On Saturday night, I attended a show, Brian MacFarlane’s presentation “Christmas Joy—a gift of drum”, at Queen’s Hall. To put it mildly, this show was an embarrassment of riches. In a word, it was perfect.

1. The show started dead on time.

2. The performances were uniformly excellent, the voices magnificent. To single anyone out would be disrespectful to the others, although one has to marvel at the fact that Kelwyn Hutcheon still sings so beautifully, even after all this time.

3. Each musical number segued seamlessly into the other—a tribute to rehearsal and professional stage management.

4. The audience was mesmerised by the extravagantly opulent costuming of the choir and supporting players.

5, The orchestra was extremely professional and very capably conducted.

6. There was no unnecessary intermission, and when the show was finished, everyone was pleased with the timeline.

The bar was set so high, that every other production is going to be compared to this one. To Brian MacFarlane and crew I say, magnificent! Well done!

C STOUTE,
CASCADE

2018 will be a tipping point year for T&T. If we can survive it economically and socially, a serious hurdle will have been crossed. If we cannot survive, the consequences are too dire to mention.

The current government has tried to find a very shaky middle road between the drastic recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and local requirements. However, all signs are that 2018 will be a very, very difficult year.

Thousands of people have lost their jobs in 2017, either through non-renewed contracts or involuntary terminations. Many of these terminations went under the radar of the Ministry of Labour. Employers used a very silly part of the law, Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act 32 of 1985, Chapter 88:13, Section 4(1) and Section 6, of not having to report terminations of less then five people within a 45-day period.

Government monetary policies have focused on managing our foreign exchange at a “reasonable” rate notwithstanding the IMF mandate to devalue to TT$9 -10 to the US$1.

There is already an unofficial devaluation of our currency, with rates on the black market going between TT$7-$10 per US$1. This is reflected in the current higher prices for imported items.

While official statistics show that inflation is averaging around one—two per cent, it seems that the purveyors of these figures do not shop where ordinary mortals do.

The taxation regime is regressive and unfair. The middle-class is taxed relentlessly, while the top income earners use every available means at their disposal to either avoid or evade taxes.

The public debt is close to TT$100 billion (actual $93.7 billion).

WASA, recently, put an ad in the media stating that the properties of delinquent customers can be sold. That is good. However, it begs the question: who is WASA’s greatest debtor? Is it not the government of T&T? So instead of locking off the water of non-delinquent customers on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, should WASA not go after the properties of its truly delinquent customers? This is a state entity that receives a subsidy of over TT$2 billion annually, according to the Finance Minister, on pg 4, of the 2018 budget. Yet, it is one of the most inefficient state enterprises.

While all these things are happening, there is great concern over the government’s decision to appoint a cabinet sub-committee to buy a boat for the sea bridge. This is after the Board of the Port Authority had its recommendations for a boat denied by the Cabinet.

Energy prices are trending well above the 2018 budgeted estimates with West Texas Intermediate oil closing at US$57.84 (2018 budget US$52) and natural gas closing at US$3.09 (2018 budget US$2.75 per MMBtu) as at 1/12/2017.

The problem with these nice figures is that the production levels of oil and gas, at this time, are abysmally low. Thus, the windfall to the government may not be as much as expected.

The management of the economy will determine how well we will survive in 2018.

All of this is being watched by a very sinister Opposition, which is hoping that it will soon get its hands back on the Treasury.

LINUS F DIDIER,
MT HOPE

This letter is for the attention of the Minister of Works and the CEO of PTSC.

Last Thursday I went down to City Gate to catch an Arima bus. When I reached there at 5.30 pm the line for the all-stop was by the Digicel outlet. I decided to take the limited stop bus. There were lots of people waiting, some said that they were there since 3 o’clock—waiting for the Arima bus that never came until 8 pm that night!

Imagine, people was waiting for over five hours for an Arima bus! And the worst thing about it was that nobody came and said anything to the travelling public. That was so disrespectful. There were lots of parents with their children crying and fussing; elderly people getting frustrated, and not a word from management. They did not have the courtesy to offer a reason why there was no Arima bus or why it took over five hours for one to come, when there is a schedule telling the travelling public the times buses will be coming and going. This is ludicrous; there is no excuse for this behaviour.

This situation has been going on for years with the Arima buses, and it seems nobody knows what to do, or maybe they do not want to do anything about it. I am sure that management knows the reason why the Arima buses work like they are working now.

Mr Minister of Works and Transport, you need to intervene in this situation now. You cannot have people suffering like that. These senior citizens paid their dues to society. They should be treated with courtesy and respect.

The increase in maxi-taxi fares means that more people have to rely on the bus service. The ball is in your court, Mr Minister of Works and Transport, time to get it right.

MODICIA MARTIN

One of the more unique phenomena on display at many steelpan events in the United States in recent years are mass steelbands in which individual players or smaller pan ensembles come together as one large steelband to perform scored pieces of music. Players learn the musical selections on their own via notated scores before coming together in mass with usually only one or two rehearsals prior to the concert. This method, which is common in the United States, has also become increasingly popular at steelband festivals in other parts of the world from Australia to Holland.

The latest major mass steelband event occurred recently at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) which was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11. Organised by Professor Rick Kurasz of Western Illinois University, the focus of the PASIC mass steelband 2017 was to present new scored music written specifically for school steelbands in the United States.

The PASIC 2017 mass steelband featured over 50 players comprised primarily of professors who teach steelpan at universities and colleges across the United States from California to Florida. The concert packed ten compositions into the one-hour performance. The set list presented a variety of musical styles, many of which had little connection to traditional Trinidadian material.

