A community with all the required amenities

THIS WEEK, Pepperpot Magazine decided to highlight the bustling and diverse village of Mon Repos, on the East Coast of Demerara. The name stems from a French term that translates to “My Place of Rest,” in English.

This welcoming and lovely administrative division is tucked between the equally beautiful and hospitable neighbouring communities of Triumph and Good Hope and is about seven miles outside the city of Georgetown.

A small village that was known for its sugar and rice cultivation in the 1940s, quickly grew in population because of its famous market — the “Mon Repos market” — that was held on the weekends (Saturdays and Sundays). According to some of the grassroots residents, “people from all over Guyana came to the Mon Repos market to trade and sell their produce in those days. It was the market that everyone wanted to be a part of, everything was happening here and people even began to take up residence in the area just because of the market.”

Singh (only name given), an older native of the village, said, “This village is also a fishing and boat-building village. When people want to build a boat or make fishing nets, they come here. The people are talented and know how to work hard for a living.”

The village is also well known for housing one of Guyana’s most prestigious educational institutions, the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), as well as the country’s most valuable research centre, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI). These two institutions can be found within close proximity of each other on the prominent “Agriculture Road.”
Apart from those two major institutions, this village is also equipped with a primary and a nursery school, a mall, gym, taxi services, pharmacies, pet shops, ice factory, supermarkets, the Caribbean Inn hotel, hardware stores, livestock farms, furniture stores, a temple and restaurants, which include the well-known Sunny and Sweetie local food joint among other businesses.
The village is also divided into several sections, including Django Town, Mon Repos Housing Scheme, Martyrs Ville, Block CC, Block 8, and a few others.

Another distinguishing feature discovered by the Pepperpot Magazine about Mon Repos is that it is one of the few villages in Guyana where most residents work in almost every professional field in the country. There are lawyers, doctors, teachers, policemen, persons in administrative positions, farmers, fishermen, vendors, construction workers and the list goes on.
There are a number of young people within the community as well, some of whom are in school, some are working and others are seeking employment.

While speaking with some local vendors and shop owners, they expressed gratitude to Pepperpot Magazine for visiting their community and showcasing their village.

Aunt Patsy, a vegetable vendor, said, “We are happy to have the focus on our village and we thank you all. Mon Repos is a village that everyone has heard of, whether they live in Guyana or overseas. Like any village, we have our own differences too, but we are a united community; we look out for each other.” The other locals expressed similar sentiments as Aunt Patsy.

Patrick Williams, who weeds yards for a living, said that he recently came to live in Mon Repos with his family; and he didn’t know what to expect from the people, but Patrick said that his new community was welcoming to him and his family and he was grateful to the residents.

Presently, the Government of Guyana is in the process of erecting a modern market facility for the residents of Mon Repos at the old market location.

Some of the residents who spoke with this publication said they were “thrilled” to have such a facility in their village and cannot wait to enjoy it. They also thank the President of Guyana, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and his government for giving them “this long overdue and much needed” structure.