Stewart and Cain will be joined by Jabari Knights and veteran para athlete Carlos Greene. Stewart and Cain will aim for more medals at the Championships after both athletes got on the podium at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Stewart won gold and broke the world record in the men’s javelin F44, and also earned silver in the men’s discus F44 event. Cain copped bronze in the women’s 100m T43/T44 event. Knights will the first TT athlete to compete at the World Championships when he lines up in the men’s 100m T54 today. Knights will then compete in the men’s 200m T54 on Tuesday.

Tomorrow, Cain will participate in the women’s long jump T43/44.

Cain will aim for another 100m medal in the women’s 100m T43/44 on Monday followed by the women’s 200m T43/44 on July 22 and 23.

Stewart will first compete in the men’s discus F43/44 on Sunday, followed by the men’s javelin F42/43/44 on Tuesday and the men’s shot put F43/44 on July 23.

Greene lines up in the men’s discus F11 on Monday.

This may involve changes to legislation, regulations and standards.

Accreditation ensures confidence and trust in the competence of certification and testing agencies and the procedures utilized.” The Ministry of Trade and Industry is currently preparing a note for Cabinet for the establishment of the National Accreditation Agency of Trinidad and Tobago (Accredi- TT). This will be an independent national accreditation body, to accredit companies and organisations that provide conformity assessment services according to International Standards.

Minister Gopee- Scoon informed the stakeholders present that Trinidad and Tobago has never had a National Quality Policy, she said “there has been sporadic growth of quality entities, laboratories, equipment and legislation, but with obvious attendant gaps in the quality infrastructure.

“Therefore, a well-developed National Quality Policy will guide and foster these institutions to function in a more aligned and rational manner. In this way the Quality Policy can positively influence industrial development and have a marked effect on trade. Quality goods and services will attract and retain customers, open new markets and expand product offerings. It is incumbent on any government therefore to develop a Quality Policy carefully, endeavouring to align it with country realities, market demands, international best practices and formal agreements; and this is indeed this government’s approach.” She called for the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure the success of the policy.

Minister Gopee-Scoon said “Quality is everyone’s responsibility.

Developing National Quality requires cooperation and collaboration, between and among agencies and sectors, Ministries and Institutions in order to successfully improve the productivity and competitiveness of our country in order to increase trade and protect consumers and the environment”.

Lawford Dupres, Chairman Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of (TTBS) affirmed the commitment of the TTBS to lead the development of this Policy, he said, “As the National Standards Body, the TTBS is strategically poised to lead the task of developing a National Quality System (NQS), consistent with the Government’s vision for the advancement of Trinidad and Tobago towards first world status.” He also endorsed Minister Gopee- Scoon’s call for continued public and private sector stakeholder deliberations, involvement and commitment to a NQS that works and benefits all.

Ramon Madrinan, Team member, Mesopartner delivered an insightful presentation on the importance of quality infrastructure.

He demonstrated the impact of a Quality Policy on various sectors of the economy

“It is imperative that we strike a perfect balance, lest we destroy the very resources and assets that make us attractive to the tourists in the first place,” she said.

Delivering the main address on Wednesday at the “Junior Minister of Tourism Competition” in the Auditorium, Government Campus, Port of Spain, Cudjoe said that sustainable tourism should make optimum use of environmental resources, respect socio- cultural authenticity of the host communities and ensure long term viable economic operations to provide socio-economic benefits for stakeholders.

Students from sixteen schools across the country took part in the competition for the position as Junior Minister of Tourism for 2017/2018.

The competitors in their presentations shared ideas on how they will package and sell TT as a tourism product and destination, how they will go about sustainable tourism and how they will use tourism for job creation, poverty reduction, and as a means of diversification of the economy.

The Junior Minister of Tourism Competition, an initiative of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, began in 2000 but was only taken on board by Trinidad and Tobago last year.

However, Cudjoe said, “The Junior Minister of Tourism project is now a flagship project in the Ministry of Tourism and plays a major role in our sustainable tourism agenda.” She commended the outgoing Junior Minister, Manzanilla Secondary School student, La Quan Pearie, who won the first competition last year, and who during his tenure was instrumental in the formation of the first and only school tourism club in the country.

