He came to the centre — one of the best with respect to the quality of service — and his professionalism, patience and thoroughness with his patients is outstanding.

I was very impressed with the manner in which he took time to properly examine me, review my medical files, made relevant changes to my medication. As a medical doctor and public servant, he is really an asset to the profession.

Lynch seems to be a quiet and humble soul, therefore my apologies for this public commendation. The Hippocratic Oath is alive and well in such a doctor. Good luck and blessings to him in his future endeavours.

JOSE LUIS CHARLES Valencia

Other countries are not so lucky.

In Venezuela, there is a food shortage, with rioting and looting taking place.

People don’t have basic amenities like toiletries.

In the US, there was widespread protests and violence during and after last month’s presidential election.

There was devastation in Haiti from Hurricane Matthew and France had a terror attack that caused panic, pain and loss of lives.

Here is a list of thing we in TT can be thankful for: * A 6.1 earthquake rocked our country but there were no loss of lives or damage to infrastructure.

* No hurricane affected us during the hurricane season.

* Our economy, even though not as strong as we would like it to be, is stable.

* Many businesses are doing well and are able to employ extra staff.

* Banks are making huge profits.

* There are still job and educational opportunities available.

* People are free to vote and free to worship.

* No major incidents took place during the election season.

* Most people have running water.

These are just some of the things we can give thanks for.

Too often we tend to complain about every and anything. Let’s give thanks, TT .

Andre Roberts via email

“We are having a national clean-up and are starting to plan, using the model from the San Fernando City Corporation which we had last year September and I am taking a note to Cabinet this Thursday and from there we will make the announcements where we get volunteers from the 14 corporations to be involved,” Minister Hosein said. “That is like contractors who have heavy equipment that just park up because the work slow and they willing to come out and assist.” Asked whether a date had been selected, he said: “Most likely after the second week in January.” Mayor Regrello said joint police/army patrols have been earmarked for the southern city although there had not been any reports of major criminal activity in the southern city.

“We have no evidence or information that there is increased crime in the area, I am heartened by that, I am encouraged by that, also I spoke to (National Security Minister) Mr (Edmund) Dillon a couple days ago and there would be increased joint police/ army patrols,” Regrello said.

The normal price is US$399. He announced this on Monday at a signing ceremony at his Ministry for the three-year deal to licence Microsoft programmes to the Public Service. The deal gives the Public Service a 20 percent discount on the true cost of the programmes, guarantees no cost-hikes in three years, and gives access to free upgrades.

Cuffie said the pricefreeze will save the Government $25 million per year, over the three years. The Home Use Programme of the MEA will let staff improve their personal skills and those of their families, and their online security.

Cuffie also said the Government itself will gain by some 9,390 of its staff accessing free online training for applications such as MS Word, MS Excel and MS Powerpoint. Further, some 7,781 workers will be able to access Windows Server, SQL Server and Sharepoint Server, among others.

Cuffie said the initiative will remedy the Public Service’s obstacles to progress posed by a legal of paper- based processes, although he lamented the show progress of legislative reform to digitise and virtualise all of this information.

Despite now being the time of the ‘e-generation’, he said the Public Sector remains challenged in infusing ICT into its service delivery.

RESE TT 1962, a non-political organisation was launched in June 2015.

At its first AGM held on November 26, other board members elected were Shawn Mahase, secretary; Ian Prevatt, treasurer; and Susan Gordon and Reginald Dumas as directors.

The wider membership consists of non-politically aligned persons from a variety of experiences, training and backgrounds with an interest and passion in nation building and good governance, Subran said.

In keeping with their mission and objectives, Subran in a release said that at the AGM, the membership discussed the proposed highways from Valencia to Toco, Cumuto to Manzanilla and the Toco to Tobago ferry projects.

While the projects have the ability to make significant impact on the development of north east Trinidad, he said, they also have the potential for exorbitant public expenditure and numerous adverse effects on those communities.

He said, RESE TT 1962 believes that more information should be forthcoming from Government about the projects especially with respect to their viability and feasibility, the findings of existing reports and any new reports and research on the idea for a Toco to Tobago port, and the environmental impact of cutting new roads from Valencia to Toco and Cumuto to Manzanilla instead of improving the existing road networks.

