While it’s not yet at crisis stage, there seemed to be consensus amongst the heads of major players in Trinidad, speaking during a panel on the “Future of the Trinidad and Tobago Gas Economy”; held during the 2017 Energy Conference hosted by the TT Energy Chamber at Hyatt Regency, Port-of- Spain, that terms and conditions of new contracts must be settled soon if the country is to avoid another shortage in gas supplies.

This was also the case made by Kjetil Solbraekke, Senior Vice-President South America, Rystad Energy during his presentation on the status of Trinidad’s competitiveness in current global gas conditions.

The following are the cases made by the participants in that panel on how best to address the local gas supply in the short-term and long-term.

SOLBRAEKKE: We feel very comfortable that gas demand is there. It’s going to increase.

However, when we looked at the balance between supply and demand on the global scale for LNG, we see LNG oversupplied for another five to maybe ten years. That depends on how many new projects are being sanctioned but already now, with the projects that have been sanctioned so far, we see this oversupply situation.

So, we think this oversupply in LNG is more serious than the oversupply we see, for instance, in the oil markets.

We are slightly more optimistic regarding a comeback of oil prices.

I think that we are already seeing a balancing of the oil market. It will take much more time before we see the balance in LNG. Consequently of course, we do expect that LNG prices will stay low and maybe for longer, for sure longer than most of you would have liked to see, but I think this is the reality and I think that it has to be part of the backdrop when you (engage in) any type of discussion. The prices are not likely to help you out of taking necessary, important, discussions.

So, I think we will find this to be, in general, the price situation in the next five to ten years and you cannot wait for five to ten years to make important decisions going forward… the signs are, there are no solutions, there is no quick fix on the market side.

However, the market is probably not the biggest challenge. I think your biggest challenge is what I call Mount Trinidad (see slide showing gas production from sanctioned gas fields in TT).

Normally mountains are tougher to go up than down but I think this mountain is actually the opposite way, you enjoyed, a lot, to go up but you don’t really like the downturn side. So, I think what we see now is of course, with Juniper, with the gas compression project and others, that we do see that something is happening and it was about time because you have dropped off, about 20 percent, over the last couple of years.

When gas fields plateau, they do so very quickly. So, the situation in Trinidad is that you cannot not take decisions.

You have to move on and make decisions in order to get the new supply in production. Otherwise then you will not be able to supply the industry you have.

I think one of the things you need to focus on now is to get new developments approved by the investors, together with NGC and the Government, and to maybe look partly to the potential and what is needed in order to increase oil and gas exploration.

(The existing infrastructure means) there’s a huge cost advantage to finding gas and developing that gas in Trinidad, compared to other places. So, I don’t think that it’s not economically viable. I think that you will probably find the answers in regulations, taxes, predictability, in the way you are organised.

Solbraekke’s presentation included a number of questions and suggestions: Is the government prepared to adjust the Fiscal framework in time to save the gas industry? Improve commerciality of projects.

Neutral taxes would lower breakeven, upstream risk and encourage investments.

A more tax-neutral system could encourage oil exploration and increase associated gas production from oil fields.

Remove royalty also for oil prospects Will NGC be prepared to grant access at reasonable costs to connect new upstream gas to the pipeline infrastructure? Ensure cost efficient access to existing upstream and downstream gas infrastructure.

Facilitate access to third party gas infrastructure to enable smaller discoveries to be developed.

Midstream service to be provided at cost to realize all profitable upstream projects.

Is NGC in a position to provide transparent gas price between the downstream and the upstream companies in order to optimize the upstream gas price? Being in an undersupplied gas environment, it is vital for Trinidad to provide predictability.

The ability to adapt to changing supply varies between the downstream consumers, and a pro-rata cut in supplies would not be optimal.

The system to allocate gas in constrained situations should be market based, to ensure that value creation is maximized.

This would mean more transparency, and an open price formation.

Transparency would enable investments both from the producers and the consumers, as risk is reduced.

