Instead of supporting their colleagues in a Motion of No Confidence in Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday, COP MPs Winston Dookeran and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan joined scores of mourners in bidding farewell to late politician and sports administrator Alloy Lequay.
A man who served T&T at many levels, Lequay was remembered for his commitment to the principles he set for himself during his years as president of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) and as a NAR senator.
Leading off a series of heartfelt tributes at the St Benedicts RC Church, La Romaine, Dookeran described Lequay as a man among men and a mother of political history. He said Lequay had no boundaries in his political thoughts and shed no tears when the nation stumbled. Instead, he toiled in setting new challenges for himself.
"Alloy Lequay stood up when it mattered, spoke up when it would make a difference and was always inspired by a better future. Today as we shed a tear on his passing, we see the richness of his life in the world of politics and sport. He would have touched the lives of all, particularly the young, a powerful legacy on which his mortality would rest," Dookeran said.
For West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director Baldath Mahabir, Lequay's life inning of 90 years was too short as he would be missed in the fight for the continued improvement of T&T cricket. Mahabir said despite Lequay's disappointments while serving in the WICB, he returned to Trinidad to build the National Cricket Centre (NCC) and set up the Frank Worrell Cricket Development Centre in Balmain, Couva.
In officiating over the service, Fr Clyde Harvey said Lequay not only made a covenant to country, but had a vision in what he wanted T&T to achieve. At all times, he said Lequay remained accountable to his charges, just as he did to God.
Among those attending the funeral were, Sports Minister Brent Sancho, TTCB president Azim Bassarath, WICB director Ricky Skerritt, former T&T captain Daren Ganga, MSJ leader David Abdulah, former COP chairman Joseph Toney and former agriculture minister Lincoln Myers.
Alloy, who was awarded the Chaconia Medal of the Trinity for his service as a sports administrator in 1988 and the first recipient of the Stollmeyer Medal in 1990, died in the early hours of March 17. His body was cremated in private service yesterday.