With its revolutionary design of an infinity display with the most immersive edge-to-edge screen, latest security features of an iris scan and secure folders, long battery life, range of colours and 12MP rear and 8MP front cameras with voice control to capture life as it happens, the new 4G LTE-compatible Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 + smartphones were quite a hit with customers.

Leonardo Silva, product specialist, Samsung Electronics Latin America, was at the store for the launch and said, “bmobile has a great 4G mobile LTE network and we know that customers want to be on the fastest network, with the fastest device in the market today, so this makes bmobile a very strong strategic partner for Samsung. We love coming here because Trinidad and Tobago, which has a lot of Samsung lovers, is one of our favourite markets, and we look forward to continuing to work with bmobile to add to the high levels of customer satisfaction they already provide.” Chevon Wilson, TSTT’s VP of Mobile Services thanked bmobile’s customers for their continued support over the years and said, “We are very excited to give our customers first access to the advanced innovative features of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Supported by the only mobile 4G LTE network in Trinidad and Tobago, our ultrafast speeds will empower the full features of the phones to deliver a fantastic user experience which captures life as it happens. bmobile is committed to the rollout of communications solutions and services that will enrich the lives of citizens and businesses. As we say, ‘Life Is On’ and we are thrilled to partner with Samsung to support our customers’ always-on lifestyle.” Silva explained that the Galaxy S8 with its 5.8- inch display and the S8+ with 6.2 inches, supported by Quad HD+, provide the largest, immersive, crystal clear, edge-to-edge display. “That’s very important because customers now have more work space to watch videos or multi-task using multi-windows. But we are really taking it to a new level because they may sound like large devices, but when you hold them in your hand you see how compact they are.” Silva added that besides the wow factor, the focus of the Galaxy S8/S8+ is on increasing the functionality and productivity of the phones for both professional and personal use, with the large storage size, new security, snap window and Samsung DeX features.

Snap window allows users to literally crop a piece of an application and pin it up at the top of the screen to watch while they keep working at the lower part of the screen, while Samsung DeX lets them connect their Galaxy S8/S8+ to a monitor, keyboard and mouse for a desktop experience powered by their phone to turn any place into a workplace. The 64GB phone storage provides the space needed for high definition pictures and documents, and the 256GB microSD slot provides even more storage to enjoy the music libraries that people carry around on phones.

Cliff Ross, Jonathon Sirjoo and Steve Edwards were among the visitors who shared in the day’s excitement. Sirjoo was most impressed with the combined speed of the S8 phone and bmobile’s 4G LTE network.

“I have an android phone, and it’s a good phone, but it’s now slowing down. This is where other phones tend to fall short. The S8 is sleek and light.

In addition, the speed of the S8 backed with the speed of the bmobile’s 4G LTE service are impressive and are going to make a big difference in how a person will maximize what he gets out of the phone. A phone can only do so much but when you add the bmobile’s 4G LTE service, you now have a phone that can really take you to the limits.” Ross liked the clarity of the S8’s screen while Edwards liked the S8’s sleek design, edge-to-edge screen and quick response time. “It’s a very beautiful phone, especially the full screen option where I can remove the home button to achieve a larger full screen.”

International reserves increased by $24.3MM, versus the $19MM fiveyear average, but others have called on the Freundel Stuart administration to do more to, among other things, get reserves back to the required 12-week benchmark from the current 10.7-week level, so that people doing business in Barbados would have greater confidence that their transactions would be fulfilled.

While this has led some companies and investors to adopt a wait-andsee approach, Trinidad-based ANSA Merchant Bank Limited (AMBL) has taken a long-term view of that economy – on October 4, 2016 the bank acquired Consolidated Finance Company Limited (CFC) from its sister company, ANSA McAL (Barbados) Limited.

Business Day met with AMBL’s managing director, Gregory N Hill, last Tuesday at the bank’s Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain office to find out more about how CFC fits into the bank’s plans.

“The Barbados economy has been under immense economic pressure, but the general view is that the worst has passed. The economy is driven largely by tourism, offshore financial services and construction activity.

