The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government has announced plans to make direct, well-targeted policy interventions to meet the needs of rural residents. This is part of a three-pronged rural development policy focused on rural banking, transportation and housing. 

Cabinet has already approved a framework for rural development. A multi-sectorial committee comprising 11 ministries and other stakeholders has been mandated to develop a rural development policy, agenda and defined programmes. An immediate priority is to put in place a network of automatic banking facilities in rural areas. The ministry will work in close collaboration with the Bankers Association of T&T (BATT) to determine the needs of communities and how they can be met by using modern technology. 

“While the rate of internet penetration is roughly 68 per cent across the country, there is still a severe imbalance between the use of available technologies to access banking in rural as opposed to urban areas and this needs to be addressed urgently,” explained Rural Development Minister Franklin Khan. BATT president Darryl White said: “The issue of banking services to rural communities and generally to citizens who face geographic or mobility issues is not just a business one, there are social, infrastructural and distribution perspectives as well, causing many pensioners and persons receiving social assistance, to endure long days of travel to meet busy banking halls as they seek to cash their monthly cheques.  We welcome the opportunity to work with the Government to find practical and wholesome solutions to serve and develop our rural communities.”

White gave his assurance of BATT’s support to Khan during a meeting at the offices of the Ministry of Rural Development in Maraval.

The West Indies completed a clean sweep of championships for Caribbean teams, when Barbadian Carlos Brathwaite hit four consecutive sixes off England all-rounder Ben Stokes to win a memorable game in the last over of the final of cricket’s World Twenty20 tournament at Eden Gardens in Calcutta yesterday.

Earlier, the women led by Staffanie Taylor had won the women’s tournament to go with the championship clinched by the West Indies Under-19 team in Bangladesh weeks earlier. We should savour this treble, because we may never see its like again. The Caribbean nation, collectively, went berserk yesterday. It was electrifying, and satisfying, for a public that has had to endure chronic, continuous mediocrity from the test side.

Yet there were some unfortunate sour notes, the loudest of which was exposure of the degree of the rift between the board and players. If the office of prime minister of the Caribbean existed and Darren Sammy ran for it, he would probably win in a landslide. To judge from the immediate and social media reaction to his scathing denunciation of the West Indies Cricket Board in his post-match comments, a large segment of the Caribbean public identified with Sammy’s sense of grievance against a board that he says has “disrespected” the players.

It is a shame that he chose the occasion of a unifying moment for the West Indies, to lay bare his sense of bitterness at the division between players and administrators. However, the alternative view was that he was venting something that was public knowledge, namely that a disagreement between board and players over pay had threatened the participation in the tournament of the team that ended up winning. “People were wondering whether we would play this tournament, we had a lot of issues,” Sammy said.

After railing against a TV commentator describing his side as “brainless,” a loaded description implying that the Caribbean team rely more on muscle than craft—which West Indies sides over the years have resented as being etho-centric—Sammy continued to lay into his board.
“We had a new manager in this tournament in Rawl Lewis. He came here, we were at a camp in Dubai, but we had no uniforms.

“I really want to thank the heads of Caricom, throughout this tournament they have been supporting the team, we’ve got emails, we’ve got phone calls, Prime Minister (Keith) Mitchell (from Grenada). He sent a very inspiring email for the team this morning, and I’m yet to hear from our own cricket board. That is very disappointing.”

Sitting in the VIP box hearing these remarks broadcast all over the cricketing world must have stung WICB president Dave Cameron. It demanded a thick skin and a statesmanlike response, from a man who holds one of the most important offices in Caricom. But this is the excessively combative Cameron. There was no chance that he was going to rise above it.

“When is the last time a critic paid one of your bills? Always remember that when you start to give them your energy,” Cameron tweeted.

Such a response does nothing to heal rifts, which is something that Cameron should be striving hard to do. We urge an end to the verbal hostilities from both sides, and suggest that they take time out to enjoy the moment. Cameron does not help his cause, but Sammy should reflect that the treble from our youth, our women and our men, could not have occurred in a vacuum, without some effective administrative support.

Keith Campbell was a hero. Good Friday was not to be his day. On that day his mother lost a battle against cancer. He did not stay home but instead went out to fight a forest fire at Lady Chancellor Hill, so that he could save people’s homes and the trees and the parrots, owls, iguanas and squirrels that live in them. 

Eyewitnesses saw a fire being lit in a garden on Hutton Road, St Ann’s. A series of events eventually led to Campbell losing his life fighting this inferno.

The person who set this fire is an arsonist. To date this person has not been apprehended. He or she must be found and charged with manslaughter. It is unlikely that we can rely on eyewitnesses to step forward. The reality of life in Trinidad is that most people are too afraid of reprisal to report a crime. Citizens have little confidence in the capacity of the police to protect them. The smallness of island and village life means that friends and neighbours will suffer from Stockholm syndrome when it comes to reporting on a backyard arsonist-become-killer from down the road.  

This is where forensics comes in. Prosecution should not rely on eyewitnesses alone. In an ideal world we would all lay down our lives for justice but it is unfair to lay the burden of prosecution on citizens in a State that cannot protect them. If the fire had been in a high-rise building with a multi million-dollar fire insurance payout, the insurance company would send in a team of forensic experts who would track down the origin of the fire to the exact crossed wires that caused it. The same can be done for this backyard fire that got out of control and took a life. 

During the last week bush fires claimed at least three more lives. Young Hezekiah, found in foetal position in a pit, after a bush fire had ravaged his house in San Juan, was only nine years old. His mother, Shaliser Theodore, also succumbed to burn injuries. A 92-year old man died in a car crash caused by poor visibility due to bush fire smoke in Rio Claro. 

Several people are maimed for life by the flames. Thousands of animals will have perished, later in the year, when the rains return, more people maybe be harmed when the floods come. If there is a drowning, or a hillside collapse, will the arsonists that caused these tragedies walk free because of yet another set of rules and laws that are not enforced? 

