I was very loath to submit a letter, relative to my recent experience in the USA, but, after learning of the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Keith Sitahal on Harris Promenade in San Fernando, I am constrained to do so now.

Around 2 am on October 23, while in Fort Lauderdale, I awoke with an urge for the bathroom but found myself unable to move my right arm and right leg and unable to speak. STROKE!!!

Rousing my wife with my left hand, she became aware of my predicament and awakened our hostess, my relative and apprised her of the situation. She in turn called 911 and informed them of my condition and of the address.

In less than five minutes an ambulance arrived and I was placed on board where the highly efficient paramedics hooked me up to apparatus. They soon informed me that my blood sugar level was extremely low and therein my problem. They administered the appropriate medication and, in very short shrift, movement of my limbs and my speech returned. They informed me that a condition mimicking a stroke often appeared in low blood sugar cases. All of this transpired in only a few minutes.

When we arrived at the Florida Medical Center, I was immediately taken to the ER to be surrounded by several concerned staff members; warded and given many tests, including a brain scan. The staff operated in a most caring and professional manner.

After five hours of constant observation and they were satisfied that my system had returned to normalcy, I was discharged with written instructions for the future.

I wonder if this problem had befallen me in T&T would there have been such speedy response and effective treatment available to save me from demise? Will we in T&T ever achieve such high standards?

Manny Joseph

Via email

Looking on at the internal elections of the United National Congress, it seems clear to most that Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar will convincingly prevail as political leader. And rightly so.

Mrs Persad-Bissessar is by far the most competent, capable and skilful politician to take on what is clearly becoming a secretive, arrogant and incapable PNM administration. She is also one of the few politicians remaining in T&T who still stands as a unifying force, capable of attracting and managing diverse support.

That assumption, however, does not eliminate the anxiety that surrounds the internal elections. The UNC is the alternative government in its role as the Opposition and must always be ready and capable of assuming control of the Government, at any time.

Yet, while Mrs Persad-Bissessar focuses on the future of the party, as well as issues created by the PNM’s early failures as a government, the other leadership candidates are doing just about any and everything to destabilise the party and the Opposition.

Dr Roodal Moonilal is firing from the hip at every turn, and appears more and more desperate in the way he is talking down to the UNC membership and support base.

Mr Vasant Bharath is following that lead, doing and saying just about anything to ‘make the news’, making accusations that are both unfair and unsubstantiated, and making clear that he cowardly sat in Government to enjoy the benefits of power, but was too afraid to raise his voice on issues which he is now complaining about.

I would therefore like to call on all leadership candidates for the UNC internals to make a clear commitment before December 5, that when the party membership makes its decision, they will accept and abide by that decision.

I say this because we have seen too many times how some UNC officials attempt to destabilise and fracture their own party even when members make their wishes clear by their vote.

We have seen Basdeo Panday refusing to let go of the post of Opposition Leader, even when he was no longer political leader. We have seen Opposition MPs run to the media to discuss internal issues without ever raising the issues with the national executive. We have seen people talking out of turn, contradicting themselves and weakening their public image as a political organisation.

For these reasons, all candidates for leadership must make a clear commitment to the UNC membership that they will abide fully by the result of the December 5 election. They must make the commitment that they will not attempt to upset the focus of the Opposition by using technicalities and transient majorities to split the leadership.

In fact, any of the candidates refusing to make this commitment must be seen as having one intention—to destroy the parliamentary Opposition for selfish purposes, rather than build it.

If they cannot commit to abiding by the decision of the membership, then they cannot be trusted to ably lead a party, or a future government. It’s as simple as that.

Angela Maharaj-Lashley

Via email

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been a remarkable leader of T&T. There can be no doubt about that.

For those of us who want to be honest, we would all agree that she did a good job of steering our country through the most troubled waters inherited from the Patrick Manning administration. But I am sure Mrs Persad-Bissessar would be the first to admit that any leader who marshals her troops to five election defeats cannot carry on like it were business as usual. Something has to be wrong somewhere.

We cannot, and neither can Mrs Persad-Bissessar, claim that each defeat was unique and so no blame can be cast. After one, two, maybe even three defeats, the then prime minister should have done serious introspection of her party and tried to find out what caused such a dramatic change in the party’s fortunes that obtained in 2010.

More to the point, though, the former prime minister should now take the lead from her British counterparts, where democracy resides with the utmost respect.

British leaders, after taking their political parties into defeat, do what they believe to be the honourable thing and resign. It is what real democracy demands.

Similarly, no self-respecting company would continue to carry the burden of a CEO, if huge losses were constantly being incurred.

Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s stubbornness to remain at the helm of the UNC is indicative of the larger problem of indiscipline within the party.

She can now hardly cast stones at Basdeo Panday and his puerile behaviour over the past five years.

Let’s hope she does not become all that we have rejected in Mr Panday.

Dale Nancoo

Fyzabad

The JMMB Group acquired 90 per cent of the Dominican Republic bank, Banco Rio de Ahorro y Credito JMMB Bank SA, on July 1, 2015. The purchase price was US$2.15 million or J$254.5 million, which approximates TT$13.76 million. This acquisition increased its operating expenses for the second quarter, thus lowering its profits for that period. Despite this distortion, its year-to-date results continued to improve.

Let us now further expand on these and related issues that impacted on its half-year results.

Changes in financial positions

Total assets expanded by 2.8 per cent to J$223.8 billion from the March 2015 year-end balance of J$217.7 billion.

The main constituent, investments and resale agreements, which remains the largest component, declined marginally to J$154.3 billion from J$157.5 billion.

Helped by its banking acquisition, net loans and receivables advanced by 11.6 per cent to close at J$35.6 billion from last March’s J$31.9 billion.

Cash and equivalents also rose strongly moving from J$18.7 billion to J$23.6 billion as at September 30, 2015. This was also partly due to the inclusion of J$265 million from the new bank, Banco Rio.

Finally, property, plant and equipment advanced to J$3.57 billion from J$3.09 billion. Total liabilities grew by 3.2 per cent to reach J$202.2 billion from J$196 billion.

Securities sold under agreements to repurchase registered at J$146.6 billion; this was 1.4 per cent greater than the J$144.5 billion held as at March 31, 2015.

Customers’ deposits increased by 6.4 per cent to J$40.9 billion from the year-end balance of J$38.5 billion. About J$1 billion of this improvement can be attributed to the Banco Rio acquisition.

Both notes payable and other payables rose. The former moved to J$4.26 billion from J$3.64 billion while the latter climbed to J$3.3 billion from J$2.36 billion.

Its redeemable preference shares held steady at J$4.2 billion.

On the other hand, the amounts due to other banks increased to J$519 million from J$435 million.

Equity changes

Total equity declined to J$21.56 billion from J$21.72 billion. After allowing for minority interests, shareholders’ equity also fell to J$20.81 billion from last year-end’s J20.96 billion.

Both share capital and retained earnings reserve held steady at J$1.86 billion and J$9.6 billion respectively.

