Actors, singers, dancers, musicians and drummers will take to the stage in a hotly contested competition this year.

Villagers from North and South Trinidad will participate in the Folk Theatre competition as well as Village Chat, Poetry, Short Story, and Spoken Word.

The 12 villages that qualified for the finals in folk theatre competition will come up against each other vying for top spots this year.

This as Best Village Competition presents two shows per night.

The list of the villages in folk theatre and the days they will staging their production are: Three Road Youth Group and I See (Aug 7), San Juan South Central Organization and Cocorite Ujamma Folk Performers (Aug 8), Soul Oasis Cultural Ambassador and Ah We People Theatrical Horizon (Aug 9), Princes Town Theatre Workshop and Bon Bassa Productions (Aug 10), Arouca Community Council and Northwest Laventille Cultural Movement ( Aug 11), and on Aug 12 the Tobago Drama Guild and Hampden Lowlands Village Council will go up against Malick Folk Performers. Show begins at 6.30 pm and will run till 10.30 pm.

The La Reine Rive finals will take place on August 12 at NAPA, Port of Spain.

The finalists in this competition will be participating in self -expression and talent contest.

Cancer survivor Magan Ramroop, took the La Reine Rive crown in 2016. Magan represented the Swastika Dancers from Couva.

Malick Folk Performing Company was the overall winner of Best Village in 2016.

Last year’s grand finals of Best Village was held at Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of- Spain.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was there to crown the winners in the competition.

Sent in, Stars laboured to 132 for nine off their 20 overs in an innings at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground that stuttered and stumbled throughout without ever finding momentum.

Opener Andre Fletcher topscored with 26 from 27 balls while Kyle Mayers lashed 23 from 15 deliveries batting at number nine, but the two were the only ones to pass 20.

Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan finished with two for 15 from his four overs to claim Manof- the-Match honours while captain Dwayne Bravo ended two for 23 in his first competitive game in seven months following a return from injury.

In reply, Colin Munro smashed an unbeaten 66 off 39 deliveries and fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum, 58 not out off 27 balls, as TKR stormed to their target in the 11th over without so much as breaking a sweat.

Champion off-spinner Sunil Narine failed in his role as opener, falling for a first-ball ‘duck’ in the first over with five runs on the board but Munro and McCullum tore the Stars bowling apart in a 132-run, unbroken second wicket stand.

Munro belted seven fours and three sixes to post his half-century off 26 deliveries while McCullum blasted a brace of fours and seven sixes as he raced to his fifty off a mere 24 balls.

Neither batsman spared an inch. Munro single-handedly took 21 runs from the seventh over sent down by captain Sammy but was given a life on 46 off the final delivery when he was dropped in the deep by Mayers.

McCullum muscled 18 runs from the ninth bowled by off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall as TKR raced past the 100-run mark and Munro put stars out of their misery two overs later when he cleared the ropes at long-on with left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan for the winning runs. Earlier, key men Johnson Charles (two) and Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal (five) perished cheaply leaving Stars on 27 for two in the fourth over.

Fletcher, who struck four fours, joined with Marlon Samuels (13) to add 28 for the third wicket – the best stand of the innings – but once Samuels picked out Darren Bravo at deep point with pacer Kevon Cooper in the seventh over, the innings slumped and never recovered.

The findings come from an IMF staff team, led by Elie Canetti, which visited this country during July 20 to August 2 to conduct the annual Article IV consultation.

Canetti in a statement said: “Trinidad and Tobago continues to face economic challenges stemming primarily from the sharp declines in global energy prices since 2014, combined with a fall in natural gas and oil production in recent years.

