He said CARICOM is the most uncommmon common market.

Dr Ramdeen made the comments while delivering remarks at the opening of a Caribbean Market Mission organised by JAMPRO, the Jamaican trade and investment promotion agency, at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann’s. He added that in theory CARICOM was supposed to include free movement of people but this has been repeatedly delayed and today he is not sure whether the community is still discussing free movement.

Dr Ramdeen compared CARICOM to the European Union (EU) and said there is no reason why the regional body cannot advance in the same way as the EU has done.

He said the JAMPRO mission is targeting three countries: Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas, but he said that exporters sending goods into The Bahamas had to pay duties because while The Bahamas is part of CARICOM it is not part of the Common Market regime. He said such issues needed to be sorted out. Regarding the JAMPRO mission, he said the TTMA welcomed competition because Trinidad and Tobago was a consumer society and needed goods to come into this market.

He said the TTMA did not fear competition although the border agencies needed to do their duties. Dr Ramdeen said there was no reason that this country was importing some $5 billion a year in food including a lot of goods from outside the region while some of those products could be sourced from within the Caribbean.

However, he said he was an optimist and saw himself as a CARICOM person. He said the TTMA continued to work with the Government to develop trade and needed Jamaica in order for this country to be a healthy and strong economy and CARICOM to be a healthy and strong economy.

Also speaking at the event was the Jamaican High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, David Prendergast who lamented that in 2015 Jamaica exported just over US$12 million worth of goods to Trinidad and Tobago and had a “substantial trade deficit of over US$400 million,” a situation the JAMPRO trade mission to this country was hoping to improve. The mission comprises 18 Jamaican firms but only eleven have chosen to visit this country because they see the most promise in this market. He said that, “Over the past five decades, Jamaica and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago have maintained strong bilateral relations as CARICOM sister nations.

The trade links between our two countries have remained extensive, and its continued promotion is important if small economies such as ours are to sustain an upward trajectory towards achieving our long term development goals, realising economic growth and ensuring job creation.” Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Frances Seignoret, said the visit showed the determination of both countries to collaborate on trade and investment matters within CARICOM and said last year’s visit to Jamaica by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and a high powered delegation underscored the importance of co-operation between the two islands, adding that both prime ministers acknowedged the need for improvement in trade relations including the obstructions to free trade and the free movement of goods and services.

He said the prime ministers of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to work toward a better and stable environment for businesses to thrive, to increase investment flows and to develop mechanisms for closer trade co-operation and the resolution of trade issues. She said the local Trade Ministry was working with its CARICOM partners to advance trade relations in accordance with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, observing that this involves working with the region’s Common External Tariff within the Revised Treaty to protect and provide a foundation for growth and development for the region’s manufacturing capacity.

Seignoret mentioned the Single Electronic Window (SEW ), an information technology portal which allows all trade related processes to be completed online with one document which is submitted to all the approving agencies with approvals promised within a day or two.

She said that the SEW improves operational efficiency and increases the speed of trade and business transactions.

She said the ministry is also working on an E-Commerce Policy which would set up a framework for the online trade in products and services locally, regionally and internationally.

She said when this is implemented it would lead to the creation of a new and enhanced environment and ensures that business owners, traders and consumers will have the necessary confidence and resources to use the internet to expand into regional and global markets and enhance their revenue.

It is a month of patience and reward; a month of sympathy with one’s fellow men.

It is a month where a believer’s faith is increased. God decorates the Heaven during this month.

The month has three parts.

The first brings God’s mercy.

The second brings His forgiveness.

The third brings emancipation from Hell.

During Ramadan there is one night known as “Lailatul Qadr” or a night for great blessings and spiritual value.

The Quran was revealed on this night. Angels and the spirit descend by God’s permission. The month ends today with the celebration of Eid. May we all have a blessed Eid ul-Fitr. May Allah guide us, have mercy on us, protect us, give us His grace and forgive us.

AHAMAD KHAYYAM Curepe

The girl’s mother said to her, “Mark and observe.” My advice to the people of TT today is no different: mark and observe.