In contrast, the investment revaluation reserve fell to J$1.02 billion from J$2.04 billion; this reflected a negative comprehensive income for the period. This was mainly due to unrealised losses on available-for-sale investments and, to a lesser extent, foreign exchange translation differences.

The retained earnings component benefitted from the current period’s profit of J$1.18 billion before giving back J$261 million in dividends to shareholders. These changes saw the ending balance improve to J$8.49 billion from J$7.57 billion as at last March.

With 1,630,552,530 shares outstanding, each share has a book value of J$12.76 (March 2015: J$12.86).

Revenues and profit

Total interest income fell to J$6.52 billion from J$6.83 billion. Interest expense, however, fell by a greater percentage to end at J$3.75 billion from J$4.13 billion.

These favourable swings allowed JMMB to record a higher net interest income of J$2.77 billion from last half-year’s J$2.7 billion.

All other major sources of income registered strong improvements.

Fees and commission income climbed by 46.4 per cent to J$441.3 million from J$301.4 million.

The net gains on securities trading improved by 35.2 per cent, moving from J$1.55 billion in 2014 to J$2.1 billion in the current half-year. These gains were fuelled by volume increases combined with the buoyancy of the Jamaican Stock Exchange, especially since about mid-year.

Foreign exchange trading gains were also robust, moving from J$430.6 million to J$562 million; this reflected an improvement of 30.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, dividend income rose to J$12.75 million from J$8.53 million.

These changes allowed JMMB Group to report total income of J$5.88 billion; this showed a 17.8 per cent improvement over the J$4.99 billion earned for the comparative 2014 period.

Distorted by higher expenses under its banking segment, total operating expenses climbed by 17.3 per cent to J$4.29 billion from J$3.66 billion previously.

This allowed JMMB to report a pre-tax profit of J$1.59 billion; this represents an improvement of 18.4 per cent over the J$1.34 billion recorded for the six months ended September 2014.

With the effective tax rate increasing from 19.53 per cent to 23.77 per cent in the current period, the after-tax profit improved by only 12.2 per cent to J$1.21 billion from J$1.08 billion.

The non-controlling interests fell to J$28.7 million from J$55 million; this change helped JMMB report a profit attributable to shareholders of J$1.18 billion versus J$1.02 billion.

This result translated into EPS of J$0.72 (2014: J$0.63).

Divisional performance

Both major segments reported higher external revenues and greater pre-tax profits.

Notably, there was a marginal decline in the operating expense at the financial segment. On the other hand, the banking segment experienced a doubling of its operating expenses; this was mainly caused by the one-off expenses triggered by both the asset tax (J$184.9 million) and the Banco Rio acquisition.

In the case of the latter, the purchase price of J$254.5 million exceeded the provisional valuation of the net assets acquired of J$155.8 million, which gave rise to a goodwill charge of J$98.7 million. It is expected that the final valuations of the assets acquired will be concluded by the end of the fiscal year in March 2016.

The decline in interest income was most pronounced under the financial services segment.

Most of the group’s profits are derived from its Jamaican home base. There, the merchant bank subsidiary contributed J$221.5 million to the group’s after-tax profits; this represented an improvement of 76 per cent over the prior period’s results.

Its operations in the Dominican Republic contributed J$77.1 million to these results. Those results were derived from its securities and mutual fund operations as well as its newly acquired bank, Banco Rio de Ahorro y Credito JMMB Bank SA.

Locally, JMMB Investments (T&T) Ltd and the Intercommercial Bank Ltd combined contribution amounted to J$96.8 million.

The group also derives significant income from managing off-balance sheet funds for its clients on a non-recourse basis. The value of those managed funds increased by 77.7 per cent to J$58.3 billion from last year’s J$32.8 billion.

Dividends and share price

On July 2, 2015 JMMBGL share price closed at J$7.50. A few weeks later, on July 22, it had declined to J$7.07. For the next couple of months the price drifted within a narrow range.

During October, the price advanced to J$8.41 on the ninth, then closed at J$8.90 on October 20 and then further advanced to J$9.93 by the October 27.

The price closed at J$10.00 on November 3, 2015, when 1,030,443 shares changed hands. By November 12, it was at J$10.99 at which point it started to exhibit some resistance.

Under its old corporate name and structure, JMMB’s 2014 calendar dividend was J$0.33. On December 18, 2015, JMMBGL will pay a dividend of J$0.19; this, when added to the mid-year dividend of J$0.16 will bring its total dividend for calendar 2015 to J$0.35.

That total dividend, when related to its recent peak price of J$10.99, gives investors a yield of 3.18 per cent.

On the local exchange, the share price has moved in a very similar fashion. The share was traded at TT$0.45 in July and then fell to TT$0.41 in August. The release of these results has seen prices as high as TT$0.53 on November 13 and again on November 23.

Prospects

On September 16, 2015, shareholders approved a resolution for the issuance of six billion cumulative redeemable preference shares. Very likely, these new instruments will be used to replace and/or augment the existing stock of J$4.2 billion when they are redeemed. The existing preference shares bear interest rates ranging from 7.25 to 8.75 per cent.

Although JMMBGL has commercial banking subsidiaries in both T&T and the Dominican Republic, it does not yet own a commercial bank in its home country. The group eventually expects this to become a reality, possibly within two years.

Investors may recall that, many years ago, Republic Bank Ltd’s foray into the Dominican Republic did not end well for the bank and its shareholders. 

Perhaps, this may one reason why JMMBGL is buying only 90 per cent of Banco Rio; it probably expects that having a local shareholder will improve its chances for success.

Sometimes the best choice is to make none at all, particularly when all the options look risky.

So if you’re deciding whether to invest in stocks, bonds or something else, remember that you could leave some of it in cash. So says Matt Freund, chief investment officer of USAA’s mutual funds.

He says stocks are likely due to deliver lower returns than before, maybe 7 per cent annually, partly because of how high their prices have become relative to corporate profits. And as the Federal Reserve gets closer to raising interest rates, Freund expects price swings for stocks to get bigger. Bonds, too, are likely to get more volatile.

Instead of taking on a lot of extra risk for only a little bit more return, the right choice may be to get more conservative, says Freund, who manages several bond mutual funds. He recently talked about why it can make sense to stash some cash under the mattress. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How much more volatility should we be expecting once the Fed begins raising rates?

A: We’ve already seen it. We saw it in August, when people were trying to make a huge news story about a 10 per cent decline for stocks. I think it is going to get worse. I think these sorts of 5 and 10 per cent corrections are going to be much more commonplace. They’re not going to be as newsworthy.

Aren’t stocks supposed to do well, even after the Fed starts raising rates?

A: Everybody talks about how stocks typically don’t peak until two or three years after the Fed begins raising rates. Is that going to happen this time? Is it safe for stocks? Well, we’re not sure, but I suspect that it’s not.

Typically, when the Fed raises rates, the economy is accelerating. And at USAA, while we’re not calling for a recession, we’re not calling for an acceleration either. We think we’re going to be seeing more of the same, where the economy is kind of grinding along at very modest growth.

