The performance of only five of the 14 independent Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries are recorded in the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum.

Of the 144 countries measured by the Report Barbados is the highest ranked Caricom country at 46 with T&T at 69 and Jamaica at 76. Guyana at 104 and Haiti at 133 are at the tail end of the index. The only other Caribbean country graded in the report is the Dominican Republic at 81.

Surprisingly, countries such as the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts-Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia, which have a heavy reliance on tourism for their economic growth, are not included in the Report’s measurement of competitiveness. The reason for the exclusion of the latter named countries lies in the report’s statement that there was insufficient data from several countries.

It is regrettable that a large number of tourism-dependent Caricom countries were not included in what the Report rightly describes as “a strategic tool for both businesses and governments” allowing for “cross-country comparison of the drivers of Travel and Tourism (TT) competitiveness, for benchmarking countries’ policy progress and for making investment decisions related to business and industry development.” 

The report’s methodology for measuring global competitiveness is based on 14 important pillars. They include: business environment, prioritisation of travel and tourism, price competitiveness, tourist service infrastructure and cultural resources. Against these criteria, the top ten most competitive countries in global TT are in descending order: Spain, France, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Japan and Canada. China has jumped 27 places to reach number 17 in the global rankings.

In the Caribbean, the report observes that common TT issues include underdeveloped natural and cultural resources. Tellingly, the Competitive Index suggests that most Caribbean countries rely extensively on their beaches but do not seem to promote their cultural resources sufficiently. It is significant that China managed to advance to 17th place in the global rankings because Tourists are attracted to its cultural resources and its World Heritage natural sites that have been developed and made accessible. In 2013, China welcomed over 55 million visitors.

The TT industry is growing more quickly than the global economy as a whole, and so is related employment creation and higher paid jobs in the sectors that service it. These sectors are not limited to hotels, ground transportation, restaurants and shopping. They now include hospitals and other medical facilities; trained persons to maintain yachts; mechanical engineers for airplanes and ships; rental of properties and technologically-savvy persons capable of delivering services in a wide range of telecommunication areas. The TT sector, therefore, remains a thriving business from which Caribbean countries can benefit enormously if innovative measures are put in place.

Caribbean countries could learn lessons from the success of the nations that now top the TT league table. For instance, while France is ranked second overall, it attracts the most tourists with over 84 million arrivals. This is because the government and the private sector give priority to the TT sector. They have invested in developing tourist facilities for leisure and conferences and have pro-actively built up their natural heritage resources and their historical sites. Throughout the Caribbean, there are many such resources and sites but they require private sector development within a government-private sector agreed plan. 

Italy, which is ranked 8th in the overall rankings, manages only 127th position for business environment. 

The country has an inefficient legal framework, high taxation and regulations that are a disincentive to investment. Caribbean countries should be mindful of the importance of encouraging the private sector to share in the costs of developing the TT sector. After all, tourism is an export. Overtaxing hotels, airlines, and passenger tickets raises costs and renders the tourism product uncompetitive. Airline travel within and to the Caribbean suffers now from high government taxes on tickets.

In South America, most countries have prioritised air transport, particularly with larger and newer airports and terminal buildings. Some of this is necessary, especially for countries whose tourism volume has outgrown the facilities their airports provide. However, ground transportation is underdeveloped, undermining the effects of investment in air transport infrastructure by limiting the ability to move within countries. 

A similar situation obtains in most Caribbean countries with Barbados being the most notable exception. While bus rides on that island can sometimes be hair-raising, for the most part they are safe, accessible and inexpensive. 

Other Caribbean countries should be mindful, as part of the development of the TT sector, that tourists do not travel to airports; they travel to countries. Airports are important to ease entry and exit and they should be as accommodating as possible, but visitors want to experience the country. Without good ground transportation, they are deprived of that opportunity.

Significantly, countries that maintain a competitive edge in TT are those that are alert to changing trends. For example, the number of people over 60 years of age is predicted to rise from 900 million in 2010 to almost 1.4 billion in 2030. These older travellers have larger budgets, and while they account for only 40 per cent of travellers, they represent 60 per cent of wealth and they travel all year round. 

The Competitive Index report provides important data and analysis of the factors that make for success in TT as well as the issues that obstruct the industry’s development. It is regrettable that many Caribbean countries were excluded from the Index because of insufficient data by which to measure their strengths and weaknesses. 

Without information on how they perform against their competitors, Governments and the private sector will not be able to identify the requirements to do better. 

Barbados deserves commendation not only for being the only Caricom country in the top 50 most TT competitive countries, but also for maintaining the statistical information that permits it to measure itself against its competitors. The importance of good statistical information in all aspects of decision-making is often overlooked. 

Consequently, many governments and private sector organisations are forced to make crucial decisions on a guess rather than on sound evidence. Guesses are not a basis for successful planning or effective competition.

 (The writer is a senior fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London and Massey College, Toronto) The performance of only five of the 14 independent Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries are recorded in the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum.

Of the 144 countries measured by the Report Barbados is the highest ranked Caricom country at 46 with T&T at 69 and Jamaica at 76. Guyana at 104 and Haiti at 133 are at the tail end of the index. The only other Caribbean country graded in the report is the Dominican Republic at 81.

Surprisingly, countries such as the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts-Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia, which have a heavy reliance on tourism for their economic growth, are not included in the Report’s measurement of competitiveness. The reason for the exclusion of the latter named countries lies in the report’s statement that there was insufficient data from several countries.

It is regrettable that a large number of tourism-dependent Caricom countries were not included in what the Report rightly describes as “a strategic tool for both businesses and governments” allowing for “cross-country comparison of the drivers of Travel and Tourism (TT) competitiveness, for benchmarking countries’ policy progress and for making investment decisions related to business and industry development.” 

The report’s methodology for measuring global competitiveness is based on 14 important pillars. They include: business environment, prioritisation of travel and tourism, price competitiveness, tourist service infrastructure and cultural resources. Against these criteria, the top ten most competitive countries in global TT are in descending order: Spain, France, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Japan and Canada. China has jumped 27 places to reach number 17 in the global rankings.

In the Caribbean, the report observes that common TT issues include underdeveloped natural and cultural resources. Tellingly, the Competitive Index suggests that most Caribbean countries rely extensively on their beaches but do not seem to promote their cultural resources sufficiently. It is significant that China managed to advance to 17th place in the global rankings because Tourists are attracted to its cultural resources and its World Heritage natural sites that have been developed and made accessible. In 2013, China welcomed over 55 million visitors.

The TT industry is growing more quickly than the global economy as a whole, and so is related employment creation and higher paid jobs in the sectors that service it. These sectors are not limited to hotels, ground transportation, restaurants and shopping. They now include hospitals and other medical facilities; trained persons to maintain yachts; mechanical engineers for airplanes and ships; rental of properties and technologically-savvy persons capable of delivering services in a wide range of telecommunication areas. The TT sector, therefore, remains a thriving business from which Caribbean countries can benefit enormously if innovative measures are put in place.

Caribbean countries could learn lessons from the success of the nations that now top the TT league table. For instance, while France is ranked second overall, it attracts the most tourists with over 84 million arrivals. This is because the government and the private sector give priority to the TT sector. They have invested in developing tourist facilities for leisure and conferences and have pro-actively built up their natural heritage resources and their historical sites. Throughout the Caribbean, there are many such resources and sites but they require private sector development within a government-private sector agreed plan. 

Italy, which is ranked 8th in the overall rankings, manages only 127th position for business environment. 

The country has an inefficient legal framework, high taxation and regulations that are a disincentive to investment. Caribbean countries should be mindful of the importance of encouraging the private sector to share in the costs of developing the TT sector. After all, tourism is an export. Overtaxing hotels, airlines, and passenger tickets raises costs and renders the tourism product uncompetitive. Airline travel within and to the Caribbean suffers now from high government taxes on tickets.

In South America, most countries have prioritised air transport, particularly with larger and newer airports and terminal buildings. Some of this is necessary, especially for countries whose tourism volume has outgrown the facilities their airports provide. However, ground transportation is underdeveloped, undermining the effects of investment in air transport infrastructure by limiting the ability to move within countries. 

A similar situation obtains in most Caribbean countries with Barbados being the most notable exception. While bus rides on that island can sometimes be hair-raising, for the most part they are safe, accessible and inexpensive. 

Other Caribbean countries should be mindful, as part of the development of the TT sector, that tourists do not travel to airports; they travel to countries. Airports are important to ease entry and exit and they should be as accommodating as possible, but visitors want to experience the country. Without good ground transportation, they are deprived of that opportunity.

Significantly, countries that maintain a competitive edge in TT are those that are alert to changing trends. For example, the number of people over 60 years of age is predicted to rise from 900 million in 2010 to almost 1.4 billion in 2030. These older travellers have larger budgets, and while they account for only 40 per cent of travellers, they represent 60 per cent of wealth and they travel all year round. 

