Agriculture is the way of life of the people of ‘Now or Never’ Village

LAST week the Pepperpot Magazine visited Now or Never Village, Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) to highlight the way of life of the locals.
For some of us, time is now or never when it comes to impromptu decision-making and other things, but in Mahaicony, ‘Now or Never’ refers to a small, breezy agricultural-based place with a very close-knit population.

According to an elder of the village, the community was once owned by two brothers and it was an estate. However, when it was time to name the village, they were in disagreement and it was said they said it is “Now or Never”, and that name was adopted as the village name decades ago.

Now or Never Village is situated between Sarah and Bushy park communities, and it is an agriculture-rich village with farmers where almost every resident is related by blood.
At first glance it is one of the cleanest villages visited and it has a bus shed where you can sit and it is very tidy; a resident ensures that the roadside is well-kept daily.

There is also a huge tree with makeshift wooden benches where you can sit and enjoy a chat and it is the ‘meeting’ place for residents, who refer to it as their ‘chill spot’.
The people of Now or Never Village are the kindest and most welcoming and it is indeed a ‘green’ and self-sufficient village where the people grow their own food and have cattle and livestock.

Now or Never has one street and a cross street and there are dwelling houses on both sides of the main public road.
It also has massive farmlands that extend from the foreshore to the back lands area. The villagers utilise the lands for rice, cash crops and fish farming.

The population of the village is around 250 and it comprises of persons of Indian and African descent, Amerindians and persons of a mixed-race ethnicity.
Now or Never is home to farmers, self-employed folk, skilled workers and professionals who hold jobs in offices and in both the private and public sector.

There are about 45 houses in Now or Never, but the locals have a housing development project they will be embarking on shortly and a 45-acre of privately-owned land has been identified on the village’s eastern side.
The villagers told the Pepperpot Magazine that it will be a self-help project but they are hoping to partner with the current administration for potable water, electricity, roads and infrastructural development.

They are hoping to build about 40 houses to meet the housing needs of the growing population in the community.
Residents believe that since they depend solely on farming to earn, they should have control of the access dam since accessibility is an issue when it rains.

Now or Never Village has two plant nurseries. The people of Now or Never also take pride in keeping their immediate surroundings clean and they are conscious of the advantages of growing their own foods and eating organically-produced fruits and vegetables.

There is also an abundance of fresh fruits going to waste in this village, five-finger was in season and it was dropping from the large trees to the ground since there is so much and no market for it.
The locals have also asked for a processing plant for their fruits and vegetables which, at times, are in abundance and often wasted.

Residents of Now or Never Village also expressed the need to restart their community policing group, which is defunct.
The locals reported that they don’t have complaints but are of the view that they would like progress to continue.

They are now bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic which caused a lot of hardships among the people and affected their livelihood.
Now or Never is a lovely little village that is agriculture-based and it is interesting to see how the people have utilised the land to earn and it can become a model community.