Speaking about construction, which is a very tangible and real economic driver, there are about US$500 million worth of projects that are ready to come on stream; such as the US$200 million renovation of Sam Lord’s Castle by Wyndham Hotel and plans to build a Hyatt Centric hotel in downtown Bridgetown. These projects will assist with increasing economic activity in the real sector and will have a direct impact on the economic health of the population and business in general. This is the fillip that has been missing, construction activity for luxury homes and other property development projects, which has always been a driver of real economic activity on the ground. Finally, we are seeing some activity, as first quarter numbers have already shown a two percent growth in construction activity.” “In addition,” Hill said, “their tourism sector has also assisted the economy somewhat, seen in the positive first quarter performance which was driven by a three percent growth in tourism, as long stay arrivals were up 4.4 percent and cruise passengers by nine percent.

Arrivals and visitor spend have also been improving recently over the last few years.” There has been strong opposition by some to the Hyatt hotel being built on Carlisle Bay, led by attorney and social activist, David Commissiong, who in early April 2017 returned to the High Court of Barbados to file a second motion to halt construction.

Commissiong and others have argued that while there would be economic benefits to having a hotel there, it would come at a huge price – disruption of the open recreational space that the beach at Carlisle Bay has become to the public, as well as likely adding to traffic congestion in the area.

If and when the Hyatt Centric goes ahead, Hill said this and the other shovel-ready hotel projects would have a positive impact on the economy.

“I think the timeliness of our CFC amalgamation is very opportune as the Barbados economy is at the cusp of a resurgence. Now, this may not happen within three years, but we are taking a long-term view. CFC was not amalgamated into AMBL for today, it was for the long term. So, if we look at the last ten years in Barbados, this is probably the right time to invest, to (benefit from) the recovery over the next decade as Barbados becomes better able to deal with the fiscal adjustments and encourage investments in avenues to grow and diversify its revenue base.

Remember, they felt the full backlash of the global financial crisis which affected their tourism numbers and especially one of their main stay markets which was the UK market.

However, based on current economic data, we are starti ng to see some positi ve performance numbers, as capital expenditure was $36 million lower than for the same period in 2015, and the overall fi scal defi cit, esti mated at $665 million, was $5 million smaller than for 2015.

Likewise, the central government’s interest payments declined from 27.2 percent of net revenue in 2015, to 25.9 percent of net revenue in 2016.” Hill conti nued, “For us, the major concern remains the debt stock of Barbados and we are watching this very closely. However, at the end of December 2016, the total debt owed to private individuals and companies by the Government and all Public Enti ti es, Net of Assets, was $4.9 billion, or 53 percent of GDP, compared to 68.6 percent as at the end of 2015. So, we are seeing a few early signs that things should improve over the medium term.” The late Dr Anthony Norman Sabga served as ABML’s chairman from its incepti on unti l his death on May 3.

Hill shared that it was “Dr Sabga’s vision for the bank to have a regional presence. Therefore, he encouraged us to acquire the operati ons of CFC from the ANSA McAl Barbados Group and to integrate it into the bank.” In his last statement as chairman, which was published in AMBL’s 2016 Annual Report, Dr Sabga had recalled that, “In the 1980s, during the depths of the recession, we chose to make bold acquisiti ons at discounted prices.

Acquisiti ons that helped transform the ANSA McAl Group into becoming one of the largest conglomerates in the region.” “More recently, our company completed its acquisiti on of CFC of Barbados in 2016, despite the negati ve predicti ons for the Barbadian economy that prevail in the market. We strongly believe that this investment too, will create long-term value for shareholders to enjoy for years to come.” In that same annual report, Hill stated that acquiring CFC was “one of several new opportuniti es that we are building on at this ti me and represents the fi rst step toward deepening our regional footprint.” “Our Balance Sheet is managed on a prudent, risk-based approach, in line with our growth strategy.

Assets increased over the 2015 level by TT $670.5 million to $7.4 billion as at December 31, 2016. The CFC acquisiti on provided a net increase in total assets of $715.2 million and has resulted in a more diversifi ed compositi on of assets,” Hill stated in the publicati on.

