…but voiced some areas of concern

By Gabriella Chapman

IT was a peaceful Easter Monday on the beach for family and friends in the town of Bartica, as the annual Bartica Regatta activities came to a close.

People came out in their numbers with their kites, drink and food baskets to witness the last of the boat races and spend the remainder of the day in a relaxing ambiance.

The 2019 regatta committee was praised by patrons, who said that the beach activities were well planned and promoted, as was evident in the turnout at the beach.

“The beach is so packed, I don’t even want to go and take a walk. That alone can tell that this was a good year, because the people came out. It’s always a violence-free zone where we can come out with our children and just enjoy nature and the activities they have here,” one Bartica mother said.

Persons spoke profusely on the well-constructed Boulevard that was built specially to cater for the regatta activities.

“I’ve been coming to Regatta for a few years, but I missed last year. This is my first year here since they constructed this Boulevard on the beach, and I must say this is really beautiful. I don’t even feel like I’m in Guyana,” one woman from Linden said.

There were attendees from Linden, Berbice, Georgetown, Essequibo, and other regions.
There were persons from overseas as well, all of whom expressed much satisfaction with the event.

However, there were some who criticised several aspects of the event, such as the pageant, the races and the tardiness of some of the activities.

The Town Council has, however, committed to working on the minor flaws to make next year a better year.

Deputy Mayor, Arita Embleton told the Guyana Chronicle that this year was a first for her as Deputy Mayor, and it was a learning experience.

“Certain areas we definitely have to work on for next year,” she said, adding: “We need to work more on the pageant in terms of organising the girls and so on. And the races, we have to get more organised, because we were here early and the racers weren’t.”

But all in all, this year was fantastic and bigger than last year, she said. “It is getting bigger as the years go by, because we have been adding activities. And we will be adding more activities to keep making it bigger,” the deputy mayor promised.