The brother of murder victim, Felicia Persad, who was killed and dumped in the Mitan River, says he is confident that the family will get justice.

Felix Persad, a police officer, was speaking at his sister’s funeral service at the New Birth Church of God, River Road, Vega de Oropouche, on Wednesday.

Placing his hands on his sister’s casket he said she loved him and he loved her. “She showed me all the respect that I deserved,” he added. Overcome by emotions, he was not able to say any more.

Scores of people turned out for the funeral, many questioning why her life had to end in such a brutal way.

Felicia was reported missing on April 2 and her decomposing body was found on April 15 at the Mitan River with her hands tied behind her back, legs bound together, cord around her neck and a wound to her abdomen.

Her uncle, James Persad, questioned why family and friends had to wait for unfortunate circumstances to get support. He said that was the fourth time the Persad family got together, three times due to tragic circumstances and once for a family reunion.

“At no time must friendship be one way. It should be for all the time and not one time only as in this circumstances,” he said. He described his niece as a loving and giving person. 

“We must all reach out to all, do not be too proud. Reach out to all,” he said.

Cousin Diantha Johan who read the eulogy, said Felicia, or Radha as she was called by neighbours and family members, was  kind, willing, jovial and determined.

“She help others but kept it private. She was always willing to progress in life so as to make her self better. She always put people first and was people-friendly.

“At age 25, she lost both parents in tragedy and this gave her a big challenge in life. She would make everyone laugh when they are sad. Children loved her and would prefer to stay with her instead of their parents because she would play and reach to their standard to make them comfortable,” Johan said.

Reverend Rhonda Marcelin who officiated at the funeral service, appealed to mourners to lift up the country in prayers as the Bible clearly stated that love of man would grow cold.

Marcelin said young people were crying out for help and families were going through turmoil because many had taken God out of school, homes and churches.

“Let God takes its rightful place so that some peace and love can be restored in this country,” she appealed.

To the Persad family, Marcelin advised them to let God take vengeance and declare peace in the family.

She added when a life was taken there was more than tragedy, in Felicia’s case, she could not be found but God’s hand was there to find her.

RALPH BANWARIE

A Point Fortin father of one claims his home was deliberately burnt down and police officers are ignoring his report.

Jamil Michael said he feared for the lives of his wife and five month-old daughter, as only two weeks before the fire, a female relative had threatened to burn down his home. 

On March 20, Michael lost his home and all his belongings at Salick Trace, Gonzales Village, Point Fortin, in a fire,

His pedigree dog, “Jessie,” hundreds of exotic fishes and rabbits being bred as supplemental incomes, were also lost in the blaze.

Michael, a cook at Lenny’s barbeque Hut, of Gonzales Village, estimated his loss to be close to $80,000.

Contacted yesterday, a senior officer in charge at the Guapo Police Station, said he had no knowledge of the incident and referred T&T Guardian to the station’s sergeant, who was not on duty.

Public Information officer of the TTPS, Acting Assistant Supt Michael Pierre, said ideally a citizen should lodge a query with the sergeant of the station, however, in all fairness sometimes the sergeant may not even be aware of said complaint. 

He said if still not satisfied then the area’s first division officer should be contacted to highlight the victim’s complaint. He noted that people ought to be given a receipt after making a report. 

Pierre, however, said he would look into Michael’s claims to ensure an investigation into the matter.

The on-going family feud, Michael said, was well documented in the Guapo Police Station as the relative had made several allegations against him since 2009.

According to Michael, there are witnesses who saw the suspected arsonist dousing his home with gasoline and setting it ablaze. In fact, Michael claims, he rushed right past the suspect, mere moments after being alerted that his house and a neighbour’s was on fire.

“The young girl who came crying round the corner where I was, said two houses was on fire and she had seen who done it. She said she saw a man throwing a liquid on my home and light it afire. It was only after when the fire truck came, she said the man had walked pass me,” he said.

Fire officers from the Point Fortin Fire division, responded in 15 minutes and was able to save the neighbour’s home. Michael’s four-room wooden structure was completely gutted.

The displaced family have since gotten a temporary home at Warden Road, Point Fortin, after a Good Samaritan offered to help.

Michael said the police have only taken a report from his wife since the incident.

He claimed on the day of the fire he was informed by an officer at the Guapo Police Station that a report should be made the following Tuesday. 

However, the day after the blaze, Michael said he related that to a police officer attached to Point Fortin Station who intervened and instructed him to return to the Guapo station. 

There, Micheal said, he was treated like the suspect rather than the victim. He said the person he suspected of committing the act was presently in police custody on an unrelated charge.

Valdeen Shears-Neptune

Two of the people — a 13-year-old and a 23-year-old — who appeared in a video circulating on social media that shows a group of men shooting guns in the air in Maloney, have surrendered to police.

The teenager was accompanied by his grandmother when he surrendered to the Maloney Police Station on Wednesday, while the 23-year-old walked into the Arouca Police Station and gave himself up to the police.

T&T Guardian, during a visit to the Maloney area yesterday, was told the video was shot during the ringing in of the New Year 2016. It took place at Building 21.

A police source yesterday confirmed that a third man is in prison allegedly for a murder that occurred earlier this year at Building 16 in Maloney.

When the T&T Guardian went to the area yesterday, one of the men was seen liming with a group of young men under a tree in front of Building 20 in Maloney. When he saw the T&T Guardian’s photographer he attempted to take cover. 

Residents, who wished not to be identified, said the men were drinking and having a good time on Old Year’s night and at the countdown, began shooting in the air, as they ushered in 2016.

Police sources say that they are yet to locate two other men and two women, who were also shown in the video.

There will be tighter regulation and scrutiny and regulation of the local mining sector. Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre said there will be a strengthening of revenue collection systems and the authorities will continue to clamp down in illegal quarrying.

