Street and flash flooding occurred along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway into Port of Spain and numerous streets in the capital city were under several feet of water.

In the St Ann’s/ Cascade districts a deluge of water and mud rained down from the hillsides leaving many residents worried about the structural integrity of their homes.

Businessman Gary Aboud, managing director of Mode Alive fabric store on Frederick Street in Port of Spain said he was forced to close his business after several inches of water entered his establishment.

“Our capital city floods every rainy season, every year and pedestrians are made to suffer.

“After decades of energy wealth, we fail at even the simplest organised management and preparedness of basic recurring events like flash flooding and heavy rains.

“Will we ever get it right?” Aboud asked in a post on his business’ Facebook page.

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Works said a technical team had been dispatched to conduct preliminary assessments in affected areas with an aim of providing immediate relief to residents.

Residents have been advised to visit the ministry’s website at www.mowt.gov.tt to identify all infrastructural issues so that the the relevant agencies can be sent to provide the necessary assistance in the shortest possible time frame.

Over the last couple of weeks parts of south Trinidad were under flood waters following the passage of Tropical Storm Bret on June 20.

Clean up operations are still ongoing in affected areas.

Goals from Malachai Daniel (a rocket from an angle after he ran on to a through pass from Isaiah Richardson in the 33rd minute) and Jevaughn Benjamin (a long range shot from 40 yards in the 56th) saw Rosa home.

Santa Rosa’s Under- 13 team lost a hard fought final 4-3 to Central FC, all the goals coming from Jashawn Thomas, who took his season tally to 15 in both Under-13 and Under-15 combined.

Thomas found the back of the net in the 21st, 28th and 31st minutes for Santa Rosa.

But Central FC were indebted to Abdul- Quddos Hypolite (17th and 34th), Ocean Lindsay (54th) and Du’Shaun Augustus (69th) as they secured the Under-13 crown.

And, in the Under- 11 division, Queen’s Park needed kicks from the penalty spot to edge San Juan Jabloteh 5-4, after the scores were locked at 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Mikey Chaves (25th) and Steven Griffith (39th) were the goal-getters for the Parkites, while Lindell Sween (eighth and 30th) replied for Jabloteh.

DELHI: That the West Indian team is in a state of decline is a well-known fact, with the side failing to qualify for the recently- concluded Champions Trophy and currently struggling in the One-Day International (ODI) series against India.

However, if West Indian pace legend Sir Andy Roberts’ opinion was to be taken into consideration, then the sport in general has gone downhill, and not just the team that he used to represent back in his playing days. At least, as far as levels of aggression in the sport are concerned.

“We don’t have enough pacers in the world. No one’s bowling fast because rules for short-pitched bowling have changed, batsmen are fully protected.

The rules of the game are cutting aggression.

You cannot even stare hard at the batsmen else they would fine you. They are taking all the aggression out of the game,” Roberts was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

“Let me ask you, women are playing, is it a female’s game? No.

People who make all these rules make them sissy’s game,” added the pace legend, who also said that the sport back in his time wasn’t for the “chicken-hearted”, but for those with a “lion’s heart”.

Roberts was an integral part of the fearsome West Indian attack of the 1970s and 1980s of which the fellow luminaries such as Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner were also part of. The team under the leadership of Clive Lloyd won two World Cups — in 1975 and 1979 — and were known for their intimidating bowling tactics, peppering the batsmen with short deliveries in an age when helmets and other protective gear weren’t quite widely in use.

Talking about players from the current generation, Roberts did not sound too impressed about 20-year-old Alzarri Joseph, who was West Indies’ find of the tournament in their successful campaign in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup and is fast becoming an integral part of the team.

“He is not fast. No, he is not fast. He bowls medium pace at 85 and 86 miles. What some of these guys need to do is speak to people, especially those from the past, and learn about their methods of training which made them bowl quick,” said Roberts

SHE came so close to her dream of travelling and representing this country as a female bartender, only for it to be dashed just two weeks before its fulfilment. But 30-year-old Shana Kanesha Ramjahram refuses to give up, and will continue to work towards competing in the Taste of the Caribbean Culinary Competition as part of the National Culinary Team.

Ramjahram works as a waitress, bartender and secretary at The Rise restaurant in Chaguanas. Her bartending dreams started three years ago when alcohol companies began inviting the restaurant’s employees to free bartending training sessions. She said everyone, from the hostess to kitchen staff, attended.

“As a waitress it is important to have information about the drinks. Guests come to you first so you should not have to run to the bar to find out what’s in a cocktail.

