The event was held in association with UWI’s Institute for Critical Thinking and the United States Government’s Young Leaders Initiative for the Americas.

CYDN head Nelicia Adams said that while many say youth are the future, they can surely also make a difference in the present.

She urged the dozens of youngsters present to each open up themselves to challenge and understand the value they have as young leaders by the simple act of being themselves.

“Leadership development cannot start when persons assume leadership positions.

It is the experiences and training and the opportunities that come before that create good leaders.” Echoing former US president Barack Obama, she said, “Don’t wait for change – create it.” Edghill Messiah said everyone can learn to become an authentic leader, as he urged those present to be authentic, be yourself, dream big and embrace their opportunities.

He said an authentic leader is one who is results-oriented, who is constantly growing and who others want to follow. Messiah gave five attributes of leaders.

Firstly, they have purpose producing passion which shows up as passion. Secondly their values are reflected in their behaviour which in turn guides their action. Their relationships show connectedness which in turn engenders trust and commitment.

Self-discipline creates consistency which sets high standards, accountability and continued growth. Heart reflects compassion and empathy.

Monique Armstrong, head of Indianapolis- based NGO Motivate Our Minds, gave guests practical hints on how to develop their leadership skills, advising, “Don’t let your youth be considered a flaw.” Urging the young guests to not wait on a better world but to create it, she repeatedly told them, “You are excellent.” She recalled having to overcome criticisms of “You’re a woman, you’re too tall, you’re black and you’re too young” to be named head of the NGO at age 24. Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Daryl Smith said Government is drafting a new youth policy and invited those present to give their suggestions.

He urged youngsters to look at agriculture as a livelihood that could both earn revenue- streams and “give back” to the country.

Head of the Port-of- Spain Division Radcliffe Boxhill said this in an interview with Newsday after a rash of murders were committed in the Port-of- Spain area over the past two weeks. Boxhill said to combat this, the police have engaged in a conflict resolution campaign which started in 2016.

“This is something that we have been trying to get established over the past 12 months. The statistics have shown that it has been making an effect on the rate of murders.” Newsday was told that the murder rate in Port-of-Spain saw a 57 percent decrease between 2015 and last year and has seen a further decrease this year. However the recent murders that have occurred in the nation’s capital have raised the concern of the police.

The latest of these murders is that of 28-year-old Quicny Allen, of Duncan Street, who was killed on Thursday at the corner of Nelson Street, Independence Square. Two days earlier, 42-yearold Ricardo John, a resident of Riverside Plaza, was killed by bullets intended for another man while he was going to a parlour on Besson Street, a stone’s throw away from his home.

A week before that, on April 3, 19-year-old Kadeem Richardson was killed on Duncan Street.

Boxhill said all three murders are now being investigated by Portof- Spain homicide detectives, but no arrests have been made thus far.

Much to my surprise the event was well catered for in all areas, quite lavishly, really.

My concern as a member of one of the major Carnival organisations was where was all this funding coming from, especially as the interest groups — pan, mas and calypso — had veered away from this type of lavish form of prize-giving function, opting instead to practise frugality in their cost-cutting expenditures for the last few years. Seeing that the gate receipts from the Calypso Fiesta have not been turned over to the governing body, TUCO, nor the Panorama gate receipts to Pan Trinbago, will this lavish spending be a part of the interest groups’ funds and be accounted for by the NCC? Can the chairman respond? I am concerned that the minister and her Government’s latest strategy of building the interest groups will only serve to put a wedge/spanner in the relationship between the groups and the minister and by extension the people of TT .

At a time when the oil and gas economy can no longer be considered king, especially with the heavy debt by Petrotrin, if we are to diversify our rapidly declining economy, we should treat culture and its practitioners with the respect they deserve.

The Prime Minister has made it quite clear that all decisions are made by the Cabinet and as the leader of the Cabinet he takes full responsibility for all decisions made.

I therefore respectfully ask the Prime Minister and his Government: do you believe the politicians can attract the thousands of visitors to our shores without the input of the special interest groups and is he willing to accept the destruction of our Carnival come 2018 and beyond?

MICHAEL HONEST JR Port-of-Spain

Others responsible include the chief executive officer, borough engineer and the building inspectors of the council.

According to the rules, the local government bodies are responsible for giving final permission to start construction and also to monitor construction. They are also responsible for the issuance of the completion certificate.

Within recent times, local government bodies have been hiding behind the fact that the Town and Country Planning Division gives initial approval, before other bodies consider the plans as presented.

In other words, if Town and Country does not give initial approval, it is back to the drawing board.

Hence, the Arima Borough Corporation is responsible for not stopping the construction of the gas station opposite the school. And the admittance that no plans were submitted to the corporation strengthens the non-performance of the corporation, which should have stopped construction via a “stop order.” The public, including those associated with the school, must also take blame for not bringing the unacceptable construction of the petrol station into the public domain.

This construction took years to complete and the groundwork would have taken more than a year. This should have been addressed and highlighted at the start of construction, on a daily basis.

