Thieves stall Tobago Hindu temple's construction, $40k in material missing

TOBAGO police are investigating the theft of an estimated $40,000 worth of material from the construction site of the Hindu temple, which is being built on four plots of land near the army base at Signal Hill.

Bhesham Beepath, son of Tobago Hindu Society president Pulwaty Beepath, said workers from the Unemployment Relief Programme, who are helping to construct the temple, discovered that about two tonnes of steel and two pallets of blocks were missing from the site when they showed up for work on January 21.

“I am the person in charge of the building of the temple and I normally liaise with the people who are doing the URP project every morning. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to come to work on Monday because of the rain.

“So they came to work this morning and they realised that two pallets of blocks were missing. They called me immediately when they realised the steel was also missing,” he told Newsday.

He believes the material was stolen over the weekend.

“I don’t know what took place really, if it could be somebody who is working on the project or people in the area. It could be anybody. So we looking forward to see what is taking place with the investigation at the moment.”

Bhesham said he has liaised with nearby residents to see if anyone saw anything suspicious, “because everybody looks out for one another in the area.

“So they will let us know what information comes to them concerning the missing material.”

He said the National Commission for Self-Help donated the steel while Almandoz Hardware in Scarborough donated the blocks.

The Tobago Hindu Society turned the sod for the island’s first temple in February 2022 on four plots of land it got from the former Orville London-led THA administration some nine years ago.

Present at the sod-turning were Secretary of Culture Tashia Burris, area representative Nigel Taitt, former India High Commissioner Arun Kumar Sahu, THA presiding officer Abby Taylor and other religious leaders.

The elder Beepath told Newsday the project started about two years ago with the assistance of the commission.

She said Chief Secretary Farley Augustine was responsible for sending the URP workers to help with putting up the blocks.

“So this is how far we reach and it is very sad to know that we were waiting on the blocks to finish the front part of the temple.

“The foreman wanted a special type of block to finish the front part of the temple. And this morning when he came, it was very sad to know that people are stealing from temples like this which we are trying so hard to complete.”

She said the Hindu Society was hoping to finish the temple by Easter.

“We have a lot of people who want to come and donate whatever they have to help us, and it is a very sad day today for us seeing what is happening here. We have been trying to have this temple for the longest while, probably since 2006 when we got the land and had the approval for the plan passed from the Town and Country Planning.”

She is hoping the investigation will be completed soon.

“Whoever did this they should know that what they have done is not the right thing. So we wait and see how this thing will unfold because it is a temple that we are trying to build, which everybody knows in Tobago, and we still have a lot of work to do, and to come and take up all the material is not a nice thing."

She thanked all those who have assisted so far with the construction of the temple.

“Beside the government, we have a lot of private people that contributed immensely and I want to thank everybody for helping it to reach this far.”