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By Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Ph.D.
June 13, 2024
In 2013, the UNC government decided to build a stadium and a swimming pool in Orange Grove Savannah (now known as Eddie Hart Savannah), a place that the “subdivision residents” had used for generations for recreation, health and educational purposes. The “subdivision residents” of Tacarigua and the surrounding villages (Dinsley, Paradise, El Dorado, Trincitti and St. Mary) were outraged by this atrocity and used all their resources to fight the government and stop it from destroying one of the most idyllic areas in Trinidad.
Today, we are back to square one. The victory we thought we had won is coming back to haunt us in the guise of the People’s National Movement (PNM), the controllers of the Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation and its immature chairman, self-proclaimed “success man” Desell Josiah Austin. Ironically, even Finance Minister Colm Imbert joined us in 2013 when we were fighting the UNC government. This inevitably raises the question: Do these people lead by principle and conviction, or by expediency and moral blindness?
Tacarigua has always been a well-disciplined, racially integrated and united community. We are probably one of the most diverse communities on the island. Africans live in St. Mary’s Village; Hindus and Muslims live in Paradise Village and Tinsley Village. Councillor Aladdin, one of Trinidad’s leading painters and a “dealer”, described Tinsley in the 1920s:
“The village consists of 85 to 90 families and a population of between 450 and 500…of whom 50 are black and the rest East Indians. Of these about 30 are Moslems and the rest are Hindus, of whom not more than a dozen are of the upper castes (Brahmins and Chhatris).” – A Village in Trinidad
In the 1960s, as sugar prices fell, Trinidad Sugar Estates began selling land. Home Construction Ltd borrowed nearly $1 million from the Royal Bank to buy the land and set off a building boom. Communities such as Beauliau, Trincity and Paradise East and West emerged, creating a semi-urban atmosphere within a village space.
The government took advantage of the changing nature of the community and decided that it now “owned” the Savannah and could do with it as it pleased. We thought otherwise. We fought and won, thanks to the hard work of all the “zoning officers”. Initially, some vendors sold their treats on Orange Park Road in front of St. Mary’s Anglican Church. The lack of sanitation meant that customers urinated and defecated around the church. In 2016, discussions between the church’s pastor, Father Anderson Maxwell, and officials from the Tunapuna-Piarco District Corporation led to the vendors moving to a car park at the southwestern end of Orange Park Savannah to sell their wares.
What started as 13 local (village) vendors quickly grew to 83 vendors, some from as far away as Valsain and Blanche Ses. The company identified itself as the “legal owner” of the savannah. Today, all kinds of food, mainly fried, are sold at the courthouse. However, the company never considered or provided for the proper handling of the food and its consequences. This led to an increase in rats and the dumping of oil into the most important aquifer in northeast Trinidad.
On Tuesday night, the “borough governors” met to discuss these threats to our safety. Although President Austin was invited to attend, he did not attend. Joyce Thomas of Burnley Athletic Club said: “Since the food court opened in Savannah, there has been a huge increase in rats” (Newsday, June 6). She has had to battle traffic and vendors to train her athletes. Burnley Athletic Club is a group that has used Savannah for more than 75 years.
Representative Tinsley noted that the biggest challenge facing the club is people parking on the cricket field. In fact, in the afternoons and evenings, the savannah can look like a giant parking lot.
Carol James, a well-known environmentalist, said: “The savannah is becoming a catastrophic environment”, while another delegate from Pasía reminded us: “One litre of cooking oil can contaminate a million litres of water”. This is the greatest danger threatening the savannah. Ten years later, when the people of Tacarigua and its surroundings have no access to water, they can only blame their unprincipled leaders.
In view of the eloquence of the “dividers,” I will only remind them of the words of that brave slave, Frederick Douglass:
“Power will not concede anything without being asked. It never has and it never will.”
We could sit on the sidelines if we wanted to, but Bob Marley warns us:
“When the rain falls, it doesn’t fall on a person’s house. Remember that!”
Our future is clear: keep fighting, keep struggling, keep coming together as a community. This is the only way to solve the problems of our entire society.
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