Gail Alexan­der

Gov­ern­ment and Op­po­si­tion MPs, as well as House Speak­er Wade Mark , yes­ter­day paid trib­ute to late par­lia­men­tar­i­an Desmond Al­lum as an out­stand­ing cit­i­zen, at­tor­ney and MP. Al­lum had been a PNM MP in Port-of-Spain North be­tween 1992 and 1995. He died ear­li­er this week af­ter ill­ness.

Gov­ern­ment House leader Roodal Mooni­lal said Al­lum was a role mod­el among his peers and oth­er pro­fes­sion­als, and was one of the most out­stand­ing at­tor­neys in post-colo­nial T&T. "He was a man of in­tegri­ty and char­ac­ter," Mooni­lal added. Op­po­si­tion Leader Kei­th Row­ley, al­so deem­ing Al­lum a great and out­stand­ing son of T&T, said he was a man who helped peo­ple who nev­er knew him.

Row­ley said he re­cruit­ed Al­lum to the PNM. If a man could bring about change, such a man was Al­lum, he added. Mark al­so said Al­lum left his mark on T&T in law and as a cham­pi­on for hu­man rights and in fight­ing atroc­i­ties against the poor. MPs ob­served a minute's si­lence in mem­o­ry of Al­lum. (GA)