Five-time champions, Blazers, which were dethroned by Police Alpha last year, scored a resounding victory over Matrix, 35-26, to regain their A Division title in the Tobago Netball League last Monday at Shaw Park Netball Court.

Blazers completed their unbeaten run in the A Division when they toppled Police in their final match, 37-19, three days later. The winner was led by national defender Kemba Duncan, who played aggressively on defence and forced a number of turnovers. Duncan and Avanelle Baird made life difficult for the Matrix shooters Janelle Toby and Dhalia Anthony, who could only score 26 of their 46 attempts with Toby leading the Matrix fight, scoring 13 from 20 attempts while Anthony scored 13 from 26.

Six-footer goal shoot Abeni Taylor, who trains with the national team, top-scored with 25 off 38 attempts and her goal-attack Mauriscia Nicholson added the other 10 goals from 14 attempts.

In the men’s division, Take Dat was crowned the champions with Matrix second, Police third, C&B fourth and SSS Marlins fifth while in the Intermediate Division, Titans I scored a one-point (19-18) victory against Blazers II, to take the title.

Saturday was the start of the knockout competition led by Lilyah Arrindell, Starlets eliminated SSS Rubies in their B Division match-up. The goal-attack, netted 13 goals from 20 tries to help Starlets edge Rubies by a narrow one goal, 14-13, victory. Goal-attack Neisha Mc Millan was best in the circle for Rubies with 11 in 22.

Also moving on in the knockout competition is Blazers III, which defeated SSS Crystals 23-14. Goal-shooter Shania Shortt (10/21) and Arianne James (13/18) worked in the circle for the winner. Nyinka Thomas scored the bulk of Crystals’ goals with 11 from 15 attempts but her team was on the losing end.

The other match in the division between C&B and Titans II was interrupted by rain during the first quarter. The match is rescheduled to play tomorrow from 7 pm. The lone men’s division match between SSS Marlins and C&B was also postponed to that date. First pass is at 8 pm.

On Wednesday, shooters from each of the teams in this year’s competition competed for supremacy and in the end it was Akeem De Leon of Matrix Reloaded emerging the overall winner with 46 goals. He topped the men’s division individual shooting contest with Marcus Clinton (Canaan Bon Accord) second with 42 and Cliff Nicholson (Matrix Reloaded) in third with 41.

His accuracy also helped Matrix place first in the team shooting competition with a total of 111 goals. Police was second with 85 and C&B third with 78.

In the women’s A division, it was an all out shootout between Demisha Henry (Star Seekers) 44/57 and Abeni Taylor (Blazers I) for the top spot. Both shooters connected 44 goals but it was Henry having a better shooting percentage getting her goals from 57 tries compared to Taylor’s 65 attempts.

Results

Saturday
Knockout competition
SSS Rubies 13 (Jeanessa Williams 2/6, Neisha Mc Millan 11/22) vs Starlets 14 (Alex Lovell 1/2, Lilyah Arrindell 13/20, Dellice Guada 0/1)
Blazers III 23 (Shania Shortt 10/21, Arianne James 13/18) vs SSS Crystals 14 (Nikeala Boucher 1/4, Nyinka Thomas 11/15, Nykoya Sargent 2/2)
Thursday
SSS Rubies won after C&B forfeited.
Blazers I 37 (Abeni Taylor 19/34, Lennecia Mc Keller 18/31) vs Police 19 (Arresia Sandy 2/8, Rianna Alexander 0/4, Nikita Spencer 17/30)
Wednesday
Shooting Competition
Individual
Top Shooter Overall: Akeem De Leon 46
Men Div: 1 Akeem De Leon (Matrix Reloaded) 46; 2 Marcus Clinton (Canana Bon Accord) 42; 3 Cliff Nicholson (Matrix Reloaded) 41
A Div: 1 Demisha Henry (Star Seekers) 44/57; 2 Abeni Taylor (Blazers I) 44/65; 3 Lennecia Mc Keller (Blazers I) 43
Inter Div: 1 Kelelicia George (Pythons I) 43; 2 Kelaiah Stewart (Pythons I) 38; 3 Kaela Marie Fletcher (Pythons I) 36
B Div: 1 Ariel De Freitas (Pythons II) 42; 2 Nyinka Thomas (SSS Pistols) 34; 3 Arianne James (Blazers III) 33
Team
Men Div: 1 Matrix 111; 2 Police 85; 3 C&B 78
A Div: 1 Star Seekers 121; 2 Blazers I 113; 3 Matrix 89
Inter Div: 1 Titans I 117; 2 Blazers II 93; 3 Patience Hill PYC 89
B Div: 1 Titans II 98; 2 Blazers III 80; 3 SSS Crystals 71
Monday
Men Div
SSS Marlins 14 (Andrew Jerry 0/2, Nicholas Abraham 9/15, Khyeem James 5/12) vs Police 45 (Akeem Phillip 10/20, Davion Thomas 18/34, Darryl Bedlow 7/12, Kerry Mc Millan 10/14).
A Div
Blazers I 35 (Abeni Taylor 25/38, Mauricia Nicholson 10/14) vs Matrix 26 (Janelle Toby 13/20, Dahlia Anthony 13/26)
June 2
Matrix 28 (Dahlia Anthony 20/32, Janelle Toby 8/22) vs Star Seekers 21 ( Pietra Gay 9/17, Rowmillia Smith 9/20, Demisha Henry 3/11
Blazers III won after Buccoo Net Ace forfeited.

Top-ranked local men’s player Aaron Wilson and national women’s champion Brittany Joseph captured the Boys and Girls Under-21 Division titles when the 2018 Solo National Junior Table Tennis Championship took place at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua on Saturday and Sunday last.

In fact it was the third straight time that Wilson had emerged as champions in the Under-21 singles competition.

A member of the T&T men’s team at the Commonwealth Games in Australia earlier this year, Wilson had to withstand a strong challenge from his Carenage Blasters teammate Luc O’Young before he prevailed 6-11, 11-9, 16-14, 11-7.

Wilson, also the senior Solo men’s champion had earlier defeated Under-18 winner, and another club mate Jesse Dookie 11-2, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9 in their semi-final while O’Young overcame PowerGen’s Sarvesh Mungal 5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7.

