Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and former energy minister Kelvin Ramnath died yesterday after he collapsed at the Augustus Long Hospital. It is believed he suffered a heart attack. Sources in the United National Congress (UNC) said Ramnath had accompanied his wife to the Pointe-a-Pierre hospital to visit her relatives when he collapsed around 5 pm.
Ramnath underwent open-heart surgery in Canada just before the 2007 general elections. In 2009, in an effort to save his right leg, doctors amputated a toe. He was also a diabetic. Medical staff tried for about 45 minutes to resuscitate 65-year-old Ramnath. He was a qualified petroleum engineer and a foundation member of the UNC.
Former prime minister Basdeo Panday said yesterday that he was deeply saddened by the news, knowing that Ramnath was a great companion in the political front. "This has certainly come as terrible shock to me. I know he goes to Miami very often and we were supposed to meet soon, but he didn't call. I didn't realise he was ill."
Panday said he last spoke to Ramnath, two weeks ago. He described Ramnath as an excellent MP. Ramnath entered Parliament in 1976, as the member for Couva South. He served as a minister between 1987 and 1988, when he was a member of the coalition National Alliance for Reconstruction government.
When the coalition disbanded due to disagreement, Ramnath served in Opposition until 1991 as the MP for Couva South. He left the House of Representatives between 1991 and 2000, serving on occasion as a temporary senator but returned to electoral politics in 2001, regaining the Couva South seat as a member of the UNC, and again in 2002 and 2007.
In extending condolences to Ramnath's family, in particular his wife and children, Panday said, "Ramnath will be sadly missed. "I intend to go to the house of mourning tonight. I am sure that God will grant his family the strength to get over this. This country has certainly loss a son of the soil."
Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said the death of Ramnath was shocking. "I know he was active up to just recently. I don't know what is the cause of death. But I assume it was something very sudden." Maharaj said Ramnath made a great contribution in building the UNC, along with Panday and others.
"Kelvin has always stood up for the principles of the UNC. In recent times, he was very dissatisfied with what was happening in the country. I think it is a sad loss to the country, population and the UNC." Ramnath also served as HSE manager at state-owned Petrotrin. He was appointed EMA chairman in July last year. Ramnath has four sons.