A nine-year-old boy was put in a wardrobe and set on fire on Friday night, Central Division police has said. A woman, who was found at the scene with a candle in her hand, was detained by police. Investigators said Abeomi Jeremiah, a pupil of Tunapuna Boys’ RC, died under mysterious circumstances during a fire at his home on Alexander Street, Longdenville.

Police said he was found lying motionless on a bed with candle wax over his eyes, ears and nostrils. Police also seized a book of rituals from the scene. Jeremiah’s mother Ingrid Francis, 35, told police she was at home when she smelt smoke around 11.30 pm. She went to check on her children and found Jeremiah lying unconscious.

The hair of his 12-year-old sister, whose named was not revealed, was on fire. Relatives put out the fire and called the police. Investigators said when they arrived, they found a female relative with a candle in her hand. She was detained. 

Detectives said they were working on a theory that Jeremiah was put in the wardrobe and set afire. The fire was extinguished before it could spread to the house. The child was rushed to the Chaguanas District hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His sister, 12, is said to be warded at hospital. His sister, 13, is now receiving psychiatric assistance.

When the Guardian visited the scene, relatives remained tightlipped. A man, who had his locks wrapped in a turban, said the family did not want to release any information about the death. “You can stand there and ask all the questions, but you will get no answers from us,” the man said, while other relatives sat around talking and laughing. Police said an autopsy has been scheduled for tomorrow at the Forensic Science Centre. Investigations are continuing.

Flood victims from San Francique, Cap-de-Ville, Woodland and Barrackpore began cleaning up their flood ravaged homes even as they braced for more bad weather over the weekend. In the Oropouche West areas, MP Stacy Roopnarine was on hand with Cepep crews to bring relief to distressed residents. Close to a dozen families from Birbal Trace, Centeno Trace, Sukal Trace and Woodland mopped out water from their houses.

Vidiawatie Balkaran, who celebrated her 70th birthday was among those affected. She hugged Roopnarine and showed her damaged appliances. “We had to move out the carpet. All the chairs were soaked,” Balkaran said. Cepep worker Susan Harripersad assisted in wiping down some of the waterlogged furniture. At Pluck Road, caterer Bindra Bullock said she lost a fridge and pump when over two feet of water entered her home. 

She said a cylinder at Centeno Street had collapsed. “Since the last flood in August, I have not been able to open my barbecue shop and now this happened,” Bullock said. Roopnarine said most of the flooding was caused by drainage problems. She said numerous projects were ongoing in her constituency.

“There are two major projects at Alta Garcia Trace and Birbal Trace. Both projects are not yet complete but when it is completed it will alleviate the problems,” Roopnarine said. “The problem has more to do with roadside drainage rather than rivers,” she said. Roopnarine said two pumps were operating at the Woodland Flood gates and the Tulsa Trace picnic site to channel the water flow.

Several families whose roofs were blown off at Cap-de-ville and Salazar Trace, Point Fortin, were assisted by disaster management teams of the Siparia Regional Corporation.

15 trapped in ‘Grande’
Meanwhile, heavy rains in Sangre Grande left 15 families trapped inside their homes yesterday. The area was visited by Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Terry Rondon who tried to bring relief efforts to those affected by raging flood waters. Rondon, who described the deluge as terrible, said the flood victims had not yet received assistance. Many of the homes, Rondon said, were filled with debris and slush, which residents were cleaning up.

Rondon said yesterday’s downpour brought with it strong winds which felled many trees. Chief meteorologist Shakeer Baig has advised of more torrential rains. A bulletin posted by Baig said the rainfall was because of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).

Environmental activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has never promised anyone, including his family, that he would commit suicide. Instead, he is leaving his personal health up to his doctors to do whatever they feel is necessary and in keeping with their professional oath, whenever his body “relents”. 

Kublalsingh, who has embarked on a second round of fasting outside the office of the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to have the Debe/Mon Desir section of the project put on hold and reviewed, argued that his action was not about death but about life.

Q: Dr Kublalsingh, let’s get straight to the point: are you not engaging in a political f-a-r-c-e and not a fast?
A: (With a poker face, at his makeshift camp outside the Prime Minister’s office in St Clair, surrounded by some supporters on Wednesday, just before noon)  F-a-r-c-e…? This is a very deep engagement in the history of our nation. You listened recently to what a member of COP was saying?...Mr Dookeran is always talking about new politics, but he doesn’t talk about the economics. 

Are we talking about economics or about your f-a-r-c-e?
I said no, and I am explaining why I said it is not a political farce. I am talking about the deeper values.

Very well, but let’s stick to the issue at hand...a fast which you say is some kind of a cause, but yet you have politicians gracing your space here. Isn’t that an indication you have shifted your focus away from the highway re-routing campaign to opposition politics?
No. We have a number of visitors here. We have people from civil society, Fr Harvey came this morning, this is a free zone, this is a comfortable zone, and people feel a sense of peace coming here expressing…

Dr Kublalsingh, some time during your first such exercise, didn’t you say words to the effect that you were thinking about supporting the PNM because of the Government’s stand in this matter?
Well, I think your information is incorrect. I was asked by a journalist about the possibility of the PNM in the next (general) election, and I said they had a significant chance of victory. I have met with the Prime Minister on two occasions, I have met with the leadership of the Congress of the People, I have met the MSJ, I met Mr Rowley on two occasions. So I have given them equal attention, diplomatic attention.

I favour none of the parties. We are not involved in partisan politics. I do vote, but I don’t think I would publicly endorse any political party.

 I am sure, Dr Kublalsingh, you must be aware of the Trini penchant for giving people “basket” only to let them down when the going gets really sticky. Don’t you believe that some of these wannabe leaders have been leading you up the garden path?
Not at all, that’s not how we see it. I am the one who approached comrade (David) Abdulah for support, because I said when the elites have abandoned this cause, for whatever reason, they are the ones who have been constantly with us, and I find them eminently suitable to ventilate our issues.

The sceptics are saying that the human body cannot sustain the kind of fast you are undertaking without water for the length of time that you have been doing. We can do without food for some time, but without water for a day is just not on the cards.
The Prime Minister made us a promise to hold and review the section we are protesting against, which was reiterated in the Armstrong report, right? I am saying no food, no water until she abides by the recommendation in the report. But I think it is much more than the body; the body is one part of it…

You have to be practical: the body can go without food for much longer than without water…liquid.
I cannot explain the mystery of what I do, but very early in the morning I get up and sit in my wife’s garden, which is very cold, and I breathe in, and I expect to breathe in a little bit of moisture in the evening. When the sun goes down I do the same thing. To what extent that helps, I really don’t know, but that’s my programme.

You wouldn’t say you are an extraordinary human in that you do not drink water on a regular basis?
What is extraordinary is that God, the spirit, He makes these things possible. It is a mystery to me as well. It is a mystery to everybody else. At some point—I do not expect to last forever—at some point my body will relent, I know that. It is just a matter of time.