These, along with the prolonged economic stagnation, capital allowances, and challenges with tax administration have continued to contribute to weak revenue collections, leading to still significant fiscal deficits and rising public debt levels.” He said that although preliminary data showed the economy contracted in the first half of the year on weak energy production and spillovers to the non-energy sector, “the economy may be starting to turn a corner as a result of a projected recovery in gas output, though growth may still be flat or somewhat negative for the year as a whole.” He said the economic improvement that is now beginning is projected to continue into the medium- term, notably given a pipeline of projects that will improve the supply of natural gas to the downstream energy sector. He also said oil output is growing due to Stateowned Petrotrin’s recent exploration efforts and refinery upgrade.

“As the energy sector recovers, the non-energy sector is expected to rebound due to positive energy-related spillovers, and as implementation of the Public-Sector Investment Programme picks up.” Canetti said the team welcomed ongoing fiscal policy adjustments, including the Government’s efforts to reform the energy tax regime and to boost domestic revenues.

“Nonetheless, it cautioned that sustainable fiscal adjustment will require additional measures (including containment of current expenditure) to rebalance the public finances, especially as one-off, non-debt creating financing options such as asset sales will diminish over time. The team urged the authorities to undertake a medium-term, modestly front-loaded fiscal adjustment to rebalance the public finances and put debt on a sustainable path.

According to the ministry, the national policy will also provide a holistic framework for achieving equal opportunity for all citizens with disabilities. The ministry said it is in keeping with its mandate and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which was ratified in 2015 as well as the 2030 development agenda.

Qushiba La Fleur, president of WeCare Deaf Support Network and acting executive officer for TT Association for the Hearing Impaired, told Sunday Newsday that she attended two consultations for the new draft policy.

She said at the consultations participants called for education and employment of persons with disabilities to be areas of focus. She also recalled one participant complaining that while ministry officials would say what they want to do “implementation takes a long time” or never happens at all.

La Fleur said they want companies to have their buildings suit the needs of persons with disabilities as employees but some were saying it is too expensive to make their buildings disabled friendly and prefer not to hire or engage with them. She said this was especially the case for deaf people as companies believe it will take time and cost them money.

“In our country we not seeing the importance of ensuring things are implemented. The fact is we should not be asking for it to happen but it should be mandatory.” In terms of education, La Fleur said there should be specialised curriculum for children with disabilities and trained teachers. She said that it should not just be an overall course for special education because a teacher of the deaf, for example, would not be able to teach a child with Down syndrome or autism.

She said for deaf children they are not as successful academically as they could be because the resources are too limited to ensure they more have access to schools and there is no curriculum designed for the deaf and hard of hearing.

La Fleur pointed out that despite Trinidad and Tobago signing on to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities the challenge was implementation and following through.

On the draft national policy she said her concern was that it was not specific. She gave the example of education and training and said that you cannot just say you will provide these things without specifying the appropriate support services and teaching aides.

“With disability you need to be specific.” She said the policy did not mention specialised curriculum geared towards children with disabilities.

She said the association can provide sign language interpreters for students but deaf students need additional technology as well as special education teachers.

She pointed out that the policy mentioned providing sign language training for parents and communities which was “fine” but this would not help deaf children when it comes to education.

La Fleur said most of the policy had been discussed before but reiterated that it does not address specifics.

“You have to break it up and be specific. Children with cerebral palsy, various disabilities, Down syndrome, how do you facilitate their needs? What are the necessary things they would need?” She said there is much information online regarding the UN convention so locally there is no need to reinvent wheel as some of their codes which are suitable for this country can be used.

Blind Welfare Association executive officer Kenneth Suratt told Sunday Newsday that he read the draft policy and made comments.

He recalled a disability policy being discussed 25 years ago but there are still no laws for the disabled. He said the United States has celebrated more than 25 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Suratt said TT should have had a national policy but is way behind time and needs to move quickly towards legislation.

“If you do not have laws a person who is blind cannot challenge the system. A policy is just expressing an intention. We need laws to protect the disabled and we going on almost two years to sign off on the charter.” He said the process has been too long at the draft stage, consultation and moving from green paper to white paper.

