The Ministry of Indi-genous People’s Affairs, Ministry of Public Infra-structure and the Ministry of Education’s Department of Culture will work together along with the indigenous people of Guyana to rebuild the Umana Yana, which was tragically burnt to the ground about a year ago.
At a turning of the sod ceremony yesterday at the Kingston site where the monument once stood, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson announced that the rebuilding of the huge benab will cost $66.7 million. That this announcement was made on the last day of Indigenous Heritage Month was only fitting.
“It is a tremendous honour for me, on behalf of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, to be associated with the reconstruction of this magnificent edifice that was burnt down,” Patterson said, stating that while his ministry is known for less glamorous projects such as