This includes the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) being mandated to find a passenger ferry in the shortest possible time, Government to order a custom-built ferry, Tobago to operate ferries, and the expansion of the board of directors of PATT to include two more Tobagonians.

Rowley has also agreed to consider, after discussions with the Minister of Finance, the removal of the hotel tax which threatens hoteliers ability to survive in the present circumstances given the disruptions and consequent loss of income associated with the ferry problems.

In addition, Government is to review Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) booking policy for travel to and from Tobago.

This is according to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) which noted in a release issued yesterday that the measures were put forward by the stakeholders.

With one ferry out of commission and another due to go on dry dock for extensive repairs, Government has instructed the PATT to broaden its search for a suitable replacement ferry, wherever vessels are available, and whether held by owners or brokers.

During the last search, OPM said, the PATT restricted its search, and selected a passenger ferry under questionable circumstances.

This selection process is now being investigated.

Rowley is quoted as saying that the search should be easier with the summer at an end. Looking for a vessel in September and October, he said, is a easier than looking in June or July when there are increases in traffic in the northern hemisphere and everyone is using their vessel.

“Now moving into fall and winter, there should be more available, but we must broaden our search. Whatever went wrong with regard to the restriction of the search ought not to form part of a new search. So we will be working overtime to get a passenger vessel here in the shortest possible time.” Once found, Government will seek to enter into a two to threeyear contract while moving to order a custom-built ferry.

Cabinet has decided to place an order for a brand new ferry that will be built to specifications. It will be State-owned and operated by the PATT. The tender is expected to go out for bids soon.

On Tobago operating the ferries, the OPM said, Rowley believes that given Tobago’s reliance on them for sustenance, the service should be operated out of Tobago and under the guidance of Tobago.

The people of Tobago, he said, have demonstrated an ability to manage their own affairs in other areas and they should be allowed to manage this facility.

“You should be looking after your welfare in these areas and of course, when we add that to the phasing in of other medium-term and long-term arrangements, we have every confidence that Tobago’s economy, in the hands of Tobagonians as part of the national effort, would progress to a better place,” he said.

Meanwhile the PATT’s board will include two more Tobagonians bringing the number of Tobagonians on the board to three.

“We believe that the Port Authority must have a larger Tobago interest on the board because Tobago relies so much more on the port than other communities,” he said.

On improvement to CAL operations, the airline will continue to make additional seating available for travel between Trinidad and Tobago.

The Cabinet, the OPM said, is to make a decision on CAL’s current booking policy.

“We are operating in a system where people can book at will and cancel at will without penalty.

This matter has come before the Cabinet. Some adjustments will have to be made.” He said there were some “98,000 cancellations which took place at CAL recently with respect to seats that were booked by people who did not travel.

Bookings force people to travel on standby.

He said he also wants to see more Tobagonians represented on the airline’s board.

The TTW is offering 12-week acting classes for children, teens and new actors and a tenweek course in How to Read and Write Poetry.

Participants will learn about improvisation, playback theatre, musical theatre, stage combat and stagecraft (lighting, scene and costume design).

Throughout the course, students and instructors will work together to construct and produce a presentation which will be performed at the end of term showcase. The students are encouraged to be actively involved with all aspects of the production, including costume/ set design and creation, script writing, direction and performance.

Facilitators include Afi Ford-Hopson, who has been teaching and facilitating social and theatre- based programmes for the past 12 years and playwright, poet and fiction writer Dr Raymond Ramcharitar.

The Children’s Theatre Workshop will run from September 9 to November 25 on Saturdays between 10 am and 1 pm. The workshop is open to children seven to 12 years. The Teen Theatre Workshop will run for the same period as the children’s, also on Saturdays from 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm. It is open to 13 to 17-years-olds. The New Actors Workshop runs from September 5 to November 21 on Tuesdays from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm for 18 years and up.

The ten-week poetry programme runs from September 6 to November 15 on Wednesdays from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. The course will lead students to answer the questions: What is poetry? What is good poetry? How does a reader tell good from bad? And how does one begin to write poetry? This will be the final arts workshops put on by the TT W at its current location at corner of Jerningham Avenue and Norfolk Streets, Belmont. Fund-raising efforts are continuing for the move to the new premises in Woodbrook.

For more info: trinidadtheatre@ gmail.com and Facebook

One week ago, Duke announced that he would be attempting to swim from Tobago to Trinidad in an effort to highlight the plight faced by Tobagonians due to the ongoing issues on the sea bridge.

