I always say that it’s better to be ready early so you can relax and pace yourself, rather than wait until the last minute only to rush and end up being late.

That being said, I am a firm believer in creating a timetable and sticking to it. It’s always a good idea to be organised for your wedding. You need to allot certain times for showering, hair, makeup, dressing and photos, particularly if there will be several people in your house or hotel room getting ready as well. This will ensure that everyone’s time is maximised and no one will be left waiting around.

Ideally, there should be someone in charge of making decisions, whether that is an event co-ordinator or the maid of honour. It should be someone who is organised, who can create and edit the schedule of events, especially if something isn’t going according to plan. Try to cater for a little more time than you think you actually need, so if anything else pops up, you can get everything done.

A makeup and hair trial will ensure that your bridal look is executed the way you want, without any surprises. If you end up being allergic to some of the products or you don’t like the way your hair looks, your day can be ruined. While it isn’t always mandatory, most wedding vendors will strongly recommend doing a trial.

When it comes to preparation, try to do as much as you can before the big day. Nails can be done one or two days before the wedding. If you can steam your clothes the night before, it will save you a lot of time. If you haven’t already, stick your insoles onto your shoes to make them more comfortable. If there are any tags on your dress, jewelry or shoes, remove them so you won’t be hustling to do that on the day of your wedding. Prepare an emergency pouch with safety pins, a needle and thread, bobby pins, double sided tape, mints, a nail file, a lint brush, tweezers, a stain remover pen, pain killers, lip balm, floss, a first aid kit, deodorant, a mini perfume, hand lotion and feminine hygiene products. Even if you don’t use any of it, the security of having everything will put your mind at ease.

On the morning of your wedding, have a little meeting. Inform everyone present of the timetable you all will be following. Remind them to keep negativity out of your day, and to keep smiling.

You will definitely want to eat breakfast before you do your makeup. Keep a straw handy so you can drink water and stay hydrated without messing up your lipstick. Wear a robe or button up while getting ready, so you can easily change your clothes without messing up your hair or makeup.

Keep distractions to a minimum while everyone is getting ready. If you’re in the chair for hair or makeup, or if your allotted time to shower or dress is up, it isn’t the time to be on your phone or attending to other people. When you’re done, then you can attend to others. If there are pets or children, either ask someone to keep an eye on them while you’re getting ready, or see about them before you sit down to get ready, and factor that time into your schedule. You will be surprised how that time can disappear on you.

Be mindful of the time that the photographer and videographer will be arriving. The bride should never go first for makeup; She needs to be fresh, and should not feel rushed by going last. Second to last is usually a safe time for her to get her makeup done. Her turn needs to be well documented, so co-ordinate it with the photographer and videographer.

While the bride is in the chair, don’t interrupt her. Don’t ask her questions, don’t talk about the time or being late. You don’t want to make her panic by saying something you shouldn’t. Don’t ask her how you look or what she thinks of your hair. If she opens her eyes to look at you and smudges her eyeliner, you would have robbed her of a few minutes of her time. Save any questions and comments for after she’s done.

The injunction was applied for by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) which is representing workers at the TDC.

The union sought the injunction in an emergency application after the TDC began offering severance packages to workers on Thursday without notifying the CWU. The union has contended that this goes against good industrial relations practices.

After almost four hours of submissions yesterday, the CWU’s lead counsel Douglas Mendes, SC, also sought a temporary injunction to cover the period the parties were in court.

It was granted by Industrial Court president Deborah Thomas-Felix who said the court was one of “industrial common sense.” In arguing against the substantive injunction being granted, attorney for the TDC Fyard Hosein,SC, said it would be “draconian and unparalleled” for the court to make an order against the company, saying it will have a great impact on the country. “The public interest is important,” he said.

Arguments continued well into the late evening yesterday.

In early May, TDC workers received the “assurance” of the company that no offer for voluntary separation can be offered to them without consultation of their majority union.

