THE Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, has signed a contract to the tune of $780 million for restoration of the historic City Hall, which for decades has suffered from gross neglect by the Georgetown City Council. This is indeed a significant step in the preservation of our cultural heritage which is so important for our collective sense of dignity and pride. The contract which was awarded to Fidis Guyana Incorporated is expected to be completed by March 2023.
According to reports, works are expected to commence shortly which would see a restoration of the structure which has been an outstanding landmark in Georgetown despite its run-down state. The restorative works will be funded jointly by the Government of Guyana and the European Union.
Restoration of the City Hall is yet another of the several promises fulfilled by President Dr. Irfaan Ali. According to Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall, one of the things the President did at his first meeting of Cabinet was to establish a ministerial task force to oversee development works on behalf of the government within the city of Georgetown.
Our heritage matters and it speaks highly of President Ali not only to recognise the value of our cultural heritage, but also to take immediate action to preserve one of the most iconic structures in Guyana and, for that matter, the wider Caribbean. This is in sharp contrast to what took place under the previous APNU+AFC administration which, immediately upon its assumption of office in May 2015, sought to take over the Walter Roth Museum building on Main Street and convert it to a government entity. It took robust and sustained protest action by members of civil society, especially from the Amerindian community before that decision was eventually put on hold. The Walter Roth Museum houses a number of artifacts and important documents and has been instrumental in doing research on several aspects of Amerindian life in particular its culture and history.
A similar attempt was made by the Granger administration to take possession of the building housing the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (Red House) which was again met by protest action from several individuals and groups, but it was recourse to the courts by management of the centre that eventually saved the day. It will be recalled too that the then APNU+AFC not only starved the National Archives (re-named the Walter Rodney Archives by the PPP/C administration) of funds, but also out of sheer vindictiveness had re-named the archives to its original name.
The former administration had a long history of neglect not only of our national heritage buildings, but also of several important aspects of our national records, many of which were allowed to deteriorate. It is a shame that many bits and pieces of our history has been lost due to neglect which is in a real sense a loss of our institutional memory and to that extent an important component of our history.
The PPP/C administration must be commended for coming to the rescue of the City Hall which had suffered decades of neglect by the Mayor and City Council. The building has been listed on the World Monuments Watch for quite a number of years and historically been the office of the Mayor and City Council. Built in the late 19th century, in the Gothic Revival style, the building was constructed with local timber, cast iron columns and a hammer-beam roof. It is considered to be one of the best examples of British Victorian design in the Caribbean.
The restoration works on the City Hall was long overdue and full credit must be given to President Ali and his PPP/C administration for the initiative taken to make the restoration works possible. This is expected to be a boost to the tourism sector, apart from bringing an end to a culture of structural decadence which, over the decades, had permeated the chambers of the City Hall.