Speaking to reporters yesterday morning at the Scarborough Fishing Depot, where the swim is expected to start, Duke said everything is in place and all teams were ready.

“We are ready. This swim protest will be done with Tobago in mind and if you ask me if Tobago is ready, I would say yes Tobago is ready. Tobago is ready for the opportunity to decide its future. A simple thing like the sea bridge and the air bridge must be decided by Tobago. For 125 years and eight months, Trinidad has been deciding for us and still we have been battling problems after problems. We are saying that the time has come for Tobago to be the final decision maker on the ferry it wants, on the type of airline system operating the air bridge,” he said.

He said that during the swim, the team, will be doing some trade as well as delivering letters to both boards of Caribbean Airlines and the Port Authority.

“We would be taking down some provision, we would plant a tree when we get there and we would be bring up a wheelchair for a guy within my district, so we are actually going to do some trading in Trinidad. We also will be taking few letters to Trinidad; to Caribbean Airlines and to the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago requesting meetings with the Minority Council of the Tobago House of Assembly, so as to ensure that the minor people, those who are excluded from the Prime Minister’s closed door session will have a voice, this is what true democracy is all about,” he said.

The Minority Leader went further, indicating that this swim protest will benefit Tobago tremendously, as according to him, the situation requires a struggle.

“In order for something to reach the national community, it requires someone of national status. Every single struggle will define a leader or produce a leader. I believe that this struggle produced me, I am not really one to get involved in politics but Tobago has been suffering for the last 16 going on 20 years.

We are saying that the time has come when we need a voice, we need a voice in the Tobago House of Assembly to stand in defense of Tobagonians and say to the almighty Central Government, we in Tobago speak for Tobagonians. This is why there is the THA elections, this is why there is a THA act, speaking about autonomy and giving us responsibility over 33 different areas of Government and yet, we lack the opportunity to make a decision,” Duke said.

Questioned as to how he felt even amidst critics as many are doubting that he could complete this task, Duke said the idea is ‘not to prove that we are the best swimmers’.

“By any means necessary, we will hold fast to that. The idea is not to prove that we are the best swimmer out and make the Guinness book of World Records but the idea is to ensure that Tobago is placed on the national agenda and if nothing is done within short order, short measure what will happen is that we may be forced to swim and go back to trading using fisher boats and canoes, this is the reality.

It would be means that are unorthodox, means that are not the best means but means none the less the represents the struggle of every Tobagonian who is contented with the air and the sea bridge. The numbers you will have to be here to see,” the Minority Leader said.

Additionally, on Friday the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard issued a media release warning Duke of the risk associated with such a swim, while at the same time, indicating that they are unable to dedicate any resource or give any assurance for a voluntary expedition at this time.

Sent in at Sabina Park, the visitors stormed to 208 for six off their 20 overs with New Zealander McCullum top-scoring with 91 off 62 balls and Colin Munro striking 42 from 24 deliveries.

Seamers Rovman Powell (2-38) and Krishmar Santokie (2-49) claimed a brace of wickets each.

In reply, captain Kumar Sangakkara stroked 53 – his second straight half-century – but Tallawahs came up short at 172 for seven off their 20 overs. Lendl Simmons chipped in with 32, Powell got 30 while seamer Javon Searles claimed three for 27.

With just one game left, TKR top the standings on 16 points and can now focus on the playoffs as they now guaranteed to finish in the top position, regardless of the results in the remaining games.

Tallawahs, meanwhile, continue third on 10 points, just one behind second placed St Kitts and Nevis Patriots but four clear of the fourth placed Guyana Amazon Warriors.

TKR had a less than impressive start when Sunil Narine perished off the first ball of the innings, mis-hitting a low Santokie full toss to mid-off.

However, McCullum took charge of the innings, belting five fours and six sixes as he provided the energy for two successive half-century stands.

He put on 92 for the second wicket with Munro who struck two fours and three sixes in a 24- ball cameo, before added a further 63 for the third with Bravo who counted a four and three sixes in 13-ball thriller. With a century in sight, McCullum holed out in the penultimate over off seamer Kesrick Williams.

Tallawahs had a similarly poor start when Glenn Phillips was stumped down the leg-side in the first over without scoring with two runs on the board but the left-handed Sangakkara then revived the innings, posting 85 for the second wicket with Simmons who smashed a four and three sixes off 19 deliveries.

He struck six fours and two sixes but was one of three wickets which fell for 29 runs, however, to leave Tallawahs on 116 for four in the 13th over.