We must honour Keith Campbell by not letting his sacrifice go in vain. Let this be a catalyst for change. There is a lot to be said for educating the young. An investment in young minds has the greatest return in the long run. 

However, what needs to be done right now is enforcement of the existing law. The law is flawed and outdated and it must be changed but it allows for a monetary fine and prison sentences for arsonists.  

There are many fire-fighting techniques that can be used and perfected once a fire has started, but prevention is better than cure. Humans cause one hundred per cent of all bush fires in T&T. In our climate there is no spontaneous combustion. Maybe part of the reason why we seem so accepting of arson is that many people think it is an act of nature. 

Institute a flying brigade composed of Forestry Officers and police that respond immediately to all fires. Gather evidence against the arsonists, charge them and haul them before a special fire court that would be active during fire season. Magistrates must dispense immediate justice. 

After the first friendly neighbour or land clearing squatter is jailed, as if by magic, 95 per cent of bush fires will cease. The savings to the country will run in the millions. The cost of operating the bambi bucket equipped helicopters is about $20k per hour. If those choppers can stay grounded the savings to the Treasury will be significant enough to offset any costs incurred by preventing forest fires. And no more Keith Campbells or young Hezekiahs will have to die at the hands of arsonists.

AMERY BROWNE

I’ve always felt that if an intelligent alien were to crash-land on earth they would find mankind a curious species indeed.

Our visitor would certainly realise that we have separated the planet into various territories that we consider as “countries” and that the natural resources within and beneath these various countries are not freely available to all of mankind but are considered as “owned” by the controllers of each particular country.

They would likely be amazed at our obsession with the shape, outer colour and facial appearance of ourselves and our fellow humans, with particular emphasis on the manner in which many treat the variations that we consider as “races” almost like a different species even though we are biologically the same species. 

If we could translate the notes made by our alien observer we might find some of what follows:

“The human species has become completely enslaved to a self-imposed value system in which most of their activity is aimed at acquiring small pieces of specially patterned paper that they refer to as “money.” This paper has no value in itself, it cannot be consumed, it cannot heal their illnesses, and it cannot extend their lives, and they agree that it has no value after death, but the species dedicates most of its energy toward accumulating and exchanging as much of it as possible.    

“Interestingly the species has organised itself in such a way that those with particular characteristics are rewarded with enormous quantities of this patterned paper.   

“Those who are skilled at kicking or hitting or throwing spherical objects in front of audiences are heavily rewarded. Some of those who record melodic communication and sounds for others to listen to are also given plenty patterned paper. Those who have found ways to harness the physical and mental energies of other humans are also for some reason highly regarded and rewarded...and the species seems to have accepted a reality in which most humans spend their lives “working” for other humans. 

“Many are specially groomed for particular levels of this work from early childhood via what they describe as education. This education is really a highly selective system by which advantage and disadvantage are imprinted within the species, which all then feeds into the various levels of tasks that they are assigned until they die.

“The species has become obsessed with something they call “power.” Many of the territories into which they have separated themselves have engaged in a pattern of competition and exploitation, and this has resulted in unimaginable differences in the appearance and amenities of the clusters that they call cities and villages. With a few exceptions, just by virtue of where most humans are born and the appearance and “status” of their ancestry, one can predict both their life’s expectations and their life expectancy.

“And speaking of life expectancy, the human race demonstrates a particular obsession with the taking of life. In some places humans kill each other with outrageous frequency simply to acquire those little patterned pieces of paper. Some engage in killing when dissatisfied with changes in their power over other humans, and those engaged in intimate relationships are definitely not immune from such manifestations. 

“But by far most of the human killings that occur are sanctioned and directed by more powerful humans. Much of this work has been done by humans in special skin coverings that they call uniforms; on a large scale they refer to it as “war.” and on a smaller scale it is called “officer related homicide.”

“Another interesting and related phenomenon of the species is that most humans profess to believe in or engage in some form of worship of the divine that they sometimes call religion. Despite a number of common principles shared by these religions, all of them have been used as a pretext for the killing and ill-treatment of other humans. Many humans claim to believe in an all-knowing and all-powerful creator, but the paradox is that they live their lives as if they can fool that same creator with a few symbols and formalities whilst simultaneously violating just about all of those common principles.

“In the end the species is in itself a paradox. They exert great energy to explore land, sea, air and space, but know little about the workings of their own minds. They communicate continuously via small electronic devices, yet are completely disconnected from each other. Their survival is inexorably linked to the existence of eight million other species of life on their planet, yet they expend an incredible amount of energy toward the destruction of those other creatures and, most seem dedicated to making their own planet as uninhabitable as possible. 

“And my final note is an enquiry of sorts. Many of the them use the word ‘love’ with some frequency, but my observations of the species has provided little evidence to offer a proper idea of what it really means. The question remains...are they referring to a dead practice, or just one that is so rare that it is difficult to detect? And if it does exist, where can it be found...where is the love?”

The public life of Lincoln Myers will be remembered by many in many different ways. Some will view the highlight of his struggle to be borne out via his stint as Minister of Food Production in T&T. Some may highlight his efforts at the helm of the Ministry of the Environment & National Service.
To this day it is claimed in respected quarters that were it not for the bigoted actions of certain influential figures thwarting the goals of this ministry, T&T today would be so much different!  

There are others who consider his feat of defeating an incumbent Prime Minister, George Chambers, in his fortress constituency St Ann’s East, as unparalleled in the Caribbean! The extent of his role in defending democracy in T&T during the 1990 attempted coup remains a secret yet to the majority of this nation. 

In due course when history unravels its veil this very sensitive episode will reveal the unshakeable determination and remarkable courage displayed by this national hero. At the time he was among the few Cabinet ministers flying the flag outside of parliament and outside the fated Red House. We can go on and on. 

Let us now turn, however, to the fast for Public Accountability that uniquely propelled Lincoln unto the public stage and into the public psyche. Down the years we have often heard this event described as an astounding political achievement. No doubt such it has been. 

