Well, we had the First National Breastfeeding Symposium, sponsored by the Ministry of Health and the Breastfeeding Association, at the Hyatt Regency last week and everyone says it was a success. One newspaper even had an editorial on it. The Minister of Health made an excellent speech, mildly criticising the formula companies for their misleading advertisements and correctly identifying the problem of mothers having to go back to work as the major reason for stopping breastfeeding. He pointed out that most moms start exclusive breastfeeding at birth but that by six months only six per cent are still exclusively breastfeeding.

To obtain complete value from breastfeeding, it must be exclusive. Nothing else, no water (not even in the tropics), no vitamins, nothing goes into the baby’s mouth but breastmilk. As amazing as it sounds, many of the earlier studies which purport to show that breastfeeding is only a little bit better than bottle feeding made the mistake of not making this distinction. A baby who is breastfed for a couple of weeks was cast into the same category as a baby who was exclusively breastfed for six months. A little is not the same as all, even if a little breastmilk is better than none. Amazing that researchers would make this mistake, but then who ever said that scientists or doctors have a monopoly on common sense. 

The true advantages of breastfeeding come when you exclusively breastfeed for six months and then supplement with real food from the family table. That is when you can talk about a decrease in infections and certain cancers (for both mother and child) and less obesity (for both mother and child), and its sequelae the non-communicable diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes) (for both mother and grown up child). Bottom line, better health and enormous financial savings for a country, both in the short and long term.

The annual bill for our CDAP medications for non-communicable diseases is about US$100 million. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life has been shown to decrease the risk of obesity in adults by about 20 to 25 per cent. So breastfeeding alone can save us around US$20 to 25 million annually. There are other factors to add to that figure. Environmental savings. Foreign currency retained by not importing formula and whole cow’s milk. Costs saved by decreased doctor visits. Increased productivity by nursing mothers, et cetera.

How then can any government say to mothers, you must exclusively breastfeed for six months whilst forcing them to return to work at three and a half months? That does not make much sense, does it? The Minister did allude to this when he made a recommendation to the trade unions to include obligatory breastfeeding breaks during their negotiations with employer associations or the state. One response from a trade union leader was that they had been asking for precisely that for years and that if a government wanted to support nursing mothers they had the majority in Parliament to pass legislation.

My response to both comments is that it is far easier to make fully paid maternity leave last longer, at least six months, than to leave it to companies. 

That may sound like a radical proposal but it is not. The Economist of May 14, 2015, not the most radical of magazines, reports that, “Paid maternity leave is standard in all but two of 185 countries: America and Papua New Guinea. Both of them have no maternity leave.” The American government does often find itself in bed with some strange folks. 

The Economist goes on to say, “By contrast, in Britain new mothers can take a year off, and during much of it part of their salary is replaced by the government. Sweden grants more than a year’s paid maternity leave—even to women who were not previously employed.” 

Most other European countries give one year’s maternity leave. Many countries allow both parents to share as long as two (France) or even three years (Spain) of unpaid leave. Germany allows new parents to take up to 14 months of parental leave on 65 per cent of their salary.

That has not hurt their productivity. In fact there is evidence that maternity fosters productivity. And if you are so cynical that you are afraid that Trini moms will take advantage of the leave by having child after child after child, then you have a cut-off point, after two children or three children in so much time or whatever. Or pay can be negotiated. Four months fully paid, three months half pay or variations on the above.

At the same time you proceed with the idea of establishing comfortable lactation rooms, so that mothers who return to work can pump their breastmilk, beginning with Ministry of Health hospitals, health centres and offices and spreading to other government offices. It costs just above TT$1000 to set up such a room. And you pass legislation to private companies who start up lactation rooms to make tax deductible claims.

If all this seems beyond you, the latest idea will shock you. According to the same Economist in the article, titled “More Hands to Rock the Cradle,” “Many countries are proud of their maternity leave, and rightly so: the social and economic benefits of making it possible for working mothers to spend time with their newborn children are clear. But many of those countries have failed to follow the argument through to its conclusion. The gains from maternity leave would be multiplied if countries extended it to apply to fathers, too.” Fathers!

It goes on to say, “Fathers and offspring benefit. When a woman hands her baby to the father and heads out of the door to work, he learns how to be a better parent. The hands-on habits he picks up persist: fathers who take even short paternity leave play a bigger role in child-rearing years later. An international study found that they were more likely to brush their toddlers’ teeth, feed them and read to them. Babies whose fathers take paternity leave go on to do better in cognitive tests at school. Fathers are generally keen on their progeny, so some time to bond with them is a boon. Some men who thought that child care would not be much fun discover that they rather like it.”

Remarkable words from a respected, conservative, business oriented magazine. What is the ministry waiting for? We all complain that fathers are not taking care of their offspring. Here is a proven mechanism to overcome that. And cost effective too. What is the position of the various political parties re maternity and paternity leave?

Over the weekend UTT hosted the world premiere of a piece of multi-media art steeped in our history. River of Freedom: The Story of the Journey of the Merikins combines a historical narrative, illustrative paintings and a musical score. It debuted on Friday night in St Mary’s Village, Moruga, and continued through two performances on Saturday at Napa, Port-of-Spain.

I took The Lady to the Saturday matinee, at which there were a number of people wearing jersies labelled “Merikins.” In case you, like her, haven’t heard of the Merikins, here’s a little background.

Enticed into fighting for the British against the United States in the war of 1812, enslaved black Americans from Maryland, Georgia and Virginia escaped slavery to join the British Navy.

The British promised them in return land and freedom in the colonies. Six companies of these soldiers and their families settled here—some 781 people in all, according to a long article on the topic on Nalis.com.

These were the “Merikins” who settled in the Company Villages in South Trinidad between 1815-16. The arrivals became farmers, growing rice, corn, potatoes, bananas and cassava. In time they would establish institutions such as the Cowen Hamilton Secondary School.

Never having heard of the Merikins before, The Lady wanted to know why she had not been taught the story in school. I wonder the same thing myself.

New Orleans native Caitlynn Kamminga wrote the script for the production, a dramatisation of the story of how formerly enslaved American blacks ended up in Trinidad in the 19th century. 

Kamminga, a UTT music faculty member, also wrote the script for last year’s Jab Molassie, which her Web site describes as “a re-working of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat.” 

However, unlike Jab Molassie, River of Freedom was performed as a staged reading and not a full staging.

Kamminga played upright bass in the ensemble performing her colleague Adam Walters’ River score.

Walters, who is from the UK, is assistant professor of music at the UTT Academy for the Performing Arts. He has previously written music based on T&T history—namely The Old Yard, a piece that takes its motifs from traditional Carnival character themes. 

He does something similar with the three movements of River of Freedom, taking influences (although not direct motifs) from the music of the American South, Britain and Trinidad’s Spiritual Baptists.

“The layout of the pan gave me the first idea for the piece,” he says in a note in the River of Freedom programme. 

“To me, these fourths and fifths represent ‘new beginnings’ as they come about by simply playing the notes in the order they are placed on the pan, rather as a beginner player might do. 