Dr Kublalsingh, are you taking this fast to its logical conclusion…the taking of your own life?
Oh, that has never been my conclusion, taking my life. This fast, this hunger strike is about life, it is not about death. I will never promise anyone that I would die. I have made a pledge to everyone, including my family. I have given my doctor strict instructions: if my body relents, if I have gone unconscious, they have full authority to deal with my body.

To save your life? (One of his female supporters wipes his greased feet with a damp towel).
They know what they have to do...

Including the taking...
(Interrupting the question) I expect they would stick by their professional code of conduct. My body can go only so far and if it relents, I can’t help after that: I wouldn’t be conscious to know what is going on. But I intend to just face the issue and go through until my body relents. I can’t do anything more than that.

Didn’t Mr Warner (when in government) wish you would die quickly? What do you make of his apology to you this time around?
Well, he apologised for breaking our camp and I accepted his apology, as I think he deserves the respect of forgiveness, and I have done that. We are about creating a revolution in new economics. We have to be able to value our society through its various assets, the human and sociological included. You understand the value of these assets—because if you don’t understand them, you can’t go to the market.

Dr Kublalsingh, you have broadened your concerns from the actual re-route campaign to other social and political issues...
Well, they have always been issues, they have never been different. In 2002 we undertook a huge attack on transparency and accountability; when you go and destroy all those human assets, when you destroy communities, the forests, the seas, the mountains, you have to justify why you are doing these things.

It is now 12.32 pm, Dr Kublalsingh. Have you had lunch yet?
(Breaks out in a hearty laugh) Well, my lunch today has been a very good interview with Clevon Raphael, sent by a beautiful solider and angel to consciously support us. I do a lot of praying and fasting, so lunch is much more than the material.
It is much more economic and financial...that is the point we want to make. There are a lot of spiritual and cultural values here (turning his head in the direction of his supporters).

Dr Kublalsingh, at what point do you think you would relent if the Government refuses to back down from its stand? ...and this is a two-point question: Is it your belief that the Government should base its policies on threats by citizens to stage a fast, and wouldn’t this be setting a bad precedent?
It is a bad precedent to make promises and not abide by them. When the Government does what she has promised, which is to put on hold and review the Debe/Mon Desir section of the highway, this hunger strike would come to an end immediately, if she agrees. She doesn’t have to do it, she only has to agree.

Weren’t you being a bit facetious saying that you were going to New York to meet with her last week?
Not at all. My life is at stake. I am totally within my rights to ask her for a meeting. It is within her rights to refuse. She refused the meeting, saying it would be unproductive.

Is it that you couldn’t ​afford the airfare to go to New York?
It is she who decided she would not meet me, so I had no choice. I hope when she comes back, she looks very thoroughly and carefully and would make the best decision on behalf of the people.

As a weakened Dr Wayne Kublalsingh enters the 19th day of his hunger strike today, some members of the public and civil society groups are promising their continued support for a man who they described as “a towering warrior” and “simply brilliant.”

On Thursday the signatures of 29 civil society groups backing Kublalsingh’s Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) delivered a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister, imploring PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar to resolve her Government’s impasse with the HRM. Kublalsingh intends to continue his hunger strike until he receives a response from Persad-Bissessar on a new proposed route for the Debe to Mon Desir section of the $7.5 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension.

The proposal is a main road with connecting roads to the highway. However, Persad-Bissessar has refused to budge. She said the matter was in the hands of lawyers and it would be inappropriate to discuss. Sunday Guardian spoke with some prominent people who are in solidarity with Kublalsingh.

Minshall: It’s frightening
Veteran masman Peter Minshall has thrown his support behind Kublalsingh. He said it was frightening when our leaders abuse our environment and the integrity of our people purely to fill their purse. 

“That is frightening. It is abominable. We trusted you. You were our new hope on the horizon. This country has suffered serial rape over the last 50 years. This whole thing has become horrible, repugnant and repulsive, and it just does not make sense to mash up a lagoon and mountain. We are addicted to money...and if you are addicted to power, it does make sense.” 

Minshall said one thing he has learned from freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi is never apologise for being correct or being years ahead of your time. “If you are right and you know it, speak your mind even if you are the minority of one.” 

He said in our midst “we have a towering warrior, his name is Kublalsingh. When I look at Kublalsingh, I see those ideals incarnate. He is the avatar of love, truth, beauty and integrity amongst us. He is prepared to die for what he believes in. I give you Gandhi and I give you Wayne with the same breath.” He said, “If this thing ends tragically, the whole country will carry a stain and a dark cloud will befall us.

“We have all been too quiet, too frighten, and too subject to the propaganda to get together and say no.”

Abdulah: PM hiding behind petticoat of the court
Political leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah said his organisation and the HRM share the same principle of integrity, and it was for this reason he started supporting Kublalsingh in 2012. Abdulah said he does not believe that Persad-Bissessar’s hands are tied on the matter and that she could come to some sort of resolution.

“She is trying to hide behind the petticoat of the court. A matter can be before the court but parties can meet and arrive at an agreement. There are avenues for dialogue.” He said if Kublalsingh should die, the psyche of our people will change. “Our politics will not be the same either.”
 
Farmer: I will do everything to ensure that Kublalsingh does not die
Rosanna Farmer, the director of an environmental project, said she was drawn to the HRM because of Kublalsingh’s brilliance and strong will. “Knowing his level of integrity...those are things that got me involved.”  Having fought against the establishment of the aluminium smelter in 2006 with Kublalsingh, Farmer said she joined the fight with the HRM on the sixth day of Kublalsingh’s first hunger strike. She continues to be at his side up to this day.

“He has courage that I have never known. Wayne is a blessed human being and a gift to the nation because there is no one that I know who would do what he is doing. To survive this long is incredible,” said Farmer.

Farmer said she hoped the Armstrong Report would be given consideration. She also said she will do everything in her power to ensure that Kublalsingh does not die. “I definitely feel that I would be part of a movement that would carry his vision and dreams.”

Boodhai: It’s an injustice
 Shereen Boodhai, a pharmacist, said she was compelled to join HRM in 2011 after realising the extent of destruction that was going to take place with the construction of the highway.
 “I was in the United Kingdom for a while and when I came back to my community in San Francique and discovered what was happening, it was clear that this was an injustice and unfair to hard working people by a Government who did not want to listen.”

Hodge: I will continue to rally behind the HRM
University lecturer, Dr Merle Hodge said she has been supporting the HRM because it is a group that is concerned about the impact on the environment and communities, the cost of the highway, and lack of transparency. 
A colleague of Kublalsingh at the University of the West Indies, Hodge said she will continue to rally behind the HRM’s efforts.

Lucie-Smith: Many things have gone wrong
Founder of the Adult Literacy Tutors Association Paula Lucie-Smith, who joined several civil society groups to deliver a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday, said citizens have allowed successive governments to do as they see fit with the public purse and any voices that are raised tend to be humiliated.
“There is a fear of victimisation that has become so pervasive in our country that it worries me mentally. If it is that citizens cannot voice their legitimate concerns on the $7.5 billion that is being spent and is not transparent, where proper studies have not been done, we need to take this as a test case.”
Lucie-Smith said it appeared that many things have gone wrong.

