'MORE TO MORUGA THAN DRUGS'

There's more to Moruga than drugs.

Villagers will tell you about its rich history, excellent fishing grounds,
breathtaking landscape. Some like Peter Glodon will says its where
"civilisation" began in Trinidad, when 503 years ago Christopher Columbus
landed at Moruga.

And many will say there has not been much progress since then in the little
seaside village on the south east coast , where roads and public utilities
are either non-existent or badly run down. And don't try using a cell-phone
in Moruga.They don't work. As Fr Ian Taylor, parish priest for the area,
will tell you.

Glodon, who is president of the Moruga/La Rufin Fishing Association, says
things began getting worse and going downhill fast a few years ago. "The
first blow was fired when Discovery Day was removed from the list of public
holidays and now little or no support is given to the community to
celebrate what was for the village a national event, with the re creation
of Columbus's landing,"Glodon said.

Now, he laments, "the only time we are highlighted is when fishermen are
lost at sea or drugs found in the area," as last week's multi million
dollar cocaine cache that washed up on the beach along with a man's body
demonstrated.

Or when, like eight years ago a torpedo drifted ashore , causing some
concern for the Defence Force. It is now at the military museum at Chaguaramas.

Moruga consists of five main villages, Basse Terre, La Rufin, Gran Chemin,
La Lune and Marac. Altogether the population is estimated at 10,000..

More than half are Catholics with the main centre of worship at Gran
Chemin. When Fr Taylor went to court earlier this year to stop an Easter
weekend bazaar that would have had alcohol drinks on sale, it was a sort of
testimony to the problems in the district and how many villagers spend
their time.

Instead of rumshops Taylor would like to see better sporting facilities in
Moruga. "Recreation is skewed in the direction of fete.Everytime schools in
the area enter sporting programmes the children are never successful in
winning any competition," he told the Express.

To get around the problem he plans to change the annual harvest festival
into a family day celebration. "What we are trying to doing is to find an
alternative to the drinking and feting mentality," said Taylor.

He is concerned that police were regularly burning marijuana fields in the
district but no one is arrested for cultivating the crop.

As president of an association with a membership of some 500 fishermen,
Glodon says, "The most important thing for the village is the setting up of
a modern fishing complex where the fisherfolk could earn a decent living."

The association has held three meetings and efforts were being made to have
three government ministers, Agriculture, Planning and Development, and
Works and Transport, speak to the villagers about making Moruga a major
fishing port.

"What the 1,000 fishermen and 120 boat owners need is a fishing jetty with
modern facilities, including cold storage so that we could export our
fish," says Glodon.

Fishermen earn an average of $100 a day. Villagers believe fishing will
continue to be the mainstay of the area "unless some other industry comes up."

For now there's nothing else in sight, except for agriculture with a few
papaw, pumpkins, hot and sweet peppers farms which export to the North
American market .

But says Glodon: "Agriculture is dead, because no government has seen it
fit to put enough money in that industry." He believes that with government
support cacoa and coffee could be a success

He and others see the future in the development of eco tourism, aqua sports
and river cruises. Glodon said the historic Moruga river in which Columbus
came ashore to get water for his crew has great potential. He sees La
Retreat, a village about four miles from Gran Chemin, teeming with guest
houses for people vacationing on the scenic La Retreat beach.

First though they will have to get rid of the squatters on the beach.

Godfrey Lee Sing,businessman and a former regional councillor for Moruga,
expressed concern about the number of squatters that have invaded Gran Chemin.

"People come from Erin, Cedros and Icacos and build houses on the beach."

He estimated that the more than a dozen shacks accommodate at least 100
people and if government did not take steps to regulate the situation there
could be living problems that would be hard to correct.

That along with the illegal drug trade and the myriad of other problems
that Moruga face is a huge uphill battle.

Some have started the climb:every Friday Fr Taylor celebrates mass in his
church to pray for a reduction in crime and has planned a number of social
activities to bring villagers together to work towards a better community.

Glodon is pragmatic.He feels last week's drug find will soon blow over
"then people will hear nothing of this place."