The sector was the focus of attention on Wednesday when the T&T Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) held a public outreach in Sangre Grande.

In the keynote address at that forum, Olivierre expressed concern that only $18.5 million in royalties was collected between 2003 and 2015.

Describing this as “clearly inadequate given the scale of the mining sector”, minister said a 2014 Green Paper on Minerals Policy alluded to under-reporting of production and royalty payments from the sector. 

“The paper revealed that between 2001 and 2013 only 10 per cent of the royalties due were collected,” she said.

This represented a loss of revenue to the State of approximately $120 million in royalty payments, not including loss of revenue from royalties for production not accounted for and from illegal quarrying, as well as revenues from taxes, Business Levy and Green Fund Levy for the period 2001 to 2013. 

“We must reverse this trend in the mining sector and quickly; especially given the details on our financial position laid bare by the Minister of Finance two weeks ago during the mid-year review of the economy,” Olivierre said.

She said the new Minerals Act Regulations gives the Energy Ministry greater powers to oversee the sector and ensure that companies pay their just due.

“ Having structured regulatory oversight of the mining sector could only benefit the country and by extension residents of our North Eastern communities, especially as it relates to generating revenue from the sector, and the extractive companies themselves,” the minister said.

“Now that the Ministry is armed with new regulations, we must find the means and the strength to apply these regulations; continue to clamp down on illegal quarrying and ensure that we get our just revenues from the 42 licensed operators in the sector. 

“We would be cheating the citizens and the government by allowing business as usual and not trying to progressively monitor this important sector and force compliance.”

Olivierre noted models suggested by the EITI  which she said could “add another layer of audit and assurance to reporting on our mining sector revenues.”

She said she supported the TTEITI’s work and welcomed its playing a role in promoting reforms. 

The group will soon be embarking on a pilot study to begin reporting on revenues from some of the larger mining companies.

Olivierre said: “In the long term, it is only right for us to enshrine the EITI in the legislative framework of the country and I am currently reviewing the Draft EITI Agency Bill before it goes to Cabinet and is exposed to public consultation and then to Parliament.

“I pledge my support for this legislation because it would lead to better monitoring of our extractive sectors (oil, gas and mining). 

“Mining companies need not be afraid of EITI implementation. This initiative provides extra assurance for your companies, my Ministry and the citizens of the North East and the wider citizenry. We must never look at the future with eyes of fear.”

T&T’s inflation rate increased by threeper cent last month, an increase from 2.9 per cent in February.

The Index of Retail Prices for March, which was released yesterday by the Central Statistical Office (CSO), decreased by 0.9 per cent from decreased from 109.6 in February to 108.6.

Data collected in the survey showed decreases in the prices of pumpkin, bodi, apple, spinach, tomatoes, callalloo bush, canned sardines, cucumber, onions and garlic. 

However, the full impact of these decreases was offset by the general increase in the prices of fresh sea food, eddoes, pork ham, fresh duck, edible oils, melongene, dried, salted or smoked pork, biscuits, dried pigeon peas and fresh pork. 

There was an increase in the sub-indices for clothing and footwear of 0.4 per cent and health of 0.8 per cent. Decreases were noted in the sub-indices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco of 0.4 per cent.

Overall market activity resulted from trading in six securities of which two advanced, two declined and two traded firm. 

Trading activity on the First Tier Market registered a volume of 150,762 shares crossing the floor of the Exchange valued at $7,382,972.86. Ansa McAL Ltd was the volume leader with 106,653 shares changing hands for a value of $6,716,975.16, followed by T&T NGL Ltd with a volume of 27,964 shares being traded for $545,720.20. 

National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd contributed 10,000 shares with a value of $24,000, while Guardian Holdings Ltd added 5,995 shares valued at $77,335.50. 

Clico Investment Fund enjoyed the day's largest gain, increasing $0.01 to end the day at $22.56. Conversely, Guardian Holdings Ltd suffered the day's greatest loss, falling $0.10 to close at $12.90. Clico Investment Fund was the only active security on the Mutual Fund Market, posting a volume of 129,520 shares valued at $2,921,971.20. 

The high level of instability in schools threatens the entire country and could have very far reaching consequences. Children who are bullied and harassed are more likely to harm themselves or others, commit or contemplate committing suicide, drop out of school, commit crimes and be unemployed.

This week once again, and mostly for the wrong reasons, the spotlight is on the troubled school system and the violence that has now become the norm rather than the exception.

A major talking point in recent days has been the actions of two students—one apparently defying authority in a disturbing confrontation with a police officer, the other giving public testimony about bullying in schools.

In one case, unfortunately, a 15-year-old schoolgirl is now before the courts awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to resisting arrest, using obscene language and disorderly behaviour. This follows an incident, caught on tape and shared widely on social media, involving students in uniform and armed police officers on a crowded Port-of-Spain street.

In sharp contrast, there was the compelling testimony of 11-year-old Mishael Henry, a pupil of the Laventille Government Primary School, who took a courageous stand before a Joint Select Committee of Parliament.

“Send them to boot camp; real boot camp, not any petty boot camp, serious, serious boot camp,” was this young man’s call during a historic parliamentary event that featured troubling accounts of incidents of bullying and violence in primary and secondary schools.

Sadly, these are just the latest indicators of a problem that has been festering in T&T’s education system for well over two decades. As far back as the 1980s, when the late Clive Pantin held the portfolio of Education Minister, there had been evidence of this plague taking root in the sector.

The erroneous belief that it could be eradicated once there were improvements in other areas resulted in greater attention being paid—with little success—to physical infrastructure and curriculum adjustments. Only now, it seems, there is the realisation that violence and bullying do more harm to a learning environment than all those other factors combined.

A lot of time and money has been wasted over the years, with useless policies and initiatives that failed to stop the plague from spreading from high risk schools to T&T’s more prestigious institutions of learning. It is unfortunate that only now, when the situation is almost completely out of control, it is getting more attention, all the way up to Parliament.

