In the 2017 Mid-Year Budget review, the finance minister said government expenditure was reduced from $63 billion in Fiscal 2015/16, to $53 billion in Fiscal 2017, a cut of $10 billion. Dr. Conrad said that was not enough. “I think some of the cuts that have been referenced and alluded to in the last budget are superficial. The gap still continues to widen. I don’t foresee that we have the luxury of selling off the assets that they had identified as one offs to generate some revenue. I think it is going to come down to going through line by line and determining where they need to make the appropriate reality checks.”

He said he also wanted to see a reduction in allocations to social welfare and “make work” programmes and said the budget presented government with a forum to educate the public, what he referred to as a “teachable moment”. Dr. Conrad said, “I also hope they would take the opportunity to explain to the general public the true fiscal position and take (this) as a moment to educate not just specific groups but everyone.” At the same time, he said it must be made clear to individual or specific interests that wage increases and other concessions cannot be facilitated at this point in time.

“I think that the budget could be used to send this message that there needs to be fiscal re-alignment, reflective of revenues.”

Dr. Conrad told Business Day that this budget will present the government with it’s last opportunity to introduce these re-alignments. He said that as this government’s third budget, any hereafter will be tailored with elections in mind. “It will be a missed opportunity to re-align fiscally, which should have been done last budget,” he said.

On the continuing issue of foreign exchange shortages, Dr. Conrad said: “Our source of foreign exchange has been the energy sector and I think that what most people miss is that the non-energy sector has been running a deficit in the vicinity of 20-25 per cent. That deficit has always been covered by the energy sector. What is happening now is that the non-energy deficit is being reflected in all shapes and forms. There are no short term ways to address the shortage in foreign exchange. Therefore, I think what we may need to see is some return to some sort of managed environment for foreign exchange, which is going to create a lot of problems for individuals, but it is not abnormal to return to that bit of control.”

He noted that the Central Bank has been injecting significant reserves into the system, which is likely to deplete them and spawn problems of its own. “At the current rate of spending, I think our import cover will fall to under nine months,” he said.

Dr. Conrad also said that government appeared to have forgotten that it can make use of monetary policy as well. “I think the only indication of monetary policy I have seen is injection of foreign exchange. Aside from that, the heart of the matter is not being addressed. I know some people have pointed to the possibility of letting the currency be devalued a little more. I think what we stand to lose is greater than what we stand to gain.”

He added that, “Given our industrial relations climate, I really don’t think that at short notice and at low cost, we can really increase production in any meaningful area.” Beyond being a teachable moment for the government, the economist said the budget also needs to be more forward looking. “I think this budget should be part of a road map for the next five years, even if it may not be within their purview. There should be a concrete five year plan that should make this budget part of a longer term strategy which I thought should have happened budgets ago.”

Our golden young men – Jarrin Solomon, Jereem Richards, Machel Cedenio, Lalonde Gordon and Renny Quow – are indeed deserving of every accolade bestowed on them for their excellent performance. As strains of the T&T national anthem filled the London stadium during the medal ceremony, our collective hearts were bursting with unfettered pride.

Far too often, many of us tend to question our people’s ability to reach the pinnacle of success within our respective spheres of influence. As such, the chances of coming out ahead of our formidable and well-resourced counterparts from first world countries at times appears quite slim. Clearly in this instance, teamwork tipped the scale and our athletes rose to the challenge, convincingly securing victory in the process.

As we stand on the cusp of our 55th anniversary of Independence, perhaps, there is a lesson here for all of us who call this twin-island Republic, home. What did it take for our team to win? Without a doubt, those youth must have endured many long hours of intense training, discipline, deferred gratication and sacrifice, failure, the willingness to start all over again, teamwork, trust and, above all, a deep belief in self. These are all attributes and practices which can be applied to many areas of our national life, particularly as we seem to be grappling with a great deal of negativity in our society today.

These young men worked together to achieve a common goal. One can only imagine the difference it would make, if we adopted this kind of mindset on the road to building a more productive nation.

