Living with or caring for a child, spouse, parent or grandparent in the grips of dementia can be incredibly challenging. Situations can vary from the gut-wrenching sadness that happens when the person you love dearly can no longer remember your name or who you are, to the taking care of their personal hygiene when they have toilet accidents, or having to stop yourself from being annoyed with them when they display out-of-character temper tantrums.

Dementia is caused by disease, damage and deterioration of the brain, and it does not discriminate – it can affect anyone regardless of social class, race, academic achievements or age. Also, everyone’s experience of living with dementia is unique, not only because there are various forms of the disease, and it is possible for a person to have more than one type, but also because there is no one way in which it progresses.

It is estimated that just over 60 per cent of all cases of dementia are Alzheimer’s, making it the most common form of the disease.

This is followed by vascular dementia (previously called poststroke dementia) because this occurs from blockages or damage to blood vessels causing strokes or bleeding in the brain.

It is also suggested that other health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease can increase the risk of getting vascular dementia, and that some types of dementia are exacerbated by alcohol My friend’s mother in the early stages was clumsy – she would stumble, or things would fall out of her hands, and the family would tease her and wondered if she was secretly drinking.

From time to time she was having problems recalling names and recognising places, but the family got concerned when they noticed that she was also developing erratic eating habits and losing weight.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, difficulty remembering recent conversations, names or events; apathy and depression is often an early clinical symptom of the disease.

Later symptoms include impaired communication, poor judgment, disorientation, confusion, behaviour changes and difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking.

In addition to which, 40 per cent of people with Alzheimer’s also have significant depression.

There is also some indication that changes in taste buds and smell, and loss of knowledge of flavours contributes to them having a desire for heavier flavours or sugary foods. Which is probably why on the odd occasions when my friend’s mum wanted to eat, she would ask for ice-cream, cake or biscuits.

The association also notes that in vascular dementia the symptoms are slightly different.

Impaired judgment or the ability to make decisions, difficulties in planning or organising, are some of the most likely initial symptoms, as opposed to the memory loss that is often associated with the initial symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

One of the common myths is that dementia is a geriatric disease. But young onset dementia, also known as working age dementia, can occur between the ages of 30 to 65, and usually presents with problems in walking, movement, co-ordination or balance.

Receiving a diagnosis of dementia is life-altering both for the patient and the family. It is known to create feelings of guilt, anger, and frustration on both sides.

The patient is suddenly faced with the realities of their diminishing independence, and the family struggles to care for someone they love with progressive behavioural and cognitive impairments.

My friend’s family relationships broke down because they could not agree on whether or not their mum should be institutionalised. Arguments ran deep and tempers flared mainly because they were all very distressed and worn down by their mum’s illness and the reality of her ultimate demise. In the midst of her mother’s illness my friend was diagnosed with clinical depression which some family members used as a weapon against her.

We know that the challenges of dementia run deep and wide, and for those who are having to care for loved ones I hope that others reach out to you with empathy and understanding.

Dr Yansie Rolston FRSA is a UK-based disability and mental health specialist advisor.

She is a social strategist and trainer who works internationally at various levels of government, business and civil society.

Contact her at yr@ efficacyeva.com

During the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), held at Radisson Hotel, Port-of-Spain last Thursday, shareholders voted in favour of a proposal by the board that, having declared an interim dividend of $0.15 in December 2016, to pay a final dividend of $0.20 to shareholders on the register as of July 21, 2017.

In its Annual Report 2017, NEL Chairman, Ingrid Lashley, said the board was pleased to report that with its portfolio of local investee companies, NEL “continues to provide shareholders with competitive dividends despite the challenges of the economic downturn.” “The share of profit of equity accounted investments, which will include shareholdings in Trinidad Nitrogen Company Limited (TRINGEN), NGC NGL Company Limited (NGC NGL), Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT) and Pan West Engineers and Constructors LLC (Pan West), is $145.9 million, an increase of $80.5 million or 123 percent over the corresponding period last year,” Lashley stated.

She explained that this was due largely to improvement in the results of TSTT, as the company moved from a loss position to profitability over the period, “as well as marked improvement in the performance of Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL). Dividends from the Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Powergen) were also noteworthy.” Lashley said the result of these increases was a net profit after tax of $200.8 million, almost 100 percent increase from the previous year’s figure of $109.6 million. The net profit for the year is reflected in an increase in earnings per share that doubled to $0.30 from $0.15 in 2016.

