He performed at the Mason Hall harvest in Tobago as well which he said he thoroughly enjoyed as he felt the love from his supporters.

“Home is wonderful. Being back here is not a rest period, it’s like a joyful period coming home one more time again,” he said.

Lord Nelson, 85-years-old, is considered a legend in calypso and soca with timeless hits such as King Liar, Meh Lover, Disco Daddy and Family to name a few.

Nelson, who left for the US as a teen, discovered his talent when he was drafted at the age of 18 in the US Army and later deployed to fight in the war in Korea. He began singing and mimicking The Mighty Sparrow whose music was gaining popularity. Nelson described Sparrow, a multiple calypso monarch, as one of the greatest calypsonians and a really good friend.

“During my time, while serving in the war, there were a couple of us that were West Indians and Caribbean so we got we little group and we singing we little calypso and me, I was mimicking Sparrow, (Lord) Melody and Kitchener; but I was mimicking Sparrow because he was the hardest and I ended up being that great by singing for my fellow soldiers,” he said, as he fondly reflected on his days in the army.

Nelson had no idea what Sparrow looked like but would soon find out in what some would call an “awkward situation.” He added, “One time I came out of the service and I was in a little steelband called The Magnets. Then after that, I got in a real orchestra kind of band singing calypso music but I was so good with Sparrow that if he made a mistake on a recording, I would make the same mistake, but I had never seen the young man and there were no albums in those days. Somehow I was on stage singing Sparrow song and there was a group of people coming up in front with a young man and they were saying, ‘let him sing it’s Sparrow’, I think is me (they referring to) and I saw the man coming up and I didn’t know.

They were playing his music and saying ‘sing Sparrow sing’ and I am waving too and they said, ‘give him the mike’ and I gave him the mike. When I heard him sing he sounded like me, then is when I knew that it is ‘The’ Sparrow,” said Nelson, as he recalled his first encounter with Dr Slinger Francisco.

Nelson said although Sparrow was his muse, Kelvin Pope, “The Mighty Duke” , helped him tremendously with understanding how to write and sing calypso.

Discussing his role in the invention of soca music, he said although Ras Shorty I is widely acclaimed as the creator of the art form, he said his input was valuable too.

“When people talk about soca there is a whole lot of me in that and I keep telling the story over and over, my music is not like regular calypso.

Shorty I was singing, Endless Vibration, and I was singing, Disco Daddy, and we got together and we talked about how we will try and make our music go further around the world, then I went back to New York and the next time when I came back I hear them say he invented something called soca,” he said. Nelson explained their plan was to combine soul and calypso music.

He said not being given credit for his contribution does not bother him but he reminded everyone that he still has the “medicine” and no one alive can sing soca how it was really intended to be done.

“I got the medicine, I got the background, Ras Shorty I had it too but nobody else can figure it out. I got the secret; they tried with something else called groovy soca,” he pointed out.

The Tobago icon said he does not plan to reveal the secret unless it is absolutely necessary.

The Plymouth native also spoke about being labelled a foreigner in his own country.

“Nobody knew about me, I am not a calypsonian, I am an entertainer that mimicked calypso and became what I am. I am famous around the world and my people don’t even get it, and I see people wearing jackets that don’t even fit them, they are given all types of credit and they don’t even know what it is all about.

“Trinidad treats me a whole lot better than Tobago and that really annoys me. When I hear about some of the top awards, I wonder how come I never got any and they sing ‘All ah we is one family’ and I wonder if they know who sang it; I wonder if they realise it’s me,” he said.

Nelson, touching on the state of soca, hailed the genius of Machel Montano but said he is not impressed by some of the music being produced.

He said Trinidad and Tobago has a lot to offer and artistes should try to develop what they have here instead of copying other cultures.

“You could imagine, they got four of five girls on the stage and singing the same thing ‘raise your hands and count to four’ and some smoke and thing going on, and who could wine more,” he lamented.

Nelson said he entered the soca competition this year to show the youngsters how it is done.

“I did not go up there to actually win something because I already won it. I can’t compete with them. I was just there to show them that without people like me, they couldn’t even have that.” Despite the lack of creativity by some, Nelson said he is proud of Montano.

“With all that Machel is into and is doing I always feel proud and most people know there is a little bit of ‘Nelo’ in Machel Montano,” he laughed.

