On June 5 we reflect on our responsibility to protect ecosystems from human degradation and our laws which govern this relationship. Our leaders must make sustainable decisions for all. FFOS call on the government to take a stand on the following:

1. In its “State of the Environment Report 2004,” the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) recommended that our leaders “Disallow further quarrying within the Northern Range,” as “Studies have indicated that quarrying has impacted negatively on the water quality of the Santa Cruz/San Juan, Arima, and North Oropouche rivers.” A responsible Government must observe the recommendations of its own “specialist body of persons” to preserve our threatened water supply.

2. In 2014, the then minister of energy, Mr Kevin Ramnarine, stated “before any decision is made as to the designation of mining zones, such a decision will be subject to public and stakeholder consultation.” FFOS respectfully calls on the current minister, Nicole Olivierre, to make public the “Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment for the Establishment of Mining Zones” to maintain transparency in our extractive sectors.

3. 2016 ushered in a disastrous dry season with substantial rainforest loss on the Northern Range (primarily due to cutting and burning by careless people), resulting in a Forest Ranger’s death. The damage caused by the siltation of our seas and clogging of our aquifers when bare hillsides are eroded in the rainy season will be equally devastating. FFOS calls on our Cabinet to approve funding for community fire fighting initiatives.

4. International studies have proven the environmental impact of seismic surveys; they disorient, scatter, damage and kill marine life. In spite of expert warnings the EMA regularly grants Certificates of Environmental Clearance (CECs) for seismic surveys to be conducted along migratory paths, and in spawning areas of our major fisheries. In 2014, FFOS challenged in the High Court, the EMA decision to a CEC to Petrotrin without requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). FFOS respectfully calls on the Prime Minister to halt seismic survey approvals until the Appeal Court has ruled.

5. In 2013 former food production minister, Devant Maharaj, announced a ban on industrial shrimp trawlers. On December 8, 2014, three shrimp trawlers were caught trawling illegally and were not prosecuted due to political interference. We call on our current Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat, to honour the previous minister’s promise to ban industrial shrimp trawling, and to enforce the “one strike out” agreement of 1997; if any trawler breaks the regulation and is prosecuted, all trawling will be banned on the North Coast indefinitely.

6. The Ministry of Health uses a mixture in insecticide fogging which Chief Medical Officer, Dr Clive Tilluckdharry, warned, “Could have disastrous consequences.” Malathion, its primary ingredient, has been scientifically proven to cause major health risks including cancer, mutations and respiratory failure. FFOS calls on our Ministry of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, to pass legislation regulating the use of fogging machines as a last resort. 

Terrence Beddoe, President,

Gary Aboud, Corporate Secretary, FFOS

In T&T, if an adult (over 18 years) is not married to a child (under 18 years) and they engage in sexual intercourse, the adult stands to face stiff penalties.

Section 18 of The Children’s Act (No 12 of 2012) prescribes life imprisonment if such a person is convicted by the High Court.

Further, Section 19 advances that if the adult engages in sexual touching with a child who is under 16 years, on conviction by a Magistrate Court, he can receive a fine of $50,000 and ten years imprisonment. If convicted by the High Court, he receives 20 years imprisonment.

The law further penalises adults who engage in sexual touching of children under 16 years of age where it involves placing body parts or objects onto or into private parts of the young person. Punishment is life imprisonment when convicted by the High Court.

This Act also provides a wide range of lesser punishments if the offender is a child under 16 years, under 14 years and under 12 years for instance. But, for the adult who engages in such activities, you will feel the brunt of the law!

All of these laws are easily available on the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Parliament’s websites for everyone to be more informed.

Ian Kevin Ramdhanie

I recall as a child seeing Holly Beteaudier and Sham Mohammed giving away prizes on Scouting for Talent and Mastana Bahar respectively. Growing up in these times, watching television meant watching whatever was on the screen, but living in St James, a town of mixed ethnicity, that mix of programming was nothing different to the norm of everyday life.

On Scouting for Talent, however, you got that cultural mix. I recall listening to rapso in its infancy, calypso, extempo, monologues, traditional Indian dancers and singers as well as the lesser-than-normal performances such as the men who tuned milk cans and played them like steel pans, or a man who whistled while he brushed his teeth.

As Christmas approached, Holly transformed into almost an “hispanohablante” (spanish speaker), speaking the language with the likes of Daisy Voisin for the Holly B Parang Bandwagon. He was also known as a lover and fluent speaker of our local patois, and up to his passing, could be heard on I95.5fm with his show “Toute Bagai.”

From giving away Crix tins in Scouting, to giving away pearls of our history, he shared with us. From his start in radio, to his days as a presenter on TTT and his final radio appearances, he broadcasted to a willing, loving audience. From the traditional arts to the emerging arts (such as rapso) he gave us a stage. From his contributions to performance art, to our better known spoken languages (patois, spanish and trini slang) he shared the sound of our conversation.

Holly Beteaudier truly shared the depths of T&T’s culture. More than just music, dance and storytelling, he shared our festivals, language and even spoke of the nuances of our behaviour.

He shared our true culture, and we love him for it. Rest in Peace, Holly B!

Maurice Burke

Aranguez

I waited with baited breadth for the entire month of May, 2016, to see when our taxing enthusiastic Finance Minister would have implemented the increased taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

After all, he had promised to do this in his mid-year review in April, 2016.

