The vast majority in our society cringes every time we hear that a police or security officer is shot, killed or injured in the line of duty. Often, we also hear of such incidents when such brave officers are not on duty. 

Similar incidents were experienced by a number of off-duty prisons officers in the recent past. Soldiers are not spared from these attacks as well—on or off duty.

 It is my fervent belief that there is need to address this matter with some urgency. Such officers risk their lives for the greater good. They take the fight to the streets. One life lost is one too many.

I am not talking about the bad eggs. They should be dealt with accordingly. But the vast majority of our officers are good ones. They need our protection.

I am also not talking about salary increases alone. This should be addressed as they ought to be compensated for risking their lives for us.

Some people usually say, “is dey who choose dat wok, we didn’t force dem.” Well, if no one chose this type of work because it is dangerous, who then will protect us? Will we import such officers?

Therefore, let us help them protect themselves. In addition to appropriate salaries, the associations should be negotiating for training opportunities for their fellow men and women on the best ways of working in dangerous situations that I am certain will get even more brazen as the times go by.  

Officer, save thyself and others!

S Khan

Central

“The most important thing that you did was to earn our trust and that’s priceless because the next time we have to make a judgment call that could be a very important tipping point.” 

These were the words of Ian Galt, the chief information officer for the ANSA McAL Group as he spoke at an appreciation function hosted by blink | bmobile. The function was held to celebrate the successful infrastructure upgrade done by blink | bmobile for sister companies Carib Brewery Trinidad Ltd (Carib) and Caribbean Glassworks Limited (CGL) in March. 

Carib had an outdated infrastructure and the resulting issues were affecting both Carib Brewery and Carib Glass, which in total had over 500 users on the network. The infrastructure upgrade was successful because the expectations of the client were surpassed. The project was completed within time and under budget, and the technical and operational expectations of the client were exceeded. 

A grateful Galt also said: “When you have enjoyed an exceptional level of service as we did, I think it means a lot to say that. I am delighted that I can say that we made the right call to work with blink | bmobile on this project. Thank you. You delivered.” 

A team from blink | bmobile, Trinidad Systems Limited (TSL) and Vibrant Technologies worked on resolving the technical problems being experienced by Carib. TSL was subcontracted to install the fibre and blink | bmobile did the integration and configuration. Vibrant Technologies was the project manager for Carib. 

Kirt Seuchan, Carib Brewery’s IT manager explained how important the project was to Carib. 

“The previous infrastructure we had in place was a flat network. It was really hampering our connectivity and the reliability of the services we provided. The problem was serious.” 

Seuchan echoed Galt’s commendations and said: “Honestly I feel a sense of relief now that the new network is in place. blink | bmobile has done an excellent job. The project was handled as flawlessly as you could imagine and throughout the project there was no downtime at all. We have no issues with the new network. Its 100 per cent faster than the old network and in terms of reliability and service to our users, we are seeing a big difference. Our users are pretty happy.” 

Carib Brewery Trinidad Ltd and Carib Glassworks Ltd employ manufacturing procedures that meet international quality and environmental standards. As a result, the management at Carib was adamant in how they wanted the project to run. 

Colin Syriac, business systems solutions engineer at blink | bmobile worked on the infrastructure upgrade. His role was to ensure that the infrastructure was properly built and within the required standards and spoke about his experience working on the project 

“This was a manufacturing environment and Carib placed a lot of emphasis on health and safety,” he said, adding that this made the project rewarding and challenging.

President of the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of  Commerce Liaquat Ali  said T&T should consider looking to Guyana for increased food security. He was at the time speaking with reporters at a prize distribution for Old Mac Agro Supplies Limited and Trinidad Parboil Limited’s Lenten competition in Couva

Ali said rice one heavily consumed commodities imported into the country.T&T is capable of producing only 10 per cent of the white rice needed, so all of the parboiled rice and 90 per cent of white rice is imported. The figure is more than 40,000 tonnes annually and continues to rise, he said. 

Ali said more T&T businessmen should take advantage of agricultural opportunities in Guyana. He said Old Mac Agro started diversifying its operations into Guyana in the last decade and has now established a rice plantation and a mill in there to ensure the company gets a steady supply of  product for T&T consumers rather than having to depend solely on middlemen.

He said there is a large local demand for beans and animal feed  products such as corn.

In  2013, Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)  with Guyana’s Agriculture Ministry for T&T farmers to access 10,000 acres of arable land for cultivation.  Six commodities were identified for development, including corn, citrus fruits and soya beans. Contacted for an update on that plan, Maharaj said the process is ongoing and Government will act as a facilitator to encourage private investment.

In just over a week, Tobago will play host to the leaders of the European cruise industry when it welcomes the Seatrade Caribbean Cruise forum. 

The forum will be hosted by the Division of Tourism and Transportation, Tobago House of Assembly (THA) from May 13-14 at the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort. The forum will showcase the Caribbean and provide attending cruise line executives with an in-depth understanding and intimate knowledge of the region. 

The Caribbean has consistently been a favoured choice for cruising. According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the Caribbean continues to rank as the dominant cruise destination choice; in 2002, 42 per cent of those who cruised chose to do so in the Caribbean and projected figures for 2015 sees the region holding 35 per cent of the global capacity share. With its vast array of ports of call and year-round mild climate, the region has established itself as a popular destination, made for cruising. 

