AGOSTINI; TerreNce Martin, age 68 years old, better known as Terry passed away peacefully on Wednesday 25th April 2018. Terry leaves to mourn 2 daughters, Camille and Jody, 4 grandchildren, Emily, Christopher, Rico and Rolando and 1 great grandchild, Liam
CHADEE- MOHAN: DELMA departed this life on Thursday 26th April 2018. Daughter of Elizabeth Chadee. Wife of Hector Mohan (deceased). Mother of Illana Hooseine, Joanne Chadee, Terryanne Cassar, Chris Chadee and Wendy Chadee- Vincent.
Funeral service for the late Delma Chadee- Mohan aka Tanty Dolcy will take place at 3:00pm on Tuesday 1st May 2018 at the St. Dominic’s R.C. Church, Olivere Drive, Penal. Interment will follow at Penal Rock Road Cemetery. For further enquiries please contact Clark & Battoo San Fernando at 652-3488.
Eniath’s Printing Enforcers defeated Rockhard United at the TML/Oasis/Executive Upholsterers Premier League Final in St Joseph on April 21, to take home the $8000.00 first place prize.
Batting first, hosts Enforcers were in early trouble losing their first 4 wickets for 11 runs. A mid-innings partnership of 37 between young players Praveen Ali (20 runs) and Darren Chaitra 19 (runs) took Enforcers to a respectable 61 for seven in their Eight overs.
Rockhard was always behind the asking rate and was restricted to 50 for six with an unbeaten 21 by Aleem Mohammed.
Ali also contributed with the ball, taking one wicket for three runs to take the Max Grill House Man of the Match award, ensuring victory to the Enforcers.
Earlier in the day, Nur-e-Islam Juniors made 42 for two to win against Curepe Jamaat Youths who totalled 40 for seven to take the 2018 TML/R Khan Trading Fun League first place trophy.
All youth players were presented with a 2018 FIFA World Cup official ball and Panini Sticker Album and Stickers.
In the Championship Division League final, tournament favourites and defending champion team ASJA Markaz had a below-par performance being bowled out for 53, with captain Aamir Khan top-scoring with 24.
Endeavour seemed more hungry for victory and easily got to its target, scoring 54 for two with an over to spare with Fazil Baksh 21 and Riaz Mohammed 16 not out to secure the championship.
In the TML/Eniath’s Printing Masters Final, defending champions East Zone defeated a strong South Zone team in a thrilling encounter. South won the toss and inserted East.
Rasheed Ali the leading scorer in the tournament with 112 runs, scored a patient 27 to help East Zone to a respectable 69 for six. In reply, South started cautiously in the face of some inspired bowling and fielding performances by East which retained the championship trophy.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Captain Jason Holder has underscored the importance of several one-day series leading up to next year’s World Cup in England, stressing it was vital West Indies used them to gain confidence, momentum and a settled line-up for the global showpiece.
In preparation for the May 30 to July 14 event in England and Wales, the Windies will play home and away ODI series against Bangladesh later this year, tour India for another five matches before hosting England early next year.
“For many of us it will be another opportunity to play a World Cup; for some of us it will be the first opportunity so it’s definitely something we’re all looking forward to,” Holder told reporters here at Kensington Oval.
“But we’ve got four series leading up to the World Cup and we’ve got to handle those series first, think about those series and try a few combinations in terms of the make-up of our final squad.
“This year is obviously very important for us. If we can do well in these one-day series we have leading up to the World Cup, improve our ranking and gain some confidence.”
The Caribbean side missed out on automatic qualification but secured one of the two spots up for grabs by finishing second in a 10-team qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe last month.
Favourites at the start, West Indies played unbeaten in the preliminary round, lost one match in the Super Six second stage before clinching their spot in the final against eventual winners Afghanistan.
While the Windies’ participation in the tournament – which involved the likes of Nepal, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea – was widely regarded as somewhat belittling for the two-time former World Cup winners, Holder said it had been a blessing in disguise.
“Playing in the World Cup qualifiers was not all bad in a way. I think it was an opportunity to come together as a side, get some wins under our belt, play some of the Associate nations and some of the nations which qualified as Full [Member] nations,” explained the 26-year-old, who led the Windies at the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“It gave us some momentum, it gave us a feeling [of] winning again – we’ve won quite a few games in the World Cup qualifiers – and everybody got some performances in here and there and it wasn’t one or two individuals that really stood out in every particular game.
“It was a situation where a different individual put up their hand in every game.”
Despite their stature, West Indies did not have things all their way in the competition. They never got the measure of the Afghans and lost to them twice – once in the Super Sixes and then in the final.
