Another year has passed. 365 days of angst, disappointment and fleeting glimmers of happiness; such is the wickedness of the cosmos that the only happiness we are ever allowed is just enough to build an appreciation for how miserable we actually are. 

Yes, I have a tendency to process things through a warped lens of cynicism and negativity. 

But it is difficult to hold my head high with the weight of what I know. 

This country is set adrift on a sea of hopelessness, our craft is taking on water, its occupants are bailing with sieves. 

It is customary to start the New Year with resolutions that imagine us taking control of our lives. 

This exercise is just a wish list, rarely backed up by the commensurate will to achieve anything written on that throwaway, champagne-soaked napkin. 

What we need are New Year’s revolutions, not resolutions; a radical departure from the way we order our lives in this broken civilisation. 

So I am here to help with some tips on how to survive in this country without dependence on a cocktail of psychotropic palliatives or regular pickling at the rumshop. 

Commit the sanity 

prayer to memory 

“God grant me sanity in the face of things I cannot change, sympathy for those unable to see the need for change, and hellfire for those for whom the status quo is quite lucrative.”

The pursuit of change has become addictive for me. It is easy to develop an unhealthy attachment to ideals which, in themselves, are entirely positive. 

My problem is, I am so burdened with an appreciation for the boundless potential of this country, that the reluctance of the nation to embrace this potential foments toxic frustration in my heart. 

Passion turns to poison, will withers into despair. If others are happy with the circumstances which confront this country, who am I to begrudge them the halcyon haze of their myopia? Let them do them and I’ll do me. 

Let go and let God…

deal with dem

At the very top of my New Year’s revolutions is developing a resistance to the staggering ignorance dominant in what passes for debate here. I’ve come to accept that, if stupidity were a marketable commodity, we would have diversified the economy more than two decades ago. 

Becoming ensnared in debates fuelled by blind political loyalty is utterly pointless. Although stupidity isn’t contagious for those inoculated with reason and intellect, it can have the side effect of exacerbating inflammation-inducing stress levels. ’Tis far better to yield to misanthropy than be worn down by the collective ignorance of the cultists. 

Dealing with road hogs

There will always be motorists who will shoe-horn their way into my lane of traffic, the one which I joined dutifully at its head. I’ve been determined to punish inconsiderate behaviour by denying them entry. My fervour is such that I often risk colliding with them or the vehicle in front, so desperate am I to keep a gap so tight you couldn’t swipe a credit card between us. In such moments, I dream of owning a Bedford truck. 

The thinking (admittedly foolish) was that the offending motorist would back down, mumbling inwards “Oh shocks, I really do chupidness dere, sorry dey breds!” It is really more like this: “Look at dis ass! He coulda well lemme pass, yuh too stink!” 

Trinidadians will always believe they are right, particularly when they are wrong. None of my “educating” them will ever amount to anything other than a scuffed fender or, more likely, a traffic light punch-up. 

Bad service

Eyes rolling back in the head like a demon possessed, the long, watery steups sucking all the air out of the room, the “it doh have dat” or “you go hah to come back tomorrow”; bristling at deplorable service in the public AND private sectors serves no purpose other than leaving me frazzled and the offending clerk/cashier/attendant equanimously indifferent. 

Dressing down a slothful public servant or a cell phone-entranced store clerk is like dressing up a dog; they will wear it, but they will neither understand, nor care why they are being made to do so. 

Henceforth I will suppress my expectations. Should there be surprise convulsions of polite attention and helpfulness, then the experience will be doubly rewarding, given that all I will ever cater for is the spittle-spray abuse of “Daiz de wrong form, go back and full it up ah-gain!”

I must defend against the tendency to be shaped by my circumstances, I must instead shape them. It accomplishes nothing to wallow in victimhood, bellyaching that all I hope to accomplish is thwarted at every turn by minds comforted by their tunnel vision. 

I must control the outcome, my destiny isn’t influenced by my environment. I choose to look at this country as limited, not limiting. 

I don’t know if any of this will actually work, some of it may read as a little specific to me. But there is a kernel of wisdom in there for everyone. Gird your loins, mount your revolutions one New Year at a time. 

One very experienced field athlete in the person of Cleopatra Borel and rising 400m track star, Machel Cedenio, deservedly won the prestigious Sportswoman and Sportsman of the year award for their significant achievements during 2015. 