The forum will see a series of high-level discussions, with a strong focus on the scope for development and opportunities within the Caribbean. Home-port and infrastructure, new itineraries and Shorex development will be key areas of discussion for those attending the forum. 

Confirmed speakers from the European Cruise Lines include Chris Coates Commercial Director, Cruise & Maritime Voyages; Mike Deegan Fleet Director, Noble Caledonia; Claudius Docekal Director, Deployment, Destinations & Charter Sales, Azamara Club Cruises; Christopher Doval, Senior Port Operations Financial Analyst, Worldwide Port Operations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd; Hans Hesselberg Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, MSC Cruises; James Langley Marine Superintendent, Saga Cruises; Michael Pawlus Director of Strategic Itinerary Planning & Scheduling, Silversea Cruises Ltd and Steven Young Director of Port Services & Government Affairs, Carnival UK.

Key industry leaders will also be speaking at the conference. 

Tobago has witnessed a 200 per cent growth in its cruise sector in the 2014/2015 period, fuelled mainly by jump in calls from European cruise liners. 

The Seatrade Caribbean Cruise Forum will exclusively provide ports and tourism authorities the opportunity to meet cruise line executives via pre-arranged, one to one meetings. It is a unique one and a half day event tailored to showcase the Caribbean to European cruise lines. 

The event will provide participating cruise lines with an intimate knowledge and understanding of the region, to help them to assess the possibilities for deployment and increased port calls. This two-way educational programme will also enable the regional port and tourism authorities, and other cruise industry stakeholders, to better understand the infrastructure, port, service and shorex requirements of the cruise lines. 

Seatrade’s Cruise Forums form part of the series of global Seatrade events, websites and publications that covers every aspect of the cruise and maritime industries, bringing together key people to encourage innovation and to produce powerful learning, networking and promotional platforms.  

Founded in 1970, Seatrade was acquired recently in 2014 by UBM, the world’s second largest media and event organiser.

President of the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (AmchamTT) Hugh Howard said some expenditure should be cut back following Moody’s downgrade of T&T’s government bond and issuer ratings. However, he is optimistic the country can survive any impact the negative rating may have on the economy.

In a credit report on the country released late last week, Moody’s also changed T&T’s outlook from stable to negative and said its decisions were due to persistent fiscal deficits and challenging prospects for fiscal reforms, as well as the decline in oil prices and limited economic diversification. The ratings agency also cited inadequate provision of vital macro-economic data.

Howard hopeful T&T can improve its ratings. 

“We have to weather the storm,” he said. “What will be necessary at this stage  is that government will have to cut back on certain expenditure, because at the end of the day the question is what kind of debt to GDP ratio you are going to be raking up? Ours at the moment is not too bad. If you look at our foreign exchange debt, it is pretty low in terms of international norms. If we manage the situation properly I have no doubt that we can weather the storm.”

He warned, however, that the downgrade and negative outlook may result in an increase of interest rates.

“From the governmental aspect, it means that any bond that is issued is going to require a higher interest rate. In other words, if you are going to borrow money at say three per cent, with the downgrade that rate will increase by some factor. It means the cost of borrowing is higher,” Howard said.

“It is something that the country as a whole, would have to take a serious look at and determine how soon we can get Moody’s to reverse this and take us back to where we were before.”

Howard said diversifying T&T’s economy is something the business community has for many years called for. He successfully achieving diversification requires a public and private sector approach.

“You are talking about oil and gas which are wasting assets. Secondly, we are price takers and not price makers in industry. Consequently, it would have negatively affected the economy. Government has indicated this is understandable and they have identified certain areas for diversification. 

“The big question is always implementation. How soon are we going to get these things done? How aggressively are you going to pursue these? 

For T&T, like the other oil and gas-based economies, Venezuela, Nigeria etc, the price of oil was way up. Apparently, people thought this would continue for some time. That has not been the case. 

“Consequently, you cannot replace your oil and gas economy overnight. It will take some time before we get into the true diversification mode. When a matter like this occurs it will serve as a stimulus for government as well as private enterprise to try to accelerate the diversification,” Howard said.

Listen, if you want to see parents catching cold sweats, eating off them finger nails and pulling out them hair, then wait til Tuesday morning, when their children go to sit the Common Entrance Exam.

And even though the Ministry of Education always preach that all schools are the same, cause all them does use the same books and all got good qualified teachers, Bajans ain’t want to hear that. Bajans believe that them got high schools or “good schools,” and duncey schools, and them ain’t want them child gine to no duncey school.

That is why Tuesday morning, when a lot of parents (usually mothers) drop off the children to do the exam, them ain’t leaving. Them gine be outside the exam centres catching cold sweats, and pacing up and down, worrying bout how them child getting through with the exam. And you should hear some of the conversations out there. For instance, you would hear a parent quarelling and saying, “I hope she remember that de plural of sheep is still sheep and not sheeps, cause up to last night I hear she talking bout sheeps. I even ask she what is de plural of mangoose and she tell me mengeese...well at least she get that one right.”