Alas, I was bitterly disappointed to note that there was nary a whisper of any such activity being contemplated. It seems that he thought that an increase in alcohol and cigarettes would hit too close to home and probably changed his mind.

This certainly contrasts with the undue haste with which he increased the prices of many food items by 12.5 per cent and the price of gas by an additional 15 per cent, in April 2016.

Or maybe, he just forgot.

Interestingly, he also imposed a 50 per cent tax on luxury cars in April, 2016. However, he did not impose a tax on luxury boats.

Would this tax have also hit too close to home as well?

Linus F Didier,

Mt Hope

Kevin Baldeosingh

A child’s personality at home may not be the same as her personality at school. Or, for that matter, in the mall.

My daughter’s pre-school gives detailed reports to parents on their children’s progress. The categories measured range from letters to colours to co-operation. The academic part doesn’t interest me or my wife Afi too much—in fact, when we were looking around for a pre-school to send Jinaki to, we wanted one which didn’t emphasise letters and numbers, since research shows that pushing this on children too early can have negative effects on their formal learning later on. And, while we still feel happy that Jinaki can say the alphabet and count to 20 (except for number 15, which she usually skips) at three years of age, we are more concerned with her psychological progress.

In this respect, Jinaki seems to be doing better in school than at home. Her reports have rated her high in “self-control,” meaning that she generally does what she is supposed to do when she is told to. By contrast, at home Afi and I have trouble even getting her to eat her meals on time.

Of course, at school all the children eat at the same time, so that provides an incentive for Jinaki to have her meal. At home, she may be doing other things, such as playing with blocks or watching a TV show, which she doesn’t want to stop doing in order to eat. Our problem is, when she is hungry she is often also cranky, so we have to find ways to cajole her. The best solution would probably be to sit down with her and eat as well, but our home routine doesn’t include family meals (yet).

My main point, though, is that her different attitudes towards eating in school and at home are part of a more general pattern. In her book The Nurture Assumption, psychology writer Judith Rich Harris argues: “Children identify with a group of others like themselves and take on the norms of the group. They don’t identify with their parents because parents are not people like themselves—parents are grown-ups.”

That such a difference exists is something most parents don’t realise until their children are teenagers (and often not even then). This is why, to take an extreme example, people generally react cynically when the mothers of youthful bandits describes them as “a nice boy.” We assume that the aggressive persona required to be a criminal must be the person’s personality in all aspects of life. But why should this be? After all, even normal law-abiding people alter their behaviour according to their social environment. “If the peer group’s culture differs from the parents,’ the peer group always wins,” Harris writes. “...You can see it happening as early as nursery school, when three-year-olds start bringing home the accents of their peers...The child who acts obnoxious in the presence of her parents may be demure enough before her classmates and teachers.” 

This explains the addendum the parents of young criminals often make: “But he used to lime with a bad crowd.” And such extreme differences are played out by children in more trivial ways in more stable circumstances. Harris’s argument doesn’t change the fundamental fact that committed parenting can make a crucial difference in a child’s life. But part of good parenting means being aware that your child is his own person—or at least the person he thinks his friends want him to be.

He was fast of fist and foot (AP) -- lip, too - a heavyweight champion who promised to shock the world and did. He floated. He stung. Mostly he thrilled, even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper.

He was The Greatest.

Muhammad Ali died Friday at age 74, according to a statement from the family. He was hospitalized in the Phoenix area with respiratory problems earlier this week, and his children had flown in from around the country.

"It's a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die," Don King, who promoted some of Ali's biggest fights, told The Associated Press early Saturday. "Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world."

A funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The city plans a memorial service Saturday.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer ordered flags lowered to half-staff to honor Ali.

"The values of hard work, conviction and compassion that Muhammad Ali developed while growing up in Louisville helped him become a global icon," Fischer said. "As a boxer, he became The Greatest, though his most lasting victories happened outside the ring."

With a wit as sharp as the punches he used to "whup" opponents, Ali dominated sports for two decades before time and Parkinson's disease, triggered by thousands of blows to the head, ravaged his magnificent body, muted his majestic voice and ended his storied career in 1981.

He won and defended the heavyweight championship in epic fights in exotic locations, spoke loudly on behalf of blacks, and famously refused to be drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War because of his Muslim beliefs.

Despite his debilitating illness, he traveled the world to rapturous receptions even after his once-bellowing voice was quieted and he was left to communicate with a wink or a weak smile.

"He was the greatest fighter of all time but his boxing career is secondary to his contribution to the world," promoter Bob Arum told the AP early Saturday. "He's the most transforming figure of my time certainly."

Revered by millions worldwide and reviled by millions more, Ali cut quite a figure, 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds in his prime. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," his cornermen exhorted, and he did just that in a way no heavyweight had ever fought before.

He fought in three different decades, finished with a record of 56-5 with 37 knockouts - 26 of those bouts promoted by Arum - and was the first man to win heavyweight titles three times.

He whipped the fearsome Sonny Liston twice, toppled the mighty George Foreman with the rope-a-dope in Zaire, and nearly fought to the death with Joe Frazier in the Philippines. Through it all, he was trailed by a colorful entourage who merely added to his growing legend.

"Rumble, young man, rumble," cornerman Bundini Brown would yell to him.

