Among Cecil Chin’s major undertakings were the dredging and reclamation of various sites around the Caribbean including parts of Claxton Bay, the land now occupied by the Train 1 and Train 2 LNG plants at Point Fortin, and areas of Kingstown in St. Vincent. His projects have increased the land area of Trinidad and Tobago by about a hundred acres.

Cecil Ignatius Chin was born on January 26th, 1943 in Bartica, Guyana to parents from China. He grew up under modest conditions in a small village, and attended Queenstown RC and Central High Preparatory School. His secondary education was completed at Central High School, Georgetown and he finished his GCE Advanced Levels at Stanislaus College. In 1962, he was accepted to The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, and came to Trinidad to study. A brilliant student, he gained a first class honours degree in civil engineering and was one of the earliest graduates of the institution. In 1966, he then went to Queen’s University in Canada to continue his studies, returning to Trinidad after graduating with a postgraduate diploma in civil engineering.

In 1968, Chin began working at one of the country’s largest construction companies, Trinidad Contractors Ltd, serving as Chief Engineer between 1976 and 1986. Mr Chin was appointed President of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT) in 1985. He joined the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) in 1986, and served as the Divisional Manager from 1989 to 1991. From 1986 to 1993, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Maintenance, Training and Security Company (MTS). He has also been a part-time lecturer at UWI for many years.