But to confine to a political spectacle even in the broadest definition of that term the 40 days that transpired and were subsequently commemorated between December 27 and February 4, from 1985 onwards, is to betray ensuing generations who wish to understand the core message of this momentous epiphany.   

To his dying day Lincoln has never recanted the explicit spiritual dimensions of the fast, which involved and engrossed the entire T&T at one level or another. 

True it is that what began as the Voice of One, outlining strategy to a tiny gathering of supporters on the steps of the Hall of Justice on Day One, became two by Day Two, growing into a trickle by the morning of the third and a torrent by evening, culminating into a festival of thousands by the fortieth, flooding the steps and spilling into the vastness of Woodford square!  

True it is that over the 40 days dozens of political kings and queens mingled with scores of political foot soldiers condemning corruption paying homage to the then uncommon themes of accountability and transparency! 

And it is true that the 40-day fast was triggered when the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC), of which Senator Myers was a member, sought to excuse a state-owned company, PLIPDECO, from explaining about $28,000 of apparent fraud citing the paltriness of the sum. 
But the figure 40 was symbolic, and the thousands involved, whether dollars or people, underwrote the profound spiritual significance of the undertaking. 

Blazing deyas and flaming candles transfigured the steps of the Hall of Justice and the gates of the People’s Parliament at Woodford Square into a shrine that testified to the hopes of a nation thirsting for righteousness, peace and quiet truth.    

Alas, it is the supreme irony of our times that Lincoln Myers, who insisted on total silence even to designating a special spokesperson for the media outside of the Holy enclave on the steps, should depart this side of infinity with T&T embroiled in such empty and shallow noise, political and otherwise.   

On behalf of all those who later Lincoln forged into humble, low-profile political and spiritual instruments, to wit, the Committee for Public Accountability and the party registered with Elections and Boundaries as OneAccord, let’s briefly recall some personal memories on the life and times of our undersung political leader.  

We remember him remarking once that his children have only known him wheelchair-bound. 

Since they undoubtedly inherited more than a small share of his insight and intelligence, we rest assured that they do appreciate the boundless physical dynamism which matched his mental prowess before the medical condition that confined him. 

Just for the record, Myers’ St Ann’s East electoral campaign marched us through what appeared to be every yard of what must rank as one of the most challenging constituencies countrywide. He set the pace as we hustled through the hillsides of La Canoa and Acono, down the Susconosco valleys or through the streams of Cakeland. 

The wealthy and the poor, the elderly, the young, the distressed and the privileged, male and female all could marvel at the seemingly endless energy of this enthusiastic middle-aged candidate/politician engaging them on the burning issues of the day. It was the same for OneAccord’s “Journey to a thousand villages” some years later. With or without his legs, his wheelchair or his motor vehicle, his positive spirit was unstoppable!  

We remember Myers remarking that La Fortune, Laventille Rd, Santa Cruz was not to be confused with Haiti! This was when the petroleum-blessed and corruption-ridden government of 1986 was claiming inability to find a few thousand dollars to run water pipes. 

Villagers had showed us the drain from which they fetched water confessing that they did not always boil it! Within weeks of pressure from Myer’s Committee for Public Accountability, WASA and the goodly minister found the money!

Countless other such anecdotes would burden this narrative beyond the constraints of its purpose and circumstances. A bridge for the elderly lady Ma Briggo at Matelot, built with our own hands, the cautions to irresponsible farmers setting fire to land during dry season, the innumerable OneAccord messages stencilled across the country must await another appropriate occasion. 

Suffice to relate that the last time I saw Lincoln in the flesh it was like when we first met.  He was in a hospital bed recuperating from a heart attack. 

His indomitable optimism and commitment made no display of doubt that he would recover, but instead we buckled down with Yaxsie Joseph to plan the next strategic exercise, a successful fund-raiser. The next 35 years, strewn with both success and disappointment, climaxed with our final meeting at another hospital bed. 

This time the frail body would not recover. Like his illustrious predecessors, he gave no thought to impending death. Like them, he would never become prime minister, a cherished ambition of his. He was plotting a chart of survival whereby he would remain Chief Servant of the people and nation he so loved. It was not to be. The seed has blossomed through its restless agony and found eternal Life.      

Opio Morani,
General Secretary,
OneAccord

In July last year I came home to discover that my water reservoirs were empty of drinking water. It took me four days via a route that involved a series of complaints to all the relevant agencies. Three days later a truck-borne distributor arrived. I was satisfied that I got the system to work without greasing anyone’s hands. And if it could work for me then maybe it could work for others who do not know anyone in authority.

During the long drought of this 2016 my household finally succumbed to the long dry spell and diminished supplies which WASA claimed in a press release is impacted by the worst El Nino in 50 years. 

For nine days I have had no truck borne water, and the last pipe borne water at pressures capable of filling the tanks came on March 16, 2016. Par for the course you might think. In the meantime trucks have been plying a brisk trade in that part of the valley where I live. I enquired and was told this is private water service. 

Where is your reservoir or dam? I asked. The reply was that he did not have any.

The price I was told is several hundred dollars a truck load. I have not verified it myself. This is a case of profit from power of control over water resources or preferably, over access to those resources. It is taking place quietly under the jurisdiction of a government that pledged a return to decent governance.

Some residents are holding their noses, and are paying twice for scarcity from the drought of water, for which we should all be held accountable. I am asking for an intervention by the Minister of Public Utilities, the head of the Regulated Industries Commission, the Ombudsman, the free press, and all decent law-abiding citizens who reside in Maracas Valley, St Joseph. Profits from power should be outlawed and not be allowed affect our enjoyment of water.

Lloyd Taylor,
Maracas Valley, 
St Joseph

The Couva East Secondary RBC Young Leaders hosted an aerobic burnout on March 18, conducted by members of the T&T Defence Force. This was held based on our theme, Health and Wellness (Mind, Body and Soul). It was chosen to enhance not only the physical, but spiritual and mental aspects of our team. This is just a small example of the positivity flashing through our school. 

