Defending champions, Morvant Vikings left it until its final two matches to secure their quarterfinal spot in the T&T Fire Service Northern Division Seven-a-Side at Tyro Recreation Ground, Bourg Mulatresse, San Juan on Saturday.

Competing in a very tight eight-team Pool B, Morvant Vikings got a win by default over cellar-placed Headquarters Black The Bravest 3-0 to improve to an unassailable 11 points from six matches and fourth on the table, two ahead of fifth-placed Four Roads Swordsmen which has completed its campaign.

Morvant Vikings caused was earlier enhanced on June 19 (Labour Day) by a 3-0 triumph over Santa Cruz Underdogs with a goal each from Steve Edwards, Kevin Bridgewater and Reynold Reece.

Already qualified from the Pool B were the unbeaten duo of Santa Cruz Cruzers (16 points) and Headquarters Blue Steel (12 points), both with a match left as well as Belmont Biohazards (12 points), the latter thanks to a 2-0 defeat of Headquarters fifth-placed Red Rockets (nine points) in their final pool match with a strike each from Ralph Trimmingham and Maurice Derby.

Pool A is also decided with undefeated San Juan Rebels (11), 8-4 Blazers (nine), Headquarters White Eagles (eight) and Tunapuna Warriors (eight), the four qualifiers.

White Eagles battled to a 0-0 draw with Woodbrook Playaz on June 18 and followed up with a narrow 1-0 win against Ari-Madrid courtesy She Perreira to pick up four valuable points ahead of their final match with Rebels.

RESULTS

June 18
Santa Cruz Cruzers 2 (Colan Gomez 2) vs HQ Red Rockets 1 (Kiel Murray)
Woodbrook Playaz 0 vs HQ White Eagles 0

June 19
Morvant Vikings 3 (Steve Edwards, Kevin Bridgewater, Reynold Reece) vs Santa Cruz Underdogs 0

June 20
Belmont Biohazard 2 (Ralph Trimmingham, Maurice Derby) vs HQ Red Rockets 0
HQ Blue Steel 0 vs Four Roads Swordsmen 0

June 21
HQ White Eagles 1 (Shea Perreira) vs Ari-Madrid 0
Morvant Vikings 0 vs Four Roads Swordsmen 0

June 23
Morvant Vikings 3 vs HQ Black The Bravest 0 – by default

CURRENT STANDINGS

Pool A
Teams P W D L F A Pts
1. San Juan Rebels 5 3 2 0 7 1 11
2. 8-4 Blazers 6 2 3 1 5 4 9
3. HQ White Eagles 5 2 2 1 5 3 8
4. Tunapuna Warriors 5 2 2 1 5 5 8
5. Woodbrook 6 2 1 3 7 6 7
6. Chaguaramas Outkasts 5 0 3 2 4 8 3
7. Ari-Madrid 4 0 1 3 1 5 1

Pool B
Teams P W D L F A Pts
1. Santa Cruz Cruzers 6 5 1 0 20 1 16
2. HQ Blue Steel 6 3 3 0 7 2 12
3. Belmont Biohazards 7 3 3 1 7 5 12
4. Morvant Vikings 6 3 2 1 7 5 11
5. HQ Red Rockets 7 3 0 4 7 5 9
6. Four Roads Swordsmen 7 2 2 3 3 6 8
7. Santa Cruz Underdogs 5 1 0 4 2 15 3

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados—Captain Jason Holder said Tuesday West Indies had made “silly mistakes” which cost them the historic day/night Test and a much-needed series-win over Sri Lanka.

In a low-scoring contest at Kensington Oval, West Indies went down by four wickets on the penultimate day to surrender their series lead and settle for a 1-1 draw in the three-Test rubber.

West Indies had the better of the first innings exchanges to lead Sri Lanka by 50 runs but then crashed to 93 all out—their lowest-ever total at the Oval—before missing catches as the visitors successfully chased down 144 for victory.

“The last two Test matches we played here we had victory so it’s tough to come here and lose a close one but we just didn’t play well enough,” said Holder who took nine wickets in the match and scored a half-century to be adjudged Man-of-the-Match.

“We missed a few chances in the second innings and obviously we [didn’t do well] with the bat in the second innings as well. You can’t expect to make these silly mistakes and expect to win a series.

“As I said before, I am really proud of the individual performances. Hopefully we can bring it together again against the Bangladeshis.”

The Oval pitch boasted a green tinge throughout and seamers on both sides flourished. Holder bowled brilliantly to snare four for 19 in the first innings to dismiss Sri Lanka for 154.

However, the Windies then faltered badly in their second innings, bowled out in just over a session on Monday’s third day to leave the Sri Lankans with a tricky target.

Holder, who finished with five for 41, left the tourists stumbling on 81 for five at the close but a 63-run, unbroken seventh wicket stand between Kusal Perera (28 not out) and Dilruwan Perera (23 not out) saw their side over the line.

“There was something there for the faster bowlers. The ball seamed and swung around all match practically and there was something there for bowlers once you [put in the effort],” Holder pointed out.

“The invariable bounce is something you probably don’t like in a Test match but nevertheless you still had to go out there and put the ball in the correct area and I was able to get some wickets, Shannon was able to get some wickets, Kemar was able to get some wickets and the Sri Lankan bowlers as well.”

Holder said despite defeat, he was pleased with his performance. He top-scored with 74 in the Windies first innings to rescue his side and then followed up with wickets.

West Indies face Bangladesh in the first match of a two-Test series starting July 4 in Antigua. (CMC)

T&T is getting ever closer to having an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Centre, Hayden Mitchell, president of tennis has revealed.

The facility will make this country the hub for the sport in the Central American and Caribbean region (COTECC) and will be a major driver for sports tourism, diversification and overall development of the sport from the grass-root level to professionalism.

Since the inception of Mitchell as tennisTT boss a few years ago, the sport locally has been the beneficiary of a major upgrade that includes improving the skill sets of officials, coaches and players, as well as having more tournaments.

Yesterday, Mitchell, who has been elevated on the Board of the COTECC from the position of sub- Region 4 president to Director recently, said his organisation had been putting together final touches on a proposal to submit to Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe and other ministry officials to access funding.