“In this way, the starting point of the instrument comes to symbolise the starting point of this story.”

Pannist Mia Gormandy performed with the ensemble, as did classical vocalist Krisson Joseph. Accomplished actor Michael Cherrie, an old friend of mine, narrated the performance.

All were under the baton of Maestro Kwamé Ryan, whom I met for the first time on Saturday. Ryan, son of UWI’s Prof Selwyn Ryan, is a celebrated conductor who will appear in Australia, Paris and London, among other locations, over the next few months.

Rounding off the high-profile team of artists on the project, Che Lovelace painted the artwork shown on a screen over the back of the ensemble. 

The scenes shown told the tale of the journey from the American South that the enslaved blacks fled to escape slavery, through the war itself and the “black soldiers in red coats” and the lives the arrivals built in Trinidad. 

River of Freedom was produced in collaboration with the US Embassy. 

While I am very excited that the work was created, and am always happy to learn of artistic collaborations, I must admit I’m a little saddened that it took an American woman and an Englishman to make this particular piece of art. 

I am not inherently xenophobic—don’t get me wrong. It is just that I feel we have so much work to do to preserve our heritage and we’re just not doing enough.

Kudos to UTT for being the crucible for this and other such projects. More of them need to happen—and more T&T artists need to undertake creative investigations of our people, our history and our culture.

The term “scientific polling” is probably a misnomer. Some say that polling is a science, others that it is an art. The truth lies somewhere in between. The phrasing of questions may influence the outcomes. Sometimes the pollsters get it all wrong as was seen in the recent UK elections.

Recent polls in T&T reveal that there are some 33 per cent of undecided voters and political parties must be tinkering with their strategies to appeal to this block. Waste of time and effort.

I am not discounting the notion of undecided voters entirely, as it may apply in different circumstances in different jurisdictions.

But my thesis is that in our circumstances today in T&T it does not apply. There are no undecided voters.

Whether the elections are called in six weeks’ time or in September, or even postponed for any unseemly reason, people have already decided. 

There is a block of about 25 per cent of eligible voters who for varying reasons will not vote. This block consists of those who never vote plus the net result of those who move into or out of this block.

Of the 75 per cent (and I expect a large turnout), perhaps 95 per cent have already made up their minds, which leaves about 5 per cent who do not even realise that their minds are already made up. 

To those political analysts who claim that we are maturing politically I hold the opposite view, that after five years of the UNC-led administration which has taken ethnic stocking to new levels given its perception that previously unbalanced opportunities must be put right, I say that we have regressed to the stage that voting will be based purely on race and/or self interests, which often times mean the same thing. Forget the manifestos.

The situation is so clear for those who have eyes to see, that one only has to read the many daily letters to the newspaper editors (a form of self imposed poll). 

By far, in the majority of letters, one needs only to read the surname of the letter writer before reading the content to know on which side of the fence the writer stands (the same applies to some columnists).

The die is already cast, the votes are waiting to be counted. Kamla Persad-Bissessar need not fear. She always puts God in front and walks behind. 

All that remains is for her to pull out the election date from wherever she has it, let the people go through the formal process, culminating with the official pronouncement by the Elections and Boundaries Commission. 

God is a Trini and He will decide and to those who don’t like the outcome take comfort in your faith (you are being tested) that God knows best. Who says that religion and politics don’t mix.

Annette Singh

Via email

I write in response to the recent letter regarding the suspension of the Allen Prize and the subsequent exchange of letters regarding the work of the Bocas Lit Fest. 

Firstly, the Allen Prize was the gift of an individual to the nation’s children. Bocas collaborated with the donor to support the children’s writing workshops and present the annual award at the Bocas Lit Fest. It was a very positive initiative and we too hope that it could be revived, not least, as it is a key part of the strategic plan we envisage for increasing literary activity in T&T, starting with the young. 

We applaud the proposed plans by Terrence Farrell and company for working with the young people of downtown Port-of-Spain, and all the other people working with children and young adults in many diverse projects. No one group or individual can remedy all the ills of our society but together the work can produce a positive effect.

Secondly, the Bocas Lit Fest team is very aware that the reading and writing of stories is mistakenly perceived as elitist, because we all enjoy stories, in various forms—sung in calypsoes, seen in film, acted out on stage, told in fables or written on the page. 

Bocas uses all these forms of storytelling to communicate in year-round free events. We also realise that how children are brought to storytelling is critical in growing an appreciation of reading and writing in any one of those forms of creative expression. 

So, we work through the Ministry of Education and with international partners to bring the best contemporary Caribbean texts to young people in schools, and with teachers in methods of engaging creatively with their students. 

We work year round running prizes that reward achievement, that offer the chance to develop skills and professional contacts; that distribute books and create jobs. 

We also, every year, run a series of free, month-long national creative storytelling workshops for children up to age 13, including children in homes. We collect and edit the children’s stories, which every year appear weekly in a Sunday Junior paper and are also published in book form. 

Each child receives a copy with his or her name included as a contributor, thereby demystifying books and providing targeted reading matter. That is hardly elitist.

Thirdly, Bocas draws on our oral traditions (as our name “mouths” commits us to doing), using them as basic forms of storytelling. We have worked with calypsonians, through TUCO, to run calypso lyric writing workshops and always feature extempo calypsonians at the festivals, as well as traditional characters who use words as part of their performance—Pierrot Grenade and Midnight Robber. 

Our collaboration with the young people of the 2Cents Movement has brought the popularity of the spoken word to national attention and we have taken it into secondary schools, engaging with over 35,000 children. 

The Bocas Lit Fest is only five years old and it has a developed much more than the three annual festivals it organises, but we cannot do everything and do not have all the answers. We welcome suggestions, volunteers, friends, partners and sponsors. 

Contact us at: info@bocaslitfest.com. See our Web site: www.bocaslitfest.com

Marina Salandy-Brown

Founder & Director

Bocas Lit Fest

So that we can make rational assessments of the interest and philosophy of the contesting political parties outside of the normal ethnic loyalties, I propose the following 12 questions for the upcoming leaders’ debate organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Debates Commission that may never get answered or asked:

1. What is the party’s philosophy on national development?

2. Why do you think our police service, public service, health, judiciary, parliament, teaching service and other institutions are in such a poor state?

3. What is your policy with regards to agriculture and food security and why do you think we are failing in agriculture?

4. What is your philosophy on education and national training and what policies you propose to manifest this?

5. After 30 years and two political attempts and failures at national unity—1985 NAR and 2010 People’s Partnership, what is your philosophy on national unity and how do you propose to achieve this?

6. What are your programmes for full and meaningful employment?

7. What do you propose to improve the effectiveness of our local authorities?

8. Why do you think our present and past governments have performed so badly?

9. What is going to make your party different from previous governments?

10. What are your plans for a more reliable national transportation system?

11. What do you propose for improving our health service?

12. What policies do you intend to institute to reduce the gap between haves and have nots—that have a direct bearing on crime—that would be an improvement on what prevails?