She also commended the principal, teachers and studentsof the school who promote tourism activities and engage in clean up campaigns without publicity

The school is now earmarked to be demolished because, according to Minister of Education Anthony Garcia, the building was found to be sinking in a swamp. Its status was only revealed by Garcia on Tuesday in response to a question at the Conversations with the Prime Minister event held at the Point Fortin East Secondary School.

Garcia said the original designers of the structure, intended to be a two-storey building, were fired.

When another designer was hired, it was decided that a single- storey facility might have been able to stand up on the site. He said Government is now in search of a new location for the construction of the school.

Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis further told Newsday his investigations into the school revealed villagers warned contractors against building the school on that site.

“The villagers told me they told the contractor to be very careful about building the school on that site because it used to be a dam so the water table there is very high,” Francis said. He said prior to this Government’s tenure, there were also plans to retrofit the sinking school which would have skyrocketed the cost from $28 million to about $68 million.

It is for law enforcement authorities and investigating agencies to determine what happened in this project. But at first glance, the spectre of a million- dollar State project sinking in the mire brings to mind the Johnny O’Halloran scandal which saw him accept bribes for the construction of a new Caroni Racing Complex. Tonnes of steel and concrete, worth close to $100 million of taxpayers’ money, were sunk into the Caroni swamp as foundation materials for a project that was never completed.

The Fanny Village school project must be subject to a thorough and transparent investigation to determine whether corruption played any role.

Sadly, despite an extensive commission of inquiry into the public construction sector, it seems the State has not learned from its mistakes. That inquiry heard evidence that the Tarouba project was built on unsuitable clay soils despite local warnings.

Another project which also comes to mind is the Las Alturas apartment complex in Morvant.

A commission of inquiry into that project again heard evidence of the State pursuing the project despite warnings from locals that the site was unsuitable.

We are clearly not learning from our mistakes.

And who is suffering? In this case, the children.

The cash-strapped State may be loath to hold another commission of inquiry in this instance, but that does not mean such an inquiry is unjustified.

What role was played in this project by all the actors: the Ministry of Education, the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL), the contractor, the Ministry of Planning and its Town and Country Planning Division, the regional corporation body? These kinds of questions can only be resolved by an inquiry done not by the EFCL but rather by an independent body. Any forensic investigation must support such an impartial review.

Yet given our history of not learning lessons from our past, why bother? Because it is the duty of the State to identify those who are responsible for this travesty. And, if necessary, legal action should be taken.

He made the remark after Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan announced new construction packages heading to tender at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

Sinanan said Cabinet agreed to four additional packages being tendered (to give a total of seven so far), and five more packages are for tender next month. He said a stretch of highway from Gulf City Mall to Dunlop Roundabout in Point Fortin will take two years to complete.

Sinanan said the Moruga Road rehabilitation project will consist of fixing 22 landslips and constructing 22 culverts plus road repair where needed. He said it will begin very shortly and maximise the use of local content thereby giving opportunities for local contractors.

Regarding the Tobago sea bridge ferry, Sinanan expressed confidence in Port Authority board chairman Allison Lewis describing her as someone who is thorough in her decision-making process. “I’m putting my faith that Mrs Lewis and the board would have done the right thing,” he said.

“My information is that we have two vessels en route to TT. One would be here on Sunday which would take care of the cargo aspect of it, and sometime later this month we have a ferry vessel that is expected to arrive on the island.” Saying the due date was supposed to have been July 17, he said he expects the board took their attorneys’ advice on this.

Guaya and FC Santa Rosa are the only teams who have perfect records to-date, as Santa Rosa brushed aside WASA 3-0, in another Round Five encounter.

At Guayaguayare, Carlon Hughes registered a beaver-trick, as he struck in the 33rd, 39th, 75th and 80th minutes, while Shaquille Ferrier (second) and Kevin Jagdeosingh (64th) chipped in with one apiece.

Torian Sobers (60th) and Jamal Spencer (82nd) were the goal-getters for Cunupia.

At the WASA Ground in St Joseph, the visiting Santa Rosa notched their fourth straight win courtesy of goals from Salem Henry (48th) and a pair from Keron Clarke (72nd and 90th).