For Borel, it was the third straight year of winning the award; the gold medal at the Pan American Games in the shot put event in Toronto surely did it for her.

Of great significance in being awarded is the fact that Borel’s first acclaim goes back to 2006; it shows her not only as a class performer but one who has persisted and achieved excellence over more than a decade of performing at the highest levels possible. Indeed, her gold in Toronto was her first at the Pan Am Games, an indication that she is improving her game. Cleopatra should be an example and an inspiration to her young teammates.

For young Cedenio, it has been a successful movement from being the top junior 400m performer to showing that he can now take on the competition at the highest level and still achieve success. His major performances in 2015 were at the Pan Am Games in Toronto where he won silver in the 400m and anchored the TT relay team to the gold medal. What immediately sets Cedenio apart is his finishing power; he is absolutely devastating in the final 50 metres. 

The expectation is that his coaches will work on this tremendous finishing power and speed to hone them to the point of making him a serious contender for the 400m at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

Commendation must also go out to Renny Quow, another 400m specialist; he attracted the most votes to be named the People’s Choice athlete of the year. And while we have to remain focused on the present and the immediate future with our athletes concentrating on August in Rio, we cannot forget the great performers of the past in Janet Bailey being awarded posthumously the Alexander B Chapman distinguished performer recognition. 

As a reminder to the present generation, Janet Bailey was a towering and robust defender who gave no quarter on the netball court to opponents during the golden age of TT netball when we were joint world champions with Australia and New Zealand. Neither should the young sportswoman and sportsman of the year awardees, Khalifa St Fort track and field, and Jeron Thompson in the pool, should be forgotten; so too the Sports Personality award winner, Akeem Stewart. What the awards have done is to begin to point in the direction of the preparation work for the Olympics. Too often in the past it has been a case of a mad scramble at the end to get a team together for concentrated preparation in the last six month lead up to the games. Such hastily scrambled together preparation, more precisely the lack of it, is in contrast to the years of preparation and the settling of matters a couple years in advance by the great Olympic performing countries. 

Sponsorship by the private sector, continuous support of our athletes by the state, essentials such as competition at international meets leading to the Games, qualifying times of athletes, secured equipment and much more must be settled over the next couple months and not become a source for contention in the weeks before competition. President of the national Olympics Association, Brian Lewis has set out the ambitious target of TT winning 10 gold medals at the Olympics by 2024. That objective hinges on getting the nitty gritty of the present right if the long term goal is to be achieved. 

Tough—the T word, under prime ministerial edict, will be the key word for 2016 when economic monkeyshines will be at play in the Chinese year of the Monkey. 

Heritage and Stabilisation Fund—aka State Piggy Bank.

Rainy Days—the year-round forecast for 2016 from the PNM Government.

$10B (TT)—.....hence that’s what the HSF will have to give up to tide T&T over in such heavy financial weather.

Squeals of alarm—sounded on the “assault” on the HSF Piggy.

Six inch thick padding—what some quarters hope the Government will coat the financial hammer it will use to smash open the HSF so it won’t be unduly affected.

Seven per cent cut—being done in ministries, which will be felt as a stinging swipe of the blade by current clients of government, potential clients, hopeful clients (and probably past clients still waiting to be paid), some contracted workers, certain unions.

Central Bank watchdog—an interesting creature to watch in action after the last CB leader got into trouble for trying to keep clients on a tight leash.

Can’t complain—the response on how the situation was from some medium to high priced Woodbrook business people at the peak of Christmas week (before the PM spoke).

“..................” The response after.

Concussed—affliction of both the economy and/or citizens if the latter doesn’t deal properly with the former and/or the result of the former dealing harshly with the latter. 

“Oh S....$%^##@!”—the response from both as the situation sinks in.

Tax—The dirty word in 2016 after January 16 (especially when accompanied by “Property” or “VAT”)

Skyfall—What could happen if some quarters’ movie lifestyle isn’t amended.

Excessive profits—something it’s useless to warn business against seeking.

Whew...!—URP,CEPEP workers’ New Year greeting. For now.

Chicken Licken—What the Opposition is calling the Government in words of two paragraphs and (more) where its economic management styling is concerned.

Sacrifice—hard sell to the population and difficult call to take credibly if caller jumps on a plane and heads off to a wedding Stateside, right after asking everyone else to suck salt.