The document is a recommendation of a structure given by the world governing body for the sport on what is required for the centre to be introduced here at the National Racquet Centre (NRC) in Orange Groove, Tacarigua.

The document is set to be handed over to ministry officials by August, in time for a visit of an ITF consultant here in September.

Mitchell said the consultant would conduct checks of the facility and all other programmes to ensure that the recommendations of the ITF will be followed.

According to the tennisTT boss, with the ITF structure in place, it would afford the country more international tournaments, enable players in the COTECC region easier access to international points that will improve their rankings, and create an easier passage for COTECC players to compete at the ITF major tournaments such as the Grand Slam.

Mitchell said his organisation was currently positioning itself to capitalise on a new transition- tour programme being embarked upon by the ITF, saying: “This will help young players like Aidan Carter and other junior players in T&T moving to the senior level. So when you do well, you will earn valuable points that will enable you wild-cards into main international tournaments,” Mitchell explained.

Meanwhile, with Mitchell being elevated to the position of director in the COTECC, another tennis official Jermille Danclar, secretary of tennis has taken his sport as president of subregion 4.

Mitchell said this new development would augur well for T&T as it would have more say in the direction the cotecc wants to go in the future.

WALTER ALIBEY
 

Once again the Arima Race Club (ARC) enters another new era with a new management committee being installed headed by a new President, Brian Stollmeyer, who was elected on Sunday and turned out to be a fiercely contested one, with Stollmeyer getting the nod by a mere five votes (39 to 34).

One can only hope that his first move as the new President is to try and build a bridge between himself and the supporters of his vanquished opponent – former ARC CEO Ken Ogeer. One of the biggest challenges is having the views of the various stakeholders as part of the collective, even if that collective is a majority. Life is about compromise and all supporters of the sport can only hope that Mr Stollmeyer will put aside any personal agendas that he and his supporters may hold and work together with everyone for the benefit of the sport at its future.

On the track itself, the Labour Day card delivered all that it promised with the prospect of this country’s fifth Triple Crown winner remaining alive following the win of General JN in the Midsummer Classic. Some purists will point to the fact that the General’s advantage over his rivals was significantly reduced, even taking into consideration that he won easily, which he has been doing consistently.

The performance of the runner-up, the much improved Prince of Bellevue, must give his enterprising trainer, Harold Chadee, confidence to tackle the General in the upcoming Derby. What was interesting was the early speed of Affirmative seem to play into the hands of the runner-up as he stayed on powerfully throughout the straight. With the ammunition at his disposal, Mr Chadee must be plotting an Aidan O’Brien type assault on the third leg of the Classic. His tactics and those of the other trainers will horse to be considered will be interesting. Surprisingly, trainer Glenn Mendez has appeared reluctant to allow his staying filly Streaking Far to dispute the early running in any of the Classics, even though she has appeared quite one-paced at the end of her races. Her best performances have come from the front. He might also be reconsidering his tactics for future races.

One of the big disappointments of the day was the abysmal run of one of the country’s favourite horses, Bigman in Town. The Bigman looked well in the parade ring but ran no sort of race behind the improving young filly Pauseforacoors. He is or was clearly a much better horse than that and while it is easy to forgive any horse one poor run, Bigman is not getting any younger at eight years of age. His next start will be very revealing and it would be no understatement to say that all of the racing public in Trinidad is hoping that the horse can bounce back. This country needs – Bigman in Town – to return to close to his best to inspire a new generation and ensure that the upcoming generation know what it is to race against a great specimen, so let us hope that Team – Bigman in Town – can get it as correct as possible to ensure, we still get more out of that endless quality tank.

Horse racing also needs to put its hand up again, as someone who now appreciates the state of the racing sector a lot better, having been closely involved for just 11 months, it is clear that the divisions that exist are mainly all of a human nature and a lot to do with egos and efforts towards machismo and one-upmanship. However what needs to happen is for everyone to work together, not work against each other, we do not all have to agree, but we should all want the same end game, which is the best for horse racing and not about outdoing each other. Jealously among horseracing men, is why many believe that a woman is needed to maintain stability in the sport?

Interestingly, even on Labour Day, with World Cup football on the menu all over this country, horse racing did not suffer in terms of payments and turnover, and excitement, so unlike others sports, horse racing in this country continues to show its maternal survival skills more than any other.

With the obvious lack of investment in new racing stock, many of the island’s older imported animals are holding the fort for quality in this country, which cannot be in the best long-term interest of the sport. So on that front, hopefully, there will be a pathway found to improve that area but will require great thought and some imitative, which may cost in the short term, but be beneficial in the long run.

Happy Birthday, Katherine.

Must Come See Productions probably had every intention of rocking Queen’s Hall last Friday but nobody expected that a 5.3 earthquake at Act 2, Scene 5 of West Side Story would have done what even a top quality performance could not have metaphorically achieved.

It took about 15 minutes for the orchestra, players and crew to compose themselves before resuming the action on stage to nervous chuckles from a marginally-diminished but shaken audience.

In the end, moderate earthquake notwithstanding, seasoned theatre-goers were convinced they had witnessed one of the most ambitious and successful engagements of musical theatre within recent memory.

Last weekend’s performances of the musical were not a first on a T&T stage. Caribbean Theatre Productions staged a similarly inspiring project in 2011.

However, under musical director Jessel Murray, almost flawless orchestral support and generally competent vocals from the cast, last weekend’s production established this latest effort as uniquely strong on musical quality.

St Kitts-born Kyle Richardson as Tony and Zaynah McDonald as Maria brought refreshing, young talent to the stage. McDonald’s strong background in dance helped meet the musical’s heavy choreographic demands.

In fact, in some quarters— despite the immense success of Leonard Bernstein’s celebrated musical score—Jerome Robbins’ original dance choreography is described as having substantially driven the narrative of a story derived from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Such a task fell this time to choreographer/ instructor, Dr Sally Crawford- Shepherd.

Richardson’s superb renditions of Something’s Coming and Maria, and his duet with McDonald on Tonight, established him as an outstanding prospect.