The Competitive Index report provides important data and analysis of the factors that make for success in TT as well as the issues that obstruct the industry’s development. It is regrettable that many Caribbean countries were excluded from the Index because of insufficient data by which to measure their strengths and weaknesses. 

Without information on how they perform against their competitors, Governments and the private sector will not be able to identify the requirements to do better. 

Barbados deserves commendation not only for being the only Caricom country in the top 50 most TT competitive countries, but also for maintaining the statistical information that permits it to measure itself against its competitors. The importance of good statistical information in all aspects of decision-making is often overlooked. 

Consequently, many governments and private sector organisations are forced to make crucial decisions on a guess rather than on sound evidence. Guesses are not a basis for successful planning or effective competition.

 (The writer is a senior fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London and Massey College, Toronto) 

The aphorism “Good artists copy; great artists steal,” is usually attributed to Picasso. Over the years, many people have misconstrued this to mean that the famous painter blatantly duplicated other hard-working artists’ ideas.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a huge difference between copying and “stealing.” Someone who copies merely replicates something, while someone who steals takes an existing interpretation and runs away with it. Eventually, he makes it his own.

The aphorism reminds us that it’s is very rare for anyone to come up with a truly new idea. We are all products of our environments. We borrow from those who came before us, and we benefit from the lessons that they learned by walking similar paths. Simply put, all of us are influenced by everyone else.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, understood what Picasso meant. As he once explained in an interview, “(At Apple) we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

My team and I at Virgin built our brand by making ideas our own. We look at industries where an existing product or service has been lacking, fill that gap with a standout offering, then slap an identifiable Virgin mark on it.Selling records, for instance, was not a new concept when we started Virgin Records, but we found a way to streamline the process and make music more accessible. Air travel was definitely not new when we entered the airline sector, but it hadn’t reached its full potential, especially in terms of customer service, so we disrupted the industry by focusing on fixing that.

Our best ideas usually come from firsthand experience, but in recent times we’ve been using technology to help us incubate great concepts. I try to post on my blog at least twice a day on weekdays, and I use social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Vine and Instagram to get my messages out. Often, the posts start debates and provoke feedback, complaints and more conversation.

Over the past few years, these conversations have sparked many thought-provoking ideas. I love reading comments to see what slivers of information might turn into inspiring business propositions.

One tremendous advantage is that these conversations take place worldwide. In the past, if you needed to understand a country’s cultural landscape, you had to book a plane ticket; today I can simply check my blog. While some business ideas that come from online conversations are country-specific, many translate across borders, and have the potential to make a huge global impact.

When I’m not debating ideas in person or perusing the comments on my online profiles, I enjoy visiting the Web site IdeaPod; a social media platform for sharing ideas and collaborating. I met the site’s founders late last year and have been hooked ever since. By offering a space where people can bounce ideas off each other, IdeaPod increases everyone’s chances of coming up with game-changing concepts.

A few weeks ago, I logged onto the Web site and noticed a discussion about what businesses Virgin should enter next. The ideas varied from producing a low-carbon fuel to making ride-sharing more efficient to launching online education programmes. We have already launched some of the businesses that participants on the site mentioned; other ideas caught my interest and we may look into them further.

If you’re an entrepreneur in search of new ideas, remember that innovation is an endless quest, and few products and services are so good that they cannot be continuously approved upon. This is why there is so much to be learned from listening to people’s hopes, frustrations and points of view.

So start a blog. Get on social media. Visit an entrepreneurial hub, a cafe or a pub. Ask questions. Spark a debate. Join the conversation.

Then ask yourself: What are people talking about? What are your friends and family talking about? What are people passionate about? Which issues are currently creating news? What did that interesting article that you read the other day say? And how can that be applied to the product or service?

If you keep your eyes and ears open, you’ll be sure to find some great ideas. But remember: Don’t copy them; make them your own.

(Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group and companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Active. He maintains a blog at www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/richardbranson. To learn more about the Virgin Group: www.virgin.com.)

(Questions from readers will be answered in future columns. Please send them to RichardBranson@nytimes.com. Please include your name, country, email address and the name of the website or publication where you read the column.)

​3 ways to generate ideas

Truly original ideas are rare, so when you’re looking for inspiration, you can kick-start your imagination by trying to figure out how to make an existing product or service better. You can start this process online by:

• Starting conversations on social media: The comments that you generate can lead to inspiration.

• Engaging in conversations: Conversely, reading and responding to other people’s feedback can lead to considerations you hadn’t thought of.

• When you’re looking into ways you can improve the product or service, keep these questions in mind: What are people talking about? What are your friends and family passionate about? Which issues are currently in the news? How does this change the way you view the offering?

Although she only started Media InSite Ltd in July 2011, Allison Demas is ready to expand to Jamaica and Guyana with further prospects in the Eastern Caribbean. Her company, which employs 13 full-time employees, offers advertising and media monitoring services to advertisers, advertising agencies and broadcasters. In other words, it provides competitive advertising intelligence. 

Demas—founder, chief executive and chairman—is also a lawyer who specialised in copyright and entertainment law and practised for 12 years in T&T. She then went to the United States to do a masters degree in intellectual property, commerce and technology. 

She spoke to the Business Guardian at the 9A Stanmore Avenue, Port-of-Spain location, about the important role that advertising intelligence plays in operating a business.

The advertising spend in T&T, according to Demas, is $1 billion per annum based on open media rates. She said if so much money has to be spent, it is important for advertisers to know their market, competitors and the media habits of their competitors.

“Given the quantum of investment, it is critical for advertisers to be able to protect their investment. They must be able to ensure what they are paying for is what they are actually getting. For example, that the media houses are playing the advertisements according to the schedule as contracted.”

“Media monitoring is a way of marrying all my interests. A lot of the systems we use, such as software which is patented, forms part of a copyright. Therefore it is using technology to advance business. We talk about us diversifying our economy, we have so much natural resources in terms of our creativity. We have a fairly well-educated population and this is a means of harnessing that knowledge economy.”

The former chief executive of the Copyright Organisation of T&T said her vision for the company is to be the premier media monitoring company across the Caribbean. According to the company’s Web site, its directors are: Avinash D Persaud director, George Gobin, director, and Sophia Vailloo, company secretary.

“Media monitoring is new to this part of the world. It is well established in North America and in Latin America. It has a lot of potential to generate income. As it is new, there’s need for much more awareness and education about the benefits of media monitoring and why companies need to protect their media investment.”

Asked what happens to her work when a general election or a by-election takes place, she said elections monitoring is a very important aspect of the company’s operations. Advertising campaigns are tracked as well.

“What we do is track all the news items related to elections. Since proceedings of Parliament are broadcast, it means we also monitor and track the broadcast. We also have the political speeches which we track. Then, of course, social media monitoring. There is a lot of activity, a lot of conversations which we are able to track in real time with respect to social media; conversations about the T&T general election 2015.

“What was interesting was that in 2013, we had the Chaguanas West by-election and that certainly generated a lot of activity in terms of advertising. Then there was the St Joseph by-election. What we can see is definitely there is more and more activity with the elections.”

Though the volume of advertisements increases during elections, it does not skew the data which her company collects.

“In terms of advertising, we capture the universe of advertising in T&T. We capture every single advertisement even though the advertisers or the agency may not be a direct client. It gives us a sense of what sectors generate the largest amount of activity. In 2014, the Government was the largest (advertiser). We have other sectors like telecom—which is very active and competitive—banking, Unicomer and Prestige Holdings which is one of the largest advertising brands in T&T.”

Asked whether social media has overtaken traditional media, she said the both go hand in hand.

“Social media is a means of engaging audiences, engaging your customers or prospective clients, either getting them to become loyal to your brand. We see it being used as a strategic way of communications, public relations as opposed to direct marketing.”

Depending on which age group the company wants to appeal to, they would use social media and overall online means of reaching its target market. An example are Carnival bands.

“By and large, traditional advertising still seems to be the main way of marketing.”

ExportTT needs to do more to assist small businesses that are interested in exporting their products to foreign markets, said Shirley Vilain, owner of Rum Cake Factory which produces the Caribbean Rum Cake.

“The Government has been talking about building T&T’s export markets and when this happens it reflects the status of the country. I know they are interested in building the export market in all different products manufactured here. I tried to export my product but it is very difficult. It is difficult to find a distributor abroad that you could trust to represent your product that would ensure future sales,” she told the Business Guardian.

Vilain said she approached exportTT in the past but complained they did not give her the help she expected.

“I think that exportTT needs to cut the red tape. They put you on to a department and when you call, they put you on to a different department. You go to them and say you need a business plan, they say they do not do business plans. They direct you to someone who does a business plan and you have to apply for the funding for this business plan,” she said.

