— Imam Bacchus and Sons is largest private sector employer on Essequibo Coast

Imam Bacchus and Sons is a household name on the Essequibo Coast, but little do many know that this family business that is more than 50 years old started from a very humble beginning.

It all began with Imam Bacchus, who along with his three brothers was forced to move from Hamburg Island also known as Tiger Island due to flooding sometime in the 1920s. The exact date in not known.
The settlers were relocated to Bush Lot, a now busy village in the sprawling and serene township of Anna Regina.
Bacchus and his brothers were in their 20s and 30s at the time, according to his son Samad Baksh, his dad, being a poor man, appreciated the value of hard work.
Bacchus, who was a coconut picker and tailor at the time of the relocation, came with two bulls and worked tirelessly to change his lot.
“My dad really worked hard, he related to us about life in those days. He used to rent the bulls to plough the rice fields in the morning, pick coconuts during the day and sew in the night. Of course, he had his three brothers with him and they worked as a single unit,” a beaming and relaxed Baksh told the Guyana Chronicle.
As the family gathered their wealth, they had enough to purchase a shop at Adventure, some nine miles from Anna Regina and soon after bought a rice mill at Middlesex, a village located some eight miles from the Supenaam stelling.

By then, the entrepreneurial spirit of the Bacchuses was fully kindled and they soon set sight on expansion and made full use of the opportunity when it presented itself.
Baksh related that it was sometime in the 1930s or early 1940s that a larger rice mill and estate were up for sale at Belle Plane on the once Dutch-inhabited island of Wakenaam in the Essequibo River and they seized the deal.

THRIVING REGION
The shop at Adventure was sold and the money and other savings were pooled to purchase the estate on the 17.5 square mile island situated at the mouth of the Essequibo River, which was a thriving rice-growing region at the time.

The Bacchuses worked the mill for many years and grew in wealth. Their families expanded with some members pursuing other interests.
It was time for Imam Bacchus to move on and in 1950, the brothers purchased the estates at Taymouth Manor, Affiance and Colombia on the Essequibo Coast and Imam, who was born on Hamburg Island, returned to the 60-mile coast.
A shrewd businessman, Imam kept Affiance and sold off Taymouth Manor and Colombia to clear outstanding debts from the purchase of the three villages.

Being a very large estate, some areas in Affiance were also surveyed and sold to rice farmers, a move that enabled farmers who had previously rented farmlands, to own lands for the very first time.
Baksh said his dad invested some of the money earned in the establishment of the mill at Affiance and there he made a profit. He subsequently went into rice cultivation to help support the mill.
The mill produces for the local market and occasionally would produce for export.
Since its establishment in the early 1950s, it has since been upgraded in 1960 and 1990, allowing for better quality and output.

STRIKE
Baksh also noted that up to 1963, it was all rice business for his dad until the 80-day strike broke out.
During the time, residents demanded that goods be distributed by Imam, who by then had developed a reputation as a reputable businessman and had the trust of the people.
According to Baksh, the authorities were happy to find someone chosen by the residents, since some shopkeepers had significantly inflated the prices for basic goods, making them out of reach for the many poor residents.
For him, the move by his father was more than just business, but also the provision of service to the residents.

When the strike eventually ended in 1964, Imam established the Imam Bacchus General Store, which sits obliquely to the Imam Bacchus and Sons Supermarket in Affiance.
From then on, while he kept the mill and rice fields going, he began to import sardines, milk, rope, batteries, cloth, split peas and channa, among other items.
The store functioned until 2009, when it was replaced by the supermarket.
Today, the store has been converted into a library (upper flat) and pre-school (lower flat), which are managed by his son Imam Baksh.
These facilities are located in the vicinity of a well-kept park, outfitted with tables, lights, swings and other playground equipment.

The modern supermarket which is accessed by the main road houses an eatery, Western Union outlet and a hardware and tractor division. It is also a distributor for NALICO products, groceries as well as rice, poultry and chowmein.
The latter three are produced by Baksh, whose businesses include a rice mill, supermarket, chowmein factory and poultry farm.
The poultry farm and the chowmein factory were established in the 1970s and together with the rice mill and supermarket employ a workforce of some 250.
Hundreds more are employed indirectly.
Imam Bacchus and Sons is the largest private employer on the Essequibo Coast, and the businesses today managed by Baksh and his sons remain strong from the solid foundations established in its humble beginning.