Significance of the Church in the City

Some people believe that the city only entails of the social aspects of life but a drive around the capital city; you would be surprised  at the number of churches that stand tall among the rest of buildings. Most of the churches in Port of Spain are located centrally among other buildings. These churches not only stand as an embodiment for worship but it also aides in many social problems within the capital city as well as outside in extension.They feed the street people or even act as a home for the less fortunate to feel a sense of security.
   The design of churches in Port of Spain usually reflect the architectural style of Medieval Times. A place of stasis that stands alpine to the everyday hustle of the city. "Monumental in scale, churches communicate interesting nuances in their details."
                       

Trinity Cathedral, Port of Spain
Photography by : Nicola Mathura and Dianne Mahabir

The Holy Trinity Cathedral was first set out to be built in 1809 but construction was stopped because of public out cry. However, new plans were generated and the building was completed in 1818. An interesting aspect of this cathedral is the six magnificent stained glass windows over the altar and a full sized marble statue in memory as a tribute for Sir Ralph Woodford.
 As you take in the pristine environment of the church, it makes the hustle and bustle of the city seem quite invincible. It's a place where a sense of security and belonging can be found. As you look at the church, you may think that is home for the sinners to repent. A place you can visit to seek forgiveness. The city itself is home to many crimes whether it is a white collared crime or not.             
 " The role of these structures cant be under-estimated in our urban landscape. From their often active role in supporting people who live in the city centres to their iconic influence on design and use of space, religious structures tell us a lot about our cities. This is an aspect of our urban feature that planners and urbanists should attend to."  We should make it our prime concern to preserve these churches so we can always have the aspect of religion. A fine balance between the social and cultural balance of the city life.

References:

Citizens for Conservations.(n.d) Retrieved March 15,2016, from

http://citizensforconservationtt.org/main/index.php/builtherit/powbuilt/96-holy-trinity-anglican-cathedral

Environmental Cost of Development: Pollution

"The earth will not continue to offer its harvest except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and take steps to destroy it for the use by future generations." Pope John Paul

According to Lewis Mumford, cities rise out of man's social needs. In the present society, this generation rarely appreciates the natural environment for what it is. With the increasing population, the demand for space is higher. With this said, alterations are made to the natural environment in other to facilitate the human need for space. We say we love the land, but do we love the land in its all natural state or do we love the land for what it provides for us. We as humans should practice  environmental sustainability even though some of us believe that men came on Earth to conquer and be progressive. Some may believe that pollution is simply throwing a piece of paper in surrounding environments. No it is not. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, it is the act of polluting especially by environmental contamination with man-made waste. It can be through the form of land, air, water as well as noise pollution. However in this blog post, I will be focusing on water pollution.

Port of Spain being the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago with a wide plethora of businesses, industries, administrative buildings and much more has a constant influx of visitors. On my trip to the capital city, to my amazement, citizens pay no attention to their littering habits. A car was passing by and a citizen threw a plastic bag with rubbish right on the side of the highway. On the continued journey to Port of Spain, under close observations, almost if not all the rivers were polluted and stagnant, This creates the scene for this post about pollution.

Picture 1 : River along the highway to Port of Spain
Photograph by : Nicola Mathura and Dianne Mahabir 

Does this picture look like a river or a big drain? In fact it is a river. A very stagnant river. The only changes that can be seen in this river on a daily basis is the change in the level of water, not clean fresh water of course. This river flows into the Gulf of Paria. During the low tide, the river somewhat drains into the sea and during the high tide the level of water increases. This in turn causes a repulsive stench in the atmosphere which motorists can smell on their journey to the city.

The city of Port of Spain is usually maintained by it's city corporation however neglect is given to the water ways on the outskirts of the capital as industries and even citizens pollute these rivers without a care. They are destroying natural habitats. Most of the chemicals disposed of in rivers contain nitrates and phosphates which encourage the process of Eutrophication to occur which allows excessive plant growth in the surroundings as can be seen in Picture 1.

Citizens stereotype Port of Spain as "dirty or nasty". The inside and outside of Port of Spain are filthy. People do not seem to care about the environment as this seems to be "okay" as long as it does not affect them. It may not affect them directly but pollutants can contaminate the water table which will reduce the amount of clean drinking water available to the country. The solution is not only getting organizations such as the Environmental Management Authority (E.M.A) to clean up these polluted rivers or enforce laws to protect them. It is in best interest as citizens we help the cause and save our environment.