Stock valuations today are not cheap, and they are (based on the assumption that) economic activity will return to normal, will accelerate.

Q: So stocks don’t look like the better investment versus bonds?

A: People implicitly make the assumption that the market owes them a good choice.

People always talk about how you need to buy stocks today because they’re a TINA; there is no alternative. And I completely disagree. Stocks may beat cash or bonds. But that doesn’t mean you’re being paid for the risk, and that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for you and your time horizon.

Q: What kinds of investments do you like?

A: I actually do like high-yield.

Q: Don’t managers of high-yield bond funds always say they like high-yield?

A: If I gave you the choice of two asset classes, and one was going to earn seven per cent and be really volatile, and the other was going to earn almost seven per cent but with a lot less volatility, which one is better? I think that for the same returns, take less risk.

Q: I assume the first choice is stocks, and the second is high-yield bonds. Can they really produce nearly seven per cent returns?

A: The high-yield index is yielding close to eight per cent. After expenses, it’s close to seven. So then you have to worry about defaults and price swings. If you’re investing for three to five years, I think the ballpark is in the low six per cent to high six per cent for returns.

Q: And stocks don’t look good at all?

A: Let’s say that you are the perfect, rational investor who invests without any emotions. Or you’re going to program the computer to do it. If you told the computer, “My time horizon is five years or 10 years,” it would put you in stocks. It would put you in emerging markets.

But if you said, “Look, I’m really a six-month investor,” the offered returns don’t compensate for the risk, and it would keep you out of those markets.

Q: Do you really think people are investing in stocks with expectations to hold for just six months?

A: People are exceptionally short term. Maybe it’s for a year. But look at all the articles that happened in August. It was a 10 per cent correction. It was long overdue. It was no big deal. But it created a lot of worry and angst.

Q: That advice wouldn’t have been any different 10 years ago, though, right?

A: Yeah, but people always seem to forget it. There’s nothing wrong with holding some cash.

Imagine you were that lucky person who was sitting on a big stockpile of cash in August. Everyone is running for the door. You would have been very well rewarded for putting that money to work. But how do you get that dry powder? You have to pull back when the market feels good, and that’s times like now. AP’s Stan Choe

For the unprepared, Christmas can come at a high price. Between gifts, wrapping paper, parties and impulse buying, Christmas can spell financial ruin even for the most savvy of investors. With intelligent cost cutting and creative thinking, Christmas does not have to be drain on your wallet. 

Unfortunately, many people end up dreading the Christmas season simply because it often means incredible amounts of debt and financial stress. And, in a world where investors are bombarded with financial and economic stresses, there is really no need to add to the burden. 

The biggest reason people implode financially during Christmas is failure to plan and budget. Many times it is difficult to remember exactly how your money was spent and, often times, this money is wasted on frivolous purchases. Having and sticking to a Christmas budget will ensure peace of mind and allow investors to stay out of the red.

So where do you start? 

The first step is to make a list, as simple as this sounds, this is crucial to setting stage for the Yuletide season. Once you decide who is deserving of a gift, determine how much money you can realistically afford to spend. Then, designate a set portion of the total amount for each person on your list. 

For example, let’s say you have $600 to spend, and you need to buy gifts for ten family members and five friends. You may decide that you’ll spend $40 on each person on the list. 

On the other hand, you may want to spend $50 on each of your family members and $20 on each of your friends.

Avoid the urge of purchasing gifts for yourself, as this can increase your budget with unplanned expenses. Staying focused in the mist of the festivity is crucial, so you may want to reconsider spending your hard-earned income on elaborate decorations and exquisite food and beverages since they would only result in more debt. Following a good budget can lower debt, increase funding for saving and investing, and reduce the overall stress associated with this time of year.

Unfortunately, many holiday shoppers let their emotions get the best of them, and they end up overspending. Not only will overspending break your budget, but you’ll also deplete your finances and ruin your budget strategy.

Another proven strategy for making Christmas less expensive down is refusing to go into debt via the credit card. Simply put, there is no defensible reason to spend money you don’t have on Christmas. 

As tempting as the use of your credit card is for shopping, its use should be judicious and not be used in reckless manner as profligate spending will derail your well-intentioned plans. One way to force yourself to stick to your holiday budget is to pay for all your gifts with cash. Simply withdraw the amount that you can afford to spend on your holiday gifts, when that money is gone, Christmas time is over. 

As an investor, it would be prudent to give financial gifts that would assist in improving the financial well-being of family and friends. Cash gifts do not have a lasting value because the money is quickly spent and toys and gadgets can quickly become obsolete in today’s technology obsessed society.

A good way to introduce relatives and friends to the world of investing would be giving a gift of units in any of UTC’s funds—namely UTC Universal Retirement Fund—to motivate those who are in dire need of retirement option, or by opening a UTC TT$ Income Fund for the beginner investor. 

For the more sophisticated family member, there is the growth and income fund family where the investor has the potential to earn capital growth and dividend income.

In this way, you can ignite the savings habit and create an investment mindset for relatives and friends and introduce them to the concept of diversification. Such actions can go a long way towards putting them on the path to investing and assist them in attaining some measure of confidence in improving their financial health. 

Try these Christmas holiday spending budget strategies to ease financial tension during this hectic Christmas season:

• Create a budget. Determine how much money is available for you to spend based on your current financial situation. Be realistic with your Christmas holiday spending budget, regardless of how much or little you can play with. This is your spending limit, and your goal is to stay within it. There’s no need to get into extensive debt because of the holidays.

• Make a list. List everyone that you need to furnish a gift for so you can create a realistic plan to accommodate your gift-giving needs. 

• Start now: If you have not started working on a budget, now is a good time to start. Avoid leaving your Christmas shopping until the last moment. You’ll likely pay higher prices and spend more time feeling aggravated in the line.

Don’t let Scrooge overshadow your Christmas festivities. Christmas budgeting may seem like a humbling or constricting endeavour, but it can actually be very enlightening if approached with an open mind.

Sajjad Hamid

November was the month for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. In case you missed the action, there were three main events celebrating entrepreneurship. Each one highlighted the growing hunger for entrepreneurship and, by extension, people’s desire to gain independence and financial security. The world over celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) was released and a group local enterprising women pioneered the start of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED). 

Global Entrepreneurship Week

One of the biggest event globally is GEW and the host for Trinidad is the Chaguanas-based Youth Business of T&T (YBTT), which is an accredited member of YBI (Youth Business International). YBTT’s role is to encourage the 18-35 year old group to start businesses, assist with training, providing mentorship (a business coach) and financing. They had a number of events through the country in partnership with UWI’s Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School Biz Booster, Civilian Conservation Corp., Junior Achievement, NEDCO, UTT and others.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

UWI’s Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business released the latest GEM report, which is an international survey of more than 100 countries and, this year, again T&T was studied. 

The news about Trinidad is somewhat mixed; entrepreneurship is viewed positively by the population as many budding entrepreneurs weren’t held back by confidence or fear. According to the GEM report “the biggest enablers of entrepreneurship in T&T are its physical infrastructure, professional infrastructure, and entrepreneurial education provided at vocational and university level.” 

