Government moved, yesterday, to save the life of pro-highway hunger striker Ravi Maharaj who collapsed outside the Office the Prime Minister, St Clair, yesterday after five days without food or water. Maharaj was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment. In a statement issued shortly after the incident, Communication Minister Vasant Bharath said the government was appealing to Maharaj to end his hunger-strike and preserve his health and wellbeing.
Maharaj took no-pay leave from his IT job at the Housing Ministry to start the hunger strike last Wednesday in counter-protest to Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, who entered his 33rd day yesterday without food and water, apart from two bags of IV fluids which he received last Sunday. Kublalsingh, the leader of the Highway Reroute Movement, is opposing government’s decision to run an extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway through the Oropouche Lagoon between Debe to Mon Desir.
Unlike Kublalsingh, who sits on a chair under a tent, for half-day, with supporters, Maharaj sits on a sheet on the pavement in sun and rain for 12 hours alone. Bharath, in his statement, said that government was “committed to doing everything within its power to ensure that the project proceeds to the benefit of many thousands of families.”
“We have made a similar appeal to Dr Kublalsingh and while we accept that he is a grown man who has made a personal decision, we take with a great degree of seriousness the fact that Ravi has his entire life ahead of him, yet he is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater national good.” Maharaj collapsed around 11 am, eyewitnesses at the OPM said, and was taken, unconscious, to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Details of his medical condition were not released up to press time.
Maharaj began the fast to support of the government’s construction of the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the highway or at least until Kublalsingh calls it quits. Echoing the doubts of many, he has been questioning whether Kublalsingh is on a real hunger strike and said he wanted to see how long someone could really go without food and water. Kublalsingh started his second hunger strike 33 days ago to protest the highway passing from Debe to Mon Desir.
Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said for someone who had not been eating or drinking water for so long, Kublalsingh’s vital organs did not appear to be failing and asked him to disclose his medical records. Kublalsingh’s doctor, Dr Asante Van West-Charles-Le Blanc, said earlier she was withdrawing her services because he was on the verge of death.
The former university lecturer reportedly collapsed while on a trip to Maracas beach last Sunday and was taken to St Clair Medical where he was given about 15 hours of drips and vitamins.
Kublalsingh responds
Contacted yesterday about Maharaj’s collapse, Kublalsingh said he was putting the blame squarely on the government. “They sent him to create a distraction but they are pulling him out because they realise their plan is failing. This abuse of a spirited young man is another misstep on the part of the government.”
Kublalsingh continued to insist that preparing physically and psychologically for the hunger strike in advance, discipline, a strong connection with the spirit, salt-water baths, breathing in moisture and taking a little sunlight had him alive to date. He said he used small amounts of energy and also practiced deep meditation. “I refurbish myself (this way) when I feel I am passing out. When I go to the edge, I use these techniques.”
He admitted, however, the hunger strike was not strictly without food and water, referring to the 15 hours of drips and vitamins he received at St Clair Medical Centre. “That kept me going for seven days. So it’s not that I was completely without food and water,” he said, indicating drips were like liquid food. Responding to critics who called his fast a farce, he said: “You need to be master of the techniques on how to survive without traditional food supplies and water.
“Most importantly, you must have a strong principle to keep you on the hunger strike. I can’t assess to what extent he (Maharaj) did.” Disclosing where he got his discipline training from, Kublalsingh, a former university lecturer, added, “I was trained in the British army as a second lieutenant. “In those courses, I learnt how to survive with the barest means away from civilisation.”
nidco to supply more info to jcc
The National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco), the project managers for the $7.8b Solomon Hochoy Extension highway to Point Fortin, will submit a detailed report to the Joint Consultative Council for the construction industry (JCC) outlining what action it has taken in relation to the recommendations of Armstrong Report on the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the highway. A statement from the state-owned company follows a meeting with JCC on Friday.
“Nidco has given due consideration to the recommendations made by the Armstrong Committee and has implemented several of the measures suggested, all of which will be outlined in the report to the JCC next Friday,” the release said. The company stated that since it received the Armstrong Report in March 2013, it delivered a detailed response to the JCC outlining those recommendations it deemed had merit and those it disagreed with, and the reasons for its objections.
“This is expected to lead to a process of continued dialogue between Nidco and the JCC in the best interest of the project,” Donna M Brodber, Nidco senior planning officer said.