Are the upstream companies doing their utmost to reduce cost and ensure more efficient operations? The upstream operators should identify all possibilities for cost reduction and more efficient operations.

Included in this should be the time and predictability of getting all necessary permits in order to develop a gas field.

Can the government establish long term strategies with neighbouring countries in order extend the life of the gas industry? New Upstream projects are being developed and there are exploration opportunities in both Guyana and Barbados.

This could play a role in the long run for Trinidad’s gas industry.

I would encourage the Government to work fast because then you would have a much wider sector of opportunities going forward, and not bring in the same position like you are now, where you have very few opportunities and very little time.

The other challenge also facing the industry is that you have to be ready to look at the ways that you can reduce your operations costs. I think that the standard answer f all companies will be, yes, of course we’re doing that but…

hopefully (we) see a process coming out of this…a process where Government, industry, NGC, all the relevant parties, sit down together and figure out what can we really do and what can we do now, in order to improve the conditions for the upstream companies to do new investments for finding and developing new gas resources. That’s all this is about. I think then we should be able to build the bridge into the future as opposed to a ladder, which I think it will become if you don’t take those decisions (soon).

Chairman of the Energy Task Force, Wendell Mottley had the following to say in response to questions by panel Moderator, Professor Avinash Persaud: Persaud: TT uses its infrastructure, in part, as part of its commercial arrangements. The allocations depend, a little bit, on your access to the infrastructure, how much you pay.

Shouldn’t the infrastructure be neutral? Should the infrastructure be a profit centre or should it just facilitate the industry and not actually be a decisionmaker in itself? MOTTLEY: I think the infrastructure should be more neutral than it is now and that’s a critical point. There should also be transparency. The government looked at a report on the whole gas industry and saw that as a result, the NGC was, at times, conflicted and that we had, as a matter of policy, to try to separate areas of conflict and the NGC as a transporter of gas, provides a very efficient function. We have to make sure there’s greater transparency assigned to that but then we have also realised that the NGC is an aggregate and it provides a very useful function to the downstream industry, as an aggregator of gas.

Gerry Brooks, Chairman of the NGC Group of Companies spoke with Business Day after the panel discussion.

He said, “We have advanced a number of solutions, initiatives (re gas supply).

Last year we spoke about TROC (Trinidad Region Onshore Compression project) in the first quarter of 2017 and we have done the work with BP, it’s BP-led. We were part of the bilateral and multilateral discussions which will see us bringing TROC onstream in Q1 – April 2017.

The other initiative that we talked about is Juniper, that brings 590 million scuffs in Q3 of 2017.

The Prime Minister led the delegation in Venezuela (December 2016) on the case of cross-border gas and that’s progressing (negotiations). That will give us some certainty around 2019.

We have to take a look at other options as well. Other options include, how do we select the right plateau and duration to ensure that there is a consistent supply of gas over an agreed period, say ten years? A supply which would allow downstreamers; both Atlantic and the petrochemicals sector, to be able to make investment decisions, plant turnarounds, plant efficiency improvements and to also go into longterm contracts.

A significant part of our objective, an important objective of ours, is working with the upstreamers to ensure that we do that. Now, the question was asked by the moderator, is consideration being given to other options, like gas swaps? A gas swap is where we arrange to buy gas at an external destination, through an external provider, and we replace cargoes locally with cargoes at a destination point that you want and on terms and conditions that you deem appropriate.

So, what I’m doing (in a swap) is that I’m using local gas and I’m providing you with the equivalent gas from a jurisdiction and on terms and conditions acceptable to you. This is a mechanism used by jurisdictions, by providers, and it is something which is available to us as part of our arsenal, and that we want to look at.

Remember we’re trying to resolve the gas situation in a way that’s thoughtful, innovative and creative.

The other question that was raised was about importing gas. I pointed to other jurisdictions that were importing gas and the improvements in technology in that area. So, you have a host of providers who are doing that, the technology is becoming cheaper and then you have abundant sources of gas in the US.

It’s something that other jurisdictions have looked at and certainly in our position, we would want to take a careful look at. So, we are opening up our minds to solutions which could help with the gas availability problem in a way that’s professional, economically feasible and that’s also operationally acceptable.

