Employees of Kleen Rite Dry Cleaners yesterday described the gas delivery driver as a hero after he alerted them to danger moments before an explosion and the fire.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Cheryl Ann Joseph, who has been employed at the company for the past 14 years, said she along with the other workers all knew the driver, identified only as Mr Neville, very well.

“He has been coming here for years and we never had a problem with him. In fact, on almost all the occasions we have seen him checking to make sure that everything is good and safe before refuelling of the tanks are done. If he thought something was not done correctly or whatever wrong he would say and try his best to make things right,” Joseph said.

The driver, who is an employee of North Plant LPG Limited, Gaston Street, Chaguanas, was confirmed to be the delivery driver at two explosion scenes—one last year, on February 5, at El Pecos, in Maraval, and the other at Kleen Rite on Thursday.

The confirmation came from an official at the gas company to CNC3.

T&T Guardian was told by one of the workers, who asked not to be identified, that earlier that day (Thursday) a man came to service the tanks.

“Apparently, PVC fittings were used and when Neville came he pointed it out. Neville also said that he was smelling gas very strong and upon checks discovered that there was a leak. I think that it was at that point that Neville knew something was not right and things were about to get worse when he ran inside and shouted ‘gas, gas’ and that everyone should run for their lives,” the worker said.

Yesterday, at about 1 pm, workers began gathering at the adjacent NP gas station’s compound waiting to see their boss, Solomon Ali. However, they were told that he was not coming and that he had sent their pay packets.

“I really thought that we would have seen Mr Ali today because we are so looking forward to talk with him. I’m a bit disappointed,” Joseph said.

“Mr Ali is a kind man and is very good to us but it is sad that he has not spoken to us up to now (yesterday afternoon),” she said.

“Yes, we know what he is going through right now, especially that his wife got very deep cuts and is hospitalised but Mr Ali should show a little more care towards us because we are the ones who worked in dedication for him and now we are left without jobs,” said another worker.

Another worker, Sade O’Bradley, who is pregnant, said that she has been working with the dry cleaners for over 14 years and was sad to see the establishment, which is over 35 years old, go up in flames.

“It is a sad day for all. We have a clientele of thousands and they have been calling and lending their support. At the end of the day, no lives were lost but at the same time we are all left without jobs and an uncertain future due to this tragedy,” O’Bradley said.

Fire Sub Officer Ishmael Noel who was a part of the team of fire officials that visited the scene, yesterday, said that it was too early in their investigations to disclose information.

“What we did here today was carry out an inspection but while we, the fire officials, will lead the investigations to finding the cause we would need to depend on other agencies to step in,” Noel said.

Thursday’s explosion not only destroyed Kleen Rite but also affected the nearby Sherwin Williams paint shop and a small business company, Small Engine Services Limited.

In a brief interview yesterday, Ali said that the incident was devastating and was trying to regain his composure. He said his wife, Sabrina Ali, was still recuperating from her injuries at hospital.

Clear guidelines

Several attempts were made to contact Kerry Maharaj, the managing director of North Plant LPG, on the issue but he was unavailable. 

North Plant LPG is the supplier for 17-20 per cent of the LPG market. The other 80 per cent is held by Ramco. An official of Ramco, Lochan Samsundar, told the GML Enterprise Desk that there were clear guidelines from the Ministry of Energy on the procedure for refilling. These include that before filling a tank the provider needs to ensure that the tank is properly certified or recertified for use. The stamp with the date indicating this is usually at the top of the tank on the shroud which protects the tank.

National Petroleum said it also has a checklist and issues safety certificates to LPG distributors when their trucks pass inspections. However, NP explained that LPG distributors are fully responsible for the conduct and operation of their business operations. 

The general inspection of LPG equipment and ensuring compliance with safety requirements are the remit of the Ministry of Energy, the only authority with such powers.

Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre says she is “very concerned” about a second explosion involving North Plant LPG and has mandated almost immediately that an investigation be conducted into the incident which left four people injured.

Olivierre told the GML Enterprise Desk that “it is the second incident within a year almost to the date” and she finds it a “very strange coincidence.”

On Thursday, during a refuelling of propane gas near Kleen Rite Dry Cleaners, at Mucurapo Road, St James, an explosion destroyed the building and also damaged another paint business.

She said the investigation would determine “whether the LPG storage tank on the site had the necessary approvals, talk to the operator about the equipment which was used, look at the health and safety practices of the company, interview the driver and determine whether standard guidelines and procedures were followed.”

She said, “We have already identified the inspector to conduct the investigation and part of the investigation would include the report from the fire services.” 

Olivierre said her mandate was to improve and strengthen the regulations of the sector.

“I have two inspectors from my Petroleum Asset Monitoring Unit who are on site and they would be working with the fire services to really ascertain what caused the fire and how we can put better procedures in place in the future, to prevent something like this from reoccurring,” she told reporters during a site visit to an exploratory rig at the Petrotrin oil fields, Fyzabad, yesterday.

Olivierre said she was troubled that the driver of the gas truck involved in Thursday’s incident was identified as the driver of the truck involved in a similar fire at El Pecos, Royal Palm Plaza, Maraval, one year to the date. In the El Pecos fire, 11 people were injured and one man, John Knolly Soo Ping Chow, died four months later from the injuries he sustained. 

The energy minister has oversight of the operations of LPG companies under the Petroleum Act and she said one of the “obvious things which relate to refilling LPG storage tanks is the time it is done and this must be looked at, because there are inherent risks involved. One may want to look at refilling when there are less persons around the facilities.” She added, “Some of these tanks are located in the mall and there may be need to vary when they are refilled.”

Olivierre said the investigation into the El Pecos explosion was not yet completed “because the forensic aspect has not been completed because of ongoing issues at forensics. The full report is still outstanding.” —with reporting by Yvonne Webb

Possible defective installation 

Chief Fire Officer Kenny Gopaul said the latest explosion at the Kleen Rite laundry brought into question whether the premises where LPG tanks were installed were properly certified by the relevant authority which resides with the Ministry of Energy that has oversight under the Petroleum Act.
While the investigation by the fire services is still underway, Gopaul said the initial investigation revealed that “it may have been the result of defective installation, work was done on the installation during the week and it was not properly recertified.” He said business owners needed to ensure that they complied with OSH standards.
Gopaul told the GML Enterprise Desk that the handler on that site was “a hero, he realised something was wrong and he immediately ran into the building and alerted everyone. They were able to run out.” 
But there is another growing problem which the fire services is concerned about. CFO Gopaul told us that the growing number of nuts vendors “with carts with open flames, there is a danger in that, it can explode at any time.” Gopaul said people must realise that the “entire public is put at risk when we violate the laws.” 
Possible defective installation
​Chief Fire Officer Kenny Gopaul said the explosion at the Kleen Rite laundry brought into question whether the premises where LPG tanks were installed were properly certified by the relevant authority which resides with the Ministry of Energy that has oversight under the Petroleum Act.
While the investigation by the fire services is still underway, Gopaul said the initial investigation revealed that “it may have been the result of defective installation. Work was done on the installation during the week and it was not properly recertified.” He said business owners needed to ensure that they complied with OSH standards.
Gopaul told the GML Enterprise Desk that the handler on that site was “a hero, he realised something was wrong and he immediately ran into the building and alerted everyone. They were able to run out.” 
But there is another growing problem which the fire services is concerned about He said with the growing number of nuts vendors with carts with open flames, there was a danger in that they could explode at any time.” Gopaul said: “The entire public is put at risk when we violate the laws.” 

Illegal entry into T&T is being made more difficult as the Government steps up border security on land and sea.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon yesterday confirmed moves to step up border security following Wednesday’s exercise by police and immigration in which 30 people were questioned and 24 detained.

During the exercise, authorities checking vehicles along the Priority Bus Route asked commuters for identification. The 24 people who were detained were placed at the Detention Centre. 

