The home entertainment service formerly known as Digicel Play, has been rebranded to Digicel.

Director of Marketing for Digicel Caribbean Limited, Peter Lloyd said, “This is all about simplifying our business to deliver the best and most amazing experiences and innovation to our customers as one single unified brand.”

He explained, "Digicel has built up a seventeen-year legacy of success, so we’re excited to be streamlining all our products and services under one powerful brand as a total communications and entertainment provider.”

Digicel said the rebranding exercise consisted of a seamless name change with no impact to customers.

There were no changes to the rates, contracts, package structure or service.

They said while the names of packages would be changed to ensure simplicity and transparency, the purple colour that was once synonymous with Digicel Play will be changed over time to Digicel’s iconic red.

Rhondor Dowlat

Newly appointed chief executive officer of Caribbean Airlines (CAL), Garvin Madera, is looking forward to leading the transformation that the airline must embrace if it is to meet the challenges of the fiercely competitive airline industry.

Madera took up his position as company CEO on Monday.

Madera is formerly the CEO of Digicel Play, a position he held from December 2015 until his earlier this month.

Prior to his role as CEO of Digicel Play, Madera served in several key leadership positions at Digicel including Chief Operating Officer, General Manager -Tobago and Chief Technical Officer, managing the company’s full operational portfolio.

Medera holds an MBA from the University of Oxford, an LLB from the University of London and M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of the West Indies.

The CAL Board of Directors, in a release yesterday, expressed their sincere gratitude to the former acting CEO Captain Jagmohan Singh and the Executive Management Team, “who ensured that Caribbean Airlines continued to deliver an enhanced travel experience to its valued customers, while the search for a Chief Executive Officer was taking place.”

“The Board and employees look forward to the innovation and collective capabilities that would be developed under the leadership of the new CEO,” the release stated.

Charmaine Lewis will be filing a legal challenge against the Port Authority of T&T for she says is her “wrongful dismissal” as acting CEO/GM, admitting she was “shocked” at the move.

The dismissal letter was emailed to Lewis hours after she left office after returning from vacation Monday and she saw it sometime “between 10.30 and 11 pm.” It was signed by PATT board chairman Allison Lewis.

Charmaine Lewis admitted to being “shocked” when she read the email, which indicated the board had lost “all trust and confidence” in her ability to perform the duties of acting general manager/CEO and as a consequence decided to terminate her employment immediately.

In the letter, Lewis was told to surrender all Port property in her possession, including “but not limited to office keys, credit card(s), cellphone, access cards and documents.”

In the letter, she was accused of refusing to proceed on vacation leave as directed by the board and of deleting emails sent and received during the period January to July 2017, which were critical to an ongoing forensic investigation into the Port’s operations being conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

But Lewis challenged this yesterday.

“I saw some of the emails yesterday (Monday), it is on my desktop. The emails are archived right there. The emails go back to 2009, all are thee properly labelled, so I find it passing strange they will say I deleted emails, everything is there,” she told the T&T Guardian in reference to the findings of the PWC forensic report.

The letter also cited various issues/incidents the board has had with her over the last six months and issues discussed with her when she returned to work on Monday.

Lewis said she was concerned that “due process” was not followed, noting “usually there is progressive disciplinary action, verbal, written and so on,” which did not happen.

Lewis said she felt as if she was “in a witness box on Monday” when she was called to a meeting with the chairman and a board commissioner, an attorney who was linked to the seizure of her computer last week.

“There were points in the questioning, she said, “when I had to tell him (name called) he is behaving as though he is prosecuting a case in a witness box. I had to tell him I don’t like the way he is speaking to me.

“The chairman sat and allowed him to interrogate me in a fashion equivalent to how a lawyer will behave to a person in a court of law. She never intervened.”

But she is not taking her dismissal lightly. She said she had served more than 30 years in various capacities and this was “the first time I am being accused of sub-standard performance. I will be pursuing my legal options.”

At Monday’s meeting, she said she was questioned about her statements to the media after her office was ‘broken into’ while she was on vacation and her computer seized.

She said they had an issue with her speaking to the media about the incident, since those comments had brought the Port into disrepute.

During the meeting, Lewis said she was told by the chairman and the commissioner “they had lost confidence in me.” She said she was told in the six months since the board was in office “they found my performance to be sub-standard. I said to the chairman that is strange because nobody had spoken to me about that.” She said she asked for one example of “substandard performance and the commissioner said nothing came to mind.”

Lewis said she was asked to respond to the concerns raised and went to her office to do so. However, soon after, as she was in her office with her daughter and two managers, the Port commissioner arrive with Port secretary Marcia Charles-Elbourne. Lewis asked her daughters and the managers to leave.

She said she was told she should go on immediate leave. She challenged this but was told “it is a board directive, you are to pack up your belongings and leave the premises right away.”

