Creating your own brand, developing your full potential and finding life’s purpose were just some of the topics of discussion at a recent one-day coaching and personal development workshop attended by ten RBC Young Leaders. The session, hosted by RBC Royal Bank, was part of the Young Leaders mentoring programme and was organised by the Bank’s NextGen Employee Resource Group. 

The workshop was one of a series of events planned for the Ten Young Leaders who were selected to participate in the bank’s inaugural Young Leaders mentorship programme. The students will benefit from career advice and leadership training from some of the bank’s managers. Mentors were carefully chosen from a dynamic group the bank refers to as NextGen—an Employee Resource Group that enables RBC employees in their 20s and 30s to build connections with their peers and leaders.

Saedi Mahabir, of St Stephen’s College, said he gained useful advice at the session—“...advice I could not have received anywhere else but from experienced and accomplished professionals. After learning about creating my own brand, preparing for work, and receiving inspiration to pursue my goals, I have a clearer mindset of how I can be successful.”

Students heard from Catherine Gordon of the Institute of Finishing Elements, which focuses on image, etiquette and protocol training, it is the only finishing school in the Southern Caribbean. They also heard from Shane Ram, a life coach who is pioneering his own brand of leadership called Soul Centred Leadership, he spoke on methods for developing potential.

Sharing her life story with the students was RBC Olympian Shanntol Ince, a para athlete who has won gold at many international events and is preparing for the Summer Paralympics in Brazil. Her advice was to always focus on achieving in spite of the odds and to never give up. 

The ten students were selected as the 2015 Most Outstanding Young Leaders nominees and represented this country at the Free the Children’s annual We Day celebrations in Canada last October.

Rob Johnston, CEO, RBC Caribbean Banking, speaking at the official launch of the mentorship programme, said that over the years the bank has seen tangible evidence of Young Leaders making a positive contribution.

2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, who died on the same day, April 23, in 1616. In the four centuries since their death, both writers have delighted and inspired audiences and readers around the world with their stories such as Don Quixote and Romeo and Juliet. Their influence on the generations of writers who have followed them, and indeed on literature as we know it, is impossible to ignore. 

To mark the anniversaries, the British Council has teamed up with the Hay Festival, Acción Cultural Española and 12 contemporary English and Spanish-speaking writers to create a new anthology of short stories inspired by Cervantes and Shakespeare. Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories after Shakespeare and Cervantes which is introduced by Salman Rushdie, has been described as a “triumph of collaboration” by the UK’s Guardian newspaper. 

Two of the UK writers who have contributed to the anthology will be present at this year’s Bocas Lit Fest—Nell Leyshon is a British novelist and playwright and is currently Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton. She is the author of four novels: Black Dirt (2004), shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best First Book); Devotion (2008); The Colour of Milk (2012), which won the Libro del Ano prize in Spain, the Prix de l’Union Intéralliée in France and was runner up for the Prix Femina; and Memoirs of a Dipper (2015). 

Leyshon’s short story Glass was inspired by Cervantes’ short novel, Licenciado Vidriera, the story of the lawyer who believed he was made of glass. “I knew as soon as I read it that I wanted to re-imagine it,” said Leyshon. She will be reading from her story and discussing her own relationship with Cervantes and Shakespeare at the Old Fire Station, Hart Street, Port-of-Spain, at 11 am, on Sunday.

Kamila Shamsie is the author of six novels, most recently, A God in Every Stone, which was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize, the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Three of her novels have received awards from Pakistan’s Academy of Letters. Kamila Shamsie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2013 was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist. 

Shamsie grew up in Karachi and now lives in London. Alongside her writing Kamila is an avid cricket fan and plays in the Authors Cricket Club, which makes her trip to Port-of-Spain all the more poignant. She said: “Reading was an early love, but it took the West Indies tour of Pakistan in 1986-87 to make me discover the great immersive epic that is Test Cricket.” 

Shamsie will participate in a “one-on-one” session with Shivanee Ramlochan about writing across national, cultural, and historical borders from 4–5 pm today, April 28, at the Old Fire Station. 

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities and is a programme partner of the Bocas Lit Fest. 

• For more information, visit: https://literature.britishcouncil.org/

Erline Andrews

Patrick Anthony Alexis II, better known as The Hype Man, went to Fatima College, graduated with four A-level passes and left T&T to study finance at the University of Toronto with the hope of one day becoming a CEO.

Today he’s a prime time host on radio station Hott 93.5 and a well known MC, travelling all over the world, hobnobbing with celebrities. 

Before an audience of around 400 teen girls seated in the hall of Bishop Anstey High School one afternoon last week, Alexis told the story of how he went from a more typical career path into entertainment.

He was host at an event put on by the organisers of the Decibel Entertainment Conference and Expo. Bishop was the final stop in a school tour to promote the event among its target audience: people still deciding on careers and interested in entertainment. That is: most teens in T&T.

In its third year, Decibel will take place over three days at Queen’s Hall, starting on Thursday with a conference where people involved in local and international entertainment will share ideas about starting careers and finding success in the industry. 

On Friday and Saturday there will be an expo of local businesses involved in various areas of entertainment and fun events including a zombie-themed horror house, an obstacle race, and a gaming area. 

TV star Rob Riley from VH1’s Hit the Floor will host a dance showcase on Friday at which actress/ dancer Megan Batoon will also make an appearance. 

Holland Roden from MTV’s Teen Wolf meets fans, takes photos and signs autographs on Saturday. 

Magician Darcy Oake will put on shows on Friday and Saturday nights.

“My job is simply to tell you that outside of the regular nine to five jobs of being a lawyer, doctor, policeman, accountant, there are other jobs,” Alexis told students.

“Would anybody here like to travel?” he asked. “Guess what, ladies? As a radio announcer and as a hype man for a DJ group, I was able to travel 35 times last year. 

“I had the opportunity to do so many amazing things,” he added.