However, the weight of responsibility for eradicating this plague should not rest only on elected officials, TTUTA and the NPTA. Teachers, parents, students, law enforcement officials and even community and social activists all need to get involved in the search for solutions.

The high level of instability in schools threatens the entire country and could have very far reaching consequences. Children who are bullied and harassed are more likely to harm themselves or others, commit or contemplate committing suicide, drop out of school, commit crimes and be unemployed.

If we continue to collectively fail in our responsibility to cultivate safe learning environments across T&T, there will be repercussions—intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally—for future generations.

Current economic challenges require spending cutbacks in many areas, but the recession must not be used as an excuse for not investing in desperately needed anti-bullying initiatives.

The time is now to do all that it takes to create safe learning environments. Resources must made available, through central government and regional authorities, for programmes and initiatives to raise awareness and provide solutions for the twin plagues of bullying and violence.

Young Mishael Henry spoke out and he must be commended for that. So too, although in a different, disturbing and mostly non-verbal way, did an angry school girl. It is time to listen and take action.

Adults, including ministers of health and education, political party representatives, religious leaders, police and doctors, are screwing adolescent girls. Check your dictionary for a fuller definition, but here I’ll define screw as “to mess someone up” or “to cheat someone out of something.”  

Imagine you are an adolescent girl in T&T who becomes pregnant and decides she cannot manage pregnancy or parenthood. First, what is happening within your body is completely separated from ideas such as consent, choice and rights, as if T&T is not a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Second, you have been denied proper education about sexuality in schools, though it has been established for decades that this is one of the state’s best tools in tackling vulnerability to forced sex including child sexual abuse, high risk of HIV and STDs, early pregnancy and difficulty negotiating contraception in sexual relations. You also face stigmatisation when buying contraception, making it less likely that you will do so.

Third, if you become pregnant, you will be prevented from staying in school with your community of peers and will be sent elsewhere, as if your pregnant body is a source of contamination. Nurses will treat you like pregnancy is your punishment for having sex or having it forced on you. And, indeed pregnancy is your cross to bear regardless of your economic or psychological ability to cope. At least when a house burns down with a baby inside or when the newspaper says your murdered son had turned gangsta, everyone is clear who to blame.

Fourth, if you decide your mental health cannot cope and seek to procure a safe termination, rest assured that the best gynecologists in the country will not help you, as they consider their own reputations, job security and freedom from criminal prosecution, rather than advocate for the law to be changed. When you find a good doctor, who bless her or his heart, who will help you rather than judge you, you risk being charged by the police, and condemned by religious people more concerned about their beliefs than your care or welfare.

And, if you cannot find a gynecologist who will safely perform a procedure that women have sought for millennia, you can always bleed your way to the nation’s hospitals where about 3,000 women a year will end up as a result of complications from unsafe abortions. Or, possibly, become a statistic: ten per cent of maternal deaths are the result of illegal abortions in Latin American and Caribbean.

For this reason, important clarifications are required.

Pro-choice policy isn’t pro-abortion. It is pro-women-not-dying and pro-fetuses-not-being-found-buried-in-the-backyard. Fully legalising abortion does not escalate its numbers. Countries where abortion is legal generally have lower rates than those that don’t. Abortion is not a religious issue, unless the woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy is religious and this shapes her decision. It is not a “sensitive topic” unless you are intimately connected to the pregnancy. Then, sensitivity is definitely required.

A referendum is not the way to secure safer and better-managed terminations; it’s a way to play politics and crush its possibility, for religious folk who are also pro-choice will be made to choose a side by opportunistic, patriarchal leadership. Charging women, including minors, and doctors will not stop abortions, it simply makes them more risky. 

Abortion is, in fact, not illegal in our Common Law when it preserves a pregnant woman’s mental or physical health, preventing her from becoming a “physical and mental wreck.” Doctors should know this. More than half of the population supports expanded legalisation, eg in cases of rape and incest. Calls for more discussion will not help mothers seeking terminations, decriminalising abortion will.

Finally, important clarification is required of the T&T Medical Association, and its PRO Dr Liane Conyette who is quoted as saying, “As doctors we are charged with protecting the life of all our patients, mothers and their unborn children alike, both of whom have rights that must be considered.” It is unclear where the TTMA sourced its position on the rights of unborn children. Do those rights begin at conception or later? What are those rights? Was this position collectively agreed on? Where is it written? What are the costs of this position for teenage girls?

Girls are cheated out of public education they need; public health procedures that should be safe; public programmes to empower them in the face of sexual violence and sexual exploitation by adults; public legislation that seeks to support their choices and needs; and a public that values girls and women’s lives, especially those who are poor.

The details of this week’s news of a 16-year-old who sought an abortion shouldn’t occupy us as much as the fact that there are many other minors in such precarious situations, and no end in sight. This is what it means to be screwed by adults and authorities, none of whom are publicly on their side.

As serious crimes, especially murder, continue to grip T&T today in all forms and fashion, we need all hands on deck to fight the criminal elements from various vantage points. We have to maximise the use of current resources.

Seriously, all stakeholders have their important and peculiar roles to play. However, there is one critical element that can make a significant contribution in fighting crime: the military. In contemporary times, we have not really concluded as to what role the military can play. Despite various opinions on all sides, eg, the military is trained to kill thus inappropriate to deal with civilian-related crimes vs the military can be used to deal with such crimes vs the military is underutilised vs the military needs to be on standby, etc, what do we really want the military to contribute?

An urgent national discourse is needed on this matter. If it is decided that the military can play a more extensive role now, we must clearly identify them. The military is currently empowered to work with other institutions to deal with domestic matters when needed. But we must work out these other roles.

