We are now seeing signs of movement towards stimulating the economy through the construction sector in particular. Minister of Housing, Marlene McDonald, has made her Ministry’s position clear at the Contractor of the Year Award ceremony held at the Hilton Trinidad. 

The Minister assured that more HDC developments are on the way to better meet the housing demands by the public. The HDC will return to its original mandate of providing affordable houses to those in need, she said. 

Minister McDonald has stated that the former administration increased the cost of construction. Her Ministry intends, therefore, to move to have the cost per unit reduced. 

I look forward to returning the days of the construction boom particularly in the housing sector. Once managed effectively this level of construction activity will be an engine for boosting economic activity and the high levels of employment that accompany these activities. 

The Minister also highlighted that the work will be spread among a wider pool of contractors. This is a step in the right direction because many small and medium contractors have been forced to get out of business due to a sluggish sector over the past couple years. 

My major concern is ensuring that with this construction boom the housing units built are allocated to those who genuinely need them. The former administration raised the qualifying income bracket from where it was initially at $8000 to $30,000 per month. The programme now includes many people who could afford homes on the open market accessing HDC homes to the detriment of those who cannot afford open market homes. 

This should be rectified before any further distribution to ensure deserving people don’t lose out on the opportunity. 

The last check revealed over 80,000 HDC applications are still in the system so getting to work on trying to meet this demand is in the best interest of the people. 

Martin Huggins,

Arima 

ISIS marks a watershed in the evolving nature of transnational threats to states. It is an army which acts as individuals and asymmetric operators focused on the same attack vector, acting as an army, without the need to communicate. 

Such an entity marks a new era in terrorist hybridity and renders ISIS distinct from all other groups who seek to change the structure of the system they operate within. 

ISIS has recruits from over 100 countries. Large numbers from Belgium and France but proportionately it also has a significant number from the Caribbean—specifically T&T. This is not a coincidence or an aside. This is a major issue to be dealt with for two reasons—ISIS operates in nodes and is a violent transnational social movement.

Nodes are standalone operators. They determine attack vectors individually. Their role is to execute the ISIS idea and not to create terrorist cells and hubs which are noisy (chatter) and can be tracked.

ISIS operators are a group of agents attached by a common cause but operating individually in groups as local nodes. There is an increasing number of familial groups involved in these operations. Another important factor is the emphasis on the local nature of the agents as they can shift and blend into their environment easily. 

They are bringing a globalised idea of jihad to the countries they wish to operate in, but execute using trained combat-hardened locals blended with trained combat experts. 

Each of these are still independent and separate nodes. Intelligence agencies looking for “chatter” have nothing to find since these nodes have no need to communicate and no reason to raise attention as they are local and blend into the terrain. 

The second key consideration is that ISIS is a social movement. Its actions and behaviours are bound in an agreed code and belief system which all its participants adhere to. This coded system creates practices and rituals which bind participants together, creating community and identity.

Tied into the belief system is the concept that individuals aren’t isolated, misunderstood, disenfranchised or marginalised any longer but part of a community in which the role they play is vital. This sense of belonging can be intoxicating. It engenders a sense of purpose and the opportunity to believe they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.

Given the power of ISIS’s social construct and its common bonds which hold its disparate membership together, it becomes apparent “returning home” is unlikely as home is where an individual feels they belong—not the country they initially escaped from due to the sense of not belonging.

Returning home takes on a new dimension—a purpose which will involve delivering the objectives and mission of the group. Nationals returning home with an ISIS identity and ethnicity are soldiers whose role is to complete a mission. This mission is further imbued with religious teaching. It becomes God’s purpose and not just the individual’s desire.

Therefore, ISIS’s identity cannot be taken off like a carnival costume on Ash Wednesday. It is more akin to a tattoo which lives on, for life, because the ink is under the skin.

ISIS is therefore a clear and present threat to T&T because those unidentified returners and those who support ISIS Salafist jihadism don’t need to be members of a group to be effective in executing their objectives. 

They function in isolation with only the broad attack vector. The disparate and distinct nature of each node practically renders them invisible to intelligence and law enforcement except those agencies who have a high human intelligence capacity and a handle on gun-running or organised crime gangs.

The Caribbean is a particularly-attractive target which explains the alleged presence of regional ISIS recruiters in such islands such as Aruba, Margarita and Suriname. 

It’s attractive because any incident in one island has a material and profound effect on all the others in the chain. What happens in one country reflects upon and impacts the other. 

This symbiotic relationship has to be nurtured and protected and that means thinking as one unified region where regional threats are the same as state threats. Caribbean islands are part of the global system, interconnected, interdependent and interrelated.

Part of dealing with this reality is to change the way security operates. In a hybrid enemy paradigm conventional warfare doesn’t work. Hybrid enemies are transnational and non-state in nature; borderless in design, intention and action. Caribbean states are still configured to deal with state enemies, rather than non-state enemies. They’re equipped with standing armies instead of cyber armies.

The operational posture remains national border patrol using state assets for state security instead of regional co-operation and co-ordination of assets. There are a plethora of intelligence units none of which speak to each other on a daily basis and certainly no adequately-functional regional intelligence agency. 

There are counter terrorist military units instead of anti-terrorist population centric action plans. 

It’s time for a new approach to national security given the threat ISIS represents. The state-centric approach is dated and globalisation and the emergence of transnational threats means a real attempt is needed at regional security sector reform. Regional is the new national. 

Joined up intelligence, regional intelligence infrastructure and planned and defined career paths for dedicated intelligence professionals creates the base upon which good regional security is built.

The nature of the message which the security services deliver is just as important as how it’s delivered. It’s not counter terrorism that’s needed to deal with this emerging threat. Counter terrorism is reactionary and conducted after the terrorist event. Anti-terrorism initiatives, on the other hand, provide counter dialogue which can be employed in social media, on television and in mosques. Pro-actionary response is what is needed to ensure those with intent to harm our region are saved from themselves.

n Candyce Kelshall is vice chair British Transport Police Independent Advisory Network, BUCSIS Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, The University of Buckingham; Fellow, Institute of Training and Occupational Learning, CNN terrorism analyst.)

