Cudjoe has done the citizens of TT a world of good by exposing the Bahamas for what it is. To be charging almost 10 times the amount that normally is agreed upon in the region is what some would call “spider web tourism.” I have viewed many tourism advertisements about the beauty of the Bahamas and its lovely beaches and nowhere do they inform about the country’s exorbitant roaming charges.

I am sure that when you arrive at their airport, their welcome would not be intimating to you that their roaming rates are 10 times the normal regional charges. So they suck you in and then they “wet” you.

So all those naysayers who are on Cudjoe’s back, just divide her charges by ten and you will see that the goodly minister was not reckless nor abusive with the use of her phone. Her total bill, therefore, should have been less than $6,000. It is the Bahamas therefore that should be charged with abuse.

I hope that this matter, as hinted by the Minister of Finance, would be taken up by the heads of Caricom at their next meeting to have the Bahamas fall in line with normal regional rates.

I finally say thanks to Cudjoe for alerting citizens of TT and the wider Caribbean and for opening our eyes to this kind of abuse.

Thanks again, Minister Cudjoe.

LAURENCE PERCIVAL via email

Imbert was responding to a question in the House of Representatives.

Imbert said the consistent decline in the supply of forex over the last three years was connected to the sustained slowdown in the local energy sector.

As a result of this, he said, “The domestic foreign exchange market is in disequilibrium, as purchases by the authorised dealers are insufficient to meet customers’ demand.” He said the purchase of forex by dealers and its sale to customers between January and April 2016 were US$ $1,535,000 and US$1,803,000 respectively.

For the same period this year, he said the purchase and sale of forex were $1,139,000 and $1,734,000 respectively.

Noting that the Central Bank intervenes in the market on a regular basis to provide additional liquidity, Imbert said the bank had provided US$675 million between January and April. He said this was a substantial increase from the US$340 million it injected into the system for the same period last year.

Imbert said the bank has also introduced additional mechanisms to provide additional liquidity, such as augmenting the available supply of US banknotes to authorised dealers to meet their “walk-in” customers’ demands, and another mechanism allowed dealers to close trading facilities which were extended to satisfy client demands.

Imbert did not support a claim from Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh about foreign fastfood franchises closing in TT if they are unable to access sufficient forex.

However, referring to the closure of Denny’s restaurant in Maraval, Imbert – who is the MP for Diego Martin North/East – said, “I noticed that one of the restaurants in particular…

the arrangement between that fast-food franchise and the local operator was that they must import foreign food and use foreign food only in the restaurant.

“While I deeply sympathise with the franchise holder,” he said, “I think it may create a movement towards the use of local

NGC President Mark Loquan and Regional President of BPTT Norman Christie, participated in a ceremonial signing of the agreements in May at BPTT’s head office, Queen’s Park West, Port-of-Spain.

Loquan, who was appointed president in September 2016, said the process was conducted under the “stewardship and direction” of the NGC board, led by Chairman, Gerry Brooks.

Contractual negotiations for future gas supply “began in earnest” in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Loquan said this signing represented a different operational and commercial relationship for both companies. “The days of long duration contracts and low pricing when compared to past contracts are over,” adding that these components now depended on exploration and further development. “This new contract between NGC and an important partner such as BPTT speaks to the forging of a deeper relationship which will redound for future and more robust collaboration.” Commenting on the major learning from this experience, Loquan said, “There should be timely investments ahead of decline. With both parties working closely at the strategic and operational levels, and with the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, and other stakeholders to create value for TT.” While he could not speak to the specific details of the contract in terms of volume and time, Loquan said this milestone has cemented NGC’s new strategy __ transforming its business, growing along the value chain, moving into other jurisdictions and becoming a global player through strategic partnerships.

Loquan thanked the NGC board, the commercial team, the legal team and everyone else involved at NGC for their professionalism and commitment.

“Equally he thanked Norman Christie for his open communication during the process and the hard work by the BPTT team involved with tight deadlines and time frames involved,” NGC stated.

