Chunilall Baboolall may be one of Bartica’s most accomplished gold miners but he is also among those who are acutely aware of the vicissitudes of the industry and of the need to guard against the imponderables that are characteristic of its behaviour; like the current fall in gold price.
Baboolall’s mining operation remains his mainstream enterprise, but these days much of his attention is focused on what is believed to be Bartica’s most ambitious diversification project yet.
The popular businessman who has lived at Bartica since he was a child and who divides his time between his homes in Bartica and Georgetown and his mining operation is investing in a multimillion-dollar, upmarket, showpiece resort – the Aruwai Resort – on Buck Track Island in the Essequibo River.
A multi-storey plaza on Sheriff Street named the Aruwai Plaza is also owned by Baboolall.
Baboolall believes that his investment will be one of the brightest spots in the local tourism industry and a showpiece even when compared with facilities in the region.
Situated 15 minutes by Jet Ski from Bartica, Buck Track Island once housed the now defunct White Water Resort. It is situated at the mouth of the Mazaruni and Cuyuni rivers. The size of the island is approximately one quarter of a square mile. The resort will comprise a 38-room hotel, while visitors will have access to the beach that surrounds the island.
The infrastructure includes some of the essential appurtenances of a luxury resort including a pool, spa and gymnasium and the businessman’s investment in high standards includes the construction of an airstrip on the property.
Aircraft using the Bartica airstrip to fly to and from Aruwai will also benefit from a resurfaced access road to the Bartica airstrip which will also be financed by Baboolall.
The accomplished businessman is philosophical about falling gold prices. He says changes in the industry were bound to occur sooner or later and that he had approached mining with the mentality that “there is no second crop in gold.”
Baboolall believes that the current circumstances in the gold mining industry provides an ideal opportunity for investment in other sectors which he says includes logging.
The completion and opening of the facility is scheduled tentatively for year-end, though the Bartica investor declined to give precise details. His focus, he says, is on completing the project and on making provision for visitors to Guyana and locals to enjoy the facility. Barticians, he says, will enjoy affordable packages.
The perks accruing to visitors to the facility will include boat rides on the Essequibo, Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers and visits to local mining camps. Visitors to Aruwai will also experience the White Water Falls as well as the Resort’s ‘Banana Boat’, the ‘Love Boat’ and the Jet Ski and water slide trampoline.
Baboolall says the facility is being designed to facilitate elderly persons and that its inventory will include wheelchairs.
