Jane had an eye-opening experience when she shared with her 15-year-old daughter that she had lived on food cards and sacrificed to achieve her career as a nurse. Prior to that discussion, Jane felt her daughter really did not understand the depth of their poverty because the child had been too young to remember.

Jane came to realize it was an important part of her life that she should share with her daughter, especially at a time when the teen was becoming very materialistic. The girl enjoyed a very nice life and was unaware of the significant sacrifices that had helped provide her comfortable lifestyle.

Many mothers forget to share their stories of courage with their children. In this case, Jane’s story demonstrated several aspects of a mother’s courage:

• How to overcome a difficult time achieving a good level of comfort and security (that her daughter now enjoys).

• How to be open by providing her daughter with an example of courage, and how she intentionally used it to create a career and climb out of poverty.

• How to be vulnerable by sharing in an intimate conversation.

Recognizing teen profiles in courage

Unfortunately, many moms do not recognize when courage is demonstrated by their children. How can they if they can’t identify it in themselves?

Sandra Ford Walston, who is known as The Courage expert, shared a few examples children/teenagers may face. How many of these behaviour patterns are you able to teach and discuss with your children?

• It takes courage to confront bigotry and get to know someone different from you. Even small acts show character.

• It takes courage to speak openly about sexual misconduct by staff at school, such as inappropriate comments, jokes or physical contact.

• It takes courage to accept your looks and your beauty image.

• It takes courage not to lie or make little cheating changes (Once you start the lie you have to continue the lie).

• It takes courage to question/challenge a teacher’s viewpoint such as global warming, evolution (dissent is difficult at all ages) or negotiate your score on a paper or test.

• It takes courage to resist temptations particularly if people push you to do something wrong rather than maintain moral conviction.• It takes courage to declare your opinion, such as raising your hand when no one else will.

• It takes courage to stick up for a friend who is being bullied or ridiculed.

• It takes courage to stand up to a bully or walk away from someone with an imposing attitude.

• It takes courage to understand suicide whether as a choice or in grief.

• It takes courage to say “I am sorry” after you have lied or hurt someone.

• It takes courage to leave a clique that mistreats you.

• It takes courage to understand that even your mother can get cancer.

• It takes courage to accept your new step-parent.

• It takes courage to stand up to a bully or walk away from someone with an imposing attitude.

• It takes courage to say “no” to a friend who is encouraging a wrong action.

• It takes courage to not get wrapped up in other people’s opinions and the hook of a superficial world.

• It takes courage to move away from home, family and friends and head off to university.

• It takes courage to present in front of the class.

• It takes courage to cope daily with diabetes or asthma.

• It takes courage to ask your dream guy for a date to the prom.

• It takes courage to believe in and be yourself!

The best tactic to immerse courage into a child’s life is to start using the word! Many moms will struggle with this task if they are unable to give themselves permission to claim their courage. Eventually, mere exposure to the word and conscious courage actions such as those defined above will raise your awareness and you will find the outcome transforming and renewing (and so will your children).

Following a turbulent season in the Secondary Schools Football League Premier Division, schools turn their attention to the one which started it all as the Coca Cola Intercol knockout competition kicks off with preliminary matches in the North Zone today.

Three matches will usher in this year’s competition and among them will see newly promoted team and 2014 champions East Mucurapo Secondary come up against Diego Martin Central Secondary from 3:30pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

That encounter is the second match in a double header which also sees Malick Secondary match wits against Diego Martin North from 1:30 pm.

At QRC grounds in St Clair, St Francis College, formerly Belmont Intermediate will meet Tranquility Secondary from 3:30pm. Since the inception of the new format of the SSFL League competition, schools from the south zone have prevailed in all four years.

On Saturday, Presentation College, San Fernando continued the South Zone’s dominance, following in the footsteps of Naparima College which was the back to back winner in 2014 and 2015 as well as the now relegated Shiva Boys Hindu College which claimed the title in 2016. The Intercol competition has proven a tougher trophy for the southerners to secure however, as dating back to 2010 only one school has been successful when Naps did the League and Intercol double in 2015. Apart from that the title has been shared amongst the East, North and Tobago Zones. Signal Hill won it in 2010 following a double for St Anthony’s College the next two years\ and one win for St Augustine in 2013.

Mucurapo’s and Naparima’s wins preceded San Juan North Secondary’s win last year.

The defending champs will see action for the first time on Monday November 13, entering the competition at the zonal quarter-final stage against El Dorado East Secondary.