And then sometimes, if the bartender does not come to work, I would fill in.” “I did not know about balance, why lime is used, nothing. But we started participating in various competitions because it was fun for us and we learned a lot.” By her third competition, after three months and four training sessions, Ramjahram tied for third place with her Don Julio Spice cocktail, which contained Campari and pimentos. It inspired her to start watching bartending videos on YouTube, and to do research. She ordered the tools of her new trade online and started practising at the bar at work. Thankfully, her managers and co-worker supported her, encouraged her to keep going, and gave her feedback.

“Bartending is dominated by men. You rarely see female bartenders. It has always been a fight but I choose to fight because I wanted to see more women bring their passion and strength to the field.” Ramjahram kept practising, and kept entering competitions for the experience.

In June 2015, she entered the Grand Marnier challenge and took first place with her drink, The Grand Bitter Sweet, beating more experienced bartenders.

After that, the opportunities started pouring in. Several alcohol companies and distributors contacted her to work at special events, all of which she accepted.

“People saw something in me that I did not see myself. I really liked it because things were exciting.” Then, she entered an online competition, the Fireball Bartender of the Month, which required her to send a video of herself making the cocktail, the recipe for the drink, and a picture of herself with the cocktail.

One week later she got the results and found out that she placed second out of 71 Caribbean and Latin American entrants. This resulted in more calls from alcohol representatives requesting that she enter more competitions.

Last year, she participated in Making the Cut, the local competition used to choose the national team members, but she was not successful. That did not deter her and she tried again this year.

“I had a better vision of what might have come in the Mystery Bar, how to build your cocktail, and what elements you should look for to make a perfect cocktail.

For me it means having four elements – sweet, sour, weak and strong, and then you build from there. I had more confidence the second time around.” Ramjahram’s confidence was wrecked when a colleague called and told her the results of the competition. She did not win the bartender position.

Although she was heartbroken, she still attended the awards ceremony in support the other contestants. And it was a good thing she did. She was shocked when it was announced that she had won Best Vodka Cocktail, and more so when that she had made it on the national team as the Alternative Bartender.

“That was really amazing because I put a lot of effort and energy into that drink. I was blown away. And when I got alternative bartender, I slipped right out the chair. I wanted to hug everybody. No one could ever take that feeling away from me.” She spent two and a half months training with the team, either before or after her shift at The Rise.

In fact, she said between the two, she hardly saw her 11-yearold daughter, Briana Buckmire, who she described as her number one fan.

Two weeks before her trip to the competition in Miami, two of the five people on the team who had applied for US visas, were denied the essential travel documents – she and the main bartender, Tyrone Benjamin. She was devastated.

Ramjahram recalled how she just wanted to slip to the floor of the US Embassy, curl up and cry. She made it to her car before she broke down and ignored all phone calls because she could not speak.

It was over a week before she could gather the strength to tell her daughter the news because she did not want to break down in tears in front of her.

Buckmire told her not to be discouraged, was supportive, bad-talked the embassy a bit, and generally made her laugh. “Thank God I have a child like her.

She is the one who has me strong. I have to be strong for her, and she makes me stronger with the things she says and does.” Ramjahram continued to attend team meetings and training sessions to show her support for the team, as well as to show the replacement bartender, Clinton Ramdhan, all the concepts and recipes she and Benjamin had worked on over the months. Her creation was a cocktail called Shrimp in Play Whe.

She worked on it with team captain, chef Adrian Cumberbatch, and with the adjustments made by Clinton during the Taste of the Caribbean competition, it won best vodka drink.

The original ingredients included onion, pimento, chadon beni, salt, fresh orange and lime juice, with a base of grey goose vodka and a shrimp garnish. “It is kind of like a shrimp souse as it is supposed to be a culinary cocktail.

It was perfect. When they left for Miami, I 100 percent knew that cocktail was going to win something.” Ramjahram told Sunday Newsday she watched every competition as well as the awards, which was live streamed on Facebook, and kept in contact with her former-team members while she was at home, at work, or on the road.

“The system failed me but I did not fail the system. I earned that spot. I worked really hard for it. But I also believe when things like this happens God is preparing you for something bigger. I probably didn’t have the strength a month ago but I have it now. I can feel something bigger is going to happen.” Ramjahram said she would continue entering competitions and keeping her skills sharp for next year’s Making the Cut. She also intends to apply for her visa well in advance.

The settlers there are squatters perhaps, but it is their attitude towards the land that catches the attention.

On a tour of the space, one of the men proudly pointed out trees that he had planted, to beautify the land for others to enjoy as well. There were fruit trees as well as those that possessed medicinal value. This stands out as one example of people who had not settled on a piece of land only to live, but were actually using it in a way that would be beneficial for the space and by extension other people.

