Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: The best insight instant feedback accountability the all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5 we have an interview for you. And joining us here this morning, you may have heard some you may have read as well some some occurrences with the military museum in Chaguamaramas. Joining us this morning we have president of the associates, Linda Kelshall. Good morning to you.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: Good morning.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Nice to have you with us. And we do have as well public relations officer Kathy Ann Edwards. Good morning to you.
[00:00:35] Speaker C: Good morning.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: It's nice to have both of you with us here this morning.
As I was saying to you all just before we started I had the opportunity to visit the museum. In my days in television we had gone down and I'd done a story on it and I always had done things and and it's sad that there are so many people in this country who don't even know that there's a museum there first to begin with.
Not because they're ignorant. It just happened.
And so many people have not experienced what the museum has.
And I think that's sad.
But let's get to the nitty gritty issue. What's going on with the museum? We hear CDA want to kick out the museum all kinds of what was really taking place.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Well, what I would like to say is that the museum there 500 years of military history.
And I will say in come October last year we had a flow of tours from all over, even from Tobago.
They all came to the museum.
And the thing is we used to get a subvention from the government but we don't get it is seven and a half years now the subvention had stopped. They said they didn't have money at that time and it had stopped. So until this day up to today we never get a subvention again. And that's a vention was a little help to the museum also.
And then you remember we had a fire two years ago and we lost a lot millions because the whole library was destroyed a little part of the back of the museum but was much and today the museum is still standing strong and it's a historical site.
And the problem with CDA I couldn't understand the fight because we are in the military base. We're not outside because when Mr. Kelshall was working in the coast Guard next to he started cleaning that piece of land had a lot of bush and cowich.
He had his little museum in Cotton Hill at that time. And when he finished cleaning the land then he started he got some containers and and he started bringing the museum to the bringing India to started his museum.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I understand the historic, the history behind it. But the CDA, the CDA's position as reported in the newspaper, the CDA is saying that they've been trying to regularize the museum.
It's tenure.
It says that they've been making overtures to deal with the lease or payment or some kind of what's the upon we.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: That is what I was coming to when Gaylord started the museum. Now in 1991 he got a cabinet note and CD also got one. And they were supposed to come in to Gaylord in the first five years to see well how the museum going. If we're making money to pay a peppercorn rentals or whatever and it never happened.
We will get a letter. Yes, but they never follow it up with us.
Now when my husband passed seven years ago, remember in 2013 we got an eviction too. That's when Gaylord was alive. The president at that time stepped in and it was canceled.
And this year, which is October, no October last year we got this letter from cd. Five months to move.
This will take two years also to move our museum. Just the plane alone will take a little while and with nothing where will we put that museum?
Now the cabinet note is saying that they grant us a 30 years. We never get a lease from them.
Now not too long ago, let me say maybe 2012 or whatever the last letter they sent they wanted to give us a lease. But that is after 20 years ago.
So I put it in the lawyer's hand and the lawyer, well, the lawyer know what he's doing? I don't know. I left it alone.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: Okay, so what are the possible outcomes in this situation?
Is the museum going to be evicted or are you going to fight it?
[00:06:01] Speaker B: How could they evict a museum into a heritage site in that piece of ground? The Americans in World War II is there. They was pulling up all these seaplanes when they come in and they were tying it all the tie downs is still there in that piece of land nowhere else in Chicago.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: Yeah, well that piece of land is prime property. I could tell you that. And there may be a lot of people who would love to get their hands on that piece of property.
So what. What do we expect?
[00:06:36] Speaker B: That is the slip way.
So if the Coast Guard and they not paying rent. That's as part of the Coast Guard.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I know the property very well. And, and, and people for those of you listening who trying to figure out what we're talking about or where we're talking about when you're driving down Chaguaramas just before the Coast Guard base, you see a plane park up on the left hand side and that's, that's where the museum is actually located.
Does it seem as though this matter is going to be resolved? Because when it comes to the issue of, of the lease and all these kind of things, I know and this is, this was publicized, there are the business entities just, just before you all, two or three before you all that have at least five dollar a year.
And I say in this publicly because it's fact a dollar a year. When that information was made public, I scratched matters like serious. You could get prime property in Chagaramas for a dollar a year and put a big, big business on the place and all of that kind of thing. So I don't know how the CD is going to deal with this one. But if the museum has to be relocated, do you all have somewhere to go?
[00:07:51] Speaker B: I have no idea that it, it will locate from there because I know I'm not moving. That was the last word. My husband, when he gave me the cabinet note, he said take care of this document and the museum is not moving.
He always say God gave him that piece of land.
That was his words.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: And I just following instructions.
So it didn't.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: Okay, so, so what has the CDA said to you all when it comes to their time frame to move out and all these kinds of things?
[00:08:33] Speaker C: It's supposed to be tomorrow. Tomorrow, yes, is the deadline for us to be out of there tomorrow. Peace God. But they officially give us like five months to move. But it isn't possible in any way for us to move all those artifacts and all those things in four months.
Because some, under some of those memorials there are actually ashes of fallen soldiers, you understand from American, all that under there.