Leadership—much politically abused term in the last year particularly.

....The Real Thing—seeing it manifested in noble actions that can and should be emulated (as in lead by example.)

“Devalue—What’s not on the Government’s planning table where the TT$ is concerned and unlikely to be in view of the PNM’s stiff (and proud) reputation on staving off such matters.

Definitely....—off the Rowley Government table, particularly in view of Tuesday’s emphasis against going to the IMF.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s response to the IMF Article Four mission in early 2016—“(Don’t worry) I’m managing the finances.”

Court clothes—What government and Opposition alike may need to have a lot of in 2016.

Depreciate—(But) what’s already happened to the value of the currency as any worker, household planner or kid buying red mango will know: you need more $$ to buy things today than you did yesterday or last year.

Duke (it out)—the 2016 term for Government/labour confrontations (not only for the PSA).

Wonder....—how long it takes comrade Roget and company to start borrowing that term.

Hard wuk—what Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar will have in and out of her party.

Eagle eye—What Government is keeping peeled on the Opposition UNC benches to see if any fallout continues simmering from UNC’s internal elections and if defeated UNC leadership contender Roodal Moonilal adopts an independent role in bill-voting.

Dumbstruck by defeat but not dotish—how UNC loyalists hope leadership contenders really are.

Entrapment—A popular word in the Opposition’s 2016 dictionary for perceived victims of Government.

Governing elite—The Opposition’s 2015/16 take on enemies. See Basdeo Panday’s “parasitic oligarchy.”

Downtime—What elected MPs, public figures, don’t have the luxury of having. 

Especially in tough times. (Note cue from acting PM Colm Imbert, working right after gallbladder surgery.)

Kevin Baldeosingh 

A father’s vocabulary usually predicts his child’s language development by age three. 

A mother’s usually doesn’t. In other words, if a father is well-spoken, his child should be speaking in complete sentences and have a good vocabulary by age three. And it doesn’t matter if a mother has a good vocabulary or not.

Researchers aren’t sure why this is so, but one suggestion, ironically, is that fathers exert more influence over their toddlers’ language development because fathers are less familiar with their children than the mother. 

In a 2012 article in Scientific American, writer Emily Anthes suggested that “Dads may be less sensitive to their children’s language development (perhaps because they spend less time with them) and are therefore more apt to stretch them, speaking at a more sophisticated level.” Mothers, by contrast, tend to talk down to their children. 

If Anthes is right, though, then my wife Afi will influence our children’s language development more than me, because she tends to use more unusual words. When I use unusual words with Jinaki, it’s usually a half-joke on my part, to make her sound precocious. For example, she was able to say, “Daddy doesn’t like pink because it’s too garish and effeminate” months before she learned the meaning of those words.

But, whatever the basis, the fact is that a father is a key influence on a child, whether he is present and involved or not. If he is not, there is ample data showing the bad effects of an absent father: children from such households are more likely to be delinquent, to try drugs and become addicted, and to perform poorly in school. 

While it is true that there are children from such households who do as well or better than the average children from stable two-parent homes, such a child is the exception not the rule: he or she is most likely genetically lucky and with a family network strong enough to replace the absent father.

“Fathers seem to influence children in unique ways,” Anthes writes. “In particular, they play an outsized role in challenging their kids and stretching their emotional and cognitive capabilities.” Fathers seem to teach their children about how to handle risk, usually through play, which is the main way that children learn. “Dads are more likely than moms to bounce their kids on their knees, toss them into the air, give them piggyback rides and wrestle, tickle and chase them,” says Anthes. 

In a sense, this is paradoxical, since children from father-absent households are more likely to indulge in risky behaviour, such as vandalism and drinking and smoking and unprotected sex. Since I don’t think middle-class children are necessarily better-behaved in such respects, my interpretation is that fathers teach their children to manage risk better. 

Afi has a different suggestion which I think more plausible, although it doesn’t necessarily exclude my own: she thinks that fathers through edgy play give children an adrenalin rush, so their brains in teenage years are less likely to crave the excitement fix. Small children from lower socioeconomic households, however, not only are less likely to get such exposure through Daddy play and are also typically ordered not to do things without explanation: “Don’t touch that or is licks for you!”

But even in low-income households, a father’s influence can be significant. According to a 2004 study by American psychologist Meredith Rowe, low-income fathers tend to ask their children more Who, What, Where and Why questions. That helps a child to develop cognitively, including how they talk: and that can be a crucial factor in overcoming poverty. 