On the other side, the report says, “the biggest constraints on entrepreneurship are government policies, entrepreneurial education at lower levels and the transfer of R&D”. It continues by saying that this country needs to focus more on high growth and innovative businesses. I guess no more mini-marts and doubles vendors. The reports suggest if economic transformation is to happen, the nature of entrepreneurial activity needs to change (something for the policy makers to think about). 

GEM says that established business ownership in this country is 11 per cent, the average entrepreneur is male, 25-34 years of age, with a secondary school education, who has financed his $10,000 to $20,000 business through personal savings. However, on a global scale, women entrepreneurs have closed the gender gap by six per cent since 2013 on a global scale. 

Women Entrepreneurship Day

For the first time, the women had their say with an event celebrating entrepreneurship at the Radisson Hotel. The event was organised with help from the Entrepreneurship Programme for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC), partly funded by the Government of Canada and implemented by infoDev (a global entrepreneurship program in the World Bank Group). 

Georgina Terry, author of The Amazing Race To Entrepreneurial Freedom, was one of the organisers and said that WED was now celebrated in 144 countries and in 10 Caribbean nations. A number of women guest speakers had tonnes of useful advice for women and entrepreneurs. 

Allana Steuart of Bertie’s offered an interesting story of how her family got into the pepper sauce business. One day they found that their yardman had no fridge and found it unbelievable that in 2004 this could be so. Appalled by that finding, they decided to do fundraising and wanted something different from BBQ and Curry Q events. She and Bertie (husband) said they will produce pepper sauce that many had complimented her on. Together with their four children they filled 600 bottles of pepper sauce and, using their home as a factory, sold it and they finally raised the cash to assist their gardener. 

The story did not end there as many were asking for more, including two international restaurant chains. Their home soon became a factory and warehouse. There was the challenge of living among boxes, labels and bottles. Despite the issue of sourcing quality papers and packaging, the business has now grown out of their home. Bertie’s can be found in TGI Fridays and other leading supermarkets. And it all started from concern and caring from one woman.

The next speaker by video was Kiran Maharaj, CEO of Caribbean Lifestyle Communications (97 FM, 104FM and Radio 90.5). She advised female entrepreneurs to be imaginative in their marketing, take risks to grow, be observant about your environment and be a knowledge sponge; soak up as much as possible. Most of all she says, women need to believe in themselves. 

The event also had HR entrepreneur, Lara Quentrall-Thomas, founder of Regency Recruitment and Resources. Some of her clients include international names like GE, bpTT and IBM. She started her business in her father’s home and was a one-person operation at the beginning. Her experience with her staff was quite interesting. Millennials who comprise about half her staff, were more frank and not afraid to ask pointed questions. Her suggestion is to always treat your staff as customers, as who never know where they will end up. 

Quentrall-Thomas as a master networker, had some nuggets for budding entrepreneurs prospecting for clients. 

“Since you cannot advertise as big companies do, you should join a chamber or professional associations. This is a cheap way to meet business clients. If you can’t find an association, then start one,” she advised. Then there are numerous networking sessions that are free, but open to the public. She suggests you always ask a question with a small introduction of your company. If you don’t have a question, then offer thanks.

Quentrall-Thomas had some interesting HR strategies to keep your employees happy. What about two days off per week? If they work extra for three days, there is no need for time off to do personal stuff and a great initiative to avoid the Port-of-Spain traffic. She advised guests to delegate. This has allowed her to do social work as a past rotary club president. 

Mia Redrick joined the WED by Skype from Maryland and she had the unusual title of The Mom Strategist. Redrick is the author of bestsellers, Time for Mom-Me:5 Essential Strategies for A Mother’s Self-Care and Time for Mom-Me: 365 Daily Strategies for a Mother’s Self-Care. 

Can you make money from advising moms? 

When she approached her boss about the idea of being a Mom coach, he told her that “validation is for parking lots.” She wanted to have her own business and still take care of her kids and a husband who was on dialysis. What did she do? She called a super successful coach who charges US$1,000 per hour and asked how much time she could get for US$100. She got 10 minutes and the coach showed her how to get started. 

She started with a Fortune 100 company and left her book behind, even though she did not have any clients. 

Apparently it worked and she got the business. 

She advised female entrepreneurs that the, “first transition is you. If you act small, you get small.” Redrick advised: “Invest in yourself, read and take self improvement courses. Develop the right habits as success is about habit.” 

Sajjad Hamid is an SME consultant. His contact is: entrepreneurtnt@gmail.com and entrepreneurtnt.com

DUBAI—The career of beleaguered West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine lay in tatters yesterday after the International Cricket Council banned him from bowling in international cricket because of an illegal action.

The 27-year-old was reported following the third One-Day International against Sri Lanka earlier this month and after undergoing testing at the Loughborough University on November 17, his action was found to exceed the 15 degrees level of tolerance on “all variations of his deliveries”.

Narine will be allowed to play in West Indies Cricket Board tournaments but will be forced to curtail all other international commitments.

He is currently campaigning in the Bangladesh Premier League and will now have to abort his campaign for Comilla Victorians. He is expected to leave Dhaka on Sunday night.

“The International Cricket Council today confirmed that an independent assessment has found the bowling action of West Indies Sunil Narine to be illegal and, as such, the off-spinner has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect,” the ICC said in a release.

“In accordance with Article 6.1 of the regulations, Narine’s international suspension will also be recognised and enforced by all National Cricket Federations within domestic cricket events played in their own jurisdiction, save that, with the consent of the West Indies Cricket Board, Narine may be able to play in domestic cricket events played under the auspices of the West Indies Cricket Board.

“The assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.”

Under ICC regulations, Narine can ask for a re-assessment once he has modified his action.

The development is a massive blow not only for Narine but for West Indies, especially with the Twenty20 World Cup set to be played in India starting next March.

He had opted out of the 50-over ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year, choosing rather to continue rehabilitation on his action, after running into problems with his action last year.

Playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, Narine was first reported in October, 2014 during the Champions League Twenty20 and while he was allowed to continue playing, was reported again in the next game – the semi-final – and banned from bowling in the final.

Though he was cleared in March this year after undergoing tests at the ICC-approved Loughborough University, the Indian Cricket Board forced the Trinidadian to undergo additional tests at Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, before he was allowed to play in the Indian Premier League.

However, Narine was reported yet again for a suspect action during the IPL and subsequently banned from bowling off-breaks after an assessment of footage by the BCCI’s suspect bowling action committee, and following more testing at Sri Ramachandra University.

In May, he was cleared by the committee to continue bowling but handed a final warning.

Narine is currently the leading bowler in both limited overs formats of the game.

David John-Williams, the W Connection boss is the new president of the T&T Football Association. Yesterday at a hotly contested annual general meeting and election of officers at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, John-Williams got the nod 25 votes to 19 for the incumbent Raymond Tim Kee after the second round of voting.