The role of entrepreneurs in the non-oil and creative sectors of the economy will be in the spotlight at the two-day Annual Finance and Accounting Conference to be hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago (ICATT) at the Hyatt Regency on November 9 and 10.

According to a release, day one of the conference will feature former Miss Universe Wendy Fitzwilliam, an attorney-at-law and co-executive producer, Caribbean Next Top Model, as the moderator of a panel discussion on the topic Beyond Survival.

Panellists will include Prof Andrew Ramroop, master tailor and Director of Maurice Sedwell, of Savile Row, London who was recently voted the UK’s Black Entrepreneur of the Year, businessman Dominic Hadeed, founder of Blue Waters, Chaud Café’s Owner and Director, Alison Mair Pascal and More Vino’s Christian Stone.

The released added: “The topic—Beyond Survival—underscores the galvanising theme of the conference: Driving theUpturn—The Transformation to Longer-term Prosperity—and reinforces the critical role to be played by established and emerging business sectors, other than energy, in the diversification of the economy which can lead to economic prosperity.”

Day one of the event will also include another panel discussion on the theme Tax Incentives: Effectiveness in Driving Longer-term Prosperity.

Allyson West, Minister in the Ministry of Finance will be a member of the panel along with economist Dr. Ronald Ramkissoon, and Nicole Joseph, Director, Tax Services, KPMG. Jason Julien, Deputy CEO, Business Generation, First Citizens Bank, will serve as moderator.

Additionally, a contingent of practitioners in the fields of finance and accounting from Trinidad and Tobago, the wider Caribbean region, USA and UK, are carded to address the conference on topics relevant to the theme and moderate and be members of various panel discussions.

Having lost almost everything in recent floods, hundreds of families in various communities across this country are still struggling to dig themselves out of the disaster zones that their homes have become. Many have been doing it on their own, little by little and one day at a time.

Some told the T&T Guardian they’ve been living on next to nothing, pouring whatever income they have into recovery efforts. They haven’t been waiting on the state and it’s a good thing too, because little assistance has been forthcoming.

This newspaper reported yesterday that chairmen of several regional corporations (in separate interviews) said the “situation was compounded by confusion over assistance to victims from the Ministry of Social Development because of the lack of communication with regional corporations.”

This, in short is not just unfortunate, it is unacceptable. As if the ODPM’s missteps weren’t enough, the apparent lethargy in the response from other state agencies is adding insult to injury. Its not just a matter of distributing cheques either, the state must do better in terms of infrastructural review. The hand of nature is one thing, manmade drainage issues are another.

What are we doing differently, to get things right?

What a man has to do...

PNM political leader and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley sought to convince the party faithful this weekend that he has a plan and is prepared to do everything necessary to address some critical issues affecting the electorate.

Two years in, with approval ratings taking a serious hit, everything from the state of UTT’s finances to the 2009 engineering report which said the central block of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital should be condemned, was fair game. Dr Rowley is on the offense now, referring to the oppositions Fazal Karim as “farse” for his UTT comments, and saying he is prepared for the country to eat “green banana and salt, dhal and rice” to get things right.

With the quip, “there comes a time when a man has to do what a man has to do, and I’m your man” Dr Rowley’s charming fodder to the PNM Women’s League may not be scoring him the points he is hoping for.

What a man has to do, especially the man in charge of this country, is to start delivering on some of his governments promises.

Times have changed. Political winds have been known to change frequently too.

Finding greener grass

Kenneth Wallace’s story in the Business Guardian was a refreshing account of how the spirit of entrepreneurship can change the course of life. Wallace, who started a landscaping company with all his savings, demonstrates the kind of drive, innovation and determination that this country needs. Wallace could have maintained the status quo, but he chose to take a risk and do something different. There are more like him in this country and we look forward to telling the stories that inspire.

“Why we going there,” Rudder asked 30 years ago. And we really didn’t answer. “St Ann’s!”

It was tomorrow night a year ago. The first Tuesday after November 1st. Well, the wee hours of Wednesday.

Realtors had come to see the family house in Diego Martin. I’d had two interviews already, after a handful of applications. My retiree sister and I were disagreeing over a car to share.

