Former Honorary Consul for Germany and Austria in Guyana, Berend Ter Welle (Cacique Crown of Honour) CCH died on Sunday at his residence in Netherlands after a brief period of illness.
According to Ter Welle’s wife, Nirmala Ramroop Ter Welle, who broke the news in a social media post, “My hearts bleeds today and I am devastated… It is the most difficult day of my life and the hardest for me is to write this post informing you, the many persons and friends who know and love my dear husband, Ben.
“Ben passed away this morning 20th January, 2019 around 3:00 a.m. (CET) very peacefully.”
Head of State David Granger on Monday expressed sympathy to the wife, children and other relatives during the time of bereavement. The president in a statement said he is also saddened at the passing of Ter Welle.
In addition to serving as Honorary Consul, Ter Welle was also, at one time, the president of the Guyana Heritage Society.
His funeral service will be held on Thursday, 24th January, 2019 in the Netherlands.
He was born in 1946 in the countryside of The Netherlands, close to the border with Germany.
After training in Tropical Agriculture and a subsequent obligatory service of two years in the Military, Ben began his career at the National Dutch Centre for Applied Research, were he became a wood anatomist in the Forest Products Research Institute. Five years later he moved to the Utrecht University and became a lecturer at the Institute for Systematic Botany within the Faculty of Biology.
His career and life took a turn in 1997 with the appointment as team leader for the Natural Resources Management Project in Guyana, funded by the Government of Germany. Major activities in this project, which ended in December 2004, were the introduction of GIS Technology to the Guyanese Agencies involved in natural resources and the introduction of (regional) land use planning.
In February 2006 the Guyana Protected Areas System (GPAS) started. Again with funding from Germany. Ben was on a part-time basis as the team leader.