Neil Reynald

Santa Rosa Heights, Arima

Can anyone indicate the reason why renewing a passport in Trinidad and Tobago takes six to eight weeks in this day and age? A quick survey of our Caribbean neighbours will reveal that in Barbados it takes between seven to 14 working days to process a passport. 

In St Lucia, 14 days is the regular turn-around time as well. However, St Lucians have the added flexibility of obtaining an express service which sees applicants receiving their passports between one and five days. 

Why should Trinbagonians have to wait three or four times as long as our Caricom neighbours? 

Is our Immigration Department lagging so far behind in its efficiency or is it that our machine readable passports are unique in some way? Are they processed on the moon?

The Immigration Department appears not to have reasonable benchmarks for its services and levels of efficiency. Is this the best that this essential agency can do? 

The paradox here is that we are expected to empathise with the staff and management of the Immigration Department when they protest for higher wages—how can we when higher wages do not result in greater levels of productivity?

Abbigail Ajim

Via email

Valencia Heat displayed a good team performance to pick up the first win in the Men’s First Division of the East Zone Basketball Commission (EZBC) Community Basketball League, in Maloney, with a commanding 90-67 result over La Horquetta Forces, on Sunday, the opening day of the competition.

Heat, among the favourites to win men’s competition this year, shot to a 41-23 advantage after two quarters. In the end, four players recorded double figure scores for the winning team. Kevin Noreiga led with 19 points, followed by Wayne Richard and Jeffrey Saunders, who scored 17 and 15 points, respectively. Stefan Davis scored another 13 points for the winning team, while Forces’ leading score came from Dave Johnson with 14 points.

The Women’s Division and season league opening fixture featured a one-sided 60-29 victory for La Horquetta Colours over Tobago Star Seekers.

Anika Nottingham had an outstanding match for the winning team, scoring 31 points, while Sharbelle Cox also contributed for Colours with 12 points. Anicia Frank was Star Seekers’ top player with 15 points.

The Zone’s 2015 edition was officially launched with a parade of 25 teams. The days programme was led by the Zone chairman and current national senior women team coach Christopher Jackson Charles and his executive. Also, in attendance was special guest Alicia Hospedales, the Member of Parliament for Arouca/Maloney, who also made the ceremonial jump ball that signaled the starts of the new season.

The President of the National Basketball Federation of T&T (NBFTT) Garvin Warwick and the other elected officers of the organisation were noticeably absent. However, Melissa Guerrero, an outstanding national women’s player and a number of former national players, as well representatives of the Sports Company of T&T (SporTT) were on hand to witness the parade of teams and the opening matches.

Action will continue this weekend with two matches. Those matches and all other fixtures will be finalised this week when the actual number of teams participating in the four divisions are confirmed. 

Eight teams have been confirmed in the Men’s First Division—Maloney Pacers, La Horquatta Forces, Success Village Pythons, San Juan Warriors, Valencia Heat, Maloney Old School, Prisons, Red Hill Jets. Two teams, Royal Extra Lions and Togetherness are to confirm their participation. 

At least eleven teams will take part in the Men’s Second Division, with Arouca Black City pending. There are seven teams confirmed in the Under-17 Boys’ Division with three pending and four confirmed among the women and three pending.

The league will also host a Under-14 development programme for aspiring players. According to organisers, at least once a month and perhaps sometimes twice a month, a day-long camp will be hosted, which will open coaching sessions and follow with practical sessions and matches. The programme is free to register. Maloney Pacers and Sangre Grande All Stars are among the teams that have included an U-14 outfit for the camps.

Teams

Men’s First Division–Confirmed: Pacers, Forces, Success Village Pythons, San Juan Warriors, Valencia Heat, Maloney Old School, Prisons, Red Hill Jets. Tentative: Royal Extra Lions, Togetherness.

Men’s Second Division–Confirmed: Bon Air New Age, O’Meara Knights, Maloney Pacers Youth Development Programme, Valencia Heat, Coastguard, Sangre Grande Young Stars, Arima High Voltage, Colours, Arima Vintage Park Royals, Red Hill Veterans, Tobago Acers. Tentative: Arouca Black City.

Under-17 Division–Confirmed: Maloney Pacers Youth Development Programme, Stories of Success ‘A’, Stories of Success ‘B’, Sangre Grande Young Stars, YTC, Togetherness, Tigers’ Youth Programme. Tentative: Tobago All Stars, Off Limits, Rick Singh Academy.

Women’s Division–Confirmed: La Horquetta Colours, Tobago Star Seekers, Tunapuna Shooting Stars, Maloney Pacers. Tentative: San Fernando Quarters, Bishop’s Anstey High All Stars and a visiting North Zone team. 

He was the backbone of Cane Farm cricket club’s effort this season, as they won the North/East Championship league and 50 overs titles and his continued dominance at the Interzone level, has given optimism that Keagan Simmons will be yet another Simmons to do well for this country in the future.

The left hander has been in great form this season and has gotten great inspiration from his family members who have played at the highest level of the game. His great uncle Phil Simmons is the coach of the West Indies senior team, after having played Test and ODI cricket for the regional side. His uncle Lendl also played Test cricket for the West Indies before retiring from the format last year. He still plays ODI and T20 cricket for the West Indies and just yesterday stroked 65 to take his IPL club Mumbai Indians into the finals of the IPL T20 tournament.

The left hander started off the year with excellent scores in youth interzone cricket and from this point the selectors started looking in his direction. He counted scores of  18, 50, 80 and 43 at the Interzone Under-19 level for East Zone and then followed up with scores off 49, 130 not out, seven and 84 not out.

He then made a hundred against Hillview College in an Under-16 East Zone final and although he hardly batted for Trinity East College at the under-19 level, he did slam 50 against Fatima in the semi-finals of the Intercol T20 series.

However, the 16-year- old opener caught the eye at the club level playing for Cane Farm in the North/East Championship. He starred at the top of the order, getting 284 runs in seven innings for his club.

He is sure to play a part for North in the North/South Classic that has returned after years. The young man speaking to T&T Guardian said: “I just love batting and I work hard on my game. Whenever there is an opportunity to play the game, I grab it because I want to improve. I have gotten great support from my family, especially Lendl and also my teammates at Cane Farm and I am looking to work hard and repay the faith they all have in me.”

Stuart Charles-Fevrier, technical director of three-time Caribbean Football Union Club Championship winners, DirecTV W Connection says his team is ready for its semifinal encounter with Jamaican Red Stripe Premier League champions Montego Bay United.

W Connection, CFU winners in 2001, 2001 and 2009 and four-time runners-up faces Montego Bay in the second match of a semifinal double-header at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva from 8pm.

Two hours earlier, W Connection’s bitter Digicel T&T Pro League rivals, and newly crowned domestic champions, Central FC tackles Haitian outfit, Den Bosco.

And despite A 5-4 penalty kicks loss after an entertaining 3-3 draw with Caledonia AIA in the Digicel Pro Bowl semifinals on Friday last at the same Couva venue, Charles-Fevrier—who is yet to pick up a title this season—says his team is very focussed on the job at hand.