It was Kwame Williams' love for hip-hop and rap music that made him join the now defunct rap group Spot Rushaz. When the group split, Williams quickly pursued a solo career, which today he describes as successful and gratifying. 
In an interview with the former T&T Guardian sports reporter, he boasted of staging his first full length concert on November 20 at the 4Play Sports Bar in St James.  
The concert titled All In, after the poker game, will feature a number of other local acts likes Chantal Esdelle of the local jazz group Moyenne, rappers Mark Hardy and Young Rudd, Sovereignty and upcoming rap artiste Worm. 
The concert will also be Williams' first performance with a live band, something those who follow his music have never experienced.
"I am very much looking forward to this because I believe it is always a great thing to challenge yourself as an artiste and a musician. I am really excited to see how it will all turn out,” said Williams, who said he has some surprises in store for patrons.
"I can say I truly believe hip-hop fans will leave that event completely satisfied and looking forward to another show because I intend to make this an annual event," he said.
Apart from keeping busy with his concert, Williams is also back in studio putting down tracks for his 2016 album. He said this album in comparison to his last two, would experiment more with social and political content.
"I like pushing the envelope a bit," he said with a grin.
The former Fatima College student had much success with his second album—the Playboy's Play Book. Written and recorded in Atlanta, at You World Studios, the album gained a lot of international recognition. The lead single named after Love and hip-hop Atlanta reality television star, Stevie J, wracked up over 2.7 million views on the world's biggest hip-hop Web site,
worldstarhiphop.com. The rapper was also flooded with calls from record executives who expressed interest in working with the St James boy.
"Producers were sending me beats…big producers like Lil C who produced the 2010 Shoulder Lean hit. The song was performed by Young Dro and TI. Other producers included D Focis who produced songs for Killer Mike, a former member of the Grammy-award winning hip-hop group Outkast. And Lo Key who worked with Wiz Khalifa.”
The song also received heavy rotation on local urban frequencies, almost always making “song of the day.”
Of this accomplishment, Williams is extremely proud. He articulated the joy he felt, as locally, hip-hop has not really been given the type of attention he thinks it deserves. He admitted, though, that in 2015, he saw a positive change with this, where the spotlight was actually placed on local hip-hop and the artistes who experiment with the genre.
"This was a huge step in the right direction. I cannot say that I myself have not experienced support from the local radio stations, but I do know that other hip-hop artistes, especially the upcoming ones, sorely complained about not getting the kind of support that they needed.” 
Williams said he believes the local hip-hop industry is slowly but surely coming along as more attention is being paid to it now. He said artistes can now feel comfortable to enter the industry, whereas when he started his career 11 years ago, getting support was like pulling teeth without anaesthesia. 
"This is changing and that's good," Williams said.
He is hoping to one day take home an international award for his contribution to hip-hop. And this, he said, will place T&T on the world map. 
"They will know that we are not just about soca music over here, but from one island comes world music."

Tickets for All In are currently on sale. For more information fans can call 685-3351 or visit Facebook/ Gazzi Gates, Twitter and Instagram, using the same name.

Police from the Central Division are investigating an incident where two men thew fire bombs at a used car dealership early this morning.

At about 3.20 am two men fire bombed Seecharan Used Cars located just north of the Charlieville flyover on the Southbound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway.

A spokesman said camera footage showed two men exiting a vehicle, and tossing molotov cocktails into the building damaging several vehicles.

No one was injured this morning. 

Investigations continue.

McFARLANE: MARILYN THERESA left us peacefully on Friday 6th November 2015 in the USA. She was the beloved wife of Jeffrey Mc- Farlane, mother of Daya, Chikosi (Kosi), Marcus, Kelly and Jason. Step-mother of Andra McFarlane Guera and Jaycelle McFarlane Robertson.

Grandmother of Jadon, Kadisha, Jodie and Brandon. Relative of David, Crystal, Justin and Kristian. Motherin- law of Lou-Ann and Arisha. Aunt and friend of many. She was the daughter of Leroy (dec'd) and Eutrice Kelly Simmons, sister of Ken (dec'd), Anne, Marion, Hewson and Christine. Sister in law of Susan Martin, Junior Carrington, and Noel Fung. Mother-in-law of Albert, David, and Jill. Grandmother of Ryan, Elizabeth, Spencer (deceased), Elyssa, Christopher, Parker, Weston, Addison, and Harrison. Aunt and Great-aunt to many nieces and nephews.

Funeral Service for the late Romelia Fung takes place at 9:00 a.m. on Monday 23 November, 2015 at St. Anthony's R.C. Church, Petit Valley. Cremation at the St. James Crematorium, Long Circular Road, St James. For enquiries call R. M. de Souza Memorial Chapel Limited at 223-2007/637-2009.  

FUNG: ROMELIA MARIA (Ma Fung) wife of Paul Fung (deceased). Mother of Nora Penalver, Kathy Ouellette, Paul FORD: CARL age 65 of Trincity died on 18th November, 2015. Son of Carl (deceased) and Barbara Ford. Husband of Jenny Ford. Father of Candice Richardson, Jason and Chad Ford and Jenna Poyer. Father in law of La Shea and Kimberley Ford and Carlos Poyer.

Grandfather of Julian, Ellis, Liam, Scott and Mason. Son in law of Carlton and Geraldine Legall (both deceased). Brother of Ingrid (deceased), Barbara Taylor, Freddie Ford and Farouk Mohammed. Brother in law of Tina Mohammed, Reginald Taylor, Carlie, Roger (deceased), Gemma, Ronnie and Gerard Legall. Uncle of many. Relative of the Pierre, Waddle and Julian families. Friend of Ian Clarke, Pascal Ramkissoon, Andrew Merlot “Jappa” and many others.

Funeral service for the late Carl Ford takes place at 11:00 am on Monday 23rd November, 2015 at the St. Mary's Anglican Church, Corner of Eastern Main Road and Orange Grove Road, Tacarigua followed by cremation at 2:00 pm at the Tacarigua Crematorium. Enquiries, Lee's Funeral Directors, 663-1010.  

BAPTISTE, TREVOR died on 13th November, 2015. Father of Burt (Deceased). Grandfather of Milla and Emeline. Brother of Cislyn, Carla, Martin and Corinne (Deceased). Uncle of Okiki (Canada). Husband of Linda. Relative of the Nelsons.

Funeral service at 9:00am on Monday 23rd November, 2015 at the Crematorium, Long Circular Road, St James. For enquiries; call Clark and Battoo Ltd: 625-1170. To send Condolences please visit www.clarkandbattoo.com 

The political arena is heating up as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) clash over the legality of the new reduction to the qualifying salary for accessing government-subsidised housing.

Rowley, speaking at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) key handover at Chaconia Crescent, Diego Martin, yesterday, said the UNC internal election was the reason behind the recent attack on the government changes to the qualifying combined salary for HDC homes from $45,000 to $25,000.

