By Michel Outridge

This week the Pepperpot Magazine visited Bath Village, also called Number 12 Village, which is between Hopetown and Woodley Park (Number 11) villages.

BATH is located on the West Coast of Berbice and it is the home of garden-fresh produce such as celery, tomatoes, eschallot and many other vegetables.

The major employer is the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s Blairmont Sugar Estate and the central point for business is at Rosignol, but in the village itself, there are many businesses of various sizes.

Bath is a very large village which comprises several sections and it extends from the foreshore, deep into the backlands area.

It is a predominantly Indo-Guyanese village, but over time, more people moved in, including Afro-Guyanese.

Bath Village comprises the old scheme Waterloo/Bath, Experiment/Bath, Hope/Bath and Bath Settlement, the old scheme.

The village has a population of about 6,000 and is self-sufficient with many supermarkets, shops, mechanic and welding businesses, beauty salons, hardware stores, sawmills, restaurants, boutiques, and other businesses.

Bath has a majority of sugar workers, skilled professionals, construction workers, teachers, nurses, farmers both cash crops and rice, doctors, and self-employed, small-business owners.

There are many internal streets in this community and they have basic necessities such as electricity, potable water supply, landline and cellphone services, internet and infrastructure.

Bath is an agriculture-based village and in every yard, there is a vibrant garden going with either celery, peppers, tomatoes, eschallot, lettuce, boulanger, calaloo, bora, and ochro, among other vegetables.

In this community most services are within reach, since they have a nursery school a primary school, large businesses with the Fort Wellington Hospital also on that corridor and several banks at Rosignol.

The nearest secondary school is at Woodley Park, which also has a primary school and the Experiment Health Centre which was converted into the COVID-19 facility.

Bath Public Road is lined with many large supermarkets, stores and other businesses, which are convenient for locals and passers-by.

The Bath/Woodley Park NDC

Meanwhile, the Bath/Woodley Park Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Chairman, Dalchan Sanmohan, told the Pepperpot Magazine that the NDC is from Number 11, which is Woodley Park, to the end of Bath/Experiment villages.

He reported that the NDC covers six villages, which is a tall task because the villages are very large.

Sanmohan added that some streets were recently asphalted, while others were repaved with crush-and-run composition and plans are in stream to have most streets in the community upgraded.

He noted that in some sections, such as Block D Bath, the streets are in a deplorable state and need to be upgraded.

Although he took office in January this year, Sanmohan related that the NDC is doing what it can with the resources at hand and they have sand-filled the Bath Community Centre ground with 25 loads of sand.

He stated that they will fix the pavilion and do maintenance of the actual ground itself, so recreational activities can resume.

The Dalchan Bulkan Community Centre pavilion at Bath/Woodley Park was repaired and the ground will be de-weeded and reopened to the public soon, he said.

The NDC Chairman pointed out that a management committee will be installed to oversee the once-abandoned community centre.

He disclosed that the Block B section of Bath is without landline service and that was reported to the region and they are awaiting the service.

“We have 12 councillors at present, because two resigned and two passed away; so we are doing what we can with what we have presently and everything can’t be done at the same time, so we are asking the people to give us some time to enhance the community,” he said.

Sanmohan added that as part of the developmental aspect of the community, a footpath bridge will be constructed linking the villages of Experiment and Hope, so schoolchildren and residents can access the schools in the village and other sections of the community with ease.

In addition, the community centre grounds will be fixed, drains, canals, trenches and parapets are being cleaned and cleared by 30 Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP) workers from the community that comes under the NDC.

“At the NDC level we also award top performers in the villages; we cover with stationery, certificates and tablets when they do well in the CSEC exam,” he said.

Sanmohan told the Pepperpot Magazine that some villagers who have businesses are not in compliance with the NDC building code; as such, all efforts to bring them to conformity have failed, so they are taking them to court.

He stated that other persons who are parking vehicles on the public road were asked to desist and notices were also served, but they have failed to comply. As such, the matter is engaging the court.

The NDC Chairman related that they are a lot of businesses owned both by villagers and others, including three Chinese restaurants, two Indo, three hardware stores, many mini-marts, small shops, mechanic and welding places among others.

He noted that Bath has churches, mosques, and mandirs and a private clinic operated by a resident, who is a doctor and an ultrasound facility that charges just $3000 for an ultrasound by another doctor, Alicia Bulkan, also a resident of Bath.

Sanmohan however, pointed out that of the 6,000 residents, most are employed with the Blairmont Sugar Estate as their sole source of income to the home, while and others are farmers.