Observe that the track of the storms leaving Africa is now south of the traditional path and should the trend continue TT can very likely experience more tropical storms during this rainy season.

Observe that despite my letter weeks before the storm warning that we were likely to be affected by heavy rainfall and as such our waterways ought to be cleared, very little was done to prepare for heavy rainfall. Mark that there is need for a comprehensive emergency warning system.

Mark and observe that administration after administration give the impression they are serious about reducing criminal activity but are yet to conclude a comprehensive DNA legislative plan with appropriate structure.

Observe how the government boasts of being able to operationalise the structures to charge citizens exorbitant sums for traffic violations but was not as efficient in putting in place structures to assist in crime reduction.

Legislation and regulations to operationalise items like tamper-proof licence plates, modern driver’s permit with data strips or bar codes, a reliable and updated vehicle registration system that allows for tracing ownership from mobile computers and car titles that allow for easy transfer of vehicles remain elusive.

Observe that the easy things that bring relief to the population are ignored while those that place burdens on citizens are embraced. Things like restoring roads after digging them up, changing to a gravity feed system for equitable water distribution, making payment for government services possible through collection centres nationwide and accepting electronic payment are all difficult to operationalise.

Taxes, fines, fees, increases in prices for State-controlled items and burdensome regulations are quickly processed and made operable.

Mark and observe that these burdens and inefficiencies cross party lines. None of the political organisations have been able to do comprehensive local government reform.

They both continued the wastage and nepotism associated with Cepep and URP.

They both failed to enact laws to assist in protecting the population from criminals like access to firearms and non-lethal self-defence items like mace, pepper spray and tasers.

They both continue to hold on to thousands of houses rather than distribute them to a needy population.

They both depend largely on ethnicity as a factor for their election to office.

Observe that it is time to cast aside the obsession with politicians who exploit our differences and unite in service to TT .

STEVE ALVAREZ via email

Even with watercourses cleared and dredged, some flooding will take place during periods of exceptionally heavy rainfall. However, in our circumstances, widespread flooding occurs even when there is moderate rainfall and of course there is absolute disaster and chaos in periods of torrential rainfall.

This situation is all too well known by the Drainage Division of the Ministry of Works but absolutely nothing is done to institute preventive or mitigating measures during the course of the dry season.

This neglect seems to be due primarily to an appalling indolence, lack of will and non-existent accountability and secondarily to a lack of resources. If there is one grossly non-functional department in the whole of the government administration, it must be the Drainage Division.

The political directorate is equally culpable including those at the local government level. Perhaps the recent disastrous and widespread flooding will propel the administration to take preventive measures seriously and direct investment to drainage infrastructure, flood control and mitigation.

I wish to relate my own experience.

I am particularly concerned about the constant flooding problem in the Debe district where my family home is situated. After the extensive flooding in the area in early August 2014, I approached the MP for the constituency, Dr Roodal Moonilal, who invited Ganga Singh, then minister responsible for water management, to look at the problem and take corrective action.

Incidentally, Singh has always been associated with some aspect of water — whether WASA, desalination or ground water. It is no wonder he carries the name Ganga.

This goodly minister came by helicopter to tour from the air, not to assess the problem on the ground. I pointed out to him that the main watercourse in the Debe district was the Cucharon River which was partly paved and that the paving needed to be continued to the Gandhi Village Road to enable a much faster run-off. In the meantime it was urgent to have the river cleaned and dredged.

I also mentioned the need to clear the secondary watercourses leading to the Cucharon River and the desilting of roadside drains which may necessitate the use of gully-suckers.

After the helicopter departed, it was the last I saw of or heard from Ganga Singh. There was absolutely no follow-up action.

In December 2015, I went to see the then Minister of Works, Fitzgerald Hinds, and made the same representation for the relief of flooding in Debe. Again there was a deafening silence and no response despite repeated requests.

One colleague of his even advised the residents of La Brea that there was need to light a fire under Hinds to get him to act.

