Dear Editor,
I have been deeply affected by the tragedy that occurred at Kaieteur Falls on Saturday, November 7, which claimed the life of Aliya Bulkan, an academically accomplished and creative young woman whose immense potential cannot now be fulfilled. I have been affected, first, as a parent. I share the sense of loss that the tragedy has inflicted on the Bulkans, warm and decent people and loyal Guyanese and close friends of mine.
I have been affected too by the regrettable significance of the tragedy. The Kaieteur Falls is Guyana’s best known historical landmark and tourist attraction. It is unfortunate that it is now linked to such an occurrence, having offered years of safe, scenic and spectacular attraction to the thousands of Guyanese and visitors to our country who have experienced its splendour.
As head of a local company that is part of Guyana’s tourism sector and which, moreover, flew the party that included Aliya to the Kaieteur Falls on that Saturday, I cannot detach myself from the incident. Roraima and the other companies that offer this service frequently, almost daily, take with the utmost seriousness our responsibility for the safety and security of our clients. The entire Roraima team, and, I believe, the rest of the local aviation and tourism sectors, feel a sense of attachment to the tragedy. In the days that have followed the occurrence Team Roraima has been closely involved in monitoring the events and efforts associated with the recovery of the body.
If Aliya’s tragic loss cannot now be reversed I feel a profound sense of relief over the fact of the recovery of her remains. That would have at least provided a measure of closure and, hopefully, comfort for her family.
The success of the recovery mission would have been important for another reason. The tragedy would already have come to the attention of the international tourism industry and to potential tourists the world over, if for no other reason than that it occurred at Kaieteur. The recovery of the body demonstrated to the world that Guyana is altogether capable of responding effectively to occurrences of that nature. It would have done Guyana’s image no good if, the body having been sighted, we had simply declared an inability, for whatever reason, to retrieve it.
I understand the physical and logistical implications of such a recovery effort. I actually led a party of eight young people in a descent to the base of the Kaieteur Falls. The mission by the GDF team would have been much more arduous since that mission included the recovery of a corpse.
Exercises of the nature of the recovery mission require a highly professional response. Our national army has that capacity. There are men and women in the GDF who are trained to undertake such physically and emotionally demanding tasks. In this instance they have manifestly proven their worth.
The recovery effort was not as timely as it could have been. Additionally, the successful recovery mission undertaken following high-level official intervention had been preceded by an earlier misguided and unsuccessful one.
Captain Howell and his men did a splendid job. They made our army and our country proud. I was, however – given my own close monitoring of all of the events leading to the eventual recovery of the body – dismayed over the fact that a brave, resourceful and evidently competent army officer was inserted into a process which is perhaps best described as an attempt to ‘waffle’ the nation. This was unnecessary. Captain Howell and his team had already played their part and done so with distinction.
With regard to Captain Howell’s public involvement in the process I draw attention to the following:
1. Nothing was said about the earlier misguided and ultimately aborted first mission by the GDF to recover the body or, for that matter, the fact that that initial mission did not get underway until more than 48 hours after the tragedy occurred.
2. Captain Howell, capable leader and soldier though he is, ought not to have been required to speak publicly on the issue of the possible use of a helicopter as part of the recovery effort. I seek to do him no disrespect in saying that he appears decidedly not to know a great deal about whether or not a helicopter could play a role in the recovery effort.
With regard to this latter issue and in order to put my own earlier public comment on the helicopter issue into perspective I am releasing the attached record of a Facebook blog discourse involving a number of persons. Those persons familiar with this group will recognize the pool of aviation expertise and, specifically, helicopter expertise, contained therein. These, moreover, are persons who are particularly familiar with undertaking demanding missions in various parts of Guyana.
Despite the foregoing, the entire nation ought to stand up and applaud the GDF party that accomplished the recovery mission. While these men did what they were trained to do they did so at great personal risk. What they did attests to the quality of our armed forces and we must say so publicly.
Yours faithfully,
Gerry Gouveia