The National Security Ministry yesterday confirmed that the exercise was the latest phase of operations to deal with illegal immigrants. It said those detained in Wednesday’s exercise included four Jamaicans, one Dominican Republic national, two Cubans, one Grenadian, ten Guyanese, one Nigerian, three Chinese, one Vincentian and one person from Sierra Leone.

In February 2015, then National Security Minister Gary Griffith, in announcing a “crackdown on illegals,” estimated that there were 110,000 illegal immigrants from 16 countries living in T&T. 

He said they would have been given the opportunity to regularise their status and if non-compliant would be located and returned to their homeland. He added that there were many illegal immigrants in T&T contributing heavily to crime and gang activity and if these undesirables were removed it would have a positive impact on the anti-crime fight.

Yesterday, Dillon said maritime borders—prime points for illegal entry—were being tightened, as were entry points on land in his government’s heightened efforts to deal with crime and gang warfare. 

Dillon is planning visits to various areas and agencies in coming weeks to reinforce those plans.

Dillon said he would visit the Detention Centre soon since it was in a “terrible” state. 

He said he has called for certain rearrangements to be done at the centre and for the processes regarding Caricom nationals to be expedited when such individuals have to be returned to their homeland. 

He said discussions had been held with the Jamaican high commissioner on such matters. 

The minister said halting illegal access to T&T was also geared towards clamping down on foreign culprits involved in terrorist activities entering T&T. 

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, meanwhile, told the T&T Guardian that the Government was using a multi-pronged approach to dealing with returning T&T-born terrorist fighters—those who had served with ISIS in the Middle East—and this would involve operationalising existing law plus co-operation with international parties. 

That is currently being finalised at various levels of the Government.

“A special Anti-Terrorism Unit has also been established in the Attorney General’s office to handle such matters,” Al-Rawi said.

“We’ve retooled arrangements which had existed in the AG’s office, but hadn’t been used. The past administration, which had co-sponsored the United Nations anti-terrorism resolution, however, didn’t operationalise what they were doing.” 

Al-Rawi also said authorities who mounted a surprise search in the Port-of-Spain prison between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning found 28 new high-tech cell phones.

National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA) president David Lopez says it is wrong to allow children to compete in the Senior Parade of the Bands competition.

Lopez, in an interview on Thursday, commented on the National Carnival Commission’s (NCC) revision of a rule that prohibited children from playing mas in competing bands on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the NCC announced a revision to rule nine of the competition handbook which initially allowed a limit of two per cent for masqueraders under 18 playing in competing bands.

This rule was a revision of the NCBA’s rule that prevented all children from participating.

The new revision allows bands a limit of 30 per cent under 18s. 

Lopez said there was a problem with children’s bands entering both the junior and senior competitions. He said the Monday and Tuesday competitions were for adults and inappropriate for children.

“The environment with the alcohol and other things; if you as a parent decide that you playing mas and you want to carry your child in a band it is a different thing than bringing a band with a majority of children,” Lopez said.

He said the problem was lawlessness as certain people didn’t want to abide by the rules.

“If you have a competition there must be rules and it must be fair across the board.

“What is interesting is that they created a rule saying two per cent and that didn’t sit well with certain people.”

Lopez said it was strange that the revision of the rule was made after registration for the competition had closed. 

He said it was totally wrong for children to be in a senior competition. 

“If a parent wants to bring their child to be exposed to all the things on Carnival that is your responsibility, children should be allowed to be children as long as possible.”

“There is a junior competition for children. Should adults be able to play in junior bands? When will we stop? We know we are living in a lawless society, why must people be allowed to bend the rules?”

He criticised the statement from NCC Chairman Kenny De Silva that the revision of the rule was to let families play together.

“NCC has invested $18 million in regional carnival to teach children the skill. They will be on the street in a different environment. Over $18 million on regional Carnival and the children will display their arts, the jab jab, pierrot grenade.

“There is no alcohol in this environment. There is no police with machine guns. That is the space for them.”

As golden rays of the morning sun streamed through the sky, the re-enactment of the Canboulay Riots unfolded before eager spectators who turned up at Piccadilly Greens in Port-of-Spain from as early as 4 am yesterday.

The event, annually put on by the National Carnival Commission (NCC), heralded the start of the much-anticipated Carnival weekend.

Even before the start, eager adults and children alike filled the bleachers at the venue and then surged towards the stage area to get a proper view of the performance.

Hundreds, including awe-struck tourists, witnessed the re-enactment which depicted uproar by the descendants of freed slaves against attempts by the British police to crack down on certain aspects of Canboulay. 

These descendants would re-enact the time when the enslaved African was roused by the planter to douse the fires in the canefields to save the crop: cannes brulees or burning cane.

Chairman of the NCC, Kenny de Silva, yesterday hailed the event as a success, saying he was happy the show ran smoothly.

“Everything went well. There were no hiccups and the turnout was also very good. We have a reserved area for public officials and all those tickets went from very early,” de Silva said.

He said that given the smooth start it was a signal of better things to come as the reign of the Merry Monarch had finally arrived.

De Silva also thanked the NCC’s Regional Carnival Committee chairman Lennox Toussaint for ensuring the show was well organised.

The main focus of the re-enactment was that the revellers banded together in order to have their celebrations.

They were eventually recognised and granted two days to keep their Carnival as long as they did not cause any disruptions.

The slaves’ descendants were portrayed by individuals of several communities inclusive of Laventille and Malick.

After the re-enactment, stick fighters, drummers, blue devils, Dame Lorraines and other traditional Carnival characters took to the stage to perform, signalling the start of the revelry which ends at midnight Tuesday.

Gypsy (Winston Peters) won his ninth National Extempo Monarch title during Kaisorama 2016—The Night of Champions staged by Trinbago Unified Calysonians Organisation (TUCO) at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, on Thursday night.

In a keenly contested final with his closest rival and defending champion Lingo (Joseph Vatour La Placeliere) that highlighted their knowledge of words, quick thinking and wit to create rhyming sentences, Gypsy convinced the judges that he was superior on the occasion and was rewarded with the $250,000 first prize. For his effort Lingo won $150,000.

Eight participants contested the first round. They were Brian London, Dion Diaz, Lingo, Lady Africa (Leslie Ann Bristow), Myron B (Myron Bruce), Abebele (Neil Baptiste), Black Sage (Phillip Murray) and Gypsy. Their topics included Smart Woman; Is Not A Horn, Is A Helping Hand; A Deputy Essential; Cyar Make Love On Empty Belly; Marriage Advice; and Fighting For ISIS, among others. 

The four selected and paired to advance to the second round were Lingo/Myron B, and Gypsy/Black Sage. Their topics were Who Does Lie Better, Man or Woman; and No More Night Mas, respectively. Black Sage and Myron B were eliminated, but earned the third and fourth prizes, together valued at $125,000. Contestants placing fifth to eighth won $20,000 each.

In the Categories Competition, Karene Asche won the social commentary segment and $50,000 prize for her showcase of Bring Back De Love. Placing second and winning $30,000 was Brian London with We Trinidad, while third place and the $20,000 prize went to Helon Francis doing Paradise.

Duane O’Connor was adjudged winner of the political commentary category for his offering titled Modern Nursery Rhymes. Cro Cro (Weston Rawlins) placed second with Advice To The Boss, and Chuck Gordon (Roderick Gordon) was third singing Fixing Time. Prizes in both categories were the same. A 15-member panel judged contestants in the areas of lyrics, music, and presentation. 

The programme was staged in tribute to Trinidad Bill (Paul Trotman), a Carnival renaissance man whose multiple contributions to the arts in Trinidad and Tobago have had a significant impact on the creative landscape. 

Making guest appearances on the playbill were Natasha Wilson, reigning Calypso Monarch of Barbados William Waithe (Classic), legendary panman Ken “Professor” Philmore, North West Laventille Cultural Movement, Calypso Rose (McCartha Lewis) and David Rudder. 

Musical accompaniment was provided by Kelly Green and Harmony, and show host duties were shared by Wendell Etienne and Omari Ashby.