And rumble Ali did. He fought anyone who meant anything and made millions of dollars with his lightning-quick jab. His fights were so memorable that they had names - "Rumble in the Jungle" and "Thrilla in Manila."

But it was as much his antics - and his mouth - outside the ring that transformed the man born Cassius Clay into a household name as Muhammad Ali.

"I am the greatest," Ali thundered again and again.

Few would disagree.

Ali spurned white America when he joined the Black Muslims and changed his name. He defied the draft at the height of the Vietnam war - "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong" - and lost 3 1/2 years from the prime of his career. He entertained world leaders, once telling Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos: "I saw your wife. You're not as dumb as you look."

He later embarked on a second career as a missionary for Islam.

"Boxing was my field mission, the first part of my life," he said in 1990, adding with typical braggadocio, "I will be the greatest evangelist ever."

Ali couldn't fulfill that goal because Parkinson's robbed him of his speech. It took such a toll on his body that the sight of him in his later years - trembling, his face frozen, the man who invented the Ali Shuffle now barely able to walk - shocked and saddened those who remembered him in his prime.

"People naturally are going to be sad to see the effects of his disease," Hana, one of his daughters, said, when he turned 65. "But if they could really see him in the calm of his everyday life, they would not be sorry for him. He's at complete peace, and he's here learning a greater lesson."

The quiet of Ali's later life was in contrast to the roar of a career that had breathtaking highs as well as terrible lows. He exploded on the public scene with a series of nationally televised fights that gave the public an exciting new champion, and he entertained millions as he sparred verbally with the likes of bombastic sportscaster Howard Cosell.

Ali once calculated he had taken 29,000 punches to the head and made $57 million in his pro career, but the effect of the punches lingered long after most of the money was gone. That didn't stop him from traveling tirelessly to promote Islam, meet with world leaders and champion legislation dubbed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. While slowed in recent years, he still managed to make numerous appearances, including a trip to the 2012 London Olympics.

Despised by some for his outspoken beliefs and refusal to serve in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, an aging Ali became a poignant figure whose mere presence at a sporting event would draw long standing ovations.

With his hands trembling so uncontrollably that the world held its breath, he lit the Olympic torch for the 1996 Atlanta Games in a performance as riveting as some of his fights.

A few years after that, he sat mute in a committee room in Washington, his mere presence enough to convince lawmakers to pass the boxing reform bill that bore his name.

Members of his inner circle weren't surprised. They had long known Ali as a humanitarian who once wouldn't think twice about getting in his car and driving hours to visit a terminally ill child. They saw him as a man who seemed to like everyone he met - even his archrival Frazier.

"I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world just to call him my friend," former business manager Gene Kilroy said. "If I was to die today and go to heaven it would be a step down. My heaven was being with Ali."

One of his biggest opponents would later become a big fan, too. On the eve of the 35th anniversary of their "Rumble in the Jungle," Foreman paid tribute to the man who so famously stopped him in the eighth round of their 1974 heavyweight title fight, the first ever held in Africa.

"I don't call him the best boxer of all time, but he's the greatest human being I ever met," Foreman said. "To this day he's the most exciting person I ever met in my life."

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay on Jan. 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali began boxing at age 12 after his new bicycle was stolen and he vowed to policeman Joe Martin that he would "whup" the person who took it.

He was only 89 pounds at the time, but Martin began training him at his boxing gym, the beginning of a six-year amateur career that ended with the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal in 1960.

Ali had already encountered racism. On boxing trips, he and his amateur teammates would have to stay in the car while Martin bought them hamburgers. When he returned to Louisville with his gold medal, the Chamber of Commerce presented him a citation but said it didn't have time to co-sponsor a dinner.

In his autobiography, "The Greatest," Ali wrote that he tossed the medal into the Ohio River after a fight with a white motorcycle gang, which started when he and a friend were refused service at a Louisville restaurant.

The story may be apocryphal, and Ali later told friends he simply misplaced the medal. Regardless, he had made his point.

After he beat Liston to win the heavyweight title in 1964, Ali shocked the boxing world by announcing he was a member of the Black Muslims - the Nation of Islam - and was rejecting his "slave name."

As a Baptist youth he spent much of his time outside the ring reading the Bible. From now on, he would be known as Muhammad Ali and his book of choice would be the Koran.

Ali's affiliation with the Nation of Islam outraged and disturbed many white Americans, but it was his refusal to be inducted into the Army that angered them most.

That happened on April 28, 1967, a month after he knocked out Zora Folley in the seventh round at Madison Square Garden in New York for his eighth title defense.

He was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his title and banned from boxing.

Ali appealed the conviction on grounds he was a Muslim minister. He married 17-year-old Belinda Boyd, the second of his four wives, a month after his conviction, and had four children with her. He had two more with his third wife, Veronica Porsche, and he and his fourth wife, Lonnie Williams, adopted a son.

During his banishment, Ali spoke at colleges and briefly appeared in a Broadway musical called "Big Time Buck White." Still facing a prison term, he was allowed to resume boxing three years later, and he came back to stop Jerry Quarry in three rounds on Oct. 26, 1970, in Atlanta despite efforts by Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox to block the bout.

He was still facing a possible prison sentence when he fought Frazier for the first time on March 8, 1971, in what was labeled "The Fight of the Century."