After spending six years in Canada, Alexis came back to T&T without finishing his degree. His personality and experience abroad helped land him a job as manager at the Coco Lounge night club on Ariapita Avenue, he said. He held that job for six months and then did a two-and-a-half-year stint as beverage manager at the Hyatt Hotel. There he met US politician and former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

He always had an interest in DJing, he said. An online bio describes how he used to do DJing gigs in Canada by carrying his desktop PC along in a suitcase because he couldn’t afford a laptop.

He met up with fellow Fatima alumnus and DJ Ryan Pankar one day in Trinidad and the two formed the DJ/MC team Nuphoric.

“When I was in school nobody thought I would be a DJ or a hype man,” he recalled.

The highlight of the Decibel tour was the appearance of Kamil McFadden, one of the stars of the Disney Channel hit KC Undercover. After arriving in Trinidad on Monday, McFadden visited Naparima Girls High School and Hillview College earlier in the week.

He answered questions from Alexis and the audience, who had greeted his entrance with screams. A few girls burst into tears.

Alexis asked McFadden what advice he had for students who were interested in careers in the entertainment industry.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do anything,” said McFadden. “You have to believe in yourself, and sometimes you may be the only one who believes in you. And that’s all it takes. Once people start to see the results and the progress then they’ll be like, ‘Oh maybe they can do this.’”

A student asked what McFadden thought was the best and worst part of working in entertainment.

“I think that it’s really cool that I’m able to touch so many people,” he said. “I’m in the States but I’m touching people in T&T.”

The downside to fame, he said, is not being able to have a normal outing with friends, as he’s often recognised and asked for pictures and autographs. 

“But it’s cool,” he added. “It’s part of my job. It’s something that I love to do.”

McFadden ended his appearance by giving the audience advice Alexis had also given them earlier.

“No matter what career you choose,” he said, “put your education first.”

The Clico Policyholders Group (CPG) wants Government and the Central Bank to update the public on the Clico/CL Financial matter as soon as possible.

CPG head, Peter Permell. made the call yesterday, following moves by former chairman of Clico and CLF, Lawrence Duprey, to try to regain control of his former companies by repaying the debt to Government, which had taken control of the situation via bail out in 2009 when CLF collapsed.

Duprey had sent a proposal to the Central Bank governor on March 22 and a copy to Finance Minister Colm Imbert on March 23, reportedly exclusive in yesterday’s T&T Guardian, offering an outline proposal to settle the Clico/CL Financial debt to Government. 

Yesterday, Permell said, since Duprey’s spokesman, Claudius Dacon, had said nothing was heard from Government regarding Duprey’s proposal, “the scenario seems to suggest that his proposal is either not being taken seriously or being studiously ignored by the Government.

“When viewed against the backdrop of the secrecy, lack of transparency and accountability by successive administrations relative to the financial affairs of the management-controlled CL Financial Group to date, the CPG believes this is indeed cause for concern,” Permell said.

Also contacted yesterday on Duprey’s criticisms of the People’s Partnership’s handling of the companies, former finance minister Larry Howai said:

 “The arrangement that was in place was that CLF was managed by a board which comprised representatives of the Government (four members) and three appointed by the shareholders of CLF, so Mr Duprey's interests would have been adequately represented in decisions that were made. 

“In addition, Clico being under the control of the Central Bank also fell under the governance arrangements that the CBTT would have insisted on to ensure that all actions in relation to Clico were proper. 

“In addition, the ministry employed the services of Ernst & Young to review and assist the ministry with various aspects of this process, so I am doubtful that the companies’ business was badly handled as far as the ministry’s involvement is concerned.”

The Estate Police Association (EPA) has intervened to find alternative work for 800 security officers whose contract with the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) ended prematurely because of an outstanding debt of over $100 million.

Yesterday, vice-president of the EPA, Ancil John-Nicholas, confirmed he requested a meeting with T&T Security Services’ (TTSS) general manager, Towfeek Ali, today to try and absorb some of the workers in other security firms.

Ali on Tuesday ordered his security guards to cease duty on all of WASA’s compounds after he claimed his $146 million contract had been breached by non-payment of fees.

Since then, the workers, who were represented by the EPA, have been home.

In light of this move, WASA had to call out the army and police to guard its Navet, Caroni and Arena reservoirs and other assets.

Attorney Nyree Alfonso, who is a director of TTSS and Ali’s wife, said WASA issued a letter yesterday to TTSS, informing them they had terminated its three-year contract.

Alfonso said she was baffled by the move, since she had notified WASA since Tuesday, via email, that they would no longer engage its contract due to non-payment on their part.

“Do you terminate a contract twice? That letter sent by WASA this morning was very disappointing. If I have to take as a signal whether WASA wishes to engage with me for the purposes of reaching a settlement, I get the answer loud and clear. It is clear to me that WASA does not give a hoot. I am putting my house in order to go to court,” she added.

Alfonso said they have agreed to meet with the EPA and its executive at its Chaguanas office.

“What bothers me is that I am terminating 800 people. The families of these 800 people will also be affected. I don’t know if politicians do not take on those things. 

“Those things trouble me greatly. We are meeting to see dynamically what is the best thing that we can do. We might be able to hold on to some people (workers),” Alfonso said.

 TTSS has not paid its security officers for April which amounts to $3.5 million.

John-Nicholas said the EPA would try its best to absorb the security officers into private firms.

“These firms are always woefully undermanned and need security officers. This is one avenue we are looking at,” he said.

WASA’s chairman Romney Thomas said yesterday the company continued to engage the services of private contractors, the police and army to guard its reservoirs and facilities where water was stored and distributed.

“We have everything under control,” Thomas said in a telephone interview.

The Roman Catholic Church wants the wider national community to have its say on the call by Archbishop Joseph Harris for provisions to be made by the Government to pardon deserving prisoners, especially those incarcerated and awaiting trial for periods of time longer than what they would have served if found guilty.

