MANAGING Director of Roraima Group of Companies, Captain Gerald Gouveia, says the recent incident where a female tourist disappeared following a trip to the Kaieteur National Park will not affect visits to the world famous tourism product.The Park had been closed after the woman, Gyaneshwarie Sivanand, went missing. Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Gouveia, who is a major tour operator, explained that because of the environment at Kaieteur, “we cannot put up rails; we cannot tamper with the environs.”
Some environmentalists had argued for the area to remain untouched because of its delicate eco-system, he also noted.
Gouveia said further that both private and public entities in the tourism industry, “need to meet and flesh out ideas on how we can minimise such incidents. How do we conduct these tours in a sensible and sustainable manner.”
He noted that the accepted international procedure for tours of this nature requires one tour guide for nine tourists. He added that “putting more than one tour guide to guide nine tourists is not sustainable.”
Speaking on whether the tour guides are adequately trained, Gouveia said he is confident that the training done by the National Parks Commission, and any done privately, is done at the highest of standards. And he personally believes that tour guides are well trained.
He acknowledged that these tour guides, over time, may become complacent. He thinks, however, that it is the responsibility of the tour guide to carry out the jobs they are trained for to their utmost, and not to become complacent.
He noted that Roraima Tours has been trying to pay more attention to their passengers since the incident in November 2009 when twenty-three-year-old Aliya Bulkan, of New Providence, East Bank Demerara, went over the waterfall. Gouveia explained that they somehow try to profile the behaviour of their passengers but sometimes this is very hard. “We try to anticipate what might happen and plan for that.”

Meanwhile, Gouveia recommended that there should be senior quality control personnel on the ground at the Kaieteur National Park to monitor the guides and to keep them “on their toes” during the tours, so that they do not lose track of what is expected of them. Moreover, he is urging Minister of Tourism Catherine Hughes to have some consultation with the private sector and “let us achieve the relevant recommendation together, since it would greatly impact the private sector when or if new procedures are made.”

He also suggested that since the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls is small and becomes quite busy at times, and since the tourism sector is growing rapidly, “the airstrip will become busier and we need to have proper air traffic control systems in place to handle the influx of aircraft.”
In the meantime, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment announced that the Kaieteur National Park has been reopened, while Park Rangers continue to be vigilant for any signs of the woman, who went missing more than a week ago, during a visit to the site.
Kaieteur Falls, one of the most powerful falls in the world, is unique with its rare combination of great height and volume. Located in the Kaieteur National Park, the approximately 113 metres (370 ft) wide Potaro River plunges 226 metres (741 ft) over a sandstone cliff – Kaieteur’s first break. It then flows over a series of steep cascades which when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 251 metres (822 ft).

By Rebecca Ganesh