Between the elaborate murals under artistic construction at the main gate and the “action painting” consigned to the backyard of a colourful tent city—powered by a network of “low emission” diesel generators —young and old hippie-types found comfortable space at this year’s edition of the New Fire Festival at the Ortinola Estate in Maracas Valley.

Billed as “the premier transformational festival in the Caribbean” charged with catalysing “societal evolution through inclusiveness, self-expression and the creation of a progressive new way of living,” such hipster gobbledygook found expression through a variety of creative, fun-filled activities under accommodating skies.

In one corner, a yoga instructor balanced his weight across the lower back of a willing follower and the circle of devotees gasped as she circled and walked with her barefoot guru around the growing crowd.

Across the way, near the main stage, a Midnight Robber was under a midday sun scaring the children. His old flame, the Dame Lorraine, was fetching a colourful sno-cone to attend to the blazing heat.

At the back, an amplifier lost power and the young guitarist fretted even as his action painters, one now stripped to what appeared to be her underwear, persevered on a sprawling canvas, laid out on the lawn, and now freckled with colourful paints.

Near the stage, an ageing activist/engineer used his energetic tai-chi moves as an orderly line of dancers mimicked the moves of an instructor. Children were kept occupied in a play and story-telling area where some adults tried their hands and hips at colourful hoola-hoops.

In this no-waste zone, you take your water containers for free refills at the filtered-water tent and save the planet from single-use water bottle number 2,345. Near there you throw paper straws, plates and food containers in a bin, heavily-policed to ensure no plastic ends up there.

This, organisers were saying in promotional material, “celebrates the awakening of humanity and the blossoming of a culture of love, creativity, beauty, community and sustainable living.”

Under the largest tent there was “organic” this and that while one-legged Garcia from Acono, who barely made it through an aggressive security barrier on Saturday, served up pineapples, balata, tonka bean fruit, cocoa pods, chadon beni and some amazing lemons.

Then evening came and a late start to the musical proceedings with solid offerings from a huge cast including the likes of 3Canal, Mungal Patasar & Pantar, and Freetown Collective.

There were also performances from the UWI Afrikan Society, N9 Dancers, Alexandra Stewart, Mistah Shak, Buzzrock, Arystan Petzold, and Marge Blackman & Jamoo. Electronic Dance Music (EDM) by a selection of DJs kept things going until six the following morning.

Sunday, and the manicured lawn next door in use as the official carpark was taking quite a pounding from earlier rain. A hole in the fence saved patrons from the rather lengthy walk to the main entrance where far less uptight security officers (than the previous day at any rate) managed a trickle.

Run by a committee established by the T&T Bridge Initiative, the New Fire Festival offered a weekend of fun and release for the well-meaning ‘gauche-caviar’.

Wanderer: Road to Canada is a series of concerts by singer and songwriter Leah “DEZii” Forrest to raise funds to take herself and her band members to the first ever Canadian-Caribbean Soul Exchange Forum in Toronto in July. The series begins on Saturday, March 31 and will continue through May.

DEZii said she will be incorporating both young talent as well as more established artistes in the concerts in order to give the new talent more exposure. The first concert at Kaiso Blues Cafe in Port-of-Spain will feature Chinaka Pierre as well as UTT student Tehila Jones, while the second concert at M Bar on Ariapita Avenue will feature Keoné Osbourne and UTT student Samuel.

DEZii said, “I know we’re in a difficult time economically, so that’s why we’re doing small events to add up to the amount that we need, because we’re talking about airfare, accommodation, transportation and food not just for myself, but as I said for my band members as well.”

This young, talented artiste is extending an invitation for people to support the group from the beginning, instead of waiting until they are successful to acknowledge them, as Trinidadians are wont to do.

“I’m saying, here’s what, we have an opportunity, come build with us. That’s the tone of the fund-raisers, that’s the tone of encouraging the young artistes and upcoming artists to be part of it as well,” she said.

The Canadian-Caribbean Soul Exchange Forum takes place for the first time this year in July. DEZii is booked to perform at three engagements in Winnipeg, including a Cari-Soul Concert, participate in a cultural workshop at the Lyric Theatre stage in Manitoba and represent T&T as a panellist in the New Sounds workshops, along with her management, Power Media Hub.

DEZii walks the talk

DEZii has been performing since she was in primary school. She entered competitions such as Digicel Rising Stars, Party Flava and the T&T Music Festival. She made her international debut in Nigeria and was selected to represent T&T at the 2007 World Championships of Performing Arts in Burbank, California.

DEZii said, “I sing hip hop, R&B, jazz, pop, reggae, genres that people listen to but they don’t realize that artistes in T&T actually specialise in. I’ve worked with quite a few producers locally and internationally, and my journey now is to release the music that I’ve been working on and actually get it finished, and the main issue I face is funding.”

The singer said while Trinidadians have an appreciation for a wide cross-section of music, generally someone from outside T&T has to validate anything that is not soca.

She said: “However, soca has developed here over the years and the major artistes like Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin, Destra Garcia, have built their careers and a platform for soca here. Soca is ours, and we’re possessive of it, but not possessive enough, because people outside T&T don’t know where soca originated.

“For the other genres, somebody from away has to say somebody from here is good and then they will pay attention, and until that mentality changes people will still feel like they need to leave Trinidad to be successful.”

DEZii said Trinidadians need to embrace and support their own more. She said people would pay $800 to see Beyonce in concert but not $80 to support someone they know.

She said, “I would never dare compare myself to Beyonce, but to get to the point she is at, you need to build, you need to grow and you need to get the opportunities and you can’t do that if nobody is seeing that you’re being supported.”