The petition initially sent out to Roman Catholic churches across the country is now available online to the wider community, both Catholic and non-Catholic.

Chairperson for the Archdiocesan Year of Mercy Committee, Sr Renee Hall told the GML Enterprise Desk the archbishop has agreed to an online option which would allow anyone wanting to sign the petition to do so.

There is an option on the link for people to say whether they want their names to appear publicly or not.

Harris is hoping that “as many people as possible will sign this petition so that the powers that be may hear the desire of the people to make this land, our home, a more merciful place.”

Meantime, relatives of prisoners incarcerated for minor crimes say they fully support the archbishop’s call which can give “new hope to the poor justice system.” 

The GML Enterprise Desk spoke with relatives of inmates outside the Golden Grove Prison where we found a mix, some charged with more serious crimes, including manslaughter, possession of cocaine, but quite a few told us their relatives had been charged with possession of marijuana.

“Carl” (not his real name) told us: “Imagine my brethren in there for having a ‘lil weed’. That is a joke. I feel the jail supposed to be full of killers, rapists and child molesters.”

“Rookmin” (not her real name) had a similar view. Her son is in prison for possession of marijuana.

“I agree with the archbishop, is real stupidness that a man will get hold with weed and he in jail because he can’t post his bail. The system needs to change,” she said.

“Carl” is advocating that the authorities “decriminalise the weed. It have nothing wrong with it. Why lock up a man for having a little weed?” he asked.

He said the way the system worked was skewed against poor people because “no bailiff will tie up his property for $1,200 bail for a man charged with possession of weed. You go tie up big property for that small charge? They should introduce some kind of fine system, so every time you hold somebody with weed they have to pay a cash fine.” 

He said the fine could be increased for the person every time they are held “so if it reach $5,000 you don’t think a man will get fed up and stop committing the crime?” 

He said many of those in prison on petty crimes could afford cash bail but they have no choice but to stay behind bars because of the bail system.

Rookmin agreed. She said to get bail one needed to ensure that the property being put up was ‘clean’, meaning that the property must have no encumbrances, “that is no mortgage and that all taxes are paid.”

But she said it was difficult for a bailiff to want to put his property up for $1,200 or $1,500 bail for someone charged with possession of marijuana. Relatives, she said, could not afford to put up property “because we don’t have.”

 The direct link to the petition site is https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/year-of-mercy-tt-pardon-for-prisone...

ROSEMARIE SANT

GML ENTERPRISE DESK

Police believe the suspect who shot and killed Guyanese national Khemraj Persaud and injured another man has fled to Venezuela.

T&T Guardian was told that local police have sent out an advisory to the Venezuelan authorities to be on the lookout for the 51-year-old man who last resided at Duncan Village, San Fernando.

The suspect may have used his own boat to escape to Venezuela, police sources said.

The murder took place around 5.15 pm on Monday.

Persaud, 30, also known as “Leaf,” was renting a downstairs apartment with Sean Boodhoo, 28, and Kumar Shivprashad, at Hummingbird Avenue, Duncan Village, for over three years.

The construction worker was working in T&T for several years and sending money to help his impoverished family in Guyana. 

According to a police report, the suspect went to visit another family member in the building. Reports stated that the suspect came downstairs and urinated on a washing machine used by Persaud and his friends. 

Boodhoo told the suspect about it and they began to argue and fight. Persaud who was inside came out and intervened.

 The suspect went to his car, took out a gun and opened fire, hitting both men.

Persaud was shot twice in the head while Boodhoo was shot in the chest.

He died on the spot while Boodhoo ran to the road and collapsed. Police took him to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and remains warded in a stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital. Detectives interviewed him yesterday at the hospital.

 Shivprashad, also a Guyanese national, said a group of friends have been trying to raise funds to send Persaud’s back to his homeland. It is costing about $15,000. 

“We trying to get assistance for the family to carry the body back to Guyana. Friends and business people trying to help. His family is not coming down here because it makes no sense that they waste that passage.” 

He said Persaud came from an impoverished family, was an avid cricketer and well known.

The police constable involved in the accidental death of Rancho Quemado grandmother Sona Lalloo is being investigated by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).

This was confirmed by its director David West, via telephone yesterday, who said the investigation would be separate from the one started by South Western Division’s ASP Jackman. 

West said if the officer was found guilty of a criminal offence, the PCA would write to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending charges be laid against that officer. If the offence was not criminal in nature, they could suggest disciplinary measures be taken against the offending officer.

“We have initiated the investigation and we will be looking into it. We are doing our own investigation and what we will do is we will ask the police for their interim copy of file to see what  they have done so far. Once we get all the evidence, then we will determine if we need to interview the officer or not. 

“Whatever recommendations we make, we either write to the DPP if it is a criminal offence or if it is a disciplinary offence, we will contact the Commissioner of Police,” West said.

The T&T Guardian was also told the officer could also be cleared of any wrongdoing. 

Lalloo, 80, died at 11.45 pm on Tuesday while undergoing surgery at the San Fernando General Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the side of her head.

While taking bread to her son, Jamere, on Monday, she was shot by a bullet which was discharged from the service pistol of a South Western Division Task Force officer.

According to a release by the T&T Police Service’s Public Affairs Unit yesterday, officers were responding to a report from a resident that two men were seen at around 7.45 pm at Johnson Trace, Rancho Quemado, brandishing guns.

When the officers arrived on the scene, their vehicle was flagged down by the resident who pointed to the suspects.

The release stated: “A chase ensued and two shots were fired at the officers while there was an accidental discharge from one of the officer’s service revolver after he fell to the ground while trying to negotiate his way over a wire fence. The investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of Ms Lalloo is continuing.”

This information conflicts with the account given by Lalloo’s son, Jamere, who said he was lying in a hammock when he saw the officer firing shots. He also claimed there was no gunmen running from the officer. He said the fence the officer claimed he fell over was down for some time.

