No protest over demolition of PM’s house
THE EDITOR: In recent years, we Trinidadians have had to stand helplessly as, one by one, our beautiful old houses, lovingly built by Trinidadian craftsmen as their bequest to future generations, have been torn down to be replaced by some nondescript glass and concrete box. There is little in these new buildings that identifies them as characteristic of Trinidad. We allow our history to be trampled on. Many of us still experience a keen sense of loss each time we go down St Clair Avenue and pass the site of the utterly lovely Lee House, now relegated to nothing more than a memory soon to be lost in time. But an even greater travesty is about to be perpetrated; the Prime Minister’s Residence is about to be demolished. This building used to be home to Dr Eric Williams, the founder of this nation. This house should be preserved in his memory and to honour the immense bequest his vision has given us. The members of the People’s National Movement at the very least, if not all citizens, should be clamouring for its preservation. None of our historians has voiced a word of protest. One would expect the academics at the University of the West Indies to understand the enormity of what is about to be perpetrated and speak up. Would the Americans ever think of knocking down the White House? Can one even imagine 10 Downing Street being demolished? Even we here in Trinidad and Tobago would be appalled should either of these two countries make such an announcement. Yet we utter not one word of protest when a building that is important to us is lost. Why are we so indifferent to the importance of what is an integral part of our own history? Why are the PNM rank and file not mobilising to save the home of the founder of their party? J GARCIA Port-of-Spain
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"No protest over demolition of PM’s house"