The San Fernando City Corporation also should have stopped the excavation of the San Fernando Hill, gravel from which was dumped next to the Marabella Police Station. This corporation did not know of the construction site but used the excuse that approval was granted by a ministry.

The Penal-Debe Regional Corporation also refused to act when Town and Country stated that no approval was granted for construction at a site on the SS Erin Road, Phillipine, especially when the building is less than 25 feet from the boundary line adjacent to the roadway and the road reserve is included in the frontage.

In TT , officials deny any authority, hiding behind incompetence, corruption and virtual blindness for sundry reasons.

These matters require almost daily updates.

In a personal matter of 2008, despite almost daily visits and letters, a mayor’s response for his inactivity was that he was told by the San Fernando city engineer that the matter was settled.

The mayor had no response to the almost daily letters and visits to the corporation by myself. And the city engineer refused to sign the stop order for weeks.

The local government bodies must therefore exercise their authority to ensure that constructions are done in the right manner, especially with respect to setbacks.

The Arima mayor must now change her statement and accept full responsibility for the construction of the petrol station opposite the school, without the permission of the Arima Borough Corporation.

PHILIP AYOUNG-CHEE via email

TT can be great again with our youths studying and working for an honest living instead of working in the South American drug trade. We have covered job creation, agriculture, tourism, research so our exports will boom once again because at US$50 a barrel, black gold is dead. Therefore with the availability of production land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship, we can be exporting cannabis at US$10 a gram, which is what the Rastas call “the healing of the nation.” Oil, sugar, peppers, aluminium production are old. Let us embrace new highs as a mature nation as we return to the soil and not the oil.

John Bisnath Port-of-Spain

The entire system worked seamlessly.

There was even someone walking around asking if anyone needed help. The transfer was completed in just one hour.

I actually sold my car to a relative more than a year ago but was too traumatised to go back to the office in Port-of-Spain. My last attempt to transfer a car there meant suffering for the entire day, and I still had to go back the next day.

I had to take two days off work just to do that transfer. And another to go back for the certified copy. There were insufficient chairs, so I had to stand. Nothing worked. It was all chaotic.

I must commend the manager of the Caroni office. I understand that the staff from the Chaguanas branch was relocated to Caroni.

This office surpasses expectation and gives us hope that we can indeed have a customer friendly, efficient Public Service.

One can only hope that whatever system is being used at this office will be introduced throughout the Public Service. We have been suffering needlessly, inconvenienced and wasting productive hours for too long.

Thank you and please keep up the great work. The public no longer has to be in fear of having to go to the Port-of-Spain office.

S Singh Caroni

If he has managed to obtain five independent medical opinions that support his assertion, then I urge the Opposition to have him hand them over so it can ascertain their contextual relevance.

Deyalsingh may well have framed his query to the doctors in a way that teased out a particular response. I would urge the Opposition to request sight of his original query and read the responses so as to ascertain context.

If indeed they provided their opinions as open-ended responses to the broad issue of whether beta thalassemia major is or is not life threatening, then they are in dire need of continuing professional development.

We are citizens of TT , a country in which the present Minister of Health has decreed cuts in medical expenditure.

At the best of times, the screening we do at the blood transfusion facility fails to capture blood that is contaminated with the HIV antigen.

All we test for is the HIV antibody which develops several months following exposure to HIV. In our present economic circumstances, I would not at all be surprised if even routine HIV antibody testing is not done because of resource constraints.

Look at the rubbish Stewart Young reportedly said to the press.

He acknowledged that the person who received blood transfusions of HIV-contaminated blood has died, but added that his death was not due to HIV but to something else. Of course, it would be due to “something else” — most likely an HIV-related opportunistic infection. He would never have had that infection had he not first acquired HIV through the sloppy and under-funded health sector.

I have had patients in the past who have acquired transfusion-related HIV. Most recently, one of my patients suffered hepatitis C infection through transfusion with Hepatitis C-contaminated blood.

All of this can be minimised, if not eliminated, if we have people in charge who respect their oath of office and who are prepared to be honest to the people they serve and not be self-serving.

If UNC Senator Gerald Ramdeen wishes, just as I provided a comprehensive affidavit to the anti-smelter movement, I can provide him, pro-bono, with a comprehensive document that encapsulates a best-practice position regarding the pathology and molecular biology of beta thalassemia major and its impact on health and life expectancy.

STEVE SMITH via email

The first of its kind in the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League era, the focus of the partnership – which will initially run for three years – is geared towards allowing aspiring professional footballers an opportunity to continue their education and technical skills up to tertiary level and beyond.

As a result, the football club will now be called MIC-IT St Ann’s Rangers or simply MIC-IT ST AR ahead of the new 2017 Pro League season which kicks off in late May.

“(The partnership) is destined for greatness,” said MIC-IT St Ann’s Rangers general manager Jason Spence during the unveiling of the partnership recently at the MIC Institute of Technology headquarters in Macoya.

MIC Institute of Technology, an accredited institution which offers training to men and women from age 17 to 50, is an agency of the Ministry of Education Tertiary Education Division. Its mission is to be a catalyst for developing national technical and vocational competencies for competitive industries through quality training, innovation, manufacturing and engineering products and services.