In fact, he already made the point forcefully in the past as Raul in Phantom of the Opera, the Scarecrow in The Wiz and roles in Cinderella and Jesus Christ Superstar. McDonald, an accomplished

dancer with impressive vocal skills, is fantastic on I Feel Pretty and Tonight. The demands of West Side Story are multidisciplinary in nature and fall to everyone on stage.

The core cast members all appeared equal to the task.

Syntyche Bishop, playing Anita, Anton Brewster as Chino, Venezuelan Albert Smith as Bernardo and Michailean Taylor as Riff displayed a high level of competence on all fronts.

In fact, Bishop’s outstanding portrayal of Maria’s workmate and confidante, and eventual author of the couple’s tragic fate, established her as a leading light among a stellar cast.

There is also much about the play that resonates, albeit remotely, with the modern day reality of T&T. Though youthful gangland conflict is depicted as playful and generally benign, save for a deadly gang “rumble” and a revenge killing, there is every hint at baseless tensions which eventually lead to tragic consequences.

Smith and Taylor are turfseeking gang leaders Bernardo and Riff. Bernardo leads a band of native New York gangsters ( Jets) while Riff heads a group of Puerto Rican immigrants (Sharks) in 1950s New York.

Maria is Bernardo’s sister and Tony is Riff’s close friend.

In Romeo and Juliet style, Maria and Tony fall in love across enemy lines. All the while, Lt. Schrank (Mikell Joseph) and Officer Krupke (Robert Inniss)— armed only with truncheons— offer dubious support to the Jets and, in the end, prove useless in averting the risk of a deadly showdown.

The threatened armed “rumble” eventually occurs and Bernardo stabs and kills Riff.

Enraged, Tony stabs Bernardo.

This leaves Tony both on the run from the police and faced with the challenge of facing Bernardo’s sister, Maria.

As the gangs prepare to rumble once more, Tony and Maria make plans to leave the city for a happier place. But when a reluctant Anita is intercepted and attacked by an agitated Jets, she falsely claims that Chino—who has his eyes on Maria and was also Bernardo’s close friend—had killed Maria.

In fact, Chino is in pursuit of Tony whom he eventually finds in the presence of Maria who had appeared before her shocked lover. Chino shoots Tony and Maria is left with his lifeless body in her arms. Both gangs join to take Tony’s body away.

A musical with a repertoire that includes standalone hits such as Maria, Tonight, I Feel Pretty and Somewhere is guaranteed to please, but only if expertly produced.

Must Come See achieves this objective by bringing together some of the country’s best young skills on a single stage under the direction of Louis McWilliams, Crawford-Shepherd guiding dance talent and with accompaniment by a 13-member band under the leadership of a prolific musical mentor.

Queen’s Hall rocked all right. In more ways than one.

“We teach competitiveness at every level of life. Never cooperation. Never getting along.

Cradle to grave is dog-eat-dog.

Win or lose. Mines not yours. I better than you. I deserve, you don’t. I get, is you to ketch. Sow the wind. Reap the whirlwind.”

That was author Barbara Jenkins, just over a week ago, responding to a post about another mother who was murdered. It felt like such a great summary of my frustrations with how callous we continue to be and become in T&T. It capsuled all the emotions I felt/ feel and highlighted most of the underlying elements I have entertained about how and why we are so judgmental and increasingly wicked as a people.

It took me hours to remember to which posts Jenkins was responding so I could quote her. About 1.30 am Monday, long after busting my deadline, I finally remembered that the way to find anything on Facebook to which you have reacted is to use the Activity Log feature.

That exercise in itself made the point about the point I’m here to make: Life is a series of fluctuations. There was a time I was so “sharp,” I could not imagine such an obstacle to my schedule. Now, I tire easier, forget more, and have delayed synapses in many situations, all which came much easier before, but now demand that I work harder to remain focused.

When, or if we realise and accept how circular and cyclical life is, and how someone else’s today’s circumstance can be ours tomorrow, I wonder, would we temper our desire to be judgmental?

Someone said to me I was being a bit harsh when I described us in T&T as Cretans.

I came upon the reference in the Bible decades ago, where the Apostle Paul, in instructing Titus on the administration of the First century church, and the particular issue of the Cretans’ character, wrote: “Cretans are always liars, brutes and lazy gluttons.”

Paul had quoted Epimenides of Gnossus, a seventh-century BC poet; a Cretan himself who characterised his people this way. There were others who made the same observations about the people on the island of Crete.

And so, for about a decade of T&T’s decadence, debauchery and large-scale derision, I have been harbouring that reference.

Then I voiced it in response to my bewilderment about how callous, murderous, and desensitised we are becoming as a population.

And, of course, it is the minority of us in some of these negatively characterising behaviour, but consider that when another country puts out a warning to citizens about T&T they never take time to speak of how beautiful most of us are. We are characterised by the prevalent or perceived prevalent behaviour.

Some of this current conduct work to promote long-standing prejudices. And in the case of myths and misunderstandings about mental wellbeing, given the abundance of access to so many fora for discussion, and so little educating, there is a feeling that the ignorance is being compounded.

Our desire to be better than the other, as Jenkins stated, is to me one of the most brutish behaviour. It is not that we are really attempting to be better, at times, but wholly trying to ensure we ill speak, debase, and ridicule others to the place where, in our clouded judgment, we appear better.

To my mind, that manner we seem to be adopting, which rushes to waylaying anything we feel free to deride, suggests we easily forget life is a fluctuation; that today’s fortune could be tomorrow’s sorrow; that today’s wellbeing can be tomorrow’s ill health; that the rain falls on the good and evil; that what eh meet you eh pass you; that “one day one day congotay” is an everybody adage.

We need to unlearn the belief that there is a “fine line” between sanity and insanity.

Life itself is the fine line on which exists various stages of sanity and on which anyone can find themself at any point.

Mental wellbeing, similar to the ups and downs of life, is a fluid state. Today’s circumstance of good wellbeing can easily be erased by a moment of grief, hurt, or any kind of trauma internal or external. And we can recover and again be derailed by another of life’s fluctuations.

When or if our wellbeing is better than another person, that is never a reason to gloat over the other’s misfortune. Reflecting on the opening of this piece though, I despair for the change that is necessary.

