Unipet has lost an exceptional professional and industry pioneer with the death of, Dr. Pius R. Ariyanayagam. While the company has lost a director, our country has lost an academic, teacher, lecturer, and researcher at the University of The West Indies, St. Augustine. Dr. Ariyanayagam’s academic career spanned 30 years including 25 years supervising Masters and Doctoral candidates. In addition to his undergraduate responsibility, he was also head of the crop breeding programme.

Prior to his functioning at the University of the West Indies he worked for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization as crop improvement /breeding scientist in two countries. He also worked as Principal Scientist at the International Crop Improvement Programme for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) located in India for Five Years. This assignment entailed the development of legume crops suited for low rainfall conditions in several countries of the Semi-Arid Tropics. He has published work in peer-reviewed international publications

Upon retirement, Dr. Ariyanayagam became owner and operator of the gas station in Lower Santa Cruz. He realized the need for a strong association of petroleum dealers; hence he was one of the instrumental members in founding Unipet, along with the late Winston Romany and late Fidel Gonzalez. He was one of the principals and served on the board of directors of the company since its foundation. He served in that position until his passing and was a progressive driving force in transforming Unipet from its inception to where it is currently.