After only four hours of rehearsals the night before, the performances were tight, much to the delight of the exuberant convention audience of hundreds. Virtuosic pan player Andy Narell, who had been inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame two nights prior, took a special solo on one of the pieces that simultaneously awed the audience and enthused the steelband.

Convention ballrooms are not normally the most steelband friendly spaces for performance; nonetheless, Kurasz was delighted the sound in the big convention hall came off so well, noting, “this space turned out better than I hoped.” Kurasz and others this type of event that should happen regularly so that new music for steelpan receives the kind of exposure it so richly deserves.

The 2017 PASIC event marked an important anniversary as the first ever mass steelband occurred exactly 30 years prior at the 1987 PASIC convention held in St Louis, Missouri. It was the vision of professor Thomas Siwe of the University of Illinois (who Kurasz had trained under) and was on the conference board.

He called Robert Chappell and Al O’Connor at Northern Illinois University to put it together. They included a Cliff Alexis arrangement of David Rudder’s classic The Hammer. Robert Chappell recalled the enthusiasm of the participants. “I believe that I called the directors of the bigger bands and asked if they were interested. Almost all came. Northern Illinois University, Akron, Illinois, and North Texas. These groups did the heavy lifting on the tunes as the music was difficult. Cliff arranged everything…It was quite an entourage.”

The events were not without its difficulties, though as Chappell notes that organising PASIC mass steelband 1987 was “a pain in getting all of the groups and their instruments into the ballroom, by elevators, through smelly kitchens.” This particular mass steelband was stocked with Trinidadian talent as Len “Boogsie” Sharpe was a featured soloist and Leonard Moses led the engine room on drumset.

Since the first PASIC mass steelband in 1987, such events became regular occurrences at PASIC as well as other regional steelpan festivals, gatherings, and competitions around the United States. At PASIC 2000 in Dallas, a group of high school and university steelbands from the state of Texas, a particularly fertile steelband region, combined for a mass steelband that presented new steelband music written for secondary school.

At PASIC 2015, Tracey Thornton organised a Pan Rocks mass steelband to perform his arrangements of classic rock and heavy metal tunes. Declaring it an unqualified success, Thornton proclaimed, they “rocked PASIC!” Thornton drew a lot momentum from this PASIC performance in 2015 and has since regularly travelled across the US performing his Pan Rocks charts, often for mass bands.

Beyond PASIC, several regional steelband festivals implemented mass steelbands, the first is likely the PANFest at the Virginia Arts Festival held annually in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Dr Anthony Hailey who founded the event, recalled, “It was in 2004 that I implemented the mass band workshop idea. I contracted Tom Miller to do the arrangement for that first year and several succeeding years during my festival tenure. It never would have been possible success without a score. We distributed the music in advance then worked on the tune in three sectionals (tenor pans, doubles, cello/bass) at the workshop prior to bringing it all together.”

Perhaps the most important element of organising the mass steelband is getting right the engine room. As Tracy Thornton notes, “You have to have a great and strong drummer.” Similarly, Hailey focused on the engine room. “We had an engine room workshop at the beginning of mass band to help all the sections understand the groove.”

CJ Menge organises mass steelbands in Texas and Oklahoma and he focuses on the importance of a unified engine room for mass steelbands. “I send out tempo markings to the directors to help with issues related to having different directors drilling the band. Also, we use just one drum set player and have the engine room players from all of the programmes set up together, in the centre of the band, to help keep the rhythm on track. I’m also clear about form ahead of time so that everyone learns the same ‘road map’ of the composition’.

There has not been much of a history of mass steelbands in Trinidad. In August of 2012, PanTrinbago organised a mass steelband for the 50th Anniversary of Independence. Amrit Samaroo transcribed his father Jit Samaroo’s arrangement of Sniper’s Portrait of Trinidad and distributed the score to the participating steelbands. For the event there were 15 stage sides stationed on trolleys including Trinidad All Stars, Renegades, Phase II Pan Groove, Exodus, Desperadoes, Skiffle, Supernovas, Arima Golden Symphony, Harmonites and Silver Stars.

Amrit Samaroo noted the hard part was having Supernova’s trap drummer, Sonalal “Killer” Samaroo, mic’d and fed through monitors to the other engine rooms. “We only had two preparatory sessions.”

A few weeks later in London, billed as the Thousand Pans celebration, a mass band was held at the end of the 2012 Olympics. Pan players rehearsed the scored music on their own and came together to perform the song Brazil as a sendoff to the next location for the summer Olympics. As the growth in musically literate steelpan players increases, no doubt mass steelbands will continue to grow in their popularity while also bringing sweet steelpan music to new places.

Ray Funk is a retired Alaskan judge and a Fulbright scholar who is passionately devoted to calypso, pan and mas. Dr Andrew Martin is an ethnomusicologist, percussionist, pannist, and Professor of Music at Inver Hills College in St Paul, Minnesota.

The misuse of power has long been an issue set aside by women and men perhaps on some unspoken code, which says to expose abuse of any nature is to end up with a bad reflection of oneself. Nonetheless, the current revelations of abuse and sexual impropriety in the news do not at all surprise me—a day had to come. And, let me say quickly, I am not expecting to see any mushrooming of such exposés in T&T.

Somehow social systems like ours seem to barricade bad behaviour if only in the derogatory responses that are meted out to the few who dare to object—shaming, blaming, and deriding the abused rather than placing blame where it is rightly due is popular here.

I have come to learn it is the people within and often in charge of the systems/institutions who overlook unethical individuals, dereliction, abuse of power, and breaches of rules and regulations who pave the way for graver infractions.

Today, I am writing about my injury so I can heal. And no, this is not about sexual abuse, but the willingness of institutions to ignore abuses and overreaching of authority, possibly to protect their own or themselves.

