Monday, November 30, 2009

Remembering Mungal Chattergoon


We note the sad passing of Mungal Chattergoon, highly visible in the life of San Fernando for the last 40 years. Mungal collapsed at the People's Space set up for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference on Saturday and never recovered. He was scheduled to read two of his poems, one a 15-page blinder on Osama bin Laden.

It was Mungal, who 32 years ago, had taken the picture of San Fernando Hill that so horrified Mayor Gertrude Kirton, she ordered an immediate halt to quarrying and further destruction of the hill. (See letter to Gail Merhair)

As a photographer he filmed anything of news and social interest. He was active in many areas, the arts, politics, Hindu Seva Sangh, Indian Arrival and development of San Fernando.

The picture of Mungal Chattergoon above was taken at the exhibition at the San Fernando Arts Centre for Indian Arrival Day earlier this year. In picture from left: his dear friend John Ramsaran, a friend and visitor from Texas Sais Maharaj and Michael Tang Yuk.


Sunday, November 15, 2009

What is the City celebrating?

Dateline Saturday, November 14, 2009.

The main streets of San Fernando are blocked. Members of the armed forces march through the streets. Taxi drivers and other motorists are fuming and commuters are even more mad.

Maybe it is worth it. Ken Ferguson and his gang of plenty girls and few boys, members of the San Fernando City Council have come out of their shells. So why do the residents of San Fernando not know what is going on? For the simple reason that our City Council does not share anything with the citizens. This is their private council. They make the rules, the bye laws anyway, they serve themselves and they make themselves richer. That of course is their God-given right.

Then news gets around, they are celebrating more than a hundred years as a municipality and 21 years as a city.

What exactly do they have to celebrate?
1. A dump for a market in Marabella
2. Coffee Street, a pedestrian hazard because the pavements are used as private parking for business people.
3. Secretive issue of contracts. If you wonder why, go back to an earlier post headlined "Who's the contractor now?".
4. A development plan for San Fernando that we are yet to get information on. We understand that a member of Council named Daniel Dookie is reponsible for liaising with all the stake holders. Maybe he has liaised with the pigeons that are taking over Coffee Street.
5. Vendors who are still on High Street a full year after big money was paid to a Town Planner from Port of Spain to relocate them.

Whew I just got tired so I will ease them up for today. Let them celebrate. Let them fete their way into a 22nd year of City status. Let them issue contracts to themselves. Let them go to church and pray and thank God that they are lucky they are the ones in office. Let the business people who break the law brag and continue to say that they own the police and the politicians.

Let them celebrate their rule over this dump and wait to collect more land and building taxes so they will have more money to do things more badly.