"What is the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on." - Henry David Thoreau 

    

Urban Transformation of Port of Spain: "Then and Now"

"By the diversity of its time-structures, the city in part escapes the tyranny of a single present, and the monotony of a future that consists in repeating only a single heartbeat in the past." (Mumford 1938) Within the evolution of time, the infrastructural design of cities have evolved with it as well. This can be seen in Port of Spain. The old versus the modern. Most of the old buildings help preserve the history of the heritage of Port of Spain whereas the new takes us to current era in which we live in. Best of both worlds, agreed? Two different time periods created two very different forms of art. An art expressed through the embodiment of infrastructure within the capital city.

The Stollmeyer Castle
Photograph by : Nicola Mathura and Dianne Mahabir

The picture above illustrates one of the Magnificent Seven better known as the Stollymeyer Castle which is located around the Queens's Park Savannah in line with the rest of buildings. It was one of the first houses to be constructed on established lands in 1902 and was finished built in 1904. It is described to be Scottish Baronial and patterned after a wing of a Baronial Castle. After the World War finished the family that resided there moved back into Killarney, Scotland. The house was the sold to the government in 1977.

The National Academy of Performing Arts
Photograph by: Nicola Mathura and Dianne Mahabir

Picture 2 depicts this beautiful structure of the National Academy of Performing Arts which is located in the center of the capital city on the other side of the Queens Park Savannah adjacent to the Magnificent Seven. This modern building is the home for pursuers of arts as well as our national instrument known as the "steelpan". This academy was opened in November 2009. It was constructed on what is formely known as the Princes Building Grounds. It was part of a development plan for the arts and culture of Trinidad and Tobago. The building is made up of mostly glass windows and steel edged with 21st century waterfalls as it is surrounded by tall standing trees that breathe life into the environment.



"Now the dominant urban environment of the past century has been mainly a narrow by-product of the machine ideology." (Mumford 1938) The urban environment then was made by limestone whereas the buildings made now is of steel and glass with the 21st century touch to it. The history of culture is evidently changing as we are shifting from the European Medieval Culture to the more Western Design of our city. When you look at the structures you see two very different time periods occupying the same space as they are both located around the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain."Through the material fact of preservation, times clashes with time...streaking with different strata of time the characteristics of any single generation." (Mumford 1938)

References:

Citizens for Conservation (n.d). Retrieved March 23, 2016, from http://citizensforconservationtt.org/main/index.php/builtherit/magnificent-seven/126-killarney-stollmeyers-castle

Mumford, L. (1938). The culture of cities. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.

The Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) Auditorium- National Academy for Performing Arts. Retrieved March 23rd,2016, from http://artsandculture.gov.tt/index.php/agencies/performance/nap

Slum and Urban Settlements in Port of Spain, Trinidad

We know that a settlement is a place where individuals live and engage with each other through social, cultural and economic activities. In a geographic perspective, settlements help us to determine the relationship man has with the environment. Settlements can be either rural or urban. Rural areas involve predominantly economic activities such as peasant or subsistence farming, mining or lumbering and has low population size and densities whereas urban settlements involve social services, food processing and banking with a higher population size. Urban settlements tend to have adverse effects on the environment. However, when there are instances of rural areas such as slums within the proximity of the central business district of a nation, social polarization arises. Cities at the peak of the global urban hierarchy are characterised by increasing levels of polarisation in income, occupational position and opportunities (Sassen, 1991). Since the 1970s, economic growth has led to a “concentration of wealth at one pole of society and poverty at the other” (Burawoy, 2007, p. 503). As can be seen in the image above, the Sea Lots ‘slum-like’ rural community to the left is being compared to the majestic twin towers of the urban capital of Port-of-Spain. Both places are just metres apart however there is a drastic difference in terms of the infrastructure, housing and environment.

Sea Lots located in south east of Port of Spain got its name because the Government at the time parcelled "lots" of land near the sea. The area is in close proximity to the port in Port of Spain as shown in the picture above. The space itself is prone to a lot of crime and plagued by poverty. It has always been known as a crime ‘ridden’ area and is not considered a residential area but an industrial site due to the industrial facilities operating locally. This links to the article reading on Human settlements of the Eastern Caribbean where Eduardo Rojas explains that the differences among countries in terms of the distribution of population in settlements different sizes are the result of historical and geographical factors.

