New Amsterdam celebrates 125 years as a municipality

The town of New Amsterdam celebrates 125 years as a municipality. The one-month celebrations commenced on Thursday, but it was on Friday that the birthday cake was cut by Mayor Kurt Winter.

It was on September 1, 1891, that legislation was enacted to have New Amsterdam become a municipality.
New Amsterdam developed as a settlement besides Fort Nassau some 55 miles up the Berbice River. Around 1784, as a result of the fluctuating fortunes of Fort Nassau, the Dutch relocated the town to its present site.
The original Nieuw Amsterdam grew up during the first half of the 18th Century. It was a small township with buildings mostly strung out parallel to the river bank. The inhabitants were required to pay a fixed sum annually to the Dutch Reformed Church and the Hospital, and were required to keep the public paths and the dividing land between their lots free of bushes and/or grass.
At some point after 1784 the town of New Amsterdam was born. This site was obviously selected because it provided a natural outlet and entry point for a very extensive and productive hinterland.
The name New Amsterdam was chosen because most of the colonists originated from the province of Amsterdam in Holland. Between 1785 and 1790 New Amsterdam was established as the seat of Government for Berbice. At that time, the town was little more than a forest settlement, with houses scattered here and there, with no roads and drains.
In May 1825, an Ordinance to establish a Board of Management for the town was passed. The Board of Superintendence lasted until 1 September 1891, when legislation was enacted to incorporate the Town into a Municipality.
Neil Ross McKinnon KC, who was president of that Board, was appointed the town’s first Mayor.
The Electric Lighting Order of 1900 gave the Electricity Undertaking legal status as an entity owned and controlled by the New Amsterdam Town Council. As a utility, the Council was able to satisfy its citizenry with an essential service, while at the same time earning a fair amount of revenue, which was ploughed into other capital works of the Town and to keep the levying of rates at a minimum.
However, due to a world crisis in October 1973 interims of the availability and sudden rise in the price of fuel, oil and subsequently on spare parts and services, it became uneconomical for Power Stations within close proximity to operate independently.
Consequently, in keeping with the economic policy of the government, the New Amsterdam Power System was absorbed into the larger system of that of the Guyana Electricity Corporation on September 1, 1979.