Fundamentally, how do we adequately prepare the military for these new roles, if required? This revised mandate may not necessarily require more hardware, but other technical, legal, social and psychological skills to empower these men and women.

We are certain that there are numerous resources currently available in the various arms of the military to handle our crime situation other than the tough hardware. There are tremendous “softer” resources and tactical skills present there as well.

The military’s presence in the various high-risk communities will go a long way with the required transition-based training required to deal with crime. Let us not forget the forests are dens for drug-related and other crimes. The military is well-trained to traverse these regions. 

The naysayers’ arguments that the military is trained to kill thus inappropriate for civil duty doesn’t seem to hold much water. They have not been required to use this “killing” strength since 1990 when they were called out to deal with the Muslimeen insurgents. As a result, it is time to seriously consider engaging them in “softer” crime-fighting strategies.

Joint army/police patrols have been around for a long time, but we need to think outside the box now. What else can they do? It can’t just be a “show” of physical presence. We have soldiers, coast guard, air guard, reserves etc, and within each division, there is a wide range of skills—in technical, managerial and strategic areas. We can certainly incorporate these in new crime-fighting initiatives.

They can be further used in surveillance and intelligence gathering than what they currently do. This is especially so as we have TT-ISIS fighters returning home. Then, we have South and Latin American criminal elements increasingly rearing their ugly heads.

Additionally, our military can be trained or retooled and placed in high-risk schools, used to protect state witnesses, placed in prisons, used to comb the forests to catch marijuana planters and traffickers, patrol borders and inlets more often, respond to emergency situations when picked up from our national CCTV system, etc. This is the type of out-of-the-box ideas we are talking about for the military.

The Reserves/Volunteers can be used just as the SRPs to fill the gaps, for example, when there are no vehicles/drivers to respond to calls for service. Military officers can also be used in the dry season when bush fires are abundant. Retired military officers with administrative experience can be used to handle some administrative functions and let active officers be out on the field.   

If we continue doing the same thing all the time and expect different results, we run the risk of being certified as mad. Let us embrace the need for change in how we do things and move away from stereotypical roles/responsibilities.

The plea now is for the powers-that-be and the citizens to come together and discuss these matters seriously, professionally and within a reasonable time frame, make a decision and then implement.

If any required training and retraining are needed, then let us carve out a plan to get this done with the experts especially in this recessionary period. But, it can and must be done. There are enough models to follow. The Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety stands by to play its role.

The Minister of National Security, who is a former military chief, is also a person with tremendous experience in other types of security operations and strategic thinking and action, is ideally poised to lead this mission. Private and corporate security will be ready to assist. We just have to get all of our heads in the right direction and reduce the crime rates.

Many military personnel have excelled in training internationally. When blended with law enforcement and other corporate security and community-driven anti-crime initiatives, crime is set to be on the decline.

Contact the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety for 100 courses in areas such as law enforcement, corporate security, security supervision and management, OSH-related courses, investigations, criminal law, etc. Tel: 223-6999, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com

​Ian Kevin Ramdhanie, MSc, 

Principal, CISPS

There are fiercely independent and enterprising souls in T&T desperately working their way around the limitations of this backward country to find success in the global world of e-commerce.

Enduring the apathy of successive governments, these entrepreneurs are trying to escape the import-and-sell-onomics of our largely ossified business mindset. This unsung demographic, focusing on markets in developed countries like the US, UK and Canada, are pioneering spirits building economic diversification brick by brick, or rather, URL by URL.

The impending seven per cent online tax does more than ignore this demographic. It actively chips away at the efforts of private citizens to transform the economy into one which uses technology to monetise our dynamic imaginations. The tax exposes our ignorance of the revolutionary impact of e-commerce on global business practices. 

It is assumed that all entrepreneurial derring-do is embodied in the collective wisdom of our various business chambers and the T&T Manufacturers Association. But there is an unrecognised cohort of micro businesses creating local products and finding outside buyers online. Rigid perceptions of what constitutes a business blinds us to this cohort.

Today, small businesses can reach foreign customers directly. I sell my products on Amazon and on my website. There are, no doubt, countless others doing the same. The costs of establishing an e-commerce website was once prohibitive for anyone other than larger interests. But software like Paypal means small businesses can get in on e-commerce opportunities. Global online retailers like Amazon, Ebay and Etsy have also opened up to sellers in more countries across the globe so a website isn’t a must-have to get going.

Online trade isn’t restricted to physical products. Citizens are selling freelance services like writing, graphics, website design and all sorts to people outside T&T. Are our leaders aware of these trends? All this promise, though, is mired in institutional failure to recognise the immense potential of e-commerce. Worse still, getting the US currency you earn into your local bank account is needlessly complicated. Not everyone can set up a bank account in the US or Canada, which is a requirement for online global giants like Amazon. Helping e-commerce entrepreneurs get our US earnings home remains a challenge to which the state and the banks are both unequal and uninterested. 

It is also important to note that doing business online means paying for services in US. This means you will be taxed seven per cent for trying to earn foreign exchange!

Small family-owned businesses in other countries exist entirely online. These matrix-dwellers function within an e-commerce framework which allows micro-enterprises to thrive. 

The Amish community in the US, the same people who shun television and ride in horse-and-buggy, sells its artisan furniture and popcorn online…popcorn yuh hear! At home, the pinnacle of our e-commerce achievement is linx. 

E-commerce can’t flourish in an environment which swears by the philosophy, “If you can’t understand it, kill it.” 

The political class probably can’t figure out a way to wrangle kickbacks out of this evolved entrepreneur as there are no mega projects to feed their megalomaniacal dispositions. We have a tendency to think you are only in business if you are big. But individual ants (although “ants” has a derogatory connotation in T&T) working in concert can register among the largest organisms on the planet. Building a network of 3,000-5,000 small entrepreneurs earning US through e-commerce can start to improve our foreign exchange earnings. The man hewing beautiful bowls out of wood blocks or the woman making handmade natural soaps should be empowered to sell their products online outside of T&T. 