She gave the example of asking for assistance for the French translations on her cake box.

“If I were to export this to Canada and it is not the proper Quebec French it would not be accepted into Canada. They do not assist you with these things, you have to do it on your own.” 

She said she tried calling exportTT for months in 2014 for information on what percentage of alcohol is needed for a product to qualify as an alcoholic beverage and said all she got was red tape. 

“I never got that information from them. I eventually got that information from Cariri. That is not really Cariri’s job. Their job is simply to test the alcoholic content and test your cake for alcoholic content and work with you to bring the alcohol down to the correct amount so it is legally acceptable to get into whatever country. ExportTT should work closely with distributors in other countries with Caribbean diasporas and build those local products.”

Vilain also suggested that exportTT needs to diversify the food products that they promote.

“I am talking about more than soft drinks, pepper sauce and anchar because that is the largest in terms of what they focus on. How much of that are we going to sell? We must diversify the products that we promote out of T&T.”

A statement from exporTT on Tuesday said they do continue to assist the smaller businesses who have the desire to get into foreign markets.

“ExporTT has a programme with 36 small companies and the name of the programme is the Cottage, Food and Beverage Development Programme which is designed specifically to take high potential small companies to being exporters. In this programme we provide training  at a very minimum cost to the companies who are approved for the programme. We lend assistance in getting good manufacturing practices in terms of food safety. We then provide additional incentives and support for packaging and labeling and product testing for these companies who wish to get their products out to international markets and meet those standards. There are 15 companies in the current cohort and of the companies that have completed the programme, five of them have gone on to become exporters.”

Vilain spoke to the Business Guardian at Port-of-Spain Bureau, Port-of-Spain.

Canada experience

Up to last year, Vilain said Caribbean Rum Cake was sold in Toronto, Canada but did not do well there.

“The distributor in Canada promoted the Caribbean Rum Cake in roti shops not in supermarkets or gourmet shops or Caribbean diaspora stores. It was promoted in the wrong way. So now I am just in T&T but I do want to get the product back out there. T&T is a small market and I consider my product to be a complete Trinbagonian product. This is more than a cake, it is a complete reminder of T&T.”

Right now Vilain is in talks with Sandals Resorts to try to get the Caribbean Rum Cake in gift shops in that hotel chain around the Caribbean region.

She is also one of the recipients of the grants from the Ministry of Planning’s Idea to Innovation (i2i) programme in its first year in 2012/2013.

She received a grant of TT$75,000.

“Winning the i2i gave me much needed funds to purchase certain items in growing the business such as an oven, packaging material, a mixer among other items.”

Business origin

She said the rum cake is a dessert cake which is handcrafted.

According to its Web site, Rum Cake Factory embarked on the commercial production and distribution of their hand-crafted Caribbean Rum Cake in 2007. Formerly known as Quick Gourmet, the company was renamed in 2014 to Rum Cake Factory Ltd.

Vilain, 53, was a BWIA flight attendant for 27 years and when BWIA closed in 2005 she decided to look for another career and business opportunity.

“I went to Peppercorns, got an order for 12 cakes, went home, baked 12 cakes, delivered 12 cakes and took my $396 and bought more sugar, butter and eggs. After I looked for someone else to buy my 12 cakes and reinvested more money. I baked and I sold.”

Right after the airline closed she went to New York for a six-month stint at a culinary school.

“After BWIA’s closed in 2005, by January 2006, I was in culinary school in New York where I studied for six months. I started catering before I went to New York. When I returned I wanted to package and sell the rums cakes I loved making. 

“I then called Adrian Camp Campins, the artist who is responsible for the painting of the estate of Low Land Estate in Tobago on the Caribbean Rum Cake box. That is how I came up with the picture for the packaging and everything that happened I achieved through trial and error. There are some recipes that did not go well until I fine-tuned them. Then there was trial and error from sales to the layout of the kitchen.”

Now she has one person who helps her part time at her kitchen in Diego Martin and the rest of the time she spends doing purchases, orders, deliveries and the sampling of the product at various outlets.

“I bake on a Thursday, I package on a Friday to fill my orders. My product is not seasonal but many visitors to T&T buy it. Also, many nationals of T&T who return home buy it and carry it when they go back to the countries they now reside in. The rum and the flavours are all part of our country and everything about the product reminds you of the country of origin of this product which is T&T so it sells T&T too. I supply to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and when there is an increase of visitors there, I supply them with up to 60 units a month. When there is fewer visitors, it can be 30 units a month.”

Flavours include vanilla, pina colada, chocolate and orange moka.

The Caribbean Rum Cake is currently available at all Massy Stores, True Value, Peppercorns, Malabar Farms, Hyatt Hotel and some stores at the Piarco International Airport.

The price varies at the different outlets but buying it directly from her costs $41 per box.

“The box is 140 kg and I went with this size because I saw it more as a gift item for travellers. A traveller can afford to buy something of this size and throw it into their bag as opposed to one large size. The Government used it during The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM). They also use it or trade missions in other countries. So it is an easy gift item. I also do a lot of corporate sales at Christmas.”

Future plans

Vilain currently operates out of her home in Diego Martin but is planning to move operations to North Coast, Paramin.

She envisions not only a factory kitchen that produces these cakes but a “visitors destination kitchen.”

“I have a vision in keeping with tourism and opening new avenues for visitors to T&T. I am looking to create a kitchen where foreigners can do tours. Even locals who are interested in tours can book as a group. They will see how the cake is made, the different flavours of the cake. I will also be doing tea, coffee and drinks. I will build a deck where visitors can sit and they can sit there overlooking the north coast. In this way they will take way a total Caribbean experience.”

She has not started construction as yet but said would everything should be ready by Christmas.

Vilain also said that she would like to partner with the Ministry of Tourism in this project. At the same time, she said she is open to any potential partners who would like to join her project.

“I have not officially gone to the Ministry of Tourism as yet. I already encountered red tape with exportTT but I am not going to sit around and wait six months for any one to fund this. Whatever money I have used so far, has come from what I have generated from the business.”

Eight years after the passage of legislation in 2006 aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices, four commissioners of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) received their instruments of appointment from Vasant Bharath, Trade, Industry, Investment and Communication Minister.

The commission is chaired by retired High Court judge Amrika Tiwary-Reddy. She, along with the other commissioners—retired Republic Bank economist, Ronald Ramkissoon, economics lecturer Anne Marie Mohammed and executive director Bevan Narinesingh—received their official appointments in July 2014. According to the Fair Trading Act,  between three and five commissioners can be appointed.

The FTC is an independent statutory body which is responsible for administering and implementing the Fair Trading Act.

Since the appointment of a chair and commissioners, the FTC has been in the process of recruiting staff, acquiring equipment and finding an independent home, said Narinesingh, an attorney, who previously worked at the Caricom Secretariat. Although the commission has received many resumes, it has selected staff but they are not officially employees yet since the FTC does not have a home. Narinesingh is the lone employee for the meanwhile and has to wait until the remaining staff are officially employed at the FTC so he can make submissions for competitive salaries.

The FTC is currently housed on the 12th Floor in the Ministry of Trade, Nicholas Tower, but not on the same floor as Minister Bharath. This is on Independence Square, Port-of-Spain. 

Its main purposes:

1. To promote and maintain effective competition throughout the economy, and to ensure that competition is not distorted, restricted or prevented.

2. Ensure that all legitimate business enterprises have an equal opportunity to participate in the economy

3. Prevent anti-competitive conduct and maintain and encourage free and fair competition in business

The Fair Trading Act was passed in 2006 because the Government, at the time, recognised the danger of anti-competitive practices. Although the legislation was in existence, it took eight years for commissioners to be appointed, which left the path clear for wrongdoers to engage in anti-competitive practices. 

Anti-competitive practices include business or government practices that prevent, restrict or distort competition in the market. The result will likely be higher prices, lower quality of products, poor service, lower output and less innovation. These practices make it more difficult for smaller firms to either survive or subsequently enter the market.

Anti-competitive practice can occur if  the leaders of a group of businesses belonging to the same sector, meet to fix a price or engage in anti-competitive practice such as: collusion, price-fixing, bid-rigging and boycotts. 

Now that commissioners are in place, Tiwary-Reddy is confident she can take on the task of chairing the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) even though parts of the act have not been proclaimed.

Narinesingh explained the parts of the legislation that have not been proclaimed: 

• Part I which deals with preliminary matters; 

• Part III which deals with examination and approving of proposed mergers and the investigation into anti-competitive agreements and monopolies;

• Part VII which deals with the jurisdiction of the Court to deal with decisions of the commission including appeals from a High Court decisions and;

• Part IX which deals with miscellaneous and general matters. 

