Vreed en Hoop is a village at the mouth of the

Demerara River The Demerara River is a river in eastern Guyana that rises in the central rainforests of the country and flows to the north for 346 kilometres until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Georgetown, Guyana's largest seaport and capital, is situated on ...

on its west bank, in the

Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Essequibo Islands-West Demerara (Region 3) is a Regions of Guyana, region of Guyana. It is situated around the Essequibo River, the largest river in Guyana that lies between the Orinoco and Amazon River, Amazon rivers of South America. It is bor ...

region of

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, located at sea level. It is the location of the Regional Democratic Council office making it the administrative center for the region. There is also a police station, magistrate's court and post office.

History

Vreed en Hoop encompasses a few small communities, among them New Road, Plantain Walk, Crane and Coglan Dam. The name of the town comes from the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

"Vreed en Hoop", meaning "Peace and Hope" in English. The name is derived from the Plantation Vreed en Hoop which already existed in 1798. In 1828 ownership changed to Sir John Gladstone who became the permanent absentee planter. At the time of the emancipation of slavery, the plantation had 415 slaves. In 1838, Gladstone was the first planter to expel most of his former slaves, and replace them with

indentured servants Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or ser ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1839, newspapers started to report physical abuse at his plantations, therefore Gladstone quietly transferred ownership. Vreed en Hoop also consists of a market and other shopping stores. It has an educational institute for children and a college where teachers go for training.

Transport

In 1900, the Demerara-Essequibo Railway opened between Vreed en Hoop and Greenwich Park. In 1914, the line was extended to

Parika Parika is a port village located in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region of Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indi ...

. The railway remained in operation until 1974. Passenger boats (speedboats) traverse the Demerara River linking Vreed en Hoop to the capital city of Georgetown in about five minutes, much faster than using the

Demerara Harbour Bridge The Demerara Harbour Bridge is a long floating toll bridge. It was commissioned on 2 July 1978. The bridge crosses the Demerara River south of the Guyanese capital Georgetown, from Peter's Hall, Demerara-Mahaica Demerara-Mahaica (Region ...

(DHB). For safety passengers must use the lifejackets provided. The busy terminal connects travellers to the West Bank Demerara road up to

, with cars and minibuses plying the routes.

Plastic City

Plastic City is a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

located within Vreed en Hoop. It is located a quarter mile from the village. To the north, there is a

jetty A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...

that leads to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, and out of sight, there is a makeshift village. Plastic City started in the early 1990s and has been growing ever since. The main problem is the lack of access to water and electricity, and the proneness to

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

. Presidents promised to solve the problem. Opposition leaders visited the area, but as of 2020, Plastic City remains.

Climate

Vreed en Hoop has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Notable people

Mohamed Shahabuddeen Mohamed Shahabuddeen (7 October 1931 – 17 February 2018) was a Guyanese politician and judge. He was judge of the International Court of Justice, judge and twice vice president of the Yugoslavia tribunal and arbitrator and judicial tribunal o ...

(1931–2018), International Court of Justice judge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vreed En Hoop Populated places in Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Squatting in Guyana