Using the example set by our Golden Team, consider what it would be like if our national stakeholders chose a more unifying approach to resolving critical issues, rather than opting for confrontation. Think of what might be accomplished if both the Government and the Opposition were to work together collaboratively, in the areas that matter the most – from national security, to education, health and equity between the islands.

From ti me to ti me we might hear the term “consultation” being bandied about and very often it creates a false sense of progress. In the end, what truly matters is a commitment to working together and then following through on execution and implementation, in all sectors of national endeavour.

During the month of August, we typically reflecton our nationhood in the build up to Independence Day celebrations. This is a period imbued with a great deal of patriotic pride. What better ti me to celebrate our winning relay team, which has epitomised the true spirit of Trinidad and Tobago and captured our hearts so warmly? These young men have created a unifying force – the likes of which have not been seen in some ti me. We have a great opportunity to put aside our differences, celebrate who we are, uniquely, as Trinbagonians and commit decisively to forward motion.

The T&T Chamber sends warm congratulations and best wishes to our World Championships 2017 Men’s 4 x 400 Gold Medallists!

On August 10, AMB published its unaudited interim results, in which the ANSA McAL Group of Companies subsidiary reported PBT for the six month period ended June 30 had increased by 43 per cent or almost TT $50 million to TT $164 million compared to the same period last year, when the bank recorded PBT of $115 million. Earnings per share improved by 41 per cent to $1.51 ($1.07 in 2016).

Speaking with Business Day about AMB’s performance, Hill said “despite the challenging environment”, the bank’s increase in PBT meant it was able to contribute $164 million “and a significant fillip to the overall performance of the ANSA McAL Group.”

Hill said AMB saw growth in its investment portfolios in all companies: expanded mortgage lending, increases in insurance premiums and underwriting and, with the full integration of the Consolidated Finance Company Limited in Barbados, “our results were further enhanced by a regional uplift.

“All in all, we are starting to see the benefits of several strategic initiatives in all our companies. We launched our Securities Trading platform in the bank in 2015 and followed this in 2017 with the launch of our Private Wealth Management business, which has already started to gain momentum.

“We understand wealth creation and preservation in our Group, as its in our Corporate DNA,” Hill added. “So this new service was an easy bolt on for us to our suite of financial services. These solid advances have mitigated the other areas of the business where we deliberately were a bit more conservative, such as our retail and commercial lending, where we see the most exposure to the current tough economic climate.”

For the period under review, AMB’s subsidiary, Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Limited (TATIL), gained market share in its Motor and Property books over the prior year. Hill told Business Day that the insurance company “has demonstrated a focus on growing the business” which has included the use of “endearing TATIL ads which have become a hallmark of the brand strategy for our General Insurance business, where you are not a policy number, but a person.”

Quoting the popular tagline from one of its best known ads, Hill said, “TATIL, where people are people.

“This has been quite successful in driving an increase in policy count and market share. Policy growth was also as a result of the cross selling across our companies and its direct sales initiatives. If I might also add, once again A.M. Best confirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “A-” with a Stable Outlook for TATIL. This rating was based on TATIL’s continued solid risk-adjusted capitalisation, reinsurance support, history of profitability and overall strong operating performance which it has become known for, given its favourable underwriting results augmented by its steady investment income.”

Like its parent company, TATIL Life, also recorded an improved performance in PBT of $61 million ($2.8 million in 2016) as well as a market share gain in its mortgage and life products.

Regarding this subsidiary, Hill told Business Day that, “In addition to the exceptional performance of its investment portfolio, TATIL Life increased its underwriting on its annuity business and its mortgage lending business, both of which contributed to the improved performance over 2016.”

Hill credited the “very dedicated team at TATIL Life, led by Ron (Ronald Milford), a very entrepreneurial MD who has really been working the business since he joined us just about two years ago.”

Looking ahead, Hill said while the local and international environment “continues to present challenges”, AMB remains “confident of delivering a solid performance in 2017.

“Our businesses are well capitalised, our underwriting conservative and our teams fully energised to create shareholder value every day, so we anticipate that we will overcome any challenge thrown at us in the markets in which we operate, while we look for opportunities to grow both organically and inorganically.”

