Marlon, 40 years old, is married with two teenaged daughters. With the changes in the economy his employment status was uncertain for a while. Several months his employer cut his salary while other months his pay was withheld.

Marlon accepted these conditions in light of the difficult employment situation in his particular industry. Recently, though, he landed a permanent job with a stable and profitable company and a remuneration package that is significantly better than what he earned previously.

As a result of the salary challenges Marlon missed several payments on his whole-life insurance policy, but because the account had accumulated cash values the coverage remained intact. He is now ready to resume payments and even wants to increase his level of coverage to ensure his family has something more to fall back on in case of premature death.

Marlon was also thinking that he might leave a cash-inheritance even if he dies long after his children have moved out to start their own families. He is, however, not too concerned about the family’s present income needs should he pass as his wife is gainfully employed and they own a debt-free rental property that he inherited from his father.

His current whole life insurance policy has a sum assured of $500,000 and monthly premiums of $600. He also has a decreasing-term-life policy attached to his $1,000,000 mortgage and pays $875 per month; this plan expires at age 60 or when he pays off the mortgage.

From shopping around he was presented with three different options for $1,000,000 in coverage:

1. A standard whole-life policy to age 100 costing $1,161 per month

2. A special whole-life policy to age 100 costing $1,453 per month but the premiums stop at age 65 when the policy becomes fully paid up.

3. A term-life policy to age 80 costing $416 per month

Marlon is a bit confused as to which of these is best in light of his particular financial situation. He also wants to know if he should drop any one or both of his existing plans in favour of what is being proposed.

As far as Marlon’s two most basic needs for life insurance, he seems to be comfortable with his levels of insurance protection.

Firstly his home mortgage is covered with a decreasing term-life policy and the family’s income needs are somewhat secured with his wife’s salary and the rental income.

The existing $500,000 whole-life plan should put extra money in the family’s reserves but as to how much is needed for goals such as education; we will assume the proposed $1,000,000 coverage would be adequate.

Whole-life insurance

These plans provide the insured with protection to age 100 at which point the policy matures with a cash payout usually equivalent to the sum assured is made.

Of course, because there is money to get back from the policy the premiums would have to incorporate savings and some investment returns to deliver future cash values. This means what the person pays monthly is usually greater than what the plan actually needs to cover mortality costs.

The interesting difference between the “standard whole-life” policy (the existing or the proposed) and the “special whole-life” plan being proposed is that premiums for the “standard” continue until age 100 whereas those for the “special plan” stop at age 65 when the policy becomes “fully paid-up.” That is no more payments are required to provide the $1,000,000 coverage to age 100.

At age 100 the sums assured of all three whole-life plans should endow and are paid out in cash at maturity.

Now even though the “special” plan carries a higher cost of $1,453 per month whereas the proposed “standard” policy only $1,161 per month, we noticed that overall, the “special” plan would cost less ($1,453 x 12 months x 25 years = $435,900) whereas the “standard” plan is almost double ($1,161 x 12 months x 60 years = $835,920).

Seeing that the “special” plan is comparably superior to the “proposed standard” plan, perhaps Marlon would want to do away with the “existing standard” plan in favour of this plan and even increase the proposed coverage to compensate.

The challenge with comparing these two is that the existing plan has a sum assured of only $500,000 whilst the special plan has a sum assured of $1,000,000; the respective monthly premiums are $600 and $1,453.

Though the “special” plan has twice the sum assured of the existing plan, its premium is more than double. For a more meaningful comparison of monthly cost we can look at the cost per month per $1,000 of coverage (Existing Standard: $600 / $500,000 = $1.20, Special: $1,453 / $1,000,000 = $1.45).

Even though the monthly cost per $1,000 of coverage is lower with the “existing” plan the real comparison should again be the overall cost as influenced by how long premiums will be paid.

Marlon’s existing plan will run for another 60 years to age 100 which translates to an overall cost of $432,000 ($600 x 12 months x 60 years). We compare this to the overall cost of the “special” plan of $435,900, which provides double the coverage of $1,000,000.

It would seem that Marlon might be better off adding an extra $500,000 to this new “special whole-life” plan to replace the existing coverage.

Using the monthly cost per $1,000 this extra $500,000 on the “special” plan should cost $725 ($500,000 x $1.45) per month. It may seem counter intuitive to pay $125 more per month for the same level of coverage but this would only be for 25 years ($725 x 12 months x 25 years = $217,500) versus 60 years. Very interesting!

Once the new plan is in place, Marlon can then cancel the existing plan and probably dump its accumulated cash values on the replacement policy as an investment or a prepayment of premiums.

Note on Cash Values:

In many instances, whole-life or other cash value plans afford the policy owner access to his or her savings from time to time, either as an outright withdrawal or as a policy loan with or without installments or interest charges. With whole-life plans such utilisation of cash values will ultimately reduce the maturity value of the plans.

In some cases the accumulated cash values could also be used to make a policy paid-up by ceasing premiums and reducing the level of coverage until maturity.

As Marlon stopped paying premiums for some time, if he were to restart—rather than clear up the arrears and then continue—the maturity value would have to be adjusted downwards to account for the outstanding payments.

Term-life insurance

These plans run for a specified period of time, for example: five-year level-term or level-term-to-age-80.

There are term-life plans that have sums assured that increase over time and then there are others that decrease such as his existing mortgage protection plan.

Remembering Marlon’s objective—to have insurance coverage primarily as a “cash-inheritance” for his children, before if he dies prematurely or after they move out of home—the “special-whole-life-paid-up-to-age-65” plan may (in the context of this case only) be the most appropriate solution. This seems to make the proposed “term-life-to-age-80” for $1,000,000 seem irrelevant, especially as it provides no future cash values at maturity or rather expiry.

What this “term-life-to-age-80” lacks in future cash values it makes up for in monthly cost savings. It may even be said that it would be better to buy cheap term-life insurance and invest the difference in premium between that and a whole life plan elsewhere to achieve greater future values at maturity. But such a discussion may be more appropriate if we had been given different variables to evaluate.

The proposed term-life insurance to age 80 with a sum assured of $1,000,000 has a monthly premium of $416 or a monthly cost per $1,000 of cover of $0.42.

Purely from a cost standpoint this policy would be the outright winner for insurance coverage but for our purposes we will compare the proposed level-term-life with Marlon’s existing decreasing-term-life plan for $1,000,000, which costs $875 or $0.88 per month per $1,000 of coverage.

Apart from being more expensive than the proposed “term-life-to-age-80” plan, the decreasing-term plan expires either when the mortgage is repaid or at age 60 whichever is sooner.

