Tribute to a brilliant economist

THE EDITOR: We come into this world without a choice, without a voice. As we mature, we develop a voice and we make choices.

We encounter individuals and experiences that impact our lives. One such personality for a brief period in my life was Anissa Shirley Abu Bakr.

I met Anissa when I joined the Industrial Development Corporation in 1982. I was investment and promotions officer and she, having come from the Caricom Secretariat in Guyana, was senior economist and later manager of investment promotions. During that era there was much to do with the expansion of local industries, in particular garment and manufacturing activities, expansion of the industrial estates, including the Point Lisas industries.

During my eight years at the IDC I observed and learnt much from Anissa, a brilliant economist and administrator. We travelled a few times to the annual Miami Business Conference on the Caribbean and to investment meetings in Puerto Rico.

She was perhaps the most dedicated person to her religion and its practice. When it was time for her midday and afternoon prayers – salat – all meetings ended, she unfurled her prayer mat and closed the door to her office.

From her I learned much about the tenets of Islam and the way of life. On evenings after usual work hours when some of us were sharing refreshments, she was the eager life of the party.

On several occasions (prior to 1990) it was my duty to take her to the Jamaat al Muslimeen Mosque at Mucurapo for congregational prayer – jumu’ah – or to her mother’s home at Mt Hope as she did not enjoy driving. I got to know her mother, the imam and her two children.

One year while on holiday in New York I met Annisa and she provided interesting conversation as I drove to Washington, DC.

I left the IDC in 1990 in the midst of the Muslimeen insurrection and we lost contact until sometime in 2002 while she served as principal of the Madrasa Islamic College at Mucurapo.

Memories of conversations with Anissa have faded but I cherish the insight and intelligence of this dedicated and committed wife, perceptive business manager and a mother who tragically lost her son in the 1990 attempted coup.

Anissa died on Wednesday. May she rest in eternal peace.

MERVYN CRICHLOW

via e-mail

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"Tribute to a brilliant economist"

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