In the preliminaries, they watched a decent United Arab Emirates side post 297 without being dismissed in pursuit of 358 and then survived a scare against PNG, crashing to 58 for four chasing 201 before recovering through Holder’s unbeaten 99 to win comfortably.
Holder conceded the campaign had been made difficult by the unfamiliarity with opposition players as well as the conditions.
“It was challenging. It was challenging from the aspect that we had not played against many of those teams before, we didn’t know many of the players and it was a chance for us to see what we were coming up against,” he said.
“When we plan, I try to focus on us and not focus on the opposition. I think once we handle our part of the plot, I think the rest of it would have taken care of itself.
“The conditions made it difficult as well [but] I think the conditions also levelled the playing field in terms of the opposition. If you check, many of the games were very, very close and there was some entertaining cricket played in Zimbabwe.”
He added: “I am glad that we did qualify for the tournament and it’s just a situation for us to build on that, get some more wins under our belt leading up to the 2019 World Cup.” (CMC)
Jaheim Faustin, captain of the San Juan Jabloteh Under-14 team, and son of former T&T international standout Marvin Faustin, has topped the 2018 Flow Youth Pro League overall league scoring chart with 12 goals.
Faustin (Jaheim) said he was not only delighted to win the Most Goals award, but also to help his team become champions again.
It was all about momentum according to the player.
Jaheim said: “You want to start off the season by scoring and then building the momentum from there onwards.”
He said his teammates were all confident throughout the season although “not starting too well and later experiencing some nerves at the end.”
Jabloteh, last season’s three-peat champions of all divisions, won the 2018 U14 and 16 FYPL titles but slipped to a third-place in the Under-18 division to finish behind runners-up W Connection and new champions Point Fortin Civic.
Current San Juan Jabloteh Under-16 attacker Nathaniel James holds the all-time YPL scoring record with 40 goals which was achieved last season.
James scored 39 of them for the then Jabloteh U13s and one for the U15s.
2018 FYPL TOP SCORES
Under-14 Division
Jaheim Faustin 12, Terron Miller 10, Molik Khan 8, Nathaniel Carrim 7, Abdul-Quddoos Hypolite 7, Luke Phillip 7, Jean-Pierre Reyes 6, Jalen Redman 6, Neegus Jack 6, Omari Campbell 6, Jovonn Gomes 6, Kern Smart 5, Darion Marfan 5, Giovanni Warner 5, Nathaniel O’Garro 5, Jearon Ellis 4, Josiah Wilson 4, Dantaye Gilbert 4, Christian Bailey 4, Deshawn Brown 4, Romario Nelson 4, Imani Lewis 4, Caleb Boyce 4, Jeremy Christian 3, Israel Joseph 3, Lindell Sween 3, Isaiah Thompson 3, Joshua Mason 3, Ishmael Lewis 3, Aydon Caruth 3, Josiah Shade 2, Tristan Stafford 2, Terrell Gibson 2, Zico Correira 2, Fitzdarrel Seales 2, Jaylon Brereton 2, Joel Maitland-Wilson 2, Christopher Brooks 2, Maliki Clement 2, Jaden Grant 2, Devin Seales 2, Jaheim Marshall 2, Jaron Pascall 2.
Under-16 Division
Jaheim Granderson 6, Adica Ash 6, Kiron Manswell 6, Terrell Wiley 5, Darius Douglas 4, Jerry Morris 3, Denilson Dogan 3, Justin Modeste 3, Thaj Neptune 3, Adel Haynes 3, Malachai Daniel 3, Nicholas Dyett 3, Aiden Marcano 2, Terrel Brown 2, Ephraim Brown 2, Menes Jahra 2, Jean-Heim Mc Fee 2, Nirvan Ramnarine 2, Marc Wharfe 2, Yohance Nurse 2, Nikolas Quamina 2, Jarique Williams 2, Nathaniel James 2, Trent Weekes 2, Jesus Delecia 2, Justin Araujo-Wilson 2, Naeem Bisnath 2, Ezekeil Kesar 2, Acelino Medford 2.
Under-18 Division
Shaquem Bleasdell 6, Jerren Jackie 5, Zion Williams 5, Isa Bramble 4, Nikel Rawlins 4, Stephon Joseph 4, Kai Phillip 4, Jaydon Prowell 4, Jalineo Orosco 3, Isaiah Pascall 3, Judah Garcia 3, Nion Lammy 3, Keon Boney 3, Jerrell Hibbert 2, Nkosi Salandy 2, Jodel Brown 2, Darim Campbell 2, Jesse Williams 2, Kesean St. Rose 2, Ackeel Jacob 2, Zion Mc Leod 2.