MORE INFO

For more information on the concert series, find Wanderer: Road to Canada Fundraiser Series on Facebook.
For further information on DEZii or bookings, please call: (868) 799-7056, e-mail engage@powermediahub.com and follow DEZii at dezii.world on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Shashamane: On the Trail of the Promised Land, a documentary directed by Italian-French filmmaker, Giulia Amati, will screen on Friday, April 6, 3 pm, at UWI Film Studio, 12 Carmody Street, UWI, St Augustine. This free screening is presented by the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) in partnership with the University as part of a two-day international workshop called Local Entanglements of Global Inequalities at UWI.

The workshop is organised by the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies (LCCS), the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), Department of Sociology at UWI and Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany.

Set in Ethiopia, the documentary investigates the life of the Rastafarian community living on the land donated for their repatriation back to Africa. In 1948, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie donated 500 acres of his own private lands “for the black people of the world” to encourage displaced Africans to repatriate.

A number of rastafarians took up the offer in search of a utopia in the motherland and established one of the oldest Rastafari settlements in the world, in Shashamane, Ethiopia. The dream has not perhaps matched their reality. Their spiritual home is under threat. Much of the land is lost and many Ethiopians view them as outsiders, leaving the community in limbo.

Shashamane, Amati’s second feature-length film, is a compelling look at the seldom highlighted migration of the African diaspora back to the continent in search of a lost identity.

Dr Shelene Gomes, UWI Lecturer and Anthropologist who wrote her doctoral dissertation on Shashamane will have a discussion after the film.

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) celebrates films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema, through an annual festival and year-round screenings. In addition, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities.

• For further information visit ttfilmfestival.com.

Easter weekend is usually one of those peak periods for domestic tourism on which Tobago has come to rely. For most Trinidadians, the island offers the best chance of a staycation—all the benefits of a long weekend getaway, just 20 minutes by air or three hours by sea, without the hassle of customs and immigration.

The highpoint of Easter in Tobago happens, not on Good Friday or even Easter Monday, but on the Tuesday after when all roads lead to Buccoo for the popular goat and crab races.

Carried out with all the trappings of traditional horse racing, complete with stables, trainers and live commentators, the premiere event is the goat racing, which has been taking place on the island for approximately eight decades. It features “jockeys” running alongside the goats on a specially constructed 110m track.

This event has been steadily increasing in popularity over the years and now has a strong following among locals and visitors. Virgin founder Richard Branson is reported to be a fan.

The crab race, which is of more recent vintage, also has its appeal, each race generating excitement as the jockeys use a short length of string to guide the competitors to the finish line.

All this good, clean fun has been a strong selling point, making Tobago the place to be for Easter.

But that is not all. There is also the Tobago Jazz Experience, originally known as the Plymouth International Jazz Festival, which usually takes place towards the end of April.

At its peak, this musical event attracted droves of domestic and international patrons eager to enjoy top local and regional jazz and world music talents.

Although not as successful as similar events in other parts of the region, the Tobago Jazz Experience still managed to be a fairly lucrative event for the island’s tourist industry. There was a time when, by this time, all accommodations on the island would be fully booked.

However, it doesn’t look like there will be the usual influx of visitors to savour the sister island’s considerable charms this year. While industry stakeholders are still holding out for a miracle, the prognosis is not good.

In recent years, with marked declines in international visitors, hoteliers and tourism stakeholders in Tobago have been looking to domestic tourists to bring some revenue to the struggling industry. In the good times, it was estimated that domestic tourism brought in some $860 million in revenue annually, making up for the shortfalls with international visitors.

However, with the broken sea and airbridge making travel between the islands uncertain at best, it’s looking to be a bleak Easter and April in Tobago.

At this late stage, even if the long delayed T&T Spirit finally returns to service and even if current arrangements with CAL—including use of a wet leased LIAT aircraft—operate perfectly over the next few days, losses will continue to pile up.

The only relief hinges on the arrival of the Galleons Passage to pick up the slack on the seabridge and that vessel is still thousands of miles away somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, slowly making its way to Honolulu in Hawaii. By the time that vessel finally docks in Port-of-Spain, it will be too late to save Easter in Tobago. The opportunity to capitalise on this vital holiday period will be lost.

As if that isn’t bad enough, April and the Easter also mark a sad milestone for the island since it was approximately one year ago that the Super Fast Galicia sailed away, triggering the start of the seabridge turmoil. There has hardly been a month since then without major disruptions in passenger and ferry services between the two islands.

Even the most optimistic of projections are for the losses to continue for tourism-dependent Tobago. Those losses, currently estimated to be about $750 million, increase for every day of the protracted inter-island transport turmoil.

This is a dire situation for the island. Without the guarantee of that vital connectivity with Trinidad, Tobago’s tourism industry is in a tailspin. Tourism is to Tobago’s economy what oil and gas is to Trinidad, accounting for almost 12 per cent of GDP and is the main source of employment on the island apart from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

To some extent, the current difficulties have something to do with the fact that for T&T as a whole the industry has always been of secondary importance, never mind the Rowley administration’s proposals to make it one of the drivers of economic diversification. No real effort has been made to properly develop and sustain that sector, so in these lean economic times, the consequences of under development and under resourcing are plain for all to see,

That is why there has been little or no benefit for this country from recent growth in Caribbean tourism. While in almost every other part of the region tourism has done better than the rest of the world with consecutive years of growth in arrivals and revenue, the opposite has been the case in T&T.

To be fair, seabridge woes are not the only cause of declines in Tobago tourism. Increased crime, particularly attacks on tourists, have triggered negative travel advisories.
Deterioration in water supply and other utility services and delays in long promised upgrades to the ANR Robinson International Airport are also factors.

In the face of all of this, government’s promises to restart Tobago’s tourism thrust must be kept. The plans outline for development of the sector in the 2017/18 National Budget should be top priority.

