Speaking to Sunday Newsday about the most pressing issues facing the port, Sahadeo said these include “the high cost structure of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) which require a change in the current work practice, restructuring of the organisation and the introduction of KPIs (key performance indicators).” “This will result in substantial reduction in payroll and operating costs,” she said.

“In addition certain capital expenditure is critical for handling of containerized cargo as this will result in improved productivity and place the PATT in a more competitive position regionally. The KPI re productivity is moves per hour with certain ports in the region as high as 40 moves per hour versus PATT at 25 at best.” Referring to the provision of the ferry service between Trinidad and Tobago, she said, “The transition from the management of the vessels from Bay Ferries to local management resulted in immediate savings in cost and foreign exchange. It also provided key job opportunities for citizens.” She said, however, given the inter-island service is essential to citizens, much effort was placed on proper recruitment and training to provide a timely and efficient service.

This was the mandate of interim provider Magellan Maritime Services and senior management was to ensure the PATT had improved the service by March.

These are three of the thousands of young adults, teenagers and children who have been steered away from crime and assisted to become productive citizens by the St James Police Youth Club and its manager/founder PC Derrick Sharbodie, since it was opened 25 years ago.

Sunday Newsday recently visited the club at Sierra Leone Road, Petit Valley and Sharbodie, 48, described the quarter century anniversary as “bittersweet.” “It is good knowing I have been able to touch so many young people,” he said.

He pointed out that some of the members have gone on to join the Police Service, the Regiment and also work in the private sector.

He said the bitter part, however, was that he believes he could have done much more but had very limited resources.

“It is (like) a pirogue with one worker and a net. If provided with a proper vessel, the catch would be greater.” He lamented that the club’s fresh and proactive approach was embraced by the public, rather than his own colleagues, and it has been an “uphill battle”. He said while the youth club approach is described as “soft policing”, it is actually an effective and efficient policing method.

He reported that through the Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams, the club’s utility bills are paid and they receive financial assistance for projects if they apply on time. The commissioner is also seeking to encourage corporate partners for the club.

Sharbodie stressed that there needed to be more respect for the work done by officers who work with young people and, like narcotics and fraud, they should be viewed as a “specialist” in the field. He advised that the service issue a statement and recognise youth club leaders to bring more respect to them.

St James is the oldest youth club in Trinidad but not the oldest in the country; the Roxborough Police Youth Club is 26.

The club currently has 162 members, ranging in ages from five to 25. Eight members are from St Michael’s Home for Boys and there are six from St Jude’s Home for Girls.

A resident programme, where some members live on the premises, became possible when the club got its own space in 1998.

Before then, the club operated in schools. It has since has been able to accomplish 75 percent of its vision, said Sharbodie, as the club now offers a range of services.

The club has an IT lab, and its activities include: African dance, drumology, steel pan, martial arts, swimming, laminating and paper craft, garment construction, gender- based, anti-violence courses, youth empowerment, computer repairs, beauty culture and barbering, small alliance repairs and music school “They can find a safe place and not be at the mercy of gunshots.” There are even parenting classes for the parents of the younger members.

Sharbodie lamented that parenting is one area, the club has not been able to make a “serious dent” in.

“Not all parents understand and are clear on their roles. They feel the centre there to babysit.” He said they have to keep re-educating parents as they have an integral role in their children’s transformation.

Asked about some of the misconceptions about youth and crime, Sharbodie responded, “Young people are not bad, they make poor choices. If left unattended, it blossoms into criminal behaviour.

If there is early intervention it is more effective.” He said young people put up superficial walls that manifest in them wearing sagging pants, smoking marijuana and engaging in promiscuity but they are really hurting. Adults have to apply their listening skills, to both verbal and non-verbal cues, without being judgemental. Sharbodie said one has to plant a seed and water it, and will sometimes get results faster than other times.

“You have to have a little bit of tolerance.” Many people talk to youths but do not inspire them, Sharbodie said, adding he shares with them his personal story of growing up on Nelson Street, Port-of- Spain, his parents dying at age 14 and having to work and go to school.

“If sir make it, I could make it,” he explained.

Sharbodie added that through their male mentorship programme they have been able to help young men who are angry and hopeless. He praised Pastor Clive Dottin, a Seventh-day Adventist elder and former independent senator, who pioneered their male support group which provides a space for young men to share, talk, cry and receive encouragement.

However, there were cases where more could have been done to save the youths, Sharbodie said, but the club lacked the time and had limited resources and had to refer some members to another agency which was “heartbreaking”.

