Just over six years after the 1823 Demerara Revolt monument was unveiled, the caretaker APNU+ AFC Coalition is moving to spend millions more on a new monument.
In August 2013, the 1823 monument located opposite the Guyana Defence Force’s Headquarters on the Sea Wall road, was officially unveiled in commemoration of the 190th anniversary of the 1823 slave revolt.
This historic slave revolt took place on Plantation Success, East Coast of Demerara on August 18, 1823 and quickly spread to other estates. It was led by freedom fighters such as Quamina, Parris, Hamilton, Achilles and many others, who struck a mighty blow against the system of plantation slavery.
It was the second of only two major slave revolts in Guyana’s history, occurring 60 years after that of 1763 in Berbice, then a Dutch colony. The monument was sculpted by Guyanese, Ivor Thom.
A ground breaking ceremony for the second 1823 monument is set for Sunday, September 8, 2019, at Parade Ground, Georgetown. The caretaker Coalition government has not explained its decision to construct a second 1823 monument – more so at a time when it has fallen with the passage of a no-confidence motion.