NORMAN CHRISTIE, Regional President of BP Trinidad and Tobago: We have a cliff that (we reach) in two years, that’s what the (Rystad Energy) data showed. It means that decisions have to be made now because as was pointed out, it’s at least two years before that gas is going to show up.

That’s not subject to speculation, it’s data.

The immediate decisions that are required to not fall off that (gas supply) cliff. And for that to happen, the issues related to the solving of commercial arrangements will not allow for all the things in the vision (hub etc) being sorted before moving on.

When asked, if you could change one commercial arrangement, which one would it be, Christie responded: “It would be the pricing arrangement between the upstream and gas to be sold to NGC, where the contracts expire in 2018. That speaks to the cliff (which) occurs in 2019. Solving the commercial arrangements so that those contracts are renewed and incentive the gas.

“It’s a renewal of the contracts, to be precise. The contracts expire in 2018, so you have to negotiate new contracts, for which you need to have commercial terms, including price and if that’s not known, what I’m saying is, the gas that’s required (for TT) to come off the cliff will not be there. So, vision, yes.

Absolutely required but if we lose sight of this urgent matter within that, we will fall off the cliff.” Subhas Ramkhelawan, Managing Director of Bourse Securities Limited told Business Day, “I thought that day one of the conference saw negotiations start on the open floor. You had statements from Shell, BHP as well as from BP and those set the tone for the rest of the day and for that panel discussion (on gas) which involved peers on the one hand at Atlantic and bpTT, and on the other side, Gerry Brooks from NGC and Wendell Mottley from the Energy Task Force.

“Several gas contracts downstream have already expired in the methanol and ammonia sector. In 2018, I believe Atlantic’s Train 1 LNG contract is going to expire from the downstream side but also, very importantly, is that one of the gas supply contracts with BP would expire in 2018. These are very immediate concerns, being that it is already 2017.

At the end of the day, what is the right balance in terms of the fiscal incentives and the take to the Government to run its business operations, especially since we have seen the oil and gas tax take has fallen precipitously over the past year, year and a half? That gap is something that will hurt us as a nation if we cannot make it up in terms of recurrent expenditure and recurrent income. So, it’s an important issue but it’s all tied up with gas contracts, the expiration of those contracts and fiscal incentives.

When asked if there is a tricky balance between incentives and Government’s revenue share, Ramkhelawan said, “I would say it is a tenuous balance but I have every confidence that it can be arrived at because right now, to put it bluntly, there is some level of sabre-rattling that is taking place because of the anxieties that in a business that is long-term in nature, the contracts are not being renewed at the speed or the expectation of the upstreamers as well as the downstreamers.

That having been said, we of course need to do that (sign new contracts) reasonably quickly but the outcome must be one that is a fair and reasonable partnership.”

Therefore, Christie, explained, continuous innovation in the sector is of utmost importance for it to remain economically viable.

He identified six mega trends that oil majors must pay attention to if they are to remain competitive:

• energy transitions – the rapid growth of natural gas and renewable energy;

• oil supply – the overproduction of oil leading to a decline in demand;

• natural gas – dramatic increase in natural gas trade, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) “poised to surpass pipeline imports as the dominant form of traded gas in the next 20 years”;

• renewable energy – rapid growth of wind and solar power;

• electrification and transportation – advent of electric and driverless vehicles; and

• demand

Using BPTT as an example, he explained how Big Oil could adapt in the face of these changes. While the oil and gas economy is unstable, for instance, BPTT – a subsidiary of the British oil company, BP – continues to invest in new gas ventures.

“For example, despite the economic downturn we spent over US$3 billion in capital expenditures in 2015 and 2016 combined. Further, we will spend another US$1.3 billion in 2017 if the environment remains conducive to investments. The US$2 billion Juniper project which will deliver first gas in the third quarter of this year demonstrates our commitment to investing through cycles.”

