Members of the Joint Consultative Council of the construction industry (JCC) yesterday walked out of a meeting with National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) chairman Carson Charles before it began. 

Shortly after 2 pm yesterday, members of the media arrived at Nidco on Melbourne Street, Port-of-Spain, in response to an invitation from Charles to witness the opening statements of the meeting on the Armstrong Report on the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy highway to Point Fortin. When JCC members arrived at the conference, however, they expressed surprise at the media presence and JCC president Afra Raymond left the room, along with several members.

Raymond was heard saying the group had not been invited for the purpose of talking to the media. He spoke to Nidco staff and urged other members of the JCC to leave the conference room. The group walked to another room in the building to have a closed-door meeting among themselves while Charles addressed the media. “It is a misunderstanding,” Charles said, adding that Nidco could not force the JCC to do anything. 

“We will meet with them anyway. We are going to have a nice long chat this evening but with respect to the media, they don’t wish to have that before the meeting,” he said. Charles admitted that it was a protocol issue and the JCC had not been told the media would be present. He said he felt there would be no problem with the meeting itself which continued despite the confusion. “They just prefer to talk in private,” he said. 

Charles said the JCC had asked for the meeting to discuss what Nidco had done with the Armstrong Report and to follow up on issues listed in the report. He denied Nidco had ever had a problem with former Senator James Armstrong heading the committee, which reviewed the disputed Debe to Mon Desir section of the highway. 

He said while he had no problem with the committee itself, it was inaccurate to say it was independent, as Armstrong and the other professionals on the committee had been selected by the JCC. Asked why, if there were problems with the constitution of the committee, the Government had agreed to pay for it, Charles said Government contributed to the payment but did not fund the entire project. 

He said the Government was asked to contribute by the JCC and agreed to give approximately $800,000, while the JCC funded approximately $400,000. Charles said the Armstrong Report had been considered and said he would discuss that with the JCC then issue a statement.

Grand Bazaar mall, Valsayn, was shut down yesterday after a fire broke out at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant. Three other businesses—Off Rodeo, Girls 2–7 and Mark of Style stores—suffered smoke and water damage, a statement from ANSA McAL’s Group Corporate Communications Department said. There was no report of injury, it added.

The fire began at 11.05 am in the kitchen of Ruby Tuesday on the upper level of a building facing the Uriah Butler Highway. The fire started in the grill and after attempts to extinguish it failed, the Fire Services were called in. Speaking with the media at Grand Bazaar yesterday, Anthony Salloum, general manager of the mall, congratulated the staff and security officers for their swift action, adding he was hoping the rest of the shopping complex would return to normal. 

He was not sure of the cost of the damage or repair, but said if the building was to be demolished and re-built it would take eight months to a year to complete. One tenant told the media she was disappointed in the Fire Services, which responded within 15 minutes after receiving the call. She said had the proper equipment been used, probably there would have been less damage.

Some tenants said they were frustrated that they were not allowed to remove some of the goods in their stores in an attempt to minimise loss. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. ANSA McAL, which owns the mall, said it regretted the inconvenience caused to its customers and tenants by the incident. “We expect to be fully operational as soon as security and safety clearance are given by the authorities,” the statement added.

Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr says he was denied entry to Jamaica on Wednesday because the Jamaicans were angry over T&T’s decision to deny entry to 13 of its citizens recently. Abu Bakr spoke during a news conference at his mosque at Mucurapo Road, Port-of-Spain. He also denied that he was a security threat to Jamaica. “What threat am I to Jamaica? I mean, really?” he asked. 

Bakr denied he was on an Interpol watch list, recalling he was freed by the Privy Council of charges laid after the 1990 attempted coup. The Privy Council ruled in 1992 that the amnesty under which the insurrectionists were freed was invalid but it would be improper to rearrest and try them.

Abu Bakr said he thought Jamaicans had taken him for Isis leader Bakr al-Baghdadi but he maintained he was “Abu Bakr al-Trinidadi.” Noting that Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will be leading a Million Man march in Kingston tomorrow, Abu Bakr said: “I must be more dangerous than Farrakhan.”

Attempting a Jamaican accent, he said he was told by “a high official” that “the Jamaican authorities and Government are pissed off. Boy, last week them (T&T) hold some Jamaicans (and) send them back home and them no give them no phone call, no food to eat, them make them sleep on the floor and more than that, them murder a Jamaican youthman in Trinidad and make him kneel down on the ground and shoot him and Jamaicans are pissed off with that.”

Bakr said he spoke to the unnamed official who ordered that he was to be denied entry to Jamaica. He said the official responded: “Boss, where you now come from?” Bakr said he said Trinidad and the official replied: “Then you understand where it come from. You understand that this direction come from your own country.”

Bakr said he was told about Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Minister, AJ Nicholson, advising his T&T’s Gary Griffith to shut up and not muddy the waters on the issue of immigration between the two countries and the official told him to try and understand the existing atmosphere.  

No Caricom after this’
Bakr also insisted that Caricom must answer questions on the free movement of nationals from the region and said the matter may be taken to the Caribbean Court of Justice.  When he was finished, he said, there would not be any Caricom and he was holding the governments of T&T and Jamaica responsible for his detention.

Nevertheless, he was confident the T&T Government would resolve the matter and there  should be a diplomatic solution to the immigration dispute between the two Caribbean nations. Griffith said on Thursday there was no truth to claims that the T&T Government had given information to the Jamaicans about Abu Bakr’s visit. He also said Bakr’s being denied entry was not an act of retaliation by the Jamaicans after 13 of its citizens were denied entry here and deported.

Bakr criticised the Prime Minister’s failure to give financial support to his school at Mucurapo Road, saying he would not turn away any of the Jamaicans and children from other regional states who are being educated there. 

Private flight home
Bakr said he was denied a telephone call and it was not until High Commissioner to Kingston Dr Iva Gloudon intervened that he was able to leave the island at 3 am on Thursday on a private jet to Piarco. He said the flight was very comfortable and he felt like a prime minister while being flown home. The flight cost an estimated $250,000. Griffith denied the T&T Government paid for it.

Bakr refused to return home in an economy seat on a scheduled flight, he said, because he had a Caribbean Airlines ticket for a first-class seat. He said he was put in a holding bay while awaiting the private jet in Kingston and was accompanied by two members of the Jamaica Defence Force, one police officer and an immigration officer on his return flight.

