Keith Rowley Marching T&T Back to Its Colonial Roots

I truly think it was a mistake for the Office of the Prime Minister to return to White Hall, and I believe that we have lost an opportunity for real emotional growth as a nation in its place. In explaining the rationale for this, I want to compare White Hall to the President's House, because while they may appear to be similar there is actually one key difference that I believe is crucial. 

Prior to out nation becoming a Republic in 1976, the building which is now known as the President's House was used by the British Monarchy as the seat of their power and control of our country. After its construction in 1867, "The Cottage" as it was then known became home to Governors of Trinidad, until 1958 when it was reassigned to the Governor General of the West Indian Federation and the Monarchy. As such, after we became truly independent from our Colonial rulers, it made sense to transition that building into the President's House which was already symbolically regarded as the seat of ultimate power in our nation.

White Hall, on the other hand began construction in 1904 as the private residence of Joseph Leon Agostini who arrived in T&T from Corsica in the 1850's and later became the owner of several cocoa plantations. The architecture and decor of the building, then named Rosenweg, or "path of roses" in English, was meant to reflect the Italian and Mediterranean style houses of his home country, and the material used in the construction was coral stone which was imported from Barbados. Mr. Agostini only enjoyed the house for one year prior to his death however, and it was then sold off to an American businessman named Robert Henderson in 1906 who then christened it White Hall, the name it kept until today.

White Hall remained in the Henderson family until it was commandeered by the US Armed Forces for use as the command headquarters during World War II between 1941 and 1944. As the Henderson family chose not to return to the house, it was rented to the British Council for use as a cultural center, library and art house among other things. The building was only purchased by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in 1954, and used to it house the Pre-Federal Interim Government in 1957. It eventually became the Office of the Prime Minister in 1962 with the election of Dr. Eric Williams as the first Prime Minister, which it remained until undergoing refurbishment in 2009.

As you can see, White Hall was never meant to serve the Head of State, and was not designed as an office. The fact that the house was constructed by a family of former slave-owners (**J.L. Agostini never owned slaves personally but his relatives that preceded him in T&T did), and was meant to exhibit the opulence and decadence of colonists that were generating wealth on the back of former slaves and indentured workers is the antithesis of our post-Independence society. As such for a Prime Minister to reclaim that building for their office shows a level of ignorance unbecoming of someone who presents themselves a historian in the way that Dr. Rowley has often boasted. Because the fact of the matter is that not even the damn stone that was used in the construction came from either Trinidad or Tobago.

The thing that infuriates me the most however, is that Dr. Rowley was elected into a building that was constructed and designed specifically to seat the Prime Minister of T&T and he has deliberately chosen to abandon that for one with such strong colonial roots. It demonstrates a step backwards that I couldn't believe that he would be willing to take. Say what you will about the late Patrick Manning, but his strategy for infrastructural development was to move our country forward in a way designed to forge our own identity, and this was highlighted by the construction of numerous government buildings throughout the capital city. But Dr. Rowley is now sending a message that the building which we have constructed for the Office of the Prime Minister is inferior to that of what colonists built some one hundred years ago.

The main issue that I and many others have raised with regards to the Keith Rowley led administration is that there is never any thought or consideration given to the consequences of the course of action they take. And that could not be more apparent than with this move. If Dr. Rowley truly wanted to honor this country and its heritage, White Hall should have been converted into a Prime Ministerial Library, similar to its use while being rented to the British Council, where visitors could visit and learn about the history of our past leaders. But of course, then the title of Dr. Rowley's autobiography would be a lie, so I am sure the sacrifice of our national identity was a small price to pay for the stroking of his ego. 

Best regards,

Ravi Balgobin Maharaj