“I am tired of it.” Suratt said there is a draft building code to accommodate the disabled and a policy for housing but they are not law so people are not compelled to implement them and there is no way to challenge the situation. He said the Equal Opportunities Commission was the only body that had laws which speaks for the disabled.

He said the Ministry of Education has a policy for the disabled but again it is not law. Suratt said blind children were being refused entry to schools because they had no aide, there was no braille or large print.

“We must move swiftly into law.

If you don’t do (something) the disabled person take you to court and straight to Privy Council.” He said he was happy that child marriage laws were amended but questioned when there was going to be laws to deal with the disabled.

“I tired of policy. Too much of talk. I ask them when we going to see draft legislation. And that is what the conversation should be.

Not policy.” Suratt said the association would like to know when Government will draft laws before their five years are up.

Both TT and Guyana won both of their matches yesterday to advance to the final. TT defeated Windward Islands by 30 runs at the Inshan Ali Park in Preysal.

TT posted 97 for three with Reneice Boyce scoring 43 not out and Leandra Ramdeen scored 24. Samantha Ramgoolam took a hat-trick for TT to reduce the Windwards to 67/7 in 20 overs.

Ramloogan ended with figures of four overs, one maiden, 10 runs and four wickets.

In their second match at Gilbert Park in Couva, TT got past Barbados by 47 runs. Batting first, TT scored 95/8 with Renelle Dookie scoring 19 and Ramdeen hitting 17. In reply, Barbados could only muster 48/9 in 20 overs with Ramgoolan getting 2/8 in four overs.

Other Scores – BARBADOS 43 (18 overs) – Plaffiana Millington 3/4, B Bacchus 2/6 vs GUYANA 44/1 (12.1 overs) – S Grimmond 17 not out. Guyana won by nine wickets.

WINDWARD ISLANDS 50/9 vs GUYANA 51/7 (19.2 overs). Guyana won by three wickets.

TODAY’S FIXTURES – 9 am (last round of preliminary stage) Guyana vs TT, NCC; Barbados vs Windward Islands, Gilbert Park.

Final (2 pm) TT vs Guyana, NCC.

Ahye was third in heat five in 11.14 seconds to earn the last automatic qualification spot in the heat. Winning the heat was Brazilian Rosangela Santos in 11.04, a personal best, while Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland also qualified after finishing second in 11.14. Jamaican Simone Facey earned the last qualification spot in the heat when she was fourth in 11.29.

Running in heat six, Baptiste qualified after finishing fourth in 11.21.

Winning the heat was Daryll Neita of Great Britain in 11.15, American Deajah Stevens was second in 11.17, Jamaican Natasha Morrison was third in 11.21 and Ewa Swoboda of Poland was fifth in 11.24 in a season best time.

The top five all qualified for the semi-finals.

TT junior sprinter Khalifa St Fort did not advance to the semi-finals.

St Fort was fifth in heat two in 11.44. Winning the heat was Jamaican Olympic champion Elaine Thompson in 11.05.

Canadian Crystal Emmanuel was second in 11.14 and American Ariana Washington was third in 11.28 to earn qualification to the semi-finals. The top three in each of the six heats plus the next six fastest athletes progessed to the semi-finals.

In the men’s 400m heats, TT runners Lalonde Gordon and Machel Cedenio qualified for the semi-finals. The other TT representative Renny Quow did not qualify. Gordon finished second in heat one in a season best time of 45.02.

The top five athletes in the heat qualified. American Fred Kerley won the heat in 44.92, while Kevin Borlee of Belgium was third in 45.09.

Cedenio was third in heat two in 45.77 to earn the last spot in the semi-finals from the heat.

Winning the heat was South African Wayde Van Niekerk in 45.27, while Italian David Re was second in 45.71. Quow was seventh in 45.95 in heat five.

The first three in each of the six heats qualified for the final along with the next six fastest athletes.