Over the past few months, only the negative occurrences among schools have been highlighted. Few recognise the good and the positives coming out of our schools.  Couva East Secondary, also known as Couva Sec, is a great example of such. The aerobic burnout was conducted on the school’s compound. It caught the attention of a lot of students and also staff members. The burnout was not just a form of physical exercise as it also encouraged competition among students and staff. 

The last ten males and ten females standing were awarded prizes. The top three teachers also, were awarded prizes. It was very surprising and amazing that females teachers placed first and second, with a male taking away third position. The involvement of members of staff, including our principal, Mrs Madhuri Ali-Persad and RBC Young Leaders teacher, Mrs Katty-Ann Persad, led to the great success of the burnout. 

The burnout coincided with our theme and motto “Commit to be fit, Your Health is Your Wealth.” It increased students’ metabolism and endurance, and in some cases, it helped with flexibility, balance, strength and co-ordination. Students were able to get an idea of their fitness level and metabolism rate and they also learnt different ways and exercises to improve their fitness. 

This event brought a lot of satisfaction to the Couva Sec RBC Young Leaders as their aim was to greatly impact on the lives of the students and bring to their awareness how important their health is to their well-being.

Desiree Miriam Mohan, 
Vice President, Couva Sec RBC Young Leaders

I first went to Cuba in 1983. I was part of the first PAHO team to visit since the 1959 revolution. We were there for a two-week workshop on the revolutionary management for diarrhoea, oral rehydration. There were five of us. Three Americans, two from PAHO head office in Washington, an anthropologist who claimed he worked in Honduras, a female paediatrician from Ecuador and myself. The female paediatrician and I assumed the anthropologist was the CIA man but we never found out. 

The Cubans initially refused to believe I was from T&T. “Trinidadians are black,” they said. Years later, just after the UNC had won the election, a Cuban medical team visiting T&T expressed surprise at meeting Indian officials. They had been told that Trinidadians were “African.” 

I too made a similar mistake with the Cubans. If one looked at their Olympic team, one could conclude that most Cubans were black. When we visited the Pinar del Rio province, the westernmost part of Cuba where the tobacco grows, it was a bit startling to see blue-eyed peasants living in poverty. Cuba was colonised by Spaniards from Galicia and the Castros themselves are first generation Gallegos. 

My Spanish is fairly fluent but I speak somewhat like a Cuban who has lived most of his life in an English speaking country. I was tagged as a Cuban from Washington, pretending for some reason (aha!) to be Trinidadian. It was not until the second week of the course that I was accepted as Trini and then probably because of the friendship I struck up with Dr Blanco, the Professor of Paediatrics from the University of Havana.

I got to Cuba via Miami and their Embassy in Mexico City was right in front of the American one. I was told that my photo would be automatically taken by the Americans. Walking through Mexico City, I asked a local for directions. He turned out to be an expat American who said he had not been back to the States in 20 years and wished me luck with the Cubans. He also said my picture would be taken. I had to wait for over 30 minutes before the Cubans let me in, looking around nervously for crew-cut guys with cameras. If my picture appears anywhere, I must make the most pathetic looking “spy” ever.

It was a short two-hour flight to Havana. I thought I had gone back in time. A load of white pedal pushers had just arrived and the streets of Havana were full of attractive ladies in white pedal pushers of the variety that girls used to wear in Caracas in the fifties. The colour red, as in red-tinged hair, was also in. The streets were crowded with people walking somewhere but empty of cars and as everyone now knows, the ones you saw were old repaired Buicks and Pontiacs from before the revolution.

I stayed at the Hotel Havana. My room overlooked the Malecon. I jogged there many mornings, occasionally being accosted by old timers asking for “a help,” occasionally seeing young girls puking on the sidewalk. Not much different from what you see these days in the Centre of any European city at five in the morning.

The Havana used to be the Havana Hilton. It was a classical example of what happens to graceful Cuban-American architecture under Russian management, classless and tasteless, and hadn’t been painted for years. Cubans were not allowed in without special permission. I had to show my pass to the toughs at the entrance. They wore permanent scowls. Who blamed them, living at the edge of what was for them, luxurious foreigners.

Cubans were not allowed above the mezzanine. I learned this when I innocently invited the vice-rector of the University of Havana to my room for a drink and he apologetically refused. 

There was a shop on the ground floor. One evening I was trying on guayaberas when I heard a shout, turned and saw two men rushing toward me. One pointed his finger in my face, the other grabbed my briefcase and opened it. I realised that I was being accused of stealing and about to be arrested when our liaison with the Ministry of Health appeared and rescued me. Apparently no one tried on anything in a shop in Havana. 

The Cuban people were wonderful. The medical professionals were decent, well-educated and friendly. I still have the picture of myself and one of the older paediatricians who told me half-jokingly, “show this picture of a Cuban paediatrician to your mother so she can see we are not devils!”

I loved to wander about the city. It was clean and quaint. One late night the Ecuadorian paediatrician and I walked back to the hotel from a function. It took about an hour. No one bothered us and there were no police on the road. There was no way you could have done that in any comparable city of that size, at that time.

Havana is sensuous. The city smelled of flowers and, like the Valley around Carnival time, there was always music in the background. One night I took a turn around the hotel and came upon a house fete, live band, young men liming and smoking outside the gate, just the way it used to be in Woodbrook in the fifties. I stopped for a while and then moved on when a ferocious looking man stepped out into the street and began moving towards me. There was always that undercurrent of fear.

KEVIN RAMNARINE

The best feedback you can get on a country’s economy comes not from its economists and many talking heads, but from its citizens. To add to that, if you really want to understand what’s happening in any country speak to the taxi drivers. Leaders should appreciate what people are talking about and what is their understanding of national issues. In the last six months the national conversation has been an economic conversation. 

Later this week (Friday) the Minister of Finance will present the mid-year review of the 2016 budget against a backdrop of six months of bad economic news at home and abroad. There are stories of falling commodity prices, retrenchment, removal of the fuel subsidy and calls for austerity. There has also been a three per cent devaluation of the TT dollar in the last six months. 

