Maldon Baptist Church, Maroon Town

Participatory governance is a central theme in contemporary development literature and has dominated much of my work with community representatives over the past three years. The leaders of the Maroon Town Community in St. James, Jamaica, got their cup full of the concept during the delivery of human rights and participatory governance workshops between January 27-29, 2009. The workshops were facilitated at the Maldon Baptist Church in the community and were attended by an average of 20 participants, on each of the three days.

The Social Development Commission (SDC) played the lead role in mobilizing community leaders and preparing the community to receive us. It was a passionate three days with leaders representing a number of district level organizations, including: Chatsworth All Age School, Maldon High School, Summer Hill SDA Church, SDC, Maldon Primary School, Maldon Baptist Basic School, Maroon Town Health Center, Summer Hill Church of God, and the District Development Committees from: Point, Vaughnsfield, Maroon Town, Flagstaff and Maldon.

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We learned about the primary economic and social challenges and concerns of residents at the personal and community levels. Community leaders learned about their economic and social rights and their shared responsibilities in the process of governance. At the workshops, it was clear that leaders were prepared to represent and articulate their community’s needs and challenges to us, but they were not prepared to hear of the huge responsibilities that they had in ensuring that their needs are attended to by relevant stakeholders, including their prioritization by elected representatives. This revelation almost brought,one community leader and pastor of a local church, to tears…

“Den a so much we have to do? After we vote we still haffi do so much. We Member of Parliament and Counselor come from here and know the problems we have with water. This is just too much!”

The socioeconomic problem/ need that resonated most frequently in the church hall was water. On Day 3, during the delivery of the Community Assessment Workshop, participants informed us about the most adverse socioeconomic problems and the effects/ impact on their lives, via an icebreaker–The Name Game:

• The water system is not good in my community because I have to buy a car to transport it. I am very frustrated with this situation
• I hate the lack of adequate water supply. We have to take it from water holes, which result in illnesses
• I am tired of the water problem and bad roads. It is so hard to get transportation because of the poor road conditions
• As the principal of a basic school in the community, I find the water situation most distressing. I pay JA$50 per drum to get water in the canteen. We are not able to store it in large quantities, and therefore as I buy for the school it runs out again. It is so unhealthy for the children
• I have been carrying water on my head for over 30 years of my life and I don’t want 40 years to catch me like this
• The bad roads are causing us to pay extra fares and higher costs for water. The road condition has also led to the underdevelopment of the primary school in Shorter’s Hill. Parents bypass our school and go to others outside the community
• The poor water system creates significant havoc for Maldon High School–affecting sanitation and water for consumption. We generally purchase water from Rapid Response, but sometimes we go as much as two weeks without its delivery. The school grounds are also very rugged and rough and the facilities for development through sports are very limited
• Poor water conditions are negatively affecting my life in my community. I have to pay JA$50 per 5 gallon bucket, and if I am unable to carry it I have to pay an additional cost
• The absence of ECG machines on the wards at Cornwall regional hospital is a serious hindrance to the life of heart patients. A family member of mine died because of the absence of this machine on the ward
• An adult learning center is needed in the community and we have lots of venues available where it can be facilitated
  
• We have so many springs and rivers in this area, why can’t we have running water in our pipes?

Other challenges in need of urgent attention included: poor road conditions, lack of benefits to the community from tourism involving their historic sites, and unemployment.

Maroon Town Community is a rural farming community, nestled in the hills of south St. James. It is an acclaimed historic site because it is home to one of Jamaica’s Maroon communities that resisted the system of slavery in the 1700s, as well as its closeness to Kensington Estate, which played a major role in the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt (Baptist War/ Christmas Revolt), which was led by national hero Samuel Sharpe and ushered in the end of slavery across the British Empire in 1833. Today, residents describe themselves as hard working farmers whose primary crops are yams and bananas. The community is comprised of 12 distinct districts, with 300-500 households in each, namely:  Flagstaff, Short Castle, George’s Valley, Maroon Town, Brown’s Town, Vaughnsfield, Dundee, Woodland, Maldon, Summer Hill, Cartel District, and Point.  The districts have access to a wide range of socioeconomic resources including: telephone, electricity, health center, churches, district and community development committees, public library, community centers, police station, People’s Cooperative Bank, high school, kindergarten schools, primary schools, rivers and water holes, post offices, hardware, and a network of community roads.

I learned from participants that the one thing that can galvanize the people of Maroon Town, St. James is water, but in order to get each resident passionate about and participating in the governance of a community water system, they would need to see the possibility of individual benefits. Since the appointment of Member of Parliament (M.P.) Derrick Kellier, unfulfilled promises about the design and implementation of a piped water system have been made, which have resulted in significant disappointment and distrust by community leaders and residents. The last promised date, by the M.P., for signs of the implementation of a community water system was October 2008. To date, no one has seen or heard of a plan, workers, equipment, or discussions relating to such.

The absence of a piped water system has forced residents to create individual solutions. This has resulted in disparity of access based on income and wealth. While Rapid Response (a mobile water trucking facility provided courtesy of the Government at a cost per gallon) serves the community, residents complain of its irregularity and untimeliness in responding to their needs. Residents have been adapting to the lack of piped water in the following ways: motor vehicle purchases to transport water from nearby communities; water purchases from independent suppliers; walks to and from water holes and rivers with containers; rainfall; Rapid Response; and chartered or route taxis to carry water as individuals commute for routine business. There is no centralized water storage facility, therefore the capacity to access stored water is based on the individual household’s capacity to build a tank, or purchase a water tank and drums. Most residents live in modern homes, fitted with pipes for amenities such as internal bathrooms and kitchens, but they are unable to live in comfort and realize an adequate living standard because of the absence of piped water.

Water Tanks

Residents noted that the spirit of community unity has been replaced by individualism–each householder, disappointed by the lack of responsiveness of the M.P., who is familiar with and knows the problems of South St. James, has sought to create an individual solution. Promoting community unity and participatory governance, they say, will be a feat in Maroon Town, but it is essential in promoting the prioritisation of community’s needs and sustainable development. To achieve this, residents must become conscious of their shared experiences of challenges and achievements, or  create new experiences of community success, and use these to stimulate a united effort for sustainable development.