The establishment of a visitor arrival centre at the Kaieteur National Park is a forward step in further making the facility a tourist-friendly one by providing visitors with essential and pertinent information on what is expected of them as well as safety and security measures. The Kaieteur National Park is not an ordinary tourist site. It is unique and possesses priceless flora and fauna in an ecosystem that is pristine making it one of the few such sites in the world.
Therefore, its management and operations are very delicate and cannot be executed in the routine manner of a normal tourist site. On this note it was good to hear that Chairman of the National Parks Commission, Shyam Nokta recently making this very clear.
“If we are not very careful and we move rapidly in putting in place infrastructure for tourism development, such as campsites, lodges and trails, we could run the risk of losing these rare species,” Nokta exhorted.
Enhancing the facilities at the Park is imperative but equally important is that it has to be done in a manner that is consistent with the practices of ensuring the natural environment is not tampered with.
Indeed, the site is where the 741-foot single-drop majestic Kaieteur Falls is located-the highest in the world and possesses a beauty that is unmatched by other in the world, has the potential to become one of our major tourist sites because of its prized possession and the natural beauty of the environment there.
But in all this positive development, one of the important aspects is the creation of opportunities for the enhancement of the lives of the indigenous peoples who inhabit these communities. This inevitably will help to prevent Amerindians from migrating to the coast to look for jobs and other opportunities in order to improve their lives. In this way too their culture and way of life would not be threatened.
And this has been acknowledged by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall, who expressed optimism that the collaboration between his Ministry and the wider stakeholders of the Park, including the indigenous population in that area, would be fostered.

He noted that the area is significant to the Ministry because of its close proximity to Amerindian villages such as Chenapau and Karisparau. He noted that the Chenapau villagers have had some outstanding concerns regarding their link to the Kaieteur National Park, as it relates to their involvement in the EPA/KFW Project.
“Amerindian Development is not limited to government alone; it is also extended to the community perspectives as to how they can benefit from what obtains from their environment. This is one of our national and natural assets; and in facilitating the interest of the villagers as provided for under the Amerindian Act, we at the level of the Ministry expect that the village of Chenapau is fully integrated into the operations of the Park,” Dharamlall said.
Those who have been entrusted with the management of the Park have been doing an excellent job and deserve full commendation for their vision, innovativeness and their sober approach towards enhancing the facility.
However, it should be a wise idea to similar sites developed in other parts of the country as we are blessed with such types of sites across the country, and in this way opportunities for socio-economic development and enhancement for many other communities could be created.
This would help to spread development rather than restrict it to a few areas. In order to achieve this, perhaps an incentive package for potential developers and investors could be forged to woo them into this type of business. We already have too many importers and sellers. We need to go into ventures that would create jobs and expand the national economy.