– says minister Henry

By Ravin Singh
MINISTER within the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Culture, Nicolette Henry has defended the recent shift in the Independence Day Parade route from Church Street to Brickdam, contending that the new route is “more advantageous”.The minister offered the view yesterday at a press conference hosted by the National Commemoration Commission at the Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.

On Monday, the Commission, which is the body coordinating the events for the 50th Independence celebrations, made the announcement of the shift in the route, and this stirred much controversy.

Many did not like the tardiness of such an announcement. The Float Parade will move from the Stabroek Square to east along Brickdam, then into Durban Park.

However, Minister Henry told reporters yesterday that the decision was made after it was realised that the space at Stabroek Square had become available due to the recent removal of the bus park and vendors from the area.

She highlighted that Stabroek, as the rendezvous point, is much more spacious, which made it a better option.

The minister further pointed out that the new route is a much shorter one, which works to the advantage of children who will be participating.

On Tuesday, some 27 agencies had indicated their interest in participating in the float parades. An additional 10 floats will comprise the children’s parade.

“It offers a bigger space than we had previously planned as our start up point,” she said, adding that “we need to have a route that is more child-friendly and therefore if it is shorter that would definitely be more child-friendly.”

Deeming the new route to be a more “advantageous one”, the minister noted that “I can find disadvantages too, but we must focus on the advantages.”

The announcement of the shift also raised concerns regarding commercial activities which dominate such events.

With well over 70 vendors having applied and registered to ply their trade on this day, Minister Henry told members of the media that they will be disallowed from doing so.

Questioned further about the implications for traffic since the Stabroek Park area is a central hub for public transportation in and out of the City, Henry reasoned that the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has a plan which would see several roads being closed off on Thursday.

This, she said would allow for alternative provisions to be made to handle the issue of public transportation, and in a much larger context, traffic on that day.

The float parade on May 26 will commence at 10:30 hrs, which is the time the first float is expected to leave Stabroek and head for D’urban Park.

The last float is expected to arrive at the ground by 17:30 hrs that afternoon. The traditional judging of the floats will also be done following the arrival of all floats at the venue.

Preceding that event will be the annual flag-raising ceremony, which will be held at the same venue on May 25. Though the programme is scheduled to commence at 20:00 hrs, the formal proceedings will commence at 22:00 hrs at D’urban Park.

This programme will see a Joint Services (Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force) band display, followed by the military parade and cultural performance.

This will be succeeded by the hoisting of the Golden Arrowhead at midnight on May 26.

The estimated seating capacity, as was disclosed by the minister is over 20,000, while approximately 1000 seats are reserved for VIPs. However, given the expected turn out at the event, Minister Henry noted that the seating arrangements will be organised on a “first come, first serve basis”.

The minister also remains optimistic that the advent of the rainy season should not dampen expectations and that the celebrations are likely to go as planned.