Key Player, eye-catching on course debut last month, represents a solid each-way bet in the Novice Stakes over a mile of Lingfield polytrack today; pity Eve Johnson Houghton’s charge disappointed ten days later on turf at Brighton.

Either turf, or running again too soon, were legitimate reasons but Key Player has been given thirty-three days ‘recovery time’ since and is reported in fine form to make it third time lucky under Charles Bishop.

Obvious favourite will surely be Kassar, first-up winner (33/1) for Roger Charlton around Kempton seven weeks ago, when achieving a useful time-handicap mark, for which he is penalised 7lbs. That equates to about three lengths, not to be underestimated.

Another with claims is John Gosden-trained Rhode Island, favourite on debut on a ‘good to soft’ Nottingham surface earlier this month but only fifth; improvement is nigh on guaranteed.

There are seven newcomers but, despite the presence of Kassar, first time out two-year-old winners are a rarity and I’m confident about our selection being a key player!

Our BHA handicapper appears to have made a ‘rick’ (mistake!) in the Nursery Handicap over five furlongs; on my time-figures Brockey Rise has several pounds in hand of five rivals, only slight concern is an absence of sixty-three days.

Mine is not to speculate just reveal findings and rely on trainer David Evens to produce Brockey Rise fit and capable of running up to his Thirsk effort in August.

Matt Cosham claims 3lbs apprentice allowance and we know Evans is a heavy bettor!

Time to watch the pre-race market, eh?

In the Claiming Stakes over seven furlongs Al Khan should win ‘alf the track!’

Wonder why they want to ‘get rid!’

On Saturday night, members of the Queen’s Royal College’s “Royal 72 Champions” gathered at the Harvard Sports Club in St Clair in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the cricket team’s national InterCol victory in 1972.

Members of the team which were honoured included Zafar “Zaf” Khan, Rajendra “Rajen” Sewsarran, Oswin “Ossie” Moore, Afzal “Skip” Mohammed, Valentino “Tino” Singh, Dave De Landro, Derek Ambrose, Ravi “Robbie” Mohammed, Waaz Hosein, and the departed, Glen “Zab” Richards, Steve Hall, Ferdinand “Corey” Joseph, and Sebastian Pillai.

In 1972, QRC’s cricket team pulled off an improbable 31 run victory in the Colleges Cricket League (CCL) Senior Division national semifinal against ten-time winner and finalist eleven years prior, St Mary’s College, before trouncing Fatima College by 107 runs in the succeeding final.

Captain of the winning team, Dr Afzal Mohammed believed it was the spirit of the team that guided the “Royalians” to the title in 1972.

In reflection of the semifinal match-up against St Mary’s, he said, “I arrived at St Mary’s Grounds thinking we would probably lose on the day, but once I arrived and saw how fired up all of the guys were to play, I said ok, if these guys are fired up we can actually win this, and we did.”

In appreciation of the team’s win, Mohammed has created the The Royal 72 Champions Award, which will be an annual award of $5,000 and a replica of what was then called the Cadburry-Fry Trophy. It will be awarded to the QRC student that demonstrates outstanding academic achievement.

Justice Prakash Moosai, who was on the losing St Mary’s team in 1972, was the featured speaker on the night and he stated: “Who can but fail to recognise and admire that QRC has been the success story of secondary schools in T&T that are not part of the denominational school structure.”

He referred to his St Mary’s team as the “titans” and the QRC team, as the “long shots” and he believed the match was a “David versus Goliath” encounter.

In addition to reflecting on the match, as well as, the illustrious histories of the two schools, he outlined his continued displeasure at the failure to conserve school’s cricket history.

“As an academic, I remain extremely annoyed that given our rich cricketing history, and as present advised, no one has seen it fit to document the cricketing history of, not only our two great colleges, but also the cricket history of college’s cricket,” he said.

Current QRC principal, David Simon also spoke at the event and used the opportunity as a chance to compare the administration of the Secondary School’s Cricket League to the Secondary School’s Football League.

“It is my hope that what is happening in the Secondary School’s Football League will never happen in cricket,” he said.

“I stand celebrating with a group of individuals who would have practised this (fair play). Not only the QRC members of the 1972 team, but the mere fact that we had someone from St Mary’s delivering such a steering message to us, himself a Justice of Peace, indicated that in those days you had, not boys, you had men of honour representing in situations of class,” the school’s principal added.

Though none of the members of the 1972 team went on to play for the national team or internationally, the remarkable feat marked only the second time QRC had won the National Cricket InterCol, and the school has failed to replicate the accomplishment since.

JONATHON MATOUK
 

Connecting the dots, given constraints and conflicts, financial constraints count as limited resources. Decision making and goal setting are providing a searching examination of almost everyone holding leadership, policy making, administrative and managerial responsibility. Some find it easier than others.

But at the end of the day, it’s a broad spectrum of considerations connecting the dots.

How do we move forward? Sport is in a unique position. There are no recessionary imperatives inherent to sport. People still want to participate in some form or fashion. Sport matters. The interest in sport is growing.

Capturing that interest and translating it to sustainable growth is the problem. The opportunities are out there in abundance. How can those opportunities be leveraged?

Time has moved on. What on the face of it seemed a sensible solution, given the passage of time, don’t seem to make sense. But as if we are locked into a vortex, we continue to see the problem and solutions as if 2017 is 2007 or 1997.