From the comatose Hinds, we have moved to the self-acclaimed mover and shaker, Rohan Sinanan.

I saw him in December 2016 and pointed out the necessity to undertake urgent cleaning and dredging of the watercourses in the Debe area during the dry season of this year, pending the continuation of paving of the Cucharon River.

Again absolutely no action was forthcoming.

In the recent flooding of Debe post-Bret, I contacted the councillor for Debe West in the Penal Debe Regional Corporation, the chairman of the PDRC and a supervisor in the corporation. For the past three days no one from the PDRC has visited let alone organised any clean-up operations.

What we have had are numerous publicised tours, gallery photo sessions, grand announcements of mobilisation of resources and ritual promises of relief. All this theatre was subsequent to the disastrous flooding event which could either have been substantially avoided or its effects minimised by resolute preventive action.

In line with those opinions, the poll also found that 73 percent of blacks considered racial discrimination against blacks a very serious problem, up from 55 percent in May 2009. Among whites, the respective figures were 34 percent and 17 percent. And all this was before Trump’s ascent to the presidency .

You cannot reasonably lay all the blame for this decline on Obama’s shoulders. He was the first nonwhite American President, a mulatto called black; he had to tread very carefully indeed. Whites were on the lookout to pounce on any perceived favours from him to blacks, many of whom expected to be favoured. He was the President of all Americans, he would say, and it was only towards the end of his second term that he allowed himself public sympathy with the black condition .

But the evil of race cannot be extirpated merely by the incantation of noble phrases, whether all-embracing or sympathetic to a disadvantaged group. In any case, nothing that he said or did would impress many whites, who had not accepted him in the first place, and would never accept him .

He was black, therefore inferior, and his wife was “an ape in heels,” as one woman so colourfully put it. They resented the fact that he was obviously much brighter and tougher than they; he was an “uppity n—er.” They rewrote their country’s history to fit their prejudices; “alternative facts” sprouted like mushrooms .

This is Kathy Miller, a Trump campaign chairman in an Ohio county, speaking to an interviewer in September 2016: “Growing up as a kid (in the 1960s), there was no racism, believe me… (There was none) until Obama got elected.” So for her, and the many others who think like her, racial segregation and discrimination in the USA, and the civil rights movement, never existed. The massive March on Washington never took place, and Martin Luther King’s soaring vision of freedom and fairness that day in August 1963 was never given voice. Astounding. But she had more to say .

“(I)f you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years,” she asserted, “it’s your own fault .

You’ve had every opportunity given to you… you had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.” “Your” and “our.” No racism, of course .

But there were many blacks whom Obama did not impress either .

Yes, he was black, and if he could run again for the presidency they would, out of racial solidarity, vote for him. But there was spreading disappointment: the same CNN/ORC poll indicated that 40 percent of blacks felt that race relations had worsened under Obama, up from a mere two percent in 2009. Eddie Glaude, a black Princeton University professor, dismissed him last year: “(B) lack people have suffered tremendously on Obama’s watch… (He) sees exactly what we want and what we fear and adjusts himself accordingly… In 2008 and again in 2012, (he) sold black America the snake oil of hope and change… maybe black people believed he represented real change. Maybe we didn’t… (T)he reality, amid the thick fog of unmet expectations, is that very little has changed in this country. In fact, things have gotten worse.” Under President Trump, they will get even worse: many, if not most, African-Americans think they have a very good idea of what his slogan “Make America great again” really means for them. As Demos Action said in its media release of November 9, 2016, the day after Trump’s t r iumph, “race remains the organising principle of American politics, and racism is alive, well, and, in fact, popular.”

So said Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal in last week’s Lower House debate on the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017.

“The effect of this bill is to elevate a traffic warden to an inspection officer,” he said incredulously.

“Now somebody making $4,700 a month is inadequate.

Some people work in the night as bar men and waitresses because traffic warden is not a job which carries the salary and benefits, and you are now calling them ‘Inspection officer’ but not providing for any upgrade.” Saying the bill gets traffic wardens to participate in punitive actions including going to court, Moonilal asked if this is an apt role for persons who are not public officers but contract workers.