“What is the problem? What is the story? Except that someone has a campaign coming in December and looking for something to talk about. I wish them well,” Rowley said. “Let them sue me, I have court clothes,” Rowley said.

Rowley is challenging Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to take him to court if she can find any proof of illegality in the policy changes at the HDC.

Rowley was referring to media reports that Persad-Bissessar had reportedly described the government’s move to reduce the qualifying income for accessing state-subsidised homes from $45,000 to $25,000 as illegal. The media reported Persad-Bissessar’s argument was that the move discriminated against the thousands of citizens who had already submitted applications for state housing.

Rowley said that every HDC house carried a subsidy and it was the government’s responsibility to ensure that the subsidy was utilised by those most in need.

“If persons had applied expecting that they will qualify and their income is $35,000, $40,000, that application is no longer applying for something that exists,” he said.

However, Rowley said, if a person had already been allocated a house and was above that new income level, there would be no move to undo that. “Once you are at the applicant stage and the policy changes, you have to adapt to that,” he said.

Moonilal—30,000 will be affected, plans protest march
While Rowley did not say how many of the almost 200,000 HDC applicants no longer qualify for state homes, another UNC leader hopeful, former housing minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said the number of affected was as many as 30,000.

“As a result of this brutal decision, some 30,000 potential owners have been taken off the HDC, so that the friends, family and supporters of the PNM can benefit. These are the same friends, family and supporters of the PNM who refused to pay rent to the HDC for years, leading to millions of outstanding monies (owed) to the HDC,” Moonilal said.

Moonilal held a hasty media conference yesterday to address the changes to the HDC qualifying income policy. “I have already been contacted by many persons who were assigned houses based on the legitimate expectation of a $45,000 ceiling income. I have assembled a team of lawyers who will meet with these affected persons and decide the way forward. But it does not end there. As a mark of protest, I plan to lead a march to the head office of the HDC and Parliament to raise the issue which is dictatorial in every sense of the word,” he said.

Moonilal said, the PNM was victimising middle-income earners.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says it is financially impossible to continue to provide state-subsidised houses for high-income earners. 

Rowley, speaking at the key handover ceremony at Chaconia Crescent, Diego Martin, yesterday, said high-income earners would have to access homes from the private sector. 

The financial constraints at the treasury level will lead to more policy changes at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and affect a percentage of the 200,000 applicants already seeking homes at the HDC. 

Rowley blasted the old policy that made government-assisted housing available to applicants with a $45,000 combined monthly salary instead of the lower income of $25,000. The higher income earners, he said, should access private housing and leave government-assisted housing for those with less earning potential.

“The treasury is not able to fund a housing programme like we did five or seven years ago,” Rowley said.

Another change to the policy would see no more million-dollar housing units being offered by the HDC.

“If the HDC sets out and ends up building the finest housing units in T&T, you have to ask the question: can the State afford to give to middle and lower income people prime housing units built in T&T? If the answer is no, then who are you catering for?” Rowley asked.

“Nothing is free, someone has to pay for it,” he added. “Even if we want to do it, to provide a house for everybody, we can’t do it. The money is just not there,” he said. He said some HDC units cost as much as $4 million and if a buyer couldn’t afford to access that high-end property, then it should not be subsidised by the State and the taxpayer.

“Question taxpayers: should the Government of T&T give million-dollar units like that? The taxpayers of T&T cannot afford to provide to people looking for affordable housing in the multi-million dollar range,” he said.

He said the Government was now focused on how much money it had and what could be done with it to satisfy the needs of the citizenry. Rowley said that government-subsidised housing was not a constitutional right, it was a government policy. The PM said he would now seek to encourage the private sector to get more involved in the housing development.

“There is no shortage of money in the private sector,” Rowley said.

“As long as the HDC is seen as the only house building effort in the country, we will be waiting on too little money to fix the problem and leaving an underutilised large pool of money in the private sector that’s available,” he said.

Rowley said encouraging the private sector into housing development would “shift” the onus for providing houses from the public sector to the private sector.

“In the public sector taxpayers are paying, whereas in the private sector it’s a straight case of paying by affordability,” Rowley said. He said most people applied for HDC houses to access the government subsidy that went along with it.

The houses at Chaconia Crescent, which were given out yesterday, cost almost $1 million to build and were sold to buyers at $650,000.

“We cannot do that as a sustainable policy,” Rowley said.

“The nation is being asked to do the best that we can under difficult circumstances,” he said. —RS

‘Lower-tiered properties at Victoria Keys for government use’

Rowley said he instructed Housing Minister Marlene McDonald to bring a cabinet note which would allow the Government to access the lower-tiered properties at the HDC Victoria Keys in Diego Martin, to help offset the high cost of government rent.

That cabinet note will allow the Government to access lower-tiered properties for their own use, thereby removing some rental costs paid by the Government. “So the Government will take a few of them so the Government would not pay rent to other people. 

We would sell the most expensive ones in the open market, we will put some on a rent to own...we will create an integrated community,” he said. Rowley did not say whether the properties would be used as private housing for government officials or to house state agencies.

Do not seek revenge, leave it in the hands of God. That was the advice given to the parents and, in particular, the father of Keyra Singh who was gunned down as she slept in the family’s Good Session, Patna Village, Diego Martin, home last Tuesday.

During the sermon delivered by Gerard Toby at the New Vision Ministries, Western Main Road, Diego Martin, Toby repeatedly called on the congregation not to seek street justice as that would lead to further killing and more revenge killings. 

“It could have been worse, we could have had four bodies here, but the mercy of God saved the family. Young men, I beg you don’t take up the gun and seek revenge, change that attitude. Let God deal with it,” Toby said. Little Keyra was asleep on a bed in the family’s wooden home at Good Session, Patna Village, when gunmen opened fire on the structure. The child was on the bed with her mother, father Kerron Paul and ten-day-old sister, who has been named Keyara.

After the shooting ceased the child lay bleeding from a bullet wound to the abdomen. She died while on the way to the St James Medical Complex. Police said yesterday the gunmen’s target was the child’s father who they said was owing the shooters for drugs he took on consignment. Relatives of Paul have denied that he is involved in drugs. 

Before Toby spoke, a great-great aunt of little Keyra, Marilyn Raphael-George, seemingly offended the child’s mother Neilya Singh when she said that blame for the child’s death should be placed on parents. 

“I am blaming parents for what happened to this child. That child was my great-great niece but I never saw her. Parents you are to blame. Let what happened here be an example for parents. My son is 29 and when he was 24 I pull a piece of wood for him. The Bible say do not spare the rod and spoil the child and to chain (train) up a child in the way they should grow,” Raphael-George said to a single reply of amen from the congregation.

