Ramesh and chamber head differ on law faculty relocation

On Monday, students staged a noisy protest demonstration after reports surfaced that enrolment at the south campus would begin from September while another stated that the start-up date would be in January 2018.

However, UWI St Augustine campus president Professor Brian Copeland told students that no date has been set for the start-up of classes at the Penal/Debe campus.

In a media release yesterday, PDCC president Shiva Roopnarine stated that the relocation of the law faculty, while not an easy move, has to be undertaken as quickly as possible.

“The Penal Debe Chamber of Commerce has been clamouring to have the south campus open and is pleased with the proposed date for classes to begin,” Roopnarine stated.

He said the challenges facing students from south and central Trinidad were well known including high rental apartments and the daily traffic congestion for those students who did not wish to stay on campus.

“Students from central and south will now have the luxury of commuting daily to campus against the run of traffic.

From Chaguanas to the campus, driving within the speed limit should take about 25 minutes,” he stated, adding, “the relocation is not going to be easy but it must happen swiftly.” However, former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, in a media statement, voiced his objection to the relocation saying this “will have both immediate and future consequences that will injure the student body and the general population.” Maharaj said an immediate consequence was placing the faculty away from its existing “resource base” at the Hugh Wooding Law School with its library resources.

“The point made by the students about academic isolation cannot be answered if the faculty is put in a location which does not allow for meaningful cross faculty collaboration,” he said.

Maharaj noted that no law faculty could “properly develop” without the “full and closer knit support of sister faculties in arts and the social sciences.” “I call on the University and the government to reconsider this short-sighted attempt by the last government to gain short-term political advantages at the expense of the national community.” However, Roopnarine offered a contrasting view saying the university’s south campus continued to be the “pride and joy” of south Trinidad with many investment opportunities being created in and around the campus.

“Businesses, not only from Penal / Debe but also national franchises invested hoping that the campus would have already been open. Entrepreneurs have taken loans at local banking establishments and developed lands and apartments in anticipation of a return. At a time where the economy is stagnant, many investors are grateful for the imminent opening of the campus,” he said.

Roopnarine stated that accommodations to house students could have been similar to those of St Augustine had the university “sent clear messages to the business community and was consulting with us on the needs of the campus.” “It is the belief of the chamber that Penal / Debe and by extension San Fernando will be able to accommodate the housing needs of the campus.

The campus should advise the public and state how many students will be enrolled and seeking accommodation.”