The Juniper project, which will develop gas from the Corallita and Lantana fields off the South-east coast of Trinidad, will produce approximately 590 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd), which will flow through the Mahogany B offshore hub.

Additionally, the oil and gas giant is currently working on another gas project, Angelin, which is scheduled to begin by 2019.

On Angelin, Christie said, “We are also being courageous in pausing unsanctioned investments while we await policy and commercial clarity. Angelin is one such project that we will sanction once there is clarity on policy and commercial matters such as price. Time is of the essence though, because the country needs this gas in early 2019. The good news is that we are now in active negotiations with the government and NGC to agree the terms necessary for sanction of Angelin. And, the government is treating this with urgency.”

Investments like Juniper and Angelin, in increasing the percentage of gas in the company’s portfolio, will ensure BP’s survival in a low-price environment. Vice president of BPTT, Andre Celestin said, “At a global level, BP is developing into an organisation that can succeed in the current low price environment. This is important to note because BP’s Trinidad and Tobago operations will play a key role in attaining some of the objectives that BP has set.”

Another way to build competitiveness, according to Christie, is through putting people first. While the drop in oil and gas prices has resulted in “significant dislocations” across the globe – drop in revenue, job loss, currency devaluations and political instability in some cases – with Trinidad and Tobago having suffered almost 70 percent reduction in its revenue and massive job losses, it is nonetheless important to safeguard employees.

He elaborated, “We work extremely hard to put people first. Safety has remained our number one priority and respect is one of our values. There is no quantum of hydrocarbon or money worth more than our workers.”

Competitiveness then, according to Christie, is achieved through having a vision, being courageous and valuing people above power.

Keynote speaker, Bernard Looney, chief executive, Upstream, BP, supported the assertions in Christie’s speech, saying, “…the energy world is changing and we must adapt or else we die.”

Looney identified other upcoming investments like the Onshore Compression Project, TTOC, which will be completed this year. There is also the Sercan II project with EOG Resources, Inc.

He continued, “We are investing in new seismic surveys, as well as exploration drilling in the deepwater with our partner BHP, and in our own acreage in the Columbus Basin – spudding the Savannah well last month. There’s more to come, with plans to spud (make initial drilling) four further exploration wells in the near term.

“That adds up to $6 billion of investment since 2013… all of which is helping bring on stream much-needed additional production which will start to alleviate the ongoing gas supply short falls.

“We are bucking a trend – maintaining investment at a time when it’s been falling across our industry.”

BPTT could achieve all of that because, said Looney, it has focused on building relationships.

In essence, both men agree that the energy sector must not become fooled because of the recent uptick in oil prices – currently, the oil price is at US$52.79 – and treat the instability as the “new normal,” in the words of Looney.

Notably, BP and BHP Billiton are two companies which have signed on to the Local Content Charter on day one of the conference.

The other companies are: Air Liquide Trinidad & Tobago Limited; Atlantic; Caribbean Nitrogen Company; EOG Resources; LGO Energy plc; Massy Energy & Industrial Gases Business Unit; Phoenix Park Gas Processors; Methanex Trinidad; PLIPDECO; Methanol Holdings Trinidad Ltd.; National Energy; National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago; Nu- Iron; PCS Nitrogen; Repsol; Shell; Touchstone Trinidad; Yara Trinidad and Petrotrin.

The Local Content and Local Participation Policy and Framework, as explained by Acting Minister of Energy, Colm Imbert at the conference, “supplemented the general obligations under the Petroleum Act and Regulations, which require licensees to optimise the participation and development of nationals in their employ.”

An explanation of what a CMO is might be in order to understand the quarrel.

CMOs, according to the World Intellectual Property Office, are based on the principle that copyright holders are not able to approach every single person or entity using their material, or intellectual property, and therefore, a body is needed to do this on their behalf.

COTT and TTCO are CMOs, which collect royalties on behalf of their clients for different intellectual property rights. This is at the heart of the contention between the two.

COTT collects largely on behalf of artistes and for musical works. The TTCO, however, collects on behalf of all those associated with the artistes’ work, such as writers and producers, for example. These rights are called neighbouring rights.