A few months later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction on an 8-0 vote.

"I've done my celebrating already," Ali said after being informed of the decision. "I said a prayer to Allah."

Many in boxing believe Ali was never the same fighter after his lengthy layoff, even though he won the heavyweight championship two more times and fought for another decade.

Perhaps his most memorable fight was the "Rumble in the Jungle," when he upset a brooding Foreman to become heavyweight champion once again at age 32.

Many worried that Ali could be seriously hurt by the powerful Foreman, who had knocked Frazier down six times in a second round TKO.

But while his peak fighting days may have been over, he was still in fine form verbally. He promoted the fight relentlessly, as only he could.

"You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned," he said. "Wait till I whup George Foreman's behind."

Ali won over a country before he won the fight, mingling with people as he trained and displaying the kind of playful charm the rest of the world had already seen. On the plane into the former Congo he asked what the citizens of Zaire disliked most. He was told it was Belgians because they had once colonized the country.

"George Foreman is a Belgian," Ali cried out to the huge crowd that greeted him at the airport. By the time the fight finally went off in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 1974, Zaire was his.

"Ali booma-ya (Ali kill him)," many of the 60,000 fans screamed as the fight began in Kinshasa.

Ali pulled out a huge upset to win the heavyweight title for a second time, allowing Foreman to punch himself out. He used what he would later call the "rope-a-dope" strategy - something even trainer Angelo Dundee knew nothing about.

Finally, he knocked out an exhausted Foreman in the eighth round, touching off wild celebrations among his African fans.

"I told you I was the greatest," Ali said.

That might have been argued by followers of Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano or Sugar Ray Robinson, but there was no doubt that Ali was just what boxing needed in the early 1960s.

He spouted poetry and brash predictions. After the sullen and frightening Liston, he was a fresh and entertaining face in a sport that struggled for respectability.

At the weigh-in before his Feb. 25, 1964, fight with Liston, Ali carried on so much that some observers thought he was scared stiff and suggested the fight in Miami Beach be called off.

"The crowd did not dream when they lay down their money that they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny," Ali said.

Ali went on to punch Liston's face lumpy and became champion for the first time when Liston quit on his stool after the sixth round.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," became Ali's rallying cry.

His talent for talking earned him the nickname "The Louisville Lip," but he had a new name of his own in mind: Muhammad Ali.

"I don't have to be what you want me to be," he told reporters the morning after beating Liston. "I'm free to be who I want."

Frazier refused to call Ali by his new name, insisting he was still Cassius Clay. So did Ernie Terrell in their Feb. 6, 1967, fight, a mistake he would come to regret through 15 long rounds.

"What's my name?" Ali demanded as he repeatedly punched Terrell in the face. "What's my name?"

By the time Ali was able to return to the ring following his forced layoff, he was bigger than ever. Soon he was in the ring for his first of three epic fights against Frazier, with each fighter guaranteed $2.5 million.

Before the fight, Ali called Frazier an "Uncle Tom" and said he was "too ugly to be the champ." His gamesmanship could have a cruel edge, especially when it was directed toward Frazier.

In the first fight, though, Frazier had the upper hand. He relentlessly wore Ali down, flooring him with a crushing left hook in the 15th round and winning a decision.

It was the first defeat for Ali, but the boxing world had not seen the last of him and Frazier in the ring. Ali won a second fight, and then came the "Thrilla in Manila" on Oct. 1, 1975, in the Philippines, a brutal bout that Ali said afterward was "the closest thing to dying" he had experienced.

Ali won that third fight but took a terrific beating from the relentless Frazier before trainer Eddie Futch kept Frazier from answering the bell for the 15th round.

"They told me Joe Frazier was through," Ali told Frazier at one point during the fight.

"They lied," Frazier said, before hitting Ali with a left hook.

The fight - which most in boxing agree was Ali's last great performance - was part of a 16-month period on the mid-1970s when Ali took his show on the road, fighting Foreman in Zaire, Frazier in the Philippines, Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jean Pierre Coopman in Puerto Rico.

The world got a taste of Ali in splendid form with both his fists and his mouth.

In Malaysia, a member of the commission in charge of the gloves the fighters would wear told Ali they would be held in a prison for safekeeping before the fight.

"My gloves are going to jail," shouted a wide-eyed Ali. "They ain't done nothing - yet!"

Ali would go on to lose the title to Leon Spinks, then come back to win it a third time on Sept. 15, 1978, when he scored a decision over Spinks in a rematch before 70,000 people at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Ali retired, only to come back and try to win the title for a fourth time against Larry Holmes on Oct. 2, 1980, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Ali grew a mustache, pronounced himself "Dark Gable" and got down to a svelte 217 1/2 pounds to beat Father Time. But Holmes, his former sparring partner, mercifully toyed with him until Dundee refused to let Ali answer the bell for the 11th round.

"He was like a little baby after the first round," Holmes said. "I was throwing punches and missing just for the hell of it. I kept saying, 'Ali, why are you taking this?'

"He said, 'Shut up and fight, I'm going to knock you out.'"

When the fight was over, Holmes and his wife went upstairs to pay their respects to Ali. In a darkened room, Holmes told Ali that he loved him.

"Then why did you whip my ass like that?" Ali replied.

A few years later, Ali said he would not have fought Holmes if he didn't think he could have won.

