On two occasions, on September 9, 2016 and December 9, 2016, the Tax Information Exchange Agreement Bill 2016 was laid for debate in Parliament and in the both instances, the Opposition walked-out. The Bill was taken to a whole committee of the House of Representatives on December 12 2016. However, the Opposition once again chose to abstain from the debate.

The Government currently has 23 members in the House of Representatives, but 26 votes are required to pass the Bill, which means that a minimum of three votes are needed from the Opposition. Consequently, the Tax Information Exchange Agreements Bill 2016, cannot be passed without support from the Opposition, as the legislation requires a three-fifths majority, which Government does not have now. Trinidad and Tobago has until February 2017 to pass the relevant legislation to give effect to the IGA in order to begin reporting to the IRS by September 30 2017.

The Opposition continues to hold the position of requiring a Joint Select Committee (JSC) to review the Bill and has even gone as far as to identify members to sit on this Committee. The natural question would then be, what is the value of a JSC? According to the Parliament website, these Committees are established to consider and report on important issues. Such issues may be legislative, financial or investigatory. The operational procedures of these Select Committees allow them wide powers to fully consider their mandates and facilitate an interaction between Members of Parliament and Government officials, interested parties, legal and other professional associations and the general public in deliberations on a wide variety of subjects. At the end of their deliberations, these Committees report back to their principal Houses, stating their findings and observation and recommending acceptance or rejection of the legislation. This is as opposed to the whole committee of the House of Representatives which, as it states, is made up of the House of Representatives. Maybe the Government can explain why the outright refusal to consider a JSC outside of saying that it is just not necessary and furthermore having reneged on its previous position.

Interestingly, the IRS website states that all IGAs (not FATCA legislation) contemplate that a partner government will require all foreign financial institutions located in its jurisdiction (that are not otherwise exempt) to identify US accounts and report information about US accounts. It further states that an IGA can be implemented without having in effect a double tax convention or tax information exchange agreement with the United States. Maybe the Government can advise whether this is indeed the case and if so, what does this mean for us?

Lastly, the Attorney General mentioned that in November 2016, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes found Trinidad and Tobago was one of three countries in the entire forum to be non-compliant. He added though that the Government has sought to address the issue by engaging to sign a multilateral convention with the Global Forum that would take the country out of default. Again, one has to wonder what does this mean for the country and why are stakeholders and citizens not engaged or informed of these details.

Hosted by the country’s latest parang sensation, Rome, the gala affair saw the mobile retail sector’s most reputable businessmen and women come together in recognition of their tremendous performance throughout the preceding year.

Fourteen awards were presented on the night and topping the field of nominees and capturing the coveted 2016 Flagship Dealer of the Year title was none other than Cellular Planet. Owner Gevan Sankersingh who walked away with the coveted trophy and the special prize of a weekend stay for two at the luxurious Magdalena Grand Beach Resort in Tobago. They successfully held off eventual runners-up Cell Serve, third place finishers, Cell 4 Less, and R. Khan Trading to claim top honours. Their awards were presented by TSTT’s Chief Commercial Officer, Miguel Garcia.

In the Medium category, Rale Marketing emerged victors as they beat to the line second placed nominees The Distribution Company and third ranked Cell Plus. Their accolades were distributed by bmobile’s senior manager of Planning Analytics and Credit Management, Kedelle Greaves.

And in the Small Division, Nova Quantum hoisted the trophy ahead of Galitia, Zee Cellular and VK Marketing respectively.

Presenting the top-three with their awards was senior manager for New technology and Innovation, Nigel Forde.

Meanwhile, Charrans Brothers copped the title for Most Improved Dealer of 2016 while Hello Communications’ and Secure Mobile Limited’s creditable performance earned them second and third respectively. Senior manager of Mobile Marketing, Lorraine Steele, did the honours of presenting to the winners of this category. Other title-holders on the night were Secure Mobile Limited (Top Bill Payment Collection) and Cellular Planet (Top Up More Magic Reseller) once more.