I feel our humanity slipping away without sufficient efforts at the individual and national levels to take the bite out of our judgmental attitude, as we “sow the wind and reap the whirlwind” where we need to sow love, peace, empathy, and sympathy and reap positive benefits.

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

As the chosen instrument for old calypsos sung in French patois; for roving parranderos, as they serenaded house-to-house; and for church services in remote rural communities, the guitar has been indispensable to T&T, occupying some of the most influential spaces that shaped our cultural identity.

On Sunday, July 1, at 5 pm, Caribbean Culture Box (CCB) will host Prelude – the Cuban Guitar, a recital with Cuban concert guitarist, maestro Ricardo Mateo Torres. More than just a recital for guitar, Maestro Mateo will take listeners on a musical journey from Europe to South America and the Caribbean, settling in his homeland, Cuba, as described in sound by famed guitar composers such as Eduardo Martin and Leo Brouwer. This event will be held at the new Trinidad Theatre Workshop, 6 Newbold Street, St Clair.

Mateo Torres will share the stage with two luminaries from the local music soundscape: award-winning calypso-jazz trumpeter Rellon Brown and star violinist Keisha Martinez. Torres graduated with high honours from the Instituto Superior de Arte, Cuba, where he performed solo concerts ranging from traditional classical music to the more syncopated melodies from South America, with an emphasis on Cuban guitar. He has been described as an expressive performer whose innate musicality complements his virtuosity and an exceptional guitarist who “really makes the guitar speak,” and “whose expressiveness touches the soul.”

In a release to the media, CCB founder, Alan Cooper, shared that Trinidad was such an important venue for the guitar that in 1930, the famed Paraguayan guitarist, Agustin Pio Barrios “Mangoré” (1885-1944) gave a recital in Port-of-Spain on part of his tour through Venezuela, Colombia, Martinique, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico. Cooper explained that, “Prelude both looks back to this glorious time in Trinidad’s musical history but also looks forward by presenting some modern and highly original works for the guitar. The recital is called Prelude because it is the inaugural event of CCB, a new company that will focus on small, high-quality performances.”

According to Mateo Torres, “For the recital we wanted an intimate venue that accommodates a small audience that can really appreciate the subtlety of acoustic guitar.”

Prelude – The Cuban Guitar has a repeat performance on Sunday, July 8, at the same venue, with the same 5 pm showtime.

General Admission is $150, but for UTT Students, members of the T&T Music Festival Association and members of TTARP will be offered tickets at a discounted price of $125. Seating is limited.

To reserve tickets and for more information, call 297 3820, email culture.cuerda@gmail.com or go to https://www.facebook.com/CultureBoxCarib/

There was another shaking of the earth shook last Friday when Charlton “Charlo” Alfonso, recipient of a scholarship to Northern Illinois University, NIU, to pursuit a M.Mus. (Masters of Music degree), performed with friends during a fund-raising event entitled Project Charlo 3. The event was held at Nutrien Silver Stars Pan Theatre, in aid of offsetting Alfonso’s expenses and facilitating his transition and re-settling.

Alfonso would be studying under renowned Trinidadian native, steel pan artistry musician and NIU Presidential Research, Artistry, and Scholarship Professor Professor Liam Teague as he starts mid-August 2018 for the university’s Fall semester.

According to University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s Titan Steel musical director Elizabeth DeLamater, “Professor Liam Teague is one of the finest steel pan players in the world. A true virtuoso,” and he can be credited for starting the first collegiate steel pan programme in the United States, at NIU.

Project Charlo fund-raising event engaged patrons with acts by Trap-Soca duo Yung Rudd and Marcus Braveboy who opened the show performing few of their popular singles, like Sunday Lunch and Pumpin. Next up was reggae sensation Nex Chapta performing One Day as well as other songs from its mixed repertoire.

Alfonso, after introducing his band Jaiso, delivered a ground-shaking, theatrical performance which had patrons fully entertained by this youthful aggregation.

Jaiso, as Alfonso explained in his introduction, is a unique group of talented young musicians, who like both jazz and kaiso. The band consists of Ruel Williams (keyboards); , Nick Thomas (drums); Dinelson Gulston (percussion); Lemuel Patterson (bass); Nathan Maxwell (trumpet); Johann Andrews (trombone); Irwyn Roach (alto saxophone); and, Anthony O’Connor (tenor saxophone).

Silver Stars also delivered its typical exceptional performance, while Oluseyi Bowen and his brother Osazé, aspiring dancehall/soca artistes, closed the show singing a few of his original tracks, as they, Alfonso and friends danced the night away.

The event was also attended by retired army Brigadier General Carl Alfonso, former Port-of-Spain Mayor and TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee as well as young budding artistes such as APA Vocal & Jazz Studio’s Samuel Thomas Jnr and Tehilla Jones’ family, friends and well wishers.

An impasse between Education Minister Anthony Garcia and the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Private Secondary Schools (TTAPSS) over an increase in fees for Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination pupils assigned to their schools has left the Garcia looking for alternative places to put those pupils. However, Garcia is assuring all Government-assisted pupils will be placed.

Yesterday, acting TTAPSS president Leslie Hislop told the T&T Guardian private secondary schools principals felt they had no choice but to adopt the position because they felt they could not “continue to provide places at the current rate being paid.”

Hislop said the ministry has been paying $1200 per term for these students and it has been placing the schools in financial crisis. In addition, he said because the allocation from the ministry is late most of the time, “our reality is that we have to face workers every month and tell them ‘well I not sure I could pay you this month’.”

The affected schools are the Open Bible High School, Caribbean Union College, Southern Academy, Corpus Christi, St Charles, Bishops Centenary, St Joseph College and Johnson Finishing School.

Hislop, principal at the Caribbean Union College, said they were cash-strapped and had virtually used up every avenue of financing available. He said currently the schools were indebted to “various organisations, in some instances the churches that are responsible for running the schools, some people have even approached and received some funding from private business persons and the banks are no longer interested in treating with the schools because of the financial reality. Banks can’t go into a situation where you not sure you going to get your money back if you provide a loan.”

Administrator at Bishops Centenary College Akai Webster said the bank had recently extended her school’s overdraft by $450,000, which they used to pay salaries because of late payments from the ministry.

