“We are prepared to hit the streets if it comes to that, next week, to ensure that perhaps those who may not be paying attention, pay attention to what we are saying with respect to the importance of this issue,” an adamant Roget told reporters, yesterday, during a news conference outside of the International Waterfront Complex.

The briefing followed a two-hour meeting with Energy Minister Franklin Khan, at the ministry’s head office, to address pertinent issues relating to falling crude oil production.

The OWTU’s audience with the energy minister, came one week after union officials met with Khan, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus to hammer out issues relating to Trinmar’s operations at Petrotrin.

Arguing that Trinidad and Tobago was facing “a precipitous fall” in indigenous crude production, Roget said the country needed to quickly ramp up production levels.

“These issues are urgent and it cries out for the type of management so that not the company but the country can benefit as a result of increased crude oil production,” he said.

Flanked by OWTU executive members, Roget said the union presented two suggestions to Khan of ways to increase production, one of which offered a revamp of the existing governance model for Petrotrin.

“The monstrosity that is Petrotrin is a merger of some five companies coming together into one described as the Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

“But there are a number of inefficiencies in the way in which Petrotrin is operating currently and these are transferred to lack of productivity, lack of production which at the end of the day result in duplication and wastage.” Roget alleged that the people at the helm of Petrotrin benefitted from the situation “because they are in top positions.” “Petrotrin was structured to suit persons in top positions rather to suit the needs and interest of the country,” he claimed.

The union leader again called for the State company to be urgently restructured.

“It ought to be broken up into manageable segments, manageable divisions – exploration and production, Trinmar operations, refining and marketing and a proper HSE management, input so that as you ramp up production you will be able to pay close attention to health and safety issues and so we will not have all of this oil spilling into the sea and into the waterways,” he said.

Roget said Petrotrin was in dire need of proper management.

“As we speak, we are not confident that the persons that are placed at then helm of Petrotrin that they can deliver the benefit to the country as a result of that monstrosity they are in charge of. And we prevail upon the Minister of Energy that Petrotrin ought to be restructured,” he said.

Roget claimed Khan had welcomed their presentations and vowed to act upon them by talking to the board of management to put structures in place to realise benefits.

Roget said he also called on Khan to address outstanding wage negotiations for Petrotrin employees for the periods 2011-2014 and 2014-2017.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Chairman, First Citizens Pink Card Fund, Michal Andrews said “after a few interviews and much scrutiny, the level of transparency and accountability noted at this institution persuaded the Pink Fund Committee to make the contribution.” The Pink Card Fund was launched in 2011.

Andrews said that the Pink Card Fund recognised that it was a challenge for the CCHCN to have educational field trips as a team, and with the donation of the bus, the mobility of the institution as a family will be enhanced.

CCHCN Chairman, Beverly John who expressed gratitude on behalf of the home said the bus will enhance the lives of the beneficiaries and facilitate access to activities which are available to all children.

Rowley and Energy minister Franklin Khan.

The latter announced that construction on the highway to Point Fortin would resume next year while Rowley promised Siparia residents that they would be given Borough status.

Khan told hundreds of PNM supporters representing Penal, Fyzabad and Siparia districts that government would commence construction of the highway next year. Supporters gathered on Siparia junction, greeted the news with thunderous applause amidst steelband music by the Siparia Diatonics steel orchestra. The much maligned highway project halted in May by the government after the contractor, Brazilian construction firm OAS Construtora, was declared bankrupt in March last year.

The highway project had stopped at Grants Road, Rousillac, but Khan told the meeting that the project would continue from the Golconda leg, into Debe in Penal and Fyzabad. He continued that the highway would then merge into the La Brea area to link from Rousillac, then into Point Fortin.

Yesterday, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony for opening of the Freeport/Couva Parallel Access Road Phase 1, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan confirmed, “Yes, definitely next year the highway construction would resume. There are certain packages we are working on and the idea is to get local contractors involved.” The minister however, said that having regard to a litigation matter, the arbitration into which the government recently won, there was need for his ministry to get legal clearance before work resumes. Government would soon resolve the issue over the controversial Mon Desir section of the highway, Sinanan said. Khan told the meeting at which PNM candidates contesting districts in the Siparia and Penal/Debe Regional Corporations were presented to the crowd for the November 28 Local Government elections, that his ministry intends to re-activate land oilfields that are either dormant, or, had been capped in Fyzabad, Siparia, Los Bajos, Santa Flora and Palo Seco districts

“The Prime Minister is now saying that 2017 will be a positive year, well listen, nothing is further from the truth because they have done absolutely nothing, no initiatives, no plan to build and grow our economy,” Persad- Bissessar said. “And now the word coming out from the backroom of the PNM is once this (local government) election is finished and once Christmas gone, the Trinidad and Tobago dollar will be devalued by as much as 10 to 1 versus the US.