“They asked me to take all my accumulated leave, above 114 days, citing an HR policy,” she said.

Lewis said with the help of her daughters and the managers, she packed up her belongings and loaded them into her car and left.

Contacted yesterday, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said the dismissal was an “operational issue” and referred all questions to the Port Authority board.

Port chairman Alison Lewis declined comment at this time.

But in a release last night, the PATT confirmed Lewis’ termination. However, it said her appearance before the JSC had nothing to do with the termination.

It added that Trudy Gill-Conlon will now assume her duties and the board will now advertise for the position of GM/CEO.

Members of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) investigating procurement issues on the sea bridge told the T&T Guardian yesterday they were “very concerned” about the dismissal of acting Port CEO/GM Charmaine Lewis.

Committee members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the dismissal was “extremely harsh and oppressive.”

There was also a concern that the action was “politically driven and motivated by the Government, by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Works and Transport.”

One committee member said: “There are going to be serious consequences arising out of the decision by the Government.”

Efforts to contact JSC chairman Stephen Creese were unsuccessful yesterday. There is also no word on whether the committee will reconvene any time soon in light of what has transpired.

But former Works and Transport Minister Devant Maharaj wrote to Creese yesterday urging him to “initiate immediate and urgent action” from the JSC on the termination of Lewis.

Maharaj asked, “Where was the parliamentary protection that was supposed to be afforded to Ms Lewis as a result of giving her honest and truthful evidence before a Joint Select Committee of Parliament?”

He said added: “The abrupt and unlawful firing of Ms Lewis is nothing short of a blatant attack on our Parliamentary system and it demands a response from those in the JSC and Parliament.”

Maharaj warned that if the issue is not addressed “the entire process of the JSC and the Parliament will be undermined as no public official will be prepared to tell the truth in fear of losing their job or even appear before the JSC.”

Also contacted yesterday, former Port commissioner Ferdie Ferreira said, “As far as I am concerned this a disaster for the Port.”

He said having worked on the Port for more than 30 years “Charmaine Lewis was the most knowledgeable, competent and was the most helpful of all the managers to the board during our time there.”

Ferreira said her dismissal “is not a good signal from a Government who has expressed strong views on whistle blowing.

“This is not a good reflection on the Government and has to be a source of concern to public servants who are invited to these sessions and are required to give evidence. They have to be very careful.”

He said the Prime Minister and the Government “should be very concerned about this. It is a very unfortunate incident and I hope justice will prevail.”

However, former Works and Transport minister Stephen Cadiz, who also appeared before the JSC, said Lewis’ dismissal was inevitable.

“ I don’t know that she would have thought anything other than this would be the outcome,” he said.

But Cadiz was concerned about the Port’s operation and the tenders for the sea bridge with Lewis gone and CEO of the Inter Island Transport Service Leon Grant suspended.

He said: “Is it operational or not, the fast ferry tenders closed three weeks ago and we have not heard anything about it.”

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said yesterday the Port’s board was handling the tender and evaluation procedures. He could not say where the process had reached or whether the evaluation committee had started the process.

Three men who robbed a woodwork shop in Cunupia were all shot and killed by responding police officers last evening.

Details were still sketchy up to press time, but the three men, who were taken to the Chaguanas Health Centre after the shootout with the police, were not yet identified.

Preliminary reports said the men ran into the woodworking shop at Soogrim Trace last evening, where they proceeded to rob the establishment.

The men then escaped in a waiting vehicle but an alarm was raised by the shop’s owner to police officers who were on patrol at the time.

The officers pursued the getaway car and were shot at by the bandits along Egypt Trace. The police returned fire and the car eventually came to a stop.

The bleeding suspects were then taken to the health centre where they died.

Investigations are continuing.

A major downsizing exercise hovers over the University of T&T (UTT), with the Business Development and Marketing Unit (BDMU) possibly facing disbandment.

The T&T Guardian understands staff from the unit were called to a meeting Monday at UTT’s Chaguanas campus by new president, Professor Sarim N. Al-Zubaidy to discuss the way forward. Staff was told that their head, BDMU vice president Navneet Boodhai was no longer there and UTT was “pending restructuring.” The unit, the T&T WGuardian understands, was recently identified as not “fitting in anywhere on its organisational structure.”

“We were told that we will be reporting directly to the president in the interim,” a staff member said.

Another employee said after the meeting they were very “unsettled.”

“We were told that changes are coming and that some of us may not like it and some of us may embrace it. We are very concerned about our job security.”

The BDMU was established to promote areas of collaboration between industry and university, analysis of the labour market to guide programme development, supporting local and foreign investors, bridging the gaps between funding and research, promoting entrepreneurial and career development to the UTT students, and the creation of an international relations office to extend the university’s arms globally.