This place had heavy rainfall resulting in mudslides. One of the things that caught my attention was the number of homes that were constructed on the hillside which was an accident just waiting to happen.

My mind came back to the great number of home construction that has taken place over the years in Trinidad and Tobago on the hillsides.

When I look at the constant landslides that we are having now in TT due to the unpredictable rainfall in the wet season, I am very concerned about homes that are built on the hillside. You may argue that we never had this type of disaster but unfortunately, there is always a first time for everything.

Now it is impossible to tell people, who have already built huge concrete structures against the hillsides, to relocate. They may laugh at you. Yet, I would like to suggest to those thinking of going in this direction to be wise and very careful in doing this. You are putting yourself and family members at great risk. Let us learn from what we are seeing happening all around the world due to climate change. Always remember “prevention is better than cure.” Just looking out for you as a citizen of TT .

Arnold Gopeesingh via email

A statement issued yesterday by the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs said Young signed the warrant of committal (by consent), which was presented before Acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle by the Central Authority Unit, for Sookdeo’s extradition.

The ministry said this is another victory for the Attorney General and the Central Authority Unit in the co-ordination of efforts with their international counterparts in the fight against crime.

Sookdeo is alleged to have committed several offences.

These include one count of conspiracy to defraud the US and to commit theft of government funds (which is punishable with a maximum term of five years imprisonment); one count of false claims to the US (which is punishable with a maximum term of five years imprisonment) and one count of interstate and foreign transportation of money taken by fraud (which is punishable with a maximum term of ten years imprisonment).

He is alleged to have committed these offences between 2006 and 2010 in the US and Canada before fleeing to this country.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, upon being advised by the Central Authority Unit that it had received a request from the US for the Sookdeo’s extradition, signed the authority to proceed on July 28. This triggered the extradition process. Sergeant Narace of the Interpol Bureau swore to and obtained the warrant of arrest from the court.

Sookdeo was arrested by Interpol police on July 28 in Debe, south Trinidad. He was taken before Earle-Caddle in the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrates Court on August 2. Attorney Graeme Mc Clean, head of the Central Authority Unit, and Netram Kowlessar appeared for the US. Sookdeo consented to being extradited to the US.

“It will not go away,” he said.

“The ferry service affects thousands of people on a daily basis.

The passenger ferry service moves one million people to and from Trinidad and Tobago each year. That is what you interfering with when you do it the wrong way.” Members of Cabinet knew what the terms and conditions of the contracts were to procure the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower II, he said, as they do not approve of any fiscal measures without going into intimate detail of what they mean.

Cadiz said he found it strange that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has appointed a sole investigator to determine the circumstances for the procurement.

“Unless the prime minister says Cabinet never saw a note and they did not approve it, that would be problematic because the port authority is in no position to have any expenditure like that without Cabinet’s approval.

“What this administration has done to Tobago is sinful. Renting and leasing boats is not rocket science. They dropped the ball when they allowed the Super Fast Galicia to leave without renewing the contract or having anything in place.” His former ministerial colleague Vasant Bharat told Newsday the blame for the current fiasco with the vessels and the seabridge lies squarely in the laps of Rowley and his Cabinet.

Bharat said Rowley claimed he was not a rubber stamp for anything and was not going to rubber stamp the Galicia staying after it was recommended by PATT’s management that the contract be renewed on two occasions, but he has rubber stamped the contracts for the lease of vessels now under questionable circumstances.

Schneider Electric (SE) is a major player in energy efficiency services such as air fl ow management for computer servers.

Business Day sat down with the company’s International Trade and Development Sales Director for the Caribbean, Manuel A.

Rodrigues, to find out more about the importance of keeping servers cool and humidity-free.

“Air flow management is very critical because servers have a specific temperature reading that they can work in, and that’s where we come in. We ensure, from a cooling perspective, that air flow is happening properly, that the temperature levels are being maintained. We also provide solutions for humidity; something which is a factor in tropical regions like the Caribbean. Humidity has a big impact on computer equipment and servers in particular because they have specific humidity ranges, outside of which, they can malfunction.” Rodrigues explained that SE’s precision cooling system was designed to address temperature and humidity concerns in an efficient manner.

