THIS year marks the 120th anniversary of the Ward of Albouystown’s integration into the City of Georgetown. From the time of its integration into the City, it was always regarded as one of the most important wards and stood out after Kingston and Stabroek. The importance of Stabroek and Kingston revolved around the fact they were the centres of business and administration in the country and also because the upper classes lived in those areas. Albouystown’s importance was different.

Albouystown was one of the estates owned by Mr Albouys. It is interesting to know that Mr Albuoys’ will is still preserved in the Deeds Registry. The estate was managed by a company and the names of the directors are preserved in the street names. Some of the directors owned land in other parts of what later came to be integrated with the City and their names were also preserved in the street names and this accounts for Campbell Avenue and Barr Street in Kitty as well as being street names in Albouystown.

Albouystown was the food basket of Georgetown. It, together with La Penitence, supplied the City with fresh milk, chicken, eggs, mutton, ground provisions and vegetables. It was also the home of many of the tradesmen who provided the City with its tailors, goldsmiths, guttersmiths, carpenters, vatmakers, joiners and so on. It also provided the City with entertainment facilities for its Punt Trench was the venue for Sunday boat and punt picnics where there were always string bands in attendance and dancing. Since the City had no public swimming pools, part of the Punt Trench known as “Deep Clay” for good swimmers and “Shallow Clay” for children and learners and was used as the City’s swimming pool. At Easter, other than at the Seawalls, thousands of kite-flyers would line the Punt Trench Dam for a day of picnicking and kite flying. Unlike today, kite flying was once the major Easter entertainment for Guyanese.

It should not be forgotten that Albouystown was home to the largest Portuguese, Chinese, Indian and African settlements in the City and they participated in each other’s cultural activities and festivities. There are Cumfa drummers still in Albouystown. There are other phases which the Ward experienced, but time and space preclude us from writing about these.

In Albouystown until the 1960s, the owners lived on their property with probably one or two tenants and thus the yards, houses, streets and drains were well-kept and it was still a place that people from elsewhere would happily rent or buy properties. Then in the 1960s the country was overtaken by racio-political violence and people from elsewhere came into the Ward. A good proportion of the inhabitants of the Ward felt it was unsafe to remain and left their houses, renting them at low rental. Almost immediately, Albouystown came to be known as a “slum area” and property prices rapidly fell.

Now, after half a century, the reputation of the Ward has quickly changed and it has now become a place that several investors have quietly been buying up any property which goes on the market. Why has this been happening? With the new Oil wealth which would be pouring into Guyana within months, land prices in the capital city of Georgetown are beginning to skyrocket. In Albouystown, a property which not so long ago was sold for $10 million- in any case, a give-away price- now fetches $20 million which is still cheap.

The reason for the rising prices is that Albouystown is it is centrally located and it is quite close to the City centre which is the hub of business and administration of the country. Further, it is on the way to both international airports – Ogle and Cheddi Jagan- and is also close to them. There are also plans to convert Independence Boulevard into a highway from Ogle to Saffon Street. The Ward is also quietly experiencing a renewal since the new owners are demolishing the old structures and leaving the land without as yet building while prices rise or they may build modern buildings. Another plus Albouystown has is that its infrastructure compares very favourably with other Wards.

Its streets are all asphalted and many residents own motor cars and the drainage has improved since the drainage trench alongside the Ruimveldt Police Station has been dug and the Sussex Street and Princes Street canals have been opened again to the river.
Despite property prices are rising in Albouystown, there are still many available bargains and young people should try to exploit these opportunities since both the Central Government and City Hall are committed to the renewal and modernisation of the Ward.