Location of the Indian Immigration Memorial Monument

Dear Editor,
There has been some controversy about the appropriate location for the Indian Immigration Memorial Monument, which the Indian Government has already kindly donated to Guyana. So far, an attempt has been made to locate the said monument at Palmyra, which surprised and disappointed many, including yours truly and such luminaries like the iconic Mr Yesu Persaud and other Guyanese descendants of Indian immigrants.
There is no obvious, or historical, or moral, or sensible justification for siting the Monument at Palmyra. On the other hand, there is abundant rationale for locating the Monument at Highbury. It is historically incontrovertible that the first Indian immigrants arrived at Highbury, on the East Bank of the Berbice River. It is also common knowledge that while there has never been at Palmyra any anniversary celebration of the arrival of Indian immigrants in Guyana, there has been unfailing annual celebrations at Palmyra, attended by Guyana’s presidents and ministers, India’s high commissioners, scholars, dignitaries and rank & file Guyanese in large numbers for the longest while.
While the access public road on the East Bank of Berbice has not been of the best recently, the Guyana Government is on record as being determined to upgrade the said road soon, so that access is not a consideration. As a matter of fact, it has never been a deterrent, as can be gauged from the annually increasing numbers that have faithfully attended the annual celebrations so far.
Now, it is noted that the Government of Guyana has recently taken the decision to allow the Indian Government, thru its High Commission in Guyana, to finally decide on the location of the Indian Immigration Memorial Monument, which they have already generously delivered to Guyana. Therefore, I wish to take this opportunity to appeal to His Excellency, the High Commissioner of India, to please decide on the existing Highbury site as the preferred location for the Monument. I have every reason to believe that practically all Guyanese would welcome such a decision.

Sincerely,
Nowrang Persaud