E-commerce alone isn’t a panacea for our economic malaise, but it can help. It can also spur equity in a private sector that remains largely skewed towards the privileged. Going into business in this country once meant you had to come from money. 

Some of this money dates back to the enduring historical advantage of the Cedula of Population in which favourable land grants almost guaranteed prosperity for future generations of certain families in an unequal nation. 

Other fortunes are derived from the power of contacts within the government. 

Technology is blowing apart the old order. Ten years ago I couldn’t dream of creating television shows as the technology was prohibitively expensive. This changed as competition forced the prices of cameras and computers down. And so it is for both young and old entrepreneurs now using sophisticated, relatively inexpensive tech to bring their products to foreign markets without the competitive edge of inherited assets. 

Additionally, they needn’t have King Solomon’s Mines to fund marketing. Blogging, social media, websites—these are all tools available to plugged-in entrepreneurs who want to get the word out about their products. 

This is why the seven per cent online tax is so troubling. It is affirmation, at the policy level, of our unwillingness to aggressively pursue trends already established in other countries to diversify economic activity and, in our case, earn much needed foreign exchange. We aren’t prepared to tax our brains, so here’s another tax. That is why this isn’t a developing nation, it is a time capsule.

There was no dry spell in the earlier segment of Parliament yesterday, where good humour was concerned.

On Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s entry, Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal immediately stood, and looked around Imbert’s person, hunting.

“Where’s the IMF man?!” Moonilal teased Imbert who grinned broadly.

And in a spirit that ought to occur more frequently, Government and Opposition MPs Ayanna Webster-Roy and Dr Lackram Bodoe took a united approach to raising awareness on Attention Deficit Disorder and associated conditions.

If less confrontational yesterday, MPs may be conserving energy for next week’s sittings concerning measures in Imbert’s mid-year review. Though he said Thursday’s that his concern was for the “people” in his proposed vehicle tax moratorium, he’d prefaced it by saying he’d received “enquiries” from car dealers affected by the taxes. Seems dealers held enough sway to tilt Imbert moratorium-wards.

Impact of other influences remain to unfold. Government’s World Bank and IMF help to craft frontline fiscal policies including reviewing Ministry expenditure, forex, energy sector incentives and splitting the HSF, to access funding—while welcome, won’t improve confidence that government is on top of its game. Particularly following Moody’s recent thumbs-down. 

The new administration’s financial management skill may particularly be looked askance since issues the agencies will advise on are the Prime Minister’s “best man’s” (sic) responsibility. Three quarters of the Cabinet is new and though replete with attorneys, there’s nary an economist or finance expert. External agency input will also be regarded with unease by a labour sector, concerned about IMF proposals with the spectre of previous IMF prescriptions in mind. That sector’s already unhappy with reality checks from Government’s Economic Advisory Board (EAB), panned recently by JTUM head Ancel Roget. A

Announcement of IMF help also came on the heels of concerns by former minister in finance, Vasant Bharath about Government’s path and that it may “choose the easy way out” and put T&T in IMF hands.

The administration, taxed by the oil price dilemma, and the need for increased revenue stream plus daring public fall-out from all of its measures, appears to have opted for what Bharath projected.

Bharath, who was among the PP’s Cabinet’s economic and financial talent, says, “Government has run true to form, exactly as predicted...taking the easy way out for the Minister and Government but a potentially perilous direction for the population. It won’t be the first time a PNM government has reneged on its responsibility to T&T, having bailed, in 1995 and 2010 mid-way through their terms, when the going got tough.”

Noting competition issues arising from increasingly overlapping and duplicating World Bank and IMF missions, Bharath remarked, “T&T could well end up as a small piece of cheese between two large pieces of focaccia...”

Former PP Finance Minister Winston Dookeran added, “It’s always good to have independent assessment of prescriptions for results, but that will require much more than a technical solution and a framework within which advice must be given,”

Former PNM Minister in Finance Mariano Browne: “We don’t need the IMF to say what expenditure to cut... why go to the IMF when the last IMF reports were ignored? The only reason I can see for IMF presence is to access the HSF since ministry advisers may be moving slowing and Imbert needs expediters.”

While seeking World Bank/IMF help may also call into question Government’s opinion of Economic Advisory Board proposals, John Public, though apprehensive, may also hope the international experts will forgo old standbys for beating economic slumps and seek beefed-up solutions applicable to T&T’s sensitive landscape. How proposals fit with Government’s political agenda concerning local government and Tobago House of Assembly) polls ahead, remains to unfold.

Since Government had already ordered a seven per cent cutback in ministries’ spending, how World Bank/IMF advice on a further review of expenditure in key spending areas is structured, is also left to be seen. Imbert’s 2016 Budget gave priority allocation to eight ministries from a maximum of $10.81 billion (National Security) and $9.763 bn (Education) to $831 m (Agriculture). One thing hopefully: that the World Bank/IMF will rework National Security spending towards input to best government’s biggest challenge—crime. 

Kevin Baldeosingh

I always get irritated by aphorisms, because nearly all of them are sentimental and superficial. Since I became a parent, however, I also get irritated at my own raised sentimentality. For instance, my son Kyle is now 11 months old, and 11 months ago I became unable to sing one of my favourite songs, Cat in the Cradle, which is about a busy father and his growing son. 

Now, I generally don’t get past the third verse, which goes: “My son turned ten just the other day/He said, Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play/Can you teach me to throw?/I said, Not today, I got a lot to do/He said, That’s okay./And he walked away but his smile never dimmed,/Said, I’m gonna be like him, yeah, you know I’m gonna be like him.”

All of which is to say that I read this epigram recently, which said: “A father is his daughter’s first love, and his son’s first hero.” 

