‘Dre’ remembered in moving ceremony

Wife of the late Drepaul, Mary weeps over the remains of her husband, white children and other relatives looks on in anguish

TEARS and tributes flowed freely at the funeral service to honour veteran businessman,
Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) member 73-year
Taslem Drepaul who died suddenly following a brief hospitalisation.
At the time of his death, Drepaul who fathered nine children and was the grandfather of 10 was
still in the logging and lumber industry and a faithful member of the ruling PPP.
Not surprisingly, there was a massive outpouring of public support for the family following news
of ‘Dre’s’ death.
Drepaul was born on February 12, 1947 in the island of Wakenaam and attended Maryville
Government School in Leguan another of the 365 islands in the Essequibo. He secured 10
subjects at two sittings of the College of Preceptors (CP) exams and failing to gain employment
in his home village goaded him to relocate to Kaow Island where he worked as a sawdust boy for
about several months. He later returned home and assisted his parents in their rice farming
enterprise and learned to operate a tractor which helped earn 25 cents from each husker that he
transported daily.

L-R Ps Thomas, Ms Sahoye-Shury and Mr. Nadir sits during the funeral
ceremony for the late Dreepaul.

Twenty-five cents were a tidy sum for a youth in those days.
By the end of the 1960s when he was employed at the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) he
was already making a name for himself as a successful entrepreneur.
By coincidence, he met future President Dr Cheddi Jagan in 1991 and following a stirring
conversation between the two he supported and campaigned for the party which was swept into
power the following year after 28 years in the opposition.

‘Dre’ was described as an unpretentious person by two of his children who read the eulogy at the
moving funeral in honour of his memory as a religious and political activist.
They recalled his constant counsel to “be humble” with the warning that failure will result in
their eventual downfall.
He gave life to what he believed and it was revealed that in 1998 he formed a PPP group with 35
members at this home and also started a youth arm of the party through his daughter.
Drepaul also had the distinction of serving under three past Regional Chairpersons at the
Regional Democratic Council at RDC Region Four. They are Mr. Allan Munroe, Mr. Clement
Corlette and Ms. Genevieve Allen. He retired from active politics following this year’s very
contentious Regional and General Elections.
Stalwarts of the ruling party showed up to eulogise their former comrade reliving his willingness
to make personal sacrifices to back up his political and religious convictions. They urge party
members and his children to follow his footsteps.
His wife Mary and their children wept inconsolably as tributes flowed during the ceremony at his
home village of Kuru Kururu, on the Linden/Soesdyke highway.
Among those that graced his funeral were current and former Government officials including
Ms. Philomena Sahoye-Shury; current Speaker of the National Assembly Mr. Manzoor Nadir;
former Sports Commission Head Mr. Neem Kumar; PS of the Ministry of Home Affairs Ms.
Mae Thomas; Regional Executive Officer (REO) Upper Demerara/Berbice (Region Ten) Mr.
Dwight John; long-standing friend and colleague and Chief Whip of RDC 4 Demerara/Mahaica
(Region 4) Mr. Desmond Morian and several current and former RDC Councillors.