Carmona was speaking on Thursday last at a sub-regional consultation for the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean on the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health – 2016 to 2030 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

She said not enough is being done to address the unwieldy, bureaucratic process of drug approvals in the Caribbean with some sense of speed and institutional urgency.

“Why must a country in the Caribbean go through the tedious process of a drug approval regime after approval of that same drug by, for example, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?” she asked.

“The United States FDA approval, represents, I would hope, international benchmark standards for the operationalisation and use of new drugs. They have the resources, infrastructure and finance beyond the capacity of the many burgeoning democracies in the Caribbean. It begs the question, ‘Why then, are US FDA-approved drugs for the terminally ill and other patients years away from being approved locally and regionally?’ This inability to provide pain relief and other medications may well constitute an infringement of a person’s basic human rights.” Carmona said she has been told by several stakeholders that the non-approval of new drugs is further burdened by an environment that makes no comprehensive, informed provision for the execution of clinical trials involving new and experimental drugs.

“I am reliably informed that there are boxes of drugs and dossiers, waiting to be approved at the food and drugs laboratories throughout the Caribbean and even the GRULAC region. These labs are simply overwhelmed due to lack of resources, weak infrastructure and insufficient personnel, to fully and competently carry out its mandate. The region may be right for the harmonisation for the registration of drugs through its umbrella bodies, CARICOM and CARPHA.” She suggested that the Bahamian Pharmacy Act of 2009, supported by the Pharmacy (Import and Export) Regulations 2010, may be a legislative template for that proposed harmonised registration of drugs.

“Regarding the standard and importation of drugs, any drug to be imported into the Bahamas and hopefully in the future, in the Caribbean, must meet one of the following prescribed international standards — the British Pharmacopeia; the United States Pharmacopeia; the European Pharmacopeia; the International Pharmacopeia; or any other Pharmacopeia as approved by the Minister of Health.

“This not only saves time, but also money, as the authorities will be saved the expense of paying experts to approve the many dossiers submitted to them.

The availability of drugs would decrease patient morbidity and mortality, easing the suffering of our loved ones. By allowing US FDA approved experimental drugs, we can also begin supervised clinical trials in collaboration with the various foreign entities and university hospitals – possibly resulting in a decrease in our medical brain drain and patients leaving the country to access US FDA approved drugs and experimental drugs.” Carmona said drugs like Oxycodone and Vicodin, approved by the US FDA for years but not available in local markets, will then be accessible.

A squatting area, Pine Avenue has over 200 homes, some concrete and some wooden, where about 25 houses were bulldozed about two weeks ago.

Justice Frank Seepersad at an emergency sitting in the San Fernando High Court had granted two residents an interim conservatory order which prevented the destruction of their property or any other house in the area.

Annesa Maharaj and Ashminee Joseph had claimed they have been occupying the lands for more than 30 years.

Ramdeen said no further action would be taken until July so the State would be able to research the possession of the lands.

“We have not yet received any affidavits from the State about the matter, but they have six weeks so the time has not expired. I expect during that time to ascertain or discover who were in possession and for how long,” Ramdeen told the Newsday, yesterday.

He said while this was proceeding, the residents were bringing in their documents supporting their possession of the different parcels of the land that they have occupied and the the length of time they have been in occupation, saying that there would be individual claims against the State.

“The purpose of commencing a claim is for the purpose of the court to determine whether or not they are entitled to the land and therefore, in those circumstances, when you preserve the status quo, it means that each party would take a hands off approach with respect to the parcels of land that they have occupied “This is unfortunately the position that they are in. The court has not made an order for them to go back on to the land. The court has made an order to preserve the status quo,” Ramdeen said.

Charmain Harridan, who said she and her husband Timothy lost about $150,000, said they would await the judge’s ruling.

Hill is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s theatre luminaries. He has written numerous plays including Square Peg (1949); The Ping-Pong (1950); Dilemma (1953); Wey-Wey (1957); Strictly Matrimony (1959); Whistling Charlie and the Monster (1964); Dance Bongo (1965) and What Price a Slave (1970). His numerous accolades include the Hummingbird Gold Medal in 1973; the Barnard Hewitt Award in 1985 from the American Theatre Association and the Bertram Joseph Award for Shakespeare studies from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1985.