The other point to note is that Marlon is paying more for something that is diminishing in value. If this were the proposed level-term plan, as the mortgage balance declines the difference between the debt and the sum assured would be paid to his family—at his death—until the plan expires or until Marlon discontinues payments.

Nicholas Dean (CertFa) is a certified independent financial adviser and is the managing director of The Financial Coaching Centre Ltd. If you have any questions or need advice on today’s subject please email: nickadvice@gmail.com or visit website: www.FinancialCoachingCentre.com

The Government is faced with an unenviable situation. The manner in which our expenditure profile has been built up since 2001 to now has seen consistent growth in a number of fixed costs such as wages and salaries. Also growing annually, up to 2015, has been the size of transfers and subsidies.

The transfers and subsidies have been so entrenched in the lifestyle of the average citizen that this has become relatively inflexible even if they are not fixed.

Today, we are faced with a situation where we no longer have the revenues to support various entrenched levels of expenditure nor do we have an expenditure profile that is flexible enough to allow for cuts to be made without significant dislocations.

On the one hand, there is pressure from the rating agencies to make deeper cuts to expenditure.

On the other hand, there is the recognition by the Government that faster and deeper cuts will create significant dislocations within a society already distressed by high crime rates and failures in many basic services.

Failure to make deep cuts to expenditures—especially after we have been budgeting for deficits of around $7 billion every year since 2009—means we are progressively using up our fiscal buffers and our debt levels are increasing at a rapid rate. It’s a challenging dilemma that any party in government would struggle to manage.

The headline, Kobayashi Maru, comes from a scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It describes an unwinnable event where, regardless of the choice undertaken, the outcome will carry dire consequences. In the movie the star fleet vessel The Kobayashi Maru is trapped in the Klingon Neutral Zone.

Faced with a fellow Star Fleet vessel that was rapidly losing power and life support, the crew of the Enterprise had to decide if to enter the Neutral Zone and attempt to rescue the Kobayashi Maru and risk an attack by the Klingons for violating the Neutral Zone or abandon the friendly vessel and leave the passengers and crew to die.

The crew of the Star Ship Enterprise had to choose between dealing with the emotion of leaving their comrades to die or the consequences of starting a war.

What would you do if you had the choice to make?

T&T is facing a similar seemingly unwinnable event but of an economic kind.

The Kobayashi Maru on Star Trek II was actually a Starfleet training exercise with the aim of test ethical decision-making and leadership. Part of that process is the recognition of the limits of your powers and deciding what to do in the face of those limits.

In T&T’s case, we are not in a training exercise but rather we are faced with two difficult choices: either cut expenditures and see the economy crash or borrow to support expenses today and face the music tomorrow.

In real life, though, when faced with two difficult choices, it is more practical to try to find a third or fourth alternative. The alternatives may not be obvious but they are usually there if we look hard enough.

This is where Property Tax comes into the mix.

Seen as a revenue generating mechanism, it is expected that this tax, along with other measures, can generate revenues that will provide support for expenditures and reduce the need for borrowing.

This sounds reasonable and logical and, in light of the situation just described, one may ask why the public outcry over the imposition of this tax, especially when it was signaled months ago that it would be coming into effect.

To understand this you have to go to the very core of what a system of taxation in a western democracy is supposed to represent. At its very basic level, our system of taxation is based on voluntary compliance. Sure there are fines and penalties in place but a tax system is much cheaper to administer when compliance is voluntary.

Voluntary implies that people must be willing and, in order to be willing, you need to understand what you are doing and why. Acknowledging this truth is also an acknowledgement by the State of the limits of its power.

The solution to the problem is not based on the arguments of facts but rather dealing with the emotive needs of citizens in terms of the roll out and implementation. That the communication of matters related to the tax is coming long after the announcement of the tax suggests the entire process has many unnecessary gaps.

Yet the impositions of property taxes—or any taxes for that matter—is not groundbreaking and have been dealt with by economists for hundreds of years.

Long considered one of the founding fathers of classical economics Adam Smith in 1776 offered four maxims regarding taxation in general. He suggested that taxes should be fair, should have a level of certainty and more to the point should not be arbitrary and that they “ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it.”

Finally Smith suggested that taxes “ought to be so contrived as both to take out and to keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury of the state.”

Each of these maxims has an emotive connotation for the property taxpayer, a perspective that is yet to be addressed in any tangible way and seems unlikely given the talking points to date. There is also logic to these maxims that, if applied to the current situation, pushes a number of the arguments for implementation in its current form to the side.

Smith has dealt with even the manner in which we have sought to request documents from the taxpayer in his writings many years ago. He said that ‘the odious examination of the tax gatherers’ may cause taxpayers much unnecessary trouble, vexation and oppression; and though vexation is not, strictly speaking, expense, it is certainly equivalent to the expense at which every man would be willing to redeem himself from it.”

Yet not only our approach to the property tax issue seems misguided but the very essence of what property tax is supposed to represent can be called into question in terms of the way this tax is being implemented. We have tied the property tax to local government reform and the implication is that, at some stage in the future, the tax would allow for the regional corporations to have the resources to provide localised services such as garbage collection and the like.

The problem here is that if a property tax is based on the valuation of your property, then if we understand the rationale of what has been put forward by Adam Smith, the tax itself should ultimately lead to services that will render to the maintenance or even the appreciation in value of the property by the property owner. That is the basis for which you will find voluntary compliance and reduce the cost of compliance.

Without that nexus we are dealing with a level of arbitrariness that is not in keeping with managing the cost of compliance. If done properly, property taxes might be the tax that leads to the best level of compliance of all taxes. We are a long way away from that position now.

If it is that the system will over time allow for the redistribution of property taxes collected from one area to another, then the element of redistribution in and of itself may not be in keeping with the nexus that is supposed to result from the property tax. Appreciate that this is a tax on your balance sheet that is paid out of income via your cash flows. It is not a “normal tax.”

There are other forms of taxation to cater to redistribution.

If redistribution from one area to another is part of the equation then raise income or corporation taxes to meet that objective. Don’t conflate the issues.

The lesson behind the Kobayashi Maru is the exploration of alternatives.

Clearly one stand-out alternative is the introduction of taxes on gaming and betting as a revenue generating substitute. This tax, also promised in 2009, has been on the cards since 2013. It has been signalled in the most recent budget and deals with a sector that, in many instances, operates outside the law. It is quite likely we would also raise around $500 million from this tax.

Further, the cost of compliance will bring about a social good which implies additional benefits and is net a greater positive.