One of the lives he has positively influenced was Ian Williams from Picton Road, Laventille, who had three brothers killed by gang members and the other three charged for murder. Williams, 16, has become an executive member of the club.

He also spoke of a young girl from St Barb’s who men only wanted to have sex with after she her mother died. However, at the club she was able to find men who would treat her like a father.

There was also a young homeless man, who the club was able to take in and get enrolled in YTEPP, and another man whose stepfather put him out but was able to finish school with five passes.

He recalled one case of a young man whose mother said she was fed up and “on her last”.

After a tough first week with him not listening, the young man decided to learn to play the pan and drumming. He traveled with the club when they visited Los Angeles and Brooklyn and was enrolled in Servol.

Sherry Hosein, who has cerebral palsy and is the mother of a 12-year-old boy, Emmanuele, said her son needed a father and she would choose no one but officer Sharbodie to act as that role model.

“The club has benefited him a lot and continues to do a lot,” she said.

Sharbodie observed a police youth club cannot call itself such, if children are not transformed and their lives touched.

He is satisfied that he was able to bring spirituality into the group in a unique way, and that the members were not only told about the goodness of God but see it through daily life.

“We lead by example.

Young people are looking not only for people who does talk, but who walk the walk.” Sharbodie thanked the tutors who provided their service pro bono but who could use a stipend.

The club has also been supported by the UK Women’s Club, the American Embassy, which refurbished the club in 2001, the Citizen Security Programme, which donated a bus, the Lion’s Club, Rotary Club, the Canadian High Commission and British High Commission.

He also thanked his wife Christine and sons, Jabari and Diamond, for their support and also the club’s volunteers.

As part of their 25th anniversary, the club is planning a career day, featuring alumni members who now work in various fields; a gospel concert; a family and fun day; a public speaking discussion; an Easter variety concert featuring past members, including reggae singer Jah Melody and media personality Jason Williams; a University of the West Indies panel discussion on the relevance of youth clubs; panel discussion on youth and crime and an awards ceremony.

Sharbodie hopes that other police youth clubs will eventually become full-time centres, like St James, and places where young people know they can receive help without judgment or intimidation.

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Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan gave this explanation yesterday as he visited the damaged roadway yesterday, personally supervising as a contractor began repairs.

Sinanan said the incident pressed home the need to complete the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway, and disclosed that tenders for the project, originally estimated at $7 billion, were being evaluated.

He expects construction to resume no later than June.

“Tenders are being evaluated now. We expect an award to be made within about a month. I would say in a maximum two months we should have contractors mobilised and work should resume,” Sinanan told reporters on his visit.

Last Friday, the minister said the tenders were first for three construction packages, with an additional five to be awarded in May.

As the work progresses, he added, more packages would be issued until the highway is built.

Sinanan said his ministry wanted to ensure that as many contractors participate in the tendering process, and for this reason the phases of construction were divided into packages.

While contractors may also be from foreign countries, Sinanan said he expected more local contractors to participate in the project.

He said, “What we are actually trying to do is to ensure that as many contractors are able to participate in the tendering process, so that is why we broke it down into packages.” Regarding the sink hole, Sinanan said a bush fire spread from the road side to three exposed plastic culverts which were not capped with a concrete barrier.

The fire melted the culvert, he explained, which eventually led to the caving in of the road.

Sinanan said the ministry, the National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd and Penal-based contractor Total Field Execution Services Ltd, were to work overnight to replace the culverts and repair the road for use by drivers today. Excavators began widening the the sink-hole to reinforce the sub-terrain before refilling and paving works.

Also present to inspect the works yesterday was UNC Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe who thanked the minister for his prompt response.

Brazilian contractor OAS Construtora, which had been hired by the People’s Partnership government in 2010 after being shortlisted by the previous PNM administration, was fired after the 2015 general election when the PNM returned to power.

The company had fallen behind schedule, resulting in cost overruns and faced bankruptcy and a corruption scandal in Brazil.

Safiyah Gibson-Morel and her her husband, Jason Morel, were asleep when their house on Scotts Road, Morne Diablo, began to burn at about 7 am.

The couple awoke to see a thick blanket of smoke in their bedroom and they ran to safety.

Fire-fighters were able to contain the blaze but the interior of the concrete house sustained significant damage.

The Morels were not at the scene when Sunday Newsday visited yesterday.

Residents said the couple went to Arima to stay with relatives.

A resident said the couple moved into Scotts Road about five years ago, and was saddened by the damage to the house they had built.

“I did not see nor hear anything.

“Now, they have gone back to Arima,” the resident said.

