The two parties signed an MOU to collaborate for the creation, protection and administration of intellectual property rights.

While TT supplies 92 percent of Chile’s liquified natural gas (LNG) imports at a value of US$650 million and accounts for 38 percent of Chile’s exports to Caricom, the two leaders vowed to deepen relations in trade, energy and culture, plus technical links. They discussed TT benefitting from Chile’s extensive network of free trade agreements.

While the TT delegation promoted its fertilisers and its tourism, it sought to learn from Chile’s embrace of solar power and other energy renewables.

Both leaders expressed concern about climate change, especially as the nation’s of both have coastal waters.

The duo recalled their past meeting at a Caricom conference and Rowley thanked Bachelet for having helped the region and TT over the FATCA issue and the threat of loss of correspondent banks.

Earlier, Rowley attended a wreath laying ceremony at the Monument to Bernardo O’Higgins, considered to be the liberator of Chile.

Since his return, St James is as clean as a whistle. Drivers obey the law when he is around. He’s a no-nonsense officer, and the public is aware of that.

Keep up the good work, sir. You were sorely missed.

M SANKAR St James

The group’s operating profit before tax was $1,107 million with $6.001 billion in total revenues. This was down from 2015’s profit before tax of $1,163 million and total revenues of $6.215 million.

Sabga noted that this was the fourth year that the group’s profits crossed the billion dollar mark and that these positive results were achieved despite challenges, such as a fire at Carib Glassworks Limited that cost the group $38 million. Responding to a question fielded by a shareholder, the group’s chair said it was the company’s ambition to become a net earner of foreign exchange.

Sabga told gathered shareholders that it was the group’s intention to make acquisitions in the near future that were pan Caribbean as well as forex earners. He indicated however that the country was losing its ability to compete in terms of labour price escalations and declining productivity.

We should be heartened by the level and intensity of the debate on this issue. Our sense of ownership and consent in respect of our indigenous institutions is crucial to our reassurance, after 50 years of independence, that we are steady, even as we are beset by the inevitable growing pains of a still youthful nation state.

Given this opportunity, the institution itself and all who are legitimately joined in the debate are required to rise to the challenge with maturity to ensure that, while there must be forthright debate and criticism where due, that constructive tone and quality of content form the bedrock of all such criticism, lest we awaken tomorrow to find that we have thrown out the baby, the bath water and the tub.

There is every good reason why the nation must demand that this incident should provide us with a learning experience. How we deal with this will help us build as a nation.

There are issues of transparency and openness and a commitment to holding the JLSC to strict standards of excellence from which no one must shirk, least of all the JLSC. The Law Association is to be commended for having moved quickly to establish a committee to examine and to make recommendations. We should all embrace this initiative and contribute urgently in the national consultation.

I consider it important nevertheless to make one simple point. As egregious as the errors may be that have been committed by the JLSC, there is no basis on which those errors approach even slightly the constitutional threshold for removal from office of a Chief Justice and/or of members of the JLSC. In the case of both the Chief Justice and the members of the JLSC, the Constitution is very clear on the solemn process by which the incumbents in those constitutional offices can be lawfully removed. This removal procedure is prescribed in explicit terms in the case of both the members of the JLSC and the Chief Justice who is ex officio its chairman.

I have had the honour of being appointed counsel to advise two constitutional tribunals, one established to investigate and to advise on the removal of a Chief Justice of TT and more recently the other established in respect of a judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

The threshold of the case to be made out is stated clearly: The incumbent may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misbehaviour, and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

In order for that to be accomplished a tribunal must be established, comprised of eminent people including former judicial officers and the evidence of culpability or not on the charge brought must be carefully investigated and sifted. The person under investigation must be given a fair opportunity to rebut and test that evidence after which the tribunal may recommend a certain course of action to the head of State.

Simply stated, without burdening this commentary with the reams of judicial authority on the subject from throughout the common law Commonwealth, the apparent errors of process committed by the JLSC in relation to Marcia Ayers-Caesar do not begin to approach this constitutional threshold.

Some members of the Law Association have specially convened an extraordinary meeting to call on the Chief Justice and the members of the JLSC to resign. This is nothing short of an impeachment procedure.

In the exercise of their undoubted right to attend and vote, I would expect that the attorneys present will address and debate the law as the paramount consideration which informs the result they will commit to history.

REGINALD ARMOUR SC via email

However, for many of us it is a painful and disabling illness, and though symptoms may vary from person to person, it generally manifests itself by way of abdominal cramps, bloating, and a combination of diarrhoea and constipation. These are also often accompanied by tiredness, nausea, heartburn, backache, frequent urination, headaches, muscle pains, anxiety and depression.