Powell and Mahmudullah (six) added 33 for the fifth but the

More than 6.5 million people call Houston home. Among them are Trinidadian national, Stacy Ann and Australian national, Nicole Flockton, both of whom spoke with Newsday yesterday about how their families have been coping.

Stacy Ann lives in Fulshear while Flockton’s home is located about half hour’s drive away in what’s known as the ‘Energy Corridor’ of Houston.

The streets in her neighbourhood hadn’t flooded as of yesterday afternoon but the retention ponds and lakes in the area were either full or overflowing.

“Rain has been steady since Friday night. Flooding will get worse over the next few days, as retention ponds are filled.” Asked if she was concerned about what might happen, given the forecast for more rain over the next few days, Stacy Ann said she was “a little worried.” “Our neighbourhood has lots of lakes, so we could take water but this is a lot and our lakes are filling up…If the rain doesn’t stop and let it drain off, we could see water coming up on our street and maybe even our driveway. Our house is high up on the street but if it rains for three more days, as predicted, anything is fair game.” Given that her daughter, Sophia, is five-years-old while her son, Adam, is two-years-old, Stacy Ann said her children have had different reactions to the change in routine; particularly the need to seek shelter during tornado warnings.

“Adam couldn’t care two hoots.

Sophia is more aware and just scared of the tornadoes. Tornadoes are scary. You can’t see them and the warnings are constant, so you don’t know where they’ll come from, it at all.” During the tornado warnings; one was issued shortly before 2 pm yesterday while Stacy Ann was talking to Newsday, the family has huddled together in a closet in a bedroom on the ground floor of their home.

“It’s small but the strongest part of the house, (so) that’s where we wait out the tornadoes.” Asked how she’s tried to keep Sophia calm, Stacy Ann told Newsday that because her daughter gets to sleep with mom and dad during Harvey’s passage, “She is in heaven right now.” Stacy Ann expressed sorrow that while her family is OK, so far, “Families in Simonton; a few miles from here, have to evacuate. What is sad is, some of them lost their homes two years ago and had just rebuilt. So sad.” Thankful for being spared, Stacy Ann said she and husband, Adam, “were planning to go help people in other neighbourhoods who need to pack up their stuff quickly” but by 4.30 pm yesterday, the rain was “pouring down” again and the roads leading out of their community had flooded. So the couple were forced to stay put.

Yesterday, many schools in Houston announced the cancellation of classes for all of this week.

The Katy Independent School District (KISD) was among the school systems which decided to do so.

Stacy Ann’s children go to schools within the KISD.

Referring to the announcement made early yesterday afternoon, she said, “I have a sitter lined up, so I can work from home or at the office if I need to go in.” Over in the ‘Energy Corridor’, Flockton expressed relief that her home and neighbourhood had been spared the worst, so far, from Harvey’s passage.

“We are in a good area, fortunately.

We also didn’t have tornadoes touch down near us,” Flockton told Newsday.

During a break in the rains yesterday morning, Flockton and her husband, Jason Flockton, donned boots and took a walk through their neighbourhood and out to Westheimer Road, a main eastwest road in Houston, Texas.

“Our street’s drainage is doing a brilliant job,” Flockton wrote on her Facebook page.

“When we started out the rain was heavy and there was pooling but the drains were gulping down the water. There was water up to the top on a couple of the drains but water was still flowing. The four-way intersection has puddles but was clear. As we headed down toward one of the main roads, Westheimer, there was puddling that got deeper as we walked toward the road.”

Many of those waiting said they had been waiting for hours with little to no explanation as to why there was no flight for them to get on. However, many of those were standby passengers. There was a long line at the standby counter.

Passengers waiting at Piarco International Airport yesterday sat on the floor, some stood with frustrated looks upon their faces as they waited on a flight.

At about 3pm, one Tobagonian woman, who wished not to be identified told Newsday, “I have been here since eight this morning and when I reached by the counter, counter number one, it was about minutes to nine and they closed off and they did not give any information… and a lot of attitude.” The customer indicated that there were a number of time changes for information and she was then informed that there were technical difficulties with the planes.

Ricardo Thom, from Tobago, said he had been at the airport since noon, was not told much and that people were there all day.

He said the airline was not taking any standbys and only confirmed flights were going. Thom, however, was on standby. “They said there was a problem in Tobago with a plane.” “Some have tickets and some don’t,” Thom said.

Terrence Cumberbatch, who flies regularly between Trinidad and Tobago said the country does not have an air bridge. Cumberbatch, also a standby customer, said he had been there only since 2 pm.

