United States head coach Bruce Arena announced a 23-man roster on Sunday to face T&T and Mexico in World Cup qualifying action on June 8th and 14th respectively.

The US squad will begin a training camp in Denver from today before facing Venezuela in an international Friendly in Salt Lake City on Friday. Members of the T&T squad have been in Denver, USA at a training camp since May 23rd.

T&T Head Coach Dennis Lawrence will announce his roster for the qualifiers next week after assessing the players currently in camp at Prentup Field.

The roster breakdown for the US is: 14 players from MLS, nine from European leagues, three from the Mexican circuit and one (Brad Guzan) who is in the process of moving to MLS (Atlanta) from England (Middlesbrough).

Arena selected a larger-than-usual group (27 instead of 23 or 25) because of a tight timetable (two games in four days instead of five as Mexico has to play earlier due ), the possible effects of playing at altitude and the yellow card situation. Geoff Cameron, John Brooks, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Matt Besler are carrying cards and, with their next booking, will have to sit out one match.

“I think we have a good group,” Arena said in a release. “I’m still in the early goings with this team and I haven’t seen all of our players, so this camp gives me the opportunity to see six new faces we haven’t had in with the team yet, which is valuable.

“It’s also great that we’re able to bring back 21 players that have been in with our program already in 2017. We have a roster that has good balance all over, we have good young players and hopefully it’s a team we can put together to get us points in both games.”

Is the Champions Trophy even watchable without West Indies in it?

When the first ball of the ICC Champions Trophy is bowled on Thursday at The Oval in England one of the most accomplished teams in World cricket - the West Indies will not be present. Currently ranked 9th in the world the Caribbean side was unable to book a place in this year’s tournament which ends on June 18.

The West Indies have won the ICC Cricket World Cup twice, in 1975 and 1979, the ICC World Twenty20 twice, in 2012 and 2016, the ICC Champions Trophy once, in 2004.

The players from the Caribbean bring to the tournament competition mixed with flair and entertainment at every series in which they participate with their big hitting, big personalities and eye-catching celebrations. They even make press conferences fun. Here’s a list of things we’ll miss about them this Champions Trophy.

Marlon, oh Marlon

Ever seen a modern cricketer at a press conference answering questions with his feet propped up on the table, the pads still on? In Marlon Samuels’ world, that’s par for the course, along with taking tall chases seemingly to the point of no return and then finishing them off in a blaze of glory.

“I’m a silent killer,” he had said before last year’s World T20 final, when requested for an interview. After Carlos Brathwaite had hit the winning runs, Samuels was ready to talk. He called Ben Stokes a “nervous lad”, and took a jibe at Shane Warne for making critical comments about him. “I don’t know [why Warne has a problem with me]. Maybe it’s because my face is real and his face is not,” Samuels said. He will be missed by fans this Champions Trophy, but also by journalists and headline-writers.

Gayle dreams

Warne famously said once that he had nightmares of Sachin Tendulkar dancing down the track to hit him over his head. Chris Gayle didn’t need to move his feet to let Brett Lee feel the way Warne did when he razed down Australia’s 169 without breaking a sweat - 46 off his 88 runs came off 18 Lee deliveries - at The Oval. The one glimpse of Gayle in London this time unfortunately won’t be at The Oval, but at a charity dinner in which all the ammunition he has used to dispatch bowlers around the world will be up for auction.

One thing we won’t miss

Their pre-tournament contracts dispute. But thanks for trying, Australia. (SOURCE: ESPNcricinfo)

Think Fashion may well find five furlongs of ‘good to firm’ Windsor too short, in an ‘aged’ Maiden Stakes today, but I’ll take my chance with this experienced, well-bred, Brian Meehan-trained So You Think filly, mount of James Doyle.

Meehan is no ‘winning machine’ but his yard seems to be grinding into action; Spark Plug was an unlucky short-head loser at Goodwood, Saturday, and Brian always turns his horses looking a ‘million dollars’ due to a patient, understanding, approach to needs of thoroughbreds.

In this day and age training is a ‘numbers game’ and there are so many who simply can’t register sufficient success to attract owners but Meehan continues to survive at the picturesque Manton stables complex, formerly owned by Robert Sangster and occupied by his great friend, Barry Hills.

Dropping down in distance is seldom a problem but Think Fashion achieved his ‘career best’ time-handicap mark over seven in the group three ‘Greenham’ at Newbury; what a drop in class this represents.

Subsequently Think Fashion finished a close third to heavily-backed Yaraki on a ‘good to soft’ Lingfield surface; that mark should also be good enough on this occasion.

Both Beck And Call and Fair Cop are progressive types, sure to be well supported from ‘fashionable yards, but if Think Fashion replicates anything like her last two efforts this really should be fifth time lucky under Doyle, a real ‘favourite’ who has a brain!

