$160M Indian Arrival Monument in Region 6 completed

The long-awaited Indian Arrival Monument which is located at Palmyra, East Coast Berbice (ECB) has now been completed and is expected to be commissioned on April 17.

This was confirmed during a visit to the Ancient County by Social Cohesion Minister Dr. George Norton, who has responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport.
On Thursday, Minister Norton and a team from his department toured and thoroughly inspected the spanking new historic site, where they were able to have a firsthand view of the facility and to approve the quality of work carried out by the contractors.
“We are going to declare open this monument site on the 17th of this month, with a representative of the High Commission and an official from the Government of Guyana. It was long over-due… Once and for all, we can say that the monument is where it is supposed to be. We know the significance of it, so we are pleased to present to the public, after the 17, the monument for their viewing,” Minister Norton noted.
Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain, who was also a part of the team, remarked that while there are some minor areas where work needs to be improved, “generally, the presentation of the site is good, and will be one Guyanese will be proud of.”
The Department of Public Information (DPI) reported that Project Manager Stephon Chung stated that the project was completed on February 28, 2018 at an overall cost of $160 million.
Persons travelling to Region Six can, without a doubt, testify to seeing the six impressively huge, 12-foot-tall bronze statues erected and supported by a solid base at the ‘T Junction’ located just off the Berbice River Bridge’s entrance. The immense exhibit depicts a child, two women and three men performing their daily duties.
The six statues have a value of $31 million (US$150,000). It was a donation made by the Government of India to Guyana in 2017.
The APNU+AFC Government had intended to declare the monument site open at least before December of 2018, since the project was high on its national agenda. However, after assuming office in 2015, the Government discovered numerous faults to the design built by the previous administration, which had to be revised.
Additionally, in April of last year, months before the sculptures were installed, the base which was constructed to support the six statues had collapsed. According to Chung, this incident was one which contributed to the delay of the project’s completion.