She said they could not get an extension of the overdraft and yesterday they were again told by the ministry that the cheques to pay teachers’ salaries would not be ready until the end of next week.

“Teachers pay-day is tomorrow (Thursday), what am I going to say to the teachers? I don’t know what will happen when the teachers hear they will not be paid,” Webster said.

She expressed disappointment that for yet another time, the school had been put in this position although claim forms had gone to the ministry since May 21.

Hislop said Bishops’ case was symptomatic of the financial constraints which the schools faced and one which they just could not continue. He said at a recent meeting with Garcia, principals indicated they were willing to provide places but not at the current rate. He said the private schools provided a “vital service to the education sector” by providing places in areas where the demand for school places was very high.

He said if those students could not be accommodated because of the impasse, “we are looking at a few hundred students well who would be out of place in the Form One SEA intake.”

Hislop said the association had also written to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and sent him documentary evidence of the cost per student and why they were asking for an increase from $1200 to $5700 per student per term. He said they have received no response to their letter, which was delivered to the PM’s Office last Monday (June 18).

“More than likely, the schools will have to close or seriously have to adjust their structures. We are looking at job cuts and all that kind of thing while the schools go into recovery mode,” Hislop said as he noted the institutions will have to readjust their operations.

He said while they did not want to issue the ultimatum to the ministry they basically had no choice.

“We don’t want to lose our schools, we love education, we believe in offering a quality product to all children, but the reality is we cannot continue to sustain the schools at that rate, it is financially impossible.”

In the past nine years, he said the shortfall from the ministry towards funding the schools, which had as many as 80 per cent of their pupils funded by Government, was over $1.5 million annually.

“We are technically subsiding the cost of education to all the students who are placed in these schools by the Ministry of Education,” he said.

GARCIA: WE WILL FIND SPACES

Contacted yesterday, Garcia said they had written to the private schools asking them whether they were willing to provide SEA places and the response was not good.

“The majority of them said they are not willing to accede to that request until the matter is settled. That is their prerogative,” Garcia said.

He said he did not see any resolution to the matter before the end of the term next month because there was a process to be followed. He admitted that the schools had been doing a very good job.

“They have been providing access to education and from all the reports we have received they have been doing an excellent job so we would not want to push them out,” he said.

However, assured that “if the private schools are unwilling to accept students we will make alternative arrangements” and every child who wrote SEA, “as long as they perform creditably, will have access to the quality of education that we are determined to provide”.

Asked where the school places will come from, Garcia said, “We will find places.”

He said a committee has been set up to hold discussions with the schools’ representatives and they are hoping to get recommendations on the way forward following these talks. That recommendation, he said, will then have to be taken to Cabinet so the time frame does not allow the matter to be resolved quickly.

Investigators suspect that the bandits who tied up employees, robbed them and then robbed Massy Supercentre in La Romaine of $250,000 yesterday, may be part of a robbery ring that targets businesses throughout the country.

After the incident, the store, which is located along Dumfries Road and was also hit by bandits earlier this year, remained closed for the day as fingerprint expert WPC Nicole Marshall dusted for prints late into the afternoon.

Reports said around 5.55 am, bakery staff had just entered the store to prepare pastries and bread for the day when the bandits struck.

At that time, the security guard on duty had just picked up a stack of newspapers from outside the door and was placing it on a stand when three gunmen rushed to the door.

With their guns aimed at the guard, they ordered him into the store and proceeded to tie his hands with plastic straps.

They then went to the bakery area and tied up the workers and supervisor.

The staff was robbed of cell phones, cash and other items. The bandits then went into the office where they took a small vault and threw it down a flight of stairs to open it, gaining access to money from Money Gram, Sure Pay and the cash for Tuesday night sales.

The bandits then ran to a white Nissan AD Wagon parked on the roadside and escaped. Two of the bandits sported dreadlocks but staff believes they were wigs.

San Fernando CID, including Insp Don Gajadhar, Cpl Barry Bacchus, Cpl Rawle Burke and PC Nyron Pulchan responded and all All Points Bulletin was issued for the wagon. However, neither the getaway vehicle nor suspects were found up to press time.

The T&T Guardian was told the workers were traumatised following the incident, as the bandits threatened them, saying they knew about their shifts, managers’ identities and responsibilities and the vehicle used to transport workers. Thankfully, they were not harmed by the bandits.

Southern Division police said a special team has been assembled to deal with the robbery, as they believe the men are part of a gang, some of whom were arrested in the last year for robbing businesses in San Fernando, West Trinidad and along the East-West Corridor.

A $12 billion in debt, much of which is due in one year’s time, total employee costs amounting to 50 per cent of operating costs and an overtime bill of $22 million a month are some of the issues the board of State-owned energy company Petrotrin must deal with.

The grim picture was painted by chairman Wilfred Espinet at a conference titled Macroeconomic Conversations hosted by the University of the West Indies in collaboration with Guardian Media Ltd at UWI’s St Augustine Campus yesterday.

Added to the heavy debt is the fact that the company gives out some 5000 meal vouchers per month to people working only in the refinery and one particular member of management who had reported for duty but they had been unable to fire him.

Referring to the $12 million debt, in particular, Espinet said, “Faced with a huge balloon payment of $850 million US dollars...these are the things we came in and found in the company.”

He said a company like Petrotrin, which is involved in such high capital expenditure, ought to have a different structure in terms of employee cost.

“It has an extraordinary cost that could not possibly be sustained,” he added.

He said the overtime bill was “institutional overtime,” adding that in the company’s balance sheet to date there were 183,000 days of leave accumulated to the workforce.

“That’s 502 years ... that’s two hundred and twenty-something million dollars worth of leave accumulated. The worse part of it is that nobody has any record keeping of anybody in Petrotrin.

“We have an employee who is identified in a managerial position at four and a half years of being there and he has not attended one full week of work and the process of getting him out is impossible because you have what is called natural justice,” Espinet said.

He noted that the taxpayers had therefore now become a victim.

“Every single Trinidadian has a substantial amount of debt and I’m talking about the vagrants on the street, so if they’re not going to pay it somebody else going to pay it,” Espinet said.

He said if T&T wanted to remain competitive in the oil industry the board of Petrotrin must take charge of its operations.

