IT may be called a town, but it's really just the remnants of a sugarcane estate village. With a population of about 3,000 people, still recovering from the closure of Caroni Ltd, Monkey Town is seeing a new wave of residents settling on land being developed by the State.

The monkeys at Patty Hill that gave the town its name in the 19th century are long gone. Some villagers are now agitating for a change of name from Monkey Town to Sundar Popo Village, since this was where the late soca chutney king lived.

Initially the village was part of Picton Sugar Estate, once the largest sugar estate In South Naparima. While clearing the lands to plant sugarcane, the developers found an unusual number of monkeys in the virgin forests, so they named it Monkey Town.

Historian Anthony de Verteuil, in describing the excitement associated with clearing the forests in South Naparima, noted, "In the sugar estates of south Naparima, there was a definite rhythm to life on the estates evolving around the clearing of land for growing sugarcane on virgin land. The forest was first under-brushed, then the wood felled."

It was during the clearing of the land the monkeys became visible.

According to Sundar Popo's widow, Kayso Popo, "Negotiations are now taking place to rename the village Sundar Popo Village, and Lal Beharry Trace, on which he lived, to be renamed Sundar Popo Road."

Villager Takorie Maraj said, "It can happen even before the next general election. Sundar is our icon and we want to see a change of name in his honour."

An official of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation and the Princes Town Regional Corporation confirmed that any such name-change would be a matter for the Ministry of Local Government.

A few years ago, a similar situation had arisen at the nearby village of Cooliewood. On a visit to the village in 1958 by then-chief minister Dr Eric Williams, he had ordered that the name Cooliewood be changed to Gandhi Village.

A change in name will immortalise Sundar Popo, the chutney soca king and pioneer of Indian chutney music, who rose to stardom with his blend of Hindi and English lyrics accompanied by a spicy rhythm.

"Popo has not only enriched Monkey Town and Trinidad musical landscape, but the entire western hemisphere during his career spanning three decades," one writer has said.

His first break came when, at the age of 27, he made his debut with "Nani and Nana", the first locally composed song with both Hindi and Trinidadian Creole lyrics. It was the first time that rhythms of Indian folk were mixed with soca, and the resulting musical mixture left many who heard it spellbound.

Popo's other break came when he performed with India's Babla and Kanchan, the husband-and-wife team from India, who toured Trinidad in 1979, and borrowed some of Popo's hits and recorded them with better orchestration techniques for a world audience.

Popo died in 2000 at age 57 after succumbing to kidney failure. His contribution has been immortalised with a life-size statue at Debe junction.

His house at Lal Beharry Trace, complete with an imposing stairway leading to the upper floor, represents the last steps he took before his death.

"Every time I walk up the stairway, I recall the day when I saw him leave the house walking down the steps and never returned alive," said Kayso.

Monkey Town is not only about Popo.

Takorie Maraj recalled stories told to him by his father, Dookran Harricharan, who had worked on the Monkey Town estate for 33 years.

"While he was alive he used to go to Patty Hill, where the monkeys were living, after their homes in the forest were destroyed. By then they had become a pest and were destroying the crops, mainly corn planted by the villagers. On afternoons they used to howl so loud that the echoes were heard as far as Debe."

Maraj said, "Patty Hill is the most historical site in the village. It has memories of the monkeys as well as remains from the era when cane was transported from the fields to the factory at Usine Ste Madeleine by locomotives."

Still existing is the building from which electricity was supplied to service the locomotives. The large concrete foundation on which a water tank was anchored continues to be a landmark. The tank supplied water to the village and the estate animals.

Crop time at Monkey Town was the busiest time on the estate. There was always a sense of expectation and urgency about it. Kayso said some of her happiest moments were spent waiting for the train.

"When it reached Monkey Town, it used to slow down, and we used to jump on the carriage, some of us sucking cane while other girls used to climb to the top and wave to the boys at the junction. Then it stopped at the loading station to collect more canes. Then it used to blow the whistle and leave for Valley Line, Barrackpore," she said.

"Sometimes when I just dropping asleep all those memories come back and I does get up and cry," said Kayso.

The former loading station is now occupied by a farmer rearing pigs and goats. The animals are allowed to roam freely on Caroni lands.

"They grow faster and healthier when I allow them to roam the area," said the farmer.

Much of the unused lands surrounding Monkey Town will soon be developed for use by former workers of Caroni (1975) Ltd.