Muddying the issue is the fact that several artistes are also entitled to neighbouring rights compensation since they often write and produce their own music.

“The law recognises more than one type of right,” said Brian Cornwall, TTCO’s vice president and Chief Executive Officer at a media conference on Tuesday, “it is not just the artiste that has to be paid for his work.” How they are paid is through licensing.

An artiste is supposed to be paid for his song through a license anytime it is broadcast, performed publicly or otherwise distributed to the public. To illustrate, a fete promoter purchases a license from the body representing the musical work in order for it to be played at his event.

Neighbouring rights are based on the idea that several persons would have assisted the artiste in creating said musical work and those people have to be paid as well.

TTCO is accusing COTT of attempting to strong arm them and the people they represent out of business by colluding with popular promoters to prevent monies owed to their clients from being paid.

The TTCO panel at the conference, including, President, Dr Vijay Ramlal Rai, Dion Heath, intellectual property attorneys, Akilah Phillips and Temilola Ade John and neighbouring rights consultant, Fabien Alfonso said COTT has been giving the promoters and the public the impression that they are the only institution mandated by government to collect licensing fees and that it is not necessary to seek other licenses.

A release published on COTT’s website on the same day as the TTCO conference said: “COTT notes that promoters have been approached by another CMO stating that it has the authority to represent neighbouring rights to cover the public performance of sound recordings. Again, COTT encourages promoters to seek confirmation that the owners of the relevant sound recordings are indeed members of any CMO claiming representation.

COTT confirms that its DJ License covers performances of musical works by DJs at places not normally covered by a COTT blanket license and/or another COTT tariff. The DJ License has existed for decades locally and pre-dates the formation of COTT.” TTCO told media that the method through this ‘confirmation’ of its membership that its clients are discriminated against. They said whenever they provide promoters with it, it has been used to “blacklist” performers, producers and writers represented by the TTCO.

Heath estimated the loss of earnings to a music producer who is having a good season and represented by TTCO, is well into the hundreds of thousands, or millions over a lifetime.

Those on the panel also could not understand why COTT wanted to be the only CMO operating in this market, since in most jurisdictions, multiple CMOs existed and licensing needed to be sought from all.

Business Day research confirmed this to be true.

In the vein of our previous pieces on Carnival, some more questions need to be asked and some more observations made.

The first is that this situation continues a trend of divisiveness and turf marking that has come to characterize agencies administering important aspects of carnival.

The ultimate result is costly, not only in terms of financial resources, but in time wasted.

Why does COTT have to be the only CMO effectively operating in this market? The current copyright legislation seems to be one of the underlying problems in that it is not sufficiently clear in defining several intellectual property rights. Is there any way this can be fixed? As the TTCO noted during its conference, several promoters operate internationally and have no problem paying multiple CMOs in foreign jurisdictions.

Why not here? Veteran calypsonian Crazy (Edwin Ayoung) was at the conference and he made an allegation that COTT had only paid him $300 in royalties over the course of his decades long career, something that is hard to believe, as Crazy’s soca parang has come to define Christmas music in TT.

It would be interesting to get a sense from the artistes themselves, how they feel about COTT’s representation of their interests, or the TTCO’s representation for that matter.

Why does so little money end up in the hands of the people who create the works, even though everyone professes to care about their rights and interests? Heath also quoted an estimate from yet another paper, this one done by Dr Vanus James, that there were billions to be made from Carnival, a proportion of this from the proper security of intellectual property rights.

It is money that will never be realized if organization like TTCO and COTT cannot move beyond the bacchanal that titillates and entertains us, but ultimately does not move us forward.

This event will be hosted in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and Caricom/ Cariforum; as well as the Caribbean Export Development Agency.

Participants will be provided with key information on how they can use trade with the EU to enhance their current business operations.

Both the Minister of Trade and the Ambassador of the EU to Trinidad and Tobago will deliver remarks on the day; truly symbolic of both parties’ commitment to making the Agreement work to the benefit of the Private Sector and the region.