Like Wilson, Joseph of WASA is also the reigning national senior singles champion and she played like it in beat Under-18 champion, Chelsea Fong 11-7, 11-3, 11-9; Derah Ramoutar 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 and Aaliyah Singh 11-1, 11-2, 11-1 to top her four-player round-robin series with a perfect 3-0 record.

Fong, also of WASA ended second with wins over Warrenville United’s Ramoutar and Singh, both in straight sets while Ramoutar took third.

Joseph also captured the Under-21 Mixed Doubles after she combined with Sarvesh Mungal for a 6-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 win over Luc O’Young and Fong.

Dookie had a relatively easy time in beating PowerGen’s Matthew Mootra 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 in their Under-18 boy’s decider.

This after Dookie was taken to five sets by club-mate Luc O’Young in their semi-finals, 11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 11-2 while Mootra outlasted Finn Bos, also of Blasters 11-7, 12-10, 12-10.

Fong showed her experience in getting past Shreya Maharaj 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 in the girls Under-18 title match. In the last-four round, Fong spanked Nyla Bissessar of WASA 11-1, 11-4, 11-1 and Maharaj came-from-behind to beat Rayanna Boodhan of Arima Hawks’ 3-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8.

Under-11 Boys singles, Gabriel John of Carenage Blasters defeated Petrotrin’s Malick Gopaul 11-7, 9-11, 1108, 9-11, 11-4 in the final.

John won his semis 11-9, 11-2, 11-9 over Jordan Joseph of Arima Tennis Club, and Gopaul beat Sekel Mc Intosh of Maloney Tigers also in straight sets.

The Under-11 Girls comprised only four players and was contested on a round-robin basis at the end of which Petrotrin’s Chloe Fraser lifted the title courtesy wins over WASA’s Ashlea Mohammed 11-5, 11-1, 11-3; Arima Hawks’ Lyllana Boodhan 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 and WASA’s Shreya Maraj, 11-1, 11-0, 11-3.

Mohammed took second with a 2-1 record followed by Boodhan (1-2) and winless Maraj (0-3).

Jalen Kerr of Bago Slammers outplayed Nicholas O’Young of Blasters 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 in the Under-13 Boys’ decider.

This after Kerr swept past PowerGen’s Vheer Samnarine 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 and O’Young battled past Bago Slammers’ Jamaali Mauge 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8 in their semifinals.

Pryanka Khellawan of Petrotrin lived up to her favourite rage in the Under-13 Girls age-group by easing Gladiators’ Imani Edwards-Taylor 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 in their championship match.

Khellawan had early beaten Rebekah Sterling also of Gladiators 11-9, 11-5, 11-1 and Edwards-Taylor stopped Bago Slammers’ Sheneika Colette 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 in their final-four encounters.

Derron Douglas added another title for Bago Slammers when he brushed aside O’Young 12-10, 11-6, 11-5 in the Boys Under-15 finale.

In the semifinals, Douglas humbled Blasters Mikhail Dookie 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 and O’Young twice came from behind to beat Mauge 4-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 161-4.

Blasters’ Shreya Maharaj was also in winners row for her club with a polished 11-4, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3 victory over Khellewan in a highly anticipated Girls Under-15 final.

Maharaj booked her place in the final by beating Edwards-Taylor 11-6, 11-3, 11-6, and Khellawan ousted Sterling 11-7, 11-6, 11-2.

She enjoyed more success when she paired with Nicholas O’Young to beat Derron Douglas and Brianna Solomon 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 in the Under-15 Mixed Doubles.

Sarvesh Mungal did not leave without a title though as she paired with cousin Amresh Mungal to beat Luc O’Young and Bos in the Under-21 Boys Doubles, 4-11, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6.

And it the Under-15 Girls Doubles, Shreya Maharaj and Khellawan proved a winning combination over Solomon and Collette and Edwards-Taylor and Sterling in a three-team round-robin.

Overall, Blasters dominated with 19 medals, six gold, seven silver and six bronze while Petrotrin, WASA and Bago Slammers each won two gold medals apiece.

Barry Copilah was crowned men’s Body Building Overall National Junior champion after he got the judges nod ahead of four other category winners when the 2018 T&T Body Builders & Fitness Federation National Junior Body Building & Fitness Championship took place on Saturday night.

Competing before an appreciative crowd at Cascadia Hotel & Conference Centre, Cascade, St Ann’s, Copilah, who turned 30 years-old on May 10, and trains at the Fyzabad Health & Fitness Gym, first walked away with the men’s light middleweight (up to 80 kg) division crown ahead of Watson Jeremiah and Garth Charles.

A winner at last year’s Sportsworld Classic event, Copilah then faced off with the other category winners in Prateesh Ragnoobar (lightweight), Nicholas Ramoutar (welterweight), Bernado E. Lawson (middleweight) and Evan Jackson John (light heavyweight) and was declared the overall winner.

Ramoutar was second overall followed by Lawson, John and Ragnoobar.

The other National Junior Overall Class winners on the night were Gulf View Health & Fitness’ Marisa Khan-Lutchman (Women’s Physique); Raw Fitness’ Roxanne Moore-Mahabir (Body Fitness); Ramoutar (Classic Body Building); Gulf View Health & Fitness, and Life Fitness member, Kaylah Martinez (Bikini Wellness); another Gulf View Health & Fitness member Rondell Paul (Men’s Physique), and, Central Athletic West Mall (formerly Bio Fitness) athlete Brittany De Freitas, (Bikini).

According to Susanna Hadad, President of the T&T Body Builders & Fitness Federation, the winners of their respective titles may now have the chance to represent T&T at the upcoming Central American and Caribbean Body Building and Fitness Championships which comes off in Mexico from July 26-29.

Hadad explained that once the local body thinks the T&T athletes are up to the standard to compete for top honours, then arrangements will be made to have them fly the red, white and black flag.