Addressing shareholders partway through the proceedings was NEL’s General Manager, Terrence Clarke; whose appointment became effective on September 5, 2016.

Our national bird. We celebrate independence, Republic Day, holidays.

Do we know, understand, care what it all means? In the US if you are caught with one feather of their national bird, you can be jailed and fined heavily. Have we no pride at all in ourselves, our country, in what we are supposed to stand for? Years ago, the Pointea- Pierre Wildfowl Trust, together with other NGOs, spearheaded a drive to have our national bird made a protected species. We succeeded.

We appealed then, as we appeal now, for help for the Forestry/Wildlife Division for more licensed and properly armed game wardens to patrol and protect our valuable wetlands, forests and their species.

There are just 11 men, if so many now, to patrol and protect all of TT .

Are we joking? Let us stop this abomination now. Let us take more pride in ourselves. Stop the killing of our scarlet ibis. Stop the killing of our national bird.

MOLLY R GASKIN
president P-a-P Wildfowl Trust

However, the role of the trade unions is governed by the laws of the country and in particular there is an Industrial Court to settle disputes among labour, unions and the various employers. This tends to suggest that there are formal limits on the trade unions’ interactions in the socioeconomic life of the country.

However, the Constitution allows any person or groups to seek to be part of the political discussion by seeking parliamentary representation. Hence there is nothing to prevent the labour unions from forming their own political party to seek the role they desire in the political management of the country.

The Constitution does not allow the union any special privileges in our politics. Maybe this is why Mr Panday sees constitutional reform as the absolute solution to our problems, to their threat to mash up the place.

The major problem facing us today is the diversification of our exports. The trade unions are totally out of their depth in finding a solution to this. Further, the fall in rents earned by the energy sector demands a decrease in the onshore economic activity which can mean loss of jobs, reduction in make-work projects and social services which the unions will naturally oppose — not a man must go or we go shut down the place.

The model of the economy is what it is. It cannot support the required onshore activity if the foreign exchange is not forthcoming, especially given that export diversification is not an immediate affair nor can we continue to borrow from abroad and surely not print money.

Still we see the Opposition members of Parliament calling for the distribution of land and houses by the Government so as to improve living conditions for the middle class. The intent is that if our farmers are given land there will be more produce available for local consumption and export.

Unfortunately, this simplicity has no currency in the real world of technology and global competition.

One only has to look at how Brazil was able to emerge from being unable to feed itself into one of the largest exporters of food in the world via a tripartite of government, private sector and the research and development (R&D) institutions via the formation of a national agricultural innovation system.

Starting with Etzkowitz’s Triple Helix, our pathway out of this plantation economy is a similar helix which I called the “innovation diamond” consisting of government involvement that supplies the initial funding and the leadership, the R&D institutions via centres of excellence that provide the ideas and intellectual property, which could warrant global competitiveness, and a private sector, new or the current one augmented, to build export companies.

Given the history of the present private sector it is not expected that it would take the lead in the tripartite group. Yet we hear the Government continually mouthing its aim to diversify the economy via information and communications technology (ICT), tourism financial services and marine and maritime services, with little to show except the gallant attempt by the Economic Development Advisory Board.

Economic diversification will impose a demand on government for financial resources, on the demand for foreign exchange, which in this deepening recession is indeed a burden. Yet we hear of building a port in Toco and a highway to the port to facilitate the journey to Tobago, the completion of the highway to Pt Fortin, all of which will impose demands on government spending but will contribute nothing to economic diversification.

The population is supposed to be pacified since these projects could provide short-term jobs and halt the retrenchment taking place in this recession.

The recent announcement that bpTT has started to produce gas from its Juniper facility and the prospect of gas from Venezuela raise our hopes that the energy sector may again come rushing in to the rescue. However, it is important to recognise that this does not herald the return of the good times.

The Business Guardian of July 13 published a graph of past and projected gas production, which shows that even with the expected projects, then in the development phase, with one from bppTT now in production, production cannot reach the 4.4 bcfd required to keep our gas industries fully productive. The chart shows a further steady decline after 2009.