Some of the worse aspects of the illness are the unpredictability of the flare-ups and the urgency required to get to a toilet. Flare-ups occur for reasons such as reactions to particular foods or medication, stressful situations, or anxiety attacks, and usually manifest as sharp abdominal pains. Some of us become so sensitive to the pain coming from the gut that it can cause us to lose consciousness, and along with the acute pain is the urgent need to use the toilet – some sufferers are not able to control their urge to urinate, while others experience sudden bouts of diarrhoea.

I happen to have a “Can’t Wait” card that I carry at all times – it is a credit card size, explaining that I have a medical condition which causes me to urgently need the toilet. That card has proven to be incredibly useful for flare-ups that have happened in public places such as banks, shops or restaurants.

If you are like me and get nervous when a plane hits an area of turbulence, having a “Can’t Wait” card will be handy because flareups do not abide to airline safety instructions nor do they understand that the seat belt light means the toilet is off limits. There are times when I have had to discretely show my card to the flight attendant, unbuckle the seat belt and make a quick sprint to the toilet.

My other backup is a RADAR key which allows me to unlock any of the 9,000 public disabled toilets across the UK, and therefore avoids the dire consequences and embarrassment of not having access to a toilet in time.

IBS is a mysterious chronic illness of the digestive system which is known to affect at least one out of five people. However, due to the complexity and the mysteriousness of the illness it can be quite difficult to diagnose, so there are many people who are not even aware that they have it.

Dr Robin Spiller, gastroenterologist specialising in IBS observed that many people do not visit their GP but instead try to cope on their own, and while self-management is adequate for some, there are many who “are restricting their social existence and not travelling and not eating out, and they probably should be seeing someone”.

Studies show that there is no single cause for the symptoms of IBS but that it is linked to gut sensitivity, problems digesting food, and psychological factors such as trauma, and stress. They also indicate that probability is increased if you have an immediate relative with the disorder.

Dr Cryan – a researcher who does significant work on the connection between the gut and the brain, and reckons that it is the root of the sayings “gut feeling” and “gut instinct”, and even people who do not have IBS sometimes find that when they get nervous or experience stressful situations they need to go to the toilet.

Dr Yansie Rolston FRSA is a UK-based disability and mental health specialist advisor. She is a social strategist and trainer who works internationally at various levels of government, business and civil society. Contact her at yr@efficacyeva.com

The Ultimate Allrounder Singlewicket Cricket Challenge will be a day/night competition from 4-10 pm.

Allrounders from PowerGen, Queen’s Park, Merry Boys, Alescon Comets and two Tobago clubs will battle each other in three groups of four with the group winners contesting the semi-finals and, subsequently, the grand final.

The tournament winners pockets S15,000 and the losing finalists $5,000.

Other incentives are available for allrounders and fieldsmen who are selected from the top cricket clubs in Tobago. The major sponsors of Ultimate Allrounder Cricket Challenge 2017 are National Lotteries Control Board, Bmobile, First Citizens and THA (Tobago House of Assembly).

Here is a look at two of the expected participants – Marlon Richards and Navin Stewart.

MARLON RICHARDS Marlon Richards is acknowledged as a committed cricketer with great discipline in all forms of cricket. He made his debut in Singlewicket completion in 2014 in a group with Lendl Simmons and Devon Thomas. Richards battled gamely but could not edge out Simmons for a semi-final spot.

He returned in 2015, but although he did not progress to the semi-finals that year, he remains a potent force with his medium fast bowling and purposeful batting for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force team and the Merry Boys club. This year Richards enters the competition as royalty, with a crown as captain of National T20 Club champions Merry Boys. He has also taken over leadership of the Red Force team at the age of just 26.

NAVIN STEWART Navin Stewart made his First- Class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in March 2009. He is a fast-bowling all-rounder who has played in all editions of Caribbean Premier League T20 representing Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Tridents.

He is one of the most experienced players in Singlewicket cricket, having appeared in all previous competitions.

On each occasion Stewart made the semi-finals.

He knocked out tournament favourite Dwayne Bravo in the very first tournament, and then he dumped seeded players Sunil Narine and Christopher Barnwell out of the 2013 and 2014 competitions respectively. Stewart shared the award for the most sixes in the 2014 tournament with Lendl Simmons.

In 2016 he reached the final and was neck-and-neck with Marc Deyal; shockingly he lost to the first-time Singlewicket player, but will return on Saturday to battle once more.