Another alternative is the promise of improved VAT collection as indicated in the 2016 budget.

Do we still have leakage here?

Is this a lower hanging revenue generating fruit?

Appreciate that the key to wining the unwinnable event is to explore and find various alternatives.

I am not opposed to a tax. I am simply questioning its conceptualisation and implementation.

Is it time for a rethink?

Ian Narine can be contacted via email at ian.narine@gmail.com

Relatives of former Independent Senator Dana Seetahal, SC, are still mourning her death.

Speaking to reporters following a small vigil outside the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court marking the three-year anniversary of her murder yesterday, sister Susan Francois said their family was still struggling to cope.

“We as a family feel that loss so excruciatingly everyday although three years have past. I can tell you it is no easier now that when it happened,” Francois said.

Francois, her brother Omar and daughter Danielle were joined by a handful of friends, including Sophia Chote SC, who held placards bearing Seetahal’s name and handed out yellow roses to people driving by.

“She was sister, best friend, confidant. We just wanted the public to know that this great woman that we are so proud to call our sister should be remembered,” she said.

The vigil was held hours after the preliminary inquiry of 11 men who were charged with her murder was adjourned.

Francois noted that family members were closely monitoring the case and attend all hearings.

“We continue to expect and hope for justice and I’m sure eventually it would come whether man-made or otherwise,” Francois said.

Yesterday’s hearing of the inquiry had to be adjourned shortly after it was called as one of the accused men, Stephan Cummings, did not have an attorney. Cummings had an attorney at previous hearings but informed the court he could could no longer afford to pay and had to apply for Legal Aid and Advisory Authority representation.

Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno stood the matter down and left court to contact the authority for a status update. When she returned, she informed Cummings that an attorney had been appointed to his case last week but subsequently turned it down.

“I was given the assurance that another appointment would be done expeditiously,” Cedeno said as she adjourned the case to May 18 .

Thus far, only four witness, all police officers, have been cross-examined by defence attorneys in the inquiry, with dozens more expected to testify.

Seetahal was shot dead behind the wheel of her SUV while driving along Hamilton Holder Street, Woodbrook, on May 4, 2014. She was returning home after a spending the night at the Ma Pau casino on Ariapita Avenue.

A little over a year later, Rajaee Ali, his brothers Ishmael and Hamid Ali, Devaughn Cummings, Ricardo Stewart, Earl Richards, Stephan Cummings, Kevin Parkinson, Leston Gonzales, Roget Boucher, and Gareth Wiseman were charged with her murder.

David Ector, Deon Peters and Ali’s wife Stacy Griffith were not charged with murder, but were charged alongside the 11 men with being members of a gang.

Their preliminary inquiry was initially delayed after they asked former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar to recuse herself from the case, as members of the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit (CGIU) who investigated the crime were part of her security detail.

She agreed and was replaced by Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno.

In May, last year, Cedeno was forced to dismiss the gang charges, freeing Ector and Peters, due to a technical error by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The DPP’s Office had admitted to laying the charges indictably (heard and determined by a High Court Judge and jury), as opposed to summarily (heard and determined by a magistrate) as prescribed by the legislation.

Unlike Ector and Peters, Stacy Griffith, the third person who was charged for being a gang member and not with the murder, will remain with her husband, Rajaee Ali, and ten others who are still before the court for Seetahal’s murder, as she has a separate charge of benefiting from the gang’s activity,which was laid correctly by the DPP’s Office.

Chairman emeritus of the ANSA McAL Group Dr Anthony N. Sabga was “an amazing human being, a man of his word, a man of courage, a man of faith and a man of family” who was ready to move on to what “God had prepared for him,” co-founder of the Living Waters Community Rhonda Maingot said yesterday.

Maingot, a laureate of the Anthony N Sabga Awards for Caribbean Excellence, said she last saw Sabga last week.

“I expected him to be going to the Lord soon. I think he ran a wonderful race and all that was waiting for him was what the Lord had prepared for him,” she said

While many tributes have been paid to Sabga, Maingot said: “From my end I would say that all the accolades and all that he received here in this world, I told him all the crowns and glory, he will exchange it for a crown in heaven.”

She said she spoke to him about this and he smiled and said he understood.

Maingot said Sabga was “very conscious of God and deeply religious.”

“I am sure he knew that God had gifted him and that he really put those gifts to tremendous use for human kind,” she said.

That acknowledgement and awareness inspired him and made him a successful man, she added.

Maingot said although Sabga gave generously through the ANSA Foundation, “that never prevented him from giving to people in need. If people came and asked for help he always found a way to assist.”

She said she was also humbled to have been a laureate.

“I think it is a wonderful award, the whole programme is so beautiful for the region and continuing the awards would be a huge tribute to him.”

Commenting further on his death, Maingot said: “I think it’s a moment for us of thanksgiving for the gift of him. He lived a very long life, a very productive and beautiful life. We should have a thankful heart to God for the gift of him for Trinidad and Tobago and all of the Caribbean region.”

In reflecting on Sabga’s life and contributions, University of the West Indies (UWI) Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland said: “Sabga is best known for his acumen, for cultivating business opportunities, but his legacy of generosity towards the UWI and the country as a whole will never be forgotten.”

A statement from UWI focused on the institution’s strong ties with Sabga and by extension the ANSA McAL group, dating back to 1989, when the group funded a building that housed the ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre.

UWI said the desire to pay back the country for all the blessings bestowed to ANSA McAL was also seen as a motivating factor for the company’s involvement in the institution.

In 2014, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the St. Augustine campus and ANSA McAL. It signalled a deepening of that relationship by agreeing to fund the School of Journalism, the Anthony N. Sabga School of Entrepreneurship and the reopening of the ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre.

The university also acknowledged the “far-reaching philanthropic initiative—the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence” launched in 2005 by Sabga. It is the only privately funded enterprise in the region that recognises and provides significant awards in the areas of arts and letters, science and technology, public and civic contributions and entrepreneurship, UWI noted.

Government’s mid-year review statement will be delivered next week Wednesday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert revealed yesterday.

Imbert confirmed the date in reply to a T&T Guardian query following yesterday’s post-Cabinet media conference.

He’d said last month the review would have been in the first half of May. The People’s National Movement (PNM) Government has, since its first budget, had a review of the budget six months after presentation. Its last budget was in October 2016.

The review is done to give an account of the financial situation, state any changes to the last budget and make any announcements needed concerning fiscal or other measures, including any new ones.

Opposition MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie has said the public would expect Imbert to give facts on T&T’s finances and the state of the economy, as well as the extent of loan contracts entered into. He also called for Imbert to list specific projects initiated for this budgetary cycle and how they will be paid for.