Over the past week, the island has seen what some people have described as some of the worse flooding in South and some parts of Central and east Trinidad. Residents came out to help each other in some cases, but by the time the storm warning and the rains had subsided, a fresh downpour came along and people were back to neighbours’ homes to assist with the cleaning.

The flooding set into motion, for me, some thoughts about the land. I am no geographer, but as a researcher in the field of cultural studies and someone who is generally curious about people, one cannot evade, in studies of cultures, the impact of geography on the formation of ideas, lifestyles and cultural practices. And the flooding is a geographical as much as it is a cultural issue.

One might say, geography is obvious– low lying areas, blockage of waterways, homes built on swamp lands and so forth might be valid reasons for the heavy flooding in some areas. The question is why are those homes built in areas prone to flooding? Why are waterways blocked? Why after so many years of knowing that certain areas flood, that little has been done to rectify it? Why are there new flood-prone areas? One angle of inquiry boils down to the question of how we use and think about land – a significant geographical question that impacts on the way that we plan: who plans, for whom, why, how and whether this is an individual or community (assuming that we still have those around) act? Our problem of flooding, of the way in which we are structured or not structured to deal with natural disasters – are geography issues. As a colleague noted, for I was curious to find out what geographers thought about the recent floods, “we do have systems in place for natural disasters. They are the warning systems and the response systems. What we don’t have is a plan for development for we have no monitoring systems and our laws (as we all know) offer no continuity… Furthermore, we have no perception of what development is.

It’s very myopic.” In a previous column, I had noted that people have an emotional connection to land. But that thought remains incomplete in this context of flooding. While we have emotional connections to the environment, there is a seeming gap in the way in which personal emotional connection ties in with that of the community’s.

For instance, last Friday, the Guardian carried a story about the breach of the banks of the Caroni River in Piarco where villagers claimed that a farmer had dug a pond close to the bank. They identified it as possible reason for the river to have burst its bank at that point causing heavy flooding.

Whether the accusation is true or not, the farmer in question did not deny using dirt from the river bank to fill acres of land, and digging a pond to water his crops during the dry season. (Guardian, June 23).

Had the law been enforced effectively, to prevent such decisions by individuals to use land as they felt like, the issue of a breach could have been avoided.

More importantly, the use of the riverbank in a way that was personal to the farmer is an issue that deserves attention since there are laws that do govern water sources.

There are countless examples of individuals using land at their own whims and fancies that play a significant role in the changes in landscape and human development.

“Personal values”, as my colleague noted, “guide decisions, rather than critical thinking.” It takes us back to the recent destruction of heritage sites in Sangre Grande, another example of individual decision-making, rather than teamwork. Solving the flooding problem is not just a case of fixing drainage or building walls. It is about developing an ideology that will change the way we think about development and land use. To do so however, requires the cultivation of global and critical thinkers.

“We live in a country where the youths are chastised and blamed for everything. They’re responsible for crime, they’re responsible for this, they’re responsible for that.

Truth be told those youths are our children and grandchildren for those of us who belong to my era. And if we do not provide them with avenues by which they can creatively express the energy that they have then we cannot expect anything different.

So I am challenging those of us from my era, honourable (Labour) minister, ministerial colleagues, for us to invest in our youth.” He was delivering greetings at the third annual Junior Co-operative Enterprise Programme (JCEP) Awards Ceremony held at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s.

The event, a joint initiative between the Labour Ministry and the Junior Achievement Company, was held on the same day as International Co-operative Day which has been held since 1923.

He said the programme is a great opportunity for for them to participate in youth development in the country.

Pierre noted that with JCEP for three years and Junior Achievement for 47 years he has seen the returns from investing in youth.

He said that we have a culture that celebrates winners but the participants in companies that did not do as well have a richer experience as they have learned resilience, which is necessary for any successful business.

He added that people do not see the pain, failures, work, toil and years of sacrifices that go into a business.

Pierre advised the young people to go into their communities and get people together to form cooperatives, adding that neither Government nor the private sector can absorb everyone.

Commissioner for Co-operative Development Karyl Adams said the 2016/2017 project was the largest to date with 14 schools and 350 students.

He encouraged the participants to not let their work end but to use their knowledge to create cooperative businesses. Minister of Labour and Small Enterprise Development Jennifer Baptiste-Primus in her feature address said, “Young people give us hope in spite of all the negativity.” She recalled attending the JCEP fair in Woodford Square, Port of Spain back in April and experiencing pride and joy at what she saw. She said the fair generated $160,000 and she personally ended up with many bags and an empty purse.

