Lessons for Rowley

For a little while I did see Patrick Manning as a prime minister. He had the look of a prime minister, he dressed well (I hope not at taxpayers' expense) and he spoke well. And please don't hand me stories about looks being deceiving.
Somehow I cannot picture Keith Rowley as a prime minister. His voice grates on my nerves, when he lifts his arms in front of the TV cameras, all those huge wet patches bother me and his pronouncements are more of convenience than of conviction. At least that is how it seems to me. Of course my opinion of him is coloured by an early judgement and try as I might to change, I find the effort burdensome. I was passing through Couva during an election campaign in the nineties. The PNM was having a public meeting in from of Republic Bank. Rowley was speaking. "If it wasn't for the PNM, you would be living in Bangladesh", he roared. I thought I might be mistaken until I saw the footage on Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) the following night. I don't feel I should comment on that issue anymore.
Having taken over the leadership of the grand ole party from Manning he found himself leading the PNM into a local governemnt election- the election that would never have taken place if the PNM was still in power.
He was in government so long and voted with the PNM time and again to deprive me of my right to choose my local governemnt representative. He never did anything to make sure I retained that right to vote. The he walks about telling Kamla Persad-Bissessar what she should and should not do.
The classic, however, is after the damaging results, he tells us that he is good, but not so good. GOOD WHAT! The new PNM leader failed to bring out his supporters to vote and that essentially is how good he is. No one expected him to win all the corporations, but good lord, does he not see that the places where they won, it is still Eric Williams they were voting.
Does he not realise that he could not mobilise his supporters?
And here is why. The example I am using is how Marabella West was lost. If you look at the post of July 12, you will see that Rowley did not care about public opinion. He retained Jennifer Marryshow as the candidate and the electorate told him what to do with his prize candidate. People did not want Marryshow, but Rowley did not care about that - very Manningesque I must say.
Anytime a leader can say that Jennifer Marryshow is the strongest councillor, or that Jennifer Marryshow is their strongest candidate they are saying that the party is in very bad shape. That is the worst start a leader can have...not losing an election, but the standards he sets for his party.
Which is why Pennelope Beckles must get more involved in the PNM. Forget tht job you were given to keep you quiet. Set high standards and people will look at you differently.

Welcome Kamla, Rowley; Bye Ferguson

Thanks to those of you who wrote reminding me that local government elections will take place on July 26.
First I wish to congratulate the People's Partnership on winning the general elections and also to extend best wishes to Prime Minister Kamla-Persad Bissessar.
The truth is, if we did not have a change of government there would be no local government elections this year. So we have the new government to thank for that.
Just let me remind you of the posts last year concerning the functioning of the City Council under HIS WORSHIP the Mayor Kenneth Ferguson. I hope I am seeing the back of Ferguson who confessed to me that he was virtually helpless to make any changes or to tackle the corruption I had brought to his attention.
What is most baffling about the People's National Movement (PNM) is that the only member of the old council they have retained on their slate is the one who I had cause to go to the Mayor about- JENNIFER MARRYSHOW. Is there some reason that the PNM wanted Marryshow there? Marryshow's only claim to fame is that she is a CEPEP contractor and she and her spouse are contractors with the City Council through her company Hasoma Limited.
Ferguson even confessed that Hasoma did not know that when building a drain, they should take the water to the river instead of into the community."Even an 11 year old child knows that", he told me. Yet he, Mayor Ferguson, and his Council continued to support this woman by giving her more contracts.
When I inquired about her candidacy, I was told: "Rowley really like she, he have full confidence in she". Well, good for him! And with that I also wish to welcome Keith Rowley to the leadership of the PNM, a role he fits perfectly.

Latest on Boy

Boy's mother Ridgette, the second dog in picture, was poisoned the very next night.

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.