Madness! Sheer utter madness!

But who cares? Appearing to be working diligently on the problem is more the priority than trying to create actionable relevant solutions.

Recently, I had a discussion with a forward thinking local coach who made the observation that a Things That Matter column done some years ago, with Dunning-Kruger as the topic, should be repeated if only to serve as a reminder of what the root cause of the malaise may be.

Certainly Dunning-Kruger may be at play. But it could also be as simple as being honest or open-minded.

How do we change the perception that we are going nowhere fast?

We keep repeating the same mistakes ad nauseam, making the same excuses, repeating the same conversations over and over.

Why do we feel, sincerely so at that, that we can talk our way out of difficult challenges? Why do we continue to delude ourselves? What is it? Good sense no longer makes sense? How do we put a stop to the insanity?

Wasting financial resources is one thing, but wasting human resources is even worse. We have too much talent and potential in T&T.

While it’s true that we have the constraint of limited finance, the financial constraint is counter-balanced by an abundance of talented human resources.

The opportunity is in embracing and focusing on our individual and collective wisdom and creativity.

Stop selling ourselves short.

• Brian Lewis is the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee and the Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Games Association. The views expressed aren’t necessarily those of the TTOC and TTCGA.

Last week’s two-day conference at the Hilton Trinidad explored the intersections between HR and ICT, two departments seem to always be considered at opposite ends of the engagement spectrum in most businesses.

Today’s Human Resource departments benefit from technology developments that are engineered from the ground up to be adaptive to the needs of people and more important, the people who are charged with ensuring both the comfort and compliance of human beings engaged in business.

Social media was discussed near the end of the conference, but it was a conversation that popped up continuously throughout the conference, not only from the podium, but also in the informal discussions that popped up among the audience at the ballroom at the Hilton.

Makoma Lusenga, HR Resources Development and Talent Management Specialist for the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa sounded cautionary notes about it as an “enormous presence...a phenomenon that cannot be ignored.”

Among the issues she cautioned about were issues related to cybersecurity, employee relations, employee productivity, confidentiality and potential damage to the company image as a result of either carelessness or deliberate misuse of social media and related technologies.

“What you post can never be taken back,” Lusenga warned, “so prevention is always better than cure.”

Employees, she warned, will offer excuses for such misuse on a scale of accountability.

Protests range from the invoking of a right to privacy and the right to freedom of disclosure (whistleblowing), to the rather feebler claims that they didn’t mean it or claiming technology ignorance.

Lusenga warned employees that the right to privacy is not absolute and cautioned employers to be careful about how they obtained incriminating information, observing the laws governing such acquisition.

A solid part of prevention is preparation and Lusenga advised that employers should implement clear rules and policies that explain and regulate employee’s conduct on social media.

Every company should have a social media strategy, social media policy, staff training and enforcement mechanisms in place to manage that aspect of the company’s business and reputation management.

TSTT’s Executive Vice-president Human Resources, Industrial Relations and Corporate Services, Carol David, touched on an excellent case study to offer about the company’s recent efforts to use social media and IT technologies to measure and recalibrate its existing staff while considering succession, but only mentioned on it on the way to a rather longer statement about the larger issues facing the company’s HR challenges.

On topic for her peers, but missing an opportunity to address the topic at hand rather decisively with a local example. I’d hoped to hear more details about how the engagement projects David mentioned were done and what the results were.

David noted that most jobs in the market today didn’t exist 20 years ago and that 65 per cent of children entering school today will end up working in jobs that don’t exist yet.

That sends up warning flags for our education system, but HR managers are also now challenged to find candidates from a much wider field.

Hannah Ashiokai Akrong described social media as “a game changer in the evolution of HR recruitment” and told the remarkable story of how Vodafone Ghana found her in Minnesota, did her preliminary interview via Skype and recruited her in five weeks.

As the new Human Resources director, Akrong embraced a recruitment process that largely runs on smartphones and makes use of both established technologies like LinkedIn and Skype as well as HR focused tools like HireVue, Taleo and Jobster.

“It takes time to build a network and is costly at the start,” Akrong said, “there are also issues with the genuineness of the candidates, but you have access to a wider pool of talent.”

Vodafone Discover is a recruitment programme for university graduates that makes heavy use of these technologies, not least because they align well with the aptitudes of the target market.

“Recruitment time has dropped from four months to two,” Akrong said, “and applications have come from three continents and seven countries.”

US-based Trinidadian broadcaster extraordinaire, Von Martin, has written a book about key people who contributed to the development of the steelpan. And, no two ways about it, this should be compulsory reading for anyone with a serious interest in the instrument and a solid sampling of some of the more important men and women associated with it over the years.

There is no pretence at academic rigour. No hypothesis being tested. No side-stepping the seemingly mundane. Just a celebrated media-man and a vast and valuable professional archive he chose to share.

Voices of Pan Pioneers of Trinidad & Tobago – The Beginning of a Global Legacy is the wordy title of a valuable 290-page narrative on society - largely in Port of Spain - in the 1940s and 50s and the features of life then that served to advance the cause of an instrument and its players that ventured boldly into the social and cultural mainstream.

