Gail Alexander
Late Energy Minister Franklin Khan will be going home to his beloved Mayaro for the last time and will be laid to rest there at Radix Cemetery after his funeral.
This was confirmed by his wife Laura Sewlal-Khan yesterday when she spoke briefly about funeral arrangements for the late Energy Minister.
Khan, 63, died suddenly at his Moka, Maraval home last Saturday morning
Mrs Khan said she is awaiting the arrival from overseas of their daughter Khara.
“We can’t do the funeral without his daughter seeing her dad,” she added.
She said once her daughter returns, she will be quarantined for 14 days as per the COVID-19 protocols.
“We are doing everything strictly according to the law so when she arrives and quarantines, then we’ll deal with the funeral,” she said.
At this point, the funeral is expected in early May.
Khan also leaves to mourn his son Kheran as well as grandsons and a granddaughter.
Mrs Khan said she’d noted the latest COVID restrictions in which the accommodation capacity for places of worship was reduced from 50 per cent to 25 per cent and gatherings for weddings and funerals will now be limited to 10 people.
While Khan’s funeral will fully conform to all laws, Mrs Khan said, “The funeral will also be carried via Zoom for people to witness the proceedings.”
She added her husband’s final resting place is at Mayaro’s Radix cemetery where he will be interred.
“He is a Mayaro boy, so he’s going back - he will be home.”
Khan was born and grew up in Mafeking. He also had property on Michier Road.
He became the PNM’s Ortoire -Mayaro MP in 2002 and was the last MP for that constituency which was later divided into Mayaro and Moruga -Tableland.
Radix Cemetary is on state land in the Guyaguayare area.
Khan’s mother Molly and his brother who died in 2019 are both buried there.
Khan’s mother’s sister still lives in Mayaro. He also has a sister who lives in Scandinavia.
Within the limits of the COVID restrictions, some PNM members in Mayaro said people from the area and neighbouring Moruga will likely try to show their respects in some form if Khan is being laid to rest in Mayaro.
Khan and his wife had visited Mayaro about three weeks ago to examine land on his family homestead where he grew up and they had planned to construct on.
After news of his death last Saturday, members of PNM’s executive lit candles and held a memorial on the land.
Yesterday President Paula Mae Weekes and Senate President Christine Kangaloo signed a condolence book which was opened at Parliament.
Senate tributes for Khan
Several senators who paid tribute to Khan in the Senate on Tuesday recalled his conversations about his life in Mayaro, the people there and his mother’s hard work.
Some Senators cried after they entered the Senate chamber and saw the bouquet of flowers which was placed on Khan’s Senate desk. The sitting was totally devoted to tributes to the late leader of the Government’s Senate team.
Apart from Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat who related, at length, his time with Khan and the group of ministers who had come from Mayaro and connected areas, others who spoke were Independent Senator Maria Dillon– Remy.
“Bumping into him on the plane to Tobago once, he spoke of how peaceful it was (in Tobago). I said in my mind ‘as peaceful as you are,’ she said.
“When I once fretted about values and he told me of his values of his mother and the community leadership in Mayaro where people helped others even if they had nothing - and how he wished leaders could be like that. He spoke of North Eastern College days and his love for the country, job and party and T&T. We’ve lost a true patriot,” she added.
Social Development Minister Donna Cox said, “He was my friend, mentor, guide, my political history book. Watching him interact with members of the public, was a lesson for us, such was his ease and affability. No pretence, no airs. For everyone, it was simply “Frankie,” who felt equally at home in Moka as he felt in Mayaro, often reminding us that he was a simple country boy.”
Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein told the Senate, “His was the ‘Country boy makes success’ story. I‘d spoken to him around 10 pm last Friday and he was his usual jolly self, I was in deep shock when I heard he’d died the day after ... dedication to service, kindness, compassionate, hard worker. He was known as the Transformational Minister with Local Government ...my friend passed away serving T&T.”
PNM PRO Senator Laurel Lezama-Lee Sing added, ”A patriot, professional, polite and a paragon of virtue and intellect, a great soul of matchless courage. Despite ill-conceived notions and motions, he always asked the players on the Parliament’s stage to work together, to dispel the negativity which he believed only hurt our nation. A humble, simple boy from Guayaguayare, who left an indelible mark on his beloved hometown and his country. May we honour his legacy by always putting T&T first. May his lessons resonate deeply within each and every one of us.”