Caribbean focus on state of archeology and prehistory from Demokrissy Blog

TRINIDAD-POPULATION-Heritage consultant wants comprehensive archeological survey of Trinidad and Tobago

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Apr 27, CMC – A heritage consultant says the recent finds of skeletal remains and artefacts believed to be early century BC  should serve as an opportunity for a comprehensive archeological survey of Trinidad and Tobago. (See:Them Red House Bones this site http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/04/them-red-house-bones.html).

Dr. Kris Rampersad said that the findings under the famed Trinidad and Tobago Parliament building in the capital, should also encourage tertiary institutions to establish “all-encompassing programme in heritage studies that incorporate research, scientific, conservation, restoration, curatorial and forensic study among other fields that would advance the knowledge and understanding of Trinidad and Tobago’s prehistory and multicultural heritage.

 “This also has value to the region and the world.  We have for too long paid only lip service to our multiculturalism. The find under the Red House of bones potentially dating to the beginning of this epoch points to the significant need for a proper survey and actions to secure and protect zones that are of significant historical and prehistoric importance,” said Rampersad, who has been conducting training across the Caribbean in available mechanisms for safeguarding its heritage.

She said one of the most distressing evidence of lack of attention was the state of the Banwari site which is one of, if not the most significant known archeological treasures of not only Trinidad and Tobago but the region and around which very little of significance has been done since it was discovered some forty years ago.

“ Why, forty years later, as one of the richest countries in the region, must we be looking to other universities from which to draw expertise when by now we should have full-fledged - not only archeological, but also conservation, restoration and other related programmes that explore the significance of our heritage beyond the current focus on song and dance mode? “.

 “Activating our heritage sector is not pie in the sky. We are sitting on a gold mine that can add significantly to the world’s knowledge stock, and forge new employment and income earning pathways, while building a more conscious society,” she added.

CMC/ir/2013

See Links: 

Them Red House Bones

A Tale of Two Skeletons: http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-tale-of-two-skeletons.html

An Innovative Approach to LiTTerature in LiTTribute to the Mainland http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/an-innovative-approach-to-literature.html

ReflecTTions on Intrinsic ConnecTTions at LiTTribute to the Mainland: http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/littribute-11-litturgy-to-mainland-with.html

Seeing Connections in Our Caribbean Sea http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/04/seeing-connections-in-our-caribbean-sea.html

Alas Poor Richards Bones: http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/alas-poor-king-richards-bones.html

Archeological survey of T&T | Trinidad Express Newspaper | News

Archeological survey of T&T

Bones beneath Red House, heritage consultant calls for...

Story Created: Apr 25, 2013 at 10:01 PM ECT

Story Updated: Apr 26, 2013 at 7:04 AM ECT 

IT’S time to stop paying lip service to First Nation people and move to protect this country’s history, heritage consultant Dr Kris Rampersad has said in the wake of the discovery of a set of bones beneath the Red House in Port of Spain.

Two weeks ago, skeletal remains were found beneath the Parliament Building. The remains were accompanied by artefacts, such as pottery pieces, typical of the indigenous peoples.

In her Internet blog, Demokrissy, Rampersad referred to the need for a comprehensive archeological survey of Trinidad and Tobago.

“This also has value to the region and the world,” said Rampersad, who has been conducting training across the Caribbean in available mechanisms for safeguarding its heritage.

“We have for too long paid only lip service to our multiculturalism. 

“The find under the Red House of bones potentially dating to the beginning of this epoch points to the significant need for a proper survey and actions to secure and protect zones that are of significant historical and prehistoric importance.”  

Commenting on another famed--but neglected--historical site, Rampersad noted the neglect of the Banwari site in San Francique, south Trinidad.

The Banwari Site was the home of the Banwari man, a 7,000-year-old inhabitant  and one of the most significant and well-known archeological treasures of  the region.

 Discovered some 40 years ago, little has been done to preserve and promote the site.

At a recent workshop, the potential of T&T’s heritage assets as UNESCO World Heritage sites were discussed, Rampersad said.

However, there was concern among Caribbean colleagues that this country was yet to move to effecting the research, legislation and other actions necessary to pin the sites as being of value.

Rampersad said Trinidad’s entire south-west peninsula was a key entry point in the migration of prehistoric peoples.

“So much of the history of the region is still unknown and so much of the accepted theories are being challenged,” Rampersad said. 

See Links: 

Them Red House Bones

A Tale of Two Skeletons: http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-tale-of-two-skeletons.html

An Innovative Approach to LiTTerature in LiTTribute to the Mainland http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/an-innovative-approach-to-literature.html

ReflecTTions on Intrinsic ConnecTTions at LiTTribute to the Mainland: http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/littribute-11-litturgy-to-mainland-with.html

Seeing Connections in Our Caribbean Sea http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/04/seeing-connections-in-our-caribbean-sea.html

Alas Poor Richards Bones: http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/2013/02/alas-poor-king-richards-bones.html

ACP conference aims to boost media coverage of rural agri

Over 150 officials and journalists from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have gathered in Brussels, Belgium for a conference that aims to bridge the gap between agriculture development in rural areas and coverage of this sector by media.

The conference, which is being held under the theme ’The Role of the media in Agricultural and Rural Development of ACP countries’, commenced on Monday with a briefing session for participants at the European Commission building at the Borschette Centre in Brussels.

The gathering is part of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) 25th anniversary celebrations and aims to bridge the gap between agriculture development in rural areas by reaching target audiences in ACP countries via the mainstream media. Participants hail from more than 40 ACP countries.

