…to expand Open Air Museum, other facilities

THE Indian Commemoration Trust (ICT) is working diligently to ensure that expansion works on the Open Air Museum and other facilities at the Indian Monument Gardens on Camp Street, Georgetown, are moving according to schedule.

Trustee, Mr. Pradeep Samtani, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, said that there have been nine more additions to the open air museum, noting that the first display was unveiled a few months ago.
The purpose of the Open Air Museum is to enlighten the public on their roots and culture; how they came here; the way of life, and how it all started.
He said that the intention is to provide information on the history of East Indians and their arrival in Guyana.

KITCHEN
He noted that some of the additions to the Gardens include a kitchen where persons who choose to host events such as weddings and other functions will be able to cook their food there.
Work is also being done on religious additions, Samtani said, and while there is a symbol of the Hindu religion at the Monument Gardens, the committee is seeking to add symbols representing the Christian and Muslim religions.
He informed that there is a replica of a ‘logie’ (an old- fashioned house built by the indentured labourers) there already, but lifelike figurines of the old East Indians will be added to it, to display how these persons lived, their attire, etc.

FOR EVERYONE
Samtani noted that the Indian Monument Gardens is for everyone and it is not a place for Hindus only. He said that by May 5th 2015, the major works are scheduled to be completed.
Samtani added that the aim of expanding and rehabilitating this area is to promote a better educational facility as it relates to East Indians and their fascinating history as well as to attract tourists who are interested in learning about the indentured labourers.
He disclosed that the committee has also written to the Government asking for assistance on the project.

VANDALISM AND GARBAGE
Samtani said also that street lights are needed around the area as well as a police outpost to assist in curbing vandalism at the Indian Monument Gardens.
There is also the issue of garbage pollution there, and with the presence of a school and other businesses nearby, persons tend to dump waste close to and at times inside the Gardens, he observed.
Samtani pointed out that the ICT is pleading with persons to curb this practice in order to maintain a clean and attractive environment.
After a 112-day voyage, 244 immigrants arrived in Guyana on May 5, 1838, marking the official entry of Indians to Guyana, which was then known as British Guiana.
In 1987, earnest efforts were engaged to bring into being a Monument Gardens as a commemorative site for the Indians who arrived in Guyana. In 1989, the spot was finally located at Camp Street where it was then overgrown with trees, bushes, brambles and thorns.
The Indian Monument Gardens houses the Indian Immigration Monument. Sculpted of bronze, this monument, which rests on a black granite pedestal, is a replica of the Whitby, the ship that transported the first batch of Indian immigrants to the shores of Guyana on May 5th, 1838.
As part of its commemoration mandate, the ICT, a few years ago commenced intensified efforts to revamp the Monument Gardens location as part of preparatory work for the observance of the anniversary of the arrival of East Indians to Guyana each year.

(By Savitri Laikram)