More recently, in the May 9 report on the bank’s results for the fi rst quarter (Q1) of 2017, AMBL and its subsidiaries delivered profi t before tax of TT $82.8 million, which was $42.8 million higher than the result for Q1 of 2016. Earnings per share for this three-month period was $0.80 (2016: $0.33). Hill expanded, “The Bank Group is currently being driven by a steady banking performance, good investment results, as well as a very good underwriti ng profi t from our general insurance company TATIL. This insurance performance was mainly due to an increase in premiums in additi on to a lower claims experience. Tati l Life also conti nues to perform well operati onally by delivering premium income year to date (YTD) $20.6 million (177 percent) above the prior year. Overall the Bank Group delivered revenue of $279.6 million for YTD March 2017, which was 9.1 percent above prior year and we are poised to deliver another positi ve year in 2017.” Apart from acquisiti ons, AMBL is also seeking to grow organically through the additi on of a Wealth Management service to its Investment Services division. Hill told Business Day, “In March of this year we had a soft launch of our Wealth Management service. It’s part of our plan for organic growth from new products and services.” “We’ve been able to provide investment products and service at the wholesale level to insti tuti ons, which include asset management of pension plans. We also provide investment products from the Investment Banking department to insti tuti onal investors such banks, insurance companies, credit unions.

Through our four mutual funds we serve both retail and insti tuti onal clients.” Hill said that management together with the directi on of the Board determined that wealth management “would enhance our product and service suite. We now off er this service to individual clients and families, while we deepen our asset management business to include savings plans and pension fund management.

We have a full investment services team charged with the mandate to grow the assets under management, while providing excepti onal client service. Our goal is to expand our clientele in both retail and insti tuti onal markets through greater focus on our asset management capabiliti es,” Hill stated.

Persons who are commonly referred to as permanent employees are, however, employees whose contracts of employment carry no defined dates of termination and who are engaged under existing terms.

Additionally, there are those engaged under contracts for service who are independent contractors or selfemployed.

For the purposes of this article, I am dealing only with persons who are workers within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act.

For the most part, when the term “contract worker” is used in our workplace society it usually refers to someone who is engaged on a fixedterm employment contract. Our industrial court is seldom concerned with the employment status of workers, but more so with the concept of continuous employment.

So, let us examine some widelyheld myths which may be the source of misdirection at the highest level of management.

Myth #1: The services of a contract worker can be terminated for any reason The correct position is that all workers, be they on fixed-term contracts or on permanent contracts, are protected by identical legal rights, particularly as this relates to the termination of the contract of employment as a result of disciplinary action. This means that an employer must treat with all workers in a fair and just manner and that where disciplinary action is contemplated it is implemented in a manner consistent with good industrial relations practices.

Accordingly, the same principles of progressive discipline must apply, particularly where it relates to concerns about the worker’s performance. Further, a contract worker would be entitled to Trade Union representation at any disciplinary proceeding where allegations of misconduct or poor performance are made against him.

Myth #2: Contract workers do not have the same rights to statutory or employment benefits as permanent workers The terms and conditions of a contract worker will be normally expressed in a written contract of employment. Accordingly, these may differ from those applicable to permanent employees. However, where there exists a collective agreement in operation between the employer and a recognized majority union, and a contract worker is engaged in a position in the bargaining unit, then the applicable terms contained in the collective agreement are usually expressed in the fixedterm contract. Where these are not expressed, then the general terms in the collective agreement will apply.

Our laws for example provide significant benefits to workers in this jurisdiction. These benefits apply regardless of the employment status of the worker. For example, the Minimum Wages Act is quite detailed and provides for a benchmark for wages and other benefits like vacation leave and sick leave. Further, all workers are entitled to National Insurance benefits subject to their contribution; and maternity benefits are mandated subject only to the completion of one continuous year of service.

This condition precedent is also applicable under the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act and is the only legislation that provides exceptions to the payment of a statutory benefit based on employment status. As an example, casual, seasonal or fixed-term employees are generally not entitled to severance benefits whether or not they have completed one continuous year of service. However, the onus would be on the employer to establish the true status of these persons. In such instances, our industrial court has repeatedly determined that it will not allow employers to mask the true status of a worker who has provided years of continuous service, but who may have been engaged on recurring and renewable fixed-term contracts of employment.

Myth #3: Contract workers cannot enjoy job security It is correct to say that workers on genuine fixed-term contracts of employment do not enjoy the same degree of job security as those with permanent status.

