The prize-giving ceremony for the VIBE CT 105 TUCO Road March title – which saw Montano receive a 2016 Ford Ranger – was held at Ford Motors, Charles Street, Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Montano stuck by his stance that he would not be competing in major competitions like Soca Monarch anymore.

Ford’s general manager, Jimmy Boissiere, Carib’s Antron Forte and VIBE CT 105’s programming consultant, Joel Morris (Signal to Noise) also addressed the audience gathered for the prize-giving.

He said his motto going forward is cooperation over competition.

Road March, he said, was not a competition like other competitions but one that fed the vibe and energy of the masqueraders.

He indicated that his work for 2017 would incorporate traditional sounds and tones. Montano said he felt he was at an important juncture in his career where, now holding eight road march titles, he could work with the younger soca artistes and, “still give them some of what was traditional/cultural.” Montano joined calypso and soca royalty with The Mighty Sparrow holding eight Road March titles, SuperBlue with nine and Lord Kitchener has ten.

He jokingly told those gathered that he had four more road march titles to go. But urged that the soca and calypso traditions needed to be shared with younger generations.

“A lot of the knowledge, they say, is usually in cemeteries. We don’t want to wait to pass on knowledge…You have to pass it on…we want to do that with music.

We want to teach them about the foundation,” he said. He said a lot of young people, globally, are looking on at soca and should be properly informed.

He said his documentary “Machel Montano: Journey of a Soca King” would be released early next year.

Two recent looting incidents involving groceries have drawn attention.

According to one report, “the police have since deduced that there may be a gang of hungry bandits targeting places so they can loot from them following a fire.” On Monday, the Benefit the People Supermarket on the Eastern Main Road, Barataria, was looted after it was set on fire. Days earlier, the burnt-out premises of the D&J Budget Mart at Prizgar Road, San Juan, was looted following a fire on November 21.

The premises had been secured by a security firm but looters pounced after they were removed.

We condemn these incidents of looting in the strongest possible terms. They represent the kind of lawlessness that must be nipped in the bud before it gets out of hand.

The State cannot risk having more people join the seeming free-for-all. It must deter by imposing the fullest brunt of the law.

If the looters – many of whom were captured on video circulated on social media – are not apprehended, the message sent will be clear: looters can get away with crime. This is similar to the failure to penalise motorists who drive on the shoulders of the highways and who break red lights.

But it is not only the State that has a role to play in deterrence and enforcement of the law.

Law-abiding citizens, too, must play their part in identifying the looters.

They cannot simply wash their hands of the actions of members of their community and leave it up to the police to find them. We need to take back our country.

Let’s stop the moaning and groaning about crime in general and murders in particular being out of hand.

Let’s work with the police to get murderers off the street so that innocent people can feel safe again. If you know the looters, if you know the bandits, if you know the killers, talk to the police.

People in some quarters are blaming the economic situation for the looting. If that is so things will only get worse.

But we see little evidence to justify the claim that the economy is the root cause of the breakdown of law and order on Monday and Saturday. We are not enduring the kinds of conditions that prevail currently in, say, Venezuela.

The real cause is the feeling that the State will not be able to take any effective action, be it through criminal proceedings or through preventative measures.

There is also the failure of communities to police themselves: people are harbouring criminals and encouraging a culture of crass opportunism. In fact, some are deliberately encouraging the scavenging.

Where are we heading as a society if we allow the looting and wanton murders to continue? It must also be remarked that one of the premises targeted by criminals is, yet again, Chinese owned and operated.

What does it mean for us as a society and as an economy if we allow the apparent targeting of Chinese businesses to continue? It’s time to say no more.

And if the police under normal circumstances are unable to stem the unacceptable rise in murders, maybe a state of emergency is necessary — as Pastor Clive Dottin called for on Wednesday — to tackle the out-of-control crime problem.

Let’s delay no longer.

Emotional and financial strain often top the list of Christmas woes. Christmas is the season to rush around like a social butterfly, and then there are all of those presents we feel obligated to buy.