Police are searching through missing persons records in a bid to identify a man who was found bound, gagged and his throat slit near a river in Gran Couva yesterday.
The discovery was made around 6 am at Corosal Road by a woman as she walked along the road.
Investigators said there was a gaping chop wound to the right side of the man's neck. He is of African descent, approximately five feet, eight inches tall, dark complexion, medium build with a low haircut. He appeared to be in the early 30’s and was in a short blue patterned trousers.
Police were called in and a party of officers from the Central Division and the Homicide Bureau, including ACP James, Snr Sup Balram, Sup Grenwich, ASP Pierre and Sgt John, visited the scene.
The body was viewed by a district medical officer and ordered removed to the Forensic Science Center in St James. Anyone with information can contact Homicide Region III at 652 0495, Gran Couva Police at 679 9735, or the nearest police station.
Archbishop Jason Gordon is advocating for Venezuelan nationals seeking refuge to be welcomed, treated with dignity and integrated into this country.
In an obvious reference to the recent deportation of 82 Venezuelans following the confirmation of Presentation College students at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, San Fernando, yesterday, Gordon said they were not coming here to “sponge off of us” but because they are facing a crisis.
“We need to integrate them and we need to accommodate them and help them through this process. They are going through a very difficult time in their country and we should be hospitable,” Gordon said.
However, he said T&T people have lost their sense of hospitality.
“We have become very eccentric and we have become people who are very stingy with what we have, because lifestyle has been more important than other things for us.” Acknowledging that T&T also has serious social problems, he said, “I would hate to think that our generation would be the generation to throw away the values of our parents.”
He agreed with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who in his response to the United Nations criticism over the deportation noted that “we are not a refugee camp.” However, he said, every nation in the world has been accepting refugees.
“I was not here when this all happened and the Vicar General made a very powerful statement in the front of the Catholic News first page. ‘Mercy. Let us be merciful to those who come.’ And that’s the best of who we are,” he said.
“The real question is not about the refugees. The real question is what kind of Trinidad and Tobago we want to be? Do we want to be a selfish, self-centred country that only wants to grab for itself for what we can get for ourself?
“Is that who we want to be? Check me out of that. I don’t want any part of that. I believe in a country that is Trinidad and Tobago, that has been incredibly generous and that is what I want to see more.”
He added, “Refugees have been welcome throughout the whole of history. We cannot be the first people to decide that we do not want to welcome them.”
In order to find a way to deal with the large influx of Venezuelans, Gordon suggested that all agencies, including the church, unite and formulate a plan to integrate all the refugees. He said the Venezuelans must be properly screened and processed to ensure no drugs and guns are being brought into the country.
Gordon said he intends to speak with the Vicars today about how the church can help and work with the refuges.
“It cannot be left to one group or one community,” said Gordon, adding T&T must find a way to integrate Venezuelan children into schools and find work for the adults.
Archbishop Jason Gordon says social media has turned the 15-year-old school boy who allegedly chopped his mother into a notorious figure by posting his photos.
Gordon made the comment during an interview with reporters following the confirmation of Presentation College students at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, San Fernando, yesterday. The schoolboy attends a secondary school in Chaguanas.
On Sunday, the Children’s Authority issued a release calling on the public to remove all images of the teenager and his family from social media sites, after photos of both he and his mother were leaked online.
The South West Regional Health Authority has also launched an investigation into how photos of the mother getting treatment at the hospital were leaked on social media.
The teen allegedly chopped his mother, almost severing her hand at their Freeport home on April 19. However, he was released from police custody without being charged.
Yesterday, Gordon said, “Whenever a young person commits an act of violence it is always a very sad and alarming moment. From everything that I have heard about the young man, what he is accused of is way out of character. In fact, the last report I saw, it is suggested that the accusation might have even been a false accusation. I have not seen the evidence.”
Asked his views on the boy’s photos being circulating on social media, he said, “Social media is a wonderful blessing and it is an incredibly destructive tool at the same time because they have made him into a notorious figure, a figure where everyone knows his face and he should have been protected because he is under-age and there are laws to protect children and he should have been protected and those laws should have been used for social media also.”
Asked if concerns have been raised about the boy returning to school, Gordon asked, “Was he convicted? If he has not been convicted our country practices a sacred law, innocent until proven guilty.”
He said the first response of the school was to reach out to the family. Through the Education Minister and Catholic Educational Board, he said counsellors have provided counselling to the boy’s peers and teachers.
