Georgetown
a far cry from the past
By
Wesley Gibbings
Trinidad
Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
08 27 06
In
the midst of several targeted executions involving
city businessmen, ongoing investigations into two
brazen daytime bank robberies, the Kaieteur News
massacre and a spate of routinely executed robberies,
Guyanese businesspeople can be excused for being
more than a little anxious about the state of affairs
in the troubled mainland republic.
Nighttime
Georgetown only vaguely resembles its recent, riotous
past. There is also a general suspicion that, for
each of the 33 AK-47s lifted from the Guyanese army
in February, there are scores of less powerful but
nevertheless dangerous firearms under shop counters,
market stalls and executive desks.
“This
place get real bad,” Nazim, the taxi driver,
says in the manner of deliberate understatement.
It’s the kind of rhetorical skill many employ
to signify room for hope while there is the presence
of a deeper sadness.
The
day now ends much earlier at the Bourda and Kaieteur
markets for those who are privileged to have the
option. Those who don’t have a choice sit
on stools in the open and mind their goods in the
damp nighttime Georgetown air.
Not
far away, the popular Dutch Bottle Café proclaims
“the spirit of Olde Georgetown” as if
new ghosts do not also roam the streets and canals.
Untrained, amateurish attendants are as present
there as everywhere else to testify to the decline
from “Olde Georgetown.”
Glen
Lall, owner of the Kaieteur News, who lost five
pressmen in one brutal sweep, told a media workshop
last week he is “not going anywhere.”
There are many like him, but not enough to slow
the daily tide at Timehri airport. Only some will
return. Many more will take with them forever the
dreams of a better Guyana.
Omodelle
George is among those who plan to stay. What started
for her as a speculative foray into the world of
real estate and property management has grown into
a bright-eyed little child called Herdmanston Lodge.
As
much a symbol of the past as of the present, the
Lodge stands in the heart of what Trinis often describe
as the “St Clair” of Georgetown—Queenstown.
Reserving one of its eight rooms is not always an
easy task. According to George, the hotel has been
running at 80 per cent occupancy for some time now.
In
almost two years, George and her crew have been
able to transform the historic wood and concrete
structure into spacious, livable accommodation complete
with wireless Internet and a choice of pancakes
or fried bakes for breakfast.
The
hotel has become popular with visiting consultants
and technocrats, many of them engaged in developmental
work through any of the dozens of regional and international
agencies involved in rebuilding Guyana.
Eighty-five
per cent of the Lodge’s bookings come via
the Internet and “most people, the first question
they ask, is about security,” said George.
As
with most Guyanese businesses, both visible and
discreet security systems are in place at the Lodge
and George says her role is to ensure people can
focus on the work they are there to perform without
having to worry too much about their safety.
The
fact there has not been a single tourist visitor
during the current holiday season has sharpened
a longstanding but not exclusive focus on business
and conference visitors at the Lodge.
Even
at hotels such a Le Meridien Pegasus, Blue Wave,
Cara Lodge and Cara Suites the presence of consultants,
aid workers, business men and women and visiting
dignitaries overshadows the trickle of tourists
entering the country.
Everywhere,
these days, in the midst of what journalists declare
to be a “boring” election campaign,
tensions are high. This is so, not in the high-pitched,
hysterical and bothersome manner of international
travel under the treat of international terrorism,
but after the quiet, unnerving fashion of a country
sinking into irredeemable trouble.
Meanwhile,
across the street from the Lodge, the palatial wooden
residence of the Brazilian ambassador proclaims
the coming of the Brazilians, by the hundreds.
To
greet them are Brazilian restaurants, bars and go-go
clubs—five of the latter in all—according
to Nazim. Perhaps as many Brazilians enter the country
as Guyanese flee on a monthly basis.
In
the end, many wonder whether the face of Guyana
will ever be the same again. Herdmanston Lodge and
other icons of the past may well be all that’s
left.
Trinidad Guardian
Wednesday,
August 23rd 2006
Copyright
©2006 Trinidad Guardian. All Rights Reserved.