To do otherwise will have consequences. The longer it takes to resolve all the problems in an industry that is so vital to Tobago’s economic survival, the more complicated the process of rebuilding and restoring becomes.

The window of opportunity presented by the 2018 Easter season is now firmly shut. What remains of peak holiday periods later down in the year are opportunities that can easily be lost if proper marketing and promotion do not begin now. That has been one of the biggest shortcomings with our tourism strategies.

It is already late in the day to be embarking on promotional campaigns for Great Race Weekend and the Tobago Heritage Festival, which are just a few short months away. However, even a late start is better than no start at all.

There are now supposed to be two tourism agencies driving the sector. By now the Tobago entity, which already has some staff, should be operating on full throttle, working to salvage whatever benefits are still available for the island this year with the aim of a strong finish after what has been one of the most disastrous periods in its recent history.

Rocío Medina Bolívar, the new country representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in T&T, is excited about her new assignment in charge of the multinational agency’s second largest portfolio in the Caribbean.

In February, the Peruvian national—an attorney who specialises in corporate finance—took up the portfolio, which is worth US$550 million, covering eight projects and immediately got down to work.

“I am very excited to be in T&T and to be close to our clients public and private,” she said.

Medina Bolívar—who has been at the IDB for 18 years—previously served as senior adviser for the Andean Group country department, country representative in Venezuela, senior adviser to the vice presidency for countries, senior energy specialist in the energy division and investment officer of the structured and corporate financing department.

She holds a law degree (summa cum laude) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and a master of law (LLM) from Harvard Law School.

Her years of experience means that she had been able to hit the ground running, overseeing projects at different levels of execution related to infrastructure and social sectors.

She explained: “Almost 60 per cent of our portfolio is in water sanitation projects, followed by health, housing, education and ICT.”

She will continue the implementation of T&T’s country strategy 2016-2020 which is aimed at removing constraints to economic diversification and macroeconomic policy adjustment at a time of lower commodity prices.

The focus is on three strategic areas:

• Strengthening public sector institutions and governance
• Promoting private sector development
• Fostering human development.

Another priority area for Medina Bolívar is IBD Invest

“It was created two years ago as we merged all our private sector windows.

“The whole idea is to work together as a group. Here in the T&T office we have the hub of IDB Invest for the entire Caribbean region,” she said.

Already underway is work with the Unicomer Group, parent company of Courts, in a regional transaction approved in 2016 which provides US$15 million in financing for the company’s low income clients to acquire appliances and other related products.

In addition, dialogue will continue with different stakeholders to determine how much more money is approved for projects in various sectors.

“The IDB does not only finance but also offers knowledge products like technical support,” she said. 

Medina Bolívar said the IDB’s Unfollow campaign is a unique approach to engagement with non-traditional stakeholders.

“The country strategy involves consultation with different stakeholders and our specialists. With the Unfollow campaign what we want to do is reach different areas of the population, like the private sector, NGO’s, champions in the different areas such as technology, communication and listen to their inputs,” she explained

The IDB’s first pillar event related to private sector development in T&T took place two weeks ago. It was a gathering of academia, the private sector and NGO’s in different workshops.

She explained: “The main constraints for the private sector are related to crime, a lack of skills, a mismatch of labour and skills. The idea in that one day event was how we could come up with ideas and solutions and how we can implement afterwards.”

There was an Unfollow box where people could put ideas.

Pushing PPPs for growth

Facing up to the challenge of economic diversification in a period of low commodity prices is another area in which IDB can give support.

Medina Bolívar said it is an issue being tackled in other regions when she has worked, including Andean countries, such as Ecuador and Bolivia.

“Some countries are more prepared than others. Here in T&T there are fiscal cushions and I think the Government has done well in that regard,” she said, adding that it is important to increase non-energy revenue.

“Strengthen sectors that are able to create hard currency for export. That is why we are working with the private sector and the private sector window to see how the IDB can help. For instance, there are energy efficiency projects that can lead to renewables.

“I do not think that I can tell people in T&T about specific sectors but the IDB can try. The IDB wants ideas as to where country should go.”

Medina Bolívar said public/private partnerships (PPP) are also important in helping to develop the economy. At present, this country is listed at 14th in Infrascope, a ranking for Latin America and the Caribbean on how well a country does with PPPs.

“Whether it is to build a renewable plant, or for schools, it is an area the IDB can support,” she said.

“There is a need for more capital expenditure in Trinidad and Tobago. There is a need for more infrastructure and it is important to continue investing as it creates more jobs. PPP’s are important because of the efficiencies the private sector can bring.”

IDB projects in T&T

Multi-Phase Wastewater
Rehabilitation Programme
Phase I
Completion date: January 19, 2020
Cost:$246. 5 million
WASA Modernisation and Wastewater Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme
Completion date: April 3, 2020
Cost: $50 million
Health Services Support Programme Completion date: August 12, 2021
Cost: $48.4 million

About the IDB

The IDB, which has been working with T&T Governments for the past 50 years, provides financial and technical support for countries working to reduce poverty and inequality. It the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, providing loans, grants, and technical assistance, as well as conducting extensive research.
Its current focus areas include three development challenges—social inclusion and inequality, productivity and innovation, and economic integration—and three cross-cutting issues—gender equality and diversity, climate change and environmental sustainability; and institutional capacity and the rule of law.

The days of hot cross buns for two a penny are long gone.
The price of the spiced, sticky, glazed pastry decorated with icing crosses—a staple of Good Friday—has increased this year. Bakers are blaming the high cost of production and raw materials.

At Chee Mooke Bakery in Port-of-Spain the price of a bun is $3.50, up from $3.25 last year. The wholesale price is $3.

