JOHN, O'BRIEN SIMON RAPHAEL Deceased- Born 24.10. 1957. Died. 26. 04. 2017.3.55am. Husband of Shira O'Brien Father of Fiona, Kelliand Blair Brother of Marietta, Carol, Theodora, Grace, Michael, Theresa, Patricia and Martin Son of the late Delicia and Ronald Son-in-law of Shywah and the late Bakar Brother-in-law of Meena, Margaret, Pamela, Faizul, Shaffina and Kong

Funeral at St Patrick's RC. Church, Newtown, POS at 9am on Saturday 29th April, 2017. TO SEND CONDOLENCES PLEASE VISITwww.clarkandbattoo.com For enquiries; callC&B: 625-1170

LOPEZ: SELWYN of Panka Street, St. James passed away on 25th April, 2017. Son of the late Vernon and Beatrice Lopez. Husband of Rita. Father of Jason, Karen and Khristian. Father-in-lawof Shelley. Grandfather of Enrique, Lucia and Isabel. Brother of Sylvia, Eileen (dec),Yvonne (dec), Vera (dec), Barbara, Winston (dec), Selma,Lenon, Marcelle, Mercedes and Holly Betaudier (dec). Brother-in-law of Monica, Valand Sam. Uncle of many. Relative of the Chin Aleong, Hislop, Chun, Camacho, Dookharan and Ragoo families. No flowers by request.

Funeral at 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday 2nd May, 2017 at Churchof the Assumption, Maraval followed by cremation at theCrematorium, Long CircularRoad, St. James for 12.30p.m. For enquiries, call C&B 625-1170 or visit clarkandbattoo.com

LOREGNARD ROBERT SEBASTIEN (Patsy) died onApril 25th 2017 Husband of Candace. Father of Rory, Sean (deceased), Abigail, Kwynn, and Kieron Brother of Jeff (deceased), Clyde (deceased), Jeanne, Ronald, Michael, Francis and Anthony Grandfather of Aimee, Adrienne, Erin and Zayakisa

Funeral takes place on Friday 28th April 2017 at 9.30am at the Assumption Church, Mar-aval thence to the MucurapoCemetery, St James

TELFER: Mervyn Everest died on Wednesday 26th April 2017. Son of Everest and Ivy Telfer. (both dec). Common-law husband of Farida Pollard. Brother of Irwin, Henri, Junior, Monica and Eileen (alldec). Former husband of Janice Telfer. Beloved father of Derek, Paul, Gisele, Martin, Stephen, Sean, Joel, Monique, Jacqueline, Jason, Jeremy, Justin and Luke.

Father-in-law of Marlene, Mary, Mark, Elizabeth, Monique, Joyce, Sonia, Gerry and Natalie. Grandfather of 34, great-grandfather of 11. Uncle of many. Relative of the Hoyte, Prudhomme, Cameron and Nurse families and many others. Close friend of Andrew Marcano "Lord Superior", Curtis Pierre, Diane Dupreand many others.

Funeral service for the late Mervyn Telferwill be announced at a laterdate

MOHAMMED: EVRIL of #1 Alice Street, La Romain passed away on April 25th, 2017 atthe age of 56. Daughter of Carmen Mohammed and the late Felix Faizool Mohammed Sister of Fidel, Wendell andEstella. Sister-in-law of Saran Kissoondan and Salisha Mohammed Aunt of Nicola, Sastee, Vedan, Keshav, Aleahand Josiah.

The funeral Service of the late EVRIL MOHAMMED will take place on Saturday 29th April, 2017 at3:00 p.m. at J. E. Guide Funeral Home & Crematorium Ltd.,#120 Coffee Street, San Fernando followed by Cremationat 5 p.m. Donations will betaken up for Vitas House Hospice, St. James. Enquires can be made to J. E. Guide

Funeral Home & Crematorium Ltd.,#120 Coffee Street, San Fernando (652-4261 or 657-5465).

As it stands, it’s proposed that relevant assessment officers will visit citizens’ residences and private businesses to verify the information they submitted on their forms in order to calculate the annual rental value of their property.

This may require a complete walk-through of your property.

While many may not have an issue with such official persons coming onto their premises, they fear that criminals, white-collar ones, imposters, con artists etc, may pose as such official personnel to gain illegitimate access to their premises.

As such, they’ll be able to see the layout of their house, the items therein, access ways, where valuables may be stored etc.

For businesses,they may be able to see where safes and certain stock items like jewelry, legitimate arms and ammunition, financial documents etc, are stored.

Are financial institutions and other corporations okay with this development?

There’s fear expressed that many homes have single persons more so, single mothers and women. How safe will they be when total strangers enter? Will this now increase their probability of being victims of crimes such as robbery and sexual assault etc? What about homes with elderly persons living alone?

People also fear that the information gathered from illegal assessors may be given or sold to others as well as used by them for future criminal activities.

Further, official assessors may be even blackmailed or threatened into giving such information to criminals. Such valuable information may also be stolen.

We also have the fact that residents and business owners are being asked to submit their building plans and a range of other personal building documents by depositing them into boxes in government buildings. Were these not all submitted in the first place to get approval? How safe is this new deposit system? How easy is it for such documents to be stolen, illegal photocopied, photographed etc, during and after working hours? Are these being stored in tamper-proof ways? What guarantees are there for citizens and businesses?

