Kumaka Waterfront, the business hub of the community

DPI, GUYANA, Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Kumaka is a community in Barima-Waini Region One in northern Guyana. It is located about 35 kilometers, southeast of Baramanni and about 18 kilometers inland from the Atlantic coast, at an altitude of 30 meters.

Kumaka which is located within Santa Rosa, is the business hub and administrative centre of Moruca. The post office, police station, hospital and market, and several other businesses, are all located in Kumaka. Visitors are provided with accommodation at the Kumaka Guest House and the Regional Guest House at Acquero (once the administrative hub). Another private guest house operates at Moruca, all located within minutes of Kumaka, which is at the centre of the village.

Digicel has an office at Kumaka which serves the mobile phone service needs of the area, in addition to the radio sets commonly used.

Kumaka waterfront

A day on the Kumaka waterfront begins at five hours, where the first boat leaves for Charity, Mabaruma or travels straight to the Georgetown.

The Kumaka waterfront accommodates around 140 boats, on average every hour, these include cargo boats and the regular passenger boats. If a person just stands on the waterfront, they can see all the boats that are coming in and going out. The boats transport school children, fruits and vegetables as well as other cargo to different communities as part of daily activities.

It is the hub of livelihood for many, including taxi drivers. You can find a variety of goods and services on the waterfront, these include food, clothing, vegetables, groceries, fruits in wholesale and retail quantities and you can even access salon services which provide manicure, pedicure and nail art.

Malinda Da Silva a cosmetologist, has been living in Kumaka for two years. Her station where she is conducts business, is on the Kumaka waterfront. It clear view of persons arriving from the river or heading into the river. The 26-year-old travels to Venezuela, where she once lived since the age of five years with her family for a number of years; every six months to buy products for her work. “This waterfront helps me to support my family and myself, additionally I am stationed at the perfect spot for my business to develop,” Malinda said.

Sunil Partab, and his wife own a grocery store, located on the northern side of the waterfront, they sell a wide variety of items. Partab has lived in Kumaka all his life. He told the Department of Public Information(DPI) that after working in the interior and acquiring some money, he decided to return to Kumaka and started a small grocery shop.

Sunil’s Store sells goods in wholesale and retail quantities. He explained that his wife helps to run the business,which has expanded over the years, and has become one of the most frequented in the community.

The 36-year-old Partab highlights the significance of the Kumaka waterfront, “The waterfront is important to my life and it helps to support my family. My goods come from Charity and the persons in the community support me very well. I won’t leave here.”

Mary Cornelius otherwise known as ‘Aunty Mary’ has a stall on the waterfront where she sells cassava bread, cassareep and fruits. She said over the years the waterfront has developed. “We have stalls now and we can come out and sell our produce. Persons can now see us clearly and easily and this helps improve our sales”.

Clarine Stall, a seamstress was born in Kumaka but moved to Georgetown to live. Six years ago, her aunt encouraged her to move to Moruca, where she started to sell slippers. She explained that she had always loved to sew since she was young. She eventually acquired a machine and started to sew from her aunt’s stall. She said that the waterfront is beautiful and will continue to develop.

These are just some of the businesses which the Kumaka waterfront accommodate. When you visit Kumaka, for anything you need, the place to go is the waterfront.

 

By: Gabreila Patram