Masterful storyteller Kenneth ‘Slowlee’ Blounte laid to rest

MASTERFUL STORYTELLER AND POPULAR LINDEN BUSINESSMAN Kenneth
Blounte, 57, was buried Sunday following an emotional funeral ceremony and expressions of
outrage by residents of the bauxite-mining community.
Blounte recovered from the highly contagious COVID-19 but was suffering from pneumonia
when he was taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital
Corporation (GPHC) where he died. According to information reaching this media house, the
businessman and father of one was languishing at the Infectious Disease Hospital for more than a
week awaiting a vacant bed. This was despite being cleared of COVID as the family failed in
their attempts to get him admitted at some private hospitals owing to the advice from Dr Tracey
Bovell, who is in charge of the Infectious Disease Hospital at Liliendaal on the East Coast
corridor.

At Monday’s moving funeral service, mourners wept openly for their late well-liked community
member yet indignant at his “untimely death”.
His wife, Geeta Bisnauth, was inconsolable when her husband’s casket arrived at their Amelia’s
Ward home. Between plaintive lamentations, some mourners still had the presence of mind to
encourage the Blountes to “sue the hospital” for neglectfulness.
Others called for reviews of the Standing Operating Procedures (SOP) at the newly-created
Infectious Disease Hospital and a thorough investigation to help give closure to relatives of the
dead.
"My mother died there and while we have no hardcore evidence, we suspected that she died as a
result of starvation and neglect. I guess this is the situation of many, so there is an urgent need to
review the process in ensuring that the public concerns and the processes at the hospital are
above board to ensure transparency," one of the mourners nevertheless counselled.

“This is really unfair…people would be skeptical and fearful of going into a hospitalised if they
don't address these issues because dead man tell no tales and Geeta (Blounte’s wife) deserves
answers” another mourner noted.
The dead man’s daughter, Christina Blounte, was too devastated to say the verse she wrote for
the depressing occasion. In it, she spoke of their unbreakable bond and reminisced on the many
deep conversations they shared. His death, she wrote in her poem, has left her devastated and
traumatised.
In his sermon, Pastor Selwyn Sills, reminisced on his childhood friend and school mate
nicknamed ‘Slowlee’ whom he said was a very uncomplicated, but masterful, storyteller. Sills
revealed Blounte got his soubriquet because of his gesticulations and animated way he told
stories as a “gaff man”.
Others remembered his unbelievable kindness and willingness to assist or share. These qualities
have seen him enthroned in the hearts of a multitude of residents.
His wife, Geeta, wished he had divulged “the dark secrets” about the Infectious Diseases
Hospital he claimed to unearth before his sudden death. She is still holding the authorities of that
healthcare institution corporately responsible for her husband’s demise.
Among those in attendance were several prominent members of the ruling Peoples Progressive
Party (PPP) party, including former Director of Sport, Mr. Neemkumar.
Blounte was laid to rest at the cemetery at Bamia, on the Linden-Soesdyke highway.