WITH all the complaints that small island, Fort Island, located in the Essequibo River does not have any entertainment facility, remigrant Gordon Eytle is on a mission to fill this gap, as well as cater for visitors to the island.

He is building a small resort which, when completed, will boast five small guest- houses for visitors who want to overnight on the island, a bar and a beautiful garden.
The river-view houses will each have a bed, a bathroom and toilet facilities and will be the first guesthouses on the beautiful historic island.
“Many times, people visit this beautiful island and would ask: ‘Is there a guest- house?’ ‘Where I could stay?’ And when they are told there is no guesthouse, they leave the island disappointed. I will fix that and some of the entertainment deficiencies on the island,” Eytle told the Guyana Chronicle.
At least 100 persons, including overseas visitors, visit the island every week to tour the Court of Policy, now a Dutch heritage museum and Fort Zeelandia, two major historical sites on the island.

When the Guyana Chronicle visited the resort under construction, located close to the stelling, Eytle was painting one of the houses still under construction.
The $18 million resort is slated for completion in the next two months and will be a most welcome development on the island, since it will provide employment opportunities for young people there.
According to Eytle, his intention is to make the resort a clean hotspot on the island.
“The land will be landscaped, the drainage and irrigation will be looked at and it will be a place where visitors and families on the island can come eat, drink, chat and relax,” said the remigrant whose family owns most of the island.

A name for the resort has not yet been identified, said Eytle, who is planning a grand opening.