Businesswoman Helen Bhagwansingh has died

BUSINESSWOMAN extraordinaire and recipient of the 2011 Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT) Helen Bhagwansingh has died.

Bhagwansingh died on Monday morning at 83. She had been ailing for some time.

In a statement, her family confirmed her death and said all stores in the Bhagwansingh’s Group will be closed on Monday.

In 2000 Bhagwansingh was named “Woman of the Millennium” by the TT Chamber of Energy and was the first woman to be inducted into the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Business Hall of Fame.

Bhagwansingh was the widow of Hubert Bhagwansingh, who died in 2019, and with whom she opened their first hardware store in Port of Spain, followed by many other enterprises in the ensuing years.

Expressions of condolences have been coming in for the astute businesswoman who was fondly called “Mrs B.”

Minister in the Ministry of Education and MP for D’Abadie/O’Meara Lisa Morris-Julian described her as a woman of compassion and steely determination.

Opposition MPs Dinesh Rambally and Barry Padarath expressed condolences on her passing.

Rambally, Chaguanas West MP, said she was a prominent and respected businesswoman and that her contributions and legacy in the business world will be remembered and celebrated for years to come.

Princes Town MP Padarath said the country is poorer with the loss of this business magnate and humanitarian.

Well known for her contributions to many charitable causes, the deeply spiritual Bhagwansingh donated $5 million to establish a trust for diabetes education, research and prevention, after learning that the incidence of diabetes in Trinidad and Tobago was approaching epidemic proportions.

Bhagwansingh, who was born in San Fernando, was revered as one of the most successful businesswomen in TT.

At 11 she left school to join her family’s business, Ramoutarsingh Hardware. She was put in charge of running the bicycle repair department.

In 1969,she and her husband bought the Kay Donna drive-in cinema, Valsayn, which she ran successfully until selling it in 1977.

A call by her father to fill in for a sick employee at a small branch of Ramoutarsingh’s Hardware at Sea Lots paved the way for her to start the Bhagwansingh’s empire.

Within two years, Bhagwansingh and her husband were able to transform the premises, surrounded by a mangrove swamp in an area referred to as the “La Basse,” into a successful business. She then acquired the business from her father, Daniel, and renamed it Bhagwansingh’s Hardware.

This led to an expansion of the business into Chaguanas, Marabella and Trincity.

In 1996 Bhagwansingh’s acquired Dansteel and in 1998 Centrin, turning Bhagwansingh’s into an empire that today employs over 1,200 people, including her four children.

Bhagwansingh was also responsible for the Christmas stars erected on the Laventille and San Fernando Hills.