The saying the voice of the people is the voice of God was no truer yesterday than when the youngest artiste in history Aaron St Louis (Voice) took home the title of the International Soca Monarch 2016.

It comes four years after he failed to capture the win in his final performance at the Synergy Soca Star season seven.

At 23, the artiste is enjoying his first year of breakaway success with a powerful, uplifting and progressive soca track that fete-goers have been singing word for word.

St Louis performed Cheers to Life on Fantastic Friday night, wearing a white and gold suit, and standing between two massive champagne bottles. 

His introductory video was a video of reggae icon Bob Marley in an interview where the artiste was asked about riches and shut down the interviewer with the statement that riches were not money.

St Louis focused on his vocals and while he said the results didn’t matter to him, the big screens flashing the word “Winner” in bright, big, gold letters, and the grin on his face as he exited the stage following his performance spoke of confidence and satisfaction with his effort.

Minutes after the stage was cleared for the final artiste, defending champion Olatunji Yearwood, to perform, the patrons who had filled out the stadium continued to repeat the chorus of “cheers to life.”

The Soca Monarch supporters screamed his name when asked if they had seen their winner.

Placing second was 24-year-old Akeem Chance (Preedy), who is another first-time finalist at the event with his song Veteran.

Preedy delivered his performance with a vocals warm-up as he walked towards the microphone at the centre of the stage and, cool as can be in his charcoal three-piece suit, began singing Richard Nappy Mayers’ bring back the Ole Time Days.

He crooned the lyrics of Lord Kitchener’s Sugar Bum Bum before segueing into the lyrics of Veteran with “Do you remember when?”

On the screens at the side of the stage, videos of Wendy Fitzwilliam’s Miss Universe win, national cricket icon Brian Lara and T&T Olympic winning moments accompanied his performance which took a nostalgic stroll through the patrons’ psyche.

Preedy was also given a “blessing” by calypsonian David Rudder.

In a draw for third place was soca songstress Patrice Roberts and Dexter Stewart (Blaxx) in perhaps his greatest performance in soca history with the song that evoked the second biggest reaction from the audience.

Blaxx had the audience thrilled as he brought the fire and rhythm section and the dutty mas, and flawlessly used fog and warm orange lights that glowed on the faces of drummers, adding an exciting and somewhat sinister atmosphere to the theatrical performance.

He went so far as to attempt to try the fire-breathing trick himself, though it seemed that he almost had an accident on stage.

Patrice, in a performance that was fun and showed her amazing skill at wardrobe changes in a matter of seconds, made good use of the powerful vocals she is known for.

There were some shaky moments in her delivery but for the most part the songstress delivered and had flag crews reacting in a frenzy as her final moment on stage saw her technical team shooting out dollar bills along with confetti into the crowd.

Patrons were awed by the fact that as compared to previous years, almost every performer delivered more than mind-blowing performances.

Newcomer Pternsky, who was the only competitor to sing a dancehall song at the soca event, spent more time than necessary serenading and praising Jamaican producer Kurt Riley.

He sang that it wasn’t about the competition for him, which was fortunate as the audience did not show much appreciation for the performance.

Patrons were overheard saying it was the best Soca Monarch experience in years.

This came as a surprise to many who had been strongly critical of the event.

This year, scalpers were outside selling tickets for as low as $50 for the VIP section and practically giving away general tickets.

But the stadium, which had small handfuls before 11 pm, filled almost completely by midnight.

The show started with seven minutes of fireworks which saw patrons looking up in awe and also in fright as residue from the Roman candles floated down into the VIP section.

Then it was time for the Breakout artiste competitors—Jadel and Salty. 

Jadel was the eventual winner of the category.

Salty, who seemed to have added verses to a song which was lyrically deficient by most standards, thrilled audiences with his rendition of Girl Meets Brass.

His performance was promising and preceded a very strong performance from Grenadian duo Cloud 5 with their song No Behaviour.

As the duo descended onto the stage bringing their jab invasion from Grenada to Port-of-Spain, the crowd, lulled into comfort by a lengthy performance from Chutney Soca Monarch K.I, came alive with the intent to jump and wave and misbehave. 

While the duo performed in suits which looked more like ninja wear than alien chic, patrons cheered their approval, singing along to the lyrics.

M1 aka Menace followed up on the energy released by the jab men, with a presentation that was theatrical and seamless.

M1 re-enacted a J’Ouvert scene on the stage, complete with both the traditional characters of moko jumbies, fire-blowing devils and midnight robbers and the more prominent regular short pants and T-shirt wearing revellers. His white T-shirt and pants became a canvas for the “dutty mas” players who took the pristine cleanliness as an invitation to share in paint and mud, and he performed and sang his song without a hiccup, as his team backed him on stage.

The two Bajans followed next, Peter Ram with a hype song whose underwhelming performance was backed by high energy dancers. Unfortunately, his energy didn’t seem to peak at the same level.

Hypa Sounds chose to fetishize the Catholic schoolgirl look with dancers on chairs gyrating to his excellent delivery on vocals. He focused on his song, which has been a hit on local airwaves and at fetes.

As host Sunny Bling announced the next artistes, prop men brought nine-foot banners with the words, “T&T Land of the Free,” emblazoned in national colours.

Soca artiste Lyrikal, dressed in a mas costume, set the stage with a replica of a shed with a gas lamp illuminating dancers who portrayed slaves prior to 1838. With tassa dancers and steelpan he brought energy.

In a series of what seemed to be endorsements from more popular and established artists, maybe a potential changing of the guard, Sekon Sta was given singing support by vocalist Nadia Batson who joined him on the track Magic, to the crowd’s screaming approval.

Later, Ricardo Drue would be endorsed by former Soca Monarch champion Bunji Garlin.

The battle is on for the $1 million first prize in tonight’s prestigious Calypso Monarch competition.

Eleven finalists—four women and seven men—will come up against defending champion Roderick Chucky Gordon for the prestigious title at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Having captured the coveted crown in 2014 and last year, Chucky is aiming for his hat-trick when he competes against his rivals at the Big Yard.

While Chucky is optimistic about his chances, his competitors, some of whom are newcomers, are equally confident of winning the monarchy.

These were the responses of the competitors hours before they appeared on stage.

Seale: It’s all about execution

Devon Seale said his chance of winning the crown “is just as good as last year. I feel very confident. I just finished rehearsals and it went down flawless. On Sunday night it will boil down to execution and timing.”

Seale said he expected a few of his rivals to be strong with their performances, but that would not deter him.

This will be Seale’s 11th attempt at the title. The closest he came to winning was last year when he placed second.

“I have been singing calypso for over 20 years. I will come up with a few tricks of my own to snatch the monarchy.”

Seale will deliver Respect God’s Voice and The Spirit of Carnival.

Cro Cro: I am coming out blazing

Four-time calypso monarch Weston Rawlins, popularly known as Cro Cro, is gearing up for a fifth victory. Cro Cro will perform Advice to the Boss and I Sorry for Gayle.

I Sorry for Gayle tells of the missteps of West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle who recently faced severe backlash for his comments made to television reporter Mel McLaughlin.

“ I still have a few verses to write about Gayle but it’s coming along nicely. God will give me the inspiration to put together a powerful song. I am coming out blazing.”

Cro Cro described last Saturday’s Calypso Fiesta competition as weak.

“I don’t think Chalkdust should have been there. So help me. I was disappointed because Sean Daniel should have never been left out of the finals. That is the man I was afraid of,” Cro Cro said.

He complained that many of the semifinalists sang with the same melody.

Chucky: Aiming for his hat-trick

Roderick Gordon, known in the calypso fraternity as Chucky, is aiming for his hat-trick.

Chucky thinks his chances are as good as anyone else’s.

“It’s all about execution and delivery. You can never tell what number can play on Sunday night. It’s a two-song competition and you just have to go out there and give it your best shot. It’s a strong line-up. People like Cro Cro, Chalkdust and Gypsy can come up with anything on the night.”

Chucky will deliver Fixing Time and It Ain’t Go Wuk.

