A village set deep in its roots

LAST week the Pepperpot Magazine visited Free Yard, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice to highlight the way of life of the locals.

This village can be accessed via Spready’s Outlet, located on the main public road through a narrow one-vehicle road. Free Yard is part of the sugar plantation where indentured labourers were housed and worked.

It is part of a series of 15 settlements that are within the catchment of Port Mourant and it is the home of the late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan and also where Babu John Crematorium is located.

These villages are Free Yard, Bound Yard, Portuguese Quarters, Manager’s Compound, Grassfield, Ankerville, Haswell, Miss Phoebe, Bangladesh, Tain, Clifton and John’s.

Just outside this village is the Port Mourant Market which operates daily but is even bigger on weekends.

Port Mourant, Corentyne is a central hub of businesses and other facilities. It is said to be the home village of some outstanding cricketers as well, and was described as the only village that offers education from “nursery to university”.

It has nursery, primary, secondary, the Tain Campus and The Guysuco Training Centre. In a nutshell, it is a village which fulfills all the educational needs of the locals.

The Port Mourant Cricket Club is known for having produced Guyana and West Indies top players like Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon, Randolph Ramnarace, Ivan Madray, Alvin Kallicharran, Derek Kallicharran, John Trim and the Etwaru brothers.

It was also home to well-known attorneys like Sir Lionel Luckhoo and other prominent and well-deserving people.

Port Mourant is a very large area and it is nestled between Rose Hall and Bloomfield.

It was reported that Free Yard got its name from the indentured labourers who lived there. After they had worked out their contracts, they moved to another location suitably called Free Yard.

It was said that Free Yard was also called Yardie Park, the place where the indentured labourers settled in modest cottages and shingle-style houses and logies.

Free Yard Village has six streets and it has all the basic amenities such as electricity, potable water, internet, landline phone, cell phone service, good roads and infrastructure.

The people of the village have access to fresh fruits, vegetables and other food items daily from the nearby Port Mourant Market which is convenient.

Even though the Port Mourant Sugar Estate closed its door, many people in Corentyne depend heavily on the other existing sugar estates, including Albion.

The population of Free Yard is about 300 and consists of people of Indo and Afro descent and the way of life of the locals is simple and normal.

Most of the residents are either self-employed or hold jobs at Albion Sugar Estate and they have a few businesses that provide steady employment for the people.

A landmark tamarind tree sits comfortably in Spready’s entrance in Free Yard and is said to be more than 100 years old. It was the old place where the indentured labourers were taken to rest after work.

There is one original cottage house from the days of indentureship that is still there and occupied and also an original shingle-style house that still stands. Repairs are being undertaken to the house but one section is still as it was built.

There are also remnants of old tombs and other things in Free Yard village that remind the people of that time.

Free Yard is a place that produced a lot of talented over-achievers and other well-known personalities who have made a name for themselves both locally and internationally.