CHAMPIONSHIPS HONOUR ROLL

T&T Body Builders & Fitness Federation Junior

Men’s Lightweight (Up to 70kg):
1. Prateesh Ragnoobar
2. Wazim Mohammed
3. Narendra Joseph

Men’s Welterweight
(Up to 75 kg):
1. Nicholas Ramoutar
2. Rasheed Ali
3. Adiel Glasgow

Men’s Light middleweight (Up to 80 kg):
1. Barry Copilah
2. Watson Jeremiah
3. Garth Charles

Men’s Middleweight (Up to 85 kg):
1. Bernado E. Lawson
2. Julius Martin
3. Bruce Allum

Men’s Light heavyweight (Up to 90 kg):
1. Evan Jackson John
2. Nigel Goring
3. Adkim Hamilton

Body Fitness (Figure) Open:
1. Roxanne Moore-Mahabir
2. Celise Awai
3. Nathalia Jeremiah

Classic Body Building (Class A):
1. Nicholas Ramoutar
2. Wazim Mohammed
3. Rasheed Ali

Classic Body Building (Class B)
1. David Richards (South)
2. Bernado E. Lawson (PoS)
3. Evan Jackson John (PoS)

Women’s Physique Open:
1. Marisa Khan-Lutchman (South)
2. Gisele Sergeant (Tobago)

Men’s Overall:
1. Barry Copilah
2. Nicholas Ramoutar
3. Bernado E. Lawson
4. Evan Jackson John
5. Prateesh Ragnoobar

Men’s Physique Class A:
1. Haron Henry (Tobago)
2. Jose Jimenez
3. Narendra Joseph

Men’s Physique Class B:
1. Rondell Paul
2. Kern Perry
3. Runako Richardson

Miss Bikini Class A:
1. Brittany De Freitas
2. Shanice Moore
3. Gabrielle Solomon

Miss Bikini Class B:
1. Jenna Camacho
2. Timoy Cheekan
3. Samantha Luke

Bikini Wellness Open Class:
1. Kaylah Martinez (South)
2. Christine Burgess (PoS)
3. Afiya Walker (Pt Fortin)

Men’s Physique Overall:
1. Rondell Paul (South)
2. Haron Henry (Tobago)

Men’s Classic Overall:
1. Nicholas Ramoutar (South)
2. David Richards (South)

Miss Bikini Overall:
1. Brittany De Freitas (Santa Cruz)
2. Jenna Camacho (Cocorite)

2018 National Junior Overall Class winners:
Men’s Body Building: Barry Copilah
Women’s Physique: Marisa Khan-Lutchman
Body Fitness: Roxanne Moore-Mahabir
Classic Body Building: Nicholas Ramoutar
Bikini Wellness: Kaylah Martinez
Men’s Physique: Rondell Paul
Bikini: Brittany De Freitas

“If music be the food of love, play on,” goes that old adage, but the same can be said of comedy and laughter. There was laughter in abundance last Friday night when the St James Community Improvement Committee (St James CIC) hosted Komedy Kaiso on the penultimate night of WeBeat St James Live 18.

Held at the Amphitheatre on Western Main Road, patrons were welcomed at the entrance by the OvalTeens Steel Orchestra. The event attracted one of the largest audiences to attend this annual event.
Seen seated in the open-air venue were Ministry of Community Development official Annmarie Quammie, former Culture Minister Joan Yuille Williams, National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Winston Peters, NCC CEO Colin Lucas, Tuco president Lutalo Masimba, retired army Brigadier General Carl Alfonso, popular events planner Charlene Clarke and reigning joint Road March champion SuperBlue.

Hosting Friday night’s show were Cacique award winning actresses Penelope Spencer and Nikki Crosby. They were excellent in their roles as Granny and Granny daughter.

Kalifa was the first act introduced followed by retro kaiso giant David Berreaux who performed Small Island Pride’s 1956 classic Mastife.

Funny was his usual humourous as he theatrically performed Funny Win de Lotto and Hokie Pokie.

Kaiso Karavan calypso tent headliner Kid Callaloo, his articulation impeccable as usual, had patrons in stitches as he did She Tell Me. He also related his plight with his woman who suffered multiple medial ailments and was draining his meagre bank account as he had to purchase medication—his only recourse being fleeing to Boston.

Cocorite’s Brown Boy, rendering Calypso Zoo, didn’t seem to connect with the audience and he was followed by all-time favourite Trinidad Rio. In his traditional shirtless attire, he sang No Drawers, Big Shot Party and Travelling Man. Rio got the night’s only encore. The only female calypsonian on the cast, Spicey had the audience in the palm of her hand the moment she rendered the first lines of Time to go.

She followed with her provocative the Whip, a calypso that calls for the return of the cat-o-nine for men who abuse women. Spicey rounded off her night’s chore with Nothing for woman.

Reigning Humorous and Extempore Calypso Monarch the Incredible Myron B was the night’s penultimate performer. Opening with Bacchanal, he went into an extempore session during which he taunted Gypsy, sufficiently enough for the former extempore monarch to join him on stage. This came as a surprise treat for the audience. Myron B rounded off his set with One more sip. Former Byron Lee & The Dragonaires lead singer Oscar B was as usual, on top of his game, as he rounded off a night of really good humour. The lone ingredient missing on Friday night was Brother Ebony, a two-time Humorous Calypso Monarch.

Komedy Kaiso was a well produced show produced by Carl “Beaver” Henderson, with excellent musical accompaniment by Kelly Green & Harmony. Also ensuring that patrons were properly seated were members of the St James Police Youth Club. WeBeat St James Live 18 had its climax on Saturday night with the staging of the Steelband and Traditional Mas Street Parade, with the Nite Brite Mas Band, produced by David Lopez.

The route to Lopinot Village takes you along winding roads bordered by towering bamboo arches and lush green mountain sides. This was the natural, undisturbed beauty and historical site for the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts’ Community Festival on June 3, dubbed “All that is We.” The event saw scores of families, neighbours, friends and children from the Lopinot and communities near and far come out to enjoy the day; and none would be disappointed. It was a day to bask in the sunshine, learn about the community’s rich history, tour the caves, enjoy the talent, taste the endless food, dance to the music and support our local craft artisans.

Exploring the grave site of Count Lopinot, the cocoa house and visiting the Lopinot Complex was part of the long list of things to do at the festival and historian Martin Gomez, provided rich details about the colourful history of the community and its cultural heritage. Simultaneously, while some patrons enjoyed the shade of the trees and others prepared their cook on their ring stove, the heat proved to be too much for some tiny mites who opted to refresh themselves in the cool Lopinot river water.

Students from the Community Education Skills (CES) training programme were on hand to showcase their handcrafted work, delicacies, cosmetology skills in make-up and skin care and the men were not to be outdone as they were on hand to demo their barbering skills. The youngest of the craft artisans being nine-year-old Kyra Solozano, who was very excited to display her handcrafted jewelry. At such an early age she has already developed a passion for jewelry making, a passion she got from her mother, herself a student of the Community Education Programme.