Tewarie added, “There should also be some hint on where the minister is heading with the 2018 budget. He should account on what’s been achieved so far in the 2017 budget and what’s likely to be achieved by the end of this budget cycle.”

In view of T&T’s current tight economic situation, Opposition MP Rudy Indarsingh also said Government’s review must obviously inform the country of the up to date official number of those who have been retrenched and lost jobs in T&T.

“With continuing job losses, Government’s review must come clean on the current figure,” Indarsingh added.

“In tandem with that, Mr Imbert must say what is Government’s plan to create employment and any proposed legislative amendments to offer people a softer landing following job loss, such as amending the Retrenchment And Severance Benefits Act and possibly creation of an Unemployment Insurance Fund.”

Fifteen fishermen from Pakistan in Marabella are now calling for justice, after they alleged they were detained by the T&T Coast Guard, stripped naked and jokes made about their private parts at the Point Lisas Transshipping port on Wednesday morning.

The men, who were fishing off the Point Lisas port in the Gulf of Paria around 9 pm on Tuesday, said they were detained by the officers for six hours before being allowed to return home. No one was charged but they were given a stern warning not to fish near the port.

Fisherman Whazid Hammid said he was disturbed at the humiliation they went through.

“It was about 2 o clock in the morning. We were wet and cold, shivering and they laughed at us. Women were watching. It was embarrassing,” Hammid said during an interview at Bayshore, Marabella.

Recalling the incident, Hammid said they were hunting cutlass fish aboard five pirogues near the Oldendorff Carriers ship, which was docked near the Point Lisas port, when two launch boats from the ship came towards them.

“The men told us we not supposed to be fishing so close to the Oldendorff ship, which brings iron ore to Point Lisas, so we agreed to move away about a mile and a half off the ship,” Hammid said.

While fishing further out, he said a Coast Guard interceptor vessel arrived and ordered them to return to the port. Two jeeploads of police officers, including female constables, arrived shortly afterwards.

“When we got there they had already detained the other fishing pirogues. The Coast Guard said they towed us in because they heard we were protesting, but this was not so. Then the police and Coast Guard officers stripped us all naked and laughed at us,” Hammid said.

President of the Marabella Fishing Association Nathaniel Rodney said the fishermen deserved justice. He said the Coast Guard had apparently responded to a complaint from the Oldendorff crew and had responded quickly to detain the group of fishermen.

Expressing disgust at the Coast Guard’s behaviour, Rodney said many times fishermen called for help after being robbed by pirates and never got such quick response.

“It is amazing that they will respond when the big companies call but not to us. We want a thorough investigation into this,” Rodney said. He added that the fishermen went to make a report at the Marabella police station yesterday but officers refused to take the report. He said they planned to lodge a complaints to the Police Complaints Authority.

Rodney said they also met with an Oldendorff official who promised to investigate the matter.

A 30-year-old Morvant man was yesterday sentenced to a total of 49 years in prison for the rape, grievous sexual assault and robbery of a woman in 2005.

In the Port-of-Spain High Court, Justice Devan Rampersad ordered Akiedo Guerra to serve 25 years for the rape and 12 years each for the two other offences.

However, the sentences will run concurrently and Guerra is expected to be released in 17 and a half years. The seven and a half years he spent on remand awaiting trial was deducted from his overall sentence.

Guerra stood silently in the prisoner’s enclosure of the court during the sentencing, periodically glancing at six of his female relatives who were seated behind him. He was heard muttering about the severity of the sentence.

According to evidence presented in the trial last month, the attack took place near the victim’s home at Second Caledonia, Morvant, on May 18, 2005.

The victim said she was returning home from work when she was accosted by Guerra and another man.

Guerra, who was armed with a gun, and his accomplice robbed the victim of $50 and forced her to walk to a nearby track where they took turns raping her.

Justice Rampersad said the fact that Guerra was 18 at the time of the incident and had a clean criminal record could not be considered as mitigating factors since he showed no remorse for the crimes, which he described as heinous.

“This was a young woman who was returning from a day of work and was entitled to return to her family safely,” he said.

Rampersad also considered the submissions of State prosecutor Joy Balkaran, who highlighted the fact that Guerra chose to take the case to trial despite the fact that there was damning evidence against him, including a sperm sample taken from the victim after the assault which was matched to Guerra using DNA testing.

Balkaran said: “Victims of these kinds of attackers are literally like the living dead. Most of them never get over it and are are unable to lead normal lives.”

In addressing members of the ruling party in Diego Martin on Tuesday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert suggested that the Government will soon implement the Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Bill, 2016 as a means of regulating the casino industry as well as ensuring that all casino owners, and owners of casino-type devices, pay taxes on the income generated.

Mr Imbert told members of the People’s National Movement that the Board of Inland Revenue had informed him that T&T has 125 casinos, of which only five pay the required taxes.

“That has to stop,” the Minister of Finance thundered, adding that he expected some opposition from casino owners—and the other retail outlets that house casino-type devices—as the Government attempts to bring the 96 per cent of these gambling establishments that pay no taxes within the confines of the law.

Mr Imbert is right that the fiscal and legal ambiguity that casinos find themselves in has to stop, as it is only by placing the casino industry into a legal framework that the Government can collect the taxes that these businesses have not been paying for years.

It is precisely because all governments in the last 20 years have failed in spectacular fashion to regulate and tax casinos that this industry continues to grow so vigorously, while other businesses that depend on the population’s disposable income are stagnant or in decline.

That most of the casinos in T&T do not pay the taxes that they should is, of course, grossly unfair to the thousands of business establishments throughout T&T who do. Since the general election in 2015, most businesses in T&T have been required to pay higher taxes on their income over $1 million, increased Green Fund and business levy, along with higher National Insurance contributions on behalf of their employees.

Have the country’s casinos, which all describe themselves as private members’ clubs, had to endure this additional tax burden?

The tax-free status of most casinos in T&T is also unfair and inequitable in this sense: Why should casinos, which generate about $10 billion a year in revenues (by Mr Imbert’s reckoning), not pay their fair share of taxes when the population is required to pay more for fuel, pay VAT on a wider range of goods as well as pay taxes on their property?

It is also clear that the Government simply cannot afford to allow casinos to continue riding the backs of the local population by living off the fat of the land for very much longer.

That’s because T&T’s 2017 fiscal deficit is likely to be $1 billion more than estimated as a result of the $500 million shortfall in the First Citizens offering of shares and the likelihood that the Government would be unable to collect the $503 million in property taxes by the September 30, 2017 fiscal year end.