Since my mother’s end of life 18 months earlier had opened the door wide on options for mine, I’d been stuck standing on that transom. I’d glimpse my future behind the metal grille of Fairhaven Eventide Home each time I rounded Erthig Rd on the way to my NGO office. Six months before that November night, I’d tried to cross the transom. Becoming a lawyer would make the decade of justice work I’d been doing in TTO sustainable as an ageing, childless activist in a sagging economy with little local philanthropy. I could reach the bar before 60. Tuition-free.

You know the end of that story. I managed to get off that transom a second time, after last year August’s GATE cuts, effective immediately, left me right there with my one foot in the air. I’d give it up. I had the privilege of options. I’d do the rest of my life’s work where I’d already spent half of it. I doubted I’d come back home to die. Friends asked about the election. I wasn’t going until after. I didn’t give the idea he’d win any life.

I turned the television off, sat in the quiet of the couch, with one foot in the air once again. The US had elected a madman, and I wasn’t clear about much, only than that I wasn’t going. I had no idea what the contours of Trumpistan would turn out to be.

A year later, the election of Donald Trump, wherever you live, has been a humbling lesson. In how fragile so many norms of governance are. In how old institutions fail to grapple with new threats. In how normalised political madness can become. In how relentlessly partisan politicians are when doing the right thing threatens power. In how deeply people uphold racial affiliation over their own interests. In how little civil society advocacy changes political culture.

All lessons we in Trinidad and Tobago learned long ago.

Days after Trump’s election, I learned from my mother’s ophthalmologist I have a retinal detachment. A year and two Obamacare surgeries later, and more to go, I am clear why I went there. But another lesson I struggle with.

Most of us don’t decide if we get to live in the crazy of Trumpistan or of Trinbago. But there ought to be a difference, a basis for a choice. I used to think proudly that Trump had made any madness any Trinbagonian officeholder had ever done look statesmanlike. And the kind of fetehead that couldn’t come from weed is something I miss badly in Trumpistan to cope with the madness.

Thirty years after the lady from Holy Name with about 12 GCE who lost she Texaco work, and the man who businessplace burn down Wednesday morning, and the union man he hug up tell the police tactical: “Shoot we while we wine,” our well-honed “We jamming still” solution to the repetition of economic hardship and political madness, without any real sense of where we going, is a brilliance that is insufficient. And, looking on at Ian Alleyne ambushing judges and Christine Newallo-Hosein prophesying does make me wonder if there is a promoter left to end the fete at whatever time, or a calypsonian to signify.

Last week, behind its glass façade, the CCJ was the site for a historic battle not yet won. These are hard words to write given that a judgment was already handed down ordering the Belizean state to return ancestral land to the Maya people. So, if the battle was won, why still fight in court?

Put yourself in the footsteps of the Maya as you follow this story. In 2015, the CCJ affirmed the right of 39 Q’eqchi and Mopan Maya indigenous communities, in the Toledo District of southern Belize, to lands that they have historically used and occupied.

Up to last week, those lands were not returned, meaning those Maya land rights remain unprotected, forcing the Maya people to return to the CCJ to press the Belizean government to abide by the ruling.

Maya community organizations also appealed to the courts to protect their lands from multiple concessions given by the government of Belize to oil, logging, grazing and agricultural interests. These incursions occurred without the Maya people’s free, prior and informed consent, and without any redress. Not only has the Belizean government not returned Maya village lands, it continues to destroy and parcel out leases for land not legally, historically or morally its own.

Meanwhile, the government of Belize was ordered to develop a mechanism to recognise Maya land rights claims in consultation with the Maya people. A Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission was established, but no elected or designated representative of any Maya community or body in Belize has ever sat on the Commission. It is run by state officials who are not sensitive to customary protocols of engagement, good faith or international law. The Maya must meet the Commission on its terms. Imagine a paper judgment which has not guaranteed justice, but been met with delay and denial.

The $300,000 Belizean dollars which the CCJ directed the government of Belize to invest in achieving compliance is being spent, on a range of costs including rent, vehicles, consultations, administration and salaries, without any compliance achieved. Recognising insult added to injury, last week, the court mandated 50 per cent go directly to the Maya people.

They don’t have resources to keep going to the Supreme Court, and neither should the Belizean people be putting their resources to defending state violation. Maya organisations want the courts to impose sanctions and fines against the state, and have also have called for a tribunal with teeth to resolve these issues out of court. Imagine, three years ago, this is a battle they thought they won.