Usually I would set aside these matters, but the unabating distress and the weeks of suffering leave me wondering how many others are suffering and are stuffing their injury as a Thanksgiving turkey (that could only mean you’ll end up roasted or fried).

Many celebrated with me on my becoming a Master of Public Health With Distinction. Many others knew the constant turmoil getting there. Many did not know that a day came when I could not leave the bed or the bedroom, such was the depth of the depression caused by the institutional mishandling I was made to suffer.

Last September, at the hand of a coordinator, whose history of flouting the regulations, my research paper in a master’s programme was graded (unusually) with regulations from a PhD programme. When I inquired I was told, “Those are the rules.”

Not one to be railroaded, and having already suffered at the puerile quips and throwing of words in a semester where I objected to the conspiring to place an examination where a research project was approved, I stood my ground. I wrote the Campus Registrar the next day.

I graduated on October 28 after eventually complaining to The UWI Deputy Principal upon realising five days before that the powers at the Medial Sciences Faculty possibly were too busy to deal with my six-week-old query or to care if I got the correct grade or if I graduated in 2017—the difference in the mark down meant I would not have graduated with distinction.

To date, no one has answered my questions. I am left wondering if this grading decision was one of inexperience, carelessness, vindictiveness, or a genuine error? I did indicate to the Deputy Principal that I have a file full of concerns about the fledgling MPH programme—I am the only one from a cohort of 18 who finished and graduated. He promised an audience.

But these are little matters where “big” men are concerned. And when they believe they have the power, to them, someone like me coming up against them is probably just nuisance level noise. Perhaps too, this may be powerful men thinking of my issue and me as less—beneath their office and standing. This is just the perfect nesting for greater abuses. Such abuses and the support given within institutions are a telling tale of the “empathy deficits” and “impulsiveness” we see today breaking big men and bigger institutions.

I am stumped by the callousness of a regional institution boasting all manner of governing competencies. I am petrified about pursuing further studies at The UWI. I am quaking from the dis-ease with which abuse is managed. This, I believe is exactly that which gives people the facility to do graver wrongs, without recourse.

• Caroline C Ravello is a strategic communication and media professional and a public health practitioner. She holds an MA with Merit in Mass Communications (University of Leicester) and is a Master of Public Health With Distinction (The UWI). Write to: mindful.tt@gmail.com

Saturday, December 9 marks a pivotal moment for T&T’s music sector as the T&T Music Company Limited (MusicTT) kicks off its inaugural Music Showcase, an event featuring Trinbagonian singers, songwriters, duos and bands, all vying for a spot in MusicTT’s Artiste Portfolio Development Programme. The event takes place at TZAR on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, at 4 pm.

General Manager of MusicTT, Jeanelle Frontin, explains, “This Music Showcase is the first stage in MusicTT’s Artist Portfolio Development Programme—our highly-focused export initiative. The pilot portfolio’s selection will be done by a panel of international music industry experts who will identify the specific training needs of each artiste. This customised training will be conducted through the Music Export Academy which is a series of workshops designed to provide music creatives with comprehensive knowledge on all that it takes in music to touch the globe. From the ins and outs of music business and copyright protection to touring and showcasing to marketing their brand, this Academy is aimed at artistes who are on the road to export-readiness but need that extra push to begin exporting their music effectively.”

Evaluating the performances on December 9 are five international music industry heavyweights: Jill Pedone, Head of All Creative Licensing, Label/Publishing, Lava Music Group; Marcus Spence, Mosley Music Group; Jennifer Hyland, Senior Manager TV & Film Licensing, Universal Music Canada; Sean Mulligan, VP Creative, Entertainment One Music Publishing; and Kosine, 1/2 of the LA based production duo Da Internz.

“These panellists have over 50 years combined experience and have catapulted and/or significantly contributed to the careers of Soundgarden, Nelly Furtado, Wyclef Jean and Rihanna, to name a few. They are, therefore, well poised to identify the characteristics of export-readiness, global potential and undeniable talent in our Trinbagonian artistes whose music careers are on the verge of reaching that next level,” Frontin adds.

The Music Showcase is open to the public and admission is free, but anyone interested in attending are must register at www.musictt.co.tt/elevate. For more information, visit MusicTT’s social media sites or call 622-1455.

The Dial family celebrated 159 years of being Trinidadian by opening what they’ve claimed to be “TT’s first family museum.” The event took place on Saturday, December 2, at Campus House, Eastern Main Road, St Augustine.

Salickdip Dial, the man who put the whole thing together said the process took just over a year. He said pieces of historic memorabilia of everyday life were collected from family members so other relatives and members of the public can get a view into the life of the Dials.

The Dial family made T&T their home when on December 6, 1868, the Edith Moore sailing vessel arrived in Trinidad. Eighteen-year-old Madary Dial, a Hindu, fell in love with 20-year-old Muslim Oozeerun and they worked as indentured labourers on the Mon Plaisir Estate.

The surname Dial is an Anglicised version of the Sanskrit name Dayal, a name found mainly in India’s northern states among Hindus. Madary and Oozeerun had six children: Dabee, Prabhu, Bhawanie, Siew, Parbattie and Bhagratee.

Today hundreds of Trinidadians can claim to be descended from Madaray and Oozeerun. Some of the notable descendants of Dial clan include Anna Mahase, past principal of St Augustine Girls’ High School; Leela Ramdeen, chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice; Balgobin Ramdeen, Democratic Labour Party (DLP), who sat as the Caroni East MP from 1961-1966; broadcaster Anthony Harford; Government Minister Devant Maharaj; former Leader of the Opposition Stephen Maharaj ; ,animal-rights activist Nalini Dial,’Digicel Rising Star Neval Chaitlal; attorney Bindra Dolsingh; and, former assistant DPP Ranjee Dolsingh.
— Reporting by Shastri Boodan

Minister of Community Development, Culture and The Arts Nyan Gadsby-Dolly issued letters of appointment to Carifesta XIV Host Country Management Committee (HCMC) last Thursday. The ceremony took place at the Ministry’s Head Office, Nicholas Towers, Port-of-Spain.