Claiming negligence as the cause of his mother’s death, he said his family should be compensated for her death. While Lalloo’s funeral is set for 11 am today at their home, he said no one has come to offer counselling to his family. 

“Two police officers came today and watched where the bullets passed and asked questions. They did not offer any counselling. They are not treating us well at all and we told them that when they came this morning. We want justice,” Jamere said.

CoP sends condolences, offers to pay for funeral

Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams has expressed sadness and sympathy over Lalloo’s death. 

He also extended his deepest condolences to Lalloo’s relatives and has undertaken to assist with the funeral expenses through the Police Service’s Award Fund, the release said.

It also stated Lalloo was shot during a police pursuit of armed bandits in the area and that a post mortem conducted on Wednesday confirmed that the death was due to a single gunshot wound to the head.

A persistent dilemma exists in Trinidad and Tobago and indeed in other Caribbean and developing societies, as we strive to strike a balance between prisoners’ rights and society’s condemnation of such criminal activities and perpetrators.  

When an offender is sentenced to a term of incarceration, it is also meant to serve as a firm reminder to him/her and to the rest of society of our collective abhorrence against crime. To achieve an ordered and harmonious society, there must be consequences for deviant behaviour that threaten good order and governance. When the debt owed to society is paid via the time served in prison, it should set the stage for the offender to turn a new page and seek to become a contributing law-abiding citizen.    

Unfortunately, once the label of ‘prisoner’ is attached to an individual, it is almost as if the person becomes of a different species. Society’s condemnation/stigmatisation of offenders continues to persist long after offenders have been released. Many ex-offenders find this out the hard way once released from prison, as if they continue to pay their debt to society forever.

Discrimination can take many forms. With regard to ex-offenders, many people may support social programmes to assist them, however, as long as they are not built in their neighbourhoods or put another way, “not in my back yard” (NIMBY). 

From the retributive perspective, the problem is placed squarely on the individual’s shoulders only; no thought is spared for the societal structural conditions that may have influenced people to go in that direction. 

Some of these include, but are not limited to: inequality in the distribution of wealth, poverty, failure of the education system, dysfunctional families, community disintegration, and a lack of emphasis on youth development in conjunction with technology and social media.    

“Lock them up and throw away the key,” and “jail is not meant to be nice.” These are some of the reflections of the retributive thinking so common in our society even today. However, this thinking only deals with the punishment aspect of the process. Labelling individuals as criminals long after they have paid their debt to society shuts the door of opportunity for many ex-offenders to effectively rebuild their shattered lives. 

More importantly, this type of stigmatisation stymies the ex-offender’s effort at earning their way back into the good graces of their community. It serves as a major stumbling block to reintegration that may lead many back to prison if not properly and urgently dealt with. 

From this philosophy, it is easy to ascribe blame and to develop an “us against them” mentality. Therefore, we perceive ourselves as better than them and as such, we feel we have no role to play in helping others that may have lost their way. In such circumstances, the saying “we are our brother’s keeper” become just words without translation into action.  

Interestingly, what we should bear in mind is that most prisoners will return to their communities of origin. Consequently, ways and means must be found to reach offenders at their point of need to lead to their reform. Generally, when a person is incarcerated, it is only his/her liberty that is taken away; all other rights of the offender remain in place. State officials that work with the incarcerated should make every effort to maintain the right balance between ensuring that the offender is kept secured consistent with the dictates of the courts, as well as, function in such a way that emphasises human rights and human dignity. Only then can meaningful work be done with the offender in spite of what he or she may have done.  

This approach should form the basis of any rehabilitation initiative. This strategy also has the potential to help reduce the existing tension between officers and inmates that is so prevalent in the nation‘s prisons. Being non-judgmental and professionally objective is the challenge for correctional officers, where they may work with individuals that test their own value system. 

However, when officers display a strong sense of social justice in how they interact and treat with inmates, it creates a model that their charges can admire and hopefully emulate.   

At no time must society’s judgment and condemnation find its way within that critical interplay between officers and inmates. This can easily occur when officers’ professional objectivity slips into personal subjectivity, where officers impose their own values upon their charges because they believe that they are judge, jury and executioner. In the process, a golden opportunity is missed by not pointing offenders in a new direction.   

Providing ex-offenders with the support and services they need to find employment can help tremendously to reduce prisoner recidivism. Using approaches that hold offenders accountable via making amends, either by restitution or other ways, yet keeping them in the community connected to employment and family can be more effective than a costly period of imprisonment with criminalisation of the individual. When ex-offenders are productively engaged in their communities, working and supporting their families, the community is safer and the families more economically secure.

Organisations and individuals can contact the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety for over 100 courses in law enforcement, corrections, corporate security, security supervision, occupational safety and health, etc. Tel: 223-6999, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com. 

Several business owners in south and central Trinidad have stopped accepting debit and credit cards, saying it is becoming too costly to carry out those transactions.

Among them is La Carib Service Station in San Fernando. An official there said debit and credit card transactions have been stopped because of declining profit margins due to the 200 per cent increase in Business Levy taxes and the reduction of the fuel subsidy.

She said they have to pay four and a half per cent charge on credit card purchases and using a Linx machine is also costly.

“We pay 75 cents for use of the card in addition to a company charge and a monthly rental fee of $300 for the machine. Also, every time a card is swiped, we have to pay a phone call charge and the cost of TSTT phone calls went up,” she said.

“We are losing out. Since the last budget, we have had three price increases in super and diesel and each time the price went up, our profit margin went down. Whereas groceries and other stores adjusted their bottom price, the gas stations doesn’t have that privilege so we had to take measures to see how best we can survive.”

She said many gas stations had reduced their staff but she chose to keep her staff and cut back on card expenses instead.

At a supermarket in Central Trinidad, the owner complained that using credit cards and debit cards transactions are too costly. Several other businesses said they only accept debit cards if purchases exceeded $50.

