…President says it could connect Guyanese with interior
FORMER Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Harripersaud Nokta on Friday launched a booklet he authored on the genesis of the Pakaraima Mountain Safari and the road linking Regions Eight and Nine, calling it a Patamona dream.
The launch of the publication took place at the Guyana International Conference Centre on Friday evening, in the presence of President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad and the “safarians” as they are called.
The book launch came on the eve of the start of the first 2011 safari, which took off on Saturday.
“I am humbled this evening to be able to discourse with you on some aspects of this booklet,” Nokta told the gathering.
“It started some months before Cde. Janet died…she encouraged me,” he said, adding that late Editor in Chief of the Guyana Chronicle, Sharief Khan, also helped with the work. “The end result is this finished product,” he said.
Nokta, who had been travelling to the Pakaraimas long before the first safari in 2003, said he tried his best to put “a little of everything” in the book, to give an idea of what life in the Pakaraimas is all about. “People in the Pakaraimas had to contend with what they had, with what they knew only,” he said, noting that they were the smallest in stature of the Amerindian tribes found in this country.
He said that it was his conviction for a better life for those people that caused him to travel. “My first visit to the Pakaraimas gave me an insight that it was very punishing. Every time I went, I went farther. I learned more and people got to know me more,” he said.
Commenting on the 178 miles of road between Regions Eight and Nine, he said it took three to four years to be completed.
President Bharrat Jagdeo said that the government has been putting quite a lot of money for the development of hinterland roads. However, he said that while monies in the amount of $2 billion have been set aside, the works are yet to be completed.
He thanked Nokta for forging what he referred to as important linkages and called him a pioneer who had a love for the interior and empathy for the people residing there.
“He has been able to extend the reach of our party and bring the concerns of the Amerindian people [to the coast]. This book will help to close the gap to our country. The interior is more foreign to some people than New York or the Caribbean. With such writings, we can fall in love with our country all over again,” the president said.
Speaking at the launch of the book, Minister of Tourism Manniram Prashad said that the safari will be extended to twice a year, and there will be a second one in August coming.