Prior to the start of the event, Garcia expressed pleasure with bmobile’s recent rebranding and showered praise of some of the companies’ freshest initiatives yet to be released.

“Being new here to the group, we’ve worked with many dealers and partners from around the world,” he said. “One of the things is that we are very excited about the brand and its strengths. We are going to prioritise on becoming more profitable to the world.

There are several new developments we are also working on so look out for those as we continue working together.” Following the award ceremony, Rome ensured guests were well entertained with the introduction of an upbeat set from local soca entertainer, Erphaan Alves.

As is customary, delicious traditional ‘Trini’ Christmas foods such as pastelles and ham were on the menu and the well-stocked bar overflowed with drinks as guests danced the night away to sweet parang and soca music courtesy the only local full-service communications solutions provider, bmobile – Life Is On.

In 2007 Lagarde became France’s finance minister and attempted to resolve the issue by ordering a settlement through a private arbitration panel, as opposed to accessing the regular court system. Lagarde’s decision in mid- 2008 to approve and not to appeal the €404m ($429m; ?340m) arbitration award for businessman Tapie led to the massive government payout and angered the French public. Last year, a Paris court ordered Tapie to repay the money. Even after the conviction, it is most surprising that she will face no fine or jail sentence.

It must be noted that Lagarde has denied any wrongdoing. Indeed, it was only on Friday that Lagarde told the trial she had always acted in good faith and the suspicion she had lived under for the past five years had been an “ordeal”. Since the verdict, the IMF board is to meet “shortly” to consider the latest developments. It is noteworthy that the French government has indicated that it still had confidence in the IMF chief who also happens to be a previous Minister of Finance in France.

For many people the issue may be far removed and possibly has no implications for us in the Caribbean. This episode, however, and the continued relevance of Lagarde as IMF chief must be questioned. Indeed, there should be cause for concern as undoubtedly the character and judgement of the IMF chief are being called into question. One must also remember that she is the same IMF chief that has made numerous decisions regarding the Caribbean people. Can we as a Caribbean people trust the clearly poor judgment of the IMF chief or can we assume that there has been the lack of equal treatment and fairness especially in the critical issues of vulnerability and debt overhang that have plagued the Caribbean. While no decision has yet been made regarding the Lagarde’s future at the IMF, the Caribbean should take a united position on the type of leader it wants at that institution and communicate this to its Board.

Lagarde’s poor judgement which is at the heart of the case. It is her judgement that appears to treat close political allies favourably. For many years, the Caribbean has presented a case detailing the vulnerability of these small states with the highest debt/ GDP profile internationally. This vulnerability to extreme events has seen destruction of productive infrastructure and plant and equipment. In many cases these destroyed assets had loans that were still being serviced. The nature of the vulnerability extended to exogenous shocks which affected earnings of the states in the Caribbean. These latest shocks that have seen a major fall in oil prices are a good example of this. It is important to note that these arguments of vulnerability were advanced not only for the Caribbean but for all five groupings of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) comprising some 42 countries that exist globally. One must wonder whether these arguments were given a fair hearing and whether Lagarde truly understood the nuances of these small states.

There are many, including Lagarde, who are yet to be convinced that the Caribbean and all SIDS qualify for being classified as vulnerable. This has implications for the way facilities and programmes at the IMF are made available to us in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. It also impacts the treatment of problems that exist in the region and the need for understanding and an appreciation that our debt profile and vulnerability require a different set of programmes designed to address such unique challenges. The IMF is yet to adjust the criteria for assistance for countries with debt/GDP over 60 percent to 56 percent threshold as put forward by Greenidge et.al. which will have far more meaningful impact on the Caribbean.

It should be admitted that various times the Caribbean have advocated the essential arguments about the Caribbean and SIDS vulnerability. However, the Governor of the Barbados Central Bank was most forceful in his advocacy of the Caribbean problems to the point that he was considered rude by some. It is that clarity and decisiveness that is needed now as the Caribbean should clearly state to the Board of Governors that Lagarde or her replacement must, in an unbiased manner, treat with the issues of vulnerability and debt/GDP overhang. Our future depends not only on presenting arguments but having the right people with the right disposition in place to address our interests. This is not the first time that the IMF itself has shown questionable judgement in its choice of leader. The IMF must choose persons with integrity in personal and public life to lend credibility to the office and consequently in the decisions that the office makes. Indeed, there are well over 40 countries affected by the vulnerability issue. They must be en garde over Lagarde and raise their voices on these matters.