Or you would hear some igrunt parent saying, “I tell he if he don’t get into Harrisons or Queens I gine whitewash he lil backside in blows.”

Or you liable to hear, “well whatever she do is well done for me, them got people who went to high school and ain’t learn nothing; it aint the school you go to, it is what you do when you get there.”

But it is true, they are parents who threaten their children with blows and beat them too if they don’t pass for a “good school.” Which does got the poor child catching the nerves in the exam room and studying the blows them gine get if they don’t do well. Next thing you know, the poor child catch a brain freeze or asthma attack and forget everything it knows.

I telling you, them got a lot of parents who don’t pay any attention to their children’s education til the same week of the exam. They don’t meet with the class teacher when she got meetings, they don’t check to see if the child got home work on evenings or they don’t look through the school books to see how the child doing. They would let the child watch TV and play video games from morning til night. But suddenly, when they remember that the exam gine be Tuesday, they want to run the child’s blood to water.

Imagine, the same night before the exam, them now got the child learning the difference between, their, there and they, and trying to force-feed the child with multiplication tables.

Let me explain something to you, if your child doesn’t know that two twos are four the night before the exam, chances are, it ain’t gine feel that three threes are a forest on the exam morning.

I ain’t telling no lies, children who all year was only getting biscuit and tea for breakfast on mornings, gine get eggs, cream o’ wheat and fry plantain on exam morning, cause the parents want to make sure the brain is well fed for the exam. And don’t talk bout when the results come back, well that is another horror story.

Being technologically agile is a sure way to solve many national problems. United States of America is a good example of that. 

It has reduced/removed its dependency on oil from the Middle East by the developing and implementing of fracturing technology for oil production. 

In dealing with the threat of terrorism, the technology-based systems, at immigration for identification and body scanning at security check-in, are also good examples. These illustrate how technology, if properly implemented, can solve many the problems or issues facing society.

In all areas of endeavour, both in the private and public sectors, properly planned and judicious application of technology are necessary if we are to develop as a society and have our aspirations fulfilled. We must ask ourselves the following hard question. 

Why are not as economically advanced as we should or could be? This assumes even greater significance when one considers our natural and human resources.

Many commentators have and will continue, validly so, to harp on the political and social issues. The intent here is to focus on technological ones. These, of course, also impact on governance and social aspects of the country.

It is the very firm view of this columnist that, as a society, we are yet to understand and appreciative the impact that science and technology can have on the sustained wellbeing and prosperity of a nation. Some might ascribe this to our colonial heritage, plantation culture and the lack of a popular culture of science and technology. This manifests itself, one might infer, in a sort of technological timidity or recalcitrance when it comes to supporting, funding and developing technology. 

So, while all regimes have supported and funded technology training and education, there has not been a corresponding sustained effort on funding Research and Development. Sure there are state-run research institutions but when one evaluates their outcome and impact, the realisation quickly dawns that several are really organisation shells. Or their impact is reported in invisible ink.

The problem is exacerbated by the five-year election cycle. Ancient societies, which were generally agrarian-based, depended on the seasonal rains to nourish their crops and hence their survival and or wellbeing. 

Irrigation technologies were conceptualised, developed and built/implemented to free them from and or reduce their dependence on the weather cycles. Science and technology growth and development, likewise, must be freed from regime change cycles, for the S&T is a long-term investment and must be continuously nourished. Continuity is absolutely necessary for the investments in S&T to be realised. It is no different from any long term financial investment. T&T, for the foreseeable future will be, mainly, an importer of technology. Thus some emphasis must be placed on the adaptation and integration of existing, new and emerging technologies. Part of this effort must clearly be on the implementation of the pre-requisite legislative framework. 

Electronic tracking, for keeping tabs on the movements of career criminals, is a well-established technology. Why has it not been implemented here when there many, with several charges pending, roaming the streets to continue their nefarious activities? 

The use of cameras to record and prosecute drivers who disregard traffic signals is again a fairly standard technology in many countries. These are but two simple examples of areas in which technology is utilised to assist in law and order.

The arrival of big data technology presents significant business potential as does the formalising of the Internet of things. In fact, in the not too distant future, ICT technologies will be the platform upon which governance, business, commerce, entertainment etc, will be based. The leveraging of technology, inclusive of but not restricted to ICT, will be necessary if we are not to be left behind on the road to progress and development. 

I have sat on the fence about this subject for too long: genetically modified organisms aka GMOs. It is time to come clean. I declare that I cannot find any reason to brand GMOs a threat. 

In fact, GMOs—Frankenfoods—hold solutions for feeding more people at less environmental impact. 

Although I am no scientist I always try to base my opinions on scientific fact. Be it the need for a scientifically-managed hunt or how to understand climate change. Science has been my guide.

For years I resisted applying science about whether or not GMOs are safe. I wanted GMOs to be dangerous. It fit in with the cultural need for food to be “natural.” I could not find any convincing evidence to support this. The result was confusion. Rather than write some clouded opinion based on anecdotal evidence and hearsay I kept my silence.

That is not an insignificant thing to do. Not for an environmental opinion maker. Food production is one of the greatest causes of global environmental distress. It affects everything. 

