Oh Boy!

The first is a picture of Boy when he was small

The next is a picture of Boy, older, playing with his mother

Boy died around 7 o'clock on the night of December 27 from poisoning. Not by accident. He died with the poisoned food in his mouth. He was nine months old.

I last saw Boy around 6.22 p.m. playing with another dog in the yard of the Parish of St. Joseph Catholic Church Presbytery on Torrance Street, San Fernando. I stopped and watched him and wondered whether I should call him. But the gate at the Presbytery was open and there were a number of strange people walking around the Community. So I decided that since he was playing he would come home when the time was right.

The truth is that Boy should not have been there. He does not belong there. But Boy and his sisters, his mother and his grandmother before them have kept our community relatively safe, mainly with their barking. Boy's mother Ridgette and grandmother Cricket were responsible for alerting us to young men loitering around the cars parked by Eugene Joseph Dance Theatre for his Christmas party last year. When Boy started to bark the man cursing at the top of his voice in the street early Sunday morning (the same day he died) became quiet.

And this brings me to the saying "one hand cannot clap". To do so I refer to an extract from The Catholic Pulse of November 8, 2009, the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary time. It reads like this:

"In recent weeks a band of marauding dogs has been creating mess and destruction (a shredded spare wheel cover, door mat and newspapers) in and around the church and presbytery compounds in Mon Repos. Attempts will be made this week to get their owners on Torrance Street to exercise responsibility in controlling the 'pets'. If that is not done, then the next step will be to call in the dog catchers. A word to the wise! Kindly pass the word along."

I discovered this by accident because no one from the Church ever approached us. Prize winning communication for you! No, the work of a communication genius if you ask me.

And while I do not believe that the two incidents are linked I feel there is need for the church to handle problems differently. The Church has set the tone for its followers and must review its position.

I will deal with the issue of the note in The Catholic Pulse in my New Year's message to parishioners.

Private, Public, Private

What is a Public Consultation? Whatever your interpretation is, I want to share with you how San Fernando City Corporation organised a public consultation on the development plans for San Fernando.

I had seen an advertisement in the newspaper placed by the Diego Martin Regional Corporation inviting members of the public to share their views on the development plans for that municipality. I know contracts had been given out to companies for development proposals and their contract includes input from all stake holders. Whoever the other stake holders are, I have always believed that the view of the man sitting on the pavement with his beer, the homeowner, the pedestrian, the roadside vendor and the store clerk will be the most important.

So I want to commend the Diego Martin Regional Corporation for doing what is necessary for a public consultation. Not San Fernando, though. I was told by a friend that the consultation would be held soon, how soon I didn't know. I called the City Council and was told that no arrangement had been made yet. I pored through newspapers to see if there was any information. Then I learnt that the date had been set for December 2 at 7.00 p.m. I called the Mayor's office again and learnt that the time was actually 5.30 p.m. So I am coming from Port of Spain in hours of traffic jam... did i ever get there?

It was then I realised what was going on. Another private tea party no doubt! Private guests. A time that suits them. The coordinator, Daniel Dookie, should get a pay cut for not knowing how to do simple things. He is already coasting on taxpayers' money having not faced the electorate. Where do they ever get these people from? Then there are his several extensions in office, legislated, to get additional salary. I have Senator Gail Merhair to thank for that.

This Council will not spend money to place an ad in the newspaper, but they will buy a brand new X -Trail PCL 1672 to go shopping at Southern Food Basket on a regular basis. Who on this Council has done anything to deserve an X- Trail? They will not hire a car with a loudspeaker to tell residents about the meeting but they will do so for some Carnival activity. Mayor Ferguson make big speech at his swearing in about how people will see their Councillors.. on bikes too!

Well, friends don't hold your breath. the San Fernando City Council is a Private Club and it is harder to find out what is going on there than at the Freemasons Lodge

Ariti Jankie talks about Mungal Chattergoon

Dateline Thursday, December 03, 2009

For over 40 years, the camera accompanied Mungal Chattergoon wherever he went.

A freelance photographer at the Express during the 1970s and 1980s, he captured on film historic moments during festivals, functions and events.

And at his workshop lies one of the most comprehensive photographic record of San Fernando.

Last Saturday (Nov 28), he made his way to the People's Space set up at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain as part of the activities for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

He carried in his hand a 15-page poem. Minutes before he was scheduled to read on stage around 6.00 p.m, he asked someone to hold the papers.

Chattergoon collapsed.

And died.

He was 67.

San Fernando lost a legend. With a pepper-and-salt flowing beard and a sharp, caustic tongue that spared no one, he managed to have more friends than most.

San Fernando media could always call on him during emergencies.

Praying to hear the signature "Chaaa-ta-goooon" when the phone was picked up on the other end, reporters and photographers were sure to get the required assistance. He gave of himself and the abundant fruits that grew on trees around his Freeling Street home in the heart of San Fernando like no one else.

He captured his friends on film, giving away photographic mementos to almost everyone.