In his remarks at the opening briefing, Ian Barber of the European Union emphasized the importance of the media in the various democracies. He said that the media acts as a watchdog and gatekeeper, ensuring that presentations by democratic governments are important to all areas of governance

Former CNN news anchor Tumi Makgabo (left) chats with Trinidadian media consultant Dr Krishendaye Rampersad.

CTA director, Hansjorg Neun said that the media strengthens and collaborates within the confines of good governance. He stated that this year’s conference intends to provide answers to the question; “why do we only read about agricultural issues when there are natural disasters such as tsunamis, food crises, flooding”. Neun emphasized the need for the media to provide coverage to agricultural issues; its potential and success stories, noting that agriculture needs to be urgently boosted to feed some nine billion people worldwide by 2015.

According to the CTA head, while most governments and private entities are investing in agriculture, there is also a simultaneous need for such entities to invest in media and communication. He said that most media houses /journalists are not specialists where coverage of agricultural matters is concerned. In this light, he pointed out that the CTA has undertaken several strategies to ensure that key messages are conveyed on agricultural issues; making agriculture a better, more appealing theme where journalism is concerned.

Among the reasons highlighted for agriculture issues receiving little recognition within the mainstream media were poor infrastructure within media houses, lack of equipment, lack of education on agriculture activities on the part of journalists and poor output resulting out of the latter. Recommendations brought to the fore within the first session on Monday were the need for improved skills where journalists are concerned; improved relationships between government agencies and the media; as well as the recognition of the important roles technology plays within the field, the latter being highlighted as advanced in the Caribbean as compared to Africa and parts of the Pacific.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Krishendaye Rampersad – one of several Caricom representatives attending the conference, stated that there is an urgent need for investment in training to develop the sector. She said that on the part of the agriculture sector, officials there should also think of how the agency can strengthen itself where media relations are concerned.

Ignatius Jean, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) representative based in Guyana told participants that there have been moves to improve relations between the mainstream media and the agriculture sector within Caricom. According to the former St Lucia government minister, “we love and hate the media but we can’t live without them”.  He noted that it is important for partnerships to be a part of the media/agriculture development relationship. The agriculture official said the media has a symbiotic relationship with democracy, noting that it plays a powerful role as an agent for change in some societies.

Among the points raised at Monday’s session, which was moderated in part by former CNN news anchor Tumi Makgabo and Trinidad’s Dr Eugenia Springer, were the communication strategies used by various players within the mainstream media; the need for skills development of journalists; and access to more readily available information. Gender issues regarding cultural or personal issues preventing women in some societies from playing a part was also discussed.

Most participants at the conference are from the African continent while the Caribbean is represented by media houses from Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Suriname and Haiti. The Caricom Secretariat is also participating while Guyana is represented by Stabroek News and Prime News.
The conference ends today.

 ACP conference aims to boost media coverage of rural agri - Stabroek News - Guyana

For more visit the website click this link

Skewed development vision in CHOGM concept paper

Skewed development vision in CHOGM concept paper

by

20091129

Dr Kris Rampersad

Despite its very clear identification of Commonwealth challenges, and its theme Partnering for a More Equitable and Sustainable Future, the CHOGM concept paper gives unequal focus to its three key words, 'partnering, equitable, and sustainable.' The paper is heavily slanted to climate change, almost to the oblivion of all else, and even that is skewed to the perspective that all the world's ensuing problems will arise from the climate change phenomenon. This constitutes a business-as-usual, plaster-on-the-sore approach that holds the symptoms for the cause.

It ignores the reality that anticipated challenges from changing climate patterns are really manifestations of the continued imposition of culturally alien financial and other systems on many of the world's communities, unbalanced economic development, neglect of the contributions of women and girls, and inequitable investments in the largely rural-based agricultural sectors in favour of close-to-the-nose urban sectors.

The paper's approach is analogous to the get-rich-quick models that spiraled the financial crisis in the first instance; the failures that have arisen from focus on economic security at the expense of food security; and the disrespect for home-grown, culturally evolved modes of coping with life's challenge that have excluded large segments of the world's peoples from an equal share of development – spring-factors that will exacerbate the impacts of climate change, not the other way around!

The concept can certainly benefit from strengthened emphasis on the need for integrated and multi/cross sectoral approaches that promote balance and equity and that recognise different notions and cultures of development that can add enormously to solutions for the current crises of finance, food security, water and land management, soil conservation, rising temperatures and ocean levels.

As it treats with climate change, there is need in the concept for dedicated attention through paragraphs that:

1. recognise that peoples' cultures are central and pivotal to development around which all else orbits if there is to be widespread buy-in-to the Millennium Development Goals;

2. account for the conditions of and contributions of two-thirds of the Commonwealth–who are women and children–as key starting points (not endpoints) to reversing the horrifying imbalances of poverty, malnourishment, child and maternal mortality that will be aided and alleviated through - not token - but revisionist priority positioning of agriculture, food security and rural in the Commonwealth and others' development agendas.

This would go a long way to help right the lopsided vision in the concept, clouded as it is by climate change as the looming tsunami bearing down on the world, by sharpening its focus on the real subjects of the MDGs: the neglected communities that huddle on tsunami-endangered coastlines, farmers who are squeezed onto precarious hillside to produce the world's food as concrete encroach on prime agriculture lands and the plight of the disadvantaged, including women and children.

1. The CHOGM 2009 Concept Paper: http://www.chogm2009.org/pdf/October%20Concept%20Paper%20Final.pdf

2. Dr Kris Rampersad, a T&T based media, cultural and literary development consultant and international relations director of the Network of NGOS of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, reviews the Concept Paper for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the context of status of the global development agenda.

Visit for more https://krisrampersad.com/

Skewed development vision in CHOGM concept paper | The Trinidad Guardian