My silence was intellectual cowardice. Keeping quiet on GMOs was a way of pacifying the community of environmentalists—my community—most of whom have fervent anti-GMO opinions. I guess I did not want to lose friends by holding an opinion contrary to group consensus. 

Of course pacifiers are for babies; friends are rarely served by hearing what they want to hear and parroting the words of others is no basis for friendship.  

The problem with forming an opinion about GMOs is that creating organisms in a laboratory setting feels so wrong, so unnatural. It goes against all the teachings about the benefits of “natural” foods. It goes against instinct. It must be a crime against nature. 

Instinct is not always a good guide. Instinctively we feel that the earth is flat. It requires science to prove that it is round. People have been burnt at the stake for professing the round-world theory. Not unlike anti-GMO campaigners burning GMO crops today. Hungary famously burnt over 1,000 acres of GMO corn. I can’t help but think of a parallel with burning books. 

Social media feeds the public’s fear of GMOs. Activists show pictures of rats with cancerous tumours and claim that GMOs are to blame. The origin of this is the now infamous French scientific study by Gilles Seralini that was retracted by the journal in which it was published. Its methodology was flawed. A strain of rats predisposed to tumours was used. It is junk science. 

Another claim is that GMOs toxins make their way into maternal and fetal blood. A 2010 study shows this threat. The Bt protein Cry1Ab is introduced as a pesticide in some GMO crops and a study found it in pregnant women and their unborn babies. This is alarming until you realise that humans have no receptors for the protein. It has no effect on us. Different species react differently to chemical compounds. Do you know that chocolate is toxic to dogs? The worst chocolate will do to you is make you fat (but happy) but it can kill a dog. So, why is nobody burning cocoa trees?  

There is a chasm between science and the pubic on GMOs. A recent PEW Research Center study found that 63 per cent of the American public considers GMO foods a health hazard. Among scientists the total opposite: an overwhelming 88 per cent found GMOs safe. 

A team of Italian scientists reviewed 1,783 studies about the safety and environmental impact of GMOs. The conclusion was that no “significant hazards” have been found. Look it up online: “An overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research.” (Alessandro Nicolia 2014)

GMO offers us an escape out of the conundrum how to feed 11 billion people on earth by the year 2100 without wrecking the planet. GMO plants can be designed to be more productive and require less water, fertilisers and toxic chemicals. They can be engineered to be more nutritious, combatting malnutrition. GMO technology can be used to reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and soil erosion. 

Using anti-science arguments to confuse the public about GMOs is wrong. It amounts to making up stories. It is ok to have differing opinions and to educate to the best of your knowledge and understanding. It is not ok to disregard science—not when you have a duty to inform about something so important to the future of the planet. 

I apologise for having stayed silent. I call on all other environmental opinion makers to investigate GMO science and follow it honestly. 

Ultimately, a Minister of Health who seeks the interest of patients is a good thing for the sector, though such support must be balanced by the need to create a public health administration that operates in better synchronisation with the ministry’s objectives and with clearer support from its line minister.

The most surprising thing said by Minister of Health Dr Fuad Khan in a week of heated words and strong reactions came in an interview in the Sunday Guardian with Clevon Raphael, in which he mentioned, in passing, that the Government had paid out six million dollars as a settlement for an incorrectly administered injection which left the patient permanently impaired mentally.

It was a simple statement, couched in concerns that there was more that he could not discuss because there were other matters in play, but one that pointed to the depth and mass of the iceberg that seems to lie below the surface in the running skirmishes between Dr Khan and the public health sector.

Like any good and competent administrator and manager should be, Dr Khan is concerned about the shortcomings of the healthcare system, and must surely view with alarm the prospect of such shortcomings becoming the subject of multiple lawsuits, and more importantly, eroding public confidence.

The health minister has made it clear that he is keen to be an advocate for the interests of the patients in the public healthcare system, but he has tried to balance that with support for the medical practitioners. Reforms to health need to be patient-centered, given the number of tragic incidents involving women in childbirth that are increasingly coming to public attention.

But Dr Khan does need to look at both the consumer and provider in the system. Last week he outlined two initiatives that were met with outrage by nurses and doctors alike. 

Earlier he had suggested that people who are upset with substandard care should use their cellphones to record incidents of poor care. More recently, he had announced an extension to visiting hours, which further upset the nurses, who believed that it would disrupt their established working patterns and the smooth running of hospitals. 

Nurses were so incensed that they publicly protested the decisions and called on the minister to resign.

He was forced to reverse his new policy adjustments and to modify his new initiatives following the outcry. 

The measures seemed sensible and it is the job of the minister to introduce reforms in the sector under his control. 

The problem for Dr Khan was that he did not engage in consultation with the doctors and nurses who would be affected by these matters. It is one thing to focus on the patient. It is another to not consult enough with the doctors and nurses at the sharp end of the provision of that patient care. The practitioners have liked some of his measures, for example, his commitment to improving security at hospitals. 

That was made after patients were alleged to have attacked nurses and it emerged that security guards were assigned to protect the buildings but not the medical staff.