That is, ten TT dollars for one US dollar!” “Already 10 to 1 is murder,” she quipped, adding, “So do not get carried away and fooled with their rhetoric and platform talk this election,” she said. Persad-Bissessar was addressing hundreds of energetic supporters as the party’s election bandwagon rolled into market square, High Street, Rio Claro on Thursday night. The Mayaro/ Rio Claro Regional Corporation (MRCRC) is currently controlled by the Opposition party which won four out of the six electoral districts in the 2013 Local government election. And referencing the so-called war of the roti currently dominating the headlines and not the escalating murder rate, Persad-Bissessar issued a challenge to the Prime Minister to produce a bill for the amount of roti spent for Divali celebrations under the previous People’s Partnership Administration.

“So how do we fight crime, the Prime Minister tells us to start worrying how much roti was bought, I challenge him to produce any bill from the residence showing how much money he says was spent on roti for a Divali function,” she said, adding, “I challenge him and what he is doing, he is playing with people’s minds because he talks about a Divali function but he will not talk to the Partnership government looked after for Divali, for Eid, for Christmas, for Baptist day, for Emancipation Day for every creed and race in this country.”

On December 7, the school is planning a “one-day hands-on minds-on” conference, Play for Outstanding Results, at which it will advocate the use of LEGO SE RIOUS PLAY and Games Science within organisations to unlock knowledge and creativity to improve performance and solve problems. The conference will be held at the Movie Towne Banquet and Conference Centre, Audrey Jeffers Highway, Port-of-Spain.

Adi Montas, marketing executive at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business and a trained LEGO SE RIOUS PLAY facilitator said LEGO SE RIOUS PLAY is an innovative, experimental process designed to enhance innovation and business performance. In fact, since most adults put down their LEGO blocks, LEGO has moved on, evolved and added new pieces and a whole concept of “Games Science” has been developed around the ideas of applying “game mechanics and game design techniques” to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals and promote organisational efficiency.

Montas said the conference will be exposing participants to unconventional ways of improving performance in organisations and game science is the use of various games to get all members of the team in a company to buy into solving a problem.

“I can give a very simple instruction such as build a tower using just two types of blocks and you will see, even if there are twenty persons in the room, we will have twenty different towers. What that brings to the table is how in a team we will have different perspectives.” She said this is what happens normally in organisations when instructions are given or received: each person interprets and will have a specific perspective on that instruction. She said LEGO SE RIOUS PLAY brings together all those perspectives into one aligned concept.

Montas said it immediately improves active listening because in a regular meeting about half the audience is usually not giving their full attention to the presentation but in LEGO SE RIOUS PLAY all participants must give their full attention to all their colleagues in order to participate in any task “because we are working with metaphors. We are thinking with our hands and when we do this we are activating two sides of our brain – that doesn’t usually happen in a regular meeting.

And this happens naturally, we all like to play so just by doing this exercise we are igniting things in our brain that we don’t usually do.” She said that when people try to build something with their hands, they are activating both sides of their brains and it has been scientifically proven that when people are using their hands to put something together communication is clearer and it even makes the presentation of the model to the group easier because it removes some of the fear of making the presentation.

She said the LEGO company is aware of the versatility of the bricks and has separate divisions such as LEGO Education which deals with pre-schools, schools and trying to improve communication skills for children and managing emotional intelligence – how to express their emotions.

She added that the concept of LEGO SE – RIOUS PLAY is about ten years old and was developed by Robert Rasmussen, who once led the LEGO Education division and she was fortunate to have been trained by him.

Montas is only one of three experts who will conduct the conference on December 7. It will feature Executive Coach and trained LEGO SE – RIOUS PLAY facilitator, Guillermo Miotti and Dr. Sylvester Arnab, Lead of the Disruptive Learning Lab at Coventry University (UK), who is also a trained LEGO SE RIOUS PLAY facilitator.

In a hotly-contested final between five victorious secondary schools in the Tobago, East, West, Central, and South regions, the Bishop’s quartet of Camryn Bruno; Oshun Trim; Cindy Andrews, and Soyini Greig impressed the judging panel, headed by Penelope Spencer.