Although the “assurance” was not given by way of a formal undertaking, this was the position of the TDC at an injunction hearing at the Industrial Court.

The CWU applied for an injunction on May 4 seeking to restrain the TDC from terminating the contracts of workers until the determination of an industrial relations complaint filed in the Industrial Court as well as to restrain the TDC from making any offer for voluntary separation without consulting the union.

Presiding over the hearing were Thomas-Felix and members Albert Aberdeen, Kyril Jack, Kathleen George-Marcelle and newly appointed judge Azeem Mohammed.

Representing the CWU were Mendes and Imran Ali while Hosein and Rishi Dass represented the TDC.

The union filed two previous complaints relative to a decision to shut down the TDC without consulting the CWU and the development of VSE P packages to be considered by the Cabinet.

A decision to dissolve the TDC was announced at a post-Cabinet media briefing on March 9.

President of the CWU Joseph Remy said the union only received a call on the decision in a telephone conversation with the company’s line-minister, Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe shortly before the announcement was made and after the decision was already taken by Cabinet.

TDC has approximately 114 employees with both fixed contracts and month-to-month employment.

Speaking yesterday after the swearing-in ceremony at the Office of the President, St Ann’s, she said she was pleased to accept the opportunity to work in the ministry because the energy sector was so important to her La Brea constituency.

“I have never really stopped working within the energy industry but my work has been more focused on how it impacts my constituency,” Olivierre said. “So I will certainly get a chance now to have an impact on the continuation of projects that I would have been working on during my tenure.” She said her new role provided her with an excellent opportunity to work with Khan who she described as a very experienced politician.

Olivierre said she will meet Khan on Monday and they will discuss what areas he would need greatest support in.

Also sworn in yesterday was Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West. She told reporters she was excited and hoped to bring her knowledge and experience to do the work she was given.

“I think there is a lot to be done,” West said.

“There’s a lot of opportunity and I really hope I could make a positive difference between now and the end of my term,” she said.

At the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, Rowley said West’s experience and expertise will assist the government in its development of the Revenue Authority. “I have been thinking about it and trying to determine how best to approach it,” West said.

“It will not be an easy task but I think the Revenue Authority really would give us the jump start we need to turn around the performance of the tax authority in Trinidad and Tobago and we need to do that.” About her plans to address the issues at the Board of Inland Revenue, West said she first needs to understand what the challenges are so she can come up with a plan to address them.

“I already have ideas because I’ve been working with the Board of Inland Revenue as a tax advisor for some time and I’ve identified some issues so I do have ideas but its important for me to talk to the members of the board and the Ministry of Finance to determine their perspective and then together we could come up with a plan to move it forward.”

“One of the most disturbing things that have come to us as a Cabinet in the last 20 months.” Young was speaking yesterday during an Opposition motion on crime in the House of Representatives.

He said that the previous administration did not lay in Parliament statutory reports on interception of communications between 2010 and 2015 when it is supposed to be laid annually.

He explained the reports would say how many people were intercepted, how many warrants were sought and what happened to it.

He recalled that former government minister Devant Maharaj went to court over the reports not being laid but the judge pointed out that Maharaj was part of the administration that had not laid the reports and did not grant the order He said National Security Minister Edmund Dillon worked with those responsible for the report and got it done.

Young reported that in 2013 only nine warrants were sought by the Commissioner of Police from the courts but “no warrants were sought by the body charged with the responsibility and who has the possession and the control of the equipment, the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).” He said that the number of warrants applied for by the SSA was zero.

“So under them for a whole year they didn’t apply for a single warrant. But you know what’s interesting? Let me tell the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

You want to talk about talk on phone and who spying on who (sic)? In that year not a single application was made to court for a warrant but they listened to 283,418 conversations.” He said not one of these conversations were for evidential purposes.

“Macoing,” said some Government members.