Cpl Harripersad and PCs Khallie and Ratool, of the Penal Police Station, visited the scene and interviewed the couple.

According to a preliminary report, the fire may have been caused by an electrical problem.

Police are yet to estimate the cost of the damage to the house and household articles.

Central Division head Snr Supt Kenny McIntyre, speaking during an interview with i95.5 FM, said a probe has been launched to determine who was responsible for leaking the document which also included the names of officers scheduled to be on duty.

He said the probe was ongoing and the matter was being taken very seriously.

He noted that if the leak was from an internal source then the matter can dealt with using police regulations.

McIntyre said that the officers feel betrayed by the leak and it forced them to rework the schedule of the roadblock exercises.

He stressed, however, that it would not deter them from their crime-fighting.

Stephen noted that this was the time of year that the majority of bush fires were expected to take place.

And that the Fire Service had received numerous reports of bush fires from all over the country over the past few weeks.

However, he said when the bush fires were out in plains or in the hills, people tend to ignore the fires.

That is, until the fire gets close to their homes and then they call the Fire Service.

“By that time the fire has been going on for quite a while and it has gotten strong and out of control.

“We ask people to call in bush fires when they see it.” However, he said, recently he had not heard any reports of bush fires endangering homes.

“It appears that the value for money considerations and the procurement exercise, under the UNC are really significant issues on the table which will be the subject of the advice and opinion to be proffered.

I prefer to have all of the material properly examined to make a comprehensive statement in relation to the matter.” The award of the contract to lease the Super Fast Galicia was undertaken in 2014 during the term of the former People’s Partnership Government.

Al-Rawi has already given an undertaking to complete his analysis of the documents this week, following which he will provide his legal opinion and recommendation as to whether there was any wrongdoing in the award of the contract.

The AG’s statement came as Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal chastised the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government for failing to implement procurement measures since assuming office in 2015.

“The steadfast refusal by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to implement procurement measures has made the Galicia corruption possible,” Moonilal said in a statement.

He recalled that the Government, in its 2016-2017 Budget, had said the the procurement regulator and Board of Procurement Regulation would have been established within a six-month period and that “by the end of March, if not before,” all agencies that procure and dispose of public property would old be able to do so in accordance with the Public Procurement Act.

“But this has turned into yet another failed promise fro m the bungling and clueless Rowley regime,” Moonilal said. The MP said Rowley’s “revelation of the Galicia bobol is a raw admission of incompetence and recklessness by his useless regime.

“He must be held directly responsible for the theft of taxpayers’ money, which has taken during the PNM’s term of office.” In response, Al-Rawi said Moonilal ought to know that the appointment of the procurement regulator was contingent upon an amendment to the legislation which the UNC agreed to in its Government’s Joint Select Committee as it relates to the term of the regulator.

He said this was only recently passed in the Senate.

The AG said Moonilal also ought to know that the law prescribed that the President is responsible for the appointment of the regulator and could obviously not complete the appointment with the amendment to the law in place.

Al-Rawi said Moonilal’s statement is intended to “mask the real scandal of the UNC government coming to the public’s attention.” Government is on the hunt for an alternative inter-island cargo vessel.

The news which was revealed by Sports Minister Darryl Smith and TTFA president David John-Williams, and endorsed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, was the top of the agenda on the visit by the FIFA chief last week.

“This has been a long time coming. It is the best thing that can happen for football in Trinidad and Tobago,” Everald “Gally” Cummings said in an interview on the TTFA website.

“We need to accept and understand our way of doing things and why it is important and I think this establishment will allow us to do this,” he continued.

“Something like this I felt should have been there since the days when myself, Dick Furlonge, Leroy De Leon, Jan Steadman and the Dupreys were playing the game.

“People were saying these boys should be kept together in a training environment. Even though we all ended up playing on the national team, we did it the hard way by working on our own and playing in the North American Soccer League back then. “But now it seems to be coming to fruition which I commend the FA for.

“Hopefully for this generation the national training centre will make things a bit more easier for them,” Cummings said.

“This will now allow our players to be housed and trained regularly, coaching courses can take place more than normal because in my days I had to travel to Europe and South America to get my licences and now coaches will have the chance to undergo similar courses right here at home,” said Cummings.

He also commended the TTFA for its intentions of also establishing a national football museum.

“I want to commend the TTFA for this. I also heard that there were images of our past and present teams and players put up in the corridors of the dressing rooms at the (Hasely Crawford) Stadium which is a good start because we need to remember and highlight our own before waiting for others to do it,” he said.