“I know a lot of work has happened in the school and I know the board was on top of it in terms of making sure the pastoral care for teachers, for students, for parents and especially for the young man and his parents, that was in place.”
Fifteen years after a patient accused him of rape, Dr Shauffie David Ali, the owner and medical director of Gulf View Medical Centre, was yesterday found not guilty.
As he walked out of the San Fernando High Court after being acquitted on two sex charges, Ali said, “I have a smile on my face. I feel good.”
Ali, 71, a gynaecologist, did not want to comment further.
Ali went on trial earlier this month before Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas in the Second Criminal Court charged with grievous sexual assault and rape.
The woman, then 21, alleged that Ali raped her in his office at the medical centre in La Romaine on April 8, 2003.
The state’s case, led by state attorney Trevor Jones, was that the woman had attempted suicide after two miscarriages. She was warded at the medical centre on March 2003 and was discharged two days later.
The woman alleged she received a call from Ali’s office for her to make an appointment to see him. The woman claimed she visited Ali’s office on April 1 and 2, 2003.
She alleged that on the third visit, on April 8, the doctor raped her in his office.
However, the woman’s evidence had several inconsistencies.
Ali gave evidence and called three witnesses—his daughter, a receptionist and a nurse. The defence produced Ali’s appointment book, which showed there was no record of any appointment for the woman to see the doctor. The receptionist said she called the woman once for her to come to the office to pay her bill and not to set up an appointment. The nurse meanwhile said that on the day of the alleged rape she was in the theatre with the doctor, who was performing a caesarian.
The jury took an hour to return with not guilty verdicts to both charges.
Jones was assisted by attorney Rebecca Trim-Wright while Ali was represented by attorneys Pamela Elder SC and John Heath.
Guardian Media Ltd senior photographer Kristian de Silva is suing A&V Oil and Gas Drilling and Workover owner Hanif Nazim Baksh and his son in law, Cpl Billy Ramsundar, for assault and battery.
Through his attorneys, De Silva filed the action yesterday at the San Fernando High Court, seeking damages from the men for allegedly assaulting him during an incident on September 15, 2017.
De Silva had gone to Nazim Avenue, San Francique, Penal, while in the course of his employment accompanied by his colleague, Sascha Wilson, at the time of the alleged incident.
De Silva and Wilson approached a guard booth at the entrance of an industrial compound belonging to A&V Oil and identified themselves as T&T Guardian newspaper employees and proceeded to the office. The office was locked Wilson and De Silva departed.
According to court documents, upon exiting Nazim Avenue, De Silva parked his vehicle and was standing on road taking photos with his camera. De Silva alleged that he saw a black Toyota Hilux being driven toward him in an aggressive manner and at an accelerated speed.
He said he threw himself out of the path of the vehicle, then observed the driver make a second attempt at running him over. He claimed the driver of the vehicle came out and began hurling obscenities at him. He claimed he identified himself as media but instead was assaulted.
De Silva’s injuries included swelling and soft tissue injuries to the face and back of neck, laceration to the lower lip and psychiatric injury.
T&T's Jereem Richards is set to make his debut at the IAAF Diamond League on Friday in the capital city of Qatar, Doha.
Richards will face the starter in the Men’s 200 metres sprint at the first of 14 meetings. The global one-day event is spread across Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.
"I'm excited to be in the Diamond League. It's definitely going to be a world-class race in terms of the top 200m runners in the world right now and some of the most decorative 200m runners.
"I am definitely looking forward to running a pr (personal record) or winning. I believe that going out with the best competition, I will have to put my best foot forward and that's what I am going out there to do."
The World's 200m bronze medallist will get a chance at revenge when he comes up against reigning World champion, Ramil Guliyev of Turkey. The duo last met in the World Championships final and Guliyev pulled off a shock victory, winning in a time of 20.09.
Richards got the bronze by a margin of just one-thousandth of a second as he clocked 20.107 to cross behind South African Wayde Van Niekerk (20.106).
Richards and Guliyev will race against a tough line-up that includes Olympic silver medallist Andre De Grasse of Canada, last year's Diamond League champion Noah Lyles of the USA, and surprise entry Omar McLeod of Jamaica, who is the Olympic and World Champion in the 110m hurdles.
It was only some two weeks ago that Richards emerged the winner of the 200m dash at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.
"Since coming back after Commonwealth, I probably had a day off and that was just one easy day, but after that it was back to training because you have to reset your mind," said Richards, who denied England's Zharnel Hughes the gold medal in the final after the Englishman was disqualified for making contact with Richards before he crossed the finish line in first place. Both clocked 201.12 seconds.