Helon: Taking one step at a time

First-timer to the Big Yard, Helon Francis, is promising not to disappoint patrons in the Grand Stand.

Francis, 22, who is the youngest competitor in the contest will sing Paradise and Real Bandit.

Real Bandit earned Francis the 2016 Young Kings title.

Pursuing a Bachelor’s in Performing Arts at the University of T&T, Francis said he intended to take one step at a time and be himself.

“I am not going to outdo myself to look awkward. I will just be myself and go with the flow.”

Queen Victoria: 

Promises not to disappoint

Known as Queen Victoria in the calypso world, Victoria Cooper-Rahim will render songs The Aftershock and More Hope for the Poor.

Both songs were written by Queen Victoria’s father Victor Cooper.

“I am just ecstatic and proud to be among the finest of entertainers. Just being a finalist is an accomplishment in itself.”

A mother of a four-month-old baby, Queen Victoria who is close to completing her Bachelor’s in Social Work said this would be her fourth consecutive year gracing the stage.

“I am going out there to do my best. I will not disappoint.”

Lady Adanna: 

A first-timer on stage

My Music and A Murder a Day.

These two calypsoes will be sung by 50-year-old Marsha Clifton aka Lady Adanna, who is a first-timer in the competition.

Though this will be her debut on stage, Lady Adanna has been singing for the past 20 years.

“I have worked as a background singer for many calypsonians over the years. It’s nothing new to me being on stage with them. The only difference is that Sunday night it is going to be a competition. I am a strong believer in God. I know things are going to work in accordance to God’s will.”

Outside of the Carnival season, Lady Adanna of Pointe-a-Pierre manages her own sewing shop.

Chalkdust: Inspired by the Mighty Sparrow

Veteran calypsonian Dr Hollis Liverpool aka Chalkdust is back in the ring this year.

“I am in town very long. I am going to go through the paces. I want to thank Tuco for selecting me because they left me out last year. They said I was too old. I am glad they realised their mistake.”

Chalkdust’s two selections are The Road Bad and When Trini Get Vex.

“Those songs were written by me. Nobody has never written for me in my life. May the best man or woman win,” the 74-year-old bard said.

Crowned the Calypso Monarch eight times, Chalkdust said he was pushed by calypso king of the world the Mighty Sparrow Slinger Francisco to go for his ninth victory.

Sparrow and Chalkdust have both won the monarchy eight times.

If Chalkdust wins he will break the deadlock.

Skatie: Leaving 

everything in God’s hands

Carlos James, popularly known as Skatie, thinks 2016 will be his strongest.

Skatie will sing Back on Track and Jus Come Chinee.

Selected 14 times as a finalist, Skatie said he does not see anyone as a challenger.

“I don’t think about anyone when I go out to perform. My mission is to deliver to the people and judges. 

“And what the judges do they do. I don’t think about challenges. This year will be very strong for me because I think I have two good songs. I am leaving everything in the hands of God.”

Gypsy: I am back as 

a full-time entertainer

Former Ortoire/Mayaro MP and minister of culture Winston Gypsy Peters is back in the Savannah. In 1997, Gypsy was adjudged winner of the Calypso Monarch with his famous Little Black Boy calypso. 

Gypsy said he refrained from entering competitions while he served as a government minister.

“I never gave up singing in the tent even as a government minister. I sang in the tent every year.”

Ship of State and Too Many will be Gypsy’s choice of songs.

“ I am not singling out anyone as my toughest challenger. 

“I have always identified myself as a calypsonian. That is what I am...that is what I will always be. 

“Everything that I have in life calypso gave it to me...including being a minister of government. I started singing when I was four years old. I don’t know anything else. 

“I am back as a full-time entertainer.”

Gypsy said he has already been booked for gigs outside of T&T.

FINALISTS

• Marsha Clifton 

(Lady Adanna)

• Victoria 

Cooper-Rahim

(Queen Victoria)

• Dr Hollis Liverpool 

(Chalkdust)

• Karene Asche

• Winston Peters 

(Gypsy)

• Carlos James 

(Skatie)

• Selvon Noel 

(Mistah Shak)

• Weston Rawlins 

(Cro Cro)

• Devon Seale

• Heather Mac Intosh

• Helon Francis

• Roderick Gordon 

(Chuck) 

(2015 Monarch)

Out of line, out of bounds and out of place!

That’s how former speaker Wade Mark yesterday summed up Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s move to take charge of restoration works on the historical Red House building.

Mark was joined yesterday by Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal who described Rowley’s move as “an attempt by the PM to micro-manage multi-billion dollar construction projects. This approach has inherent dangers when a PM gets his hands in such matters.” 

A release from the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday stated that Rowley will chair a restoration committee established to oversee restoration of the Red House, President’s House, Stollmeyer’s Castle, Whitehall and Mille Fleurs.

The committee, comprising Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, also decided to abort the existing tender exercise of the Red House in the light of changes made.

The release stated that a number of decisions were made with respect to the Red House’s scope of works. Construction of additional parliamentary space (the Parliamentary Complex), which would have been catered for in any new construction, will instead be accommodated at Cabildo Building.

The formation of the committee came days after chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T Noel Garcia in an article in last week’s Sunday Guardian estimated the cost of the Red House project at $340 to $400 million, to be completed in 2018.

Construction of the complex, exclusive of outfitting costs and Value Added Tax, was estimated at $346.1 million without contingency.

In response to the new decision, Mark said Parliament was an independent arm of the State which could not be dictated to.

“My position to Rowley is to take his hands off the Red House. You cannot come like a big jefe or big czar as a Prime Minister and tell Parliament what and what not to do. If he does not learn fast he will learn soon. He must know that he cannot do what he is doing.”

Mark said former prime minister Patrick Manning discovered to his own peril that he could not move the prime minister’s office to the Red House.

“You cannot change the scope of work on Parliament, and even if you want to do that it must be done properly. What I am calling for is an immediate establishment of a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Parliamentary Accommodation, as was done under the last administration. If they want to change the scope of work they must bring that to the JSC. No prime minister could tell us how to run the affairs of Parliament.”

Mark said in 2010, a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Parliamentary Accommodation was established under the chairmanship of former minister Stephen Cadiz, of which Rowley was a member.

In 2012, the JSC compiled a report which showed that restoration work on the Red House, inclusive of construction cost, was estimated at $241 million.

The Parliamentary Complex was projected to cost $205 million, inclusive of preliminary site works, Mark said.

“This Government is on a rampage. They are undermining independent institutions. Now they are trying to hijack the Parliament. I am not going to let Rowley, Imbert and Al-Rawi mamaguay and fool this country. If Rowley has problems with money the proper approach is to come through the proper parliamentary channel.”

Yesterday, Imbert said he could not answer questions that fell under Udecott’s purview.

Garcia and Rowley yesterday failed to respond to text messages sent to their cellphones.

“He got off too easily!”

That was the lingering thought of the 28-year-old mother of the five-year-old child that was sexually assaulted by alleged paedophile and sex predator, Franklyn Chea Callender.

Callender was found hanging from a rope tied to a mango tree near Cemetery Street, Princes Town.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday on the death of Callender, the woman said that when she heard the news she was very shocked.

She also admitted that she did not know that Callender had been arrested and charged, and was out on bail for rape and robbery.

“We have known each other for one year and we got involved intimately and were together for ten months. It is when I saw the pictures and videos of my child which was about two weeks ago I broke up with him,” the mother said.

“Everything has come like a shock and I am trying to cope with things. I never knew he was like this and never had the slightest clue or suspicion because he was so kind, nice and quiet to me,” she added. The woman said that she was even scared to think of what he had done to other children in secret and the torment he had put them through.

“He was always around children, even his own. I feel that his own child mother also had no clue of this. This is such a frightening thing,” the woman said. “I wanted him to be arrested and go through trial, not to go easy like this at all,” she added.

