PNC group in Cow Dam in seizing the land.I was able to get the then Housing Minister Steve Narine to visit the area. When he visited the area he realized that the government had made a grave mistake, and said he will “see what he can do”. The end result was my parents and other persons who purchased their house lots with their hard earned money, lost their money and land to the government.The tenants who were renting, mainly PNC supporters stopped paying rent; they now lived free on the land. Those lands that were unoccupied became a “free for all” like the wild west; whoever squatted first lay claim to the land. And so Cow Dam became a squatters’ paradise.Today Cow Dam is not only Guyana’s largest squatting area, but a criminal enclave. If you check on most crimes committed in the New Amsterdam area, you will find that the address of the criminals is Angoy’s Avenue.On a recent visit to New Amsterdam, my friend Gregory gave me a tour of Angoy’s Avenue. It was kind of nostalgic. In my youthful days I roamed the backlands of Cow Dam; I knew every corner, where there was good fishing, where you can “pick” fruits and vegetables (actually it was stealing because someone had to plant it); where you can find your cows if they “get away”. True there is some development and some beautiful houses along Angoy’s Avenue and “Patrick Dam”.There is even a swimming pool on Angoy’s Avenue,Dermontti Dawson Steelers Jersey, the second swimming pool in the entire town of New Amsterdam. However the backlands still remain a slum.Former Mayor of New Amsterdam, Errol Alphonso,Joe Theismann Redskins Jersey, made an effort to have an orderly development, but was unsuccessful. Recently I saw a news article where the New Haven Coop Society,Jack Butler Steelers Jersey, representing residents dropping its lawsuit against the government.One can only hope that this can result by regularizing the area to conform to modern standards, with electricity water and proper roads.One interesting note, ironically, my parents in the late 70’s sold their newly built house to the then National Service for their use as an office. We made sure the money we lost in the government takeover was recouped in the sale of the building. A few years later the Government came asking us to pass the Transport for the land.“What land?” we asked. “We only sold you the building, you the PNC government already owned the land. You forgot you seized it from us?”Today our former home houses the Ministry of Sports at the Corner of Smythfield and Angoy’s Avenue (Cow Dam).Ralph Seeram can be reached at email [email protected]