Cooperation between National Archives and GRO needed

Aug 29, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

The Walter Rodney National Archives of Guyana and the Guyana General Registry Office (GRO) should cooperate to transfer old records to the National Archives, especially for ancestral research. These documents are rapidly decaying and should be digitised as soon as possible.
For some time now, the Walter Rodney National Archives has been seeking from GRO old birth, death and marriage records to aid the public in research, especially that they have the space and support staff to do so. GRO is overwhelmingly busy. And while there have been improvements, more has to be done. During my visit at GRO, the office was packed and chaotic upstairs. People did not form a line nor had a ticket number for their inquiry. It was a futile visit.
The need to conduct research for educational purposes, ancestry and finding family members is of great importance for many Guyanese both at home and abroad. The corruption of indentured immigrants’ names was extraordinary. This is why some can’t connect with lost relatives; have one name, or have three names all together as one. Many times, the father’s first name ended up as the surname of the newborn. This happens when there are language and cultural barriers.
The digitising of our ancestral records should no longer be delayed. This project was proposed two decades ago. With the cooperation of the Netherlands, Suriname, and Mauritius, Paramaribo has one of the most state of the art digital archives in the Caribbean. Their archives hold a large collection of indentureship and slave records and include correspondences between Guyanese hero Cuffy, Akara and the Dutch authorities. Guyana, The Netherlands, UNESCO, and Suriname have committed to this endeavour. We hope the project becomes a reality. The Kingdom of the Netherlands has been aiding Guyana in translating and digitising records from the Archives that relates to its presence in Guyana. The Guyana archives like that of Suriname will be linked to the Royal Archives of the Netherlands, thus allowing access to a vast collection of materials.

Ray Chickrie

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