Companies have the opportunity to meet current business demands for foreign exchange, finance business opportunities or expansion while becoming less dependent on commercial banking through exploring new markets.

Most companies, however, tend to be daunted by the prospect of market expansion, or are unsure about which markets would be best suited for their products.

Trinidad and Tobago is party to several trade agreements which allow interested companies to export to new markets under favourable terms. The EUCariforum Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), signed in 2008, provides one such avenue for market penetration of TT’s producers to the EU market of over half a billion people.

The EPA is a comprehensive trade pact covering liberalisation of goods and services. It is historic since it provides the framework for a new economic relationship between the two regions. The benefits to local exporters to the EU’s markets include: • duty-free and quota-free access for goods exports to the European market; it provides a clear advantage to CARIFORUM exporters over several global exporters; • increasing our exporters’ capacity to produce both goods and services that are globally competitive; • flexible and simple ‘rules of origin’ requirements which allow CARIFORUM States to use cheaper, better quality or more innovative inputs from other countries; and • access to the one of the largest groups of the Caribbean diaspora that provides an established consumer base for West Indian products.

There is much room for TT exporters to take further advantage of these opportunities. The top products imported into the EU from the world include food and drink, raw materials, energy products, machinery, chemicals and manufactured goods.

Apart from the liberalisation of both goods and services, the EPA also covers provisions regarding investments, competition, intellectual property rights, e-commerce and traderelated measures.

To date, there has been little evidence that TT or even Caricom firms have been able to take advantage of the vast opportunities provided through the EPA, for their goods and services exports. Additionally, the UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s 12-point plan for Britain’s exit of the EU (Brexit), may cause some concern for TT firms looking to export to the EU considering expected economic contraction, well into 2017.

To register for this session, please call us today on 637 6966.

As the TT Chamber executes its strategy to support constituents in successfully navigating the current period of economic uncertainty, we continue to keep Members apprised of opportunities to empower and enhance their business potential.

The lecture which begins at 5.30 pm will precede his concert on Sunday, entitled Carnival: the Sound of a People.

Carnival: the Sound of a People, is an opus that continues Charles’ penchant for the rituals of his homeland, composed after four months of travel and deep research across Trinidad and Tobago to unearth the arts of Carnival that highlight the vivid and vast elements of our culture and history.

What he discovers is that Carnival traditions are alive and thriving in areas with strong communities and families. Art forms such as the tamboo bamboo, stick fighting, tambrin, jab-jab, blue devils, black Indian, moko jumbie, fancy sailor, Dame Lorraine, steel and iron bands continue to grow and evolve after being passed from generation to generation through the oral tradition.

At the public lecture, presented by Monlo Music Ltd and the Calabash Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT ), Charles will give students and the public insight into his research which included hours of video and audio recordings and how he uses these recordings to inform his compositions.

Admission to the lecture is free with limited seating.

Sunday’s concert will feature Charles on trumpet and percussion, Godwin Louis on alto and soprano saxophones, Christian Sands on piano, Alex Wintz on guitar, Luques Curtis on bass and John Davos on drums. T ickets to the concert will also be available at the lecture.

I chose to write about the disappearing commonality of ‘common courtesy’ as it seems less and less common. It is true we live in an increasingly fast paced society with most of our heads buried in our devices. However, that should not take away from our basic human relations. It seems the more instant we become as a society, the less emphasis we place on the human aspect of society.

I recall reading a piece on the education system in Japan, where I noted a few very interesting bits including, the emphasis placed on teaching manners and courtesy from a very early age, before emphasis placed on academics. I noted where they stated the children are placed into teams, and are tasked with cleaning their classrooms and shared spaces, where they also assist with cooking their own meals, and participate in shared lunches within the classrooms, all in a bid to foster responsibility, ownership, teamwork and good graces, among other desirable traits. Now, I cite this example, because it provides an interesting benchmark for one of the most technologically advanced nations – yet they continue to underscore the importance of the most basic elements of human relations.

