National Trust Guyana hosts first ever International Heritage Conference

Jun 07, 2016 News

Shortly after celebrations for Guyana’s Golden Jubilee of Independence, the National Trust of Guyana in partnership with the World Monuments Fund (WMF) hosted the first Georgetown International Heritage Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo at the International Heritage conference.

Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who was also performing the duties of Acting President, said that he wished President David Granger, was present to give his perspective, as a historian, on the need for the restoration of Guyana’s beautiful heritage.
“It was upon his initiative that, not without criticisms and objections that the historic Stabroek Market Square has been restored to some semblance of orderliness,” the Prime Minister said.
While reflecting on the recent Independence celebrations, the Prime Minister emphasized that “our heritage pre-dates independence…it encompasses our culture, our natural resources, our historical sites, our monuments, our buildings.” one such heritage building is the recently rehabilitated ‘Official Residence of the Prime Minister.”
“This elegant, wooden building had seen hard times due to neglect. It took one full year to do essential repairs in accordance with specifications by the National Trust. Today, along Main Street, The Residence, still a work in progress, stands proudly amongst our magnificent, wooden buildings,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo continued,
“Our Government basks in the expectation that one day Georgetown would be counted among the heritage capitals of the world. It must be restored to its pristine beauty, building by building, block by block, and must lead the way in being transformed into a green and clean Capital.”
He noted that the government welcomes this Conference not only as a mechanism to share knowledge and expertise to source funding to restore the grace and beauty of our heritage edifices.
The Prime Minister also commended the Trust for winning an International Green Apple Award for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage, 2016 from The Green Organisation in the U.K. This coming three years after winning the Caribbean Heritage Protection Award.
“Despite the National Trust and the World Monument Fund having connected over the urgency to preserve Georgetown City Hall as a cultural heritage site, the building could not have hosted the opening of the event,” Minister of Education, Hon. Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine said during his address to those present.
While acknowledging the invaluable work by the National Trust, Minister Roopnaraine noted, “The State mechanisms for identifying and preserving our built heritage, in particular, have been far from ideal over the years.”
“This conference comes at a time when the government of Guyana is in the midst of creating and tabling a National Cultural Policy and I am happy to see that the programme, while focusing primarily on tangible cultural heritage, also necessarily delves somewhat into the intangible… One of my commitments, as a projected outcome of a completed policy, is the creation of a mechanism, or perhaps the expansion of the remit of the National Trust, to focus on preserving our intangible cultural heritage, particular preservation and active use of our indigenous languages,” the Minister stated.
Minister Roopnaraine assured that over the next two years culture, from both a policy and programme perspective, will increasingly occupy centre stage in the government of Guyana’s sustainable developmental plans.
Minister within the Ministry of Education, Nicolette Henry, commended the National Trust of Guyana and the World Monuments Fund for the work they put into making this conference a reality.
“As we look forward to the next fifty years we must ensure that our contributions to preserve, protect and promote this country’s rich and diverse heritage are beneficial to our future generations…We must ensure that our efforts count, that our actions are positive and that all we do is done in a sustainable manner,” the Minister stated.
The Minister emphasized that the involvement of children is important to this process as they are the future stewards of our legacy. The National Trust’s Children Heritage Awareness Programme which was initiated in 2011 is an excellent programme for the 8-11 age group as it exposes their young minds to various aspects of Guyanese heritage and provides practical hands on experience of working with heritage.
“We must educate our young generation if we are serious about cultural heritage reform and improvement,” Minister Henry highlighted.