Carifesta XIV will be held from August 16 - 25, 2019 in T&T under the theme: The Tangible & Intangible, Connect, Share, Invest.

The HCMC plays a critical role in the festival to provide oversight, plan, manage and advise on the various aspects of the festival and will serve for the period November 30, 2017 to September 30, 2019. The HCMC will ensure that all the logistical, programming, promotional and financial arrangements for the event are executed on time and within budget. The HCMC comprises representatives of ministries, state agencies, as well as creative and cultural sector advisors.

A release from the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts states, “Trinidad and Tobago is excited to showcase and market our culture and that of the wider Caribbean region to the rest of the world through Carifesta 2019. As host nation, it is our intention to create the space, avenue and hub for participating nations to flourish and ‘Connect, Share, Invest’ in the arts and culture of the Caribbean.”

The government ministries and government agencies represented include the Ministries of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Tourism, Trade and Industry, Foreign & Caricom Affairs, Public Administration & Communications, Works & Transport, National Security and Sport and Youth Affairs, Tobago House of Assembly, Airports Authority of T&T and Port Authority of T&T. They are chaired by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts.

The Sector Advisors are Dr Lester “Efebo” Wilkinson, Gillian Bishop, Rana Mohip, John Arnold, Chandra Katwaroo, Davlin Thomas, Lorraine O’Connor and Carla Foderingham.

In T&T gangland language, “corn” means a bullet.

And apart from slang, gang culture is creeping into several Laventille West schools where some eight and nine-year-olds are showing signs of such culture.

Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds related the scenarios in Parliament during yesterday’s debate on the Anti-Gang Bill.

Hinds said there are 42 gangs in his constituency, comprising Rasta City and “Muslim” gangs. He lamented that youths were being used by more mature people established as large powerful community figures.

Hinds said the Muslim element entered T&T in the late 1980s, peaking during the 1990 failed coup attempt. Subsequently, he said some “brothers” were dealing guns and drugs, dominating various “blocks.” But other “brothers” stood up to them, giving birth to the Rasta City “versus” Muslims friction.

“Many of them aren’t any genuine Rasta. It’s only a name. Same thing with the Muslims. A lot transgress. Some Muslims even convert to Rasta City and vice versa,” Hinds said.

“But teachers in my area say primary students are showing signs of Rasta City and Muslim gang culture—they’re not speaking to each other... eight and nine-year-olds!”

Hinds added, “A 13-year-old wrote the Prime Minister that she was slapped by another student as she was from the Rasta City area. She has to be careful where she passes to reach school. On Tuesday I saw a 2011 video of a five-year-old with a man with an MP5 (sub-machine gun) on his shoulder. That child may be 12 years old now—what is he doing, I wonder?”

Hinds said tears came to his eyes recently when a constituent was killed by a gang after they found he was working for a rival “Muslim”gang. Another constituent was afraid to come to Hinds’ St Barb’s office as it was off limits and she didn’t want to become a “message” concerning turf warnings.

“Constituents tell me daily of fears. They’ve seen big long weapons all over the community—they just want to get out. One woman saw three youths outside her doors with assault rifles,” he added.

“If police seized 900 guns, there are far more out there. Nearby Brazil has eight factories—manufacturing guns like biscuits!”

Heavy gang activity is also occurring in quarrying.

“Police say men are guarding one quarry with assault weapons and shooting each other—organised crime!”

He said a worker attached to a contractor’s business was wounded when Beetham gangs demanded $400,000 and fired shots at the job site.

On recent Beetham protests, Hinds said, “If you misconducting yourself I cannot represent that! Laventille lacks for nothing. One must separate deprivation from criminality. But some people protest not because they want to but because they have to—else they’ll be branded as ‘gone against’ the community.”

He said statistics show gangs beyond Laventille: in Penal, Siparia, Marabella Trainline, Fyzabad, Cedros, Tobago, Couva, Enterprise and Morne Diablo.

“If people thought they’re safe in gated communities, Robocop was held at One Woodbrook Place and others at the Hyatt. Gang members’ children attend the best schools alongside your own,” he said.

He dismissed UNC MP Rodney Charles’ contribution on the bill as “hypocrisy! it’s like a woman of the night attempting to hide her legs! He’s talking about young blacks as though he’s concerned. The UNC feels crime is a PNM problem not a national problem!”

Police were last night questioning seven people in relation to a multi-million dollar robbery at the Piarco International Airport yesterday morning.

The well planned and orchestrated hit targeted a First Citizens’ bank load of $5.5 million which was being sent to Tobago via Caribbean Airlines, and took place mere metres away from the Piarco Police Station.

Police said the bandits struck at 11.25 am at the cargo loading area along the Golden Grove Road, Piarco, as the money was being transferred from an Amalgamated Security vehicle to be loaded onto a plane. An airport security reportedly stopped the Amalgamated officers from completing the loading process onto a cargo bin due to a security concern. This period allowed four masked men armed with high-powered rifles and dressed in army fatigue to exit a heavily tinted Toyota Hilux pick-up, licensed TDN7020, and order those around onto the ground. The gunmen then loaded the cash onto the pick-up, which was parked on the compound before the Amalgamated van arrived, and escaped with the loot.

The getaway vehicle was later found parked at Building 1A, Oropune Gardens, Piarco, about an hour after the incident - meaning it would have passed by the police station on its way there. Residents said the lone occupant at the time left the vehicle on and the door slightly opened and escaped in a waiting car. By then, the money had already been removed from the vehicle. Residents said after noticing the engine was left on they contacted the police, who responded.