Ultimately, a Minister of Health who seeks the interest of patients is a good thing for the sector, though such support must be balanced by the need to create a public health administration that operates in better synchronisation with the ministry’s objectives and with clearer support from its line minister.

Dr Khan’s enthusiasm to represent the needs of patients, a welcome development in itself, cannot ignore the many practical realities and difficulties within the public health system, some of which he is well acquainted with as a minister and as a doctor.

BRIDGETOWN—West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has praised the character of the regional side after they beat England by five wickets in the third Test on Sunday, to steal a share of the three-Test series. Set 192 for victory, West Indies reached their target late in the evening at Kensington Oval, to record their first win over England in six years and only the third in the last 15 years.

And Simmons, who took over at the helm of the squad just prior to the start of the series, said the victory meant a lot to the side especially following the results in the first two Tests. “I can’t say about [what it means for] West Indies cricket in general but I know for the Test team it’s been huge because the guys have worked hard for the last four weeks,” Simmons told a post-match media conference.

“To have played so well in Antigua and Grenada and not come out with anything, you saw the determination of the guys – especially the bowlers – to come out of this with something so it’s huge for us.” He added: “That’s the biggest thing I can take from it that everybody showed character because for the bowlers to bowl out England for such a low score in the second innings, just shows massive character coming out at this early stage of my tenure so it’s great for me to see.”

West Indies came in for criticism before the series, with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves describing the Caribbean side as “mediocre” and saying he expected England to easily win the contest. Simmons, a former Test player, said the team had not taken on the criticism and noted the victory now sent a strong signal to the critics.

“Let him decide that (mediocre comment) now, I’ll leave that for him to judge,” Simmons quipped. “I think when he’s walking out he’ll see a few signs going out there with the meaning of it so I’ll leave that for him.” And like Graves, Simmons said he believed West Indies were underestimated by the media, who were now likely to heap pressure on his opposite number Peter Moores.

“I suppose the criticism will come because the media will see it as number three playing number eight … I think we were [underestimated] by the media and Colin Graves’ statement showed it that there was an underestimation of what we can do,” the Trinidadian explained. “I don’t think it was done by the [England] team but he’s going to come into that sort of criticism because it’s number three playing number eight.”

West Indies drew the first Test at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium before losing the second at the Grenada National Stadium last week by nine wickets.

CMC

The management of sickness can be divided in two. One is for the physician to prescribe “big things” like surgery or medication. The other is for “little things” to be recommended. 

You would think it’s the big things that matter. In fact if you don’t do the little things, the failure rate for the big things is high, very high.

Take a look at something learned years ago for treating diaper rash. Man, you can apply all the creams and anti-fungal ointments that you want, unless you expose the baby’s bottom, it just ain’t going to get better or, if it does get better, it’ll take far longer. 

You not only have to take that diaper off and leave it off for some hours a day, you have to change the diaper as soon, repeat as soon, as the baby urinates or stools. If you don’t, that rash is not going to improve. 

One of the advantages of living in the Caribbean is that you can prescribe six hours by the seashore for diaper rash. Just that, just that, makes the rash better. The opposite is not so. Just medicine does not help.

This business of sea, salt and sand or salt water, sun and exposure will help most irritant rashes. It is also ideal for sinus problems. Not the common cold or asthma which are often worsened by a day at the beach, but their first cousin, sinus, as in chronic runny nose, morning cough, sneezing and yampie in the eyes, and a persistent gravelly throat. 

I reckon a tumble in the Maracas waves and a good flush out of my nasal passages has done more for my sinus than any nasal spray. 

Another good reason to live near the beach but if you do not, any of the many saline sprays available OTC, is mandatory for sinus problems.

The opposite of exposure is protection as in keep away from. That’s what you need when your child is vomiting or has diarrhoea. The mainstay of treatment for any vomiting or diarrhoea, is staying away from certain foods. It is not medication which is almost useless. It’s diet. 

Almost immediately the symptoms will lessen and you will feel better. The traditional acronym for this diet is BRAT or banana, rice, apple and toast. Adding green tea gives you a local acronym and another source of energy and hydration, one that sick children will not always appreciate. Older ladies will cherish that extra T.

The rational behind this diet is that there are foods that have the potential to damage the stomach and gut and that when those organs are already irritated and inflamed, certain foods worsen the inflammation. Examples are milk or any dairy product; grease, oily or fried items; foods with lots of fibre (legumes, greens and grains); most fruits except apples, banana and its cousins, plantain and green fig. Of course junk food. Even after 40 years it continues to surprise me when parents come in with a vomiting child who has just been given a lunch of chocolate and dinnermint. Or buy the child doubles after a particularly explosive diarrhoeal session.

Staying home from day care or pre school or school itself is another prerequisite for improvement of colds and coughs especially nowadays when classrooms are air-conditioned. 

Carpet and air-conditioning, the double whammy of persistent runny noses and hacking coughs, like whiskey drunk straight from the bottle at Test matches, is a staple in the breathing diet of our children since the 70’s oil boom. 

It’s not only the physical environment, it’s the stress. No matter how much the child enjoys school, there is no place like home for rest. 

Rest, the sleep of dreams and peaceful breathing, secure in the embrace of mummy, makes children better! If mother can afford to stay home, that is! Well then, granny? No, tantie? No? Well, take yuh bounce, little one. Back to the day care.