“They do what they want, how they want, when they want. We are not the owners. We are the servants. And that is Independence for you,” he said.

Cumberbatch, a frequent flyer, said this was something constantly experienced.

The airline’s Head Corporate Communications, Dionne Ligoure, confirmed there was a plane with technical difficultly but only two of the airline’s scheduled flights were affected.

“The standby passengers are persons who do not hold bookings for a particular day and time of travel. Caribbean Airlines operates a scheduled flight. The priority would be to transport the confirmed passengers.” She said if any confirmed passengers are displaced, the airline ensures those passengers are re-accommodated. Standby passengers, she said, were ad hoc to the operations. She said it required the airline putting on additional services to accommodate them or disrupting international or others services to ensure that they are accommodated. “But in all of this the air bridge is given the highest priority at Caribbean Airlines,” Ligoure said.

The trick is to find uplifting books. This is not a new concept.

Bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin says the ancient Greeks practised bibliotherapy.

Finn’s article lists five novels for bibliotherapy that are now on my reading list.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – This Pulitzer prize-winning novel pops up on a lot of reading lists as “the” novel to read. The Charles Dickens-like story of a boy trying to survive after his mother is killed and his father abandons him makes the bibliotherapist’s list for its uplifting message about survival. It’s being called a “confidence-boosting” book.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – They say money can’t buy happiness, and that is definitely one of the messages in Smith’s novel first published in 1948. The main character pours her thoughts into a diary where readers learn once again that money is not everything. Bibliotherapists want you to absorb the light and often funny mood of this book.

A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines – A 15-year-old boy facing poverty makes Elderkin’s list of uplifting books because it is ultimately a survival story that is beautifully written. A Kestrel for a Knave has always been one of my daughter, Ijanaya’s favourite books.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim – Bibliotherapists view von Arnim’s novel as a cure for “relationship woes.” The story of four women, who learn to bond on a vacation, offers many lessons about facing tough times in an inspiring, but fun read.

Carpenters Raise High the Roof Beams, and Seymour by J D Salinger – Readers will most remember Salinger as the author of The Catcher in the Rye, but this is the book that caught the attention of bibliotherapists.

They promise that Buddy Glass’s tribute to his brother Seymour, who committed suicide is not an uplifting story. Elderkin claims after reading this book readers will feel their grief is understood.

I am no bibliotherapist, but I am going to recommend two novels that I feel should be on the list. A Dog’s Purpose by W Bruce Cameron – It’s refreshing to find a dog book that is a fun-loving, uplifting book that will make readers cherish their relationship with their pets while understanding the true meaning of love and giving. Don’t get me wrong, this novel has tear-jerking moments, but the message definitely qualifies for uplifting.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee – When I finished the audio version of Min Jin Lee’s book about a Korean family’s life in Korea and Japan, I didn’t know where to find a book equally satisfying.

Readers will relish the feelings of confidence and accomplishment it instils in readers.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson – It’s good to be able to laugh at politics and Jonasson’s book hits the spot for political satire. The real message of this novel lies in the lesson that explosives expert Allan Karisson sends to readers: You don’t have to be passive and depressed when you grow old.

There’s no doubt in my mind that a good book can be therapeutic.

However, the role of the trade unions is governed by the laws of the country and in particular there is an Industrial Court to settle disputes among labour, unions and the various employers. This tends to suggest that there are formal limits on the trade unions’ interactions in the socioeconomic life of the country.

However, the Constitution allows any person or groups to seek to be part of the political discussion by seeking parliamentary representation. Hence there is nothing to prevent the labour unions from forming their own political party to seek the role they desire in the political management of the country.

The Constitution does not allow the union any special privileges in our politics. Maybe this is why Mr Panday sees constitutional reform as the absolute solution to our problems, to their threat to mash up the place.

The major problem facing us today is the diversification of our exports. The trade unions are totally out of their depth in finding a solution to this. Further, the fall in rents earned by the energy sector demands a decrease in the onshore economic activity which can mean loss of jobs, reduction in make-work projects and social services which the unions will naturally oppose — not a man must go or we go shut down the place.

The model of the economy is what it is. It cannot support the required onshore activity if the foreign exchange is not forthcoming, especially given that export diversification is not an immediate affair nor can we continue to borrow from abroad and surely not print money.

Still we see the Opposition members of Parliament calling for the distribution of land and houses by the Government so as to improve living conditions for the middle class. The intent is that if our farmers are given land there will be more produce available for local consumption and export.

Unfortunately, this simplicity has no currency in the real world of technology and global competition.