“Raw materials such fats, ginger and packaging have gone up,” said sales manager Simone Phillips.

Chee Mooke normally begins to make buns from Ash Wednesday up until Holy Thursday.

“It is usually three weeks to a month before that orders start coming in but this year has been slower,” she said.

To boost sales, the baker launched a Buns for Funds initiative two years ago, to benefit primarily schools and NGOs.

“If they have fundraisers, we encourage people to purchase a small rack of buns, which is about 500 buns at a discounted price and sell it for whatever price to make a profit.

“But because of the economy people are holding on to their money and they are just willing to come in on the day and purchase. We tried to promote it and people have been calling and asking but nobody has ordered that minimum of 500,” Phillips said.

Compared to the previous years Buns for Funds sales have “just been very slow”, she said: “The first year we did it about ten schools called. Last year it was about the same but this year maybe two schools have responded.”

The bakery—a landmark in downtown Port-of-Spain—will produce between 30,000 and 50,000 buns today. There may be variation depending on the number of customers as there is the expected last-minute rush.

Phillips said production for the expected Good Friday demand began around 8.30 pm on Wednesday.

Phillips’ brother, Stokley—the bakery’s general manager— said the increase in the cost of fuel is another big challenge which will ultimately be passed onto the customer.

Gregory Laing, owner of Puff n’ Stuff in San Fernando—said he has been forced to increase prices of his baked goods by about ten per cent.

“A bun last year was $6 and this year it is $6.65. We had to do a price increase on our items because of the increase in raw materials.”

Puff n’ Stuff is offering Easter specials to help augment sales. Customers can purchase a box of six buns for $40.

Laing said in addition to the higher production cost he has to spend 50,000 a month on security,

“People may not realise that security is an input but this is a huge monthly cost to us because we have to have armed guards all the time.

“It used to be $10,000 or $15,000 a month three or four years ago. We have camera systems and we have to keep updating them,” he said.

However, he is not daunted by these increases.

“We don’t raise our prices every six months or every year. Each raise is supposed to cover us for two years unless there is something like a devaluation which just puts things out of skew.

“We generally raise our prices every two years. This year we did not raise any bread prices but all our pastries and cakes went up,” Laing said, adding that customers always expected products to be fresh and of a high quality.

Puff n Stuff is expected to sell 15,000 buns today, the same as last year.

Customers can expect freshly-baked buns coming out of Puff n Stuff ‘s ovens every two hours.

At Pêche Pâtisserie in central Trinidad customers will have to pay $100 for half a dozen buns.

“Everything has gone up. Even the flour we use have increased,” said a worker who gave her name as Janet.

At Linda’s, however, prices remain unchanged at $28 for a half dozen.

There have also been increases in the cost of ground provisions, another Good Friday staple.

One Charlotte Street vendor said dry season conditions might be responsible for higher prices for yam, cassava, dasheen, sweet potatoes and eddoes. He warned that the prices could get even higher for the Easter weekend.

“Eddoes is like $13 to $15 a pound.. That coming from up the islands. Blue dasheen also coming from there so the price will be high and people just have to expect that,” the vendor said.

The price of tomatoes has increase, as well as cucumbers.

Figures provided by the National Agricultural, Marketing and Development Company Ltd (Namdevco) that there have been marginal price increases in just the last few days.

Last Monday to Friday, the price of yam increased from $7.28 a kilo to $9.72 and from $3.35 to $4.40 a pound. Sweet potatoes went from $12.50 to $13.89 a kilo or $5.68 to $6.31 per pound. However, the price of dasheen remained at $11.11 a kilogramme and $5.05 a pound.

Fish currently costs $45 to $50 per pound. The cheapest available are mixed varieties, including butterfish and blackfish.

Carite is being sold between $35 and $50 a pound. Salmon, a popular for Lent, will cost between $27 and $35 a pound.

San Fernando Fishing Co-operative president Salim Gool said fishes prices have been high in recent times.

“Fish price usually go up during Lent, but that is not the only factor. We are experiencing a lot of problems in the sea, fuel has increased and all of those are contributing to the high fish prices,” he said.

Kishore Boodram, president of the Claxton Bay Fishing Association, agreed that fish vendors had no choice but to increase prices.

The National Gas Company (NGC) is positioning itself to play a major role in Grenada should that country find gas in commercial quantities.

This was confirmed by Energy Minister Franklin Khan who told Business and Money: “It is still early days but if there is gas in commercial quantities it would make sense for the Government of Grenada to commercialise it through a readily available market in T&T. But as I said its still to early to say.”

Asked whether the company would be prepared to invest in exploration for gas in Grenada, Khan said: “The NGC has not come to me with that proposal and they would have to seek my permission if that is what they want to do.”

Speaking at the T&T Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) 2018 symposium at the Marriott Hotel, the minister said with the sustained gas curtailment expected to continue over the medium term, NGC “remains steadfast in its duty to continuously find new sources of gas including across-border gas from Venezuela and now Grenada, in order to sustain its robust business model as a domestic gas aggregator in T&T.”

According to Khan, Russian company GPG started an exploration programme in the Nutmeg Field last year and preliminary estimates indicate the presence of hydrocarbons. An appraisal drilling campaign is planned for later in 2018 and results could have positive impact on additional basin prospectivity.

“The government, through the NGC, will continue to work closely with GPG and the Government of Grenada as the project progresses to provide a ready market for the sale of all natural gas, and natural gas liquids, to alleviate the gas shortfall in T&T, utilising existing infrastructure and our technical expertise,” he said.

“This includes construction of the pipeline infrastructure required to import natural gas from the prospective fields in Grenada to Trinidad and Tobago. We see this as a positive step in the right direction between our government and our Caricom neighbours.