President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce Liaquat Ali said he was aware of the floor limit imposed on customers who use bank cards. He also said he was never in favour of the 4.5 per cent charge merchants pay for credit card transactions.

“That charge is too high and that is why business owners will give you a bigger discount if you pay with cash. People are realizing that it is more economical to pay with cash rather than a card,” he said.

Saying he understood the plight of the business people, Ali called on Visa and Mastercard to lower their rates.

Meanwhile president of the San Fernando Business Association Daphne Bartlett said market forces will dictate what takes place in businesses. 

“We can put limits and boundaries to increase profits but market forces will dictate otherwise. We could make all kinds of plans about how we price goods and mark up profits but when it comes to the consumers they are the ones who can force the hands of government and business owners,” she said.

Bartlett said if merchants decide not to accept cards, it was up to the customers to decide if they want to do business.

Contacted yesterday, assistant general manager at InfoLink Services Limited Helen Llanos said merchants should not impose a floor limit on customers making purchases. She advised customers to report those incidents to their banks.

President of the Bankers Association of T&T Darryl White could not be reached for comment yesterday.

With the country in need of an injection of cash to reduce the size of a potentially huge fiscal deficit, Mr Duprey’s plan to block these asset sales seems unreasonable and self-serving, to put it mildly.

Since signing a January, 30 2009 memorandum of understanding with Government for the bailout of his failed Clico/CL Financial business empire, Lawrence Duprey has been mostly absent from T&T, dealing with all issues relating to the collapse from a safe distance.

Domiciled for several years now somewhere in Florida, he did not return to the country to testify before the Colman Commission of Inquiry into the failure of what was once the largest privately-owned conglomerate in the English-speaking Caribbean.

In fact, to date Mr Duprey has not co-operated in any efforts to bring clarity and closure to the devastating failure of his business holdings. Never mind that the collapse had repercussions in economies across Caricom and is reported to have cost taxpayers of this country more than $20 billion. This week, more than seven years later, with T&T still suffering the effects of what has been a painful, lengthy and costly bailout, Mr Duprey is portraying himself as a victim in the entire exercise. And he is threatening to take legal action to block Government’s proposed sale of CL Financial’s remaining assets.

According to an exclusive report in yesterday’s T&T Guardian, his lawyers are currently drafting a pre-action protocol letter to send to Government. For several months now, safely out of reach in his US home, the former business magnate has been fulminating at plans to dispose of the assets of his failed conglomerate. 

In various media interviews he has signaled that he wants back control of his companies, while voicing his dissatisfaction with how the matter has been handled by the T&T Government, the Central Bank and those directly in charge of the running CL Financial.

Mr Duprey’s latest threat of a lawsuit follows Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s revelation that the Central Bank had been asked to dispose of Clico’s shares in  Methanol Holdings (International) Limited shares, Clico’s portfolio of traditional insurance policies and other assets such as its stake in Angostura, CL World Brands and Home Construction.

With the country in need of an injection of cash to reduce the size of a potentially huge fiscal deficit, Mr Duprey’s plan to block these asset sales seems unreasonable and self-serving, to put it mildly. The fact is that Mr Duprey was executive chairman of CL Financial in the period immediately before the collapse, which was caused by a crisis that required urgent government intervention to prevent a system-wide financial collapse and to protect the investments of thousands in Clico and British American.

Citing his constitutional right to protect himself against self-incrimination, he declined to testify at the inquiry into the collapse. As a result, literally hundreds of questions about excessive payments, over-leveraged acquisitions based on related-party borrowings and other corporate manoeuvres remain unanswered.

There is also the pain and suffering of thousands of policyholders who saw their investments evaporate. Without Government’s multi-billion dollar intervention, there would have been a devastating Caricom-wide financial meltdown. 

But those realities seem to have eluded Mr Duprey who seems to feel he has some right to march back in and take back what is left of his conglomerate.

All CL Financial shareholders, including Mr Duprey, have a constitutional right to recover what is left of their company—once all of the group’s creditors, including the taxpayers of T&T, have been fully repaid. However, this country has fit and proper guidelines that determine those who can manage regulated financial institutions.

Mr Duprey owes taxpayers in this country and policyholders across the Caribbean answers to all the burning questions he has not answered for the past seven years. 

History will remember Lawrence Duprey positively as an entrepreneur par excellance who built a global empire of methanol, alcohol companies and financial institutions by putting the savings of Caribbean people to productive use. But history will not forget the financial havoc that the empire’s collapse caused and Mr Duprey’s part in it.

Mr Duprey’s threat of legal action, however, would not be  entirely unwelcome if it spurs the administration to greater transparency and accountability as well as quicker action in this matter.

The Airports Authority of T&T (AATT) has been making a positive impact on job creation and attracting investment to this country, chairman Nigel Ferguson told stakeholders a recent gathering  at the South Terminal of the Piarco International Airport.

Ferguson said several companies that have signed agreements with the Authority to open new businesses at the country’s airports, while existing companies that have committed to expanding their operations. 

Aviation Business Limited (ABL) and Laparkan will be expanding cargo operations, while PHI will provide helicopter services. Other companies that have signed obn for airport business are Attenza Duty Free. Signature Flight Support and D’ Roti Lovers.

The AATT chairman saud the high interest in investing suggests that companies have recognized that the country’s two airports are attractive places to do business. He said while engaged in managing safe and efficient airports, the AATT has demonstrated prudent financial management and has been consistently in a position to fund its operational costs and be self-sufficient through rental of retail space, estate management, airport advertising and rates and charges for aircraft, passenger and cargo movements.

Ferguson said the AATT has already reduced the average check in time for passengers via the introduction of additional self-check- in kiosks; improved the restrooms at the North Terminal , POS; improved signage for ease of wayfinding; and commenced discussions with agencies such as Immigration and Customs and Excise to improve the arrivals experience and better facilitate passengers.

