NIGG VILLAGE …a bustling business community

Jun 26, 2022 News

Village Focus

By Malisa Playter-Harry

Kaieteur News – When you enter the village of Nigg, situated on the Corentyne in Berbice, on a week day, what quickly becomes evident is the ‘hustle and bustle’, especially in the mid-afternoon which is considered the peak period – when people are heading home from work or school and businesses are preparing to close at 5 in the afternoon or a bit later.

A mandir in the village

A church in the village

Dhanmattie Singh called Babita, owner of the clothing store

Jasmine Ramraj, who sells snacks and cane juice at the Port Mourant Market

The Nigg Post Office

The clothing store

Vickey’s Tent and Chair Rentals located in the village

The canal which separates the two villages

Entering the village of Nigg from the western side

I recently paid a visit to Nigg and learnt that while it is separated from the village of Albion by the Albion Estate main canal, the two villages are connected by the Albion bridge. As you enter the community from the western side you are sure to set eyes on a thriving Chinese supermarket on the right-hand side of the public road and a small wash bay to the left. Immediately after the wash bay there is a dentist that serves Nigg and communities within proximity too.
In the community “business is bright” – the ‘Sidelines’ Restaurant and Bar (previously the popular Santa Rosa), a Tent and Chair Rental business that has grown over the years, are among the businesses you should catch a glimpse of, if you are ever in Nigg. You can also find the ‘Naz’ Supermarket a few metres away and further up the road, there is a vehicle workshop at the head of a street located on the right. There is also a lumber yard, a clothing store, a tyre shop, two salons and the Nigg Post Office. All of these provide employment for those living in the neighbourhood.
What was evident too is the strong religious culture; there is a Mandir, a Church and a Mosque in the village of Nigg.
Although many residents were shy to give details about themselves, a few intimated that they are extremely happy with their way of life. Some noted that while their community is faced with minor issues, they enjoy living amongst each other.
Dhanmattie Singh, well known as ‘Babita’, owns and operates the D. Singh Clothing Store with her husband and they have been doing so for over 15 years. The business, which is located along the public road (near the Nigg Post Office) has been selling fashionable clothing, footwear, accessories, and body essentials since its establishment, and attracts customers from not only Nigg but from various parts of the county.
As she attended to her shop with the assistance of her niece and nephew, Singh spoke a bit about her business. According to her she sold items at a smaller scale at the Port Mourant Market for 23 years before she and her husband, over 15 years ago, bought the building, which at the time was just a house, to house the shop. She said that after they bought the place, it was renovated and they expanded it as the years went by. Noting that she has been blessed to live a comfortable life with a business that has provided financial security, she stressed that hard work and determination have gotten her and her husband to this point with plans to expand even further.
“Me use to sell ah market but I always wanted a shop like this but now we want to put a supermarket here and sell a lot of this foreign stuff that you not really getting elsewhere,” she said. In full support of her vision was her nephew, Steve. He added that he had visited Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, and there, he said “when you go to a supermarket there…everything that you want the market get because if you want a whole cow skin and hang out, you get that.”
This dream, the family noted, is expected to materialise in the not-so-distant future but at the moment they are trying to “sell out” what they currently have (clothing and other items) before they make enhancements to facilitate the supermarket.
According to Singh, the decision to invest in the supermarket is due to a sloth in business which started when the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the country. She said that ever since businesses have not been operating at full capacity. As scary as it was from a health perspective, Singh said her business took a blow, but noted that they have managed to keep the business going.
“People wasn’t really coming in much you know, Rose Hall mostly the business deh but people does come and shop from the village and sometimes people from far and so, and people when dem drive and so dem does stop…” she said.
According to her, residents are mostly employed at the Albion Sugar Estate. “Everybody working at the estate when estate na work business does slow,” she revealed.
For Singh, living on the public road has had its positives and negatives. While the positives include the fact that her business is easily accessible, the negatives, she noted, are the several fatal accidents that have occurred just in front of her business place. Singh noted that since her business place is equipped with surveillance cameras, police ranks oftentimes turn up to request footage to aid in their investigation. Questioning why accidents occur so frequently at the location, Singh said that she is hoping that another does not occur anytime in the near future.
A few streets away, I caught up with Jasmine Ramraj, who has been living in the village of Nigg for the past six years. She said that since she moved there, she has found it to be an “okay” place to live. Ramraj mentioned that while a lot of persons are self-employed in the community, there are also many young professionals.
“This is a quiet, nice community, the people are friendly, it got a nice mandir, a church and it is just a nice friendly place and we have the complex nearby,” Ramraj said.
The mother of one said she has managed to earn a decent living by selling delicious snacks and cane juice at the Port Mourant Market for the past three years while also engaging in sewing work. Her husband, she said, is employed in the construction sector, helping to build Food for the Poor homes for the needy. Her daughter who was too shy to come out is currently writing the CSEC examinations and, according to Ramraj, she has been doing good in school.
With several businesses owned and operated by the people of Nigg, it is safe to say that it a village with many thriving businesses that cater to the majority of the needs of residents.