Narinesingh said: “Once we are properly established with a more permanent location and with properly trained staff we will request that the President proclaim the remaining parts of the act still to be proclaimed.” 

“When the full act is proclaimed, we can carry out investigations. We have to keep the minister advised on competition matters and what’s going on in the economy. We have to make available to businesses and the general public, information with respect to their rights and obligations. Then we have to undertake studies, publicise reports,” said Tiwary-Reddy.

But before any work can begin, there is need for the FTC to find headquarters which are independent of the Ministry of Trade so the public can feel comfortable to file any complaints or queries. 

Investigators, a corporate secretary and other staff members are some of the items on the commission’s check list to be officially employed at the FTC. Generally, she said, the FTC’s work involves implementing the fundamentals of economics and law. 

Referring to fines/penalties, Tiwary-Reddy said the board does not have the power to impose fines but can take the accused to court. She added that the ground work must first be done in order for a “case to be made out” against the accused then it goes to court.

“The court, which is the High court, would be able to adjudicate. We would have to do the ground work to make out a case for doing it.  That is not available yet as the law is not yet passed to give the High Court the power.”

She said the decision to take the matter to court lies with the commission. However, if the accused does not agree with that decision they can go to court to contest that decision.

“The court can review a decision made by the commission at the request of any party. For instance, somebody has come to complain to you, and you found that there wasn’t any evidence to support it, you chose not to go to court. If that aggrieved party chooses to go to court and challenge your decision, they can do it. The court can review the decision of the commission for deferment under another section.”

There are 192 fair trading commissions globally, said Tiwary-Reddy. Looking at the UK version, known as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), in 2002 and 2003 it accused nine companies of collusion to rig the price of cheese and milk, the UK-based Guardian reported. The scandal cost consumers about £270m. The accused supermarket chains were Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Safeway. 

The accused dairy processors were: Arla, Dairy Crest, McLelland, the Cheese company and Wiseman. The accused companies Sainsbury’s and Asda are among companies that have agreed to pay the Treasury near-record fines of more than £116m after admitting that they fixed the price of milk, cheese and butter.

Each received lenient fines after admitting liability, but Tesco denied that it colluded with the other companies and threatened legal action and questioned the OFT’s role in imposing fines. 

The OFT had said its decision to impose fines would send a clear message to businesses engaging in anti-competitive practices to halt their wrongdoing, therefore its role was an important one.

Since July, the FTA has also been networking and meeting stakeholders, making presentations about its work to associations and groups. It is also the newest member of the International Competition Network (ICN) which is the global think tank in the area of competition law and policy. 

Mergers and acquisitions

Referring to mergers and acquisitions, Narinesingh said: “Part III of the act deals with mergers and acquisitions. We are also in the process of preparing merger guidelines based on a Caricom model which we expect will give greater guidance with respect to the merger approval process. 

If that part of the act were to be proclaimed, companies merging would be required to register with the FTC, Tiwary Reddy said.

“Under Section 14, all anti-competitive mergers are prohibited. Enterprises should not enter into a merger unless they obtain permission   from the commission where their assets exceed $50 million or where one of the enterprises carries on or intends to carry on business in T&T.”

There is power in the act to make regulations as well. 

“At this stage we don’t have the regulations in place, it would have to be done by the Parliamentary people.”

The FTC has the power to deal with issues such as:

1. The abuse of monopoly power

2. Anti-competitive mergers

3. Anti-competitive agreements

4. The enforcement of relevant clauses or enforcements measures

Narinesingh said with market liberalisation there is the possibility of anti-competitive behaviour, therefore it is imperative that a FTC be established. Narinesingh said T&T has joined the international Fair Trading network which means it can get advice and expertise on the way forward.

Businesses that do not fall under the purview of the FTC include: 

• banking

• telecommunication sectors 

• Regulated Industries Commission 

Businesses which come under the FTC’s watch are:

• Retail stores

• Supermarkets

• Agriculture sector

• Hotel industry

• Tourism 

• Energy 

• Health sector (private)

• Pharmaceutical

Doing industry studies are key in terms of understanding a market, as well as the commission can determine which parts of the sector which are anti-competitive, Narinesingh said. 

“If owners of private healthcare institutions, maybe six of them, meet somewhere and decide we control the market and we can charge $100,000 for a surgery and we are not going under that, if anybody goes under $100,000 we would take you out of the market. This is like a cartel.”

He said it does not mean that every business within that same sector must have one price. “This would be a way to ensure that everyone has better quality services at better prices to ensure fairness and competitiveness.”

Narinesingh added that when a free market works, the true costs of something is reflected by demand and supply. “We are trying to get a market closer to perfect competition, you won’t have that, but at least it is closer to that possibility.”

Poor conduct is another area that falls under the duties of the commission.

“We are here to outlaw anti-competitive behaviour which is detrimental to the consumer or the economy on the whole.”

Poor conduct defined by Narinesingh occurs when a business does not promote efficiency and the business is operating in a manner where they are creating barriers to entry, resulting in smaller businesses getting pushed out of the market or not being attracted to the market. Behaviour such as under pricing of goods so the competitor would not be able to enter the market is one example of Poor conduct.

Global competitive index

Narinesingh believes that T&T can get a better score now that the FTC is in place since international assessment agencies look at matrices as well as whether there is a competition agency in place.

“One of the reasons we were put in place is to help attract foreign direct investment because investors would know there is an independent competition agency. If there are issues about business practices by competitors, they would want to ensure that they are properly established in a country and has a level playing field.”

He also said the FTC would be working with the Caricom Competition Commission in Suriname to deal with cross-border issues that may arise. The legislation that entity uses is the Caricom Treaty. 

About the Caricom                 Competition Commission: 

The CCC was inaugurated on January 18, 2008. It was established by Article 171 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. It is one of the institutions in support of the Caricom Single Market and Economy. The CCC is headquartered in Suriname.

The functions of the CCC: 

• apply the rules of competition in respect of anti-competitive cross-border business conduct; 

• promote and protect competition in the Community and co-ordinate the implementation of the Community Competition Policy; and 

• perform any other function conferred on it by any competent body of the community

Section 174-177 outlines the powers of the CCC which include:

“Subject to Articles 175 and 176, the Commission may, in respect of cross-border transactions or transactions with cross-border effects, monitor, investigate, detect, make determinations or take action to inhibit and penalise enterprises whose business conduct prejudices trade or prevents, restricts or distorts competition within the CSME.

The commission may, in accordance with applicable national laws, in the conduct of its investigations

Concerning consumers, the CCC has the following powers:

• Article 186: Action by the commission to provide support in the promotion of consumer welfare and protection of consumer interests

(according to http://www.caricomcompetitioncommission.com/en/)

​State-owned National Gas Company will lower the price of the shares to be sold to the public in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Phoenix Park Gas Processors, NGC president Indar Maharaj said in an interview on Thursday last. 

Speaking at NGC’s corporate box at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, the company’s chief executive said the natural gas distribution company was in “the very, very final stages of submitting the prospectus for the IPO to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for their review and comments.” 

He estimated that NGC could launch the IPO “within at most eight weeks,” and that it could be less depending on how quickly the SEC reviewed the final submitted draft.

On Monday, RBC-owned stockbrokers, WISE, said that it had been informed by the lead broker, First Citizens Investment Services, that the estimated launch date of the upcoming TTNGL IPO (Phoenix Park) should be between June 22, to June 29, 2015.

NGC purchased an additional 39 per cent stake in Phoenix Park for US$600 million ($3.84 billion) from US oil giant ConocoPhillips in September, 2013. Those shares are being held by an NGC subsidiary named TTNGL and it is in that company that NGC proposes to sell a 49 per cent stake. 

In effect, this means that the participants in the IPO will collectively own 19.11 per cent of Phoenix Park. (See box)

The money from the Phoenix Park IPO will go to fund the shortfall between Government’s revenues and its expenditure, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced in an address to the nation on January 8.

Asked what NGC had decided with regard to the price of the shares to be offered to the public, Maharaj said: “Of course, I cannot disclose numbers, but we have done another evaluation and we have had to do some amount of impairment in that valuation. As a result, we have relooked the pricing of the shares and we have made some adjustments to that.

“When we do the IPO, the pricing will be different to what you saw last year.”

On May 28 last year, the Express published an article which quoted a Cabinet Note stating that NGC proposed to issue 75,852,000 TTNGL shares at $25 each, which would have raised $1.896 billion. That’s almost exactly 49 per cent of the US$600 million that NGC paid for the shares. That meant that a year ago, NGC proposed to sell the shares to the public at almost exactly the same price that it paid for them.

But that was before the collapse, at the end of November, of global oil prices and the prices of Phoenix Park’s products, which are propane, butane and natural gasoline.