"If I had known Holmes was going to whip me and damage my brain, I would not have fought him," Ali said. "But losing to Holmes and being sick are not important in God's world."

It was that world that Ali retreated to, fighting just once more, losing a 10-round decision to Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas.

With his fourth wife, Lonnie, at his side, Ali traveled the world for Islam and other causes. In 1990, he went to Iraq on his own initiative to meet with Saddam Hussein and returned to the United States with 15 Americans who had been held hostage.

One of the hostages recounted meeting Ali in Thomas Hauser's 1990 biography "Muhammad Ali - His Life and Times."

"I've always known that Muhammad Ali was a super sportsman; but during those hours that we were together, inside that enormous body I saw an angel," hostage Harry Brill-Edwards said.

For his part, Ali didn't complain about the price he had paid in the ring.

"What I suffered physically was worth what I've accomplished in life," he said in 1984. "A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life."

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He was fast of fist and foot—lip, too—a heavyweight champion who promised to shock the world and did. He floated. He stung. Mostly he thrilled, even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper.

He was The Greatest.

Muhammad Ali died last Friday at age 74. 

T&T Guardian readers express their sorrow:

Yes, he was the greatest. His journey is finished. May he rest in peace. My sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones. 

About two or so years after his conviction, essentially, for refusal to serve in the military, I too, received my draft card. Don't remember the actual number, but I recall it was a high one, and as a result it was never called and I was speared from the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta. Frankly, I was scared stiff but didn't have as much cajones as Ali and as such would have gone to Vietnam, with my fully loaded M16 rifle, had my number been called before the war was declared over.

I was even more scared of going to jail as a draft dodger. So dodging, for me, wasn't a viable option but a few of my colleagues thought otherwise and followed that route to Canada.

I’m an early riser and when I got out of bed around and tuned in to MSNBC, I learned of Ali's passing and I simply couldn't hold back the tears. At that time, I recalled one of his most renown utterances: “Live every day as your last because one day you would be right.” I guess he was right last evening. So far, I’m wrong and I hope for a very long time.

Muhammad, wish you a smooth and safe journey “home.” —specter1

FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE .......................... HIS BEST PUNCH, TWO QUICK LEFT JABS. —wackypacky

A true legend. —Ryan Singh

Greatest boxer ever from Jackie Robinson to present! Only Sugar Ray could float more. Only Tyson could sting more! Ali was both floater and stinger! —pandava

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” (Stephen Grellet)

Thank you Mr Muhammad Ali ... you have left us a legacy! ALLAHU AKBAR - God is Great! —Gardenia01

....truly the greatest fighter that ever lived....an inspirational gift to humanity.....rest well Muhammad..... —ZandoLee

Those were the days when heavyweight (big man) boxing was at its height.

A champ was a world champ. 

A fight was a world event.

This man put the B in boxing. —Caribwatch

Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, was the Greatest, and will always be. The Greatest is dead! Long live the Greatest! A man of great courage who had the courage of his conviction, who by sheer determination broke down many racial barriers in a prejudiced America of the 1960s/1970s. RIP and condolences to his family. —D Prince

He taught the world how you can beat your opponent in the arena of competition and at a handsome price. We are no match against time but a good name outlives us. —talkconverter

RIP dear Muhammad Ali—one of the most honourable men to have walked this earth. You were an exemplar to many even in this tiny island. At the end of the day, the love you had for God is what all men should aspire to....God bless your soul!! —Observingobserver

CUMBERBATCH, Aaron Dominic of #24 Jasmine Drive, Piarco Old Road passed away on Wednesday 1st June, 2016 at the age of 15.

The funeral service for the late Aaron Dominic Cumberbatch takes place at the Santa Rosa R.C. Church, Woodford Street, Arima on Monday 6th June, 2016 at 3:30 PM and then to The Allen s Funeral Home for Cremation. He was the loving son of Lakshmi and Allan Mark Cumberbatch, brother of Kristin and Joshua Cumberbatch, grandson of Kathleen and Rawle Ramcharan, Kay Boland Cumberbatch (Granny Kay) and Dan Cumberbatch.

Nephew of Avind and Rehana Ramcharan, Paul and Melissa Ramcharan and Donna-Marie and Kenrick Ramjit. Cousin of Domonique, Keira, Gerrard and Alexia- Marie. Relative of the Mycoo, Snaggs, Smith, Julien, Arneaud Charles, Huggins, Fanan, Ramcharan, Cumberbatch, Boland, Calender and Regis families. Friend to many.  

BETAUDIER SNR: HOLLY. Husband of Valerie Betaudier. Father of Barbara Mc Leggon, Anthony Young, Jennifer Harold, Larry Betaudier (deceased) and Holly Betaudier Jr. Grandfather of Candice, Shay, Ariel, Jay, Ricardo and Kiron. Great Grandfather of 6. Brother of Bernadette (deceased), Louise, June (deceased) and Leroy. Relative of the Lopez, Marcano, Camacho, Aleong, Ammon, Chalerie, Hislop, Charles, Neal and Pierre families.

Funeral Mass for the late Holly Betaudier, Snr., takes take place at 10.00 a.m. on Monday 6th June, 2016 at Santa Rosa R.C. Church, Arima. Interment at the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Cemetery. For enquiries call R. M. de Souza Memorial Chapel Limited 223- 2007/637-2009.  