“This system is our most recommended cooling solution for companies located in tropical conditions; versus typical comfort air that you may see in an office environment, because cooling humans is a very different need compared to cooling computer equipment.” Rodrigues said that while “a lot of people think cooling is about how much cold air you push into a room, it’s actually about how to extract the heat from a room. So it’s a heat extraction system, even though they call it an airconditioning system.” It’s always key to save money on your electricity bills, even more so during an economic slowdown as many countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, are currently experiencing.

Headquartered in Rueil- Malmaison, France, SE has operations all over the world.

As companies, particularly those with lean profit margins, seek to reduce their operating costs as profit margins remain thin, SE has seen an increase in the number of requests for assessments of existing cooling and/or energy efficiency systems.

Rodrigues told Business Day that SE offers several assessments, including “simple walk throughs, free of charge, where we can quickly identify certain problems.

However, when we’re talking about in-depth studies to identify real significant percentages of savings, that’s where our assessment services come in; both from a power quality/power efficiency perspective as well as cooling efficiencies.

“The majority of your energy consumption is from cooling and if your cooling system is working overtime because of inefficiencies, then at the end of the day, you’re possibly over-spending on 60 percent of your data centre energy consumption.” What may come as even more of a surprise to many businesses is that installing an SE system can potentially save them hundreds of thousands of US dollars in reduced electricity bills.Rodrigues gave the example of a company in The Bahamas which, in February 2017, asked SE to assess its cooling system.

“We were able to save that company US$400,000 a year in operating expenditure aft er we improved the efficiency of their energy consumption related to their cooling system. The company is housed in a two-storey building; seven rooms of critical equipment plus regular office spaces. They asked us to come in because they felt that not only were they not being efficient enough, their system wasn’t providing the right level of cooling to support their infrastructure because they were failing.” Rodrigues also spoke to Business Day about his June 2017 visit to Trinidad, during which he met with existing and potential SE clients at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. SE holds regular meetings with clients here and abroad in order to get direct, up-to-date feedback on its systems and any new or emerging energy efficiency needs companies may have developed since their last meeting. “This allows us to better prepare and plan for the future – so we can adjust as we need to, continue to make improvements as we can and make the right investments to be able to support those customer needs long into the future…The great thing about Schneider Electric is that our solution offering is so vast, we can (meet) the majority of the needs that a customer may have by right-sizing the right solution within our product offering.” Speaking specifically about the company’s local presence, Rodrigues praised the contribution of SE’s Enterprise Territory Manager for TT and the Englishspeaking Caribbean, Sharlene Mangalie, who was appointed to the post two years ago.

“Having someone based here has helped enormously (in growing our business). It allows us to maintain that ear to the ground more consistently versus us just flying in once a quarter, which is really all we were able to do in the past. Having someone who was born and raised in TT, (has) allowed us to continue to interact with our customer base while ensuring that their feedback is shared across all zones within the organisation, so that we can (more quickly) respond to the needs of TT.” Asked if a business has to be of a certain size to hire SE, Rodrigues said this is not so at all.

“We work across the board…

Any business that has a server rack can be a client of ours.

We’re interested in supporting (everyone). So, for example, if you own a retail shop selling your own equipment and you have small information technology (IT) devices to support your operations, SE can support you the exact same way we do our Tier 1 customers such as The University of the West Indies.”

A party in Opposition that sells itself as opposing just for the sake of opposing, continues to disappoint the entire nation. The business community of Tobago will remain identified as the main stakeholders of the controversy. The ordinary people can offer nothing in real terms with regard to the efficacy of the sea bridge. The very existence of Tobago is tied to the good fortune of its business community so let us not confuse which stake holder is more important than the other.

The unnecessary political posturing from certain quarters is hurting everybody. Two wrongs do not make it right.

