Chairman Emeritus of the ANSA McAL Group of Companies Dr. Anthony N. Sabga, second from left, chats with, from left, EPP Chairman Michael K. Mansoor, Sister Paul D’Ornellas, Prof Compton Bourne, Judy Chang and Maria Nielson at the announcement of the recipients of this year’s Caribbean Awards for Excellence. The event took place at the TATIL Head Office of ANSA McAL on February 13, 2012.
Three people, Trinidadian Paula Lucie-Smith, Vincentian Professor Leonard O’Garo and Guyanese George Simon, are going to be $500,000 richer by early May. The three will be the recipients of Norman N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence and also will receive a medal and a citation at an upcoming ceremony. Each laureate was chosen from a list of nominations by a regional Eminent Persons Selection Panel, comprising members representing T&T, Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Simon is an Amerindian and a member of the Guyana First Peoples Nation. He is a visual artist and archeologist who studied at the University of Portsmouth and London University. He recently made an archeological discovery in Guyana that may cause history books to be radically rewritten. With a team of archeologists he examined a field of man-made mounds stretching hundreds of miles between the Berbice and Corentyne rivers dating back 5,000 years.
Simon and his team found evidence that complex, populous settlements existed in this part of the world even before the pyramids in Egypt. He will receive the Arts & Letters award. Lucie-Smith will get the Public and Civic Contributions award and is the founder and CEO of the Adult Literary Tutors Association (ALTA). In 1990, she began teaching an adult literacy class of about 20 people on a volunteer basis and formed ALTA in 1992. Today, ALTA classes are offered at 50 venues across T&T. Professor Leonard O’Garo is a plant pathologist from St Vincent. His work has been principally concerned with the use of science to treat or eradicate diseases that attack food crops in the region. He became the United Nations bio-safety co-ordinator, managing the United Nations Environmental Programme for the development of national bi-safety frameworks. Through his work all OECS countries have received specialised training in crop protection methods for crops including pepper, tomato, onion, yams and papaya.
The announcements of the 2012 laureates was made at the Tatil Building, Port-of-Spain, yesterday by Michael Mansoor, chairman of the Emiment Persons Panel selection committee. Mansoor, in an address, noted that was the fifth set of laureates to be recognised since the awards were launched in 2006. He said giving the awards was one of the philanthropic activities of the ANSA McAL Foundation. The awards programme not only pays tribute to the laureates’ excellence in their careers but also facilitates their future work, Mansoor pointed out. “With the 2012 awards we have contributed $7.5 million to advance the work of our laureates.”
Mansoor said the selection panel has found a surprisingly large number of individuals in the Caribbean who pursue careers of excellence without great fanfare.
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday 14th February, 2012