So that is very unreasonable to have us move in five months because to move all those things in five months is really, really impossible. And we don't have anywhere to put the museum. Now the CDA had provided, had proposed some sites before but it was, you know, covered in bush and all that. And we had no funding at all in order to, you know, to have the place cleaned and to have things move and all that. So how are we going to move? And the military museum is a place where we see, you know, a lot of students from all over Chindar and Tobago. They come there for information, students from utt, students from the University of the West Indies. We have primary school, we have preschool students. They come there for Information from the military museum. And you know, it's only when we made it, everything went on till social media. There are a lot of persons saying that they never been to the military museum. A lot of people are amazed to know that there is actually a museum there. You know, so it's really heartbreaking that it has come to this, but we have no funding in order to move all those artifacts and we have nowhere to go.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: And all those mannequins, I don't know when last you came there.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: It's been a while.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: You should come. All those mannequins in that compound. I made everyone with my bare hands paint and never learn it anyway.
So all this saved the museum with expenses to bring in people to do these things.
Because recently the money that we made with tours, I brought in artists because the sun these days too hot for me to go and stand up and paint again. And I bring in an artist to repaint everything in the compound. I brighten up that place again.
So not to say we making no big set of money. I don't know what CD is fighting about because I show they must have family, children that go into school coming to see that museum. And why we running away from our history?
[00:11:33] Speaker A: Yeah, well, as I said before, and I'll say again, it's sad that so many people have not visited the museum because it really does capture a lot of who we are and where we came from and a lot of the things that happened in this country that many people don't know about.
[00:11:51] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: And when you visit the museum, it takes you through. You walk through history. You actually walk through history when you go to the museum. It's really sad. Look, and as I'm, you know, we're saying that people don't know about the museum. Somebody just sent a message saying.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: That.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: They'Ve never been to the museum and people should.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Tomorrow free. We have people coming in to visit that museum tomorrow starting from 8 o'clock in the morning till 3.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: So if tomorrow is the deadline for you all according to the cda.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: What are you expecting? Tomorrow CDA going to move in a lockdown, lock up the place?
[00:12:32] Speaker C: We don't know. Everything actually is in God's hands. Everything is in God hands because in 2013 this happened and the then president, President Kamona, he intervened and he said nobody's moving the museum, you know, so today we asking that the relevant authorities that somebody will step in.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Have you appealed to the president? Have, have you made overtures to President Angle?
[00:12:57] Speaker C: We, we wrote a letter.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: We.
[00:12:59] Speaker C: We don't know if it is. If it has reached us yet. We wrote letters to different cabinet ministers and we have gotten no response from.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Anyone that falls in Dr. Rowley's constituency.
[00:13:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: Have you spoken to him?
[00:13:15] Speaker C: We wrote some letters some time ago, some months ago, and he instructed somebody to, you know, to come and find out what's going on. They called us into the office and then it just went door mile. Yes. Nothing happened after that. So today we are appealing to the people of Chinda and Tobago that good sense will prevail and that the museum will be saved.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:37] Speaker C: Because it's a lot, a lot of history. And to those of you that has never come to the museum, we ask that you will come visit us, you know, and you will feel, you know, actually walking into, you know, you actually walk through history. Yeah, through history.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
And I'm saying that because when I went, I was. I was a reporter with CNC3.
So you look at things differently because you're there to capture a story. But I couldn't help as a citizen, feel the sense of nostalgia, even though I wasn't there for a lot of the things that happened. But it took you through a journey of where we really came and some of the things that happened. And some of the people who were here, not necessarily trained begonians, the Americans and the British and this and everybody else who's all part of the museum's artifacts. It paints a real picture for you. And one that will, I know, will touch a lot of people if they do have the opportunity to come down to the museum.
[00:14:43] Speaker C: And one thing I want to say, you know, you know, in other countries, we see that people, they preserve history, you know, other people from all walks of life, you know, when you see foreigners come, they'll be amazed to see the military museum, you know. So I'm appealing, please, again, to the relevant authorities that we will preserve history, you know, because the younger ones coming up, if the museum is destroyed, they would not know anything about the military museum. So I'm asking, please, the president of Trinidad and Tobago, anybody in authority, please, if you all will please intervene and save the museum tomorrow. Peace.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: God.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: And also Mr. Kelshall, he got an award from the National Trust. The National Trust and CDA is the same minister.
So we send a letter out there.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Which minister is this from?
[00:15:38] Speaker B: Nadi National Trust. They fall under the same minister.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Who is the minister?
[00:15:44] Speaker B: I can't recall his name, but I understand they all under the same ministry.
And if Mr. Kelshall got a medal from the National Trust.
They should know the value of that museum.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: One of the unfortunate things that we have to deal with is when you have changes in the individual and it happens, your ministers change and so on. Their perspectives are different, their priorities are different. You can't get away from that. And the personalities are different. And that in itself brings additional challenges because you always deal with a new person.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: This is what happened, cda, the same thing.
We deals with different people all the time.
This person here right now who sent that letter, she's new.
I know all the different ones before.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Okay. At least we're gonna have to leave our interview here this morning. It's the best insight, instant feedback, accountability, the all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5.