Shortly after she spoke, Singh took the microphone and told the congregation that she did all she could to raise her daughter who died at exactly two years and one month. 

“I just wanted to say something because the lady before said she blame parents but we wouldn’t call this on ourselves. We was home sleeping. I had to run down the hill, she died in my arms. Nobody knows what I does go through for my children. The police and ambulance take two hours to come and help. My child always liked to look nice. Oh God, Keyra, mummy love you!” Singh said to the response of loud sniffles and muffled sobs.

During the eulogy, little Keyra’s aunt Jeamela Paul had to be comforted by Raphael-George as she spoke of how Keyra’s death brought the village of Patna together. Paul said prior to the child’s killing she found the village to be divided but after the death her community came together in a way she had never seen before and she believed that was the purpose of Keyra’s short life. She added that her hope was that the unity remained long after the funeral and pain ended.

Ria Karim, the daughter of former minister of tertiary education and skills training Fazal Karim, was fired by phone on Friday as CEO of the T&T Creative Industries Company Ltd (Creative TT).

Sunday Guardian has learnt that Karim, who was appointed to the post on January 5, 2015, received a telephone call from Creative TT’s chairman Neysha Soodeen informing her of the dismissal.

It was also learnt that hours after Karim’s removal, a legal letter was sent to Creative TT with regards to the sacking.

“It’s now a matter of litigation. This will go straight to the court,” a close friend of Karim confided to this newspaper yesterday.

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon, under which Creative TT falls, said she was aware that Karim had been dismissed, but insisted it was “not politically motivated” and that “no victimisation was attached to it. I am making that absolutely clear to you.”

When told that Karim had been fired by phone on Friday, Gopee-Scoon said she knew nothing about that.

“However, I will investigate,” she promised.

Gopee-Scoon said the Creative TT board “ought to run on its own.”

Having met Karim personally, Gopee-Scoon said she could not say anything negative about the young woman, whom she described as a lovely professional.

“I could never say anything of disrepute. I would never do that. Sometimes there are circumstances. She has a whole life ahead of her. I quite like her personality. I like young professional people who like to take a way forward. She has a future. I don’t want to see anything negative about that girl in the newspapers. I don’t really speak like that to reporters. It would give the wrong impression.”

Gopee-Scoon said she got along well with Karim (Fazal), the Chaguanas East MP.

“I want you to know that.”

In June of 2013, Creative TT was created under then minister of trade and industry Vasant Bharath to oversee the increased commercialisation and development of the creative industry sector.

Contacted on her cellphone, Karim refused to comment about her sacking.

“I prefer not to say anything,” Karim said.

Yesterday, Soodeen’s phone was answered by a woman who identified herself as her mother and promised to relay the message.

“She (Soodeen) is in a meeting. She is not available right now. I am sorry.” Up to late yesterday, Soodeen, who is CEO of MACO Investment Group and the founder, owner and managing director of Toute Bagai Publishing Company, did not return our call.

Baby Asia-Marie Small who died on November 9 is in heaven and will not have to account for any sins. These were the words of comfort offered to her parents, 19-year-old Chelsea Robinson and Brian Small, family members and friends who attended the funeral service yesterday.

Officiating minister Cleave Bascombe told the young couple at Faith Assembly International, Five Rivers Junction, in Arouca, that even though they went through a period of adversity and God took their baby, he preserved their lives.

Pointing at the couple, Bascombe said, “Go forth and multiply.”

Asia-Marie died in her mother’s womb before an emergency delivery at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex after medical staff discovered faeces had entered her mouth. Robinson spent three days in labour. Reports said she was turned away by hospital staff who told her she was not ready to give birth. The family intends to take legal action.

In spite of the tears and hurt, Bascombe said, he had good news.

“That good news is that Asia-Marie is in heaven right now. Parents and family members, be comforted that Asia-Marie is having a good time with the angels in heaven.”

As she entered the church and saw her baby in the little white casket, Robinson started to cry. Small, however, remained composed throughout the service. 

Poems were read by Asia-Marie’s maternal grandmother, Mary, and her aunt, Elisha. The eulogy took the form of a poem and was read by Dixie-Ann Gabriel. 

Bascombe told the young couple not to allow the baby’s death to adversely affect their lives. Despite Universal Children’s Day being observed on Friday, the minister said there was a cycle of abuse against infants.

He referred to the shooting death of two-year-old Keyra Singh and the stabbing incident which left three-year-old Arti Ramkhalawan in a critical condition last week. Singh’s funeral was also yesterday.

“If we trace back at the other weeks gone by, we see a process where infants are the targets of unscrupulous adults,” Bascombe said. 

Thirteen years after Umar Abdullah, leader of Waajihatul Islaamiyyah, also known as The Islamic Front, was sought by US and British Intelligence for supporting al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and jihad (holy war), he has admitted that he almost joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) as a frontline fighter.

Abdullah, 48, confessed that he was almost tempted last year by several of the 89 local men, some of whom with their wives and children journeyed to far-flung war-torn Syria to fight for Isis, but good sense prevailed.

In analysing the men with whom he interacted, Abdullah said the recruits had common characteristics—they lacked patience, were arrogant, could not live among non-Muslims, and had marital problems. He said many of them were marginalised because of their religion.

What prevented him from going to Syria, he said, was his past experience of being hounded by US and British Intelligence and chairing the Bon Accord Action Council, which falls under the Citizens Security Programme of the Ministry of National Security. The programme is aimed at reducing crime and violence.

Though he has now turned over a new leaf in life, Abdullah is still monitored by a Special Branch officer.

On Wednesday, Abdullah, who shifted from his Princes Town home and took up residence in Tobago, to avoid constant harassment by local and international police, said he has learned from his mistakes.

He said the crime he committed 13 years ago was that of publishing a newsletter in support of Osama Bin Laden (now dead), al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and jihad (holy war), for which he has paid dearly.

“Yes, I did make statements towards America at that time. But like everything else, change is constant. I have been through a lot, and I have learned a lot and educated myself.”

Abdullah said he was not in support of Isis’s actions, where innocent lives were being taken.

For years, he said, there has been a perception that Muslims are linked to terrorism.

On Monday, Trinidad Guardian reported that 89 men from T&T had joined Isis.

The news came days after the deadly terrorist attacks on Paris which claimed 129 victims, left 352 wounded and the world reeling in shock and anger, for which Isis claimed responsibility.

