On Monday we reported newly appointed Secretary General of the Guyana National Commission for UNESCO Inge Nathoo as saying that she had restarted the process of trying to get sites in Guyana inscribed on the World Heritage List. Guyana had submitted the Kaieteur National Park to UNESCO in 2000 as its inaugural nomination for inclusion on the list, but this was rejected, largely on the grounds that the area was too small, particularly when compared with the Central Suriname Nature Reserve which already has World Heritage status. The report said that there was now another proposal to put forward a “cluster site,” which would include the Kaieteur National Park, the Iwokrama Rainforest Conservation site and the Kanuku Mountains, all of which are rich in biodiversity.
The Kaieteur National Park proposal, however, was not the only one which Guyana had tentatively put forward for listing. Historic Georgetown was also intended for inclusion, and work on that had started as long as ten years ago. It was a Dutch expert, Dr Ron van Oers, who isolated Georgetown’s most unique feature, namely that it was the world’s only plantation city – its layout, drainage, nomenclature, etc, all bearing witness to its plantation origins. It is something which the denizens of this capital instinctively know, although they have probably never pondered the matter in any conscious way.
Expressed in a formal way, however, one can see the possibilities for ‘selling’ the concept from the Forty Foot Canal, dug in the 1770s by African hands to drain the fields; to Company Path which represented the land owned by the West India Company between plantations; to Regent Street which was the Middle Walk of Plantation Vlissengen; to Bourda Cemetery, which was the plantation cemetery for Vlissengen; to City Hall, which was built on the site of the coffee logie for the plantation; to the plethora of estate names (or owners’ names), which litter this city such as Cummingsburg from Thomas Cuming, or Albouystown from JH Albouys.
There are stories behind some of them, of course. The best known is that of Pierre Louis de Saffon, whose memorial stone is in the churchyard of St Saviour’s, and who owned the plantations of Le Regret, La Penitence and Le Repentir. Le Regret has disappeared, but any Georgetowner will instantly recognize the last two names. They were said to reflect his remorse after he fled France because he had killed his brother in a duel over a woman. The long and the short of it is that you cannot go far in the capital without encountering some reminder that it was born out of the front lands of estates.
Ms Nathoo’s problem is that she will virtually have to begin from scratch to get Guyana’s UNESCO nomination “back on track,” since nothing much has been done on the project for some years. She explained too that there would have to be an enabling environment, such as legislation to ensure the preservation of particular sites and monuments. Of course, since this matter was last looked at, certain monuments and buildings will no longer be there. The Sacred Heart Church comes immediately to mind in this regard.
Getting a part of a city like Georgetown – or the cluster site including the Kaieteur National Park – inscribed on the World Heritage List is not a simple or straightforward matter, and requires a great deal of preparation and work from a number of agencies. Since some of the things which will have to be done will have to be undertaken by the government, it will also require political will. As we watch Georgetown’s historic aspects contract almost on a daily basis, one can only wish Ms Nathoo success, and hope that the various public and private agencies whose co-operation will be needed, make the project a priority.