Contacted on the issue, Boodhai confirmed he resigned one week ago. Asked if he knew about plans to disband the unit, Boodhai replied: “No. I’m really not sure what is happening with the unit.”

UTT sources said job cuts are expected to take place within both corporate and academics areas. Corporate staff members are represented by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU).

“On the ground, there is word that they are trying to downsize staff as best as they can to facilitate the move to the UTT’s main campus at the Wallerfield E-Tech Park. Even the union say they are in the dark,” one staff member, who wished not to be identified for fear of victimisation, said.

Contacted on the move, deputy chairman of UTT’s Board of Governors, Professor Clement Imbert, said there is a lot of speculation about the future, but admitted “hard decisions” will have to be made.

“Reason being, we have a budget, the budget is much less than what we had spent. We had some savings in the last financial year and that savings ran out. We got a similar budget this year and there is no way we can maintain what we have now with that budget,” Imbert said.

With respect to job cuts, Imbert said: “How we deal with staffing is that we will have to talk to the union. We are going to have to decide what to do at UTT to survive.

There are several things that we will definitely have to cut down on. We have contracts that may not be renewed, we have to look at merges…things like that…but no letters have been sent out.”

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia meanwhile said he is frequently in contact with UTT chairman Professor Kenneth Julien and added that if job cuts are imminent he was not told or is yet to be informed.

“That is something I am not aware but I will have to look into that,” Garcia said.

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

Education Minister Anthony Garcia may not have considered the parenting of the aggressors involved in the violence at the Siparia West Secondary School before labelling the acts as ‘criminal.”

This was the view yesterday of South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Director of Health Dr Albert Persad, who said children’s behaviour is predicated on the environment their parents provide.

Persad was addressing SWRHA managers and supervisors at a mental health workshop in commemoration of World Mental Health Day. Under the theme “Mental Health in the Workplace,” Persad said parents have to be careful not to allow workplace stresses to enter their homes, as it can have consequences on their families.

“Look at what happened in a school yesterday. I noticed that the Minister of Education said it was a criminal offence and therefore do what is necessary. I think he is missing the ball, in that there is always something else behind it,” Persad said.

“The behaviour of our children sometimes is really predicated by parents who are living in a stressful situation. That is translated right down the line to the children, and yet the parent says ‘I don’t know what wrong with this child you know’ when in fact it should be, ‘I wonder what is really wrong with the parents?’”

With one in four adults expected to experience mental health issues at some time, Persad said it leads to a reduction of efficiency and productivity in the workplace. Stressing that it was important for employers to address workplace stressors, he said employees should look out for each other and when necessary, suggest that their affected colleagues seek professional help.

He said many times his colleagues would speak about how busy their lives were and how they would get home at 8 pm to continue work.

“Listen, I know we have a lot of work to do, but we also have to be responsible persons. We need to manage our time properly. There is another life, isn’t there?” he said.

Persad added: “My advice to you is as much as possible, keep your work in here.

From the time it gets out there and starts to get into your kitchen and TV room and all of that, and then there is a price to pay in terms of your mental health if nothing else.”

Of the 474, 610 citizens in the SWRHA’s catchment area, regional manager of Psychiatry/Mental Health Pooran Sankar revealed that in 2016, the psychiatric population was 11,658, in which 5,712 were men and 5,946 were women.

To date, Sankar said approximately 12,000 people are registered at the SWRHA’s mental health outpatient clinics, with an annual projected increase of 1,200 patients, including 200 children and adolescents.

The Trinidadians who the Human Rights Watchgroup discovered in an Iraqi detention camp last month comprised a family of two sisters and their children, plus their mother and father, according to HRW’s Bill Van Esveld.

Van Esveld confirmed this following queries by T&T Guardian yesterday. Van Esveld is the author of HRW’s September report on the discovery of the Trinidadians and other nationalities at an Iraqi detention site. He is a children’s rights researcher at HRW who worked in the Middle East for almost 10 years and with entities including the UN General Assembly.

During Budget debate on Tuesday, United National Congress MP Rodney Charles alluded to HRW’s report, which stated Iraqi authorities are holding more than 1,400 foreign women and their children after they surrendered with Islamic State (Isis) fighters in late August.

Over September 10 and 11, Van Esveld visited the detention site - located south of Mosul - and interviewed 27 foreign women, including the Trinidadians.

“They didn’t want to tell me their names or ages. But there were two adult sisters, one of whom had one young child. The other (sister) had three young children - and was pregnant- and there was the sisters’ mother,” Van Esveld said.

“Their father, who they said was age 53, was with them when they surrendered to Kurdish Peshmerga forces north of Tal Afar in late August.”

Van Esveld said he was told the father was separated from the women.

“They don’t know what happened to him,” he added.

Van Esveld said the sisters told him they had lived in Mosul for “close to two years” before fleeing to Tal Afar on February 28.