G o v e r n m e n t should also share information on the proposed plans for ascertaining the views of the people living in the affected areas and in Tobago, and consultations with other stakeholders and interest groups, he said.

RESE TT 1962, Subran said, “remains committed to improving the way projects such as these are initiated and implemented.” As such, he said, “we are prepared to give any advice required on how the principles of participatory governance can be used to effectively impact on decision making and strengthen our democracy.” RESE TT 1962 was established as a non-political organisation to among other objectives, advocate for the principles of participatory governance to be rooted in the development of political, social and economic institutions, and to take action to ensure that governments respect the principles of good governance in their policy-making and implementation.

Kadeem Welch, also known as ‘Pest’, his mother Natasha Caldon and Canadian national Sheba Edwards appeared before Sangre Grande Magistrate Carl Quamina on Tuesday. The matters have been transferred to the Arima First Magistrates Court. Welch has also been charged with possession of a firearm to endanger life, possession of ammunition, shooting a police officer with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and discharging a firearm within 40 metres of a public road.

The trio was arrested following a ‘sting’ operation headed by officers of the Northern Division Task Force, spearheaded by Sgt Matthew Haywood, together with Constables Anil Andrews and Darryl de Suze, following the shooting of PC Blake earlier this month. They are expected to return to court in January.

Alleging that Government was borrowing $500 million to pay recurrent expenditure, Mark said this showed the PNM was not investing money in any productive activity.

The men claimed monies allocated for the auxiliaries in National Budget 2016/2017 were spent on equipment for the full time Fire Service, particularly vehicles such as fire-trucks, utility vehicles and buses.

Worse, even as the hourly-paid auxiliaries remain unpaid since July, much of the Auxiliary Fire Service’s allocation has been sent back to the Treasury unused.

The officers bemoaned their shoddy treatment, relative to the auxiliary/reserve arms of the nation’s other protective services – Defence Force, Special Reserve Police and Prison Reserve.

The men said the Auxiliary Fire Service Act 1979 says they have the “same powers, authority, privileges and immunities” plus the same duties and responsibilities of a full-time member of the Fire Service, but in practice this has not been so.

They complained they are paid late, not supplied with proper gear such as personal protective equipment, and indeed are often not called out at all to serve.

The men questioned the suitability for office of the leadership of the Auxiliary Fire Service whom they complained are not advocating on behalf of the lower ranks. The men said the promulgation of the Regulations that accompany the Auxiliary Fire Service Act will help to promote a greater transparency in the appointment of top-brass and so remedy an allegation situation of square pegs in round holes.

They hoped Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, would take up the baton from his predecessor, the late Martin Joseph, (who had drafted the Regulations eight years ago), and help to get the Regulations into effect.

Newsday was unable to contact Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, nor Joint Select Committee on National Security chairman, Fitzgerald Hinds.

The Budget document, Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure, on page 124 shows that in fiscal 2016 some $41 million was intended for the Auxiliary Fire Unit, but ultimately just $29 million was spent.

Some $17 million was spent in fiscal 2015, while this fiscal year the planned estimate is $38 million.

Fire Service Association general secretary, Ashton Cunningham has empathised with the auxiliaries’ plight. “They are always disadvantaged with regard to uniform, equipment and getting their salaries on time,” he told Newsday.

“These are long-stand problems which we’d have thought would have been resolved a long time ago. I’ll do what’s in my power to assist.” Cunningham agreed that the Regulations are needed to ensure the smooth daily management of the Auxiliary Fire Service, by setting down terms and conditions.

He said his Association met Minister Dillon and the Acting Chief Fire Officer in July to discuss matters such as the Auxiliary Regulations, but lamented that the Association’s request for a follow-up meeting – made on November 30 – has not yet got a response from Dillon.

Having lost their home to fire, this family was overjoyed to receive boxes filled with groceries and food-stuff for the upcoming Christmas season.

Darron and Balroop represented the staff of Registration Recognition and Certification Board.

“We decided to do Christmas hampers to needy families for the season and the Seecharan family was selected through the highlighted report in Newsday.” Balroop said adding that the staff is willing contributed foodstuff and clothing to make this family happy at this time of the year.

The home occupied by Robin Seecharan 59, and his wife Raquel Babwah 38, and their seven children, was destroyed by fire on December 11.