The partnership will benefit players of MICIT ST AR Under-19 team, Women’s Team and the professional team.

Shem Alexander, Sports Specialist at MIC-IT, and close friend Adrian Romain were the architects of the MIC-IT ST AR partnership.

Alexander, a former midfielder at St Ann’s Rangers, said the partnership will be mutually beneficial.

He said the Sports and Mentorship departments along with the Marketing Division of MIC-IT are always committed to the new and innovative means of enhancing trainee life and helping to attract more trainees into their programme.

“Both MIC-IT and St Ann’s Rangers are fully committed in pooling our resources to achieve our goals,” added Alexander.

Alexander also said that Richard Fakoory, who co-owns the St Ann’s-based club with Richard Piper, was excited about the number of youths he would see turning away from a life of crime, but also be given the opportunity to be educated.

Anthony Streete, who led the Pro League outfit to an improved seventh-place finish last season, will continue as coach of MIC-IT ST AR for the 2017 season

The quarter-finals of the exciting competition will get underway with three matches, with the other fixture in the last eight stage to bowl off tomorrow.

All matches are day-night affairs, with Sancho Recreation Ground in St Julien Village, Princes Town being named the venue for the semi-finals slated for April 20 and 21, and the final on Sunday, April 23. The teams making into the quarter-finals are Killdeer, Untouchables, St Mary’s, Cushe, Sancho/ St Julien, Nazarite and Cedar Hill.

South-East Zone T20 quarter-finals: Killdeer vs Untouchables (Shell Recreation Ground, 5.30pm, today) St Mary’s vs Cushe (Renown Recreation Ground, 5.30pm, today) Sancho/St Julien vs Trenchtown (Sancho Recreation Ground, 6pm, today) Nazarite vs Cedar Hill (Sancho Recreation Ground, 6pm,

In other matches contested, East, beaten in two 50-over finals (Under-17 and Under-15) this season, remained in contention for silverware when they thrashed North Zone for a place in the last four.

Playing at Gilbert Park in California, Central made a daunting 276 all out in 44.4 overs, fired by Thurton’s 103 and aided by Saiba Batoosingh’s 42 and opening batsman Shawn Vialva with 26.

Despite the Central run-feast, South’s Dennis Ramnath grabbed five wickets for 45 runs in his allotted ten overs, while Xavier Ganga took two for 30 in seven overs and four balls.

And in response, the South team, already winners of the Under-17 and Under- 15 titles, could not replicate their success and were bundled out for just 76 in 26.4 overs with Rajiv Gosine, batting at No.

9 top-scoring with 14.

Aaron Sinanan made 13 as they plunged from 12 for one wicket to 29 for five, and never recovered in their run chase.

Doing the destruction for Central Zone were Jayden Seales who snared four for 28 in six overs, and Emilo Gopaul who returned bowling figures of four for 16 in five overs as their team romped to victory by a massive 200 runs.

At the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, East Zone kept their nerve and booked their place in the semi-finals with impressive batting and bowling performances to defeat North by 60 runs after posting 244 all out in 49.5 overs.

In reply, North capitulated for 184 all out in 45.4 overs.

For East, in with a chance to reach their third Shell Inter Zone final of the 2017 season, Sachin Seecharan blasted 86 and got valuable support from Aaron Mairam (36) and Nathaniel McDavid (25).

The North bowlers worked in tandem and were well-rewarded, with Joshua Dookie (3/32), Wendell George (4/46) and Joshua Wilson (3/46) combining to give their team a chance of victory on the historic Oval ground.

But their batting once again failed to live up to expectations, with No. 8 batsman Joshua Dookie leading a rear-guard display to top-score with 40 and put on an eighth wicket partnership of 59 with Joshua Wilson who made 19.

Wendell George also vindicated himself with a knock of 40 batting higher up in the order.

But the spoils belonged to the East bowlers, led by Mairam with the astonishing figures of three wickets for ten runs in seven overs and four balls with one maiden; while Sameer Ali snatched two for 40 in eight overs.

They were well-supported by Te-Shawn Alleyne, McDavid and Kristan Kallicharan claiming one wicket apiece to complete an emphatic victory.

And South-East Zone staked their claim for a berth in the championship match with a five-wicket win against South-West at the Sancho Recreation Ground in St Julien Village in Princes Town.

Batting first, South-West reached 137 all out in 35.4 overs helped by Jamal Ramnath who made 33 and Rodney Sieunarine (22), but it was not enough for South-East who reached their target of 138 in just 23.3 overs for the loss of five wickets.

Jace Assoon struck an undefeated 54 to lead the run chase while Antonio Bebe contributed 33.

The top South-East bowlers were Michael Dindial who had figures of four for 34, while Justin Gangoo took two for 28 and Tariq Abdul claimed two for 24.

In the other semi-final on Friday, South East will play Tobago who will enjoy home advantage at Shaw Park in Tobago.

The Shell Under-19 Inter Zone final is carded for April 28 at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva.