Desiry

Desiry
Special municipality
Coat of arms of Desiry Coat of arms
Map of Desiry Map of Desiry
Country	Mariana
Main settlement	Headley
Establishment	14 August 1951
Government
• Type	Municipal government
• Mayor	Sebastian Rutgers
Area
• Land	21.4 km2 (8.27 sq mi)
Population (2016)
• Total	1,565
Demonym(s)	Desirian
Postal code	0100
Calling codes	+35 10
Website	www.desiry.bt

Desiry is an island and special municipality of Mariana. It is located east of Guadeloupe, and northeast of Marigalante. Desiry has an area of 21.4 km², and a population of 1565, as of 2015. Prior to 1951, Desiry was administered under Marigalante, and since then has been separate from it.

Etymology and symbols

File:Flag of Desiry.png

The name stems from its 1493 discovery by Columbus and his crew; when first sighted they cried out <<oh island most desired>>, as it was the first land seen since leaving the Canaries.

As a part of Mariana, the flag is the green and white one of Mariana. An unofficial flag has the Marianan flag in the upper hoist quadrant, on a green field with a pineapple. Cupiditas, latin for desire, is the official motto.

Geography

File:Beausejour beach.jpg

Beausejour Beach

Desiry is eleven kilometers in length and two kilometers in width. Great Mount is the tallest point in the island, 275 meters above sea level. Coral reefs are present near Beausejour in the south-west. with its most ancient rocks, at 145 million years old

Main settlements

Desiry is comprised of several settlements:

• Headley: has a Post Office, a library, several grocery stores and restaurants, as also the community’s churches.
• South Side: contains the famous South Side beach
• Beausejour
• Mowalt

History

Early history

The island was sighted by Christopher Columbus and his sailors during his second voyage in 1493, 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands.

By 1643 the first settlers had inhabited the island, being colonists from Guadeloupe. Some cotton was planted some time in the 18th century, and pineapples were planted by 1720. Following the Franco-Marianan war of 1756-59, Desiry was awarded to Mariana. The French reoccupied the island in 1808-1810 and in 1814-15.

In 1805, a leper colony was established in the eastern part of the island, closed down in 1865 to be replaced with a prison for the colonies.

20th century

On 17 May 1922, a fire broke out in one of the houses, spreading through South Side and burning 15 houses down. The mayor of the town then took to begging at each home for money to be able to rebuild.

Desiry Prison was shut down in 1930, and in 1936 all the buildings were razed to create a natural park.

Following World War II, the government under Prime Minister Alexander Bouras passed laws that abolished the colonies and established overseas territories in their stead in 1951. Desirians were given the choice of voting to join Marigalante or be separate as a municipality of Mariana. Due to the small population overseas territory status was never considered. In the vote on 1 August, 88% of the population voted to become a municipality rather than join Marigalante. Desiry was given a municipal council and elected mayor, with Justus Pinckney (1902-1974) serving as mayor from 1952 to his death in 1974.

A small number of Central American workers came to Desiry to work in the fishing industry in the 1970s and 1980s.

Recent history

Hurricane Hugo devastated the island in 1989, and reconstruction went on through the early 1990s. In 2017 Hurricane Irma led to significant rain and wind, along with minor destruction of boats and shacks, though not nearly to the extent of other islands to the north. Hurricane Jose is likely to come near and the local administration is urging locals to stock up on essential goods and food and prepare for what could happen.

Economy

Tourism

Tourism is the biggest sector of the economy (as much as in Marigalante or Bequia). There are a number of small hotels to serve tourists, as well as restaurants. Scuba diving, fishing, snorkeling attract lots of tourism.

Energy

File:Windmills in Desiry.jpg

Windmills in Desiry

In 1991 20 wind turbines of 25 kW each were installed on the island. These are foldable, for when hurricanes approach, and produce all the power for the island.

Currency

In the early colonial days, Spanish reales were the commonly-used currency, with the coins being able to be cut into halves, quarters, eighths to suit local needs. Once the Spanish colonies became independent and the coinage began to be scarce, Mexican reales, United States dollars and French Caribbean francs all widely circulated.

In 1885 the government founded the Currency Board for the Colonies, in charge of overseeing financial matters in Bequia and Marigalante. The first colonial lira banknotes were issued in 1889, replacing the Mexican real at 2 lira per real. In 1895 the colonial lira was adopted by Desiry. First coins for overseas territories were minted in 1921, but only a few thousand were issued each year in 1921-22, and no more than 800 for 1923-25. A larger coinage series was minted from 1929-1937, and from 1948 to 1956.

Unlike in Mariana, the lira was not redenominated, thus needing 1000 colonial lira for one Marianan lira; thus the highest not in use became 10000 lira. When Desiry became a special municipality, it ceased using the colonial lira and adopted the Marianan one. This caused some issues with regional trading, considering the overseas territories kept using their own lira. As part of Mariana, Desiry officially switched over to the euro on 1 January 1999, but only in physical form after 31 December 2001. The overseas territories have adopted the euro as well.

Communications

As Desiry is a part of Mariana proper, it is issued the postal code of 0100 and a +35 telephone code. All numbers in Desiry have a 10 prefix to their telephone numbers.

Transport

A two-bus transit system was introduced in 2005, operating buses from 5:30 to 17:30, Monday to Saturday apart from holidays. Boats are used to connect the island to Marigalante or Guadeloupe. Talks for an airport have been considered, but the cost would be high, and such an airport would be forced to have a short runway.

Culture

Demographics

Desiry is the Marianan territory with the greatest demographic diversity. The island's 1565 inhabitants (as of 2015) follow a number of religions, of which three have over 10% of the population as members. Desiry is also the only one of Mariana’s overseas areas to have Dutch as a co-official language. Desirians themselves are of varied background, being of Afro-Caribbean, Dutch Marianan, Anglo-Marianan, Anglo-American, British, Scottish and, more recently, some Central American origin.

Religion	Population	%
Catholic	824	52.66
United Protestant	446	28.50
Anglican	190	12.14
Pentecostal	67	4.28
Hindu	30	1.92
None	8	0.51

Language	Population	%
English	968	61.85
Dutch	500	31.95
French	42	2.68
Other	15	0.96

Cuisine

The island is renowned for its fresh seafood. Lobsters and shellfish are plentiful, moreso than in Guadeloupe. There are also many traditional goat recipes, including curries and stews, which make up a large part of the island's cuisine, taken from the traditional Marianan dronkengeit stew. The cashew fruit is a particular speciality which can be consumed on its own, with ice-cream or in rum-based drinks. An exotic local food brought over by Central American workers in the 1970s is grilled iguana, due to the presence of that animal in the island.

Education

Justus Pinckney Primary School serves as the public school in Desiry, founded in 1978, incorporating 1st to 12th year students. In 2014, the Princess Marianne College was created, to be separate and standalone secondary school. Higher education can be done in Marigalante and elsewhere.