The saying common courtesy, seems not that common any more, and as such, building upon a weak foundation will never support a strong structure. So, here goes: Be Responsive.

This range goes from the basic stated greeting, to the WhatsApp message response. If someone sends you a message via any form of messenger service, and it is read, unless they expressly state no response necessary, it takes but one second to acknowledge or respond.

Further, if your organisation has established an automated response via email, please attempt to clear the backlog of messages that you may have received. I recall a colleague of mine attempting to contact an office for very important advice, and receiving an electronic automated message with no further explanation of steps to take to advance her query further.

All information is good information.

Many times, service is confused with servitude, as a direct result, you may encounter persons who do not understand that to be in service is divine. While reviewing my Facebook feed, I saw a very popular service-based brand being ‘dragged’ for their lack of human relations. I was aghast to see that instead of accepting and appreciating the feedback to be used to improve the future service, the brand representative sought to make excuses, and exacerbate the issue by stating that the person making the claim against them, only sought to bring their brand into disrepute. Note to brand owners – If a client presents a challenge to you, treat this as a gift. It gives you the opportunity to fix it and improve your delivery.

Remember the watchwords ‘please and thank you’.

As basic and infantile as this may sound, you will be amazed at how little they are employed. Human relations and communications are uniquely intertwined, and sometimes we need to be reminded that the most basic acknowledgement may produce the most dramatic response. I read a quote on quotesgram that stated “Common courtesy is a lot like common sense, they are both no longer common.”

Perhaps the changing times saw China’s President, in an ironic twist, become a strong advocate of free trade, condemning those set on protectionism. He was articulate in stating that no one, notwithstanding the opposite view by some on President Trump’s team, would win in a trade war. It is clear if trade difficulties arise there will be a realignment, with China trying to court the Europeans, Asians or Latin Americans. Certainly, the Europeans can be very big winners if China is pushed, because of the new policies by the incoming US administration, to look for new trading partners.

Is the middle class globally in crisis? This was a question tackled by a panel in which Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, was part. She indicated that the middle class has grown globally as China and India in particular have added tens of millions of people to that category.

However, the so called developed world has seen their middle class shrink.

People feel that their governments and elected officials do not represent them. There is also, in all this, a wave of nationalism. The Italian Minister of the Economy and Finance suggested that there is a crisis in the middle class in the developed world. This middle class in his view is disappointed in the future and the prospect of opportunity for their children.

There is also a wealth gap that is the highest since the 1930s and this has given rise to grave disenchantment by the middle class, with the manner in which they have been treated and the way their concerns in their opinion have been addressed by the political directorate.

In fact, the view is there are lower levels of growth that have been experienced by the developed world, coupled with higher levels of poverty and inequality. This has contributed to anger which is expressing itself by the lower and middle classes as an upsurge of populism. Populism, the fight against globalisation and immigration, and the turning inwards by nations, ethnic groups and communities are the main political phenomena of the last 12 months.

Populism is the most important issue in some people’s view. A corollary is the emergence of protectionism. Some feel key institutions like Central Banks no longer matter as much. The panel is of the view that the future is dependent on how populism manifests itself.

How to stop the middle class from been disillusioned? Is productivity and populism linked? This raised an interesting perspective. Median wages are lower now than they were 20 years ago – this has caused anger.

Davos was also very interested in Theresa May’s announcement about the exit of United Kingdom from the European Union. It is felt that large multinational firms are going to move their offices to other European cities or reposition to New York.

Davos has thrown up questions we need to ask ourselves. Is there disenchantment with how our representatives treat with us and issues meaningful to us? Is poverty and inequality on the rise in this country? What is happening to purchasing power, disposable income, quality of life, security and hope in the future? Where is the report on poverty and inequality based on the Household Budgetary Survey? Perhaps our leaders need to learn lessons from Brexit and the Trump phenomenon that people want their issues dealt with and are prepared to do something about it.

For instance, I’m connected to a small manufacturing business that is in the process of expanding its operations through the construction of a new warehouse. Located in a quiet section of Cocorite, our building plans were rejected by the authorities for nine months because they demanded we show in and out parking for all cars. In other words, no reversing into the street.