In responding to the bombings in Paris, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon had stated that T&T was not under threat and there were no laws to stop these men from returning.

Within recent times, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for downing a Russian aircraft, in which more than 200 people were killed, and for bombings in Beruit which killed 43 people.

Abdullah: I know all of the brothers who went to Syria.

Abdullah said, “It was much bigger than quoting a figure with regards to T&T’s men going to fight for Isis. I know of all the brothers who went to Syria. I used to deal with them. They were part of my organisation. I used to live with some of them. I know them personally,” he admitted.

“A lot of them were very arrogant in their ways. They have no patience in doing anything. They were not able to live amongst people, neighbours and the spaces they were in. They also had marital problems.”

Abdullah said although he shared a close relationship with some of the men, they never revealed their plans to him.

He said several of them had lost all sense of direction, reasoning, patience and understanding because they focused primarily on radicalism and fighting than on the true meaning of Islam.

Three weeks ago, a recruitment video entitled “Those who believe and made Hijra,” which featured four Trinidadians in the Ar-Raqqah province of the Islamic State, was circulated on social media.

In the video, the men spoke about what prompted them to leave Trinidad to fight. One man identified as Abu Zayd claimed that in T&T the practice of Islam was limited, while Abu Khalid said although he lived comfortably in T&T, he felt he did not belong.

Last month, Trinidadian Shane Crawford, also known as “Asadullah,” was identified in an Isis video posted on YouTube.

Crawford was seen bathing in the Euphrates River, which starts in eastern Turkey and flows through Iraq and Syria.

In October 2011, Crawford was detained during the State of Emergency for being part of a plot to kill then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three cabinet ministers, and conspiring to cause panic in the country.

Abdullah said it was always the men’s intention to be part of a jihad.

He spoke about the activities of the men, many of whom had converted to Islam before 2013 and joined Isis after being discriminated against.

The men, he said, came from all walks of life, but many were university graduates who wore Muslim garb.

He spoke about one fighter who graduated in Islamic studies at a Medieval University as being fully educated.

“They had no jobs, they were always feeling left out and pushed aside by communities. They fought tooth and nail to get their children in public schools because of society’s perception of Muslims being terrorists. It’s difficult to bridge that gap. They are left in positions where their lives are challenging. All these are contributing factors that pushed them to Isis.They always complained about this,” Abdullah said.

From his discussions with some of the men, Abdullah said, they would link up with point men in Isis through social media before they left.

Taking away 

your freedom

“They leave with nothing. To say there is one person or a group of persons in the country recruiting people to go Isis, that is not true. Those who go keep it a big secret. Those who want to go just have to make up enough money to buy their airline ticket. Some would pass through Venezuela. From there they travel to Paris then Turkey and cross the border to Syria.”

They all go through a screening and interrogation process, at which point some would face rejection.

“Others may end up in another radical group.”

Abdullah said once the applicant passed the test, his passport was seized.

“From the time they take your passport they take away the freedom.”

Abdullah said some were trained to fight, while others made weapons for battle for a small stipend.

“They train in areas of fighting and warfare. They train in a particular type of warfare called attack and retreat. It’s a rigid process because of the state of affairs. They have little means of coming back home. A couple of them have died. It was always their intent to fight jihad...fight for the establishment of Islam. But they failed to understand that Islam is a religion of peace.”

Abdullah dismissed the rumour that the men were paid US$1,000 a day to fight.

“They don’t get US$1,000 daily. They get far less than that. I am in connection with a couple of them there. As a matter of fact, I sent money to some of the Muslim sisters whose husbands have passed away. These sisters would tell me that life is hard where they are. They have accepted that fact that this is their fate. They are comfortable with the fact they can live and practise Islam fully.”

He said the fighters make close to US$30 a day.

Abdullah admitted that many times he tried to dissuade the men from speaking about radicalism.

“We knew this was their leaning. If things were different with me in the early stages I would have been there as well. A lot of them were waiting on me and other leaders to act. But it never happened.”

Abdullah is encouraging the Government to bring back the men to find out what triggered them to go to Syria.

“Give them an opportunity to come back and let them know there would be no prosecution on their path. They are thinking now that if they come back to Trinidad they would be prosecuted or targeted by the State.”

He said the men would also have to be embraced by the Muslim community.

Abu Bakr: They think death is better, Govt must answer

Leader of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen Yasin Abu Bakr said he wanted the Government to answer why young men were leaving our beautiful shores to go to Syria to fight.

“At least 90 per cent of them who leave know they are going to get kill in the battle zone...they will be wiped out. They think that death is better. When the Government can answer this, then we can talk. Everything is wrong in this country.”

Bakr expressed sentiments similar to Abdullah’s, stating that the main cause of the migration was that Muslims were being marginalised.

Bakr said Isis was offering the fighters shelter, money and paradise, while our country offered nothing even though in the last five years $400 billion was spent by the last government.

“There’s a lot of inequality and discrimination. There is no upward mobility for these young men.”

Asked if any of the men who joined Isis were members of the Jamaat, Bakr said no.

“Even if someone came to the mosque and wanted to do that they wouldn’t tell me because my narrative is different to that.”

He said Muslims were just asking for “partial distribution. I can’t even promise them a latrine. If this is not addressed it would get progressively worse. Since 1990 I warning them to change the way we live. We have not learned anything from 1990. We have regressed rather than progressed.”

See Page A 16—Rehabilitating T&T nationals returning from Isis will fail

About Isis

Isis was formed in April 2013, growing out of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

It has since been disavowed by al-Qaeda, but has become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and Iraq.

Its precise size is unclear but it is thought to include thousands of fighters, including many foreign jihadists.

The organisation is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group has gained a reputation for brutal rule in the areas that it controls which includes large swaths of Syria and Iraq, leading to the refugee crisis in Europe.

Last week, two bold statements emerged from a consultation on the need for short and medium-term measures to contain road traffic congestion at the Ministry of Works and Transport on Wednesday.

Fitzroy Phillip, a retired assistant superintendent, suggested that half of the private vehicles be taken off the roads on alternative days as a solution, while Deodath Mulchan, ACP in charge of Mobile, blamed “macocious” citizens for slowing traffic at accidents.

Mr Phillip quite accurately noted that in the face of large numbers of vehicle registrations, which he estimated at more than 100,000 since 2012, “We have had no new roads. We have had deteriorating roads.”

While there is research available to support the deleterious effect of rubbernecking on traffic flows, experimental efforts at containing the problem in first world nations using screens to block motorists from viewing roadside accidents and construction have had little success.