After the first round, John-Williams got 18 votes to Tim Kee’s 13 with Clynt Taylor in third with eight. Both Ramesh Ramdhan, the ex T&T referee and Veteran Football Federation (VFF) president Selby Browne were eliminated early after each received only three votes.

Tim Kee, when he heard the result of the first round of voting, immediately left the Stadium, saying he was going to have lunch.     

After being praised for his role in implementing changes to the TTFA constitution, Tim Kee now appeared to be a victim of his own initiatives. 

He told the Guardian when the votes were being counted that he welcomed the change which has seen five people in an election race for the football association’s top position.

“I was adamant that there be changes to the constitution as well as a two-term limit for TTFA presidents and I am happy it turned out this way,” Tim Kee said.

Meanwhile new president John-Williams gave a promise that he will do his best for Trinidad and Tobago. 

He explained that his first order of business will be a budget exercise for a national team—the Under-20 Women’s Team, which will be off to Honduras for a Concacaf U-20 Championship this week.

He explained that he will also look at setting up sub committees and get them functional as well as seek an audience with national coach Stephen Hart ahead of the Copa American play-off with Haiti on January 8. 

He gave the assurance that he will not be a jacket-and-tie president that will be confined to an office.

“Rather I will lead from the front and set an example. If I have to pick up papers for T&T football I will do that,” John Williams said. 

He also promised that all attempts will be made to get the country’s top players for the Copa America, which he said would be difficult, as the match is being played outside of the international break.  

He told a media gathering that his administration will also look at the new constitution to make adjustments. 

Due to his elevation to president, John-Williams said his work at W Connection will be taken up by his daughter. 

Quizzed on whether he thinks his victory would have stemmed from the 10 votes from the T&T Pro League and the eight from the Superleague, John Williams said it may have been so. 

However he made it clear that the world governing body for football FIFA had approved the system of voting.  

WALTER ALIBEY

BRISBANE—Head coach Phil Simmons believes that hard work in the build-up to the Test series against Australia will work wonders for West Indies as they seek to break their 17-year win drought, when the three-match rubber bowls off later next month.

The former international all-rounder returned to his role after missing the recent trip to Sri Lanka through suspension and has immediately gotten down to the business of preparing the Caribbean side for the recapture of the Frank Worrell Trophy.

West Indies have not won Down Under since 1997 and have not beaten the Aussies in a Test anywhere in 12 years.

“Today was the first practice and the guys looked as good as you can look after a long flight,” Simmons said yesterday.

“We still have three days practice before the warm-up game and then three more days before the Test match, so I think it is about getting ourselves sharp enough going into the warm-up game and taking the warm-up game as serious as possible and making sure that during the warm-up game we do the things we want to do during the Test match.”

West Indies, who arrived here last week, will have a four-day warm-up match against the Cricket Australia XI, starting Wednesday at the Allan Border Oval in Brisbane.

Simmons expressed confidence that his young team, led by all-rounder Jason Holder, could come up to the mark on foreign soil against their more experienced opponents.

“The new ball is going to be a big thing and as long as we get accustomed to the wickets and batting on the wickets when it comes time to play the long innings, we will be able to do it,” Simmons noted.

The highlight of the tour will be the second Test match at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground which will be the historic Boxing Day Test, one of the iconic features in world sport. West Indies last played in the major event 15 years ago.

The first Test will be in Hobart with the third match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, starting in early January.

“It is huge as it has been over a decade since we have been granted a chance to play a Boxing Day Test match, Simmons said.

“From my time we looked forward to the day because it is a big day and a huge occasion, not only in Melbourne but all over Australia and a lot of cricket teams look forward to when they have the chance.”

He continued: “We will also play the New Year’s Test match which is another big occasion on the cricket calendar, so this is a major tour for West Indies cricket as well as the players here.”

Just four members of young squad – Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor – have played Test cricket in Australia before but Simmons said every member of his touring party would need to step up during the series.

“They are the ones we are banking on to give the knowledge to the younger players that haven’t been here, but I think everyone has to take ownership over the next week so they know what to do when we get into the Test matches,” Simmons pointed out.

“I think the big thing is that we get accustomed to the wickets and get accustomed to the fact that the wickets are going to be good to bat on.”

(CMC)

​It’s my job, that’s what I do, try to give you big-priced ‘special’ winners like 7/1 chance Smad Place in Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup.

However, My ‘Time’ has come in division two of the Maiden Fillies’ Stakes over a mile of Kempton polytrack this afternoon and we are confident she can go the whole way, into the winners’ enclosure.

Fifty-two days ago Mytimehascome impressed on debut when fifth to Materialistic at Newmarket over seven furlongs; an 8/1 chance, in a 17-runner field, this Montjeu filly stayed on strongly and was beaten only two lengths.

That was undoubtedly a tough experience and trainer Roger Varian has wisely given her plenty of ‘recovery time’ which is so important for juveniles.

Our time-handicap figure represents what is usually required to be competitive in a ‘Newmarket maiden’ (templates over the years!) and experienced Varian had obviously seen enough on home gallops; realistically if Mytimehaswcome was up to competing at such a level this ought to be a cake-walk, but isn’t!

Unbelievably the standard for polytrack two-year-olds races is very high; so many ‘fashionable’ trainers haven’t switched off their high-octane engines after the 2015 turf-flat season which means substantial TH marks bear close inspection but, nowadays, don’t  guarantee success.

Aficionados of this age group, like myself, are fascinated by the quality; think how many recent juvenile races are being won with Arab-owned ‘super-breds’ and you will realise what I’m saying.

That other division is much more difficult, have a look at the line-up (and trainers!) and you will understand why I’m more inclined toward Wolverhampton where, usually, the quality is lower; there are two nurseries, the seven furlongs race is within capabilities of Graham Lee-ridden Ormanumps, the other too difficult.

Six go to post for a six furlongs Claiming Stakes over ten furlongs and David Evans has found an opportunity for Oyster Pearl.

Jeremiah Fowler and Kyron Nicholas were named the Junior and Senior Players of the Year respectively at the Milo Harvard Club Football Clinic Graduation Ceremony yesterday.

Havana Ramdeen was voted top among the girls participating in the programme.

Venue was the legendary Harvard Sports Club on Serpentine Road in St Clair, where proud parents and guardians looked on and cheered lustily as the nation’s budding football stars filled the spotlight to be honoured.

It was a big day for the coaches, too. The emerging athletes in their care, who heeded their instructions best, demonstrating discipline, while working hard to improve their techniques on the field, ultimately ended the clinic with distinctions and were rewarded.

Twenty-two awards were presented during the ceremony where officials again underscored the power of sports to positively shape young minds and ultimately mould better citizens.

Harvard Club stalwart, Dwight Day, who was among the first group of coaches, is still actively honing young football talent. He said the clinic was formed in 1976 and was spawned from the well established cricket clinic which began in 1965. 

“The clinic was expressly formed to teach the basics in terms of techniques, the rules and laws of the game to the kids and more importantly, to teach them fair play and how to interact with each other…try and make better citizens generally. It was probably the biggest clinic in T&T. I think it set the pattern for many other clinics to be formed,” he said.

