The Sattaur and Ameena Gafoor Multipurpose Auditorium at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus was officially commissioned today.
Estimated to have cost US$1.7 Million, the auditorium has the capacity to accommodate approximately 3,000 persons. It is considered to be the single largest auditorium in the country.
Heaping praise on the business magnates for constructing the facility, Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed, said the Gafoors did not hesitate to construct the facility when approached to assist with one of several projects.
The multi-purpose auditorium was the largest and most expensive project on the list provided.
“We were spending thousands, millions of dollars, any time we had an event here to rent it, to rent tents. Just to give you an idea of the scope of what we would pay just on renting tents, it would be for graduations between $8 and $15 just for five or six days, and of course the tents would leak and we would have post in the middle, etc,” the Vice Chancellor explained.
In addition to facilitating graduation and award ceremonies, the multi-purpose auditorium will also used for a number of sport disciplines, including cricket, football, and basketball.
The University also plans to use the facility to conduct exams for courses and programmes that attract a large number of students.
Registrar of the University of Guyana, Dr Nigel Gravesande said the Gafoors are known locally and in the region for their philanthropic interventions. He said the construction of the auditorium is just but one example of their generosity.
“The impact that this facility has had in hosting our annual graduation exercise, the last one was a total of seven ceremonies with over 3,000 graduates and what was instructive was that it hosted the graduation exercise from our centres run by the Institute of Continuing Education in one place, and it was the first time that many students were seeing their peers whether from Linden, Essequibo, Bartica, New Amsterdam in the same space to celebrate their success, and Dr Gafoor that allowed our students to understand the value of interaction in a common space,” the Registrar said.
In his address, Dr. Sattaur Gafood paid tribute to his late wife, and said she was the first to take up the project.
He said his wife, who was a philanthropist at heart and had contributed significantly to the development and expansion of dialysis services across the Guyana, took up the challenge of building the auditorium. As a former lecturer, he said the University of Guyana was close to her heart.
“We can see the advent of this choice taking vibrant shape, first, it had brought UG’s graduands back home. This, the largest institutions in Guyana, which can seat 3,500 persons now guarantees that our graduands can come to the stage on their own campus come rain or sun,” he said.
The multipurpose facility was constructed over a period of two years by the Gafoors in partnership with the University’s Office of Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement (PACE).
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