We must recognise that there’ll be ill-thinking persons who’ll be looking for ways to capitalise on this latest project. They’re right now plotting how to use this legitimate financial system to commit crimes.

In order to gain public confidence in this data collection system, citizens must be assured that their information and safety are well-taken care of.

Having only a badge identifying such persons is not good enough. We all know how easy it is to make false ID cards. Such crooks have been counterfeiting money, license number plates, cheques, official documents, deeds etc, for so long now that it’s difficult at times to distinguish between fake and legitimate ones. Letters of authorisation can be faked as well. What else will be provided to the public?

From the citizens’ perspective, the following are some ways in which they can take some basic precautions:

• Take a photograph of all persons claiming to be assessors before they enter their premises. Share these pictures immediately with family and friends. (This will obviously be a limitation to persons without such a device, but get a friend or relative to be with you)

• Those with home or business security systems will have a recording of this visit so ensure that it’s functioning well.

The following are some of the things that the government can do:

• Institute severe penalties for breaches by official assessors and imposters. These should be made public.

• Assessors should have at least two forms of identification: an approved, uniquely designed Assessor ID card with a photo and the national ID card.

• Assessors should also present an authorised letter on a uniquely designed letterhead and an appropriate watermark.

• All visits must be by appointment only and on an agreed date and time by both parties so that persons can have friends or relatives with them.

• If visits are done by geographical regions at a time, then appropriate law enforcement officials should conduct patrols in such areas.

Have a 24-hour hotline where residents can call to verify if Assessor X, who’s in front of his house, is the legitimate assessor assigned to that house or business on this date and time. This schedule must be known by the hotline personnel in advance. Assessor X must be able to give the house or business owner a secret code that can only be revealed when the visit is about to take place. If Imposter Assessor Y knows this code then it must be an inside con job.

Key to this data verification project is to assure the public that the information provided to the assessor and government remain safe and don’t get into the wrong hands as there’s an increased likelihood that potential criminals will be searching to maximise on this new opportunity to commit a crime.

n The CISPS is a registered institution with the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT). Tel: 223-6999, 299-8635, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com

Are you personally responsible for climate change?

The brutish and short answer is “yes.”

The question that follows, and is asked by David Hughes in his book, Energy Without Conscience, is: “Why don’t you care enough to reduce your contribution to CO2 emissions through your role as a waged or profiteering cog in the oil and gas industry or through your ceaseless and carefree consumption of its products?”After all, devastation is about to wreck the planet and future generations of all species, and barely anyone from Westmoorings to Moruga seems bothered.

The latter question is more of a mouthful and Hughes tries to answer it in the book. He suggests that from the expendable bodies of plantation labour to the later turn to fossil fuels, use of energy developed without a conscience or accountability in Trinidad. This created a society comfortable with its own complicity and lack of conscience today.

Hughes points to other sources of culpability. He highlights the kinds of maps and graphs petro-geologists use to think about oil resources and reserves, to deny possibility of peak oil (for unknown oil resources are simply not yet known or technologically accessible), and to argue that carbon sequestration is a solution rather than ultimately reducing both production and consumption.

In his view, petro-geology, governance and economics have melded into an overlapping impetus for business as usual, even while venturing into renewable resources like sun, wind and wave energy, in order to keep the global energy industry and its influence going.

For him, carbon sequestration is a mystification of the problem because too much carbon, which at this point is any at all, will continue to spew to the skies, its effects spilling everywhere, while more is generated from fossil fuels being taken from the earth in a genocidal and circular flow of effect back to our lives.

Interestingly, as small tropical islanders (including Tobago) subject to rising sea levels, intensified hurricanes, hotter temperatures and drought, we (in Trinidad) seem either clueless or in denial about the production of our own republic’s demise.

Depicting Trinidadians as irresponsible and backward, Hughes’ main concern is to point a judging finger.

He does so even at environmental activists whom he stereotypes as narrowly concerned with an obsolete, place-based pollution politics, rather than with planetary air conservation. Weirdly, for an anthropologist, he missed an opportunity to truly document concerns about climate change and fossil fuel dependence across the country. He didn’t have a clue, for example, that Hazel Brown sought to apply for a license to run the first solar-powered radio station decades ago.

We lament our climate change victimhood as a Small Island Developing State, but are actually a proud perpetrator, he accuses.

Rightly so. The fact that, by global standards, Trinidad produces a minuscule impact on climate change is irrelevant at this time for every molecule now counts. What matters is that per capita, each individual in this nation produces among the highest amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. We run cars and air-conditioners like gas is cheap. We use and dispose of plastics and agricultural fertilisers like excessive petrochemical use is our divine right.

It’s like God isn’t just a Trini. He’s a Trini petro-capitalist seer-man, all knowing and above morality. We all model ourselves in this image, to differing degrees depending on our levels of wealth or poverty and our will to get “off the grid,” recycle and lower our carbon footprint, or our inability to even think ourselves out of this pre-apocalyptic matrix. Plus, if we didn’t get the fossil fuels out of the ground, someone else will.