Hughes was disqualified on the grounds of a lane violation. England lodged an appeal in the aftermath but it was unsuccessful and the disqualification stood.
The other participants in the 200m for the Doha meet are Aaron Brown of Canada (Commonwealth silver medallist), Jamaican Rasheed Dwyer and Great Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.
This year's Diamond League meetings will also be staged in Shanghai, Eugene, Rome, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris, Lausanne, Rabat, Monaco, London, Birmingham, Zurich and Brussels.
Athletes earn points in the first 12 meetings in the road to the final. At the two final meetings, held in Zurich and Brussels on consecutive days, $100,000 will be at stake in each of the 32 Diamond disciplines, including $50,000 for each winner.
T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) member and former national cricketer Zaheer Ali is calling for the elections of the TTCB to be held within two months, after a delay of 18 months thus far.
Ali, who has been very vocal on the constitutional battle that the board has been embroiled in with the representatives of the National Cricket League (NCL) clubs said that there is a need for the President of T&T Justice Paula-Mae Weekes, to appoint a committee to conduct an: 'Independent and impartial review of the TTCB legal and constitutional framework because the ‘sport of cricket’ is a public good.
“I strongly advise that serious consideration should be given to approaching the High Court of Justice in keeping with the persuasive authority in the case of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) 2014, 2015 or Her Excellency Madam Justice (RT) Paula-Mae Weekes President of the Republic of T&T and Patron of the TTCB to appoint an ‘Independent Committee’ to conduct an impartial and independent review of the TTCB Legal and Constitutional framework with the aim of speedily addressing the contentious issues before the Court and in keeping with good governance principles and fairness to all stakeholders. I further advise pending the agreement of the Claimants and Defendants in the ongoing Judicial Review Proceedings coupled with the approval of the High Court of Justice that the TTCB elections which has been on hold for approximately eighteen (18) months to date, be held within two (2) months in accordance with the existing TTCB legal and Constitutional framework to promote legal stability and good administration in keeping with the persuasive authority in the case of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) 2014, 2015.”
Ali also added his two cents in the ongoing discussion of the implementation of the IRC report by the TTCB executive. “Ratification of the breaches of the TTCB Constitution in the appointment of the IRC and its terms of reference is not an option.
He pointed out that, “The breaches of the TTCB Constitution and the conduct of certain members in the appointment of the IRC and its terms of reference particularly number (iv) re: the TTCB must meet within 10 days of the receipt of the report to make a final determination on it recommendations’ apart from being ultra vires could be successfully argued as unfair, improper and oppressive towards other members/shareholders of the TTCB. To reiterate and demonstrate how the respective members acted outside the TTCB Constitutional and legal framework and unfairly, improperly and oppressively, there was no notice or disclosure of the resolution prior to the Special Meeting dated August 10, 2017 at which the IRC was appointed which was a mandatory and fundamental requirement of the TTCB Constitution Article 13.02, principles of natural justice and procedural fairness and respect for due process and the rule of law."
He continued: “Additionally, and of great significance, when one considers the nature and intent of the resolution, its terms and reference and the potential for futuristic impact on the sport, TTCB, existing rights, privileges and interests of members and other stakeholders, it was essential in keeping with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness that all parties be properly informed and afforded a fair opportunity to be heard and actively participate in the appointment of the IRC and formulation of the resolution terms and reference in keeping with the TTCB Constitution particularly, Article 29. Notwithstanding the above, the constitutional breaches and unfair, improper and oppressive conduct were highlighted in good faith by certain members at the Special Meeting dated August 10, 2017 at which the IRC was appointed and were subsequently brought to the attention of the TTCB General Secretary and the IRC for their immediate and corrective actions and which would have constituted actual and constructive notice of the breaches."
Ali lamented that, “As a consequence, the parties should have exercised due diligence and care or caused the constitutional breaches to be ratified at a subsequent meeting, within a reasonable time and before the IRC embarked on the review or took any actions. Additionally, the parties should not have relied on the presumption of regularity in the appointment of the IRC or to enjoy any rights or privileges or authority.”
An over decade-long legal dispute between mas band leaders and former business partners Mike “Big Mike” Antoine and Ian McKenzie over ownership of their former mas camp has been resolved.
Delivering an oral judgment in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Justice Frank Seepersad set the conditions under which the property, located at the corner of Roberts and Warren Streets in Woodbrook, should be sold and the proceeds divided.
