Profiles: Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago - by Nasser Khan

144 of mangoes which culminated in an international conference in 1994, the year in which she retired from CARIRI as Principal Researcher. RANJIT KUMAR (1912-1986) I ndia-born, his first area of work when he arrived here was as a distributor of Indian films which he did for two years. But it was as a Civil Engineer he made his greatest contribution, responsible for the construction of Wrightson Road on reclaimed land and developing the Morvant Housing Estate. He also engineered irrigation and drainage systems of Port-of-Spain to help with the problem of flooding. As a politician during the 1940’s and 1950’s he was a member and alderman of the Port of Spain City Council, a member of the Constitutional Reform Committee and a Member of the Legislative Council. His book Thoughts and Memories of Ranjit Kumar was published in 1981. COLIN LAIRD (1924-2018) E ngland-bornColinLairdhas been the sole architect inhis architectural firm for 54 years. Among his most significant achievements are the design and completion of National Library and Information Systems Authority (NALIS) building in 2002, and earlier the design of the Queen’s Hall with it then unique roof in 1956. But there are many more architectural projects that he was an important part of, either in design or restoration: the Brian Lara Promenade, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the Blood Bank at the Port-of- Spain General Hospital, the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, and the Hasely Crawford Stadium and Jean Pierre Complex. He came first in the Regional Competition for the design of CARICOMSecretariat headquarters.  There is a collection of his material at NALIS.