If you are wondering why this Monday fixture is being staged this afternoon it’s another ‘bank holiday’ programme and evening racing isn’t allowed in England on them!

Valley Of Rocks has Black Salt to beat in a 3-y-o Maiden stakes over six furlongs of ‘good to firm’ Redcar; price-wise the former makes more appeal judged on an encouraging debut under Joe Fanning last September.

On his seasonal debut over the straight Chepstow mile thirteen days ago Valley Of Rocks attempted to sort out the wheat from the chaff with positive front-running tactics but was somewhat over-cooked and, not surprisingly, ‘cracked’ in the closing stages.

Black Salt comes out similarly and will be fancied but preference is for Mark Johnston’s charge.

Similar ground is expected at Leicester where Perfect In Pink could well enhance stud value in an ‘aged’ Maiden Fillies’ Stakes over twelve furlongs; Mick Channonj has booked another ‘favourite’ jockey, Graham Lee.

Highland Pass (9/4) and Crafty Madam (5/2) was a ‘beaut’ double on Saturday.

Redcar, 10.15 Valley Of Rocks (e.w)

Windsor, 11.20 Think Fashion (nap-e.w)

Leicester, 12.50 Perfect In Pink (e.w).

According to the National Sport Policy (2002), “Regular involvement in sport and physical activity are fundamental to good health and wellness at all stages of life.” (p.4).

In the last 20 years a number of stadia, multi-sport indoor facilities have been constructed, recreational grounds have been upgraded with renovated pavilions, the installation of floodlights, recreational items such as swings, slides etc and the provision of paved walking and jogging pathways. Unfortunately, these facilities are heavily underutilized.

The challenge is getting the public to use the facilities frequently and in great numbers. How can this be achieved? There is no single answer as communities differ in leisure and sporting activities. Therefore, creative approaches have to be developed to stimulate community participation.

It may require looking at models elsewhere to adapt foreign knowledge into the local context. Sport New Zealand has established a national Sporting Facilities Framework to get the best value from its sporting facilities. In England, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have partnered with Sport England identifying five (5) areas toward creating a sporting habit for life as part of its youth sport strategy. These include: competitive sport in schools; improving links between schools and community sports clubs; working with the sport’s governing bodies focusing on youth; investing in facilities and working with communities and the voluntary sector.

Lessons can be learnt from the approaches undertaken in England and New Zealand. Firstly, there must be a strategic plan with an efficiently functioning management system. Such a system would include all the major stakeholders’ such as the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, SPORTT, THA, Education and Health Ministry’s; National Sporting Associations, UWI/UTT, private sector and community representatives.

The voice of the people

Secondly, it is important to listen to the voice of the people, as it empowers them in making decisions that will benefit them. During the NAR regime (1986-91) basketball courts were laid in several communities that did not have a basketball culture. As such the facilities were used for other sports such as windball cricket and smallgoal football.

Thirdly, data collection would allow for effective planning and implementation. For instance, differentiating between new and existing users of sporting facilities based on age, gender, religion and other important socio-economic demographics will be critical toward developing strategies to keep people actively involved.

Fourthly, baseline data must be established and monitored to measure various trends such as dropout rates. Furthermore, the data collected will help in assessing desired outcomes as well as determining the steps to be taken to improve all programmes.

Every effort should be made to ensure that the sporting facilities that are available are put to effective use to justify the economic and social expenditure especially in the face of the current economic challenges. A strategic approach offers better possibilities of measured success than the hope that people will naturally use the sporting facilities if they are made available.

Dr. ANAND RAMPERSAD UWI Lecturer (Sociology)

Since the inception of WeBeat St James Live in 2001, this year will be the first occasion on which the festival will be staged without its chairman, Earl Cros­by, who passed away in August 2016.

“It is a strange feeling to be plan­ning this year’s event without Earl,” said long-standing WeBeat commit­tee member Angela Fox. “The fes­tival’s success over the years was large­ly due to his untiring ef­forts, and res­olute willingness to forge ahead, despite the many challenges he faced during that time. So we are doing this year’s activities in his honour, even though the problems are still there.”

Crosby, who had undergone se­rious health issues a few months before last year’s staging, had this to say at the opening: “Because of my health condition, members of the committee undertook all responsi­bility for producing this year’s event, and faced even greater challenges than in past years in getting sponsors to buy into this programme that has proven its worth for over 15 years.”

The WeBeat St James Live festi­val was developed to promote the community of St James which, due to its all-day, all-night activities, is dubbed the “city that never sleeps.” The festival provides a platform to showcase the talents of local artistes while highlighting the contribution of people who have been pivotal in the development of St James and, by extension, the wider community. A most apt phrase to describe this fes­tival is ‘collective responsibility’ for within the perimeter of the rhyth­mic, are the social responsibilies of health, environment, and rewards.

However, despite all of this, ac­cording to Fox, WeBeat has always been plagued with funding prob­lems.