Directed by Belinda Barnes, artistic director of the National Theatre Arts Company and Arthur Lewis, this fully staged large-scale production is performed in collaboration with the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy (UTT ) for the Performing Arts. The production features the National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, under the musical direction of Akua Leith, artistic director of NSSO. Written in 1954, Man Better Man is a folk musical that tells the story of a young man who resorts to obeah to win acclaim and gain the notice from the woman he loves. Aided by comedy, kalindas, and calypso, Man Better Man weaves a story of superstition and stickfighting, village-life, heroism, and the pursuit of love.

Admission is free, however, tickets must be collected at NAPA box office, 119 Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, from noon to 6pm daily while stocks last.

There is a limit of two tickets per person. For more info: 271- 2894.

“There is a lot of consciousness about eating what you know and eating what you grow,” Rambharat said, adding, “The more we produce and the more accessible it becomes, we are able to keep the prices at a level where it becomes more affordable.” He was speaking after a tour of the Godineau River, south Oropouche yesterday as part of World Environment Day observances which is being observed worldwide today .

“Continue to respect nature and the environment.” Rambharat, who was accompanied by Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe, was taken by boat along the river to those areas which had been affected by last year’s oil spill .

“One of the issues I saw in the Godineau river and in the Caroni bird sanctuary was the issue of dredging of rivers and the way in which the silt that is dredged is dumped onto the banks. When you do that, you really affect the shell fish that is using the bank of the river as a breeding ground so that will affect the oyster .

“We need to put in some infrastructure to help the boat operators to be able to land and anchor their boats a little more safely along the Godineau at an area called St John’s and another area called Woodland,” he said .

Rambharat also said the river possessed the potential for eco-tourism as there was already some activity taking place along the river but on a limited basis .

At a meeting with farmers, Rambharat said he knows “the number one issue is land tenure; the number two issue is access roads; and third is the support from the Ministry” and spoke at length about the work of the Ministry and other agencies to address their legitimate concerns .

While at the meeting with the fisherfolk, he called on the Fishing Association to instill discipline among its members with a view to proper management of their facilities .

The Zoo’s Facebook Page confirmed this yesterday with a brief statement which said, “The Emperor Valley Zoo responded to a call on on Thursday for the removal of a 5.5 ft adult spectacled caiman which found its way into the shallow waters of Williams Bay in Chaguaramas.

“Zookeepers Arnold Jupiter and Joel Chapman safely retrieved the local reptile. It was examined and was found to be in good health.

The caiman was then relocated to a swamp habitat. The spectacled caiman is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s native reptiles.” According to the zoo, the spectacled caiman’s main diet includes fish, birds and snails. The zoo added that anyone could call the Emperor Valley Zoo’s Wildlife Rescue Hotline: 800-4ZOO if they come across wildlife in distress or in a location where it can be harmed or cause harm to others and is in need of relocating. A video of the reptile casually swimming in the sea was uploaded to social media and swiftly went viral.

Faking a headboard is one of the most common projects undertaken in DIY home decor. Designer and consultant, Alana Daniel, half of the duo that is Concepts and Designs by Cali sat with WMN to share some tips as well as ideas from her own bedroom.

What you need:
• Plywood
• Foam
• Upholstery
• Adhesive glue
• Staple gun

First things first, measure the space behind your bed and decide how large you want your “headboard” to be. If you’re unable to source the plywood in the desired size or you aren’t capable of sizing it yourself, you may need to enlist the help of a carpenter. (Unless you’re good with power tools, keep the carpenter on hand for when you need to drill your masterpiece into the wall later on.) Somewhat less troublesome to resize, cut your foam to match the size of the plywood using a scissors or craft knife. The foam can be one to three inches thick, but definitely not thinner than an inch, as you would want your headboard to have some solidness to it, if it’s to sit above your bed to make a significant enough statement and to round off the look.

Spray the plywood with adhesive glue and fix the foam in place. To the back of the wood, use the staple gun to really fasten it in so that it stays firm on the edges.

If you’re really looking for a challenge and wish to achieve that cushion aesthetic, you can create a tufted headboard, which would require you to drill through the back of the plywood at the points at which you plan to attach your buttons later on. For the tufted look, you would need batting (the thick material used in quilts), which you would attach to the foam using adhesive glue spray.