In the midst of all this the IMF team led by Elie Canetti announced that our economy is not in crisis. I concur with the IMF. The economy is not in crisis since we have assets we can divest, savings and we can borrow. 

The situational context was framed by the Prime Minister when he addressed the nation at the end of 2015. In his speech he implored that we had to conserve our foreign reserves. Our net foreign reserves have fallen from US$11.3 billion at the end of 2014 to US$9.8 billion at the end of 2015 (a 13 per cent decline).

Given the primacy afforded by the Government to the conservation of our foreign reserves it is inevitable that monetary policy must be adjusted to fit the times. The country needs more than US$7 billion in foreign exchange per annum. This sustains a lifestyle where we import everything from bottled water to BMWs. In the current circumstances, it seems that if we are to conserve our foreign reserves further devaluation of the TT dollar is inevitable. There will be an impact on inflation which may be why the Central Bank has been devaluing the dollar gradually and not precipitously. 

But what is the Minister of Finance likely to tell the nation about fiscal policy? He has already said (last month) that the deficit is around TT$25 billion. This is an increase from the deficit of TT$2.8 billion that was anticipated when the budget was read last October. The Government therefore has a big hole to fill and it has indicated that it will fill this hole through borrowing, divestment of assets, repayment of monies loaned to TGU, dividends from the NGC, a restructured VAT regime and there is always the option of dipping into the Heritage and Stabilization Fund. Borrowing on the international capital market to finance the deficit will become more expensive if we are again downgraded by Moody’s.

On the issue of falling revenue from the energy sector, there are several variables at play of which falling prices is but one. The others are lower production, high levels of capital expenditure and the restructured capital allowances. It should be stressed that the oil and gas companies that operate here have always had the facility to claim 100 per cent of capital expenditure against taxable income. That has always been the case. What the restructured allowances have done is allow them to recover their capital expenditure faster. This changes the time value of money (or net present value) of the investment and gets projects approved. 

The restructuring of the capital allowances is one of a package of fiscal incentives passed by Parliament between 2010 and 2014. These incentives have had the desired impact through a more than doubling of drilling activity (measured in rig days) and a fourfold increase in petroleum related foreign direct investment. Case in point, in 2015 drilling activity in T&T increased by 13 per cent while all over the world drilling activity was in decline. 

Most of us don’t live today for tomorrow. In a similar vein economic planning should not take place in the confines of a 12 month box. The years 2017, 2018, 2019 etc will come. Economic planning should take the medium and long term into consideration. This is more relevant for T&T considering that the energy companies that underpin our economy all plan in medium to long term cycles. The policies of 2016 will impact us not in 2016 or 2017 but for the years beyond that. 

My own assessment is that we are in for a period of diminished Government revenue for the period 2016 to 2017. The oil price has shown some recovery but it’s unlikely that it will push past US$50 per barrel. Similarly natural gas, methanol and ammonia prices are on a downward trajectory. Price is however like the weather—it must change. In 2018 production of natural gas from the BP Juniper and the Trinidad Regional Onshore Compression (TROC) projects will significantly improve natural gas production and will provide the impetus for an economic recovery.

Until then the national conversation will bubble around the economic conversation for years to come. If you want details speak to the taxi drivers. 

Kevin Ramnarine is the former Energy Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

Certainly Sunday April 3, 2016 will remain in our history books as one of the most significant accomplishments for the people of the West Indies as both our Women’s and Men’s T20 teams demonstrated impressive victories in the World Cup Twenty20 tournament.

However, I hope that in the midst of our jubilation that we are not clouded by this accomplishment to erroneously conclude that all is right with West Indian cricket. 

Before the moisture from the match ball could hardly dry, in the after-game interview, Captain Darren Sammy said enough to re-affirm and remind a world audience, that all is far from right in the administrative quarters of West Indies cricket.

More importantly he was deliberate in giving praise and recognition to Dr Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada (and the Chairman of Caricom’s sub-committee on cricket governance), while in the same conversation, Sammy used the media platform of the world stage, to chastise the West Indies Cricket Board on several fronts.

While I welcomed the intervention of Caricom in this exercise and I subscribe to the view that there must now be a complete overall of the management of West Indian cricket, I wish to present some suggestions in moving this process forward.

I am sure that many will appreciate that this can be a very sensitive and complex undertaking as there are many stakeholders involved who contribute to the mechanism and inevitably the valuable brand of West Indian Cricket. These stakeholders comprise players, coaches, fans, sponsors, governing bodies, investors, broadcasters. Developing a system of governance that would ensure that the critical role played by our stakeholders is encouraged and respected is the only way forward, if we are to effectively develop a system that can achieve long-term sustainability in West Indian cricket.

The accepted seven principles that usually influence organisational governance of sporting organisations and other public welfare-oriented organisations are: transparency, accountability, democracy, responsibility, equity, effectiveness and efficiency. 

It is reasonable to infer that if we evaluate the performance of the WICB using this matrix, that they would have failed on all accounts. But important to note, is that based on a winning team’s opinion, the players have lost confidence in not only the people who manage West Indies cricket, but also the system of management that currently prevails.

Let us be reminded that this is a management system of a body that must now have the resources and competencies to deal with the numerous fiscal, marketing and human resources challenges that the world of sport now faces. The environment that now prevails routinely sees players making, in some cases, US$800,000 to play in a two-month T-20 tournament—sometimes four times a year across the cricketing world. This is a management system that originally catered for and organised a sport that was played in a particular season—very different from what exists today, where cricket is played all-year round. 

The current management system (WICB) has to be dismantled and restructured if West Indies cricket is to survive let alone to prosper. 

New management must employ strategies that would keep at the forefront, the conditionality of the environment in which our cricket is now played. But more importantly, the players must be kept at the forefront and not the personalities of the members of the board. 

The existence of the board depends solely on the existence of the players; and not the other way around. In essence, our talented players of this region can almost exist and have lucrative careers and not put on a West Indies shirt. This is a path that is available to them, and this is the risk that is poised to threaten what is still one of the last bastions of West Indian integration—West Indian cricket.

