Kaneville Gardens
Kaneville Gardens Village, East Bank Demerara (Carl Croker photos)
Kaneville Gardens Village, East Bank Demerara (Carl Croker photos)

A thickly populated village ‘ripe’ for development

THIS week the Pepperpot Magazine visited Kaneville Gardens, East Bank Demerara to highlight the way of life of the locals.

Kaneville Village is bordered by Grove and Craig, and it is tucked away just after Samatta Point Village.

The village runs deep and its inhabitants are of multi-ethnic descents comprising of Indo Guyanese, Afro Guyanese, Amerindians, mixed-race and some newcomers, Spanish people, who are renting dwelling houses.

Kaneville Gardens is home to many like-minded people from the grassroots level to budding professionals, skilled people, skilled professionals and people who work within the private and public sectors.

The village signage.

The village has many small shops, bars, churches, a mosque and a nursery school at Samatta Point.

Kaneville Gardens is thickly populated with more than 5,000 residents. Of that, an estimated 70 percent are children and youths, and it has more than 1,200 house lots.

There are 23 internal streets, all named after the many species of birds found in Guyana, and it is a community which developed rapidly within a span of five years under the then President, the late Cheddi Jagan, who regularised the once squatting area.

During that period, the village benefitted from all-weather roads, potable water, electricity, landline phone and internet services.

Kaneville Gardens Village, East Bank Demerara (Carl Croker photos)

A handful of people began squatting in Kaneville Village when it was land-owned by the state, being Guysuco’s in 1992.

A year after the houses were destroyed during an exercise to get the people off the land, the area became even more populated,and the then President,Dr. Cheddi Jagan listened to the cries of the people.

During a village meeting Dr. Cheddi Jagan authorised the dwellers to remain there.

He, however, fulfilled his promise of regularising the community and through community-based initiatives by the first settlers, the village was developed.

Kaneville Gardens Village, East Bank Demerara (Carl Croker photos)

People from all across the country began occupying the lands in Kaneville when they learned that they could own their own home and escape the burden of paying rent.

Most things can be sourced within the village such as groceries, meats, fruits, and vegetables but locals would journey to the city or nearby villages to make bulk purchases on a monthly basis.

Many utilise the banks and other facilities at Grove, which is just nearby, rather than going to the city.

Kaneville Gardens comes under the purview of the Grove/Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and it was noted that the drainage network of this village needs some attention since it is flood-prone.

Kaneville Gardens Village, East Bank Demerara (Carl Croker photos)

Apart from four internal streets, this village has good all-weather streets, which connect the entire community and some connecting wooden bridges linking Kaneville to other villages, including Grove.

The people of Kaneville Gardens rear their own chickens, pigs, and livestock and some have small kitchen gardens with fruits and vegetables.

Kaneville Gardens Village, East Bank Demerara (Carl Croker photos)

Residents are of the view that, with a community centre ground, the children and youths will have a place for recreational activities and sports, and there is a great need for a police outpost in that village owing to the increase in crimes there.

The nearest police station is at Grove and the mode of transportation is by taxi since there minibuses do not traverse within the community.

Kaneville Gardens has a sign displaying the name of the village and it is a fairly clean village with lots of shops, a busy place, be it at night or during the day.

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