Here’s the fun part: go wild picking out upholstery in your favourite colour or pattern. Choosing a neutral colour like grey that matches with everything can solve the issue of changing bed sheets and potential matching fiascos.

Alternatively, you can choose patterned fabric for the upholstery to maximise the matching possibilities.

“If you love colour,” Alana suggests, “use colourful fabric so the sheets will always match a colour on the upholstery. “And of course, when you’re buying your sheets, you keep your headboard in mind,” she advises.

There are options when it comes to mounting your headboard: You can drill holes into the wall to fasten it with nails, or if you’re renting or you aren’t allowed to break the walls, you can simply rest it in place or have a carpenter attach legs for it stand, like a small table. In addition to soft, cushiony headboards, mirrors or works of art can also have a similar effect.

“Some people use mirrors,” Alana explains, advising that, “I personally wouldn’t, as I wouldn’t want glass so close to my head.” Of course, it goes without saying that if you decide to go with the mirror option, that you ensure that it is fixed very sturdily in place to avoid any shattering or injury.

Alana shares a little bit of what her own “faked” headboard looks like. “Mine is made three pieces of artwork that make up one image; puzzle paintings are popular these days.” An elegant work of art or hanging sculpture whose hues correspond to the tones of the bedsheets (and advisedly, the rest of the room) can also make for a lovely headboard.

The designer encourages that if you’re going to embark on the project as a DIY undertaking, do ensure to use the Internet as a resource of inspiration. Suggesting Pinterest as one site where useful home decor ideas can be found, Alana admits that even she, as a professional designer and consultant, peeks at the page now and again to spark her own creativity.

Fake it

When we do call to find out what is happening, they are just brushing us off. We want justice, he did not deserve to die like this,” said a relative yesterday.

Meharris, 34, of Mamoral Road, Flanagin Town, Brasso in Tabaquite, was a father of one. He was also the brother of a PC Roxanne Meharris. The deceased was also the twin brother of Sherwin Meharris.

Police repored that at about 1 am on March 25, Meharris was playing a game of poker at Mamoral Junction with some friends.

Among the friends was a Special Reserve Police (SRP) officer.

When the game ended, Kerwyn returned to his home, a short distance away. Police said that Meharris, having received a telephone call returned to the junction. Residents later heard a gunshot and discovered Meharris lying in the yard of a nearby house bleeding from a gunshot wound to the back which exited the chest.

At the time his sister, who is posted at the Brasso Police Station, was on duty when she received information that he was shot. Her colleagues went on the scene and transported him to the Chaguanas District Health Facility.

However, Meharris was pronounced dead on arrival.

“We are hearing conflicting reports about what happened that night. The policeman is claiming that Kerwyn rushed him with a cutlass and so he (police) shot him. I cannot see how that is possible since the autopsy from Forensic (Sciences Centre) stated that he was shot in the back,” the relative added.

The relative added that while investigators had questioned the policeman, he remains on active duty. “I cannot confirm right now if anyone has notified the Police Complaints Authority. I think my sister called them. We just want justice for his death,” the relative said.

Investigators yesterday assured that the matter is being thoroughly investigated.

This means it’s time to work out again after having regained the weight you lost for Carnival.

With our weight loss goal firmly in our minds, we must explore what may have been slowing down the process or stopping it altogether. Some women may say that they have been working out diligently and have had no additional weight loss. But, have you considered the simple principle of calories in and calories out? To lose weight in a healthy way we need the combination of calorie reduction and exercise. Some people, and sadly even a few gym instructors, also think that exercise is the only answer.

They believe that a couple of hours of vigorous cardio exercise and weight lifting will be the recipe to a slimmer you.

In truth, if you did three “butt kicking” workouts per week that burned 500 calories each, you would still have only burned enough calories to lose less than one pound. This is a direct result of each person’s individual body composition and calorie intake. The more fat a person has, the quicker they will lose weight from fat and water. However, as you get closer to your ideal body weight, your body holds on to fat stores for dear life and sacrifices muscle over fat. At this point the body is afraid that it will starve.

However, if you lose body weight by diet alone it can be said that the reverse happens, you will lose muscle mass. This results in loss of body strength as your body composition changes.

