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Heritage scarred, Govt. mute: The PPP/C’s broken promises of openness crumble under Independence Day pressure
By Khadijah Ba
(Kaieteur News) – The PPP/C led government, which boasts about its record with freedom of information and openness with the free press, maintains a culture of silence as pressure mounts over the destruction of Fort Zeelandia to accommodate Independence Day celebration.
While the administration prepares to raise a flag in the name of sovereignty, the very foundations of Guyana’s history are being bulldozed into the Essequibo. There is a deafening silence from the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, led by Charles Ramson Jr., as heavy machinery uproots 25-year-old mangroves and smother 18th-century masonry in river sand, a celebration that critics argue looks more like a state-sanctioned demolition of national patrimony. Despite repeated inquiries regarding the environmental and structural impact of ongoing works at Fort Island, authorities have remained tight-lipped as historians, heritage advocates, and political leaders decry what they term the “wanton, reckless and perversely idiotic desecration” of one of Guyana’s oldest national monuments.
Before and After photo showing the destruction to the Fort Zeelandia.
The controversy centers on Fort Zeelandia, a 1749 Dutch fortification and gazetted national monument. In preparation for the 60th Independence Flag-Raising ceremony, heavy machinery has been deployed to the small Essequibo River island, resulting in the removal of decades-old mangroves and the dumping of river sand over ancient ramparts.
The Guyana Heritage Society, led by patron Major General Joseph G. Singh (Ret’d), issued a blistering press release expressing “extremely deep concern” over the site preparation. “It is with extremely deep concern that the Guyana Heritage Society learnt of the recent cutting of protective mangroves and bulldozing, as well as preparation for helicopters to land, around the fragile 1749 site of Fort Zeelandia… the practical ramifications and dangers of holding such an event on an old and fragile historic site seem to have been overlooked.” The Society questioned whether any experts or the National Trust were consulted before the bulldozers arrived, noting that “better money lost than the fort.”
Noted academic and heritage preservation expert Dr. Allyson Stoll took to social media to document what she describes as “government-sponsored destruction.” Stoll highlighted that the fort, built by the hands of enslaved artisans known as Winkels, is being subjected to pressures its 277-year-old masonry was never designed to withstand. “The 25-year old green protective riverside mangrove barrier is decimated, river sand has been dumped and spread by bulldozer across the earthen ramparts… Today, it has been completely desecrated by ignorant jackasses with bulldozers. This is NOT preservation. This is wanton, reckless and perversely idiotic desecration of a national monument.” Stoll further warned of the technical dangers of the current works: “If sand used for backfill is heavier and more saturated than the surrounding earth, it can exert greater lateral (sideways) pressure on a brick wall, potentially causing it to lean, crack, or collapse.”
The leader of the opposition, Azruddin Mohamed, joined the chorus of condemnation following a recent visit to the site, accusing the administration of prioritising “optics” over national patrimony. “President Ali wants to host the 60th Independence Flag-Raising here… but today, it is facing its greatest threat: a government that values a photo-op more than our national heritage. You cannot celebrate our ‘Diamond Jubilee’ by destroying the very soil that holds our history.”
Mohamed noted that the National Trust Act strictly forbids the disturbance of national monuments, adding, “I don’t know who advises the president with such grandiosity of nonsense, but as leader of the opposition, I want to humbly suggest that the PPP administration reconsider the venue.”
Under the National Trust Act 20:03, any person who “disturbs, removes, undermines, defaces or in any manner damages” a national monument without written permission faces legal penalties. Critics argue the State is currently acting in direct contravention of its own laws.
APNU’s MP, Nima Flue-Bess, in a reflective piece on the crisis, posed a fundamental question to the nation: “Fort Zeelandia deserves more than to be a backdrop for ceremony, it deserves protection, respect, and careful stewardship. In the end, the question remains: will we safeguard our history for future generations, or will we allow it to be gradually eroded in the name of progress?” As the “culture of silence” from official government channels continues, the mangroves remain cleared, the sand remains piled against the ancient brickwork, and the countdown to the 60th Anniversary proceeds, on a foundation that experts fear is crumbling.
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One thought on “Heritage scarred, Govt. mute: The PPP/C’s broken promises of openness crumble under Independence Day pressure”
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Sir. Ronald Sanders
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I am so disgusted like other Guyanese everywhere, Ali has to destroy our
National Monument site at Fort Zeelandia, just to raise a flag ?
I remembered Burnham removing the Statue of Queen Victoria that is outside
the Victoria Law Courts, after Independence. It was eventually re-instated.