Concerned about culture and a veteran arts lover, he was a founding member of the San Fernando Arts Council, the Hindu Seva Sangh and the San Fernando Citizens Action Committee.

A UWI graduate and Secondary School teacher, he drove Willi Chen to functions often and took John Ramsaran visiting after John suffered a stroke. He had an appointment with Zorina Shah to arrange his photographs and poetry this holiday for publication and had agreed to spend time over the Christmas holidays with several friends.

His sudden demise caused disorientation and grief.

A few days before his death, he attended a book club reading of Ron Ramdin's "The Griot's Tale" at the National Library and Information Services (NALIS) Harris Promenade, San Fernando.

Someone asked him why he did not iron a beautiful shawl he kept folded on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said, "my soul is already ironed out. I am ready to meet my maker."

It was typical Chattergoon humour or so the 30-odd book club readers felt.

"Get someone else to do your makeup," he told a woman and said to another, "Your son must have learnt to do business from you. His father was a good man."

Twelve scrawny dogs escaped the San Fernando City Corporation's dog catching gang and found a home with the good-hearted Chattergoon.

As much as we would miss him, he leaves behind a legacy of laughter and a speak-your-mind habit with a don't-care-a-damn attitude that was as endearing as it was irritating but would surely be appreciated in the coming years with no Chattergoon to keep the fire burning.

His son Devi and daughter Luxcmi have a chance in his death to love and honour him as best he deserves, and the children have risen to the occasion. They arranged for 12-nights of reading from the holy Ramayan and have left no stone unturned to give him a grand farewell.

Mungal Chattergoon will be cremated today at Mosquito Creek, La Romaine.

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.

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.

Fellow Muslims....

I waited until the end of Ramadan to write this message to Muslim businessmen in the City of San Fernando.

This is neither a Ramadan nor an Eid ul Fitr message. It is simply an appeal to these brothers and sisters to practise some of what they have learnt during the month of Ramadan. I use Ramadan specifically, because at no time during the entire month did I hear any Imam or Maulana address Muslim businessmen directly. I have heard them being complimented for sponsoring the Azaan and paying for radio programmes on radio and television. But is that all we expect from Muslim businessmen?

I have long been saying that it is not enough to announce that you are a Muslim. In fact, you don't have to make any announcement. Your name will do... Mohammed, Khan, Edoo...

It is not enough to say that you do not sell pork and alcohol in your grocery. You don't have to wish the community Ramadan Mubarak with huge banners. You do not even have to dress up nicely on your way to Taraweeh in the evening.

I want you to look at your business in relation to your workers, your customers and most important, the community in which you operate. Do you treat your workers fairly? Are they well paid? Do they feel oppressed by the long working hours because you are understaffed? When you are planning your business, do you make provision for parking for your customers? Or do you use up all your space in building and warehouse and block up the pavements and streets for your exclusive use? Do you put pedestrians and school children in jeopardy with your trucks and containers. And do you brag about making use of the "government road"? Do you brag about your relationship with the police, to protect you?

When your employees are washing your cars, are they aware that they are spraying water into the road where pedestrians are passing? Have any of you ever told your customers that they shouldn't park their long tray vehicle where the tail hangs out on the main road? Especially when it is in front of a traffic light such as in Mon Repos, near Circular Road?

To tell the truth, I am ashamed of some of these Muslim businessmen. They contribute nothing to the immediate community. Most of their employees are from rural districts. Is it any wonder that these employees are exploited? Do they ever think of sponsoring some activity for young people in the community? What about their pricing of goods? I know of one in particular who boasts of low prices. Yet, the dates (fruit) had gone up by three dollars on the third day of Ramadan.

I want to draw the attention of these businessmen to activities of Sumadh on Coffee Street. That business has been there for as long as I can remember and I have always noticed how much attention is paid to the needs of customers and the community. Although I believe that the Sumadhs are Roman Catholics, an uncle Lynne, who had served on the Borough Council, once told me that the family has Muslim roots. Ishmael Khan and Sons have also been on Coffee Street for the longest while and you never see a truck offloading goods from the street. I am told that they once sponsored a basketball team in Roy Joseph Scheme.

It is about time the our religious leaders reject the donations made by companies which put our citizens at risk. You cannot treat people with disregard and hope to buy your way into Jannat. It just doesn't work that way.

Here's to PC Griffith!

I apologise to PC Griffith for not sending him this thank you note earlier.

In the week before school re-opened, I called the engineering department of the City Corporation on three separate occasions to tell them about a broken slab on the pavement in front of Mon Repos RC School. I explained that new children would be coming and I didn't think they should come upon that huge hole unexpectedly.

On the Sunday before Independence Day, the hole was still there. I called the City Police Department and spoke to PC Griffith. He said he understood the scenario with the school children. With half an hour, a borough truck was on the scene covering the hole with a barrel and sealing of the area with caution tape.

I commend PC Griffith for his prompt response and also use this opportunity to draw the incident to the attention of his employers.

My thanks also to Councillor Wendy Gibbs for e-mailing me on two occasions with the progress reports.