OPPOSITION Chief Whip Gail Teixeira has expressed concern over proposed infrastructural changes to State House, and has called on the governing APNU-AFC coalition to preserve the architectural beauty of the historical building.Teixeira’s plea followed a revelation by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, on Monday during the consideration of the 2016 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. Harmon said that as part of Government’s capital projects for the year, there will be several rehabilitative works ongoing at both State House and Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP).
An allocation of $110M was budgeted under the MoTP to provide for buildings, facilities, and the upgrading of electrical systems for the office and residence of the President. As such, Shadow Finance Minister Juan Edghill quizzed Government on the specifics of the allocation.

Minister Harmon provided the information requested: $20M will be spent on the extension and modernisation of the Cabinet Room, MoTP; $30,400,000 will be spent on the construction of a fence, walkway, and extension of a guard hut; while an additional $8M will be spent to lift the ground floor at the MoTP.

$8M will be spent to completely rewire State House; another $8M for the painting of the entire exterior and interior of State House; $4,700,000 are to be spent on the rehabilitation of the Barrack Room; another $6M for the rehabilitation of the Security Barrack Room at State House Compound; and $13,300,000 will be expended on the rehabilitation of drainage and irrigation system at the residence of the President.

$2,500,000 have been allocated for the wiring and installation of lights on the lawns of State House; $1,800,000 will be used for the changing of windows from louvres to aluminum on Building A in State House Compound; and $4,200,000 have been allocated for the construction of a parking lot at State House.

Following Minister Harmon’s explanation, Teixeira rose to remind the House of the need to protect the architectural integrity of State House.
“This is a heritage building, and therefore we are very concerned that the architectural integrity of the building is maintained.
There must be some care taken to preserve its integrity. This is a lot of money being spent that will clearly change the architecture of the building,” emphasised the Opposition Chief Whip.

State House is the Official Residence of the President of Guyana. It was previously the official residence of the Governor of British Guiana before the colony gained independence in 1966. State House was built in 1858, and was the residence of the country’s first president, His Excellency Arthur Chung.

The building has a few distinctive characteristics, including the Georgian six-paned windows and the Demerara windows.