The eleven family members had to seek shelter from the home of a friend following this disaster. Seecharan kids include: Brandon, 15, Antonio, 14, Jenel, 12, Christie, 11, Selena, seven, Anna, five and Crystal, three.

Babwah told Newsday that the family lost everything including furniture and appliances as well books, school uniform and school-bags for all the kids.

She noted that while people have been helping she is still in needs of the important school stuff for her children.

She is now in the process of getting the new birth certificates and other documents that was destroyed by the fire.

She is grateful for the hampers she received yesterday saying, feeding and clothing all seven children is an uphill task.

While no one was hurt from this incident, the family lost all their belongings and is appealing for help.

Babwah said that the councillor for the area Gangaram Gopaul visited the home and is helping in the re-building process. Yesterday, workers were busy doing concrete work at the site in Springvale, Claxton Bay.

The occurrence of slips, trips and falls within recent times in commercial spaces has grown rapidly and in speaking with persons in the construction sector, a common point of contention has always been the coefficient of friction, which is the measure of slip resistance of a tile. Almost every building, commercial or otherwise in the country has some percentage of its space covered by tiles. This is a service that is needed in Trinidad and Tobago, and by extension the region, since it will provide users of commercial spaces with a measure of comfort over the safety of walkways and floors.

The Slip Resistance Assessment will ensure that slips, trips and falls are minimised and that employers, employees, customers and the general public feel safe in the knowledge that these walkways and floors are ‘slip resistant’. In addition to this, it could also help to reduce the cost of the company in the long run by ensuring that tiles that are in place are able to withstand the wear and tear of high levels of use as well as mitigate the company’s risk for lawsuits due to slips, trips and falls.

To assess a floor’s slip resistance, CARIRI now has a reliable, thoroughly researched floor friction test method and the equipment necessary to conduct the assessment. CARIRI is mandated to provide value to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and by offering this new service, the institute aims to ensure that they provide professional advice and testing that will go a long way in keeping the walkways and floors of commercial spaces as safe as possible. As Lisa Ramoutar, unit leader of the Industrial Materials Unit – Civil stated in her presentation “One of the biggest aspects of walkway safety is the slips, trips and falls. We want to minimise these.” It is with this objective in mind that the Industrial Materials Unit – Civil sought out the experts in this field and invited them to come to Trinidad to assist the staff at the Institute with training so that they would be better equipped to serve the market.

The Substratum Group has been in existence for decades and has been able to establish itself as a leader in providing safer walkways and floors. They have extensive background in the development and execution of floor care solutions for all facility types and they do use a standards-based approach to walkway safety and this was able to tie in nicely with CARIRI’s commitment to providing the best service to its clients.

David Collette, managing director of the Substratum Group personally came to Trinidad to conduct the training, and at the session, he endorsed the quality of the skills that the team at CARIRI now possesses in the area of Slip Resistance Assessment. He was able to bring to light the importance of quality design, procurement and even maintenance in ensuring that slips, trips and falls occur even less or not at all.

The session was well received by a varied cross section of persons which included personnel from the banks, schools, regional corporations, groceries, government ministries, construction companies, architects, etc.

CARIRI is now well established after having a number of staff trained in the area of Slip Resistance Assessment and are pleased and proud to be able to launch this service.

It is hoped that by providing this service they would be able to reduce risk and provide employers, employees and the general public with the confidence that they can freely conduct their day-to-day business without fear of slips, trips and falls.

Slip Resistance Assessment falls under the area of Quality and this is something that CARIRI takes very seriously. Achieving quality standards is one of the most important issues in the construction industry and the management of quality is an important factor in determining the competitive edge of any business. Quality is built in to every aspect of this new service and it is vital that companies recognise the importance of a proper quality system since it begins with selection, sampling and storage of materials used in the construction of walkways and floors.

As a certified and accredited testing facility, it is vital that CARIRI take the lead in bringing these key quality issues to the forefront. With over 30 years of experience, the Civil Engineering Unit is the most advanced ISO-certified civil/construction engineering testing laboratory in the Caribbean.

CARIRI’s team of experienced professionals has provided testing and consultancy services to government ministries locally and within the region and to the construction, energy and light manufacturing sectors, among others.

For more information on this service, please contact our Industrial Materials Unit – Civil at 285-5050 ext 3190 or email us at lramoutar@ cariri.com or awilliams@cariri.com.