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 o ...

on its west bank, in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region of

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 ...

, 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 "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 from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. 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 The Railways of Guyana comprised two public railways, the Demerara-Berbice Railway and the Demerara-Essequibo Railway. There are also several industrial railways mainly for the bauxite industry. The Demerara-Berbice Railway is the oldest in South A ...

opened between Vreed en Hoop and Greenwich Park. In 1914, the line was extended to Parika. 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 (DHB). For safety passengers must use the lifejackets provided. The busy terminal connects travellers to the West Bank Demerara road up to Parika, with cars and minibuses plying the routes.

Plastic City

Plastic City is a shanty town 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 structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

that leads to the

Atlantic Ocean 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 ...

, 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. 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, humid tropical 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 southea ...

(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 of ...

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

References

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