tidings
Rishard Khan
J’OUVERT will not be part of this year’s 136th commemoration of Arima becoming a municipality, but Mayor Balliram Maharaj has said it will return in 2025.
Maharaj said J’Ouvert had not been part of the Borough Day celebrations since the Covid19 pandemic. With the country struggling to get crime under control, Maharaj said the council decided to abandon it in this year’s celebrations, which start this weekend.
“Working the police in the morning and evening is one of the reasons we are quite concerned about overworked police.”
Referring to the weekend of July 13 and 14, which saw around 18 murders across the country, Maharaj said: “We will not allow those who do not follow the law to use the darkness in the morning to take their revenge and all those other things.
“We’re asking people to bear with us.”
Instead, he said, the municipal corporation will kick off the carnival component of the celebrations with a traditional mass from 2pm on August 10.
Maharaj said the Town Hall Day calendar begins on July 27 with Calvary Heritage Day, but will kick off on August 1 with a cannon blast and a smoke and heritage ceremony. It will also include the commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on August 9.
He said the African Emancipation Day parade will be held on July 28 at 3pm, but will also pay tribute to all the ethnic groups that make up Trinidad and Tobago.
“We are adding something to this African Emancipation Day, where our ancestors, be they Hindus, Muslims, Africans, be they the first people…yes, it is Emancipation, but we have to thank them.”
On August 17, he said, there will be a cultural exhibition with the embassies at the College of the Holy Cross entitled Cultural Activity Around the World.
In addition to strictly festive events, Maharaj said there will also be events designed to give back to the community. On August 24, there will be a legal aid clinic and health fair at the Arima Community Center.
“We have a barrage of lawyers doing a clinic for people free of charge. Then Arima Private Hospital would give some services for free: blood pressure testing, blood testing and everything there.”
The month-long celebrations will culminate on August 31 with a fireworks display to commemorate Independence Day.
While Maharaj was unable to give a summary account of the corporation’s budget for the event, he said it has $1.8 million to host 22 events by the end of the year, which include Borough Day celebrations, Republic Day and Christmas events.