“You’re dealing with the impossible. It is a challenge of unbelievable dimension. We came in and we started to cut cost and reduce waste,” he said.

“One of the big fallacies I want to remove is the price of oil has caused this. That is absolutely false. Petrotrin’s cost of operation is a problem. The management is a problem. When the cost of oil was $110 a barrel we were losing money.”

He said initiatives like the gas to liquids project had also cost the company large sums of revenue.

Former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, who delivered the feature address focusing on small states, said developmental challenges faced by such countries could be minimised and overcome by appropriate policy choices and more importantly, by the sustained forging of a coherence between the mix of policies and the choice of strategies that a country chooses.

Regarding trade, Arthur noted, “In respect of trade facilitation, as vetted by the World Bank’s statistic performance index and the cost to export a container, the Caribbean region enjoys the dubious distinction of having the worst indices of any group of countries in the world.”

He said beyond such determinants of trade, the region has been showing significant slippage on matters that can generate high levels of investment.

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon says the US$10 fee involved in the transaction to return a New York city million-dollar luxury condo to his friend Neville Piper was a standard transfer fee and not a sale price.

Sticking to his initial statement that the condo was gifted to him by Piper, Dillon said yesterday that he felt the need to “give it back” in the wake of the property dispute which developed surrounding the matter.

But in addressing calls by the Opposition to disclose how he came to sell the property for US$10, Dillon said using the word ‘sold’ was not feasible because it was a transaction involving a deed and the transfer of property, which involved a standard fee (US$10) to transfer the said property.

“It is transferred, which I did voluntarily,” Dillon said, adding the condo was a gift to him and because there was never any ill intent behind it in the first place, he merely returned it.

“Simple as that,” he added.

Dillon appeared before the New York Supreme Court on April 4 to settle the property dispute brought against him by Piper’s niece Esther Nicholls, who alleged that Dillon had sought to defraud Piper of his property and bank account. In a subsequent release, Dillon said then that there had been no finding of wrongdoing against him.

Dillon was speaking to members of the media after the Cycle 1801 graduation ceremony of the Civilian Conservation Corps’ (CCC) at the T&T Regiment Headquarters, El Socorro, yesterday. Some 749 students graduated during the ceremony.

Delivering the feature address, Dillon said a National Crime Prevention Programme will soon be launched within the 14 municipal regions in a bid to empower communities and residents and turn them away from crime, criminality and violence. Explaining it to the media after the ceremony, he said there will be three pilot areas: Central, Diego Martin and Tobago.

“Through this programme we will identify issues and challenges and work on improving communities,” he said.

During his address, Dillon also said 77 per cent of CCC graduates are employed, with 25 per cent of this being in the public sector, including the protective services.

“The remaining 52 per cent in the private sector, ten per cent represents those who are self-employed starting off their own businesses,” Dillon said.

He urged yesterday’s graduates to “remain positive and focus at all times”.

“Failure is not an option…today you were given the tools and training to make you ready for life.”

On another issue raised by the media afterwards, Dillon said he was yet to receive the full report on the social media leak of a list containing over 100 names of alleged gang members, gang leaders and their addresses and gang affiliations. He said while acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams has launched his investigations, the Ministry of National Security “has its own intelligence agencies looking at this…to identify who are the known perpetrators and gangs.”

Transport Commissioner Wayne Richards yesterday threatened to “shut down” inspection stations if they are found guilty of demanding an additional $300 inspection fee on vehicle owners when they go to collect their inspection stickers.

Richards made the threat following yesterday’s Fifth Annual Road Safety Awards Ceremony at the head office of the Ministry of Works and Transport in Port-of-Spain.

The issue of the extortion was raised by Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan during his featured address at the awards, but did not go into details, stating that he had received complaints about “inspections and stickers” which he was not pleased about by the inspection stations.

Sinanan called on Richards, in the presence of acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, to deal with the matter.

“If vehicles are given certificates and stickers without being properly inspected that is putting people’s lives at stake on the roads,” Sinanan said.

Richards said he received a complaint from someone who had their vehicle inspected not too long ago at a station for which they paid $300, but did not collect an inspection sticker due to a scarcity.

With stickers now available at the 82 stations across T&T, Richards said, “People are going back to collect their stickers and the people (owners of the station) are saying, no, you have to pay again to get a new inspection. That vehicle should not be inspected again.”

Richard said if a vehicle was inspected last year “it is for two years. All you need to do is collect your sticker. I am telling people if they do not get their stickers to contact Licensing Division. We will deal with.”

Richards said if any station is found guilty of making such demands, they can be shut down forthwith.

The testing stations purchase inspection stickers from the Licensing Division.

Drivers can be fined $5,000 for not having an inspection sticker.

A private vehicle over five years has to be inspected every two years.

Hired, heavy-T and rental vehicles require annual inspections.

Richards could not say how many stations had been asking members of the public to have their vehicles re-inspected.

“I am not saying it is something wide ranging per say.”

Questioned if he would launch an investigation into the matter, Richards said he advised the person who made the complaint to return to the station and if they did not get a redress he will take up the matter.

Asked if the station was extorting money from the public or conducting fraudulent activities, Richards said he could not say, since there is always two sides to a story.

“Once we get information on both sides we will be able to measure it.”

Richards assured that if a vehicle owner had his vehicle inspected they cannot be charged.

“While it is in the law that you must have your sticker with your certificate, the sticker is about visibility so enforcement officers will not pull a driver off the road to check to see if their vehicles was inspected,” he said.

Businessman Steve Ferguson is considering joining the State’s interpretation lawsuit over the short-lived judicial appointment of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar.

The T&T Guardian understands that Ferguson, who is still facing fraud charges out of the construction of the Piarco International Airport, is considering the move because Senior Magistrate Ejenny Espinet retired earlier this year with his preliminary inquiry before her incomplete. The ruling in Ayers-Caesar’s case is expected to set a legal precedent which could be followed in Ferguson’s.

Espinet, who had been presiding over the Piarco 11 inquiry for over a decade, deferred going on her unused vacation leave before retirement in a bid to complete the case but was unsuccessful. Though the date for her retirement could have been extended, there is no provision compelling her to do so.