The woman said that she was going through Callender's cellphone one day when she came across horrific pictures and videos of Callender forcing her daughter to perform oral sex on him. In one video he was heard telling her that she would get snacks if she was good and did not tell anyone because of the trouble she would get into if she did.

Asked how her daughter was doing, the woman replied that her daughter clung to her a great deal but she hoped that one day she would forget her trauma and grow into a normal young woman.

“She playing as normal but have moments that she would throw some serious tantrums but thank God that he did not go further with her and scar her for life. I am hoping that she grows out of it somehow and that there is no long-term effect,” the mother said.

The mother said on Friday she was taken to the police station where she was given a form to sign up for professional counselling for her and her daughter. She added that she was hoping if the counselling sessions came through it would help her deal with this difficult emotional and mental situation.

The mother also had a warning for mothers like herself: “Keep your children close to you at all times. Do not leave them with no strangers. Watch every move and examine them. Do not even trust an uncle, nobody!”

On Friday, police found strapped to Callender’s stomach a laptop which is believed to contain more pictures of him engaging in sexual activity with children.

Members of the Police Service Cyber Crimes Unit were said to be going through the computer “with a fine-tooth comb,” to see if the five-year-old child of his former lover was his only victim or if there were pictures/videos of others.

Callender’s body was discovered by passers-by hanging from a four-foot length of rope suspended from a mango tree some 30 feet from Cemetery Street, metres from a nearby burial site.

Padarath calls for sex offenders’ registry

​In light of the death of alleged child molester Franklyn Chea Callender, Princes Town MP Barry Padarath has joined the chorus of activists to lobby the Government for the establishment of a sex offender’s registry.

In a release yesterday, Padarath said a registry will be able to address sexual offences, not only against children but also adults and would be a preventative measure as opposed to reactionary.

He said once the list was compiled and continues to be updated, citizens must have dialogue on publishing the names of sex offenders, “since the identities of criminals should not be protected,” Padarath said.

Police said Callender, 31, a security guard of Gajadhar Lands, Princes Town, was found hanging from a mango tree at Cemetery Street around 1.30 pm Friday. His death came four days after his girlfriend was shown photographs of him sexually assaulting her five-year-old daughter.

Padarath said the former People’s Partnership government was engaged in putting together the framework for the registry and called on Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to expedite its establishment.

A touch of madness, rage and arrogance was the recipe that led Anand Rajkumar’s killer to senselessly stab him to death yesterday morning, according to Rajkumar’s relatives.

A report stated that Rajkumar, 36, of Standard Road, Fyzabad, was liming a stone’s throw away from his home at Indra’s Bar around 3.20 am. As the bar was about to close, another patron met him in the car park and began to chase him with a knife.

An eyewitness told police that when the suspect caught Rajkumar, he stabbed him twice in his left-side torso and back before getting into his car and driving off. The suspect was identified as a man from San Francique and despite searches by police, yesterday, he remained in hiding.

At the family’s home yesterday, his sister Meera said he was at the bar while another villager and the suspect were gambling with cards. She said it appeared that the man was losing. With the bar closing, Rajkumar walked outside and the suspect followed some time after.

She said as the suspect reached his car, he saw Rajkumar and started to chase him around the car. She said the other card player was inside the bar when the owner closed the door. She said relatives got the news shortly after but by the time they reached the spot, Rajkumar lay dead in the car park.

“The witness at the bar said my brother had nothing to do with that man. People from the area know him to be arrogant and he probably got in a rage and stabbed my brother. He came with that knife like he had some intentions,” Meera said.

His mother, Pooloo Rajkumar, said she last saw him alive around 5 pm when he left home to lime by another bar in the area. She said no one knew where he was until they got the sad news.

“The gas truck came around 5 o’clock and he came outside and got it for me. He came back home, lie down for a while, then he got up, bathe and told me he was going for a walk. He left and went by Annie’s Bar and drank two beers. I did not know he went up by that other bar,” Pooloo said.

$1.2 million.

That’s the cost to host tonight’s Dimanche Gras show at the Queen’s Park Savannah. This figure excludes the $1 million that will be awarded to the Calypso Monarch.

Confirmation came from chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) Kenny De Silva.

NCC is Carnival’s governing body. “I am happy to report that we did not exceed the budget for the show,” De Silva said.

Speaking on Thursday while examining final touches to the big stage at the Savannah, De Silva said he hoped T&T would have two days of crime-free and enjoyable Carnival.

“We are hopeful and optimistic that we will have a smooth Carnival. Everything is in place for the greatest show on Earth,” De Silva said.

Of the 4,500 Dimanche Gras tickets printed, De Silva said 50 per cent had already been sold.

“Sales have been going steady and we are expecting a sell-out crowd on Sunday.”

Reserved tickets are priced at $400 while general admission costs $250.

The theme for this year’s show is Unforgettable—The time line of your life.

On Friday, producer of the show, Carl Beaver Henderson, gave some insight into the packed programme, which begins with a pre-show at 6 pm.

The show gets started at 7 pm with steelband group Pure playing an array of tunes. The 2016 Junior Calypso Monarch, Sharissa Camejo will open with a rendition of Our Blessed Land. Henderson said this would be followed by the 11 Calypso Monarch finalists and reigning champ Roderick “Chucky” Gordon each singing their first calypso as they vie for the prestigious title.

Patrons would then be treated to a comedy from Errol Fabien, Learie Joseph, Nikki Crosby, Pennelope Spencer, George Gonzales and Tommy Joseph.

He said approximately 60 Carnival characters, comprising gorillas, feathered Indians, Jab Jabs, moko jumbies, midnight robbers and masqueraders would grace the stage, while the lyrics of Kerwin Du Bois’ Unforgettable would be played in the background to entertain the crowd.

“We are also negotiating with calypsonian Super Blue to be a guest performer. But we are still awaiting word,” Henderson said.

Henderson said competing calypsonians would then do their second song

The programme is expected to come to an end at 11.45 pm.

Henderson said he expected the results to be announced by midnight.

“We don’t want to go beyond midnight with the performances. We intend to keep the show as tight as possible,” he added.

Q: Mr Williams, what would you do differently if you are confirmed as Commissioner of Police...do you want to answer that question now or later in this session?
A: (In a relaxed mood, elbows resting on a large mahogany desk in the conference room in his office at the Police Headquarters, Sackville Street, Port-of-Spain, Monday morning) Yes. I will answer that now. I will do exactly what I am doing, leading the police service successfully.

Successfully, do you honestly believe you are doing so at this time?
Successfully! Successfully! And it is important for somebody to check into the leadership of the TTPS since I took over in August 2012, and one of the things you would readily recognise is that 2013, 2014, 2015, and year-end figures are the three lowest annual total of serious crimes within the country and within the last 33 years.

Mr Commissioner, I am not being facetious, but do you include homicides as serious crime?
Yes. And when we speak of homicide that has not gone down the way that society is demanding and expects, including the TTPS, and we in the police service will want those figures to drop. Hypothetically, if you are walking down the road and a guy put a gun to your neck and snatches away your valuables, that’s a crime. Do you consider the traumatising effect that crime would have on you, your wife and family?
 
Mr Williams, hasn’t the homicide rate been a blemish on your stewardship even though you were able to reduce other segments of crime for which I think you ought to be congratulated, but…?
 (Quickly responding and pulling himself up on his chair) Tell me which Commissioner of Police has not been confronted with homicides. So it’s a societal issue which we have not as a society effectively addressed.

Did you say we have not effectively addressed that issue?
Yes. I am saying that, yes. That’s why we have high homicide rates.

But Sir, you have been in the chair for some years now and still the country is plagued with homicides, some of them committed in the most gruesome and brutal instances. And I don’t think that people care about other serious crimes.
(Fired up over that question) They’re not? They’re not?! You are not seriously concerned, Mr Raphael, as to whether your wife or child were raped? You are not seriously concerned whether you are robbed on the streets? You are not seriously concerned whether your house is invaded by criminals and you and your entire family traumatised? You are not seriously concerned about those things?