The scale of chaos that would result if Mr Phillip’s suggestion, in the style of King Solomon, to divide traffic in two, was implemented is almost impossible to imagine.

The consultations were fortunate to include the presence of Dr Rae Furlonge, who has to his credit at least one Carnival Tuesday success in implementing systems to relieve foot traffic flows into and out of the Savannah.

It was left to Dr Furlonge to suggest moderation in the implementation of any new plans as he called for nationwide consultation on any major changes to traffic flows while emphasising the need for enticements instead of punishments for travellers.

What’s required to come to grips with the gridlock woes of T&T goes far beyond consultations on the matter at the ministerial level. This is a problem that demands hard science and quantification if we are to understand what’s causing massive traffic slowdowns at peak travel times.

There is as much observational evidence to support a quite different approach to the problems of peak traffic, one based on very localised solutions to each instance of gridlock.

Such solutions don’t have the allure of massive scale works solutions like the rapid rail or avoidance solutions like the water-taxi service, but they can have dramatic impact.

Traffic into and out of Diego Martin will still slow down sometimes, but it would be churlish not to recognise the major change that the rerouting of the main flows of vehicles at the Four Roads intersection had on traffic. Before the one-way solution to traffic between Cocorite and Port-of-Spain in 2012 was abruptly cancelled, it seemed that the project was beginning to work.

No evaluation report on that project has ever been tabled for public consideration. Has anything been learned from the two months it was active? Separate and specific study of the major traffic challenges faced by commuters is called for if real world solutions are to emerge.

There are other adjustments that might be tried, inclusive of carpooling, improvements in public transport infrastructure and punctuality, toll gates to enter the city proper, greater emphasis on flexible working hours and inducements to businesses in the most congested cities and towns to introduce flexible times for employees and officially encourage telecommuting.

It’s not that there is a shortage of remedies for local traffic congestion, it’s just that there is a desperate shortfall in statistical information and analysis of traffic patterns and an insufficient understanding of the choke points that create gridlocks.

If we’re going to talk about fixing traffic, there must be a commitment to understanding it fully and not accept casual observation as a basis for fixing the problem.

“An expression of humiliation, this rage, this sense of disenfranchisement that so many hundreds of Muslims feel,” is one reason put forward by Prof Bernard Haykel to explain why those like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (said to be the aspiring Caliph of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, parts of those countries now occupied by the IS) are intent on pursuing a campaign of savage violence against western countries and their citizens.

Others such as Professor Andy Knight, Director of the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies note that the West has been instrumental in harbouring and cultivating generations of jihadists of one variety or the other.  

A glance at history through the 20th century would find that either to undermine communist regimes in different parts of the world including in the Caribbean and Latin America, Western alliances led by the United States have cultivated the likes of the Duvaliers, Rafael Trujillo, and in the Arab world, from the right wing extremist Shah of Iran to characters such as Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, the Mujahideen and even supported the rebels against President Assad in Syria.  

Many from those western programmes of strategic support have turned into raging tyrants and resulted in disasters such as the Paris killing of the 129. Not too incidentally, while the Paris massacre has attracted instant worldwide attention of the American and European media, there has been silence and blindness to the brutal killings of 147 in Kenya by the Al-Shabab group, another violence-centred Islamic group in parts of Africa.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Far from being an expert or anything like a devoted researcher on the subject, I have read, listened and reflected upon this phase of uprising (the latter a word appropriated from the Rastafarian movement to indicate a new consciousness amongst the “tribe”) of what is being referred to variously and interchangeably as radical and/or extremist Islam, most recently dramatised and personified by the assault in Paris and the downing of the Russia-bound aircraft, said to have been bombed out of the sky.

Traditional Islamic clerics have been critical of the kind of action that has been taken by the IS and have denounced the group and its leaders as non-Islamic in their interpretation of the sacred teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

However, as scholars such as Haykel have claimed, “the reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. 

But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.” What is certain is that IS has shown itself, its propagandistic methods and strategies to achieve its goal as being ruthless and quite clever when required.  

As to what are the overall objectives of IS, there are also questions here: is it that IS merely wants to establish a caliphate in Syria/Iraq to practise Islam in the way the leaders see fit? Or is the Islamic State working towards hastening a global apocalypse leading to the destruction of the “infidels”? 

A major concern would be whether the attacks of the present continue and whether they increase in numbers and intensity and the likely impact that such a possibility could have on economic and social life in Europe, North America and eventually the rest of the world. If further mass attacks take place, they are sure to generate responses in kind from the West. 

In such circumstances, trade and economic activity of all kinds will suffer the effects of fear, uncertainty, concerns about travelling, about investing, about social life, surely national and international sporting and entertainment events will be dramatically and negatively affected. Sure the industrial economy of the West will go into overdrive to produce the weapons of war. 

However, as IS has shown itself capable, this will not be a war fought only on “enemy territory,” but will be conducted in western lands, even western capitals with daring and effectiveness.

What, however, has come into critical focus is the claim by Japanese/American historian, Francis Fukuyama, that after the Berlin Wall was grounded into the dust (1989-1990), that world ideological history had come to an end: the capitalist ethic and civilisation had triumphed over all else and bar the minor contentions amongst those who live in the one-world paradise, peace and harmony would dominate.  

In the Samuel Huntington post Cold-War vision, “the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. 

Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilisations. The clash of civilisations will be the battle lines of the future.”

A civilisational clash of the kind envisaged by Huntington would have to include at least a significant portion of the 1.5 billion Muslims now existing in the world. But will non-IS Islam be involved in such a clash?  

Much of this is delving into the unknown, the unpredictable, the unsure as to how this jihad will turn out. Will the present state of conflict fizz out into nothingness as the West mounts military and economic challenges against IS?

Do street protests work? IAMovement puts this to the test on November 29, when the Port-of-Spain to Paris People’s Climate March kicks off at 3 pm from Nelson Mandela Park. 

The purpose of the Climate March is to join hundreds of thousands of other climate activists around the world in demanding that governments negotiate real, binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions at the COP 21 climate change talks in Paris. Those talks start on November 30. 

The tool of the negotiations is the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs. INDCs communicate how countries intend to reduce their carbon emissions and by how much. What each country pledges to do is totally voluntary but once the INDCs are agreed upon in Paris, they must be binding for the agreement to have value.

Scientists and activists expect good INDCs. IAMovement co-founder Jonathan Barcant doesn’t think that T&T is committing itself enough. Barcant said: “We only commit fully to 30 per cent public transport emission reduction. That amounts to 1-2 per cent total greenhouse gas reductions at most.