Van Esveld said that group wasn’t aware of any other Trinidadian nationals in detention. He said all detainees were transferred by Iraqi authorities to another site north of Mosul.

Yesterday, attorney Nafeesa Mohammed called on Government to look at the HRW report.

“Government should verify information - via T&T’s UN mission perhaps and if necessary, examine cases on merit or profiling, the circumstances of people’s presence there and engage dialogue. If they’re nationals, they can’t simply be rendered stateless.

Commissioner of Prisons Williams Alexander will be actively engaging in talks with acting Commissioner Stephen Williams on the issue of arming off-duty prisons officers.

He made the comment yesterday following the funeral for slain prison officer Richard Sandy at the St Barnabas Anglican Church, Pleasantville.

There have been increased calls by Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards for arming off-duty officers in the wake of Sandy’s murder last weekend.

Yesterday, however, Alexander admitted this decision was up to Williams. He said they have had support from Williams in the past on the issue, but said the prison service also has the power to issue firearms based on officers’ circumstances.

In light of the recent attacks on officers, Alexander said this policy has been stepped up but only for on duty officers. Cases involving arming off-duty officers were increasing but were still being determined by him, he said.

Asked whether more off-duty officers were now being given guns with the increasing attacks on officers, Alexander said, “We don’t want the criminal elements to know everything we do, but there is a concerted effort to protect my officers. The lawless people must understand we will not sit idly by and allow our officers to be killed.”

On whether it would not be a deterrent if criminals knew officers were armed, he said, “That is one argument, but you see the bravado of these people. You saw what happened to Dana Seetahal, you saw what happened to many high-profile persons in this country.”

He said crime had climbed to another level and they will respond accordingly.

POA president Richards has also called for the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, which will allow officers to carry concealed firearms to protect themselves. He said although Firearm Users Licenses have been issued to prison officers by the police commissioner, it was just a few hundred of the 2000-plus prison service.

Also asked about the issue yesterday, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said if discussions between the police and prison services call for legislative action to protect law enforcement officers it will be done. On the talks of firearm licenses for off-duty prison officers between Alexander and Williams, Dillon said: “That is a conversation that is taking place and continues to take place between the Commissioner of Prisons and the Commissioner of Police and if it is, based on the recommendations, if legislation is required, then it will be done.”

He said he also promised to meet with the POA and the Fire Service Association to treat with outstanding issues.

The issue of protection for officers also came up during Sandy’s funeral service. In eulogising his younger brother, Ricardo Sandy said it was time those in authority stopped playing with people’s lives. He said it is not an issue about right or wrong, but that action needs to be taken to prevent more families from facing the harsh reality of a violent T&T.

Addressing Dillon and members of the T&T Prison Service directly, Ricardo said, “You all are playing with an issue that people’s lives are involved in and their families. I am hurting because Richard was real, as real as they come.”

Dismissed acting Port Authority CEO/GM Charmaine Lewis is said to be consulting her attorney on her next move.

Lewis was unavailable yesterday as calls to her mobile phone went unanswered. But sources close to her told the T&T Guardian she has been advised not to speak to the media pending further advice. Lewis on Tuesday said she planned to explore her legal options since she felt she had been wrongfully dismissed.

The T&T Guardian also understands that Joint Select Committee chairman Stephen Creese has asked the secretariat to seek legal advice on the matter, since witnesses to the committee have the protection of Parliament. Lewis appeared before the JSC during its probe into the sea bridge. Creese’s mobile went to voicemail and messages left were not returned.

The JSC is said to be concerned there is a perception that Lewis’ dismissal is linked to evidence she gave to them and intends to send letters to the Port chairman Alison Lewis and Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan.

Meanwhile, Port employees were said to be upset at Lewis’ dismissal, describing her as a “hard worker and a mentor” who had their best interest at heart. Employees say they are now “fearful” of what can happen and are afraid to speak out publicly.

Workers also wondered if suspended T&T Inter-island Transport (TTIT) CEO Leon Grant will also be dismissed.

Grant was suspended several weeks ago after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, when he appeared before the JSC, raised concerns that Grant failed to bring to the attention of the board an email from the Cabo Star owners of an offer to lease the vessel to the country. Rowley said had that been done the country could have saved US$5000-US$6000 on the daily cost of the vessel, which has since been leased at a cost of US$22,500 per day. But Grant told the JSC he knew nothing about the e mail.

Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union president Michael Annisette also said yesterday that the board failed to observe “good industrial relations practices” when it dismissed Lewis by email.

He said the board had the option, if it felt it had lost trust and confidence in Lewis as acting CEO/GM, to reinstate her to her substantive position as deputy general manager of the Port Infrastructure Company POSINCO. In any event, he said good industrial relations demanded that the board bring concerns to her attention in writing and give her the opportunity to improve.