The event took place on November 11 at City Hall, San Fernando.

Bruno is no stranger to the spoken word winner’s row, having placed second in the 2015-2016 singles competitors Intercol, held in March.

The competition has undergone historic shifts, and for the first time in the four years of the annual high-stakes contest, school teams, not individual competitors, took to the stage. The champions took home a winner’s purse of $7,500 from Courts, second-place winners St George’s College received $5,000, and Bishop Anstey High School and Trinity College East, in third place, won $2,500. Presentation College, Chaguanas and San Fernando Central Secondary earned fourth and fifth places respectively.

Giving judges’ remarks during the prize announcement, Spencer said that the standard of competition was extraordinarily high and praised all the participating schools. Public relations officer of Unicomer, Nicole Loney-Mills, expressed Courts’ dedication to intercollegiate spoken word excellence, saying that the contest has grown from strength to strength.

Founder of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Marina Salandy-Brown, echoed Loney-Mills sentiments, lauding the bravery of secondary school students’ poetic expressions across Trinidad and Tobago, said a media release.

The Courts Bocas Spoken Word Intercol is a landmark Bocas Lit Fest project that works with the dynamic youth group, 2Cents Movement, in over 50 schools each year to expose secondary school students to a creative form that allows them to express their thoughts and engage with matters of personal, social and political interest.

The Intercol final got the 2016 NGC Bocas Lit Fest South underway.

The free festival, held last weekend on San Fernando Hill attracted a large and varied audience for readings, debate, spoken word, drama, extempo, open mic and more plus a full children’s festival of storytelling, workshops, reading, writing, magic and fun learning.

For more info: www.bocaslitfest.

com

The works of some ten artists are on display. One of them, Lisa O’Connor started painting in high school and professionally at 18. She started in acrylic but now strictly paints only on oils. She has held many solo exhibitions in Trinidad, London and Japan.

O’Connor said: “I paint in the outdoors to be able to capture the light and vibrancy of my surroundings, the natural beauty and architectural heritage.

I enjoy cropping to create an unusual angle and twist on my composition. A great example of this is one of my pieces titled ‘French Ambassador’s House with Poui’.” Clayton De Freitas, president of the Art Society, paints in watercolours and acrylic. His works can be viewed in sepia tones at the exhibition. He advised: “Always see the beauty that surrounds you. It’s there for us all to capture in a look or a glance, even on paper or canvas.” Kenderson Noray’s recent works are a combination of brilliant colours depicting his hometown of Paramin. “He developed a love for art at a young age and is influenced by the nature of our people and the environment,” said Laquis.

Maureen Ottier is an award-winning artist with a passionate love for nature and the outdoors. Her recent works can be only viewed at the Savannah Gallery. One of them is “Pouis around the Savannah”.

Ottier paints in acrylic and watercolours and her works can be seen in corporate and private collections in Canada, USA ,Switzerland, Japan and the Caribbean.

Dermot Louison is mostly self-taught. He has held many successful exhibitions both locally and within the Caribbean.

He paints in oils and depicts our scenic homeland, folklore traditions, court scenes and a heritage with a lost culture and history. Laquis said: “He is one of Trinidad ‘s senior artists and a true master. His painting “Holding Hands” shows a humble way of life.

Ramon Navarro has been painting for over 50 years. Laquis describes him as a master of light and one who paints only in oils. His signature touch on many of his canvases is the flambeau torch. He paints from memory.

“His paintings take you back to an era of romance, a simpler life, donkey carts, farmers and fishing folk.” Sandra Dopson, another selftaught artist has been painting professionally for over 30 years. The San Fernando resident has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in Trinidad.

Her paintings adorn the walls of avid collectors both local and international.

Her passion? She said: “I create nature on my canvases, in a touch of old world charm imagery.” Laquis said her style can change at a moment’s notice but her preferred medium is acrylic. She is known for her landscapes and her amazing, intricate detailing of old homes.

Of Martin Superville, Laquis said: “Martin has been inseparable from his canvas since at the age of four. He can paint in all mediums but his preference is oils.

Martin’s paintings include a wide array of our local women, portraits, cricket scenes, landscapes and seascapes.

He uses his dancing figures in black and white as a means to simulate lightness and darkness.” The exhibition runs till December 9, however, viewing is by appointment only.