If gas prices improve, we will still see decreasing revenues, gas shortages; there will still be a drop in foreign exchange earned by the energy sector.

The fundamental deficiency in our country is the lack of a national innovation system, though we have many poor models of its components — courses in entrepreneurship and innovation, business incubators, conferences on innovation, talk from UWI about its entrepreneurship push, and the plans of the Ministry of Planning supported by the Ministry of Trade about, you guessed it, ICT, financial services, tourism, marine and maritime services.

The energy sector may simply give us the time to get on with our diversification if we get our act together, if we get our tripar t ite to perform.

And no one doubts the tremendous challenges we face as a people.

One person who is in a prime position to understand those challenges is Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who, over the weekend, sought to set a more relaxed and jovial tone as we approach this week’s Independence Day commemorations. The Prime Minister attended a book launch for the latest publication of calypsonian Chalkdust and spent a few hours as a guest DJ at i95FM.

The last time a Prime Minister stormed a radio station was in 2008 when then Patrick Manning decided to visit Radio 94.1FM to complain about a broadcast. This time around, however, the “storming” comprised only good vibes.

In a sign of how times have changed, on Friday night Rowley praised Manning for establishing the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), the body that has published Liverpool’s latest book.

Then, at the radio station on Saturday, the Prime Minister spent two hours taking calls from the public and co-hosting ‘The Barbershop’ program with John Benoit.

It is good that the Prime Minister has shown us a relaxed, positive side. The transmission of optimism by the head of the Government, who holds the grave responsibility of steering us through difficult times, inspires confidence that all is not lost. Indeed, now more than ever we need to be reminded of the good things that are happening in our country.

Amid the serious global issues facing us, we need to have hope in order to be inspired to move forward to address the matters that call out for attention.

The Prime Minister’s endorsement of Chalkdust is an endorsement of the artform the nine-time Calypso Monarch embodies. That is an art-form that is truthful and unbiased, holds no punches, and that sees the small man hold those in power accountable. Or at least that is what calypso, at its finest, should be.

It is also notable that Rowley – the author of his own memoir From Masonhall to Whitehall – has supported a local book publication.

His call for citizens to support Chalkdust’s UTT-published book should be just the start. He should similarly endorse other local publications and, if he is so minded, continue to support aspects of our culture by attending further events and even co-hosting radio programs on a diverse range of radio stations.

It is hoped the Prime Minister, who in April committed to possibly considering a review of VAT on books, will in the next Parliamentary term disclose the result of this review, if it has taken place.

Perhaps this is a matter that Finance Minister Colm Imbert will speak to come Budget Day.

Though he struck a jovial note over the weekend, the Prime Minister was also candid in his assessment of the biggest challenge facing the nation. In his estimation, corruption at all levels of the State, from the highest to the lowest, remains deeply problematic. This is a startling admission from the head of the Cabinet. With lingering questions over matters such as the Marlene McDonald affair and the sea-ferry matter, how the issue of corruption will be tackled is one citizens will be monitoring carefully.

In relation to the fraught seabridge issue, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan has already said heads will roll if any wrong-doing is found. Rowley has made clear his view that all indicators point to something crooked.

We wish the Prime Minister well as he embarks on his regular medical checkup. It is clear he will need all his strength to lead this nation, not only through the good times but also the challenging days ahead.

Someone actually said to me that it is “doomed” and something always goes wrong.

Well, the only mishap thus far has been attending the book launch of Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat and listening to her read from her new, highly emotional work, only to discover that no one in Barbados can buy a copy. Her fans can barely contain their disappointment.

This new book, called The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story, needless to say, brought forth anecdotes from many in the audience who shared their experiences of the death of a parent.

Danticat was not alone in launching a new book. The esteemed poet Kamau Brathwaite also launched Liviticus and Jamaican poet Mervyn Morris gave a glimpse of his new collected poems, Peelin’ Orange, in which some of the old poems are remade.

The launches formed part of a symposium organised jointly by the Barbadian Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. It was an innovative enterprise organised by co-convenors Dr Marcia Burrowes, coordinator of cultural studies at Cave Hill and Andrew Millington, a Barbadian UWI lecturer at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, and a filmmaker.

Film featured somewhat prominently at this event, as did discussions about the state of the arts in the Caribbean and issues surrounding reparation.