The event was hosted by the National Council of Indian Culture of Trinidad and Tobago (NCIC),

Addressing the gathering, Dey said that while he is sure the “Indian- ness” is there, one of his disappointments is that East Indians in this country need to know Hindi, “a bit more.” “The easiest way to do this, is to incorporate it in your language. So please try and preserve what you have. We at the High Commission are committed to promoting and assisting you with this…I request that you retain the Hindi you have and build on it,” Dey said,

He also pledged to donate 200 books from the High Commission to the NCIC’s Heritage Library,

Saying he did not want to dwell into the hardships experienced by indentured labourers, Dey said members of the diaspora have been successful in various fields including business, politics and economics among other fields,

Also speaking at the celebrations, NCIC President Dr Deokinanan Sharma described the ancestors as being a resilient people strengthened by their religious beliefs and culture. “We are extremely grateful to our indentured forefathers to whom we pay our deepest homage for their persistence in ensuring that their offspring did better than themselves,” Sharma said,

Life for the indentures was difficult and degrading, Sharma noted, and they suffered great deprivations,

“Yet they chose to stay. Having made the decision either by coercion or of their own free choice they made every effort to develop their newly adopted homeland,” Sharma added,

Several groups entertained the gathering among them the Artistic Cultural Theatre which presented ‘Jahaaji’, a play written and directed by local playwright Wahid Baksh,

The comedy-drama is based on the observance of the centenary of the end of indentureship,

Police sources said they have information that the gang leader used gang members and relatives to have the weapons smuggled.

Yesterday sources revealed that the man had been carrying out a brisk gun smuggling trade between Canada and this country.

It is believed some Customs and Excise officers may have been on the payroll of this gang leader.

Sources revealed that information gathered thus far is that the gang leader was running his illegal gang related activities from behind prison walls and officers of the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit (CGIU) were able intercept telephone calls in relation to the guns.

Relatives of the gang leader were expected to be interviewed yesterday.

Police continued to search for a Maraval man whose name is listed as one of the persons who was supposed to collect at least three of the barrels on Wednesday.

A 27-year-old San Juan woman remains in custody.

On Wednesday, officers of the Customs and Excise Division searched four barrels at the Piarco Air Services Customs Bond at El Socorro and seized three AR- 15 rifles, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, 300 rounds of assorted ammunition and several magazines for the guns.

The weapons seized were in ten parts in the four barrels. Sources revealed that local police along with Customs and Excise are now in direct contact with police and Customs in Canada to assist them in tracing the weapons which came from Canada

In response to this question from Princes Town MP Barry Padarath in the House of Representatives, Moses replied, “The answer is no.” He disagreed withn Padarath’s claim that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s call for Almagro’s removal was “off the cuff ” and “made in isolation”.

Government MPs thumped their desks as Moses replied, “No. I cannot say so.” When Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal asked what was Government’s problem with Almagro, Moses said, “I think it would have been articulately expressed when the views of the Government of TT were made known recently by the Honourable Prime Minister.” On Wednesday, upon his return from Chile, Rowley condemned “the derogatory manner” in which Almagro dealt with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with respect to the ongoing tensions in Venezuela.

At the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s on Thursday, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young said, “TT has been very, very cautious and very calculated and very definitive in its position at the OAS with respect to Venezuela.” He also said this position was not influenced by TT’s ongoing efforts to secure a gas sales agreement for Venezuela’s Dragon Field. Rowley and Young have previously expressed optimism that this agreement could be reached by July.

She is a student of Tranquility Government Secondary School.

Tariq Mohammed, 16 of Valencia was reported missing by his father Aftab Mohammed on May 16.

The TTPS thanked the public for its assistance in ensuring the safe return of the two teenagers.

The teachers are being trained to run the Arrow (Aural, Read, Respond, Oral, Write) programme in the school with full support from the Arrow Foundation. This process allows the entire school population access to the powerful literacy intervention programme and is in support of the Laventille School Project launched by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley late last year.

“Angostura Ltd is again at the forefront of supporting schools and children in the Laventille and environs, and see this partnership as crucial to the development of young people in the area,” Giselle Laronde- West, Angostura’s senior manager Hospitality and Communications, said in a media release.

The House of Angostura which is a manufacturer of world-renowned and award-winning products is located in Laventille.

The Success Roman Catholic (RC) School is situated mere minutes away at Church Street.