Soca star Kees Dieffenthaller will hit the runway at the Hotel Normandie, St Ann’s as will Shurwayne Winchester, footballer Kenwyne Jones and radio host Sunny Bling as Elie unveils his latest Cuban-inspired male collection.

Dieffenthaller has been a fan of Elie’s work, having been outfitted by the Arima-born designer on several occasions. Like Sunny Bling, the soca artiste has shown appreciation for Elie’s workmanship, often times, crediting him in photos posted to social media sites, making it known that Ecliff Elie is the man when it comes to Caribbean clothing that offers sophisticated comfort, said a media release.

Winchester, too, has worn the Ecliff Elie brand for many years, dating back to the start of his climb to fame.

The new collection will feature cotton with designs that are lightweight and structurally effective in every sense when it comes to men’s fashion, the release said.

“I try to deliver clothing that can be appreciated by everyone. Men should look good, feel good and move comfortably, and their wives or women or girlfriends, should feel good knowing that they’re standing beside a man that looks good,” Elie said.

The runway show begins at 7 pm at the St Ann’s venue.

This extended sprint over 1350 metres has attracted some of the best of the horses rated 75-50.

Consistent Eye See You, One Fortheroad and the fleet-footed three-year-old Desert Dancer hold the engagement.

The vote though, goes to the John Leotaud- trained Desert Dancer with the biggest danger being One Fortheroad.

Five two-year-old “babes” will go to post for the day’s opener over 1`200 metres.

Chameli is the only one to have racing experience, but Rocket Wheels who has been galloping with authority, should be the favourite.

Turfites are minded to back horses ridden by leading rider Ronald “Tiger” Ali and defending champion Prayven Badrie as they battle for this year’s title.

And also, it is a twoway battle between Ridge Balgobin and Jovika Boodramsingh for the title of champion apprentice.

The day’s eight-race programme could be a betting paradise with a bounty of $27, 491.06 carryover on the Hi5.

Post time for the day’s opener is 1 pm.

TT are second to last on the standings with two defeats from two games.

Goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams returned to Trinidad alongside Jones and coach Stephen Hart and is slwoly on the mend after suffering a concussion in the first half of Tuesday’s match and had to be rushed to the Cemena Hospital in San Pedro Sula. He underwent an emergency CT scan of the head and neck which showed no evidence of fracture or brain bleeding.

Williams was evaluated by consultant neurosurgeon Dr Chang who diagnosed a moderate concussion. Williams was reevaluated 24 hours later after the incident and cleared to fly to Port of Spain.

He has been advised to avoid all sporting activities for two weeks after being symptom free. This could lead to a total of 3-4 weeks away off before restarting any form of training.

Skipper Jones, fully aware of the level of criticism being aimed at him in recent times, vowed that the TT team will pull its way of the current slump.

“It is disappointing but I am optimistic as in reference to the 2006 campaign, we are in a similar position to what we were back then before we qualified. Knowing the way the games have gone so far and how the teams are standing, it’s far from over.

We have eight games to go and I believe for a lot of the players, getting the experience so far is a good one which will serve them well for the upcoming games.

There is still time to fix the situation,” Jones told TT FA Media.

“At the end of the day there is no substitute for experience.

This final round of qualifying takes something different.

If you look at all the games played in the group, I don’t think we have been seeing much football but more about scrapping for victories and points. It’s something we have to get to.

“We have had so many instances where we played football to get out of trouble either winning or coming back to draw. We didn’t have too much games to scrap to save or get a victory.

We need to fight to get those points on board. It is something we will have to get to quickly,” added the former Stoke City forward.

During a similar period in 2015, TT , following their quarter- final finish at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, went onto defeat Panama 2-1 in Panama City, draw 3-3 with Mexico in Salt Lake City and defeat Guatemala 2-1 in the first match of the semi-final round of qualification in Guatemala, also holding the US 0-0 in Port of Spain.

Jones spoke about the change in the way the team has handled its assignments over the past few months.

“Maybe a place of complacency for some of us. This is not a one-day thing.

It’s been happening for quite a few games now but it serves as a good example for us to look back on to try and see what we need to do to get out of the situation,” Jones said.

“The public is going to have their issues and rightly so but at the same time as a team we need to look within ourselves and try to fix the problem because we are the only ones that are going to fix the problems.

We have two home games in March so hopefully we can get to the drawing board and get this done.

We need to start mending the wounds that we are carrying.”