Dissecting the reasons given by the board for dismissing Lewis, Annisette took issue with the question of her refusal to go on vacation leave. He said the “fundamental principle is that you cannot force somebody to go on vacation leave, there must be mutual agreement.”

On the allegation that documents were deleted from her computer, he said the questions are “was the person given an opportunity to produce the documents or what is the policy of the port as it relates to deletion of documents on computers of senior management?” He said it is not about the person or the personality, but “the fundamental principle of good industrial relations practice. The person’s right to be heard and to seek advice.”

Efforts to contact port chairman Alison Lewis were unsuccessful yesterday.

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

Education Minister Anthony Garcia is denying any disciplinary action has been taken against Siparia West Secondary School principal Sookoo Sonnylal, following the circulation of a video online in a school official is seen in an altercation with a group of students.

Garcia told the T&T Guardian yesterday that while the ministry has no authority to hire, fire, transfer or discipline teachers and principals, there was a serious breach identified in the video, which follows a few others of violence at the school. The latest video shows a man holding a piece of iron while trying to address students who were out of class.

Citing the Education Act of 1966, Garcia said a principal’s most important function was the safety of the students.

“There have been instances of breaches of the disciplinary metric that exists in the school. I will also point out where there are breaches; each school must have a disciplinary plan which will include all the actors in the school. The principal of a school, his or her’s most important responsibility is to ensure the safety of students and that is in the Education Act,” Garcia said.

Section 27 (a) of the act and the regulations state that principals of schools shall be responsible for the day to day management of their schools, including the supervision of the physical safety of pupils. Part (c) states that principals are responsible for the allocation and supervision of the duties and responsibilities of members of their staff while Part (d) gives them control over the discipline of the school.

Despite talks yesterday that Sonnylal had been suspended, Garcia said the ministry had asked him to “remove himself from the school and report to the St Patrick District Education Office in San Fernando.”

In the interim, a senior school supervisor has been sent to the school to oversee operations while a School Supervisor III was given the responsibility to monitor the school.

“The only body with the authority to fire any principal or teacher is the Teaching Service Commission and for this to be done you have to go through a process. If a teacher or principal commits any breach, it has to be investigated by a senior officer of the ministry and if there is any charge, it will be referred to the Teaching Service Commission who will look at it, then inform the teacher or principal of the charge and then based on that a tribunal will be appointed to look into it.”

Recalling that the ministry had undergone a series of measures to reduce school indiscipline, Garcia said the violence at the Siparia West Secondary School was isolated. He said out of the 580 public schools in T&T, this is just one incident and it does not take away from the fact that there has been an overall improvement in the discipline in the school system.

“This situation in the school is an isolated one and we asked the School Supervisor III to do a thorough investigation and submit a report, which should have been on my desk today (yesterday). I just got back from Parliament so I have not seen it as yet.”

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday called on members of various trade unions to let their voices be heard and to speak for themselves as they continued their protest in front Parliament at the International Waterfront, Port-of-Spain.

During a break in a sitting of the lower house, Persad-Bissessar spoke to protesters outside and expressed her support. She also assured those gathered she would raise their issues before Parliament and would appoint one of the protesters to go before the Senate to voice their concerns.

“When it goes to Senate they should represent themselves. The whole Budget will go before the Senate, so we will appoint one of you all (protesters) to speak for us and for yourselves,” she said.

National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) president general Michael Annissette, who said Government continues to neglect the plight of its citizens, also expressed full support to the demonstrators. He criticised the 2018 Budget for not factoring in the needs of those in lower to middle income brackets and accused Government of being disconnected from communities. He also urged Government to engage in discussion with trade unions.

“There was no empirical analysis and no consultation with stakeholders. We cannot build a society where economics is viewed in terms of dollars and cents. Economics is about people, society and communities, when you have a disconnection between these groups of people it is a brand of economics that has no place in this modern society,” Annissette said.

Members Club and Lottery Workers Union (MCLWU) representative Maxine Gonzales said while they were willing to share the burden, the tax hike would cripple the gaming industry.

“It feels as if the Government does not like the gaming industry. We pay our taxes and we are regulated by the Financial Investigations Unit of the TTPS. We understand this, but you cannot tax a country into prosperity.”

Earlier during Parliament’s 2018 Budget debate, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh spoke to the casino workers’ issue. He warned the country it was better to “take our bitter medicine orally rather than leave it to the IMF to administer it another route, when it would be ten times more bitter.”

“The first thing the IMF would do is tell us fire 20 per cent of public servants. I’m sure every single casino worker has a relative who works in the public sector. Also, what would be the fate of maxi drivers if 14,000 to 16,000 people left the public service? We’ll take the ‘boos’ and boots for now, but I ‘m sure we’ll be exonerated in the long term and it’ll redound to T&T’s benefit.”