And, instead of rolling my eyes and moving on to something with mental meat on it, I found myself wondering if this was true.

Most small girls, I think, at some point say that they want to marry their Daddy. 

My daughter Jinaki did this last December, when she was just over two-and-a-half years old. So her mother and me explained that girls cannot marry their fathers, and she clearly went away and thought about it, because the next time she said she wanted to marry me and we reminded her that girls cannot marry their daddies, she immediately said: “I want to marry a guy like you, Daddy.”

Then there’s my son, who more or less ignored me for the first ten months of his life, when his Mommy was his whole world. 

But, now, a delighted smile spreads across his face whenever I enter a room and he starts crowing, “Dada!” 

In part this started because he realised I am the person who walks him wherever he wants to go, but when I came one day in the middle of his Uncle Daren walking him, he still called out “Dada” and strained to come to me. 

Although I have never come across any really rigorous studies, I have read that boys tend to pattern their mate choice after their mother’s physical appearance, while girls tend to choose their spouse based on their father’s character. 

But, although I may have no choice in the matter, I am not comfortable being an ideal for either my daughter or my son, because there must come a point when they will realise that Daddy (and Mommy) are fallible human beings. 

On the other hand, it seems to me that parents have to try really hard to get their children to dislike them. 

I know of too many instances of people who have ignored and even rejected their sons and daughters, yet the children even as adults feel an unbreakable connection to them.

I expect that my children at some stage will grow distant from me as they develop their individual identities, though I also expect that stage will be only temporary. 

So perhaps the best thing is to enjoy being perfect in their eyes, since that won’t last for very long.

Since the mid-year adjustment of the T&T Budget the people of this country have been complaining about the high prices of foodstuffs and other essentials. 

We are a bunch of people who love to blame others for the increase in prices and the hoarding of foreign currency. We tend to blame all and sundry and categorise ourselves as the poor.

I am a frequent visitor to Tobago where, as we say, all Tobagonians are family. One would be surprised what our “brother and sister” Tobagonian in the retail business of selling foodstuffs, are doing to their “family.”

Let’s compare prices: a mini bottle of water in Trinidad price $3, Tobago $5; pimentos $2 for three; Nestle condensed milk in Trinidad $10, in Tobago $11.99; Carib and Stag Beers in Trinidad $9/$10, Tobago $12; and I can fill this page with examples of exorbitant prices. 

Mind you, most of their goods are shipped by the wholesaler with no additional cost to the retail outlets. Most of those in the fruits and vegetable business are over 60 years and use their own family vehicles for transport.

Tantie and Uncle, spare we.

Athelston Clinton

Arima

Jamaica Gleaner—The war between Caricom and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is clearly not going to be over anytime soon. Or should it be, more appropriately, the war between Grenadian Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell and Dave Cameron?

Dr Mitchell is waging a relentless campaign to take down the board, even when other prime ministers across the region seems to be more dormant. He has upped the ante and has now formally got the support of a group of past West Indies cricketers, who are now being called “the legends,” to put some more pressure on the Cameron-led board.

I find the whole thing extremely interesting. Said the legends: “We are very proud of our legacy. We cannot now in good conscience, stand idly by and watch everything that we have fought so hard to build and achieve disappear right before our very eyes because of the actions of inept board members and an incompetent board.”

This group of legends must be careful that while they are aligning themselves with Caricom’s war against the board, they don’t come across as being disingenuous.

Think about it. Wes Hall, one of the legends who has thrown his support behind Dr Mitchell, is himself a former board president. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever to the board’s structure and method of operating now as opposed to when the goodly Wes Hall was in charge.

West Indies cricket on the field was performing not much better than they are now. How then can Wes Hall, in all seriousness, be part of a movement to disband the board now? Why wasn’t he saying that while he was in charge? What makes the current members of the board any more “inept” than when Wes Hall was in charge? What makes the board now more “incompetent” than a few years back?

Viv Richards was a former coach-manager of the West Indies team. So, too, was Andy Roberts, as was Roger Harper. These three legends have all been employed by the board in the not-too-distant past and were, therefore, financially benefiting from the incompetent and inept board. These three have had the job of helping to shape our results on the field and none of them managed to make any meaningful difference. None of them could get us near where we once were.

Simply put, West Indies cricket on the field was still struggling badly while these legends had been given the job to fix it. It’s interesting how they have all the answers now, and yet when they were placed in charge, our cricket was still sliding from one disaster to another.

None of them were arguing then that the board should be dissolved while they were on the board’s payroll. The legends must be careful that they are not sending a subtle message that once you keep us happy, you can stay, but if we are not benefiting in any personally, we will raise our voices against you.”

The legends have had our respect because of their cricket ability. This witch-hunt by a “small group” of politicians for the Cameron-led WICB is completely without justification. We have won three world titles in four months and yet the voices calling for Dave’s head are increasing. That makes absolutely no sense, and appears to be personal.

The legends must be careful that the respect they have earned through cricket doesn’t disappear completely because they appear to be aligning themselves to a political cause that seems completely unjust.

Some of these same legendary West Indies cricketers had also fully thrown their support behind Allen Stanford, a man who is now in prison for operating a financial scheme that was illegal. Stanford and his riches were always a source of suspicion. Many were questioning the legitimacy of his operations long before the entire legal book was thrown at him. He was practically throwing millions away without rhyme and reason, and a lot of us wondered how does this man made money.

Many of us suspected his wealth couldn’t be all above board. None of that stopped some of these same legends from being his personal sidekicks, smiling and nodding for the cameras, while their bank book was being fattened. He was also popularising Twenty20, a form of cricket that many legends are not exactly fond of.

Many of them criticise the players now for being too keen on T20 cricket at the expense of Tests. And yet, some legends were reportedly collecting US$10,000 a month for helping to promote the very form of cricket for which they are now calling the current players mercenaries for playing.