Reflecting on Friday’s Pro Bowl defeat, Charles-Fevrier, the former T&T national coach said it was just one of those days when things didn’t go their way.

He said, “But we have put that loss behind us and I don’t think it will affect us really because at the start of the 2014/2015 season, this CFU tournament was at the top of our agenda, and come Friday we will be ready”.

However, the St Lucian-born coach noted that his team will enter the contest with little or no information about their opponents, but at the same time he was not really bothered about them, but was more focused on his team executing its own game.

“Being a Jamaican club you expect that Montego will be very physical in their style of play, because its in their nature, but in the last ten years they have also improved a lot tactically.

W Connection reached the last-four by crushing Guyana Defence Force 7-1, and Antigua and Barbuda’s SAP FC, 7-2  in Group Two while Montego Bay topped Group Three by beating Club Sportif Moulien of Guadeloupe, 1-0; Haiti’s America FC, 2-1; and Suriname’s SV Excelsior, 3-0 for maximum nine points.

Central, debuting at this season’s Caribbean Club Championship, topped Group 1 in Guyana with wins over Suriname powerhouse Inter Meongotapoe (2-0) and Guyana giants Alpha United (3-1), while Don Bosco had wins over Bahamian outfit Lyford Cay (10-0), US Virgin Island’s Helenites Sporting Club (5-1) and Guadeloupe’s Unite Sainte Rose (2-1) to top Group 4 in Haiti.

Both semifinal winners will earn automatic qualification into the 2015/2016 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.

CFU Fixtures

Semi Final Friday, May 22 

Ato Boldon Stadium

Don Bosco FC (HAI) 

vs Central FC (T&T)—6 pm (SF1)

Montego Bay United (JAM) vs W Connection (T&T)—8 pm (SF2)

Final Sunday, May 24

Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2—6pm

Ato Boldon Stadium 

Third Place Match

Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2—4 pm

The observation that was made with regard to the large number of unoccupied VIP seats at the 4000 Voices concert has a simple explanation. There is obviously a limited number of people who are interested in attending this particular sort of entertainment. The type of music to be rendered would not attract everybody. Who were the VIPs? 

Were they members of a wide cross section of the community or were they VIP names who are important supporters of the government in power and automatically appear on a selected list of invitees? 

The Partnership is alleged to have a wide base support from the rural Central and Southern districts of the island. Taking time off from duties or business would entail several hours lost in travelling to and fro.

It appears to be the fault of the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism for not personally contacting these invitees to ascertain their availability and to allow them time to give their invitations to others who may be free and interested to attend. 

The mere idea that they are considered VIPs means that they are likely to have other functions or interests that may have priority.

How difficult is it to assign a secretary to call each invitee to ascertain availability? The name of the game is “event planning.”

Lynette Joseph

Via email

The Prime Minister keeps promising us that if we give the People’s Partnership another five years in office, there will be a construction boom unlike any we have ever seen, chief of which will be a causeway joining Port-of-Spain with the western peninsula. My bad...I forgot Port-of-Spain and the western peninsula are joined already. 

What the Prime Minister needs to promise is that the PP will buy more fire appliances to put out bush fires before they burn any more homes and businesses. 

It took fire appliances from Arima, Chaguanas, Wrightson Road and Tunapuna to respond to Sunday night’s fire in Macoya, which caused an estimated $60 million in losses to a furniture factory and cost more than 170 people their jobs. 

According to the Fire Association president, the fire started in a building across from the furniture factory and in trying to contain that fire, the appliance ran out of water (it was half full but it doesn’t do empty).

“The absence of appliances at the San Juan, Chaguaramas, Santa Cruz and Four Roads fire stations also placed an additional strain on fire coverage because Belmont fire station has to cover the rest of the Northern Division...,” he said. 

It brings to mind these lyrics: “The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire, we don’t want no water let the m.... burn.”

It takes two years for delivery of a completely outfitted fire appliance, so if the PP starts now and it wins the 2015 election, it would have three years to boast about its accomplishment before the 2020 election. Then we would be on our way to fulfilling Patrick Manning’s quixotic quest to achieve first world status. 

The PM also needs to promise us that if we re-elect the PP she would scrap the lame-brained scheme to privatise the ambulance services, where emergency vehicles travel half way across the country to get to people who are dying. 

So while the PP is promising to build all these roadways and causeways, the very emergency vehicles we need to traverse those roadways and protect our lives are non-existent. Don’t bother to look to the PNM for help—it was the PNM who privatised the ambulance services. In an editorial in today’s paper under the headline “Welcome unveiling of PNM future vision,” there is nothing about the emergency services. What do we expect from a “future vision,” a past vision?

Gerard Johnson

Via email

Currently the nation’s gas processors at Pt Lisas claim the supply is 20 per cent short of their needs according to reports. 

The result is massive losses of revenue to the country at a time when fiscal revenues are low due to the prolonged low oil price. I estimate that “20 per cent” is about 7-800 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD). 

Minister Kevin Ramnarine, after years of statements that the shortage was only temporary due to maintenance on the offshore platforms, finally confessed that it was a more serious problem that will not be fixed until 2017. 

That’s when the bpTT Juniper platform is scheduled to be on production.

Press statements indicated that Juniper will have “a capacity” of 590 mmcfd (still doesn’t mean that they will actually produce that much).

The Minister has stated that the Mitsubishi/Massey project is approved and will start construction. This reportedly has a capacity of 250 mmcfd (producing mainly methanol which we already make in abundance and is starving for gas).

So the projected supply/usage in 2017 appears to be Juniper 590, minus current shortage 750, minus Mitsubishi 250, giving a continuing deficit of 410 mmcfd. 

Now hopefully the Minister knows about some other supplies that will be coming on stream, but these have not been publicised. 

And it must be noted that in the intervening years 2015-2017, the currently producing fields will be more depleted and not capable of producing their current volumes, which means the predicted shortage above is an underestimate.

So the next government looks set to face shortages and unfulfilled contract obligations to the processors.

If there is something dreadfully wrong with this calculation I do wish the Minister would explain himself with the real figures.

Forget about exploration. You can’t make commitments based on assumed exploration success.

Reg Potter

Glencoe

Having “laid its cornerstone on May 13, 1890 and opened its doors May 5, 1891…the world’s most famous concert hall,” Carnegie Hall in midtown Manhattan, New York, USA, will be stirred on June 17 from 8 pm with the scintillating sounds of the St Margaret’s Boys’ Steel Orchestra’s stage-side comprising 33 under 21-year-old pan musicians.

In what can be termed another history-making occasion for T&T’s pan world, but more impressively, the youth arm, the steel orchestra’s performance will be T&T’s second in this “beautiful venue where the world’s most gifted musicians come to perform,” after Desperadoes’ in 1987.

Having been selected from hundreds of worldwide CD auditions, the St Margaret’s Boys got the nod —an envious opportunity gained that automatically plunged them into a $600,000 expense, spinning the school and parents into a whirlwind of attempted frustrating fund-raisers…but fate struck.

