Utopian versus Industrial- Point Lisas

Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Kristal Maharaj

Point Lisas located in the south western coast of Trinidad has traditionally been an agro-based town in the early days. However with the discovery of oil fields in the southern part of the island, Point Lisas was visioned as the country’s determination to set up an industrial venture based on petrochemicals. Industries of various kinds came into existence on the estate. They included iron and steel, fertilizer, urea, ethanol among others that according to Maria Teresa (2012:45) “reflected the onset of rapid modernization and urban behaviour patterns to the south.” where the town’s agrarian roots were replaced by metal tanks and flames.

                Although industrial development and Point Lisas industrial estate in particular has played  an important role in Trinidad and Tobago’s economic growth, it has brought along with it major environmental problems ranging from water  pollution to air pollution.  Trinidad’s west coast is the environmental stressed coastal area where 88% of the population live and 93% are employed. Prior to the construction of the estate marginal sugar cane lands and mangrove dominated the area.  Due to unplanned industrialization, inadequate sewerage facilities, uncontrolled waste disposal and inefficient control measures major cases of contamination and environmental degradation have resulted. There is the issue of declining fish stocks due to oil spills, the abandonment of the shell fish trade, health problems suffered by residents due to dust pollution, noise pollution from the operation of the plants and other irreversible environmental damage as a consequence of the radical change brought about by industrialization.

                 This industrialization process and its effects reminds us somewhat of William Wordsworth’s poem “The World is too Much with us” Wordsworth was an 18 century poet who experienced the industrial boom. His lifestyle was based on the natural environment where he found peace and beauty in nature. He also observed the effects of industrialization on the environment and wished for a utopia; that the world would go back in time when people praise the natural elements and were not trapped in the walls of industrialization and the habit of consumerism.

Kristal.

References:

·         Maria Teresa Castilho, “The Southern Agrarians and Utopia,” (2012:45).

·         Gillian Cambers, “Point Lisas-A Case Study,” December, 1999.

·          http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174833 

http://www.greentnt.org/content/pollution-killing-fish-stocks 

               

                

Sitting on a Gold Mine: The Red House

Photo of the Red House: Kristal Maharaj

The monumental Red House of Trinidad and Tobago that sits in the capital city of Port of Spain and utilized as the seat of Parliament has been a popular target for major protest actions in the past. It was set aflame in 1903 in the most famous fire to occur in Port of Spain in which 16 people were killed. The Express Newspaper indicated that after the fire “the debris was cleared out and the skeleton of the building was not demolished but refurbished” Speaking of skeletons, recently there was a major historical find on the site during restoration of the building. Human bone fragments and other artefacts have been unearthed below the structure and experts have been able to date the remnants to the Amerindian era.

                These new developments at the Red House with its historical links to Amerindian settlements has aided in transforming the identity of urban constructs. As rightly put by Elmira Zahedian (2013:59) ”the core of every urban space in traditional historic cities were based on many years of history and human environmental interaction” as seen in the discovery stories that were revealed from the unearthed artefacts. Zahedian goes on to state that “modern patterns of city scopes show little awareness or any indication of awareness about their historical or cultural past”. With regards to the Red House its disconnection is particular visible through its Greek inspired building design and the realization of the rich historical past of these cities that go unnoticed and only praise with lip service.

 In light of these findings, more research on Trinidad and Tobago’s prehistoric ties with our Amerindian ancestors should be conducted and incorporated into our heritage studies and conservation and restoration projects that pay tribute to their contributions to our multicultural heritage. We should become a more conscious society; fully aware of our priceless historical assets that can open up more avenues for income earning in our country in the form heritage tourism and other sectors.

Kristal.

References:

·         Elmira Zahedian, “A Morphological Approach to Characterization of Urban Space in Historical Structure of Cities in Iran,” Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Iran 2013.

·         Judy Raymond, “The Red House: 150 years of History,” Digital Guardian, 2013.

https://guardian.co.tt/news/2013-02-17/red-house-150-years-history 

Urban Cultural Revival- Music

Sale of Music in Port Of Spain

Picture Courtesy Kristal Maharaj

The basis of Trinidad and Tobago’s music lay in the invention of the steel pan in the 1930’s. This came about as a resistance mechanism by the ex-enslaves population who turned to playing empty oil drums and creating their own melodies to satisfy their musical yearning after being denied the opportunity to play their ancestral instruments. Colonial masters believed that by allowing them to play these instruments would afford them opportunity to communicate messages amongst themselves and result in the plotting of insurrections on the plantations. The involvement of persons playing the steel pan and generating authentic Trinidadian  music accompanied by performances has helped them to develop a sense of identity amidst oppression from the colonial masters.

                Musical genres originating from the Caribbean region include the popular Reggae, Calypso, and Soca among others, each with their own historical background and specific to a particular Caribbean island. Music forms a part of popular culture and nightlife in urban life. 

Belmont as a Point in Time

Glendon Morris at his Mas Camp

Picture Courtesy Siobhan Cumming 

The city of Belmont like any other city has its own urban history. It was included in the borough of Port of Spain in 1899 and was formerly known as “Freetown”, after becoming the first established settlement of the former enslaved Africans who worked on the cocoa and coffee estates in the area. “ In time it produced its own stick fighters, world-class cricketers, footballers and Trinidad and Tobago’s first republican president, Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke” (Trinidad Express Newspaper, Feb. 24,2013)

                A tour of the area and observation of its historical form and structure revealed how it is today and helped to give an insight on how it may develop in the future. According to Charles Tilly 1981, “history is so porous a subject and writing history so various an endeavour, that almost any image anyone---historian or not---has ever held of cities appears somewhere in an historical account” this is true to Belmont; a town rich in culture and home to many of Trinidad and Tobago’s historical and meaningful attributes, ranging from its popular Carnival activities to its colonial architectural structures that have been robbed of their identities and transformed as the cities transformed through space and time.

                Belmont was once recognised as the “Mas Capital of Trinidad” and home to the steel bands, historical Mas characters and Jouvert bands, which attracted foreigners from every corner of the globe. Today the relationship between these large historical processes that have shaped the city of Belmont has been lost and the historical elements native to the area and the individual city are treated as separate entities. It is evident that they have even been transformed and transferred to the capital city; Port of Spain and according to Glendon Morris; one of the pioneers of Mas in Belmont, wishes that traditional Mas can return to Trinidad instead of the nude costumes that characterize the celebrations. The question then arises as to the issue of individuality of Port of Spain. While it is large enough to harbour its own historical character it depends upon the society outside of it: Belmont and its particular contributions to society in the arena of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

                Belmont as it exists today is characterized by congestion along its narrow streets and lanes that are a direct effect from its proximity to the capital city and criminal activities that has labelled the town as a “community without communities”. What can be done to revive Belmont? Revive its history? Its communities? Lampard (1963:233) suggests that “the broader scope of historical studies should thus be broadened and more systematic efforts made to relate the configuration of individual communities to on-going change that have been reshaping society” What do you think?

References:

·         Charles Tilly, The Urban Historian’s Dilemma: Faceless cities or cities without hinterlands? (university of Michigan, 1981)

·         “From Freetown to Belmont”, Trinidad and Tobago Express Newspaper, Feb 24,2013

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/From_Freetown_to_Belmont-192925731.html