Young questioned if this was the reason the previous administration did not want to file the report when they were in government. He said this administration would not be so irresponsible and they laid the report in Parliament in the first year they were in government.

He also criticised the previous administration on the LifeSport project for “breeding” the Carapo gang and other gangs, for damaging relationships with foreign partners on security – relationships which the current administration has had to rebuild – and for dismantling facial recognition installed to recognise known criminals at the ports of entry from 2010 to 2015.

Senior officials at the hospital claimed they were unaware of the incident but the hospital’s Communications Department in a media release yesterday stated “The South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) wishes to assure the public and members of staff that we do not condone any abuse towards any member of staff.

The latest incident between two staff members is being thoroughly investigated and will be dealt with as a matter of urgency in accordance with our staff conduct regulations.” The release further stated that “The utmost care continues to be provided to the staff member along with other support services and “the SWRHA is committed to the continued provision of quality health care to both our staff and the nationals of Trinidad and Tobago.” Director of Health at SWRHA Dr. Albert Persaud said he was unaware of the incident but would investigate. Calls to the Acting CEO Gail Millar-Meade went unanswered.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia disclosed yesterday that the 13-year-old boy had been assigned to a secondary school near his Malabar hometown.

And while he did not identify the school, Garcia said he would speak to the school’s principal about the type of student Subar was and what his loss meant to the school. He also signalled his intention to visit Subar’s primary school, Ward’s Learning Living Centre, to speak to the student population.

Garcia was speaking to reporters after delivering an address at the Palo Seco Secondary School’s graduation ceremony yesterday.

He said he had not yet visited Subar’s parents although they were practically neighbours as he was not feeling well but promised to do so before the day ended yesterday.

“(We) will give as much assistance as we can whether it is emotional support, counselling, whatever (is needed) we will make it available to the parents.” SE A results are scheduled to be released on Tuesday.

Garcia also identified a faulty sewer system as being the source of ongoing protest action at the Preysal Government Primary School saying the Education Facilities Company Limited EFCL did tests two weeks ago and results showed that while there were no leaks in the sewer tank, the foul stench continued to persist.

“During the July/August vacation we will do a comprehensive review and when school opens in September the problem will not be there any longer,” he said.

And regarding those schools which were under construction and which had not been handed over to the ministry, he said ten schools had been identified and he was hoping that several would be completed in time for the new school term.

Speaking to the graduating class earlier, Garcia applauded them on their theme- “Far from finished”, saying they should take advantage of the many educational opportunities which were available to them as they entered a new phase in their lives.

“Aside from the customary post-secondary and tertiary offerings available, there are technical/ vocational opportunities available through such agencies as MIC, NESC, TTHTI and the National Training Agency,” he said.

“Whatever path you choose, if you take nothing else with you, always carry your integrity.

Never forget the values instilled in you by your school and your families,” he said.

If a community that numbers less than one-half of one percent of our population is sufficiently powerful to “summon” the members of a sitting (PNM) government to one of its members’ home for pre-election meetings, as the press reported that the Sabga family had done prior to the 2010 general election, then that family does indeed wield significant power.

When they tell the PNM to “jump,” the party’s leadership, it seems, simply has to ask “how high?” Mario’s words, therefore, are by no means “careless.” They convey in a factually truthful manner this country’s existing political reality.

If he is “guilty” of anything, it is his candour. What he deems to be “careless words” encapsulate our current social, economic and political reality.

While some may see them as “tactless words” they are neither “careless” nor are they dishonest words.

The other reality on which his dinner guest touched is the attrition of the middle class in Trinidad.

This is also an indisputable fact. So what is all the hullabaloo about? Evolution of “structure” within the political, social and economic ordering of a society is not a chance occurrence.

That a minuscule minority today controls the commanding heights of our present global economy has not happened by accident. It has been an insidious ongoing project that had its seeds planted at Bretton Woods and has been in the process of inexorable execution since then.