Right, but?
The point is we trivialise the situation because we are only concerned with homicides.  But every time something happens to citizens...or is it only when you are personally affected...

Mr Commissioner, I know that the police cannot predict what evil lurks in a man’s mind or heart but whenever a murder is committed, people are horror-struck and no doubt they would look to you, the chief, to ascertain what is taking place on an almost daily basis. And can you give any assurances…?
Well, it is not about assurances, it is to give you some analysis around homicide, and one of the things I can share with you is that in 2015, 81 per cent of those homicides were committed with the firearm...take firearms out of the mix. How many we remain with? And if you calculate 19 per cent of 420, what do you get?
And that is the reality in T&T, which is why since I took office you have heard me consistently, like one voice in the wilderness, emphasising the need for this country to ensure that we seal our borders from the illegal firearms entering our country.
(Clasped hands hand-cuffed style on the desk) But I want to continue on this homicide matter. Can I?

OK. Precisely what are you getting at?
Yes. In order for us to effectively address homicides it starts with preventing firearms from entering T&T and that is only the start, but we need to focus as a society on the young ones, the young people in this country who are sent in the wrong direction and which goes right back to the core institutions: the family, the church, schools, all of that amount to make this thing alright. Police are only one facet of this ongoing attack on the criminal element. It’s a work in progress, and we continue to work to ensure that this country is a safer place with the elimination of the violence and education, and the development of the young people.

Recently, Mr Williams, you publicly observed that we are a violent society?
(Interrupting before the question was complete) Would you agree with me? Would you agree with me? Would you agree with me?  (Voice slightly raised) When 420 people are murdered in a country with just about 1.3 million won’t you agree with me that we are indeed violent?

I agree, but that doesn’t absolve the police from…and this brings me to this point, why, Mr Commissioner, with all the resources given to the TTPS over the years, we still have this abysmally low crime detection rate?

As head of the TTPS I would like to see a better detection rate. We have focused on reaching a target of 30 per cent and T&T does not stand on its own, there at 23 per cent cent, and you look at this figure around the world, then you will recognise that it is not necessarily an extremely low detection rate. 

Mr Williams, I am not doubting the accuracy of your detection figure but I am wondering how and when did we move from somewhere around ten to 12 per cent?

Around ten? No. Where did you get ten from? 

Wasn’t this the figure being carried by local media for some time now?

Listen (eyes wide open)…if you just do the check through the years, the CSO published the statistics and you will find no ten per cent...what you would find is 17, 15, 18. And a closer check will show that there has been a progressive approach from the time I became head of the TTPS.

Yet, Mr Williams, the figure is still unsatisfactory?

What will be an acceptable detection rate? And acceptable in what context? All crime which is committed against people should be detected, that would be acceptable. But where in the world that happens? What do we factor in? A developed country has a particular rate, and T&T does not have it.

Mr Williams, I am sorry to belabour this point, but having seen police officers working abroad you get a sense they are more proactive, training… 

(Interrupting) Are you really aware of policing in T&T today, or you just box yourself into a historical position that policing of the past was this way and it remains the said way as in the past?

Mr Commissioner, you see the problem I have is that the TTPS has been given a tremendous amount of resources over the years, yet we keep hearing about this rather low figure...

Resources for what? The bulk of the resources, financial resources, go into paying salaries.

So what kind of resources you want that you do not have?

For goods and services so you can advance yourself with cutting-edge technology which are out there in the world. We do not have what we would want to.

Are you saying, Mr Williams, that you do not have cutting-edge resources for your men and women of the TTPS?

I am saying that we do not have the best resources to do the job that we would want to do for the society of T&T. Every year I submit what we need, give the rationale for proposing what we have proposed and the Ministry of Finance decides what they would give us.

So you are definitely not satisfied?

I am not satisfied, and I am saying we will work with what we get.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia says yesterday’s Republic Bank Junior Parade of Bands showed how mas could be enjoyed without people being “scantily clad.”

He said he enjoyed what he saw at the Queen’s Park Savannah when bands, from mini to large, totalling 112, crossed the stage.

The event was scheduled to start at 7 am and end at 3 pm but got off to a late start around 8 am downtown.

The national anthem was played at 9.45 am at the Savannah and then it was a burst of colour and costumes with hundreds of junior masqueraders prancing and jumping to Machel Montano’s Stage, which was the dominant song for the day. 

Garcia paid tribute to the children who he said showed resilience, creativity, and a desire to keep the culture alive.

He said, “Mas could be enjoyed without being scantily clad and if we are to follow what our children have taught us today, perhaps, in the not too distant future, we can see masqueraders being fully clothed and not being exposed to the extent to where it is sometimes degrading.”

He said yesterday’s parade was a lesson on how to play mas by being “very decent.”

He also praised the children with disabilities from the Princess Elizabeth Home who came out and enjoyed themselves.

Indiscipline among students is one of the issues on the front burner when the Ministry of Education holds two national consultations this month—one in Trinidad on February 15 and the other in Tobago on February 22—to discuss a range of school-related issues, including the curriculum and the Concordat.

There are many issues plaguing schools in T&T—bullying, sexual misconduct, peer pressure, physical violence. The issue of indiscipline and violence has become a runaway horse, videos of students fighting in classrooms, on the streets and even with a police officer and MTS security guards have gone viral. 

Over a week ago, there were reports of two separate incidents at two schools in south Trinidad where teenaged school girls were sexually assaulted in their classes by their peers.

Fights among young boys which end up in serious injury and in one case in 2013, young Renaldo Dixon, a student of Waterloo Secondary School, was stabbed to death on the school compound by a peer over a girl.

There was even an incident at the Chaguanas North Secondary School involving students who threw firecrackers into a classroom while teachers were there.

According to the Ministry of Education, 3,300 students were suspended in the period 2009-2010 and in 2012, 2,200 students were suspended. Former education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said 700 of those students had to have extended suspensions.

And the mayhem continues in spite of the $400 to $500 million spent annually in the last four years to curb indiscipline and school violence—a total of $1.6 to $2 billion over the last four years.

In fact, authorities have been grappling with the problem of indiscipline in schools for decades. In 1989 the then NAR government hosted the “National Consultation on Violence and Indiscipline in Schools.” 

That consultation was jointly hosted by then education minister Clive Pantin and the then TTUTA president and now Education Minister Anthony Garcia.

The 1989 consultation resulted in the White Paper on Education, which went on to form the basis for education planning for both the NAR Government and subsequently the PNM Government. TTUTA President Devanand Sinanan told the GML Enterprise Desk that it was “such a good plan that it bridged the political divide.” While some of the recommendations were implemented, 26 years later the issue of indiscipline and violence in schools continue.

The 1989 report considered the education of parents crucial to the eradication of violence and indiscipline in schools and by extension the wider society. Educators remain convinced that parental guidance is critical to dealing with the problem.

The TTUTA president said: “The school violence that existed back then and now are different levels, with different dynamics. Because education is dynamic, and society is constantly changing, the needs of learners will also be changing and schools have to be able to respond.”

He opined that the issue of school violence and school indiscipline must be part of a holistic plan “to treat with the reconstruction of the social fabric of society.” 

Sinanan said: “The behaviour in school is symptomatic of a deeper social reality that currently exists. We need to get to the root and the root is not located in the school.”

Sinanan said we have gotten it wrong because we have been treating it as if it’s isolated and unique to the school, rather than a societal problem. 

He said because of the failure to build the social fabric, many young people “behave in a violent manner and treat with issues in a violent way.” 

He was concerned that too many young people have “no respect for themselves or for others, they lack empathy, elements which are required for the creation of a just and equitable society that we envisage where all of us can enjoy the rights that are enshrined in the Constitution.”

Many of us, he said, cannot enjoy our constitutional rights because the violence goes from schools to the wider society and vice versa. 

“Many of us cannot walk the streets or enjoy ownership of property, we live in fear that someone will snatch our valuables, trespass into our homes and violate our persons, as is the case with the girls assaulted at schools,” he said.