The Arima Borough Corporation is complaining about inadequate funding to combat the chikungunya virus. In a press release yesterday the corporation said despite warnings from the Ministry of Health regarding the seriousness of the disease resources have been inadequate from the Ministry of Local Government. “The Arima Borough Corporation is being inundated by calls for spraying and treating with a higher than usual mosquito infestation while reports of the incidence of the chikungunya virus has increased.

“This corporation, like several other PNM-controlled regional corporations, has had its request for greater budgetary resources denied and does not either have the resources or the equipment to undertake the spraying or preventative measures which the burgesses are demanding in wake of the outbreak of the virus,” the statement said. In response to the complaint, Local Government Minister Marlene Coudray said yesterday she could not understand why the corporation would issue such a release.

She said there was a recent meeting in which all mayors attended during which she told the corporations to submit proposals regarding funding for ChikV. “I really do not understand on what basis would they now come and issue such a release. We spoke about the proposal and to date I have not received it. So I really do not have time for that. “There is another meeting coming up next week and I am hoping the corporation would attend,” Coudray said.

Arima Mayor George Hadeed said he was not sure whether the corporation had been asked to submit a proposal at that meeting as he had reached the meeting a bit late. “But if there was a proposal I will work on it immediately and I will ensure that it would be sent as soon as possible. What the minister told us is to use the monies from our unspent balances but this takes a very long time to access,” he added.

He also encouraged burgesses to do their part and clean their surroundings and not wait on the corporation to do so.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has admitted that the Ebola virus was the greatest threat facing the people of T&T. She said so during Thursday’s Divali dinner at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s. 

The Prime Minister noted that while citizens have been distracted by the objections to major infrastructure projects, such as the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin, which appeared to have mesmerised so many and attract premium media coverage, the greatest threat which faced the nation was the Ebola virus.

She told guests of decisions taken earlier by her Cabinet to deal with the Ebola virus, which included the banning with immediate effect of all visitors from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She said Vice-Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier Anthony Phillips-Spencer is to chair the Ebola Prevention and Response Team to be established to manage all aspects of the Ebola virus in the country.

It will also include representatives of the Maritime Services Division, Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Airports Authority, National Operations Centre, the Port Authority of T&T, Point Lisas Industrial Development Corporation, all established trade unions and the private sector. She said a Port Health Committee also would be formed. 
Its objectives are:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
• Sensitisation of front-line personnel at T&T’s major points of Ebola. 
• Strengthening public health emergency preparedness at ports of entry.
• Creating standard operating procedures (SOP), testing via table top and drill exercises.
• Strengthening surveillance methods, 
 
According to Persad-Bissessar all major hospitals, district health facilities and certain health centres have been identified as designated triage areas for suspected person with Ebola.  She also said Cabinet had agreed to the allocation of a five-acre parcel of land within the acreage of the Sugar Heritage Village and Museum, to the National Ramleela Council of Trinidad and Tobago. 

She said the land would be used to establish a Ramleela Heritage and Festival Village. Persad-Bissessar said the Ramleela Heritage and Festival Village arose out of a need for the preservation, propagation and development of the Ramleela Festival. 

Many individuals in the local cricket fraternity are sad and disappointed that the West Indies team took the decision to end its tour of India after the fourth One-Day International because of salary disputes between the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The disagreement stemmed from the recently signed Collective Bargaining Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding agreement between WIPA and the WICB on September 18, 2014.

The West Indies One-Day (ODI) team led by Dwayne Bravo threatened to strike on the eve of the first ODI (October 8) as the players were unhappy with the new salary arrangement put forward by WIPA president Wavell Hinds. Bravo, in a letter to Hinds on October 3, said the he (Hinds) inaccurately stated the players got a 300 per cent increase in match fees, when the truth is the players are receiving 90 per cent less than what previously existed in the overall fees. This was one of many concerns the players had with the agreement.

In a phone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, former West Indies opener Bryan Davis said it was a sad day for West Indies and he did not agree with the move by the West Indies players. Davis said: “I feel very sad, very disappointed, my heart is suffering. It is a lack of courtesy, integrity to the hosts. I can’t believe anybody can be so unfair to the game of cricket.” Davis believes West Indies should have played the rest of the tour and returned to the Caribbean resolve the situation with WIPA and the WICB, saying it is unfair to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 
The former West Indian player said the senior players must be held accountable.

The West Indies were scheduled to stay in India until November 19 to play one more ODI, one T20 and three Test matches. West Indies have played the lower ranked teams in world cricket recently, including Bangladesh in the Caribbean, and Davis said that this tour would have been a good measuring tape to see how the team was progressing. Nine cricket tours have been abandoned in the past, but this is the first time a tour was abandoned due to players’ actions. In the past tours were abandoned because of war, political upheaval or bad weather. The last abandoned tour was in 2010/2011 when the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka was stopped due to rainy weather. 

T&T Cricket Board (T&TCB) executive members Lalman Kowlessar and Patrick Rampersad in separate interviews both disagreed with the decision by the players to abandon the tour. Kowlessar stated: “It is definitely embarrassing, it is an unfortunate situation. The players should have thought of the West Indies.” Kowlessar added that if there was more dialogue between WIPA, WICB and the players the situation could have been prevented. “When we (West Indies) lose games we are hurt; this will bring more hurt.” Rampersad said: “I can’t agree with calling off the tour. It should be sorted out between WIPA and the players.” The Merry Boys Cricket Club president added that the West Indies was starting to progress nicely but the team had now taken a step back. “West Indies are carded to tour South Africa at the end of the year, another top team, but this set back may affect this tour according to Rampersad. “This will impact on this tour (South Africa) as well.” WICB president Dave Cameron has chosen not to step in and talk to the players, making it clear that the WICB will only engage with WIPA.

As a gift to the Hindu community for Divali, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last night announced a 20 per cent discount on flour, rice and oil. Speaking at the annual Divali celebrations at her Penal constituency office, Persad-Bissessar said the discount will take effect from Tuesday until Divali, which will be celebrated on Thursday. 

