On October 30th, a US-based Guyanese, Gladstone Haynes, 43, disappeared while touring Orinduik Falls in Region Eight. He had been swimming below the falls at the time and was apparently swept away by the strong current. His body was found a day later.
His tragic passing has seen silence from all the stakeholders in the sector when they should have taken steps to address their individual responsibilities. The stakeholders in question are Air Services Limited (ASL) which transported Mr Haynes to the site as part of a tour group, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
The silence is even more disconcerting in the wake of a letter to this newspaper by a recent visitor to Orinduik Falls.
On November 9th, Howard G Carter wrote the following: “My family and I visited Kaieteur and Orinduik Falls exactly one week prior to the above mentioned tragedy (Mr Haynes’ death), and I could not but lament on the observations I had made while visiting the Falls. These included the absence of any signage about the depth of the gorge and strength of the water’s current, also strikingly missing was any type of handrail or other device to hold on should one lose their footing, along with the lack of any floatation devices.
“Subsequent discussions with our tour guide and persons in authority, revealed that the tour guides and caretakers are under the employ of the Ministry of Tourism, while the companies operating the tours really do not partake in overseeing these attractions.
“It is not my intention to point fingers at anyone, but to suggest that the tour operators and the Ministry of Tourism begin dialogue and implement some safety measures for the tourists they serve, as I am sure it is well within their means to share the responsibility and interest in maintaining installed safety equipment.
“Just to be clear, I am in no way suggesting that the natural beauty of the falls be desecrated through installation of safety equipment, but with discussions, these could be strategically placed to blend in with the terrain”.
The safety of visitors to these sites is paramount and Mr Carter’s letter underlines the absence of warning signage about the depth of the gorge and danger of the current. Furthermore there were no flotation aids and presumably no one to provide rescue services were a tourist to be swept away.
Mr Carter also recounted discussions which suggest that the tour guides and caretakers are in the employ of the Ministry of Tourism and not the tour operators.
Guyana has been for many years endeavouring to attract tourists to major attractions such as the Kaieteur and Orinduik falls and the number of visitors is expected to rise as more hospitality facilities are built and the oil and gas traffic to the country increases. These numbers will not however shoot up unless tourists can feel safe. Therefore, there is a weighty onus on the Ministry and its regulatory body to ensure that these sites are safe, tour guides can adequately discharge their functions and that rescue facilities are available.
The circumstances of the October 30th death also raise questions about liability which will undoubtedly arise at some point. What was the tour operator’s responsibility at the site? What was the Ministry’s/GTA’s responsibility?
There are regulations under the Guyana Tourism Authority Act governing tour operating and guiding and these will help to establish where responsibility lies.
Inter alia the regulations say: A tourist guide shall be responsible for the
following –
(a) to conduct or guide an organised tour in a
professional manner;
(b) to accompany the organised excursion at all
times except when free time is allowed;
(c) to ascertain the safety of the tour party
while on tour;
(d) to ensure safety equipment and first aid kits
are readily accessible on tour.
The guide is also to “have where practical an effective means of communication with a responsible third party in the event of any emergency”.
In his letter, Mr Carter made the eminently sensible suggestion that the Ministry of Tourism should begin dialogue and implement some safety measures. It is unclear what the Ministry has since done but it should let the public and prospective tourists be made aware of what steps have been taken in the aftermath of Mr Haynes’ death at Orinduik Falls.