Surrounded by ecologically unaccountable Goliaths such as the huge multi-national oil companies, and the US as an increasing energy exporter (and suppressor of social movements which pursue alternatives), it’s a source of pride when we roll with the big boys like we are little gods too.

Public planning for sustainability (like bicycle paths or heat-reducing building construction) be damned. Thus, instead of treating them as sacred and to be used sparingly, we are enchanted with petrochemicals in the most immoral of ways: wastefully.

It’s time to act with carbon conscience. It’s not too late to care enough to take responsibility.

For him, carbon sequestration is a mystification of the problem because too much carbon, which at this point is any at all, will continue to spew to the skies, its effects spilling everywhere, while more is generated from fossil fuels being taken from the earth in a genocidal and circular flow of effect back to our lives.

It would seem, however, that Ayers-Caesar has accepted the role of scapegoat in the fiasco, after the public realised the issue of her unfinished cases was substantial enough to warrant major concern over the future stability of the court system.

This is because what in effect has occurred is a mere slap on the wrist from Chief Justice Ivor Archie who, in accepting her resignation as a judge yesterday, also agreed to send her back down to the magistracy in her former position to complete the workload she left behind in the first place.

But the explanation for the situation from Mr Archie and Mrs Ayers-Caesar may warrant even further scrutiny, since it reflects a slipshod approach to a most important function undertaken by both Archie and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) which must never be allowed to reoccur.

Ayers-Caesar readily admitted yesterday that she never informed the JLSC “of the full state of my list” and made the relevant request for “further time to bring matters to completion before confirming my readiness to assume duties as a Judge of the Supreme Court.”

Mrs Ayers-Caesar added that after careful deliberation, prayer and consultation with her family, she sought an audience with Archie, then delivered her letter of resignation to President Anthony Carmona and expressed regret at the effect her actions had caused.

For his part, Archie sent out his own release apparently scolding Ayers-Caesar for failing to notify either himself or the JLSC of the full extent of her lower court obligations before Carmona fixed the date for the swearing in.

Pointing out that she was selected for elevation following a robust process by the JLSC, Archie noted too that she “departed from established practice whereby successful candidates ensured they have fulfilled all outstanding professional obligations before advising the Commission of their availability for appointment to the High Court.”

What is strange, however, is the fact that this allegedly robust process by the JLSC and CJ did not entail a question on the exact scenario now confirmed by Ayers-Caesar herself. We have had the fairly recent case of a former judge, Justice Sebastian Ventour, who had to resign from his position as deputy chairman of the Integrity Commission in 2014 and return to the High Court system for a day to deal with three outstanding matters he had left behind. How then could either party (CJ or JLSC) still conduct a process in which they do not ask this of the candidates?

While we accept that Mrs Ayers-Caesar has urgent work to attend to in the lower courts, does not Mr Archie think she may now be open to ridicule over the current situation when she returns to her court? Why put her through this immediately then - as opposed to giving her a break before a return to duty?

Ironically, for all this we may have to thank the prisoners who caused a furore at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, since it is their action which brought the haste needed to deal with the matter.

In the wake of this fiasco, the hope now is that the CJ will sit with his most senior colleagues and revisit the process of the selection of judges with a view to making it more transparent, as has been suggested by the Law Association. A more rigorous process in which the obvious questions were asked would have averted the current embarrassment to the entire judiciary.

The rural village of Mammoral in Central Trinidad was shaken up this morning following the brutal murder of a six-year-old girl and her father.

Investigating officers are at this time still on the crime scene.

T&T Guardian was told that at about 4.30 am the bodies of Solomon Joseph, 36, and his daughter, Salisha Faith were discovered in their one room wooden shack where they both lived.

Police said they were stabbed to death.

T&T Guardian will update as soon as more information comes in.

The lone protester in a yellow jersey who’d stood outside the Twin Tower’s Finance Building on Wednesday hoisting an “Axe the Tax” placard wasn’t seen outside the Parliament for long yesterday.

As hot as public and political debate on that tax may be now, the weather is likely hotter—hence limited demonstrations. For now.

Yesterday in Parliament, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, carrying responsibility for the tax exercise—and its possible repercussions on the PNM’s political future—on his slight frame, didn’t look as “vexed with himself” (as he’d claimed he is on the tax issue) as he deflected Opposition queries on the cost of the tax education campaign.

“...I’m certain the returns will be at least 100 times the cost—money well spent,” Imbert beamed.

Praise didn’t halt there.

Minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, defending Government’s economic management, declared, “We thank God for a Finance Minister and Prime Minister who have vision and experience.”

Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal, however, wasn’t thanking anybody.

“This Government keeps saying they have no dollars—but is really, they have no sense....” Moonilal countered.

“It takes one of their vessels more time to reach Scarborough with a truck than it takes a plane to reach London, people crying blood about this ‘poverty tax and Government only have a ‘Pursur’ (Hindi for ‘malicious whispering’) campaign about the UNC—talking about who have property abroad.”

With sensitivity on the tax issue—inflamed by the recent blitz of Opposition meetings about it—Imbert will likely hope his tax education drive gets airborne quicker than Moonilal’s “Poverty Tax” tag takes off, “pursur”-style.

