A humble servant of community and country

Aug 07, 2011 News

---

 

…David Subnauth is a ‘Special Person’

 

By Leon Suseran

 

Pull Quote: “No matter how much you do, you are going to be criticised, and I like my critics. If you criticise me, you are my friend, because you are telling me what is wrong, so I can sit back, think about your criticism and correct my lifestyle.”

 

Popular Corentyne businessman and former politician, David Subnauth, having made numerous

selfless contributions to his community, politics and his country, lives quietly with his wife, grandchildren and their parents at #57 Village, on the Upper Corentyne.
He was the typical ‘country boy’ and fondly remembers being tasked with selling milk at the age of 15.
“My father used to milk the cows. I used to bring it out and sell it, so all the money I get from the milk used to be my personal money.”
That proved to be a very exciting daily chore which he did for a year.
“I enjoyed it because I used to paddle a canoe down that #51/52 canal, go right down, 3 ½ miles down, where he had this cow-pen.”
He would overnight there, help his father milk the cows, paddle out and take his bicycle and sell milk in the various villages on the Upper Corentyne.
Born on the 10th of October, 1935, at #57 Village, Corentyne, to Subnauth and Sohalarie, David attended #56 Primary up the Sixth Standard. He said he did not have the opportunity to attend secondary school. He has 4 brothers and 4 sisters, 3 of whom are still alive today.
After school, he was involved deeply in the community.
“I used to sell and trade. My father was a cattle man; he was responsible, to a great extent, for the rice cultivation in this area, because we used to produce the oxen for the people to plough their rice land, so he used to supply them from Crabwood Creek right down to Cromarty.”
He noted that his father and his father-in- law to be, Amar Bhagroo, were working together and “they arranged together”. “My father said, ‘Boy you got to get married.’”
“By then my mother had died and my sisters were all married, so we had to get going. My small bother, Lillie, and I, we got married on the same day.

David was 21 and his wife, Bibi, was 19, when they tied the knot in 1957.
Less than a decade later he started a petroleum business, in 1965, which would grow into a large- scale family business, evident up to this day. Mr. Subnauth recounted that he wanted to start a business venture and thought that that was the best business “since nobody had a gas station around this area at that time”.
“I used to buy diesel and drums from Wreford, who used to be an Esso agent in Berbice, and I used to sell it back to farmers. So I started there and I came along until I build this gas station…we started to do distribution, we sold diesel and kerosene oil.”
He pointed out that he is the major supplier of kerosene on the Corentyne, and revealed that today the business has a number of tank wagons. “We’re still in the business. We used to sell 100 gallons per week, now we’re selling 40,000, sometimes 50,000 gallons per month, so the sales have increased tremendously.”
POLITICS
After launching his business, he got into politics, in the 1960s.
“Because of my activities, I was asked to serve in the District Drainage Advisory Committee, and then I was asked to serve in the Guyana Credit Corporation as a member (of the committee). I was twice appointed as a member of the Drainage and Irrigation Board”.
In 1967, he was a candidate for The United Force (TUF) for the Corentyne area. He said that he became really active and got involved, “because I always want to see the living standards of people improve, that’s the motive and that’s the only reason why I was involved in all these things.”
Mr. Subnauth then became a Member of Parliament of the People’s National Congress (PNC), under the Hoyte Administration, carefully pointing out that “I was opposed to the PNC under Mr Burnham’s regime”.
He noted that President Hoyte invited him to become an MP, and put him on the list, but stressed that “I was not a PNC Member, neither am I up to now”. He accepted the offer.
He shared memories of his years as a parliamentarian and the vast knowledge he garnered during that period, but said that somehow it now feels that it was a waste of time.

