A little more than a week ago we reported on a plan for a US$1.4 billion real estate project along the Mahaica River. According to the Construction and Investment Management Group, the company behind the proposal, this development was in anticipation of expatriate and remigrant demand in the wake of Guyana’s coming oil wealth. The first stage would involve the construction of a golf and country club, which would represent the first of two PGA-standard golf courses.
The entire complex, named Maraiko Bay, will extend for two miles along the Atlantic littoral and will be bordered by the Mahaica River. It will cover an area of 1,000-plus acres, and will boast a 75-unit luxury housing complex including a clubhouse, restaurant and leisure facilities; 150 condominiums; 200 luxury homes and 50 executive homes; a commercial centre; a heliport; solar power; underground utilities; security and various amenities. The first phase is intended to be completed within 14 months.
Company Chairman Ragindra Persaud was quoted as saying that the project “allows for the creation of thousands of construction, tourism and sports related jobs that we desperately need as the country grows.” His partner Mr Ramalingum elaborated on this subsequently, estimating that 3,000 to 6,000 people would benefit from direct and indirect employment during the construction phase, in addition to the large number of workers who would be needed to maintain the complex. This was not to forget, he said, that neighbouring communities would also benefit, especially vendors and businesspeople who would supply goods and services.
The construction jobs which the two executives are referring to, however, could be described as coming at a secondary level of the operation; local workers will have no input at the creative stage in terms of the design of the buildings or the layout of the complex, and probably not in terms of supervising construction either. The ‘dream’ team as far as can be established at present consists mostly, if not entirely of foreigners.
No one will quarrel with that when it comes to the design and configuration of a golf course; those kinds of skills are simply not to be found in this country. The task will fall to golf course designer David Hemstock, and his creation will offer vistas of waterways, canals and the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps the principals of this grand vision might like to offer the public more detailed images of what the final product will look like, or else label the existing one, since it is difficult for the ordinary citizen to identify on the current image exactly where the golf course will be.
The artist’s impression which accompanied the press release from the company, showed a wide swathe of sand along the shoreline. Clearly someone had omitted to mention to him or her that this is not a Caribbean island. Every Guyanese child knows that the east coast lies below high tide level, and that it is subject to periods of accretion and erosion. In addition, the Mahaica area has not been without its flooding dramas in the past.
The principals of the firm seem not unaware of this problem, however, and their release stated that more than G$430 had been budgeted for sea defence and environmental protection which would be overseen by Earth and Marine Environmental Consultants, one of the world’s most reputable companies in modelling sea defence, ocean rise and environmental impacts. It might be commented that no one understands the idiosyncrasies of this country’s coastal and river systems better than local civil engineers, who have great experience of addressing problems in relation to these, so one wonders why their services, as far as can be determined, have not been retained as well.
From the point of view of the ordinary citizen who will come to his or her judgements on the basis of the artist’s impression, the real issue would relate to the aesthetics of the complex.
Here we have a “luxury” project which will cost more than one billion US dollars, and which is intended to attract well-heeled expatriates and remigrants that to all appearances is totally lacking in creativity and imagination. Yet Mr Persaud has said: “I am proud of our entire team that has been working for more than four years to create a masterpiece that will showcase our country’s natural beauty.” But where is the beauty in the individual houses in their serried rows parallel to the coast, with standard-looking 11 storey(?) high-rise flats behind them? In the background can be seen more high-rises in the centre of a housing scheme that could be anywhere in the world, for all anyone knows.
The two types of buildings which are evident in the forefront of the picture possibly represent the distinction between luxury homes and executive ones – little variety in architectural terms there − and in case any lucky remigrant has it in mind to cultivate either a flower garden or grow their own vegetables, they should abandon the thought. Each of these units is set in a sea of undifferentiated green grass, which the company lawnmower will presumably maintain at a permissible height.
The company release informed the nation that an MOU had already been signed with the Petroleum Club for the 75-unit luxury housing project. Whether this firm also has responsibility for the overall design is not clear, but whatever the case the Petroleum Club should dispatch someone to Guyana without delay to see what the traditional architectural features here were (sadly many have been lost). Even at the level of a few Demerara shutters, or some limited fretwork on certain structures there would be some relief from the regimentation and utter lack of variety. There is probably little hope at this late stage of a total rethink of the overall layout, although one might have thought there could be tinkering with the details as suggested, without affecting cost too much. Clearly the conceivers of the project did not think local architects had anything to contribute.
On an altogether different note, one presumes that some space has been put aside for swimming pools, since one cannot imagine affluent returnees settling in a tropical environment without access to a pool when they cannot dive into the open sea. Perhaps these are represented by the patches of blue close to the ocean in the image, but they are not marked as such.
Far more serious matters are those of education and health. Since those who come to work in the oil industry especially will be young or in mid-life, they are likely to have children. Gone are the days when diplomats were happy to send their offspring to Queen’s College or Bishops’ for their schooling. While private educational arrangements may, or may not, appease the remigrants, that there is no state school nowadays where they could entrust their children is a damming reflection on our system. As for the problems in the health sector they are hardly in need of comment.
The government has, as expected, welcomed the project. They have to realise, however, that complexes like this have the potential to emphasise the gap between the haves and the have-nots. That is not a problem for the developers who are, after all, simply engaged in a private venture to provide housing for those in the oil industry and associated activities; it is a problem for the administration. The new oil industry if it is to mean anything at all must provide spin-off benefits to the mass of the population and not just its more privileged segments. The administration must be prepared to pour money into the health and education sectors in particular, and work assiduously to confront poverty.
If they fail to do that, then this investment will not turn out to be quite the “project to make Guyana proud,” that Mr Persaud hopes. It will instead become symbolic of a growing divide in the society.