Readers will recall that I had placed a private member’s motion on the Order Paper of the House of Representatives in 1989 for the House to approve that May 30 be declared a national public holiday to commemorate this event. After many deferrals and partial debates, the motion was finally approved in May 1995, a couple of weeks prior to the 150th anniversary of that arrival.

My primary argument was that the day was undeniably of immense significance in the history of the country simply because the first arrival of these immigrants and the choice of the majority who came over the period 1845-1917 to reside permanently in Trinidad after indenture constituted the core of our evolution into the multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society that we are today.

The motion was meant to record a national official recognition of the day and an acknowledgement of the diverse elements of our history and heritage.

If citizens of Indian descent sought to celebrate the day and look to the past with some measure of satisfaction and pride for whatever they and their forbears have achieved, the evocation of this sentiment or even a sense of identity and self-awareness were ancillary to the main purpose for proposing the motion.

For my effort I was branded as an exponent of Indo-centrism, as a promoter of racial divisiveness and as an instigator of Indo-Trinidadian solidarity for political purposes.

I have ignored all these attacks which I consider par for the course for a politician, however well-intentioned.

Much has been written by historians and others about that fateful journey from India, the arrival in Trinidad and the awful conditions of indenture on the sugar estates but very little by way of critical assessment of the situation of the recent and current Indo-Trinidadian presence and the perceptions of their position as a group in the country whether based on misconceptions, myths or latent agendas.

Subsequent to my motion in Parliament, I attempted to examine the validity of one perception assiduously promoted by some in the country, particularly JA Bain, who articulated his views in the Trinidad Guardian in 1976, 40 years ago, that “East Indians…have acquired more and more of the land and business of the country” and were poised to own “…most of the property, business and wealth of the country.” In order to investigate the veracity of this assertion it was necessary to attempt to enumerate the presence of the Indo-Trinidadians in all aspects of ownership of business, land and wealth in the country and, with my restricted access to information and limited research resources, I endeavoured to undertake this exercise.

This endeavour raised the hackles of many, both inside and outside of Parliament. Raffique Shah, writing in the TnT Mirror in 1991, would label me one of the foremost Indian racists in the country for merely trying to throw light on one aspect of how Indo-Trinidadians were perceived as a group in the country.

After conducting the research of which I was capable, I came to the conclusion that the assertion of Indo- Trinidadians’ dominance of the economy was a misperception and indeed a myth. When one examines the areas of the economy and the value of assets in them in which Indo-Trinidadians have a strong presence, the assertion of dominance cannot be supported.

More so is this thesis flawed if we look at the ownership of the economic assets by other ethnic groups such as the Syrians, Chinese, French Creoles, mixed elements and the State.

The Parkites, who sealed the title on Saturday after picking up 13 points, defeated Central Sports by an innings and 63 runs inside two days at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair yesterday.

Resuming on 226 for seven in the first innings Queen’s Park were bowled out for 273, a lead of 174 runs. Tion Webster (59) and Kevon Cooper (50) both scored half centuries for Queen’s Park.

Kissoondath Magram (three for 57) and Shazan Babwah (3/85) both snatched three wickets for Central Sports.

In the second innings, Central Sports had no answers for Hosein. The Leeward Islands Hurricanes player took 6/26 in 6.5 overs to bundle out Central Sports for 111. Hosein, who took 3/21 in the first innings, ended with match figures of 9/47.

Babwah showed some fight for Central Sports, top scoring with 33. Terrance Hinds also bowled well for the Parkites grabbing 3/21. Another former TT leftarm spinner also had success yesterday, as Merry Boys’ Ricky Jaipaul snatched 6/34 in 15 overs at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground in Santa Cruz. Jaipaul’s spell helped dismiss Tableland for 77 to give Merry Boys a lead of 191 runs on first innings. Elijah St Clair top scored with 28, while Amir Khan grabbed 3/28 for Merry Boys.

Earlier in the day, Merry Boys were bowled out for 268 with Rishaad Harris scoring 71 and Lincoln Roberts contributing 40. Chanderpaul Hemraj (3/53) and Tariq Abdool (3/37) both grabbed three wickets for Tableland.

The final day of the last round will be played tomorrow.

SUMMARISED SCORES: At Queen’s Park Oval: CENTRAL SPORTS 99 (Jahran Alfred 36; Javon Searles 5/37, Akeal Hosein 3/21) and 111 (Shazan Babwah 33; Akeal Hosein 6/26, Terrance Hinds 3/21) vs QUEEN’S PARK 273 (Tion Webster 59, Kevon Cooper 50; Kissoondath Magram 3/57, Shazan Babwah 3/85, Stephen Shaddick 2/22).