“After 16 years, it seems that each year presented the same challenge,” she said.

“In conversations with the chair­man we noticed how to be always ‘begging for help’ was taking a toll on his ability to produce the well-known event. But he was never short of enthusiasm and hope. In fact, he expected that one day the St James business community, having gained substantially from the annual showcase, would partner with the St James Community Improvement Committee (CIC), the producer of the festival, to ensure its continu­ance.”

When members of the St James CIC sat down in 2000 to consider proposals for staging WeBeat St James Live, they were under no il­lusions about the onerous task they had set themselves. It was a group with varying skills, energies and per­sonalities, with expertise in a wide range of fields. They knew that the event’s future hinged upon its ability to get financial assistance from cor­porate sponsors and local businesses in the area that benefitted from the festival’s appeal.

For the past 16 years, it has been a stimulus for small businesses in the community, provided a forum  for artistes to showcase their talents, and con­tributed significantly to the elevation of St James as a major entertainment venue in the Capital City. The St James CIC won the bpTT Leader Award in 2002 for its innovation of WeBeat St James Live.

One of the positives to emerge out of WeBeat St James Live is the expo­sure and development of young, talented artistes who literally wet their feet at the festival. Among the outstanding talents produced have been past Digicel Rising Stars win­ner Moricia Cagan, former national calypso mon­archs Duane O’Connor and Chuck Gordon, Umi Marcano, and acclaimed vocalist Leandra Head and her sister Tylah. (The Head sisters, incidentally, will be performing their farewell show—Closing Doors; The Final Re­cital—at Theatre 1, Na­tional Academy for the Performing Arts, Keate Street, Port-of-Spain, at 6 pm, before embarking on their studies abroad in music.)

In addition, honoured by the festival commit­tee with an award for its work with young people in the community was police officer Dereck Charbod­ie and the St James Police Youth Club.

A new WeBeat feature this year is The Road Show on Friday, June 3, produced by Earl’s broth­er, Victor Crosby. This is expected to revive memo­ries of the days when Earl hosted record launches in front of the store on the Western Main Road, and DJs, steelbands, calypso­nians, and other perform­ers will appear.

Staging this year’s fes­tival is estimated to cost in excess of $340,000, a decrease from last year’s budget. It runs from Sat­urday, June 3 to Saturday, June 10 at the St James Amphitheatre, Western Main Road, St James, un­der the patronage of the Mayor of Port-of-Spain.

This year’s honoree is Woo Ling’s Supermarket, a family-owned business, spanning over 60 years of providing service to the community.

 WE BEAT SCHEDULE

DATE: June 3

The Road Show Tribute to Earl Crosby - DJs, steelbands, tassa, African drumming, calypso

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 6 pm- midnight

ADMISSION: Free

DATE: June 04

Pan Explosion - Massy T’dad All Stars, Samaroo Jets, PCS Nitro­gen Silver Stars, Bp Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra, Scrunter’s Pan Groove

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 6 pm

ADMISSION: $150

DATE: June 6

Health Day in collaboration with the Diabetes Assoc. of T&T - health checks

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 9 am

ADMISSION

Film Night in collaboration with T&T Film Festival

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 7 pm

ADMISSION: Free

DATE: June 7

JazzBeat - Elan Parle Pelham Goddard & Roots, Jason “Fridge” Seecharan, T&T Police Service Band, St James Tripolians

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 7 pm

ADMISSION: $150

DATE: June 8

WeConnect …. St James Police Youth Club Motivational Speak­ers for invited schools

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 10 am

ADMISSION: Free

Youth Fest - Errol Ince & The Mu­sic Makers and Friends

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 7 pm

ADMISSION: Free

DATE: June 9

WeKaiso - produced by Carl “Beaver” Henderson - St James Tripolians

VENUE: St James Park & Amphi­theatre

TIME: 8 pm

ADMISSION: $150

DATE: June 10

Jouvert Steelband & Traditional Mas - Invited bands steel orches­tras, rhythm sections, NCBA Tra­ditional Mas characters

VENUE: Western Main Road, St James

TIME: 7 pm – 2 am

ADMISSION: FREE

I for one welcomed the advent of Internet banking because it saved me the trouble of having to go into the bank and stand in long lines with inadequate amount of tellers to deal with me, even if only to answer a query that I may have.

Now it seems that there is a shortage of employees to deal with online queries. If you call on the phone to query an Internet problem, it seems like “all of our agents are still engaged, please stay on the line” is the Road March in this Republic of ours.

I recently had an experience that caused me to be holding on for an agent to deal with me, while my phone bill kept going up, not happily jumping to the Road March.

Even if there is a toll free number to call it probably would be backed up with callers, making me wonder if I shouldn’t just go back into the bank and take my licks standing up in the long lines with the rest of the unfortunate people who have to. Just to have a query answered.

