Consider alternative before moving Despers from the hill

THE EDITOR: Over the past few days there has been a plethora of letters to editors of our three dailies that are mostly supportive of the relocation of the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra’s Pan Theatre from its original home in the Laventille Hills to alternative city locations.

It would be remiss of me should I not offer a strongly dissenting voice while providing a serious alternative. My suggestions may well appear to be outrageous, however, perhaps a moment of quiet reflection will demonstrate their long-term viability. In T&T we have developed a propensity for tangential solutions eg whenever public institutions fail we immediately set-up parallel special purpose organisations which initially appear successful but almost always prove to be worst failures in the long run. This strategy amounts to “kicking the can further down the field and does not resolve the issues.

Respectfully, may I invite all for a reflection on the following principles:

Identification of issues with .

Specificity in the proposed interventions. Measurable outcomes.

Specificity with respect to the confidence we place on repeating those outcomes under similar circumstances.

The core issue for the orchestra is not location, on the contrary the Laventille hill “Despers Pan Theatre” is perhaps the finest of all. (a breath taking panoramic view of PoS, Central T&T and on a clear day the South). The issue as it is indeed, for several communities in T&T is one of security. This has to be frontally addressed by enhancing the Laventille hill pan theatre to facilitate entertainment, eg concerts and community-based activities for both visitors and locals alike.

Additionally, the Riverside carpark (part of which currently allocated to homeless people) should be re-modelled and re-purposed to accommodate restaurants and related activities of a high standard and connected by cable car to the Laventille hills.

This will facilitate tours to sites of interest (Fatima Church, Despers Pan Theatre, The Forts, Waterworks and back to the Heritage Site of the Freemasons Lodge, The oldest mosque and several other locations of interest in East PoS. Further, the transformation of the city has been mooted for thirty to forty years. This proposal constitutes the continuation of the initial stage that commenced with the construction of Riverside Plaza and the Brian Lara Promenade. Finally, security issues in our communities can only be dealt with in the manner in which it has been dealt with globally. New York City is the most familiar to us but several examples can be found in continental European cities. There is no need to relocate any of our communities but there is a need to think “outside of the box” but always with a plan that sets measurable goals.

Samuel B. Howard

via e-mail