Despite Martin’s solid credentials as a southerner – he spent some of his formative years in Princes Town – references to “similar movements” in Point Fortin and San Fernando are sparse, as he concedes that “the pan movement in South was not as vibrant as in Port-of-Spain.”

But his description of life in “the yards” of Port-of-Spain paints important pictures of the social dynamics that led, for example, to the emergence of Silver Stars whose players were dismissed as “white boys” with no serious commitment to the instrument. “If you were not the right colour, the right blood, you really did not know about pan,” Junior Pouchet of Silver Stars is quoted as saying.

But then there were people such as Ellie Mannette, Tony Williams and Eric Roach who, according to Martin, “were not studious intellectuals” and had been relegated to “a sub-category.”

These two and other dimensions of alienation occur throughout the book in the form of responses to Martin’s questions during numerous interviews captured across the globe.

The concept of “the yard” – that inner world of suburbia in colonial Trinidad - also strikingly recurs as a persistent backdrop to much of Martin’s storytelling in the words of his interviewees.

Ellie Mannette’s Oval Boys of Woodbrook, for example, was distinguishable from Tokyo Steelband of east Port-of-Spain with which the legendary Winston “Spree” Simon was associated.

Mannette talks, in one interview with Martin, about the time his Barracuda pan with “a few notes on it” was taken away from him during a downtown fight – “Tokyo Steelband came into our band and beat up our boys” - and later hung it on a tree in John John. Mannette was given the opportunity to take the pan down himself. He promptly declined.

Arthur (Art) De Coteau, founding member of Casablanca Steelband of Belmont, offers no such exciting tale, but talks about his campaign to ensure that pan players acquired a better understanding of formal music. He is included in a chapter entitled ‘Cross Town by Blanca’ that includes an interview with iconic Casablanca captain and “bad john” Oscar Pyle aka “Bogart.” Pyle, Martin argues, was selected as captain of the band “because he was a solid defender with fisticuffs.”

He greets Martin with cold coconut water and a conversation that flows just as efficiently as the numerous refills offered. “The steelband,” Pyle announces, “started in politics. There is no question about politics coming into steelband; the steelband comes from the politics.” Read the book to get the point.

Then there is Augustus “One Man” Mark, another Casablanca icon, who talks about the frequently impoverished conditions under which pan players and their bands were made to survive. “In the early days,” he is quoted as saying, “life was rough, rough, you had to go and steal and ting to make pan.”

Sometimes, Mark says, “you see a drum full of oil in a garage, you hide and clean the drum, and then you wait until the drum drains empty. You can’t stray with it … when it’s empty you just gone with it.”

Only halfway through the interviews you leave Casablanca behind and meet Neville Jules of All Stars Steel Orchestra. Jules talks about hearing a parang band in full flight “one Christmas night” and paying attention to the chords being strummed on the cuatro. “So I went and got a pan, tune some notes and started to strum it like the cuatro.”

Impressed by the innovation, according to Jules, Philmore “Boots” Davidson of City Syncopaters “heard it, went back and tuned the same pan and called it a guitar pan. “That is how the name stuck to the guitar pan.”

There are sufficient anecdotes to keep the knowledgeable and the vaguely knowledgeable up all night – if not over contentious details, also because of the instances in which Martin’s interviewees make passing reference to some of the more remarkable moments in steelpan history.

There were also the women of early pan history. Martin focuses on the Girl Pat Steel Orchestra founded in 1951 by music teacher Hazel Henley and including Marjorie Boothman and the Maurice sisters, Barney and Pat. It was a band that was heavily influenced by the work of Invaders Steel Orchestra, also from the Woodbrook area.

Martin argues that the advent of Girl Pat signified a big change in social attitudes toward pan and pan players. “This aggregation of well-educated, talented young women with training in music (were) destined to play an important role in the history of the steelband,” he writes.

There are also chapters on the role of inventor/innovator, Bertie Marshall and a curiously-named section ‘Unsung Heroes’ which looks at the work of highly-acclaimed panmen Rudolph Charles and Clive Bradley.

Hugh Borde of Tripoli and Pouchet of Silver Stars also earn special mention, together with a chapter on the famous visit of the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) to London.

Voices of Pan Pioneers deserves a read. With cover art by David Boothman, it is also worth a prominent place on bookshelves everywhere.

QED (Quite Exquisitely Done) is hosting its third instalment of the annual Christmas charity concert, One Night In December (ONID) on December 16, at 4 pm. All music lovers are invited to come enjoy a music-filled evening with Raymond Edwards, Edward Cumberbatch and Nigel Floyd at the beautiful Undercover Garden Centre in Santa Cruz.

This trio is actually T&T’s finest tenors who have joined together to prove that good music can be Quite Exquisitely Done. The group’s individual members have made a name for themselves as solo artistes but have decided to come together to make an even more beautiful sound.

Edwards is one of our well known voices and for the last 20 years has had an undying love affair with music.

He began singing in 1993 under the tutelage of the late classical tenor/teacher Chesterton Ali. Under his guidance, Edwards blossomed to become a multiple music festival winner and has captured coveted awards such as the most outstanding vocalist, most outstanding tenor and male vocal champion. He has also had the opportunity to perform with the international cast of Porgy and Bess, and Venezuelan flamenco performers Flamenco Solo Flamenco. In 2006 Edwards released his debut solo album—Ray of Hope—which is in heavy rotation on local airwaves at Christmas time.

