At the San Fernando ASJA mosque, Imam Mushtaq Sulaimani led the pray which he said is known as “salaatul kusuu’’ (prayer during the solar eclipse), and which was attended by about 55 men and women.

At the Nur Islam mosque in San Juan, a similar prayer session was held at 4 pm and at mosques in Caroni, Bamboo Village and Arima, similar congregations were held for the “salaatul kusuf” prayer. Sulamani told worshippers it was a practice of Prophet Muhammad to offer a congregational prayer to seek God’s guidance and help for his mercies during a solar eclipse.

Sulaimani said during such acts of natural phenomenon, people should offer prayers, preferably in the mosque.

A solar eclipse, the Imam said, was not a time for liming.

According to the imam, “There is always a reason for people in this country to justify why they should assemble in pubs, but a solar eclipise in which the moon passes between the sun and the earth and blocks the sun’s rays, must never be one such occasion.

“Man must not seem to understand each and everything about how the universe operates…

God has given us limited knowledge about the heavens and we penetrate not, except by his permission,” Sulaimani said. The “salaatul kusuu” prayer was also observed at the Highway masjid, Charlieville; Masjid Ahad in Princes Town, the Nazir Mohammed Seemab Memorial mosque and the Munroe Road mosque.

Beleaguered captain Jason Holder was choking for words at the post-match conference as he called for “more belief.” As the plane landed in England for this three-Test series, Holder would have known that the last time West Indies won a Test match in England was in 2000 and the last time we won a Test series in England was in 1988.

Out of this squad of 15, only three players had played Test cricket in England.

To add insult to injury, the West Indian batsmen were facing a pink ball in this day/night encounter — the first ever Test match of this type in England.

The cluster of inexperienced West Indian batsmen had no answer to the high-class pace and swing bowling of England’s Stuart Broad and James Anderson with a combined Test tally of close to 900 Test wickets.

Our senior and experienced players, for one reason or the other, continue to sit on the sidelines.

No longer is there the thrill of victory but the constant agony of defeat — West Indies has lost its last six Test series.

I am appealing to Dave Cameron, the current president of the newly-formed Cricket West Indies, to speedily get back the senior and experienced players on board or else the slaughter of the lambs in the lion’s den, barring a miracle, would continue unabashedly.

REZA ABASALI El Socorro

Carmona made the call at the opening of the first local parent skills training programme for children with disabilities, aimed at empowering parents and children, which got underway yesterday at the Mount Hope Women’s Hospital, Mount Hope.

The effort at parent skills training, he said, should be a regional thrust and endorsed his wife, Mrs Reema Carmona’s suggestion in May this year that Caricom leaders declare a Caribbean Decade for Disabled Persons 2018- 2028 following the UN Decade for Disabled Persons 1983-1992 and the African Decade for Disabled Persons 1999- 2009. In a overview on how the programme came about, Carmona said, it was due to advocacy on the part of Mrs Carmona and Dr Natalie Dick, Specialist Developmental Behavioural Paediatrician at the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA).

He commended them for their efforts along with Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister Dr Ayanna Webster-Roy, and Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Jacqueline Johnson who is herself a person with a disability and who ensured the project’s implementation.

The programme involves the training of 16 master trainers, several children and their families, and a few observers and researchers. The master trainers will in turn train parents.

At a press conference on Friday at the Ministry of Education’s head office, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain, Garcia criticised Gopeesingh’s claim that the means test to access GATE denied a large portion of the population access to tertiary funding.

Gopeesingh, he said, was deliberately spreading “misinformation, untruths and blatant attempts to misguide the general population.” He said a 2016 comprehensive study revealed numerous vertical inefficiencies within the previous structure.

Of the $700 million spent annually on the upkeep of the GATE programme prior to 2016, 22.4 per cent of recipients were from middle to high earning households, that is, households with income ranging from $9,000 to an excess of $30,000 while, in the minority, lower-earning households with income below $9,000 accounted for only 4.7 per cent of recipients.

