$4.5M solar system for Kaieteur Falls yearend
By Shirley Thomas
Guyana Chronicle
December 23, 2003
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, (MTIC) Mr. Manzoor Nadir, has said that 2003 was a good one for his Ministry, with the three Departments each recording measurable successes.
Among the successes has been the establishment of a fully functional Tourism Authority with Mr. Donald Sinclair as its Executive Director. Along with him were three other professional staff members - all university graduates - and four others.
During the year in review, Nadir told journalists at a press conference at the boardroom of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, yesterday that the ministry maintained responsibility for the development of the tourism sector.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce was able to contribute tangibly to a number of projects, which served to give tourism a boon in Guyana.
Among these was the rehabilitation of Kaieteur Falls Guest House, in collaboration with the National Parks Commission, to provide facilities for overnight stays, and to make for a more pleasurable stay while at the resort.
It is anticipated that, before the end of this year, the contract for installing the solar power system to Kaieteur Falls and its facility to the tune of some $4.5 million will be expedited.
All things being equal, the facility at Kaieteur Falls will, in the new year, be able to accommodate stay-over visits, "in a pleasant, natural, comfortable atmosphere," Nadir said. He expressed appreciation to the Minister of Local Government, which contributed the sum of $100,000 towards the procurement of funding for the Kaieteur National Park Guest House.
The facility can now provide bedroom accommodation for about three families, but in addition, in an attempt to preserve the good old rustic Amerindian type tradition, arrangements are in place for the hanging of hammocks in other parts of the building, and there is adequate space for about 10 hammocks and other such improvised accommodation 'with a difference'.
Plans are also underway for the early setting up of a Craft Centre at the location, where tourists and others visiting the location can be afforded the opportunity to buy novel Amerindian craft and other souvenirs.
Meanwhile, works on the establishment of the permanent Rodeo facility at Lethem, Region Nine, was also completed.
The ministry over the past three years, worked with the Rodeo Committee at Lethem to produce a permanent Rodeo exhibition site there. The Minister disclosed that his ministry, with an allocation of $1.8 Million, funded the construction of the pavilion, permanent booths and a fence around the ground, as well as it completed the installation of electricity from the Lethem bridge to the Rodeo site.
"The Lethem Rodeo site now has all the amenities and facilities to accommodate the annual rodeo and many others of that nature, which the people of Lethem and the region would like to host," Minister Nadir asserted.
Another project that recorded huge measure of success was the enhancing of the facility at Number 63 Beach, Corentyne, in Region Six. Over the last two years, the MTIC has taken on the mantle of upgrading those facilities. Work began in 2001 on extending the roads there and constructing benabs along the beach, as well as putting in some other basic facilities. The Ministry this year staged for the first time, the highly successful "63 Beach Bash and Family Day" on the last Sunday of November, and now looks forward to making it an annual feature.
Activities in which thousands of Berbicians and other Guyanese from all across Guyana participated included ball game competitions, cultural presentations, display and the sharing of tasty cultural dishes, and a colourful parade.