This is simple to understand as such employment arrangements are really intended to facilitate temporary project-type work as opposed to appointments to established positions in the organization structure. It is obvious, therefore, that upon completion of the project for which the employee was engaged, the contract would automatically terminate without liability to the employer. However, the case may be entirely different where, as is often the case, the worker was engaged to perform regular work in an established position. In this regard, the employer may find it difficult to simply rely on the contract having expired for refusing to offer the worker continuing employment. In such circumstances, the employer may be required to provide justification and show good reason why the worker’s contract was not renewed.

Making the right decision with respect to the employment status of workers is an important consideration in the management of an employer’s workforce. It is a worker’s responsibility to inform his/herself as to the rights, benefits and protection available under our laws. Conversely all employers are obligated to apply our laws as they were intended and particularly as interpreted in our jurisprudence.

I am convinced that in many instances and upon closer analysis of rights, entitlements, obligations and responsibilities, many employers will come to the realization that the practice of continuously renewing fixed-term contracts of employment provides little or no commercial advantage as opposed to offering contracts of permanent employment.

Lawrence, owner of an auto rental business, was charged by PC Poolchan and Antoine of the Task Force with assaulting PC Antoine, behaving disorderly and resisting arrest. Lawrence, a father of three, stood before Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine in the First Court and initially entered guilty pleas to all three charges.

Court prosecutor Cleydon Seedan said that on Tuesday at about 4.40 pm, Task Force saw a man riding a motorcycle along Charles Street in La Romaine, without any registration plates.

Police pursued the motorcyclist who came to a halt at Lilian Street. The court heard that a group of about 20 passers-by gathered.

The charges, Seedan said, arose when Lawrence who was among a crowd of 20 people watching the officers question the cyclist, shouted at the officers. Officers warned persons in the crowd about their conduct. Lawrence was later arrested. When Seedan said that the Task Force claimed Lawrence told them he would throw hand grenades into the Task Force office, the accused through his attorney Natalie Sanchez- Andrews objected.

Lawrence denied ever threatening anyone and, as Sanchez- Andrews said, he (the accused) sustained injuries while being arrested.

On hearing the attorney’s objection, Magistrate Antoine changed Lawrence’s plea to ‘notguilty’ on all the charges, set bail at $15,000 and adjourned the case to June 14.

In an essay titled “Motivate Yourself to Achieve Success” Hill says, that Einstein never attained great wealth in his lifetime, but could anyone say he was unsuccessful? Einstein reached the top of his profession and changed the world because he knew what he wanted to do and had a plan for achieving it! How many of us do our jobs and do it well consistently? I’ll go first: There are times when I have done a job that I could have probably done better but thought “it’s good enough”. Here’s the thing with dropping the bar in your life: once you start to drop in one area, you tend to transfer to other areas and before you know it, you’ve dropped your standard of operating across the board.

How many of us can truthfully say that when we set goals, we achieve what we set out to do? This is another area where I sometimes find myself accepting “good enough”. It’s not what I wanted but hey, it was better than where I was and so I feel satisfied. But am I really satisfied? I tell myself and others that I am, but in the stillness within, I know where I intended to go and am fully aware that I am not there yet.

So how do we truly attain and enjoy success on our own terms? We adopt a mindset of experimentation. What do I mean? First let’s nix the word expert. Inc.

columnist Mandy Antoniacci shared this story: “I was recently interviewed on a podcast that offers advice to budding entrepreneurs. One of the questions posed to me by the interviewer was, “what advice would you give to people looking to become thought leaders or experts in their field?” My immediate response was…

“remove the word expert from your vocabulary.” For me, referring to yourself as an ‘expert’ in any field assumes the position that you have reached your fullest potential. It implies you have attained a thrilling pinnacle in your career and that your thirst for knowledge in a particular subject has been quenched.” What if we simply replaced the term “expert” with “student”? Insight’s founder Justin Bariso says “When you’ve switched your focus from expert to student, instead of limiting yourself or becoming overly concerned with how you are viewed by others, your primary concern would be one of growth.” Mistakes would no longer be viewed as “failures”; rather, all mistakes would become “learning opportunities.” Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has implemented this mindset at Microsoft: “Some people can call it rapid experimentation, but more importantly, we call it ‘hypothesis testing.’ Instead of saying, ‘I have an idea,’ what if you said, ‘I have a new hypothesis, let’s go test it, see if it’s valid … ask: how quickly can we validate it?’ And if it’s not valid, move on to the next one.” There’s no harm in claiming failure, if the hypothesis doesn’t work. It’s through a series of failures, a series of hypothesis testing, that we make progress.