Asked what he meant by impairment, the NGC president said: “Impairment of the value. We did a valuation when we purchased the shares in 2013.

“One year ago, when we were getting ready to do the IPO, we would have also done a valuation.

“Because of what happened in the marketplace in the last few months, we have had to do another valuation. The falling energy prices would have had an impact on the prices and the valuation of Phoenix Park and the offering price had to be addressed.”

Questioned whether the value of the shares to be sold at the IPO would be less than or equal to the price NGC paid for the shares from ConocoPhillips, Maharaj said: “It would be less.”

The decision to adjust downward the price of the TTNGL shares to be offered to the public represents an apparent change in the position of NGC with regard to Phoenix Park’s falling product prices and their impact on the IPO share price.

In a column, in this space, headlined “Will lower product prices affect Phoenix Park IPO?” Maharaj had stated by email: “At this time, I cannot give any details of the pending IPO for obvious reasons. However, we do not expect to do the issue at a price lower than what we paid for the asset.

“The valuation is based on a 15-year forecast in which it was anticipated there will be some amount of volatility and cyclical market behaviour.

“We did not use ‘moment in time’ prices. These market behaviours would have been built into our valuation model.

“I must say that we were very conservative in forecasting the product prices.

“Therefore, I do not see any significant impact on the valuation, at this time.”

Questioned about the average decline in the prices of Phoenix Park products over the last year, NGC’s vice president of Finance and Information Management Anand Ragbir said: “On average, Mont Belvieu prices for propane, butane and natural gasoline have declined by between 25 and 40 per cent. 

“What I hasten to add is that those are the Mont Belvieu prices. Phoenix Park has adopted a new approach to marketing their products, which relates to going out for open tenders and that has added some upside to the value that they receive.

“Some of the upside from the fall in Mont Belvieu prices has been eliminated by this new approach to marketing.”

Maharaj added that previously Phoenix Park entered into long-term, single source contracts for the sale of its products. 

He said that once Phoenix Park’s product prices recover, “then naturally the value of the asset will increase and the value of the shares will increase. All the expectation in the short of medium term is that prices will recover. Once that happens, the stock price and everything else will follow.”

In addition to the marketing adjustments that Phoenix Park has made, the petrochemical executive said, “We are also looking at what options we have for further optimising the business from both commercial and technical perspectives.”

In November, 2014, Eugene Tiah left his job as president of Phoenix Park, which he had held for 13 years, to join the Massy Group as the chairman of its energy and industrial gases business unit.

Of Tiah’s sudden departure, Maharaj said: “From what the gentleman has said, he has been given other opportunities that appear, probably, more attractive to him. As you know, Massy is looking at extending outside of T&T. There is also a larger portfolio of things they are looking at, including DME project in La Brea.”

The NGC president said the transfer of executive power had been seemless because Phoenix Park facility is a “mature” one, but well organised and well operated.

Responding to a question about state enterprises and the possibility of political directives that may not have the best commercial interests of the company, Maharaj said: “Before coming to the NGC, I spent 30 years of my career in the private sector. 

“Wherever you are the issue is not one of ownership but of management and management will always have challenges in terms of how you address ownership, while ensuring the long-term good of the business.

“It is important that we address the owners or directors purely on a business basis and not get involved in other issues.” 

NGC NGL—owns 51 per cent

T&TNGL—owns 39 per cent

Pan West—10 per cent

NGC owns 80 per cent of NGC NGL, National Enterprises Ltd (NEL) owns 20 per cent

NGC owns 100 per cent of T&TNGL; proposes to sell 49 per cent in an IPO in June.

NEL, Unit Trust Corporation and the National Insurance Board each own 3.33 per cent of Pan West.

•Phoenix Park’s shareholders are:

NGC NGL—owns 51 per cent

T&TNGL—owns 39 per cent

Pan West—10 per cent

NGC owns 80 per cent of NGC NGL, National Enterprises Ltd (NEL) owns 20 per cent

NGC owns 100 per cent of T&TNGL; proposes to sell 49 per cent in an IPO in June.

NEL, Unit Trust Corporation and the National Insurance Board each own 3.33 per cent of Pan West. 

Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner remained under remand at the Port-of-Spain State Prison up to midday. 

Warner, who has been indicted in the United States on eight fraud and corruption charges stemming from his two decade long career in FIFA, spent the night at the infirmary of the Frederick Street prison after he failed to obtain approval of his bail at the close of the court's business hours yesterday. 

Warner's lawyers and relatives made a second attempt to get approval this morning but were again turned down by the court's Clerk of the Peace 3. 

A source within the court, explained that the deed for the property being put forward to secure Warner's bail is listed in the name of a company. 

The T&T Guardian understands that the clerk has refereed the matter to Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar and would only rubber-stamp the process after she (Ayer-Caesar) reviews the deed. 

Warner, who is facing extradition proceedings which are likely to drag on for over a year, will reappear before Ayers-Caesar on July 9. 

In 2011 Dr Rowley was on record advising the Prime Minister that Jack Warner’s presence in the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago created a negative image for the country. He went on to say that it does not project us well in ascribing to good governance practices. While holding high public office, Jack Warner has had Fifa allegations of wrong doing hanging over his head.

There is no personal crusade against Jack Warner but the Government has to know its role and function. No one should rejoice in Warner’s demise. Dr Rowley’s advice to have Warner be relieved of his cabinet portfolio until he could clear his name was ignored for some time.

The opposition leader had communicated to the Prime Minister that we could not afford to project a negative image to some of the already misguided youths who think that some people are above the law.

The move by Fifa’s Ethics Committee to suspend Warner was a clear signal that things were heading in a particular direction. Now that Warner is facing an indictment the Attorney General has immediately started the process of extradition.

The population of Trinidad and Tobago has started asking “‘what about Ish and Steve?”‘ The opposition leader has also campaigned for extradition of these two people wanted by the United States but got Section 34 instead.

Warner has created supporters as a parliamentary representative with his political party the ILP, but he has also made some powerful enemies. The Prime Minister, during her term in office, selected many cabinet members who had to be relieved of their respective positions.

Warner, however, is one former cabinet minister who was defended relentlessly until the call for his removal from the Cabinet by the Opposition and the public at large became too overwhelming.

Ronald Huggins

St Joseph

Permit me space in your widely read newspapers to pay tribute to clinical staff who save lives daily, but who do not normally receive public tributes for their devotion to their profession and clients in their care. These are the dedicated staff who work as government veterinarians or in private veterinary clinics.

In particular, my family and I wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to Dr Nicholas Mackenzie, a gifted veterinarian physician and surgeon who owns Pet Life Veterinary Hospital, located at London Street, San Fernando. 

Our beloved German shepherd, who is 13 and a half years old underwent surgery on Thursday, May 21. The surgery was successful and the outcome was truly spectacular.

 My family and I were impressed with the modern, state of the art facilities at Pet Life Veterinary Hospital, as well as the kindness and expertise of each member of staff who gave our dog a new lease on life. Accolades are also given to Dr Cherise Medford, technicians Mala Samaroo and Renee La Chapelle, as well as to receptionist Jenny Singh. Pet Life Veterinary Hospital offers an upgraded experience for pet owners as well—coffee, water cooler and cable television in the reception room. Thank you Dr Mackenzie and your staff for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Dr Florence Seemungal

Via e-mail

The Jack Warner saga that has made headline news internationally and regionally is the talk of the town and at the tip of the tongue of almost every national of T&T. 

I have been looking at the different debates coming out of this on the social media sites, specifically Facebook. One such debate that had me thinking was the linkage people were trying to make with the Jack Warner/Fifa saga and Ish and Steve/Piarco Airport fiasco.

But this is a ticklish topic that we need to address so that people can understand the nature of the two. 

The major difference between both cases which people don't seem to understand is that Ish and Steve had been charged and were being prosecuted in our local criminal justice system. The court found that it would be unfair for them to face trial in the US and their trial should continue before the local courts. 

Mr. Warner has no pending criminal charges in our local courts. It is open to him to challenge the decision to extradite him, if and when it is made. There is therefore no basis for comparing these two cases as they are totally different situations. 

Allan Hewitt

Maraval

 He said he sees no potential of conflict of interest although one of PwC’s partners, Peter Inglefield, was at one time a member of the board of Petrotrin. 

The issue was raised by St Joseph MP Terrence Deyalsingh in the Parliament last Friday. In his contribution to the private motion by Point Fortin MP Paula Gopee-Scoon on the project, Deyalsingh said he was “flabbergasted” by Ramnarine’s announcement that PwC was chosen to conduct the forensic audit. 

Deyalsingh said conflict of interest arises if Inglefield is part of an investigating team into a company where he was once a director. 

“Ethics will dictate that you recuse yourself,” the Opposition MP said. 