Away from the stage Edwards has been involved in media for almost 20 years serving in both state media and the private sector. Not being limited to the entertainment and media industries, academically Edwards holds a bachelors degree in Government with a minor in International Relations and a Certificate in Public Administration.

His media reach has extended to overseas with him performing freelance work for the British Broadcasting Corporation, and special features for CBC and the Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom.

Edwards founded Edwards Media Services in 2015 and provides media consultancy and studio services with a focus on audio projects. The company services clients in the Caribbean, the US, the UK, Italy, India and China.

Fondly known as “Eddie” to his close friends and family, Cumberbatch is just one of the talented tenors of Q-E-D. His preferred musical genres range from performing opera, art songs, oratorio, negro spirituals and gospel music.

His introduction to music and singing began with piano and theory lessons from his mother, Theodosia Cumberbatch. Other beloved music teachers included Majorie Padmore (recorder), Tim Shelton (trumpet), Geraldine Connor with Laura Franklyn, Gillian Nathaniel-Balintulo and Michael Steele (voice, choir and recorder) at Queen’s Royal College. It was under the wing of Barbara Douglas at Anderson University, Indiana, USA that Cumberbatch fell more in love with music and made voice his primary instrument. This love led him to become a long standing member and soloist of the well-known group the Lydian Singers.

He benefitted greatly under the directorship of Dr Pat Bishop, TC and his experience with the Lydian Singers has been invaluable to him as he further progressed to perform as a tenor soloist in many choral works and tenor roles in several operas.

As a musical festival champion, Cumberbatch has earned several trophies as a result of his magnificent talent. These accolades include outstanding tenor, vocalist and performer of the festival. His talent has also been showcased beyond our shores with him performing in the Caribbean islands, United States, Canada, Germany and South Africa.

Cumberbatch has degrees in physics with mathematics and Solar Energy and is currently an instructor of mathematics at UTT.

Reflecting on his talent, Cumberbatch refers to it as a divine gift from God and is thankful for the grace to share it with the world.

The third link in the Q-E-D chain Nigel Floyd provides stable, solid, sound advice to his singing brothers along with his great voice. He started his singing career under the guidance and tutelage of the late Holitzia Seecharan-Lawrence and has been a long standing member of the Marionettes Chorale. Under the direction of Gretta Taylor, he has toured extensively with the choir during their visits to the United States in 1997 and to Costa Rica in 2004 and has featured as a soloist in genres ranging from Broadway, Classics to Gospel, Spirituals and Calypso.

Floyd entered the Music Festival series of 2002 where he won the Tenor Solo Class for the North Zone. Later in the series he was awarded the Norman Phillip Cup as the Most Outstanding Tenor of the Series.
He has featured in the tenor roles of Mingo in the Living Arts Foundation Caribbean premiere of Porgy and Bess; the role of Ferrando in Cosi fan Tutti produced by the Key Academy of Music; Don José in the Marionettes Chorale Production of Carmen, Jean Valjean in Les Mesable and Spalanzani in the Tales of Hoffmann.

Floyd holds a Grade V Certification in Voice (with Merit) from the Royal School of Music, in London. He has served T&T in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as a criminal prosecutor and has set up a private law practice.

Also on sale will be memorabilia from the event as QEDTT will have on sale, branded stuffed toys – Cooper Q, Milo Monkey Q and Scout Q – which have been fan-favourites, t-shirts, candles and more. There’s so much to look forward to at One Night In December, you simply cannot afford to miss it.

Info 

For tickets and souvenirs, please contact QEDTT at: qedtt3@gmail.com or call: 387-3146 Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/287036645127499/ Follow QEDTT on Facebook @QuiteExquisitelyDoneTT and on Instagram: @qed.tt

There are very few institutions which can say they have been around longer than T&T has been a Republic. As the Caribbean School of Dancing celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, the recently formed Alumni Association is looking towards the future while acknowledging its past.

The association will be hosting a fund-raiser on November 24 and 25 towards the upgrade of their Port-of-Spain and Curepe buildings, to ensure it can continue to open its doors to its committed and talented students. On Saturday, an awards ceremony will be held to pay tribute to teachers who have dedicated their lives to the school. Many of these teachers were students of the School when Marcia Moze, then Turner, began teaching ballet in 1967.

Patricia Roe, an original student who has been teaching at the school for 50 years, said the key to the high standards of the school from the beginning was tying the teaching methods to London’s Royal Academy of Dancing’s Examinations. She said at the time it was felt that doing this was a way to raise the standard. “We felt that something external would be better than staying with local stuff, so we got people from away to come in and examine,” said Roe, “and it was trying to raise our standards, I suppose, to something that is more than just what exists here.

“As teachers in the Caribbean, we were small and we learned we had to get bigger. The issue was that it would help to improve standards of performance and technique, and of course what happened was that students went away and came back and taught us things they were learning away or things they had found to be more important than just the things they learned with us, and all of that helped to push it in a direction that I would say was upwards.”

Original student and teacher for over 30 years, Carol Yip Choy said the school first focused on ballet and then expanded to include folk, tap, modern and jazz, among others. She said the school takes students from the age of three-and-a-half, and she has had many students tell her they were pleased they did ballet, because it gave them a sense of discipline. Yip Choy said while certain students are selected to do the Royal Academy of Dancing’s Ballet Examination, “it’s not a compulsory thing, it’s for them to enjoy, and every two years we do a full school show at Queen’s Hall or NAPA, so they get a chance to perform.”