“The NGC and GPG will continue to carry out joint studies to find the appropriate avenue to provide natural gas-based fuel to meet Grenada’s domestic gas requirements plus any other areas of mutual interest relative to the oil, gas and energy industry in the Caricom region.”

Khan, a geologist by profession, admitted that he had initially viewed the Caribbean as bereft of hydrocarbons with the exception of T&T which is part of the prolific Orinoco Basin. However, recent discoveries, particularly in Guyana, have proven otherwise.

He announced that within the next month T&T and Guyana will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy co-operation. The MOU was delayed because T&T wanted to give Guyana time to digest what its newly found oil wealth would mean, said Khan, who expressed concern that many people are seeing Guyana’s oil as theirs to benefit from.

“Let me warn, Guyana’s oil belongs to the people of Guyana and no one else. It is not Caricom’s oil and that is why we wanted to take our time in pursuing this MOU,” he said.

Khan said with more than 100 years in the energy business, T&T is prepared and is willing to work with emerging Caribbean oil and gas economies as they develop their hydrocarbon resources.

“The opportunity is there for us as a region to create our own special and unique energy cluster. We have been successful in other spheres of activity as a region and collaboration in energy should be no less achievable. In this regard, Trinidad and Tobago will be leading a new Caribbean energy diplomacy in the coming months.

“This will involve in the first instance T&T, Guyana, Suriname, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas.”

Khan said T&T is willing to share its vast experience in production sharing contracts, exploration and production licences, petroleum taxation, local content, development of human resource capacity and the creation of a sustainable local services sector with the rest of the region.

The Central Bank of T&T (CBTT) is due to make their monetary policy announcement today March 29, 2018. The last rate announcement came on November 24, 2017 when the decision was to hold the rate at 4.75 per cent.

The importance of today’s rate announcement come against the backdrop of last week’s announcement by the US Federal Reserve of a 25 basis point (0.25 per cent) increase in US short-term rates moving the rate to 1.75 per cent. This is the sixth rate hike by the US Fed since late 2015 after a prolonged zero interest rate policy.

There is an additional expectation that the US Fed will continue to raise rates over the course of this calendar year with two to three more rate hikes being suggested. The move by the US Fed has put pressure on other central banks to raise rates and there already is some “noise” that the Bank of England may raise rates at their May meeting. The catalyst for the actions of the US Fed has been a “normalisation” of their interest rate policy. For the Bank of England it is likely to be because of an uptick in inflation.

Here in T&T the data suggests that inflation pressures are contained and this has prompted the CBTT to hold off on hiking interest rates.

However from my vantage point the inflation data is reflecting the impact of fiscal measures on the economy rather than monetary policy. There may be a case to reconsider the interaction of fiscal and monetary policy given what is taking place in the US.

Yield curve

In the day’s after the US Fed announcement the yield on the benchmark ten-year US treasury dropped from 2.90 to 2.82 per cent. The high on the date of the Fed announcement was 2.93 percent. Ordinarily one would expect that if short-term interest rates (influenced by the US Fed) are rising then long-term rates would follow suit. However the immediate reaction showed that long-term rates went lower.

The explanation given, was market concern over US trade policies, that if it results in a trade war, would increase the costs of goods and services to the US consumer and lead to a slowing of the US economy.

When short-term rates are rising and longer-term rates are not rising at the same rate then the yield curve is said to be flattening out. The general view is that the 10 year US Treasury should track the growth rate of nominal US gross domestic product (GDP). A decline in longer-term rates reflects concerns about the prospects for the US economy. In extreme cases short-term rates are higher than longer-term rates and this results in an inverted yield curve. This is traditionally taken as the signal for a recession.

Compensation for TT risk

In T&T we need to of course monitor the movement of interest rates in the US. For us the spread between US and TT interest rates is a key factor in any financial equation. Given that the US is a developed market and T&T is an emerging market an investor would want to be compensated for the risk of investing in TT dollars.

It means that the spread between US rates and TT rates have to be sufficient to offer such an incentive. The way market forces should work is that the US Fed will set its rates and the CBTT will set our repo rate to reflect the risk of investing in TT dollars. These are the short-term interest rates that the Central Banks can directly influence. If these rates are adequately priced then an investor will be indifferent to holding US or TT dollars.

If it is not and the mismatch favours the US then an investor will seek to hold US dollars in preference to TT dollars. This would then increase the demand for US dollars and market forces would allow the TT dollar to fall in price (depreciate) to reflect the increased demand for US dol lars and reduced demand for TT dollars. We can’t complain about hoarding if this is what obtains.

As an economy T&T is long past the days when anyone can reasonably think they can control investor behaviour.

Alternatively TT interest rates could rise to increase the incentive to hold TT dollars.

At the longer end if the outlook for the US economy is challenged but the outlook for the T&T economy is bright then you will have funds flowing from US dollars to TT dollar longer-term securities all other things being equal. This is not as far fetched as it sounds because it is exactly what happened around 2000 when there was a stock market crash, a war with Iraq, a mild recession in the US and 9/11.

If market forces were allowed to work then there would be repercussions to the State for declines in economic performance, running budget deficits, misspending, corruption, lack of productivity and all the other ills that we complain about.

When good situations arise there would be growing confidence and when bad situations arise there would be a lack of confidence. This would manifest itself into the level of economic activity in the first instance and then, ultimately, in the demand for US dollars in preference to holding TT dollars.

If the market mechanism works then everyone is incentivised to do their job properly so that our economy functions and politics takes a back seat to good governance and economic logic.

For a small emerging market such as T&T there are, of course, some limits to allowing market forces to operate unfettered. The problem is that largely through the desire for political expediency we have moved to far in the direction of trying to “control” the economy and this is creating significant imbalances. These imbalances will eventually overpower at some point and then there is a crisis. The recession of 1986 and the CL Financial debacle are good examples. However rather than learn from that we have gone further in the direction of control.