Now, this is very noble and fine and it necessitated us cutting back on the size of an already small building to achieve the objective, which we did.

However, 80 percent of the businesses on the busiest streets in the West, including Saddle Road, Maraval, all of Woodbrook, Diego Martin Main Road, St Lucien Road and Western Main Road, Chaguaramas, all have customer parking that simply reverses into the main road.

That situation applies to so many other areas of life, like paying taxes and following the law. You do the right thing and everyone else gets ahead of you. Our nation’s roads are great examples of this.

Look at the Uber people, getting pressure on insurance, licensing details etc yet “PH taxis”, often driven by off-duty policemen, continue to thrive, while carrying no proper insurance and paying no licensing fees or taxes whatsoever.

In the final analysis, if we do not find a way to adequately reward those who follow the rules and seriously punish those who do not, our children and grandchildren’s future is simply even more disorder, pain and suffering.

Gregory Wight Maraval

My conclusion was drawn basically from the undercurrent of white/non-white antipathy, the one pro-Trump, the other pro-Clinton, but which went in favour of Trump because of significant defection of the black and Latino vote to Trump.

This was consolidated no doubt by how proactive he was in his campaigning against a presumptive Clinton, and aided by his down-to-earth message about jobs etc, and in no small measure by the Brexit development.

In this letter I once again go against the grain by asking questions about this “woman power” which reared its head against the new President and seems to have the endorsement of so many.

First, is this a case of disappointment gone awry because of a Trump victory seemingly unthinkable to Clinton supporters? A Trump victory was never on the cards and that seemed to have hurt to a point of total irrationality as with Madonna’s obscene language on the media and her thoughts about burning down the White House.

As to the question of rational behaviour, barring the issue of Russian interference in the election, yet unproven, is not Trump’s victory at the polls constitutional by way of the Electoral College vote which totally negates the argument of the majority vote for Clinton which so many protesters seem to cling to? As to the objectionable policy lines attributed to Trump, do they not carry another side to those objections, providing solutions to long-standing problems? For example, is the wall, either as reality or metaphor, not key to solving illegal immigration from Mexico impacting negatively on jobs for Americans.

And on the issue of jobs, is there not need to apply checks and balances to unfettered free enterprise — so un-American to so many — that involves American factories going to other countries taking the jobs with them? For “jobs” is key to family prosperity and even as climate and environmental issues are important, should these not be balanced with bringing back jobs in coal and regulated fracking and oil exploration? What of Trump’s pro-stance? Does it not provide a balance to pro-abortion activism which finds the first totally unacceptable and grounds for protest? And as for Obamacare, the concern for its replacement is legitimate, but is not the issue of escalating cost sufficient consideration to provide more affordable healthcare, and should extreme vetting for immigrants from pro-ISIS countries not be a priority considering San Bernandino and Florida? The women’s protest highlighted many of these issues but was there any critical evaluation of their merits allowing for informed decisions or is this a classic case of the effects of irredeemable failure reaching a point where logic, fair play and the idea of giving a newly appointed President opportunity to prove his worth are all thrown out of the window and only a primordial desire to make him pay for dashing their hopes and expectations remains? I leave that to your better judgment.

Dr Errol Benjamin ebenjamin522

After a few days that dies down and we are back to square one.

That is what we are dealing with now in this country. I can only say we seem to like it so.

Our leaders must stop treating people bent on destroying the lives of law-abiding citizens as if they are afraid of the criminals.

Stop dealing with criminals with kid’s gloves. Let them know by the aggressive approach to crime-fighting that the authorities are serious about getting a handle on this escalating problem.

I am calling on the Police Service to get out there and really fight crime. Let the nation see you in action. There must be no mercy for the criminals as there is no mercy for law-abiding citizens.

Time for the talk to cease.

It’s time for action.

Leaders must put aside party politics and work together to make TT safe. Put the country first. Let’s get this crime situation under control.

Arnold Gopeesingh via email