Queen’s Park won by an innings and 63 runs.

At Pierre Road, Charlieville: ALESCON COMETS 283 (Steven Katwaroo 99, Imran Khan 58; Ahkeel Mollon 4/73, Shatrughan Rambaran 2/12, Jyd Goolie 2/71) and 97/3 (Katwaroo 35; Goolie 2/28) vs FIRST CITIZENS CLARKE RO AD 143 (Kerry Holness 48, Adrian Ali 43; I Khan 4/13, Bryan Charles 4/38).

At Brian Lara Recreation Ground, Santa Cruz: MERRY BOYS 268 (Rishaad Harris 71, Lincoln Roberts 40; Tariq Abdool 3/37, Chanderpaul Hemraj 3/53) vs TABLELAND 77 (Elijah St Clair 28; Ricky Jaipaul 6/34, Amir Khan 3/28).

At Syne Village, Penal: POWERGEN 303/8 (Nicholas Sookdeosingh 49, Mark Deyal 48; Garey Mathurin 2/52, Fareel Jugmohan 2/69, Sanjiv Gooljar 2/107) vs JAILAL ENTERPR ISE VICTOR IA

He said he has grown weary of the current issues faced with the ferry and cargo vessels and the unreliable services at the ANR Robinson International Airport. “We coming to Tobago, buying animals and have to keep them two days in a can because we can’t get on the boat and by the time we reach Trinidad, the animals are sick.

“They have been saying we’re going to get a better boat, for years.

Since we had the MV Panorama, they say all kinds of things wrong with it but now they bring something ten times worse. They’ve brought the Panorama’s poor, sickly great-grandmother. It can’t take passengers, it can’t take much vehicles, it can’t take much of anything,” Campbell said.

He said Tobago is eating contaminated food because of this crisis with transporting livestock to and from the islands. “I see a man remain with three containers of chicken in Trinidad and he had that chicken the day before in that can; so by the time that reaches Tobago and the chicken soaking in sea water and he distributes that…

is this what we want the people of Tobago and tourists to eat? (Prime Minister Dr Keith) Rowley needs to remember he is a Tobagonian and see that Tobago is in a crisis.” After purchasing over 15 goats in Tobago, Campbell was prevented by Scarborough port officials from boarding the Atlantic Provider last Wednesday. He said he purchased a ticket to board the vessel but when he returned, there was a vehicle parked in the last spot available.

“If we Trinidadians stop coming to Tobago to purchase animals, what would they do? “Because the market is not in Tobago, it’s in Trinidad. And if the food stuff continues to come like this what will they do? They will end up like Venezuela killing each other and fighting for food,” he warned. Campbell was forced to pay for a night’s accommodation in a nearby guest house, leaving his sheep tightly packed in his 4×4 pick-up truck.

He says this could cost him thousands as the animals could become sick if they are left in such a position for too long. “When I was coming from Trinidad they made it clear all livestock and food stock have first priority on the boat. When I come to the port in Tobago now they giving you a run-around. The animals suffering like that three days in a van…it’s not right. It’s not humane,” he said.

This as he too agreed with the position taken by the outspoken pathologist.

On Saturday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Vel Lewis contacted Dr Alexandrov and asked him to go to Tobago to conduct autopsies on the bodies — two being murder victims and the third, a suspected suicide — which have been outstanding for several days.

Dr Alexandrov left for Tobago yesterday to carry out the autopsies today on the bodies of Iris Benjamin, 71, Dexter Providence and another man who has not yet been identified. Benjamin allegedly committed suicide while the two men were shot to death. Sources revealed that Alexandrov agreed to go to Tobago on the condition that Pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes shoulder the workload of all autopsies scheduled for today at the Science Centre.

When Newsday attempted to reach Dr Des Vignes for a comment yesterday, calls to his cellular phone went unanswered. Dr Alexandrov said he told Permanent Secretary Lewis that he didn’t mind going to Tobago because he felt the victims’ families were suffering unnecessarily in having to wait to get the bodies for final rites.

Alexandrov said he also is willing to meet with Lewis to discuss ways and means of dealing with delays in autopsies being done in Tobago, “once and for all.” At present, no pathologist is assigned to the Scarborough Mortuary and it is customary for pathologists to travel to Tobago to conduct autopsies.

Dr Alexandrov along with Dr Eslyn Mc Donald Burris have been travelling to Tobago to carry out autopsies. However, Burris is presently on leave and others at the Science Centre have refused to go to Tobago citing a shortage of mortuary attendants — a claim which Dr Alexandrov said is false.