Where we really heading? Or have we reached?

W Dopson

Woodbrook

BELCON, Manuelita Eugenia died on 27th May, 2017. Daughter of Leo and Sabina Belcon (dec.). Sister of Lionel(deceased), Carlistus, Gregory, Rosita Campbell, Carmelita, Joseph (dec.), and John. Aunt of Cherry Ann, Sharon, Marlon, Cartistus Jr., Carolyn ,Natalie, Garth, Denise, Michelle, Glen, Peter, Nicholas, Marie, Stacey, Marvin and Josette. Relative of Belcon, Du Bois, Gill, Hercules, Campbell, Ramany, Salandy, Cordner and Eversley. Friend of Catherine Campbell, Sister Paul Marie Clarke and Genevive Pascall.

Funeral service at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday 1st June, 2017 at Clarkand Battoos Chapel, 11 Tragarete Road, Port of Spain, thence to the Crematorium, Long Circular Road, St.Jamesat 12:30p.m. For enquiries; call C&B: 625-1170. To send condolences please visit ourwebsite www.clarkandbattoo.com For enquiries, please call Clark and Battoo Funeral Home - 625-1170. To send condolences, please visit our website www.clarkandbattoo.com

GRANT, BARBARA of 102Norman Spann Crescent, Barataria died on 23rd May, 2017. Wife of Egbert Xavier(dec.). Mother of Kelvin Scott, Gordon Grant, Shenna Grant-Wickham, Winthrop Grant, Eric Grant & Yvette Grant.Grandmother of Natasha, Giselle, Asha, Vanessa, Kwesi, Mark, Sherraine, Krystal, Kerice, Kezia, Karimah, Racine, Kalifa, Shane, Dara, Alysha, Kwasi, Akhim, Majeza, Latoya & Dwayne.

Greatgrandmother of twenty five. Great great grandmother of Khelisya. Mother-in-law of Mauria, Wendell, Hannah, Marva & Natalia. Sister of Herbert (dec.), Shirley, Christopher, Annette,Franklyn, Anton, Junior, Michael, Ernest & Lynette(dec.). Friend of Florise Dick,Wendy-Ann Forde Nihipali, Norma Wickham-Charles, Doris Craig-Dillon, Margaret Romany, Hermina Bynoe-Charles, Shawndell Lazar, Trina Lashley & many more.

Funeral service at 9.00 am on Wednesday 31st May, 2017 from St John's the Baptist Church, Pembroke Street POS thence to the Woodbrook cemetery. For enquiries; callC&B: 625-1170. To send condolences please visit our web-site www.clarkandbattoo.com For enquiries, please call Clark and Battoo Funeral Home- 625-1170. To send condolences, please visit ourwebsite www.clarkandbat-too.com

TURTON, Eastlyn Guildard departed this life on Wednesday 24th May, 2017 at Mt.Hope Hospital, at the age of 92. He will be lovingly remembered as the: Husbandof: Eugenie Turton (Dec). Father of : Effie Aqui, Dianne Guevara & Ian Turton. Grand-father of: Miguel, Leah Marie, Otis, Kareem & Isaiah. GreatGrandfather of: Antonio,Liam, Sophya & Ellie. In Law of: Errol Aqui, Camillus Guevara & Angela Turton.

The Funeral Service for the late Guildard E. Turton takes place on Wednesday 31st May, 2017 from 12:30pm at Belgroves Memorial Crematorium at #10 Orange Grove Road, Trincity. 223-2178 Ext. 556. To offer condolences to the family please go to www.belgroves.com

TOM-RIGSBY; KATHLEEN; retired Senior Accounts Manager of RBC passed away onThursday 25th May, 2017. Beloved wife of Wendel Rigsby. Loving mother of Carissa and Jed Rigsby. Adoring Grandmother of Raphael. Daughter of the late Kerwyn and Bernadine Tom. Sister of  Kenneth, Kerwyn Jr., and Kevin Tom. Niece of Claudius Tom. Sister-in-law Vikibeth, Sharon, Michelle, Curtis and Dexter. Aunt of Isaiah, Bethany, Anna-Leigh, Catherine-Olivia, Joshua and Isabella. Dear Friend of many.

Funeral at 10.00a.m. on Tuesday 30th May, 2017 at Church ofthe Nativity, Crystal Stream, Diego Martin thence to theWoodbrook Cemetery, Mucurapo Road. For enquiries, call C&B 625-1170 or visit clarkandbattoo.com

O'Brien: Monica- of Tuna-puna, former employee of Central Bank, First Citizens, and EMA passed away peacefully at Mount Hope Hospitalon May 26, 2017. Wife of Sedley OBrien (deceased). Mother of Joanne, Sheron, Roger O'Brien and Shabazz Harry. Sister to Wayne Puckerin. Relative of the Puckerins, O'Briens. Dear friend of Vinette Huggins, Caramae Farmer, Claire and Ossie Bruce, Maureen Marcano, Jerry Alleyne-Nagee, Saint Charles RC Parish, and many others.