It is quite likely that the Government will be forced to raise this additional $1 billion from the local capital market, where it may be required to pay a higher interest rate as a result of the downgrades that T&T has had to endure recently.

It would be much more financially prudent if, instead of borrowing the extra $1 billion, the Government could collect those funds from T&T’s casinos.

To do that, the Government would need to pass the long overdue Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Bill, 2016. This should not be difficult as the current legislation is almost exactly the same as a bill that was considered by the previous administration.

It is noteworthy that in February, when the legislation was sent to a Joint Select Committee (JSC), Opposition MP Ganga Singh lauded Mr Imbert for following the template established by his predecessor, Larry Howai.

And the fact that the casino legislation was sent to a JSC—which was supposed to consider the legislation and report to the House of Representatives by March 17, 2017—must be an indication that the Government is looking to create consensus on the necessity of taxing and regulating casinos.

It is also clear that the Government simply cannot afford to allow casinos to continue riding the backs of the local population by living off the fat of the land for very much longer.

Have you heard of the “precariat”? This term names the experience of employment or under-employment for many, and maybe for you also, in the next decade.

The precariat comprises those who are salaried, but working in conditions of extreme insecurity.

Workers on one-month or three-month contracts; whose year-long contracted jobs with benefits have been reduced to six or nine-months without benefits; those working longer hours for the same pay, in jobs not guaranteed to be funded another year.

Such people could be any of us, working in government offices or as a newspaper columnist or in the university.

No chance of loans or a mortgage; uncertainty regarding whether you can pay school costs, health bills or rent; fear of whistle-blowing corruption mismanagement or ineptitude; undercut collective bargaining power. Demoralisation follows.

Think of all the workers put on the breadline since fossil revenues fell away, the impact on families, and the absolute futility of underfunded social services unable to respond.

From this, expect an oncoming rise of drug and human trafficking, gun crimes, gang and intimate partner violence, and religious fundamentalism, as gutted governments find nations increasingly ungovernable.

But, here, the precariat is lucky because they haven’t been laid off, just underpaid and without job security.

They’ve joined those already making ends meet in the informal economy, in daily-paid jobs, in home-based work, or in the poor conditions of the retail sector—where women predominate.

It’s worse for the young, and worst of all for young women, despite their greater investment in education.

We have yet to see whether managers and bosses will fight for fair salaries for their staff or bow to a logic that exploits those earning the least with pride that they are, at least, still salaried.

It’s a loss-loss scenario and fails the standard of a human-centred economy, for people with stability are much more likely to show vision, investment and leadership in their jobs and community.

And, we can’t legitimately throw entrepreneurial language at these folks, though such tiefhead is all the rage.

Entrepreneurship or self-employment has a long, proud history in the region, as farmers, market vendors, seamstresses, bakers, broom-makers, designers, music producers and others will tell you, but it comes without health or maternity benefits, clear work hours, legal protections, and a strong social safety net, and results in lower lifetime savings.

Cadres of stable jobs, particularly in institutions, are necessary, as insecure workers find it hard to think or live beyond the present and their own bottom line—a major problem in our national culture already.

Such precarity is what would have been considered exploitation in better times, but what you better be grateful for today. Although, the truth is, the rise of precarious work gives rise to a precarious society.

Yet, keep these in mind.

Globally, while the incomes of poor and middle-class have risen incrementally (though precarity is reversing this), the incomes of the wealthiest have risen exponentially under neoliberal capitalism (a term which you should get off Facebook and go google).

The problem isn’t one of lack of money globally or in Trinidad and Tobago.

It’s that wealth is concentrated, or wielded, rather than equitably or responsibly distributed, particularly to workers of all kinds.

In 2002, our budget was almost $50 billion less than today, yet our population is only marginally larger.

Waste, corruption and irresponsible elites have left us in this state. We must learn to follow every dollar. For, workers pay the price.

Third, though corporations, investment and equity firms and banks, rather than governments, rule the global political economy, the state has huge responsibility for managing this moment, through its education, prison reform, border protection, gender, environmental, agricultural, public transport and other policies.

Better governmental management for greater public good is totally possible as anyone familiar with dozens of unimplemented and common sense recommendations made over the past 30 years knows.

Every kind of worker must hold political elites accountable for state failures and suffering that follows.

New movements must thus emerge, for this growing group of workers can organise for greater collective power and decision-making over this increasingly insecure and unequal economy.

Welcome to the precariat for whom the struggle is present and real.

Dr Anthony Sabga strode Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region like a colossus! He was truly a great one among us.

Regional leaders came and went, but he remained. However, he did not just mark his time in one spot but brilliantly forged his imagination of an innovative and vibrant conglomerate—the ANSA McAL Group of Companies.

He made this group of companies the blueprint on how to build a financial empire in this part of the world. What I remember about him best from my time observing how he did things when I was a humble reporter at the Guardian Newspapers was that he ran a tight ship and a meritocracy.

Dr Anthony Sabga was simply the stuff that legends are made of! You always knew, as his employee, that if you consistently produced high quality work it would somehow come to his attention.

He would also mark you for career development and promotion. Many rose from the lowest ranks of his companies to positions in corporate leadership and we were all astounded by his gift of always being able to seize the moment in the financial arena.

He was not one to be trifled with in any sphere of life. A wise person would seek him out as an ally rather than a competitor or simply seek to hold his or her own corner.

I shall never forget the session that was held for myself and several others when we were placed on staff at ANSA McAL. A close friend of mine could not help but cry out in shock when she saw the sheer magnitude of what Dr Sabga was building.

As his employee one could forget the sheer genius of the man because of the aura of his disarming humility, but one would also be unwise to do so because the evidence of it was all around us.

My one regret was that he never turned his amazing intellect, to my knowledge, towards building my great passion, West Indies cricket.

So let us now not just bury and forget Dr Anthony Sabga but let us praise him and remember him well!

Bon voyage, sir...

Fitzroy Othello

Times have really changed! Years ago, in homes, schools, communities and even in workplaces, girls and women who had disagreements with one another that could no longer have been resolved with “cuss-outs,” ended up in catfights. Also called girl fights, catfights involved among other things scratching, slapping, pulling of hair and ripping of clothes. These mild girl-on-girl attacks, however, tend to be of yesteryear.

Catfights are distinguished by age for simplicity, that is, those that occur with girls of school age and between those who are adults.

Nowadays, from what we are witnessing in our schools and communities by those who are of school age, are violent attacks by girls on girls.

