Friends, schoolmates reflect on Dr Rowley's career – Our Mason Hall hero

DR KEITH ROWLEY officially steps down as Prime Minister on May 16, ending a 45-year career in public life that saw him emerge from modest beginnings in Mason Hall, Tobago, to become Trinidad and Tobago’s seventh head of government and political leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM), the country’s longest-serving political party.

In so doing, he created history by being the first sitting TT prime minister to step down voluntarily before a general election.

Rowley’s departure as PM coincides with the PNM’s special convention at City Hall, Port of Spain, and its presentation of candidates at Woodford Square for the upcoming general election.

There is widespread speculation that the election date will be announced at the latter.

The Prime Minister is being replaced by Energy Minister Stuart Young, SC, who has held several portfolios in the PNM government over the past ten years and is also the party’s chairman. Young, 50, is to be sworn in on March 17 at President’s House, St Ann’s.

Rowley’s decision to step away from politics has sparked mixed emotions in several quarters, including members of the government he led for ten years.

But to those who have known him for all of his life, it provided an opportunity to reflect on the character of a man who grew up in an age where indiscipline was frowned upon, where children had to be respectful to their neighbours and where, as he once put it, “You had to aspire to be something in life.”

In his hometown of Mason Hall, Rowley’s childhood friends and schoolmates shared thoughts on their relationship with the outgoing PM, saying, in separate Sunday Newsday interviews, that the seeds of greatness were sown at an early age.

For Steve Waldron, Rowley has made the village and Tobago proud.

“He is the first prime minister from the village, from the grassroots and he fought for Mason Hall. He never forgot his roots and always comes back to Mason Hall whenever he gets a chance,” said Waldron, Rowley’s childhood friend.

Waldron, 75, is a retired assistant commissioner of police, who worked in various departments, including crime and community relations. He was the gold commander for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in TT in 2009.

Waldron said he and Rowley were classmates from standards one to four at Mason Hall Government School. They also were practically neighbours: Rowley grew up on Les Coteaux Road while he lived a stone’s throw away at Top Hill Road.

As boys, they played cricket and football together, indulged in boyhood pranks and gathered with friends at the village river.

But he said Rowley, who turns 76 on October 24, was always a disciplined, focused and industrious individual. Waldron believes he developed those qualities while living with his grandfather Joe Rowley and his wife, Emerline, who were staunch Seventh-Day Adventists and “strict agriculturalists.”

Waldron recalled he sometimes accompanied a barefoot Rowley to his grandfather’s estate, a large, fertile acreage off on Alma Estate, Easterfield Trace, Mason Hall, where they planted pigeon peas, corn, plantain, potatoes, among other produce.

Rowley, he said, kept a rigid schedule in and out of the estate. Rowley has since established a sheep farm at the same estate.

“He had what looked like military training. When we played, he had to get back home at a particular time. That was drilled into him. He never strayed because sometimes we would say we going somewhere and he would say he had to go and do something. And when we did go out, he had to get home before his grandparents, never after.”

Although Rowley went to Bishop’s High School (BHS) and he, to the now defunct St Joseph’s Convent in Scarborough, Waldron said they remained friends and often travelled home on the bus on afternoons.

Waldron, who joined the police service after completing school, said their friendship blossomed even after Rowley left Tobago to study geology at UWI’s Mona Campus in Jamaica.

He said Rowley sometimes visited him at the San Fernando Police Station, where he had been assigned for some time.

“He would come down and I would take time off and we would visit the bars and check out relatives.”

Waldron recalled a particularly hilarious incident.

“One time, during his visit, he had to sleep in the police station. I made arrangements and had a room there where he slept during the weekend. And he got up to take a shower the next morning and a fellow police officer called me and said, ‘Sir, there is a man with a beard bathing in the bathroom.

“I said, ‘He is a constable,’ and the officer asked, ‘A policeman with a beard?’ Up to today, we still laugh at that. But those are some of the fun days that we had.”

When Rowley returned from Jamaica, Waldron said he often accompanied him during his research expeditions. One time, he said, they walked through a river in Courland, Plymouth, and Goldsborough looking for stones.

“When I had time off, I would accompany him to the lab in St Augustine and he would grind those stones. Later, I found out that he had studied geology.”

Waldron recalled they also went to St Vincent many years ago after the Soufriere volcano erupted.

“We were sponsored by the government of St Vincent and we had to go down into the bottom of that crater to test the temperature of the water to gauge the possibility of another eruption. So he had to do that over a period of time to inform the government.

“That is an idea of how industrious and intelligent he was, that they could depend on him to do that although he was stationed in Trinidad at the university.”

Waldron said he was there when Rowley joined the PNM and unsuccessfully contested the Tobago West seat in 1981.

He said he followed him to Trinidad after his defeat.

“I had relatives living there and his mother was a cook on the wharf. So when I was hungry, I knew where to go. They lived up at Morvant and I lived in Barataria and I remember walking the streets preaching the word of the PNM.”

Waldron said when Rowley contested and won the Diego Martin West seat in 1991, his political career took off, resulting in him eventually becoming the PNM political leader and later, TT’s seventh prime minister in 2015.

He believes Rowley’s strong-mindedness contributed significantly to his success as a politician.

“One thing that stood out from this man from day one is that he was a listener. Like an old Greek philosopher, he would listen to everybody but he makes the final decision. He was sometimes referred to as ‘Stonehead’ because he makes his own decisions.”

Waldron said Rowley also never backed away from a challenge.

“We had a theme song, ‘He That is Down Needs Fear No Fall.’ And with that, he pushed without any sort of fear. He wants something, he is going to get it.

“As long as he analyses a situation and knows that he has nothing to lose, he will go forward, fearless in his endeavours. Look at his history in the Parliament. He was insulted, ridiculed but he stood his ground.”