On the afternoon of July 13, 2013, the St Margaret’s Boys Steel Orchestra was hosting its seventh annual Pan Extravaganza fund-raiser when Martin Daly SC and his wife spotted the banner and decided to stop and have a look. 

Enthralled by what he heard and saw at the Foyer of the Queen’s Park Savannah—live, high-quality pan music presented by international youth steel ensembles—he made a promise to partner with the orchestra, and so he did, as today, his promise has borne fruit. He and some of his corporate friends established The Friends of St Margaret’s. St Margaret’s also caught the attention of Methanol Holdings Ltd (MHTL) who promptly sprung into action. The company was diversifying their corporate social responsibility portfolio and they invested in the band’s dream to perform at Carnegie Hall.

In what he articulates as an investment in building community and social capital, chairman of MHTL, Dr Euric Bobb, said in a television interview on May 14, “…when we realised that the school began their self-help fund-raisers with parents borrowing, begging and putting-up their properties, we couldn’t standby and allow that, so we decided to step-in and provide all the funding. Methanol has been very quietly investing in many school projects, but this is the first time sponsoring an ensemble to travel…one that must not be done quietly. We have even purchased the entire Queen’s Hall to host a Gala send-off for the performers.”

The St Margaret’s Boys Steel Orchestra is the only steel orchestra, worldwide, that has bragging rights of maintaining three youth National Panorama competition hat-tricks, better yet, two consecutively. 

St Margaret’s itinerary sees them at June 15-21, St Margaret’s will perform at Liberty Centre, New Jersey; Carnegie Hall. They will rehearse with Brett Abigaña, prolific musical composer who will commission a piece that will premiere at the 2015 World Association for Symphonic Band and Ensembles’ convention in San Jose, CA. They are also expected to take part in a youth pan extravaganza in Brooklyn hosted by NY Sonata Youth Steel Orchestra among others. 

Shenelle Abraham, Paul Charles, Anthony John and Desmond Waithe are responsible for putting together the music.

On May 7, a ceremony was held at the school where cheques were distributed to the band’s musical director Rosemarie Abraham. Abraham and her group initially thank all those who contributed towards making this dream a reality.

The gala send-off will be held on May 28 at 7.30 pm to give specially invited guests, parents and the general public the chance to hear what the boys will be offering Carnegie Hall. The tickets which are free will be available at the Queen’s Hall Box Office by May 20.  

In a special farewell performance, Pan Trinbago’s Northern Region will present St Margaret’s Boys’ Steel Orchestra in concert on The Food Court, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, on Friday, May 22, at 8 pm. 

In any manifesto for change towards a comprehensive mental healthcare system some changes are easier than others. 

There are blueprints for changing laws, ratifying conventions, accessibility for wheelchair users, access to public spaces for animals accompanying the visually impaired, and so much more. 

When it comes to changing people’s hurtful attitude towards disability of the body or mind that would take the straddling of disciplines. It’s almost a separate science requiring long-term investment for increasing knowledge, understanding, and empathy. It’d include reforming our language system for political correctness at all levels.

Attitude is considered as a dominant, universal hindrance to social inclusion of those living with disabilities. One eminent sphere of influence that begs for improvement in the language of mental health matters is our mainstream/traditional media. Local media personnel in some quarters—more than we like—are lacking in linguistic competency even on familiar subjects that are easier to understand. But for mental health issues there seems to not even be much consideration for correctness.

We who advocate against the contribution language makes to our social exclusion do not intend to make an entire population awkward with the use of certain words in everyday discourses. Instead, we hope to teach the meanings of these words and what they convey in promoting discrimination against and marginalisation of an entire community, unintentional or otherwise.

I’ve written about this before but since last December it’s been on prompt with the viral video of police officers slapping and shoving a wheelchair-enabled Robbie Ramcharitar in San Fernando. There was at least one newspaper striving for correctness throughout the issue referring to Ramcharitar as a “man in a wheelchair”. Not even the intervention of Dr Beverly Beckles, CEO of National Centre for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), stymied the offending language that remains unabated to date. I watched for weeks, as Robby Ramcharitar apart from being the victim of alleged police abuse became a “victim” of a wheelchair. Report after report insisted that he was “wheelchair bound”. 

What’s increasingly upsetting too, is that politicians have heightened their presence in our headspace and with the currency for far-reaching attention in an election year, they are among the most abrasive to our community in the terms used to insult each other. There is absolutely no compunction in calling every opposing infraction “madness” and relegating any behaviour that could be described with dozens of suitable adjectives to “St Ann’s”. 

Then in a continued underestimation of the injury inflicted on those who live with mental illnesses from mild to severe, the media report and highlight the offending, vicious, and insulting language of the politicians. Then, the new friend-turned-fiend medium called social media is emblazoned with the folly. The cruelty is perpetuated on popular timelines with conversations sustaining repetitive assault as each commentor tries to outdo others or show prowess in crassness. 

I suffer. I’ve stopped reading or commenting on these. That’s my protest. My other protest would be against any political party whose platform/member trivialises mental health to insult another. You, sirs/madams, will not have my vote. I know some people would always feel entitled to their use of language. Some with whom I have tried to reason because of perceived intellectual ability have defended the disparaging language as “Trini talk”. Still others believe that trivialisation of other people’s mental health struggle is good humour. And some are without ill motives, just drowning in ignorance.

They are mostly all considered upstanding citizens who would never break a stoplight. They’re fully aware of the consequences of such actions and have been groomed to the common interest of obeying the signs even when no one is looking. So entrenched ignorance about the hurt they cause is bliss, obviously. Mainstream media, social media, and citizens in general are all guilty of the negative stereotyping, participating in the continued prejudice and discrimination that those of us living with disability, especially psychosocial ones, face. 

Last week I saw a picture of a politician captioned: “PSYCHOTIC...Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality. Two of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs, such as thinking that someone is plotting against you or that the TV is sending you secret messages. Hallucinations are false perceptions, such as hearing, seeing, or feeling something that is not there.”

My response was: “IDIOTIC: 1. characterised by idiocy; 2: showing complete lack of thought or common sense : foolish.” I opined, “Unlike psychoses, still no plausible or possible treatment available.” I don’t regularly react to trivialisation of genuine pathology, but I’m grieved, because I know “language both reflects and shapes social reality so our choice of words can reinforce stereotypes and contribute to various forms of discrimination.”

LINKS

http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/media/words-matter-a-guide-for-m...

http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/docs/GuideforReportingMentalHealth.pdf

• Caroline C Ravello is a strategic communications professional and media practitioner with over 30 years of proficiency. She has been living/thriving with mental health issues for over 35 years.

Professor Bharat Bassaw is a senior lecturer in the Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit at UWI’s Faculty of Medical Sciences and consultant at the Mt Hope Maternity Hospital. He is also the university examiner for the Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Doctor of Medicine (DM) exams. Bassaw has done extensive research on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and has been making calls for health care professionals to pay closer attention to the illness which affects pregnant women and their unborn. Last year, he staged several lectures at UWI St Augustine on the topic. In the first of a two-part interview, Bassaw tells reporter Bobie-Lee Dixon about GDM, its causes risks and symptoms.