The PM said similar to what was done on other occasions and in keeping with this Government’s goal to make food more affordable, the following National Flour Mills products will be discounted. The products include: 
•Ibis all-purpose flour (2 kg and 10 kg)
•Hibiscus all-purpose flour (2 kg and 10 kg)
•Lotus all-purpose, whole wheat, bakers and cake flour (2 kg and 10 kg)
•Five Roses all-purpose flour (2 kg and 10 kg)
•Lotus soya bean oil (all sizes–500ml, 900ml, 1.5 L, 3L, 5L and 17.25L)
•Lotus rice (all sizes)
•Cuisine all-purpose flour (2 kg)
•Club select all-purpose flour (10 kg)

‘Be Ebola vigilant at ports of entry’
Meanwhile, as the nation faces the threat of Ebola, the PM called on all those who guard the nation’s ports of entry to be vigilant, as one case of Ebola will be disastrous for T&T. “We must be vigilant more than ever. We must be our brother’s keeper. We must not allow Ebola to enter our country. While we may say that this disease has a remote chance of coming here, we must not let our guard down. 

“Those persons who stand guard at our borders and ports of entry must remain vigilant. The world has stood up and is coming together to fight this disease. Let us be part of that team that is focused on keeping Ebola away from our shores.

“Many among us would say that today Trinidad and Tobago and the global community are plagued by grave darkness. And that darkness is taking many forms —the darkness of terrorism, disease, abuse, injustice, inequality, poverty and hunger, natural disasters, and the negative effects of climate change. The PM noted the darkness right here in T&T. “We have the darkness of crime, and in particular the murders. We now have a new darkness—Ebola, which is threatening the world.”

PM calls on Maharaj to end hunger strike
The PM also called on highway supporter Ravi Balgobin Maharaj to end his fast. Maharaj continues his fast to counter the hunger strike by environmental activist  Dr Wayne Kublalsingh. “I call upon Ravi Maharaj, I do believe he is indeed truly fasting, I call upon him to end his hunger strike for your life is more important.” She told him to put his faith in the rule of the law and God Almighty. 

“According to the rule of law, construction of the highway will proceed and we will all benefit from the highway.”

Months after the Life Sport programme has been shut down, caterers, coaches, co-ordinators and participants of the programme are still being owed $20 million. But National Security Minister Gary Griffith who said, “Life Sport is dead,” indicated that his ministry will not pay a cent unless his permanent secretary (PS) can verify the legitimacy of invoices and services rendered by those who were affiliated with the programme.

A document leaked to the Sunday Guardian showed that of the $20 million, caterers who provided meals to participants in January, February and July are owed $6,860,370—the largest sum. The document gave a breakdown of the programme’s cost which amounted to $11,948,436.96, while the arrears stood at $8,651,231.90. Under programme costs, the document showed a list of people who are owed up to July 2014. They are:
• Participants’ stipends—$3,088,500
• Caterers—$3,200,000
• Co-ordinators—$1,110,000
• Coaches—$853,200
• Life skills—$500,000
• Staff at Youth Training Centre—$69,900
• Life Sport Committee—$31,875
• Life Sport operation expenses—$1,200,000
• Salaries—$690,386.96
• Staff contract obligation up to September 2014—$243,000
• Upgrade selected centres February 2014—$961,875.

The document also revealed that the “maintain and upgrade” bill for the life centres in December 2013, January and February 2014, was $2,522,256. Cleaning and janitorial services in January and February 2014 stood at $1,757,250. Kim Engineering was also listed to be paid $344,000.

Meanwhile, an additional $367,355.90 was invoiced, in advance, for special upgrade of the centres for October 2014, even though in July Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the termination of the programme in the wake of damning findings of a government-ordered audit which unearthed evidence of fraud and theft, and linked individuals in criminal activity.

Griffith said he has no intention of paying state funds to anyone who does not have proper documentation. “People have been coming in large numbers with claims of certain things. Unless I can get justification that the actual product was delivered, my PS will not be cutting cheques for imaginary projects and imaginary people for things that were never delivered or at exorbitant costs.”

Griffith said Sport Minister Dr Rupert Griffith can confirm that people had been making demands with no contract in hand. He said while many of the claims might be legitimate, “money will not be handed out freely; I will go through everything with a fine tooth comb when it reaches my desk.” In the coming weeks, Griffith said he plans to meet with the Sport Minister to discuss the revamping of the programme.

“The concept of the programme was never questioned, it was the end result.” Griffith said the ministry may work in tandem with sporting teams to act as role models to participants of the new programme. 

Former director threatens legal action
Meanwhile, former programme director of Life Sport, Cornelius Price has threatened to take legal action against the Ministry of Sport for failing to pay him his salary for the last three months. Price collected a monthly salary of $25,000. Price, whose contract ended in September, said he is owed $75,000 as the ministry was refusing to pay him his renumeration for the months of July, August and September.

“October is coming to an end and I am yet to be paid. I have since consulted with my attorney on this matter.” Sunday Guardian was reliably told that six workers whose contracts ended in September are also awaiting payments estimated at $300,000. On Friday, the Sport Minister refused to comment on the matter. He said matters involving Life Sport should be directed to the National Security Minister.

Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan is adamant that leaders of Carnival bands should not be compensated by the Government if next year’s mas is cancelled because of the Ebola virus. Dr Khan, who is leading T&T’s offensive against the deadly disease, which has not reached this country, said the State will not pay bandleaders one black cent. T&T, he said, is preparing to manage and destroy the virus if it should reach our shores. 

Khan described claims for millions of dollars by the PSA president Watson Duke as greedy and unpatriotic.

Q: Dr Khan, why is the Government waiting for the last minute to say whether or not Carnival 2015 would be postponed, and aren’t you concerned about the cost factor in terms of compensation to the bandleaders?
A: This is something that the Government cannot make a rash decision about, especially something that is happening in several areas around the world. Granted it has the capacity to spread, but the international agencies are doing their best to stop and decrease any spread.

Nigeria has not had another Ebola patient for the past 48 days and hence will be considered Ebola-free very soon. Other countries are also in a process of containment, granted that one case arrived in the US and two people became infected who have not died, and another one is in Spain, etc. These things are showing the rest of the world the mechanisms and approaches for containment and management.

 Some people, Dr Khan, are querying why should the Government feel obligated to pay bandleaders compensation if Carnival is postponed next year, when their presentations are profit-making enterprises. Why should the burden be placed on taxpayers to pay these people handsome sums?
Clevon (resolutely), I believe they should not be given one black cent from the Government. I also believe that those who stage Soca Monarch and chutney competitions should not get one black cent, either. The promoters of these shows do so with the intention of making some kind of profit, even though they do play a great role in promoting the culture of our twin-island State.

So the State should not fork out any so-called compensation package for the bandleaders?
That is my personal view, that the  Government has no obligation to give any bandleader any money. Life is about risks. Being involved in some aspects of our Carnival myself, these people do make lots of profit doing so. Tell me something, Clevon, when last have you heard of any Carnival bandleader donating part of their takings to charitable causes such as the Children’s Life Fund?

