Kingston Seawall renewal offers improved amenities to citizens and attraction to tourists

Nov 21, 2021 News

By Pat Dial

Kaieteur News – It was recently announced that the Kingston Seawall would be undergoing a major transformative facelift, which would convert it into the tourist hub of Georgetown. This project is being done under the National Beautification Project spearheaded by First Lady, Arya Ali. The Beautification Project aims to enhance the scenic qualities of Guyana’s roadways and rural and urban spaces while at the same time striving for a more environmentally friendly country.
Earlier in the year, Mrs. Ali had inspired and managed a cleanup campaign when the seawall from Camp Street to the Pegasus Hotel was thoroughly cleaned of all rubbish. Her present project is far more ambitious and aims at restoring the area around the bandstand and the tarmac to their pristine glory by again transforming it into one of the city’s cultural and commercial centres. The commercial activity envisaged is the providing of refreshments for the hundreds who would visit the seawall every day and the thousands who would flock there on holidays. To accommodate this activity, 25 architecturally designed kiosks will be built, 12 by the Ministry of Public Works and 13 by a corporate sponsor. These kiosks would eliminate willy nilly and disordered vending.
The renewal project is being undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works and several corporate sponsors and will cost tens of millions of dollars. First Lady Arya Ali said that in addition to improving the environment and improving amenities for the citizens of Georgetown, the project will have economic spinoffs. “As we continue to welcome visitors and tourists to our beautiful Guyana,” Mrs. Ali said, “it is very important for the physical appearance of the country to complement the investment climate.”
The bandstand, which had suffered the depredations of neglect, vandalism and theft of its beautiful ornamental cast iron rails and other fittings, will now be renewed and regular concerts by the Police and Militia bands will again be presented. Such concerts in the past offered Strauss’ waltzes, marches like the Radetsky, Delibes’ Pizzicato and folk songs and even Indian melodies like Sohani Raat as memorable mainstays which entertained the public and bandmasters like Henwood and Carol were national figures.
The tarmac would be asphalted and a ramp to accommodate wheelchairs would be built. Also, 30 new garbage bins would be strategically placed in the area and a modern toilet and restroom block would be constructed and the risk of flooding would be eliminated with the new concrete and subsurface drains. Within the vicinity of the tarmac and bandstand, one of the leading telecoms companies would be providing free WiFi. Most importantly, the security of the area would be strengthened by improved and by a police outpost and patrol officers.
Knowledge of the historic past of Kingston would enrich visits to the seawall. When the Dutch ceded the colony to the British in 1815, the capital of Demerara was Stabroek. The British, however, did not settle in Stabroek but decided to build their settlement in the Kingston area largely impelled by military considerations. It should be remembered that at that time the land between Stabroek and Kingston was not occupied and was covered with bush.
Among the first British buildings in the Kingston area was the Lighthouse to guide vessels entering the Demerara River harbour. Then the barracks and parade ground and later houses for civilian officials and business folk were built. British businessmen were determined to maintain the sugar industry after Emancipation and the colonial government saw it as the economic salvation of the colony. Accommodation was therefore constructed in the Kingston area to house the indentured immigrants at Battery Road and Seawall Road when they arrived in the colony until they were dispatched to the various sugar estates to provide the necessary labour. The immigration office was also established there.
The early British encampment is memorialised in the Kingston street names – Parade Street where the Parade Ground is situated, Fort Street leading to the fort, Barrack Street where the first barracks were, Battery Road where the cannon were once placed, High Street, the King’s highway, Duke Street commemorating the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at the battle of Waterloo, and Camp Street, the street leading to the Camp. Other British survivals are the military cemetery at Rabbit Walk and a number of 19th century wooden buildings. The Kingston area and the Immigration Depot site are also of historic interest to those Guyanese whose forefathers were indentured immigrants. The historic milieu of Kingston is reminiscent of old 18th century Boston, which was involved with the American War of Independence.
Historic Kingston would heighten the attractiveness of the renewed Kingston Seawall to both Guyanese tourists and other visitors.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)