The spectre of the tax afforded the Opposition timely opportunity to mobilise against Government with its blitz, the brainchild of Opposition MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie. He’d recently asked Government if this was the right time to burden the public with another tax. Tewarie felt Government had miscalculated, was being insensitive and the population would rebel against it.

UNC officials confirmed Tewarie subsequently suggested the Opposition use the opportunity to inform the public on the matter, elicit feedback and mobilise party base. The initiative which raised the Opposition’s profile, placed responsibility on UNC MPs to handle the groundwork.

(UNC officials confirmed there were issues among some officials when former PP Trade Minister Vasant Bharath was chosen by UNC MP Christine Newallo Hosein to address her meeting. This, since Bharath has been faulting Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s tenure, declaring intent last week to seek leadership in 2018. Hosein was conspicuously absent from Parliament yesterday.)

Mitigating against UNC’s effort though, was that its “experts” on the tax matter were largely in-house officials—senators and the PP-appointed former Central Bank governor—rather than independent.

However much the exercise served UNC’s purpose—politically and for the public—and the extent to which the party connected with the T&T nerve on the tax issue may be gauged by the depth of Government’s swift response of “fear/scare mongering” accusations and a damage control plan.

The Opposition’s blitz confirmed Government was late out of the box on its educational thrust concerning the tax. Indeed, the depth of damage to Government might be seen in Imbert’s comment on Thursday—that he’d instructed public servants to “get out there” and clarify issues—and yesterday’s immediate TV appearances by Valuation officials.

Imbert hasn’t commented on Moody’s rating agency’s projection that the tax would only yield modest gains and would be fully reflected next year. Pace of progress on the issue already indicated property tax returns wouldn’t be in the bag this year. Imbert also said Thursday the process was a long way off even from the inspection aspect of properties.

It therefore remains to unfold how—and in what form—the Opposition will maintain momentum on the public’s behalf regarding the tax.

If Government was slow with uptake on the education thrust on the “ground,” Imbert was quick to deal with Government’s image problem overhead, created by downgrade of T&T’s credit rating by Standards and Poors as well as Moody’s.

The downgrades while a timely marker of what Government needs to pull up, can hardly help its stocks. But seeking to downplay the situation—by saying T&T was in negative outlook since the PP’s 2014 term—wouldn’t have been effective due to Imbert’s admission that Government will now seek assessment from a third agency.

By now Imbert will know his mid-year review within the next two weeks will be expected to report how Government will rectify concerns identified by agencies, as well as streamline property tax programmes well enough to obtain the required returns from all sectors—fairly, without constricting business further.

And quickly enough.

As Moonilal may tell him, T&T’s “pursur” culture leaves little room for laxity.

“Daddy, it is okay to not be smart?” my daughter Jinaki asked me this week. We were on the bed, me reading and she watching a doll video on You Tube.

Caught off-guard, I answered, “Not really,” hence breaking my rule about giving a considered response to these kinds of questions. Which revealed my bias on the issue. So I tried to do damage control.

“Because it’s fun to use your brain, so if you don’t use it, you won’t be smart and you won’t have fun,” I said.

Luckily, Jinaki is almost four years old and so doesn’t always know when her Daddy is making lame arguments. My objective, though, was to avoid her thinking that people are inherently smart or not smart, since research shows that such a belief prevents children from working hard to master skills and makes them avoid innovative thinking for fear of making a mistake.

Of course, I realise that, by encouraging my children to think, I am reducing their chances of doing well in the Secondary Assessment Examination (SEA), if that’s still around in seven years. But I think it’s more important for children to develop their intelligence than pass exams at 11 years of age, or even at 16 years, because if they are thinkers they will probably have more satisfied adult lives.

Indeed, when my wife and me were looking for a pre-school for Jinaki, one of our key questions was whether the kindergarten pushed reading and writing, because research shows that introducing academics too early to children can have deleterious effects later on. Yet, even if the pre-school doesn’t, parents often push their child to learn letters and numbers, out of fear that they will not do well in the education system and suffer in adult life for it.

Yet whatever I do may make very little difference to my children’s academic success or failure. “A counter-intuitive and rather unpalatable finding to assiduous parents: that family upbringing has very little effect on intelligence,” writes cognitive psychologist Ian J Deary in Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction. On the other hand, looking at IQ scores of different ethnic groups, political scientist James R. Flynn, in his book Are We Getting Smarter? notes that “It was not higher IQ scores but sociology of the family that explains the remarkable academic achievements of Chinese-Americans.”

It turned out that, in the video Jinaki was watching with two girls playing with their Elsa and Anya dolls, one was playing the teacher and boofing the Anya doll for not being smart. So our conversation turned to that teacher not being a good teacher, because I told Jinaki that if a student wasn’t smart the teacher needed to help her more, not get angry with her. But, again, in our society I am probably doing my child no favours by inculcating in her the idea that teachers can be wrong.

All this may lead to Jinaki growing up to be a critical thinker and, despite all the rhetoric about teaching this, ours is not a society which rewards such thinkers. We sideline people who challenge our status quo, have unusual ideas, and who offer solutions based on evidence rather than ideology. Which is also the recipe for raising an unintelligent child, whether or not she does well in the SEA.

