Georgetown: One day after a fire suspected to be electrical in origin destroyed one of Guyana’s most prestigious cultural establishments – the Umana Yana – President Donald Ramotar declared that his Government is committed to rebuilding the structure.
President Ramotar said that initial estimates and bids will have to be sought but his Government will be sure to rebuild the landmark.
On Tuesday, at approximately 15:00h, a fire started at the High Street, Kingston structure and quickly engulfed the building.
Response
Although the response from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was prompt, there was little that could have been done to save the building, since it was primarily constructed with dried palm branches which quickly burned. At 16:00h, all that remained of the 42-year-old structure were some exterior pillars and debris.
For her part, Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, on Wednesday, said the Umana Yana held much significance for the indigenous populace.
“… it holds for us a very significant and historical mark in Guyana itself…. Guyana will not be complete culturally, if we do not have the Umana Yana,” Sukhai said. She too maintained that the Umana Yana has to be rebuilt, noting that the Government will have to seek funding to do such.
Both of the parliamentary Opposition parties have already signalled their intention to support the reconstruction of the facility.
The Alliance For Change (AFC), in a release on Wednesday, said the destruction of the Umana Yana during Amerindian Heritage Month is “especially poignant”.
The AFC noted that “the Umana Yana was a national landmark and represented the pride, not only of our Amerindian people who designed and built it, but the pride of all Guyanese.
Investigation
The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) on Tuesday had said it was saddened by the destruction of the Umana Yana by fire and called on the Home Affairs Ministry to immediately launch an investigation into the cause of the destruction of the country’s “iconic landmark”.
“Everything must be done to ensure that this historic and iconic landmark is rebuilt as soon as possible,” the PNCR said in a statement.
The Umana Yana, currently one of the gazetted monuments of Guyana, is a conical shaped palm thatched hut also called a benab.
Shaped like the Wai-Wai benabs found in Guyana’s hinterland, the Umana Yana is so named because it means in Wai Wai, “meeting place of the people”.
The benab was constructed to host the inaugural meeting of the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference in 1972.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry was charged with the erection of the building. Seeking assistance from the Department of Interior Development, an all-Amerindian team of the Wai Wai tribe led by Chief Elka, accompanied by some 60 others, was recruited for the job, although architectural drawings and plans were commissioned from Architect George Henry.
Located on the lawns of the former Mariner’s Club at the north-eastern end of High Street and Battery Road, next to the Pegasus Hotel, it is now a permanent and much admired part of Georgetown’s scenery, often used as an exhibition and conference centre.
Structure
The structure, measuring 55 feet (16.78 metres) in height with a diameter of 26.8 metres, occupies an area of 460 square metres, making it the largest structure of its kind in Guyana.
Utilising traditional materials and building techniques, it is made from thatched allibanna and manicole palm leaves, and wallaba posts bound together with mukru, turu, and nibbi vines.
Notably, nails were not used in its construction.
Completed in a mere 80 days at a cost of $26,000, on August 8, 1972, the flags of more than 80 nations fluttered proudly along the eastern edge of the Umana Yana’s compound as the conference was convened.
Housed in the compound is the African Liberation Monument “in memory of all of those who have struggled and continue to struggle for freedom from Human Bondage”, it was unveiled by former President Forbes Burnham on August 26, 1974.
This monument, like many others across Guyana, is collectively our heritage and a reminder of the history from which we have all emerged.
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