PoS Mayor
Senior Reporter
kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt
Port-of-Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne believes there are some parts of the country’s history that should be preserved through monuments.
This, as suggestions for the removal of other signages and monuments that reflect colonialism across T&T continue to flow in from the public, following Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s indication that Government will move to replace Christopher Columbus’ ships with the the steelpan on the Coat of Arms.
Within the capital, there are several monuments, street signs and the name of the city itself which reflect T&T’s colonial history.
And for several years, there have also been calls to remove Columbus’ statue located at Independence Square, Port-of-Spain.
Responding to Guardian Media in the capital yesterday, Alleyne said, “I think that it is important for us to honour our history and to honour it appropriately. There are some parts of our history that we should honour, for example, in the museums. There are some parts of our history that we should honour through monuments.
“The Prime Minister, in his wisdom, has appointed a committee on monuments and statues and that committee is doing its work. It’s being led by Dr Rita Pemberton and the council has been very supportive of the committee’s work and we stand ready to support whatever the outcomes of the committee’s deliberations are.”
Asked if there’s been any recent reports of monuments being defaced in the capital, he said no.
“There is no room for us to support any defacing of any property,” he said.
The mayor was speaking at Mahatma Gandhi Square in Port-of-Spain, following a wreath-laying ceremony with India’s Minister of State of External Affairs and Minister of State for Textile Shri Pabitra Margherita.
The minister is on an official visit to T&T.
“It was a brief but very meaningful ceremony and it’s important for us here in the city because we live in a very diverse country,” Alleyne said of the activity.
“We live in a country that’s made up of many cultures and this space is one of the opportunities for us to honour that legacy, honour those cultures and honour that diversity. I was very pleased to be invited by the Indian High Commission to participate. It is one of the responsibilities that I have as Mayor of Port-of-Spain and it’s one that I take very seriously, and that I honour.”
The Mahatma Gandhi statue was gifted to the country in 1988.