Hosein: The struggle will not end with Kublalsingh
University lecturer and activist Dr Gabrielle Hosein said the optimum connectivity proposal of the HRM “should make the Government stop and consider if this is a better option.” A member of the Trinidad chapter of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research & Action, Hosein said we have to recognise the value of those who stand up when others do not because principles are at stake. “This is not a struggle that began with Dr Kublalsingh and will not end with him.”
On Thursday Hosein called on citizens to support the women of the HRM to make the country understand that people are being affected by the impasse.

People’s National Movement (PNM) leader Dr Keith Rowley is again warning that the People’s Partnership Government has put the lives of citizens, including those abroad, at a greater risk by co-sponsoring a United Nations resolution aimed at tackling global terrorism. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar made the decision to co-sponsor the resolution at a meeting of the UN Security Council, chaired by United States President Barack Obama at UN headquarters, New York, two weeks ago.

But at the Diego Martin West Constituency’s annual conference at the Point Cumana Community Complex in Point Cumana yesterday, Rowley accused the PM of wanting to take on the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis). Describing Persad-Bissessar’s actions as wild and reckless, Rowley added, “That action by the prime minister has put every citizen at greater risk both and home and abroad.

“And when you asked the prime minister whether she consulted Caricom, she said she talked to Ramlogan and Griffith. And if we did not know before, we now know we are in trouble because our foreign policy is now the random thoughts of Ramlogan and Griffith.” He said T&T was incapable of fighting crime on Duncan Street, Port-of-Spain, far less tackling the now globally feared Isis, which has targeted non-military citizens of countries seen as allies to the US with deadly force.

As such, Rowley reiterated his statement that co-sponsoring the resolution could have serious repercussions for citizens. Describing the move by Persad-Bissessar as “no laughing matter,” Rowley said there was no need for the PM to expose T&T to possibly attacks by Isis jihadists in such a fashion, since once the resolution was passed by the majority, every member country of the UN was bound by it, even if a member county was absent when the resolution was passed.

“Trinidad and Tobago and the United States are very close friends,” he said “They are our major trading partner but their business and their interest may not necessarily on every occasion be our business and our interests.” He said the resolution was largely aimed at the current war in Syria and Iraq, where Muslim extremists of the “worst kind” were trying to claim territories and terrorists were trying to build a case for themselves.

“And anybody who get in their way they would deal with you. I am not saying we are outside that, because the world is now a global village, but when there is war and you take up the flag to carry in front of the army you are a target of the opposition,” Rowley said. He also clarified statements by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan that he was not in support of the resolution.

Saying he was in fully support of it, Rowley called on Persad-Bissessar to say what she was thinking when she made the decision. “I never said we should not vote for the resolution. I think we should vote for the resolution. What is the thinking to go and be a co-sponsor of the resolution if you are attracting unwanted attention to yourself?

“Because in any case it is a declaration of war on the terrorists. It is a declaration of war against their actions which are reprehensible. But we have also to be sensible in the environment...you do what you have to do.” He said Persad-Bissessar only made the decision to co-sponsor the resolution so as to “prostrate” herself on the world stage for her “minions” to laud her efforts.

Two separate videos have been posted on the internet allegedly showing fighters with T&T links involved in the Isis conflict in recent weeks. One of the videos, which runs for 47 seconds, was posted earlier this year on United Kingdom-based video-sharing website LiveLeak.

The video entitled, “21 plus....Graphic and Disgusting...Foreign terrorists in Syria playing with the head of a Syrian citizen after they beheaded him,” purports to show Islamic insurgents playing with the head of a decapitated man in Syria, and features a man talking with what appears to be a Trinidadian accent. The second was posted by ISIS media arm Al-Hayat on August 2. Titled, “Eid greeting from the land of Khilafah,” it sought to invite international Muslims to join the self-proclaimed caliphate.

That video also showed an ISIS fighter, who identified himself as Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi encouraging Muslims to join the organisation. “I’m feeling like I’m still dreaming,” Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi, who reports said was a US fighter originally from Trinidad, said in the video. “You have to be here to understand what I’m saying. If you stand away you will not understand,” he added.

Al-Trinidadi was holding a young child in his hand and was standing with another man who was identified as having Trini roots as well. (To see it, scroll to 15.20.)

Al-Trinidadi’s interview was used in a subsequent CNN report highlighting the death of American-born Isis fighter Douglas McArthur McCain in Syria. McCain was the second American who has been killed fighting for Isis. That CNN report also highlighted the fact that hundreds of foreigners were joining the Isis cause.

Local Muslim organisations have, however, denied any knowledge of Trinis’ involvement in Isis fighting. When asked to confirm whether there were Trinis involved with Isis during her trip to New York, Persad-Bissessar said there was no evidence to prove this.

Who will be giving assistant Police Commissioner Wayne Dick assignments following the controversial buying out of his pre-retirement leave and what will be the nature of these assignments? These were questions raised by Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley during a political meeting in Point Cumana yesterday.

He said the decision to purchase Dick’s leave although the recommendation was rejected by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams was a blatant example of Government interfering in the affairs of the Police Service. This, Rowley added, was very worrisome. “What I do know is that somebody else is running the Police Service,” Rowley said.

“If the deputy commissioner of police is not recommended by the police commissioner so as to buy out his leave and nobody takes the police commissioner seriously, and Cabinet then buys out the leave of the deputy police commissioner then the Cabinet is running the Police Service.”   

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly at the time the decision was made, has since deferred the buyout to a Cabinet sub-committee in the wake of concerns raised by Williams and Police Social and Welfare Association president Inspector Anand Ramesar. 

In questioning what would now be Dick’s functions, Rowley painted a scenario which involved himself.

“Suppose the assignment is to get Rowley in trouble before the general election? Suppose I am coming down the bus route one night and this commissioner stop me and he look in my car and he open the back door and he go in the trunk and close it back and I gone home and when I reach home a couple of police officers come to my door, open my trunk and it have a bag of weed inside there. What is my position? “This commissioner could be beholden to the Cabinet and the prime minister,” Rowley said.

Although no specific cost can be given at this time, the cleanup effort for the Sangre Grande region, one of the hardest hit by floods and damage caused by torrential rains over the past few days, will be expensive, Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Terry Rondons aid yesterday. “Tomorrow (today) when we get back to the office we are going to assess all that has happened,” Rondon told the T&T Guardian.

“Since Thursday we were out in Valencia, so we do not have a cost as yet. But it is an expensive exercise we went through. We had trucks on the road, workers and other resources. We are not only thinking of the cost but also the people and getting to families that have been affected for three days.” He said yesterday they finished cleaning up Marchak and Adventist Streets in Sangre Grande. 