The million-dollar question is, what is the way forward? And with the recent developments with the Caricom subcommittee commissioning an investigative panel, headed by the UWI Cave Hill Principal Professor Eudine Bariteau, we must ask the question, what must be the role of the Caribbean governments? 

The impact and extent of their involvement must also be determined, but surely as the primary advocate for change, their engagement over the last few months has been admirable and welcomed to say the least. Their choice to utilise the services of the resources at the UWI to begin the process, is also astute, with Caricom being mindful of the value that this regional body has brought to the Caribbean islands for over 60 years.

Usually, if all was well with the WICB, it would be acceptable for the intervention of Caribbean governments to only place emphasis on “steering” rather than commanding change. 

But under these current circumstances, there is reasonable evidence that the Board has demonstrated poor stewardship, lack of transparency and other detracting elements, that has affected West Indies Cricket. 

As a result, the first item on the reformation agenda to be adopted by Caricom, or any agent functioning under their remit, should be, among other things, to define policy goals, identify policy incentives and create regulation that will allow for the acquisition of those goals. The operations of any organisation that is asked to manage West Indies cricket must be accountable to someone or some overarching body that oversees the broader social and economic model of this region. 

In charting the way forward in developing a management model or system for West Indies cricket, a multi-dimensional model must incorporate these concepts and be cognisant that this type of governance therefore implies challenges to traditional forms of the management and politics of sports industries that exist today. 

A new model must be inherently flexible in its operations, allowing the organisation to respond to a dynamic and changing global sporting environment that forces the requirement that sports managers must possess a greater range of skills and competencies, if they are to add the value that is expected or them. 

West Indies cricket is a viable global brand that reflects the cultural diversity and sporting prowess of people who form part of an integrated chain of Caribbean island states. 

This makes it much more than simply a game! Our sporting contribution to the international community is not only sought after, but anticipated and expected. 

Individually or collectively, all our islands have made their mark, in some way or the other, on the world stage; and collectively we must continue to do so, even if it is facilitated by a collaborative process that involves our Caribbean leaders.

Arnold Corneal

Maracas Valley, St Joseph

Wow! It was an explosive Sunday for me and I am sure thousands of cricket lovers. While there were those breathtaking moments, the real champions showed their worth and character. 

Can you imagine, the West Indies—champs in the youth, women and men senior T20 in the world! All of this accomplished in the very same year. I wonder if this is a record. 

West Indies, we have much to be proud about and to celebrate. I believe that this is the start of great things to come in the sport of cricket as a region. Our success demonstrates what can be achieved when we unite and bond together for one common goal. I must say well done West Indies cricketers, you did us proud.

In the midst of all the celebration I listen to the remarks of the men’s Captain Darren Sammy and was really deeply touched by what he had to say. Whether the forum was the right one or not what I heard was an individual sharing his heartfelt feelings. Having to look for clothes to be part of the competition in India and not feeling the support of WICB, this is not acceptable by any standard. After all, what is the purpose of a board if they are not supportive?

Whatever is the problem between the West Indies team and WICB it needs to be dealt with and some resolution come about. Our triumph in the T20 should not be taken lightly for it is the start of great things to come. We need all on board, including WICB, working together as one unit as others are doing. Remember that a house divided will never stand and there is no strength in rifts. Please fix the problem so that West Indies cricket can blossom again. 

Arnold Gopeesingh,

Lower Saddle Road, San Juan

I started watching cricket when Brian Lara came into his own. I love watching the West Indies play cricket. I know nothing of the intricate nuances of the game, but can appreciate professionalism and dedication when I see it.

As a British woman who has lived here for over 50 years, I think I have a fairly good idea of what the average Trinidadian’s work ethic, has become. Yes, work ethic. And this is why I don’t think we should abandon the long aspect of the game. It takes commitment and hard work to excel in that format. It builds character. It takes patience. It takes skill. 

The short format does not require that commitment. Tests are called that for a reason, they test you: your staying power, your longevity, your willingness to go that extra mile. T20 is over in a heartbeat. Yes it takes skill, but it certainly doesn’t take the effort that a test requires. 

I thoroughly enjoy the short games, they are very entertaining. It is said that everyone today wants everything instantly, and that’s what the short game provides, in spades. But are our young players sacrificing brevity for quality? As with all things in life, to really succeed we need to be pushed...to be pushed to endure. 

Only a test can provide that game and produce that professional. A patient, thinking, intelligent professional.

Ann Murphy

Congratulations go out to the victorious West Indies men and women teams on becoming well-deserved ICC World T20 champions. The women’s victory I am most pleased about because, hopefully, this victory would inspire young women cricketers. 

As for the men, their victory sends a message to all that despite obstacles, you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. 

There were many obstacles such as the WICB reducing salaries of the players; the lack of uniforms and printing of them; and there was even an obstacle of having to score 19 runs in the last over to win. One always needs a strong heart to watch West Indies play. 

Imagine the WICB didn’t communicate support to the team when they made the final yet the Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr Keith Mitchell did. That is a travesty and indicates how the players are looked at by the board.

The WICB was quick to apologise for WI captain Darren Sammy comments criticising the board, hinting at disciplinary action for Mr Sammy. I hope Dr Mitchell and other heads of Caricom get their way and dissolve the WICB and put in its place an organisation that can be accountable to its stakeholders and which supports the players, which has been lacking.

Christopher Olliverre

Kudos to the West Indian cricketers. The glorious days are here again. We, the Indians, heartily congratulate both men and women cricket teams of the West Indies for the fantastic double celebration to clinch the T20 World Cup titles. 

As far as men squad is concerned, Marlon Samuels and Carlos Brathwaite played an unbelievable game to thrash the England side. Darren Sammy’s boys reminded us of the great performances by the stalwarts like Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Courtney Walsh, Curtley Ambrose and other talented players (the list is too lengthy). The determined efforts of both the teams deserved the win. 