Yip Choy said the Metamorphosis Dance Company, which was founded by teacher Nancy Herrera along with Yip Choy and Crystal De Souza in 1995, has performed locally and all over the world, including Europe, England, Suriname, Costa Rica and Scotland.

Herrera, another student who has also been teaching at the school for over 30 years, said the school has been a net exporter of dancers as well as others who have gone into all areas of dance and theatre.

“Everybody seems to remember the very prestigious ones,” said Herrera, “but at the end of the day there’s a whole body of people that constitute theatre practitioners, teachers, etc. The dancing has molded people into better citizens and better thinkers and they’ve then gone on to do quite amazing things. For me one of the touching things is to meet people who’ve said what a difference dancing made to their lives, it was one of the few areas of their lives they were made to feel important and which they succeeded in, and they weren’t actually made to feel useless.”

Roe said she hopes the school will continue to exist and the people who carry it forward will lift it even further than where it is. “I believe what we have built over the years is worth keeping and developing on.”

Herrera said it is a testimony to the staff that the school as an institution is 60 years old. “The philosophy of the school is once you wanted to dance, you came to the school and so we literally have always welcomed everybody.

“I can’t name very many things in T&T that have maintained a consistently high standard for 60 years. I think that that is something that not only the school but the society needs to be very proud of, that it has been consistently maintained.”

For more info contact the school at 625-3225, email briphwilson@gmail.com or find the Association on Facebook at Caribbean School Of Dancing Alumni.

Former Educational Facilities Company Limited (EFCL) chairman Arnold Piggott says he is now ready to “break my silence” and will appear before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee looking into issues at the entity he once chaired. His appearance before the committee, he said yesterday, are for the same reasons he resigned from the EFCL, “in the interest of “the protection of my reputation and family name.”

Piggott came under fire on Monday when he failed to attend a JSC meeting on the EFCL, with JSC chairman David Small warning a summons would be issued for Piggott to attend the next hearing.

Yesterday, Small told the T&T Guardian if Piggott fails to appear when the summons is served “there are options available,” but declined to go into details. But he said he remains optimistic Piggott will appear.

“We have all sorts of documents saying things went awry. The time period is under the watch of the former chairman, he is critical to say what happened here. We don’t understand what the drama is about, these things, it is alleged, fell under your watch,” Small said.

He said the committee’s work is dependent on “parties against whom things have been said. We have one side of the story, it is difficult to come to a conclusion without hearing the other side.”

The summons is expected to be sent before the end of the week once JSC members agree on a date for the next hearing.

Parliament sources told the Guardian it is the first time that both houses of Parliament have invoked the power contained in the standing orders of the Senate and the House of Representatives to command that someone appear before the Committee.

Calls to Piggott’s mobile phone went unanswered yesterday, but in an earlier interview with i95.5FM he said he felt it “prudent to consider attending the next meeting of the inquiry,” given the “misinformation in the public domain arising from the inquiry.” He said he wanted to remove the speculation surrounding the EFCL and “me personally” and is hoping that when he appears before the inquiry he will be given “appropriate leeway to vent.” He added, however, that any summons for him to appear, he said, will be dealt with by his attorneys.

Former education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh yesterday said while the JSC must be “heartily commended for its decision to summon Mr. Piggott to its next meeting,” it was “disgraceful” that Piggott’s decision not the attend took place “in the midst of revelations that the board of directors he headed had overstepped its boundaries and interfered in the day-to-day operations of EFCL and was involved in improprieties pertaining to procurement.” He said Piggott’s resignation last June “took place after major allegations of irregularities. Attorney General Faris Al- Rawi had previously summoned a meeting of the Board of Directors amidst the serious claims.”

As the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) moves to collect some $500 million currently owed by errant customers, chairman Romney Thomas has promised that before year’s end properties will be seized and placed for sale in a bid to collect outstanding debts.

Thomas was speaking at WASA’s commissioning ceremony for the McKai Booster Station at the Lady Young Road, Morvant, yesterday.

Asked what percentage of customers were in arrears, Thomas said it was difficult to pinpoint but noted it was a mixture of residential and commercial customers. On a time-line for the actual start of seizure of property, Thomas said WASA was “working” with property owners so as to come to a resolution.

“We want to give people the opportunity to come in and talk to us and try to enter into a payment plan. We are not going to be draconian about it. And for those who don’t want to do it we will take that next step,” Thomas said.

“Right now it is a warning, but we have to collect the outstanding debt. It is way too much debt we have outside there and we are struggling to pay contractors. In terms of the sale of property... by the end of the year we would be advertising properties for sale.”

This is not the first time the company has threatened such action to clear of its customer debt, but such plan is yet to meterialise. Yesterday, Thomas pointed out that WASA was probably the only public utility authorised to sell a property for outstanding arrears, as outlined in the Rate and Recoveries Act. He said, however, that they will most likely target seizure of properties for customers who have the biggest debts first.

Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte said the bigger picture was that all citizens must appreciate that the price of water was one of the lowest in the Western Hemisphere, as each household had to pay a mere $3 a day for water. But he said the consumption pattern of citizens was four times that of other countries.

