Guyana-China friendship park for 2024 completion

The Guyana-China friendship Joe Vieira Park on the West Bank of Demerara could be completed and commissioned as soon as next year as preparatory and construction works are progressing smoothly.

This was revealed by the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan during an invited comment at the commissioning ceremony for the Chinese-style pavilion, symbolising 50 years of bilateral relations between the two countries on Wednesday.

Ambassador Haiyan noted that the company contracted to design the park has already done its evaluation, and technicians from the construction company have already begun preparatory works.

“We have done some coordination to ensure the project…will go smoothly. If you visit there, you will see that there is already progress. We are planning to have our sod-turning ceremony soon,” the ambassador expressed.

The Guyana-China Joe Vieira Park is set to feature a Guyana-China Friendship  Monument, an amphitheatre, a picnic lawn, a stand canopy over a pond, twin pavilions, and grounds for football, tennis, and basketball.

When the implementation agreement was signed for the initiative, Ambassador Haiyan noted that although Guyana is rich in green spaces which serve as tourist attractions, many of them are in remote areas.

As such, she said that the new park will provide persons on the west bank with a modern public space near their homes, where they can enjoy the lakeside views, picnic times, fitness exercise, cultural events, and recreational activities.

The park, upon its completion, is set to be the equivalent of what the National Park is to Georgetown, to residents of the west bank.

The People’s Republic of China and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana established diplomatic ties on June 27, 1972.

Since then, the two countries have enjoyed collaboration in several areas, inclusive of education, sports, health, construction, and investment, among others.

In 2022, the two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of their friendship through multiple ceremonies and activities, among which were a China-Guyana table tennis tournament, a Chinese film festival, the issuance of a $50 commemorative coin valued at $6,500, an online cultural photo exhibition, and an investment webinar.