The Prime Minister has given our nation an enlightening and commendable address on December 29, 2015, whereby every patriotic citizen should rally behind and support his honest revelations on the ravaged state of the economy. Each of us in our own way must work to defend our economy from the evident threats to our sustainability. 

We are concerned about the possible depletion of the Heritage and Stabilization Fund, and that the prime minister has not explored the correctly tabulated collection of duty, VAT and royalties from two sectors which have fallen under his radar, namely the online import sector and the quarry sector.

It is a statistical fact that 10 per cent of the total national import bill in 2014 was online purchases (approximately 150 million USD. We argue that the collection of duty (20 per cent) and VAT (15 per cent compounded=18 per cent) for the online purchase sector is being loosely managed by our Customs and Excise Division. 

The online import sector has taken our administrations by surprise and the Customs regulations have not evolved apace with this sector’s fast growth. The legally designated Duty and VAT(38 per cent) is not being collected due to loopholes which are causing our treasury to be deprived of approximately half a billion TTD annually. We can argue this with evidence in any forum. Can we afford to subsidise online buyers with duty free imports? 

The second revenue generation blind spot has been revealed in the Green Paper on Minerals Policy 2014, and quoted in the T&T Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) Report which shows several unusual even complicit historic irregularities in the Ministry of Energy’s (mis)management of the legal quarry sector whereby we estimate the Treasury is being deprived of an approximate 1 billion TTD annually. 

“The Green Paper ...also alludes to a potential gross underreporting of production and royalty payments during the period 2001 to 2013 and notes that only 10 per cent of royalties was collected for this period.” 

Interestingly, even though the quarry sector owes the Treasury an underreported, undervalued royalty of over 120 million TTD from 2001 to 2013, all of the 41 operators continue to enjoy renewed licenses without encumbrance or penalty. 

While our respected leaders plan to spend our Heritage and Stabilization funds, should they not, instead, stop the glaring subsidisation of the billionaire quarry operators?

Gary Aboud,
Secretary,
FFOS

SYDNEY—It was a decision a decade in the making: Australia selected Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe for the third Test against the West Indies, marking the first time since 2006 that it has named two specialist spinners for a home Test.

Captain Steve Smith said Saturday that O'Keefe would replace pace bowler Peter Siddle, who has ankle soreness, in the only change to the team which beat the Caribbean side by 177 runs in the second test at Melbourne, clinching the series. Australia won the first test at Hobart by an innings and 212 runs.

The Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground — the country’s most spin-friendly international venue — began last night. The last time Australia employed two spinners in a home test was at the same ground 10 years ago, when Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill played. 

The Malaysian-born left-armer O’Keefe played his only test at Dubai against Pakistan in October 2014, when he took four wickets. Smith said Siddle's ankle “still isn't 100 percent.” 

“He felt it wasn’t best for him to come into this test match the way he is at the moment,” Smith said. “He’s a great team man and felt he would be letting the team down. We were probably going to go the two spinners option anyway.”

In that 2006 match, Australia beat South Africa by eight wickets to clinch a three-test series, but Warne and MacGill both struggled. Warne took 2-106 and MacGill 1-102 in South Africa's declared first innings, while Warne went wicketless and MacGill took 3-33 in six overs in the second innings.

West Indies skipper Jason Holder, who is expected to wait until just before Sunday morning's toss to finalise his team, said Australia's twin-spin option could help his side.

“We have been accustomed to a lot of spin in the Caribbean, so hopefully our batsmen can get into that a lot better than we have during this series,” Holder said Saturday.

“We are basically down to one spinner (Jomel Warrican) with (Devendra) Bishoo being unavailable for this test match. So we just have to work with what we have.”

Teams

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns, Steve Smith (captain), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, James Pattinson, Steve O'Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

West Indies (from): Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican.

MELBOURNE, Australia—Both Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo failed to spark as Melbourne Renegades crashed to a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat to city rivals Melbourne Stars yesterday.

Playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Renegades reached 161 for seven off their 20 overs after they were sent in, with Cameron White top-scoring with 54 from 39 deliveries and captain Aaron Finch getting 36 from 29 balls.

Gayle fell cheaply in the fourth over with the score on 17, scoring just four of ten balls before mis-cuing a simple catch to Kevin Pietersen at mid-on off seamer John Hastings.

