Mahdia is a small community in the Potaro-Siparuni

Potaro-Siparuni

Potaro-Siparuni is a region in Guyana, bordering the region of Cuyuni-Mazaruni to the north, the regions of Upper Demerara-Berbice and East Berbice-Corentyne to the east, the region of Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo to the south and Brazil to the west.The main towns in the region are Kangaruma,...

 region of Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

, located near the centre of the country at an altitude of 415 metres (1,361.5 ft). Commerce is centred around the area's gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 and diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

 mining operations. As such it responds to and is affected by the economic booms and busts and attracts immigrants both local and foreign to obtain wealth through mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

.

Demographics

The present population in Mahdia is four thousand two hundred, (600 households), and is of three groups. The Patamonas, an Indigenous Amerindian tribe, are involved in farming, hunting and mining. The Coast Landers, residents from the coastlands of Guyana, migrated to the hinterland to seek employment mainly mining. The third group, called Islanders, are immigrants, and their descendants are from the Caribbean Islands, particularly, St Lucia and Dominica. They focus on farming and burning charcoal. Within recent times, there has been an influx of a new group, the Brazilians, who are also involved in mining and other businesses.
On September 10 annually, the Amerindians celebrate heritage month in the community of Campbeltown, Mahdia, while the Islanders celebrate the La Rose Festival at the end of August. This festival was originated in St Lucia.
Mahdia being the Regional Administrative Centre of Region 8, Potaro-Siparuni has the following relevant infrastructure:

• A cottage hospital
• A nursery, primary and a secondary school
• A commercial sector which includes dry goods, boutiques, a fuel station and 11 restaurants.
• Four hotels; two guess houses and four brothels
• A police station
• A post office
• Two artisan wells
• A Regional Administrative Office
• A airstrip

Residents still depend on rainfall and water from the Salbora Falls. While electricity is currently provided by local businessmen.

History

Mahdia was established in 1884, by the Africans after their emancipation. Most of them travelled from the county of Berbice and the East Coast of Demerara in search of gold. The British Consolidated Mining Company, expanded the mining exploration in Mahdia and established, Colonial Administrative offices. During this period Mahdia was only accessible by waterways. In November 1933 a bridge was constructed over the Garraway Stream, linking Mahdia to Bartica by trail. This bridge which is suspended by cables was named Denham Bridge after the then Colonial Governor Sir Edward Denham. It is still in use today and has become a tourist site.

Mining

There are one hundred and fifty (150) land dredges in the mining district of Mahdia. Most miners use excavators to extract the overburden and utilise gravel pumps to extort the gravel with gold from the pits. On most occasions the pits are not refilled which causes the anophelese mosiquito to breed and so increase the spread of malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

. Recently the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission has embarked upon reinforcing the amendment regulations, 2005, for environmental management

Environmental management

Environmental resource management is “a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities” . It is not, as the phrase suggests, the management of the environment as such, but rather the management of the interaction and...

, which has instantly created an impact in the community, by curbing the pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

of water ways and encouraged soil reclamation and replanting trees in areas where there has been deforestation.