However, Ramnarine said Inglefield is a private citizen. He said Inglefield had been a director on the board of the state-owned oil company in November 2010 and prior to that was a senior partner at PwC.

“He retired from PwC in June 2010, he then resigned from the board of Petrotrin in late June 2012 and now we are here three years later in June 2015 and we retain PwC to do the forensic investigations in this matter,” the minister said.

Referring to Section 29 of the Integrity of Public Life Act, Ramnarine added: “Mr Inglefield is a man in private life, he is a man highly regarded, he is a director of Republic Bank and I believe he is involved in the stock exchange, so he is a respectable gentleman who has served T&T at many different levels.

“It is unfortunate that Mr Deyalsingh would bring his name into disrepute in the Parliament, using the cloak of parliamentary privilege to malign the character of a member of the public like Mr Peter Inglefield.  I call on Mr Deyalsingh to apologise to Mr Inglefield.”

Ramnarine said a combined team of local PwC forensic investigators along with experts from the account firm’s Canadian branch will investigate allegations of non-compliance with Petrotrin’s internal procurement process, unauthorised payment and theft and the misappropriation of public funds.

In her motion Gopee-Scoon said Petrotrin officials breached rules by giving advance payments to Mexican company Maritima Mareska. She also cited an alleged illegal advance payment of US$1.25 million which was not in accordance with the contract and an alleged transfer of US$750,000 to two private accounts at Scotiabank, Maraval.

Commercial manager at ANSA Coatings Ltd Umanath Maharajh wants to see more public and private sector investment in local paint products.

In his address at the official launch of the country’s newest Sissons Colour Shop at SS Erin Road, Debe, on Tuesday Maharajh said: “What we find happening is that even when we have better quality, even when we have better pricing, somehow from somewhere within the system and bureaucracy, you see foreign paint being specified and being used.”

He said the Food Production Ministry is growing onions in Chaguaramas to reduce the food import bill, “other people are specifying paints from the US from Brazil from Europe. That is not consistent.

He added: “So in our daily decisions please use what is done locally and what contributes to the local economy because this is where we live, this is where we are.”

Maharajh is confident the Debe Colour Shop will be a success and will satisfy all the painting needs of the rapidly developing area. Special features at the store, which opened to the public last November, is a colour visualisation system. He explained that the system allowed customers to “see how your house would look in different colours from Sissons, different colours from competitors, before you even put a drop paint on the house.”

He said the system is available on the company’s Web site and a programme is being developed for mobile phones.

ANSA Coatings managing director Roger Roach said the opening of the Debe store has put the company a step closer to achieving its goal of becoming a regional coatings powerhouse. He said two months ago the company launched its first colour shop in Jamaica as part of its targeted objective to deepen its regional footprint following the successful incorporation of ANSA Coatings Jamaica Ltd last October.

“ANSA Coatings is the most diversified coatings company in the region. We are not only top of class for decorative paint but we also lead the automotive paint sector, we are a major player in the industrial and marine coating sector and we provide a wide range of accessories.”

Roach said the company will be introducing its own private labelled brand of rollers paint brushes and other products  later this year.

“Our goal is to become the regional coatings powerhouse and we are close and to double the size of our business over the next five years. We see this location and others to come in this area, which is becoming increasingly urbanised, as a key pillar to achieving those objectives as we expand the brand to every corner of T&T and to every corner of the Caribbean region. 

“We believe we can offer value to the market here in Debe and Penal and our group views this area as an important strategic location,” Roach said.

He also pointed out that Sissons had been manufacturing and distributing premium paints and coatings in the Caribbean since 1956 and now has more than 600 products and over 1200 colours.

“From Guyana in the south to Belize in the north, with manufacturing plants in Trinidad and Grenada, Sissons is a recognised and trusted brand among home owners, large and small contractors, property developers and architects. We beautify communities and provide colour to enrich lives,” he said.

Shiva Roopnarine, president of the Penal Debe Chamber of Commerce, said the area was developing at an astronomical rate. 

“Long gone are the days when Debe was known only for doubles,” he said.

Roopnarine said the store will serve the needs of Debe’s fast growing population.

Micheal Ramsook, the franchise holder for the new shop together with his wife Rita, said business had been good with customers from as far as Point Fortin.

Brian Ramsey, MBA & Ricardo La Borde, CPP

Annually, billions of dollars are lost worldwide to shoplifting with an estimated loss to retailers on average of 1.7 per cent of their annual sales. Shoplifting affects every type of business that has goods on display. This article presents key tips and reminders to maintain the edge on potential shoplifters. It focuses on understanding the methods used by shoplifters as part of a retail business owner’s loss prevention strategy against shoplifting.

Who shoplifts

Shoplifters appear in any possible form, age, sex or size. In this article, we use four types of shoplifters: professional, amateur, drug users and thrill seekers. Statistics show that the amateur is the largest group.

Amateurs come from every economic group and education level. Their thefts are generally impulsive, although a significant number find economic or more often emotional satisfaction in their action. As the frequency of theft by a particular individual increases, they become virtually indistinguishable from the professionals. The rest of the amateurs have no particular pattern of theft and may only steal once or, at most a handful of times.

Professional shoplifters can wreak havoc on retailers worldwide. Their methods are well-planned and practical. Most times, they work in groups or with a partner. One author described it as, “The professional approaches shoplifting just as a dancer studies dance or a ballplayer plays ball.” They appear to be ordinary shoppers in every way; after all, fitting into their environment plays a critical role in their success. The clever ones actually purchase items from the retailer they target.

Detecting the shoplifter

Professional shoplifters will not be deterred by normal means. They would not be discouraged by measures that would deter the great bulk of amateurs from stealing. In today’s world, you need a combination of effective electronic surveillance equipment and well-trained security personnel or store detectives to have the best chance at apprehending them. Other than being familiar with the routine and operations of your outlet, the floor staff, store managers and surveillance team must make it their business to understand and learn the different patterns that shoppers use, for instance:

• A secretary on lunch hour, or any other person who shops to kill time

• The energetic early morning customer with a specific mission in mind

• The after work rush hour

• Understanding the difference in the pace of customers in the 10 am crowd from that of the 4.30 pm crowd

• Shoppers who are in a hurry to get home.

Once we become familiar with these patterns, then we must learn how to spot a potential shoplifter. As some of us may be aware, shoplifting is conducted in every imaginable way. Robert J Fisher once wrote that “the ingenuity of the shoplifter is legendary.” Although the great majority of thefts are simple and direct, involving nothing more sophisticated than putting the stolen items into a handbag or a pocket, we must be cognizant that there are certain methods that are beyond the simple taking of merchandise if we are to be successful in protecting our commodities.

Some shoplifting methods are:

1. Using large baggy clothes like bloomers or pantyhose that can be fitted like shopping bags

2. Slitting pockets in coats or jackets, or hiding merchandise inside a jacket or upper sleeve

3. Wearing stolen clothes under the thief’s own clothing

4. Hiding items in purses or umbrellas

5. Placing small items in the palm of the hand

6. Using shopping bags and the store’s own bags

7. Hiding items within other packaged items, eg, placing jewelry into soap, toothpaste or cotton boxes.

8. Wearing the item in plain view and walking out with large items

9. Snatch and run — Grabbing items placed close to the door and running out of the store

10. Cages — these are specially designed to be worn by women to make them appear pregnant

11. Hiding items in books, newspapers and magazines

12 A technique usually used by females where an item is held in place by the thighs under a skirt or dress

13. Using baby prams or strollers to hide the items in

14. Using a baggy jacket to hide items under

It is also beneficial to know the physical actions and reactions that shoplifters make, as they can help a storeowner identify potential shoplifters and focus their attention on these people while they are in the store. 

• Makes excessive eye and head movements; constantly looking around or “scoping out” the premises for alarms, cameras and employees

• Refuses to look you directly in the eye

• Quickly refuses assistance when offered

• Seems to be avoiding salespeople

• Do not appear to have a deliberate purpose to purchase items

• Picks up and puts down a variety of articles

• Places bags on the floor while looking at stock. Items can be easily dropped into a bag before the business owner/employee has a chance to notice

• Not handling or looking at merchandise they pick up. They may be attempting to steal and conceal it quickly

• Take identical pieces of clothing into a fitting room

• “Sampling” merchandise that may not fit their character

• Walks with short steps to conceal merchandise between their knees

• Walks behind a desk, into a stockroom or anywhere else they shouldn’t be

• Loiters in an area that would not normally be of interest to them; for instance, a man in a women’s department.