Funeral mass of the late Monica OBrien will beheld at Saint Charles RC Church, Eastern Main Road,Tunapuna at 10:00am Thursday, June 1, 2017. In lieu offlowers donations will be col-lected for Tacarigua OrphanHome.

NAHOUS, BAHIJ passed away peacefully on Monday 29th May, 2017. Son of the late Joseph and Latifa Nahous. Husband of the late Chafica Nahous. Father of Yusef, Charles and David. Father-in-law of Huda, Yemen and Marixa. Grandfather of Joseph Jnr(Jenna), Nicole Rahael(Michael), Natalie, Carmen, Nigel, Steven and Cathrien Nahous.

Great grandfather of Hannah and Nylah Rahael. Brother of John, Bahige Joseph, Anwar(dec), Lily Raffoul and Nazim. Brother in law of Teresa(dec), Helen, Aziz Joseph(dec),Josephine, Abdulla(dec) and Jinan. Uncle to the Nahous, Joseph, Raffoul and Fakoory families.

Funeral massfor the late Bahij Nahous takes placeon Friday 2nd June, 2017 at 10:00am at The Church of the Assumption, Long Circular Road, followed by private interment. In lieu of flowers, a collection will be taken up for his favourite charity. Funeral entrusted to C&B. For enquiries, please contact Chancellor Walks Funeral Services, 287-0403/04.

There are more 1,000 people with Lupus in T&T.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) causes the immune system becomes overactive and it starts making antibodies against its own cells.

When the disease is active, immune responses can cause inflammation in cells which can affect the skin, joints, muscles, blood vessels, blood cells, brain and nerves, lungs, heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and/or the linings around internal organs.

At a recent awareness campaign at the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain, president of the Lupus Society of T&T (LSTT) Clifford Balgobin urged people with Lupus and their employers to learn all they can about the disease.

LSTT, a non-governmental organisation which has been in operation since 1988, seeks to educate, raise awareness, study trends and seek solutions to the non-communicable disease.

Balgobin said Lupus affects women nine times more than men and usually occurs during their child-bearing years.

However, it can occur in children as well as during menopause and is more likely to develop in Afro-Caribbean and South Asian people.

Symptoms include fatigue, joint/muscle pains and weakness, flu-like illness, skin rashes, including the classic butterfly rash on the cheek and nose, hair loss and mouth ulcers. While the disease is different for each person, Balgobin said many sufferers experience a mild flare which could affect joints, skin and cause fatigue.

He said treatment may help improve symptoms over time and some people might only experience one flare-up while others experience periodic flare-ups followed by periods of remission. Allyson Devenish, of Morvant, said the LSTT’s awareness campaign is “something good.” She said her 23-year-old niece was diagnosed with Lupus three years ago and the family is still learning how to adapt and deal with the flare-ups which sometimes hampers activities.

Government is deciding between two locations in Dass Trace, Enterprise, for that Chaguanas community’s promised police station after another murder occurred there last Sunday.

“The matter’s being dealt with right now,” National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said, although he did not give a timeframe for completion.

Dillon spoke following last weekend’s murder of Enterprise businessman Joey Basdeo, who was was attacked by a gunman while driving out of Reuben Lane with his family. He was reportedly a friend of reputed gang leader Selwyn “Robocop”Alexis who was murdered last year.

Basdeo’s murder followed weeks of relative calm in Enterprise after a wave of gang-war related violence in March and April. Several friends and relatives of Alexis have been shot or killed since then.

Following the spate of murders, the army and police presence in the area was increased and the National Security Council decided to construct a police station in the area “in the shortest possible time.”

Last Thursday in the Senate, following Opposition questions about the station, Dillon said Government is still examining two locations.

“We’re debating which one will give the best advantage. There’s no time frame, but it will be built as soon as possible,” he said.

On Monday, Dillon said the two options on the table involve state lands at Dass Trace which are under the control of the Chaguanas Borough Corporation. One is near an early childhood centre and the other is also close by.

On Basdeo’s murder, Dillon said following gang warfare earlier in the year there had been a migration of culprits out of Enterprise into different districts. He said the situation is being tracked and the police/army presence remains with broadened coverage of the district.

Last Friday, IslamicFront leader Umar Abdullah, who has been working on peace initiatives since March with Enterprise groups— including Unruly Isis now rebranded to Peace Masjid— said he had been keeping the Enterprise situation under control.

Abdullah said he believed Basdeo’s murder was an isolated one-off incident and didn’t mean a revival of gang wars.

“Mr Basdeo was a very good person. All the groups say he helped all Muslims. I was meeting with one group on Sunday when I got a call from Keron Alexis (Robocop’s son) about the shooting,” he said.