Day added, “In fact, our numbers have waned because there are so many other clinics, so many other alternatives, I suspect that the total output of all these clinics has fuelled the national team. 

“The one (national player) who is most noteworthy (from this club) was Shaka Hislop. As long as Harvard continues, the clinic would be part of the club. The Club had been around since 1943–72 years. I don’t think there are many clubs in T&T that are still active and can say that they are as long lived as Harvard Club.”

HONOUR ROLL 

Group 1

Kaitlyn Jackman–Most Disciplined 

Tarique Williams–Most Outstanding 

Group 2

Dhaquan Jackman–Most Disciplined

Jeremiah Fowler–Most Outstanding

Jeremiah Fowler–Junior Player of the Year

Group 3 and 4

Scott Hoyte–Most Disciplined

Kai Willians–Most Improved

Osei Thompson–Most Outstanding

Group 5 and 6

Raphael Harricoo–Most Disciplined

Nicholas Andre Thompson–Most Improved

Daniel Marshall–Most Outstanding

Khaliq Grant–Special Award

Goalkeepers:

Justin King–Most Improved

Kurlan Henry–Most Outstanding

Girls Special Award-Havana Ramdeen

Group 7:

Kadir Sinnette–Most Improved

Competitive Under-14

Jaheem Moreno–Most Improved

Jonty Ramdeen–Most Disciplined

Keshorn Jacob–Most Outstanding

Under 16:

Savion Sinnette–Most Improved

Byron Thompson Jr –Most Disciplined

Kyron Nicholas–Most Outstanding

Kyron Nicholas–Senior Players of the Year

Special Award to Young Coach Neil Phillip

Every year, hundreds of Haitian children are adopted by Americans. 

When many of these children grow up, they embark on a search for their real parents. But as Associated Press writer Ben Fox reports in the first part of this story about Mariette Williams’ search for her mother, the adoption process might not be as transparent as it could be. 

As Mariette Williams waited for her flight from South Florida to Haiti, she paced the departure lounge, folding and re-folding her ticket and clutching the handle of a bag sagging with gifts. She was excited but terrified: For the first time in nearly 30 years, she was about to see her mother.

Colas Bazile Etienne was a shadow at the very edge of her daughter’s memories, staying out of focus no matter how hard Mariette tried. She knew her mother was a desperately poor Haitian woman who had given her up for adoption, but why? Because she had too many children? Because she wanted to give Mariette a better life? Because she had hoped for exactly this, that her daughter would one day come back to help the family?

All Mariette remembered of her childhood was leaving it, the flight she was about to do now but in reverse. She had looked at the clouds out of the plane window and thrown up on her dress. She knew she shouldn’t expect too much from this reunion, but she couldn’t help it.

“Outside of my wedding and the birth of my children,” she said over the noise of the airport, “this is probably one of the biggest days of my life.”

Mariette is an English teacher at a private school who exudes the quiet authority of someone used to keeping a classroom of kids in line. She lives a middle-class American life in a condo in Boca Raton, a South Florida suburb of broad streets and manicured grass that couldn’t be more different from Haiti. At 32, she has a husband, Terrence Williams, and two young children, Melia and Jaden.

Yet the itch to find her birth family has always gnawed at her, especially leading up to Mother’s Day every year.

“I was celebrating the mother I had, but I was pushing away feelings of hurt and anger for the mother I lost,” she wrote on a blog for fellow adoptees. “And so Mother’s Day would come, and I would grin and bear it. A week would pass, then a month, and the sharp pain became a dull ache for the rest of the year.”

Like Mariette, thousands of Haitian children in recent decades have gone to live with families in Europe, Canada and the United States. She tried years earlier to find her birth parents, but the orphanage listed in her adoption papers no longer existed. Her family name, “Etienne,” is common in Haiti. And she knew of a town, Pestel, but had no online records to search.

For Mariette, as for many other adoptees, it was social media that opened up new possibilities. One day, she stumbled upon a Facebook page for Pestel. With the help of a translator, she posted a message online in Haitian Creole.

“My name is Mariette,” she wrote. “I’m looking for my family.”

Two weeks later, she got the contact number of someone who knew her parents. Her heart raced. At long last, this could be what she was waiting for.

Through a friend who spoke Haitian Creole, she found out that she had four sisters and two brothers in Haiti. Her mother was alive, but her father, Berlisse, had passed away about a year earlier.

She cried for the father she had never met. She also realised she was running out of time: Colas would soon be turning 70, old in a country where women have a life expectancy of 65.

Soon she was talking to Junette, a 45-year-old sister who was overjoyed to hear from her. In the back-and-forth, Mariette heard a name: Rose-Marie Platel, the orphanage owner listed in the adoption papers. At the mention of the name, she got goosebumps.

What Junette said next shook up everything Mariette believed about who she was and where she came from. Rose-Marie had been her godmother, her sister said, and had taken her to the capital, Port-au-Prince, for treatment when she got sick. But one day, when the family went to visit, both Rose-Marie and Mariette were gone.

Mariette’s mother had never given her up for adoption after all. Junette asked: “Do you know your family has been looking for you for 30 years?”

It took two weeks to arrange a call with her mother, who did not have a phone and lived far from the capital.

Mariette’s heart was pounding. The conversation through a translator was slow and at times awkward. But the voice was familiar — like Junette’s, only higher and softer.

Colas repeated the same story and said she had prayed, every day, to see her daughter again.

Junette promised to email Mariette a photo of her mother right after the call. Mariette stared at her screen saver, waiting.

Then it came.

“I had no words,” Mariette later wrote. “I was by myself in front of the computer, and I just stared at the picture. I must have stared at it for a full five minutes before moving. And then I grabbed every single picture I had of myself on my computer and started comparing them.”

She finally called her husband in and asked him, do we look alike?

He confirmed it with one look.

Now Mariette was unsettled. What had happened with her family? How could she not have known?

And what did her adoptive parents know?

Mariette was adopted in October 1986, at a time when adoption in Haiti was barely regulated. Most of the children in Haitian orphanages had at least one living parent, and the concept of signing away rights to see children was foreign, and still is.

“Even if mothers agreed to an adoption, they did not agree to a full adoption,” said Mia Dambach, a children’s rights specialist at the International Social Service in Geneva. “They often thought these children would go to America but that they would come back, that the child would always be part of their family.”

Mariette’s adoptive parents were Sandra and Albert Knopf, at the time empty-nesters in their 40s with three grown sons. Sandra said she felt God’s call to adopt.

“I believed that I was doing it for the Lord,” she said. “I was not doing it for the children and I was not doing it for me.”

The couple lived in Langley, outside Vancouver, where Albert managed a plant that made polystyrene plates and Sandra stayed home. They were considered too old to adopt from Korea. So they found a man named Henry Wiebe who could arrange an adoption from Haiti for US$3,500 per child, or US$6,000 for two.

He came by with photos of older children, but Sandra only wanted girls under two.

