The National Trust has identified
the disbanded train station on the Lamaha Embank-ment
in the vicinity of Kingston as a multicultural
facility for the purpose of heritage tourism and
it is to be preserved as part of historic
Georgetown.
But the station is in a rundown
state and in dire need of repairs. The state-owned
facility which comes under the purview of the
Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) has
been rented to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL)
for the paltry sum of $92,000 a month.
Stabroek News has made several
attempts to contact the T&HD general manager
and the deputy general manager to learn what plans
are in store for the building but was unable to
get a comment up to press time.
According to the contractual
agreement between GPL and T&HD, the power
company was allowed the use of the premises by way
of a lease for an initial five-year period
beginning from October 1, 1999. The contract says
that "the tenant (GPL) shall give the
landlord (T&HD) written notice of the tenant's
exercise of its right to renew this lease for an
additional five-year term," that is unless
the tenant notifies the landlord in writing of the
option of not renewing the lease.
According to the contract, GPL is
to keep the interior of the premises including the
sanitary and water apparatus, and all the
landlord's fixtures in good condition, but without
making any alterations to the building.
Among conditions of the lease, the
T&HD is responsible for maintaining the fences
and walls of the train station, as well as
repairing and keeping the roof, ceilings,
supports, main walls, timber, beams, floors,
passageways and drains in good and tenantable
repair and condition.
Contacted for a comment on the
building, which has been identified for
preservation, Lloyd Kandasammy of the National
Trust said that a meeting was held last year
between the relevant stakeholders on the issue and
plans are in train to follow-up on the idea of
developing the train station for preservation and
tourism purposes.
Kandasammy said that the idea was
further developed at a 'Charette' organised by
Conservation International (Guyana) in conjunction
with the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and
Commerce February last year and put to the Guyana
government as a proposal to boost the country's
tourism industry.
The station itself is spacious and
the proposal is to develop part of it as a
mini-exhibition site and an industrial museum,
which will recreate the railway atmosphere with a
number of carriages.
He said that in recreating the
atmosphere a number of persons would be employed
to act as characters, decked out in the attire
reminiscent of the period. The setting up of a
railway café was also a part of the proposal.
He noted, too, that based on a
poverty alleviation study conducted, it was
proposed that all ethnic groups be given some
space for showcasing their cultural heritage in
the area. In this proposal it was suggested that a
portion of the Lamaha Embankment in the vicinity
could be used for the selling of Amerindian craft
and food in keeping with the theme of heritage
tourism. He said it was thought that the area
where Amerindian handicraft and food are being
sold at the Amerindian Hostel on Princes Street
was not conducive for boosting tourism.
The railway in Guyana, which first
ran from Georgetown to Plaisance, is said to be
the first built in all of South America.
Construc-tion began in 1847 and the railway to
Rosignol was finally completed in 1900. It
was dismantled in the mid-1970s.
British Governor Henry Light turned
the sod for the local railway on the site of the
present train station on August 19, 1847 and the
initial stretch of track from Georgetown to
Plaisance was tested on January 24, 1848. The
railway reached Mahaica in 1864 and extended to
Mahaicony by 1894. It finally reached Rosignol on
August 1, 1900.
Meanwhile the three iron railway
bridges across the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary
rivers are being relocated to accommodate the
Georgetown/Rosignol Public Road. The National Trust
had also identified the three iron bridges as
heritage sites. The bridges have been shifted a
short distance down river from their original
location but in full view of the roadway.
Each bridge was moved and restored
for preservation purposes at a cost of US$196,000
under the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan
programme, which is funding the improvement of the
roadway from Timehri to Rosignol.
