Ottawa Pioneer Residents

  (Mr Baijnath Singh and his wife, Poolmathie) BORN AND BRED IN OTTAWA, BAIJNATH SINGH WORKED AT THE LOCAL OTTAWA SUGAR ESTATE FOR MORE THAN 55 YEARS.   (Mr Baijnath Singh (standing extreme left) visiting the former Lourenzo Marques (now Maputo) with friends in the 1970s. In the centre, seated is Mr January Naidoo of Verulam and friends.)                     (BY SUBRY GOVENDER) (This article was made possible through the information and photos supplied by Sunjith Singh - the eldest son of Mr Baijnath Singh.)       A second-generation descendant of indentured labourers, who was born and lived all his life in the Ottawa village, has left a legacy of not only hard work and self-reliance but also a commitment to spiritual development. Mr Baijnath Singh, who was born in 1922 in a property below the old railway line, worked at the Ottawa Sugar Estate for more than 55 years and was a member and senior official of the Ottawa Estate Temple Society all his senior life. He lived with

 (Some members of the Brijlal family during a farewell ceremony at their home in Maharaj Road in April 2022) ELDEST SON – PREMCHUND BRIJLAL – BECOMES AN OTTAWA ICON AFTER CLIMBING THE TOP OF THE ACADEMIC WORLD (Prem Brijlal with his mother and some of the other members of the Brijlal family at their home in Maharaj Road. The photo was taken after he had achieved one of his academic graduations) BY SUBRY GOVENDER A young man who grew up in a wood and mud home with no facilities of electricity and running tap water in Maharaj Road, Ottawa, in the 1950s and 1960s, achieved first class grades not only in primary and high schools but also went onto climb the top of the ladder in the academic world. That young man was Premchund Brijlal, the eldest son of Brijlal Karoo and Indrawathie Ramjuthan who moved to the property purchased by their grand-father, Karoo Sahebdin, from Chitoo Jhugroo for 300 pounds (about R600 at that time) in the early 1950s. (Premchund in a school photo during his e

        (Mr M M Naicker and his wife, Algamma) MR M M NAICKER ALSO PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW JHUGROO PRIMARY SCHOOL  (Special thanks to Krish Naicker for all the information and photos. His peseverence has made this article possible.) By Subry Govender One of the residents in the Tin Town area of Ottawa who played a pivotal role in the building of the new Jhugroo Primary School is Mr Moonsamy Mottay Naicker, popularly known as M M Naicker. Mr Naicker, who was a builder by profession, worked very closely with Mr S S Maharaj, Mr Sivasunker Badlu and other pioneers in the construction of the school. Mr Naicker lived with his wife, Algamma Kathiruvalu Iyemperumal, and seven children not far from where the new school was being built in the late 1950s. Their immediate neighbours were the Munsamy (Zadick) family, Manna Dutt family, Duttoo family, Subramoney Govender family, Narain Naicker family, teacher H A Beharee family, S S Maharaj family, Ismail Sayed famil