Cristina Coc, spokesperson for the Mayan Leaders’ Alliance, and a long fighter in this struggle, said to me, “This case is being watched by Indigenous communities all over who are using this case to leverage their own land claims, and it was highlighted in the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. This is happening in our midst in Port-of-Spain. The world is watching, are we?

Carrying the burden, costs and tears of this with them, Maya communities continue to organise, demarcate their traditional boundaries, and envision sustainable alternatives which put ancestral reverence for nature at the heart of a Maya economy. Cristina’s heart was heavy, but her words committed: “Maya people have to remain resilient in face of these challenges, uphold our wellbeing, be a self-sustaining people, resist these violations, and protect our lands, territories, culture and identity”.

Their struggle may seem far from yours, but injustice is something with which we can all identify. The Belizean government seeks to replace Maya victory with defeat. The injustice of a battle already won, yet still having to be fought, reflects on us all from the CCJ’s glassy front on Henry Street.

The T&T Heart Foundation (TTHF) recently held its annual fund-raising event, The Red Dress Masquerade Ball at Pier 1, Chaguaramas.

The gala function was attended by President Anthony Carmona and his wife Reema, government officials, members of the medical fraternity, the business fraternity and members of the international and local humanitarian community and representatives of NGOs.

Greetings were given by the Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, and Mrs Carmona, who is the Patron of the Go Red for Women Campaign. She said, “that women get to be heroes for our children, our partners, our communities and we forget to be heroes for ourselves.

“We cannot continue to let one in three woman die annually from heart disease; we need to change the statistics and the status quo.”

Delivering the feature address was President of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition of Barbados, Sir Trevor Hassell, who said, “heart disease remains in 2017, the number one cause of the death in the Caribbean, where it accounts here in T&T for more than one third of all deaths across all age groups.”

He also said heart disease is inaccurately perceived as a male illness and many women fail to take simple steps to prevent the condition by reducing the risk factors for heart disease.

Sir Trevor cited statistics that showed more of Trinidad’s women are physically inactive than men, 53 per cent women, compared with 30 per cent of men. More women are overweight than men—65 per cent of women as compared with 52 per cent of men. The goal of The Red Dress Masquerade Ball is to raise funds to finance the Go Red for Woman Campaign which provides awareness programmes to empower women to take charge of their heart health.

Just about now, a 42-year-old Penal mason will be enjoying his freedom after close to 90 days in jail for an act described by the police as “road rage.”

It had apparently not been enough that a relatively minor traffic accident in La Romaine should end in a grand cuss out. Today, one of the two combatants will have to cope with the effects of chop wounds to the arm and chest for the rest of his life.

At around the same time earlier this year, in Marabella, a 34-year-old taxi driver was delivering a proper cussin’ on two police officers. He escaped a possible 30 days hard labour in jail, since the magistrate he faced in a San Fernando court chose to send him to “anger management” classes.

“Anger” and “rage” are increasingly being recognised by judicial officers, even as the administration of justice appears to fall short on comprehensive responses. But there are those who believe schools, workplaces and courts are only witnessing the more visible symptoms of a society residing in deep-seated anger.

Executive director of the Mediation Board, Elizabeth Solomon, does not arrive at such a conclusion easily.

When asked about the “angry society” label, she was quick to point out that anger appears to co-exist comfortably alongside the traits of “a celebratory society” leading to the wider question of whether “one undermines the other.”

Trauma specialist, Hanif Benjamin is not as cautious in his summation, saying “the country has been like this for a long time.”

“With multiple sources of trigger and stressors, we see a constant display of the anger,” he told T&T Guardian. “This anger is pervasive and affects all sectors of society, all age groups and across racial lines as well.”

Solomon, too, recognises the symptoms.

“There seems to be plenty of anger manifested in the way people drive, how quickly people reduce themselves to aggressive outbursts, the lack of caring in the way people interact with each other and of course the high levels of violence,” the former journalist and United Nations mediator said.

“The brutality of the violence also indicates a great deal of anger. Some of the more excessively violent acts committed against women is certainly noteworthy,” Solomon added.

One victim of such violence is teacher-turned-peace advocate, Caron Asgarali. In 2013, Asgarali was shot in the face during an apparent act of wanton violence. Complications from the attack remain to this day and she has launched an energetic campaign against the use of guns.

She says evidence of “an angry and violent society” is “everywhere.”

“We seem to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation or for anything that does not serve our purpose,” she told T&T Guardian. “Coupled with the increasing intolerance of our young people in particular, but for all of us generally, conflict management and anger management seem to belong to some foreign language or culture.”