Gary Jupiter a former teacher was very elated to be part of the day’s festivities and commented, “we live in Arouca and there are some people who I have not seen in a long time but today, it was great to meet up with old neighbours and persons from the area to take in the festivities.” Community Festivals highlight the creativity, talent and cultural heritage of the communities across Trinidad and form part of the activities to commemorate Community Development Day, which is observed on July 5 every year. The Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts encourages persons to be part of the merriments as you learn about the beauty of Trinidad and its rich diversity; it is a chance to really know and understand, All that is We.

Check cdca.gov.tt or the Ministry’s Facebook page for updates on upcoming festivals.

The Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge is one of the world’s most grueling and challenging cocktail competitions. Earlier this year, rigorous and fiercely competitive regional and national heats culminated in a cultural cocktail explosion at the Grand Finals in Trinidad, won by New Zealander Ray Letoa.

The Challenge is exciting for all the competitors and offers one of the best prizes out there for the ultimate winner: US $10,000 and a two-year contract as Angostura’s Global Brand Ambassador.

But it’s much more than a fun competition. It’s also a valuable tool in Angostura’s competitive arsenal as the company grows its presence—and steadily improves its sales—on the international front.

“The thinking behind the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge is very strategic,” says Angostura CEO Genevieve Jodhan, “it’s an initiative that achieves very specific goals: First of all, it improves awareness of our brands, reinforcing our position as the world’s best-selling and the #1 trending cocktail bitters and increasing international awareness and usage of our rums and Amaro di Angostura.

“The Challenge also helps Angostura expand and develop our international bartender and influencer network. This year 260 bartenders from 47 countries competed. Each of those bartenders emerged as a lifelong advocate of our brands, with a deep understanding of the role of Angostura® aromatic bitters in cocktails, and ardent enthusiasm about the Angostura portfolio of rums and Amaro di Angostura®.”

In addition to recruiting new bartenders into the Angostura franchise, the national and regional competitions served to promote Angostura in each of its international markets, building relationships with the company’s distributors and with the trade itself.

In the 47 countries that hosted competitions last year, there was a marked uptick in brand awareness for Angostura, with stories of the company’s brand heritage and leadership in the cocktail industry featured in trade publications and shared widely across social media.

Angostura was quick to reinforce this effect, taking advantage of every opportunity for brand education and sampling.

“The tremendous impact that the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge has on the trade plays right into our strategy to deepen relationships with our international distributors— critical partners in the company’s growth” says Natasha Mustapha- Scott, Executive Manager -Marketing.

“The competition gives our distributors a valuable tool that they then use to promote the brands on trade, and distributors have really taken the opaportunity and run with it: They leverage the competition to drive brand awareness via Public Relations coverage, special advertising campaigns and extensive social media mobilization amongst the bartending community,” says Mustapha-Scott.

All of this has proved particularly advantageous for Angostura in the company’s strategically targeted markets in Eastern Europe, with high levels of bartender interest and participation in emerging markets like Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Rep, Poland, Armenia and Macedonia, and Jodhan adds that “the effect of the Challenge on sales in Russia, Austria, Italy and the USA has also been notable.”

Members of the local film community recently came together as the T&T Film Company (FilmTT) hosted its inaugural Producers’ Talk event at Grundlos Kollektiv, on Cipriani Boulevard, on June 4.

This event was the first of its kind for the film company, which facilitated three of the country’s producers in a discussion on their maiden feature films: Abigail Hadeed, producer of Play the Devil by Maria Govan (2016); Teneille Newallo, producer/writer of The Cutlass by Darisha Beresford (2016); and Emilie Upczak – director/producer, Moving Parts (2018).

FilmTT General Manager, Nneka Luke, explained that the Producers’ Talk was a forum for peers to gather and learn from each other’s experiences, in service of the overall progression of the film and audio-visual sector.

“It’s a challenge producing a film for the first time. Each of these films went through slightly different journeys to get to a place where each has an international sales agent, which is a big deal for films from our region,” she disclosed.

The interactive conversation focused on several key elements needed to produce an independent film, as well as each producer’s experience and approach to filmmaking.

T&T’s junior powerlifting ace Rondel Hunte on Monday shattered two world records at the IPF Raw (Unequipped) World Powerlifting Championships in Calgary, Canada.

Hunte who is expected to become a senior in a year’s time, posted lifts of 213.5kg and 883.5kg to break both the Bench Press and Total World Records respectively in the Men’s Junior 105kg weight class, continuing his record-breaking performance from last years’ North American Powerlifting Championships.

Competing against fellow powerlifters from the United States, Canada, Algeria and Finland to name a few, Hunte also created history for the twin-island republic by lifting his way to four gold medals at the championship, winning the best squat (330.0kg), bench press (213.5kg), deadlift (340.0kg) and Total (883.5kg).

His achievements also saw him breaking several national powerlifting records in the process. Yesterday Adrian Brown, the T&T Powerlifting Federation president said Hunte’s achievement came as no surprise to him as the junior powerlifting ace has demonstrated the ability to take the world by storm in the sport.

“Rondel has been one of our standout powerlifters. At the North American Pan Am Championships in Orlando last year, he shattered the record in the 105kg junior deadlift and overall lifts which was a sign of his greatness,” Brown said.

Apart from Hunte, T&T debutant and national champion Kiran Tooleran placed ninth overall with lifts of squat 202.5kg, bench press 102.5kg, deadlift 230.0kg and Total 535.0kg.

Brown said the T&T team will be strengthened with the inclusion of Krystan Hosein who was scheduled to leave last night to compete in the 74kg category.

Hunte who has already finished all his competition will stay with the team until the end of the tournament.

The World Championship runs from June 6- 17. The T&T team comprises Hunte, Tooleran (83kg), Sumir Janwani (66kg) and coach Sanjeev Teelucksingh.

WALTER ALIBEY
 

Sidney Joseph and Jhaziel Gordon shone brightly at two separate T&T Cycling Federation events on the weekend.

Joseph, who represented Team Phamarco, sprinted to the gold medal in the 7-kilometres Elite Open Race of the OWTU Rienzi Cycle Classic on Sunday, leaving a large number of riders in his dust.

Philip Clarke, the Barbadian rider who returned home to win the Barbados Cycling Union’s Road Race on the Bulkeley circuit last month, stormed home for the runner-up prize for his club Massy Ins while Heatwave’s junior rider Enrique De Comarmond was third.