The AATT is also implementing other initiatives to improve the airport user experience through every stage of the passenger process from car parking, In 2016 and 2017 there will be improvements in airport car parking, security screening check points and in the arrival experience and also an increase the amount of space available for Bonded warehousing at the Piarco AeroPark.

AATT general manager Hayden Newton said the business model for airports has changed and they are no longer seen as simply parts of transportation infrastructure where passengers embark and disembark aircraft, but as catalysts for economic growth.

He quoted an Oxford Economics study commissioned by IATA in 2011 which showed that the aviation sector contributed an estimated US $300 million per year to the economy (1.4 per cent of GDP) and supports around 8,100 jobs in T&T.

He urged investors to see the airports as attractive areas for investment in spite of slowed growth in other sectors. 

“We are also encouraging other businesses that are looking for locations that offer the opportunities for growth to contact us. We are open for business,” Newton said.

It is always peculiar reading public reactions to the ultraviolence of criminals in dispatching rivals or innocent civilians. The recent immolation of two victims sent the country reeling. “We reach!” was the exasperated cry. Eyewitnesses described young men setting one body alight with the casual ease of igniting a barbecue pit. 

Somehow “We reach” trumpets our ignorance and denial, neither of which can be supported by the grim norms of T&T society which are decades in the making. Also not new is our collective amnesia, a crackhead-like memory which is a trait our political class much like our criminal class rely heavily upon to get away with murder. 

Minister of national security Edmund Dillon appears invariably nonplussed by the extremes of rapacious criminals. This is as troubling as comments from civilians revealing a peculiar hybrid emotion: outraged resignation. “This gettin’ to be too much now, yes...”, “Trinidad relly gorne to de dogs.” All this diluted angst seems unhinged from our history of violent criminality. We needn’t go as far back as Boysie Singh and Mano Benjamin, whose criminal exploits have been elevated to almost folkloric status. In the 1990’s blood and gore were in steady supply and like today, society head-scratches at the source of this barbarism. 

In 1999 nine men were hanged for the brutal murders of members of a Williamsville family. Trial testimony laid out events in which drug kingpin Dole Chadee assigned a gang of men to cleanse the Baboolal family. Hamilton Baboolal, a low-level drug dealer reputedly practised creative accounting in his business relationship with Dole—a capital offence in the underworld. Information given by a former special reserve police officer Clint Huggins who was part of the killer squad that dreadful evening told of how the gunmen swept through the house shooting Hamilton Baboolal, his sister, Monica and their parents. Only two children survived the slaughter, Osmond and Sumatee Baboolal. 

Clint Huggins wasn’t at trial to give his account in person as he was eventually shot, viciously stabbed and burned in the back seat of a car to silence him. Huggins couldn’t be compelled to stay in protective custody and left regularly to go liming with friends and family. Joey Ramiah, Dole’s most feared lieutenant knew, this and set a trap for him. Huggins’ written deposition had to be buttressed by the testimony of Levi Morris, another Dole henchman trying to save his own neck. 

Joey Ramiah was also involved in the murders of Stephen “Bulls” Sandy and Anthony “Tooks” Greenidge. The Laventille pair were murdered as part of drug-turf rivalry. That trial gave insight into the reptilian disposition of Ramiah. Court testimony revealed Ramiah’s disembowelling of Tooks and Bulls, explaining to his accomplices this would prevent the bodies “swelling”. 

Unspeakable crimes aren’t the exclusive domain of gangsters and drug runners. Unconscionable criminality has invaded our lives, upending them irrevocably. In 1994, 16-year old Chuck Attin and his accomplice Noel Seepersad forced their way into a home in Westmoorings and lay in wait for Candace Scott and Karen Sa Gomes both of whom they subsequently raped and murdered, afterwards staging a half-assed robbery. 

During the trial, when details of his crimes were put to him, a stoned-faced Chuck Attin, glibly told the court “Correck is right”.

Many interpreted the murder of attorney Dana Seetahal as the Rubicon in our murderous trajectory. But in 1995 a former attorney general, Selwyn Richardson was murdered in front of his home. The investigative trail went as cold as the bodies began to pile up in the wake of that brazen killing. With no means to stifle the unremitting trauma we keep pushing the point-of-no-return line forward. 

No doubt, exhuming these dark chapters can reopen old wounds, echo the pain of loss among the secondary victims, families robbed of their joy and light. But this country must never be allowed to forget the lives cut short by greed, vengeance and carnal weakness. 

We muddle on in an endless cycle of live, die, repeat, with ephemeral, dubious crime plans or no plan at all, just words of commiseration and thunderous resolve from the state with no action to reinforce cheap bluster. We cry “remember Asami Nagakiya!” while there are no signals from the police to suggest that it’s anything other than “business as usual”.

Investigators moan about uncooperative communities harbouring criminals. Police can never uproot criminals from besieged areas if the fear of gang reprisals outweighs trust in the law. What are the solutions? It doesn’t matter because there isn’t the will to put the enforcement into law enforcement, or fix a judicial system which utterly fails those whose lives are shattered by crime.

“Daylight robberies” have become plain old robberies, television murdertainment programming broadcasts the theatre of the macabre and citizens lose all hope along with all memory of the path that got us here. 

Dangerous criminals in our communities will remain “known to the police” yet unknown to the prison system. And we wait for the next brutal murder to top the last, comforting ourselves with the false belief that this is something unprecedented, something new.

The large grey Coast Guard vessel sitting in the sea alongside the Parliament’s Waterfront building, where the Senate met on Thursday, has been a significant presence in the last few weeks it occupied a station there.

The armed coastal patrol vessel is larger than the interceptors which up to recently—and during the PP’s term—usually guarded the Parliament seafront location when sittings are held. Coast Guard communication manager Kirk Jean-Baptiste confirmed the vessel is one of the new Damen-built boats. These were commissioned by the PP administration in 2015.

He said it’s being used since it is “what’s available.” An appropriate presence, it’s another signal, apart from Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s assorted declarations cum-aspiration, that government means business on national security. 

