Arima has the distinction of being the hometown of the only surviving Carib community in T&T–the Santa Rosa/Carib community. President of the Carib Community Ricardo Bharath said they had made strides, like getting five acres of land at Calvary Hill, Arima. In a telephone interview, Bharath said: "It is a start. We are not satisfied. We will work with it and show the need for more space. We have set aside some funding for feasibility studies." They intend to construct a model Amerindian village, complete with a residence for Carib queen Valentina Medina (not doing too well), wildlife, farming, agriculture and cassava farming. There are other plans for an indigenous museum. He also said they were lobbying for the Heritage Day Festival Day of Recognition on October 14.
The Dial
In 1908, former mayor Francis Wallen presented a tower clock to the town of Arima. It later became known as the Dial. A ceremony took place at the intersection of Broadway and Queen Streets. Wallen had served as Arima mayor for two terms–from 1898 to 1899 and from 1900 to 1906. Veteran journalist Jones P Madeira said one of his ancestors (a Parede) who lived to be 95 said he remembered when the Dial was being constructed. Madeira said: "When the Dial was being constructed, there was something of a well at its base and the pendulum swung. You could have pressed a bell and you could have drunk water from one of the lion's mouth. The Dial almost never worked when it became driven by electricity."
Arima Tourism
�2 There are possibilities for eco-tourism in the forests on the Blanchisseuse Road. On the flip side, quarrying on the hills is having a negative effect from Mt Pleasant down to Pinto Road. n Areas like Paria, in the Northern Range, contain rare flora and fauna. Most of the flowers purchased in Port-of-Spain are grown there.
�2 On the Blanchisseuse Road, Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge was established on October 20, 1967, in honour of the estate's last private owner Asa Wright.
�2 Cleaver Woods Recreation Park boasts nature trails and an Amerindian Village.
�2 Founded by Lord Kitchener and Jazzy Pantin, Revue Kalypso Tent launches at Arima Velodrome every Carnival season. Lord Kitchener immortalised his hometown in song with the classic Trouble In Arima.
Arima of old
Arima businessman Roger Belix said in the good old days, Arima boasted three cinemas–Windsor, Princess and Hobosco. He maintained it was wrong to refer to Arima "as bush," since it could be likened to a Western town. "In the Westerns, there were towns like Arima. They called them towns and they were dirt roads. They had a lot of greenery," said Belix. Since the Americans had their base at Wallerfield, brothels and bars sprung up there more than in any other town in the Caribbean, Belix said. "It was a bustling town because of the wars and there was a bustling town at Wallerfield. By the Dial had three rum shops and all the other areas still a rum shop. Brothels were the order of the day," added Belix.
He boasted Arima had the only horse racing track, the only airport (Piarco International) and the largest farming areas in Wallerfield. Two universities have sprung up there, too. The three secondary schools were Dr Bernard Tappin's Holy Cross College, Jean Warner's Arima Government Secondary and Austin Almarales' Arima Senior Comprehensive School. He lamented when Prince Charles and his mother Queen Elizabeth II visited, they were not invited to meet the burgesses in the Royal Chartered Borough of Arima. "Arimians did not get the courtesy of the Prince and Queen visiting. They are telling us Arima is not a source of pride. It was the first Borough in the Caribbean," said Belix.