The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) were also in winners’ row on Sunday, as they edged Siparia Spurs 2-1 at the Palo Seco Recreation Ground.

Siparia took the lead in the 63rd through Kevon Bascombe but UTT replied with an equaliser from Isaiah Mejias in the 70th and an own goal from Andy London in the 73rd.

At the QRC Ground in St Clair, Queen’s Park earned a narrow 2-1 win over 1976 Phoenix FC. Devon Modeste put the Parkites in front after 17 minutes before Shelton Williams levelled the scores in the 42nd.

However, Kevaughn John scored in second half stoppage time to guarantee full points for the hosts.

Club Sando Moruga trounced Police 7-1 at the Grand Chemin Recreation Ground, Moruga. Jessie Edwards notched a beaver-trick for the hosts, while Anderson Toussaint, Nigel John and Akeil London added one each. Isaiah Pryce got the consolation for the lawmen.

In League Two, Central 500 Spartans remained atop the seven-team standings despite a 2-2 draw against Harlem Strikers at the Edinburgh 500 Recreation Ground.

Neon O’Garro put Harlem ahead in the fifth minute before Central 500 Spartans replied with two second-half items from Donovan Derrick (63rd) and Keith Williams (88th). But Central were denied a third straight win when Wendell Archibald converted a penalty, in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Second-placed Prisons FC got the better of Perseverance Ball Runners by a 4-2 margin at the New Settlement Recreation Ground, Caroni.

Perseverance had an early 2-0 lead, courtesy of strikes from Kiedel Glasgow (20th) and Deon O’Garro (24th) before visitors responded with two goals apiece, in the second half, from Anthony Parris (55th and 69th) and Brandon Calliste (56th and 81st).

And Jaycee Paras found the back of the net in the 14th minute as Marabella Family CC pipped Petit Valley/Diego Martin United 1-0 at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre.

S

It is open to participants from 14 years, all the way up to university grads. The sessions will explore the deep structure of different narrative forms, sitcoms, soap operas, prime time dramas and blockbusters and more. Lecturer, multi-media artist and cultural theorist Rubadiri Victor will conduct the sessions, said a media release.

“These courses are 19-years-old and have graduated hundreds of students, many of whom are working in the arts in new media today, Victor said. “There are now all kinds of modern tools with which to tell stories, however, storytelling has rules.

Fail to obey the rules and your product will fail. Story is king! The best storyteller will win the audience. There are a lot of local products that are not working because their makers do not understand the laws of the narrative form they have chosen… Come learn the secrets.” For more info: rubadiri@yahoo.com.

The Trinidadian- born, award-winning Canadian documentary film-maker’s work with Mina Shum on The Ninth Floor has changed how the world viewed the six Caribbean students who mounted a protest against institutional racism at the Sir George Williams University, Canada, in the late 1960s.

Jacob produced the film and reframed the perspective surrounding the events which led to Caribbean students, Trinidadians among them, being deported from Canada and damage to the university’s computer centre.

But if Jacob’s story is known, one would know that he has always sought to change perceptions.

In telling Newsday how he got into film-making, Jacob said: “I think it must have been when I was about ten or 11. I remember going to a movie theatre in Trinidad and I saw the movies of the day. As a matter of fact, they gave charitable showings like Joan of Arc and the teachers would take the entire school out. On Saturdays there were matinees and some of the schools would go. I must have seen one of the pictures and I looked at the movie and I looked at how the Africans were depicted in those movies. They looked to me as though they were silly. They came across as a caricature…I kept thinking if I were making a movie and setting it in Trinidad and they [would] see people the way that I would [see them], not behaving like buffoons.

“I just got fascinated by this concept of the movies and said ‘wow when I grow up what I would like to do is maybe become a movie star’. Not a star, in that sense of the word, but become involved in the production.” The former Point Fortin resident attended Queen’s Royal College, Port-of-Spain, with mas legend Peter Minshall whose work on a play written by the late Derek Walcott left an indelible mark on him.

Since then Jacob has won awards such as the 1998 Canadian Gemini Award for his film The Road Taken and again in 2001, he won the Gemini award for the Best Science, Technology, Nature, Environment or Adventure Documentary Programme.