The Heatwave rider however secured the gold medal among the juniors as he held off Adam Francis of The Braves in second and third Darius Beckles representing Open Road.

The Juveniles category was dominated by D’Angelo Harris who crossed the finish line first for the Rigtech Sonics. Harris was followed in second by Joshua Rawlins of Southclaine and Tariq Woods of Team Woods in third.

Meanwhile, in the Youth Development Road National Championships at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday, Gordon, the Under-9 category rider stood tall by claiming the gold medal in the Time Trial and later in the Criterium.

First Gordon sprinted to the top spot ahead of second and third Jeduthun Henry and Mathaus Broomes respectively in the time trial event, before he claimed the win in the criterium that followed, leaving the same two riders to take silver and bronze.

Walter Alibey

Justify became the greatest USbased racehorse in our era when completing an undefeated Triple Crown run on Saturday.

This means that the decade of the 2010s has given us Frankel, the best horse in many generations in Europe (except of course for perhaps…yes Dancing Brave of 1986), American Pharoah, Arrogate and now Justify in the United States.

One of the amazing factors around great horses is their appeal to fans of all persuasions.

The sheer joy witnessed at Belmont Park when Justify crossed the finish line in front, solely stirred the emotions of everyone who witnessed the race through any medium, dare I say among those who know little or nothing of horseracing, including four such gentlemen (Brian, Chad, Bruce and Mario) talking World Cup football on Isports.

In the press conference following the race, one journalist asked connections why the public should care that Justify had won the Triple Crown. In fact, it was one question, one step in this fantastic journey, that his great trainer Bob Baffert seemed almost at a loss to answer.

The appeal of an undefeated Triple Crown champion has nothing to do with how handsome the animal may be, it is really about the lure of success, the personification of overcoming obstacles, people’s pursuit of the unachievable.

In the UK, the Triple Crown bid of Saxon Warrior came to an inglorious end when the highclass colt could not overcome the vagaries of the Epsom Downs when only fourth in their Derby on June 1. In Trinidad, on June 19 we will find out if the Triple Crown dreams of our own top colt, the Jerry Narace owned General JN remains alive when he tackles his rivals in the second leg of our Triple Crown, the Midsummer Classic.

The colt has really only two conceivable challengers in the locally bred fillies Streaking Far and Princess Sophia. He is stepping up in distance and seems more about speed than stamina, but his overwhelming class may be too much for his opponents.

With no credible new challengers appearing on the scene, T&T may just be fortunate enough to experience two brothers, the General, and his brother Momentum, as Triple Crown winners.

To show the vagaries of breeding, their brother, Pontius Pilate, is plummeting down the handicap ratings having been unable to win any prize money in six starts since coming to this country.

On Labour Day, in addition to the Midsummer Classic, turfites will see another running of the Santa Rosa Dash, in which the best horses in the country will compete. Bigman in Town returns to the track for his second start after his Barbados sojourn.

He is sure to be a much better horse on this occasion as he seeks another win in this event.

His competition is stiff though with the likes of two-time Stewards Cup winner Control Unit, who is much better over this distance than anything further; the consistent Whisper Light and Conquest Bespoke, the improving Princess Suri, the speedy Pauseforacoors and the locally bred Set Sail. This promises to be a much more exciting race than the Classic.

Races like the Triple Crown series in the US, the Grade and Group one races in the US and Europe, stimulate excitement in turfites like nothing else can.

While Trinidad does not have horses of that caliber, horses rated 50 and over in this country generate the most competitive races and we need more of those to bring out the crowds.

Many owners have held fire on investing in new horses until they have greater confidence in the future of the local industry. It could only be hoped that the future becomes a lot clearer before long. The sport is too important to too many, to let it just drift out of control.

As I have repeatedly stated, a collective effort is the only way forward but then for that to be successful everyone must be on the same page, as it stands now, that is not certain or even apparent.

Nevertheless, horseracing continues to persevere with many good intentions. By the way and Argentina versus France World Cup would be a great final with Argentina winning 2-1.

Dancer, poet, chanter, story teller, community and cultural activist, Sista Ava (Ruth Ava Sam Shallow), will become the first woman to receive the Keeper of the Tradition Award from the Emancipation Support Committee of T&T (ESCTT). The presentation of the award is one highlight of the tenth anniversary of Yoruba Village Drum Festival, scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 16 at the Yoruba Village Square, located at Piccadilly Street, opposite the new Besson Street Police Station and the Deliverance Temple. The Festival is scheduled to begin at 2 pm.

The Yoruba Village Drum Festival is held annually on the day before Father’s Day, in tribute to the fathers of the community. It is also in recognition of ancestors of the community, the Yoruba-speaking population, who resided there from the 19th century, at which time the community was known as Yoruba Village and Yoruba Town.

The Yoruba people, who were rescued from the ships of British, France and Spanish plunderers, following the abolition of the Slave Trade, were brought to that part of the city of Port- of-Spain, where they resided as free men and women. They came originally, mainly from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Togo. Today the only semblance of the town’s history and existence is the Yoruba Village Square.

However, despite the persistent, calculated and prolonged efforts to deculturalise the community, many of the rich customs and tradition of the Yoruba, remain in the Yoruba Village, which is synonymous with East Port-of-Spain and include, Belmont, Gonzales, Morvant and Laventille. Indeed, it is from within the bowels of this community of highly spiritual and inventive Yoruba people that the steelband, calypso and many aspects of our Carnival traditions originated.

The Keeper of the Tradition Award is presented annually to someone who has worked diligently to preserve and develop African art forms and traditions in the community. This year’s first female awardee, Sista Ava, grew up in an environment with strong African spiritual influences. Her mother was the founder and matriarch of a Spiritual Baptist Healing School and Ava lived next door to the Ile of Egbe Onisin Eledumare where she was initiated into the African spiritual tradition of the Orisha and now holds the position of Youth Arm Officer.

Sista Ava’s cultural journey began as a pannist with Merrytones Steel Orchestra of Diego Martin. While residing in the Laventille community her father facilitated her involvement in the Best Village competitions as a dancer and dramatist - first with the Lower Laventille Folk Performers and then the Reflex Dance Company, where she became the lead dancer. She went on to work with the Pamberi Steel Orchestra as a rapso artiste and in 1995, she was initiated into the Rapso movement as a solo performer and as a member of the Network Rapso Riddim Band, with Brother Resistance at the helm. She has also taken her rapso performances to the calypso tents, including Kaiso House, Klassic Ruso and the Divas Calypso Cabaret.

