LAST week the Pepperpot Magazine journeyed overland to the countryside village of Portuguese Quarters, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) to highlight the locals’ way of life.
Portuguese Quarters is sandwiched between Rose Hall and Free Yard villages and it is a small two-street community that has a few businesses on the public road.
It is said that, in the early days of indentureship, the Portuguese settled in that village. Thus, the name was derived.
Locals said it was in the 1960s and it was a sugar plantation where people were brought to work on the plantation and in the factory.
Today, there are no descendants of those people, and the village comprises mostly of Indo and Afro-Guyanese.
There are dwelling houses on both sides of the public road and two internal streets with a cross street that goes to the Secondary School.
The village has a few optical stores, a lumberyard, a hardware store, a pharmacy, a poultry business, roadside food stalls, bars, a hotel, shops, supermarkets, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Office, an insurance company and many other businesses.
In the nearby village of Free Yard there is the nursery, primary and secondary schools, the Guysuco Training Centre and, at Tain, there is the University of Guyana Campus.
Other services such as the health centre and the hospital are also in Port Mourant and it is a bustling place theming with daily activities.
There is a drainage canal running through the entire village from north to south and then there is the backlands area which is utilised by locals to rear sheep and goats on a large scale.
The residents of Portuguese Quarters, Port Mourant, rear their own pigs, sheep, goats, cows and ducks.
Most things are within reach in Portuguese Quarters Village and the people are self-sufficient and make a living doing many things.
The people of Portuguese Quarters Village have electricity, potable water, landline phone, internet and the basic infrastructure.
This village 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 and secondary schools, the Tain Campus and the Guysuco Training Centre. In a nutshell, it is a village which fulfills all the educational needs of the locals.
It is home to the Port Mourant Cricket Club which 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 that have made a name for themselves both locally and overseas.