Seepersad ordered that the property be sold at a minimum price of $2.5 million and that both men agree on selecting a real estate agent to sell it. In the event that it is not sold privately, it will be done via public auction.
Seepersad also ordered that both men clear the stamp duty and associated late fees so that the property can be officially transferred to them from its former owner, to effect the eventual sale.
As part of his judgment, Seepersad rejected McKenzie’s bid for compensation for loss of rent for the property, which has been under Antoine’s control since they paid for it in 2007.
Seepersad ruled that McKenzie had not properly established his claim as the clear and undisputed evidence was that it was left unoccupied by Antoine. He also rejected the evidence of both men’s expert witness, who testified over the rental value of the property.
McKenzie’s witness, surveyor Afra Raymond, of Raymond and Pierre, testified that his evaluation of the rental value was $16,000 in 2007 and $18,000 in 2011.
Raymond’s assessment greatly differed from Antoine’s expert—veteran real estate agent Roger Murray— who estimated the rental value as $6,000 in 2007, $6,000 in 2011 and $8,000 for last year.
Seepersad said that Murray failed to show the
Mike “Big Mike” Antoine
Ian McKenzie method he used to calculate the value while Raymond did not produce the prices of similar properties in the area, which were used to calculate his value.
Antoine and McKenzie, the former band leaders of five time Band of the Year winner Legends, first started renting the property in 1995 from its then owner, who held a lease with the Port-of-Spain City Corporation.
Before their relationship went sour in 2004, both men struck a deal to purchase the 30-year lease for $450,000.
However, the transaction could not go through as the owner did not have the requisite approval from the corporation.
While the money was eventually paid in 2007, Antoine testified that he continued to pay the $4,500 a month in rent for the property until the corporation granted approval in 2012.
Education Minister Anthony Garcia is expected to give details today of the security measures put in place for the 2018 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) to be written by close to 19,000 pupils on Thursday.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian, yesterday, Garcia confirmed that all systems are in place for the examination and improved security measures are in place to safeguard against leaks of the examination paper.
While there have been no recent leaks of the examination paper, in 2016, the results of the examination were leaked ahead of the official release date prompting an investigation into the origin of the leak.
In addition Garcia said, “All secondary schools are in a position to receive all the students.” Those schools, he said, also included the seven private schools which earlier this month requested an increase in the $1,200 subvention which they get per student per term from the Ministry of Education.
Principals of private schools, which annually assist with the placement of pupils given the limited number of spaces in government and denominational schools, have lamented that they are unable to give children sent to those schools the quality of education required because of inadequate funding from the ministry.
They have calculated that it costs $5,700 to educate a child per term, $4,000 more than they get from the Ministry of Education.
As a result the schools are forced to raise funds, source loans and utilise bank overdrafts to meet their monthly bills which included the payment of salaries to teachers and payment of basic utility bills including water, electricity, telephone and security.
In mid-April the seven private schools—St Charles High, St Joseph College, Southern Academy, Caribbean Union College, Bishops Centenary, Corpus Christi and the Open Bible High School—collectively wrote to Garcia requesting an increase in funding from the ministry.
Garcia said he had received the letter requesting an increase in the $1,200 payment and assured the principals of the private schools “it is being given active attention.”
Meanwhile, Garcia has also confirmed that the date of the SEA examination in 2019 will be in March.
The announcement of the planned change in date was first made in September 2017 when Garcia explained that Cabinet had made the decision to change the date of the exam to the last week of the second term, which was usually in March, because it was deemed to be more feasible and cost effective.
Repercussions from inaccurate gas production estimates may be felt well beyond the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which reportedly lowered its projections of economic growth for the country on the basis of that flawed data.
The Ministry of Energy is taking a hit for releasing figures which, according to the Ministry of Finance, “bore no relationship to the actual production figures” for this year.
While the misinformation will be corrected when IMF officials visit the country within the next two months for their annual Article 4 consultation, damage has already been done and cleaning up the mess won’t be easy. Bad data can lead to bad analysis, which can lead to bad decisions and even worse results.
Timely and sound data are of critical importance to policy makers, the business community, consumers and investors, as it helps them assess how well the economy is performing and guides decision-making. If information is incorrect, the resulting policies and programmes will be completely off the mark. It is indeed worrying that indicators for one of the country’s critical revenue earning sectors—indicators which are vital for taking corrective measures when needed—are totally inaccurate.
If agencies other than the IMF were supplied with that wrong data, we will be hearing more about this blunder in the weeks and months to come.
Destructive actions, reactions
For a family in central Trinidad, the struggle to recover from a particularly traumatic experience has been made more difficult by a series of social media postings about the incident.
