–organisers hope for better luck next time around

By Naomi Marshall
THE annual Rockstone Fish Festival 2018 took a beating last Sunday due to poor planning, the deplorable condition of the road and the inclement weather.

President of the Rockstone Tourism Association (RTA) Lynette Benn said she was not surprised by the poor showing this year, and is saddened because they have not been receiving the full support from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) as they should.
“This was expected,” she said. “I am not disappointed, because we have been asking the relevant authority to do the road.
“It was our decision; we know that it would have come to this, but we know that it is an annual event…

“It’s not only about the Rockstone Tourism Association. This is a vibrant community; we have potential for tourism and we hope that they will respect and know that citizens of Guyana are living here and need the road to be done ASAP.”
According to Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Marketing Officer Ronald Smith, they were told that the event had been cancelled, but due to the overwhelming demand, the RTA decided to go ahead with it.

Smith said the GTA has always been about developing community tourism and so has always been supportive of the Rockstone Fish Festival, for as long as it has been around.
“The Rockstone Fish Festival is the perfect initiative where the GTA falls in line with that. And the new approach that the GTA is taking is to make events like these self-sustaining, independent and community-led.”

Smith said the GTA’s goal is to have communities take ownership for events they’re holding and as such their role in such events is to build capacity by providing training if requested. All they ask in return, he said, is that the organisers of such events make safety a priority.
First-timer, Gewan Saw, who hails from Vigilance on the East Coast of Demerara, told the Guyana Chronicle that in spite of the rain he was impressed by the event and would like to encourage people to make every effort to be there come next year, rain or no rain.

“According to what I seeing here,” Saw said, “it is a very exciting trip for tourism, ‘cause our country need tourism. And this was one of the spot really people can venture to come have a look of our biodiversity.
“I would encourage people that they can come here and see the beauty of our country.” Saw was there with some 10 other family members and according to him, they all had a blast, even though the majority of the competitive events were called off, leaving only the one to do with fishing.

Chivnarine Gordon, who made the trip from all the way from the West Coast of Demerara, had the heaviest catch of the day, thereby living up to his call-name among his peers in the sport-fishing community of “Fish-pro.”
A fisherman by profession, Gordon was also this year’s winner in the “Largest any fish” and “Largest Arawana” categories.

Asked to describe his experience, the West Demerarian, who has been doing ‘Rockstone’ seven years now, said:
“It has always been amazing, because it’s the only sports I ever liked more than anything else.

“I love fishing bad! The catch was reasonable; I could have done better, but because the water raise and the rain.”
Another contestant named Ravi Persaud of Amelia’s Ward, Linden, was able to successfully defend his title of “Largest Lukanani” winner, and also took that of “Largest catch.”

Said he: “Having a competition in Guyana is just a great thing to have. We just need some more support, and everything is going to get good; we are going to get better and better.”
Persaud said he can’t wait for next year and is challenging more people to take part in the competitions. “Rockstone is focusing on accommodating for eco-tourism,” he said, unable to contain his excitement.

The first festival was organised in September 2006, and sold more than a thousand tickets. The event is usually held over two days, namely Saturday and Sunday.
The Rockstone Tourism Association was founded on December 21, 2006.