Jacob has created and produced more than 50 films and has worked with the Canadian National Film Board since 1997.

He was recently awarded by the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta with the Outstanding Achievement Award, recognising his outstanding accomplishment, contribution to media art, and body of work at FAVA Fest, the society’s annual festival.

Jacob arrived in Canada in 1968 and attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton and read for his Bachelor of Education degree.

Then he pursued his Masters in Film Studies at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

For Jacob, entering the school of cinematic arts “was like walking on thin air…because you have this dream and you’re working in the movie industry. The ultimate goal, at that time, was to come back to TT and to try to tell local stories.” Although, he did not return to TT to tell his stories, his work has re-engineered understanding both in Canada and beyond.

The Canada Government in a news release on Jacob’s outstanding award said: “Since the early 1980s, Jacob’s work has explored the experiences of black Canadians as well as other stories from Canada’s multicultural communities; first as a trailblazing independent director_and the first black Albertan director_and then as a producer with the NFB’s Pacific & Yukon Studio in Vancouver.” He is regarded as Alberta’s first black film-maker. He recalled how he made his first film. “When I graduated and I went back to Alberta.

There was not a film industry per se in Edmonton, the city I lived in at the time.

So I just had to figure out what do I do right now and I had a Bachelor of Education degree so I started teaching. I got a job teaching in the country, Northern Alberta, two-and-ahalf- hours drive from Edmonton….

I ended up teaching in this Northern Alberta community and then someone said to me, ‘you know there is a black community just half an hour from here’. I was completely taken aback by that. Because when I got to Alberta we heard the rumours that there weren’t too many black people in Alberta because of the weather. They could not stand the winters… when I heard that I just got in my car, right away and drove around there and started talking to these people. And these were black Americans who had emigrated from Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma had made it illegal for blacks to vote in their election. So they all migrated and settled in Northern Alberta.

So I did this documentary film and it was called We Remember Amber Valley. Amber Valley was the name of the community. So that was the first film that got me involved in telling the black Canadian story. I was the only black film-maker there.” Jacob has told the stories of people often unheard. His works include 1991 Carol’s Mirror, an educational film about race and culture in the classroom, 1996 The Road Taken, about the experiences of black Canadian sleeping- car porters, and The Journey of Lesra Martin, about Lesra Martin, a Canadian youth who helped to free Rubin “Hurricane” Carter from prison.

At the time when Jacob thought of returning to TT, there was only the Government Film Unit and TTT. Both of which were not a fit for the kind of film-making he had studied.

And so, Jacob’s brand of non-fiction has cemented him as one of Canada’s top film-makers.

But part of the style he chose was also because he wanted to do something that was not being done in neighbouring US.

When asked why he chose non-fiction, Jacob said, “It is a survival philosophy [making non-fiction as opposed to fiction].

A lot of people don’t realise that Canada is next door to the US and the US, through the sort of Hollywood machinery, is the world’s most dominant media production centre….I analysed it in my mind and I said I don’t want to emulate the Hollywood production…” While, Jacob does not have a connection with the local film industry, he only came to the TT Film Festival last year, he believes that the local film industry is on the right track and has seen much development.

He believes “there could be and should be what I call Caribbean story-telling. The language might be different whether they come from Jamaica, Haiti, or one of the Dutch islands but at the end you see something that is Caribbean.” How Caribbean films are marketed needs to be looked at, he said. When asked if he felt Caribbean content was ready for an international audience, Jacob said: “A good story, is a good story, is a good story. I think one of the advantages for me of studying in North America, is that you get to see stories from around the world. Sometimes we use the term insularity but sometimes you just have to expose yourself…When something travels or is well told it would travel the world and TT stories fall into that same category.” “You just have to bring your story-telling skills up to a certain level. The cinema has a certain language and once you have learnt that language, then you can speak the language of cinema to anybody, anywhere in the world.” Selwyn Jacob would be present at The Ninth Floor’s screening on July 20 at the University of the West Indies’, Centre for Language Learning from 6pm.

These days, everyone tries this sexy picture pose that looks staged and fake.