“I don’t think that it is fair. T&T is a massive fossil fuel producer. T&T has enjoyed income from the fossil fuel industry and now we have the responsibility to invest in carbon reduction projects to reduce our impacts.”

T&T has the world’s second highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions. It has made hundreds of billions from its fossil fuel industry. 

T&T has also made a conditional agreement to reduce total GHG emissions by 15 per cent but makes this conditional on international funding from the Green Climate Fund. The Green Climate Fund itself is supposed to be funded to the tune of US$100 bn annually but so far it has only attracted investments of about US$10 bn. 

What have some Caribbean countries committed to? 

St Vincent and the Grenadines intends to unconditionally reduce its economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 22 per cent compared to its business as usual scenario by 2025. In real terms SVG will effectively have the same GHG emissions in 2025 that it has today. Dominica commits to a 44.7 per cent reduction from 2014 levels. 

Barbados will reduce its GHGs by 44 per cent compared to its business as usual scenario by 2030. 

A good INDC is ambitious and drives change and innovation in carbon intensive sectors and industry; it is transparent. Stakeholders must be able to track progress and ensure that countries meet their stated goals.

INDCs must also be equitable. Each country must do its fair share to address climate change. Is a 30 per cent unconditional reduction in emissions from public transport equitable? 

Let’s first look at what the Caribbean has to lose. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a conservative organisation. IPCC outlook for the Caribbean is a 5-6 per cent decrease in rainfall, a 1.2°C to 2.3°C increase in median surface temperature and sea level rise of 0.5m to 0.6m.

In short, rainfall patterns are changing and will change further. Sea level rise will erode coastlines. The Caribbean can expect more and more severe storms. Droughts will challenge water supplies and agriculture. So we are talking radical effects on our living space, the food we need to grow and our drinking water. These are basic needs. Life is not possible without them. 

Caribbean islands are economically vulnerable. Climate change will make this worse. It is difficult to state with certainty how or if Tropical Storm Erika, which hit Dominica earlier this year, was affected by climate change. What we do know is that these storms will be more frequent. 

The damage done to Dominica was about 50 per cent of its GDP. In what may be the Caribbean’s first industrial climate change victim, Colgate-Palmolive decided to close its Dominica factory, damaged by Erika. 

I’m going to chime in with Barcant and say that I do not think that T&T has committed itself enough. We are selling ourselves short. There is great opportunity in setting an ambitious carbon target. For decades T&T has been the victim of the ups and downs of the fossil fuel industry. 

Economic recessions and consumerist booms, in tandem with the ups and downs of international oil futures, have ruled Trinidadian and Tobagonian lives. 

The result is mixed. There is great wealth in some quarters. Porsche Cayennes glide past the gang-dominated shanties on the Beetham Highway. There has been a dramatic increase in the standard of living for many but we have never developed a diverse, sustainable economy. 

Nearly two centuries after emancipation, and more than half a century after independence, we are still a single commodity plantation economy. What independent country determines its budget by the price of oil? 

Ambitious INDC goals will force T&T to innovate and diversify. It will force T&T to become a real economy and not just an oil or gas wellhead to be taxed. Our reserves are nearing a critical phase. To continue the status quo is a non-option. Let’s enshrine that in T&T’s INDCs.

Come to the PoS-Paris Climate March and demand ambition and positive change.

Pan Trinbago’s Pan in D Country Side 2015 was fantastic. All participants and patrons agreed that it was one of the best. In this, the last such event for 2015, a number of steelbands volunteered to give their services free of charge, to raise funds to assist three icons of the South/Central region in attaining greater mobility.

Out of the bands wishing to participate, only seven were selected. The programme started at about 4 pm with radio I95.5 fm streaming live from Rio Claro.  The president, Keith Diaz and councillor R Nagassar of the Rio Claro Regional Corporation welcomed everyone.

Fusion Steel, with vocals and their youthful vibration, kicked things off, followed by Hatters Steel Orchestra. Then came New Age Trendsetters Steel, led by Glenford Sobers, one of the awardees, followed by host band Rio Claro Koskeros Steel led by another awardee—who both gave sterling accounts of themselves. 

Also featured was the Showstoppers Tassa Group  who had everyone on their feet. The Friends of Pan Trinbago, a group of volunteers working together to assist the organisation then made cash presentations of  $1,000 to each of the three icons. 

Receiving envelopes were honourees Glenford Sobers and Kenny Pascal. Chairman of South/Central David Balbosa, received on behalf Lennox “Sam” Fortune, who was in hospital at the time. Contributions were taken and the crowd gave generously towards defraying the cost of automated wheelchairs.

Supernovas Steel Orchestra followed by Witco Desperadoes, left nothing to chance as they rendered hit after hit. Following was San City Steel Symphony, who treated the crowd to the power of brass and steel.

The programme closed off with Fusion Steel performing to near midnight, leaving a satisfied crowd. South Central Region collected over $4,000 towards our goal of $90,000 for wheelchairs.  What an outpouring of love it was.

The Tenor Pan raffle donated by the president and the Pan Case from South/Central region was drawn on November 11. The winner was Neil Lesaldo of Sheet 66. Pan Trinbago expresses thanks for all the support received. May everyone have an enjoyable Christmas and a bright, prosperous 2016 as steelbands continue to prepare for Panorama and Carnival. 

Judging from the looks of the Rio Claro crowd on November 7, it brings to mind a line from a Curtis Mayfield song that says: “Many think that we have blown it, but they too, will soon admit, there’s still a lot of love amongst us” as we keep on keeping on. Bless! Continue to support the steelband movement as we move ahead.

Michael L Joseph
Public Relations Officer, Pan Trinbago Inc

October 2015 became the hottest one on record. Again irrefutable evidence that global warming is a reality. What would be the impact of this on the built environment? 

In T&T, there is no need for space heating, being a tropical country, but space cooling has become fairly standard for both residential and commercial buildings. In places like Florida, a semi-tropical climate, the houses are designed for central air conditioning. The same does not apply here and, further, the kind of building materials we use here might not be optimal for energy efficiency. 

Most houses here, are constructed using either clay or concrete blocks. A cross-section of any typical wall will be a layer of dried mortar on a layer of clay or concrete followed by an air space and then layers of clay/concrete and mortar respectively. 

Air is an insulator and thus once the building heats up, it takes a very long time to cool down. The heat energy contained in the walls contribute significantly to the cooling load and hence a higher electric bill. 