(With reporting by Gail Alexander)

Chairman of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Dionisio D’Aguilar, who is also the Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Minister, told the opening ceremony of the annual State of Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in Greneda that the event is occurring “at a trying time for Caribbean tourism."

“Never in the history of the planning this event have situations, circumstances and conditions in our member destinations, and by extension, the Caribbean, changed so dramatically, so drastically, and so disturbingly in such a short space of time.”

Several Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla as well as St. Martin, the United States Virgin Islands all felt the brunt of Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria as they made their way through the Less Antilles.

D’Aguilar said when planning began for SOTIC 2017, the realities were far different.

“None of us ever imagined that two hurricanes, Irma and Maria, would have had such a far-reaching and radical impact on our lives,” he said, expressing “heartfelt condolences to the governments and peoples of the countries impacted by those horrendous storms over the tragic loss of life and property, as well as the destruction of infrastructure”

He said the planning of SOTIC began against the background of the region’s challenge to grow its share of the world tourism market, which has held steady at 2.4 per cent despite record arrivals to the Caribbean.

He said the emphasis was on how to keep pace with the latest trends and developments that make travel and tourism attractive, yet competitive.

“How technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and 360 influence travel; how we could develop a tourism product and experiences that are so outstanding that visitors take away much more than what they expected and immerse in experiences that they can get nowhere else; how, in essence, we could supercharge the Caribbean brand and make the region more appealing to the new explorer.

However, the monstrous category five hurricanes that so mercilessly battered some of our members last month have added new perspectives to our situation.”

D’Aguilar acknowledged that while the old challenges remain and must be addressed at this conference and well after this gathering is over “we must also address the immediate concerns of recovering and rebuilding after the storms”.

He said the countries that were directly impacted by the tempests are at various stages on the road to recovery, by the road remains a long and tiring one.

“For some, it will be a long while before normality is restored, before they are in a position to welcome visitors again in the numbers they were used to. However, our resilience, commitment and determination will drive us to rebuild better, stronger and more sustainably." (CMC)

Gunmen who shot at a man driving along the Priority Bus Route (PBR), Beetham Gardens ended up in a shootout with police yesterday.

According to police, Colin Guy, 23, originally from Beetham Gardens, was driving west along the bus route around 1.30 pm when he was shot at. Officers of the Homicide Bureau, who were heading in the opposite direction stopped and began shooting at Guy's attackers. Guy, who now lives at Cocorite, was shot in the left hip and drove himself to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he remains warded.

Residents, however, gave a different account of what happened.

The said the officers stopped near Pashley Street and began shooting at them without warning and some residents returned fire, thinking it was gunmen from waring John John, Laventille area who were attacking them.

They accused the police officers of shooting indiscriminately at residents.

Some residents who were near the One Child Development Centre preschool said the officers were hostile and prevented parents from picking up their children at the school.

The shootout forced vehicles to turn off the PBR and onto the Eastern Main Road.

For over two hours traffic was diverted off the PBR.

Police said no one was injured or arrested following the shooting between them and gunmen from Beetham Gardens.

A Venezuelan national who was kidnapped at a bar in Curepe last Saturday was rescued by police yesterday in Carapo .

A $100,000 ransom was demanded for him but none was paid.

According to a police, 33-year-old Jason Guerra, of L'anse Mitan Road, Carenage, was at a bar at Southern Main Road, Curepe when he was grabbed. The kidnappers bundled the Venezuelan in a Nissan Tiida before speeding off.

Around 10 pm that day, the kidnappers called his friends and demanded the ransom, according to police.

Officers of the Ant-Kidnapping Unit, Northern Division Task Force, Air Support Unit, Inter-Agency Task Force, Guard and Emergency Branch and the Canine Unit along with members of the Defence Force investigated the report and conducted a joint exercise between Tuesday and yesterday morning in the Carapo district.

The exercise, led by DCP, Crime and Support, Harold Phillip and coordinated by Snr. Supt. Ajith Persad, involved the use of a helicopter and sniffer dogs.

Based on information the officers went to Santa Rosa Race Track where they found the man in some bushes and he was taken for medical treatment. No one has been arrested for the kidnapping.

The mother of one of three men killed by police on Tuesday in Central Trinidad said he was a hardened young man and blamed his death on his bad choices and the friends he kept.

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James yesterday Marsha Dickson, mother of Jamal Morgan, said she had tried talking to him about his life but he never listened.

Dickson said her 26-year-old child of Griffith Road, Chin Chin, Cunupia was wrong for robbing a furniture store.

“I am not giving my son right for what he did. What he did was wrong. He was a hardened boy. He never used to listen. I was tired talking to him about the stupidness he was doing, but he always followed his friends,” Dickson said.

Dickson said judging from photographs of her son's body she believed he was trying to surrender when he was shot.