Anil R Torne, 

Pune, India

Whether it is for seducing commentators, venting personal peeves or being disrespectful to one’s employer, media interviews cannot be the proper place for conduct of this type.

Should the media themselves suggest or institute a code of conduct? Can they? Maybe FICA (Federation of International Cricketers Association) can help?

We seem to be on a slippery slope downhill. Disgraceful!

Patrick Terrelonge

From the comments, much of last week’s column was lost on many readers. Someone wrote asking who Bill W was. So, in advance, this headline is a riff on two 80s-90s movies: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and its sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Both classics of slacker cinema, right up there with Dude, Where’s My Car?, if not quite in the same league as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

But I digress. The Bill and Ted I’m talking about here are Eric “Bill” Williams, and Prof Theodore “Ted” Lewis, Express columnist, and former U of Minnesota professor, now chairman of the Prime Minister’s history book committee.

On March 22, Prof Lewis, writing in the Express, commented on trade union leader Ancel Roget taking up “Anand Ramlogan’s fire rage” (sic) and criticising former Petrotrin chairman Malcolm Jones. This wasn’t a good thing, according to Prof Lewis, because Malcolm Jones is a black man, and so is Roget. Furthermore, Jones was a role model for Lewis way back when, and black people need role models, which should (I’m inferring) abdicate them from normal scrutiny.

At least Prof Lewis isn’t a hypocrite. What others clumsily say in codespeak, or write, he says plainly. Black people are entitled to things others aren’t, which in this case means, apparently, Indians. It isn’t an anomalous opinion for Prof Lewis—it’s been in previous commentaries, recently and not so recently, like some he wrote in 1998, going mano-a-mano with the Maha Sabha, which were so preposterous, I kept them.

On May 24, 1998 in the Express, Prof Lewis called the Maha Sabha “a parasite in the realm of secondary education” and accused them of not establishing secondary schools and trying to “bully the rest of us.” I’m not a Maha Sabha spokesman and they responded to Prof Lewis. I’m interested in how wrong Prof Lewis was, and where he went from that premise. Firstly, Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College is a Maha Sabha secondary school, and was established in 1964. It’s not obscure, located as it is across the EMR from UWI. (They won 27 scholarships and the President’s Medal last year.)

But Prof Lewis’s other mistake is more egregious: he conflates Maha Sabha with “Indian” and “Hindu” and concluded that “I am proud of the fact that Trinidad is probably the place where Indians have thrived best, all under the PNM…for all the hot air, all they want is for Hindu children to attend Catholic schools.” 

What’s remarkable is the persistence of Prof Lewis’s ideas. Those of 19 years ago resonate with his present ones. This is important because, first of all, it provides an illustration of the racial chip on the shoulder some Afro-nationalists (and many who think they’re “real” Trinidadians and not racist at all) carry, and which they simply don’t or won’t acknowledge as such. 

Secondly, Prof Lewis is a classic example of a fierce nationalist who emigrated at an early age and drank deeply from the waters of US 70s ethnic rhetoric (like Shaft and Superfly), but absorbed nothing after that. So while the discourses and realities of African America, and T&T, have evolved, Prof Lewis remains, not in the 1970s, which merely bolstered his early socialisation, but the 1950s. This was when Doc Bill Williams opened the floodgates of this kind of sentiment as appropriate for the nationalist cause.

Prof Lewis, in short, is an excellent example of the practice of transplanting a toxic strain of African-American victimology (by no means a universal or majority African American position), into Trinidad politics and society. It affects, and infects, social policy, history, social logic and values. Importantly, this worldview requires oppression and an antagonist. With the colonials gone, the position goes by default to the Indian population, who in Prof Lewis’s eyes, are an indistinguishable mass about which he knows very little.

Unfortunately, Prof Lewis is in a position, on the PM’s history committee, where those values and that worldview can do much harm. The Professor is entitled to his opinion as a “mostly retired” private citizen. But as chairman of two committees charged with the production of history books for national consumption, this kind of ignorance so confidently expressed publicly becomes important.

I fear, though, his position isn’t accidental. The Prime Minister, as well-intentioned as he is in establishing these committees is apparently unaware of Prof Lewis’s/his own blind-spots. If I recall correctly, the PM was introduced to Louis Farrakhan when he came here (while Dr Rowley was in opposition). He does not seem to understand how toxic and objectionable that individual is, or what he represents, or it could be that he (the PM) agrees with Farrakhan. 

The force of this worldview (one running on ethnic resentment) here is enormous. Ordinarily my articles don’t get many comments, but I was surprised last week to see 19, including an extensive response from someone named “Bokolo”—which the Guardian has since deleted, and which I wish they would put back. Bokolo veered between LMFAO funny, and stomach-churningly scary—much about the black penis, and “you people” needing to be grateful and careful, since black people in charge.

This isn’t an isolated sentiment. From Tony Martin’s essay on African and Indian Consciousness in the UNESCO General History of the Caribbean (Volume V), to Dwayne Bravo’s song, Champion—which reflexively elides West Indian sport into ethnic solidarity with Obama, Mandela and Wendy (Fitzwilliam, presumably)—it’s there.

So, for the umpteenth time: the Eric Williams stain still darkens the Trinidadian present. It has poisoned the consciousness of many people, and to remove it requires someone less enrapt in ethnic self-indulgence than Prof Lewis. This means he’s not a good pick for the history committee. But his columns are very entertaining. 

Kevin Baldeosingh

As a professional writer, I pay close attention to the way words are used, as well as how they are supposed to be used. This is a very important skill, especially when rubbing a magic lamp, or asking for sex, or rubbing a magic lamp while asking for sex. And, in the past few weeks alone, I have observed that certain words are now being used in T&T in a manner different to the Oxford English Dictionary. 

The most recent word which now has a new Trini meaning is “sacrifice.” According to the OED, this is “an act of giving up something of value for the sake of something that is of greater value or importance.” Thus, Prime Minister Keith Rowley in his Easter message two weeks ago asked: “Are we—those observing the Easter traditions and all of us as citizens of T&T—prepared to make the sacrifices that will make us proud of our country?”

