Government seems to be clueless about where it will be relocating the Walter Roth Museum, and as the days progress, Guyanese from all walks of life are expressing their disappointment at such a move.
People’s Progressive Party Chief Whip Gail Teixeira said that to date there have been more than 500 online signatures to the petition aimed at preventing the Ministry of the Presidency from moving ahead with relocating the museum.
She said the museum is a “living tribute to the Amerindian Peoples of Guyana from prehistoric times to now.”
Ironically, she said, like the decision to relocate the Stabroek Market vendors or close the Wales Sugar Estate, “they have no clue where they are relocating this museum” as a mandate given by Junior Minister of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson has been unsuccessful.
Last week, the Ministry of the Presidency said it was removing the Walter Roth Museum and its employees to the National Museum by the end of the year. This announcement came one day after Guyana Times broke the story about government’s plan to move the museum.
The museum was founded with the collections of Guyanese Archaeologist, Dr Denis Williams and in 1980, the ethnographic collections of Dr Walter Roth, Mr JJ Quelch and Sir Everardim Thurn were transferred to the museum from the National Museum.
The Walter Roth collections also include excavated artefacts from all 10 Administrative Regions.
The Walter Roth Museum was established in 1974 but did not open to the public until 1982. It is located on Main Street, Georgetown and is famous for its journals in some of the leading universities of the world.
