According to the current property manager Roshan Khan, all developmental plans for the land surrounding the Chateau Margot chimney currently include the preservation of the historic landmark.
Khan made the disclosure in an invited comment in wake of concerns raised by artist Bernadette Persaud about the signage erected at the land indicating that it is owned by the Nadia Gardens Housing Development Inc.
He explained to Sunday Stabroek that his company has been engaged by the board of Nadia Gardens Housing Development Incorporated to secure the location and prevent vagrants and thieves from vandalising the space.
He noted that the land surrounding the 19th century landmark has been privately owned for several decades. While he declined to identify the principal of the company which engaged his services, he repeatedly maintained that everything is “legal and legitimate.”
“They have said they want to put a beautiful park around it and make it accessible for use by the public but for now I’m just protecting it from vandals and thieves. I would never lend support to anything that would destroy my national heritage,” Khan said.
Persaud, in a letter published in Saturday’s edition of the Stabroek News, had questioned whether a housing development would likely destroy the chimney.
In her letter, she called for an explanation from the National Trust of Guyana and the ministries and departments that have responsibility.
“How can a National Monument and its historic site be up for sale for a housing project, or any other project that will destroy yet another piece of our heritage? Could the relevant authorities please investigate this urgently and save this famous landmark and its surrounding site?” Persaud asked.
Sunday Stabroek made attempts to contact Minister with responsibility for Culture Dr. George Norton for a comment on whether his ministry had been contacted by the development company but up to press time was unable to reach him. Calls to his mobile number remained unanswered.
Meanwhile, Khan was adamant that neither he nor the property owners are likely to desecrate the landmark nor deny access to the general public.
“I have been mandated to grant access to anyone wanting to do research, to any visitors, including school tours et cetera,” he explained, before adding that in 2018 he facilitated the use of the space by the Dharmic Shabha for its Diwali Motorcade.
“They asked me to make it possible for Dharmic Shabha to use it and we did and it was beautiful,” he stressed.
In a 2015 newsletter, the National Trust noted that the chimney, constructed by Buxton brick layer Anlemo Gordon, is dated July 1st, 1889. “It is the solitary remains of a former sugar factory which according to a description from the weekly Argosy of 1883 ‘boasted the finest cane land in the colony of British Guiana during the nineteenth century operating successfully on the vacuum pan process for many years,’” it noted.
The newsletter added that the chimney, despite its functions during the time of sugar operation, served as a beacon to ships approaching Port Georgetown even after the sugar factory was demolished. “Still standing today, this site represents an aspect of our nation’s industrial heritage, thus signifying a very important historical milestone. It reflects humankind’s dual power of destruction and creation; the hope of a better life, and the ever-greater power over matter,” it added.