I gather that the ministry felt that the return to intellectual discussion and dialogue between art practitioners and academics would bring a new dimension to Carifesta. Hence the imposing title of the symposium: The Caribbean, the Arts and the Cultural Industries: Negotiating Tradition, Aesthetics, Economics and Legacy.

And indeed the convenors sought to address these many issues.

There were discussions, readings, film screenings, dance and, what is most important for Carifesta, a meeting of minds and an opportunity to network. There was also a special Derek Walcott Day dedicated to this great poet who died in March.

The most dominant topic of the five days was tourism. Not how to entice tourists, but how to create markets for tourism that are non-exploitative. It is interesting to note how this shift in emphasis is happening worldwide. Governments are beginning to realise that while tourism brings much needed revenue to a country, its effects can be detrimental on the landscape and on the psyche of a people.

The issue of tourism is being discussed in Holland, for example, which many residents feel is literally overrun with tourists. The city of Amsterdam can barely accommodate these visitors, who are encouraged by cheap airfares and the new global business of Airbnb.

As a result of these concerns, there is a suggestion that the city should get rid of the red light district, which is a focal point for many prurient sightseers.

Tourism, as virtually every writer from the Caribbean notes, brings with it a danger of what is now designated neo-enslavement.

The problem is both the attitudes engendered by tourism and the fact that those who benefit most are those who already have the greatest wealth and resources.

At the Carifesta symposium there was animated discussion on what tourists expect when they arrive in the Caribbean. Sun no doubt. Sea obviously, but also sex or, at the very least, the promise of it, according to academic Angelique Nixon, who has written a book about the Caribbean and tourism, titled Resisting Paradise: Tourism, Diaspora and Sexuality in Caribbean Culture.

Many Caribbean islands still try to live up to that promise of paradise.

But increasingly, the idea of cooperative endeavour, in particular in the arts, is eme rging as an altern a t i v e to what some see as the exploitation of our resources.

More than 6.5 million people call Houston home. Among them are Trinidadian national, Stacy Ann and Australian national, Nicole Flockton, both of whom spoke with Newsday yesterday about how their families have been coping.

Stacy Ann lives in Fulshear while Flockton’s home is located about half hour’s drive away in what’s known as the ‘Energy Corridor’ of Houston.

The streets in her neighbourhood hadn’t flooded as of yesterday afternoon but the retention ponds and lakes in the area were either full or overflowing.

“Rain has been steady since Friday night. Flooding will get worse over the next few days, as retention ponds are filled.” Asked if she was concerned about what might happen, given the forecast for more rain over the next few days, Stacy Ann said she was “a little worried.” “Our neighbourhood has lots of lakes, so we could take water but this is a lot and our lakes are filling up…If the rain doesn’t stop and let it drain off, we could see water coming up on our street and maybe even our driveway. Our house is high up on the street but if it rains for three more days, as predicted, anything is fair game.” Given that her daughter, Sophia, is five-years-old while her son, Adam, is two-years-old, Stacy Ann said her children have had different reactions to the change in routine; particularly the need to seek shelter during tornado warnings.

“Adam couldn’t care two hoots.

Sophia is more aware and just scared of the tornadoes. Tornadoes are scary. You can’t see them and the warnings are constant, so you don’t know where they’ll come from, it at all.” During the tornado warnings; one was issued shortly before 2 pm yesterday while Stacy Ann was talking to Newsday, the family has huddled together in a closet in a bedroom on the ground floor of their home.

“It’s small but the strongest part of the house, (so) that’s where we wait out the tornadoes.” Asked how she’s tried to keep Sophia calm, Stacy Ann told Newsday that because her daughter gets to sleep with mom and dad during Harvey’s passage, “She is in heaven right now.” Stacy Ann expressed sorrow that while her family is OK, so far, “Families in Simonton; a few miles from here, have to evacuate. What is sad is, some of them lost their homes two years ago and had just rebuilt. So sad.” Thankful for being spared, Stacy Ann said she and husband, Adam, “were planning to go help people in other neighbourhoods who need to pack up their stuff quickly” but by 4.30 pm yesterday, the rain was “pouring down” again and the roads leading out of their community had flooded. So the couple were forced to stay put.

Yesterday, many schools in Houston announced the cancellation of classes for all of this week.

