It doesn’t matter which side of the divide you are on, you gotta admit that this weekend was a great one for our country as we try to build a new Guyana. First off the bat is the “International Building Expo 2022” – going on at the National Stadium since Friday, and continuing till this afternoon. If you haven’t checked it out yet, then you better drop everything and haul your tail down there right now!! Your Eyewitness knows there’ve been Building Expos before – but, trust him, this one’s different.
If for nothing else, it’ll make you get a concrete look (pun intended!) as to where this country of ours is headed – now that we’ve got some REAL money coming down the pike!! OK…let’s be honest…do you think hardnosed business types are going to ship down big-ticket items like the all new 3-D Printer that constructs HOMES, if they didn’t think we have the big bucks to absorb the technology??
Listen to this: “The 3-D system combines the agility and complexity of traditional home building with the precision and speed of robotic “ink jet” technology, producing complex design-driven homes faster, stronger and smarter. The system, which includes a highly manoeuvrable mobile platform outfitted with a proprietary printer head, “prints” entire houses with hydrophobic, self-binding geopolymer cement, eliminating the need for in-demand subcontracting crews that often contribute to extensive labour costs and delays. The system constructs homes in a matter of days, without the need for specialists such as brick layers, dry wall installers, roofers, carpenters, and their colleagues.” How about them apples, eh??
Additionally, there’re all the traditional ways of building houses and complexes – but bigger and better. Finally, Guyanese gonna have to start getting used to using wood that’s kiln-dried for walls and floors – so you don’t end up with buck-toothed gaps that have to be filled with putty!! But what impressed your Eyewitness most was the emphasis on educating all the builders and contractors who’ll be actually building this new Guyana – extending to roads and bridges.
You’ll learn how to get permits; including environmental ones we never bothered about!! How about “Highway Construction Designs”? Metrology, anyone?? Trust your Eyewitness, you wanna know about this if you want to build ANYTHING!! You wanna get into “Property Management, Real Estate Services, Commercial Real Estate Development”? Well come on down!! There are 25 modules that cover everything, from designing whatever you conceive of in construction, to delivering it to your customer.
Seriously folks, you know your jaded Eyewitness doesn’t gush. But this is the real deal if you want to get a piece of local content that’s not directly tied to the oil industry.
Excepting it’s gonna provide the money to make everything happen!!
…service wise
Now, while the Building Expo was in your face, over on Main Street, IPADA-G held its “Second Ujamaa Exhibition and Sale” on Thursday and Friday. It showed that we don’t have to jettison our traditions in order to make profits, and make a buck to live in dignity in this new Guyana!! As the organizers promised, there were “over 90 African Guyanese businesses in arts and crafts, agro-processing, self-care, home décor, African fashion”.
Your Eyewitness is firmly convinced that, as the big bucks start to circulate, folks gonna inevitably turn towards their roots. Once we take care of our basic needs, questions about “who we are” and how we can be more “authentic” appear. And that’s what your Eyewitness saw on Main Street on Friday. All he can say is: our country has real talent, and it’s just that, while grubbing and hustling for a living, we haven’t paid enough attention.
As for the “financial and institutional support needed”, IPADA-G has been holding seminars on soliciting these.
And with new financial institutions entering the market, that’ll be taken care of!!
…politically
And your Eyewitness was also very happy to see all our political reps in Parliament jousting verbally. The Opposition made some good points – even though their math was shaky!! – and folks are watching!!