The down side of losing weight without exercise is that when your calorie consumption returns to normal you will gain weight. Sadly, when you gain weight after losing it without exercise, you don’t naturally regain the lost muscle mass. In fact, most of your regained weight will be in fat stores, so your body’s fat percentage will be higher than before the initial weight loss. Your body fat percentages only increase the more you repeat your “yo-yo” diet.

Muscle burns more calories than fat, so it stands to reason that the higher your muscle to fat ratio, the higher your BMR (the rate at which your body uses calories) will be. If you continue upon the damaging diet only path your BMI (body mass index) gets out of balance, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight because your fat to muscle ratio is so disproportionate. You get fatter even if you weigh less then when you started as you will now have a high body fat percentage.

To be truly successful and happy with your body and weight it really takes a combination of exercise and diet. Neither one on its own is the answer.

Muscle is essential to building or maintaining a shapely, healthy body. Consequently, because of the hormonal changes that women experience as they get older, they lose bone density, increasing their risk for developing osteoporosis.

Thankfully by routinely lifting weights you can slow bone deterioration and are able to help your bones grow stronger, help maintain your body’s strength, and reduce your chance of developing osteoporosis.

For weight loss to be done in a successful, healthy and safe manner one must diet, indulge in cardio and actively partake in weight training. Doing one without the other yields less than attractive results and in some cases, such as dieting, if taken to the extreme can lead to death. Your body is your responsibility and you are charged with making wise choices that will ensure that you are there for your loved ones for years to come.

Speaking prior to a tour of the San Fernando West constituency yesterday, Sinanan while commenting on the water-taxi’s reduced sailing on Friday, also expressed surprise that two of the four water taxis had not been operational for some time. “We had a challenge yesterday,” Sinanan said, adding, “The boat went down the night before so we had to pull one of the water taxi out so we had to cut short two of the sailings from San Fernando and we used the PTSC service to supplement.” “However, we have four water taxis in Trinidad and for some reason or the other, two were not working, we have sorted that problem out, we’ll soon have the four water taxis working so even if we lose one or two, we will still have two water taxis,” he said. “There is a problem in Trinidad with maintenance and we intend to fix that.” Regarding the much maligned seabridge, he said, “We are going through some challenges and I am fairly certain between the next week or two, we should no longer have these problems. I just want to wait until the I’s are dotted, the t’s crossed and this problem will be a thing of the past. Just bear with me about two weeks again and we will solve this problem going forward,” he said.

Sinanan continued: “We will have another ferry here within the next two weeks I expect, so once that is sorted out, we’ll have two ferries working, we should not have this problem going forward.

I just ask the population, just bear with us a little while again, we will solve the cargo problem and we will solve the passenger ferry problem,” he said.

Flanked by both San Fernando West MP Faris Al Rawi and San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello, Sinanan said the Ministry presently has an ongoing “road maintenance program” to rehabilitate roads before they fall into a state of disrepair.

“What we are trying to do is avoid letting the road get to the position where we have to spend significant amounts of money, we trying to implement in the Ministry of Works more maintenance and road rehabilitation, if we can get that right, the country will save a lot of money trying to just pave all the roads just before elections, we want to start now to rehabilitate the roads so that we can at least save going forward,” he said.

He said the Ministry was also addressing damage done to secondary roads by trucks saying the Licensing Department and traffic wardens would soon be enforcing the law regarding the use of these vehicles. “We intend to put our foot down on that one because trucks are licensed for certain roads but what we find happening because of the traffic congestion and everybody want to get to and from, and in local parlance, pull the most trip for the day, they pass in all the back roads and once they pass twice, they damage the roads,” Sinanan said.

“We going to utilise the traffic wardens with the proper signage and the Licensing department will be definitely cracking down on this. When you license a vehicle, especially those vehicles you see sometimes with the S on it, those vehicles were licensed for specific roads and if they are found on roads they are not supposed to be on, then that is a violation,” he said.

He also touched on the flooding along Mosquito Creek saying he had instructed NIDCO to place personnel at the pumps given the advent of the rainy season.

Meanwhile, Al Rawi, who also holds the portfolio of Attorney General, said the Works and Transport Ministry had been able to secure one billion dollars from the OAS contract through the courts and this money would be used to continue the San Fernando to Point Fortin highway.

And with the tour expected to visit kings Wharf, Al Rawi said public transportation was another significant issues in San Fernando as the city was plagued with “traffic congestion and circulation.”