To bring this point home, readers are asked to put their hands on the inside of the western wall of their house in the evening. They would be surprised by how hot the wall is. This problem can be exacerbated by the type of paint used. 

As the outer wall heats up, the heat flows inwards along the cross section of the wall heating up the trapped air and the inner wall. The inner wall is cooled by both the cool air from the ac unit and the environment outside which is cool at night. The air in the wall, being an insulator, retards heat flow.

In colonial times, to prevent the inner wall from heating up, walls were made of quite thick solid rocks, thick enough for the temperature drop from the outer wall to the inner one to be large enough so that the inner wall was not heated up at all or minimally so. This design meant that the inside of the house was not heated up, it remained cool. This is not the case with the existing hollow bricks that we now use. 

If we are to develop energy efficient houses to mitigate the effects of global warming and also to minimise the electric cooling bill, then R&D work must be done to determine the optimal geometric dimensions of bricks required to reduce the heating of the inner wall.    

The kind of paint used also has significant bearing on how much the wall heats up from the sun’s rays. Paints that have a low absorptivity will mean that the wall does not absorb much of the solar energy striking it, resulting in a reduced temperature on both the outer and inner sides of the west facing wall. There are many paints on the local market from both local and foreign producers. The thermal parameters of these paints must be available to the public as a matter of course.

Heat transfer is an integral part of any mechanical engineering programme and the determination of the thermal properties of building materials forms an essential component of any energy conservation programme. To design buildings that are energy efficient requires detailed studies to arrive at suitable construction materials and designs for our hot and humid climate. 

None of the local universities have any active R&D programme in this area and hence one is needed. It would of benefit to Powergen, T&TEC and the manufacturers of concrete and clay bricks to be involved in and, indeed, to sponsor research in this area.

Some good public education has been done on appraising the public on the merits of switching from incandescent bulbs to fluorescent ones. A similar programme should be embarked upon to educate the public of the benefits of making their homes thermally efficient.  

On Wednesday, November 25, the World will observe International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. 
“Everyone has a responsibility to prevent and end violence against women and girls, starting by challenging the culture of discrimination that allows it to continue.” (UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon).

We are all diminished/dehumanised by violence against women. Social media has been drawing our attention to video clips showing the extent of violence against our girls/women. Who can forget the sight of the two-year-old girl being battered, lifted by her hair, dashed to the ground and forced to drink milk, by a 32-year-old man whose 21-year-old common-law wife looked on and simply said: “Yuh look for dat!”? 

And she was placed in the care of this couple for the day! Or of the 36 year-old-man allegedly viciously assaulting the mother of his nine-year-old child by kicking her in her head and body and striking her with a metal object? Or of the girl crouching and shielding her head as a group of boys pelt her with bags of excrement. One of them could be heard shouting: “Take her in the bushes!”?

Violence against woman is a global pandemic and extends to more than physical violence. The UN General Assembly defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” (1993)  

If we are to build a better T&T/world, we must raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions to address this plague in our societies. Kofi Annan rightly said: “Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace.” 

As the Guardian Editorial (Friday, November 13) states, for years the authorities denied that human trafficking was taking place here, “even with volumes of empirical evidence that T&T has long been a country of transit or destination for hundreds of women and girls, who are being trafficked mainly for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. A crime where the victims are punished and the perpetrators go free. That is the reality of human trafficking in T&T.”

This is one of the many forms of modern-day slavery that plagues our world. How many people have been charged/convicted under the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Act which criminalises trafficking and exploitation of people? The minimum punishment is a $350,000 fine and 12 months in prison.
T&T is too small a place for our police not to know where these brothels and clubs are. What action is being taken to combat trafficking? If you live in a neighbourhood where there is something suspicious going on, ring a hotline and speak out. 

Just ask yourself: “What would Jesus want me to do in this situation?” As Catholics, we cannot sit on the fence. Our faith requires us to stand on the side of the oppressed. As Martin Luther King Jr said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Each of us can, for example, offer solidarity and support in your communities to the victims of violence (form victim support groups); play our part in building a culture of life, love and mutual respect; mobilise the media in efforts to eliminate such violence; work with others to address issues relating to: the socialisation of boys and girls, unequal power relations between men and women, the need that some men have to control women and the frustrations that both men and women experience because of poverty and social exclusion; promote values/conscience formation and citizenship programmes—at home, in our educational institutions, in our parishes and in our workplaces.

Violence against women is not God’s will!

Leela Ramdeen, 
Chair, Catholic Commission 
for Social Justice 

According to 2014 data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the unemployment rate in Tobago is currently four per cent. However, Chief Secretary in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Orville London said he is concerned about the quality and sustainability of jobs on the island.

London said Tobago’s unemployment rate is better than for Trinidad and other Caricom territories. In the case of Barbados, he said, the unemployment rate over the last year or so was close to 11 per cent, while for St Lucia the figure was 23 per cent. Speaking at a Tobago Economic and Business Outlook Conference 2015 at the Magdalena Grand Beach Resort, he said: “The most recent labour force data available from the CSO for Tobago suggests that the state sector employs about 60 per cent of the labour force in Tobago and the private sector employs about 40 per cent.

The available economic statistics for the island suggests that we have significant work to do in our continuing quest to diversify and transform the island’s economy. Therefore, the diversification of the island’s economy remains one of our priority development objectives as clearly articulated in our Comprehensive Economic Development Plan for Tobago. Critical to our strategy of diversification of the island’s economy and the development of the private sector on the island, is the need to create the enabling environment to ensure greater creativity and innovation in our society.”

London said in a global and regional economic environment that is dynamic and plagued with uncertainties, businesses in Tobago could only develop and maintain competitive advantages in the various industries in which they operate if they engaged in continuous innovation. He underscored the need for businesses to continuously strive to reinvent themselves and find new ways of doing the things they now did, as well as find new things to do.

“We must not believe that we are too small to engage in meaningful innovation. We must always strive to think big. Even as we act local, we cannot and should not lose sight of the global picture. In periods of uncertainty, people need to be even more innovative and creative; people need to be more productive and people need to embrace and exploit all the available entrepreneurial opportunities that exist in the economic spaces in which they operate,” he said.

London added: “We must as Tobagonians, as citizens of T&T, recognise and embrace these qualities. We must adapt if we are to treat effectively with all the emerging economic challenges. It is important that we do so against the backdrop of Tobago’s current economic realities, both positive and negative. “But I am suggesting that as responsible decision makers, we’ve got to look beyond the number and therefore, we need to examine the quality and sustainability of those jobs.”