Dear Editor,
I write to share my sadness with fellow Guyanese on the burning of Umana Yana. Forty-two years ago I was among those responsible for its beautification of our capital. It was a moment of the maturing of our internationalism – the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement – the first ever in the Western hemisphere. We marked it with the symbolism of our first citizens – the meeting-place of our Wai-Wai people.
It remained for us a reminder of the many people out of which we are one. As such, it must not perish. We need that reminder now as much as we ever did. Let us resolve, therefore, to let our Wai-Wai citizens rebuild Umana Yana again as they did in 1972. And let us pledge to contribute to this national effort – as I do now.
Yours faithfully,
Shridath Ramphal