Careful, legends! You don’t want it to appear that your support can be bought for the right people at the right price.—Orville Higgin, sportscaster 

It is indeed regrettable that Dr Terrence Farrell, chairman of the Economic Development Advisory Board, should have berated the trade union movement with the “gimme gimme” remarks, since they are hardly conducive to the establishment of a mutually respectful tripartite relationship that the Board needs in order to succeed in its stated mission.

Instead, Dr Farrell and other monetary economists, should seek answers for the taboo questions: Why has “money” lost integrity? Is it because the value of “money” can now be so manipulated as to ensure that those who do not toe a certain line will be crucified with inflation? Is it possible to restore “money” with integrity ie, “money” which can function as a reliable store of value? If so, how so?

When “money” loses value, as now obtains around the world, prices constantly rise, and the innocent, unsophisticated masses become poorer and yet poorer, while a predatory elite grows constantly richer. 

At the end of that miserable day, the predatory elite then rules over the poor in a new form of slavery on behalf of the western mastermind who delivered this bogus and fraudulent monetary system to the world.

Dr Farrell has displayed an alarming lack of understanding in berating the trade union movement when it strives, as it does, to resist the oppression that results from an unjust monetary-induced slide into poverty and destitution.

Imran N Hosein,

Islamic scholar

On April 21, 2016, the European Commission in Brussels issued a “yellow card” to T&T, who they have labelled as “uncooperative in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.”

This international warning is an global embarrassment for our beleaguered nation. 

The European Commission is proposing a “tailor-made action plan that will help put in place robust fisheries management control systems.” Does the plan include a radar system to monitor transshipments of substances (including fish) on the high sea? Has there been any warnings prior, or any consultation with our Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and/or with our local fishery stakeholders in developing this “plan” or is this a typical top down imperial approach?

The offshore fishery is certainly unmonitored and unmanaged. FFOS is aware and have reported international fleets transshipping tuna and shark fins at sea, which are then legitimately landed in Sea Lots thence exported from our airport in full cargo jets. 

Data and access to the National Fisheries (now Taiwanese) Sea Lots compound is unavailable because our members have been debarred. The National Fisheries (now Taiwanese) Sea Lots compound is provided with subsidised fuel, water and facilities. Taiwanese and other unknown fleets of foreign long liners are benefitting from subsidies with no benefit to nationals. 

We know that the inshore fishery is also mismanaged. Locally it is common knowledge that Venezuelan transporters openly sell fish in south Trinidad while the Guardia Nacional continues to arrest local fishermen who drift into their waters. Under the watchful eyes of our Coast Guard, Venezuelan pirates are known to steal vessels and kidnap our fishers in our near-shore waters, who must then pay US dollar ransoms or face death. And local shrimp trawlers have been implicated in diesel scandals and poach regularly in protected North Coast areas in broad daylight, while our Coast Guard remain mysteriously impotent and neutered.

Our grassroots stakeholders must be negatively affected if any “ban” is placed on our country exports. FFOS therefore offers our full support to Minister Clarence Rambharat and the Commission in this battle against renegade vessels using flags of convenience to land illicit catches on our shores. As primary stakeholders and fishery partners, we appeal to our government and the European Commission to consider a more holistic approach and to hold public consultations on several equally important and ongoing threats.

Terrence Beddoe, President,

Gary Aboud, Corporate Secretary,

Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS)

REFERENCE:

European Commission press release

“Fighting illegal fishing: Warnings for Kiribati, Sierra Leone and T&T, while Sri Lanka is delisted” Brussels, April 21, 2016. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1457_en.htm

The T&T Gymnastics Federation (TTGF) has been given a May 3 deadline to submit a comprehensive report on how monies were spent for the recent Rio Test Event in which gymnast Thema Williams was replaced by her compatriot Marissa Dick hours before the start of the event, which was used as an Olympic Qualifier.

The last-minute change sparked national interest after Williams’ handlers felt she was cheated out of a place at the Olympics, a tournament for which she has been preparing for the past four years. They have since taken legal action against the TTGF for pulling Williams out. There have since been calls for the Ministry of Sports and the T&T Olympic Committee to intervene. 

Yesterday, a release from the Sport Company of T&T stated “Sportt has a responsibility to account for state funds and therefore the company has written to president of the TTGF David Marquez reminding him that in keeping with Sportt’s National Governing Bodies (NGBs) funding policy, a comprehensive report on T&T’s participation at the Rio Test Event must be submitted to the company within 15 days of the event’s conclusion. The federation therefore has a May 3, deadline to present a full and detailed official account of all events that transpired in relation to this Olympic Test event that has now become a matter of national interest.” 

It pointed out that $58,196.76 was spent for Williams, her coach John Geddert and massage therapist Nicole Fuentes to participate in the Test Event, but no funds were disbursed for Dick and coach Ricardo Lue Shue to attend. 

Contacted TTGF’s general secretary Elicia Peters-Charles said monies from members of the federation were used to send Dick and Lue Shue to Rio and the federation expects to be reimbursed from their subventions. 

“This is nothing new. We have been doing this for many years,” Peters-Charles said. This amount was part of the $271,805 given to the federation for financial year 2016, all of which was focused on preparation and tournaments for the federation’s two elite athletes. It includes $93,195.28 for Williams, Dick and their technical teams to attend the World Gymnastics Championship in Glasgow, Scotland, where the spot to contest the Rio Test event was secured. 

It noted that also Minister of Sports Darryl Smith on various radio interviews and at a press conference on Monday, indicated that the Ministry and Sportt, under whose purview the TTGF falls, must follow proper process and ensure all the relevant facts and data are reviewed and analysed so that informed decisions can be made with respect to funding and other areas of support. 

