The land surrounding the Chateau Margot chimney was purchased in 1959 from the then Bookers Limited by the Irisdeen family.
The family has said that all developmental plans for the land surrounding the chimney include the preservation of the historic landmark. Speaking though the estate executor Roshan Khan, the family wants the public to know that the chimney will always be accessible for public education and tourism purposes.
“The land was bought by Mohammed Irisdeen in 1959 from Bookers. He was the owner of a saw mill at Corriverton and the Deen Lumber consortium,” Khan told Stabroek News yesterday, saying he was given permission to give the details by the family.
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, Khan, over the weekend, told this newspaper that developmental plans for the area currently include the preservation of the historic landmark.
He explained that his company has been engaged by the board of Nadia Gardens Housing Development Inc to secure the location and prevent vagrants and thieves from vandalising the space.
“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.
This newspaper 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 was unsuccessful.
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 can assure you that it will never be dismantled. It will always be preserved and that is the Deen’s family agreement that no matter what happens, be it whatever partnerships and all of that, that is a historic site and it will always be preserved,” he said yesterday.
“We will respect the National Trust and no one will ever be blocked from accessing it,” he added.
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.
