Body of woman who jumped off Kaieteur Falls spotted ; GPL staff saddened at her passing

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 November 2015, 23:31 by GxMedia

The body of the young woman, who jumped into the Kaieteur Falls gorge almost one week ago, has been spotted and preparations have begun to retrieve the remains, the Ministry of Tourism said Wednesday.

“The Ministry of Tourism and the National Parks Commission have limited access to certain sections of Kaieteur Falls and confirm that the body of the female visitor, Roshinee Pajwah who jumped off the ledge of the Falls has been spotted on the edge of the pool at the base of the Falls.”

Those agencies said efforts were now underway to send a recovery team into the Park to extract the body. The Tourism Ministry and the National Parks Commission explained that due to the complex logistics and the dangerous terrain, the recovery is expected to take a number of days. Sections of the Park will remain off limits to visitors until further notice.

Minister of Tourism, Catherine Hughes, had announced last Monday that this incident has forced authorities to come to the difficult decision to restrict visitors from the viewing ledge.

“This was a hard decision to make,” she said, pointing out that last Saturday’s incident has become a national issue that is being dealt with by a number of  stakeholders. “Our young people are to valuable to lose them like this,” she stated.

The Government of Guyana and the Tourism Ministry have conveyed condolences to the grieving family and we have collaborated with the Ministry of Human Services to deliver grief counseling services to the family.

Pajwah jumped over the falls on Saturday, November 21, 2015, despite efforts by park rangers and other personnel to grab her. She sprinted away from the group prior to boarding a plane to return to the coast.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Power and Light said it was “shocked and deeply saddened on learning of the tragic death” of Phagwah, a Customer Services Clerk at the company’s Commercial Services Department New Amsterdam.

GPL’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Interim Mr. Renford Homer along with its Welfare Officer Ms. Yvette Haynes, Public Relations Officer Ms. Shevion Sears-Murray and Staff from the New Amsterdam Commercial Office visited the bereaving family to offer condolences on behalf of Executive Management,  staff and the Minister of Public Infrastructure Mr. David Patterson.