TUNAPUNA is prominent for several things, not least its political leverage as a constituency, the community watering holes, its cosmopolitan blend and the vast opportunities to shop at bargain prices.
It is a major point of transit as a thoroughfare from east to west, sandwiched between St Augustine and El Dorado. Like Arima, Mucurapo, and many other places in Trinidad, the name Tunapuna pre-dates Columbus's arrival.
Tunapuna is the largest town and capital of the region of Tunapuna-Piarco, where more people live than in any other of Trinidad's nine regions, and which is the third most densely populated, after Diego Martin and San Juan-Laventille.
The census counted the region of Tunapuna-Piarco's population at ,, with 16, living in Tunapuna itself. The Elections and Boundaries Commission, however, lists some 24, electors in the parliamentary constituency of Tunapuna. Customers at the Tunapuna Market. Some 14, people said they were born in TT, while another listed as foreign-born, and 1, did not state.
But the census appears to be far outdated in terms of demographics. Since , there has been a marked influx of foreign immigrants, renting and subletting, many home-owners noted. Pre-covid19, short and medium-term opportunities began to open up to Venezuelan migrants, particularly women, many of whom took up work as bartenders and bar-backs at many of the town's popular bars, before the government-mandated cessation of all but essential business. The Tunapuna Police Station. Kissoon said he loves Tunapuna because it has everything he wants and needs.
Tunapuna's ethnic composition is often cited as a reason why its own Carnival celebrations have endured for over years. While there is a scattering of houses in Tunapuna which rival those in the country's most affluent neighbourhoods, most people fall within the middle- and lower-income brackets.
There are not many landmarks to awe visitors but the handful are exceptional. Business places line the main road and the early streets of Tunapuna. The heart of Tunapuna often triggers nostalgia, not just for its own residents but outsiders who once socialised at its several cinemas, like Palladium, which opened in and is now closed. From Pasea and surrounding areas, there are unobstructed views of the Mt St Benedict Abbey, in St Augustine, which was built in and serves as a seminary, a drug rehabilitation centre and more curiously, the now year-old Pax Yogurt Company, which delivers different flavours to supermarkets across the country.
There is an abundance of holy places, including the ASJA masjid, a few mandirs and Christian denominational churches, appropriately catering to one of the most inter-religious communities in the country.
Shoppers leave the Tunapuna market on a Sunday morning. Tunapuna has a fair share of renowned exports. For one, it boasts the birthplace of historian, essayist and journalist CLR James, who would be today.
James died in in England and was eventually buried in Tunapuna, where his legacy is immortalised with a tombstone shaped like a book, containing an inscription from his memoir Beyond a Boundary. Lakshmi Persaud, an author of five novels, living in London, was born in Pasea Village, and like thousands of other eventual achievers, passed through Tunapuna Government Primary School.
Acclaimed composer, writer and director, Donald Heywood, is one of the country's earliest and most notable exports, hailing from Tunapuna. Heywood is better remembered, however, for composing the song I'm Coming Virginia, which was recorded by some of the most famous jazz musicians of the time and becoming a staple in the genre. TT's second highest capped international footballer Stern John is a more recent and more recognisable export of Tunapuna, holding special acclaim as this country's all-time leading goalscorer, with figures to rival the world's greats.
Like several other former TT footballers, John is recognised as a cult figure in parts of the UK, where he played professionally for many years. The Tunapuna police station on the Eastern Main Road looks spacious from the outside, even in proportion to the town's population.
Activity in recent days at the station has been subdued nearly to a freeze in light of the state of emergency. Tunapuna, like many other areas in Trinidad, faces spontaneous spikes and spells in serious criminal activity, largely attributed to gangs.
The Tunapuna Transit Mall recently had a facelift. Some residents say the influx of "outsiders" may have been a contributing factor.
But Tunapuna, in fact, faced high crime rates well before the arrival of Venezuelans in the latter part of the past decade. Tunapuna and Arima are part of the police's Northern Division, which consistently reports the highest number of murders annually. New version seems to have been produced for the Ministry of Rural development and Local government. The flag of Tunapuna-Piarco photographed in has a much darker shade of green and a different emblem different font, plain green map with black outline.
Olivier Touzeau , 16 September Flag is a green-white-green vertical triband with the emblem in the center for Tunapuna-Piarco.
The flag with the same emblem was photographed in New image created to replace ours with a little less blurred emblem and a little darker shade of green.
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