HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Umana Yana (pronounced ''oo-man-a yan-na'') is a conical palm thatched hut ( benab) erected for the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference in Georgetown, Guyana in August 1972 as a V.I.P. lounge and recreation centre.


History

The Umana Yana is situated on Main Street next to the Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, it is now a permanent and much admired part of Georgetown's scenery, and is in constant use as an exhibition and conference centre. The structure is high and is made from thatched allibanna and manicole palm leaves, and wallaba posts lashed together with , turu and nibbi vines. No nails were used. It was erected by a team of about sixty Wai-Wai Amerindians, one of the nine indigenous tribes of Guyana. Fashioned like the Wai-Wai benabs or shelters which are found deep in Guyana's interior, it occupies an area of 460 square metres, making it the largest structure of its kind in Guyana. On April 7, 2001, the Umana Yana, along with the African Liberation Monument, was gazetted as one of Guyana's National Monuments. "Umana Yana" is a Wai-Wai word meaning "Meeting place of the people". Renovated in 2010, on September 9, 2014 the Umana Yana was gutted by fire and destroyed. The government planned to rebuild the national landmark as soon as possible, with better ventilation and to correct electrical issues which are suspected in the earlier fire.Umana Yana rebuilding pegged at $50M
Guyana Times, December 4, 2014.
Rebuilding started in late 2015 and was completed in 2016.


African Liberation Monument

On 26 August 1974, President
Forbes Burnham Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana, Prime Minister from 1964 ...
unveiled the African Liberation Monument outside the benab "in memory of all of those who have struggled and continue to struggle for freedom from Human Bondage". The monument consists of five polished Greenheart logs encased in a jasper stand on a granite boulder.


References


External links


Aerial view
{{Buildings in Guyana Buildings and structures completed in 1972 Event venues in Guyana Buildings and structures in Georgetown, Guyana National Monuments in Guyana