Police said on hearing of the robbery, officers of the Central Division conducted road blocks but were unable to apprehend the culprits.

Police said it appeared the culprits had some knowledge of the security mechanisms in place for the cash cargo.

A media release from the Airports Authority of T&T yesterday confirmed the robbery, adding officials were working with police to solve the crime.

In a release yesterday, FCB head of Brand and Marketing Larry Olton confirmed the bandits hit just as the money was being transferred from the security of the armoured vehicle to the Airports Authority personnel to be loaded onto the plane.

Also commenting on the incident, First Citizens Group CEO Karen Darbasie said: “The incidences of crime appears to be on the rise, and has indeed reached alarming levels. Too often now we are seeing what appears to be planned and organised criminal activity, targeting businesses, including banks. This last incident seems to be no exception. This calls for greater vigilance on the part of businesses, the TTPS and all stakeholders, and First Citizens is taking further steps to ensure the safety of our people, our customers and their assets, under the circumstances and in this current environment.”

She added that First Citizens officials are assisting police with their investigations.

This was the second high profile multi-million robbery targeting bank money in recent years.

On November 27, 2013, a Sentinel van was robbed of $17 million and US$150,000, representing money from several banks, as it was being transported along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway to the airport around 4.30 am for a flight to Tobago. During that attack, 59-year-old veteran security officer Bert Clarke was murdered. His death and the robbery remains unsolved to date.

During that incident, the Sentinel van was rammed from behind near the Trincity Industrial Estate by a blue Ford Ranger which was loaded with bags of cement in the rear seat. The occupants came out shooting, killed Clarke and took the cash, leaving behind a petrified driver. After grabbing the loot, the bandits escaped in a white SUV which was later found abandoned near Millennium Park, Trincity, and another getaway car, a Nissan Almera, was later found. All three vehicles were reported stolen.

First Citizens has also been targeted on more than one occasion in recent months. In late November, thieves attempted to steal cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) at its Arima branch, but were unsuccessful as the machine had no cash. On September 24, using power tools, bandits entered its Montrose, Chaguanas branch, cut a hole in a vault and made off with $3.5 million. Another attempt was made some days later at its Carapo ATM, but the thieves left empty handed.

Questions emailed to FCB on how the bank intends to improve security were not answered up to press time.

Shastri Boodan

Government agencies must get their house in order when it comes to Information Technology in order to handle the setting up of procurement procedures under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Act 2015 when this legistation comes into effect.

This was announced by Charles Fingal, lecturer of the SBCS, when he addressed a meeting of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) recently held at the AMCO Training Venue, Chaguanas.

Fingal said the act places IT at the heart of the procurement process yet some government agencies are still trapped in the last century using typewriters and paper forms, while others have not updated their websites and contain photos of previous ministers.

Fingal also wants to know if government agencie were doing training for public officers to handle the implications of the act.

The act is intended to replace the Central Tenders Board Act.

​ Fingal said the office of the Regulator under the act would face some challenges.

He said "Government procurement in this country is huge in terms of the amount of ministries, corporate bodies, local government,the judiciary, I don’t know how big the office of the regulator is going to be.”

He said the office of the Regulator has power of enforcement and no complaint has to be made for an investigation to take place.

Fingal said the regulator can summon anyone for an investigation and there are penalties of around $500,000 and jail time that can be enforced if malfeasance is found to have taken place.

The Penal woman accused of harbouring escaped prisoner Vicky Boodram was yesterday granted $100,000 bail in the Siparia Magistates Court.

Roxanne Cudjoe, 32, was not brought from prison for the hearing.

She first appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate on Tuesday but was remanded in custody for tracing to determine if she had a criminal record.

It is alleged that she was harbouring Boodram, also called Victoria Samlalsingh, at her Lachoos Road, Penal, home on November 30 with intent to impede her arrest.

Ag Insp Sheldon Ablacksingh told Siparia First Court Magistrate Margaret Alert that Cudjoe was not in court because there was no female police officer in the escort detail. They had not been told that a female prisoner was to be taken to court, he said.

Cudjoe’s attorney Richard Clarke-Wills, who made a bail application in her absence, said although there were three matters listed as pending on her criminal record, those had already been decided in her favour.

The cases were for littering, using obscene language and resisting arrest in 2011 and 2013.

Clarke-Wills told the court Cudjoe is the single parent of an eight-year-old son and she works at a lotto booth and is also a hairdresser. He said she has been in custody since being charged by Ag Cpl Joefield last Thursday.

The prosecutor in the case, who had no objection to bail, said the offence carries a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and five years in prison.

Cudjoe was granted the bail pending clerk of the peace approval but the magistrate denied a request for a cash bail alternative.

The case was adjourned to today for disclosure.

An autopsy will be done to determine how a scavenger at the Forres Park Landfill, Claxton Bay died yesterday.

There were conflicting reports from police and the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) as to how the man died.

A release from SWMCOL yesterday stated that police were investigating a fatal accident at the landfill.

They indicated that around 9 am, a man was crushed by a D8 tractor which was compacting an area at the periphery of the landfill. The victim, who is yet to be identified, had apparently been sleeping under a makeshift cover of waste material in the area.

SWMCOL acting CEO David Manswell said, “SWMCOL is deeply saddened by this tragic loss of life. On behalf of the board of directors, management and staff of SWMCOL, I wish to extend our prayers and sincere condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the deceased.”

SWMCOL urged those using their landfills to exercise caution while on the premises and to adhere to health and safety guidelines at all times.

However, police reported that around 8 am, a 65-year-old hustler went to the landfill and found the body of a naked man lying face down in an old plastic swimming pool.

