The history of Essequibo Coast

By RajkumarSingh

"Essequibo was founded by colonists from the first Zealander's colony, Pomeroon, which had been destroyed by Spaniards and local warriors around 1596. Led by Joost van der Hooge, the Zealander's travelled to Kyk-Over-Al. This location was chosen because of its strategiclocation and the trade with the local population. Van derHooge encounteredan olderruined Portuguese fortthere (thePortuguesearms had been hewn into the rock above the gate). Using funds of the West Indian Company, van der Hooge built a new fort called "Fort Ter Hoogen" from 1616 to 1621, though the fort quickly became known amongst the inhabitants as Fort Kyk-Over-Al (English: Fort See-everywhere). The administration of the WestIndian Company as wellas the governorof the entire colony settled here in 1621. Initially, the colony was named NovaZeelandia(NewZeeland), butthe usageof the name Essequibosoon became common. On the southern shore of the river the hamlet Cartabo was built, containing 12 to 15 houses. Around the river, plantations were created where slaves cultivated cotton, indigo and cacao. Somewhatfurtherdownstream, on Forteiland or"GreatFlag Island", Fort Zeelandiawas built. From 1624 the area was permanently inhabited and from 1632, together with Pomeroon, it was put under the jurisdiction of the Zeelandic Chamber of the WIC (West Indian Company). In 1657 the region was transferred by the Chamber to the cities of Middelburg, Veere and Vlissingen, who established the "Direction of the New Colony on Isekepe"there. From then on Pomeroon was called 'NovaZeelandia'. In 1658, cartographer Cornelis Goliath created a map of the colony and made plans to build a city there called "New Middelburg", but the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665 – 67) put an end to these plans. Essequibo was occupied by the British in 1665 (along with all other Dutch colonies in the Guianas), and then plundered by the French. The followingyears the Zeelanders sentasquardron of ships to retake the area. While the Suriname colony was captured from the British by Abraham Crijnssen, the by then

1823-2023. Bicentennialof the Demeraraslave rebellion abandoned Essequibo was occupied by Matthys Bergenaar. In 1670 the Chamber of the WIC in Zeeland took over control of the colonies again. The Dutch colonies in the region endured much suffering as a result of the Nine Years' War (1688 – 97) and the Spanish Succession War (1701 – 14), which brought pirates into the region. In 1689 Pomeroon was destroyed by French pirates, and abandoned.

The Chamberof the WIC in Zeeland keptcontroloverthe colonies, which sometimes led to criticism from The Chamber of the WIC in Amsterdam, who also wanted to start plantation there. The Zeelanders however, had established the colony by themselves, and afterthey retook possession of Essequibo under command of the commanderof FortNassau Bergen in 1666, they considered themselves as rightfulrulers of the region. Under governor Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande, English planters started coming to the colony after1740.

After 1745, the number of plantations along the Demerara and her side-rivers rapidly increased. Particularly, British colonists from Barbados began settling here. After 1750 a commander of the British population was assigned, giving them their own representation. Around 1780 a small central settlement was established at the mouth of the Demerara, which received the name Stabroek in 1784, named after one of the directors of the West Indian Company. From 27 February 1781 to February 1782 the colony was occupied by the French. In 1796 it was permanently occupied by the British. In 1800, Essequibo and Demeraracollectively held around 380 sugercane plantations. At the Peace of Amiens, the Netherlands received the Essequibo colony for a short time, from 1802 to 1803, but after that the British again occupied it. In 1812 Stabroek was renamed by the British as Georgetown. Essequibo became officialBritish territory on 13August1814 as partof the Treaty of London, and was merged with the colony of Demerara. On 21 July 1831, Demerara-Essequibo was united with Berbice to create British Guiana, now Guyana.

In 1838, Essequibo was made one of the three counties of Guiana, the other two being Berbice and Demerara. In 1958, the county was abolished when Guiana was subdivided into districts. Currently, historical Essequibo is part of a numberof Guyanese administrative regions and the name is preserved in the regions of Essequibo Islands-WestDemeraraand UpperTakutu-UpperEssequibo."

[Source:GuyanaSpeaks]

1823-2023. Bicentennialof the Demeraraslave rebellion

Out-going Georgetown Mayor Pt. Ubraj Narine recently honoured citizens with the Citation Award for their significant contribution to culture, youth, art, entertainment, leadership, and education.

Narine, speaking with Village Voice News said he was delighted to show his appreciation of the diverse individuals for theircontributions to the developmentof Guyana. The award eventwas held April 20. According to the mayor, the talents of the honoured individuals are not only evidence of Guyana’s diversity but also representative of the beauty thatflows from such diversity. We are one people, one nation and one destiny, he said, and that too is reflected in our diverse talents, ethnicities, politics, heritage and we must appreciate and celebrate these because we all belong to the human race and should be respected forwho we are.

Narine said Guyana must rid itself of the divisive politics and Government must seek to work with the Opposition, at the national, regional and local governmentlevels, forthe benefitof all Guyanese. People are tired of the hate, political division and poverty he shared. If Guyana could only practice the politics of inclusion no othercountry on earth would be betterthan us, he stated.

1823-2023. Bicentennialof the Demeraraslave rebellion

Elections (LGE) in Guyana.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall has set Monday, June 12, 2023, as the date for the holding of the much-anticipated and long overdue Local Government

This was announced on Thursday evening. Section 35 (1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03 empowers the LocalGovernmentMinisterto appointa day for the elections.

Last week, the Chairperson of the GuyanaElections Commission(GECOM),Retired Justice ClaudetteSingh had written the Local GovernmentMinisteraskinghim to setMay 22 this yearforthe conductof the local polls.

But on Thursday, MinisterDharamlall responded to the GECOM Chairand indicated that the LGEwere set for June 12 instead.

LGE were initially set for March 13 this year, but GECOM had deferred it in December 2022 to address issues relating to its registration exercise. This postponement occurred after court action was filed by Opposition-aligned persons, challenging the process used to compile the List of Electors, or Voters’ List, forthe pendingLGE.

“This decision was taken at a special meetingof the Commission held on Thursday, 8th December, 2022 which was held to deliberate on a proposal submitted by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Mr Vishnu Persaud to conduct an Exercise to correct the Registers of Voters for Local Government Elections under Section 24A of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03,” the Elections Commission had explained last December.

Only last week, the seven-member Elections Commission approved a new work plan produced by CEO Persaud that recommended May 22, 2023, as the earliest possible date for the holding of the local polls based on the Secretariat’s capacity.