OTWAY: William (Bill) Hamilton- aged 96, peacefully at home in Ireland on May 31st, 2016. Husband of Jane (nee Palmer). Brother of John (Jacko) Otway. Father of John and David Otway. Father in law of Natalie Mahabir and Heather McCay. Grandfather of Lauren, John William, Sebastian, Sabre and James. Uncle to Robin, Allan, Susan and Nigel. Particular friend to the Jardine family. Loved by many and missed by all.  

ARNEAUD: INGRID b.k.a 'Doydee' formerly of Lp 4 San Juan Street, San Juan passed away on 1st June, 2016 at the age of 66. She will be lovingly remembered as the wife of Gerard Arneaud. Mother of Mary & Sarah Arneaud. Godmother of many. Daughter of the late: Jack & Jane BactawalSister of Mikey (d), Patricia, Anne. Cousin of many. Aunt of many. Grandmother of Jonathan Skinner. Member of The Lupus Society Of Trinidad & Tobago.

The funeral of the late Ingrid Arneaud takes place on Tuesday 7th June, 2016 at 2:30pm, From the St John The Baptist R.C. Church, San Juan. Thence to the Belegroves Crematorium, Trincity. Cremation @ 5:00pm. Enquiries can be made at O.P Allen Funeral Directors, 76-77 Eastern Main Road, SAN JUAN. 638-7700  

SPENCER: CLIVE R.W. passed away peacefully on Thursday 2nd June 2016. Son of Violet Pritchard and Hubert Spencer (both deceased). Husband of Urcille Spencer. Companion of Selma Aleong. Father of Leslie, Anna Lisa and Clive Jnr. (Christine). Grandfather of Anyssa Gomez. Brother of Trevor Spencer. Uncle of Andrew and Jason Spencer and many others. Brother-in-law of Teccla Millington (U.K.), Yvonne Williams (deceased), Lois Peters (Canada) and Janice Williams (deceased). Friend of many.

Funeral service for the late Clive R.W. Spencer takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday 7th June, 2016 at R. M. de Souza Memorial Chapel, Diego Martin Main Road, Diego Martin. Private cremation. For enquiries please contact R. M. de Souza Memorial Chapel Limited at 223-2007/637-2009.  

RAMOUTAR, JOCELYN LYDIA (NEE DE SORMEAUX), Retired Teacher, and Principal of Upper Cumuto Government School, passed away peacefully at home on 28 May 2016, aged 80.

She was the daughter of William and Ethel De Sormeaux (both dec), Wife of Lionel Ramoutar (dec), Mother of Lynette, Gaile, Christine and Colin, Mother-in-law of Suzanne; Sister of Wilmer Barcoo, Bernard De Sormeaux, Monica De Sormeaux Mohan, Dennis De Sormeaux (dec), Kenneth De Sormeaux (dec); Aunt of Ann Marie De Sormeaux, Charles and Glen Barcoo, and of Michael, Harold and Kenneth Barcoo (all dec); Relative of the De Sormeaux, Villafanas, De Verteuils, Ramoutars, Ramdhanies, Banwaries, Sooklals, Kistows, Roopnarines, Manmohans. Relative and friend of many, Teacher and Principal to many generations.

The Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, 7th June 2016 at 10:30a.m. at Santa Rosa R.C. Church, Woodford Street, Arima, thence to the Cumuto Cemetery.  

FELIX: CYNTHIA formerly of No. 28 Second Street, San Juan passed away on 28th May, 2016 at the age of 73. She will be lovingly remembered as the common law Wife of Malcolm Hospedales. Mother of Lyn Ann, Gary, Elizabeth, Stephen, Roger & Julie. Daughter of the late Camilla & Victor Longchallon. Sister of the late Janet, Maureen & Victor. Mother-in-law of Keith Palmer, Alicia Felix, Sean Springer, Jason Patrick & Beverly Felix. Grandmother of Fifteen (15). Great-Grandmother of Daniella.

The funeral of the late Cynthia Felix takes place on Tuesday 7th June, 2016 at 10:00 am, From the St John The Baptist R.C. Church, San Juan. Thence to the Lapeyrouse Cemetery. Enquiries can be made at O.P Allen Funeral Directors, 76-77 Eastern Main Road, SAN JUAN - 638-7700  

NEW YORK, NY—Tourist arrivals to the Caribbean are expected to surpass the 30 million mark for the first time ever this year, following a record 28.7 million arrivals in 2015. 

Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Richard Sealy announced on Thursday evening that the industry got off to a fast start in 2016, registering a 7.3 per cent rise in the first quarter over the corresponding period last year. 

During this period, the Caribbean region welcomed approximately 8.5 million international visitors, 580,000 higher than the first quarter of 2015. 

“This performance was buttressed by lower oil prices and the strong US dollar, which increased the appeal of the region to potential visitors. The many air service agreements ensured that the region had adequate seats to facilitate the flow of travellers to and within the region,” the CTO chairman explained. 

Nineteen destinations showed improvements upon their 2015 performance, with eight registering double digit growth of between 10.5 per cent and 26.8 per cent. The growth was led by intra-regional trips which rose by 12 to 9 per cent, followed by the European market which registered growth of 11 per cent. 