Morgan, Lance Clarke, 26, and Simeon Antoine, 25, were shot by police during an exchange of gunfire after an armed robbery in the district.

Police reported that the trio opened fire on them when they were stopped near Egypt Trace, Enterprise.

The officers returned fire and wounded the men who were pronounced dead on arrival at the Chaguanas District Hospital.

The men were cornered following a chase by the officers who responded to a robbery at a store along Soogrim Trace, Cunupia. The trio along with a fourth man escaped stole jewellery, cash and other items before fleeing.

Clarke's mother, Mavis Lord, said her son was a loving child who took her to church on Sunday. She said her son, of Jackman Trace, Cunupia, was a family oriented man and as old as he was, would still be playful with her.

She said his presence used to fill a room and was admired by the youths in the area. She too was of the view that her child.

Relatives of Antoine, of Hassarath Road, Cunupia did not speak with the media.

Forget November 19th, 1989. The new date to remember will be October 10th, 2017. The Trinidad and Tobago team, under head coach Dennis Lawrence, achieved a significant win on Tuesday night for more than one reason. For T&T’s benefit it brought a much needed end to the team’s recent losing streak and it helped to bury the ghost of ‘89.

Now the US teams facing T&T at any level in the future, will have in the back of their minds that this is a T&T team that comes from a nation that stopped them in their stride to Russia.

Moreso, it will be etched in the minds of every T&T player whenever they step onto the field against the Americans. The simple ability to put that “fear of America” aside will be huge for our players.

Trust me, I can tell you from experience of being there with several past national teams at all levels for the past 17 years.

What has this defeat done to the US, aside from the immense effects of TV rights and other contract earnings of not being in Russia, is that it has shook all levels of the game in the US and for all US nationals globally. On Wednesday, the day after the USA’s catastrophic defeat, the MLS Product and Strategy Committee met with several influential owners in Los Angeles to discuss matters going forward. Guess what the main topic would have been?

For T&T, this result must be a spike for the game locally for men and women. It must be used as a means of boosting the belief that we can make something happen that will have positive effect on all ends.

The players in the Pro League, Super League, SSFL, Zonal, elite development etc must not simply celebrate this result but must let it encourage them to realise that their ambitions can be achieved. The Leagues can now see more worth in everything they do and at the same time feel their importance. The 2-1 scoreline will promote the Trinidad and Tobago brand across the globe, more than we might imagine right now.

George: We owed the country

Midfielder Kevan George, a rock in the T&T midfield in the last two matches against Mexico and the United States said he was not over celebrating the win on Tuesday night but felt a level of satisfaction and is now more optimistic over the team’s potential progress in the future.

“We are elated to have achieved the victory over the US. The result was a culmination of all the hard work that we have put in and we owed the country both a performance and a win. For us the main focus was not revenge but building a platform for the future with a mixture of youth and experience. We have learned a lot despite the lack of success in the campaign and this has brought us together more as a unit. It has made us stronger as individuals to be better prepared for future international competitions and campaigns,” George said.

Panama grateful to T&T

The Panama football Association and its national team has a lot to thank us for. After all, our victory over the United States coupled with their late come from behind win over Costa Rica on Tuesday propelled them to third place and a spot in the 2018 Russia World Cup. And grateful they were. In an immediate reaction, Panama national team press officer Adan de Gracia told this columnist “For us, this victory over Costa Rica represents the most important triumph in the history of our football. It is something that will live forever in our minds and hearts. Trinidad and Tobago’s triumph over the United States was the perfect complement to making history and we are thankful for this. Viva Panama and Viva Trinidad and Tobago,” de Gracia said.

Fears West Indies would be relegated into a second tier of Test cricket were allayed yesterday when the former World champions were included in a nine-team Test League scheduled to begin in 2019.

Cricket’s world governing body, the ICC, approved the new structure at their meeting in Auckland, New Zealand while also giving the nod to a 13-team One-day International league which is set to start in three years time.

The Test league will comprise the top-nine ranked sides who will play six series in a two-year span – three home and three away.

Each series will range from a minimum of two Tests to five, and will result in World Test League Championship final.

“I would like to congratulate our members on reaching this agreement and putting the interests of the development of the game first. Bringing context to bilateral cricket is not a new challenge, but this is the first time a genuine solution has been agreed on,” ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said.

“This means fans around the world can enjoy international cricket knowing every game counts and in the case of the ODI league, it counts towards qualification to the ICC Cricket World Cup.”

The nine nations comprising the Test league will be Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.

With West Indies languishing eighth in the ICC rankings, there were fears the Caribbean side would be pushed into a second tier comprising the likes of Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland.

A proposed two-tier system, which would have comprised seven teams in the top tier and five in the bottom, was shelved by the ICC at a meeting last year September.