And, they are quite horrific to say the least. It’s interesting to recognise that they are not taking place in any one geographical area or one type of school. Importantly also, they take place in and out of school; and in and out of school uniform! Of course, not all end up in the media or in official school reports.

These masquerades of girl crimes have now attracted the attention of the various authorities like teachers, principals, school counsellors, parents, PTAs, trade unions, and of course, the Ministry of Education as well as the police.

The widespread presence and use of phone cameras and various social media are making it much easier for the rest of the country to view these incidents over and over as well as share them with others until they go viral.

The public needs to know once and for all what is the Government’s policy with regard to use of phone cameras in school as it seems different schools adopt different approaches.

Now it is like a double-edged sword.

While phone cameras can be used for filming negative things in school that students do engage in, they can also be used for positive things as well, like taking pictures of notes on the blackboard if time is running out in class, taking pictures of a student receiving a prize, class project being presented, class or school events, etc.

However, without the use of phone cameras, most of the public would not have known what was taking place in and out of school with our children especially with regard to such fights.

Importantly, these videos and pictures can also be used as evidence in deciding a matter.

While feminists may argue about the use of the term catfight, we are to seriously look beyond this. We must recognise that we are in changing times and that the method of resolving conflicts with one another in this case, between girls, are changing to more vicious ways.

We need to instil in our young women, in this instance, what is to be lady-like, to use non-physical and non-violent ways to resolve conflicts, etc.

They need to be exposed to the whole gamut of contemporary conflict resolution and dispute resolution skills and techniques that they can easily tap into.

They must also know, for example, that they are to report problems to the relevant authorities like teachers, deans, counsellors, vice-principal and principal, parents, religious leaders, older siblings, even the police and hotlines.

It is critical also that all of our young people know the basics of self-defence and the discipline that go with it.

We know that it is easier said than done but we cannot tell our students that it is okay to plan an attack on another student who is causing discomfort or being a threat to them.

We must teach them that there are levels of authority figures that they must access, and depending on how serious the threat or situation is they can go straight to the highest ranked person or authority.

They must know that they should not suffer in silence but that they can get immediate help.

And this is where we as adults and stakeholders must come in and ensure that we put systems in place to hear the cries of potential victims and respond to them in quick time.

If we don’t then we may be forcing a victim or potential victim to take matters into her own hands and we may end up with injuries and even death.

It seems that the days are gone for catfights. We now have serious attacks to prevent as a variety of weapons and other striking instruments are readily available.

We are also seeing vicious attacks among women in bars, on the streets, etc.

They don’t look like catfights. They are fully loaded attacks. Again, we need to let these female adults know that there are other ways to settle disputes.

With all these high-powered attacks by girl-on-girl taking place, it makes us ask: where are the catfights? Are we better off with catfights than what we are seeing today?

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

A Mexican national who was attempting to flee a bandit was shot dead in Point Fortin last night.

A report stated that around 3.30 am, Sookooroo Sorano, 37, was walking along Canaan Road, with a his friend, a Venezuelan national when they noticed a man walking up behind them.

On realising that they might be robbed, Sookooroo and his friends ran off. The gunman fired several shots and Sookooroo fell to the ground. He died before police and ambulance arrived.

Sookooroo, a construction worker with Pace Construction Ltd, was staying at the HDC’s Lake View development.

The spearhead of the Windies attack grabbed five for 11 in a brilliant spell of pace bowling on a wearing track as Pakistan were dismissed for 81 in pursuit of 188 for victory at Kensington Oval, giving the hosts a 106-run win.

Gabriel, who finished with a nine-wicket match haul to earn Man-of-the-Match honours, said the success had been as a result of a collective team effort.

“I think it was a good performance, a good team effort,” the T&T standout told reporters.

“The way Roston (Chase) played in the first innings and the way the bowlers bowled – (Devendra) Bishoo picking up some key wickets and the rest of bowlers.

“In the second innings Shai (Hope) put up his hand and batted although he was struggling [previously] but we always know as a team once we got a good lead on a fifth day pitch, things would happen for us.”

Gabriel was well supported by seamer Holder who claimed three wickets in each innings, and also gathered a fluent half-century in the first innings.

However, the 29-year-old Gabriel also pointed to Holder’s captaincy as key in the success.

“Jason is a good captain. He’s learning and improving a lot,” he stressed.

“One good thing about him is that he’s willing to take advice and try new things and that’s a good thing for the team and for West Indies cricket.”

Following a slow start to his international career, Gabriel has picked up intensity in recent months and has now emerged as the leader of the West Indies attack.

He has taken 62 wickets form 25 Tests, and his form in the longer format has subsequently led to his debut One-Day International where he has also reaped success.

Gabriel said Trinidad and Tobago coach Kelvin Williams, along with the current West Indies coaching staff had played key roles in bringing him to this point, and he was now relishing the role as leader of the attack.

“Since coming through from Under-19s, I’ve been working with Kelvin so I must give thanks to him and thanks to the Almighty Father, thanks to Ronald Rogers (trainer) and thanks to Roddy Estwick (Windies bowling coach) for the advice and the help for getting me here and I we can continue to work together as one moving forward,” he said.

Gabriel added: “It’s a lot of hard work but end of the day, I still have a job to go out there and do and I am enjoying the challenge, and the guys have been backing me up pretty well so it’s good news for West Indies cricket.”

Despite his success at Kensington Oval over the last five days, Gabriel said the surface at the historic venue was less than ideal.

“Knowing Barbados and coming to Barbados you hope to get a wicket with some pace and some bounce so we can utilize our fast bowlers,” he lamented.

“The wicket wasn’t that great of a wicket so it was a bit disappointing so hopefully next time that will be corrected.” CMC

Aaron Wilson completes WASA ping pong hat-trick at the WASA Sports & Cultural Club, St Joseph on Thursday night.

In the title match, Wilson just back from a training stint in Spain dispatched of former top locally based player, Curtis Humphreys of the tournament host 11-3, 11-8, 11-4.

Earlier when the tournament served, off, Wilson, a two-time Caribbean Junior Singles champion and men’s bronze medal winner, eased past Faiz Mohammed and Ancil Russell in his three-player round-robin group.

Wilson then had a bye in the round-of-16 before he outplayed Gladiators’ Andrew Edwards 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 in their quarterfinals followed by an 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 defeat of top ranked local Yuvraaj Dookram of WASA in the semifinals.