Up to Saturday, 15 families had been trapped in their homes because of the flood waters, he added. “The regional corporation came out in full force and they did a fantastic job with limited resources. There were families trapped on Marchak Street, but water subsided by Saturday night and we got these families out and started to sanitise their yards,” he said. He said the corporation went beyond the call, but now the Central Government has to do its part.

“The regional corporation are the first responders, but we are not the people to make a thorough assessment of what has happened. We appeal to the Government, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Works, Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC), Telecommunication Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), they have to come in and make their assessment. We all have to look at the cost and extent of the damage done,” he said.

Rondon also said T&T is not prepared if a natural disaster hits on a large scale. “The regional corporations still have to wait for the government to give instructions before we can act during an emergency. We still do not have autonomy to do the job,” he said. “If a roof is blown off someone's house we must have the autonomy to make a decision on the spot. After we give people some food and a mattress, what else can we do?”

Diego Martin Regional Corporation chairman Daryl Smith said while they did have any major flooding, they were now assisting people whose homes were damaged by felled trees and other objects. “We were not affected as badly as the Sangre Grande and other areas. There were about 30 houses with roofs that were blown off and Self Help and other agencies are helping us with that. Our councillors were on the ground with them trying to get material and labour to those who need it quickly,” he said.

Acknowledging Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh’s claim that there is no “quick fix” to the drainage problem in Diego Martin, Smith said he had submitted a drainage plan, but their budget is much smaller than what they had requested. 

“We got less than what I requested, so now we have to again heavily rely on the Ministry of Water Resources to come in and do a study so when dry season comes in they can do their cement work and other things to upgrade the drains. This is not a quick fix and it could take some years. Cleaning is not the only solution we need to build retention walls and big wider drains,” he said.

The Meteorological Office yesterday indicated T&T is no longer under a flood watch. As such, those bulletins were discontinued yesterday morning. 

Valued by archaeologists around the world, the sacred 7,000-year-old pre-Columbian burial grounds in Penal are falling into ruins, despite the allocation of money in the 2013/2014 budget for protection of heritage sites. Banwari Trace is the oldest pre-Columbian archaeological site in the West Indies, dating back to about 5,000 BCE or 7,000 BP (years Before Present). 

In 2004, the Banwari site was listed as one of the world’s endangered heritage sites by the internationally-acclaimed magazine World Monuments Watch. It is where Trinidad’s oldest resident, Banwari Man (Woman), is buried and where middens of extinct fresh water shellfish can still be found. The heritage site, virtually unknown to most T&T locals, sits in the Prime Minister’s constituency. 

In the last budget, preservation of T&T’s heritage was outlined as a top priority for the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration. However, historian Angelo Bissessarsingh said not enough is being done to protect T&T’s heritage. When the T&T Guardian visited the historical Banwari Trace site in San Francique, Penal, last week, an unfinished concrete structure was seen in the centre of the site. Two signs giving details of the site’s discovery lay on the ground, rotting away in the dirt.

Hamlet Harripersad, who lives next to the burial grounds, said it was a tragedy that few Trinidadians knew or appreciated the value of the Banwari heritage site. He said monies were spent to fence the property and start construction of washroom facilities, but this was not in sync with the vision of the National Trust.

“What they envisioned was a re-creation of an old Amerindian community, complete with the thatched houses and hammocks. They planned to put the artefacts on display so that people will be educated on how they lived,” Harripersad said. He added that bureaucratic wranglings between the Siparia Regional Corporation and the National Trust stymied the realisation of this vision.

Harripersad said he could still remember when Prof Peter Harris and an archaeological crew made the astonishing discovery of the ancient remains. “They used to sit right here and educate me. They said this shows the patterns of migration of the archaic peoples from the South American mainland to the Lesser Antilles.” Bissessarsingh said the migration occurred via Trinidad between 5,000 and 2,000 BCE. 

But he explained that many historical sites were not on the gazetted list, and thus were often left to ruin. “That site in Banwari Trace is an example of how little we take care of our heritage,” Bissessarsingh said. He explained that a private developer had destroyed a large portion of the site before it was officially acquired by the government.

The site was visited last week by US-based environmental scientist Dennis Ramdahin, who said it was important to protect the site, which is a short distance away from the disputed Debe point of the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the Point Fortin Highway, which is currently being challenged by the Highway Re-route Movement.

Leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has rejected an appeal by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran to end his hunger strike and to drink a glass of water. Instead, Kublalsingh has described Dookeran’s requests as “insulting.”

Kublalsingh yesterday completed 19 days of his second hunger strike as he leads the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) in protest against the Debe to Mon Desir section of the Point Fortin Highway extension. He will return to his position outside the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair today to continue his action.

The group and Kublalsingh continued to call for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to halt work on the leg and reassess the economic, environmental and social impacts of the section, as was recommended in the John Armstrong report, and its alternative route proposal.

Archbishop Joseph Harris and Anglican Bishop Claude Berkeley have also called on the PM to meet with Kublalsingh on the issue. In a release on the weekend, they also invited the public to pray on the matter, saying they hoped the two could find it in their hearts to “take two steps towards each other.” The HRM has maintained they remain in favour of the main artery of the highway into Point Fortin, which they believe is desperately needed by communities in that part of south Trinidad.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Kublalsingh said he spoke to Dookeran via phone late Friday evening. “Dookeran called me and said he wanted to meet with me. He told me he was very troubled by what was happening. I told him having a meeting with him made no sense at this time,” Kublalsingh said.

“I told him his Government is filled with white collar criminals and if he really wanted to help the Highway Re-Route Movement he should intercede on our behalf and advise the prime minister on the benefits of our optimum connectivity proposal and try to convince her to meet with our technical team.” 

Their new proposal, he said, is based on a main road, similar to the connecting roads in the area, running from the Debe interchange across the main road at Gandhi Village, parallel to Debe Trace, crossing Suchit Trace, across to Gopie Trace, running parallel to Raju Trace, crossing San Francique Main Road, and on to the SS Erin Main road south of the San Francique/SS Erin Main Road. 

“This main road is based on the concept of connector road. Connector, link, by-pass, auxiliary, feeder roads go around communities and are less destructive than highways where huge economic, social and ecological resources are at risk,” Kublalsingh said. 

“It would be built at the level and width of other roads in the area and so will fit into the general road architecture, not disrupt and fragment it. There will be no need for large destructive interchanges at Penal, Siparia, Fyzabad or overpasses and underpasses. It will take approximately minutes at most to get from one end to the other.”  

La Brea MP Fitzgerald Jeffrey is calling for independent environmentalists to monitor communities stricken by oil spills attributed to State-owned Petrotrin.  Jeffrey made the call after pointing out that dozens of residents from La Brea are still suffering from the effects of the 11 oil spills which occurred late last year. “People are still getting hair loss, skin irritations and nausea. At least two families have moved out of La Brea,” Jeffrey told the T&T Guardian in a telephone interview. 

He added that several people have sought legal advice and are in the process of filing lawsuits against Petrotrin. However, he said not all residents can afford to take legal action. Jeffrey’s call comes even as Marabella resident Wendy Brewster was last week diagnosed with benzene poisoning following an oil spill at Petrotrin’s main refinery. She remains hospitalised. The MP said every day his office staff receives cries for help from oil spill victims. 