The CTO chairman told media at a news conference at Caribbean Week New York that regional tourism officials have recognised that more needed to be done to keep visitors occupied while in the Caribbean.

“The CTO continues to work feverishly with our members to see how they can improve their product offering and diversify their markets,” he said. The CTO has projected growth of between 4.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent in 2016. 

Caribbean Week New York continued over the weekend with Rum and Rhythm, a benefit for the CTO Foundation, the regional tourism development agency’s scholarship programme which assists Caribbean nationals pursuing further studies in tourism and hospitality. 

The Empire State Building was lit up in Caribbean colours in observance of Caribbean Week New York, which celebrates the sights, sounds, colours, culture and unique holiday experiences of the Caribbean.

It took raw sewage flowing behind the Coast Guard base and a shortage of toilet paper in official latrines to bring the attention of the authorities to the entirely predictable situation at Cedros, which has become a critical point for trade by Venezuelan nationals. “Infrastructure is inadequate,” noted Siparia Regional Corporation chairman Leo Doodnath, last week.

That’s one way of putting it. Another might be to note that T&T has long been determinedly myopic regarding the issues being faced by citizens in its sparsely populated southernmost reaches, inclusive of the villages of Cedros and Icacos. There’s an old bit of sarcasm that used to be said about people in Port-of-Spain being clueless about anything further south than the lighthouse on South Quay.

As the country’s highways opened up and business spread outside of the city, that boundary got stretched to the Caroni River. With improved access to San Fernando, a new line might be drawn somewhere around Mosquito Creek, but Cedros and Icacos are dozens of miles along narrow, twisting roads beyond even that landmark.

In April 2012, taking advantage of the sparseness of law enforcement patrols in the area, thieves stole large chunks of metal from the bridge crossing the Cap-de-Ville River in Cedros, cutting away beams from the base of the bridge and large chunks of railings.

Four months before, Cedros residents mounted a protest outside the Cedros Health Centre, which is closed on weekends and has no ambulance, with the hospital in Point Fortin, distant, almost an hour of driving on narrow country roads.

In the face of the collapse of the coconut, fishing and cocoa industries that made living in the area possible, residents have been calling on the Government to formally develop its saltwater lagoon into a shrimp and fish farm.

In the face of Governmental disinterest in the disastrous economics of the area and the challenges of policing it effectively, a drug and gun trade has taken energetic root in the area.

Six people were wounded, and two people killed in September 2015 in what police described as a drug hit when two men drove up to a party at Lover’s Paradise Bar and opened fire on a group of people with an automatic rifle and handgun.

Amit Samaroo, a suspected drug and gun dealer, was shot ten times and killed. Add to that volatile mix a large influx of official visitors from Venezuela and unknown numbers who are undeclared.

If official facilities and human resource capabilities at Cedros and Icacos are not already being upgraded to meet the current reality, that should be at the top of the agenda at the National Security Council.

Long before Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made his visit to T&T to discuss the situation in his country, citizens living in the southwest of the country were well aware of a growing influx of Venezuelan visitors well in excess of any previous experience at the port entry points.

The Coast Guard has parked a vessel at the official entry point at Cedros, and law-abiding Venezuelan visitors are being careful to honour the laws of this country in order to meet their needs and offer goods for sale. But that’s not where the problems will arise.

If this country is to be serious about managing the reality of its relationship with Venezuela at an undeniably trying time for that country, it needs to get its national security house in order to manage the immediate demand on its hospitality and services.

Trinidad and Tobago identifies as an energy giant, but policy failure means that T&T is missing out on renewable energy. 2015 was a tipping point year for investment in clean energy such as wind, solar and hydropower. 

More than twice as much money was spent on renewables than on coal and gas-fired power generation. This was achieved despite low fossil fuel prices. While oil and gas companies lay off employees, job opportunities in the renewable sector grew by 5 per cent.

For the first time, developing countries spent more on green energy than rich nations did. Jamaica, one of T&T’s fossil fuel clients, was one of the highest investors relative to GDP. 

Traditionally, low fossil fuel prices meant that demand would shift away from more-expensive renewable energy. That cycle is now broken. Internationally, policymakers have announced the end of the age of oil by pledging to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century. The G7 nations are supporting this policy by ending fossil fuel subsidies by 2025; in 2015 that subsidy was worth $5 trillion, according to the IMF. Take away the subsidy for fossil fuels and the market shifts further in favour of renewables, which can already compete on price in many places.

The tripartite of policy, technology and Wall Street have come together in the renewable energy market. This is where the future of energy lies and this is where the money flows. 

T&T has one of the world’s highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita. In 2011, the latest figures available from the World Bank, T&T was good for 37.1 metric tons of CO2 per capita. That ranked T&T as the second ranked, per capita emitter of greenhouse gasses. That data is now half a decade old and needs to be revised.

Since 2011 T&T’s natural gas production is down considerably, with Atlantic LNG operating at 70 per cent capacity. 

Together with dwindling oil production, and the departure of ArcelorMittal, it is entirely possible that per capita emissions have decreased. If this is the case, that would mean that T&T, a small island developing state, is unwittingly being less suicidal in poking the climate-changing and sea-level-rising carbon dragon. 