She said young cooperators are critical to the success of the movement which is globally worth $1 trillion and has a movement of 250 million. She added that locally the cooperative asset base is worth $14 billion and the membership is 560,000.

Speaking to Sunday Newsday after the funeral for Videsh at his home, yesterday, Morris-Julien said counsellors from the Mediation Services will visit the closeknit community from tomorrow to help residents heal and move on with their lives .

“That whole street is devastated .

They all love that boy. So, we (Arima Borough Council) are asking them to reach out to the extended family also,” she said .

Morris-Julien said the council also intends to embark on a programme titled, Our Brother’s Keeper, encouraging residents to look out for one-another .

“We just have to hold one-another tighter,” she said .

“For example, somebody saw these people driving out Ms Rose’s (Hafeeza Mohammed’s) car. But we are not always observant .

We are buried in our cellphones .

We need to start back looking out for one another .

“We are trying to develop something for Arima, something that we could tap in and check on our trusted circle.” She said Ajim Baksh Trace was a stone’s throw away from her home .

“I am familiar with everybody there. I was familiar with Videsh and his bike up and down, always very pleasant.” Morris-Julien said residents were interested in naming a park in the area after Videsh .

“There is a park right at the end that the residents want to name after him,” she said .

“So, the council will be looking into that because somebody sealed off the park. We don’t know why. We have to find out about that.” Morris-Julien said greater attempts also were being made to empower women .

“We had a self-defence course that ran for six weeks in Arima and everybody liked and shared it but very few people came out .

We really want to bring it back and and encourage all women,” she said, alluding specifically to Mohammed .

Saying she was in a highly- emotional state at the funeral, Morris-Julien told Sunday Newsday she was deeply concerned for her own children .

“I have every young children and I am worried even leaving them with my mother, even me if somebody is determined. If somebody could watch a 13-yearold boy and kill him, then they don’t care. So, we have to go back to the drawing board on that one.” Videsh would have been 13 in December

The 34-year-old man was. shot in his right knee and is. warded at San Fernando General. Hospital. At about 7.30 am,. police responded to a report of. a domestic dispute at a house. on Naparima/Mayaro Road,. Princes Town. The man who. lives at another location went to. the home of his estranged wife. and their 18-year-old son. The. man and his wife began to argue,. and as he cursed her their. son intervened and they began. to fight.

A retired army officer who. was passing by tried to restrain. the man but he was beaten.

Neighbours called the Princes. Town Police Station and officers. went to the house. The. man attacked them with a cutlass,. which he had hidden under. his clothes, when they tried. to detain him..

An officer fired a shot at the. suspect hitting him in his right. knee. Investigators said the. man has several warrants for. outstanding child maintenance. payments. Police said charges. are expected to be laid against. the man.

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Acting on information, officers of the Sangre Grande CID stopped a red Hyundai car in Sangre Chiquito, which was driven by the 48-year-old man.

When the car was searched, several items, including a Sthil Mist Blower, a Lincoln Welding Plan, a speaker box and a Makita router were found. Police said the man could not give a proper account for the items and he was taken to the Sangre Grande Police Station. The items were positively identified by their owners who had reported them as being stolen from their homes

At about 9 am, the girl took a short-cut through a bushy track when she was snatched and thrown into the bush by an assailant.

The girl said the a man forced himself on her and she screamed out. The man then allowed the girl to go and he fled.

The girl ran for help at a neighbour’s house. They contacted the police. Central police held a 19-year-old man at about an hour after the crime was committed.

He is currently being held at the Chaguanas Police Station. WPC Joseph, Vidale and Lewis responded to the call and with the help of residents, they captured the teenager.

The girl was taken for medical treatment. The suspect is expected to be charged and to appear in court tomorrow.

At the post general council press conference at the Balisier House in Port of Spain, Khan said Olivierre had “some experience” in the Energy Sector and would be of assistance to him during this financially challenging time for the country.

“She has worked with the NGC (National Gas Company) and I think she would be a good resource in the Ministry of Energy and she would provide some tremendous assistance to me.” He said the Energy Ministry was a fundamental one in the country’s economy so it was necessary to re-energise the sector and “all hands should be on deck.” Khan also addressed the issue of local government reform, saying that the legislation would be tabled at the next session of Parliament.

He said two key parts of the legislation would be to allow corporations to collect and retain property taxes, and that local government councillors would be full-time councillors and they would have executive authority.

He said Government was also working on a system that would allow corporations to be involved in school repairs along with the Ministry of Education and the Education Facilities Company Limited