“If there are individuals who are not paying their bills at this time, that’s part of the reason why the country has subsidised WASA to the tune of almost $3 billion,” Le Hunte said, adding the country should be “crying shame” on customers who are not paying their bills with the rates currently as low as they are.

The minister said only 38 per cent of the population currently had access to pipe-borne water on a 24 hours/seven days a week basis.

The booster station was initially estimated at $3.1 million but reportedly cost the Public Utilities Ministry $2.2 million.

Thomas said it would provide water to the McKai community, which has been without water since its inception some 50 years ago. The community comprises some 400 people or 100 households. The project was done not by contractors but solely by WASA employees and Thomas paid kudos to them.

WASA’s director of programme and change management Denise Lee Sing-Pereira said the booster station was the brainchild of deceased WASA senior manager of North-West operations Derek Hookers, who was shot dead in 2015. To date his murder has remained unsolved.

“Derek’s commitment to the Mc Kai Lands community has been demonstrated through his successful completion of Phase One of the project, which entailed the laying of 1.5 kilometre PVC pipeline. Derek, however, died before his goal of providing a first time water supply to the community was realised,” Lee Sing-Pereira said.

She said the station has a design capacity of 135,360 gallons of water per day and is fed from the Picton Reservoir via the El Socorro Booster Station.

Port-of-Spain North/St Ann’s West MP Stuart Young says Government is moving full speed ahead to clean up corruption at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA).

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony for the McKai Booster Station at the Lady Young Road yesterday, he said: “When it became known that one of the areas I would focus my efforts on in the fight against corruption would be your institution ... immediately as that became known there was a fire at your headquarters.

“I want to put the population on alert from today that work is going to continue now and I am going to give it direction and we are going to clean up the corruption that exists. Those who are afraid of it need not be afraid, because you have the commitment of the Government and my personal commitment in dealing with that in my next stage of work.”

Young, the Minister in the Office of the Attorney General, said he was proud of WASA employees who actually “go out and do the work,” adding each citizen should strive to take the country forward. He also praised WASA’s management for using employees and not the “cartel of contractors that exist” to get projects done.

Asked about the probe, WASA chairman Romney Thomas said he did not want to comment as it is now with the Ministry of the Attorney General.

In 2016, a fire destroyed the second floor of WASA’s St Joseph headquarters which housed the Records Management Department. The blaze was believed to have been deliberately set.

The fire occurred almost two weeks after a forensic audit was ordered by WASA’s board into the utility’s operations and began in three different locations, including the filing room. Several employees were questioned.

Some 11 days after the first anniversary of that blaze there was another fire at WASA.

It was reported that work was being done on the second floor when a spark from a cutting torch ignited documents causing a small fire.

Prison Officers’ Association (POA) president Ceron Richards said yesterday his members were breathing a little easier after a second meeting with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and National Security Minister Edmund Dillon bore fruit on a way forward over legislation to ensure their protection, even when off-duty.

Richards said Al-Rawi agreed to appoint a special committee to look at the legislation during the meeting. He described the meeting as “progressive,” adding it formulated a road map moving forward and a direction hey were happy with.

“This should see drafts completed in approximately six weeks of a number of new legislation and some amendments to existing legislation. It will be a very tedious exercise…we are testing it at this stage…we are happy and understand the role the AG has itemised and it is for us now to go with him,” Richards said.

He said there are five main areas to be dealt with and while he was not ready to disclose the specifics, he said is confident the special committee will draft the possibilities.

“We are in the exploring stage and later on we will see what advances to Cabinet and then to Parliament. We are satisfied on the road to reach somewhere…we anticipate and suspect the AG this time around is taking us somewhere and we would concentrate on that for now,” Richards said.

During the meeting, Dillon also asked the POA to submit proposals on ways officers can be protected off the job.

Legislation is said to be currently drafted to help protect them.

He added, “The Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Prisons are actively involved in a number of security initiatives which can and should facilitate the type of support our members need, which will give them an added sense of security.”

Richards said while they are aware crime and criminality is now endemic, they remain positively optimistic they will achieve “results which can place not only us, as prison officers, but other members of the protective services in a better place to not only address our security needs but those extremely important security concerns of the people of T&T.”

He assured “we are focused on a progressive roadmap. We will not be sidetracked.”

On November 3, Richards and some of his member visited the Canadian High Commission seeking information about asylum in that country following recent attacks against colleagues.

This the murders of two prison officers last month. Prison officer Glenford Gardner, 44, was shot dead outside a house he owned at Sea Trace, Diego Martin, on October 26.

He was shot dead hours after prison officers confiscated cellphones and other contraband items at the Port-of-Spain Prison. Earlier in October, prison officer Richard Sandy was killed by an ex-convict while at a bar in South Trinidad.

In the most recent incident, on Saturday night, an 11-year-old daughter of a prison officer was injured after being grazed on the stomach by a bullet.

An Arouca man died at the Arima District Hospital yesterday afternoon, after he was shot near his Windy Hill, Arouca home.

According to police, Ryan Powder was found bleeding at the side of the road when Cpl Ali and WPC Francis responded to a report of shooting in the area just after noon. The officers took the bleeding man to the hospital where he died while being treated.

Police have labelled the killing as gang-related and say they are bracing for reprisal killings as a result.