What is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is a condition that is first detected in pregnancy. Usually these pregnant women would not have been  previously diagnosed with diabetes. But during their pregnancy, they exhibit high blood glucose levels. This condition carries significant adverse outcomes in pregnancy for both the mothers and their babies. And these risks extend in later life.

What causes gestational diabetes?

There are many different reasons. Some of these, I think, we aren’t 100 per cent certain of. But there are hormonal changes in pregnancy and some of these hormones antagonise the effect of insulin. Insulin is a natural hormone produced in a gland in the body called the pancreas. And the function of insulin is to keep the blood glucose within a normal range. So these hormonal changes which occur in pregnant women, in a way, antagonise the normal effects of insulin, and as a result the person’s blood glucose is elevated. There are many hormones, so I am sure there are other reasons. We are still not certain.

What are the risks involved? 

Before a mother delivers, with diabetes the fetus can get too large, which in medical terms is known as macrosomia. So the fetus grows and that has serious implications in terms of delivery. 

Another problem is that the fluid surrounding the baby—amniotic fluid—becomes excessive. Just as any adult who has diabetes, that person passes a lot of urine. So, too, does the fetus. Growing in an environment where the blood glucose levels are high in the mother, there are also high blood glucose levels in the fetus, and as a result, it passes a lot of urine and in the latter part of the pregnancy, the main source of amniotic fluid is made up of fetal urine. 

Now, because the fetus is producing more urine, one can just extrapolate that there would be too much fluid. This excessive fluid in turn causes the uterus to become overly extended and irritated, resulting at times in preterm labour, and the delivery of a premature baby. The mother is also at risk for infection if her water breaks too early.

The fetus or infant of a diabetic mother behaves much more prematurely when compared to that of a non-diabetic mother. For instance, the lungs do not mature as well when there is diabetes, so the fetus is delivered and often comes out with problems to breathe—one of the biggest issues we face with these premature babies. 

Again, in terms of delivery, because of the size of the baby, its shoulders get very broad; and so during delivery, the head may come out but the shoulders get stuck. This is a big emergency, because the fetus is delivered up to the head and hence the oxygen supply to the brain is now being compromised. And you only have a few minutes, otherwise that baby will die. 

On the other hand, if the baby is delivered alive, then there can be serious damage to the brain. The mother is also at risk for injuries of the genital track during such a delivery. Huge tears are very, very awkward to repair; hemorrhaging can occur. So the mother is at risk, and the fetus can succumb in labour. And if the fetus lives, it can have serious problems. Many of them actually die shortly after, because they sustain fractures, brain damage or nerve damage. 

Now, if everything goes well and the baby is delivered and lives beyond the birth, because he or she was accustomed to an environment where the blood glucose was very high, that fetus would be producing a lot of insulin in order to try to keep his or her blood glucose normal. When that fetus is delivered, he/she continues to produce significant amounts of insulin and therefore one of the problems that baby has, now, is low blood sugar. The brain is extremely sensitive to glucose. So if there is lack of glucose to the brain, then that brain is going to undergo serious injury. 

Babies born to diabetic mothers are also more prone to infections and jaundice.

Can the baby be born with diabetes?

It’s not likely at birth. Initially because the baby would have been in the uterus in an environment where there was high insulin because the mother’s glucose levels were high, again, the baby would be producing insulin right after birth. Which is why we need to check the blood glucose levels in that baby, as they tend to drop. Those children are more at risk to develop diabetes and also more at risk to become obese and suffer heart disease in their later life. 

What are the symptoms?

This is one of the main problems. The majority of women who are already gestational diabetics exhibit no symptoms. So it’s very difficult to tell without performing the necessary tests.

Is there treatment?

Before we talk treatment, I want to go back a bit, because I want to make a call to our population. As a university professor I think it is important for education. Women in this country and in many other countries need to start planning their pregnancies.

In so doing, they can ensure that they are in the best state of health before they embark on a pregnancy. 

So if the woman is, say, obese, it would be a good idea for her to start exercising and dieting to lose some weight in order to improve her overall health prior to the pregnancy. 

Most of our pregnant population seek antenatal care during their pregnancy, but we still lack a proper system—a universal method of screening for diabetes during pregnancy. 

In the past, the common method was to test urine. But this method is so inaccurate; in fact, it can be dangerous. Because a woman might have very high blood glucose in her pregnancy and may not spill any glucose in her urine. On the contrary, another woman might have normal blood glucose, she is not diabetic, but she may pass glucose in her urine. So to use glucose in the urine as a screening test for gestational diabetes, one has to be extremely careful. 

There are other methods of screening, like a random blood glucose test and a sample is taken regardless of when you had your last meal. That is very difficult to interpret, except if  the value is extremely high; then, and only then, can you determine that the person is certainly diabetic. 

What I recommend is the 50 gram glucose challenge test. With this test, it doesn’t matter when you had your last meal. The steps are simple: you just go to your doctor or clinic, you are given the glucose which will be diluted in about 200ml of water.  In my research, I found because glucose in water is associated with terrible nausea and vomiting, many women regurgitate it on contact. 

I did a study where it was decided to place a small amount of lime juice in the water as well. This worked and 99 per cent of our population accepted the test. This test is recommended to be administered during the period of 24-28 weeks for low risk women. But for the woman who is very high risk, she must do this test earlier. 

Currently the gold standard test is the glucose 12-hour fasting test, which requires the patient to fast overnight. They are given a 75 gram glucose drink in the morning and a test is done in one hour after the drink, and another the following two hours. But this requires a fair amount of patient preparation, as well as having three blood tests taken. And if you have to do it privately, obviously there is a cost. And in the lab, it means it’s more labour intensive. It is easy, less hassling and still effective to do the 50 gram glucose test. However, when I do those tests, if they come back abnormal, I will then send that patient off for that oral glucose tolerance test or OGTT. 

Now when we diagnose diabetes, of course, many woman become quite anxious about how they developed it and the risks involved. And I think our population needs to be very much aware that we are very high-risk for diabetes—not just diabetes in pregnancy, but diabetes generally. 

From my studies, I would think at least 20 per cent of our population would have gestational diabetes. Which means one in every five women. If you don’t screen these women, you would not pick it up, and hence we are going to have problems. 

It is also important for the population to be aware, once diabetes is diagnosed in pregnancy early enough, that there is good treatment and the outcome could be excellent, provided, of course, there is good patient compliance. 

• In tomorrow’s conclusion, Dr Bassaw speaks more about treatment and long-term care for mothers. 

Republic Bank intends to offer its investment products to Ghanaians, following the acquisition of a controlling stake in HFC Bank (Ghana) Ltd, T&T bank’s managing director David Dulal-Whiteway said in a Business Guardian interview.

Last week, Republic Bank announced that it acquired the controlling interest in HFC following its mandatory takeover offer to the shareholders of the Ghana bank. Republic now owns 57.11 per cent of HFC, paying the bank’s shareholders US$24.44 million to purchase an additional 17.25 per cent stake.

RBL’s T&T investment products would be offered to Ghana. Republic gained $2 billion in assets with the acquisition and has now become an employer of 500 people in Ghana.

