Port Mourant is a town on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast in

East Berbice-Corentyne East Berbice-Corentyne (Region 6) is one of ten regions in Guyana covering the whole of the east of the country. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Nickerie District and Sipaliwini District of Suriname to the east, Brazil to the so ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. It is the birthplace of the late president

Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 199 ...

as well as many of Guyana's most famous

cricketers Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by strik ...

. Port Mourant was originally a sugar estate. Many residents are self-employed, but the

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cl ...

continues to be a source of employment. Port Mourant is made up of 15 areas including Free Yard, Bound Yard, Portuguese Quarter, Bangladesh, Ankerville, Clifton, Tain, Miss Phoebe and John’s. Bound Yard was named for the indentured labourers who lived there, and when their contracts were finished, they moved to Free Yard. Neighboring areas include Rose Hall town and Bloomfield village.

History

The Port Mourant sugar estate was situated in what was historically called the Corantyne district. By the mid 20th century, this district was considered the more prosperous of the sugar-growing regions, the largest producer of rice, and the five estates also supported a wider array of services independent from the sugar industry which were all centered at Port Mourant. Residents were mostly

Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are people of Indian origin who are Guyanese nationals tracing their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginnin ...

, with a small number of

Afro-Guyanese people Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring conditions ...

. The town had its own factory for processing sugar cane until it closed in 1955.

Education

The village has nursery schools at Tain, Ankerville and Port Mourant. Primary schools are in Tain and Port Mourant (formerly Anglican Elementary). Secondary schools include Joseph Chamberlain Chandisingh Secondary (formerly Corentyne High School, Est.1938), Port Mourant Secondary (formerly Roman Catholic Elementary), and Corentyne Comprehensive High School (formerly 'Compre'/Rudra Nath High). Tertiary education includes an extension of the

University of Guyana The University of Guyana, in Georgetown, Guyana, is Guyana's national higher education institution. It was established in April 1963 with the following Mission: "To discover, generate, disseminate, and apply knowledge of the highest standard for ...

at Tain since November 2000, and the

GuySuCo The Guyana Sugar Corporation, or GuySuCo, is a Guyanese sugar company owned by the government. It is the country's largest cultivator and producer of sugar, a historically important commodity in the country. They produce Demerara Sugar for export ...

Apprentice Training Centre. RN Persaud High School (Sideline Dam), now defunct, was the very first secondary school in Berbice.

Health care

*Port Mourant Hospital - A 53-bed facility located in Ankerville, for primary health care, pediatrics, and minor surgical services. The emergency center was upgraded in 2012 and a triage building was built in 2019 with international donations. * National Ophthalmology Centre - opened July 25, 2009 provides services for Guyana and neighboring country Suriname. * Guysuco Dispensary at Side Line Dam *Johns's Settlement Senior Citizens Home

Commerce

Port Mourant has two majors markets; the Port Mourant Market, which is one of the largest markets in Guyana, and the Tain Market. Both are mainly farmers' markets, and the market at Port Mourant also offers a wide variety of other goods for sale, including overseas imports. The village also has "fast-food outlets, a supermarket, small restaurants, rum shops, a gas station, travel service, a barber’s shop, lumber yard, Skye Communication, E-Networks and various other businesses." Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry has a Port Mourant branch.

Entertainment

The Port Mourant Community Center Ground is a major cricket venue, and the Port Mourant club is a major regional team. Port Mourant also has a volleyball team. Port Mourant Racetrack features horse racing. The former Roopmahal Cinema in Miss Phoebe was one of the oldest cinemas in the Berbice area until it was replaced with a shopping mall in 2013.

Places of interest

The Babu John Cemetery is the location of the cremation of the late Dr.

and his wife Janet Jagan. It was built to accommodate the influx of deaths related to the influenza outbreak after World War 2. Babu John, a sugar planter from De Keneren, was the cemetery's caretaker and it was named for him when he died.

Religious institutions

Hindu temples include the Miss Phoebe North Kali Temple, Free Yard Hindu Mandir, Shri Krishna Mandir (Miss Phoebe north), Vishnu Saanaatan Mandir, Maha Kali Mandir (Portuguese quarter north), Miss Phoebe Hindu Mandir, Sideline Shiva Mandir, and the Tain Hindu Mandir. Other denominational services are at God of the Change International Church Haswell, Tain Bible Church, Tain Living Water Assembly, Tain Seven Day Adventist, St. Joseph Anglican Church and St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church. Islamic organizations include the Jama masjid in Ankerville, Miss Phoebe masjid and an Islamic school at Train line. Charitable organizations include the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha (Bal Nivas) and the New Jersey Arya Samaj Mission Center.

Notable residents

- late president of Guyana * Lionel Luckhoo - politician and lawyer *Cricketers:

Rohan Kanhai Rohan Babulal Kanhai (born 26 December 1935) is a Guyanese former cricketer of Tamil Indo-Guyanese origin , who represented the West Indies in 79 Test matches. He is widely considered to be one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai fea ...

Basil Butcher Basil Fitzherbert Butcher (3 September 1933 – 16 December 2019) was a Guyanese cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team. He was regarded as a reliable right-handed middle-order batsman in the star-studded West Indian batting line- ...

Joe Solomon Joseph Stanislaus Solomon (born 26 August 1930) is a former international cricketer who played 27 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1965, scoring 1,326 runs, mainly from number six and seven in the batting line-up. He was born in Po ...

Alvin Kallicharran Alvin Isaac Kallicharran (born 21 March 1949) is a former Indo-Guyanese cricketer of Tamil origin who played Test cricket for the West Indies between 1972 and 1981 as a left-handed batsman and right-arm off spinner. Kallicharran was born ...

Randolph Ramnarace Randolph Ramnarace (born 25 July 1941) is a former first-class cricketer from Berbice who played mostly for Guyana. Ramnarace, a middle-order batsman and medium-paced bowler, was a regular member of the British Guiana/Guyana team from 1965–66 ...

Ivan Madray Ivan Samuel Madray (2 July 1934 – 23 April 2009) was a West Indian cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1958. A leg-spinner, Madray made his first-class debut for British Guiana against the visiting Australians in 1954–55 at the age ...

and John Trim.

References

{{Settlements in Guyana Populated places in East Berbice-Corentyne