Bravo, meanwhile, fell in the final over for just seven off eight balls, bowled by Hastings who finished with four for 29. 

In reply, Stars got a superb unbeaten 109 off 63 balls from Englishman Luke Wright, as they raced to their target off the first ball of the final over. He struck 11 fours and four sixes in a knock which held the innings together as wickets tumbled around him.

Bravo finished with one for 28 from four overs of medium pace.

SYDNEY, Australia—West Indies captain Jason Holder believes parity in earnings will motivate players to focus more on international cricket instead of solely on the lucrative Twenty20 format.

Holder was responding to claims by England star Kevin Pietersen that the game’s biggest stars, especially those from West Indies, were being lost to international cricket because of the lure of T20s.

Holder replaced Ramdin who was sacked after just 15 months in charge.West Indies captain Jason Holder … believes there should be parity in earns in internationals and Twenty20s.

Pietersen, a former Test star who now peddles his talents on the T20 circuit, said the International Cricket Council needed to intervene to ensure there was competitive financial incentives available to players in international cricket.

“I think it’s possibly a way to keep [Test cricket] alive. Obviously we’re in a situation where the money isn’t great for us at the moment and we’ve been in numerous battles for that but that’s beyond our control at this present time,” Holder told reporters on Saturday.

“At the end of the day hopefully somewhere along the line we can have an increasing pay and be paid a little bit better than at the moment.”

Pietersen was echoing sentiments similar to those of West Indies’ chief selector Clive Lloyd who said Friday the money on offer on the global T20 circuit had resulted in several Caribbean players opting out of Test cricket.

West Indies players like Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell are all campaigning in the Big Bash League while in an inexperienced Caribbean side have been locked in a three-Test series with Australia.

Holder said priority needed to be placed on international cricket and believed players would take this option once there was some balance financially with T20s.

“I think we need to strike a balance, and I’m not knocking T20 cricket because I love T20 cricket myself, but we just need to find a way where the country comes first and then we are flexible in terms of allowing people to make money outside of international cricket,” the 24-year-old said.

“I don’t think we should be playing hardball and deny people from going and playing, but there has to be a situation where we make international cricket our first priority. I think once we get to that stage the players will buy in.”

RAMOUTAR, SAHADEO LIONEL (Retired Secondary School Principal) died at his home on 28 December 2015. He was the: Husband of: Jocelyn Ramoutar. Father of: Lynette, Gaile, Christine and Colin. Father-in-law of: Suzanne. Brother of: Rookmin (dec.), Sharmatee, Samuel (dec.), Samdaie (dec.) Chan, Ram, Donna, Savi Relative of: The De Sormeaux, Villafanas, Barcoos, Mohans, Kistows, Sooklals, Manmohans, Ramdhanies, Banwaries, Roopnarines, Ramoutars. Uncle, cousin and friend of many.

The funeral Mass of the late Lionel Sahadeo Ramoutar takes place on Monday 04th January, 2016 at 10:00 am at the Santa Rosa RC Church, Woodford Street Arima, thence to the Foster Road Public Cemetery. 

GONSALVES: KYLE Robert passed away on Saturday 26th December 2015. Son of Gordon and Deborah. Husband of Danielle Rivas Gonsalves. Brother of Erin, Kacie and Zoë. Grandson of Albert and Ailsa Gonsalves (both deceased) and Randolph, (Margaret- deceased) and Jennifer de Silva. Uncle of Madison de Verteuil. Nephew of Glenda, Paula (deceased), Sonia, Geoffrey (deceased), Richard, Robert and Gillian. Son-in-law of Anthony and Judy Rivas. Cousin and friend of many.

Funeral service for Kyle Robert Gonsalves takes place at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday 6th January, 2016 at The Church of Assumption, Maraval. Private cremation. For enquires call R. M. de Souza Memorial Chapel Limited, 223-2007/637-2009  

MILLINGTON: Agatha "Louise" of Bath Street Port of Spain, A loyal member of the Trinity Cathedral, the Mothers Union and the Salvation Army was called home on 23rd of December 2015.  Sister of Kelvin (deceased), Daphne Buyck (USA), Arnold (deceased) and Gwendolyn Bowen (USA). Aunt of Terrance, Glean, Beverly, Marsha, Mark, Anthony, Wayne, Allison, Claudia, Gillian, Jennell, Jenny, Roger, Betty, Bonnie and Lloyd (Jr). Relative of the Burgens, Josephs, and Millingtons. Friend of Eutrice Walker and Lloyd Walker (deceased) and many others.

