Almost 18 months since designs were collected for the Cubana Air Disaster Monument Competition no results have been announced.
One of the entrants said that he is extremely disappointed in the Ministry of Local Government for its unprofessionalism, while noting that he invested over $200,000 and lots of time and effort to ensure he created a spectacular piece. He said that he has not been able to get any information from the ministry.
When contacted, Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall said that his Ministry was only responsible for placing the advertisement for the competition. “We were asked to place the ad and that is as far as we went,” he said, explaining that the financing of the competition fell under the Ministry of Public Works. He added that Works Minister Robeson Benn last told him that they were awaiting better weather to work at the designated site for the monument in the University of Guyana compound.
Stabroek News was unsuccessful in contacting Minister Benn for a comment.
“What I gather is that they probably didn’t like any of the paintings,” Lall, however, told this newspaper. He further noted that construction of the monument has already been budgeted for this year, under the Public Works Ministry.
For several months now, the upset entrant, who asked not to be named, has been complaining about the results not being released. He recalled that when he saw the advertisement last year, he was immediately attracted to it since the issue is part of our history and there was also a one million dollar prize. “I used my last resources. I cut my children’s meals and sleep to make it perfect. One of the victims of this tragedy was my mentor and I am knowledgeable of the October 6, 1976 disaster,” he added. He said when his project was completed he was convinced that it would have won the prize. “It was a spectacular piece and I meet all the criteria”, he said. He also recalled that when he went to submit the design to meet the March 25, 2009 deadline, there were at least ten other persons there. “Look now is [more than a year] after. I am more than disappointed. If they are squashing the competition, then give me back my painting. I worked very hard on it!”
On October 6, 1976, Guyana Scholarship Awardees were among a group of 73 persons travelling on the Barbados – Jamaica leg of a flight to Cuba to pursue training in that country when the aircraft crashed after terrorist bombs onboard exploded.