Garcia reiterated the criteria for the amended GATE programme.

Drawing on the example of the Social Sciences faculty at the University of the West Indies, whose yearly tuition averages $12,000, he said when calculated monthly, recipients required to pay 25 per cent do not have to pay substantial sums.

On statements made by former minister of tertiary education and skills training, Fazal Karim during the 2011/2012 budget reading, he said, they contradict Gopeesingh’s claims that the new GATE structure is “pauperising the nation.” Karim had said, Garcia claimed, that the GATE programme was problematic and that it “led to the lowering of standards because of the easy access to tertiary education” with many students using the free education as an excuse to programme hop, fail courses and repeat at the expense of the government.

Addressing concerns about the state of unaccredited private institutions such as the School of Business and Computer Science, he said, many of them were in existence long before the introduction of GATE and were not solely dependent on GATE for the provision of tertiary education to students.

He believes the squad in England comprises the best the region has to offer and said this is as a result of a lack of incentives for regional cricketers to play the longest format of the game.

West Indies suffered an embarrassing defeat in the first Test by an innings and 209 runs in three days at Birmingham on Saturday. The regional side lost 19 wickets in one day after starting day three 44 for one in their first innings.

Dr Sammy says it is unfortunate to see the way West Indies are losing, but knows the regional team is at a rebuilding stage. “Clearly it is disappointing, but remember it is a top team against an emerging new squad who has been blooded against the best. We will get licks in all (the matches), but I don’t see it as licks, I see it as blooding young fellas and making do with what you have,” he said. Dr Sammy knows citizens of the Caribbean are calling for changes on the West Indies Cricket Board, but believes the lack of support for the territorial boards is the main concern.

“I am saying if you criticise (Cricket West Indies boss) Dave Cameron in the morning that is not solving anything. If you fire everybody that is not solving nothing. The sociology is deeper, it is rooted in territories – that is where the problems are.

The territories are not receiving support.” With the number of lucrative T20 leagues around the world, the TT CB official says players are not making themselves available for four-day regional cricket.

“It is really the competition with T20 that is causing a lot of the issues, the fellas are not available for the four-day competition and it is out of the fourday competition where the Test team is selected. That is not just for Trinidad and Tobago, that is for all the territories, that is the source for the Test team.” Dr Sammy understands why players will be drawn to T20 cricket, and therefore incentives must be given to encourage players to compete in four-day cricket. “If you say you want to be a specialist in T20 you have that option. Not everybody must play all forms of the game, I am not saying that. Fellas are looking at the incentives players receive in the T20 format and saying ‘In three to five years I could become independently self sufficient.’ When you play four-day cricket there is no incentives.” The former WICB Director hopes that with more monetary rewards, players may show more dedication to four-day cricket, which will help the Test team. “If you really think that four-day cricket is central to the survival of Test cricket in the Caribbean, then you need to offer them monetary incentives for them to dedicate themselves to that format of the game.”

Having learned about the “culturally rich vacation destination” that is TT during presentations in Martinique and Guadeloupe, 19 people from Martinique subsequently chose to visit.

The ministry said the road show also gave travel industry personnel and consumers a chance to get more information on tour operators, accommodation, restaurants and experiences, which would “come together to make their stay an enjoyable one.” “The TT delegation enticed the group of 19 persons from Martinique into booking an all-inclusive package which included meet and greet, return airport transfers, accommodation and ten days of activities inclusive of a one day tour to Tobago in the month of July 2017. While visiting TT, the group stayed at Coblentz Inn Boutique Hotel located in Cascade, Port-of-Spain,” the ministry stated.

During a farewell dinner for the group, held on July 19 at Coblentz, Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe shared her vision for the tourism industry and highlighted why it was critical that the ministry fully supported the road show.

“The economic benefits to be derived through inter-island tourism is manifold especially as it pertains to retaining foreign exchange within the Caribbean region, as well as sustainability of the tourism sector.” Cudjoe also said initiatives such as the road show are important in setting the foundation for new and emerging markets, and also underscores the importance of public– private partnership to the growth and development of the tourism sector.