So, whether you’re a CEO, an employee, entrepreneur, business leader, a parent, or a child, try it out today: decide on your goal and figure out a plan for achieving it. Put your plan into action immediately. Test the waters. Look and learn: figure out what’s working and what’s not working.

Put your all into it. Do this to the best of your ability.

Make changes. Go at it again from a different angle. This is your success we’re talking about. No one can determine how you’re going to measure it, but you will know when you get there.

Forget know it all instead become a learn it all! Consider the wise words of Bedros Keuilian – the fitness industry’s most trusted consultant: “You must never peak,” I know I never will. For me, it will be kaizen – constant and never-ending improvement – until my last breath.” Does every day feel like you’re trying to figure things out? Discover what’s preventing you from figuring out your own system for getting consistent and profitable results. Send an email to possibility2profit@gmail.com to get your FREE e-guide

Negmawah is a French Creole word that means “runaway slave.” Access to get there is from the Maracas North Coast Road and the downhill walk to the beach will take an hour. The return journey to the top of the mountain is uphill and moderately challenging. The trail descends to the left-hand side of the bay, where a small cove is located and over the rocks, leads to the beach.

The Cedula De-Population of 1783 invited French farmers to come to Trinidad and develop the country by establishing estates.

Most of the places in the vicinity of Negmawah still have French names like Pechon Cove, Mal D’Estomac, and Saut D’eau. There is no one alive to relate its history, but villagers pass on its name.

One can only imagine the significance of Negmawah as a hideout for the runaway slaves. The torture of slavery, to labour 12 hours a day, seven days a week, whipped and unpaid for an entire lifetime. There is something sentimental about Negmawah – the enchanted stillness in the forest.

On Saturday, Fitness Walkers explore Negmawah Beach.

Assembly: 7 am at the Morne Coco Road Gas Station Maraval.

Hiking time: an hour downhill and one-and-a-half-hours uphill return.

Rated: 4-5 moderately challenging.

In the digital age, cyber security is perhaps the most important form of security individuals must be concerned with. Banks, schools, hospitals, businesses, governments and virtually every other modern institution you can think of that stores and organises its information electronically are prey. This means that all your most sensitive information — from credit card numbers and checking accounts, to medical records and phone bills — is accessible for viewing, stealing, or manipulating to anyone with a PC, an Internet connection, and some computer know-how. The increasingly computer-based world is increasingly vulnerable to malevolent computer hackers.

Hacking and other forms of cybercrime will continue its stratospheric growth over the next five years, according to a report published by Cybersecurity Ventures.

There are numerous contributors to this increase, which is expected to cost the world more than $6 trillion by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015.

Data remains the primary hacker target. Microsoft predicts by 2020 data volumes online will be 50 times greater than today. There are 111 billion lines of new software code being produced each year — which will include billions of vulnerabilities that can be exploited, according to research conducted by Secure Decisions.

The $6 trillion estimate of costs is based on historical figures including recent year-over-year growth, a dramatic increase in hostile statesponsored and organised crime hacking activities, a cyber-attack surface which will be an order of magnitude greater than it is today, and the cyber defenses expected to be pitted against hackers and cybercriminals over that time. We in this country should pay attention to the cybercrime cost prediction, which includes damage and destruction of data, stolen money, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, theft of personal and financial data, embezzlement, fraud, post-attack disruption to the normal course of business, forensic investigation, restoration and deletion of hacked data and systems, and reputational harm.

However, $6 trillion may actually be understated. The worldwide cyber damage estimates do not include unreported cybercrimes, legal and public relations fees, declines in stock and public company valuations directly and indirectly related to security breaches, negative impact on posthack ability to raise capital for startups, interruptions to e-commerce and other digital business transactions, loss of competitive advantage, departure of staff, recruiting replacement employees in connection with cyberattacks and resulting losses, and ongoing investigations to trace stolen data and money.