A High Court Judge has ordered a forensic audit into the operations of a casino which was the subject of a long-standing ownership dispute between two foreigners.

Justice Eleanor Donaldson- Honeywell ordered the audit to determine ownership of Club Princess Limited which operated Club Princess Casino on Independence Square in Port-of- Spain. She said it is also necessary because there might be evidence of illegal business practices such as skimming, destruction of records and diversion of funds.

The casino was established in 2005 as a joint venture by American Charles Frost, of Dallas Corporation, and Turkish national Sudi Ozkan, owner of Alanando Corporation.

They opened holding companies Club Princess Limited and Forty Four Limited to manage the casino and had a a verbal agreement to split the profits and make joint management decisions.

Before his death in 2011, Frost sold his stake in the venture to his friend and fellow American Thomas Baker, who came to Trinidad to replace Frost as managing director and for his stake to be officially transferred.

Baker assumed duties at the casino’s offices but was forced out while being sued by Frost’s brothers over his acquisition of shares in the company. The siblings’ lawsuit before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in St Kitts and Nevis was eventually thrown out because they failed to pursue the case.

Baker sued Ozkan, the companies and its corporate secretary and former government minister Christlyn Moore over their alleged “oppressive” conduct in ejecting him from the company. The company denied any wrongdoing and instead suggested that it was forced to do so due to Baker’s abrasive management style and conduct.

In his lawsuit, Baker claimed that since being forced out he has not received any profits or had access to financial records. His lawyer, Seenath Jairam, SC, submitted that while the dispute was ongoing, Ozkan and the company’s management funnelled money from it to establish competing casinos using the same trademark in Chaguanas, Movietowne, Port-of Spain, and San Fernando. The process effectively left the casino insolvent.

Baker did not challenge ownership of the other casinos as they were opened after the case was filed.

In her 35-page judgement, Justice Donaldson- Honeywell ruled that Baker was entitled to 50 per cent ownership of the companies and that he was oppressed.

She said winding up the companies would not benefit him.

The parties were given two weeks to decide on an independent auditor who will be appointed by the Registrar of the High Court in the event that there is no agreement.

Donaldson-Honeywell also gave the parties an option to appoint an investigator to look into the affairs of the companies after the audit is completed.

Until last week’s statement about cases left unfinished by Marcia Ayers-Caesar, there had been a deafening silence from Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) on the status of the former chief magistrate.

Even though they have now broken their silence on the future of the 53 matters left part-heard by Mrs Ayers-Caesar, which now have to be restarted, that does nothing to resolve the controversy in which the judiciary has been embroiled for several weeks.

The legal flip-flops and blunders which started with the elevation of Mrs Ayers-Caesar to the High Court, followed soon after by her resignation, were prompted by the furore over the many incomplete cases she left behind prior to the elevation.

However, that is eclipsed only by Chief Justice Archie’s own changing positions—from his initial claim that she would be “restored” to the magistracy, to his dramatic about turn after 11 of this country’s most learned senior counsel, including two former attorneys general, questioned that decision.

For the most part, Mr Archie and the rest of the JLSC have made very little effort to bring clarity to an issue that has been a black cloud over the administration of justice.

Valid concerns expressed by many prominent members of the legal profession, including former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, remain unanswered.

Surely Mr Archie, as head of the judiciary, must be concerned that justice has come to a standstill for the many defendants who have been stuck in an already overcrowded remand because of Mrs Ayers-Caesar’s unfinished work.

At the very least, he and the JLSC can respond to the arguments raised by Mr Maharaj, an attorney for more than 50 years, who says there is no “legal barrier put forward by the JLSC to prevent Madame Justice Marcia Ayers Caesar from functioning as a judge.”

Mr Maharaj further contends that a judge cannot lawfully lose office because the JLSC did not do its duty in determining whether there were part-heard matters.

It would indeed be unfortunate if, as it now seems, the JLSC leaves Mrs Ayers Caesar to take full responsibility for the entire judicial mess at the expense of her legal career, for having “misled” them about her part-heard matters.

Will there be no accounting for the lack of action and decisiveness on the part of the man who heads the judiciary?

Given the number of people whose lives have been hanging in the balance because of this judicial impasse, the Chief Justice does not have the luxury of time and can’t wait for the opening of the law term, which is still a few months away, before publicly stating what he planned to do to address the issues now causing so much turmoil in the country’s justice system.

Natural justice demands that these issues be addressed now.

Mr Archie cannot claim that he is overwhelmed or too busy. In recent times he has attended the opening of the Brian Lara Stadium—he is known to be a cricket fan—and carried out other official functions that did not require his attention as urgently as the current controversy.

Certainly a man of his considerable experience in the administration of justice should have by now come up with some solutions to deal with this debacle.

Maybe it is also time for the titular head of the bar, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, to step in.