Now at first blush, it may seem that Dr Rowley’s definition of sacrifice does not differ significantly from the OED’s. This is because the definition of “sacrifice” hinges on what is considered “greater value or importance.” Thus, for PNM-till-ah-deads, Dr Rowley’s approval for a new Mercedes-Benz for the Prime Minister’s office may well be a sacrifice, since taxpayers have paid only $900,000 or $2 million, according to who is lying, so Dr Rowley will not experience back pain. For the rest of us, whether we are linguistically cunning or not, we can all agree that a Prime Minister with lumbago will not be efficient in office or orifice, which is not good for the country or any related homonym. 

In this context, it must be noted that Dr Rowley’s Easter message went on to assert that “We want to provide for ourselves and our family,” which MP Marlene McDonald was certainly doing. So the Trini dictionary definition of “sacrifice” is: “An act that everyone else must do, since I am of greater value and importance, just be glad I didn’t order a Rolls-Royce.” 

This brings me to the next word which recently acquired a new meaning: nepotism. The OED defines this as: “the favouring of relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.” However, according to former PNM Prime Minister Patrick Manning, nepotism only applies in one circumstance. “In my 44 years as a parliamentarian, I have never employed a family member or relative in my constituency office,” Manning boasted on his Facebook page a few days ago. 

Now adherents to the OED would argue that, since Manning appointed his wife Hazel first as Education Minister and then as Local Government Minister, he was himself practising nepotism. But, just as Hazel gave us a new plural for breakfast, so too has Patrick provided a Trini definition of nepotism: “The favouring of relatives or friends, by giving them jobs where the pay is less than $20,000 a month not including free rent, meals and transport in a vehicle costing a half-million dollars or more.”

But it is the Housing Development Corporation which in recent weeks has provided T&T with a veritable cornucopia of words with new meanings. In firing managing director Jearlean John two weeks ago, the HDC board cited Ms John’s “demeanour,” “tone,” “manner” and “reaction” as reasons for her dismissal. So now all citizens know that good posture, enunciation, gesturing and a Spock-like eyebrow contravenes the HDC’s by-laws according to board members Janice Clarence-Quamina, Chandra Gokool, Keith Scotland, John Cardenas, Keli Gbekor, Bernard Mitchell, Rasheedali Mohammed and, especially, chairman Newman George. In the Trini dictionary, all such traits are now defined as “insubordination.”

Other recent re-definitions include: “indigenous,” as used by Reverend Patricia Ann Stephens to describe the Spiritual Baptist religion, no longer means “originating in a particular place,” but “imported from Africa and the Middle East”; “notable success” from the judiciary’s communications officer now describes Chief Justice Ivor Archie studying a case management system by travelling to Nigeria instead of a country which isn’t among the five most corrupt in the world; and “inspiration” provided to the Caribbean by the Cuban revolution, according to OWTU Education Officer Ozzie Warwick, now means “filled with the urge and ability to survive without free speech, elections and toilet paper.”

So which meanings should Trinbagonians use? Since the OED was written by dead white male capitalists, it is obviously the language of the oppressor and must be rejected, at least by socialist feminist ethnocentrist zombies. Do remember to apply these new definitions in all future correspondence, reports, and rum shop talk. 

Email: kevin.baldeosingh@zoho.com

Kevin Baldeosingh is a professional writer, author of three novels and co-author of a Caribbean history textbook.

William Mahfood has sensibly walked back from his call for a trade boycott of Trinidad and Tobago, but we don’t believe that the “clarification” of his sentiments suggests a sufficiently thoughtful response to what is perhaps a real problem by an important and influential leader of the private sector.

According to the president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), his earlier demand to “cut off access to their goods” did not mean to a total closure of the Jamaican market to Trinidadian products, but a temporary ban on some goods until T&T meets its obligations of fair treatment to Jamaicans travelling to that country.

Mahfood’s suggestion was in the wake of the latest complaint by Jamaicans denied entry into T&T—ostensibly on the grounds that the immigration officials deemed they be a charge on the public purse—and that they were allegedly treated less than humanely by the authorities.

After several years of similar accusations of unfair treatment against Jamaicans in T&T, as well as other Caribbean countries, it seems to this newspaper that among the matters at play in this ongoing controversy is a class bias. Each year, thousands of Jamaicans travel to T&T for business and their Carnival celebrations, mostly without problems. 

It is another perceived class of Jamaicans, profiled by dress, accents and, sometimes, the hue of their skin, who are at greater risk of what is argued to be unfair treatment. They are of the class which Trinidadian, and other Caribbean, immigration officials, presume won’t be able to finance their stay; or are intent on overstaying their time, working illegally, and, maybe, engaging in crime.

Overcoming bias or unfair treatment is not best accomplished by emotive or tit-for-tat responses, especially when there are rules-based regimes, such as exist in the Caribbean Community (Caricom, of which Jamaica and T&T are members and therefore are legally committed to respect. Indeed, Caricom has a class of skilled citizens who, upon appropriate registration, are allowed the right of employment within the Community with the need for work permits.

But, more critically, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which has original jurisdiction in interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that establishes the rules by which the Community works, set out in the Shanique Myrie case the minimum standards, including the behaviour of immigration officials, to be expected by regional citizens when they travel within Caricom.

Indeed, these rights, on the basis of the Myrie case, are now established, and justifiable, regional law, the breach of which entitles the victims to compensation. In the event, any Jamaican citizens who believes he or she was unfairly and illegally treated by Trinidadian authorities have recourse to the courts.

The decision of individuals notwithstanding, we believe that rather than emotive jousting in trade, with uncertain economic outcomes, direct political engagement, first at the ministerial level, should be the starting point for the Jamaican Government. Moreover, with Jamaica as Caricom’s political leader and T&T as its strongest economy, this impasse, should be used for a broader engagement between the leaders of the two countries to, as we have urged in the past, a reset of Caricom.