The Katy Independent School District (KISD) was among the school systems which decided to do so.

Stacy Ann’s children go to schools within the KISD.

Referring to the announcement made early yesterday afternoon, she said, “I have a sitter lined up, so I can work from home or at the office if I need to go in.” Over in the ‘Energy Corridor’, Flockton expressed relief that her home and neighbourhood had been spared the worst, so far, from Harvey’s passage.

“We are in a good area, fortunately.

We also didn’t have tornadoes touch down near us,” Flockton told Newsday.

During a break in the rains yesterday morning, Flockton and her husband, Jason Flockton, donned boots and took a walk through their neighbourhood and out to Westheimer Road, a main eastwest road in Houston, Texas.

“Our street’s drainage is doing a brilliant job,” Flockton wrote on her Facebook page.

“When we started out the rain was heavy and there was pooling but the drains were gulping down the water. There was water up to the top on a couple of the drains but water was still flowing. The four-way intersection has puddles but was clear. As we headed down toward one of the main roads, Westheimer, there was puddling that got deeper as we walked toward the road.”

Community Education Officer of the Institute of Marine Affairs Lori Lee Lum on Friday told Newsday that at last year’s lionfish derby, divers killed close to 400 in two days.

“No natural predators can get rid of the lionfish, so it has to be hunted,” Lee Lum said.

Lee Lum spoke with Newsday on the Brian Lara Promenade where the Institute of Marine Affairs held an educational awareness programme on the lionfish.

It attracted a number of passers-by.

They provided handouts and other tokens in the campaign.

Together with the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute, they provided samples of the lionfish to the visitors who said they love the taste.

In Jamaica, Lee Lum said, the lionfish is a regular on their menu.

Three restaurants and eateries in Tobago.

have it on their menu.

Contrary to popular opinion, she said, the meat of the lionfish is not poisonous.

Because it is not poisonous, it is being promoted as a delicacy on the menus of many Caribbean countries in an bid to reduce the lionfish population.

Three restaurants and eateries in Tobago.

have it on their menu.

However, the spiky fins are venomous, should the lionfish strike. There is treatment for the sting.

Calling on divers and fishermen to intensify the “Sustain the hunt. Stop lionfish” campaign which began last year with the derby, Lee Lum, said, more derbies are being planned with stakeholders. Some of the stakeholders include the Association of Tobago Dive Tour Operators, Ricks Dive World, All Tobago Fisherfolk, Department of Marine Resources and Fisheries, Tobago House of Assembly, Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, and fishing associations in Trinidad.

More recently, the lionfish which causes ecological damage to the coral reefs, reduces the population of juvenile and small fish by up to 90 percent, has recently found its way to mangroves, Lee Lum said.

They eat the herbivores like the wrasses and parrotfish that keep algae from overgrowing the coral reefs.

The mangroves are also nurseries for different species of fishes.

They decrease the abundance of the commercial fish stock such as snappers and groupers, and shrimp and crab.

The lionfish, which is native to the Indo- Pacific, also outnumbers the native fish populations in many locations.

Noting the danger that the lionfish pose to the fishing stock in Trinidad and Tobago waters, she said, the lionfish is not caught in nets like regular fish because they stay close to the jagged edges of the coral reefs and now the shores where mangroves are located.

As such, she said, a special “fish pot” ( a trap) is being developed to try to catch the prey.

Fishermen in Tobago have caught the lionfish in fish pots they set for the regular fish.

The lionfish is known by other names such as zebra fish, turkey fish, peacock lionfish, and butterfly cod. Thy grow to about 18 inches in length.

This includes the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) being mandated to find a passenger ferry in the shortest possible time, Government to order a custom-built ferry, Tobago to operate ferries, and the expansion of the board of directors of PATT to include two more Tobagonians.

Rowley has also agreed to consider, after discussions with the Minister of Finance, the removal of the hotel tax which threatens hoteliers ability to survive in the present circumstances given the disruptions and consequent loss of income associated with the ferry problems.

In addition, Government is to review Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) booking policy for travel to and from Tobago.

This is according to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) which noted in a release issued yesterday that the measures were put forward by the stakeholders.

With one ferry out of commission and another due to go on dry dock for extensive repairs, Government has instructed the PATT to broaden its search for a suitable replacement ferry, wherever vessels are available, and whether held by owners or brokers.

