– To the mental and spiritual healing of souls in conflict

THE Heritage Commission was presented in parliament in 2014, but it found no favour with the then Ramator government. Many of us – including myself – could not understand why any group of Guyanese would object to a Heritage Commission enveloping the significant timelines of the all that we call human Guyana. Ours is the only country in the Americas that has not capitalised on its cultural heritage and has allowed the recent brief history of political parties to exclude and isolate over 400 years of recorded activity to be summarised into a narrow 71 years.

That has been saturated with falsifications, divisive tirades infused with distortions and delusions. A nation owes its people progress rather than propaganda, and the depressing notion that all we ever were, where people as we are today, locked into contentious political rivalry, in the distorted context of a competition to diminish the efforts of ‘the other’ through loud recitations of dramatic lies, and prop one’s self into the most self-serving position, while the global changes of what is en vogue. What constitutes market forces and preferences will occur whether we acknowledge and adjust or become absorbed in a retrogressive time warp of ‘what was’ rather than what constitutes the new challenges and our role towards survival. The frontier of the creative and innovative must be embraced; the precedents abound around us, but not to our conscious awareness. The fact, however, rests with the knowledge of having a functional historical memory, to stand on the bridge of time aware of past, present and to present tomorrow in the glow of the integrity of knowledge. This of course is easier said than done. Across Guyana, we are souls in conflict because we have not been given the chance by circumstances or by a decision to even clearly comprehend the past 52 years in an objective and honest way.

What will a Heritage Commission do? From my personal evaluation, the entity will serve as a reservoir that which, if it existed before, would have had both an extensive detailed deposit of visual and textual references on Transport and Harbour activities from its inception, the same for Air services in Guyana. On the National level, an in-depth guide on how the global oil crisis devastated Guyana and other Caribbean and global non-oil producing nations in the Cold War years between 1973-79, leaving little room for political fabrications that the restrictions on certain domestic items were a result of racial political spite.

I can remember some 10 years or so past, I photographed a building that was identified as one of the oldest buildings in Georgetown, with a certified Dutch architectural construct. I made my way to the city hall where I spoke to a colleague on whether City Hall had the policy to have a photographic archive on disappearing ‘Old Georgetown’ buildings? His response was that if I knew who had acquired the land and if they wanted to preserve the previous architectural image and what they were willing to pay? It was obvious we were talking on two different streams and in disgust I abandoned any further conversation, swearing to myself to never venture ever into such dialogue again.

Dr Denis Williams had indicated to me that after 1966, an irrational Independence attitude prevailed that indicated that there was no need for items that reminded us of the colonial period, a qualified gentleman had proposed a detailed historical artwork with photographic(where that was possible) support of all the British regiments that were stationed in British Guiana, but the female Minister in charge had refused the proposal. This was explained to me when I was seeking clarifications on the uniform of the garrison in the colony during the 1834 period. I was illustrating Tommy Pane’s Damon 1834 incident, around 1984. It would cost me a pretty budget later on in books to arrive at probable accurate equipment and social costumes to demonstrate any aspect of our history that was out of reach of the memory of persons still alive.

The trains- another historical period went in 1969. The building was well suited for hosting records, a train artefact and still can be retained and restored for records rather than permit further deterioration where it stands now. In the Kaieteur News Fri. 31 August 2018, Freddie Kissoon had painted a dismal picture of local media persons who don’t research, read or investigate properly before composing questions etc. true, but what is also true is the dependence on Wikipedia and other net sources that are not always reliable in the absence of reliable and easily catalogued sources locally. When the singer Akon came to Guyana, a would-be reporter asked him (interpreted) what advice he would leave with local would-be talents, he replied “I’m from Africa, you’re from right here” meaning in the Anglophone Americas. Some whispered that the answer was tinged with contempt, I disagreed.

It should have been obvious to the media person that even stock questions should be readjusted relevant to the context of each situation. This should require a simple application of assessing the necessary variables to be observed. This, however, leaves no consideration for a casual approach.

The MV Torani was first brought to my attention in discussions between my late father and his friends in the early 70s as the largest vessel built in British Guiana and the Caribbean at the time of its launching in 1959-60. Then in 2017, it was leaning on its side in the Mazaruni River. I am not sure where it is now, probably in the same position. One of the passions of Denis Williams was the creation of relevant museums. MV Torani is a museum piece that could explore the drama that our varied ships and boats captivated over centuries of river travel, under the supervision of a sensible, expertly staffed Heritage Commission.