Soap is another wonderful little thing that is hardly mentioned anymore. 

Yet soap is a useful disinfectant when used in small amounts. It’s cheap too. Wash wounds, scrapes and insect bites with soapy water to prevent infection. There is no need for more expensive lotions or creams. Even when there is infection, washing with soap hastens the healing process and prevents spread. 

Little things also help big people who break their hips. The necessary operation is only half the treatment. If you don’t exercise that hip after the operation, it will never be the same. 

Too many people do some therapy with the physiotherapist for a few weeks and limp around the rest of their lives. 

Therapy hurts but exercise seldom kills anyone and laying around after surgery is an almost sure guarantee of clots and heart and lung problems.

Simple things, little things. Expose the rash. Salt water, natural or made up for noses, eyes and throats. Diet for Gastro. 

Rest at home for colds with fevers. Simple soap! And exercise for old, aching bones. 

Over the past few weeks the papers have carried two stories of mothers dying in or just after childbirth. “Is this a new thing?” asked a friend of mine on Facebook. Sadly, the answer is no.

T&T has an abysmal record in maternal mortality and morbidity, as anyone with passing interest in the topic can tell you. 

The maternal mortality rate represents the number of women who die per 100,000 as a result of pregnancy, either during or within 42 days of the end of a pregnancy.

T&T’s rate as recorded by the World Bank is 84; an undated document I found online on the UN’s Web site gave the figure as 90. Yet Planning Minister Dr Bhoendratt Tewarie, as quoted in a newspaper article on April 19, 2015, gives it as 64.

As I wrote in this space in 2013, Dr Bharat Bassaw, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Mt Hope, was quoted in an October 2012 article in the T&T Guardian as saying, “If 100,000 women are pregnant, we expect 60 or 70 to die. This is very, very high. (In) the United Kingdom you can expect approximately one woman in 100,000 to die.”

So there is no clear definitive rate for T&T. However, I will use the World Bank figure of 84 per 100,000.

In contrast, the maternal mortality rate in Canada is 11. 

One might be tempted to say that Canada is a developed country and therefore it isn’t surprising its maternal mortality rate is so much lower than ours. However, in fact, although Canada is developed, some of its people live in conditions rivalling those found in a developing country. 

In an article on the Web site Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, the author noted that between 50-62 per cent of Canadian First Nation children live in poverty. How is it that, despite this, the Canadian maternal mortality rate is so much better than ours?

Even when one compares our maternal mortality rate to what appertains in such countries as Jamaica (where it is 80) and Barbados (where it is 52), it becomes clear that T&T’s rate is unacceptably high. 

Barbados has a GDP per capita of US$14,917; Jamaica’s is US$5,464. T&T’s is US$17,523—again, according to the World Bank. There’s a clear gap between the wealth of Jamaica and the wealth of Barbados, which could go some way towards explaining the gap between their maternal mortality figures. But what explains T&T’s gap with Barbados? There’s not that big of a difference between our GDP per capita, yet Barbados’ maternal mortality rate is considerably lower than ours.

Minister of Health Fuad Khan said in a news report last week that the deaths of Keisha Ayers, 24, and Sharlene Kowlessar, 35, were unavoidable. Each died of a pulmonary embolism, he said, “one of the most common causes of sudden death in individuals.” It is also an elevated risk in pregnancy and childbirth—especially in women having C-sections. 

I am no doctor, so I can’t speak to these particular deaths. But this in no way means that I agree they were unavoidable, contrary to what the Minister’s statement suggests.

Our women are dying at unacceptably high rates due to pregnancy and childbirth and there is no excuse for this.

The first thing we need to do to address our terrible problem with maternal mortality is to acknowledge that we have a problem that is not merely lamentable but dire. Minister Tewarie, in the news report I referred to above, is quoted as saying the rate he gave “means that this is something that we did not do well. And this is an issue of major concern.”

Next I would ask both Dr Khan and Dr Tewarie to produce up-to-date and comprehensive figures on the topic. One cannot create policy based on guesswork. 

What are our most pressing problems? Is it (as I suspect) gestational diabetes at the core of our problem? 

Is it preeclampsia, which is one of the most prevalent causes of maternal mortality worldwide? Or is it that we have too many adolescents giving birth—another factor heavily influential in maternal mortality?

Finally, in my experience, we have a fairly good culture of women going to antenatal clinic and doctor visits. What then is the relationship between this and our high maternal mortality rate?

We are failing our mothers when we give pat explanations of why so many of them are dying every year during pregnancy and childbirth. We must—and can—do better.

I read with great interest an article in Newsday, April 26, 2015, “Catholic Church seeks $21 million for education project.”

This is a very laudable project and I quote from Dr Terrence Farrell, chairman of the Catholic Religious Education Development Institute, “If I have a child who can turn out to be a Vidia Naipaul or an Earl Lovelace down in a Laventille classroom, that child may never realise their potential. That is what we need to uncover. That is what the whole thing is about.”

I juxtapose this with the Bocus Lit Fest which is happening now and believe that Dr Farrell is recognising something which Bocus Lit Fest is missing.

