Come, Come up to La Laja

Come now to La Laja

Where sunrise lifts a glow of golden light in every direction

Upon the mountainside

Up and over Windblow, whose name explains itself

For there you'll find the wind just blow and blows

Over Cabes', the head and down below to the lovely Verdant Vale, where crystal waters flow

Whenever the quarries a rest do take

Poet, herbalist Francis Morean (circa 1990)

Simeon "Simyung" Lopez was the son of a Venezuelan migrant, who sneaked into Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1900s, and a descendant of a Carib woman, one of the indigenous tribes which lived in the hills of the Northern Range.

He died in 1990 at the age of 91. He was the father of 23 children with two women – Jane Lopez, who died at 87 and Zita Quintero, 94, whose memory is still vivid of the early years.

Simeon, also known as Bisco, was one of the early estate owners along the La Laja South Branch Road, located about 10 kilometres from the borough of Arima, along the Blanchisseuse Main Road.

La Laja's name is Spanish in origin and translates to "the slab" and is favoured by hikers, naturalists and birdwatchers. The trail leads to this country's highest peak – El Cerro Del Aripo to breathtaking waterfalls such as La Laja and Sambasson. Hikers can climb over mountain ridges to get to Paria, Brasso Seco, Morne Bleu, the Guanapo Gorges and many other untouched natural beauties in the Northern Range.

[caption id="attachment_910047" align="alignnone" width="713"] In this undated family photo, Simeon Lopez, one of the estate owners of La Laja, gets ready for the bush, -[/caption]

Two weeks ago, a convoy of about 15 high-end SUVs carrying Arima MP Pennelope Beckles, the minister of housing, Lopinot/Bon Air West MP Marvin Gonzales, the minister of public utilities, and a host of technocrats and supporting staff visited the community promising estate owners the dream of a pipe-borne water supply and solar panels for power.

The closest the estate owners ever came to government support was during the tenure of then prime minister Patrick Manning – 2001 to 2010 – as he shared a close relationship with La Laja's most infamous estate owner Shirley Perriera, known to cabinet members as Juliana Pena, the prime minister's spiritual adviser.

Estate owners said it was the first time in decades that a section of the almost impassable road was paved up to Pena's estate and there was a regular road maintenance crew to swipe away the roadside bush, remove fallen trees and clean the drains.

All that is gone now. In the last two decades the majority of estate owners gave up, selling their property to Asa Wright Nature Centre for a pittance.

Those that remain are buoyed by the promise of the Arima MP to rebuild the access road so they can take their produce to the market.

Two decades ago, the media reported on the challenges of the estate owners. Their main complaint was the extremely poor condition of the road, lack of water and electricity. Today, the cry for help is the same.

Last Wednesday, a Sunda

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