While the public outrage is to be expected, it is quite another thing for very personal details and images to be leaked online, exposing all the people involved in unimaginable pain and embarrassment.
As much as it might be a major talking point which is sure to attract a great deal of interest, the gruesome photos shown of the victim of that horrible attack are not only an invasion of her privacy, but adds to the physical and emotional pain she has already endured. There is also the matter of violating the rights of the minor at the centre of this regrettable incident.
It was bad enough that such an incident occurred but some of the public reactions and actions since then only make matters worse.
We are the champions
With a decisive 3-1 victory over Guyana on Sunday, T&T’s women are the winners of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Women’s Challenge Series. Congratulations to our soccer stars.
Frontiers are artificial man-made constructs and what man makes another can destroy, improve or ignore. Many frontiers were fabricated out of nowhere during colonial days and in the Middle East and Africa we daily see the consequences of those horrible mistakes the Europeans made, some of which they themselves are now having to deal with. Good, payback time, however small!
Most of us do not realise that the people who live near on our frontiers do not take on frontiers. Just because some bureaucrat sitting down in his air-conditioned office decided this was Iraq and that was Iran and that was Israel, and there’s no such thing as Palestine or this is Venezuela and that is Guyana, means nothing to the people and families who have moved over the land as they wished from time immemorial.
Even where waterways form natural boundaries, people maintain contact. Trade and sex are powerful motivators. It is not surprising to learn that the people who live in Carenage or in Cedros have and have had intimate links with persons living on the “main” as my Uncle Mike used to say, he himself, born in Rio Chico, Venezuela, arriving in T&T by boat in the first decade of the 20th century. The military who patrol these boundaries know this. Many of them no doubt partake in mutual familiarities and this makes it complicated to maintain what we call “law and order.”
Since I know myself, I have known and seen and spoken to certain gentlemen, who shall remain unknown, who regularly appeared at our residence in Cobeau Town with “goods” from the main. In those days, goods meant whisky and cigarettes. Today it means something else and I hope Cobeau Town residents no longer participate in such activities.
An example of the ease with which traffic back and forth occurs is illustrated by this story from a friend from the 80s.
One Friday he and his family were invited by a local family of Venezuelans to go on a day trip to Venezuela. This family was in contact with a fishing village on the north coast of the Paria peninsula who wanted meat.
On the appointed Sunday, my friend and his family, wife and two children, duly reported to the boat dock with the Venezuelans and climbed on board their pirogue filled with a dozen “hog’s heads.” There was another pirogue going, with three gentlemen inside, one of whom was introduced as a ranking member of our police force. My friend felt a bit more confident about the outing after meeting him.
The trip, from village to village, took slightly over one hour. As they approached the bay, inside which was the village, they noticed a pirogue, bobbing up and down outside the entrance. It seemed to be waiting for them. When the pirogue noticed the Trinidadians, he rapidly approached, waving his hand as if saying “go back.” It was too late and as they turned the point, they saw a Venezuelan Coast Guard vessel anchored in the middle of the bay.
The three pirogues closed ranks. Activity on board the Coast Guard vessel commenced! Unshaved captain came out. Boat let down and they were boarded by an armed “teniente” and his machine-gun toting assistants. Chatter ensued. Spanish flying back and forth, including our Trini policeman, soon joined in by two village elders who arrived breathing heavily in their boat.
“Hogs heads” brought out for inspection. Sample taken to the captain. Bottle of rum appeared. Toasts all around and soon the Coast Guard vessel lifted anchor, the captain and teniente waved goodbye and they entered the bay and landed.
A good time was had by all before the boats returned that evening filled with crates of Polar. One of the “Trinis” from the second pirogue turned out to be the son of one of the village elders, with a wife in the village. Everybody understood English. Everybody had family living in Carenage.
I should like to pay a small tribute to my dear friend Marcelle Latour, who passed away, peacefully, at her home on April 27 after a short illness.
We have known each other most of my life and she has always been unfailingly kind, and full of good sense and advice when needed. Three of her greatest passions (and about which she was very knowledgeable) were: horses and horse racing, the ballet and cooking.
She was an inspired cook, and if you were lucky to meet her in the meat shop you left with not only excellent cuts of meat, but wonderful recipes with which to cook them.
She had a great knowledge of medicines, both human and veterinary and a terrific sense of humour. She was a great friend to me and always kind and supportive ad I will miss her terribly and will have to make do with my memories until, (to quote Lady Jane Grey taking her last farewell of her father) “We meet but to part, and part but to meet again.”