Today, Cedenio will line up in heat three of the men’s 400m semis, while Gordon will face the starter in heat two. The TT pair will aim for a place in Tuesday’s final.

Baptiste will compete in heat one of the women’s 100m semis, while Ahye will be in heat three.

The final of the event is also scheduled for today.

Domonique Williams will be this country’s only participant in the women’s 400m event when she participates in heat four today.

Also today, TT will have two athletes in the men’s 110m hurdles.

Ruebin Walters will face the starter in heat two, while Mikel Thomas will line up in heat five aiming for a spot in the semi-finals later in the day.

However, TriniTrolley.com is offering that and more with their new Rentals Department.

Launched in April, the website allows those who qualify to rent, or rent-to-own items including party accessories like bouncy castles, above ground pools and bubble machines; clothes including wedding dresses, designer handbags and shoes; tools; books; video games; movies; sports equipment and jewellery. And by mid-August, vehicles would also be available.

CEO of TriniTrolley, Mazuree Ali said all the items available on the website were stocked and delivered within 48 hours. However, if there was something not on the list of items, the customer could request it and, if feasible, TriniTrolley would purchase the item.

“Now you could rent, or rent-to-own things that you could not have before. The difference between this and hire purchase is that the customer does everything online and the customer chooses the time frame to pay off for the items.

So you set the terms, in terms of what you could afford and when you want to pay off for it. There’s no fixed, long-term contract or anything like that,” said Mazuree Ali, CEO of TriniTrolley.

He explained that the customer could chose between three to 36 months and, using the cite’s online calculator, work out the monthly instalment they could afford, depending on the time period, before agreeing to it. Even after the application was approved and some payments were made, the customer could adjust the remaining instalments.

Ali said applications, submission of documents, and approvals were granted online, and since the department was launched in April, thousands of people have applied.

Requirements for application include a job letter, pay slip, utility bill, and two forms of identification.

“It’s seamless. You don’t have to walk into any store or take time off. There’s no back and forth. You submit your documents, you see what you’re paying up front, there’s no long-term contract, and we deliver everything to you afterwards.” He said some of their customers might not have been able to get loans but with TriniTrolley’s Rental Department, no collateral was necessary.

However, the company partnered with credit agencies to do background checks.

“There are criteria in place so not everyone is approved. But this is to make sure that, not only the company but the customer is protected so that they do not make purchases they really can’t afford.” Ali said TriniTrolley started working on the project last year because they realised people would be going through some hard economic times and the company, along with its partner, MasterCard, wanted to help.

One of TriniTrolley and MasterCard promotions involved the grocery service.

Anyone who pays their TriniTrolley grocery bill with their MasterCard credit card or MasterCard prepaid debit card would get 12.5 per cent off their total bill, as well as free delivery. “That was an idea that MasterCard came up with and the promotion will run until the end of the year.

Again, the whole idea is about trying to assist people in these difficult times.” Ali added that some rental items require a down payment but if the form of payment agreed to was MasterCard, the deposit would be waived so that customers only pay the instalments.

Another division of which Ali was very proud, was TriniTrolley Shops For Me.

If a customer wanted to shop on an international shopping website, such as Amazon or eBay, but did not have a credit card or skybox, or did not want to risk credit card fraud, TriniTrolley would buy the product and the customer would pay for it upon delivery.

“Instead of going through your courier company and paying a bunch of different fees, we let you know the total cost up front.

The consumer sends us links for the items they want from these international websites and we quote them a final price for the items so they know all the included final costs upfront so they are able to make an informed decision.” Ali said shopping through TriniTrolley would translate to “huge savings” as the cost to ship with them was lower than any courier company in the country. To sweeten the pot, when a customer pays with their MasterCard, they get a seven per cent discount.

The TT International weekend will take place on January 20 and 21, with the headline event being the marathon on January 21 from Freeport to the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain.