He called the next day. He had found them. She was going to call them Christa Gail and Jennifer Lynne, but they already had names: Mariette and Patricia.

Sandra arrived in Haiti with Wiebe at a tense time when the country had recently shaken off the rule of the infamous Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. She spoke neither Haitian Creole nor French, the two languages of Haiti. She had never seen such poverty before, and was overwhelmed.

They went straight to the orphanage run by Platel, the Christian Rescue Ministry for Children Home. 

The girls were infected with parasites, had runny eyes and seemed weak from malnutrition. Mariette was scratching at red bite marks that covered her body, and Sandra could tell she was older than the 17 months the adoption papers claimed. It was only much later that they found out she was nearly three-and-a-half.

Sandra never met the Haitian lawyer who processed the papers, or went to the hearing where the judge approved the adoption. Platel handled all that while Sandra got visas. It took a month.

As the plane took off from Port-au-Prince, she felt overwhelming relief.

“Circling the airport, I just looked down and thought, ‘God, I never want to see this place again.’”

She ended up going back, 13 more times, for Christian relief work and to adopt three more children.

Mariette attended a private Christian school, studied the Bible and went to church every Sunday. She grew up with the idea that she should be grateful for her adoption. If she argued with Sandra, church friends would remind her of how much she owed her adoptive parents.

Now, suddenly, she started to wonder. She confronted Sandra over the phone.

To her dismay, her adoptive mother didn’t seem surprised. Yes, she conceded, there had been red flags about the adoption. The fact that Mariette’s age was off, the way the birth and other documents weren’t available at first and then suddenly appeared, at night, some filled out by hand.

Four days later, Sandra gave her side in a letter to Mariette. Sandra noted that her adopted daughter could have ended up with some other family, or might not have survived in Haiti at all. She said she had always prayed Mariette would return to her country to meet her family. “I feel we have all been victims of deception, but I also believe God is ultimately in charge,” she wrote.

For almost two months afterward, Mariette didn’t speak to Sandra.

She was furious.

Now the trip to Haiti was about even more than meeting her mother. It was about walking into the different life she could have had, seeing the different person she might have been.

“I gained an education, I was able to attend private school, I’m a college graduate, I have my master’s degree, I am a teacher. I have two beautiful children. I have a husband,” she said. “And I lost my family. So, if you were to ask anybody today, would you trade your family in for a college education, they would probably say no.

“I never had that choice, but that’s what I did.”

She decided to go to Haiti to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday. Sandra gave her a necklace and earrings as gifts for Colas.

Mariette seethed. She left them behind. (AP) n TO BE CONTINUED

Yankey Boy, who is best known for his 2013 hit, Rumours, was born Kevon Heath on January 10, 1981. He was raised in the ghettos of East Trinidad from Pinto Road, Arima and Get Well Avenue. Elevating himself from the ghetto was always his dream. Growing up, Heath adopted, and has continued to utilise a personal slogan in which he strongly believes in. This slogan reflects directly upon him; his motivational slogan is “too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful and too determined to be defeated.”

Heath started playing pan in 1995 with Arima Senior Comprehensive School Steel Orchestra where he excelled to become a three-time Junior Steelband Music Festival winner. He also received a scholarship for reading and writing music at UWI, St Augustine. Heath then relocated to the US in the year 2000 where he has then since and calls Brooklyn, New York his new home. 

The 31-year-old has a vision set on one goal and that is to become the best singer/songwriter that his culture has to offer. It was about ten years ago, in 2005, that he decided to start writing. Since then he has done numerous recordings with Studio 53 and Premiere Studio, working alongside artists like well known artistes Khari Kill, Zeblon, I-Sasha, Jah Bami, Mr King and Mr Slaughter. He now records from his own studio; a studio he developed as a means and way to get his music and recordings out there. Heath calls his Studio 6 to 1, based on his area of Brooklyn where he works alongside artistes like Khari Kill. 

The soca artiste got his name from the ghettos of Trinidad and once he migrated to New York, his trips back home were mainly to donate time, money and effort into the well-being and upbringing of the ghettos he once called home. 

Heath describes himself as a man with “a sense of humour, a sense of style and is willing to surpass all struggles and obstacles that stand in his way on the road to perfection.” 

Believing that there is nothing or no one that can stop him from achieving what he wants, he is willing to work harder than ever and dedicate more time than time itself has to offer in achieving the one thing that the bad mind and the negative aspects in life don’t want to see him achieve and that is success. 

For Carnival 2016, the Yankey Boy’s song is titled This Carnival. (PRB)

The meeting between the WICB and the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Committee on Cricket on Friday will signal the future direction of the governance of WI cricket. 

The outcomes are simple and obvious; either there will be continual floundering or there will be a determined effort to save an important aspect of Caribbean history, culture and identity.

The CARICOM Cricket Review Panel (CCRP) identified several governance and administrative problems that are hamstringing the development of the women’s game in the region. Despite these problems the regional team is currently joint leaders with Australia in the ICC Women’s Championship on 16 points. 

The problems identified are in no way new to those involved in the women’s game. Simply put, the WICB have been lethargic towards the holistic development women’s cricket.  Furthermore, the region’s cricket commentators, who have kept all and sundry aware of the problems affecting every aspect of the men’s game, have failed miserably in doing the same for the women’s game.

There is no doubt that the chair of the CCRP, Professor Eudine Barriteau, Principal of the Cave Campus, UWI, would have been instrumental in the women’s game receiving seemingly ultra-attention. The Richard Pybus Report, the current blueprint for WI cricket, fails to address the women’s game in a detailed manner.

Problems identified by the CCRP are:

• “Lack of financial and infrastructural support and commitment to the sustainable development of women’s cricket” (p5). In 2015 women cricketers received match fees for the annual regional tournament for the first time.

• “There is no organised, official programmes and policies in place by the WICB to develop women’s cricket” (p5).

• “WICB management looks towards the Territorial Boards and Governments to take the lead in the area of cricket development for women, while it accepts the responsibility for the development of cricket skills for the men’s teams” (p5).

• Since 2005 when the WICB took over responsibility for managing the women’s game, the amount of regional cricket played have declined. Whereas there are annual U15, U17, U19 and A Team cricket for men, the women players are restricted to playing 50 overs.

• In 2016 the ICC T20 World Cup will be played in India, however, the WICB did not see the wisdom of including a T20 component in its 2015 regional tournament! 

• Even more alarming, “there are no organised, consistent set of structures in place by the Territorial Boards. Some Boards do have clubs, do not encourage the development of clubs and do not organise national/territorial competitions” (p5). This is surprising as the WICB stated in 2014, that no territory will be allowed to play in the Senior Regional Tournament from 2015 if they did not have an organised league!

Recommendations to consider:

• As the Pybus Report calls for the free movement of players within the region to increase the standard of play, the same can be applied to the women’s game. This will make for more competitive cricket which will auger well for the West Indies team. 

• There should be a standardised programme throughout the region to develop the women’s game at all levels starting in primary schools. 

• One team of the best players should represent the Windward Islands. At the same time every effort should be made to develop the women’s game in the Leeward Islands.