Sista Ava, who is also a qualified nurse, has also been working within communities, from Port-of-Spain to Petit Valley to Point Fortin to Valencia with women and children. In the Yoruba Village she has worked at the Credo Centre for Boys, the St Dominic’s Children’s Home and in the communities of Belmont, Beetham, and Charford Court ensuring the retention of our African tradition. In these communities she assisted young people in the development of skills in construction and playing of drums, in the oral tradition including rapso and storytelling. Her outreach has included the prisons where she worked with inmates to also develop skills in the oral tradition as part of the Prison Rehabilitation Programme.

Sista Ava’s work as a performer and in the communities and institutions of T&T has defined her as a cultural activist, a Rapso Queen, who delivers her messages both on stage and among the people to ensure that her listeners are enlightened and empowered by her words and action. She is the recipient of awards from the Diego Martin Regional Corporation as well as from Servol in recognition of the work she has already done and continues to do.

Along with Sista Ava, a male and female young person of the Yoruba Village, will also be awarded for his / her achievement, in recognition of the United Nations International Day of the African Child and all performing fathers will receive a gift from the ESCTT.

At the Drum Festival, drumming groups and dancers include Wasafoli, St James Police Youth Club, 2nd Freeport Sea Scouts, St James Cultural Artisans, Belan Drummers, Sogren Trace Laventille Enhancement Organisation, Frontline Drummers, Egbe Omo Oni Isese, Daffodils and Persistent Drummers, Drum Line, San Juan South Cultural Organisation, Ghanaian Association of T&T, Yoruba Village Heritage College.

Performing will also be rapso and reggae artistes including Oba Dread, Curious Ringo, Mc Meo, Gillian Gould, Lion Ro Lion, Soul Fyah, Wise One, Knocker, Brother Book and Butcha, backed by the Black Beat International Band.

TRIGGER WARNING: This feature contains sensitive information on suicide, suiciding and death by suicide

Before I saw the Facebook tag from author Joanne Haynes, I had already jumped on the ideas in her post as I was occupied with responding to the issue of death by suicide and looking at every fresh and refreshing comment from deliberate thinking.

Haynes asked, “What if persons who commit (sic) suicide see suicide as self preservation? We label everything we don’t understand and think because we label it we understand it. So many great mystics cut themselves off from the world, yet the person who chooses to (do) it by taking their own life is labelled depressed simply because we refuse to acknowledge that every person is an individual and does not March to the beat of societal norms and values?”

It remains one of the most thought-provoking comments. More so, it echoes some of the other ideas I have been entertaining especially since suicide remains largely an issue of more questions than answers.

Amidst the cacophony of opinions, expertise — real and imaginary, expressions, condemnation and judgment, there was one common thread that, to my mind was the loudest take-away message. That had to do with the fact that we, none of us really do know the answer to the “why” of suicide.

The other disturbing idea was the one which condemned people as selfish, as not considering the pain of others they left behind. And to that I say that stigma and miseducation have enveloped our thoughts to a point of numbness to the emptiness of such a suggestion. We have accepted that reasoning of “selfishness” over time to become people who sound devoid of good sense.

I ask, when else are people bashed for dying? Is death from a chronic ailment or by accident any less painful for “those left behind?” Please do not rush to answer. Think. Then think some more.

At St Joseph’s Convent last May, during the question and answer period after a mental wellbeing talk to Form Four students focused on stress, a parent asked me to share with the students whether I had ever contemplated suicide.

The simple truth was that I had.

It was also the first time I had been asked this and the first time I shared in public. As a matter of fact, beyond my two friends who did everything to protect me and keep the matter quiet that day, I’m uncertain whether anyone else knew. I was a teacher at a Tech-Voc school. This happened during a free period.

I recounted that just past my 18th birthday, having already had two major nervous breakdowns, one day I decided to swallow all my Valium. It was a handful of 10 milligrammes. I usually would take them at night with all other manner of drugs and would awake with that lost, subdued feeling that made me hate moving around. Everything moved slower and that haziness was compounding the depressed state in which I had been living since 15.

I clearly remember when the deep effects of the ingested drug began to take a hold of me, I knew then that I did not want to die. That was my afterthought.

But in the moment of opening my mouth and raising my hand full of pills, all I knew was the pain I had been experiencing. I was reeling from the stigma of being a teen in secondary school who “ went mad.” I lived in Moruga. You cannot imagine the stories of “people doing me bad,” the bush baths, spiritualist and cocoyea broom therapy I had already received.

And the disappointment of feeling my life was railroaded and could amount to nothing.

I loved my mother. She was the undying support. She is my forever love. In the moment of feeling like my pain was too much it did not matter to me that she may be hurt beyond repair. All I knew was my pain, my sadness, my depression, my disappointment.

I’m guessing that is one of the reason people think suicide is selfish. But for me, in the moment, I just felt it was the best way to preserve myself. I could not consider the feeling of others in an impaired state of mind —that did not make me selfish, it confirmed I was troubled beyond a reasonable thought.

It says to me that my pain was a blinding heat that I wanted to escape. And while I cannot speak for anyone else who has suicided or has attempted suicide as an escape from pain, and frankly neither can you, I offer you today my emotions at the time of drinking the water to wash down my medication that was meant to bring me relief, which I was then using as a permanent solution to my pain.

When people attempt to die by suiciding and they actually die not even a suicide note could really explain all that that person experienced between the decision to suicide and death.

But nothing I say here would ever stop the guessing, condemning, prejudice and bigotry because we are a society that does not understand the virtue of suspending judgment on others. We have mostly lost our way in the area of compassion and tolerance in a dog-eat-dog kind of behaviour in all we do.

In T&T, everyone is an expert on everything even if they have not taken ten minutes out of their life to give consideration to critical thinking or even reading an Internet article on the subject matter. Free data and wide Internet access compounds the miseducated campaigns to a startling limit. Take a breath people.

Cheers to life!

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

mindful.tt@gmail.com

Starbucks MovieTowne held the Barista Championships on Friday to select the best barista to represent T&T at regional competition in Costa Rica. Bradley Gras, from Starbucks Endeavour, Chaguanas branch, won the championship and will be representing our country in the Latin American Regional Barista Championship competition in Costa Rica on August 6–10. Starbucks T&T will participate for the first time in the Barista Championship within the Latin American region connecting over 2,000 partners.

