Several groups picketed outside the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport yesterday to press for the 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion monument to be erected at Parade Ground, the site where those who participated in the insurrection were killed.
Angry protesters, including members of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA), the Manumitted African Descen-dants Organisation, and Pan African Movement, raised their voices against a move by the ministry to erect the monument along the seawall opposite Camp Ayanganna, instead of the insurrection site.
They assembled across the street from the ministry’s Main Street offices after a demonstration in front of the Parade Ground, where slaves had been tortured and beheaded after the revolt nearly 190 years ago. “Parade Ground where blood was shed,” they chanted, drawing the attention of passing civilians.
“This is an arbitrary act committed by (Minister of Culture) Frank Anthony,” Barrington Braithwaite, a member of the ACDA, said, while noting that the organisation would not recognize the monument if it isn’t erected at the Parade Ground. “We will ask the people in Parliament to address the minister’s competence of managing his office,” Braithwaite continued, mentioning that the ministry never invited ACDA or any African-Guyanese organizations to discuss the building of the monument.
“It’s political,” Member of the People’s Parliament Freddie Kissoon added. “Everything done in this government is political. And this absurdity is shaped by political thinking.”
Stabroek News contacted the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alfred King, for comment about the ministry’s view on the issue but was told that only the minister could give a statement. This newspaper then tried to contact Anthony but was told that he was in a meeting and therefore unable to give a comment.
In March, the ministry had invited submissions from the public on the location of the monument site. The ministry had said then that said after wide consultations, areas between Mahaica and Georgetown were short-listed based on criteria such as ambience, emotional and physical connection to the rebellion, adequate land space, with a view for a future park, accessibility, vehicle parking and public view. The sites being considered then were Independence Park (Parade Ground) in Middle Street, Georgetown; an area at Montrose, East Coast Demerara; and an area north of the public road at Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara.
The design for the monument was done by US-based sculptor Ivor Thom, who also designed the Damon Monument at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast and the Burnham Mausoleum in the Botanical Gardens.
‘Disregard’
Members of the police force turned up during the protest outside the ministry.
“This is dictatorship, formed from a diabolical mind,” said Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Green, who was among the protestors. “It is disrespectful and shows complete disregard for Guyanese, especially our African-Guyanese,” he added.
Green stated that on August 1, 2000, former President Bharrat Jagdeo, in the company of former Culture Minister Gail Teixeira and members of the diplomatic corps, had announced that the monument would be erected on the Parade Ground to revere the slaves who died in the 1823 revolt.
“And now without any consultation, they have disregarded this announcement and plan to erect the monument on a site that has no historical link to the revolt,” Green declared, challenging the current minister to give an explanation to the Guyanese people.
“This is a constant assault by [an] uncaring government. It is cultural barbarianism,” he said, while adding that a democratic government is not expected to impose their opinions and ideas onto citizens.
He said that if the ministry continues the building of the monument beside the seawalls, they will not recognize it.
“Maybe they don’t know their history ’cause if they did, they wouldn’t have considered erecting the monument there,” he added.
In a recent press release, the Alliance For Change commended the government for the decision to erect a monument to honour the martyrs of the 1823 rebellion but added that it believes that the insurrection site is most the “appropriate site.” It advised the government to erect the monument on the site where the “blood of our ancestors were shed in the struggle for freedom.”