Noting the bill contains 100 offences, Moonilal hit the bill’s “brutality”.

“This law contributes to the punitive environment that this Government is creating — Everyone’s ‘guilty’; Prove your innocence.

“It is a very dangerous culture. I don’t know from what jurisdiction this is coming.” Saying a dim backlight on a motor vehicle will incur a hefty $450 penalty, Moonilal scoffed, “It’s fine after fine after fine!”.

Estimating that the Government could collect $2.1 billion in traffic fines under this bill, he asked what the money would be used for? In a clear taunt at the Government, Moonilal asked if the collected fines are to be used to pay roaming charges, fund trips to Tobago or pay the $2 million cost to cut a ribbon to open a stadium? He suggested the money be used to fund road repair and watercourse clearing, saying if there had been a regular fixing of drains the country would not be in the catastrophe it is now in after the recent passage of Tropical Storm Bret

In a telephone interview with the Newsday yesterday afternoon, Padarath rehashed the parliamentary events on Friday night which culminated in an Opposition walk-out.

During his contribution on the debate of a matter of urgent public importance, Padarath accused Rowley of having “a disdain for the people in south Trinidad because they believe that they are UNC (United National Congress) people.” Asked yesterday whether he was convinced he did the right thing on Friday, Padarath said “Most definitely.

Because above everything else, my duty is for the public interest. And the 14,000 people who voted for me, voted for me to provide a voice for them whether it is inside the parliament or outside the parliament.

I was not wrong in those circumstances for standing up and fighting for the people of south Trinidad and the people of my constituency.” Newsday asked Padarath whether he did in fact call Rowley a racist as was previously reported.

Padarath said he did so in response to the Prime Minister’s own echoing of Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis’ accusation that he (Padarath) was a racist.

“I asked how could you call me a racist when you may be one of the biggest racists of all?” Asked whether he regreted referring to Rowley as a racist, Padarath said “That really is beside the point. The point really is what happened in Parliament on Friday night and I would like to stick to that.” Padarath said the government’s response to Tropical Storm Bret was not the only reason for him believing the PNM thought less of the people of south.

“We have had several protests happening in south Trinidad with respect to not only UNC held constituencies but even some of theirs. When you look at the water crisis that we have been having over the past few months and then the minister comes and says that there is no water crisis and half of south is without water.” Padarath went on to list “stalled projects” including the highway to Point Fortin and repairs to several schools throughout the southern region for which parents and students have been clamouring. “But that has always been the PNM. That is not any secret.” On the UNC’s intention to file a motion of no confidence in the Speaker of the House for her alleged failure to rule on the UNC’s point of order on Friday, Padarath said their grievances will be aired in the Parliament. Whether the motion is debated at the next sitting on Wednesday depends on the parliamentary agenda.

Princes Town Member of Parliament, Barry Padarath

This was the Eid-ul- Fitr message from Imam Mirza Ali-Mohammed, who spoke to a huge gathering at Centre of Excellence, Macoya yesterday.

He said sometimes all it takes is a little kind deed to have a positive impact on someone’s else life, and one must not “belittle the power of little.” “Don’t belittle the power of little because sometimes we think we have to do this big huge phenomenal fantastic thing to make a change with crime, with the flooding, with helping the poor people in our community, sometimes all it takes for us to do whatever we can in the best way that we know how.” He continued, “If it is we can’t change the whole society, change the people who are around us, if we can’t infect all in society, infect just those around us. If we can’t help all the flood victims help those who you can.” While Ali-Mohammed delivered the khutba (sermon), he shared a story of a young boy who was on a beach throwing starfish back into the water, and told his listeners, “People said to the boy ‘how come you are doing that? All the starfishes will die any way.’ The boy said, ‘if I can make a difference in the life of one star fish it will make me feel happy.’” Therefore, Imam Ali-Mohammed told his listeners to do whatever they can in their communities to help curb crime, help those living in poverty and to help fulfill the needs of others.