Chinese influence in the Caribbean has been increasing over the past 15 years both in terms of the number of their citizens living and transiting through the region and the level of investment.

An Inter American Development Bank paper is saying that, even though the main sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the region currently come from the US and the UK, potentially, there is an opportunity to attract much more FDI from China than the region is currently receiving.

Its author, Richard Bernal, discusses examples of FDI in the region, the general reaction of the Caribbean to this Chinese outreach and what can be done if the region hopes to capitalise on the third largest source of FDI in the world.

According to Bernal, the Chinese have made US$119 billion in loan commitments to Latin America and the Caribbean since 2005. These have been largely to finance Chinese firms’ construction of energy and infrastructure projects.

This in turn is an outgrowth of the deliberate effort of the Chinese to become more involved in the global economy and increase their influence.

The paper notes that the “economic circumstances of the Caribbean countries make increased Chinese FDI an important new development.” It also lists the beneficiaries of Chinese FDI from 2005 to 2013, with TT receiving increasing amounts in these years from $US 0.8 million in 2006 (there is no record for 2005) to $US 3.9 million in 2013. It also lists the investor firms and the value of their investments.

These are the Chaoyang BVI, ($0.78 million in oil production), the China Investment Corporation ($850 million in natural gas) and the memorandum of understanding signed between NGC and the ENN Group.

This is in line with Bernal’s assertion that Chinese investors are particularly interested in energy and ministerals, but also agriculture and tourism.

He said since the Caribbean is not the only area of the world that provides these investment opportunities, it should strive to make itself more attractive. It can do so, he said, through better marketing with “sustained and planned campaigns” as opposed to investment promotion missions.

Such efforts could be assisted by embassies and government and promotion agencies. Bernal also suggested that the efforts should be unified.

“The Caribbean, as a group of small investment destinations, should collectively present the region as a cluster development opportunity for China. The efficacy of tourism presenting the Caribbean as a region in which there are broad similarities and commonalities has been proven throughout the region, without obscuring the uniqueness of each country.” The paper also said that their should be more “linkages, joint ventures and strategic business alliances” between Chinese and Caribbean firms, with improvements made in the ease of doing business on the Caribbean side. The region should also utilise the strong business networks created by the Chinese nationals, who have in some territories, been living in the region since the late 19th century.

But Bernal also laid down some cautionary areas for Caribbean countries to be aware of including local resentments against increased Chinese presence and cites some examples across the islands, inclusive of TT’s architects, “having complained about the employment of Chinese workers on projects being executed by Chinese firms.” Foreign ownership of important assets were also likely to fuel “narratives” of asset stripping where profits are removed from the national economy, hampering longer development aims.” Governments, Bernal said, should also establish a regulatory regime that ensures the right kind of investor comes to the country, is respectful of the environment and resources, that they share technology and utilise local labour.

Corporate governance, a weak point in several jurisdictions, came up for mention.

“Due diligence and the institutional capacity to undertake it, on foreign investment will be paramount for the Caribbean countries to protect against money laundering and to ensure the protection of national standards and reputations.” From successive Manning administrations to the Kamla Persad Bissessar admininstration, the Chinese have been playing an increasing role in this country’s economy, particularly in its construction and energy sectors.

The observations Bernal has made has important implications, especially if the Chinese presence is going to become more prevalent.

Given the reduction in FDI from energy firms and the need expressed by both the Prime Minister and Energy Minister that we need to get more of our oil and gas out of the ground, there may be a further role for the Chinese to play here.

But as Bernal has pointed out, we may also have to pay closer attention to how the Chinese and their FDI contribution is integrated into the economy and the governance mechanism that will oversee this process.

