Published: 15th of November, 2026 by Patrick Carpen
Last updated: November 15, 2026 at 6:30 amNew Road is a farming and residential community on the northern Essequibo Coast, between Somerset and Berks and Charity. It lies in Region 2, Pomeroon-Supenaam, in the county of Essequibo, at approximately 7.40° N, 58.59° W. From Georgetown, travel by road to Parika, cross the Essequibo River to Supenaam, and continue north along the coast road through Anna Regina towards Charity.
View the New Road village area on Google Maps. These rounded coordinates provide general orientation. Ask your host for directions to a particular home, shop or farm.
Close to the market, rooted in the land
New Road sits near the point where a coastal journey becomes a river journey. Charity, its neighbour, connects the road to the Pomeroon. Behind that busy connection lies the quieter work of growing crops, maintaining homes and building small businesses.
The village has its own identity within this close relationship. Rice farming is an established livelihood, while family memories record the cultivation and sale of vegetables and milk. In accounts gathered in 2015, residents described earlier days of lamps, pond water and journeys to Charity by foot or donkey cart.
Those memories give the name New Road an appealing resonance, although they do not establish how the village was named. For the families who made their homes here, change arrived through practical things: a usable route, electricity, water and a better connection to a market.
Getting to New Road
The usual approach from Georgetown combines road travel with an Essequibo River crossing. Reach Parika, take a ferry or passenger service to Supenaam, then arrange northbound road transport towards Charity. Confirm your stop as New Road on the Essequibo Coast; the name is also used elsewhere in Guyana.
Ask whether your minibus goes through Anna Regina or whether you need to change there. New Road is near the Charity end of the coastal journey, beyond Somerset and Berks when coming from Supenaam.
Check crossing arrangements before setting out, especially for a same-day return. If you plan to visit a farm or attend a community event, arrange the meeting in advance so that your host can explain the final access and a suitable time.
Farming means managing water
New Road’s agricultural story includes the challenge of having enough water when a crop needs it. During a prolonged dry spell in June 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture reported irrigation difficulties affecting rice farmers around New Road and Charity.
The response involved preparations to pump water from the Pomeroon into the Tapakuma system. The ministry explained that low levels could force farmers to pay for additional pumping from secondary canals into their fields.
This illustrates an important feature of the landscape. A rice field is connected to a wider network of waterways and maintenance work. The apparent simplicity of a flat, cultivated horizon can conceal considerable effort and expense.
Enterprise beside agriculture
Small enterprise adds variety to the village economy. In 2022, New Road entrepreneur Savina Sukhnandan launched Lilly’s Organic, a beauty-products business named after her daughter. Its reported sales network reached beyond her home community to outlets in Charity and Georgetown.
The example shows how a village-based venture can connect with customers elsewhere. Visitors interested in buying locally made products should check the business’s current availability directly; the launch report is a record of its beginnings, rather than a current stock or opening-hours list.
Roads that serve everyday journeys
Improvements to local access have continued alongside that enterprise. An April 2024 government report recorded rehabilitation of Khanai Street and Burial Ground Road in New Road Charity. These are the smaller routes that turn a main-road connection into practical access to households and economic activity.
Further concrete-road and drainage works at New Road were reported as nearing completion in January 2026. That progress report should not be read as confirmation of the final condition of every street. For an unfamiliar side road, current directions from a resident remain useful.
What to do in and around New Road
New Road is best approached as a living community. With a local introduction, visitors can learn about rice farming, speak with small-business owners or explore family connections. Its documented mandirs offer another avenue into community history, provided a visit is welcomed and arranged respectfully.
Combine time here with Charity’s market and riverside, or with the rice-industry history of nearby Somerset and Berks. Keep boat travel on the Pomeroon as a separately arranged part of the outing, with an agreed destination and return plan.
There is room for residents to develop small agricultural or cultural experiences for visitors, but these should grow from their own interests and participation. The most rewarding introduction to New Road may be modest: a conversation about a harvest, a local purchase, or a family’s account of how a once sparsely settled stretch became home.
