“Our culture - the traditions, the behaviours, and the way of life — that’s what keeps you going. I don’t know the answer to the dark times, but I know we have the ingredients in our culture to sustain us in those times when we may be despairing and feel afraid.” — Dave Martins

CULTURAL icon Dave Martins is absolutely positive that it is our own Guyanese culture that will help us “bounce back” from the “dark times” brought on by the two recent atrocities which left 23 dead and sent shockwaves across the nation.

He made this buoyant observation Friday as guest speaker of the annual awards ceremony of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), held at Le Meridien Pegasus hotel here in the city.

“Our culture — the traditions, the behaviours, and the way of life — that’s what keeps you going. I don’t know the answer to the dark times, but I know we have the ingredients in our culture to sustain us in those times when we may be despairing and feel afraid.

“It’s not new. We have done it over and over…We survived the Great Fire (of 1945 which destroyed the commercial heart of Georgetown and a host of architectural gems) caused widespread damage in Georgetown)…We survived the ‘Blackwatch’ (the patrolling British soldiers’ who were sent to Guyana in the post-Independence period)…We survived the riots…We survived the rigging, Oh God, rigging…We survived food shortages, no kerosene, no toilet paper…We survived the devaluation…And recently we survived the flood,” Martins quipped.

He said in each case, Guyanese gained the strength to cope through “culture.”

“Guyanese have learnt to adapt — except from African bees; you jump in the trench from duh — we learn to bounce back.”

It was Kit Nascimento, a member of the chairing committee of THAG, who started off what was billed to be a light evening of entertainment with a well-timed swing at the government.

“Guyana does not appear to be a safe place at this time to visit, but we are dedicated to making it so. That’s the message we need to get to the world,” Nascimento said, looking pointedly at Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad, who was sitting at the head table in the company of Acting President and Prime Minister, Mr. Samuel Hinds; British High Commissioner Mr. Fraser Wheeler and his wife; tourism pioneer, Captain Gerry Gouveia; and THAG Chairwoman, Ms Renata Chuck-A-Sang.

“The wrong message is to get up and say everything is fine, nothing is wrong… If you consult with any one of us you will be told the number of tourists has significantly reduced since the violence that has beset our nation. It is a serious mistake to believe that it is going to suddenly disappear,” Nascimento said, still addressing the Minister, who had no opportunity to respond.

Noting that there have been cancellations all across the board …at resorts … at hotels … and even in business visits, which have nothing to do with tourism, Nascimento said the tourism industry is in crisis, and the sooner the government acknowledges this and takes action, the better it will be for everyone.

One way of turning things around for the industry, he suggested, is by seriously rethinking the 14% Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed upon the sector, or making special concessions as countries like Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have done with their own industry.

“The government can help the industry by recognizing the fact that our pricing - our rates - which are rock bottom in hotels and resorts are still not competitive with South American, Central American and Caribbean rivals,” Nascimento said, adding that the product Guyana has to offer may be unique and often better, but not vastly superior and therefore the local industry is “in serious competition with surrounding destinations that can under-price us.”

And, in calling on the government to place more emphasis on marketing Guyana, he noted that while Guyana does not have the comparative resources of other Caribbean countries to spend, THAG has not seen the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) take up the suggestion of President Bharrat Jagdeo to use the internet as a marketing tool.

When Dave Martins took to the podium for his address, no one expected anything but a fun-filled episode. But even so, he conveyed the sober, but compelling message that Guyanese culture has the power to transcend any difficulty the country might face.

He took his audience back to 1967, when the Tradewinds became popular for ‘Honeymooning Couple’. It was his first trip back home in 11 years. His eyes welled up with tears. The times were rough. He was preparing his mind to meet people who were downcast, but despite the problems… “the political wars,” as he called them, he found Guyanese upbeat. complaining… rowing a li’l bit, but persevering, finding things to laugh at.”

He remembered once when there were lines “a mile long” for ‘kero’; “you couldn’t get ‘kero’ to buy.” He was playing at the Georgetown Club, and the then Forbes Burnham administration put on a fireworks spectacle on the eve of Mashramani. The song was: “You could look till yo eye ball drop out, you can’t get, yo can’t get, yo can’t get.”

As the band paused for the fireworks noise to go away, a man got up and started singing: “You can get fireworks in the sky, but you can’t get ‘kero’ to buy, you can’t get you can’t get, you can’t get.”

Dave Martins said he continues to come to Guyana every year, sometimes more than once, and every time he would come expecting gloom, he would see “these vibrant Guyanese all over the place and for years I was puzzled by that. How are these people coping?”

“I was going down to Hague (where he spent half his time here, and the other half at Vreed-en-Hoop, before migrating) in a taxi, pack up like sardine. The people were carrying on about every subject under the sun — gossip, laughter, opinions. It was almost like a mini Bourda Market on wheels, and it suddenly hit me: The Guyanese culture was the glue that was getting Guyanese through the hard times…the power and the sweep of the culture was helping these people to cope.”

That revelation, for Martins, was like turning on a torchlight in the dark Pomeroon River.

Martins said whatever he has achieved in life and in his career, “comes from here.”

“I refined it outside, and polished it outside, and made it better outside, but it came from here. The things I do, I learnt here.”