Fire razes Umana Yana
–PI say cause might be electrical

AT just about 15:30hrs yesterday, the Umana Yana was gutted by fire, which, according to firemen, might have been electrical in origin, since nothing was in there besides electrical wires.

The fire lasted for some 15 minutes before firemen managed to get it under control. Guyana Fire Service (GFC) Operations Officer, Mr. Compton Sparman told the Chronicle that they got a call at around 15:30hrs saying that the Umana Yana was on fire.

Within five minutes of receiving the call, he said, two fire tenders from the Central Fire Station, and one from the Albertown Fire Station, were sent to the scene of the fire, on the upper reaches of High Street, in the ward of Kingston.

As to what may have caused the fire, Sparman said, “Our preliminary investigations reveal that the structure might have been burnt by electrical cause; there was nothing in there that could have caused the fire besides electrical wires. Fires don’t happen; they are caused, and we will work to bring a detailed investigation soon.”

As the edifice burnt, various government officials could be seen at the scene, among them Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Ms. Pauline Sukhai; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony; Minister of Public Works, Mr Robenson Benn; and Minister of Public Service, Ms Jennifer Westford.

According to Minister Sukhai, the burning of the Umana Yana is not only a great loss to the Amerindian community, but to the nation as well, in that it was the preferred venue for hosting many a major event.

“It is a landmark and very historical benab, which represents the Amerindian architecture; the Wai Wai tribe… with their special skills would have made sure from time to time that the roof was intact. And now this has happened, which is a disaster” Sukhai said.

Just before the fire, staff of the Amerindian Affairs Ministry were reportedly planning to host an event at the Umana Yana in honour of the late Mr Stephen Campbell who contributed immensely to our Guyanese and Amerindian cultures.

“We wont leave the nation without this great landmark; it should be restored,” Minister Sukhai said.

BACKGROUND

The Umana Yana, a conical palm-thatched hut (benab), was erected back in 1972 to be used as a V.I.P. Lounge and Recreation Centre for the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference held here in Georgetown in August of that year.

Situated on upper High Street in close proximity to the Pegasus Hotel and obliquely opposite the newly-built Marriott Hotel, the Umaa Yana was, until yesterday, a permanent and much admired part of Georgetown’s scenery, and in constant use as an exhibition and conference centre.

Standing 55 feet (16.78 meters) tall, the ‘Benab’ as the Umana Yana is popularly known, is made of thatched allibanna, manicole palm leaves, and wallaba posts lashed together with mukru, turu and nibbi vines. No nails were used in its construction.
It was erected by a team of about 60 members of the Wai-Wai nation, one of the nine tribes indigenous to Guyana. Fashioned like the Wai-Wai benabs or shelters found deep in Guyana’s interior, it occupies an area of 460 square metres, making it the largest structure of its kind in Guyana.

On 26 August, 1974, then President Forbes Burnham unveiled the African Liberation Monument outside the ‘benab’ “in memory of all of those who have struggled and continue to struggle for freedom from Human Bondage”. The monument consists of five polished greenheart logs encased in a jasper stand on a granite boulder.

‘Umana Yana’ is a Wai-Wai term meaning “Meeting place of the people”.

(By Asif Hakim)