At least one commission of inquiry related to the role of Chinese labour and firms in contructing national projects has demonstrated this.

Ultimately too, we may have to adopt a wait and see approach of the Trump government to China and how the US will react to a Caribbean becoming closer to it.

The announcement of her retirement was made via her Facebook Page on September 19 at 12.54pm.

In a post to her page, Gabriel told supporters, “Regretfully, I must inform all children who play mas with me, that Carnival 2016 was my last year. I have made the very difficult decision to retire from producing mas.” Her involvement in mas production spans forty years, starting in 1977. The reason for Gabriel’s retirement, however, remains unclear.

Attempts to contact her via phone and email were unsuccessful.

The post further said, “I would like to thank all the guardians, mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, grannies, and grandpas, who supported me in the early years and onwards, all the people who stood at the side of the road and waited for the band to pass with broad smiles on their faces eagerly waving their hands from side to side.” Gabriel thanked sponsors Nestle Orchard, Beacon Insurance, Norman Gabriel Ltd, Blue Waters among others for their support and standing by her to the end. She also thanked her family, saying, “(you) have always supported me through the highs and the lows of producing Mas, and all of the workers at the camp, and especially the designers.” She described it as the hardest decision she ever had to make and said she was truly sorry the day had to come.

The post gained 138 reactions with 38 shares. Many in the comments section thanking Gabriel for her contribution.

The finalisation of the lease agreements, a release from the Ministry’s corporate communications department stated, followed a com- mitment made by Minister Gopee-Scoon to the Penal/Debe Chamber of Commerce in early December.

At that time, the Minster indicated to the business community that the Government was conscious of the need for land to facilitate the expansion of businesses and that leases for the Penal/ Debe Industrial Park would be finalised and issued before the end of the year.

In addressing the tenants present at a brief ceremony, Minister Gopee-Scoon stated: “the Government is on a path to growth and diversification of the economy through creating economic spaces for businesses to grow.” She gave the commitment of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and its State Agencies such as, eTecK Limited and in particular exporTT Limited, to provide assistance in preparing companies to become competitive and export ready. Imtiaz Ahamad, Chairman of eTecK, noted that over the last year, eTecK Limited has been developing economic spaces in the south region. With the handover of leases for the Penal/ Debe Industrial Park, he said, “this indicates our commitment to transforming and diversifying the economy.” The Park will facilitate businesses such as processing and packaging of food items, manufacture of wooden furniture, blending of chemicals for the food industry, manufacture of wheel barrows and roof bolts and an auto electrical repair shop.

In attendance were senior officials of eTecK Limited and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

This view, however, was not shared or endorsed by San Fernando Magistrate Natalie Diop who chided attorney Ainsley Lucky saying such an observation was irrelevant to the case before her (Diop). Lucky submitted to the magistrate that the son of a well known Senior Counsel Israel Khan was given a “light sentence”, by a magistrate when he was charged with Driving Under the Influence of alcohol.

The attorney continued that the son of well-known contractor Junior Sammy also got a “slap-on-the-wrist” treatment from a magistrate for a similar offence.

Lucky was asked by the magistrate to desist, but he continued by telling Magistrate Diop that the son of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, also charged with driving under the influence, was also the beneficiary of “justice with a smile.” Lucky sought to highlight the alleged disparity in how justice is meted out, when he failed in a bid to secure the reinstatement of the driver’s licence of Standley Andrews, 53, of Embacadere, San Fernando.

Andrews’ permit was suspended in June for a year on a charge of dangerous driving.

Lucky argued an application yesterday before Diop to have the permit reinstated on the ground that Andrews’ occupation is that of a driver at Paramount Transport.

Since the suspension, he has been relegated to sweeping the yard and doing odd jobs.

Moreso, Lucky told the magistrate, he needs to drive his daughter to school.

In in his submission, Lucky made a comparison of how other accused persons have been treated by the courts. James Khan, 34, the son of the Senior Counsel Israel Khan, was reprimanded and discharged on January 2014, on a charge of driving under the influence. Deputy Commissioner of Police Deodath Dulalchan’s son Dale, 32, appeared in the Chaguanas Magistrates’ court last month for driving under the influence.