The Minister of finance is reported as being vexed about Property Tax, nevertheless less he went on to say in local terms “we need the money.” He made mention of the country financial’s situation, justifying that it had to be done.

Well, let us face it, we are still in the hole and there is no guarantee that Property Tax is the answer. It is clear that there is the feeling Govt thinks the way out of this hole is by taxing the citizens of this country. I guess you really have to be blind not to see what is taking place, or very naive.

I am a Trini to the bone; I love my place of birth, but what is happening cannot be right. The people are being burdened excessively and our leaders need to take note of this. Now this is not about the Property Tax issue but I am talking in general. Our leaders have not indicated or implemented any serious revenue-raising ventures. All indications, to me, are pointing in the direction of the citizens.

The mid-year review is due soon, I wonder what will be on the table. Will it be another form of taxation or more increases at the pump? We will have to wait to see. While we all have to share the burden I cannot agree with pressurising citizens to the extent that they become fed up. Our leaders need to become more creative in raising revenue and not just look towards taxing the population.

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH,

San Juan

The economic downgrade for T&T last week is just another sign that we need to start looking internally for revenue generation. Since the campaign of 2015, the PNM government has championed the implementation of Property Tax. This tax is nothing new to T&T having replaced the old Land and Building taxes that were implemented as far back as the Crown Colony days when we had one third of the number of properties and lands developed like we do now. It is important to note that property taxes are intended to form a major part of Local Government reform which is one of the pillars of the PNM government’s strategic roadmap towards Vision 2030.

As a sitting PNM Councillor, I can attest to a number of challenges we are faced with including implementation of key development programmes in the corporations. However, the greatest cry of all is the lack of money to do projects.

Taxes are not always the solution but it is a necessary evil in this case. Opposition voices would not tell us that they never took property tax off the law books after it was passed back in 2009. They understand that is it needed hence the UNC implemented portions of the law in 2013 on industrial properties with a further roll out that was due to come back in 2015. Property tax is the law!

As a decent and law abiding government, the PNM has done no harm to citizens and burgesses by implementing this law. Billions of dollars have been lost in these taxes between 2010 to present because the former UNC government was politicking over the issue while bleeding the country of generations of sustainable income in state agencies like NGC.

At the corporation level, this much-needed tax would assist in creating better service delivery—better garbage disposal, maintenance of community parks and grounds, maintaining roads and bridges and even the ability to provide some social interventions.

Property tax should not be used to score cheap political points as there are corporations that are governed by the UNC that stand to benefit. What would those corporation chairmen and mayors do then they receive these releases from Central Government? Would they send it back based on party lines? To those who are leading this misguided choir of anti-Property Tax must remember that this tax has always been there for us here in T&T and other developed countries.

ARIMA BOROUGH CORPORATION,

COUNCILLOR BRENNON PATTERSON

Xea Bruce and Patrice Roberts copped three gold medals to emerge two of the leading performers at the Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships which started on Thursday and concluded yesterday at the famous Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.

Bruce of Toco Secondary closed off her outstanding performance with a win in the Girls U-16 800m, clocking two minutes at 28.56 seconds to beat her schoolmate Cassandra Joseph into second in 2:32.64 and Claudine Antoine of Miracle Ministries into third in 2:37.14.

This was added to her two victories on Thursday when she raced to victory in the U-14 400m in 57.69 after dominating the U-14 long jump that morning, winning with a best leap of 4.58m.

Bruce picked up full 10 points in each event for the win, helping Toco Secondary muster an unassailable 492.50 points after 96 events and will more than likely emerge the top school in this year’s competition as Sangre Grande Secondary was second at that point with 144.50 and Signal Hill was third with 115. There were 104 events in total.

Roberts of Holy Faith Convent, Couva, romped to victory in the Girls Under-16 400 metres hurdles in a time of one minute and 03.59 seconds yesterday to comfortably beat Toco Secondary duo Cheziah Phillip (1:06.36) and Jada James (1:10.61) to the line. This followed up her win in the 100m hurdles (15.45) and 400m (58.90).

Bruce of Toco Secondary closed off her outstanding performance with a win in the Girls U-16 800m, clocking two minutes at 28.56 seconds to beat her schoolmate Cassandra Joseph into second in 2:32.64 and Claudine Antoine of Miracle Ministries into third in 2:37.14.

This was added to her two victories on Thursday when she raced to victory in the U-14 400m in 57.69 after dominating the U-14 long jump that morning, winning with a best leap of 4.58m.

Tyrell Edwards, Timothy Frederick, Ayele Joseph and Caliyah Wallace completed the sprint double while Otis Barker and Donicia Antoine nabbed two gold each at the longer races.

Yesterday, Edwards of Toco Secondary crossed in 21.39 seconds to grab gold in the Boys Over-18 final ahead of Holy Cross College’s Daniel Hernandez (21.86) and Lee Sean Arthur of San Fernando East (22.46). The day before he clocked 10.70 to win the 100m dash.

Similarly on those respective days, Frederick of Vessigny Secondary, raced to gold in the 100m in 10.79, won the boys Under-18 200m in 21.44, beating Darren Moore of Gasparillo (22.25) and Don Roberts (Trinity East) in 22.34.

