EBC disrespects Arimians

THE EDITOR: Once again the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has displayed total disrespect to the people of Arima with the announcement of the new name of the constituency located south of Arima.

The new name, according to the EBC, is Malabar/Mausica. It’s the third name of the constituency given by the EBC. No other constituency has undergone so many name changes over the years.

When the then new constituency was named it was called Arouca South, which embraced several districts, namely Malabar, Tumpuna, Carapo, O’Meara, Emerald Gardens, Printeryville, Samaroo Village, Olton Road and La Horquetta, along with D’Abadie South.

Arouca is located approximately five miles outside of Arima and is considered a minor town in comparison to the Borough of Arima.

Therefore, it was mind-boggling how the EBC arrived at that name and even more baffling and astonishing was the decision by the EBC to call upon Arimians to vote in a constituency with a name outside their residential area.

The fact is every single resident of the areas listed above carries an Arima address. Even more startling is the fact that the population of the listed areas is over 300,000 people.

Arimians remained silent.

And as if that was not enough punishment, the second change announced by the EBC was D’Abadie/O’Meara, excluding La Horquetta,

The new constituency south of Arima was called La Horquetta/Talparo, which is quite appropriate and the residents and business community still use Arima as their address.

The question asked then by Arimians is: “How could the EBC name a constituency after a road when the residents and business community use an Arima address?"

We never got an explanation from the EBC as to why it insisted on renaming Arima South by any name and feel comfortable with this outrageous decision.

Back in 1978 the late prime minister Dr Eric Williams, in declaring the first phase of the Malabar housing programme open, described the area as Arima South, signalling the new Arima which embraced O’Meara Industrial Estate.

Dr Thomas Isaac, in his historical review of Arima, said “Eric Williams's attempts during the early period of the Five-Year Development plans, aimed at economic transformation and industrialisation, impacted significantly on the borough.”

Isaac further indicated that, “Previously Arima’s economic value resided in its role as a collection centre for agricultural produce on its way to Port of Spain and the harbour. Dr Williams's citing of the extensive industrial estate in the O’Meara savannah to house factories was a clear indication of his adoption of the Lewis Moscoso model of development and the policy of economic decolonisation.”

Only recently, current Prime Minister Dr Rowley, in opening the new Malabar Government Primary School, said he was pleased to see such a state-of-the-art primary school located in an area he called “Greater Arima.”

Two prime ministers gave the signal to the powers that be that the new-look Arima deserved the rightful name of Arima South.

In the case of D’Abadie, the EBC dismantled the electoral district by removing the entire community and named it Mausica. The main road that runs north-south through the D’Abadie district.

It is such a shame that the EBC apparently did not take into account the fact that, like Arima South, every resident carries D’Abadie as their address.

Given the historical facts it is really heartbreaking that a national institution can be so callous and oblivious of the passion of residents of Arima and D’Abadie,

I must make the point that four electoral districts of the seven-member council are located in Arima South, so it is so obvious that it should be straightforward that the EBC ought to really reconsider the name change.

On August 1 Arima will celebrate its 136th anniversary as a royal charted borough bestowed on the town by Queen Victoria after receiving a petition from our forefathers.

While the country observes African Emancipation Day in celebration of the end of slavery and the imposition of names on slaves, we in Arima still live under the yoke of neocolonialism when we can wake on a morning and discover that we have a new name for our beloved borough.

ASHTON FORD

former mayor and MP of Arima