The Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge needs to be saved from permanent destitution, says former government minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan.
In a statement, Rambachan said the closure of the Asa Wright Centre shows that Trinidad and Tobago has lost its soul and citizens should cry rivers of tears for its closure.
The nature centre announced that since the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been closed to visitors for several months and the eco-lodge has ceased operations.
The not-for-profit trust remains in existence and will continue to manage its protected areas as a wildlife sanctuary.
A fund has been set up for donations to help the centre survive.
Dr Rambachan said, “This is a country that has lost its soul. Apart from this, it has lost its sense of the treasures it has. It has stopped appreciating what hard working patriotic citizens have been doing about our natural God given assets and the recognition that the world has given to them.”
He said, “I am deeply hurt. Deep sadness has engulfed me about the closure of Asa Wright. This is perhaps our iconic expression of our love for nature of our understanding of the importance of nature of the fact that there are people who understand the interdependence between man and nature and the environment.”
Dr Rambachan called on both Government and the Opposition to put measures in place to save the centre.
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