But he said Rowley, despite his achievements, has never been consumed by power.

“To have held such a position and decide at this point in time, I am going to give it up. You could hardly find somebody like him who has reached that stage and say I am giving it over to somebody. He is an exemplar to the world.”

Traits of grandfather

Another primary school classmate Umilta Roberts said Rowley, even as a young boy, always had a strong personality.

“He was always a brilliant boy, always outspoken, always forthright,” she said.

But Roberts, who retired as principal of the Bon Accord Government School on February 7, 2001, recalled Rowley once tapped her on the head for calling him ‘Tart (small pastry).’

She said, “Walking around in the village a girl told me to say ‘Tart.’ But when I said it, Keith tapped me up all because it was his nickname. They called him ‘tart’ because he walked barefoot for so long that his foot resembled a tart.”

Nevertheless, Roberts said over the years “Our camaraderie was always there.”

In fact, when Rowley became prime minister, Roberts said she coordinated the speech band segment of a reception that was organised in his honour at his alma mater, Mason Hall Government, on October 23, 2015. Standard five pupils did the presentations.

Roberts read one of the pieces:

“This is a most auspicious occasion.

A welcome celebration for an outstanding Mason Hallian

He travelled the halls of this noble institution

Then circumnavigate the world, past Jamaica and reach quite England

He study hard and make Tobago proud

So today the crowd could shout out loud

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Mason Hall give Trinidad and Tobago its seventh prime minister.”

Roberts described her friend as dynamic and forthright.

“I am always in his corner. I admire him. People may think he is rough but he is ambitious, never afraid to till the soil, to go out there and labour.”

Umilta’s elder sister, Jean, also knew Rowley as a little boy growing up in the village. She is the owner of Jean’s Tasty Delights, a household name in Mason Hall.

Jean said Rowley’s grandfather, a hard-working, likeable but no-nonsense man, was “everybody’s uncle.”

She added Joe led by example and instilled in his grandson sound values that served him well throughout his adulthood and professional life.

“Keith was a little boy that everybody used to watch in the village because he was a real worker with his grandfather,” she said.

She added Rowley’s grandfather also made sure he “concentrated on his books.”

Asked how she felt about his decision to step down as prime minister, Jean said, “I find he take too long to come out of it (politics). I am very disappointed with the people who continue to stain his name.

She added he was always a well-mannered, respectable boy.

“He would make his joke like everybody else and when we playing pitch he would stand his losses. But he never give no worries in the village. My aunt always used to tell him to grow up to be a good man in the world.”

Jean said many people in Mason Hall are proud of his accomplishments.

“I always boast about him because he remained grounded. He never put it in a way that he is a prime minister. When he comes over to look for the family, he brings what he could bring.

“When we call him, he listens to us, scolds us if he has to and that is what we are proud of. Politics will try to spoil him but he does not have that name in the village.”

Extraordinary service

Zelma Cowie, who attended Bishop’s High School with Rowley from 1962-1966, said he “always appeared to be destined for extraordinary things from an early age.”

Recalling that Rowley almost did not write the Common Entrance exam, Cowie asked, “Why else would the principal of his primary school trudge up a hilly terrain in the village to ensure that this brilliant young mind would get a chance to write the exam since he and his parents did not turn up on the appointed day to complete the necessary paperwork?”

She continued, “Why else would this young man almost miss writing the actual exam because the taxi he flagged down that day to go to the exam, broke down?”

Cowie said had it not been for the late arrival of the airline bringing the exam papers from Trinidad, he could easily have missed an opportunity for secondary school education.

“Why else would he be among the batch of students to enter secondary school in 1962, who took heed of the admonition that they carried their future in their schoolbags?”

Cowie, a former vice-principal at Bishop’s, said Rowley led an active school life, moving effortlessly from the classroom to the playing field where he excelled in cricket and was nicknamed, Skipper.

She added he would rehearse for his drama presentations in the school’s auditorium with equal enthusiasm, honing his literary and debating skills.

“All this while performing his eventual role as head boy. If not destiny, why else would a chance encounter with a distinguished BHS alumni succeed in paving the way for this young man, who had barely begun to dream of tertiary education.”

Cowie recalled that “almost overnight,” he was granted a scholarship provided by Dr Sylvan Bowles, to pursue undergraduate studies at Mona, Jamaica, in geology.

The rest, she said, is history.

“With his toe in the door, grasping this opportunity with both hands and with an indomitable will that determined that failure was not an option, he navigated the turbulent waters of academia with resolve, moving from first-class honours in his undergraduate studies in geology, to doctoral studies in geology, specialising in geochemistry.”

Cowie said his entry into public life saw the “emergence of a champion of progress and the epitome of leadership, not just in words, but in action.”

As he steps away from public life, Cowie said it is difficult to fully capture the magnitude of his dedication and deep commitment to this nation and the region.

“We’ve had the privilege of witnessing Keith’s journey, not just as a leader, but as a classmate and friend who is eternally grateful for his guidance.”

Cowie said Rowley’s input in her studies at Mona helped her tremendously.

“He introduced me to a cadre of persons who became my friends too, helping me along a difficult path away from home. His assistance was invaluable.”

She added, “Beyond the public persona, I have seen the person, the friend who offers unwavering support, who shares a laugh in the midst of the most unlikely circumstances and who finds time for those who matter most.”

Cowie believes his vision, strategic brilliance and unwavering belief in the potential of the country’s citizens have earned him a legacy that will be etched in its history.

“Dr Rowley, Keith, Skipper,” thank you for your extraordinary service to this nation. I wish you peace, joy and the opportunity to explore new horizons. Please remember your promise to BHS Class of 1966, that you would take us fishing soon! Shalom!”