Christopher Bonterre, managing director, of the Arrow Foundation praised the efforts of Angostura in bringing the programme to life for these students and teachers.

“It provides us with the impetus to continue to meet the educational needs of the nation’s children. Arrow’s focus is on raising self-esteem through literacy improvement, which is vital to addressing behavioural problems in students,” Bonterre said.

He stated that “a lot of the aggressive behaviour found in our primary and secondary schools is rooted in students’ academic failure and the frustration this manifests.

When students are able to read and write, they feel better about themselves allowing them to engage others without feeling frustrated.” The foundation, which has a proven track record working with thousands of children in schools across TT , is viewed as a key partner with many corporate sponsors in building self-esteem, improving behaviour and significantly raising literacy levels of students.

Arrow’s literacy model has been proven to significantly increase not only reading skills and performance but also spelling, concentration, self-esteem, speech, confidence and motivation in students. It is listed as one of the leading literacy interventions in the UK (Greg Brooks Report 2003/2013). Arrow is an audio visual multi-sensory based programme developed by Dr Colin Lane in the United Kingdom, and focuses on learning through self-voice and multisensory techniques covering reading, spelling, dictation, speech and learning exercises.

Evidence of the link between illiteracy and violent behaviour has been well researched and confirmed, the release stated quoting The US Department of Justice: “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.” A study by Dennis Hogenson titled Reading Failure and Juvenile Delinquency found that reading failure was consistently found to correlate with aggression in populations of delinquent boys. The literacy statistics and juvenile court “USA 2009” state that 85 per cent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment also indicates that below level reading abilities are significantly related to the development of aggressive antisocial

The exercise began shortly after 10 am and saw 150 police and soldiers engaged in door to door searches as well as a search of cars.

While the officers were on the ground, they had aerial support from National Security helicopter Viper One. Officers of the Police Canine Unit accompanied by sniffer dogs entered apartments and houses as searches were carried out for arms and ammunition as well as illicit drugs.

Twenty persons were detained for possession of illegal narcotics while others were held on outstanding warrants for serious crimes such as shootings and robberies in the East Port of Spain and surrounding areas.

Officers were led by Snr Supt Radcliffe Boxhill and ASP Ajith Persad along with Inspectors Mc Girk and Bruno, Sgt Austin, Cpl Budree and others. Five sniffer dogs were used in the searches. While this was taking place, soldiers stood at strategic positions to ensure no one entered or existed the locked down areas unless authorised by the police.

Police sources said that the exercise was incident free and those arrested were taken to Port of Spain CID and the Besson Street police station for questioning.

While some of the detained people have since appeared in the Port of Spain magistrates court to answer to charges, others remain in custody and are expected to be placed on ID parades.

The exercise was coordinated by ACP (Crime) Irwin Hackshaw.

Lifeline which celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this year, was almost closed down after finances and volunteers became scarce.

Lifeline director Lucretia Gabriel said she was grateful for the support extended by TSTT and is optimistic this gesture would help maximize the organisation’s reach and continue to assist those in need of help.

“We are grateful for this gesture from TSTT to help Lifeline maximise our reach and availability to those who need us the most.

“We know sometimes it might be difficult to take that step and reach out to someone and just talk, but we want everyone who accesses our service to know that Lifeline is ready to listen,” Gabriel said.

TSTT Vice President (Marketing) Camille Campbell said the gesture marked the first step in what her company hopes is a long and beneficial relationship with Lifeline, adding she believes that by increasing the ease of access to the hotline, many lives could potentially be saved.

“This toll-free service is the first that we will provide and we are continuing to work with Lifeline to include additional features to help provide a complete commu n i c at i ons solution that will enable Lifeline’s trained volunteers to serve those in need with greater flexibility and at the optimum convenience for callers,” Campbell said.

Earlier this year, 24-year-old UWI engineering student Matthew Levi Caesar left relatives and friends stunned and deeply traumatised when he committed suicide by drinking a poisonous substance on a football field at campus. Caesar’s death has since shone a light on the issue of depression and suicide especially among youths.

lifeline can be reached at 800-5588 and two other toll-free lines, 231-2824 from Digicel, and 220-3636 from FLOW. People wishing to donate to Lifeline can make deposits to Republic Bank account number 1601 0513 1401