In 2003, the CBTT introduced a repo rate and started the economy on a path towards more of a market driven approach. As fiscal policy overpowered monetary policy they quickly had to roll back this programme.

Today, we still have a repo rate but it is largely ineffective in transmitting monetary policy. Since 2003 we have increased bank reserve requirements when the stated objective was to lower reserves, we have tighter exchange rate controls, we have introduced a reference rate for mortgages but then relaxed its implementation all in an effort to support imbalances.

For the general public the problem with this approach can be seen with the difficulty in weaning off transfers and subsides. Subsidies are again the opposite of a market economy.

The spread between US and TT rates is very tight but we are challenged to raise interest rates because it could potentially slow the demand for credit and thus slow the economy further.

The more we try to control the greater the imbalances will build. Understanding that truth seems to be our biggest challenge.

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

With champion trainer John O’Brien sidelined for one month, trainer John “Float” Leotaud has the opportunity to write his name in the annals of racing history once again when he saddles the favourites of the two feature events on Monday, the Grade One Win 8 Guineas over 1,800 metres and the Champagne Stakes over 1,600m on the turf track at Santa Rosa Park, Arima.

Leotaud will saddle General JN and Dancin Deputy in the Guineas. Both horses won the Jetsam Awards as the best juvenile colt and the best Juvenile filly of 2017.

On Monday, the imposing General JN will oppose eight rivals in the $150,000 purse event and will be ridden by Kerron Khelawan. Dancin Deputy will be partnered by Carlos Montalvo who never comes to Trinidad for fun. He partnered Leading Lady to victory in the final two Triple Crown events last season. The tip should be taken.

Glenn Mendez saddles Streaking Far and Warmonger with the former being the one which looks certain to stay. She ran well last time out over a distance short of her best and must be respected. Warmonger is on the upgrade and could place.

However, the Champagne Stakes looks a battle between Keotaud and Gobin. Leotaud has Thisonesforron ready to roll along with the improving Trini Aviator which is part owned by O’Brien and David Ojar. This pair will come up against the Shivam Maharaj owned duo of Conquest Bespoke and Stockyard. However, it looks like Leotaud holds the whip hand.

When entries were taken a total of 116 horses took entry for the Arima Race Club (ARC) ten race card.

Post time is 11.45 am.

Remembering the Father of Laventille... and the Father of the Nation

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the deaths of two of our most iconic leaders — Dr Eric Eustace Williams and Rudolph Valentino Charles. It reads like a fairytale how much the lives of these two men were intertwined. Williams was our nation’s first prime minister, leading us into Independence, and Charles was the charismatic leaders of Desperadoes steel orchestra and a champion of harmony in the Laventille community.

During the violent era of the steelband movement, with Laventille warring against “warriors” of East Dry River, Williams and Charles came together to bring some form of quiet between the opposing factions.

Williams was born on September 25, 1911 and, on his return from studying abroad in 1948, established firm resistance to the colonial powers of the day, establishing a political platform in Woodford Square, which he renamed “The University of Woodford Square.” From that public platform, Williams, on January 15, 1956, inaugurated his own political party, the People’s National Movement (PNM).

Charles was born 27 years later, on October 1, 1938. A young musician and pan technician, he was a revered pioneer of the steelband movement. Known as Charlo, The Hammer and Trail, among other names, he led Desperadoes Steel Orchestra to ten various victories from 1965 to 1985, including six National Panorama titles, two Classical Music Festivals, one Best Bomb and one Best Playing Steel Orchestra. This year Charles would have celebrated his 80th birthday.

A true son of Laventille, Charles joined Desperadoes in 1958 and was its bandleader and tuner from 1961 until his death at the age 46 in 1985. His inventions in pan are many and include the Nine Bass, the Rocket Pans or the Twelve Bass.

Besides establishing Desperadoes as the most successful steelband in the land, Charles is also remembered for many other signature achievements. The boycott of the National Panorama in 1979 was a result of Charles’ fight for higher recognition of pannists.

Charles’ funeral took place on April 4 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port-of-Spain. On a silver chariot casket, his body was taken to the Caroni cremation site for final rites.

The Rudolph Charles Pan Innovation Award was founded to encourage emerging tuners, and is a part of the T&T National Steelband Music Festival and, in 2014, Rudolph Charles was posthumously awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) for his contribution to culture at the anniversary of Independence National Awards.

Trini singer/ songwriter performs at Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto

Local performer Luke Faria headlined one of the music stages at the prestigious ROM Friday Night Live event last Saturday at the Earth’s Treasures Gallery. Performing under the moniker Sterylize, he performed a combination of covers and his original song Flying Planes to a full house alongside Torontonian guitarist and singer Joshua “JLatte” Lopez.

The ROM Friday Night Live is one of the most sought-after tickets in the city and is particularly popular among young professionals. It is a very unique experience which usually runs in the spring and summer, which allows patrons live music, DJs, food and drink with much of the museums major attractions open for viewing. While Faria was the first local performer at the event, doubles was also a popular food offering that night giving patrons a total taste of T&T.

Originally from Port-of-Spain, Styerlize was applauded for the musical arrangements of the covers he performed into his own signature style which is an infusion of rock and soul. Faria has amassed a following in the local pop and rock scene, with his songs Flying Planes and Walking Down the Street being the most popular in his repertoire, were
his soulful style of singing and guitar work has been noticed by stalwarts in the rock scene.

Faria currently resides in Toronto where he is in the last stages of his aviation training and performing on the city’s Indie/Rock circuit.