On May 13, Dulal-Whiteway made the official announcement of the acquisition. The transaction means that the bank would now have its fifth banking subsidiary within the group. 

Dulal-Whiteway spoke to Business Guardian last Thursday, about the strategic direction which the HFC Bank (Ghana) Ltd is heading in, during day two of the Banking on the Future Summit which was held at the Hyatt Recency hotel, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.

“We have things here which have not been introduced over there as yet. It is really taking some of the things here, and introducing it over there. The basic banking products need to be worked on first,” said Dulal-Whiteway. 

He said HFC only introduced debit cards this year, but had not as yet introduced credit cards.  

The acquisition of a majority stake in HFC had encountered a stumbling block mid-May 2014, when officials from the Ghana bank accused Republic of breaching the collaborative theme they agreed to and not complying with legal and regulatory requirements under Ghana’s laws. 

But RBL in a statement had said: “From our initial entry into Ghana in November 2012, Republic Bank has meticulously adhered to the rules and regulations laid down by the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and where there has been ambiguity, we have sought clarification and guidance from our Ghana advisers and the regulatory authorities.” 

RBL also said it followed the requirements of the Ghana SEC’s Code on Takeovers and Mergers and will continue to liaise regularly with that country’s authorities.  Bank officials said they are committed to complying with all guidance and direction given to them.

Describing the size of the bank at the summit, Dulal-Whiteway said the bank is a “relatively” small bank and RBL would be “adding” things to ensure that it deepens its footprint in that market. 

The Ghana banking market, he said, comprises 27 banks which means that competition is intense. The country has a population of 27 million and the economy is, growing at about seven to eight per cent per year. 

Dulal-Whiteway also noted that there were many people moving into the middle class and that urbanisation was progressing quickly.

All of this means that “the opportunity is there for us to take advantage of that fast growth,” the local banking executive said.

RBL’s strategy for competing in the Ghana market would be to utilise its knowledge capabilities to provide “increased value” to its customers. Comparing the financial regulations of the two countries, Dulal-Whiteway said the regulatory framework is similar. He added there is a Central Bank of Ghana which regulates financial institutions similar to T&T’s Central Bank.

Dulal-Whiteway said even though HFC is “behind the curve” in some of the technological areas, this can be positive for the bank because when other banks who use updated technology make mistakes, Republic can learn from it. 

“Sometimes you don’t want to be the leading edge because that’s where the mistakes can take place. Coming in afterwards you can put in the controls that are necessary in order to deal, for example, with some of the issues surrounding cybercrime.”

Asked whether cybercrime has been a big challenge for his bank, he said: “We haven’t had huge losses. The biggest has been credit cards and people skimming credit cards. It is something that you have to be concerned about and make sure that you create a safe environment for our customers.”

Technology and the safeguards which come with it cannot be eliminated because trends have shown that as people get more accustomed to the Internet, they get comfortable.

Like most banks, Dulal-Whiteway said RBL has had its challenges in providing a constant supply of US currency:

“We are in business of selling foreign exchange but we can’t sell what we don’t have. 

“What has been a good ease this year is that the Central Bank did step up to the plate a little further, by selling quite a bit of money early this year and that helped to deal with some of the backlog which we had from last year. We would get our share and leave it to satisfy our customer needs.”

Asked what the supply of US currency was like for the corporate community, Dulal-Whiteway said the supply was “getting tight” again. 

“All of these things are a matter of timing. There are times when you have sufficient. There are times when it has tightened a bit and therefore, we have to just wait until the supply comes back in,” Dulal-Whiteway said.

Overall, he suggested that T&T has to find ways in which it can earn foreign exchange since dependence on oil and gas revenues would not be a prudent move.

“All of us can’t be depending on only one source of foreign exchange and that’s where we have to start focussing heavily on export growth again. Something which we did very well in the late 80s and early 90s. 

“Today we talk more about just buying things (importing) and then selling (to the T&T market), who is going to pay for that eventually, you will have to find hard currency, US dollars.”

Unproductive savings of US$5 billion?

Commenting on the statement by Trade Minister Vasant Bharath that, in total, there was US$5 billion in unproductive savings in T&T, Dulal-Whiteway said the money is not being hoarded since saving in bank accounts with $US or $TT is one option which investors have available to them.

“For some of us to diversify our portfolio we keep savings in $US, I think that’s what our customers have done, over 20 years, when we removed the exchange controls.

“The issue then is we have these US dollars what do you do with it? It may seem to be unproductive. To the extent it is lent in US dollars, it means it is being put to productive use. The issue is if a company borrowed in US dollars it should have a $US float in which it could pay back the loan, because you can’t come back and pay the loan in TT dollars. 

“We really as a country, need to start looking at how we earn US dollars.” 

He suggested there was need for T&T to have further alternatives for earning US dollars rather than earning foreign exchange from the energy sector alone.

Regulation of the financial sector

Dulal-Whiteway supports any move to improve the legislative framework governing the financial sector because it assists in improving security in the system and improving confidence and trust.

He said he supports regulation of the players that operate outside of the regulatory framework.

“When you look at what is happening in technology you have new players who work outside of regulation, and that’s where focus has to be: to ensure that these new players who are not banks, (retail stores) are also regulated. 

“When they are not, you will have a situation where you will increase riskiness in the system. You’ll have all these sales happening we have a blind eye to, and therefore it can cause problems later on.”

T&T is still trailing other countries in the region in corporate governance practices, says Dr Axel Kravatzky, chairman of the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute (CCGI).

“In terms of disclosure requirements, T&T before the Corporate Governance Code was established, was the country with the lowest disclosure requirement in the world. The international benchmark is 51 items, and T&T had five items. So now with the code and all voluntary aspects, with recommendations and guidance it comes to 30. If you compare that with Jamaica, it is 31 in law. In Barbados, it is over 40. T&T is moving forward but the disclosure standards are still on the lower side,” he told the Business Guardian last Friday.

He said strong corporate governance practices are important for an economy as investors look at how companies are run.

“They are looking to see if you have standards in place as opposed to anything goes. Only the United States has legalised such a code. In other countries, they either comply or there are applied codes which make it mandatory to disclose but it does not tell you that you must do things a certain way.”

He said the Minister of Finance has called on all state enterprises to adopt the Corporate Governance Code.

“We are monitoring which enterprises adopt it. What we are finding is that a lot of organisations are using the code as reference and a lot of them are preparing to bring themselves up to speed.”

Although he does not have statistics as yet on how many companies are using the corporate governance code, he said there are encouraging signs that more and more companies are using it.

“We have a working group that is examining this. The tell-tale signs are: what does your annual report say; does it make a reference to what standard you are using?” he asked.

He said developing accountability in T&T’s corporate sector and steering clear from acts of corruption will not be a “quick fix” and it will take time.

“This is a sustained effort. Our institute is committed to working in the long run. Organisations that are well directed and in which there are clear aims will perform higher than those that do not.”

Kravatzky spoke to the Business Guardian last Friday at the Guardian’s Office, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain.