Imam Ali-Mohammed said according to the Islamic position, “We are to do whatever we can in the best way we know how with whatever little resources we have and it is not how much you do, but if you do it with sincerity, we believe God will accept that from us.” Imam Ali-Mohammed urged Muslims to spread the message to others as they celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr and the whole month of Ramadan.

“Today is a day of Eid, it is a happy day, a day of rejoicing, a day of blessing, today is a day of praise, a day of thankfulness.

We have completed the entire month of Ramadan and we are alive, and for that be thankful to Allah. There were some people who were with us last year and are not with us today.” He continued, “Even those who did not do the Ramadan in the way that we should, for those who enjoy the nights of power for the last ten nights, and even we were deficient in what we did in the month of Ramadan, don’t lose hope, there is still reward that could come after the Ramadan and this is the time we seek the forgiveness of Allah. Islam gives hope my believing brothers and sisters.” He urged the gathering to continue doing good, and stay away from anything that is false and evil.

The Prime Minister made the remarks in a press release issued yesterday, in which he called on both muslims and non-Muslims to join together for the sake of the nation.

“Today, following the austerity of the month of Ramadan, the Muslim community will gather to offer thanks to Allah for having the strength and will to observe the fast during the holy month. Having done this, on Eidul- Fitr, everyone who has fasted may face the year ahead with renewed strength, greater understanding and universal goodwill.” the release stated.

Dr Rowley also praised the muslim community in TT for their longstanding commitment to social upliftment and encouraged muslims to continue their mission of peace and goodwill to their fellow men. He added that the end of fasting should serve as an opportunity for greater introspection.

“Perhaps the greatest significance of this special day of rejoicing is the tradition of freely sharing a portion of what one has with those who are needy and vulnerable. We witness an outpouring of generosity towards one another.” “We see the best of human nature and depth of good character of which we all are capable.

The fast of Ramadan shows how it feels to be hungry; Eid-ul-Fitr shows the real meaning of selflessness, goodwill and community.” Eid-ul-fitr which means ‘the festival of breaking fast’, marks the end of month-long fasting for Ramadan and is one of the most important events in the Muslim calendar

We are thankful the damage suffered in the wake of Tropical Storm Bret was not as bad as the kind of devastation which other countries have often endured in the wake of storms. We did not see hundreds of fatalities, and the basic infrastructure of the country remained intact.

However, to say this is not to deny the profoundly distressing flooding which unfolded in the aftermath and which affected south, central and east Trinidad.

All parties should unite to properly respond to incidents like this. When people have had homes flooded and crops destroyed and are in need of basic shelter and supplies, it is not the time to engage in foolishness.

Instead of the matter being soberly dealt with, the Parliamentarians have served us a foul stew, with nebulous allegations and counter-allegations of racism.

Make no mistake: both political parties depend on race to ensure their survival. But no party must ever seek to serve the interests of only one segment of society.

This country is a democracy and all must be allowed to have a say and to be heard in the corridors of power and beyond.

So MPs need to realize the election is long over and it is time to work to serve the people, no matter their geographic location, their party allegiance, their race, their age, their religious belief, their sexuality, their class, their educational status.

If the Parliament wants to talk about race then it should have a serious discussion about racism, how it is masked by the veneer of politics, how people suffer micro-aggressions on a daily basis, how our political systems have failed to be more proportionate and inclusive.

But until then, get on with the work. Friday was a missed opportunity for both sides to get together. It was also a chance for the Government to review its allocation of $25 million to fund flood relief in the wake of Bret. While that allocation is welcomed and while we are in difficult times, the sum appears relatively small. The Government will need to listen carefully to MPs to gauge if more funds should be allocated.

That is, assuming they stop the idle bickering. Another distraction seems on the cards in the form of a no-confidence motion in Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, which the Opposition has a right to file by which does not seem to have much of a chance of passing if debated.

As more rainy days are upon us we hope MPs get their act together. Perhaps all should use their downtime in-between protests and walkouts and irrelevant cross-talk to engage in some quiet reflection on the role of Parliamentarians.