While there is the matter of separation of powers, he also has some responsibility in the issue of justice and human rights when so many citizens are languishing in behind bars because of the silence and inaction of a few in positions of influence. He, too, not known to be a man of few words, has been strangely silent in the face of this worsening crisis.

The implications for the wider society if this matter is not handled promptly and decisively are too troubling to contemplate.

On Monday, the Guardian’s front page showed a performance tableau of a barefooted young man and woman in Indian costume. A similar image, of an old woman in a rocking chair with and two younger women, was published on the Express’s front-page on May 26, headlined “Indian Arrival play.”

Paralysed, bucolic, effete—this is the Indian “brand” in Trinidad. But it’s a different brand from the India in US pop-culture, and you might even say in the Western imagination, which is fascinated with Indians, but not as cow-herders or doubles vendors.

A decade ago, a Simpsons episode (titled Kiss Kiss Bangalore) took place in India, and featured the Simpsons doing a Bollywood dance number, and the food, the snakes, the Gods, what have you, in a lovingly campy way.

Since then, Indian characters began appearing in prominent roles in high-profile TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, and The Daily Show. M Night Shamylan’s Hollywood career is still something of a phenomenon.

Today, Indian faces appear in leading roles in network TV series like Quantico, Netflix’s Master of None, and are given high visibility on news programmes, like CNN’s Sanjay Gupta and Fareed Zakaria. Outside of show-business, former US Attorney Preet Bharara, former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi are mainstream personalities. (These aren’t exhaustive lists.)

The point is, to be Indian in the West, or at least the US, means something much different from what it means in Trinidad and Tobago. Counter arguments will spring immediately to litigious minds. The IndoTrinidadian community is rich.

It dominates in the professions, and is prominent in politics, state and business institutions. Its party, the UNC, has formed the government more than once.

All true, but it all counts for naught because of the ongoing kulturkampf the community seems either unable or unwilling to address.

It’s little comfort that similar long-simmering kulturkampfs have burst violently through Euro-American politics, societies, and economies with Brexit, the Trump phenomenon, and the resurgence of ethnic nationalism in Europe. What drives the phenomenon is usually incumbent social groups being moved to “take back” their countries from immigrants and various other interlopers.

Which brings us back to Trinidad and Tobago in 2017. The narrative that fulfills all the insular and nativist criteria outlined above is the Creole nationalist narrative—centred in Carnival, and extending into politics and society.

It pronounces on authenticity, and provides images, logic, and arguments. It also has limited room for IndoTrinidadians, and sees them as interlopers and of late, oppressors.

The Creole worldview’s most immediate media are talk radio and calypso. I can’t bear to listen to the talk radio any more, but I go to the state-sponsored calypso tents and watch the state-sponsored Dimanche Gras every year.

And from the songs, it’s clear many calypsonians, who speak for the masses, are obsessed with race, reparations and believe they’re oppressed by Indians. (I’ve reported on this at length in these pages for years.)

Outside of Carnival, you can hear it in the pronouncements of the Black Caucus Movement (they have a television show on Synergy TV) who seem obsessed with repossessing property in Caroni and elsewhere. It’s in the press—the reliable Selwyn Cudjoe is now expatiating in the Express about how Indians were brought here to stop Africans’ economic progress.

The equally reliable Theodore “Ted” Lewis writes about the absence of Africans on university campuses being attributable to discrimination. Happy Indian Arrival, Ted. Why don’t you “arrive” back in the US? And take Selwyn with you, You have US passports, right?

But it’s not just in populist trash that the viewpoint emerges. The Creole nationalist ideology formed the bedrock of Terrence Farrell’s book, We Like it So? (discussed in this space a few weeks ago). It appeared in David McDermott Hughes’ recent book on Trinidad, Energy without Conscience, and in the recent Al Jazeera documentary, From Caribbean to Caliphate.

The point is, the narrative is out there, everywhere, and there’s no point trying to counter with fact or logic. As the overly optimistic liberals in the US, Europe, and elsewhere are realising, the facts aren’t important.

What’s important in these matters are volume and relentlessness. We’ve known that in Trinidad and Tobago all along.

Which leads to the other element to all this. IndoTrinidadians don’t have an alternative cultural, self-defining narrative outside the clichéd one shown in the papers.

They seem to not know that other than in physical appearance, they have nothing in common with the India or Indians of today, though there seems to be an insistence on establishing those connections.

An article in Monday’s Guardian featured an interview with Prof Brinsley Samaroo who was reported as saying of his visits to India, “When you go to those villages, you get food your mother used to make…you see the India from which you came still very much alive.”

I have the highest regard for Prof Samaroo, and do not doubt what he says.

However, this is a very small, and to my mind irrelevant, part of the story. That’s peasant India, which remains unchanged from the 19th century, riddled with caste, gender and colour prejudice. Where women are gang-raped and murdered by good Hindu men with a disturbing frequency. It’s not a place I, and I imagine many Trinidadians, find appealing or feel connected to.