The single most powerful facilitating agency has been a global realpolitik that has shaped the political and economic order in a zero sum game that transfers more and more wealth to the rich while simultaneously dispossessing the poor.

One or two countries have produced conscious leaders who had the moral courage to raise their voices against this injustice. They and the countries they led have been swallowed by the capitalist leviathan that is fuelled by individual greed.

Who or what are the objects of our wrath? What has served to ignite our sense of outrage? What was the purpose of Ian Smart’s protest? To whom has he directed his disgust? Why did he choose to protest in front of one of the businesses owned by the Syrian community? Could any numerical minority group anywhere advance itself to the very pinnacle of the economy in which it exists in the absence of a paternalistic facilitator? Frenetic and mutual back-scratching must be the order of the day. So what, does Smart not know this? If two groups are scratching each other’s back, why single one out as the object of scorn? The people of this country are too nice yes. They have determined that they will not allow their “jammin’” to be interrupted by the inconvenience of truth.

STEVE SMITH via email

There was no need for Mario Sabga-Aboud to apologise because his mild boast is true: the Syrian-Lebanese community is the most powerful, well almost the most powerful, in TT : and thus this community should be proud of this fact.

The few hundred thousands of citizens who believe they are entitled to be parasites in that they really believe that the Government of the day and the society owe them the means of their sustenance and livelihood should take a page from the book of this community and work their way towards a better life. Yes, all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

Having said the above, I am of the opinion that corporate citizens who have made it rich in TT should have demonstrated their humanitarian values to all flood victims of Tropical Storm Bret.

It is not too late to show that you really care, and you can afford to demonstrate you really care for the less fortunate in our society — you have the money, so spread a little around for a good cause.

Thus I call on Sabga-Aboud to donate 1,000 cups of coffee and donuts/muffins to the flood victims.

I expect Massy Stores to donate 1,000 hampers.

Also TruValu Supermarket, ExtraFood Supermarkets and others.

And what about the “building” establishments of Bhagwansingh and others? Donate a few sheets of galvanise and some plywood.

And I note it is not too late for the army to assist with the much needed clean-up of roads and clogged drains — the flood is now over and the soldiers can access these areas.

ISRAEL B RAJAH-KHAN via email

However, before the adjournment was taken, Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat assured Opposition Senator Wade Mark that he was confident a new board will be appointed to the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Committee. Rambharat was responding to an appeal by Mark speaking on a motion on the adjournment of the Senate, that the committee shut down on September 12, 2015 and since then, the Government had not appointed a new board.

Mark said without a board a number of projects, including 24 housing projects, had stalled and this was causing extreme hardship to the prospective homeowners in terms of the delivery of mortgages and deeds, and the distribution of empty lots. He said he didn’t know what the Government had against cane farmers and sugar workers, having closed down Caroni Green and Caroni 1975 Limited. Mark said there was no plausible reason for the Government not to act, adding that in 2016 the Government had allocated $8 million to the committee in the Public Sector Investment Programme and that money would be returned to the Consolidated Fund because of the absence of the board.

Rambharat responded that the committee was one of three paid for by the proceeds from the export of sugar and since 2003 this country had stopped exporting sugar whereupon the rationale and money for the funding of the committees had simply disappeared.

He said the People’s National Movement government had offered the workers of Caroni 1975 a VSE P package resulting in more than 8000 workers getting a two-acre lot and over 7,800 of them receiving residential lands.

Rambharat said the programme has so far cost taxpayers more than $10 billion.

The schools are in the main situated in Opposition party areas.

It has been said there is insufficient money at this time to expedite completion. Since when is TT UTA a mouthpiece for the UNC-led Opposition? There are, to my mind, other schools in non-Opposition strongholds that are equally not being completed.

Is TT UTA for and about teachers’ concerns or is it now involved in political interference? This approach regarding school construction has solidified certain implications. Is it that some trade unions are now unashamedly being carried away by the magnificence of their own self-importance?

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin