Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon has announced that Central Government will soon be forming a “broad-based committee” to launch a competition for a design of the monument for the Cubana bombing victims.
Dr Luncheon also told reporters at his weekly press briefing that the identification of a “suitable location” for the monument will also be addressed while adding that it would more than likely be somewhere in the vicinity of the University of Guyana.
The announcement by Dr Luncheon will likely anger City Mayor Hamilton Green who has in recent times clashed with Public Works Minister Robeson Benn over the monument. Benn recently halted work on the monument near to the Camp Road and Lamaha Street junction because of its likely impact on traffic while Green is insisting that it be constructed there, noting that senior government functionaries including Prime Minister Sam Hinds had attended the launching ceremony.
Having halted work at the site Benn has since said that his reason is that the size of the monument makes it unsafe for the area. He had said that he cannot allow a structure of the specified dimensions to be at an area with such a heavy flow of traffic.
Green had countered saying the argument about the monument being an impediment at the junction is an absurdity. He said the monument would be some 30 feet away from the intersection, and that both carriageways of Camp Road are wide.