While schools do not create the problem, Sinanan said, schools were now being called upon to effect solutions to problems that lie beyond their realm and remit, but “it certainly does not have the resources to do it.” 

“We cannot find that recipe to reconstruct the society without all institutions playing their rightful role. I am talking about the family, media, religious organisations, NGOs, various arms of the State, etc.”

According to Sinanan, we have been failed by the Judiciary, the Police Service and the Prison Service. 

“They have not delivered what they should have done. All of them have contributed to the current state of affairs.”

He is optimistic that the national consultations will bring solutions and that a comprehensive national education plan would emerge “not just for five years, but for a longer period.”

Other education stakeholders are also optimistic that some tangible and workable solutions will emerge. 

The Education Minister said he expected the consultations will “bring ideas to move forward.” 

Garcia said “too many times we hear of indiscipline in schools and the teachers’ problems with the students. It must be brought to an end.”

He said there were many impediments which affect children in the classrooms, including bullying. 

“There is evidence it has been reported that many students are being left unsupervised in our schools. 

“We will be engaging behavioural psychologists qualified in the field to assist us.”

The minister is hoping that experts will attend and give their views at the consultations and that the ideas generated would help bring about some solutions to the ongoing problem.

Whatever happens in society will spill over into schools

—NPTA

Meanwhile, president of the National Parent Teacher Association Zena Ramathali told the GML Enterprise Desk the association has been meeting “to formulate a position paper for the consultation.” 

She did not want to go into details but said that “as a key stakeholder in education the group is looking forward to a national dialogue on some of the issues impacting the education system, and some workable solutions.”

The first vice president of the NPTA, Maureen Taylor-Ryan, in assessing the situation, said very often “children who are violent in schools are simply playing out the reality of what they live.”

She said 50 per cent of those students who are described as “delinquent” really have other problems. 

“They are very depressed, they live in communities where they witness violence, they are victims themselves, they live in single-parent homes. We need trauma centres dailyguardian06-february-2016

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Measures taken in 2015 to reduce school violence by then education minister Tim Gopeesingh included:

n Full complement of security officers for all schools

n Full complement of student support services which constitute guidance counsellors, guidance officers and school social workers with educational, behavioural and clinical psychologists

n Over 280 remedial teachers and close to 300 substitute teachers in primary and secondary schools

n Establishment of a Circle of Hope where students have a special session on a weekly basis where they speak with teachers on issues

n Implementation of a system where motivational speakers visit schools to have chats with children

n Formation of a Parenting Academy

n Security officers have two hand-held scanners in secondary schools

n Several schools have been installed with CCTV Cameras

Source: Ministry of Education 2015

About the consultations

Some of the major areas for discussion at the consultations will be the Education Act, the Concordat, infrastructural development and school maintenance, the Early Childhood Care and Education system, improving education service delivery, developing methods to encourage a closer involvement of parents in the education of their children and school indiscipline. Maximising the use of locally grown foods in the School Feeding Programme will also form part of the discussions.

Desperadoes Steel Orchestra ended a 15-year drought of Panorama wins on Saturday night when it captured the 2016 National Steelband Panorama title and $1million prize at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain.

Playing a Carlton “Zanda” Alexander arrangement of Different Me, composed by Jovan James and sung by 5 Star Akil, the band from the hills of Laventille registered its eleventh victory at the 53rd edition of the annual steelband contest presented by Pan Trinbago by amassing a score of 285 points.

The last time Desperadoes won a Panorama title was in 2000 playing a Clive Bradley’s arrangement of Oba Sinnette’s Picture On My Wall. 

Appearing in the penultimate position among the ten finalists in the large band category, Despers created wild excitement among its fans with a rekindling of the distinctive musical sound of the 1970s and 80s that distinguished it from other steel orchestras, clearly indicating to them that it was a “different me” they were listening to from the one heard during the past ten years.

Placing second by a narrow one-point margin (284) was First Citizens Supernovas Steel Orchestra doing an Amrit Samaroo arrangement of Breakthrough, composed by Mark Loquan and Amrit Samaroo. 

The successful “breakthrough” by the former small conventional band into the rank of the large conventional bands category this year earned the Lopinot-based musical aggregation $700,000 in prize money.

Phase II Pan Groove (in partnership with Hadco) and bpTT Renegades tied for third place with 283 points each. The Phase offered Len “Boogsie” Sharpe’s arrangement of his composition Madd Music, while Renegades played Johann Chuckaree’s composition Music Inside Meh Head, arranged by Duvone Stewart. Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) Invaders, scoring 281 points, placed fifth with Take Dat, composed and arranged by Arddin Herbert.

Defending champion Massy Trinidad All Stars had to settle for sixth place with a score of 280 points for its interpretation of Clive Telemaque’s Leave We Alone arranged by Leon “Smooth” Edwards. 

In seventh place was PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars (277 points) playing Panoramic, composed and arranged by Liam Teague. Tobago’s RBC Redemption Sound Setters doing Chris “Tambu” Herbert’s No, No We Eh Going Home, arranged by Michael Toby and Darren Sheppard, placed eighth (276 points).

Ninth place went to NLCB Fonclaire (272 points) for Ken Philmore’s arrangement of Bass on Fire composed by Mark Loquan, Seion Gomez, and Gregory Ballantyne. Skiffle placed tenth (266 points) for Damien Etienne’s How She Like It, arranged by Kendall Williams, Odie Franklin, and Marc Brooks.

In the Medium Conventional Bands category, Pan Elders Steel Orchestra of San Fernando completed a hat-trick of victories when it won the 2016 title and $600,000 prize doing “Me Eh Fighting For No Man,” composed by Leston Paul, sung by Bally (Errol Ballantyne), and arranged by Duvone Stewart.

Tobago steel orchestras NLCB Buccooneers and Petroin Katzenjammers placed second and third respectively. Other placings were as follows: Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille, NGC Couva Joylanders, NGC Steel Xplosion, Curepe Scherzando, Melodians, Carib Dixieland, and West Side Symphony.

On the occasion, Pan Trinbago presented awards to tuners Bertrand Kellman and Wallace Austin; steelband contributor Damien Holder; and steelband leader Curtis Pierre for their services to the development of the steelpan. 

Pan results:
Large Conventional Bands:
1. Desperadoes
2. First Citizens Supernovas
3. bpTT Renegades
3. Phase II Pan Groove (in partnership with HADCO)
5. CAL Invaders
6. Massy Trinidad All Stars
7. PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars
8. RBC Redemption Sound Setters
9. NLCB Fonclaire
10. Skiffle

Medium Conventional Bands:
1. Pan Elders
2. NLCB Buccooneers
3. Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille (Tie)
3. Petrotrin Katzenjammers (Tie)
5. NGC Couva Joylanders
6. Curepe Scherzando (Tie)
6. NGC Steel Xplosion (Tie)
8. Melodians
9. Carib Dixieland
10. West Side Sy

The victory of Desperadoes Steel Orchestra in this year's National Panorama finals comes as a shining light for the people of Laventille, especially given the recent upsurge in crime where two school children were gunned down while on their way home.

It was the 11th win for the large band steel orchestra after a long 16-year drought season. Another Laventille-based band, Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille also managed to cop third place in the medium band category.

Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, who was on stage when the results were announced, sent out a heartfelt congratulations to the Panorama 2016 champions.

Gadsby-Dolly said  she believes  the victory will showcase Laventille in a different light, instead of the stereotype of the people of Laventille involved in guns and gangs. “The Laventille bands, its members showed everyone that they could achieve the best and reach to that pinnacle of success,” Gadsby-Dolly said.

She added that her ministry, on the heels of Despers victory, will now be working on strategies to channel in the young people positively.

“We want to do things to keep capturing the positivity and in some way, I would like to work with the youths and really see how many young people we could get to channel them in that right and positive path. I was on stage and I heard certain comments from people and it brought that sense of relief and contentment that yes, positive things can come out of Laventille,” Gadsby-Dolly added.