Research suggests that a slum or squatter settlement is an area on the outskirts of the city in a developing nation where inhabitants live on land which is not theirs and they do not pay rent or property taxes (Wordpress, 2013).These areas usually have shack housing, lack a proper sewage and drainage system has little educational institutes or communication lines. They usually develop as a result of urban growth and urbanization which subsequently causes less housing, rise in population density, migration in search of cheaper cost of living etc. Evidence shows that Sea Lots is an indication of a slum development. City officials faced with rapid urbanization lack the capacity to cope with the diverse demands for infrastructural provision to meet all economic and social needs. Additionally, governments are not effectively linking the economic implications of development for housing needs (Ooi, 2007).

Port of Spain, however, is known as the retail, monetary services and administrative centre of Trinidad and has been the capital since the year 1757. It is the largest city in the Lesser Antilles and is a developed urban area with a population of 36,963 (2011 census) where there is urbanization occurring on a continuous basis.

Picture 1: Panoramic view of the contrast between the slum and urban settlements in Port of Spain

Source: Dianne Mahabir, Nicola Mathura, edited by Shirlena Baldeosingh

A panoramic view of the area taken in the picture 1 above was taken (standing in close proximity to the lighthouse) to highlight the main differences in the structure of buildings and the condition of the environment. There are high-rise buildings which utilizes most of the space in the city compared to the flat, wooden homes that create the identity of space of the undeveloped area of the outskirts in Sea Lots. Socio-economically, there seems to be social division instead of social cohesion from what the image of Sea Lots versus Port of Spain portrays. In this case, population distributions has led to a fairly polarized pattern.

The reading on Rojas also says that rapidly growing urban population increases the demand for housing, accelerating the rate at which land is converted from rural to urban uses. The process can lead to “urban encroachment” or urban sprawl. Additionally, urban encroachment is characterized by economic and business development outside of concentrated urban centers. It is also characterized by low-density housing and retail development in suburban areas adjacent to larger urban centres (Harper, 2016). As the city itself is rapidly growing and becoming modernized, there is potential for development of Sea Lots, however not much action is taking place. The situation creates a noticeable variance between the busy urban area and the slum-like areas as a result of this. In order to avoid such an unsightly scenery in such close proximity to the capital, it is suggested that the small village of Sea Lots become developed and improved in terms of its housing, education and health systems and organizations. “Seeing a Future for Sea Lots” was published on the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian in 2013 following tragic road deaths and injuries in Sea Lots on the 24^th of February that year discussing the development of the area. A Sea Lots wish list was posted including a walkover, proper roads, grants to build homes, employment opportunities, sports facilities, community centre etc. The people of Sea Lots are grappling with numerous issues and hence strategies should be implemented towards obtaining justice for these unfortunate souls.

Moreover, in that same year, Machel Montano and Morgan Heritage joined forces on producing the song, "I See Lots", in an attempt to bring attention to the poverty and crime in the area, while showcasing the youth of the Sea Lots, who desperately need financial assistance and higher education.

Insight on a video on the harsh conditions of sleepless nights in a wooden housing structure in Sea Lots.

"Sleepless in Sea Lots"

             Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mjlMeMFSDI

References: 

Loubon, M.(2013, April 7) “Seeing a Future for Sea Lots.” Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved March 19, 2016. http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-04-07/seeing-future-sea-lots.

Rojas, E. (1989).Human Settlements of the Caribbean. Butterworth & Co.