“Parliament, to me, is a farce, a waste of time, because whatever the ruling party says, no matter what you do in parliament—you can bring up the best points to show their point of view is not the best—it’s a waste of time.”
“You can talk from morning till night on the other side (the opposition) it makes no difference.” He recalls being allowed to make numerous uninhibited presentations on the budget.
“I was never dictated to as a parliamentarian by Mr. Hoyte or anybody from the party.”
He said that he had the freedom to vote how he wanted to and faced no pressure while in the PNC. He served five years in that capacity.
Mr Subnauth has formed the East Berbice Development Association and will, in essence, be contesting the 2011 Regional Elections, whereby Region Six has 30 councillors, and he is mobilising people to become councillors.
“The people are not being given an opportunity to select their representatives. It has been over 14 years since a Local Government Elections was held. This must change.”

UPPER CORENTYNE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Along with Mr Jeffery Changoor (former Headmaster of #56 School and lawyer), he established the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCCI) and became the founder/President of the Chamber in 1969.
He recounted that he formed the Chamber “because we were not getting any representation at this end. And people were afraid to come out and speak against the then ruling party, the PNC.”
“When the Chamber started, we came out. We had a good relationship with everyone. We did quite a lot in the first years. We were vocal in condemning the establishment of the toll-gate on the Corentyne Highway. We were successful in a campaign whereby we took a motorcade from Crabwood Creek and ended up at Esplanade in New Amsterdam, where we had a public meeting opposing the toll-gate.”
Mr. Subnauth and his team were able to stall the opening date of the toll-gate, which nevertheless, opened some time after. He said when Mr Hoyte came in and reforms were put in place, to lift bans on items, etc, he headed a delegation with all privately -owned bus owners, who were protesting. The government had agreed to recognize the bus association but that they should form themselves into a body. The Chamber, he noted, was also opposed to the State-owned External Trade Bureau (ETB) “because that would have taken away the position of all the commission agents in the country”. He met with Mr Hoyte and voiced their dissatisfaction about corruption in the ETB and eventually, what they told him did result in the ETB being scrapped.

After getting into politics, his work with the chambers took a hiatus, until its resuscitation a few years ago. Mr Ghamandie was elected the president after which Mr Subnauth took over and managed it until 2009.
“I think the Chamber is going places”. He commended the work of the UCCCI, under the leadership of Vishnu Doerga.
Highlighting some of the more notable achievements of the chamber under his steward in the 1960s, he said that they were able to get GPL to set up a Sub-station at #53 Village after a piece of land was donated by the Local Authority. They also advocated for the road to Moleson Creek, and to have a Regional Chamber of Commerce, a sort of umbrella body, which became the Association of Regional Chambers of Commerce (ARCC).

REFLECTIONS
“I guess I could say I’m satisfied,” he said, while looking back at his life. “No matter how much you do, you are going to be criticised, and I like my critics. If you criticise me, you are my friend, because you are telling me what is wrong, so I can sit back, think about your criticism and correct my lifestyle.”
He spoke of individuals who have impressed him over the years.
“The late Peter D’Aguiar and Desmond Hoyte were role models. And I have always been highly impressed by Christopher Ram. One of the most memorable events in my life was the time as a young man when I was invited by Peter D’Aguiar for coffee at his Kitty home. That man sat with me and he gave me a lecture on life and business. I can never ever forget that day and everything that he told me, you know, assisted and helped me to become what I am today.”
Health-wise Mr Subnauth has had his challenges. He suffered paralysis on his right side from a medical condition and travelled to India for a surgical intervention at the Apollo Hospital.
“They performed a 20-minute operation and I felt 100% better. It was like a miracle and the service was excellent. I only hope that we in Guyana would be able to have medical institutions like that.”
Having retired, he still enjoys reading the newspapers, listening to the news and indulges himself in deep reflection and thought. His son Abraham manages the petroleum business, hardware store and restaurant, and Mr Subnauth continues to enjoy the company of his three grandsons, Joshua, Aaron and David. One of his sons also purchased the Corentyne Community Broadcasting TV Channel 19 recently.
He also had a parting word for his fellow Guyanese, “Consolidate on what you have; put it right before you leap again”.

---

---