Couva police, homicide detectives and crime scene investigators responded and found vultures already pecking at the body. There were no signs of major injury. Investigators learned that the man was accustomed eating and sleeping at the landfill and they suspect that he fell ill and died.

The victim was reported to be a medium built, dark-skinned Afro-Trinidadian male who appeared to be in his 40s.

An off-duty officer attached to the Coast Guard official foiled an attempted robbery at a bar at Madras Road, St Helena early yesterday after he shot and killed one of the bandits.

According to police reports, around 1 am the armed bandit entered BJ’s Bar at along demanded that the patrons hand over all their valuables.

The officer shot the bandit several times and the injured man was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A 24-year-old Santa Cruz woman who entered the bar with the bandit was arrested and is currently assisting police with their investigations.

Up to press time, the dead bandit remained unidentified.

Police said the off-duty officer was armed with his personal firearm.

In May, armed bandits robbed and assaulted patrons of the same bar during a daylight robbery. Since then, additional security cameras and an electronic gate were installed to deter offenders.

Officers of the Caroni Police Station and Central Division Task Force are continuing investigations.

Workplace sexual harassment laws coming

Given what is happening around T&T locally, regionally and internationally, Prime Minister Keith Rowley expects legislation addressing sexual harassment in the workplace will be on Government’s legislative agenda.

“I expect it can come sometime. When it does, I trust the Opposition will support it,” he told UNC MP Rudy Indarsingh in Parliament yesterday.

“As father of two women, I wouldn’t want the work environment remaining the way it is, where members who go as far as to find themselves charged for rape get themselves elected without hindrance and become heroes, whether in labour or politics,” he said.

Cabo Star info hidden from Port Authority

Government contracted the Cabo Star cargo vessel for the seabridge under duress and pertinent information was deliberately hidden from the Port Authority, Prime Minister Keith Rowley told UNC MP Fazal Karim.

He said the same thing occurred with the proposal to lease the passenger ferry Ocean Flower 2.

The Port contracted the use of the Cabo Star at a daily rate of US$22,500. The contract for the Ocean Flower 2 was terminated because it failed to arrive in T&T in time.

Rowley said the removal of the Port Authority Board was not being considered at this time.

He said it was easy to jump on people serving in those posts.

“In the fullness of time if there’s need to remove them for wrong doing, I’ll not hesitate. But if information suggests reasonable consideration of their volunteer service, I’ll be the first to consider that.”

He said he wouldn’t have appointed a Ministerial team to seek a ferry vessel if he didn’t think it was satisfactory and appropriate to do so.

No suspension of A&V contract

The Cabinet has no authority to enter any Petrotrin contract—such as A&V Oil & Gas deal—especially with the “fake oil” issue under probe, Prime Minister Keith Rowley told UNC MP David Lee. He said if Government got involved and voided the contract prematurely, the Opposition would be the first with accusations.

Rowley said the contract is matter for Petrotrin’s Board which is currently probing the matter via best practice.

“I don’t know what you all are advocating,” he said.

“We’re not jumping the process. We await the outcome so when action is taken, it can be defended in court if challenged,” he said.

He said the Opposition seemed disappointed the matter was being handled properly.

$709,200 owed to private schools

Money-owed to private secondary schools which enrolled students on the Education Ministry’s behalf totalled $709,200 up to yesterday, Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis told UNC MP Dr Lackram Bodoe. Corpus Christi College is owed $175,000 and Caribbean Union College $534,000. Bills are being processed for payment. On Monday, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said 13 private schools were owed money for accommodating Government-assigned students.

Even if a company has the best policy against sexual harassment in the workplace, if it is not supported by upper management, all attempts to safeguard employees will be in vain, chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) attorney Lynette Seebaran-Suite said yesterday.

She called for proper legislation to deal with the problem, adding that unequal power relations must also be addressed.

“You can have the most elaborate, the most beautifully articulated policy dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace but if the organisation itself at the very highest level is not committed or is not involved to deal with the problem of sexual harassment, those unequal power relations between the victim and perpetrator will always conspire to prevent the victim from having to come forward with the complaint,” she said.

Seebaran-Suite spoke at a lunchtime forum, BoardRoom Bullies, hosted by UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the Institute of International Relations in St Augustine yesterday.

Dominating the discussion was the sexual harassment allegations made by a female executive against the chairman of Angostura Holdings Limited Dr Rolph Balgobin in November 2016.

In October, following an internal investigation, the company’s board of directors dismissed the allegations, after which the executive was fired.

Seebaran-Suite said there is no specific legislation to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace in T&T but there are some remedies to address the issue, including a civil lawsuit for a breach of contract which she said is “very difficult to bring on.”

She said there are also provisions under Section 30 of the Offences Against a Person Act.

The EOC permits people to make complaints of sex discrimination in the workplace, including sexual harassment, she said.

Frances Bain-Cumberbatch, Group Corporate Secretary and Group Head of Legal at Ansa McAL, said the group had an excellent policy in place to speedily deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. She added that Ansa McAL is one of two companies in T&T with a formal written sexual harassment policy.

Bain-Cumberbatch described sexual harassment as a form of violence which should never be tolerated.

Head of Fixin T&T Kirk Waithe used the forum to renew his call for a nationwide boycott of Angostura products. The company has threatened legal action against Waithe in a pre-action protocol letter in which it is demanding an apology, payment for damage to its reputation and warns him against furthering his group’s campaign to boycott the company.

Waithe said the fired female executive not only readily submitted herself to a polygraph test but also passed. He said the matter was brought to a resolution just over a year after the allegations were made and questioned whether it was a case of the company probing itself.