The viewing takes place at the Trinity Cathedral on Monday January 4th 2016, from 9am. The service follows at 10.30am (at the same location), thence the internment at the Lapeyrouse Cemetery. A collection will be taken up for the Oxford Street Home for senior citizens.  

ALLUM: CLYDE passed peacefully on 29th December, 2015 aged 95, at his residence, Croney Terraces, Blue Range. Formerly of Concord Road and Baggan Ave, San Juan. He was the husband of Irene and Lourdes (both deceased). Brother of Marjorie Tom (Hawaii).

Father of Joan Lue King, Luci Scott, Agnes Ng-A-Fook , Mikey, Johnny, Margaret Nunes, Albert, Elizabeth Tang-Kong. Father-inlaw of Carl (deceased) Monty, Bing, Rae, Sandra, Wayne, Lisa, Stephen. Grandfather of Colin, Derek, Ryan, Danielle, Wesley, Christopher, Nicholas, Tamiko, Mikela, Raenella, Michael, Nicole, Jason, Karla, Jonathan, Joshua, Zachary, Robert, Olivia. Great Grandfather of Autumn, Zoe, Dylan, Hannah, Hailey, Noah, Ella, Keilani. Uncle of Frances, Anthony, Katherine, Alvin all of Hawaii.

Funeral service takes place Thursday 7th January 2016 9:30 am, St. Anthony s RC Church, Petit Valley. No flowers by request. Private interment. For enquiries; call C&B: 625-1170. To Send Condolences please visit www.clarkandbattoo.com 
 

Services for the benefit of children should always be given priority regardless of the economic climate of a country. The prime minister in his address to the nation stated that vulnerable families and children would not be neglected during these challenging times. 

The economic recession demands that we think outside the box to find innovative ways of providing and improving services with the same resources. The times demand that we find ways to work together and to pool resources. 

According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA, developmental problems in children affect about 15 per cent of the pediatric population. The figures may be similar or even more here in T&T. Developmental problems and disability require multidisciplinary services through various ministries including, education, health, social development and office of gender and child development. In difficult times, resources both human and financial, can be pooled towards providing stronger supports for special needs children. 

An example would the lack of very basic public services like speech and occupational therapy; funding may come from different ministries like health, education, social development etc, for the same child. If financial resources from various ministries are pooled into one fund for therapies then more children would benefit and access to therapies would be easier. 

In fact, if resources are pooled and therapists salaries are made more attractive then public services could be established and far more patients seen for a fraction of the cost that it requires to outsource to private therapists. This approach, however, requires communication and working together amongst ministries so that we can maximise the outcome from the resources that we have.  

Let’s consider childhood obesity which is about 20 to 30 per cent here in T&T and climbing. The immediate and long term risks from non communicable diseases (NCDs) including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke etc, are a huge financial burden to economies worldwide. 

Again, in a recession we need to look at how ministries can pool resources and work together. Emphasis on primary health care and prevention is the key and health, education, gender and child development all have a roles to play. The times demand that we work together.

Another major area is children protection which includes managing child abuse as well as having a preventative approach and recognising children at risk and providing supports. This area demands communication and collaboration amongst various ministries and the children’s authority so that resources can be pooled towards a more unified approach. Again, health, education, gender and child development, social development etc, all have key roles to play.

The challenging economic climate demands that we think and act to pool resources and genuinely work together in various ministries to provide solid and sustainable services for all our children. 

Dr P Bahadursingh,
Consultant Community 
Paediatrician SWRHA 

The recent mutated H1N1 virus and the deaths associated with it is very worrying. Some doctors pronounce that it is worse than Ebola because the H1N1 can be spread with very simple interaction, like the flu. The Ebola virus can only be spread with body fluids.

The H1N1 can be very contagious where people are assembled, like Carnival. I remember about a year ago, some prominent people of the health and labour fraternity, recommended the postponement of Carnival when only one person was suspected of carrying the Ebola virus. This time dozens have contracted the virus and deaths have occurred.

Over to you Mr Minister of Health.

Bowe Kishan,
Valsayn