By Clifford Stanley
MEMBERS of the Bauxite Century Planning Committee are well on top with planning of activities to mark the 100th anniversary of bauxite mining in Guyana next month.
Committee member Paula Walcott-Quintin last week listed some of the activities which will comprise the programme for the period October 23 -29.

The celebrations will begin with services at churches that the bauxite company contributed significantly in building, namely: Christ the King Anglican Church, the St Aidan Anglican Church and the St Joseph Catholic Church.

On October 25, there will be debating and quiz competitions finals, featuring primary and secondary school students. Preliminary rounds will be held prior to the finals.

This will be followed by a symposium and launching of the Centennial Magazine, which chronicles the history of bauxite over the past century, on October 26.

On October 27, four centennial stamps will be unveiled by the Guyana Post Office Corporation at Three Friends Mine, and a dinner will be held on October 28.

On November 21, an arch will be unveiled and a Centennial Park at the junction of Washer Pond and Casaurina Drive will be opened.

The unveiling ceremony is considered a signature event. The arch is a gift from Chinese bauxite company BOSAI, to celebrate both the 100th anniversary of bauxite mining in Guyana and also the 50th anniversary of Guyana’s Independence.
In 1916, the Demerara Bauxite Co. (DEMBA), owned by the Aluminium Company of America (ALCOA), established a mining town at Akyma and built a bauxite drying plant (50,000 tonnes per year capacity) at Mackenzie, on the eastern bank of the Demerara River, opposite Wismar.

DEMBA also built a pier to accommodate oceangoing vessels.

Bauxite mining commenced in October 1916 at Three Friends, an area named after three friends, namely Messrs Spencer, Blount and John Dalgleish Patterson, who settled in the area in the late 19th century after fighting against the French in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic War.

Bauxite mining also started the same year at Akyma, eight miles south of
Mackenzie. Bauxite Centenary activities were formally launched on May 23,  at the Old Railroad Yard in Mackenzie, currently the site of  several ‘relics’ of bauxite mining, including  the bucket from an excavator, a  refurbished and brightly painted “scooter” that transported workers to the mines, plus a locomotive that moved overburden to the plant.

This old railroad Yard, the former transport hub for workers heading to and from the mines, will be the future site of an open-air living museum since more relics will be added as the centennial commemoration project progresses.

The bauxite Centennial Committee comprises former senior mining executives, union representatives, managers and communications personnel, as well as current executives of BOSAI, former and current Region 10 leaders, non-profit participants, members representing the Linden Museum, local tourism and the Linden Fund USA.

During the May 23 launch, James, the chairman of the Bauxite Centenary Committee noted that the bauxite industry has been sustained in Guyana for 100 years and pledged that the Planning Committee will develop a programme to appropriately commemorate this significant milestone.