The inquiry had been delayed on numerous occasions in the past as Ferguson and the other businessmen and former government officials before the inquiry, made several novel legal challenges over it.

Once Ferguson applies to enter the case as an interested party, High Court judge Carol Gobin will hear submissions on the issue and make a decision.

In its interpretation lawsuit, the Office of the Attorney General is seeking to determine Ayers-Caesar’s status of a magistrate when she took up a judicial appointment in April last year. She resigned after two weeks amid public furore over the 53 cases she left unfinished, when she accepted the position. The case is also seeking to determine if Ayers-Caesar could have been allowed to return to complete the cases or what measures could have been taken to resolve the issue.

Some of the accused persons directly affected have agreed to have their cases restarted by Ayers-Caesar’s successor Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle, and have since been completed. Others agreed to put their cases on hold until the issue is determined by Gobin.

In October last year, Ayers-Caesar applied to be removed from the lawsuit as she claimed it is in conflict with her wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC), who she accused of pressuring her to resign. That case was filed before the State’s and is also still pending.

On May 15, Gobin delivered an oral ruling dismissing the application, which she described as premature. She has since issued written reasons as Ayers-Caesar is challenging the decision in the Court of Appeal.

According to the reasons given, Gobin claimed that the State was entitled to bring it as it affected a large group of citizens.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the events which led to these proceedings caused grave concerns and trauma for a number of persons, including prisoners, families of accused persons as well as victims of serious crimes, who were more directly affected by them, but more generally one of confidence in the administration of justice,” Gobin said.

As a preliminary issue, Gobin ruled that both Ayers-Caesar and the JLSC gave insufficient reasons over her transition from a magistrate to a High Court judge.

“As obvious as it may seem that one cannot hold the office of magistrate and judge at the same time, it must be obligatory, that the JLSC should record as a formality, a mode of termination,” Gobin said.

The State is being represented by Gilbert Peterson, SC, Jason Mootoo and Rishi Dass. The JLSC is being represented by Deborah Peake, SC, and Ian Roach while Michael Quamina is representing Busby-Earle-Caddle. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, and Ronnie Bissessar are representing Ayers-Caesar.

When single mothers, children and the unemployed men of Princes Town turned up for their weekly lunch at the Holy Cross RC Church yesterday, they left dejected as thieves had raided the soup kitchen.

Appliances and food were all looted from the kitchen that has been run by the Friends of Holy Cross for the past 19 years in the crime that church members described as “shamelessly taking food from the mouths of the poor.”

Secretary of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) and manager of the soup kitchen Joan Lee Chong said yesterday that the kitchen, located on the church grounds, might have been raided between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Lee Chong said when the cook went to the kitchen on Tuesday night to prepare, she found that several appliances were gone.

The items included a 30’ Whirlpool gas cooker, a Sharp microwave, blender, hand blender, pressure cooker, liquid soap, rice, cases of ketchup and a tarpaulin.

Lee Chong said a knife set and hair grooming kit, donated for a raffle they held, were also stolen.

“I was really distraught yesterday and today I am coming to terms with it, but it really is very sad that people will take food out of little children’s mouth because we were unable to cook today.

“People came because yesterday we had no opportunity to inform anybody and many children usually get lunch from this soup kitchen on Wednesdays. Many of them are without lunch today,” Lee Chong said.

When Princes Town police arrived and checked the premises, they found the box for the pressure cooker in the cemetery of the churchyard.

Lee Chong said every Wednesday, between 65 to 70 people are fed, many of them children and single mothers.

The stolen items were valued around $10,000 and were acquired over time through funds that they raised or were donated by parishioners and sponsors.

With villagers leaving disappointed yesterday, the NGO is hopeful that Samaritans would help them restore the kitchen.

With limited space to dispose of more than 700,000 tonnes of waste produced annually in T&T, head of the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) Ronald Roach says recycling is essential.

CEO Ronald Roach, who was speaking at the San Fernando City Corporation ‘s statutory meeting yesterday, said 80 per cent of the waste is recyclable but currently less than five per cent is being recycled.

Noting that recycling is not an option any more, Roach said, “the reality is we are simply running out of space from which we can dispose of materials, of your waste.”

In collaboration with the Public Utilities Ministry, he said SWMCOL has been working with the various municipal corporations on a project which started in the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation in 2016. He said they recently launched the project at the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Corporation and plans are on the way to launch the project in San Fernando.

He explained the project will start off in the Gulf View and Embacadere communities and the residents will be asked to separate their beverage containers, including plastic containers, glass bottles, aluminium cans and tetra packs.

And once a week the recyclable waste will be picked up by designated trucks which will be processed at SWMCOL’s facilities. Interviewed afterwards, Roach said the public is interested in recycling but they don’t have the time to do it. He said the Curbside Recycling Project is expected to make it easier for people. Roach said SWMCOL operates three landfills, the largest being Beetham Landfill which receives half of the country’s waste. He said the Beetham Landfill is in a swamp and is running out of space.

“And, therefore, how do you relocate a site like Beetham? Where do you put that waste that is coming in now?...Nobody wants to have a landfill close to where they live so it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to find new space to have a landfill site. The solution has to be that of recycling.”

Noting that 2010 statistics put T&T annual waste production at 700,000 tonnes, he said, “We do generate far too much waste than we should for an island state,” said Roach.

In fact, he said per capita T&T waste production is quite high in the Caribbean and Latin America and is in the range of industrial countries like the United States and Europe. Roach presented a trophy while San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello presented a cash prize to students of Naparima College and San Fernando East Secondary who tied for first place in a recycling theme competition.

Several stunning replicas of historical sites and landmarks in the southern city of San Fernando created by primary schools from waste materials, as part of a recycling competition, hosted by San Fernando West PNM Youth League, were also on display.

Nineteen months after Damian “Gems” Simmons was gunned down on his 31st birthday, his cousin Andy “Rocko” Simmons has been charged with his murder.

On Monday, Supt Lyndon Greenidge of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Region Three gave the instructions for lead investigator PC Jason Bernard to file the charge. The investigation supervised by Insp Darryl Corrie included several consultations with Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard.

On Monday, Andy was taken to the San Fernando Magistrates Court where he appeared before Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine. The charge read to Andy was that on January 15, 2017, he murdered Simmons at St James Street, Marabella.