God bless dear Marcelle with love from Pam and deep sympathy to the rest of her family, especially Mariam.
PAMELA PHILLIPS,
via email
It is my most humble and unsolicited view that the TUTTA, as it is being operated today in 2018, is presenting a most obscene and unprofessional stance regarding the marking of SBAs. It appears that TUTTA is ostensibly holding the future of applicants for scholarships to ransom.
The SBAs have been marked by teachers for the past 28 years? So what is the new problem?
Since when is it that teachers can be classed as policemen doing extra duty at dances? It is a frivolous and highly unprofessional remark. Are these the utterances of a desperado?
Ask yourself this-Is the TUTTA’s trade union leader even a teacher? Primary or secondary school?
Are teachers becoming the new Pirates of the Caribbean? Your money or your future or your life?
LYNETTE JOSEPH,
Diego Martin
Tobago Jazz Experience (TJE) Jazz in the East at the Speyside Recreation Ground got off to a good start on Saturday. A crowd of thousands gathered in perfect weather for the event that saw a cadre of regional and local artiste putting their best work to a very appreciative audience welcome remarks came from George Leacock, head of the Tobago Festivals Committee.
Opening remarks by councillor Nadine Stewart- Phillips, the Secretary of Tourism, Culture and Transportation, followed. She said the TJE is a chance for visitors and residents alike to immerse in the authenticity of Tobago’s musical, cultural,culinary and natural offerings.
“Ten years ago the THA embarked on a historic journey to establish a flagship festival for the island and, from Plymouth to Pigeon Point, Signal Hill to Speyside, the Tobago Jazz Experience has see many transformations over the years. But one thing that remains constant, that destination Tobago has proven to be the perfect location to serve up music, vibes and entertainment with a side of beautiful beaches and lush landscaped, topped off with our signature Tobagonian warmth and hospitality.”
The show featured a wealth of soca, pan and reggae music.
Jazz in the East opened with an energetic performance from the Petrotrin Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra, Tobago’s oldest playing steel orchestra from Black Rock.
The packed savannah later danced and swayed in an incident-free night to the music of Stephanie Joseph, Kabasi, the husband and wife reggae duo of
John and Jackie Greenidge who perform as Nex Chapta, the controversial Gardah Knight, pannist Shaquille Broome and Leandro Noray.
Also gracing the stage were Freetown Collective, featuring the vocal talents of Muhammad Muwakil and Lou Lyons, 5 Star Akil, and reggae artiste Tanya Stephen.
The crowd went into a frenzy when Tarrus Riley, the night’s headline act, came on the stage. Riley jumped on the speaker boxes and warmly greeted his fans. Riley, a Jamaican-American reggae singer, dished out a wave of hits during his powerful performance. He was the winner of the MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards on 2009 and 2014.
The flow of traffic, and the crowd that consisted of a large number of well dressed ladies, was commendably handled by the police, who ensured there was a smooth flow of vehicles out of the area after the event closed.
Sunday Jazz Experience
American R&B singer Fantasia Taylor stole the show on Sunday night as the TJE continued at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park, Tobago. Known professionally as Fantasia, she was the first foreign artiste to hit the stage, appearing around 9.25 pm following a 90-minute delay to address technical problems.
Fantasia came on stage to much applause and encouraged patrons to get closer to the stage by entering a cordoned off area that was reserved for electronic media personnel. During her performance she knelt giving thanks to God.
Fantasia said she wanted to connect with the people and ventured into the audience where she was greeted by hoards of fans armed with camera phones, as well as climbed on top of a ladder and scaffold used by photographers to continue her act. The crowd went into further ecstasy and many reached out and touched her hands as she sang.
Fantasia also called out to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, seated in the VIP section, to get up and dance. He obliged and danced for a very short time before taking a seat next to his wife Sharon Rowley.
Shortly after closing her performance, Fantasia left for the airport in a white BMW SUV.
Dressed in white, Ne-Yo, another American artiste, hit the stage and dished out hit after hit for a full hour, he was followed by artiste George Hamilton.
The show began after 4.30 pm at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park with a cast of local artistes that commenced with Llettesha Sylvester. Saxophonist Francis Prime dished out some old goodies on saxophone and he was followed by KalPee.
The national instrument then held centre stage with an energetic and dynamic performance by 2018 National Panorama champion bpTT Renegades. The Tobago All Star Band took the stage, featuring the talents of world class pannist Duvone Stewart, arranger of Renegades. He was later presented with a portrait of himself by Chief Secretary assemblyman Kevin Charles.
