~ Prominent lawyer, professor and energy boss honoured for service ~
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--For the second consecutive year, three men have been bestowed with the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT), the country’s highest award.
The recipients are Mark E. Loquan, professor Patrick Hosein and Russell Martineau.
It is the third time that three people are being honoured in a single ceremony since the ORTT was established in 2008.
The ORTT is awarded for distinguished and outstanding service to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). The award was formerly known as the Trinity Cross.
Loquan, who is the president of the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), was conferred the title for the dual spheres of Energy and Steelpan Innovation. Professor Hosein was honoured for his contributions to Technology, Innovation and Engineering and Martineau for his service in the sphere of Law.
Speaking with Guardian Media via WhatsApp Messenger on Monday, Loquan (63) said, “I am deeply honoured and humbled by this recognition for my service in the best interests of national development in the energy sector and for my long-standing work in building sustainability for our national instrument, the steelpan.”
According to information from the Office of the President, Loquan is a highly respected leader in the T&T energy sector and has made huge contributions to the industry through both his direct professional career at Yara, the NGC and the wider industry.
Concerning the steelpan and music industry, Loquan is an award-winning music composer, songwriter and documentary film-maker. The Office of the President added that he creates without thought for profit.
Loquan graduated from The University of the West Indies with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (First Class Honours). He earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Meanwhile, Professor Hosein told Guardian Media that this award means he made the right choice by sacrificing a potentially large pay cheque in the US to instead return home to mould young minds.
“In a way, I feel that I made the right decision several years ago, because if you look at my background, I was away for many years and 14 years ago, I decided to return to give back to the country by supporting students and increasing our research output and bringing my students to a level where they can compete at an international level, especially in data science and artificial intelligence,” Hosein said.
Professor Hosein explained that while in the US, he filed 41 patents and was offered the opportunity to continue his research while in the employ of tech giants such as Ericsson, Huawei and AT&T, which could have transitioned to landing a job at Google.
“But I felt that I was repeating the same thing over and over, and it was not as rewarding any more because I was not doing anything different. So, I decided to switch to academia, and I had two choices: I could have stayed in the US and taught at a renowned university there or come back to T&T, which would have been a bigger challenge because I would have had fewer resources.
“Of course, it was a big drop in salary and yes, it was a painful reduction, but the way I look at it, money and power are not the only things in life,” he explained.
According to the Office of the President, the 64-year-old’s philanthropic contributions are a testament to his unwavering commitment to leveraging technology, particularly in underserved communities. It added that as the administrator of Trinidad and Tobago’s country code top-level domain, Dr. Hosein has not only championed but financed the initiatives aimed at bridging the digital divide and empowering individuals to harness the transformative power of the Internet.
He told Guardian Media he has now switched from Computer Science at The UWI and now focuses on Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Professor Hosein is poised to retire in 2025.
Martineau, a former Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) president, declined to comment on his award. When contacted by Guardian Media, he said he was not in the country and on emergency business.
According to the Office of the President, Martineau was admitted to practise law as a barrister in Trinidad and Tobago in 1972. In 1981, he was appointed Senator and Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago until 1986. In 1993, he became Senior Counsel and was president of LATT for four years.
Martineau has served as a director of many companies such as BWIA, First Citizens, Republic Bank and Republic Financial Holdings Limited. He is a long-standing director of the Point-a-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust, and a member of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club for many years.
All three, along with the other national awardees, were to be recognised at a ceremony at President’s House, St. Ann’s, on Tuesday evening, as T&T celebrated the Republic Day holiday. ~ Trinidad & Tobago Guardian ~