Meanwhile, the ODI league will comprise the 12 full members and the winners of the current ICC World Cricket League Championship, and will serve as direct qualification for the 50-overs World Cup.

Each team will play four home and four away three-match series, with all teams getting to play each other from the second cycle.

Skipper Dhananjaya De Silva struck his 11th first class hundred but West Indies A still manage to restrict Sri Lanka A on the penultimate day of the first four-day “Test” at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Jamaica.

The 26-year-old, who boasts two Test hundreds in 10 matches, struck 104 as the visitors reached 210 for seven in their first innings before rain and then bad light ended play prematurely.

Wanindu Hasaranga chipped in with 24 and Dasun Shanaka, 20 but Sri Lanka A failed to come to grips with the Windies A probing attack.

Fast bowlers Keon Joseph (2-28) and Sheldon Cottrell (2-41), along with leg-spinner Damion Jacobs (2-33) all finished with two wickets each.

After the Windies A declared at their overnight 364 for eight, they quickly made inroads into the Sri Lankan innings, reducing it to 33 for two as Ron Chandragupta (11) and Sandun Weerakkody (0) perished cheaply.

However, de Silva came to his side’s rescue, anchoring three successive partnerships to put the innings back on course.

First, he put on 40 for the third wicket with Charith Asalanka (10), a further 35 for the fourth wicket with Shanaka before adding an invaluable 63 for the fifth wicket with Hasaranga. Th righthanded de Silva struck 10 fours and three sixes, in an innings lasting 143 balls and nearly four hours.

Scores

WEST INDIES A 364 for eight (Sunil Ambris 106, Vishaul Singh 81, John Campbell 56, Rahkeem Cornwall 36; Malinda Pushpakumara 3-104, Chamika Karunaratne 2-61)

SRI LANKA A 201 for seven (Dhananjaya De Silva 104, Wanindu Hasaranga 24, Dasun Shanaka 20; Keon Joseph 2-28, Damion Jacobs 2-33, Sheldon Cottrell 2-41)

The preliminary round of the Secondary School Badminton Championships came to the St George East Educational District on Thursday and saw stiff competition among participating schools at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua.

Forty students from ten schools within that district took part in the event, representing a larger turnout than was anticipated by the Trinidad and Tobago Secondary School Badminton Association (TTSSBA).

National player Vance Juteram, who attends Hillview College, had little difficulty in the Under 17 Boys’ Singles final against his less experienced opponent, San Juan North Secondary’s Lennard Alexis. Juteram booked his place in November’s national final with a straight forward 21-4 21-5 win over Alexis.

It was a similar story with St Joseph’s College’s Afiyah Clarke who had her most difficult match in the first round having been taken to the wire by Natania Moolah of St Augustine Girls before eking out a 21-15 22-20 win. In her finals match however she dispatched Bethany Lightbourne (Bishop Anstey East) 21-2 21-3.

In a back and forth Girls’ Under 15 Singles final, Siddiqah Segulam of St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph edged out Akira Dowell of El Dorado East, 21-18 21-16 to advance to the finals.

Also advancing to the finals in this age group were Seath Mollah of Trinity College East over Stristar Nelson San Juan North Secondary, winning 21-9 21-6 in the Boys’ Singles.

Doubles competition, Shreya Prajapat and Shalita Ragbir (St Augustine Girls High School) moved on and so did Boys’ Doubles pair Brandon Walker and Nathaniel Mathura (El Dorado East) who defeated Cody Solarzano and Tyrell Bruce (Five Rivers Secondary) 21-13 21-5

The Under 17 Girls Doubles champions were Bishop Anstey East’s Shania Lee and Waynetta Thomas, who proved too strong for the duo of Sophia Mohammed and Chelsea Coomansingh (St Augustine Girls), commanding a 21-7 21-4 victory.

The seven winners from the preliminary round in the St George East Education district advanced to the championship finals against the six other education district to be held on the 8th November, 2017 at the National Racquet Centre.

T&T SECONDARY SCHOOLS BADMINTON

St George East Educational District

Other Results
Under 21

Girls’ Singles final
Ketara Monroe (San Juan Secondary) def. Nikeeta Nancoo St (Augustine Girls) 21-8, 21-23, 21-13

Boys’ Singles final
Kareem Kirk (El Dorado East) def. Selvon Roshford (Five Rivers) 22-24, 21-12, 21-12

Boys’ Doubles final
Kareem Kirk/Malique Toppin (El Dorado East) def. Anthon Monroe/Elijah Martin (San Juan Secondary) 21-23, 21- 13, 21-9

Girls’ Doubles final
Nalida Bedasie/Renelle Carmona (Bishop Anstey East) def. Nikeeta Nancoo/Sheridevi Sookhul-Pooran (St Augustine Girls’) 21-11 21-13