APEX

by Michael Anthony

Although “Apex” is not the name of a district but the name of an oil company that operated in Fyzabad, this oilfield was so popular that even to this day people speak of Apex — which is no more —  as if it had been a geographical area.
 
Of course it did cover a geographical area, which was the extent of the oilfield. But people who lived on the outskirts and those who grew up there regarded their home as Apex.

What added to the fondness for Apex was the allure of the oilfield itself. From the time Apex was established in 1920 this oilfield was at the apex of all the oilfields in Trinidad. In the early days of oil exploration its record was outstanding. Indeed, writing of the position of the several early oil companies in 1921 George Higgins says in his A History of Trinidad Oil: “Active exploration was started by some of these new companies. Anglo-Trinidad Oil Company at San Francique, Uroz at Piparo and Charuma, British-controlled Oilfields at Williamsville and Oropouche, British Union at Tabaquite, Poole Syndicate at Rio Claro, Iëre Oil at Barrackpore, Globe Oilfields at Otaheite, and Petroleum Options at Thick (Village). The most outstanding of the newcomers was, however, Apex (Trinidad) Oilfields, which was registered in 1919.”

By the 1930s Apex was making so much profit while maintaining low wages that it faced a rebellion of its workers and for this rebellion it blamed “the agitator,” a man it described as one Uriah Butler.
 
This rebellion came to its fiery point in 1937, and it is history how it changed the scene. Most of the changes in oilfield regulations and worker conditions, in overtime, in wages, etc., have been because of those riots at Apex, or rather, at Fyzabad. But Apex, as a special home to many, as a home not necessarily involved with oilfield life, but as just another village — this character seemed to have endured, and not only endured, but to have made a bigger impact than the oil company.
 
Apex (Trinidad) Oilfields lasted for 40 years until it was acquired by British Petroleum in 1960, and during those years it flourished, giving its workers one of the highest standards of living of those times.  In its latter days its Intermediate Government School at Fyzabad became a celebrated institution. It was headed by the poet Harold Telemaque, one of the finest schoolmasters of his day, and one who seem to have drawn national interest to the school.

Copyright NALIS, 2008