I am not saying some of them do not think about the less fortunate, but I cannot remember any of them doing that. So why should taxpayers contribute to their personal enrichment?

Dr Khan, aren’t you concerned about the possible backlash if Carnival, chutney soca, and the rest of these shows are cancelled or postponed and the Government does not dole out compensatory funds?
I do not see any backlash if they are not compensated. Just like any other business venture, they have to suffer their losses and perhaps smile when they make their profits. And remember, I said this is my personal opinion. 

Another thing I want to say is that most bandleaders over the years have been developing their all-inclusive pattern of masquerade bands and in the process, destroying the small vendors on the road as they were not making the kind of profit they made before the advent of the all-inclusive bands.

In effect, you are saying the small vendors have been taking a financial beating over the years while the bandleaders smile all the way to the bank?
Yes. Why shouldn’t they feel the pinch like the vendors, especially when their profits are being affected by an act of God?

Even though you are not in favour, do you think the Government would compensate them simply because they want taxpayers’ money “freeco style”?
At the end of the day, I cannot answer for the Government and as I said, that is my personal opinion. I don’t want to go anymore into it as I believe strongly about people being responsible for their actions.

Minister Khan, do you think that there is perhaps an unnecessary degree of panic in T&T judging from the comments of certain people like the Duke of Abercromby?
Who is that?

Watson Duke, the president of the PSA, headquartered on Abercromby Street, who is asking for millions of dollars for employees in the public health sector should they have to work with Ebola patients.
Oh, you mean that fellow? He wants money and other things…And as far as I know, Ebola has not even reached here as yet…which is not to say we think it is coming for certain. That is unfair. I don’t like that kind of demand, asking for millions of dollars. While we are trying to protect workers and every other citizen, it is very disheartening to see somebody demanding tons of taxpayers’ money upfront. That is heartless, if I could call it by its correct name.

The proper thing to do is to hold discussions with the Government or whoever else, but you don’t wake up one morning and pick up the newspaper only to read where somebody catching some kind of “vaps,” making unconscionable demands on the public purse. You don’t try to dig out people eyes for your own interest, based on fear worldwide.

Only selfish and greedy people do that...
Yes. And we have to be more patriotic to the cause of saving our population because if this thing is left unchecked, it may have serious effects where mankind is concerned. If you give every worker $10 million, you are squeezing the Government.
It is sad to know that somebody will take this international disaster and try to capitalise on it.

But aren’t the doctors making similar noises like the Duke of Abercromby?
If doctors make that kind of representation, they try to make it for different heads of departments. I will not consider it, I know that doctors should know better. They will get compensation but not ridiculous compensation. 

Dr Khan, how far has the Government reached in preparing for any onslaught or arrival of the Ebola scourge? 
We are prepared to a minimal extent, and we are aiming for maximum preparedness based on international assistance and education, so that is a process which will continue. In Texas they thought they were prepared, but we learnt from their mistakes. Also, we have been learning from international people. Percentage-wise, one does not look at that you have to be prepared when something comes.

Mr Minister, international experts and our own experts have said that Ebola is not airborne yet; there is also a considerable body of opinion claiming it is transmitted in that manner. What’s your reaction?
We are learning about the Ebola virus every day. The most recent hypothesis says that it could be possibly airborne; however that has not yet been conclusively confirmed or ascertained. Cabinet has appointed a group called the Ebola Prevention and Response Team, and the Ministry of Health also has an Ebola management team. Together they will come up with whatever is necessary to face this challenge head-on.

Like US President Obama has done, is T&T looking to appoint an Ebola czar?
I won’t call it an Ebola czar. Right now, I am in charge of leading this initiative, but we have Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Colin Furlonge as my person in charge. In other words, different name.

Finally, Dr Khan, is there any reason why citizens should be unduly alarmed over the Ebola virus on our shores?
What I would say is just hope that it never comes to our shores and if it does, we have to be able to contain it, manage it and destroy it.

T&T is still not ready for an Ebola outbreak. Dr Varma Deyalsingh, treasurer of the T&T Medical Board and secretary of the Psychiatric Association, said while the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) 12-bed capacity and Caura Hospital’s 48-bed capacity announced by Health Minister Fuad Khan to quarantine people with Ebola was a good start, it was not enough. Better containment of the virus, more equipment, and the training of staff are also required, he said. 

Deyalsingh said the health sector’s state of readiness against the deadly virus can be gauged by asking any random patient in the emergency department of any hospital how long they had to wait for treatment. 

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian in a telephone interview on Friday, Deyalsingh said an Ebola patient has to get up to 20 units of blood per day to save his life, “and we can’t even get two units of blood to do normal procedures that we have planned, such as elective surgery, much less cope with an influx of Ebola patients. “In T&T we lack the human and infrastructural resources to deal with Ebola. “We have to look at our Carnival, the celebrations, crowds present ideal conditions for Ebola to spread. 

“The virus is just a plane ride away from reaching T&T, one person can come here and destroy the whole if he is a viral bomb. Deyalsingh said there was a consensus among doctors, and the majority of them have said that Carnival should be postponed. He said, however, that while there was public education on Ebola, the Government was sending mixed messages—don’t stop the Carnival on one hand and warning about the dangers of Ebola on the other.

‘It’s like a predatory, molecular shark’

Deyalsingh described Ebola as a predatory, molecular shark. “It has motive, invades a cell and uses the cell’s genetic material to replicate itself, eventually infecting and consuming the whole person who will be teeming with the virus just waiting to spread further.” Deyalsingh said an eye dropper of blood can contain approximately 100 million particles of the virus. 

He said Ebola was like influenza in that “it can take down a lot of humans.” For the majority of cases Ebola was a virtual death sentence, from the moment the virus entered the bloodstream, for 70 per cent of cases, the war was lost. He said the damage done by Ebola in ten days took HIV ten years to accomplish.

Thermal cameras to detect Ebola give false sense of security

Deyalsingh said thermal cameras used to detect Ebola can give a false sense of security as they can register false positives. He said elevated temperature readings can be caused by another viral illness, such as Chikungunya, dengue fever, chicken pox and measles. Deyalsingh said a person taking Panadol can suppress the symptoms of a fever and pass the initial scan or Ebola test.