During the last search, OPM said, the PATT restricted its search, and selected a passenger ferry under questionable circumstances.

This selection process is now being investigated.

Rowley is quoted as saying that the search should be easier with the summer at an end. Looking for a vessel in September and October, he said, is a easier than looking in June or July when there are increases in traffic in the northern hemisphere and everyone is using their vessel.

“Now moving into fall and winter, there should be more available, but we must broaden our search. Whatever went wrong with regard to the restriction of the search ought not to form part of a new search. So we will be working overtime to get a passenger vessel here in the shortest possible time.” Once found, Government will seek to enter into a two to threeyear contract while moving to order a custom-built ferry.

Cabinet has decided to place an order for a brand new ferry that will be built to specifications. It will be State-owned and operated by the PATT. The tender is expected to go out for bids soon.

On Tobago operating the ferries, the OPM said, Rowley believes that given Tobago’s reliance on them for sustenance, the service should be operated out of Tobago and under the guidance of Tobago.

The people of Tobago, he said, have demonstrated an ability to manage their own affairs in other areas and they should be allowed to manage this facility.

“You should be looking after your welfare in these areas and of course, when we add that to the phasing in of other medium-term and long-term arrangements, we have every confidence that Tobago’s economy, in the hands of Tobagonians as part of the national effort, would progress to a better place,” he said.

Meanwhile the PATT’s board will include two more Tobagonians bringing the number of Tobagonians on the board to three.

“We believe that the Port Authority must have a larger Tobago interest on the board because Tobago relies so much more on the port than other communities,” he said.

On improvement to CAL operations, the airline will continue to make additional seating available for travel between Trinidad and Tobago.

The Cabinet, the OPM said, is to make a decision on CAL’s current booking policy.

“We are operating in a system where people can book at will and cancel at will without penalty.

This matter has come before the Cabinet. Some adjustments will have to be made.” He said there were some “98,000 cancellations which took place at CAL recently with respect to seats that were booked by people who did not travel.

Bookings force people to travel on standby.

He said he also wants to see more Tobagonians represented on the airline’s board.

David-Swain and Moffett were presented with beautiful artwork during the committee’s 15th annual Five-Kilometre Freedom Run on Emancipation Day.

The event, titled Cleansing the Mind, featured close to 150 participants, including runners and fitness enthusiasts from throughout the country and the wider Caribbean.

Among them were members of the popular Sweaters Club in Sangre Grande. The committee’s founder, Montsho Masimba, in an address at the start of the run, said the organisation was established some 22 years ago, to assist in the development of the region through lectures, seminars and other community-building events.

Masimba told the participants their ancestors fought for the freedoms they continue to enjoy.

“There was a time when our people could not take part in sports. What is going on here, we could not have done that. Many of our fathers and mothers died for for that opportunity,” he said of the run.

Masimba, a well-known community activist, recalled that when American athlete Jesse Owens had won the gold medal in the 1940s, Adolf Hitler had refused to put the medal around his neck simply because he (Owens) was black.

“That is in the 20th century I am talking about. So, we have the opportunity to run and be part of any sporting exercise we wish to be.” Masimba said the annual run was also a way of paying homage to our ancestors “who have done all of this hard work for us.” Masimba urged competitors to use the occasion to reflect on the symbolism of the Emancipation observance, which, he believes, is an ongoing process.

“Make it a spiritual day. Do not make it a day for bacchanal and partying down and spending money on ten thousand dollars clothes,” he said.

“Take Emancipation into your home, beat a drum, say a prayer, light a candle. Take this day and make it sacred for your parents sake. Without them we would not be here.” Placing first in the race was Guyanese national Kelvin Johnson in a time of 14:25: 32 while the second spot went to Jamaican Jossette Bromfield, who ran 14:57:33.

Johnson’s Guyanese compatriot Lionel Dandrad came in third in a time of 14: 57: 33 while Trinidadian Kriston Charles landed fourth place in 15:03:69 Among the women, April Francis emerged victorious with an impressive showing of 19:30:19.

Chantel Lemaitre and Melisa Lockhart Poliah placed second and third, respectively.

After the event, guests and participants were entertained by lively steelpan music and drumming.