The chaos on the western peninsula on July 3 brought back memories to me that span 25 years, during which time I have served as a priest in three different parishes. While I was in Sangre Grande, an innovative thought came to some of our fellow citizens to host The Bathtub Derby close to Holy Week. It happened for a few years before the civil authorities put an end to it. On those specific Saturday afternoons, it persisted from the Sangre Grande police station, 14 miles down past Manzanilla Beach, and down to the Mitan River which flowed under the long spring bridge at the northern boundary of of the Nariva County. One saw many jitneys and trucks loaded with any container that could float and hold at least one man, who would paddle it down the river. It was not that the river was full of all kinds of tubs and their equivalent, but that the road traffic crippled part of the weekend between Sangre Grande and Mayaro. It eventually came to an end. A splendid idea in the last part of the 1980s, but which brought with it overkill that frustrates the well being and security of citizens in various parts of the country.
The 1990s also had its brainwaves in the form of "Ash Wednesday's After Carnival Cooldown" and "Easter Monday's Musical Explosions." I vividly remember as parish priest in Mayaro when it was full of tourists for the longest weekend of the year, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday (the Easter weekend). These holiday tourists came to Mayaro for seaside relaxation and vacation. We the residents and long-weekend tourists could not get out of the area and, mind you, there were two main roads, one to Sangre Grande and the other to Rio Claro. But that was not all. Our fellow natives of this country arrived for the day, or night and day, for the "Monday's Explosion." They set up their little gas stoves and tents any place, anywhere. Some even took over space in people's private yards and garages to cook and relax for the fete. The civil authorities had to eventually put a stop to this and events like this which disrupted the smooth functioning of communities in our society. The "Ash Wednesday Cool-down" had its own drama. I had to serve the worshipping communities on Ash Wednesday so I could not leave Mayaro before 7 o'clock that evening.
The year is 2000. I got in my vehicle at 7 pm and headed on the Manzanilla Road toward Sangre Grande, my destination being Port-of-Spain. As I crossed the Mitan River, I saw what I had anticipated would have happened, but not to this extent. Bumper-to-bumper traffic and cars among the coconuts trees and people far from "cooling down." With my spiritual discipline, I promised not to get angry so I decided not to look at my watch and just move along. I eventually arrived at the Manzanilla Beach Resort. Two police officers, from the massive sea of people and cars on beach and road, asked me for a lift to the police station in Grande. They entered the vehicle and it was an opportunity for us to chat on the road about the situation. We eventually found ourselves out of the slow traffic as we got through the first part of Manzanilla, and arrived in Grande, where I dropped the officers off. Then I headed for Port-of-Spain. In those days I worked at the Chancery office so I slept at the Archbishop's House. I entered the compound and looked at my watch. It was 1.30 am. Later that morning, at breakfast, Archbishop Pantin said to me, "Father dear, you came in very late." I said to him, "No ...Your Grace, I came in very early this morning." I left the next day to return to Mayaro. That Friday was the last time I saw His Grace alive; he died that very Sunday morning.
We all know that these "cool-downs" at Manzanilla Beach had to come to an end. They crippled the eastern side of the country and with the incidents that flared up with human misbehaviour, they could not have continued. Now in 2011 we have Flugtag in the western peninsula of our country which has one main road-one way in and the same way out. When I heard where it was and when it was, what I said before all came back to mind. The army, marooned in Teteron. The coast guard would use its vessels to get out at sea but the rest of Chagua-ramas was under siege, and brought to a standstill. Then I realised that the St Peter's Day annual fishermen fete in Carenage had its own traffic woes. What if a natural disaster occurred at that time and people had to be evacuated? It has happened again. We, like other developed countries, are expected to operate and manage citizens in public safety, crowd occupation, control and safety in buildings and compounds, and even areas and zones. Freeways and open areas ought to be part of our present thinking and consciousness. Functioning with comfort and with emergencies in mind ought to be the experience of serving the common good of this nation. This last chaos was also marred by death. This must not happen again.