He said the EMA was compromised and would not do a proper assessment, hence his call for independent environmentalists to join in the post-spill process in La Brea. “I can say this because when the oil spill first occurred, the EMA officials called for evacuation but afterwards they said there was no need to evacuate even though so many people were falling ill,” Jeffrey said. 

Chair responds
Contacted on the issue, EMA chairman Dr Allan Bachan said Jeffrey’s comments were unfortunate. “The EMA is a regulatory authority and our responsibility is to be fair, balanced and following the rule of law. Our role is to undertake the necessary investigations and we cannot act on the basis of emotions in the absence of fact,” Bachan said. Describing Jeffrey’s comments as “reckless,” Bachan said ongoing investigations were still taking place in La Brea.

“We are independent and whatever statements we make must be backed by sound science and proper data. We are monitoring the impact of the oil spill on plant, human and marine life and when our investigations are complete we will make it public,” Bachan said. He said toxicity levels are being checked in the mangroves and rivers. He noted that although there is no visible sign of oil, there has been seepage into the sand, which could kill the mangroves.

“This has to be monitored over a long term basis,” Bachan explained. He said there was no need to call in foreign environmentalists to monitor the impact, adding the EMA will make a fair and balanced statement and will recommend remedial action as needed. 

In December 17, Petrotrin experienced a rupture on its No 10 sea line spilling 7,453 barrels of fuel oil into the sea. Several areas including Queen beach, Station beach, Coffee beach and Brighton were affected by the spill. This was followed by ten other spills. The company was subsequently fined $20 million by the EMA.

The mother of teenager Recardo Mohammed has raised fresh questions over the circumstances surrounding her son’s death, as she claims the Special Reserve Policeman (SRP) whose gun fatally wounded the 17-year-old was well acquainted with her family. Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, exactly two weeks after her son died after being shot during a party at the Military Museum in Chaguaramas, Telisha Charles said her family was still at a loss as to the cause of the shooting. 

However, she said the family does not believe the officer’s prior interaction with them was a mere coincidence. “It so hard to believe. I want to see him (name withheld) to ask him what really went on, cause he know all my children,” Charles said. She said she and her four children first met the SRP several years ago at a fast food outlet at the Valley Harps Steel Orchestra’s Morne Coco Road, Petit Valley panyard. 

The T&T Guardian understands that the SRP was involved in an altercation with Mohammed several months ago. Saying that the investigation into her son’s death should be completed quickly to bring closure to her family, Charles said she hoped there would be no cover-up by police investigators. Charles also questioned why the SRP remains on active duty while the investigation is ongoing. 

Diego Martin Central MP Dr Amery Browne made a similar call last week. “It is madness. What stopping him from doing it again?” Charles said. In a newspaper interview on Saturday, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams promised a transparent and speedy investigation, as he said he could only make a decision on the SRP after he receives an interim report from investigators. 

Williams does not have to authority to suspend the SRP as is the case with normal police, but can inform him that his services are not required for a period. “It will not just be treated as a matter of somebody being killed by a police gun, (but) it is being treated with the highest level of consideration,” Williams said. Shortly before 6 am on September 28, Mohammed, a labourer from Cuthbert Road, Diego Martin, was shot in his back while liming with friends at the party. 

He was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Immediately after the incident, police claimed that Mohammed was accidentally wounded when the SRP’s gun discharged as he was jostling with another partygoer he was attempting to arrest for smoking marijuana. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harold Phillip is leading the team of detectives mandated to investigate the incident. 

My name is Sonya Singh and I sell homemade sweeties.

I’m from Maracas Bay. But I don’t sell shark-and-bake. There’s too many people selling shark-and-bake. I rather come in town and sell fudge.

I grew up in Maracas Bay and know all the families. It’s a small community. It’s very peaceful, with no crime. A neighbour might quarrel with you but they not going to rob you.

I’m the first child. I have two sisters, no brothers. I don’t have a family yet but it’s on its way. My husband is Richie Seelal. And we have a child coming. We’re going to find out the gender when we have an ultrasound. We want to be prepared whether it’s a boy or a girl. But I only have a boy name in mind: Richie Vance Seelal.

I went to Maracas RC Primary School then I attended Tranquility Secondary. A long ride every morning. It had a school bus, but it left too early, so I travelled. Every day, on my own. I think I was five years old when I started primary school. So I was independent from young. I wasn’t frightened.

I met my husband Richie at my mum’s preserve stall on the Maracas Lookout. He’s from Cunupia. We live Maracas Bay. It’s a real change to come from Maracas every weekday and breathe the toxic town air.

We reach home about half-six every evening. We drive. It makes it a lot easier. Except for the traffic through Maraval.

I’m from Maracas, the most popular beach in Trinidad, but I can’t swim. Richie come from Cunupia and he could swim better than me. He’s trying to teach me. But he not getting too far.

I grew up in the preserve and sweet business. My mom taught me to make the sugarcake, the fudge, the tamarind balls, pawpaw balls. And the chow! But I don’t like sweets myself.

Once I went J’Ouvet but it wasn’t my thing and I don’t take part in Carnival. Too much wildness. All those boys trying to grab you!

I’m not a church girl but my mom taught me to be respectful. So I respect myself.

I went to the Roman Catholic school but I’m actually Hindu. But I’ve never been to temple.

When all of Trinidad heads up to Maracas on a Sunday, Maracas people don’t resent it at all. It’s nice for business. And I don’t have to deal with any crowds or any drunk people because I stay home on a Sunday. I live at Maracas Bay but I will go to the beach once, maybe twice, for the year.

Richie and I work together. We get up at half-five every morning, sometimes earlier, go to the market, and reach to the store in town minutes to seven. And we open when we reach. We get the perishables fresh from the market every morning.

We get a lot of crazies. We right on the street and they walk right up to the counter. I do feel unsafe if Richie is not here but I try not to make eye contact with people that look like they might trouble me. I just keep quiet.

I make the preserves and sweets every weekend, enough to last for the week. It’s real satisfying to make food for people, even sweets.

The best part of the job is the independence of it. I like working for myself. Not for other people. The worst part is having to deal with troublesome customers. Which we get.

A Trini is a person who likes to gossip. A lot. And they like to party. Hard.

Trinidad & Tobago means a lot to me. We have such a beautiful country. It so tropical, sunny – sometimes rainy – it’s just so peaceful and nice. Despite all the crime that we have.

• Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley says the People’s National Movement (PNM) has no problem with this country voting to support a United Nations resolution against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis). Rowley made the comment in a release issued in response to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan’s condemnation of an earlier statement he made, indicating that the T&T Government should have refused to support United States President Barack Obama’s UN Resolution against the terrorist group. 

