Cover photo: Matthews Ridge Airstrip, shown in the October 2026 completion report. Department of Public Information.
Matthews Ridge lies in Barima-Waini, Region 1, in Guyana’s North West. It belongs to the Matarkai area, alongside communities such as Baramita and Port Kaituma. Sources also use the spelling “Mathews Ridge”; this profile follows the directory’s “Matthews Ridge.”
A place in Guyana’s mining history
The community has a longstanding association with manganese. Guyana’s Geological Survey Department report for 1966 records manganese mining at Matthews Ridge during that year. Decades later, a 2021 Environmental Protection Agency notice documented approval of an environmental impact assessment for a manganese project there. Together, these records show the area’s continuing place in Guyana’s mineral-development history, without establishing the current operating status of any particular mine.
Connections and everyday facilities
Air access is another important part of the community’s story. On 3 October 2026, DPI reported completion of rehabilitation at Matthews Ridge Airstrip, including a concrete runway and facilities intended to support emergency operations. This report describes the infrastructure; it is not a flight timetable.
Community life also includes education, healthcare and sport. A December 2023 DPI report recorded the handover of an ambulance and minibus and the commissioning of a football and basketball surface at the community ground.
Explore the Region 1 directory and the wider Essequibo community directory to place Matthews Ridge in its regional and county setting.
Sources and further reading
- Geological Survey Department annual report, 1966
- EPA notice, 2021
- DPI, 18 December 2023
- DPI, 3 October 2026: airstrip photographs