Humphreys also won his round-robin series and received a last-16 bye ahead of wins over Class Three winner, Kwame Rodriguez of Carenage Blasters, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 and club mate Kenneth Parmanad 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 in the last-four

Dookram reached the last four courtesy knockout stage defeats of University of T&T’s Kyle Borneo, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4 and Blasters’ top junior Joshua Maxwell 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 14-12 while Parmanand ousted Blasters’ national junior standout and recent Caribbean silver medal winner Luc O’Young 12-14, 11-5, 14-12, 11-6; and UTT’s Alaric Humphrey’s 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8

In the round-of-16, Edwards dumped Anson Lowkie of Powergen 11-9, 11-8, 11-7, Rodriguez overcame Ancil Russell of WASA, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5, Maxwell battled past WASA’s Kirk Mohammed13-11, 4-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8 and Alaric Humphreys stopped WASA’s Frankly Seechan 11-9, 11-6, 11-6.

Meanwhile, fresh off his win in the WASA Table Tennis Monthly Challenge Class One on Thursday night, Aaron Wilson will be fancied to take top honours when the T&T Table Tennis Association stages the Silver Bowl Tournament from tomorrow at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua from 9.30 am.

The men A-1 Division which serves off from 1.30 pm will feature all the top local players led by 2015 winner Wilson of Carenage Blaster, Curtis Humphreys, reigning champion Yuvraaj Dookram, Arun Roopnarine and Alaric Humphreys who have all been placed in the Fourth Tier which comprises 15 round-robin groups from which the top two will advance to the main draw knockout stage

In the women’s A Division which will see four groups of round-robin action, 2015 champion Linda Partap-Boodhan, Brittany Joseph, Catherine Spicer and 12-time national and tournament defending champion Aleena Edwards head the list of entries which also includes promising youngsters Shreya Maharaj, Chelsea Fong, Rayanna Boodhan and veteran pair, Merle Baggoo and Shirley John, at the end of which the top two qualifies to the quarterfinals.

The A-2 Open Third Tier features 11 groups from which two players will also qualify to the main draw with the likes of Shaquille Mitchell, Kamal Hunte, Finn Boss, Rawle Parsons, Laureston Special, Benoni Daniel, Jesse Dookie, Derron Douglas, Riad Abasali, Matthew Mootra, Ancil Rusell and Sherdon Pierre all listed to compete.

In the B-2 Pool, Neville Cabie and N’Kosi Rouse are the favourites while in C, the field is a wide open one. Tomorrow, all other categories will conclude with the crowning of champions, except for the A-1 men and women Open, which will play up the last-16 and semifinals ahead of Wednesday’s final day of competition at the same venue from 6.30pm.

After two days of the 22nd annual Tobago International Billfish Tournament in Charlotteville, Surf N Turf is a cut above the rest.

Captained by Barry Singh George, the crew of Surf N Turf reeled in and released six blue marlins on the opening day on Wednesday for a total of 3,100 points. Although their returns on Day 2 of the tournament paled in comparison with just one blue marlin caught, the crew moved up to 3,750 points which keeps them in the lead in the international category, being contested by twelve boats.

The women anglers shone on the second day as Allison Devaux of Pair-a-Dice, landed her second straight wahoo of the tournament in the international division, following up Wednesday’s catch with a 36.10 pound catch on Thursday.

Tachelle Mohammed of Men of Steel brought a 23.60 pound wahoo to the scales for her boat which is competing in the local division while Remember Me Now’s Tricia Lynch was on target for the second straight day for her Barbadian crew when she caught and released a blue marlin. She also hooked a blue marlin the previous day.

The anglers are on a rest day on Friday and will continue action on Saturday, the final day of the tournament. Seventy-seven (77) anglers aboard 20 vessels are competing for top honours with entries from Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada and Barbados.

(sportscoretobago)

Lancaster Bomber is set to resume hostilities on the famous Rowley Mile course, Newmarket, this afternoon; a heavy landing is expected to save bookmakers a massive pay-out on appropriately-named stable-companion, Churchill!

Back in the second World War it was Sir Winston Churchill’s government which commissioned use of Lancaster bombers in the six-year fight against Germany. More than SEVEN THOUSAND Lancaster’s were built and night bombing raids paved the way for eventual success; it was an incredible aircraft and now, SEVENTY-FIVE years after its first sortie, this Aidan O’Brien-trained colt is already to do battle in the £500000, ten-runner, group one, 2000 Guineas.

Final reminder; this very same Rowley Mile was taken over by the War Office days before Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlin, announced war against ‘Jerry’ after Adolf Hitler failed to keep his word about a cease fire.

‘They knew’ and we know that Lancaster Bomber is massively-fancied by O’Brien whose supposed main fancy is hot-favourite, Churchill!

Back in October you may recall Ryan Moore-ridden Churchill beating Lancaster Bomber by just over a length in the group one ‘Dewhurst’ over seven furlongs, which has long been the definitive juvenile ‘classic trial’ and the barometer for pricing up and analyis this time round.

Of course we’re not totally convinced Lancaster Bomber will reverse placings, the winner looked and raced magnificently but he hasn’t been out since and my each-way selection raced genuinely when fourth in Dubai a few weeks ago.

On the time-handicap both have an edge over the English contingent, Barney Roy, winner of the ‘Greenham’ and Eminent, course and distance winner last month of the Craven Stakes, which has long been a pointer.

They are TH ‘beauts’ on what, hopefully, will prove a glorious reminder of what to expect when involved in a Battle of Britain!

Fran Berry’s blog on Guineas weekend

Top jockey Fran Berry looks ahead to a Classic weekend at Newmarket and a good book of rides at Goodwood today.

It was disappointing on the day to be beaten on Intern in the Classic Trial at Sandown but in hindsight he ran a tremendous race.

He only went down by a head to Cunco and it was a lovely first run for the stable and of the season. He’s a nice horse to have in the yard and hopefully he can develop into a contender for the King Edward VII Stakes.

He is still in the Derby and the Lingfield trial could be an option but I would think that Royal Ascot is more likely.

I rode against Ajman Princess at Royal Ascot last year and also in some of her maidens so I know her quite well. She’s a nice ride to pick up for Roger Varian and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and her experience will stand her in good stead in the Betfred TV EBF Stallions Daisy Warwick Stakes at Goodwood.

She finished a fine second to Even Song in the Ribblesdale and had a good break after flopping in the Irish Oaks. She was entitled to win her maiden but it’s still a plus that she’s got a run under her belt this season.

Le Diner en Blanc is back! The much anticipated all-white event is taking place today at a secret location.

Last year’s inaugural edition saw more than 600 guests converge on Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, for this mysterious pop-up picnic.

Dean Ackin of Ultimate Events told the T&T Guardian, “the event was very well received last year, so that created a lot of interest for this year and we’ve seen an increase in patronage.”