Ebola treatment and decontamination procedures

• He said Caura and Mt Hope hospitals’ plan for people on T&T’s Ebola watch list was to monitor them for fever. Deyalsingh said the incubation period for Ebola was 21 days and in that time they may not show any symptoms. 
• He said proper medical protocols called for isolation, contact tracing, and to ensure that health care personnel did not become the vectors for the virus.
• Deyalsingh said infectious patients are put in an isolation room, and health workers have to put on protective gear before entering the room. On leaving the room their protective gear is burned.
• Deyalsingh said patients are put in negative-pressure rooms that isolate air so it can’t circulate through the building, the same precautions taken for tuberculosis.
• He said the second stage was decontamination under UV lights, but sometimes particles from the protective gear can escape and cause infection. Deyalsingh said the health care workers may be fatigued and make a mistake during the decontamination process and infect themselves.
• He recommended that masks and disposable gloves be worn by staff at points of entry—airline personnel and immigration personnel handling passports and documents are at risk.
• Deyalsingh also recommended keeping a distance of three feet away from suspect individuals, bowing instead of shaking hands, and be aware of people with a fever.
• He said Government’s policy for people on the Ebola watch list to travel to health centres to be checked twice a day to see if they developed a fever was not a good idea. Deyalsingh said it was better to keep those people at home and to send a medical team to monitor them, rather than running the risk of infecting the population while travelling.
• He said incineration was the best method to dispose of contaminated waste material.
• Deyalsingh said the proper disposal of bodies with Ebola was cremation but this may present a dilemna in T&T, as some religions such as the Islamic fate do not cremate their dead.
• He said the danger with the Ebola virus was its viral amplification jumping from animal species to man. According to Deyalsingh, Ebola has been trying to jump out from its animal hosts and into humankind for a while now.
• Deyalsingh said there was the danger of animals such as rats coming in contact with infected, buried bodies. Scientists do not have enough data at present on whether this can be spread further.
• He said pet dogs of people who died of Ebola were also killed as a precaution.
• Deyalsingh said if the virus reaches T&T it must be contained at the quarantine centres. In the worse case scenario of an Ebola outbreak and Mt Hope and Caura hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, the remote island of Chacachacare, once used as a leper colony from 1922 to 1984, was an excellent option to quarantine people with the virus.

Dr Laquis: Use Clorox to wipe equipment
Meanwhile, in an interview with Sunday Guardian columnist Ira Mathur, Dr George Laquis, the former chairman of the T&T Cancer Society agrees with Cabinet’s position that anyone from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Nigeria, or anyone who has been there in the past six weeks, will not be allowed entry into T&T.

“The Government is absolutely right in stopping these people from entering T&T. We don’t have cases of Ebola. The trick here is to make sure we don’t get any at all,” he added. “All it takes is one handshake with someone with a cut (it can be passed through sweat and other bodily fluids). The number grows from two to four to 16. By Christmas, as many as a million people may die from Ebola.”

Dr Laquis, however, is cynical about claims that the Government is setting up an Ebola isolation unit at Caura Hospital to the tune of millions of dollars, and the plan to spend millions to procure protective equipment for medical professionals to treat citizens who may contract the virus. “Poorer Caricom governments such as St Vincent recognise that their only defence is to block people from coming into the country,” he said.

“But we are talking big, of an isolation centre. We all know, we all—including the politicians—talk a good story. We are a spin-master nation, but we don’t take it or ourselves or anyone else seriously. We don’t deliver. We are not serious. We don’t keep our word. It may never happen.” Dr Laquis said people should use Clorox to protect themselves if in a situation close to the virus. “Clorox. Some gyms in the US have a crew wiping equipment with Clorox every hour. 

“We should be doing that in Trinidad. Ebola is passed on by sweat and can get into a mucous membrane or open skin.”

‘Nurses will not be left exposed’
T&T Registered Nurses Association president Gwendolyn Loobie-Snaggs said the chief nursing officer on the Ministry of Health’s core team will ensure that nurses are given the proper training. They will also make available protective gear and equipment required for the management of Ebola patients. Loobie-Snaggs said nurses will not be left exposed, and all due care and attention will be paid to those who volunteer their services to care for Ebola patients.

Heerah: More protective equipment coming
Executive Director of the National Operations Centre (NOC) Garvin Heerah, meanwhile, said there were hazmat suits (hazardous materials suits) in the country but was unable to say how much. He said the Ministry of Health will be bringing in specialised equipment including PPEs (Personal protective equipment) very shortly to treat with the institutional management of any Ebola patient. 

Heerah said the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management will also be procuring PPEs for first responders such as the police, fire service and the Defense Force. 

UWI forum on Carnival 2015 and Ebola tomorrow
The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (Salises) is hosting a forum on Carnival 2015 and Ebola, tomorrow at 10 am, the Salises Conference Centre, the UWI, St Augustine. Specialist medical personnel from the UWI’s Faculty of Medical Sciences will also be present to contribute to the discussion and to answer questions.

Panelists carded for the event are Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan, Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz, National Carnival Bands Association of T&T president David Lopez, Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation president Lutalo Masimba (Brother Resistance) and Dr Jo-Anne Tull, lecturer in Carnival Studies, Department of Creative and Festival Arts, UWI. The session will be chaired by Roy McCree, fellow, Salises,

ebola facts
Deyalsingh said Ebola and its precursor, the Marburg virus, with similar symptoms such as headache, fever and internal bleeding, originated near Kitum cave, Mount Elgon in Kenya, where many different species of animals frequented. He said the cave also bordered Uganda, one of the first epicentres for Aids. He said the US army also kept strains of the Marburg virus for its “hot agents” or germ warfare research.

The Banwari archeological site is not yet a world heritage site and its potential to become one is in jeopardy with “unchecked and undermanaged development initiatives.” Speaking from Paris where she is attending the meeting of the biannual Unesco executive board, heritage educator Dr Kris Rampersad said misinformation was being bandied about concerning T&T’s world heritage status. “No one, on any side, has taken the time to check the information being presented,” she said.

Rampersad, who is a Unesco-Commonwealth trained heritage facilitator and the Unesco focal point for World Heritage in T&T, told the Sunday Guardian it was unfortunate the issue is being politicised and has become something of the rope in the tug of war between the State and the Highway Re-route Movement.

“That prevents the consensus building and nation building that occurs around a country’s preparation for world heritage status. I remain flabbergasted that with the significance and potential of heritage as a core growth sector as the alternative to petroleum and our best bet for diversification, that these most valuable timeless assets and heritage, in general, remain so low on the national action agenda,” she said.

