BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DEATH necessitates change because of the painful absence of the deceased from the lives of his/her family and friends. But Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) colleagues remember Terrence ‘Tupac’ Johnson as one whose work ethic was second to none.
The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) family struggles to deal with the harsh reality of the unfortunate demise of their co-worker.
Johnson lost his life on Tuesday (Nov. 13) when an SWMC garbage truck on which he travelled overturned, crushing him in the process.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Operations Supervisor at the Corporation Wilmon McCall recalls that he offered Johnson a job with the entity in 2009 after an ailing and now deceased employee entreated him so to do, as a favour.
“I met Terrence while looking after a former worker of ours by the name of George Griffin. He was living in the same house with George Griffin, just different apartments, but on the same compound. And George asked me to give him a job because he needed one and he has children and he has worked here and there.
“I used to look after George so when I was not there he used to take up the duties in looking after him. And before George died, he asked of me a favour; he asked that I give Terrence a job and I did that before George died. Terrence was the one who called me and told me that George is very sick and please to go and look after him. But then George was dead and Terrence was at work at the time.”
A candid McCall said his first impression of Johnson was not necessarily a good one, but over the ensuing months his attitude changed dramatically.
“Honestly, if I were to choose someone I wouldn’t have chosen Tupac to work with Solid Waste Management. And his attitude within the next couple of months confirmed my suspicions that he was not a very nice guy to a point. But after a while and by and by, he began to change his attitude. His attitude was changed so much so that I made him one of my workers of the month, I think in July of this year. That was because of his attitude and hard work. He was always responding when I call. If I call him at 4:00 a.m., when my worker is sick, I would call him and he would say, ‘No problem Mr. McCall’ and he would be there.
“I would like a lot of my workers to become like Tupac as it relates to their attitude towards work. Notwithstanding his tattoos and all that, he was a real guy who worked for his family. In Solid Waste Management, he was one of the best workers…period.”
McCall explained that emotions are high in the SWMC family for the loss of their colleague, and counselling sessions are being offered in effort to increase their coping capacity.
“There has been shock, dismay, anger and all of it is being expressed here in the midst, and we are being encouraged to bring it out and ventilate the emotions. We are all handling it in different ways.”
A session was held sometime yesterday morning and, according to McCall, it was during that session that the vehicle involved in the accident was transported to the SWMC yard. He described that as a “touching moment” which caused tears to swell within the eyes of most.
In Johnson’s honour, a one-minute silence was observed.
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