“Honestly, I cannot believe it. I don’t know how to feel. I need time to process it. I want to perfect my craft,” said Bradley. Seven store level competitions were held last month to submit the best barista from each branch.

The final barista championship was held at the MovieTowne, Port-of-Spain branch for the opportunity to represent the country at regionals. Baristas were judged on their presentation, technical beverage routines and overall customer connections.

“The Starbucks Barista Championships brings out the best in baristas and they have worked incredibly hard to perfect their technical skill and customer connections,” said Human Resource, Learning & Development Partner, Nesha Malchan. “It is amazing to see baristas compete at store level and then refocus to support and develop their branch winner. Now we will see all baristas encouraging the country winner to represent T&T well in Costa Rica. This is team spirit.”

Bradley will now focus on winning in Costa Rica at the Starbucks Latin America Regional Barista Championships on August 6.

T&T, currently on a stringent pathway of widening its sporting disciplines and shining its brand of athleticism excellence for impressive national and international competitiveness – is noted for its sweet-hand, bubbling-a-pot, love-to-eat culture.

And so, on June 10, an initiative to help engender camaraderie, boost morale, grow membership and sharpen sporting skills in the rugby discipline, saw the Harvard Club’s rugby family out in full force with bats and balls turned-down, and serving spoons, eye patches, sails, bandanas, skulls and lanterns turned-up.

Ahoy, ahoy!!! Pirates invaded the Harvard Rugby Family Kitchen.

Holding fast to their conviction that rugby players can cook too, players and members netted big, serving-up menus that included succulent arts of meat this, a fund-raiser carded as one of their celebratory events commemorating the club’s 75th anniversary this year.

For the sake of sport, this $150 culinary art, entertainment and culture one-pot revealed families, friends, supporters, children, the wider membership; music; bouncy castles; the Pirate’s Wish, competitions; recognition of wedding anniversaries and birthdays; and a well-stocked bar.

With a no-piracy policy aboard this vessel on Serpentine Road, St James, from 11:30 am to late afternoon, those with insatiable appetites ate to capacity staring food to spare in their plate, while contemplating the dessert still on the horizon to partake of.

No pint o’ rum in the pot

Apart from the traditional side-dishes of vegetable rice, creamed potatoes, lentil peas, callaloo, and salad, the meat dishes were a culinary culture to behold – visually appealing, palatably satisfying and descriptively intriguing.

Standing-out among some of the salivating arts of meat were: Treasure Cove Lamb, Scallywags Delight, Father and Son Fish, Ahoy There Pork, Mermaids Delight, Shipwrecked Goat, Pirates Code Chicken, Jack Sparrow Secret Pork, Pickaroons Lamb, and Galleons Chicken.

Welcoming female players to the Harvard rugby machinery for the first time, this year, and in-keeping with the sporting thrust of increasing, respecting and protecting Women in Sport as vehemently championing by Brian Lewis, Board member of Havard Club and SIGA, and president of the TTOC and CANOC, and others of open mind, globally, guests were served in part, by female rugby pirates chefs who educated on their respective dishes.

While the two DJs kept guests in high interactive spirit, veteran calypsonian Carlos “Skatie” James added to the hype with many infectious, nostalgic renditions.

With lots of fun aboard, the Beard Competition bubbled-up from a call by Master of Ceremony Thabiti Benjamin for guests with the best (natural) beard.

Stirring-up competitors, the competition was won by pirate chef Asa Lewis, but in a category of his own, pirate chef Kenny Arneaud, displayed an outstanding fake pirate’s beard non-surpass.

Of course, integral to ensuring sport, art, culture and entertainment stay alive, grow, and succeed to fulfilment, keen and ongoing attention must be paid to children. Handsomely catered to, the one-pot saw children exhibiting their jumping and flipping skills in the bouncy castles. They too, partook of the culinary masterpieces and scrumptious desserts.

So, pirates are people too!!

As the vessel’s sails were being lowered, serving receptacles and tables cleaned-up, in simmering mode, pirates and guests broke loose in true trini style to Skatie’s version of seven-time soca monarch, Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons’ Soca Baptist.

Celebrating the success of the event; showing appreciation for the unstinting support, corporate partnerships, commitment of members; and exhilarated by the positive telescopic view of the Harvard Rugby Family – all who contributed are thanked.

As Lewis stated in his Trinidad Guardian’s May 15, 2017 column, “I will continue to lobby and advocate hard and relentlessly for respect and recognition for a sport industry in T&T.”

Perhaps, this vision will be soon realised by way of the Harvard Club Funds from the event go towards the continued improvement of the rugby team.

• For information to join the club or rugby family: 684.8421

A kuzuru is “a performance trans-disciplinary artist from T&T,” whose practice has spanned more than 25 years, establishing her as a visionary whose provocative oeuvres have brought prestigious invitations from famous institutions such as the Perez Art Museum Miami, US and the Buchheim Museum in Munich, Germany. Her work will be exhibited on Father’s Day, Sunday, at 3 pm, at the Green Market, Santa Cruz.

Akuzuru’s Scrolls Between Spaces is described as “an immersive, expansive environmental experience in the valleys of Santa Cruz at the Green Market, a site of significant symbolic reference.”

Its bio continues, “Re-connecting the body-mind-scape to the ecosystem of marvellous meta-morphoses of invisible spaces, this performative experience will include installation components integral to its live rendering.

“The Scrolls, a continuum of the artist’s iconic ‘healing chambers’, aim to activate the inner self through an engagement of cosmic sound vibrations, ak-Tions and gestures within the monumental magnificence of nature’s bosom. The intent is to re-establish a deeper meaning of existence, thereby taking this discourse to a higher level of overstanding, with a renewed understanding of what it means to be human.

Thus, a truly transformative experience reconnecting with nature through art intervention.”

Akuzuru has produced, presented and become known for her experiential multi-genre works, including her many performances and large sculptural-installation Spatial Works which have been exhibited worldwide including the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States.

Her evolution as an artist has seen a steady embrace of performance art and interdisciplinary practice, having engaged a very dynamic intersection in both the human and natural world, which catalysed her study of the science of movement and gesture, nuances of which are deeply felt in her works. Entry to the exhibition is scheduled for 3 pm, admission is $100, and the performance will commence promptly at 4 pm.

