The body of Roshanie Phagwah, the most recent suicide case at the Kaieteur National Park (KNP), was spotted yesterday on the edge of the pool at the base of the falls and efforts are underway to retrieve the body.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Tourism, while they and the National Parks Commission (NPC) have limited access to certain sections of the falls they were able to confirm the body of Phagwah was seen and they are currently organizing a recovery team to send into the Park to extract the body. The release stated that because of the complex logistics and the dangerous terrain, the recovery will take several days while sections of the park will remain off limits to visitors until further notice.
Minister of Tourism, Catherine Hughes had announced that the second suicide at the falls in the span of months was the reason why the authorities were forced to restrict visitors from viewing from the ledge. She said that while it was a hard decision to make, the issue of suicide has become a national issue that is being dealt with by a number of stakeholders. “Our young people are too valuable to lose them like this,” she said.
The Government of Guyana and the Tourism Ministry have conveyed condolences to the grieving family and have collaborated with the Ministry of Human Services to deliver grief counselling services to the family.
