Market Day at Charity Stelling

A Core Social & Economic Feature

It’s Monday morning on the Essequibo Coast and guess what that means, Market day in Charity! This is a decades long tradition, the weekly hustle where farmers bring their produce from all up and down the Pomeroon River, vendors come from as far as Berbice, Georgetown and the interior mining areas. All assemble here to buy and sell.

And this Stelling in particular is one of the most historically important river transport hubs in northwestern Guyana. The Charity Stelling developed as a gateway between the Essequibo Coast, the Pomeroon River, and the riverain and hinterland communities, northwest.

The Stelling’s history is closely tied to river transportation, agriculture, and the expansion of settlement and commerce in the Pomeroon area. Before this modern thirty-six mile stretch of asphalt road that extends from Supenaam to Charity here in Region 2, rivers were the primary transportation routes in northwestern Guyana.

 The Pomeroon River system connected the farming communities, Indigenous settlements, timber and logging operations, and fisher folk to the wider Essequibo region. Charity itself sits near the mouth of the Pomeroon River. As coconut cultivation, ground provision farming, fishing, and timber production increased in the Pomeroon during the Agricultural Expansion Era of the 1800s and early 1900s, Charity became increasingly important. The stelling developed into a passenger terminal, cargo transit point, and a commercial gateway linking the Pomeroon River to the Essequibo Coast.

Charity Stelling remained central to everyday life in northern Essequibo.

It facilitated trade and transportation to access education and healthcare facilities and allowed social connections between isolated communities as far as Matthews Ridge and Mabaruma. The stelling also supported the growth of the nearby Charity Market, transportation services, shops, and small businesses.

As road infrastructure improved along the Essequibo Coast during the 20th century, Charity became more integrated with the regional minibus routes, and ferry-linked transportation systems through Supenaam and Parika. Still, the stelling remained important because many communities in the Pomeroon were still accessible only by water.

Over the years, Charity Stelling has undergone several upgrades and repair efforts to improve docking capacity, passenger movement, and safety infrastructure. Some of the current challenges include erosion, overcrowding, weather-related damage, and maintenance demands associated with heavy river traffic. Despite these issues, the stelling remains one of the busiest local transport facilities in northern Region 2.

 Today, the Charity Stelling is holding up and serving faithfully the folks in this area as the main river gateway to the Pomeroon, a transportation link to coastal and riverain interior communities, and a key transit point for agriculture and trade. As Guyana expands investment in regional infrastructure, Charity in general and the stelling in particular are increasingly recognized as strategically important to several sectors and subsectors including, food production, eco-tourism, river transportation, and broader development of northern Essequibo.

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