It’s a time when restraint goes out the window as we fantasise about Santa squeezing himself through the burglar-proofing so that we don’t have to feel guilty for spending so much money.

All that added stress piles up and voila! You literally get sick and tired during the holidays.

The Mayo Clinic, which is a good site to turn to if you want health information, does an admirable job of describing the holiday blues.

Ironically, ’tis the time of year when you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely, so the Mayo Clinic suggests you reach out to someone and express your feelings. You’re not a package so don’t keep all your feelings bundled up inside.

The Mayo Clinic suggests you set aside differences with friends and family members during the holiday season. Don’t go looking for trouble.

This might not be the time you want to talk to people about past grievances. It’s better to postpone those big talks that people might not be ready for because they’re enjoying the holiday.

Be realistic. Television shows and movies will spin fantastic tales about finding the perfect love. They suggest your absentee father will come home or Santa will visit and bring all those presents.

In other words, don’t set yourself up for disappointments.

Set a holiday budget and stick to it. I always suggest that a group of friends have a one-on-one gift exchange where everyone decides to buy a nice present for their chosen person rather than trying to buy gifts for a dozen people.

This just isn’t feasible and everyone gets short-changed. You’re dividing the money you have to spend among a lot more people.

It’s also more rewarding to give homemade gifts or organise experiences that promote the goodwill of Christmas.

Volunteer. Do community service work. One way to avoid the Christmas blues is to plan carefully.

The Mayo Clinic also suggests that you don’t abandon your healthy habits of eating properly and doing exercise just because there’s an abundance of ham, fruitcake, ponche a cr?me and all of those holiday goodies. Get plenty of sleep.

Of course, I’m going to throw my two cents in here and suggest some quiet evenings curled up with a good Christmas book.

Read for the holidays.

Remember, there’s much you can do to capture that Christmas spirit with little or no money: Listen to Christmas music, bake cookies, read Christmas stories to children, become involved in church activities. Find ways to think outside of the same, old Christmas box.

Don’t dwell on the past and the hurt you’ve felt in bygone Christmases.

Keep traditions and start new ones. Always try to make a merry Christmas for someone else.

There is magic in Christmas, and everyone has the power to harness that magic and create a memorable experience for some person in their lives. It could be a family member or a stranger.

You can beat the Christmas blues. To do this, you might just have to take the reindeer by the horns.

The UNC said it was designed to “steal the corporation” away from the people of Sangre Grande.

This was the position advanced by UNC chairman David Lee and UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen at a hastily convened news conference at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Port-of-Spain, hours after the ceremony took place.

Hinting that the Opposition had not ruled out taking legal action in this matter, Ramdeen told reporters, “We will take advice on this matter and we will not let it rest here.” He said this was something which the UNC would deliberate upon, once Opposition Leader and UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar returns home from London, where she is attending a conference.

Agreeing with Lee that what happened at the ceremony was, “a high handed approach”, by the PNM.

Ramdeen claimed there was, “a total breach of settled practice”, when incumbent chairman Terry Rondon took charge of the meeting when it came to the election of a chairman, instead of letting the chief executive officer (CEO) chair the process.

Ramdeen said while this was the process which took place in all of the other 13 local government corporations, this did not happen in Sangre Grande where the CEO, “took a backseat” to Rondon.

Reminding reporters there is a deadlock in the corporation with the PNM and UNC each having four councillors and two aldermen, Ramdeen charged that “several attempts” were made by the PNM to get one of the UNC’s councillors to cross the floor and those attempts included monetary offers.

He further alleged that when those efforts failed, the PNM executed a “premeditated and well-orchestrated plan” to take control of the corporation.

Ramdeen argued the PNM’s actions went against the grain of the provisions of the Representation of the People’s Act and the Municipal Corporations Act.

He said it was at this stage, the UNC’s councillors and aldermen decided they would take no further part in, “an unlawful exercise of power,” and walked out of the ceremony.

Ramdeen declared that the UNC objected to the procedure used by Rondon at the meeting and his use of a casting vote to allow the PNM to steal control of the corporation.