Dr Farrell is hoping, among other goals, to uncover and nurture latent talent with the Equity in Education in T&T project. Bocus once included a competition for young writers, The Allen Prize for Young Writers, founded by Lisa Allen-Agostini. which sought to do the same. However, this competition has gone into hibernation or has been withdrawn.

It is sad that Bocus is no longer focusing on finding this talent and nurturing it. Yes, I know there are children’s workshops to teach the craft. Children are also given the opportunity do a book review or character sketch but only it is only through the competitions that those with particular talents or gifts are identified.

Lystra Cuffy 

Maraval 

Sunday afternoon we decided to spend the evening and night on our boat with two other boats that were in Scotland Bay.

At around 5.45 we entered the bay and there were four “party boats” there. One anchored by the dogleg, and three were tied together right in the middle of all the anchored yachts and boats (about 15) at the end by the mangroves. These vessels were named Vibz, O-Fish-Al and Devotion. These boats were there since about 3.30 pm.

The level of noise (you cannot call it music) emanating from these boats was such, that my wife and I, standing next to each other on the bow, had to raise our voices in order to hear each other.

This continued until about 7 pm when two boats left, leaving Vibz at anchor. At this point a complaint was made to the Coast Guard, who advised that “they would pass the report to their seniors.”

At about 8 pm, Vibz then started shooting off fireworks; this, despite the clear danger to the yachts and boats anchored nearby. Not to mention the risk of bush fires and the damage to the peninsular.

A second call to the Coast Guard was answered with “We have no jurisdiction in Scotland Bay.”

Obviously, the captain of Vibz had a friend in the Coast Guard who must have telephoned him about the complaints as the DJ shouted to his crowd over the PA: “The Coast Guard wants us to turn off the music, what do you think of that?” And continued to encourage the crowd to party on, with even higher volume.

Eventually about 8.30 pm, this boat weighed anchor and left, to the relief of the other boaters who only wanted to enjoy a quiet evening.

I have several questions:

n What gives these party boats the right to disturb the peace of others with impunity? How can three party boats disturb over 15 other boats, and nothing is done, even after the Coast Guard is notified?

n Each boat had over 50 (seemingly) drunken passengers. Have any of these party boats ever been inspected for safety or seaworthiness? Are they insured? 

n How can party boats with seemingly drunk people on their bows and decks not trigger some kind of safety violation? Oh, of course, the Coast Guard does not have jurisdiction! Well then, who does?

n If the Coast Guard does not have jurisdiction on the sea, then why is the Government spending billions on new boats and ships for them? But then again that’s another subject.

n Where are the CDA and the EMA in this?

As with everything else in T&T, the law-abiding citizens are the victims, and no one in authority gives a hoot or does anything about it! 

Andrew Dalgliesh

Diego Martin

I write in response to the headlined story “Trouble in Arima.” The only trouble in Arima is that a small group of people insist on attempting to hold the party to ransom with their demands for Ms Penelope Beckles Robinson to be the candidate for Arima. 

Any how you cut it or dice it, it is a small group insisting on having their own way. The purported signatures of the 27 party group chairmen in reality represent at most only a miniscule number of people, out of the more than 26,000 registered voters in Arima and it could very well only represent 27. You see, as a member of a very active party group, with 25 registered members; our average attendance at any meeting is 15. Even the Arima Constituency, at its group representative meeting in the height of its emotional upheaval could have only mustered up a paltry 15 members. So those 27 purported signatures appended to the document really say very little. 

More than that, some of the people whose signature appears on the petition have indicated that when they placed their signature on the sheet, it was not in rejection of the named candidate, Mr Garcia. 

Mr Cassimire and Mr Bobby Charles are correct—the PNM supporters in Arima want to put this behind them. Their focus now is to win the seat for the People’s National Movement. It is the sentiment expressed on the ground; it is what is communicated to Mr Anthony Garcia as he walks the constituency from Aripo to La Fillette; from Santa Rosa to Calvary. And it is what Ms Pennelope Beckles-Robinson should be communicating to her few disgruntled followers if she is genuine when she says she continues to support her party.

Why is Mrs Pennelope Beckles-Robinson not instructing her black-clad subjects that it is time to end their silliness and ensure that the PNM wins Arima? Is it that she believes that the only way she can serve the party is by being the Member of Parliament for Arima? Or is it that she feels that the screening committee will change its mind about the selected candidate? Do the sensible thing Penny and call off your few!

Kendall Delpino

Arima

It would be remiss of anyone to either take Moody’s downgrade lightly or play silly politics of one-upmanship. Instead, it is a stark reminder that with immediate effect, we should look carefully at some of the lifestyles that we as citizens have set in train. It is one thing to say that the downgrade was informed by continued budget deficits. What should be said is that the deficit was derived from funding a social safety net that accounted for more than 50 per cent of national revenues. 

The Opposition will not say this and should the Government cut any spending, the PNM who are now trying to score points will be the first to say that the government is targeting low income groups and read race into it. 