Benjamin says there is also evidence of ever-present anger “in the way we drive on our roads, the lack of patience with one another, our tolerance level, and our ability to be understanding, from the way we speak with and to our children.”

He says anger is also witnessed “in the way we conduct our business every day.”

Solomon however sees a glimmer of hope. “On the more constructive side, Trinidadians are prepared to express their anger at systemic injustices by speaking up, getting together in protest and marching.”

“Yet, their anger in these cases never seems enough to carry them through the process necessary to change the systemic issues that they were protesting against,” she said.

“There seems to be a general capacity to compartmentalise that which makes one angry, and that which is a cause for celebration as if the two states are not inextricably linked in reality.”

Recognition of anger as a pathological condition is nothing new, and, in T&T, the judiciary is not among the more prolific advocates of “counselling” or “treatment” of what psychiatrists are now diagnosing as a disorder in its own right.

Psychologists are however recognising stress, trauma and other socially-generated conditions as contributory factors in the face of what some now describe as T&T’s angry society - as witnessed in the deviant behaviour of young men in particular.

The Committee on Young Males and Crime in T&T picked up the trend four years ago when its panel comprising Prof Selwyn Ryan, Dr Indira Rampersad, Dr Lennox Bernard, Prof Patricia Mohammed and Dr Marjorie Thorpe noted the pervasive nature of anger in T&T society.

After months of interaction with young men while conducting its fact-finding and reporting duties, the Committee noted “a number of recurring tensions and value frames: ambivalent self-regard: low aspirations, including anger, a sense of dispossession and victimhood; impulsivity and lack of empathy.”

“The big question now,” the Committee surmised, “is what is to be done with the generation who are now coming on stage?”

“What do we do to silence their anger, their rage, and their guns?”

When asked to share the account of my experience as a former Miss T&T Universe delegate in light of the controversy surrounding the 2017 representative Yvonne Clarke, it was like reopening a cold case with no new leads. I participated in 2003, and it seems like such a long time ago.

I empathise with Clarke as this must be a very disappointing, embarrassing and confusing period for her.

I can’t say I support the Miss T&T/Universe Pageant as it is today. What I knew it to be prior to my involvement—a stately, professional event—has now turned into a masquerade of bacchanal.

The business aspect of the Miss T&T/Universe franchise has sorely been failing. And not now, but as far back as 2003 when my fellow delegates and I participated at a time when there were financial problems and relationships gone sour resulting in major sponsors of long standing pulling out. We also saw the shift from one marketing manager of the pageant company who was a stickler for professionalism to another who was brought in and got thrown into the mess. Most times we did not envy her position.

At times we had to dip into our own pockets. We were only sponsored two pairs of shoes, one beige and one gold that were to be worn to every public appearance (and they were many) over the six months of training and also on the final night. So if your shoe got damaged, you were on your own in fixing that. Those of us who did not have sponsors were also responsible for our own clothing.

The idea of getting a dress made specifically for you by a local designer remained just an idea for some of us who on the final night wore dresses from off the rack at a clothing store that was kind enough to sponsor a dress. That could not really come close to the standard of an evening gown for the purpose of competition.

In the six months of training possibly the most constant was our training team and support for each other. When any of us felt like giving up, there were people like Richard Young, Allison Seepaul, Shian Ottley, and Terry-Ann Nelson who would provide encouragement and support.

I can recall many of us having a hard time recognising the reality of the pageant as opposed to what it looked like on television. Needless to say when it was over, most of us breathed a sigh of relief.

I cannot speak for the experience of the young women in recent times, but from where I sit, there seems to be the need for a complete overhaul of the pageant company and its directors. Winning the Miss T&T/Universe pageant has been a dream for many young women and it is disheartening that instead of experiencing this dream they are instead faced with a nightmare.

These young women are not supposed be worrying about where they are getting sponsorship or plane tickets from, that is the job of the pageant company or franchise. This is an international event that places T&T on the world map and it is a big deal.

T&T has produced Miss Universe winners and a Miss World winner and over the years, some of our representatives have placed high. These women should be treated with the utmost respect and honour.

I continue to say the ad hoc decisions or political interference in our institutions by governments have resulted in debt problems. The announcement that the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) faces severe financial constraints as a result of huge debt is not surprising. Since its creation it has been plagued with problems.

This is just another example of mismanagement of the public purse and no one being made accountable. Instead, Mr Imbert is expected to pull a rabbit out of a hat and solve the money problems.