Rampersad has been blogging about what she calls “The Other Magnificent Seven of south Trinidad/South America and the Global South” and has written to President Anthony Carmona and Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar (goo.gl/Um7YkU) asking them to take the lead in securing these assets which hold enormous value for T&T’s economic diversification, its knowledge economy, and its place in our global civilisation (www.kris-rampersad-blogspot.com).

In her latest Demokrissy blog post, The Politics of Disempowerment, Rampersad noted that while she has received encouragement and agreement by various sectors, some key custodians and line agencies of heritage have gone mum because the elements in focus are in the districts earmarked for the controversial highway extension, also the home districts of the President and the Prime Minister, and they do not want to get embroiled in what may be interpreted as the hype around the highway. 

“Trustee organisations and officials just don’t want to get embroiled, so it’s a case of fiddling while Rome burns.”  That has also been the fate of a change.org petition (goo.gl/tNAwm6) in circulation on the issue, said the outspoken Rampersad, who is also an author and independent multimedia journalist.

“The fact is that neither the site, nor any of the several unique invaluable heritage elements of south Trinidad are secured in world heritage terms so as to facilitate them acquiring world heritage status as they are. “Banwari is not a world heritage site as is being claimed. It is on a tentative list which is a list that includes items states submit that they intend to prepare for such status.

“The concept being promoted of the site—the half-acre plot of where the skeleton remains were found—is itself erroneous, as a heritage site involves broader association of factors. We have not yet done the investigations nor groundwork that will consolidate the scope and value, though my preliminary independent research suggests that it is just the tip of the iceberg of more fundamental discoveries that could substantially revise how this region’s evolution and migration among others have been viewed.”

Rampersad said heritage was not a footnote in national development. “It is likely to be the lifeline to which we would have to turn in the next two decades when the oil dries up.

National Security Minister Gary Griffith says they have seen “a direct link between criminal activity and illegal immigrants.” Griffith linked the illegal immigrants to illegal drugs and the growing gang activities in T&T. A release from Griffith’s ministry on Tuesday stated there are 110,000 illegal immigrants from 16 countries in T&T. On Friday, Griffith said the figure could be far more. Guyanese and Jamaicans make up the largest numbers.

He also said employers should encourage those who have overstayed their time to regularise their status if they consider them an asset to their businesses. “If that is not done, there is going to be some housecleaning in this country with illegal immigrants.” Griffith said some of the illegal immigrants try to utilise the resources of the State through education, healthcare, employment and housing. 

“That is where it becomes a burden to the State.” Immigrants would overstay their time by going outside of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) six-month period, while others make false claims to immigration officers, Griffith said. “The CSME is not one where you can enter a country and remain indefinitely.”

Bartlett: They demand more than our own people when it comes to health
Daphne Bartlett, president of the San Fernando Business Association, said outsiders flock to T&T because of our high minimum wage and good standard of living. “Some nationals from outside would also come in as criminals. I am not saying the Jamaicans are criminals but when they overstay their time, they become a burden on the State. I do CDAP prescriptions for people who are not Trinidadians.”

She said although patients have to show their IDs at pharmacies before collecting their medication, the doctors at the public hospitals do not deny non-nationals healthcare and prescriptions. “I have seen people who are non-nationals demand more than our own people when it comes to healthcare.”

Aboud: T&T presenting itself as a spoilt brat
President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (Doma) Gregory Aboud, meanwhile, said T&T has presented itself as a “spoilt brat of the West Indies, living high on oil and gas revenues, and lavishing its citizens with all sorts of extraneous giveaways without considering its long-term effects and poor work ethics.” The giveaway programme, Aboud said, has left a huge vacuum in our workforce.

Aboud said while the association supports Griffith’s call to clamp down on illegal immigrants, Doma is urging the Government to consider offering legal immigration status to Caribbean nationals who are seeking employment, willing to work, and contribute to the country’s economic development. “Trinidad is experiencing a chronic shortage of people who are willing to work, not a chronic shortage of labour.

“The fact of the matter is, it is extremely difficult to compete with work programmes, where people report to work at 7 am and leave at 9 am.”

As part of the UK Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Committee's activities in promoting the understanding of Magna Carta in the Commonwealth Caribbean, renowned Trinidadian philatelist and numismatist Albert Sydney has drafted several stamp designs for Caribbean governments to consider. 

Committee chairman Prof Sir Robert Worcester said he was in Trinidad to hold talks with a popular calypsonian on promoting the principles, awareness and understanding of Magna Carta via calypso, as different genres of music such as rock were used in different parts of the world to highlight the committee's activities.

Worcester was speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday morning at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain. Later in the evening, he was the guest speaker at the launch of the Commonwealth Caribbean lecture and seminar series at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Learning Resource Centre, St Augustine. 

UWI St Augustine has been awarded a grant by the committee to support the work of the university in promoting the understanding of Magna Carta in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Worcester said England will commemorate Magna Carta with a collection of minted coins and printed stamps for the event in June 2015.  His lecture ranged from freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, stature in society, gender, race, colour and sexual orientation.

Worcester said the first clause of the 1215 Magna Carta stated the English church shall be free and proclaimed religious liberty. He said that findings showed that the majority of people in T&T said that all religions should be taught in schools. Worcester said the Magna Carta was England’s greatest export as it affected the lives of nearly two billion people in over a hundred countries throughout the world, and influenced constitutional thinking.

He said basic principles where they didn’t exist had led to the loss of liberties, human rights and even genocide taking place yesterday, today and sadly, tomorrow. Dr Hamid Ghany, senior lecturer in Political Science and co-ordinator of the Constitutional Affairs and Parliamentary Studies Unit (Capsu) of UWI's Faculty of Social Sciences,  said he was very honoured to be involved with the project.