Days before she was due to be discharged from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Corporal Roxanne Sealey, who was was accidentally shot by a colleague in September, suffered a stroke.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Snr Supt Surrendra Sagramsingh, under whose supervision Sealey fell, said she is believed to have developed a blood clot which travelled to her brain, causing the stroke last Thursday.

Sealey, who lost a kidney and her spleen as a result of the shooting at the San Juan Police Station on September 26, was first warded in the ICU. After being transferred from the ICU, relatives feared she was not receiving the best care and were seeking to have her transferred to a private institution. However, doctors at the hospital advised against it and Sealey was instead transferred to the High Dependency Unit, where she remained for weeks recuperating and was showing good enough progress to be sent home.

Sagramsingh also said the officer who accidentally shot Sealey is still traumatised by the incident, as he shared a close working relationship with her. The officer, who is attached to the warrant office of the Court and Process Branch, remains on active duty while the Professional Standards Bureau investigates the matter. The officer was checking his loaded firearm at the station when it accidentally went off. The bullet grazed his finger before hitting Sealey in the abdomen.

Angostura Holdings Limited employees are afraid to speak out against wrongdoing for fear of losing their jobs, says the president of Fixin T&T Kirk Waithe.

He was commenting on reports of an email being circulated by a top official of the company which hints at repercussions for any bar owner or person supporting a campaign calling for the removal of Angostura’s chairman Dr Rolph Balgobin.

The email reads: “Folks, any petition against Angostura being signed by bars or anyone who enjoys credit from us will not be perceived in a positive light. I trust that this is being monitored closely by your good selves. Let me know how this is being managed and if I may add value to any of the deliberations, I am only a phone call away.”

Waithe, who has given the Government and Angostura Holdings Ltd until Friday to remove Balgobin, is spearheading a campaign for a boycott of Angostura’s products. He said many bar owners are in favour of the boycott but are apprehensive about possible repercussions.

He claims an employee was suspended over the circulation of the email.

So far, three restaurants, Trotters, Prime and Buzo have signed on to the petition, along with promoters DJ Cin, ValeVibe, promoters of D original Breakfast Party, and Sunny Side Up events, which promotes the Carnival Breakfast Party.

“Many others agree in principle but are concerned about consequences,” Waithe said.

At a press conference on Monday, attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj gave Angostura two weeks to reopen an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Balgobin.

Maharaj said after a senior employee filed the complaint under the company’s whistleblower policy, Angostura appointed the Diana Mahabir-Wyatt Investigating Committee to probe the allegations.

However, in October, the company hired retired Judge Rolston Nelson to complete the investigations and the Committee’s appointment was terminated.

Maharaj has given Angostura 21 days to reopen the investigation.

“We believe that Angostura should act within the next two weeks and the government should act within the next week or two also and therefore we believe that within the next 21 days we should see the committee back in action. If that does not happen we will consider our legal options but that has to be our last resort,” he said.

Contacted yesterday, Angostura’s senior manager of Public Affairs and Communications Giselle Laronde-West said the company had no comment at this time.

The Divisional Commander of Police in Tobago, Acting Senior Superintendent Joanne Archie, says the police are on the ground and will be proactively working to ensure that crime on the island is kept at a minimum over the Christmas period.

This in the face of 11 murders for the year and the seizure of 15 illegal guns.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday Archie said: “One murder in Tobago is of concern,” since the island is not just a tourist destination but is also a “vacation destination and we have to ensure that people who visit and those who live on the island are kept safe.”

In 2016 there were four murders for the entire year.

Archie said of the 11 murders recorded this year, two had been solved.

“One was domestic a murder-suicide and the other where we charged two Trinidadians,” she said.

“We have made inroads into the others, but there is the issue of the evidential threshold,” she said.

In February, 15-year-old female footballer Abiela Adams was found with her throat slit. Archie said investigators “have made inroads and they are just a short time away from going to the Director of Public Prosecutions for directions.”

She said the investigation took some time but “we are awaiting the results of scientific evidence for further instructions to pursue charges.”

While investigations into the other murders continue, Archie said, the police have been unable to determine motives for the murders of two recent victims — Rondell ‘Barry’ Campbell, of Mason Hall, and 28-year-old barber, Rijkaard Ramos Carmona.

Archie is also expressing concern about the growing number of illegal guns on the island.

She said had seen this year they have had the highest number of gun seizures.

She believes that the guns may be coming in through “illegal ports. Tobago is surrounded by water and given the dynamics and the geographical constraints we rely on sea surveillance. We will want support from the Coast Guard. They have their patrols but we want to seek continued assistance where that is concerned.”

The absence of proper scanners on the Scarborough Port, she said, is also a major issue.

Recently, she said, “vehicles from Trinidad were intercepted on the Port carrying illegal drugs.

We utilise CID, regular police, narcotics and the canine department. So far, we have had some seizures.” That kind of surveillance, she said, will be heightened.

In the past week, 60 people were arrested for various offences including possession of narcotics and over 200 kilos of marijuana was seized.

Recognising that they cannot fight crime alone, Archie said the police in Tobago have an “excellent relationship,” with the stakeholders including the business community and residents. “The community policing unit is doing a lot of work on the ground in the villages and communities as a pro-active measure in crime initiative and we engage the community in crime-fighting initiatives. That is critical to success,” she said.

