Crabwood Creek is a small community on the Corentyne River in the East Berbice–Corentyneregion of Guyana. The population of about 10,000 people is primarily descendants of indentured laborers who were brought from India in the mid-1830s. Crabwood Creek is located approximatelytwo miles from the larger town of Corriverton, home to the Guyana Sugar Corporation's skeldon Estate which provides jobs to a majority of the surrounding communities. The Skeldon Estate is also in the process of building a new sugar factory. With assistance from the World Bank, this factory will be built as a co-generation plant, providing stable electricity to the residents of the surrounding communities, including Crabwood Creek. Because the sugar factory is the main source of jobs for Crabwood Creek, changes in the sugar factory have a dramatic effect on the village. Currently, a Chinese company has won the bid to build the new sugar factory. A recent influx of Chinese workers has dramatically affected the demographics of the area. There are about eight to ten sawmills in Crabwood Creek that employs more than 150 workers. Crabwood Creek is the home to one primary school while the secondary schools are in Corriverton. Children are required to attend school, although currently these regulations are enforced. Many children do attend school and have highly educated teachers who have virtually have incentive to teach. There are penalties for teachers who do not show up for work and teachers frequently don't have to wait months for their government pay checks. This is not a major problem throughout Guyana. Crabwood Creek is also home to the government sponsored Crabwood Creek Health Centre. The health centre is staffed by one medical examiner who works four days a week, two mid-wives who work two days a week, and two nursing assistants who work 3 days a week. The nurses and medex work separately with the nurses handling maternal and child health issues and the medex dealing with other health problems and emergencies. Many patients are referred to nearby Skeldon Hospital for treatment and tests. Crabwood Creek sits on the coast of the Corentyne River, the border between Guyana and Suriname. This border is the only international boundary in the world that is not the center of the river. The border between Guyana and Suriname is the high tide mark on the Guyana side of the river. Recently, oil drilling by a Canadian firm was disrupted by the Suriname Government because the area was in dispute between the two countries. The matter is currently being review by international courts.