For more on Sterylize and his music you can find him on Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube under his name and moniker.

Fun time at Easter

It seems as though it was just yesterday we were hearing parang on the airwaves and eating pastelles and already the long Easter weekend is here with us. For the religiously inclined, Easter is a time of piety, getting palm fronds in church last Sunday and doing the Stations of the Cross today. For children and the young at heart it’s a time for Easter bunnies and eggs, kites and painted chickens. It is also the time of eating fish and hot cross buns.

For those who had made resolutions on February 14 (Ash Wednesday), it’s time to return to eating meat, drinking alcohol and partying til yuh drop.

While today is relatively quiet, tomorrow the party scene explodes with Yorke Inc holding its annual Gloria Saturday Classics of the 20th Century. With music by DJs Kabuki, Howie Tee, Sensational Sammy, plus Gail Ann & Shane, this bram is being held at the Salybia Nature Resort and Spa, Toco Main Road, from 10 pm.

Tomorrow evening, the Mayaro Events Committee is staging Revel Mas, at Beaumont Junction to Radix Village, Mayaro, from 6 pm.

Coming in the wake of the recent Jazz Artists on the Greens in St Joseph, jazz stays in the East this weekend when I Am Jazz Festival and Family Day is held on Sunday evening, Under the Trees, at Cipriani Labour College, Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Valsayn, from 4 pm. Billed for this jazz feast are Arturo Tappin, Aiden Hagley, elan parle, Surrender, Nex Chapta, and Kevon La Fleur & band.

Kaiso Blues Cafe, 85 Woodford Street, Newtown is the venue at 4 pm on Sunday for Love Warriors—The Concert, featuring Ruth Osman, Theron Shaw, Nigel Rojas and others.

Ravi B and some hot, sizzling soca chutney artistes and DJs are billed for Easter Monday’s Caura Fest, at Pool 1, Caura River, from 10 am.

Be safe this long holiday weekend.

On Saturday evening, the Traditional Afrikaan Women’s Organization (Tawo), held it’s annual Recognising Our Warrior Women award and enstoolment ceremony at the organisation’s base of operation in Morvant. Cheryl Bowles, Cher-Mère MD, was awarded this year’s 2018 Harriet Tubman/Claudia Jones Award and Sankofa Stool.

The Sankofa enstoolment ceremony is a symbolic reference to an ancient Afrikaan tradition symbolising the taking the seat of royalty, a ceremony which is only performed by women.

A biochemist and founder of Cher-Mère, Cheryl Bowles gave up a top position at Nestlé with a six-figure income in 1985 where she was the first woman executive, Chief Chemist, Head of Quality Control and Head of Research and Development in T&T to pursue developing her brand which is now Cher-Mère.

“….. but I got a spiritual urge to move to a higher dispensation, to set out into the unknown and take a chance on God,” she explained.

Cheryl began her journey experimenting with making herbal teas that produced sedative results using local products such as sapodillas and chamomile.

It was her mother, hairdresser and aesthetician, who first suggested she create different kinds of local Caribbean products such as hair food, letting her experiment on her clients.

Cher-Mère is now going to be marketed internationally as Bowles’ daughter, Dr Aba Bowles-Mortley, has decided to follow her dream of globalising the brand and will continue the legacy, extending to Canada where she resides in the position of Assistant General Manager/International Marketing, Cher-Mère.

Cher-Mère means “Dear Mother” in French and is a unity of Cheryl’s name and her deceased mother’s “Merle.”

Cheryl urged Tawo ceremony attendees to not just follow their dreams and using their experiences and acquired education/knowledge as platforms to build on, but to also be prepared.

Though it may be challenging to “see the light at the end of the tunnel, envision the end result, take the rose with the thorns, and hold on the glory would come,” she advised.

The ceremony commenced with Bowles being greeted to the sounds of drumming from the Elbe Ashe Drummers of Laventille followed by the a libation by Ayoka-Afuwape Carter, hosted by Tawo founder/CEO Akende Rudder.

Naheela “Nefta” Kojo performed a spoken word piece accompanied by the Egbe Ashe drummers entitled Warrior Womb-Man, a followup continuation to last year’s rendition of the same piece.

Other guest speakers included Francis Morean, an ethnobotanist from Arima, founder of the T&T International Hill Rice Symposium and Festival which runs until April 4.

This organisation will be launching the second edition of its symposium today at the Marac Community Centre, Moruga. It will consist of continued presentations in different areas across T&T including Morean’s office, at El Carmen Street, Arima, L’anse Fourmi Community Centre, Tobago, and the Moruga Secondary School, Basse Terr,e Moruga.

Specially invited guests included Adrian Leonce MP Laventille East; Dr Carol James, 2017’s Harriet Tubman/Claudia Jones awardee and Sankofa Stool recipient; and, Ena Garcia, Women Of The Soil (Wots) founder.

Grenada Tourism Authority CEO Patricia Maher lauded Trinbagonian visitors to Grenada during the GTA’s Grenada Destination Promotion, held at Hyatt Trinidad, Port-of-Spain, last Sunday evening.

She said more than 15,000 T&T residents visited the island in 2017, making it their largest single regional market for Grenada, with a growth of 16 per cent in 2016.

Spice Mas 2018, which culminates on August 13 and 14, is the top seller, with the upcoming third annual Pure Grenada Music Festival, which takes place on the weekend of April 13-15, the new target for local participation.

Many hotels are offering great discounts for these events as well as many new hotels being built for the upcoming season.

Silver Sands Hotel on Gran Anse Beach is set to open its doors next month and the 200-plus room Kimpton Kawana Bay Grenada Resort is set to open in 2019.

The four-day promotional drive in Trinidad, led by Maher, had the team of hoteliers also interacting with local travel agencies and other interested parties throughout the island and also engaged in selected television and radio interviews.

