Welcome home

For history buffs and elderly residents who may recall that period, more than 70 years ago, the camp was known as the ‘The Road To Hell,” by virtue of the intense training which soldiers underwent and the perilousness of the mission.

Now, the village is again set to enter the history books as home to Delta Romeo Bravo, first retirement base for servicemen in the Caribbean.

It’s the brainchild of Varuna Dial, a retired Lieutenant Commander of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, who, along with a few of his former colleagues, saw it necessary to establish a space exclusively for those who have sacrificed their lives for country.

Chairman of the board of Delta Romeo Bravo and a member of the TT Coast Guard Retirees Association, Dial said such a facility was long overdue.

“There is none around,” he said in a recent Sunday Newsday interview at Campus House, Eastern Main Road, St Augustine.

“There is need for a retirees home because we have been waiting on the Government for one since 1962 (Independence).

There is no place for retirees.” Dial said while many associations have been formed over the years to honour the work of retired servicemen, nothing concrete was ever done as a lasting tribute to those who have served..

He said the base, which began three years ago, will, in the first instance, cater to retirees of the TT Coast Guard before opening its doors to all former servicemen.

According to Dial, the facility, in the long term, will focus heavily on youth leadership initiatives by partnering with scout, cadet and girl guide movements in schools throughout the North-Eastern district.

The aim, he said, was to stem the growing incidence of violence and indiscipline among young people in schools.

The base, scheduled to be completed with the next two years, also will contain a factory to convert plastics into lumber, a first for the country.

Dial said the lumber will be offered for sale to players in the construction sector for the making of decks, piers and other projects He said the money derived from the lumber will assist with the facility’s overhead costs, general maintenance and internal programmes.

With over 30 years in the military, Dial officially left the TT Coast Guard in 2006 but returned on contract for several years.

The Sangre Grande native last served as Comptroller to former President George Maxwell Richards and current Head of State Anthony Carmona.

“But, I left to concentrate on this project,” he said of his most recent posting with Carmona.

Dial said the retirement base, which is being constructed on a 32-acre plot of land, has fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“This has been a dream of mine since I was small because my father was a soldier.

So, I am doing this to honour the elderly and most of my batch mates whose parents were also in the army and Coast Guard.” Dial, who is also a qualified pilot and aviation safety officer, said the facility was intended to replace conventional retirement homes but on in which servicemen can speak their own language.

“Our tone of voice and choice of words is totally different, so that when we are among our peers we can be ourselves.” Dial told Sunday Newsday that he recently spoke about the retirement facility during the launch of the Sangre Grande leg of the National Clean-Up campaign, hosted by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

He said the project has received the blessing of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation.

Essentially, Dial said the base will mirror the one that existed when the coast guardsmen were in active service “So, we will have a place that we are more of less comfortable with how it is run but there will be no arms and ammunition.” Dial said the base, which is expected to be outfitted with a lecture theatre, heritage department, museum, medical room and galley, will also be available, at a price, to individuals, groups and organisations for seminars, workshops and other functions.

He said nature lovers and those seeking a respite from the pressures of life can also visit the base.

At present, Dial said, the Officer’s Mess was nearing completion and is expected to be furnished within the near future.

He said one of the highlights of the base, in the long term, will be its youth leadership forum, where tremendous emphasis will be placed on training scouts, cadets and girl guides.

“We are saying that the time has come for scouts, cadets and girl guides training be worked into the curriculum in schools so that in each school there will be a corporal, sergeant and sergeant major in the scouts that will form part of the hierarchy in the schools. We have to talk to the Government about that.” He said the classes will be conducted by the retirees.

“We are hoping that it will bridge the gap between the young and the old and in so doing, instil discipline.”