UTT was in direct response to 21st century global trends and initially focused on programmes in engineering and technology, but has since expanded into other fields. Its mandate was to educate and train nationals towards achieving the goals of its Vision 20/20 Action Plan. However, from the onset the luring of UWI lecturers to UTT created problems. Huge salaries were waved at them and many of them left in droves for the almighty dollar—yes, notable people in society who occupy high places today and are always in the media. (They are all silent on the issue).

UWI has over 50 years and UTT was a new institution; there was no comparison. However, as usual, political interference showed its ugly head with musical chairs by both the UNC and PNM party rewarding “their people” into top positions and large salaries.

Meanwhile, students paid their monies to attend the campuses across the country, only to find out their certificates were worthless. It lacked recognition abroad, while local employers as expected, showed preference to UWI certificate over UTT’s.

As usual it was a case of putting the cart before the horse. What is sad is all those who left UWI filled their pockets and some have died, while others have retired. Unfortunately, it is the present crop of lecturers who faces the threat of retrenchment, as well as students who will certainly suffer the shortfall of lecturers. The removal of GATE, I’m sure would have accounted for the shortfall of UTT intake (this was expected).

Today the current Government is saddled with insurmountable debts and declining oil prices. Tax cuts and retrenchment is inevitable. I fully believe recession is God send since so many secrets have been revealed.

Citizens how long will we continue to be passive on pertinent issues that impact the citizens? What legacy are we leaving of T&T for our grand kids?

ROSSANA GLASGOW

BAPTISTE; FRANCIS(George). Son of Ella and Paul Baptiste. Husband of Francillia (Shyroon) Baptiste. Father of Elizabeth, Errol, Larry (deceased), Jeraldine, Marcel,Hazari (deceased), Lennox and Bernadine. Brother of Aldwin Moonsammy and 6 others (deceased). Grandfather of 14. Great Grandfather of 12. Father-in-law of Sheila,Baby, Rose and Barry. Uncle of 32 (plus). Friend of many.

Funeral at 1.00 p.m. on Tuesday 7th November, 2017 at Clark and Battoo's Chapel, 11 Tragarete Road, Port of Spain thence to the Western Cemetery, George Cabral Street, St.James for interment. For enquiries, call C&B 625-1170 or visit http;//www.clarkandbattoo.com

PATRICK: DAVID AUTHUR REYNOLD (Darpy) Son of Dr Leslie Patrick and Ms Cynthia Scott Patrick-Bertie, both deceased. Husband of Judith Hinkson (Deceased). Brother of Dr Pamela, Angela and Dr Alan Patrick (deceased). Brother in law of Dan (deceased), Don, Angela(deceased), Roger, Gregor (deceased),Donald (Jackie), Kenneth and Margaret Hinkson, Uncle of Dana, Stephen, Dr Audrey, Joanna, Leslie, Michael, Christopher and Chika. Relative of the Greenidges, Doyles, Patricks. Collection in favour of the Cotrie of Social Workers and St Mary's Childrens Home.

Funeral Service at 10:00 a.m. on Monday 13th November 2017,from All Saints E.C. Church, Marli Street,P.O.S., followed by Private Cremation. For further enquiries please contact C&B 625-1170. To send condolences, please visit http://www.clarkandbattoo.com

SOOMAI, INEZ passed away on 04th November 2017 at the age of 86 Wife of Sargoo Soomai Mother of Savitri,Dhaneeram, Sumatee and Maneeram Grandmother of Alicia, Jason, Satyam, Shivanand, Zachary and Isabella-Rose Mother in Law of Anthony (Krishna), deceased Sharon and Adesh Sister of Kissoon and Hallai dec

Funeral takes place on Tuesday 07th November 2017 from the House of Mourning Las Lomas #2 thence to the Caroni Cremation Site for Cremation ac-cording to Hindu Rites

BOWRIN, HAROLD AKA Elton #305 Carolina Village Couva formerly of Princes Town Departed this Life on 01-11-2017 At the age of: 76 He will lovingly be remembered as the:HUSBAND OF: Lorna Bowrin-FATHER OF: Michelle, Ingrid, Kimfa & Andre GRANDFATHER OF: Aaidan BROTHER OF: Nora & 12 Others UNCLE OF: Stirlyn & Others BROTHER IN LAW OF: Duncan RELATIVE OF: The Ears & Alleyne Families FRIEND OF: Many