He argued that Section 67 (2) of the Municipal Corporations Act made it clear that the person presiding at a meeting of council will, in the event of an equality of votes, have a “second or casting vote. Ramdeen claimed this was why the CEO did not chair the meeting.

While Lee and Ramdeen were non-committal as to whether the UNC would take any legal action against the Government with respect to control of the corporation, they both said the UNC remained open to speak with the PNM to resolve the situation amicably.

“It is not too late,” Ramdeen said. Lee recalled that the approach of the UNC is borne out in Persad- Bissessar’s recent letter to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, asking for a meeting between the Government and Opposition to resolve the impasse in Sangre Grande.

Comparing what transpired as similar to the impasse between the Government and Opposition regarding the passage of FATCA legislation in Parliament, Lee said Sangre Grande provides the perfect opportunity for the PNM and UNC to work together in the national interest.

Lee and Ramdeen indicated that power- sharing arrangements could be a solution to who controls the corporation.

Guardian newspaper senior sports journalist Walter Alibey yesterday pleaded guilty to the charge laid by the Criminal Tax Investigation Unit of the Board of Inland Revenue when he appeared before Portof- Spain First Court Magistrate Christine Charles. Alibey of Cleaver Heights, Arima will be sentenced next week Tuesday.

Alibey, as director of Agro Aggressive Organisation and Maintenance Services, received a government contract for $832,703.50 on July 1, 2013, to carry out refurbishment and maintenance work at the Valencia Community Centre by the Ministry of Sport.

The company issued an invoice in the sum of $253,000 to the Sport Ministry for payment, which was approved and received on September 6, 2013.

It was later revealed that Agro Aggressive was not registered for VAT despite billing the Ministry $33,000 for VAT on its invoice. Alibey was expected to register his company with the BIR when his company exceeded the VAT-able threshold of $200,000 and had failed to do so, when he acquired the $832,730.50 contract, for the work on the Valencia Community Centre.

Only registered persons can lawfully seek to recover VAT in accordance with the VAT Act.

Under Section 23(2) of the Act, any person who is not registered and who recovers or seeks to recover tax, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for three years.

In his plea of mitigation before the court, Alibey’s lawyer Joseph Honore said that his client, a father of four, who attended Queen’s Royal College and played football at the secondary school level and the National under 15 and 19 levels, was given bad advice but had cooperated fully with the authorities and is willing to make amends. Honore said the experience was a traumatic one for Alibey, who has strong ties to his community. The lawyer said when the LifeSport scandal erupted, Alibey lost his job and suffered tremendously as his life came to a standstill.

“This scandal left him with a level of uncertainty,” Honore said. Magistrate Charles indicated that she wanted an opportunity to look at the documents presented to her before she sentences Alibey.

Attorney Evans Welch prosecuted on behalf of the BIR and Rawle Sookhoo Criminal Tax Investigator II, who was named as the complainant in the matter. In October, a High Court judge quashed a damning 2014 audit report into the controversial LifeSport programme, which led to the immediate termination of the programme.

On November 15, Joseph appeared before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John in San Fernando and was granted $250,000 bail.

Upon his arrest, SRP Williams also appeared in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ court and his cases were transferred to San Fernando.

Charges against the two arose from an incident on November 11, in which casino owner Jinhu Zhu and one of his female relatives were robbed of $406,000, two cellphones and an air rifle.

The alleged incident took place at Zhu’s home at Soledad Road. Yesterday, both Joseph and Williams appeared before Magistrate Forde-John in San Fernando. Both men have not been called upon to plead to the charges which were laid indictably by Sgt Dindial Chulhan of the Professional Standards Bureau. Yesterday, attorney Sadee Lee Duprey, representing Joseph, asked Magistrate Forde-John to consider a cash alternative to the $250,000 bail granted previously.

The magistrate obliged and granted SRP Joseph cash alternative bail in the sum of $75,000. Magistrate Forde-John then asked SRP Williams if he had an attorney and he replied, “No.” Williams was on suspension when he was arrested and charged with the robbery, while Joseph was working at San Juan Police Station when he was arrested.