A 73-year-old pensioner from St Augustine, who sued the State after his home was demolished three years ago in the presence of police officers, will learn the outcome of his case next Friday.

Justice David Harris reserved his decision after hearing submissions from attorneys representing the State and pensioner Deonarine Sookdeo in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday.

Stating that land fraud was a serious issue affecting T&T, Sookdeo’s lawyer Larry Lalla called upon the police to be more vigilant in the future to prevent fraudsters from using their services.

Lalla claimed that the police officers who supervised the demolition of Sookdeo’s home at Deena Trace, St Augustine on December 6, 2014, were negligent as they “legitimised” the illegal action by failing to authenticate the documents presented by individuals, who had hired them to provide extra duty.

Lalla said his client was entitled to almost $900,000 in compensation, which represents the value of his home, which was completely destroyed.

In her response, State attorney Monica Smith argued that the police officers present during the demolition were there merely to keep the peace.

Although she admitted that the police had a duty to check the documents before the exercise, she stated that the officers sued by Sookdeo had complied with a directive given by a senior officer.

She described his case as an abuse of process as he questioned why Sookdeo had not sued the bailiff Ramkaran Ramparas, who carried out the demolition, or the person who had hired him.

Sookdeo was also represented by Sarfraz Alsaran.

1. Microsoft is a global giant of the technology industry. What role does the T&T market play from a corporate perspective?

Microsoft has been operating within T&T for the past 18 years, which demonstrates our commitment not only to the technological transfer in the market, but also to that of economic development. Throughout our existence here, Microsoft has also recognised that technology plays an important role in a country’s development.

T&T’s role within Microsoft has been and remains significant. Our country has always been seen as a place that punches well above its weight in terms of global performance in the oil and gas industry as well as in our Olympic performance as examples.

Our CEO Satya Nadella is also a huge cricket fan. In the September issue of Fast Company they referenced that among the few books he is reading right now includes “Trinidadian author CLR James’s literary take on cricket.”

T&T has also produced a great deal of talent that Microsoft has deployed globally. Our team here serves the Caribbean primarily, but provides services and consultation to many markets external to the region as well.

Given the level of sophistication and the role innovation will play in further developing the society, we have invested in not only creating a partner eco-system that will unlock the next phase of digital transformation but in a country with untapped potential.

2. The company opened an Innovation Centre in Freeport in 2014 essentially focused on merging the worlds of technology and entrepreneurship. How successful would you say the centre been in accomplishing its goals thus far, and what have been the tangible results?

Our partnership with Cariri to launch the Microsoft Innovation Centre (MIC) has been incredibly successful and the results so far are quite exciting. The centre has served over 10 cohorts with more than 75 graduates.

Fifty per cent of those graduates have implemented their ideas which continue to grow and gain momentum. Examples of successful projects include the Health in Pregnancy TT (HiPTT) application which utilises Microsoft Azure technology.

Diabetes is a major public health problem with pregnant women being a particularly vulnerable group. This app, launched in October 2016, is a collaborative effort that allows doctors, laboratories and patients to manage and review medical results on a mobile device or computer.

There is also OperAid, a tablet-based compliance assurance software, specifically for production, maintenance or manufacturing processes and Zippy Math, a kinesthetic Kinect education game for primary schools based on the curriculum.

Cariri and the MIC are also currently building an electronic health record system using Azure as the hosting and database provider. The remaining 50 per cent of projects are still in development with the MIC providing vigilant guidance.

The MIC has also launched a pilot programme in biotechnology which is showing real promise. All of these are the tip of the iceberg. We have 116 such innovation centres worldwide, and we’re currently working to connect our local MIC with the others to share ideas and innovations. We have as much to share as we have to learn which is truly exciting as our projects have the ability to generate international recognition for the work we are doing here.

3. As the head of the local arm of one of the world’s largest technology companies, how does T&T stack up in terms of technological penetration, and general willingness to adopt new technology?

This is what excites me. Not where we are necessarily, but where we have the potential to go. Our penetration and willingness aren’t as high as I’d like them to be, but we’re in a unique position at this point in our technological development.

We have the opportunity to learn from others that have gone before us and leapfrog ourselves to technology with tangible financial and societal benefits. Many of our global counterparts have made vast investments in hardware that is beyond obsolete.

While we would have made investments, our relatively low levels of adoption and technological penetration means that we’re in a position to adopt the latest technologies at a fraction of the investment of other countries that we wish to compete with. Notwithstanding these issues, there are some bright spots that inspire me.

Our mobile and social media penetration levels are very high, well over 100 per cent for mobile. The global average for mobile penetration is under 60 per cent. It means we have greater access to technology in the palms of our hands. We are at the nexus of our cloud first, mobile first world and well poised to take advantage of our positioning.

I can’t signal enough how important the concept of digital transformation is for organisations as it speaks to the potential for companies to generate significant profits by utilising the right tools to harness their data and enhance productivity.

According to a report by the IDC, organisations have an opportunity to gain US$1.6 trillion in top-line revenue over the next four years by combining diverse data streams, using new data analytics tools and delivering data insights to more people internally while improving the speed of data processing.

4. Promoting STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) has become a thrust of many technology companies globally. Has Microsoft T&T gotten involved with/developed any such initiatives locally?

Definitely. It’s a huge part of our social responsibility and certainly where we see the future. We’re heavily vested and invested in STEM education, and my personal passion would obviously be getting more girls into STEM to ensure that we have gender parity. Our education programmes place the students at the centre of learning, enabling them to question, interact and build the world they want to see.

We also engage in various initiatives in T&T including professional development activities for teachers who utilise technology in their classrooms and app development and coding competitions for youth that spark their imagination and coding skills.

My predecessor would have participated and provided thought leadership in a number of events on how to leverage STEM to create a fertile ecosystem for business innovation and economic opportunities.