The Funeral Service for the late Harold Bowrin AKA Elton has been entrusted to David Guides Funeral Services and will take place on Tuesday 7th November 2017 at 2 pm at the Holy Cross R.C Church PrincesTown Followed by a Burial at the Holy Cross R.C Church yard Cemetery All Enquires can be made at David Guide Funeral Services Phone: (868)636-2435/ Email: dgfuneralser-vices@gmail.com

JOHNSON, ELIZABETH “BETTY” (née Fraser) passed away peacefully on Sunday 5th November, 2017. Mother of Lisa (Marnie),Donna (dec) and Nicola(David). Grand-mother of Michael Daniel( Stephany) and Matthew. Sister of Pamela, Robert, David(dec), Heather, Basil, Hamish and Blair. Sis-ter-in-law and aunt of many. She will also be remembered by Jeffrey Johnson.

Funeral mass for the late Elizabeth “Betty”Johnson takes place at Assumption R. C.Church, Long Circular Road on Friday 10th November, 2017 at 11:00 am, followed by private interment. Funeral entrusted to C&B. For enquiries, please contact Chancellor Walks Funeral Services, 287-0403/04.

MOORE, HUBERT (SPOOF) passed away peacefully on Sunday 5th November, 2017.Son of the late Hubert and Blanche Moore. Husband of the late Mavis Moore (néeCadet). Father of the late Jo-Ann Chami. Grandfather of Lisa Wortman (Ronald). Greatgrandfather of Justin, Scottand Lizzy. Brother of the late Royce, Irving, Al and Louis.Uncle and friend to many.

Funeral mass for the late Hubert“Spoof” Moore takes place at St. Anthonys R. C. Church, Petit Valley on Wednesday 8th November, 2017 at 10:00am, followed by private cremation. Funeral entrusted to C&B. For enquiries, please contact Chancellor Walks Funeral Services, 287-0403/04.

Chaguaramas is one of the most diverse and beautiful parts of T&T with its tropical rainforests, caves, waterfalls and other natural features on more than 14,000 acres of land comprising a peninsula and five offshore islands. With its strategic location on the northwest of Trinidad, it has been the venue for key historical events having served as a World War II US base as well as being the place where the Treaty of Chaguaramas, establishing Caricom, was signed in 1973.

The potential of the area, which remains largely unexploited, has never been in dispute and in recent years efforts to develop it into a prime investment and entertainment destination have been ramped up.

It is such a pity that ongoing development efforts, which are concentrated on just 11 per cent of the lands in Chaguaramas, have now become so bogged down by politics.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s comments about “giveaways” of lands along the peninsula were hardly the first salvo fired in what have been very rancorous exchanges been the PNM and the former PP administration over plans for that area. In fact, the political squabbling dates back quite a few years, casting a shroud over a project that can be of benefit to the entire country.

Some of the completed projects, including the boardwalk and the zipline, have already resulted in increased leisure and entertainment activities.

With still-to-be-realised aspirations for tourism, agricultural and commercial initiatives—which, combined, could be an engine for economic growth of the entire country—it is time for the politics to tone down and for the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA)—which is saddled with significant debts—to be empowered to carry out its mandate.

Days of rest ill-advised

Low productivity is one of the biggest problems in T&T’s workforce to the extent that the country’s attractiveness as a destination for investment is hampered by reports of high absenteeism and inadequate output among employees. That is why the call by Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke for workers of the Board of Inland Revenue and the Customs and Excise Division to stay away from work on Thursday and Friday is ill-advised.

Mr Duke who, facing challenges from at least three opponents in PSA elections later this month, is calling for the industrial action to protest the planned establishment of a Revenue Authority. His intent, he claims, is to protect the jobs of hundreds of workers in the two entities.

However, Mr Duke, who has developed a reputation for shutting down work at ministries and state agencies for a variety of reasons—from health and safety concerns to stalled negotiations—may be doing more harm than good with his latest campaign.

In the face of declining revenues, the focus should be on finding ways to develop a more productive, efficient workforce, not the opposite.

TTPS connecting with the community

Too often the focus of any conversations about the T&T Police Service (TTPS) centres on the low detection rate and the high levels of violent crimes. It would be easy to overlook the recent efforts that are being made by the top brass of the TTPS to engage the wider community with town meetings being held regularly in the various divisions.

This is the type of community engagement that must be sustained over the long term.