Certainly, that was also telegraphed in Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s Senate statement on Tuesday, responding to Opposition queries about persons who have gone to join the Islamic State terrorist network and how Government is handling this. An issue with the potential to further test already-burdened security systems.

The AG revealed Government is about to approach the courts to have some T&T persons designated as terrorists and will soon bring new legislation dealing with alleged terrorist fighters. 

The announcement has “perturbed” the “new guard” influencing T&T’s Muslim landscape, Islamic Front’s Umar Abdullah says. He recently defined the “new guard “as the Rio Claro, Lowlands, Enterprise/central groups, Jamaat al Muslimeen, other independent masjids plus southern Asja elements.

“...We’re hearing different rhetoric from government, now compared to before election,” Abdullah said, adding that groups may have to reconsider educational information since some programmes maybe construed as bordering on terrorism 

Both Abdullah and attorney Nafeesa Mohammed are querying the criteria to be used to adjudge people as terrorists. “Will everyone in Muslim garb be perceived as terrorists?” Abdullah asked, adding some pilgrims are scared to undertake hajj fearing they may be blacklisted. Accusing Government of interfering with the practicing of their religion, he wants Government to consult with the Muslim community and “completely rework the anti-terrorism bill.”

Rio Claro Imam Nazim Mohammed whose five family members went to Syria, isn’t worried. “If my family don’t return, no problem, life is about passing through, trials tests...”

“They (government) or anybody can make their laws, the day will come when Allah will destroy the entire universe and all leaders will stand before him naked and circumcised and give an account...”

While government is moving to secure borders on that external issue—and grappling with the internal crime front—Catholic “mercy” calls for certain remanded prisoners has presented another dimension to the security challenge. 

Desire to unburden the clogged justice system must be weighed in conjunction with other needs. Clear reservations and concerns of Prison Commissioner Sterling Stewart on the issue must be among the most significant opinions to consider beyond emotional reaction. 

He possesses first-hand knowledge of what occurs “inside” and is best placed to articulate what’s necessary for such plans. 

Prison authorities will know the extent to which remanded persons can or have been indoctrinated into prison “culture”, become “trained” in another “line” or make ties with hardened criminals and networks. In the same way T&T terrorist fighters would be indoctrinated, trained in “skills” and align with Isis’s network and be viewed as a threat for home turf security.

Prison choices are limited. Do something to improve yourself and try to survive, or survive by doing things that cause deterioration. Two weeks before the recent Port-of-Spain prison’s “jailbreak jitters,” prison authorities confirmed there’s a group in the system known as “Unruly Isis”—capitalising on Isis’ notoriety. Officials however claimed the name was bigger than actual threat from that group.

Any “mercy” release would therefore require stringent vetting,psychometric to security screening, within as well as externally. On Wednesday prison authorities confirming a Golden Grove inmate started a fire in his cell, said he was in the extended remand section for high-risk prisoners known as “Guantanamo Bay.” 

Prison officials believe it was an attention-getting tactic. However in the current climate, experts will look beyond any seemingly innocuous event to gauge whether response systems are being tested.

Kevin Baldeosingh

My son Kyle, who will be one year old next month, is a cherub of a boy with a pleasant temperament. 

So, when we are out, my wife Afi-Ola doesn’t have to hold him if she doesn’t want to – there are always plenty women offering to do so. And, not infrequently, some of these women will say, “I want to make one so.” To which Afi replies, “This is my husband.”

What I have been noticing lately, though, is that quite a few men also like holding Kyle and playing with him. Some of them are fathers, some are not. But their behaviour is not much different from the women’s: they seem to equally enjoy holding Kyle and equally fascinated by him. And I have noticed this because it contradicted my assumptions about men’s behaviour in respect to children.

Indeed, so deep-rooted were these ideas that, until recently, I had assumed I was a very good father relative to other men. I was wrong. I still think I am a good father, but I have come to realise that the majority of men are good fathers in the same way I am. If there’s any significant differences between how I and they interact with our children, it’s mainly because I am lucky enough to work from home, whereas most men are working even harder than they did before becoming fathers to support their families. (Many professional women, by contrast, tend to work less in order to have more family time – I do not know what the case is for working class women.)

So the stereotypical idea of men not caring much for children, and fathers being distant, is way off the mark, even in a not-entirely-modern society like Trinidad’s. In fact, there is evidence that Nature prepares men for fatherhood by actually altering their body chemistry. Not only do fathers typically have lower testosterone levels than men without children, but even expectant fathers have higher levels of a hormone called estradiol, which is one of the main hormones that pregnant women have in their bloodstream, as well as prolactin, which is a hormone women need for breast-feeding.

Now hormones affect behaviour, so the men in these studies were being primed by their own biology to be less aggressive and more nurturing: and the effects appear to be permanent. Admittedly, these findings may vary between societies, since the research was done in Canada and men in a more aggressive culture or sub-culture may not experience these hormonal changes. Be that as it may, the presence of a committed father is beneficial for children.

A study in Dominica done by the American anthropologist Mark Flinn (who also did seminal research in Trinidad) found that children who live with both parents had lower levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone, as compared to children who lived with a mix of genetic and step-parents or with one biological parent who had no family support. And boys without fathers in the home grow more slowly, which has consequences later in life. However, if the single mother has many relatives that her children can turn to – in other words, an extended family – these effects are reduced.

So, even if I were to die tomorrow, I think my son would still be okay, because there will be plenty people willing to hold on to him.

There still seem to be certain projects under execution and being mooted that indicate that the present government is not fully aware of the causes and potential remedies of the crisis of revenue shortages.

I will mention two of these projects that are absolutely unnecessary and/or will incur completely unnecessary expenditures.

The first is the absurd project in Chaguaramas to build a ‘waterpark’ and, potentially various marinas, shopping centres, a zoo (animals already reported to be in the Chag) and luxury housing on Point Gourde. The Field Naturalists Club has already published in Newsday a condemnation of the plans for luxury housing.