• In order to develop their skills, women have to play more cricket. As the Pybus Report propose for two rounds of cricket for men, the same should be extended to women.

• The development of youth cricket for boys should also be extended to girls with the same kind of interest and energy. The annual under 19 invitational tournament that is hosted by T&T should be fully supported by the WICB and ensure all regional territories participate. 

• Women must be encouraged and supported to get involved as coaches, umpires, administrators and other officials in the game.

• Whatever programme replaces the High Performance Centre (HPC) it should incorporate women cricketers. This will ensure that the region’s top young players are exposed to highest level of training and coaching. Such a move will be keeping in line with convener of selectors, Clive Lloyd’s pledge to emphasise the development of youth cricket.

The restructuring of the regional cricket to improve the overall standard of performance is critical at this juncture. It must be across the board for both women and men. In the end cricket will hopefully be the overall winner.

The Appeal Court in a majority ruling has paved the way for the United National Congress (UNC) six election petitions — challenging the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) decision to extend the voting time by one hour in Trinidad for the September 7 general election — to go full speed ahead.

The ruling means that the UNC will now have to provide cogent and credible evidence before a High Court judge to show that it was significantly disadvantaged and the EBC decision affected the results.

The PNM assumed office with 23 seats while the UNC retained 18.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie voted against the grant of leave while his colleagues, Allan Mendonca and Peter Jamadar, ruled in favour of the UNC. Both the EBC and the People’s National Movement (PNM) had challenged the decision of High Court judge Mira Dean-Armorer to approve the election petitions.

The UNC filed the election petitions for six constituencies—La Horquetta/Talparo, Toco/Sangre Grande, Tunapuna, St Joseph, Moruga/Tableland and San Fernando West within a week of its loss in the general election. 

In its petitions, the party is claiming that the EBC acted illegally when it took the decision to extend the polls to 7 pm because of bad weather and traffic. The UNC also argued that the late notice was not properly communicated to voters.

The EBC denied any wrongdoing and is contending that it acted within its remit. 

THOMAS. GEORGE former Manager of Peake?s PPS Dept of LP 13-2 Harmony Drive, Bagatelle Road, Diego Martin departed this life on Thursday 26th November, 2015 at age 63 years. Lovingly remembered as the Son of George and Beatrice Thomas (deceased). Husband of Pinky Thomas. Father of Randell, Kareem, Levi and Leighann.

Brother of Victor, Jean, Ann, Frank, Winston, and Claire. Brother-in-law of Jean, Trevor, Marlene, Debra, Cherryann, Leon, John and Don. Uncle of 15. Great Uncle of 20. Relative of the Xavier's, La Fleur's, Dehere's, Charles, Leopold's, Thomas, Bailey's, and Durity's. Friend of Victor Byer, Aldwin Hutchinson and Clive Smith and others.

Funeral at 2:00 pm Tuesday 1st December, 2015 at Shiloh Pentecostal Tabernacle, Crown Trace Carenage thence to the Carenage Cemetery for interment. TO SEND CONDOLENCES PLEASE VISIT www.clarkandbattoo.com For enquiries; call C&B: 625-1170  

MICHAEL MARQUIS, better known as TRENCH, of Charpentier Street, Morvant Passed on Fri day 27th November, 2014 at 10.26 p.m at Medical Associates Hospital. Son of Ena Marquis (dec'd).Devoted companion of Carmen Williams. Loving Father of Chenoa. Brother of Thora, Shirley (dec d), Patsy, Ralph, Derman, Diana, Carol, Joycelyn (dec d),Maria, Alwyn, Jimmy, Susan, Joanne, Debra. Uncle of Karen, Richard, Rodney, Christine, Laura, Florence, Kathleen, Elizabeth, Carlos, Ricardo, Antonio, Patrice, Darryl, Shirnelle, Mark, Melissa, Sophia, Marcus, Casey, Natalie, Juliette, Danielito, Deena, Mary, Delman, Deryck, Deanita, Trudy Ann, Suzette, Marlon, Weldon, Ronald, SueAnn, Roberto, Warren, Fabian, Christopher, Leigh-Charles, Richard, Jason, Dion, Justin, Alwyn Lee, Andrew, Adam, Bruce, Sparkle, Christopher, Ariana, Michelle, Cindel, Josh (Dec d), George, Sean. Great Uncle of Many.

Brother-In- Law of Ellery, Marilyn, Robert, Daniel, Rupert (dec d), Nancy, Manuel (dec'd), Egbert (dec'd) , John, Maureen (dec'd), Myrtle, Theo and many others. Uncle in law of Ashley, Michelle, Patrick, Mark, Charmaine, Cheryl, Wilma, Marsha, Inka, David, Christobel, Michael, Kerwin, Keizer, Al, Rawle (dec'd), Anthony (dec d), Sean, Shelly Ann, Susan, Sheldon (dec d), Stacey, Shaheed. Godfather of Christobel Sam-La Fon.

Relative of the Gonzales and Francis families of St. Vincent, Lopez, Melmine, Tringal,Taylor, Mazelie, Durant, Begg. Friend of Gleford Reece (City), Irvine Williams (Skinpeas), Ted Boodoosingh, Mohan Jagan, Bob Bhagratty, Kerry Alexander, Sybil McShine, Sylphyde Thomas ,Liz Jones, Claudette Phipps, Miss Baby , Amelia Hypolite and many, many others. For enquiries; call C&B: 625-1170  

MONSEGUE, TREVOR died 25th November, 2015 Son of Jason Walcott & Anestine John-Monsegue (both deceased). Husband of Jennifer Monsegue. Father of Terrance, Tyron, Terron, Jovaughn and Tinesha. Grandfather of Tyla (deceased), Josiah and T.J.. Father-in-law of Niala (deceased), Vanessa, Khadija, Cassi, Ornella and Matthew. Brother of Irma, Clever, Clyde and Lita.

Funeral at 2:00 pm Tuesday 1st December, 2015 at St. Peter's Spiritual Baptist Healing School, Upper Cameron Road, Petit Valley, thence to the Diego Martin R.C. Cemetery. TO SEND CONDOLENCES PLEASE VISIT www.clarkandbattoo.com For enquiries; call C&B: 625-1170  

LASTIQUE, PHYLLIS Frances died on 27th November, 2015. She was the widow of Joseph Lastique. Mother of Maureen Teixeira, Paula Ramoutar and Susan Marsan, Ian, Brian, Wayne, Randy and Joseph Lastique. Sister of Cynthia Swanson. Grandmother of 24. Great Grandmother of 10. Mother-in-law of Joseph, Arthur, Deborah, Elaine, Vidyah and Vishnu. Friend of Aileen, Janet, Joan and Melba. Godmother of Ricardo Gomes.

Funeral service at 9:00 a.m. on Friday 4th December, 2015 at Church of the Nativity, Crystal Stream, Diego Martin, thence to the Lapeyrouse Cemetery. For enquiries; call C&B: 625-1170. To Send Condolences please visit www.clarkandbattoo.com