One only has to look at how Brazil was able to emerge from being unable to feed itself into one of the largest exporters of food in the world via a tripartite of government, private sector and the research and development (R&D) institutions via the formation of a national agricultural innovation system.

Starting with Etzkowitz’s Triple Helix, our pathway out of this plantation economy is a similar helix which I called the “innovation diamond” consisting of government involvement that supplies the initial funding and the leadership, the R&D institutions via centres of excellence that provide the ideas and intellectual property, which could warrant global competitiveness, and a private sector, new or the current one augmented, to build export companies.

Given the history of the present private sector it is not expected that it would take the lead in the tripartite group. Yet we hear the Government continually mouthing its aim to diversify the economy via information and communications technology (ICT), tourism financial services and marine and maritime services, with little to show except the gallant attempt by the Economic Development Advisory Board.

Economic diversification will impose a demand on government for financial resources, on the demand for foreign exchange, which in this deepening recession is indeed a burden. Yet we hear of building a port in Toco and a highway to the port to facilitate the journey to Tobago, the completion of the highway to Pt Fortin, all of which will impose demands on government spending but will contribute nothing to economic diversification.

The population is supposed to be pacified since these projects could provide short-term jobs and halt the retrenchment taking place in this recession.

The recent announcement that bpTT has started to produce gas from its Juniper facility and the prospect of gas from Venezuela raise our hopes that the energy sector may again come rushing in to the rescue. However, it is important to recognise that this does not herald the return of the good times.

The Business Guardian of July 13 published a graph of past and projected gas production, which shows that even with the expected projects, then in the development phase, with one from bppTT now in production, production cannot reach the 4.4 bcfd required to keep our gas industries fully productive. The chart shows a further steady decline after 2009.

If gas prices improve, we will still see decreasing revenues, gas shortages; there will still be a drop in foreign exchange earned by the energy sector.

The fundamental deficiency in our country is the lack of a national innovation system, though we have many poor models of its components — courses in entrepreneurship and innovation, business incubators, conferences on innovation, talk from UWI about its entrepreneurship push, and the plans of the Ministry of Planning supported by the Ministry of Trade about, you guessed it, ICT, financial services, tourism, marine and maritime services.

The energy sector may simply give us the time to get on with our diversification if we get our act together, if we get our tripar t ite to perform.

Khan’s death was disclosed by his son Kevin, on social media in which he stated, “With a heavy heart I want to say that this morning my father passed away.

Rest in eternal peace daddy.” Khan paired off with his sister, Ruby Khan-Gupta and became a popular singing duo which became known as ‘The Dream Team of Nazimool and Ruby.’ They sang romantic Bollywood songs and produced several DVDs of gazals and bhajans.

Khan-Gupta was very emotional yesterday when she spoke to Newsday about her elder brother whom she said, ‘roped’ her into singing during their childhood days. Khan-Gupta is currently on a singing tour in the United States will end her performances there to return home later today. “I am still trying to come to terms with the passing of my brother,” she said.

Nazimool, she said, had been ailing from a stroke, but she had been praying that he will one day walk again and share the stage with her. She said that her brother had dialysis on Friday and got a seizure shortly after. He was admitted to the San Fernando General hospital where he died at about 5 am. Nazimool is from Chaguanas. Radio and television personality Rafi Mohammed, said yesterday that the brother and sister team ruled the East Indian local singing stage in the 80s and 90s, performing songs that were extremely popular from Bolywood Hindi films. The evergreen immortal hits songs as ‘Chaudavi Ka Chand’, ‘Baharo Pool’, ‘Oh Mere Mehabooba’ and ‘Chahoonga Mai Tujhe’, were popularised by ‘Nazimool and Ruby-Gupta’.

Our national bird. We celebrate independence, Republic Day, holidays.

Do we know, understand, care what it all means? In the US if you are caught with one feather of their national bird, you can be jailed and fined heavily. Have we no pride at all in ourselves, our country, in what we are supposed to stand for? Years ago, the Pointea- Pierre Wildfowl Trust, together with other NGOs, spearheaded a drive to have our national bird made a protected species. We succeeded.

We appealed then, as we appeal now, for help for the Forestry/Wildlife Division for more licensed and properly armed game wardens to patrol and protect our valuable wetlands, forests and their species.

There are just 11 men, if so many now, to patrol and protect all of TT .

Are we joking? Let us stop this abomination now. Let us take more pride in ourselves. Stop the killing of our scarlet ibis. Stop the killing of our national bird.

MOLLY R GASKIN
president P-a-P Wildfowl Trust