DAVID WEARS
 

People doing good deeds are usually not highlighted in the same way that crime is highlighted in T&T society. It was for this reason that several groups came together on March 16 to do some good in Port-of-Spain.

Founder of I-ACT (I Am Christian Theatre), Derron Sandy, said the group wanted to make a spectacle out of doing good things in the way that crime is made a spectacle of, especially in light of recent events. Along with frequent collaborators 2 Cents Movement, DMAD (Drama Making a Difference) Company and Freetown Collective, they came together to perform a piece of street theatre on the Brian Lara Promenade and in City Gate.

Sandy added: “We gave out several different cards, with sayings like Trinbago Sweet, You are Golden, We Still Care, and Have a Nice Day, among others. We gave out flowers and chocolates, as well as water to passersby and in the taxi stand around Cipriani Roundabout and, at City Gate, we paid for people to go home, sometimes the entire maxi, sometimes the entire car, for people to get transport, and generally tried to bring smiles to people’s faces.”

Sandy said the group performs many street theatre pieces which create positive messages. This action was another in a series in response to crimes which shake the nation, such as the killing of Shannon Banfield.

A similar initiative was the recreation of the 400-plus murder toll in 2016, which took place in Woodford Square. “Sometimes we realise it’s important to get as many others engaged as possible so we call out our usual partners, and they would bring out some of their supporters as well and that’s how we build the community,” said Sandy.

Sandy said it is important for people in T&T to see others doing good publicly, “as I think it activates people to do better and hopefully whatever we did could empower other people to get up in their little corners and publicly come out and do it.

“There are plenty people, plenty organisations doing good, and sometimes it’s just to let the public know that these things are still happening so that people would not feel as hopeless as you could sometimes feel when you watch the news and stuff in Trinidad.”

For more information on the event and I-ACT, find I Still Care (Demonstration of Love) on Facebook.

Today, Island Hikers are visiting the Matelot Waterfall, located on the North Coast.

An enchanting place where every Trinibagonian should visit is the village of Matelot. It is the perfect destination to escape from the hustle of busy city life and enjoy the peaceful countryside, and fascinating coastal sceneries. Matelot best described as a dreamy place, timeless with stunning beaches, rivers, and waterfalls.

Located 26.7 km further west from Toco at the end of the Toco/Paria Main Road, it is the last village on Trinidad’s North- Eastern Coast.

Matelot is a French word when translated means “sailor,” and before there were roads, it was a landmark for seamen.

The village population is 600 who earn their income from fishing, agriculture, and eco-tourism. The scenic drive along the winding coastal road can take three to four hours from Port-of-Spain.

Along the route, other noteworthy northeastern towns are Matura, Salybia, Balandra, Rampanalgas, Cumana, Toco, San Souci and Grand Riviera. Each has their unique characteristics, rich heritage, and natural resources.

In Matelot, the sky is the limit for the nature lover, enclosed by a high wall of mountains and anyone seeking relaxation and wellness.

A quiet corner to unwind, a place no one wants to leave. Wildlife is abundant, and seem running around the neighbourhood are iguanas, red-rumped agoutis, and common opossums or manicous.

It is a place to see rare birds and often seen are the pawi or piping-guan, a turkey light bird which is indigenous to Trinidad, and once hunted to almost extinction.

Most distinct in rustic Matelot are the various species of butterflies such as the Blue Morpho or Emperor Butterfly, the monarch, and swallowtail.

The numerous hiking trails situated along the coast lead to breathtaking waterfalls, rivers, and secluded beaches. At the western end of the neighborhood, there is the river, which provides constant water supply and a favourite recreational spot for river limes.

Further upstream, a spectacular destination is the Matelot Falls with its clean and secluded basin.

The expedition to the falls will take an hour and starts with a 2km walk along the ridge. The trail descends steeply to the river and continues upstream to the falls. Beyond the falls there are other fascinating pools, and gorges to explore.

At the end of today’s adventure, Island Hikers will give a hamper to a villager in need and hikers are asked to contribute a tin.

Good Friday Visit to Matelot Waterfall

Assembly 1: 6 am at Eric Williams Medical Complex Mt Hope.
Assembly 2: 6.30am at the Corner of O’meara Road and Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Arima.
Optional maxi transportation is available from Mt. Hope Hospital / Arima to Matelot at the cost of $120 (transport only). To reserve a seat, please call Mario Russell (749-2956) on the day before the hike.
Hiking Time: 1 hour
Rating: 3 Fair
The hike is suitable for children seven years and older. Like jackets supplied for those wishing to explore the deep areas of the pool.
Security for vehicles
For details contact Mario (749-2956); Marcia (490 2421); Jamal (761- 1889) or islandhikers.com
To see a video of Matelot Falls visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgFvitiazW8

ROUSSEAU: MARiE passed away peacefully on Friday, March 23, 2018. Daughter of Ahing and Norma-Jean Lue Sue (both deceased). Wife of Terrence Rousseau (deceased). Mother of Marilyn. Grandmother of Dan-ielle (Azad) and Nicole Soverall. Great Grandmother of Aadan Mohammed. Mother-in-law of Leslie Soverall. Sister of Samuel, Oswald, Joy and Kay Chang Wing. Sister-in-law of Anne and Merle Lue Sue. Aunt, Cousin and Friend of the Lue Sue, Ali, Sun Kow, Half-hide Daniel and Joyeau Families. Dear Friend of Moya Joseph. Funeral service for the late Marie Rousseau takes place at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at St. Finbar’s R. C. Church, Morne Coco Road, Diego Martin. Private Interment. For enquiries call R. M. de Souza Memorial Chapel Lim-ited 223-2007/637-2009.