Master engineer and TV pioneer, Rockcliff Christie, is a ‘Special Person’

Nov 10, 2013 News

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 “I would say to any budding engineer, ensure that the job you do is done to the required standard. You will be assured of getting good jobs because you are organised.”

                  
By Leon Suseran

Rockcliff Syomen Christie is an English-trained engineer, who spent a lot of time becoming qualified overseas as well as physically observing and inspecting engineering on a first-hand basis. He has given his life to the technical field. He oversaw the so-called construction boom in Guyana in the ‘70s, ‘80s and even ‘90s. He was hit hard with the blows of life but they didn’t keep him down; he got up and stood the test of time.

He received a telegram in England weeks after his mother, Eglantine Christie, had passed away in Guyana. He was studying in school at the time. It hurt him deeply that he could not have left to go back home, lest he abandon his studies, and not pass.
The story of Rockcliff Christie is an interesting one; where he broke down in tears when he told the story of his mother’s death and him being thousands of miles away; the story of a man who pioneered television in Berbice and a man who did dozens of ‘odd- jobs’ and ‘hustled’ to make a living during his young days, but who persevered and has become one of the most powerful businessmen in corporate Guyana, and indeed in Berbice.
As a child, he tended to the family farm and goats and other animals at Vergenoegen, Essequibo. His father, Joseph Christie was a cattle farmer. He attended the Philadelphia Scots School and was the second of eleven children. At the tender age of 14, he left home for Georgetown for betterment. He sought after the technical field: carpentry and masonry at Sprostons Dock and Foundry Company as an Apprentice.
“You learned a lot of things there—carpentry, joinery, welding, boat-building, and it is there I learned to make crochet needles and knives which I sold at the market, as well as combs and curlers!”
He served there for five years while simultaneously pursuing part-time (secondary education) studies to improve his academic side. At the time he resided at Curtis Street, Albouystown.
Seeking to improve his standard of living, young Rockcliff began job-hunting at MacKenzie, Linden. The ambitious youth overheard some army men talking about “walking through the cattle trail and going to Brazil.” At the age of 20, he packed his belongings and headed south. This trek on foot took him about two weeks. He spent a year between Boa Vista, Brazil and Guyana, doing all sorts of work to earn an income. “It was all part of the ‘hustle’,” he said.

After that year, he refused to stop there in his engineering knowledge and wanted to expand those skills. He acquired the passage and left these shores, setting sail for England in 1956. This voyage, he recalled, took approximately three weeks.
He was all by himself in an unknown country. He sought boarding and lodging at the Salvation Army headquarters. “Those were difficult days,” he reflected. He managed to acquire a job with British Railways as a labourer.
“Anything that was available, I grabbed it.”
He spent ten years in England and this afforded him promotions on the job with the company as well as flexible working hours.
“This schedule worked in my favour and I was able to pursue tertiary education.”
Rockcliff attended South West Technical College for two years and completed the Ordinary National Certificate in Building after which he moved on to East Ham College in East London in 1965. He graduated two years later with his Higher National Certificate in Building Engineering.
During his third year of studies, he transferred to Acne Technical College in London to complete more technical studies. He also attained a Diploma in Architectural Draftsmanship and Building Designs while studying a Correspondence Course.
Additionally, he completed another correspondence course in Civil Engineering.
After returning to Guyana in 1966, Christie was immediately offered a job as District Engineer with the Ministry of Works and Hydraulics. The then Chief Works and Hydraulics Officer, Steve Narine, was indeed impressed with his qualifications and experience as an engineer. Christie recalled overseeing the erection of arches around the capital city, as Guyana was preparing to gain its independence.
“After seeing me work for a few months, they put me in charge of a set of men, and I made some [real] money there.”
After spending three months in Georgetown, he was put in charge of the Triumph District, taking over from Engineer Lawrence Charles. This area spanned from Georgetown to Mahaicony.

“They kept me for four months there and then they sent me to West Coast Berbice.”
He was then transferred to Fort Wellington, running from Mahaicony to Itacha, and spent the next ten years as District Engineer. He was in charge of all the technical works… repairing, assessing and maintaining roads, buildings and pure water supply. Under him were his team of Overseers and Superintendents.
One of his proud achievements was the designing and construction of the chalets at the National Psychiatric Hospital.
“I did the drawing and then organized the five chalets…while still being in charge of West Berbice.”
This proved to take a toll on Christie, who was then transferred to East Berbice, where he oversaw the construction work in the entire Berbice area from Orealla/Siparuta on the Corentyne to Mara, along the East Bank of Berbice.
Today, he can hardly remember all the construction work and road projects for which he supervised and designed construction, “it is only when I travel around the country, then I remember as I see them.”
Black Bush Polder Road; Mahaicony Branch Road; Canje River Bridge, Rosignol to Georgetown Roadway; etc. were some of the projects he was engaged in.
Being an engineer in those days entailed him spending a lot of time out on the road and being away from home, and there were some really long nights, too. “Sometimes you got to sleep [outside].”
During this time, Christie was further economically-driven and developed that spirit of enterprise which led him to establish a hotel and bar in Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam. He designed and built the Little Rock Hotel, his first private business venture. Then his customers wanted to see television and such, and he pleased them by making video cassettes available to them, however he solved that issue in a more permanent way by opening Berbice’s first television station, Little Rock Television Station (LRTVS) in 1989.
“I started with 15 watts and not very long after it was 60 and then 100 and then long afterwards, I went to 1,000 [watts] and then covered the entire Berbice.”
In 2005, Christie’s engineering skills were again put to the test as he designed and built one of Berbice’s most popular hotels, the Little Rock Suites in Main Street, New Amsterdam.

“I used to tell people what it will cost me to build anywhere, it will cost them double,” he said with a laugh. The engineer knows how to economise on materials and design, and construct in such a way that he saves a lot without compromising on designs and architecture.
He said that it is not the numerous problems in engineering that kept him down, but how he dealt with them.
“You’ve got to solve them…You’ve got problems, ordinary problems, but you’ve got to sort them out, somehow.” He fondly recalled being given the job to build the Mahaicony Branch Road and how he and his team worked day in and day out, assiduously, to please the government back then by building a quality piece of road.
“It’s all about team work,” he said. “All of us worked together…that was my cup of tea—my way of life—always…I didn’t jump and do things by myself; I got my boys together and we worked—Everything was team effort!”
He has surely enjoyed his years as an engineer.
“You have got to be organized. And you have to get others’ opinions too…They have got to be there and we make a decision and we follow that.”
Today he receives a lot of assistance in running his businesses: the TV station and hotel chain. The candid engineer was vocal about engineering in today’s Guyana. His advice to young hopefuls is to “work hard and organise how to get the job done, with the others—your staff—never mind you are the boss—organize and have discussions and let everybody put in something and work with it.”
“I would say to any budding engineer, ensure that the job you do is done to the required standard. You will be assured of getting good jobs because you are organised.”
Today, Christie enjoys working out in the mornings to stay fit. The 82-year- old has five children – Collette Sandiford, Doret Sinclair, Rockcliff Christie Jr., Ivelaw Christie and Naomi E. Christie.
The sudden migration of numerous engineers, as well as other skilled workers, has hit the country hard. Gone are the days when we had a lot of engineers; very dedicated people who got the job done and who were integrally involved in literally building this nation and its long expanses of roads.
Rockcliff Christie’s contributions to this great nation can literally be seen as one travels across Guyana. Leaving aside his artistic skills, his ingenuity, dedication and passion for his work definitely can earn him recognition as a ‘Special Person.’

 

 

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