• Leaves an area hastily

• Remains in the store for lengthy periods of time

• Frequently returns to a particular spot within the store

• Kneels to look at merchandise 

Prevention actions

There are also actions that store personnel should take that help reduce shoplifting losses. These include:

• Acknowledge all customers

• Always face customers, especially when using the telephone

• Keep customers in view at all times

• Focus on people who fit the shoplifter typology

• Watch out for customers who do not appear to have a deliberate purpose to purchase items

• Watch out for diversions

• Pay attention to unsupervised children, especially during school hours

• Watch out for overcrowding around the cash register area, particularly by school children

• Use common sense, be vigilant and watchful

• Watch merchandise near the edges of tables or counters 

In addition to physical actions, there are several anti-shoplifting tools available to retailers, which include closed circuit television, uniformed guards, electronic article surveillance, close customer service, exit inspections, no package inside policy and in swinging doors. When these anti-shoplifting options are combined with knowledge of shoplifting methods, the deterring and apprehending of shoplifters are increased. 

Contact the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety for training programmes to prevent shoplifting, robbery, theft, violence as well as risk assessment, first aid, cctv, etc in your workplace from the almost 100 training programmes available. 

Tel: 223-6999, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com

The children of Trinidad & Tobago, who recently sat the Secondary Entrance Exam, will, I hope, forgive me for not completing my own Senility Entrance Exam today, as promised, partly because I haven’t got the topics yet, but mainly because I want to defend the Honourable (and as yet un-extradited) Austin “Jack” Warner, Chaguanas West MP, political leader of the ILP and former UNC Cabinet Minister.

Jack, also a former Fifa vice-president and Concacaf president, was on Wednesday indicted by the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch (and Jack himself must love the serendipity of that surname, for hinting at what he thinks is happening to him). He faces seven counts of corruption arising out of, inter alia, the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where, at 41 degrees Celsius during traditional World Cup months, it’s easier to fry an egg than play football on the pitch.

The world has jumped on Jack like strippers on cash, old friends sprinting from him like sheep fleeing a sinking rat. Before you can say, “Jack Robbing Son,” our Jack might well be out of his fancy blue suit and in a standard prison orange jumpsuit, sharing an American jailhouse-penthouse with his sons, who have both already pleaded guilty in Florida.

We know from recent experience that a Trini attorney general can affect extradition to the USA forcefully—indeed, terminally. In 2011, then Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, exercising the AG’s unreviewable discretion, flatly refused to appeal the decision of Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh not to extradite Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh to the US to face alleged fraud charges arising out of the Piarco Airport construction. (They now face the frighteningly swift and terrifyingly efficient prosecution for which our police and courts are renowned).

Given that the AG can directly affect extradition proceedings by using or declining to use his office’s powers, and given that his actions (e.g., his gratuitous public censure of Assistant DPP Joan Honore-Paul, for doing her job) suggest that our current Attorney General seems to think he is not the legal embodiment of the state, but the legal guard dog of the ruling party, Jack’s extradition warrant might have been signed before the news story broke; the same office which refused to hand over Ish and Steve may have already chucked Jack.

Ironically, for a man who wielded immense power at the highest levels for decades, Jack’s best hope of not making an American jail lies in the possibility that the UNC may not consider him an electoral threat; for, if they do, Jack’s ass is grass and the UNC are the lawnmower: Mr Warner might get a quick hang-Jack in what he might see now was a game of  “all foes.” 

But even his worst enemies might baulk at how different the extradition of Jack Warner might turn out to be from previous extradition attempts here.

And how Trinidadian a dichotomy it is, that people supporting principle find themselves possibly having to defend a man entirely unbound by it, a pragmatist of the first water, a man who told me, unhesitatingly, in interviews – and these are just two examples of several such statements – that the exchange of personal favours in office was not corruption, but business, and that he saw nothing wrong with awarding the stadium-catering contract for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup held here to his son, Daryan – indeed, he was a trifle irate that his son, proprietor of the short-lived Coal Pot restaurant, should be fiscally penalised for being his son!

So I suggest a possible approach my own former pupil-master, Fyard Hosein, SC, Jack’s lawyer, might take in his defence, which is to deny mens rea. In criminal law, an offence cannot be proven if the accused person has not both committed the required illegal action – the actus reus, e.g., the taking of a life or a bribe – and, at the same time, had the mens rea, or the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing.

It might not be that difficult to prove Jack Warner never formed the mens rea to commit the criminal acts with which he has been charged—or, indeed, any criminal act at all. In a real, perhaps forensically provable way, Jack Warner has never shown or—and this is the crucial thing—genuinely thought—that he was ever doing something wrong.

When, e.g., as Minister of Works, he required US$1 million from the state till to recover a worthless firetruck that had rolled down a hill, a job a Trinidadian wrecking company would have done for US$5K, when he billed the state for, e.g., floodlights and their massive pylons, to do a job that might have been done during daylight, he declared, passionately, that, he would do it again if necessary because “Lives were at stake!” That’s not mens rea at its minimum, that’s altruism at its maximum. When, too, he presided over the distribution of envelopes containing US$40K to Fifa representatives here at the Hyatt Regency, he openly—and, crucially, in his own mind, correctly—stated the envelopes were not bribes, but gifts, you could not find an awareness of doing a wrongful act.

If, however, he should be extradited and convicted, Jack’s legendary generosity to others and self-denial ought to mitigate his sentence. Jack, remember, acted as Minister of Works for the annual salary of just one TT dollar: it would take him six full years to earn the US$1 for which he bought the World Cup television rights, and he only had four years between World Cups, meaning he would owe Fifa almost 33 US cents every World Cup.

No decent court should ever treat such a selfless man harshly.

BC Pires is the watcher in the wouldn’t you know its. Email your Jack the Giant Slayer stories to him at bc@winetonline.com

It now appears that the brief interlude during which Mr Warner shifted from game changer in the football world to king maker in the T&T political arena is nearing an end. He stands accused of many serious crimes and over the next few months and years may have to channel most his efforts and considerable financial resources to fight against extradition to the US. 

On Thursday night, putting up a brave front amidst the Fifa-related controversies swirling around their political leader Jack Warner, senior officials of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) went ahead with a scheduled cottage meeting in Sangre Grande.     

Perhaps inspired by the bravado displayed by Mr Warner over the past two days, the ILP offcials exuded an air of business as usual, assuring their supporters that the party would be contesting all 41 seats in the general elections and will have a major influence over the outcome of those polls.

We have examined the repercussions for the governing United National Congress, where Mr Warner served as chairman for many years and forged a close alliance with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar—and to a lesser extent, the Opposition. It is worth noting that the indictment occurred after a period of long, quiet and active cooperation between the US Justice Department and the Persad-Bissessar administration. The prime minister’s sombre tone in the house on Wednesday suggested that she did not relish the task, but felt compelled to play her part in expediting the Justice Department’s efforts.

However, we want to cast the political spotlight on what it all means for the ILP. Several factors outside the control of Mr Warner and his party will determine whether their political aspirations will ever be achieved. 

What is already clear, is that whether or not Mr Warner and his battery of lawyers manage to defeat the extradition efforts launched this week by the US Department of Justice, the developments which have taken place over the past few days have already changed the playing field for him and for his past and current political associates.

One very unavoidable fact is that throughout the life of the ILP, even when he didn’t officially hold the title of political leader, Mr Warner’s personality and influence loomed large over the party. His fortunes are so tightly intertwined with those of the ILP that a clean, painless separation is almost impossible. 

For many years, the Chaguanas West MP also enjoyed that level of control over football locally and regionally, as president of Concacaf and a vice president of Fifa. He only stepped away from that highly influential position in 2011 after bribery allegations were made against him.

It now appears that the brief interlude during which Mr Warner shifted from game changer in the football world to king maker in the T&T political arena is nearing an end. He stands accused of many serious crimes and over the next few months and years may have to channel most his efforts and considerable financial resources to fight against extradition to the US. During that process there are bound to be political repercussions for Mr Warner’s ILP.

At present Mr Warner only stands accused and he is considered innocent until proven guilty. However, the legal processes that have been put in motion in full glare of the international spotlight are much more serious than any of the other challenges he has faced thus far. The indictments made public on Wednesday have to do with worrying connections to Traffic Sports USA, a Miami-based soccer event management company in the North American, Central American and Caribbean region. There are also those many allegations of millions of dollars being funneled into personal accounts at T&T banks.

Pending resolution, which could take years, the political terrain will be difficult for the political entity which Mr Warner straddles like a colossus.

Salt Island is a serious rival to unbeaten Limato in the ten-runner, £90000 group two Sandy Lane Stakes over six furlongs of good ground Haydock today; certainly no surprise if this Exceed And Excel colt causes one in what is undoubtedly the race of the day on yet another ludicrously-overwhgelming super-Saturday featuring six meetings.

Four of them will be staged on grade one racecourses, York, Newmarket and Chester are set to run in tandem with the Lanacashire course.

Mine is not to wonder about such madness, just concentrate on my daily patent which involves three singles, three doubles and a treble; seven bets if the singles bets are 2/1 or better.

