A giant loss

WHAT is the essence of being a Trinidadian? It’s hard to say. But the extraordinary life of Mark Loquan, who has died at 63, might supply something of an answer. His death is a giant loss.

Mr Loquan, who passed 14 months after a brain cancer diagnosis and seven months after being bestowed the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, was a unique individual who, nonetheless, embodied something recognisable in all of us.

President Christine Kangaloo’s April 6 tribute, in which she spoke of “a true patriot” whose “selfless dedication to the development of our nation’s energy sector and culture, particularly in the realm of steelpan, has left an indelible mark,” perfectly captured Mr Loquan’s unusual, yet immediately identifiable, contribution. Within excellence, industry and culture rarely meet.

Mr Loquan was an exception. He served as the president of the National Gas Company of TT Ltd for eight years after having worked for more than two decades in steelpan as a composer, writer and musical director who began at Silver Stars. He was a rare figure at home in boardrooms and panyards alike.

A graduate of the prestigious business school at America’s Duke University – whose alumni include Tim Cook and Melinda Gates – he had previously also held positions at Yara International and Yara Trinidad Ltd. He graduated from UWI with a degree in chemical engineering in 1982.

Though Mr Loquan was not always comfortable in front of the camera, his behind-the-scenes role shaping key outcomes in the energy sector, whether tied to NGC or Atlantic LNG, came to prominence amid massive shifts in the global industry that began in 2015. London, the Hague, Houston – wherever TT energy matters were dealt with, he was there.

His death comes amid even greater uncertainties in the international environment, but he always showed an understanding of the ultimate margins of such ongoing shifts. At NGC, he was the face of efforts to move beyond natural gas, to embrace alternative sources of clean power, to invest in forward-looking projects and to build partnerships essential to riding the transition to a low-carbon future.

If he was connected to the future, Mr Loquan was also connected to others through his passion for music. That passion started as a teenager when he would compose songs, admiring the rich chord changes and progressions of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Later renowned for his contribution to steelpan and its innovation, including through a key trust he set up with the legendary Pat Bishop in 2004, he first dissected the technicalities of composition on the guitar. For him, melody and chords worked in tandem.

As it was in music, so it was in his multi-pronged, inspirational life.