Smith made it clear state officials and agencies cannot influence the selection of athletes, neither the appointment nor removal of the boards of sporting bodies which are independent sporting entities whose autonomy is sacrosanct under the Olympic Charter and general principles of sports law. “The Sport Company is currently following its established procedures and protocols with respect to this particular issue. The company along with the ministry is also conducting a comprehensive review of all the funding and other support policies with a view to determining where gaps and anomalies exist within the various procedures and systems that may have hampered governance processes over the past few years,” the release outlined.  

It added “This is all being done to ensure more effective accountability, transparency and an overall more robust governance structure in both state entities.” 

It sought to clear the air on how public funds are given to NGBs, saying the procedure has been to not pay money directly to the NGBs but rather to pay the supplier or service provider on behalf of the sporting body. “The only occasions funds are released directly to the governing body is for per diem for athletes, coaches and other officials at approved overseas competitions and tournaments and for accommodation only in the instance where a wire transfer to the hotel or guest house is not feasible. Even then, a pro forma invoice or quotation is used to determine the amounts released and the NGBs is still required to provide an actual invoice as part of the trip report on their return.” 

Nothing could stop national cricketer Yannic Cariah yesterday, as he scored an unbeaten century and grabbed five wickets to propel Queen’s Park to an emphatic victory by an innings and 109 runs against Jenexcon Tableland in round four of the T&T Cricket Board three-day competition.

It was Queen’s Park’s fourth win in as many matches, defeating Tableland with one day to spare at the Queen’s Park Oval. Resuming day two on 252/3 in the first innings, left-handed Cariah did not play with his usual patience finishing unbeaten on 121 to guide Queen’s Park to 400/6 declared.

Cariah faced 145 balls, hitting 12 fours and three sixes. Barbadian Javon Searles played a cameo at the end of the innings, slamming 37 off 40 deliveries. Cephas Cooper (2/16) and Uthman Muhammad (2/74) both took two wickets apiece for Tableland.

Tableland, which was skittled out for 112 in the first innings, struggled again at the crease dismissed for 179 in the second innings. Cariah could not stay out of the action snatching 5/59 in ten overs to end a memorable day for the former West Indies Under-19 cricketer. Searles was also among the wickets taking 2/13. Adrian Cooper top scored with 64 for Tableland, while Al Small pitched in with 34.

At the Prisons Ground in Arouca, Merry Boys declared on its overnight score of 211/6 in the first innings, before dismissing T&T Prisons Service for 71 in the second innings to record victory by an innings and 29 runs. The Victoria-Comets encounter began yesterday as the first day last Sunday was rescheduled due to an unfit playing surface, while day three will continue today between Clarke Road and PowerGen.

scores
At Queen's Park Oval: Jenexcon Tableland 112 (Al Small 27, Uthman Muhammad 27, Kevon Cooper 7/21, Javon Searles 3/34) and 179 (Adrian Cooper 64, Small 34, Yannic Cariah 5/59, Searles 2/13) vs Queen's Park 400/6 dec (Justin Guillen 130, Cariah 121 not out, Akeal Hosein 84, Searles 37, Cephas Cooper 2/16, Uthman Muhammad 2/74) Queen’s Park won by an innings and 109 runs

At Wilson Road: FC Clarke Road 290 (Mark Deyal 97, Yannick Ottley 58, Kavesh Kantasingh 7/131) and 167 (Deyal 43, Kjorn Ottley 41, Kantasingh 5/74, Ancil Bhagan 4/27) vs PowerGen 150 (Jason Mohammed 44, Evin Lewis 32, Kissoondath Magram 6/33, Kerwin Sirju 2/15) and 24/2 (Ewart Nicholson 17 not out)

At Barrackpore West: Victoria 189 (Sherwin Ganga 63, Andre Bryce 48, Savion Lara 43, Imran Khan 5/41, Bryan Charles 3/48) vs Alescon Comets 85/7 (Richard Kelly 27 not out, Charles 15 not out, Garey Mathurin 5/36, Fareel Jugmohan 2/47) 

At Prisons Ground: T&T Prisons Service 111 (Mike Smith 26, Javed Ramdhanie 3/17, Kashtri Singh 3/21, Aneil Kanhai 3/33) and 71 (Ricky Jaipual 4/20, Singh 2/2, Ramdhanie 2/27) vs Merry Boys 211/6 dec (Amir Jangoo 74, Mario Belcon 49, Kanhai 32, Idrees Mohammed 3/48, Vikash Rampersad 3/54) Merry Boys won by an innings and 29 runs

The T&T team due to their strength in depth in all the divisions emerged victorious winning the Inaugural team Champions Trophy at the Caribbean Golf Association Championship in Jamaica, yesterday. 

The T&T super senior team of Richard Camacho and Fabian Lee Foon continued their good form yesterday in the last round of the Higgs & Higgs trophy. The pair shot a 74 to emerge with a three-stroke win over the second placed Jamaican team of E. Williams and George Hugh.

The senior pairing of Reynold Deonath and Angard Sonnilal added a better ball score of 75 to go with their first and second rounds of 77 and 76 to finish in second place. They finished eight strokes behind the winning pair from US Virgin Islands Trevor Levine and E. Gittens.

In the mid amateurs, the team of Dave Rajkumar and Clint Alfred finally caught form adding a three under par score of 69 to their first two round scores of better ball 75 and 74 to end third. 

In the Maria Nunes Trophy for women plus 50 late entrants Pauline Raynor and Amoy Chang Fong had their best day shooting a 75. Raynor and Chang Fong finished in second place losing out by nine strokes to the winning Jamaican pair of M. Gabay and Maggie Lyn.

Anthony Smart won the men’s sixth flight, while Sonny Maharaj finished fourth in the fifth flight. Lenny Kurup finished tied third and Anan Rajpaulsingh tied fifth in the men’s third flight. In the men’s second flight Neil Sin Pang was the best placed T&T golfer.