In the boys U-16 bracket, Joseph of Presentation College, San Fernando finished in a time of 22.52 in 200m. He defeated Queen’s Royal College’s (QRC) Shakeem McKay (22.68) and Jordan Pope of Woodbrook Secondary (23.62).

Wallace, the lone girl to achieve the feat, won the 200m in a brisk 25.49 for St Francois, crossing ahead of Marabella North’s Gabriella Walters in second in 25.72 and in third was Nicola Pesnell of Providence in 25.99.

Toco Secondary also have to thank both Barker and Antoine for her amazing performances in winning both their respective Boys and Girls Open 3,000m on the final day in 17:25.44 and 11.54.54 and the 1,500m in 4:23.09 and 5:18.14, respectively on the opening day.

Also three-time CARIFTA gold medallist Tyriq Horsford of Signal Hill continued his brilliance in the javelin event, taking the top of the podium after tossing the spear 65.76m. Second was Kareem Peters and third was Selvon Rochford.

Selected results

Boys U-18 400m Hurdles: 1 Anson Mason (Bishops High) 56.29; 2 Amare Joseph (Couva West) 1:00.85; 3 Akindaele Reyes (Holy Cross) 1:02.20

Boys O-18 400m Hurdles: 1 Troy Richards (Toco) 56.77; 2 Franklyn Stanislaus (Bishops High) 57.63; 3 Kedane O’Connor (Bishops) 1:04.66

200m

Boys U-14: 1 Joshua Bux (Bon Air Sec) 25.67; 2 Keavon McKenna (Mason Hall) 26.54; 3 Diego Ramkissoon (Pleasantville Sec) 27.38

Girls U-14: 1 Atiya Croal (Asja Girls Tunapuna) 26.43; 2 Octavia Cambridge(Bishops Anstey High) 27.74; 3 Zaria Baxam (Marabella North Sec) 27.83

Girls U-18: 1 Afiya Wyllie (Bishops Anstey) 25.18; 2 Caitlin Ragoonanan (North Eastern) 25.45; 3 Taelonne Walker (Pleasantville) 26.07

800m

Boys U-16: 1 John-Mark Walters (Bishops High School) 2:13.98; 2 Keshaun John (Trinity-Moka) 2:15.49; 3 Jerome Barclay (Arima North) 2:16.74

Girls U-18: 1 Camille Lewis (Sangre Grande Sec) 2:27.46; 2 Dianne Hamilton (Moruga) 2:30.86; 3 Jahmalia Edwards (Scarborough) 2:36.39

Boys U-18: 1 Genesis Joseph (Belmont Boys) 2:03.34; 2 Aarin Simon (Bon Air) 2:04.73; 3 Matthew Pulchan (P/Fortin West) 2:05.07

Boys U-16 Shot Put: 1 Gyasi Boisson (Fatima) 14.47; 2 Nicholas Abraham (Scarborough) 14.27; 3 Justin Myrie (Bishops High) 11.69

Boys U-16 Long jump: 1 Savion Joseph (Mason Hall) 6.32m; 2 Tyrelle Taylor(Roxborough) 5.86; 3 Kervon Baptiste (Five Rivers) 5.22

Girls U-16 long jump: 1 Kekola Bhola (Cedros) 5.19; 2 Breana Vincent (Pentecostal) 4.93; 3 Celine Isaac (Matelot) 4.77.

Girls U-14 high jump: 1 Trishelle James (Bishops) 1.40; 2 Ariel DeFreitas (Bishops) 1.35; 3 Tyler Shears (Toco) 1.30

Boys U-14 high jump: 1 Aaron Antoine (Waterloo) 1.66; 2 Omari Gordon (Mason Hall) 1.50; 3 Tyrique Dennis (Bishops) 1.45

T&T sprinter Zakiya Denoon yesterday clocked 11.57 seconds to qualify for the College Women’s 100 metres final at the 123rd Penn Relays Carnival, the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Denoon of Monroe College crossed second in the second of three heats to advance with the sixth fastest time to be one of the nine finalists. According to the rules, the first two from each heat plus the next three fastest times qualify for Championship Invitational, which will run off today at 3.35 pm.

Denoon was also a member of the Monroe team that placed sixth in the 4x100m relay in 46.28.

Coppin State’s Haysean Cowie-Clarke of T&T and his relay team was 16th in 41.08 to advance to the College final carded for today at 1.37 pm as his unit finished as one the next nine fastest teams. The nine quickest teams qualify for the Championship invitational final.

University of T&T (UTT) quartet of Lincoln London, Tauren George, Christopher Richards and Hakeem Gomez also competed in the event and placed 44th in 42.60.

Cowie-Clarke will face the starter in the Men’s 4x200m Championship relay final at 2.45pm after his team placed eighth in the heats in a time of 1:25.74.

Christopher Richards, Tayren George, Lincoln London and Kirrdell McIntosh of the UTT team finished 18th in 1:26.63 to qualify for the College final, which will run off at 2.45 pm.