Ramlogan had said on Wednesday that the resolution sought to build a global partnership in the international community to meet the mounting challenge of terrorism. The AG said: “The war against terrorism is not one from which any nation can afford to stay away. It is our collective duty and responsibility to join hands to protect our citizens.” Ramlogan said it was backward and anachronistic for any potential leader to say this country has to be careful to walk among the gears and don’t get crushed.  

“It is clear that Dr Rowley has no idea of foreign policy and he has no vision for Trinidad and Tobago beyond our shores,” Ramlogan added. But on Thursday Rowley said the PNM, which has successfully guided Trinidad and Tobago’s foreign policy since independence in 1962, has consistently made a clear distinction between voting in support of a resolution as against sponsoring or co-sponsoring a resolution. 

He said when T&T sponsors or co-sponsors a resolution at the UN, “it means that we are leading the charge on the issue.” Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar, Rowley said, has co-sponsored a resolution sharply focused on Isis and the developments directly associated with the geopolitics of the brutality and increasing instability of the Middle East.”

“It is disingenuous for the Attorney General and others in the Cabinet to misrepresent the PNM position as not condemning acts of terrorism. At no time was it said that Trinidad and Tobago should not vote for the resolution,” Rowley said. The PNM leader said Persad-Bissessar’s decision to sign was done for public relations promotion, and done so without consultation in the country or at Caricom level.

Rowley said given the nature of the politics, the focus of the issue and the country being unprepared, we should “avoid appearing to be leading the charge against situations which our Government don’t fully understand and about which no one has been consulted.” “Matters of this nature are far too important and far reaching for our nation to be left to the vaps of the spin doctors surrounding the Prime Minister,” he added.

The Government and the Opposition have been critical of each other in the mater and have been issuing statements almost on a daily basis to defend its respective position on the matter.

National Security Minister Gary Griffith has knocked Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley for statements Griffith says essentially opposed a global response to a global terrorist threat. During a political meeting in Pt Cumana on Sunday, Rowley suggested Trinis here and abroad were in increased danger as a result of T&T’s co-sponsorship of the United Nations Resolution on Isis. 
Saying nothing could be further from the truth, Griffith, in a press release yesterday, said over 100 governments and their national security advisers took a similar stance on the global response to the Isis threat.  

Against this united global response, Griffith queried whether if the PNM were in government it would adopt a stand alone position against global allies. Saying to pull out of the resolution would result in T&T being seen by the world as unprepared to prevent terrorism.  Griffith said: "If you are not actively against terrorism then it may appear as if one supports and condones it by inaction and ill-advised opposition. "Among world leaders speaking on this issue, Barack Obama, President of the United States himself, said, 'No God condones this terror. No grievance justifies these actions. There can be no reasoning, no negotiation,with this brand of evil. 

‘The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death.’”  Rowley has said he is not against support of the resolution but rather the manner in which Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar publicly announced her support of it. He said that, in his view, the PM put the lives of Trinis locally and abroad at risk, since Isis has been known to target allies of the countries fighting against them and particlarly those linked to the United States.

He said terrorist threats had already infiltrated T&T’s shores since 199, when six nationals went to Libya and returned with a cache of terrorist-based intelligence and activity.
But by joining the league of nations opposed to terrorism in all its forms, T&T country had evolved in global diplomacy and was now a beneficiary to intelligence on an international scale, strengthening security and border protection, Griffith said.
"Isolationism is not an option in matters such as these and I again call on the Leader of the Opposition to desist from this path of sensationalising serious issues and to re-focus his energies on more important nation-developing issues in a more mature and responsible fashion,” Griffith said. 

He added: "The Leader of the Opposition’s utterances continue to negatively affect our national security, as the constant reference to the issue, the heightened sense of sensationalism, attracts the wrong strains of attention, giving the impression that our nation can be perceived as a soft target, with little resolve to respond in a decisive, effective and swift manner against any terrorist threat."
He said no nation could adequately respond to terrorism by simply doing nothing and to make such statements showed a lack of understanding of matters of national and global security. (GK)

Local Muslim groups will hold emergency meetings this week to discuss reports that T&T Muslims have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) in their current jihadist war in Iraq and Syria.
Isis, now also known as the Islamic State, has been paying US$1,000 a day to Muslims who join the terrorist group’s fight, which some locals believe is one of the lures for Trinis. Muslims from other countries have been joining the campaign and in a video last month highlighting the killing of a US citizen in the fighting, CNN featured a segment with two Isis fighters believed to have Trinidadian links. 

One of the fighters was identified as Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi, in an apparent reference to his Trini heritage. Isis has already claimed responsibility for beheading several hostages — American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British national Alan Henning and Scottish aid worker David Haines. In an interview yesterday, president of the Trinidad Muslim League Nasser Mustapha said he was shocked that locals were being lured to join Isis. “They are using our religion for their misguided aims. Scholars have written a lot about this but joining Isis is not the way to paradise. These fighters are taking things out of the proper context and using it for their misguided aims,” he said.

Mustapha said people were joining Isis because of ignorance. He added: “I am very shocked to know that Trinidadians could be involved in this. “It is very unfortunate that we have reached to this stage. I am praying for them to return to sanity, balance and objectivity. People have lost their direction by supporting those who are involved in these barbaric things. I pray for them to regain their sanity.” Mustapha said he would hold a meeting later this week to discuss the latest development in which two videos were posted on the internet, allegedly showing fighters with T&T links involved in the Isis conflict. Saying the TML is “definitely not in support of what the Isis is doing,” Mustapha said this would have a long-term effect on the reputation of local Muslims. “In our society Muslims enjoy a fairly good relationship with people in our communities. So far people have exhibited a fair amount of tolerance and understanding,” Mustapha added. 

He said he did not think the Government should ban locals from travelling to the Middle East as a result of that. “People go for there for legitimate reasons, like business or studies. There should not be a ban but more careful verification of people who are travelling,”  he noted. Mustapha also expressed support for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s co-sponsoring of the US resolution against terrorism and Isis at the recent United Nations Security Council meeting in New York. President of the Islamic Missionaries Guild Imtiaz Mohammed also urged locals to stay away from terrorist groups like Isis. Having visited high-risk cities on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mohammed said most people in the Middle East wanted peace, and if Muslims wanted to go there it should be to bring peace, not war.

“Prophet Mohammed (Peace be Unto Him) has forbidden women and children from going to the battlefield, so to take your family to Syria is going against the words of the Prophet,” Mohammed said. “I would urge all Muslims to not get involved in this fight. Do not go to Syria. We don’t understand what Isis’s intentions are, so do not join.”  Meanwhile, president of the Anjuman Sunnat ul Jamaat Association, Yacoob Ali, said his executive would also meet this weekend to discuss the latest development. He said while the situation was worrisome, he did not want to comment until the issues were discussed.

AG: T&T not immune
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said yesterday  it was impossible to verify whether the Muslims linked to Isis in the recent video were indeed of Trinidadian heritage. “While the authenticity of the videos cannot be established, it cannot be ignored nor discounted,” Ramlogan said.  However, he said, T&T had already suffered from the attacks of terrorists. “We have had bombings in Port-of-Spain, shots being fired at President Noor Hassanali’s car, the July 1990 insurrection and the conviction of Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for joining a failed plot to firebomb John F Kennedy Airport in 2007.”