Lynette Joseph Diego Martin

We congratulate Marie Siewnarinesingh, Sophia Ali, Neil- Ann Mc Millan, Randel Hamilton, and undergraduate scholar in health technology, Anand Hanuman.

They will be funded for a period of five to seven years.

The undergraduates stand to benefit from exposure to a country which has become world-famous for its medical expertise.

Since the 1950s Cuba has embarked on “doctor diplomacy”, practicing medical internationalism as a kind of soft diplomacy in order to consolidate its socialist reputation and exert influence.

Cuban doctors have played impressive roles on the front lines of the 2014 Ebola crisis.

It is widely believed medical doctors are Cuba’s most important export. As at 2012, 52 medical officers and 83 nurses arrived here from Cuba.

We benefit from this source of medical expertise given the clear gaps within our own beleaguered health care system. The scholarships are a chance to grow local talent.

However, it must be noted that Trinidadians trained in Cuba have in the past had difficulty when returning to practice here. The Ministry of Education must therefore ensure that it collaborates closely with the Ministry of Health and the Medical Board to ensure that appropriate systems are in place to enable returning professionals to be integrated in a system that is in dire need of an infusion.

It is also hoped that tuition and stipend disbursals will be protected from budget cuts given the problems that have arisen in the past. If we are serious about developing our human resources we must ensure that the funding for education is prioritised. Administration of these scholarships must also be efficient so that payments are made in a timely way, allowing students to focus on their education.

Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba have a long history of diplomatic ties. This began formally in December 1972. As recently as 2011, Raul Castro attended the 7th Caricom- Cuba Summit here. Caricom as a whole has maintained close relations with Cuba through thick and thin, notwithstanding the fallout between that country and the United States.

There was a time, in the 1970s, when this type of collaboration between this region and Cuba might have incurred Washington’s wrath. But the end of the Cold War and the failure of economic sanctions to effect change in Cuba have changed dynamics.

The Cuban scholarships come at a time when the fragile progress made in thawing relations between the US and Cuba have been shaken by Donald Trump’s insistence on reversing the policies of his predecessor.

The “Cuban Thaw” overseen by Barack Obama, with the help of Pope Francis, has been hampered by Trump. On June 16, 2017, he announced that he was “cancelling” the Obama administrations deals with Cuba, while also expressing that a new deal could be negotiated between the Cuban and United States governments.

Trump reinstated a ban on individual travel to Cuba by Americans, while leaving in place travel permission for organised “educational” groups and family visits.

He expanded the prohibition on American money going to the Cuban military.

But at a time of utter turmoil in Cuba’s close ally Venezuela, we must seek to deepen our ties with Cuba, not turn back the clock.

These scholarships are a sign that we will continue to engage with Cuba, not turn away.

We will be saying something further on that.” In a subsequent statement, the National Security Ministry said talks with the British High Commission here have confirmed there is “no specific intelligence” to suggest there could be any terrorist attack in TT.

The ministry said this is contrary to media reports which create the impression that such an event is likely.

The ministry said the language in the FCO advisory, including its section on terrorism, has been unchanged since May.

The ministry said it continues to work with local law enforcement and this country’s international partners, “including the British, with respect to counter terrorism and the sharing of intelligence.” The ministry said all of this is aimed at ensuring, “that our citizens and persons in TT are safe.” The FCO has not issued any advisory telling British citizens not to visit this country.

The FCO advised British nationals to be vigilant wherever they travel because there is a heightened threat of global terrorist attacks against British interests and citizens, from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria.

Former national security minister Gary Griffith said the FCO advisory was, “greatly exaggerated and not in sync with the true nature of the threat of terrorism in this country.” He said the perception that because, “70 citizens left our country to become terrorists, makes us a country deemed vulnerable to terrorists attacks is flawed.” Griffith said while foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) are recruited into Syria and at times return to their home country to recruit other people to become terrorists, “not one of those 70 FTFs from our country has returned home.” He said as a signatory to United Nations Resolution 2178, TT must inform its allies of the names of those FTFs.

Griffith said it is important to defend TT’s image and reputation, “especially if misinformation via correspondence is released by our allies and relevant agencies.”