Cultural activists are outraged over the demolition of deceased cultural icon Beryl McBurnie’s home.
The structure, which had been deteriorating on Panka Street in St James for some years, was demolished on Friday by its new owner.
The property was sold earlier this year by the board which oversees the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook. Little Carib Theatre was formed by McBurnie who promoted culture and the arts in T&T. She died in March 2000.
Yesterday, culture activist Rubadiri Victor lamented the loss of the historical structure and the state’s inability to secure a number of heritage sites in T&T.
In an interview with the Sunday Guardian, Victor said politicians and ministry officials had resisted implementation of a 1991 national heritage legislation.
“It was only implemented in June of 2014. In that 23-year period, hundreds of sites were destroyed because they were not protected.”
These destroyed sites include Greyfriars Church, Christopher Brother’s studio on Nelson Street and Lions House in Couva.
Victor said turning to a National Trust board at this point was fruitless, as no board had yet been appointed since the Government was changed in 2015. While some are looking to the board for answers, secretary of the board Lisa Kewley described the house as beyond repair and said the board had few options.
“The Little Carib board had received many citations from the Port-of-Spain Corporation regarding the premises,” Kewley wrote in a post shared on Facebook.
“There were rats, tall bushes etc, that were causing problems for the entire surroundings. It would have cost too much to clean the area periodically just to say we were keeping it.”
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In 1959 McBurnie was awarded the Order of the British Empire and in 1969 she was presented with the Hummingbird Gold Medal. In 1976 the University of the West Indies conferred on her the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and in America in 1978 she was honoured along with Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus at the Twentieth Anniversary Gala of the Alvin Ailey Theater. In 1989, McBurnie received the Trinity Cross, the highest national award, for promotion of the arts.