Trinidad was the first stop in the lecture series in promoting the understanding of Magna Carta in the Commonwealth Caribbean and will include Barbados, Cave Hill campus, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Jamaica, Mona and Western Jamaica campuses), St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Ultimate Group, parent company of mas bands Tribe and Bliss, on Friday won the inaugural Emerging Entrepreneur Award at the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce tenth Annual Champions of Business Dinner and Awards Ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.
The company, headed by Dean Ackin, which also offers production services through its Ultimate Events Company, beat out Trini Trolley Ltd, Everything Slight Pepper and Scorch Ltd for the coveted prize.
The category was one of two new features of the ceremony formerly known as the Business Hall of Fame and was rebranded to capture young entrepreneurs, while preserving its legacy of paying homage to trail blazers in the world of business. 
A positive consequence of the chamber’s new recognition format was that Ultimate Group would now be written into the annals of history. But the company would not be alone.   
Internationally Known…T&T Owned was another novel category introduced at the Champions of Business presentation which was won by Sacha Cosmetics.
Turning to the Hall of Fame inductees, the chamber bestowed the honour onto Michael Mansoor, chairman of the Dr Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, and Raymond Dieffenthaller (posthumously).
Moonilal Lalchan, president of the chamber, described the Champions of Business presentation as a new and enhanced version of the original Business Hall of Fame, which was introduced back in 2005 to fulfil a need to acknowledge the tremendous contribution of the business sector to this country’s development.
The ceremony, he said, quickly established itself and in the succeeding years, 23 stalwarts of commerce were inducted.
“This year, however, the chamber’s board took the mandate one step further. The chamber considered the scope of this signature event and realised that currently our forum did not give recognition to our pioneering medium-sized members who have successfully broken into the international market, or the passionate entrepreneurs who are challenging established norms and making a difference in the industries in which they operate. So was born the Champions of Business,” Lalchan said.
He said: “All over the world today, the face of business is changing as innovation pushes the envelope of what has perhaps been the mainstream for the last few decades. 
“Business today is borderless thanks to the technological revolution. Technology today, far from being at odds with the creative mind, can now work in tandem with it to support and expand the reach of the human imagination. 
This can be seen in the new wave of entrepreneurship, which is sweeping the globe and driving not only economic, but social prosperity in the most unexpected ways.”

India can learn how to celebrate Divali from T&T, as evidenced by the majestic presentations at Divali Nagar, says Indian High Commissioner Shri Gauri Shankar Gupta. In his address at Divali Nagar on Friday night, Gupta said, “The people of India can emulate you with your presentations of singing, dancing and music, all of which are phenomenal. “The Divali Nagar is symbolic of Indo-Trinidad culture, and this initiative is worthy of applaud from all of us. 

“It is also the culture of Indo-Caribbean culture.” Gupta said after 147 years, the Indian Diaspora has been able to fully preserve the religious and cultural practices brought from India. The Indian populace was sourced principally from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during the period 1845 to 1917, and they came here to enhance the agricultural capacity of the then colony of Trinidad. Approximately 148,000 East Indians crossed the Kala Pani to come here.

Gupta pointed out that the celebration of Divali has its origins in the Hindu scriptural text, the Ramayana, when Lord Rama returned to the City of Ajodhya after 14 years in exile, and the residents lighted deyas to celebrate his return home. “The message of Divali espouses good over evil, prosperity, equality, peace and  love,” he noted.

Government moved, yesterday, to save the life of pro-highway hunger striker Ravi Maharaj who collapsed outside the Office the Prime Minister, St Clair, yesterday after five days without food or water. Maharaj was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment. In a statement issued shortly after the incident, Communication Minister Vasant Bharath said the government was appealing to Maharaj to end his hunger-strike and preserve his health and wellbeing.

Maharaj took no-pay leave from his IT job at the Housing Ministry to start the hunger strike last Wednesday in counter-protest to Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, who entered his 33rd day yesterday without food and water, apart from two bags of IV fluids which he received last Sunday. Kublalsingh, the leader of the Highway Reroute Movement, is opposing government’s decision to run an extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway through the Oropouche Lagoon between Debe to Mon Desir.

Unlike Kublalsingh, who sits on a chair under a tent, for half-day, with supporters, Maharaj sits on a sheet on the pavement in sun and rain for 12 hours alone. Bharath, in his statement, said that government was “committed to doing everything within its power to ensure that the project proceeds to the benefit of many thousands of families.”

“We have made a similar appeal to Dr Kublalsingh and while we accept that he is a grown man who has made a personal decision, we take with a great degree of seriousness the fact that Ravi has his entire life ahead of him, yet he is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater national good.” Maharaj collapsed around 11 am, eyewitnesses at the OPM said, and was taken, unconscious, to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Details of his medical condition were not released up to press time.

Maharaj began the fast to support of the government’s construction of the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the highway or at least until Kublalsingh calls it quits. Echoing the doubts of many, he has been questioning whether Kublalsingh is on a real hunger strike and said he wanted to see how long someone could really go without food and water. Kublalsingh started his second hunger strike 33 days ago to protest the highway passing from Debe to Mon Desir. 

Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said for someone who had not been eating or drinking water for so long, Kublalsingh’s vital organs did not appear to be failing and asked him to disclose his medical records. Kublalsingh’s doctor, Dr Asante Van West-Charles-Le Blanc, said earlier she was withdrawing her services because he was on the verge of death.

The former university lecturer reportedly collapsed while on a trip to Maracas beach last Sunday and was taken to St Clair Medical where he was given about 15 hours of drips and vitamins.

Kublalsingh responds
Contacted yesterday about Maharaj’s collapse, Kublalsingh said he was putting the blame squarely on the government. “They sent him to create a distraction but they are pulling him out because they realise their plan is failing. This abuse of a spirited young man is another misstep on the part of the government.”

Kublalsingh continued to insist that preparing physically and psychologically for the hunger strike in advance, discipline, a strong connection with the spirit, salt-water baths, breathing in moisture and taking a little sunlight had him alive to date. He said he used small amounts of energy and also practiced deep meditation. “I refurbish myself (this way) when I feel I am passing out. When I go to the edge, I use these techniques.”

He admitted, however, the hunger strike was not strictly without food and water, referring to the 15 hours of drips and vitamins he received at St Clair Medical Centre. “That kept me going for seven days. So it’s not that I was completely without food and water,” he said, indicating drips were like liquid food. Responding to critics who called his fast a farce, he said: “You need to be master of the techniques on how to survive without traditional food supplies and water.

“Most importantly, you must have a strong principle to keep you on the hunger strike. I can’t assess to what extent he (Maharaj) did.” Disclosing where he got his discipline training from, Kublalsingh, a former university lecturer, added, “I was trained in the British army as a second lieutenant. “In those courses, I learnt how to survive with the barest means away from civilisation.”

nidco to supply more info to jcc
The National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco), the project managers for the $7.8b Solomon Hochoy Extension highway to Point Fortin, will submit a detailed report to the Joint Consultative Council for the construction industry (JCC) outlining what action it has taken in relation to the recommendations of Armstrong Report on the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the highway. A statement from the state-owned company follows a meeting with JCC on Friday.