He said T&T is also not immune to the effects of terrorism.  “Silence is not an option except for a weak leader like Dr Keith Rowley,” Ramlogan said.  He challenged Rowley to write a letter to US President Barack Obama saying why he did not support the co-sponsoring of the US security resolutions against foreign terrorist fighters. Rowley, however, has said he did not challenge T&T’s support of the resolution but rather the open manner in which PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar did so at the UN, saying he believed it would open T&T nationals at home and abroad to possible reprisals from Isis fighters.

More on videos
Two videos believed to show Trinidadian members of ISIS have been circulating online since last month. One video, entitle, “21 plus... Graphic and Disgusting...Foreign terrorists in Syria playing with the head of a Syrian citizen after they beheaded him,” purports to show Islamic insurgents playing with the head of a decapitated man in Syria. It features a man speaking in what appears to be a Trinidadian accent giving a ball-by-ball account of what is transpiring as the video was being shot. 

The second was posted by Isis media arm Al-Hayat on August 2, titled “Eid greeting from the land of Khilafah.” This video sought to invite international Muslims to join the self-proclaimed caliphate. One Isis fighter, who identified himself as Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi, encouraged Muslims to join the organisation. Al-Trinidadi is standing next to another man also believed to be Trinidadian and both men are fully armed while carrying children on their shoulders.

All is forgiven between leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and chairman of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Jack Warner. Warner, who visited Kublalsingh’s camp just before 11 am yesterday, firmly held the hand of the environmental activist and offered him words of comfort. Kublalsingh and members of the HRM have set up a camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, in protest against the State’s decision to construct a Debe to Mon Desir segment as part of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension into Point Fortin. 

Kublalsingh completed Day 20 of his hunger strike yesterday. Warner, who said he felt good about visiting Kublalsingh, added: “I made my peace with him before but I felt I had to visit him again before he loses his senses... everything is forgiven. “I did tell him I was misguided before but now my eyes are open. When you are inside the UNC it is easy to mistake the woods for the trees.”
On seeing a gaunt-looking Kublalsingh Warner said he felt moved but did not try to persuade him to stop the strike because it was not his place to do so. “I don’t think it was prudent of me to do so because his mind is made up but I was very moved to see him in that condition. It is not easy to see someone weaken like that before your very eyes,” Warner added.

He said he intended to pay future visits to Kublalsingh but did not want them to turn into a “circus.” To help champion the HRM’s cause, Warner said, he intended to write about Kublalsingh’s struggles in the Sunshine. Kublalsingh noted that his father, Ray Kublalsingh, and Warner were very good friends. On whether he believed Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should have an audience with the group Warner said he had nothing to say about the PM.

Stable but Critical
Another visit by Kublalsingh’s physician Dr Asante Van West-Charles-Le Blanc has proved that the environmentalist is in a critical but stable stage.  Van West-Charles-Le Blanc who monitored Kublalsingh’s heart beat and tested his blood sugar said he had a very restful weakened. She added: “He maintained a stable but critical condition. I think from last Friday to now there has not been much of a deterioration. “Saturday when I examined him he was a little better than Friday because he was out from the road. “Medicine in physiology dictates that after 20 days of no food or water compensation mechanisms are eventually going to decompensate. “When I say stable but critical I am not seeing signs of impending death today but because of how long its been I do think we are at a critical point. “But I do have an ambulance on standby for him,” Van West-Charles-Le Blanc said.

She maintained there has been no decline in Kublalsingh’s mental health. Asked to compare Kublalsingh’s present condition to when he completed Day 20 of his first hunger strike Van West-Charles-Le Blanc said: “Compared to the last fast he is a lot better. I have not hydrated him, via IV drip. I basically just monitored him and I have just done some blood tests... that’s all I have done. There has been no medical intervention.”

Asked about his condition Kublalsingh said he was feeling weak and dehydrated. “I think I had a very bad weekend. My mind kept  moving away from my spirit which is normally strong and I just kept thinking about a beastly cold bottle of smalta or malta and a cup of hot tea with some crix in it,” Kublalsingh added. Responding to a letter by his wife Dr Sylvia Moodie-Kublalsingh calling on Persad-Bissessar to be reasonable and let good sense prevail, Kublalsingh said he was not surprised by the letter. He said his wife was a strong Roman Catholic and was against hunger strikes. 

Flashback
Warner, who was then national security minister severly criticised Kublalsingh when he embarked on the first hunger strike some two years ago. At a political meeting at the Debe High School Warner had described Kublalsingh as a conman who was attempting to blackmail the country.

He had said Persad-Bissessar would not be held responsible if Kublalsingh died. Warner said: “They say the Prime Minister is killing Wayne Kublalsingh, but he is killing himself and he better do it quickly! Don’t feel sorry for him. Kublalsingh is trying to blackmail the country and blackmail the Prime Minister.”

At a time when some of  T&T’s national icons are ailing, the death of Geoffrey Holder leaves a huge void in the national and international stage, where he plied his trade for many years. These were the words of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as she shared condolences following Holder’s death on Sunday.

In a news release, Persad-Bissessar said T&T and the world had lost a true friend in Geoffrey Lamont Holder, Tony-winning actor, dancer, artist, book author, music composer, and choreographer.
“Death is expected, but when it comes, it brings sadness and deep reflection. Geoffrey Holder was one of a kind, who blazed the trail for more than 60 years.” She said Holder was a person who T&T must be proud. “It is said that he blazed the trail and opened many doors for Trinidad and Tobago nationals. He also assisted our Caribbean neighbours.”

Holder was known to millions as Baron Samedi in the James Bond movie, Live and Let Die. According to Persad-Bissessar he would be best remembered to many as the cackling Voodoo villain who dogged Roger Moore’s footsteps in his first outing as secret agent, James Bond.

World-acclaimed dancer, choreographer, actor, designer and painter Geoffrey Lamont Holder, 84, died on Sunday in Manhattan, USA. Holder’s final request was for his life support to be disconnected at 4 pm on Sunday, a request that was honoured. In a lengthy tribute in the New York Times yesterday, Charles M Mirotznik, a spokesman for the family, said Holder died of complications of pneumonia. His death is being widely reported in the international media. 

Standing a statuesque six foot, six inches, Holder rose to fame via his amazing dancing and acting abilities, his full-bodied laugh and his signature deep voice. Though Trinidadian, he was regarded as Hollywood and Broadway’s ultimate Caribbean man. In New York at the time of Holder’s death, his nephew David Boothman said: “I travelled to New York on Saturday, October 4, the anniversary of my mom’s passing.” Boothman’s mother was Geoffrey Holder’s sister Marjorie. He said: “She was cremated the day of her birthday. My grandfather’s birthday was October 3, the date Geoffrey had decided and was ready to go. “He was convinced by my uncle Léo (in fact David’s cousin) to hold on till Sunday because my sister Lisa and my daughter Lani, my granddaughter Olivia Marjorie and I (the Trinidad family) were flying in. 