In the Small Schools category, Queen’s Royal College quartet of Shakeel John, Clement Campbell and Arista Small placed 13th in the 4x100m relay in 42.12 while Fatima’s team of Ronaldo Moore, Judah Taylor, Justen O’Brien and Kion Benjamin clocked 42.46 to place 19th among the 311 teams that competed.

QRC moves on to compete in an additional race today at 1.53 pm as one of the next eight fastest teams. Similarly as the other races the top eight teams will go for gold in the Championship final.

Today, both schools will have teams competing in the category’s 4x400m relays.

This result and the same for defending champions Trinidad & Tobago over hosts Windward Islands —inspired by Windies Women’s all-rounder Stacy-Ann King—set up a mouth-watering Grand Final featuring the two teams from regional sport’s fiercest rivalry on Sunday at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.

At Sion Hill: The 19-year-old Matthews grabbed 6-16 from 7.2 overs with her flighty off-spin and the fragile Leewards batting collapsed for 65 in 27.2 overs, after they were put in to bat in the fifth round match.

Windies Women’s fast bowler Shamilia Connell took 2-12 from eight overs to help with the demolition, as Saneldo Willett, the daughter of former West Indies off-spinner Elquemedo Willett, whose sons Tonito and Akito also played regionally for the Leewards on the men’s side, was the only player to make it to double figures, leading the way with 13.

Matthews then struck six fours and one six in the top score of 43 from 31 balls to anchor the Barbadians to victory with 237 balls remaining before the scheduled lunch interval and finish the preliminary competition with 24 points.

At the Arnos Vale Sports Complex: King featured in an unbroken 98-run, third-wicket stand with opener Felicia Walters that pushed T&T past the Windwards.

King hit five fours in 58 from 109 balls and Walters was not out on 40, as T&T successfully chased 122 for victory with 85 balls remaining to claim a bonus point.

T&T were 25 for two in seventh over, after losing opener Reniece Boyce for nine and Windies Women’s batsman Britney Cooper for a six-ball duck – but King came to the crease and with the obdurate Walters guided her side over the finish line with little fuss.

Earlier, Lee-Ann Kirby was the pick of the T&T bowlers with 3-17 from 10 overs, as the Windwards were bowled out for 121 in 47.2 overs.

Spinners Karishma Ramharack and Kamara Ragoobar snapped up two wickets apiece to break the back of the Windwards’ batting which was led by veteran Juliana Nero’s 25 and 20 from Roylin Cooper.

T&T skipper Merissa Aguilleira said after the victory, “This is the performance we have been looking for and it is a build up to big things because we know the importance of the final and I truly believe it’s going to be a big final.” She added that she expects the finals to attract a lot of interest, “Something that the Caribbean people will definitely be interested in looking at, because we have a lot of West Indies players on both sides, and not just West Indies players but some who have the ability to become West Indies players.”

At Park Hill: Jamaica captain Stafanie Taylor saved her best for last, hitting a fluent 89 to lead her side to their first victory of the tournament by 112 runs over Guyana.

The incumbent Windies Women’s captain gathered seven fours and one six from 117 balls innings, as the Jamaicans were dismissed for 188— the highest total of the tournament —from their allocation of 50 overs.

The innings was built around a 106-run, seventh-wicket stand between Taylor and Tameka Sanford that rescued Jamaica from 66 for six in the 24th over. Once Sanford was bowled by international Subrina Munroe for 31 in the 48th over, the rest of the batting, including Taylor, succumbed for 16 in the same number of balls.

Windies Women’s medium-fast bowler Chedean Nation then grabbed 3-20 from 8.3 overs and Chinelle Henry took 2-17 from seven overs, as the Guyanese were bowled out for 76 in 30.3 overs.

The run outs of openers June Ogle and Melanie Henry, as well as captain and Windies Women’s fast-medium bowler Tremayne Smartt did not help the Guyana chase – and the Jamaicans claimed a bonus point victory in a strong finish to the tournament.

(CMC)

STANDINGS & scores

(After the fifth round of matches)

1 Barbados 24 points

2. Trinidad & Tobago 19

3. Windward Islands 15

4. Jamaica 7

5. Guyana 5

6. Leeward Islands 2

Final Preliminary Round Scores

At Sion Hill: Barbados won by eight wickets.

LEEWARD ISLANDS 65 all out off 27.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 6-16, Shamilia Connell 2-12)

BARBADOS 71 for two off 10.3 overs (Hayley Matthews 43 not out)

At Arnos Vale Stadium: T&T won by eight wickets.

WINDWARD ISLANDS 121 all out off 47.2 overs (Juliana Nero 25, Roylin Cooper 20; Lee Ann Kirby 3-17, Karishma Ramharack 2-17)

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 123 for two off 35.5 overs (Stacy Ann King 58 not out, Felicia Walters 40 not out)

At Park Hill: Jamaica won by 112 runs.

JAMAICA 188 all out off 50 overs (Stafanie Taylor 89, Tameka Sanford 31; Subrina Munroe 6-24, Tremayne Smartt 2-27)

GUYANA 76 all out off 30.3 overs (Chedean Nation 3-20, Chinelle Henry 2-17)

T&T’s senior national footballers will go after a much needed practice match when they take on the Grenadian national team in an international friendly encounter at the Kirani James National Stadium in St George’s from 7.30pm this evening.