Exclusive Reflection:Trinidad's First Inhabitants

      On Saturday 12th March,2016 a visit was made to the sacred site of the Banwari Man,Trinidad's first inhabitant. This sacred site is found Banwari Trace, Debe, South Trinidad. This place is thought to be the first settlement of our indigenous ancestors.The Banwari Bones can be dated to approximately 34000 ac which means the remains is about 5400 years old. On hearing that it was a sacred site, like any other sacred site such as temples and mosques, I was expecting a nicely built infrastructure displaying the indigenous people's culture. But to my dismay, this was not so as all they had was an empty hole where their ancestral bones were excavated with no other representation of our first inhabitants in our country. The remains of the bones was sent to the University of the West Indies where it is being preserved currently. However when I visited the actual remains; the museum attendant told me that some of the bones were bagged and sent to other universities to be studied.
        Upset and somewhat distraught, Mr.Rabina Shar was disappointed that the bones of the Banwari Man was extracted from his tomb as this area was seen as a "sacred sense of space" where he did his prayer sessions and worship to his ancestors. A proper definition for a sacred space would be "A site where the human search for meaning and truth and divine inspiration commingles with practises and beliefs in the attempt to find an answer." He felt as if he had nothing but dirt and natural environment to pray too.He would usually offer prayers towards Banwari's remains. 
" I feel very sad, I feel like I lost someone who died because when I come here to pray, the bones are not here. It was put here for a specific purpose. Naparima Hill is aligned with the sun on a certain degree with a certain frequency. With an angry tone of voice he claimed we do not know anything about this. He said they are disappointed. They have sent a claim to the Government but they do not have the money to get a lawyer to go in court for it to be determined in court. There is a precedence in the the CCJ (Inter-American Court.
 This truly touched me because this Warao tribe seemed as if they have a close bond and tie with their ancestors. A bond that seems unbreakable but somehow removing the bones from them; left an open scar that generated anger towards the government. His words were, " North Americans would do a smoke ceremony 'ritual' and in that ritual; there is an offering give unto me to bury on this Earth in a place where nobody can find it and I did that. 

GROUND OF CLAIM:
   United Nations Declaration in the Rights of Indigenous People was declared in 2007 and the government signed this declaration. This meant that they were obligated by law or by moral principles to 'recognize' them. According to Francisco since 1538 the first original inhabitants are the sovereign of that land. The status of the nation hood, question of language to communication traditions that you live by and territory; we do not have a history in Trinidad and Tobago. Mr.Rabina Shar believed we are not a nation according to the definition of a nation. He said in 1832, John Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Court rule in favour in the matter that they had right to sovereignty.

   "An ancestral bone is the dead part of somebody that was once alive, it is a means of communication with your ancestors. Some might say it is 'obeah' and other kinds of ignorance. It is Science. A true Science. An example would be in our teachings we had a term called anomanina. This term means that there is an education system or a compilation of knowledge. Knowledge of every blade of grass, every animal, every fish; what is their name, who is their partner, who is their spirit within them, what is their purpose on Earth. We were what you call Scientific in terms of harmony and nature." Rabina Shar. Our ancestors were not destroying mountains to build housing. They were not destroying it to build a road or find oil. Mr.Rabina Shar believes they are building the highway to extract oil from oil sand which is the dirtiest way to get oil. In addition, Mr.Hamlet Harrysingh who lived Banwari Trace since birth said that if the highway was built through the Banwari's Scared Ground, it will divide the community into two. The community will not be in harmony. When asked if he was willing to move out of the place of his birth. He said that was never an option for him; as Banwari Trace was his home even though he lived Canada for a few years. It never felt like home. 
   Some of us may have varying definitions of what a home is. I feel there is a psychological difference between being at home and being home. Some us will easily adapt to new places and make it our home as we rediscover new aspects of life but some of us may not want to leave the one home we have always known as we hold our sentimental memories that we had in that one space. A space we knew since birth. A space that saw us from being a baby to an adult.
  Some us may believe that men came on Earth to conquer and be progressive. On numerous occasions I have heard news about the highway but visiting the site made me realise that no one should be forced to let go of their sentiments to a place they keep close to their heart. They can  move these people as an object and put them in a new space but can they expect them to reintegrate like their ancestors did? Almost thirteen communities with 800 residents and 350 homes will have to be broken down. The government will not be relocating their livelihood, their jobs and their sentimental values to their home. A place where their umbilical cord is buried. 
  The 21st century development always or most of the times result in the removal of natural habitats in the environment to erect buildings and infrastructure.  The Warao Tribe have a close relationship with nature as it was part of their education. It is part of their heritage. This will cause some tension between heritage and development as they will not go hand in hand. 

To learn more about the Banwari Man, Please click the link below.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Discovering-Banwari-Man-278965391.html

Banwari Man- Trinidad's First Inhabitant
Zoology Museum
University of the West Indies, St.Augustine