5. What sort of outreach activities does the company involve itself in from a corporate social responsibility perspective?

Most of our outreach is in education. Last week, for example, I attended a prize giving function that we sponsor with the Ministry of Education for excellence in technology. It was an event that would have inspired the most dispassionate among us. The talent and range were undeniable, there were second and fourth formers creating applications with real world ability to scale globally. These things make me so incredibly proud both to work at Microsoft and to be Trinidadian when I see the talent we produce and what we’re capable of when we invest in educating our youth.

Bigger picture though, in T&T we’ve invested over $19.5 million in technology and training.

Last year, we had just under 3,000 online learning participants and in the last 10 years we’ve invested over $20 million in NGOs.

We are also about to launch with Cariri through the MIC an Hour of Code event in an effort to reach as many of our high schoolers to learn how easy it is to code with Minecraft, one of several events of its kind that we have held.

An example of one of the projects referenced above is our support to Eshe’s Learning Centre, an institution established in Woodbrook over 30 years ago to provide differently-abled children with a first-rate education. Microsoft and CMR & Company Ltd donated HP laptops equipped with Windows 8 to the school.

In addition to the laptops, Microsoft also embarked upon a “Train the Trainer” programme at the school with teachers receiving training on the development of mobile applications using Microsoft’s browser-based platform, Windows App Studio.

Our technology is used in 98 per cent of schools worldwide. Here in T&T, the company also supports other initiatives that empower the students of today to create the world of tomorrow.

Last week’s decision by Petrotrin’s president Fitzroy Harewood to resign from the company has again raised the issue of its viability and stability and why a company that four years ago had a pre-tax profit of over $2 billion is now fighting for its very survival.

Harewood was Petrotrin’s fourth president in seven years and came to the job at a time when the company was haemorrhaging.

A study done by UWI economist Dr Roger Hosein demonstrates what happened in Petrotrin during the period 2009 to 2016 and how the company moved from profitability to deep losses.

According to figures, in 2011, the first financial year of the Persad-Bissessar government, Petrotrin recorded a pre-tax profit of $741 million.

One year later that profit shot up to $2.065 billion.

The increased profits were a direct result of a reduction in the percentage of cost that was attributable to salaries and wages.

That fell from 55 per cent of overall cost in 2011, to 50 per cent in 2012.

In addition crude prices were buoyant, averaging US$94 a barrel in 2012.

It must be noted that in 2009, Petrotrin had a pre-tax profit of over $1.7 billion, with crude prices at US $61 a barrel and its wage bill as a percentage of overall costs was 50 per cent.

But the Former Minister of Energy Kevin Ramnarine and former Petrotrin chairman Lindsay Gillette both denied that the movement from a profit of over $2 billion to a loss of $100 million in 2013—when oil prices were over US$97 a barrel—was a reflection of poor management by the last administration.

Both Ramnarine and Gillette blamed the change in company fortune on the impairment of the World GTL project which meant that over $3 billion had to be accounted for in the profit and loss statements for 2013 and 2014.

Gillette told Business and Money that what has happened at Petrotrin was not his fault, nor that of the former administration nor even the PNM government.

“We were lucky that when we were there we had high oil prices. The fact is that nobody is responsible for the collapse of the oil prices. Petrotrin’s assets were allowed to deteriorate over a long period of time and it had reached a stage where we had to invest significant sums to maintain a level of asset integrity. I used to write every year to the Ministry of Energy asking the government to assist us by using the Green Fund to pay for the improvement of Petrotrin’s asset integrity,” Gillette added.

Ramnarine admitted that he had received those letters from Gillette but said there was nothing he could do as a minister or the UNC as a government because the sums that Petrotrin needed was more than contained in the Green Fund and also the fund was not created for that purpose.

Ramnarine said, “Under the rules of the Green Fund, a company like Petrotrin cannot access the fund, which is taxpayers money. The Green Fund can only be accessed by NGOs and CBOs.”

Hosein’s study also showed that the movement from profit to loss in 2013 was accompanied by an increase in contract staff at Petrotrin.

In 2013, the number of people at Petrotrin on contract increased from 1,130 to 1,400—18 percent, while an additional 100 permanent staff were hired in the same year.

Ramnarine said he did not know that the staff levels had gone up in any significant way under his watch and then suggested that, in any case, ministers do not hire people.

He said the increase staffing levels may have had to do with the needs of the organisation.

Hosein’s study also revealed that during the time period 2009 to 2016, crude production at the state-owned enterprise remained fairly stable at about 44,000 barrels of oil per day but refinery throughput fell from 154,000 bo/d to as low as under 100,000 bo/d.

That fall in throughput also put pressure on the company’s generation of foreign currency with its contribution to the economy falling from US$10 billion in 2009 to US $500 million last year.

Hosein’s report read, “One major boost to the local economy of Petrotrin is its foreign exchange earning capacity. Alarmingly, though, as oil prices decreased in the last three years, the contribution of foreign exchange made by Petrotrin to the domestic economy collapsed dramatically from $70.7bn in 2009 to $3.5bn in 2016.”

By the time Harewood took over at Petrotrin at the end of 2015, the loss had moved from over $200 million to $1.7 billion.

He was able to reduce that loss by almost a billion with the same crude prices as the year before.

Harewood reduced contract workers by 500 and did not replace an additional 200 permanent staff that retired.

Harewood’s resignation came mere weeks after the so-called “fake oil scandal” was shown to be real.

His resignation takes effect on February 28, 2018.

Harewood was appointed president of Petrotrin in November 2015 by the then board led by Andrew Jupiter. At time of his appointment the Opposition had raised concerns about whether he was the best man for the job.

Energy Reporter