Economically these lower emissions are a symptom of a fossil fuel economy that is on its last legs. Certainly there are more oil and gas reserves to be found, but unless prices rise, these resources are economically dead. Predicting oil prices is like playing PlayWhe, but many analysts think that fracking will flood the market at prices over US$50.

The former Saudi oil minister, Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, once warned: “The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones.” 

“It ended because we invented bronze tools, which were more productive.” Renewables are the new bronze. 

T&T is in shock because of a drop in commodity prices. People pray and drop down on the ground in thanks when the price of oil goes up by a dollar. This is understandable. T&T has a 160-year-old oil industry. It is part of our nation’s DNA. 

Our best and brightest minds have committed their careers to the fossil fuel industry. Nothing is harder in life than change, but the energy-inertia is life threatening to the economy of T&T. 

The odds are that there will be no gas from Venezuela for many years to come, and the deep-water exploration by BHP is nothing more than a gamble. If T&T wants to maintain its standard of living, it can no longer rely on oil and gas royalties to be handed over to the government, for disbursement to the people. 

T&T has set a goal of ten per cent renewable energy by 2021. Nobody believes that this is a serious policy. This is a shame, because renewable energy can be the biggest new industry in T&T. Billions of dollars have to be invested; a whole new industrial sector invented and thousands of jobs created. Renewable energy is bigger than building ten highways, or one hundred cricket stadiums. The investment potential is too big to ignore and it is a cash earner.

T&T is caught by energy inertia. The way forward is known. It is renewable energy. It will not replace the fossil fuel boom; nothing can do that except a diversified economy, powered by green energy.

I wish Amery Browne the best in his new diplomatic life. Though we really met only after he’d grown into one of the brightest, most effective young professionals I’ve encountered, I feel I’ve known him since before he was born, and think I attended his parents’ wedding. 

I spent much of my childhood at his grandmother’s house, when several of his father’s nine brothers were the main men in my life, taught my sister and me to ride a bicycle, and their dog, Rusty, was responsible for my first dog bite. 

A man with an incredibly strategic streak, I didn’t always agree with his political choices. But he was a rare PNM politician who never had an issue taking a public position in support of my rights and dignity. I respect him immensely for that.

Moving my column into this slot is the second time recently I’ve been asked to step into Amery’s shoes. He’d recommended me to take over his spot as the sole man on a panel at April’s NGC BocasLitFest on human rights, which took its title from PNM chairman Franklin Khan’s comments about the need for 21st-century thinking on matters of sexuality and gender—part of the festival’s commitment to be a platform for big ideas. The festival organisers, whom I know well, didn’t take me on. 

They got the Chief Justice instead. As a consequence, I’ve argued, child marriage is poised to become history. There: I’ve written myself into history’s shadows.

Seriously, though, I worry. When—as seems to be a mere matter of drafting—child marriages are outlawed, what becomes of the issues raised by all sides in our unprecedented national conversation these past couple weeks about the sexuality and protection of girls? 

Across any differences about marriage laws, we all agree that girls’ sexual vulnerability is an enormous problem.

Gabrielle Hosein, in these pages, made the case that what’s at the root and needs to change is how our culture sexualises girls, then shames and blames them for being sexual. But she also pointed to root policy changes decision makers must undertake.

Just as marrying girls can’t be taken seriously as clerics’ proposed response to teenage pregnancy or sexual irresponsibility, outlawing child marriage doesn’t carry politicians far enough in meeting their obligation to ensure the rights, protection and sexual autonomy of girls. Amending marriage laws is low-stakes, Hosein argues, with minor political fallout. I would disagree, reading the torrent of letters to the editor and organisational statements: there’s actually political mileage in it.

What stunned me about the Government’s response at the recent Universal Periodic Review to proposals put forward by other states as commitments we should make to improving human rights was—apart from child marriage—we said yes to everything that had to do with women and gender.
Except, that is, for the one recommendation we ensure comprehensive sexuality education.

Seriously? We couldn’t commit to that? So the PNM has not in fact walked back from its rural, early-20th-century thinking that sexual education does not belong in schools, nonsense that fell out of the education minister’s mouth the minute he was sworn in.

Scroll down a few lines, below eliminating child, early and forced marriage, in the Global Sustainable Development Goal targets for gender: you’ll find ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health.

Rushing to “harmonise” an increased age of 18 for consent to sex and marriage won’t do young people any good if their parents and political leaders can still deny them access to sexual health information and services until that age. Especially those children who are sexually active, despite the age of consent, and despite their parents. 

Making 18 the age to consent to everything makes things harder for family planning and ob-gyn providers, who’ve been struggling over the past year that the age of sexual consent has increased with the risk of a $15,000 fine and seven-year jail sentence for serving thousands of young people we know need their services. Harmony may not be their friend.

“How else to protect our nation’s girls but with information about their bodies, health, safety, rights, options and sources of services and support?” Hosein asks. The urgent need to lower barriers, including age, to accurate sex education—for boys as well as girls—is a no-brainer, even for Barbara Burke. 

What most of us missed in heaping scorn on the Spiritual Baptist archbishop as she made the rounds on the airwaves with the IRO brass, defending the status quo on child marriage, abortion and people languishing in remand, was when she said, with all her matriarchal Laventille pedigree:

“What I believe should be the government approach now is getting into the primary school and teaching them—family life, sex. And we wouldn’t have all this problem. Teach them family life, what age…” And Hema cut her off.