General manager of State-owned Magdalena Grand, Christopher Forbes, has vowed to remove several balisier flowers — the emblem of the People’s National Movement (PNM) — from a tent outside the Lowlands hotel after it became a political issue on Facebook over the weekend.
Yesterday, Forbes said he was “taken aback that this (balisier) has become an issue with anyone.”
The flowers were placed on a “window tent” Forbes said that shields employees and guests from the sunlight that enters the lobby of the four-star hotel.
“It (flowers) have always been there since the hotel opened in June 2012. It’s a very popular plant or flower that grows in the entire Caribbean,” Forbes said, in defence of displaying it in the hotel.
“What happened they (employees) took it as a colourful flower like an anthurium because of its hue. If anybody is using this as a political agenda item then that is their problem. It was set up to block out the sun and give sufficient light to the area for our guests.”
The balisier which has been the emblem of the PNM since its inception was chosen by the party’s founder the late Dr Eric Williams for its ability to survive under any condition, rainy or dry season, and its long life.
Photographs of the red flowers in the hotel’s lobby, which were posted on Facebook on Sunday have generated mixed views from the public, with calls being made for it to be taken down, since its symbol represents the ruling PNM Government at a State enterprise.
Forbes was unaware of the Facebook post and admitted the hotel would not intentionally “do something like that. We at the Magdalena Grand represent all the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Magdalena is nestled in Lowlands Tobago.
He said the flower which adds colour and beauty to the resort would have to be replaced with another exotic or ornamental plant.
“We are going to take it down when we have a replacement for it. We are going to look for another flower that is non-political and once we have that we will remove it,” he added.
Forbes could not say what flower they would chose as its replacement and within what time frame they would do so. “It would be done in a timely fashion,” he assured.
He said the flowers have been on display since the hotel was opened four years ago by then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
“The flowers have been there four years now. It was there for quite some time. It was never a problem before,” he added.
Yesterday, environmentalist and director of the Papa Bois Conservation, Stephen Broadbridge, said it was sad how politics dominates citizens in T&T.
“That very same politics refuses to release it stranglehold on the public and allow anything to function. There is always political interference on anything that you try to do with any party,” he added. Broadbridge said the day the result of an election was announced politics was supposed to end. He described the balisier as a specie of the heliconia and not a flower.
“They are called modified leaves. I even heard the PNM calling it a flower,” he said.
Political analyst Maukesh Basdeo described Forbes’ moves as politically sensitive.
“People probably see it as politically offensive in that context. I would take that the manager was just being politically sensitive, if he took the decision to remove it,” Basdeo said.
Basdeo said the balisier could be found throughout T&T and in some countries in the region.
“Because of the nature of the flower and its association to a political party the manager decided to remove it to avoid further controversy,” he said.
If the balisier was part of a floral arrangement, Basdeo said people might have overlooked the issue.
“But the fact that it stands on its own in a State enterprise hotel... funded by taxpayers money would cause people to talk and raise issues about it,” he said.