It is against this back drop that Trinidad and Tobago must think about information security. How are we going about safeguarding of computer systems and the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the data they contain? Has this been addressed as a critical national policy issue? What is the policy concerning the transmission of information with FATCA? Are we legislatively prepared for this type of crime? While there appears to be tremendous effort to ensure the security of data involved in the transmission of data required by FACTA, do we have the systems in place to respond to a cyber-attack to any of our on-line systems such as banking? A word to the wise should be sufficient.

A number of cases including that of Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr; a criminal complaint against local television station CCN TV6; prison escapee Christopher Selby and a few murder inquiries had to be adjourned by acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle yesterday, who repeatedly had to tell accused persons: “My hands are tied.” All the part-heard cases called yesterday were adjourned to June 1, after Earle-Caddle said she received no instructions for those matters. Among those who were vocal with their annoyance were three men before the court on a murder charge Nigel Mayers and the other two complained to the acting chief magistrate and asked whether their matters will have to be restarted by another magistrate.

Mayers said for the last six years his case has been adjourned every 28 days and he was being kept away from his children. “Is six years now,” he complained. “Who going to pay my lawyer fees if it have to start over,” he asked. Earle-Caddle was insistent that her hands were tied and informed Mayers and the others that the law was that neither she nor any other magistrate could continue with a case another magistrate had already started.

“Ms Caesar just pack up and leave…allyuh have to fix allyuh problem,” said one of the men to which Earle-Caddle responded, “I am not in charge of Mrs Ayers-Caesar, sir.” “I am doing whatever I can to get your matter completed,” she assured.

Ayers-Caesar, who presided in the Eight Magistrates Court in Port of Spain up until her elevation to the Supreme Court on April 12, resigned as a judge on April 27, following a public uproar on her unfinished case load she left behind in the magistrates’ court.

She, in a statement, admitted then that it would have been preferable that she advised the Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the full slate of her list and request further time to bring matters to completion before confirming her readiness to assume duties as a judge of the High Court. Archie on the same day accused Ayers-Caesar of failing to manage the transition from the magistracy to the High Court in a way which ensured that undue hardship was not placed on stakeholders.

At first a decision had been taken by the JLSC to return her to the magistracy for her to complete the matters she left unfinished but the commission later said emphatically that Ayers-Caesar will not be presiding on the magisterial bench and invited ‘constructive suggestions from interested parties for the efficient disposition of the part-heard matters that remain outstanding.’

This was announced by TTNGL chairman, Gerry Brooks, during TTNGL’s Annual General Meeting on April 25, at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain.

“The management outlined a host of initiatives – product trading, commodity trading, marketing initiatives, and we’re also looking at a couple possible acquisitions as well, which would only further enhance the performance of the organisation, having taken TT$161 million of costs out of the organisation.” Brooks told reporters now that the organisation is operating in a low-cost environment, “as prices come back and as the market comes back, all of that will flow to the bottom line and provide an improved yield, both for Phoenix Park and for TTNGL.” During the formal proceedings, TTNGL shareholders heard that these growth initiatives are designed to maximise value and growth to ensure a consistent future healthy earnings stream for the investors.

In a statement issued on May 5, TTNGL explained that, “More specifically, PPGPL is at an important stage in evaluating these options to enable the processing of natural gas that will be supplied to the consumers at Union Industrial Estate at La Brea.” “The company is also exploring the option of maximisation of spare fractionation, storage and terminal capacity. Additionally, the benefits of importing product to address the issue of gas curtailment by supplying propane directly to the downstream companies as fuel gas, are being examined, as is the possibility of product trading. Other targeted areas include the creation of a commodity trading desk, cost saving initiatives and expanding into other regions such as Africa,” TTNGL stated. Following the AGM, Business Day asked Brooks whether these proposed acquisitions would be local, regional or international.