Current national team coach Dennis Lawrence also spoke on the “home of football” having come from an environment at Everton and Wigan Athletic where the various facilities for development are a norm and recognising now that the TTFA will try to create a similar environment in Couva.

“To have a national training centre, in fact a home for football, allows you to firstly be able to plan and also deliver,” Lawrence said.

“It also allows work to be done in a constructive way, allowing the players to be focused without distractions and therefore I think it’s an amazing accomplishment that Trinidad and Tobago football can only benefit from.” Latapy, currently the head coach of the TT Under-15 and Under-17 teams, also played under the guidance of Cummings with the Strike Squad (of the late 1980s) but entered a professional environment at club level when he moved to Portugal to join Academica in the early 90s.

Throughout his illustrious career as a player and then as a coach, Latapy has spent most of his football hours at advanced centres. “A national training centre is vital and essential in my view for us to get back to that place where I think we should be in Caribbean football and then look to reach higher in CONCACAF,” Latapy said.

“It would be a place where we can house, feed and teach our kids the right things that would help to change the way they think about the game. We can have the kids in there every weekend which gives the coaches more time to work with them.

“We can do a session or two in the week which will help the players to also concentrate on their education at school and then have them come in on the weekends with two sessions and maybe a game on the weekend.

This will definitely be welcomed for the benefit of our game. This will give our young men the opportunity to have a proper chance of playing professionally and changing their lives,” Latapy added.

With 15 laps of the 33 laps remaining.

Rodman was finally successful in breaking free of the bunch, after his previous onslaught of attacks was futile. The Jamaican would lap the bunch with one lap remaining to cross the line with both hands punching the sky.

Jamol Eastmond of Barbados and Duvan Arevalo of Colombia rounded out the top three.

Earlier in the night however.

Trinidad and Tobago ace Njisane Phillip was definitely the star of the show after he captured the International Men 500m and 7 Lap event with his trademark burst of speed down the back straight.

In the International Men 10 Lap, Phillip began the “Trini Train” with one lap remaining.

however, the crowd was just too thick for them to pass safely with 250m to go. All hope for a Trini podium looked gloomy until the youngest member on the national team, Jabari Whiteman leaped out from the front and left all in his dust. Whiteman would finish at least five bicycle lengths ahead of Venezuela’s Javier Aguero and Keron Bramble (TT). The sole female on the TT team, Teniel Campbell proved her selection with a solid performance against some tough competition from Venezuela, Colombia, USA and Canada.

After finishing third and second in the 4 Lap and Elimination event respectively, Campbell turned it up a notch in the 8 Lapper.

With 250m to go, she accelerated and never looked back.

As Campbell crossed the line she punched her chest to celebrate her hard earned victory.

Trinidad and Tobago had a haul of three medals – two gold and a silver, up to press time last evening. Chatoor got things going for the twin-island republic with victory in the girls 13-14 800-metre freestyle in a time of nine minutes 24.69 seconds.

The 14-year-old finished ahead of Guadeloupe’s Marie- Lorel Capolini (9:32.76) while Ria Plunkett of the Cayman Islands (9:40.82) was third.

Danielle Titus of Barbados was fourth in 9:40.82, followed by Skyler Powell of Bermuda (9:46.70), Laureen Foumann of Guadeloupe (9:53.82), Armelle Defitt of Martinique (10:09.23) and Anya MacPhail of the Bahamas (10:09.32).

Another 14-year-old, Donahue, was victorious in the girls 13-14 200m breaststroke in two minutes 48.01 seconds, with Farah Sheikboudhou of Guadeloupe (2:49.96) and Sabine Ellison of the Cayman Islands (2:50.27) getting silver and bronze respectively.

Completing the top eight were Will-In Jules-Marthe of Martinique (2:50.41), Ashley Weekes of Barbados (2:52.36), the Bahamas pair of Katherine Slatter (2:55.32) and Jamilah Hepburn (2:58.18), and Antigua’s Zoe Dennis (3:01.91).

Graham Chatoor copped silver in the boys 15-17 1,500m freestyle in a time of 16 minutes 43.34 seconds, trailing Anaique Zachelin of Guadeloupe who touched the wall in 16 minutes 27.38 seconds.

John Bodden of the Cayman Islands was third in 16:46.33, ahead of Ioane Bourny of Guadeloupe (17:04.25), Louis Drogo of Martinique (17:06.28), Alex Dakers of the Cayman Islands (17:07.15), Alec Sands of the Bahamas (17:22.34) and Evan Farrow of Bermuda (17:32.55).

The meet continues today.