Ackin called Diner en Blanc,“a niche event with wide appeal.”

He said: “The range of people who are coming to the event are from different backgrounds and ages. Many of them prefer a laid back atmosphere where they can enjoy great food, drink and company.

“Most of the people who came last year enjoyed the atmosphere and really got into making their tables special. A lot of new friends were probably formed then as well.”

Launched nearly 30 years ago in Paris, Diner en Blanc promotes friendship, elegance, and a sense of community. It is now held in over 70 cities in more than 25 countries around the world. In the Caribbean, Diner en Blanc has been held in Jamaica and Haiti.

Junior Achievement T&T (JATT) hosted the biggest trade fair in its history with 46 companies, comprising more than 1,000 students, offering a wide range of products for sale at the organisation’s annual signature event at Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain, on Friday, April 21.

Minister of Labour and Small and Micro-Enterprise Development, Jennifer Baptiste-Primus visited several of the booths. She underscored her ministry’s support of the JA youth enterprise development initiative: “We reaffirm the major role that co-operatives play in the economic and social life of the people of T&T. It is heartening to see young people engaging in different forms of business activity. They represent the future of our country’s business and enterprise. This is a positive reflection on what our youths can achieve.”

The Labour Minister said discussions were being held with the Minister of Education, Anthony Garcia, with the purpose of creation of a space in every school to advance the concept of the co-operative enterprise module.

Joel Primus, Community Sustainability and Stakeholder Relations Advisor, representing platinum sponsor bpTT, said the energy company was honoured to continue its enduring partnership with Junior Achievement, dating back to the 1970s.

He said: “We at bpTT believe that initiatives such as the JA Trade Fair are aligned with our aspiration that calls on us to be involved in the development of everyone in T&T. The work that our partners such as Junior Achievement and others do helps us to achieve this goal. It is imperative to highlight the achievements of young people and the work of organisations like JA at a time when there are so many negative stories.”

JATT celebrated its 47th Annual Trade Fair as Woodford Square was turned into a virtual bazaar. Student entrepreneurs peddled a wide variety of handcrafted products such as printed T-shirts, wrist and hand-bands, earrings, bracelets, souvenir buttons, designer mugs and bakery items.

Karyl Williams, Commissioner for Co-operative Development, Ministry of Labour, said the ministry would start measures to get more credit unions involved in the programme. Some 14 companies were supported by the Division of Co-operative Development through various credit unions.

Ashley Davies, President of Ellipsiis, one of 10 bpTT-sponsored companies, said the programme, while challenging at times, was a wonderful experience as her colleagues received valuable insights into planning and forming the company.

“To do all this from scratch and to come to Port-of-Spain to sell our products is extremely satisfying. We intend to sell all our items today,” said a confident Davies, a student of St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando. Ellipsiis sold items such as mason jars and personal trinkets such as handbands, hair pieces, necklaces and caps.

Earlier, JA executive director, J Errol Lewis, said at the formal opening of the trade fair: “When you look at the news, you would think that young people are only involved in negative things. Yet you have hundreds of young men and women coming together in Woodford Square today to bring value to T&T.” Lewis praised bpTT and the Ministry of Labour’s Division of Co-operative Development for their significant support of the youth enterprise programme.

From developing your own signature sauce business to processing candied fruits and pickled vegetables, 60 young people from the Mayaro community learned some valuable skills in developing their own small agro-businesses at a recently concluded training programme.

The Youth Entrepreneurship in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) was held at the bpTT Mayaro Resource Centre. The YEAP is a collaborative effort between the Agriculture Ministry, the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (Cariri) and energy company bpTT. It focuses on creating avenues for entrepreneurship, innovation and employment in agro-industry for residents of Mayaro and environs.

Spilt into three day-long workshops, the programme was conceived by Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat almost a year ago.

The minister was present at the final training session, at which the young entrepreneurs made mixed pickles and hot chow chow. The minister interacted with the participants and praised the programme, saying: “YEAP was very comprehensive and delivered in-depth information about every aspect of being a businessperson, from technology to techniques and the inherent need for professionalism. The benefits don’t end today, because some of the participants will be selected for the Business Incubator Programme. I’m proud of everyone who took part and I look forward to purchasing your products in the very near future.”

Joel Primus, Community Sustainability and Stakeholder Relations Advisor, bpTT, underscored the company’s partnership in the programme. “Fostering entrepreneurship is one of the pillars of bpTT’s corporate philosophy and this programme was able to achieve that with a high level of excellence. It provided a different perspective on agriculture and also inculcated valuable skills that included good manufacturing practices, sanitation and packaging. The impact of this programme has national and even international potential because all it takes is one brilliant idea to change the world. The response from the participants was great encouragement in our drive to invest in the development of people.”

Also on hand to lend support was Cariri’s Chief Executive Officer, Liaquat Ali Shah, who encouraged the participants to believe in themselves. He said: “You are now well equipped for a new and exciting world of opportunity and just as you have improved yourselves, you need to take Mayaro and our nation forward as well.”

For 25-year-old Afeisha Rodney of New Lands Village, Guayaguayare, the project was a transformative experience. She said: “I work at a popular catering establishment and I will take back what I learnt to share with my co-workers and increase the capacity of the business. I have a degree in Biochemistry and I appreciated how scientific methodology was incorporated into the training. We owe a dept of gratitude to the Ministry, Cariri and bpTT because, at the end of the day, there are now 60 young people in Mayaro with a renewed vision and new skills who are ready to make a difference.”

The Dyslexia Association will be running three courses this year to better train 60 teachers to help students with dyslexia, according to a recent release from the Massy Foundation, which is providing funding.

The new courses will include teacher assessments and multi-sensory teaching skills to be applied to reading, handwriting, spelling, the perception of sounds in words, sequencing, listening, language skills, story writing, essay planning, comprehension and lesson planning.

Dyslexia, the learning disability which impacts a person’s ability to read, write, spell, and in some cases, comprehend, does not equate to low intelligence, the release explained. Research has shown that dyslexics simply learn differently and can blossom once they are exposed to the right teaching methods. With this in mind, the Dyslexia Association focuses on training teachers in specialised skills for educating dyslexics.

The Massy Foundation provides an annual subvention to the Dyslexia Association for the multi-sensory phonics teaching programme. This funding helps reduce the cost of participation for individual teachers at the three-week training course which traditionally begins in July each year.

The Association has so far trained over 900 teachers throughout T&T. It has also put dyslexic students and adults in touch with teachers within their area for screening and specialist tutoring.