Magistrate Diop stopped Lucky from continuing on the ground of relevance and then ruled. She said that even in Andrews’ application for reinstatement, he denied he was driving dangerously although he was convicted by the court. Andrews has another charge pending before Diop in which he failed to gave a sample of his breath to Police Constable Sujeet Ramcharan, who has stopped him on suspicion that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. The matter is continuing today.

Thus, first, it was the episode, to the chagrin of the Tobago business community in particular, of a ferry having been forced to return to Port-of- Spain with its full cargo after being unable to berth on its arrival in Scarborough. This was said to have been due to a “mixup” in communication which had caused much inconvenience and monetary loss.

This was followed, not long after, by another event — one of the two fast ferries being taken out of service for a relatively long period, due to officially-acknowledged engine failure. Yet another case of great inconvenience to the public.

In fact, at the time of writing, I am not sure whether both fast passenger ferries are operating in tandem.

I have been made to understand that this latter inconvenience was experienced especially by passengers who had been wishing to travel accompanied by their cars.

However, I have also been made to understand that at this time (and no doubt a situation which is a permanent feature) the two cargo ferries are wont to be travelling with far less than half loads.

In this regard, therefore, I am wondering whether the authorities, as a means of providing greater leeway for cars, have considered shifting vans and small trucks, in particular, from the fast passenger ferries to the faster of the two cargo ferries? After all, in most cases these vans are in effect small cargo trucks and not passenger vehicles.

This may be gleaned from the “T” notation on their number plates.

In addition, they are, of course, already the receivers of benefit by way of subsidised diesel fuel.

Errol OC Cupid Trincity, Tacarigua

In the past people have worked without salaries for more than two months at a time.

The current situation is one of the worst I’ve seen, with some employees not having been paid for the past three months and are also working without renewed contracts. Other staff members are also facing a similar plight as they also have not been paid for the past month and a half, also without contracts.

I am one of those who haven’t been paid for the past month.

This particular project is being funded by the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), so the monies are available. What is the delay if the monies are there in Central Bank? Do other staff members know they you have rights? Do they know they can stand up and act on them? It is sad to see people so lost in the system that they’ve forgotten they are human beings.

The situation is so bad that every time we have a meeting with the project manager his story changes.

Why? Why are we not being told the truth about what is going on? Why are we in a state of limbo? What are we to do from here? Do we have a job? If so, then why haven’t our contracts been renewed? There was a so-called meeting with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and other heads of departments, almost four weeks ago. We understand instructions were given to those responsible to carry out their duties on signing off on contracts and salaries. The minister, as we were told, was shocked when he learned what was going on.

Mr Minister, if you have given strict instructions, why haven’t they been carried out? Why are these people not being held accountable for jeopardising the lives of your employees? We deserve better treatment.

How much more do we have to endure? Some people are without food in their homes. They can’t afford to send their children to school. Some are actually students themselves. We have bills to pay, rent to pay. And now we face Christmas without pay. There will be no joy in many home in this season of goodwill.

I am certain the Legal Affairs Minister is always paid on time.

He doesn’t have to face the kind of situation we are currently in, which unfortunately we are facing for the third time. Why are we here again? Why do I have to take this type of action for something that is mandatory? Please, Mr Minister, I am pleading with you to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Let us know where we stand as employees and as people of this nation. Show us the same respect we show you.

Samantha Samlal San Juan

I witnessed the recent swearing-in ceremony and I denounce that cowardly walkout by the Opposition councillors and aldermen. And imagine, one Opposition alderman was unable to read the oath of office.

As a former councillor, chairman and adviser, it is the first time I have witnessed an attempt to bring the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation into disrepute. Once again, congrats Terry. Please continue to render yeoman service to people, always be indefatigable, indomitable, indispensable and invincible, as you have always been. Keep it up.

Gabriel Henderson Sangre Grande