“On their way to the party, with Lisa and Lani, Besame Mucho was playing on the train. That was our mother’s favourite song, which was also played for her send-off tour. It was also Geoffrey’s favourite...amazing. “The other magical event was when I saw him, Geoffrey, at the hospital I sang a Haitian folk song, Feuilles-o, which he taught me when I was about seven, on one of his trips back home. “Geoffrey actually sang it with me with tubes in his mouth. My uncle Léo then joined in. It was one of my most intimate one-on-one celebrations with Geoffrey...my farewell to him. Geoffrey was one of the most amazing extraordinary persons, larger than life.” Holder is survived by his wife Carmen de Lavallade and their son, Léo.

Tributes
Yesterday masman Peter Minshall said: “Some of my most glorious memories of London were with Geoffrey Holder. He passed through like a comet, blazing, a trail of stars behind him as he was making his grand appearance in a Bond movie. “The man was just pure and simple, a joy to be with in terms of the arts and his views on the world. What a towering Caribbean man Geoffrey Holder was and I mean that literally.”  

Carla Foderingham, CEO of the T&T Film Company, expressed sadness over Holder’s passing.  She said: “His passing is a tremendous loss to the creative industries but more specifically the diaspora communities. He was so huge.  “The documentary Carmen and Geoffrey bears evidence of the work he has done and the contribution he made. “This documentary spoke of his amazing start and won the Best Film Award in the 2009 T&T Film Festival. “It also gave the home audience a better understanding of the extensive body of work and contribution Geoffrey Holder made to dance and film. On behalf of the local movie fraternity I extend condolences to his family.”

Holder was an inspiration to many younger performers. One of those he inspired is London-based Trinidadian Nolan Frederick, an actor who has been in several West End productions including La Cage Aux Folles, Rent, Miss Saigon and Pajama Game. Frederick’s family and the Holders were neighbours in Belmont. “I’m devastated,” Frederick said on social networking site Facebook. “If it wasn’t for him talking my grandmother into letting me study dance and drama, I probably wouldn’t have the career I have today. “He was an inspiration always and always wanted to know how I was doing, every show I did he was so proud. A true trailblazer is gone but will never be forgotten,” he added.

Lisa Wickham, president/CEO of Imagine Media International Ltd, said: “I was really shocked when I got the news because Geoffrey Holder had such an eternal presence about him. “I didn’t realise that he was that ill. I have always announced outside of Trinidad that he was from Trinidad. He did a tremendous amount of work in the movie industry, breaking into Hollywood at such an early time when black faces were not present. “Along with Sir Trevor McDonald, he was one of our prominent international treasures in terms of establishing a T&T presence. “I remember his imposing voice as the crab in Little Mermaid, as well as his roles in Dr Doolittle and Annie and on Broadway. “I even heard his voice on an ad just this weekend on American TV. We are beholden to Geoffrey Holder, primarily because of the international presence he established and the level of excellence he maintained. I personally admired him.”

A life in the Arts
A son of Port-of-Spain, Geoffrey Holder attended Queen’s Royal College before migrating to the United States. He married dancer Carmen de Lavallade and they had one son, Leo. Holder turned US theatre on its head when he directed The Wiz, an all-black version of The Wizard of Oz, on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera. This production won him Tony Awards in 1975 for costume design and music direction. America got familiar with Holder’s impressive bass voice as he did a slew of television ads. Also an accomplished dancer, Holder was taught the art by his older brother, the artist, dancer and musician Boscoe. 

He assumed the reins of his brother’s Holder’s Dancing Company, subsequently taking it to New York City in 1954, invited by the choreographer Agnes de Mille, who had seen the troupe perform two years before in St Thomas, in the Virgin Islands.  Arriving in New York at a time when all-black Broadway productions were peaking in popularity, Holder taught classes at the Katherine Dunham School and was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in 1955 and 1956. He continued to dance and direct the Holder dance company until 1960, when it disbanded. In the meantime, at a dance recital, he caught the attention of the producer Arnold Saint-Subber, who was putting together a show with a Caribbean theme.

Holder made his Broadway debut on December 30, 1954, as a featured dancer in the House of Flowers, a haunting, perfumed evocation of West Indian bordello life, with music by Harold Arlen and a book by Arlen and Truman Capote, based on his novella of the same name. Directed by Peter Brook at the Alvin Theatre, it starred Diahann Carroll and Pearl Bailey. The cinematic performance Caribbean people will best remember Holder by was his role as Baron Samedi, the top-hatted guardian of the cemetery and the spirit of death, sex and resurrection in Haitian Voodoo culture, in the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die. 

Holder’s voodoo villain in this movie seemed to typecast his sporadic film career. With his striking looks and West Indian-inflected voice, producers tended to cast him in roles deemed exotic. In Doctor Dolittle (1967), he was a giant native who ruled a floating island as William Shakespeare (the Tenth). In Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (1972), he played a sorcerer. In Annie (1982), he was the Indian servant Punjab. An exception was the 1992 romantic comedy Boomerang, in which he played a randy director of commercials working for Eddie Murphy’s playboy advertising executive.

In 1957, Holder landed a notable acting role, playing the hapless servant Lucky in an all-black Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, directed by Herbert Berghof. 
The show, just seven months after the play’s original Broadway production, closed after only six performances because of a union dispute but the role, with its rambling, signature 700-word monologue, lifted Holder’s acting career.

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan says he will not agree to an expedited hearing of the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM)’s appeal over an injunction stopping the construction of the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Pt Fortin Highway. Speaking at a press conference at his St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, office yesterday afternoon, Ramlogan said he would not support the application as he does not think the group and its leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh deserve an emergency hearing before the Privy Council as their three previous attempts in local courts had all failed. “You have many people who are waiting to have there cases heard and jumping the queue is a matter that has on its own many legal implications that is all I am prepared to say at the moment,” Ramlogan said. 

The suggestion for Ramlogan’s office to agree to a joint application for the quick hearing before the British law lords was made by Senior Counsel Martin Daly last week, in an attempt to convince Kublalsingh to end his ongoing second hunger strike. “I notice that Dr Kublalsingh did not want to say if he loses in the Privy Council that he would abide by that court’s judgment,” Ramlogan said. 
Ramlogan also criticised the HRM’s current advertising campaign in which it is proposing an alternate route for the highway segment. “None of the issues that Kublalsingh has raised now through an avalanche of advertisements found any favour in the court of law. In fact some of them were not even raised in court,” Ramlogan said. 
He also dismissed calls by members of the public and Kublalsingh’s family for the Government to come to a compromise with him due to his worsening health caused by his three weeks of protest action.
“I wonder if he had gotten the injunction, if I had said I was going on a hunger strike because I have to endure three hours of traffic everyday to come into Port-of-Spain, I wonder if he would have say he would discharge the injunction and let the highway be built,” Ramlogan said.