The magistrate adjourned the cases to January 17. Williams was taken from the dock into the Holding Bay cell downstairs while Joseph was escorted out of the court in handcuffs and into the bay area.

Banfield’s mother Sherry Ann Lopez yesterday told Newsday that her prayers are that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) will be guided in the right path to address the murder of her daughter.

“Vengeance is not ours…it belongs to God and we have to remember Shannon’s faith and what she believed in and continue to keep that faith, for Shannon.

With our belief, we know God is in control and everything will be dealt with,” Lopez said.

She continued, “I pray for the police service to do whatever they have to do and to be guided accordingly into doing what they have to do. It is only God that is holding us up right now.” Lopez told Newsday that the family remains distraught over the entire incident and began counselling yesterday. “I am just trying to hang in there and the entire family is really having a hard time dealing with the death of Shannon.

We have started counselling and we are keeping the faith and trusting in God,” Lopez said. She indicated that the police are working on the case and information surrounding the matter keeps coming in, but she does not want to know as, “it is just too much to process.” “We have now started to go through our phase of mourning and we need to let the police do their work. This is how I am looking at it,” Lopez said.

She also thanked the nation for the “overwhelming” support to the family after Shannon’s death.

Held at Nestl?’s Valsayn Factory on Tuesday , discussions involved Nestl?’s Country Manager, Michel Beneventi, the Labour Minister and members of the company’s management team.

Nestl? said on the talks focused on its “plan for continued growth and sustainability of TT’s skilled and labour force, employee relations and the Nestl? Needs YOUth initiative.” The Nestl? Needs YOUth initiative encourages youth employment and skilled training through internships, apprenticeships and trainee programmes provided by the company and our Alliance 4 YOUth partners. The company noted that there are 11,300 young people under the age of 30 who are seeking employment opportunities in this country and that annually, more than 3,000 students graduate every year, seeking a job.

“Nestl? has mandated itself to decrease these statistics and has, thus far, connected with over 3,000 students in secondary schools, universities, ministries and with the Alliance through readiness to work activities,” the company stated.

Labour Minister Baptiste-Primus congratulated the company on its Nestl? Needs YOUth initiative and, as Nestl? stated, “looked forward to partnering with the company in affording our youth the opportunity to build their careers through meaningful work experience.” Following the discussion, Baptiste- Primus toured the Valsayn Factory and received a first-hand view of Nestl?’s production facilities.

Aboud said, in addition, that the murder of twenty-year-old Shannon Banfield did have a negative impact on sales in the capital city; however, he has taken note of the increasing presence of the police in Port-of-Spain.

Aboud stated, “The overall economic climate of the country has had some effect on the City of Port-of-Spain. We have seen a decline which is consistent with the decline being seen in the country in overall volume. But that is not unexpected.

Every sector of the society has to acknowledge the current economic situation in the country, and they have to recalibrate their expectations about their businesses.

The unfortunate tragedy on Charlotte Street last week has had some effect on the City of Portof- Spain, but the police have responded.

We are grateful for the response of the police; they have had an increase in their presence and visibility in the city streets.

Manick, who retained the Felicity/ Endeavour electoral district following the November 28 Local Government election for the Opposition United National Congress (UNC), did not attend the swearing-in ceremony in which incumbent Mayor, Gopaul Boodhan, was elected for a second term while Charlieville councillor, Faaiq Mohammed, was elected as deputy mayor. In a telephone interview yesterday, Manick recalled that five minutes before the ceremony, the councillors were handed envelopes containing instructions from the party.

“They asked us to come at a particular time and, five minutes before, we were asked to open these envelopes and see the contents,” Manick said. Lo and behold we saw positions. I was offered the position of deputy mayor and Mr Boodhan was selected to be mayor of the Chaguanas Borough for a second term.

“I had no problem with that at all, but when I came out of the room, we had a lot of people who came from the Chaguanas Borough, the burgesses, they came and they asked me what is the situation? I said I was offered the position of deputy mayor and I am going into the swearing-in now.”