The second is the plan to build a highway to Toco from Valencia.

Neither of these projects will in any way help the economy of Trinidad and Tobago, and both will cause unnecessary hardship to the people affected (nowadays called ‘stakeholders’), and both will involve significant expenditure of funds we do not have.

The Chaguaramas project is the most urgent candidate for stopping before more harm is done. This project is already in the construction phase but if stopped immediately the area can be saved. Access to the sea denied by this project should be restored.

As I have stated in previous letters the murky deal involving the sale of the Convention Centre must be fully investigated and explained. The waterpark, marinas, shopping centres and housing all require clients in large numbers that simply cannot be conveyed on the existing road or by water. 

We must demand now that the government reports to the population why these Chag projects are still in progress. The congestion of the existing road is created entirely by the ‘development’ efforts of previous governments which have allowed investments in party crowds who merely redistribute TT dollars. 

Further such developments must be stopped and attention given to the hardship created for viable US dollar earning businesses now struggling in Chag.

The highway from Valencia is self-defeating. It presumably is nominally to promote tourism but by its very existence it will destroy anything vaguely likely to draw tourists to the North East. We do not have the clear blue sea offered by our Caribbean neighbours so it is senseless wasting money to prove that ‘mass’ foreign tourism will not journey to Toco .

The allure of Toco is directly related to its remoteness that keeps hoards of littering locals away. Any highway will bring the inevitable influx of squatters and unapproved buildings that plague the more accessible parts of the country. 

The Matura and St David Forest Reserves will be at risk, the very national assets that eco-tourism depends on. The greatest national treasures we have now are our forest reserves that, as major forest destruction proceeds worldwide, emerge as having enormous value and tourist potential. 

It should be noted that even in this extremely dry season rivers continue to flow out of our northern national forests. This government should complete the repair and replacement of bridges on the Toco road and leave it at that.

Having just returned from a trip to Argentina, I must report that it was an eye-opening experience. Everything shows signs of sensible planning and successful implementation. The people are disciplined and orderly. A visit to the famous Iguassu waterfall showed that even after flowing through many populated areas, not a plastic bottle, nor a KFC box, nor a piece of styrotex or litter was seen in the water or wide areas toured. The surrounding area is enshrined in an enormous and pristine nature reserve.

In Buenos Aires there was significant traffic but it kept moving along roads that were enabled by removing entire blocks of buildings, and we passed through several toll gates. And the country is under severe financial difficulty caused by profligate spending by previous governments.

Doesn’t that last bit sound familiar? But we should learn by their experiences. Plan all future developments properly. Preserve the environment. Stop destroying our forest reserves. Install tollgates where money is insufficient to finish highways (Pt Fortin highway). If we could only add discipline and obedience of the law, most of T&T’s problems would be solved.

Reg Potter

Glencoe

So who lays the ‘ Golden Eggs’ ? 

Undoubtedly, it is each and every student who is perusing the programmes of study that will serve the national needs of TnT. 

No logical-thinking individual will deny the fact that medicine, agriculture, sustainable energy and tourism are some of the key fields that will produce locals who can contribute to taking this fossil-dependent country towards sustainable 21st century development. It is expected that the GATE Review Committee has recognised this and will protect these areas that will produce our ‘Golden Eggs’.

Dr Rowley can be quoted as saying that the GATE committee has been set up to remove corruption and waste, and it can only be hoped by the general public that this remains the focus and that no cuts are made to properly accredited programmes and institutions. 

No area of national need must suffer. It is expected that systems will be put in place for students who switch, drop out and fail their programme to repay their funding. Additionally, clear conditions detailing national service upon course completion is expected to emerge from this committee.

The human resource of any country is the strength in weathering a turbulent global economy and so our government must ensure that this sector is well protected and supported.

JM Johnson

Petit Valley

Anyone on the HDC waiting list more than twelve years is seated in the same boat as the Remand Yard prisoners waiting for their cases to be called. You have to watch people get their homes after only waiting two years, five years, seven years, and depending what is called 'extenuating circumstances, no years at all. So, what can possibly be done to get ancient applicants to give some hope of equity?

A reasonably fair idea would be to ringfence persons waiting more that ten, fifteen and twenty years and set them up for their own small lottery. If the winner is unable to meet the requirements for ownership of the house won it should be legally allocated to a close relative or even a close and faithful friend. End of story. A prize won is a prize won.

Many keys handed out by the previous administration for houses not yet constructed present a problem in deliberating what is/what was preferential treatment. These key holders, regardless of the circumstances of their luck, are bona fide citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Nobody can go into the polling booths to see for whom you have voted. But there must be indelible proof that the houses are not going to be rented. Ever. This would entail the HDC strictly monitoring proof of owner occupancy. For those who were unfortunate at not receiving keys when they were being given out like chilibibi, remember, this is Trinidad and Tobago where Seepaul luck is not always Gopaul luck.

Life, in all its manifestations, is the ultimate big people lottery.

Lynette Joseph

Via e-mail

The decision by Jamaican businesspeople supported by segments of Jamaican politicians to stop purchasing and/or remove Trinidad goods from their shelves is ludicrous. 

If T&T consumers were to also stop purchasing Jamaican products, what impact would that have on Jamaican manufacturers? In T & T especially in Chaguanas there are hundreds of illegal Jamaicans especially in the decrepit vendors’ mall. They are involved in several nefarious activities. 

It is also worthy of investigation as to how come so many Jamaicans are working as security guards when such jobs can and should be occupied by native Trinidadians. The presence of so many illegal Jamaicans is a drain on our economy and health system. 

On 95.5fm there is a Jamaican female announcer who washes her mouth everyday on this country and especially the UNC. 

Jamaicans feel they could be wrong and strong at the same time. The presence of so many of them is one facet of their own failed state Jamaica. 

David Ali

Via email