On the day of his murder, Simmons, who worked offshore, was on his way to his girlfriend’s home at Union Park East Extension, Marabella. As he reached St James’ Street around 1 pm, a gunman opened fire on him. He was struck on the head and back and died within minutes. Simmons’ girlfriend, Meagan Sanchez told the media that he was looking forward to the birth of his daughter.

On December 14, 2017, Andy’s son, Isaiah Simmons, 15, was killed during a shootout with police after he and two others robbed a bank manager’s home in Gopaul Lands, Marabella. During that shootout, PC Anand Ram was shot in the abdomen.

All three Simmons were cousins to the budding Shiva Boys Hindu College footballer Noah Simmons. Noah, who also played with the Marabella Family Crisis Centre, was shot dead on his 16th birthday outside his cousin’s home in Union Park East, Marabella. The suspect, who is yet to be caught, was once believed to be a friend.

Carli Bay Fish Festival, which comes off on Saturday in one of central Trinidad’s most popular fishing location, is much more than a community event.

In fact, the festival—the result of a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce and the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC), is aimed at stimulating economic development in the area by boosting tourism and creating more opportunities for the area’s fishing community.

“This is a pilot project that we are doing and we hope to get support,” said festival co-ordinator Angela Gouveia.

While the event has an estimated budget of $100,000, the only financial support so far has been from the Ministry of Tourism which contributed $20,000.

However, for Gouveia and the other event organisers, the festival can yield economic benefits well beyond the financial outlay for the staging of the day’s activities.

The event, which also celebrates St Peter’s Day, a major religious commemoration in fishing communities across the country, takes place from 10 am to 6 pm.

The food component alone should attract a crowd, as there will be sales and sampling of a variety of seafood dishes, including local favourites like bake and shark, crab and dumpling and even fish pelau, more commonly known as warap. For those interested in getting fresh-from-the-sea ingredients, a variety of fresh fish, shrimp, conch and oysters will also be available for purchasing.

These offerings should be appealing to seafood connoisseurs in particular, given Carli Bay’s reputation for bountiful catches. In recent years, that location has become known as the best place for cutlass fish. So abundant is the supply, that it is being exported to China and Miami.

Of course, it helps that the cutlass fish is regarded as a delicacy with medicinal properties. Also known as the largehead hairtail, it is a marine fish which has a band-like silver body which is elongated and compressed.

Although it is just two days to the festival, Gouveia is appealing for T&T’s corporate community to provide sponsorship.

Not only is the festival poised to develop into a major tourist attraction, she said, but there is also potential to being in much needed US currency for the country.

This is not the first time the festival is being held.

Fishermen have been staging the event on a smaller scale but did not have the resources to market it well. With the involvement of the business chamber, they are anticipating a bigger and better event on Saturday.

Gouveia hopes the significance of the fishing community as “a sanctified area where the Hindus do shaving and the Baptist do their rituals” will also draw visitors.

“This is a pilot project that we are doing and we hope to get support. The Couva Nalis library is playing a big part. A lot of people are doing things in the area, so we are trying to empower the community.

Entrepreneurs from the community will also be featured,” she said.

Couva-Point Lisas Chamber president Ramchand Rajbal Maraj said the festival is was part of the business group’s economic development programme for the area. He said it is aimed primarily at encouraging the growth of the local fishing industry.

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries is predicting that over the next five years methanol prices will average US$375 per metric tonne, while ammonia prices will be closer to US$310 per metric tonne.

The projections are contained in report on the energy sector which estimates growth in demand for both products on the global market and prices are in keeping with what is being witnessed globally.

It states: “The demand for methanol is expected to continue to grow at an average annual rate of approximately seven per cent over the next four years. This increased demand will be driven by an increase in methanol to olefins (MTO) production facilities, with MTO set to become the second largest methanol derivative. The MTO process is the precursor to the manufacturing of plastics.”

The report further states that global demand for ammonia will increase but at a slower rate than methanol.

“Global demand for ammonia for agriculture use, outside of the cyclic variations, is expected to grow moderately at a rate of 1.2 per cent per annum up to 2020. Global demand capacity is expected to expand to 230 million tonnes by 2020, representing a 10 per cent increase from 2015,” it said.

T&T is the largest exporter of ammonia in the world and the second largest exporter of methanol. However, the downstream sector has faced significant challenges over the last seven years as gas shortages have led to lower production. In turn, that reduction has led to hundreds of millions of US dollars in losses for the government and the producers.

Even with some improvement in the gas supply, the downstream sector is faced with higher costs for natural gas, which when added to the challenges from cheap shale gas in the US is threatening their very survival.

In fact, the Ministry of Energy’s report noted this threat: “Given their demands, recent gas contracts with upstream companies have been at significantly higher prices. These prices pose a challenge to both the NGC and the downstream companies.

“The situation is compounded by the preference of the upstream companies to provide gas for LNG rather than downstream industries. As a consequence the future of our downstream industry is being jeopardised. The Government is currently reviewing our options that may include a gas allocation policy to ensure the sustainability of our downstream industries.”

The report said upstream companies have made it clear that unless their rewards matched the risks they are taking, they will not be prepared to reinvest in searching, finding and producing more oil and gas.

The report continued: “Notwithstanding the super profits achieved by the upstream companies, they maintain the following views:

1. That they share a disproportionate share of the rewards for the level of risk they take.

2. The maturity of T&T as a hydrocarbon province has been occasioned by greater sub-surface and geological risks without the commensurate reward

3. NGC and downstream companies have benefitted disproportionately in the returns accruing to the sector.

“Based on the current natural gas production forecast, it is expected that the current natural gas supply shortage will be minimised or even eliminated as upstream investment activities take place over the next five years. This will positively impact the downstream industries as they will be able to return to producing at higher capacities.

“A gas allocation policy is being explored to ensure that the future of the downstream industries is not jeopardised or made unsustainable by expiry of contracts or increased natural gas prices, due to renegotiated contracts with upstream companies.”

While the gas shortage has led to only one major downstream investment in the energy sector in the last decade, National Energy is working on a number of projects, including an MTO complex. However, the central issue will remain gas supply and price.