“Nidco has given due consideration to the recommendations made by the Armstrong Committee and has implemented several of the measures suggested, all of which will be outlined in the report to the JCC next Friday,” the release said. The company stated that since it received the Armstrong Report in March 2013, it delivered a detailed response to the JCC outlining those recommendations it deemed had merit and those it disagreed with, and the reasons for its objections. 

“This is expected to lead to a process of continued dialogue between Nidco and the JCC in the best interest of the project,” Donna M Brodber, Nidco senior planning officer said.

Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah is calling for the media to launch an investigation into the financiers of the recent spate of pro-highway ads. Abdulah was speaking at a press conference held by members of the Highway Reroute Movement (HRM) at the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) headquarters Paramount Building, Circular Road San Fernando, yesterday. 

“We want the media to investigate who is paying for these ads, under the fictious name ‘Citizens for the Highway,’” he said. Abdulah said the ads were personal attacks on HRM leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and were aimed at distracting the population from the real issues. “The ads are personal attacks on Dr Kublalsingh, they do not address the fundamental issues,” he said. “When government resorts to personal attacks, it means they  cannot answer to the real issue at hand.”

Abdulah said there was a culture in T&T which allowed government to distract the population. “The HRM and civil groups are not opposed to the Point Fortin highway, we want the highway built,” said Abdulah. Vishal Boodhai, a member of the HRM, renewed the movement’s call for mediation and accused the government of demonising Kublalsingh’s name. “The movement reiterates the call for mediation,” he said. 

A woman was killed instantly as she bent over to pick up her handbag along the Solomon Hochoy Highway. Marisa Rambharose, 42, was crossing the northbound lane of the highway to get to her Springvalle, Claxton Bay, home around 8.30 pm on Saturday.
She was struck by the mirror of one car and her handbag fell. As she bent over to pick it up another car slammed into her dragging her body metres away, an eyewitness said.

Rambharose, a domestic worker, who lived alongside the southbound lane of the highway, was returning home after visiting her daughter in Marabella. The Guardian visited the woman’s home yesterday, but the house was empty. Neighbours said Rambharose with her two sons, ages seven and 18. Neighbour Roger Danglade said he was sitting on his front porch with a pair of binoculars when the accident happened. 

“She was already crossing. I saw one car hit her and swerve but the second car slam straight into her as she bend to pick up her bag. “That car dragged her quite down there,” he said, pointing to the spot where Rambharose’s body ended up. “I really sorry she ended up like that, she was really trying her best to give the two boys everything she could.” 

He said her seven-year-old son, who was at another neighbour’s home awaiting his mother’s return, saw his mother’s body and belongings scattered along the highway. “When everyone came out to see, he left the neighbour’s house, went and stood inside their gate. When I come back from the road, he ask me ‘Uncle Abu, who is that? What going on there?’” Danglade said he could not bear to tell the child, but the boy already knew. 

“I tell him, I can’t tell you that now son, but he say ‘Don’t worry, I know is mommy get bounce down, look she bag in the road,’” he said. “Only when I said yes, then he hug me up and start to cry.” The little boy pleaded with Danglade not to tell his older brother, who according to relatives is disabled, as he was afraid of how his brother would react. Speaking with the Guardian via phone yesterday, Rambharose’s sister Sarah Harrilal Singh said the family is considering requesting counselling for the child. 

“Right now we just trying to talk to him and help as best as we could.” Singh said she will keep both boys until further notice, as their father died about two years ago. She described her sister as a jolly, friendly person who could always keep a crowd entertained.

The body of a 23-year-old man who went missing after venturing out to fish on rocks at L’Anse Fourmi, Tobago, on Saturday was recovered yesterday. The discovery was made by Coast Guard officers shortly after 1.30 pm on Sunday off waters of Bloody Bay. Lawrence Kerr went missing on Saturday after he left his L’Anse Fourmi home around 6 am that day to go on a fishing expedition with friends. 

Kerr was fishing on the rocks when a wave knocked him over and he disappeared. An extensive search was carried out by the Coast Guard, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency Dive Team and villagers on Saturday but was abandoned at nightfall. The search resumed at 6 am yesterday. Kerr, was a clerical officer at the Division of Settlements and Labour.

Acting Cpl Joseph of the Charlotteville Police Station is continuing investigations. The Meteorological Services at Crown Point has advised that Tobago will be experiencing rough seas and is urging people to be careful out at sea.

President's Medal winner Soleil Baldeosingh says she is more than ready to give back to her country and the world once she completes her studies. The 18-year-old, who graduated from the St Augustine Girls’ High School (SAGHS) last week was humble as she spoke to the Guardian last week.

“Initially I wasn't sure how I felt about this award because it was completely unexpected. But now, I understand that this is something incredibly outstanding that I should feel proud of not because it recognises my hard work but because it puts me in a position to inspire people.” Baldeosingh said she thought about medal winners of previous years, especially Nadimah Mohammed who also attended SAGHS. She said she felt admiration and said their success influenced her.

“I hope that I can have a similar impact on people in my school and other schools as well.” A Chaguanas resident, who spends a lot of time at the beach in Toco, Baldeosingh felt it was important for her to find a career helping people. She said she wanted to study either law in England or international studies in Canada. “I am very much interested, obsessed even, with global affairs and everything that is happening in our world today from Isis to Ebola.” 

 “I hope to get a job with the UN and I hope that I can meet people from everywhere in the world to broaden my perspective of the world as I know it. As cliché and trite as it sounds, I genuinely want to help make a difference.  “I particularly want to go to countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, regardless of Ebola and help stem the tide of insidious crimes that propagate freely.” She said her parents had a hard time believing that she had won but were still very proud.

“They have expressed that this is just the beginning and that I have to continue working hard. They are keeping me humble and grounded through everything.” As for her initial reaction, Baldeosingh said she was shocked. “This is not something that happens to me. Really and truly I don't think anyone thinks that they are going to win the president's medal. I am beyond grateful because I know that there are people who worked incredibly hard and are incredibly brilliant and did not end up in this position. 

“It has given me a superfluity of motivation going forward. I hope that it propels me to work even harder and accomplish even more.” Though Baldeosingh says she now feels a greater pressure to accomplish more, she said, this pressure was self-imposed.

“I never really felt such pressure before because during my high school career, no one, not even myself ever placed pressure on me to achieve anything. Now I feel as though people are expecting things from me which is not necessarily bad because it motivates me to work even harder.”