Everything from the positioning of the body to the expression on the face looks dopey — not sexy. They even have selfie sticks now. I can’t imagine carrying a selfie stick around. I don’t even want to carry a handbag around.

So I keep asking myself what’s wrong with looking natural? What’s wrong with taking pictures that look spontaneous? To make matters worse, people search for all kinds of unnatural places to take pictures.

This is why you have people falling off of cliffs or falling into manholes. The other day, I saw someone climb into the rock fountain at the Hilton and sit on her boyfriend’s lap just to take a picture. It never once occurred to me that I should climb inside of a fountain and sit on someone’s lap to take a picture.

Actually, I miss the days when people answered their phones in the privacy of their own homes. I miss that state of wonder we once had when we called someone and asked ourselves, “Will he answer the phone?” For a long time, I avoided having a cellphone because I didn’t want to be one of those selfie- snapping people calling someone every minute.

Admittedly, I have threatened over the years to be the last person in the world to buy one of those awful gadgets.

I refused the free iPhone my daughter wanted to give me even though it had cool glitter and stars swimming around in the case that covered the back of the phone. She kept threatening me.

“I’m giving you the phone when I get a new phone.” In the end, I took the phone, not because of anything she said.

A dog actually convinced me to get the phone. I would explain that, but it would take too long.

So, I keep charging the cell phone. Sometimes I remember to answer it when it rings, which isn’t often because I really don’t advertise that I have a cell phone now. Shhhhh. I’m depending on you to keep my secret.

I put my audiobooks on my phone, but I feel like my iPod feels neglected so I continue to listen to audiobooks on my iPod.

This is all good because I have managed to keep my sense of self-control, which most people tend to throw out once they get a cellphone.

I don’t want to be one of those people with fish lips who texts every minute either. No fish lips for me. My solemn promise to myself is never to check my email on my phone. So far so good. And I don’t want to be one of those people who becomes oblivious to everything around me because I’m texting or talking on my phone every minute. I just want to be me — not an extension of an electronic device. By the way, I hate texting because it makes me feel dumb.

There was a time when people used to walk down the road and look at the trees blowing in the breeze. They used to daydream or plan their day. I am still one of those people.

T h a t ’ s why I’m noticing you’re always on your phone.

Leave was automatically granted to attorney Wayne Sturge who, on behalf of the families of four-year-old Shannen Luke and five year-old Terrance Chandoo, is seeking to challenge the decision of the CLFA to refuse funding on the basis that it was legally precluded from approving the applications to access funding from the Children’s Life Fund.

At yesterday’s start of the first hearing of the matter which was filed last week, Senior Counsel Reginald Armour, who leads a team of attorneys for the attorney general, said to Justice Nadia Kangaloo that his client was not objecting to the application for leave for judicial review.

He agreed the issue in the claim was “an important” one but urged that they approach it carefully and prudently in the public’s interest as it may serve to guide future decisions of the CLFA.

Persad-Bissessar said the agreement by the State to not oppose the application was “welcome news” since the issue relating to the interpretation of the powers of the CLFA under the CLF Act to reimburse applicants from the fund was one of “great national importance.” She also disclosed the two children – fouryear- old Shannen Luke and five year-old Terrance Chandoo – were in Italy receiving treatment and the move by the State to not reject the application would be of “great comfort to those families.” Sturge is to file his application before the State responds and the issue of whether the affidavits of Drs Ramesh Mathura and Steve Smith, which were filed in support of the application, could stand as expert evidence.

Those issues will be dealt with at a later stage as Armour said he needed to receive full instructions from his client.

According to the judicial review claim, Sturge, as the claimant in the matter, is seeking to have the court review the policy of the CLFA to not allow for reimbursements of medical expenses incurred by applicants to the fund.

Sturge is also asking the court to review an interpretation of the CLFA’s board that the medical condition of Beta Thalassemia Major (BTM) was not a life threatening disease to receive funding from the fund.

The CLF was established by the People’s Partnership government, led by Persad-Bissessar, in November 2010.

Shannen and Terrance were diagnosed with BTM at nine and eight months-old respectively.

The only cure is a haemopoietic cell transfusion (bone marrow transplant) which is not available locally. Both children require monthly blood transfusions along with daily iron therapy critical for their health and survival