The CCGI was registered in 2012 in T&T and became operational in 2013 and has 153 members from Caribbean countries.

Chartered Director Programme

He also said the CCGI Chartered Director Programme provides directors and board members with the professional training to help their companies and businesses run efficiently.

This programme allows board directors to acquire professional training for boards and become members of a professional society similar to how chartered accountants and other professionals do it in their fields.

“The big item in 2013 for the CCGI was the development of the T&T Corporate Governance Code together with the T&T Chamber of Industry  and the T&T Stock Exchange. Then in 2014 was the development of the Professional Development Programme. Last year, we launched it with a Certificate in Corporate Governance and the certificate is the first in a three-step process to qualification as a chartered director. Now we are launching the second cohort in May,” he said.

He said in April the institute had the inspection visit of the Accreditation Council of T&T.

“We are seeking registration as a first step and then accreditation of the course. It is a two-step process there and we are now awaiting the decision of the council. They want to know if we have an educational system in place that has quality management standards in place. Is the exam process in such a way that the person who is examining is not the same person who is teaching it? We believe we have met all the criteria,” he said.

The director of education at the institute is Dr Chris Pierce, who was previously the director of professional development and standards at the Institute of Directors in London. 

“It is not the same programme as the Chartered Director Programme in the UK but it has the same structure and we are utilising similar qualification criteria. But the content is at a global level where there are specific legal and best practice guidelines for the Caribbean. When you do this you know what the standards are in T&T and how it compares internationally.”

He compared the course to similar programmes in the UK and Canada. 

The UK programme offers 13 days of training, while Canada’s programme offers 12 days compared to the CCGI’s nine days.

“Ours is nine days face-to-face not including interviews and portfolios. The cost to do it with the CCGI is US$7,000 compared to US$21,916 with the UK and$17,177 with the Canadian course. The $7,000 covers step 1 and step 2 of the certificate and diploma programmes. We think that this is very high quality and it is built for the long run.”

He said the aim is that people who qualify as chartered directors will demonstrate that they have the knowledge, the skills and the experience.

“As a director of a company who engages in this programme you are demonstrating to your stakeholders that you are a professional  and successful because you have professionals directing it. In the same way there are chartered accountants, why not have professional qualifications for directors as well. Frequently when you look at boards some people wonder what qualifies that person to take on the responsibility. Now you can have the answer. The person may not be a subject matter expert but if you are a non-executive director you know how to direct and control the organisation. Before you would have to go to the UK, Canada or South Africa and now you can do it in the Caribbean.”

He said a graduate of this course can be trusted to be on a board.

“The person will act with independent judgment, the person will compare options before he or she makes decisions and take decisions in ethical and transparent ways. They also have the full knowledge of how organisations work.”

On May 26, another set of professionals for the chartered director programme will be launched.

“Also, on May 27, we have a corporate governance master class specifically on the topic on ethics and corporate responsibility. This is not part of the chartered programme, this is more in depth,” he said.

Organisational risk

Kravatzky said the graduates of this programme are qualified to deal with the risks in their organisations. 

“A risk is any event that will prevent you from achieving your objective. In order to know what to look for, you need to know how your organisation works, what is its business model and its value chain. Where do you create value and everywhere you create value you must make sure that nothing interferes with it. If you cannot create a business model for your organisation, then you are not in a position to manage risk,” he said.

As a qualified director, he said the candidate will know how to draw up a business model and analyse a value chain.

T&T, like many other countries, has directors who lack the skills necessary to make a proper contribution on boards.

“T&T—as all the other countries in the region—have important business to conduct in public and private. 

However, the business schools do not give these qualifications. You go to the universities and other areas and they do not give you that. They give you other valuable things. The skills and knowledge to operate as a board director is the entire body of knowledge you need and, as in other professions, this is the place where there is a professional code of conduct. It is the same way there are schools for chartered accountants.” 

Given the nature of T&T’s economy as a small developing country, he said professional training for board members are now even more important.

“It is important for small island economies where you have a one degree of separation, that you have professional standards that you can refer to. A lot of board members are under tremendous pressure in public and private institutions. If you are not sure of what you are doing or you do not have a professional background, then it means you are taking all the pressure.”

CHATOOR, WINSTON Jerome (Joe) 73 years old, of 18 Goodwood Ridge, Goodwood Park, died on Sunday 17th May 2015. Son of the late Arnold Joseph Chatoor and Ivan Isadora Chatoor. Wife of Julia Mary Chatoor (née Healy).

Father of Julian Arnold (Jac) Chatoor (of Canada) and Phoebe Ellen Bell (nee Chatoor, of the UK). Grandfather of Julian and Lacie Chatoor (of Canada) and Isadora, Miles and Ophelia Bell (of the UK). Brother of Kenneth, Carl, Barbara, Stephen and Garth. Brotherin- Law of Joan and Diane.

Uncle of Rebecca, Helen and Mary (of the UK), Wjshdhan, Dominique, Douglas (of Canada), Jason, Kimberley and Nicola. Funeral service for the late Winston Jerome (Joe) Chatoor takes place at 10.30a.m. on Friday 22nd May at St. Finbar's R.C. Church, Morne Coco Road, Diego Martin, thence to private cremation.

​No flowers by request. A donation will be taken up for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. For enquiries, please contact R.M. De Souza Memorial Chapel Limited, 223-2007/ 637-2009.

GUILLAUME, CLAUDE passed away on May 18, 2015. He was 69. Beloved husband of Susan. Son of Bernard and Clo Guillaume (both deceased). Loving and devoted father of sons Paul and Louis. Brother of Yves and Madeleine.

Father-in-Law of Joanna (Devaux) and Jeannine (Hansen). Grandfather of Christian, Natalya, Amber, Ruby and Olivia. A funeral mass will be held at St. Joseph the Worker R.C. Church, Gros Islet, St. Lucia on Tuesday May 26th at 3:00 PM.

A private interment ceremony will be held. A memorial service will also be held in Trinidad at a date to be announced.

RAMDIN, ANTHONY AINSWORTH known as Tony, son of the late Lindsay Ramdin and Phyllis Ramdin (both deceased) departed this life on Monday 18th May 2015. Husband of Indera Ramdin and father of Matthew Ramdin.

Son in law of John Kattick (deceased) and Sylvia John. Nephew of Claudius Mohammed (Duffy) Brother of Kirwin, Rodney, Terrance, Claudia, Melvin, Horace (deceased), Selwyn, Ronald and Clayton. Brother in law of Maureen, Laura, Lystra, Heidi, Joanne, Seeta, Grace, Clyde, Strudy, Isabell and Stephanie.

Uncle of Candice, Rachel, Sheneil, Emelio, Vinny, Celine, Melissa, Wendell, Kendell, Crystal, Melody and Troy. Cousin of the Ramdin, Mohammed, Poliah, Premdas, Boodoo, Jadoo and Mohip families. Funeral of the late Anthony Ramdin takes place on Friday 22nd May 2015 at 2:00pm at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church, Coffee Street, San Fernando and interment at Roodal Cemetery.