Though the match is being used to officially open the country’s top flight domestic football league, T&T coach Dennis Lawrence will be hoping to sharpen up ahead of his team’s clash, first with the United States in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier on June 8 and then later on June 13 when they face Costa Rica, both matches will be played away from home.

Lawrence men’s are languishing at the bottom of the six-team Concacaf standing with just three points from four matches and in dire need of points if they are to have a chance of qualifying for Russia 2018.

The odds seem to be stacked against them with history showing the Soca Warriors have never won to their opponents away from home in the qualifiers. Lawrence who took over the coaching duties from Belgian Tom Saintfiet called on the players to believe in themselves after their last two matches against Panama and Mexico. His team will consist largely of locally-based players, with only defender Yohance Marshall of Ascenso MX club Murciélagos FC in Mexico and his teammates Jomal Williams and Shahdon Winchester, as well as Jerrel Britto of Honduran club Progreso being the only overseas players.

In spite of this however Lawrence is expecting to come away winners.
 

Squad

Marvin Phillip (Point Fortin Civic Centre), Glenroy Samuel (Ma Pau Stars),

Jan Michael Williams (Ma Pau Stars),

Curtis Gonzales (Defence Force), Triston Hodge (W Connection), Alvin Jones (W Connection), Seon Power (Central FC), Yohance Marshall (Murcielagos FC), Carlos Edwards (Ma Pau Stars), Nathan Lewis (San Juan Jabloteh), Jared London (Club Sando), Leston Paul (Ma Pau Stars),

Hughtun Hector (W Connection), Hashim Arcia (Defence Force), Keron Cummings (Central FC), Akeem Roach (Club Sando), Jomal Williams (Murcielagos FC), Shahdon Winchester (Murcielagos FC), Jerrel Britto (Honduras Progreso), Jamille Boatswain (Defence Force).

The Caribbean side under-performed with the bat to plunge to a seven-wicket defeat, 20 minutes after lunch on last Monday’s final day at Sabina Park.

West Indies entered the contest with a greenhorn batting line-up which included Vishal Singh and Shimron Hetmyer on debut but selectors have opted against changes and will enter the critical game at Kensington Oval with the same squad.

Vishal and Hetmyer failed in both innings along with Shai Hope and usually dependable opener Kraigg Brathwaite but rookies Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich both managed half-centuries.

Another defeat for West Indies in the upcoming match will hand Pakistan their first-ever Test series win in the Caribbean.

West Indies arrived here late Wednesday and trained on Thursday and Friday, as head coach Stuart Law brushed up on final preparations for the game.

The hosts won their last Test at the venue two years ago when they defeated England by five wickets inside three days. (CMC)

SQUAD

Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Vishal Singh, Shane Dowrich, Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Shannon Gabriel, Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph, Miguel Cummins.

T&T Red Force Divas’ captain, Merissa Aguilleira, is confident that her team can overcome the impressive Barbados team in today’s Regional Women’s Super50 final at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex. First ball is 9.30 am.

After what Aguilleira considers a ‘mishap’ in their first game, where they lost to the Barbadians, she believes the team has exhibited the necessary skills and temperament to retain their title, won last year in Guyana. It has definitely shown in the results, as their record thereafter remains unblemished, with their latest victory coming at the expense of the Windwards on Friday.

She thinks due to the wealth of experience in both squads, we are bound to have a fantastic final encounter. However, Aguilleira insists that if her team sticks to their tasks and are efficient in all aspects of their game, they will come out on top. Batting for long periods is one thing she stressed on (which was reiterated by her T&T and West Indian teammate Britney Cooper), as the players and coaching staff believe that in a tournament like this, spending time at the wicket almost guarantees you big scores. With most matches turning out to be low-scoring affairs in this year’s competition, this key component could prove to be the difference between the eventual winners and the disappointed finalists.

The Regional Women’s Super50 2016 was not necessarily successful, majority of the matches were rained out and T&T only played one game. This game was against Barbados and proved to essentially be the final. Aguilleira has no doubt in her mind that revenge is on Barbados’ mind coming into this encounter.

She said, “They will have it in the back of their minds that last year they wanted the Championship so badly and we took it away.” Aguilleira was also quite adamant that she holds deep belief in all of her players’ ability, because they are “really good and experienced players, who know how to cross the line.”

The competition itself comes at a crucial time for the West Indies women, as the regional team is preparing for the Women’s World Cup, to be held in England in June. There have been some deficiencies in the batting department for quite a few teams.

Stafanie Taylor made 89 in Jamaica’s final encounter, a score which only seven players have managed to amass throughout the tournament. However, we have seen some dominant performances from the likes of Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin of Barbados, and Britney Cooper and Stacy Ann King from T&T which are good signs, considering these ladies are all a part of the West Indies setup.

Performances with the ball have been exceptional so far however, with spinner, Afy Fletcher of the Windwards, leading the pack on 15 wickets. Hayley Matthews and Shamelia Connell have been excellent for Barbados, picking up 13 and 12 wickets respectively, with spin-twins Anisa Mohammed and Karishma Ramharack getting the job done for the T&T side, equally splitting 18 wickets between them.