| Guyanese environmental and community activist, Sydney Allicock, has received the Ansa Caribbean Award for Excellence at a ceremony held in Trinidad last Saturday.In the presence of the Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago,Samson Ebukam Jersey, the President of the Senate, Senator Danny Montano, and Minister of Local Government, Senator Hazel Manning, and three hundred other guests, Allicock received his award along with the two other winners.Sydney Allicock delivers a speech after receiving the Ansa Caribbean Awards for Excellence at the Trinidad Hilton Saturday.The other awardees are Kathleen Coard, professor of anatomical pathology at the University of the West Indies and Adrian Augier, a poet, playwright and Carnival artist from St Lucia. Each laureate received a gold medal, a citation, and a cheque for (TT) $500,000.This is the third presentation ceremony hosted by the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence. Since 2006, awards in Science & Technology, Arts & Letters, and Public & Civic Contributions have been given to outstanding Caribbean people.The laureates are nominated by Country Nominating Committees, comprising leading academics, professionals, and respected persons from Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, the OECS and Trinidad and Tobago. The nominees are then adjudicated and selected by a regional Eminent Persons Panel, after research is done into their achievements and status among their peers, and potential for future work.Prof Coard is known by her colleagues as “the mother of cardiovascular pathology” in the Caribbean. Her work has virtually created the discipline of pathology in the Caribbean, and she is a world renowned authority on the subject. She said that although she had received other awards “the Anthony N Sabga Award marks the zenith of my career so far.”The Arts and Letters laureate, Mr Adrian Augier,Dorian Johnson Jersey, is a St Lucian development economist who has worked at the World Bank, and with the government of St Lucia. He is credited with starting two theatrical companies in St Lucia, and creating a viable platform for cultural industries in the region. He is also a poet and Carnival artist.The Public and Civic Contributions laureate,Raekwon McMillan Womens Jersey, Sydney Allicock,NFL Jerseys China, is a member of the Makushi Tribe,Alphonse Areola Jersey, one of the indigenous or First Peoples of Guyana. He is credited with having created a developmental model of environmentally benign tourism which encourages partnerships among locals, business, government, and international agencies.Allicock is credited with improving the state and status of the indigenous peoples and the environment, and creating sustainable economic activity outside the state apparatus. He is also a member of Guyana’s Low Carbon Initiative, and the Iwokrama Conservation agency.The Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago nominating committee is Mr Brian Lewis, an Architect,Michael Carrick Jersey, and members include Prof Bridget Brereton, Prof Julian Kenny, Mrs Diana Mahabir-Wyatt and others. The Regional Eminent Persons Panel is headed by Mr Michael Mansoor, and includes Sir Ellis Clarke (Trinidad),) Justice Christopher Blackman (Barbados), Sir K Dwight Venner (OECS), Sir Shridath Ramphal (Guyana) and others.In his keynote speech at the Hilton on Saturday night, Dr Sabga announced that from being a biennial event, the awards would now be made yearly.The purpose of the awards, he said, was to “make Caribbean people aware that the science, art civic and entrepreneurial ideals that will build better societies are right here in the region, and to find people who embody that promise”. |