Residents on the hill yesterday celebrated Despers pan side's victory despite the fact that the band was forced to move out because of crime. On December 12, the side made a temporary move to Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain at the Greyfriars' church compound.

T&T Guardian, was however, told yesterday that refurbishment works were currently underway at Despers original site in Laventille and the band was expected to return, hopefully very soon in the near future. Part of the refurbishment works is to include a theatre.

In an interview yesterday, Councillor for the Beetham/Picton area, which Despers falls under, Akil Audain described the placement of both bands, especially Despers’ victory as a positive sign.

“The victory could not have come at a better time than this. Recently we were plunged into mourning and still shaken up over the murders of the boys but at least this victory and Sounds Specialist coming in third in their category are enough for us to celebrate and feel happy and positive about ourselves,” Audain said.

Audain said he believes that the victory is just the beginning of the positive transformation of the people of Laventille.

“I believe that this victory will impact positively on the people of Laventille and hopefully when the band returns to the hills it will draw the young people to it in a positive manner. This is like a shining light. This is what the people of Laventille need to begin its healing from crime,” he said.
Retired lay minister at the Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church, Wendell Noel also sent out congratulations to Desperadoes and said that he feel a sense of pride.

“This is a tremendous victory for the people of Laventille and I am more than happy for them,” Noel said. He added that he strongly believes that the band's victory will motivate and encourage the young people to join the band in an attempt to turn away from the life of crime.

“It will show them that they can be part of something good, successful and something in which the entire country could be proud of,” Noel said.

Pregnant women in T&T who are experiencing flu-like symptoms and numbness in the legs are being advised to consult their respective gynaecologists urgently to have Zika and Guillain-Barrê syndrome testing done immediately. Guillain-Barrê syndrome causes paralysis and can be fatal. This syndrome is said to be currently a growing health concern amidst Zika. 

The warning yesterday came from gynaecologist Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who officially returned to his practice last month. Gopeesingh throughout the years have been heavily involved in politics and at one time held the post of Minister of Education in T&T under the People’s Partnership government.

In an interview  yesterday, Gopeesingh said he has been bombarded with calls from women, who are pregnant, expressing their concerns over Zika. 

“No pregnant woman wants to be the first Zika case so that is why I suggest that anyone experiencing mild symptoms, maybe just a slight fever or any flu-like symptoms please go to your doctors and have a laboratory testing done,” Gopeesingh said.

“First and second trimester are very critical, especially the second, seek to have ultra-sounds done so that the foetal head size can be measured and monitored,” he added.

Zika Virus is a mosquito-borne infection spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. It is of the belief that pregnant women who contract the virus during pregnancy, at any trimester, may have an increased risk of giving birth to a baby with microcephaly, which is a birth defect, where the head is abnormally small and the brain can be under-developed. 

T&T Guardian was told that over the past few weeks, although there are no reported cases of the Zika virus in T&T, several pregnant women throughout the country are raising concerns and are putting forward questions to their respective nurses and doctors as to what they can do.

On the Guillain-Barrê syndrome, Gopeesingh said that the muscular disease correlates to Zika, “So, pregnant women need to look out for any unusual symptoms and go get them-
selves checked.”

A medical doctor, who wished not to be identified, from the North West Regional Health Authority said that he has also been approached by women in the Antenatal Clinic. “From what I gather these women are worried and are concerned but what must be on top of our minds is that T&T have no Zika,” the doctor said.

Neonatologist Dr Petronella Manning-Alleyne yesterday gave the assurance to pregnant women and women, who think they might be pregnant to not worry and to just “keep the faith.”

“We have no identified case of the Zika virus here and I don’t know why the widespread discontent. Watch, wait and do not be worried,” Manning-Alleyne said.

She, however, believes that the panic and growing concerns may be as a result of the announcement made by the Health Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh on February 5 that there is now a national public health emergency. Following Deyalsingh’s declaration, on February 8, the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency.

“All we have to do is clear all breeding sites, keep our surroundings clean and ensure that we all follow the health advisories and keep the faith,” Manning-Alleyne said.

According to an issued statement by the T&T IVF Fertility Centre last week, being pregnant does not make the Zika infection worse or more risky. 

With respect to treatment, the statement read: “there is no specific treatment for the symptoms of the Zika virus. Drinking plenty of water and taking paracetamol may help relieve symptoms. The use of aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen is not recommended, as there is a potential risk they could trigger excessive bleeding.”

The organisation added that although it is unrelated to Zika, the H1N1 flu virus is of concern for pregnant women.  

“If you have not yet had the H1N1 flu vaccine then you should talk to your doctor or health centre about this vaccine. H1N1 flu virus is present in Trinidad and Tobago and all pregnant women or women thinking of getting pregnant are advised to have the vaccine. All pregnant women are also advised to take folic acid supplements during pregnancy,” the statement said.

Reducing risk of infection with Zika
- Avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. The most effective bite prevention methods, which should be used both day and night are; using insect repellent that contains DEET on exposed skin—the repellent is safe to use during pregnancy and should be applied to skin after sunscreen is applied.  
Check the instructions to see how often to reapply. Most insect repellents will last for 2-4 hours.

- Wearing loose, dark clothing that covers your arms and legs and socks to cover your ankles. You can also wear clothing with mosquito repellent (Permethrin) impregnated into the material.
- Staying indoors and using screens over doors and windows to prevent mosquitos entering property
- Sleeping or resting under a mosquito net
- Consider postponing travel to any region where a known outbreak of the Zika virus is occurring
- Ensure that your home and work environments have no possible breeding sites for mosquitos and encourage everyone you know to do the same

Symptoms include
- a mild fever (38.5 degrees C)
- conjunctivitis (red, sore eyes)—not sticky or purulent
- headache, muscle pain, weakness and tiredness
- mild arthritis or joint pain with possible swelling in the small joints of the hands and feet
- an itchy rash which is made up of red patches with small raised bumps (maculo-papular) usually starting on the face and then spreading to the body
- less frequent are gastrointestinal symptoms, vertigo and retro-orbital pain (pain behind the eyes)

In light of the death of alleged child molester Chea Callender, Princes Town MP Barry Padarath joins the chorus of activists to lobby Government for the establishment of a sex offender’s registry.

In a release, Padarath said a registry would be able to address sexual offences, not only against children but also adults and would be a preventative measure as opposed to reactionary.

He said once the list is compiled and continues to be updated, citizens must have dialogue on publishing the names of sex offenders, since the identities of criminals should not be protected,” Padarath said.

Police said Callender, 31, a security guard of Gajadhar Lands, Princes Town was found hanging from a mango tree at Cemetery Street around 1.30 pm Friday. His death came four days after his girlfriend was shown photographs of him sexually assaulting her five-year-old daughter.

Padarath said the former People’s Partnership government was engaged in putting together the framework for the registry and called on Attorney General Faris Al Rawi to expedite its establishment.

Hundreds of children had their second day of fun in the sun with another day of Kiddies Carnival in Downtown Port-of-Spain yesterday. From toddlers to babies in strollers to teens they all came out, dressed in splendor to participate in what has been known as the greatest show on earth.

Yesterday’s display was a continuation of the spectacle which took place on Saturday at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain. Members of law enforcement were also present, keeping a close eye on the activities as junior masqueraders pranced and jumped to Machel Montano’s Stage, which was the most popular song of the day.

Police also ensured there was a smooth flow of traffic at the alternate routes in and around the city. Snow-cone and popcorn vendors were present at almost every corner as scores of spectators gathered at the Brian Lara Promenade to witness the magnificence.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia who attended Saturday’s Republic Bank Junior Parade of Bands said the event was proof that mas could be enjoyed without the common trend of people being “scantily clad."

“Mas could be enjoyed without being scantily clad and if we are to follow what our children have taught us today, perhaps, in the not too distant future, we can see masqueraders being fully clothed and not being exposed to the extent to where it is sometimes degrading,” Garcia had said. The minister had also praised the children with disabilities from the Princess Elizabeth Home who also came out and enjoyed themselves.