She admitted to some manpower challenges, but she said “it is how you utilise what you have to ensure there is a proper spread across the island.

We have had some gains and we are pursuing leads. We hope to bring the perpetrators of crime on the island to justice.

The T&T Coast Guard has launched an investigation into what caused one of its vessels to sink off while docked in Tobago on Tuesday.

The vessel has since been dry-docked and is being repaired by a team of engineers.

In a statement yesterday, Public Relations Officer of the TT Coast Guard Lt Sherron Manswell confirmed that the vessel sunk but could not say what caused this.

“We are still working on finalising the report. We are doing an investigation but the boat is now on land,” Manswell said. He added that the boat is not inoperable and will be put to use once it is repaired.

This is not the first time that a vessel sank at that location.

Yesterday, secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea Gary Aboud circulated photographs of the submerged vessel.

He called for an investigation into the incident.

“A multi-million dollar vessel down the drain while uniformed Coast Guard officers standby idly. Every backyard seaman knows survival basics such as always have a bailer on standby if a vessel takes in water yet these officers seem to be liming while the vessel goes down,” Aboud said in a statement.

He urged Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to ask himself “why the T&T Coast Guard wrecks every one of its high-powered prestige vessels in what mariners consider to be record time?”

“A Prime Minister has a duty to ensure that government agency expenditures are necessary, are prudently acquired and are managed efficiently and loyally. These officers appear to be untouchable,” Aboud added.

National cricketer Mark Deyal is making great strides off the field of play, having recently graduated with a Degree in Sports Management from the University of T&T (UTT).

The left hander who played for both T&T Red Force and the Trinbago Knight Riders has been trying very hard to mix both sports and studies and was elated to make the grade in his studies.

“I put a great effort out there on the field of play but I am always very aware that things can happen in sport that could shorten your career. I am one who believes that you must have something to fall back on when cricket is not available and this is why I have been working extremely hard off the field of play as well.”

Deyal is the son of former national opener Deonarine Deyal and the elder Deyal is proud of his achievements: “I am very proud of the efforts that Mark has been making and I want to wish him all the best as he continues on this part. He has always been a very committed guy to anything that is before him and I know that he will do in both his sport and academia.”

Left handed batsman Deyal is looking to break into the national team once again and has been knocking on the doors to selection.

Earlier this season he visited Canada, scoring runs at will for his team JB Masters in the Toronto and Districts Cricket League Elite Division.

He played eight games and scored 317 runs at an average of 63.4. Speaking to Guardian Media Sports he said: “I have been in good form and really enjoyed my stint in the Canadian league. I have been training very hard because I understand what it takes to succeed and I am putting in the hours when it comes to my training.

“I have also recently started to open the batting again and I am very comfortable. I would love to represent the T&T Red Force during the PCL.”

Deyal has been a prolific player for PowerGen in the domestic league and has also developed himself nicely as a slow bowler. Two years ago he played for the T&T Red Force in the CPL and although missing out this time he is still scoring aggressively.

Exotic trees planted around cricket centre

The third phase of the tree-planting exercise to beautify the surroundings of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board compound at Balmain in Couva was recently completed.

In attendance were president of the TTCB Azim Bassarath, first vice-president Dr Allen Sammy, and Cricket Operations Manager Dudnath Ramkeessoon along with Fizes Hosein, the brainchild behind the beautification project.

And special invitees who also participated in the exercise were children from the Angels of Hope Children’s Foundation of Lange Park, Chaguanas, who are wards of the state.

TTCB president Bassarath said that the tree-planting project has been ongoing around the Alloy Lequay Administration Centre, the Sir Frank Worrell Development Centre, and along the Clifford Roach Drive which is the main roadway leading into the National Cricket Centre off the Couva Main Road.

The cricket chief said that apart from beautifying the area, the progamme is in keeping with the ideals of the TTCB with regard to protection of the environment as well as promoting the values of sustainable development.

“We have been very fortunate to have scores of young people involved in the different phases of the programme and hopefully they will learn about the different ways trees can contribute to our living space and emphasise the need for more greenery in our surroundings,” said Bassarath.

He especially thanked Hosein, a construction project manager who has been involved in tree-planting projects around the country for the past 40 years and is still engaged with national organisations, and religious and community groups to promote environmental awareness and beautification.

West Indians to benefit from soft ball initiative

A number of West Indians living in South Florida stand to benefit from a new soft ball cricket league that is about to take off.

The name of the administrative body taking charge of this is the Sunshine State Softball Cricket Association (SSSCA) and it is targeting West Indians living in the area. Ramzan Roshanali the public relations officer of the newly formed body said “This body has been set up to organised and administer softball cricket games in a professional and friendly manner in Florida, USA. We have a number of West Indians living here who long to play cricket and now we are going to address this.

The league bowls off on January 21 and nine teams have confirmed to take part in the event at the Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida.

The executive of SSSCA is as follows: Devindra Devon Roy; Vice President—Leslie Lachmansingh; Treasure—Daianand Ramcharran; Public Relation Officer—Ramzan Roshani; Secretary—Ethel Janglee; Assistant Secretary/Treasure—Lloyd Persaud. Those interested can contact SSSCA at email: info@softballca.com; Twitter: social@softball.com; Facebook: social@softball.com or 954-691-6166.