The budget deficit was not derived from loan repayments for failed projects. As a matter of a fact, the Government is funding construction of the Point Fortin Highway and other road infrastructure from the Consolidated Fund. We must also look at the downgrade without baliser blinkers. Our economy has always been dependent on oil and natural gas. Petrotrin was recently downgraded due the fall in oil prices, never mind gains made in productivity and efficiency. You ask any self respecting oil worker if he or she will take a salary cut or VSEP and go into planting crops or take up waitering or sewing and the answer from Ancel Roget would be hell no! So the reality is that diversifying the economy will never happen under the PP and even less under the PNM. 

But what about natural gas? Has Moody’s ignored this or is their criteria still structured for oil dependent economies? How many vehicles have we brought into the country, fritting away foreign exchange? Hello, money spent on each vehicle finds its way into expenditure on imports—read outflows of foreign exchange—for which there is no corresponding inflow. 

So each time a citizen buys a vehicle, either high or low price, think outflow, think deficit, think about the dim view that Moody’s is taking about you doing something for you. Will anyone cut back on their Internet shopping now that the framework for austerity measures to be taken by a future government is being constructed? Will the incoming government, say PNM, be prepared to implement and raise taxes, remove the fuel subsidies? 

Will anyone have the guts to reduce the level of transfers and subsidies and risk what happened to Mr Robinson when he saved this nation from ruin by cutting public servants’ salaries by 10 per cent? Do we really want to be recognised and distinguished as a nation of gardeners, hoteliers, merchants and artisans? I dare anyone to realistically respond to Moody’s. 

We must keep the faith: there is not a single record of debt default by T&T. Instead, the Government has bailed out two failed financial institutions, which could have had far greater impact on the nation. 

There is no structural decline resulting in lay-offs and retrenchment, other than nuisance labour unrest. Why didn’t Moody’s take this into account when considering “Government’s weak fiscal policy?” 

God bless this nation.

Lystra Marajh

Glencoe 

Last Saturday night, I stayed up well beyond my usual bedtime to watch Floyd Mayweather fight Manny Pacquiao. It may be a bit late now, but I swear that I will never go out of my way to watch another Mayweather fight. Sure, he may be the best pound-for-pound fighter of his era, but he’s just too smart to be entertaining. 

All he ever does is jab, move, and clinch. He’s all about the money, but he doesn’t give the fans their money’s worth. He reminds me of another great pound-for-pound fighter of an earlier era: Sugar Ray Leonard. He was the master of the pit-a-pat flurry and the bolo punch. All form and no substance. Give me Pacquiao and the legendary Roberto Duran any day over these two American showmen.

Nigel Bishop

An ongoing tracking opinion poll being conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) is showing a close election between the ruling PPP/C and the opposition PNC (renamed APNU)-AFC with the incumbent party just marginally ahead. 

The PPP never lost an election in Guyana but is facing its toughest election in its electoral history with a significant percentage of its traditional PPP supporters defecting to the opposition while traditional PNC supporters are cheering for their party to vote out the PPP. The poll finds that voters are sharply divided by race in how they will vote, which party (alliance) they want to win, and in their views on which party they feel will (and want to) win the May 11 general elections. Almost every African and person of mixed descent feel the opposition PNC-led coalition will win, while most Indians, Chinese and (Whites) Portuguese feel the PPP will (and want to) win. The native Amerindians are divided with some saying PPP will win, some saying the opposition coalition will win, and the others saying it is too close to call.

Among those Indians who say the election is too close, they want the PPP to win. And among those Africans who say the election is too close to call, they want the coalition (many calling it the PNC) to win. Amerindians who say the election is too close to call want the PPP to win. The majority of Amerindians are supporting the PPP, saying the PPP has done a lot for them since 1992 while they suffered under the PNC dictatorship prior to 1992. The election has become close because a significant number of disgruntled Indians are breaking from their traditional voting pattern, angry with the PPP for neglecting them and for various other reasons, saying they will cast ballot for the opposition coalition to bring about change. 

It is not a pro-coalition vote but an angry anti-PPP vote to teach the ruling party a lesson for ignoring them and attending to the needs of supporters of the PNC. Those Indians who are supporting the coalition continue to make the distinction that they are voting for the AFC component of the coalition and not APNU. The AFC is supported primarily by Indians and funded by Indian businesses, many of which complain of a lack of government contracts. If Indians were to return to the fold, the PPP will eke out a narrow victory. Analogously, the poll finds very little cross-racial voting among Africans for the Indian-based PPP. While Indians are splitting their vote, Africans are lining up solidly behind the PNC (APNU). 

Most Indians and Amerindians, as well as most of the sprinkling of Portuguese and Chinese, say they are voting for the PPP because the coalition is rife with PNC officials who were connected to the atrocities committed during the PNC dictatorship. They express a fear of resurrection of the dreaded mandatory national service where women were raped, ban of essential goods like flour and channa, seizure of farm produce by state companies, preventing private companies from engaging in imports and exports, currency restrictions, property seizure, and reintroduction of government owned businesses that will squeeze out privately owned businesses, among other concerns. A large majority of voters say they do not want a repeat of the abuses that took place when the PNC was in office. Asked which party or alliance they think will win the election, 35 per cent say PPP/C, 34 per cent the coalition, 24 per cent “too close to call,” and 7 per cent no response.

Vishnu Bisram