During their visit, the Martinique group enjoyed a diverse program which included a trip to Tobago, the Gasparee Caves, Paramin, La Brea Pitch Lake and the National Academy for the Performing Arts.

“The group expressed pleasure at the hospitality and professional service extended to them and have promised to return for Carnival 2018. The group departed on July 20.” The TT contingent to Martinique and Guadeloupe also included representatives from the Trinidad Hotel Restaurants and Tourism Association, Coblentz Inn Boutique Hotel, the Small Tourism Operators Association, Tourism Development Company marketing specialist Carla Cupid and pannist Daryl Reid.

The chosen samples originated from the San Juan Estate, Gran Couva and the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries’ Rio Claro Demonstration Station.

In a release, the ministry quoted county officer Florencia Beckles who heads a 15-person team at the station which includes station manager Sashtri Doon and quality officer Roger Polia. She said it was an experimental six-week project to teach farmers how to do drying.

“About 75 per cent of the estates in the county are abandoned. We wanted to show the farmers that given the microclimate of this area the quality of the beans was excellent. We wanted to give them a reason to get back into production, show them they could produce quality dried beans themselves and get a good price on the market,” she said.

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat said this country’s cocoa is not generic.

“It’s plant, soil, and geography-specific.

Farm practices create the bean. It is not accidental at all. Rio Claro is such a small team; I think that is what makes this a remarkable accomplishment,” he said.

The ministry said with almost 30 acres in Ecclesville under cocoa cultivation, the Rio Claro project team harvested pods that were predictably sweet and consistent in quality with other varieties of “trinitario” beans native to Trinidad and Tobago.

The ministry noted that just this week, Tobago Cocoa Estate’s ‘Laura’ milk bar, also made from the finest trinitario beans, won gold in the semifinal round of another competition, the International Chocolate Awards.

The Salon du Chocolat is a celebration of the excellence of quality and diversity among cocoa producers worldwide.

Held in Paris from October 28 to November 1, the Salon du Chocolat will host 500 participants from more than 60 countries including 200 world-renowned chefs and pastry chefs.

To qualify for the finals of the International Cocoa Awards, one of the Salon du Chocolat’s marquee events, the top 50 bean samples will be processed into chocolate following which they will undergo sensory evaluation through September by a panel of 40 experts.

The name change will reflect the school’s connection to the Belmont Parish and the Church of St Francis of Assisi, and also helps to distinguish it from Belmont Secondary School (formerly Belmont Junior Secondary).

The Christian brothers originally opened the school in 1923 under the name Belmont Boys Intermediate. It has a rich history and its alumni include the late Archbishop Anthony Pantin and his brothers, Bishop of St Georges, Grenada Clyde Harvey, calypsonian David Rudder, retired judge Melvin Beard, politician Fitzgerald Hinds, former Port of Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing and current Mayor Joel Martinez and athlete Jehue Gordon.

Processing fees for all applications submitted to the Visa Section and the Visa Application Centre can only be paid online now.

Effective immediately, payments at Scotiabank are discontinued but Scotiabank receipts or bank drafts will be accepted until September 29.

J a c i n t h e Roberge-Binovec, immigration programme manager said, “The change is as a result of the modernisation strategy of the Government of Canada.”

Vasquez told the media last week at a Ministry of Education press conference held at the ministry’s head office, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain that repairs undertaken on 144 primary and secondary schools will be completed in time for the new school year which begins in September. Vasquez said the schools are being repaired on a “phase system” and repairs undertaken based on priority.

“A school may have sewer and electrical issues and require painting, (however) we would focus on the more critical jobs and defer the painting for a later date,” he said. Vasquez admitted that many contractors are still being owed money but they have continued to work to ensure a smooth transition into the new term.

“Contractors would be paid when the necessary funds become available,” he said.

When asked what the EFCL does during the school year, he said they work on repairs and other issues when contacted by the ministry.

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia said the EFCL fully cooperates with the ministry and they work well together.