For more information and reservations, call 221-9116.

Already on the back foot in this series, having lost the opening Test to the Windies in Port-of-Spain, Sri Lanka awoke to the news that they will have to do without former captain Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Gamage as they are now traveling back home for different reasons.

Mathews goes home for personal reasons while Gamage is out through injury. The big right-hander suffered an injury to the finger when he was hit on the glove by a Shannon Gabriel thunderbolt. Gamage had some on-field treatment and continued batting, finishing with three off 49 balls, as Sri Lanka lost by 226 runs.

The Sri Lankan management has sent out for two replacements and they left Sri Lanka last evening for the blue waters of the Caribbean. However, given the distance, they have to travel there is no way possible they can reach these shores in time for the Test. The men coming in from Sri Lanka are Dhanuska Gunathilaka and Dasun Shanaka. 

In the interim the Sri Lankans can call on Dhananjaya de Silva, Kasun Rajita or Asitha Fernando who are here with the team. The Sri Lankans traveled to the region with 17 players and not the normal 15 and it will now work in their favour.

Meanwhile, the teams held their workout at the Beausejour the venue for tomorrow’s clash and the Windies are reporting that all is fine and well within their camp. 

Skipper Jason Holder will be hoping that his team can register their second back to back Test win in four years. The last time this was achieved was way back in 2014 against Bangladesh in the Caribbean. 

The pitch here is expected to help his ambitions as it is expected to be similar to what obtained at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. With the Windies quicks inform, the visitors will be wary, as they did not handle them well in Trinidad, falling for 185 and 223 in their two efforts. 

The last time a Test match was played here was against India in 2016 and it assisted the faster bowlers, as India won the game. Traditionally the pitch here has played well, giving results to anyone willing to put in the hard work and it is expected to play the same again today. 

Rain has been in and around the Gros Islet area over the past few days and is expected to worsen over the weekend, which means that interruptions are expected. The authorities in St. Lucia moved away from playing cricket at the Mindoo Phillip Park because it was apparently built in a rain belt. This is why the Beausejour came into being. They built this ground in what is known as a ‘dry’ area so they are hoping that the rain does not play a big hand.

Play on the first day tomorrow gets underway at 10am. 

Teams

Windies: Jason Holder – Captain, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jamar Hamilton, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith.

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis, Mahela Udawatte, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva,  Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Rangana Herath,  Suranga Lakmal, Akila Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara.
 

“You always hearing about diversification, diversification. It’s an annoying word. Because some people are still making $25 a week writing in newspapers and writing columns about diversification. Annoying.

When you ask them ‘diversify into what’ they can’t tell you. What would you do to diversify the economy, especially if you abandon the energy sector? They can’t tell you. But they on television, they on radio, they on newspapers—diversification. Let me tell you what our diversification is. Our diversification is to find the things we can do and just do them.” So said Dr Keith Rowley at the PNM public meeting in Barataria on June 7, 2018.

Mary King has written extensively about economic diversification. The PNM 2015 manifesto also identifies diversification as critical. No doubt the Economic Advisory Board would have raised its concerns. But what is “diversification”?

Economic diversification is defined as the process of increasing the range of goods and services produced locally for export. It can also refer to increasing the number of markets/ countries to which we export.

This means that firms increase the range of items they produce in the local market for export. It is not about abandoning the energy sector. No one has ever said that.

Commentators raise diversification as an issue because T&T has been affected by serious economic recessions resulting from sharp declines in energy prices in 1986, 2008 and 2014. T&T must export to earn foreign exchange if it is to facilitate the import of goods on which it depends for survival. Depending on one export to earn most of our foreign exchange requirements exposes us to “external shocks” over which we have no control.

The energy sector, especially natural gas, earns over 80 per cent of our foreign exchange. Therefore, when there are difficulties in the energy sector the rest of the economy contracts pneumonia. The sharp decline in gas production in 2012 by approximately 25 per cent was followed by a sharp fall in oil and gas prices in 2014. As a result, taxation revenue declined, leading to a decline in government expenditure.

To avoid these sharp reductions in national income from one sector it is imperative that T&T earns foreign exchange from a wider range of activities.

The PNM 2015 election manifesto, which is now the official policy of this administration, lists seven areas for a diversification thrust; agriculture and agro-processing; aviation services; maritime services; fish and fish processing; the creative industries; financial services and software development. These are virtually the same areas listed in the Vision 2020 document. What is critical is how much progress has been achieved in these areas?

The key point to note is that the 2015 manifesto recognises diversification as a priority. Presumably, diversification must still be a priority today. Notwithstanding the upbeat comments of the Finance Minister over natural gas output projections, actual production volumes have not been as robust as projected. This re-emphasises that diversification is a priority which requires the Prime Minister’s urgent attention. Further, the country deserves to know what progress has been achieved to date.

If diversification “is to find the things we can do and just do them”, what things have we found that we can do and how is the Government working with the private sector to do them? At the Buffalypso conference, the Agriculture Minister did not say what he was doing, only what he would not do.

Earlier this year, as the guests of BP, the Energy Minister with other stakeholders visited Altamira in Mexico to visit the fabrication yard where the Angelin platform was being built. The idea was to get a first-hand view of the critical success factors required for the execution of a major project like Angelin. What did he learn and what has been implemented since his return?

For the record, nine platforms have been built to date in TOFCO’s fabrication yard in La Brea and many lessons learnt in the process. In terms of hours worked per ton of steel, it compares well with international standards. Further, given the substantial changes in the project scope, engineering and out of sequence work generated by those changes, the Juniper platform left ahead of the revised delivery schedule. Its health and safety record, repair and rework rate are well in line with international best practices.

In short, diversification can also mean improving and deepening the range of logistical and fabrication support services to support the local energy sector because it saves foreign exchange and generates local jobs. In addition, this improves and deepens the skill sets to facilitate developing rigs for export to other countries. The developments taking place in nearby Guyana and Suriname’s energy sectors are an important export possibility. This opportunity is happening in an area in which T&T has a comparative advantage and available resources, resources and skill sets which could be lost if new business does not come to T&T.

We can build rigs and do the brownfield work associated with platforms. A critical requirement should be to facilitate the sector’s capacity by keeping it going. Supporting the diversification effort also needs leadership and management.

Mariano Brown