Tukeit to get guest house, warden building

A new Guest House and Warden Building estimated to cost $27 million, are to be built at Tukeit, within the Kaieteur National Park, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A statement from the EPA yesterday said that contracts for the construction and supervision of works were signed on November 9, 2012, between the EPA, and Yusuf General Contracting and Innovative Engineering Consultancy Services. The guest house is expected to be completed in six months.

Executive Director of the EPA, Dr. Indarjit Ramdass (second from the right), hands over the construction contract to Mohamed Yusuf, Yusuf General Contracting. Also present from left are Ben ter Welle, Team Leader, GFA Consulting Group, Deoraj Dalchand, Managing Director, IECS, and Juliana Persaud, SEO (ag.), Protected Areas Unit, EPA.

The buildings are being done under Phase II of the Guyana Protected Areas System (GPAS) Project, funded by the German Government through the German Development Bank (KfW), the statement said.  The GPAS Project is being implemented by the EPA, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Kaieteur National Park was established in 1929 and today, covers an area of 627 square kilometres (242 square miles), the statement said. The Park is best known for  the Kaieteur Falls.

There is a guest house located at Kaieteur Top which can accommodate up to ten persons. The Tukeit Guest House is located along the Potaro River in the Kaieteur Gorge and would provide additional rooms and hammock accommodation for twenty overland visitors, the release said. The warden building will provide accommodation at Tukeit, for park wardens.

KfW has funded three other projects for the Kaieteur National Park which provided field kits for the park wardens; a boat and engine, to improve monitoring activities at Waratuk; and, a visitor arrival centre, as a tourism hub for the Kaieteur National Park.