“For Phoenix Park, the acquisitions will be regional and international because we are the largest player regionally and therefore our outlook has to be hemispheric and international. They’re going to be very selected jurisdictions that we’re looking at, where we run our (due) diligence. Once there’s a good strategic fit, we’ll proceed with it.” Regarding TTNGL’s performance in 2016, Brooks said the board and management were “very, very encouraged.” For the year ended December 31, 2016, TTNGL recorded total comprehensive income of TT$344.8 million. Earnings per share was TT$1.16 for 2016, while TTNGL’s share of profits from its 39 percent shareholding in PPGPL improved operationally by 20.3 percent from TT$136.3 million in 2015 to TT$164.0 million in 2016.

This improved performance at PPGPL was directly linked to the deliberate efforts of the company to rationalise expenses in the face of lowered Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) production caused by continued gas supply challenges and lowered product prices.

The board approved a final dividend of TT $1.00 per share (2015: TT $1.00) bringing the total dividend for 2016 to TT $1.50. Brooks said this is consistent with the dividend payout for 2015 and represents a dividend yield of 7.14 percent at the end of 2016.

“It is the highest dividend yield on the TTSE. The final dividend will be paid on April 12, 2017 to shareholders on the Register as at March 28, 2017,” Brooks stated.

At the AGM, shareholders voted in favour of a resolution to receive dividend payments in either TT or US currency. However, US dollar dividend payments completion of, “a number of steps first,” including getting necessary approvals from the TT Stock Exchange and the TT Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brooks said, “It’s also going to be extremely important that shareholders establish a US dollar account because if they do not have (one), there’s no basis on which to pay. We want to work through those steps very carefully first and then, of course, we’d want to have a conversation with Government; in terms of a policy, but it’s an important step.” TTNGL and PPGPL are subsidiaries of the National Gas Company (NGC) Group of Companies, which Brooks also chairs.

Asked about NGC’s involvement in Guyana, Brooks said this is taking place on several different levels.

“We’ve had National Energy go across to Guyana, we’ve had Professor (Andrew) Jupiter go across to Guyana. We’ve also had Phoenix Park go across to Guyana. Guyana is extremely important because we’re talking about 1.3 million barrels of oil that could play directly into Petrotrin in terms of refining capacity, but you also have some other potential from an NGC standpoint as well, in terms of ship to shore services.” “How do we use Brighton (port at LABIDCO, La Brea)? Our phase one development of Brighton is very important in that regard as well as the exchange of technical capability and technical skill. Here, the NGC, as a group, is trying to lift the entire energy service sector because TT has a service sector that has over 100 years of energy experience, and that technical expertise, that energy expertise has to be made available to the people of Guyana in the context of the CARICOM agreement that we have, in the context of some bilaterals.” “The Prime Minister himself visited, there is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in play. We’re looking to deepen that from an NGC standpoint, from a National Energy standpoint and our sister company, Petrotrin, is also looking to do the same as well. So those discussions are going well and we want to progress them,” Brooks stated.

This is the inaugural season with the four franchised teams and both TECU Southern Titans and Sacha Northern Starblazers have maintained their unbeaten streak and chalked up their second consecutive victory on Tuesday night to occupy the top two sports on four points each on the points table.

Former national all-rounder Samantha Bissoon was once again the outstanding player for TECU Titans which overpowered Kieron Pollard-owned KJ Sports Eastern Diamonds by seven wickets in their Second Round fixture at the Munroe Road Recreation Ground while Rachel Vincent led the way for Sacha Northern Starblazers who registered a comfortable 34-run victory in their Second Round encounter at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva.

Bissoon and Shenelle Lord once again combined to demolish KJ Sports Eastern Diamonds for a meagre 71 in 19.4 overs.

West Indies Women opener Hayley Matthews (17) and TT ’s Under-19 captain Reniece Boyce shared a 27-run first stand before Lord dispatched Boyce (eight) and skipper StacyAnn King (duck) in quick fashion.

Bissoon claimed the final wicket and finished with an impressive analysis of three wickets for 17 runs while Lord took 3/6.

Rosalie Dolabaille topscored for Eastern Diamonds with 19.

In reply, TECU Titans were paced to victory by left-handed opener Shania Abdool (23 not out) who hit three fours off 38 balls and featured in a 28-run third wicket stand with Bissoon who made 18 and was once again voted “Player of the Match” with her all-round performance.