Chances are Limato will be odds-on thus giving each-way punters a real chance of thieving one of three places; that’s the thinking behind backing Salt Island, so impressive when storming into third place behind Adaay in a similar race at Newbury a fortnight ago.

Jamie Spencer over-reacted to the worst draw (in his opinion!) and dropped in last off a strong pace; Salt Island was given plenty to do therefore and was fully eight lengths behind at the two furlongs marker.

That had been reduced to three and half at the line and the whole experience should have been enjoyable, not to mention confidence-boosting. A happy horse!

Adaay opposes on the same terms, he’ll be on the premises and a clutch of other winners will make this competitive but, according to trainer Barry Hills, we’re about to witness a special performance from Salt Island.

Barry journeys to Newmarket where Sahaafy represents the legend in an eleven-runner 3-y-o handicap over the famous good to firm Rowley Mile; what beats him will win!

Thrice-raced Sahaafy was raised 5lbs for a recent determined effort when beaten three-quarters of a length by Always Smile over a similar distance at Doncaster; on my time-handicap this American-bred colt improved 12 pounds.

If, as expected, Sahaafy lands the money Royal Ascot and the Britannia could be his next target; Barry won that with Ransom Note, winner by six lengths

Earlier Richard Hughes is booked for the splendidly-named Rosslare, one of twelve for the Maiden Fillies’ Stakes over seven furlongs and fancied to make it third time lucky-napped. 

The past week in the Fifa house in Zurich was filled with cheers, tears and ton loads of opinions from those who represented their countries at the Fifa congress.

Sometimes, I wonder whether or not these persons understood the importance of evaluating the nominees for the presidency of the greatest sporting body in the world.

Honestly, this was easily the simplest occasion for the countries to make a choice.

The person opposing Prince Ali Hussein, is just 39 years old and his claim to recognition is that he is a prince of Jordan whose wealth speaks louder than his words. Not even his four years on the seat of a vice president of Fifa would have brought the type of experience and information needed to run football in the world.

Despite the support from UEFA on the eve of the voting process, where the European president Michel Platini expressed his wish that all the countries in his confederation should vote against Sepp Blatter, clearly his bark did not bring him the respect which would have provoked and changed the minds of the other confederations.

Blatter accepted the fact that Fifa can be more efficiently run and he promised that the mistakes made in the past will be corrected with the assistance of the affiliated countries attached to Fifa.

This change which was bandied about across the European countries, and the support which was showed by the USA to lend support to Prince Ali Hussein, could not have been directed by Blatter alone.

Please bear in mind that the president of Fifa does not represent a country, or better still, he represents 209 countries who voted him into office.

None of his decisions can be implemented without the approval of the executive members of Fifa and even before that final vote, his regular habit was to have some dialogue with the confederations.

So the true decision makers are really the executive members, all of whom have been representing the same confederations.

There is no criteria in terms of qualification for membership in the executive of Fifa, and many times, the public is able to openly and fairly criticise some of the decisions taken.

In many cases, the proverbial business man who is attached to some area relating to sport, such as marketing, accounting, club ownership or just plain affluence, position themselves to be considered for a seat in the decision chamber.

They all want to make their opinions count and because of the opportunity to rub shoulders with agencies, clubs, and business associates, it is natural that business within and without Fifa is discussed.

Where is the president in all this? If he had been dancing in their party, then the USA investigators and FBI may have approached his room last Tuesday night in Zurich.

If the world truly believes that the president of Fifa can rule the game from his seat in Zurich, then the picture in unclear.

Confederations deal with their business relations autonomously, which I honestly believe is the biggest mistake which Fifa must address.

The second change in the Fifa structure must be in the business of removing from the umbrella called (non profit organisation) and let the executive committee be a board of directors in a fully registered limited liability company.

Every cent spent by each confederation must be reported by way of balance sheets and audited statements, all subjected to the scrutiny by some of the best accounting firms in the world.

There are also some areas which were well done by Blatter which has bypassed the interest of the big wigs of Europe and the conglomerates of the USA, Mexico, Australia and matured countries which have histories of good management skills.

The president has devoted his time with the development of grassroots football, beach football, futsal, and all age groups of men and women's football.

They have all been adequately handled through to their world cup final events.

Will someone care to give some credit to the president, seeing that he was able to delegate the responsibility to other qualified personnel in the lesser developed countries to achieve his goal.

Maybe in another article I shall love to explain the reasons why UEFA could have had problems with the president. Yes? The president, the one who just won the hearts and votes of a democratic majority.

Newly appointed Women’s Soca Warriors coach Ross Russell says he hopes to improve the overall standard of the team as they continue preparations for the upcoming Pan American Games in Canada in July as well as the Caribbean Football Union Olympic Games qualifying tournament for Rio 2016.

The 47-year-old Russell, a former Defence Force Staff Sargeant and coach was confirmed in the post by the members of the T&T Football Association’s Executive Committee serving on the federation’s technical development committee headed by chairman Richard Quan Chan, following its special meeting held to discuss its 10-year development plan last week.

Commenting on his appointment, Russell who led Defence Force to two Digicel T&T Pro League titles and was replaced as the team’s Pro League coach after his tenure with Defence Force came to an end, 26 years after he first enrolled said he took his new position in stride and was quick to point out that the team was already at a very good standard in terms of quality.

A former national goalkeeper Russell said his main aim for now will be improving the sharpness and fitness levels of the players as they ready themselves for a very tough group campaign at the Pan American Games in Canada in July. 

“In Canada we will face three top quality teams in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico and our first target is to qualify from the group to the semifinal phase of the competition and against these teams we will need to be at our peak physically,” said Russell.

“Once we take each match as it comes and manage to qualify from the round-robin stage then our next target will be to get among the medals. I believe we have the quality players and team in general to achieve that goal and we will be trying our best to do so.”

Russell said he was also looking forward to the new Women’s Professional League which is set to kick off next month so he can have a chance of seeing a few more players with Olympic qualifiers coming soon after the Pan American Games.

“So far all the girls have responded to my appointment very well. I must say its been’s a smooth transition for me, and I think having been around as a goalkeeper coach and helping out with national teams in the past made it very easy for me to communicate with the team and their captain Maylee Attin-Johnson.

“They have been very professional as well and all know my work.

“We are now into our second week of training and the girls are all working as hard as possible to get into peak form and with me being a new coach it gives them the extra motivation of wanting to make a good impression.

According to Russell, who conducted another training session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Thursday, he has not selected a final squad for the Pan American Games as yet, even though a list of players have been shortlisted and submitted to the T&T Olympic Committee with the final team set to be named by mid June.

Terry Fenwick, coach of newly crowned Caribbean Football Union Club champion, Central FC says his team’s 2-1 triumph over three-time winner and fellow Digicel T&T Pro League club, DirecTV W Connection on Sunday in final proves they are the best team in the region at present.

Making its tournament debut, the Couva-based Central FC got a goal each from midfielder Jean-Luc Rochford, in a rare start, and makeshift forward Jamal Jack to lead 2-0 before second-half W Connection substitute Neil Benjamin Jr pulled back a goal in the 90th minute at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

Two days earlier, Central FC got the better of Haitian club champion Don Bosco 3-1 on penalty kicks in their semifinal after a 0-0 deadlock while W Connection, tournament winner in 2002, 2006 and 2009  as well as five-time runner-up edged Jamaica Red Stripe Premier League champion Montego Bay United 1-0.

In the previous round, Central FC won Group One which was contested in Guyana by defeating Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe 2-0 and home side Alpha United 3-1 and now looks ahead to the 2015/2016 Concacaf Champions League Group stage draw which is scheduled to begin in August and features the confederation’s top clubs out of the USA, Mexico and Central America. 

It will be joined by CFU runner-up W Connection and Montego Bay which defeated Don Bosco 1-0 in the third place playoff.

Both T&T clubs have also qualified for next year’s CFU Club Championship as winner and runner-up respectively in the just concluded 2014/2015 Digicel T&T Pro League.

Commenting on club’s rise to the top of the CFU Club Championship, Fenwick said, “It’s a wonderful achievement for Central FC in just its third season, that’s incredible, but I think we were always the best team in the region.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to be where we are right now. We’ve had quite a run, this being our eighth or ninth straight win. The boys have been tremendous and they have worked their socks off. 

“We’ve worked diligently behind the scenes to make sure we did our homework on the oppositions, whoever we played and we are the best team around and we’ve proved it again against W Connection.”

The CFU Club crown was the third major trophy won for the season by Central FC after also lifting its maiden Digicel Pro League title and retaining the First Citizens Cup.

The club also topped the league at the end of each of the three rounds to take home $35,000 each for the Rawle Fletcher, Akeem Adams and Kevon Carter competitions.