While IndoTrinidadians can be as perverse and ignorant as any tribe anywhere, they’ve become a different tribe from those they left 172 years ago.

The IndoTrinidadian waits to be discovered and defined via artists and social scientists. If Indians think their economic and political progress, and cliches about being devout pioneers, will protect them from what Paul Gilroy termed “cultural insiderism”, they’re sadly mistaken.

Antitrust. An economic policy in which the PNM administration tells the population to trust that the Government knows what it’s doing, and then proceeds to prove itself wrong.

Backwardation. In standard economics, this refers to a commodity which is valued more in the present than the future, but in PNMonomics it refers to the effect of PNM policies.

Black Economy. In standard economics, transactions which do not show up in official records; in PNMonomics, make-work for PNM-till-Ah-deads to ensure they vote PNM until killed.

Bull. In normal economics, an investor who expects the price of a particular security to rise; in PNMonomics, the main reason for taxpayer-funded trips overseas, as well as the rationales offered afterwards.

Capitalism. In normal economics, a free-market system premised on property rights which allow entrepreneurs to make profits; in PNMonomics, a system whereby family and friends make profits by getting State contracts, jobs, and all-inclusive vacations.

Demand Curve. The actual reason Sports Minister Darryl Smith spent $92,000 for a weekend trip to Tobago.

Disequilibrium. When supply and demand in a market are not in balance, as when Prime Minister Keith Rowley supplies more excuses than accomplishments.

Engel’s Law. An empirical observation that people spend a smaller share of their budget on food as their income rises, first noted in 1857 by the Russian statistician Ernst Engel, who never observed Sports Minister Darryl Smith having lunch.

Fiscal Drag. In normal economics, the tendency for revenue from taxation to rise as a share of GDP in a growing economy; in PNMonomics Finance Minister Colm Imbert making a Budget statement.

Foreign Direct Investment. Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s contribution to Cable & Wireless profits.

Free Riding. What Sports Minister Darryl Smith does on the way to Tobago, in Tobago, and on taxpayers.

GDP. In standard economics, this stands for Gross Domestic Product, which is a measure of economic activity in a country; in PNMonomics, it stands for God Does Provide.

Giffen Goods. A good for which demand increases as its price rises, like Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe talking on the phone in the Bahamas.

Intellectual Capital. Ideas which create tangible value; in PNMonomics, this has a value of zero.

Invisible Hand. The kind of hand Sports Minister Darryl Smith wishes he had.

Kleptocracy. The kind of governance practised by the PNM when in Government, and roundly criticised when in Opposition.

Laffer Curve. A graph invented by American economist Arthur Laffer in 1974, linking average tax rates to total tax revenue; updated in 2015 when the appointment of Colm Imbert as Finance Minister caused giggles all around.

Liquidity Preference. The usual response from the PNM to any criticism from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Market Failure. A shortage of dasheen.

Menu Costs. Prices ignored by Sports Minister Darryl Smith.

Modelling. Simplified assumptions about the economy used to make predictions, or a technique used by women to get Sports Minister Darryl Smith to pay for them to go to Tobago.

Money Illusion. A condition afflicting Sports Minister Darryl Smith, who thinks spending Sports Ministry money in the Government-owned Grand Magdalena hotel means that no money was spent.

Moral Hazard. A situation where people take risks they would not otherwise take because they know they are protected, like Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe roaming on her government cell-phone in the Bahamas or a Sports Minister buying condoms.

Opportunity Cost. The cost of giving up something in order to get something else, which in PNMonomics creates demand and supply of skettels.

Positional Goods. The second-most preferred goods of Sports Minister Darryl Smith, after pelau.

Revealed Preference. The economic principle that, if she’s willing to reveal, Sports Minister Darryl Smith prefers.

Riot Measure. The indicator preferred by Finance Minister Colm Imbert when removing State subsidies.

Rowley’s Law. A PNMonomics principle which states that, no matter how straitened the Treasury, there is always money for seats in first-class on official jaunts.

Savings. A theoretical concept never actually applied by PNM Government ministers.

Say’s Law. Supply creates its own demand, according to the 19th century French economist Jean-Baptiste Say, which is why Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe had so much to say once supplied with a Government cell-phone.

Smirk Inversion. A facial expression used by Finance Minister Colm Imbert which bears an inverse relationship to him knowing what he’s talking about.

Spread. The difference in value between one item and another, or a verb which Sports Minister Darryl Smith values and, if a noun, values even more.

Velocity of Circulation. The speed at which money changes hands in an economy, often accelerated by Sports Minister Darryl Smith.

Zero-Sum Game. A process whereby gains of winners are equivalent to losses by all others, or politics as usual.

KEVIN BALDEOSINGH is a professional writer, author of three novels, and co-author of a Caribbean history textbook.