All Sport Promotions decided to get involved in the event for the first time because of the event’s history. Tony Harford of All Sport Promotions said, “We are delighted to be involved for the first time in what is indisputably one of the signature sporting events in Trinidad and Tobago.

Few events have lasted longer, few events have overcome such mountainous obstacles to just remain alive and survive.

“We believe sincerely that the marathon must be under our calender of four or five signature national events, and hence the reason for our company trying to enter the fray to make a difference.” The open winner in both the men’s and women’s category will win US$5,000 each. Prize money will also be up for grabs in the age group categories which includes a 70-and-over division.

Harford said if any national athlete breaks the men’s or women’s TT Marathon record they will win a bonus of $5,000. Former TT runner Ronnie Holassie has the men’s meet record of two hours, 17 minutes and 33 seconds (2:17.33) for the past 20 years, while Tonya Nero has the women’s record of 2:56.33 which she achieved earlier this year.

Chairman of the TT International Marathon committee Diane Henderson said 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Henderson said the race committee recognises this, as the savannah has been an important part of the race.

“This year is also the 200th anniversary of the Queen’s Park Savannah, and we the marathon committee recognises that milestone.

The savannah has impacted on the ambience of the marathon since 1983 to now, so it is significant for us to recognise that,” Henderson said.

Race director Francis Williams- Smith said the marathon has kept the same course because the course allows a number of communities to be involved. Williams said, “We have always felt that the involvement of the community in the race was essential, so the traditional course from Freeport to White Hall has remained.” Williams-Smith thanked some of the sponsors of the event including Gatorade, Blue Waters and Subway.

The result, which saw coach Reynold Carrington’s charges rise off the bottom but only ahead of Rangers for ninth, also snapped a 10- game winless run by Civic in all competitions stretching back to four games into last season. But it didn’t come a surprise as Civic’s previous three outings ended in drawn results against Club Sando (1-1), Defence Force (0-0) and Police FC (0-0) respectively.

W Connection, on the opposite end of the spectrum in second, faced hosts Morvant Caledonia United in the second game and in search of maximum points to go level on points with leaders North East Stars, who have two games in hand against Central FC and San Juan Jabloteh. But the Savonetta Boys were lucky to come away with a point as that encounter ended in a 1-1 draw after Morvant Caledonia were denied twice by the frame.

Connection forward Marcus Joseph, with his fifth goal of the season, broke the deadlock on 56 minutes, heading past goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel at the near upright off a wellplaced Hughtun Hector free kick.

That lead however, lasted only 10 minutes with Morvant Caledonia captain Kareem Joseph celebrating the equaliser.

Connection goalkeeper Jason Belfon had pushed Kareem Baptiste’s shot onto the upright, only to see the ball ricocheted off Joseph’s leg at the goal mouth and into the net.

It was the end of Belfon’s luck after the Grenada international’s post was rocked twice in the first half.

Morvant Caledonia midfielder Kerry Daniel rattled the Connection crossbar from 30 yards out on the half-hour mark, and six minutes later the upright stood in the way of a Lester Joseph strike from the edge of the area.

But the greatest chance of the half fell to Kelrick Walters two minutes from the interval, however the Dominica international midfielder failed to control a Daniel feed at the goalmouth with Belfon at his mercy.

Earlier on the night, Rangers and Civic, two cellar-placed teams but boasting a number of young talents looked complete for draw until the final minute of regulation time.

Bartholomew, who levelled Civic in the first half, completed his double by burying substitute Juma Clarence’s low cross past goal keeper Christopher Biggette for the 2-1 victory.

Rangers, who three weeks ago stunned three-time defending Pro League champions Central FC, grabbed the lead with just 13 minutes played after attacker Anslem “Worm” Jackson controlled a deflected Keshawn Hutchinson cross in the middle of the area before beating Civic goalkeeper Akini Adams.

But Bartholomew levelled the visitors six minutes later, firing from the right off a rebound to beat Biggette, who had parried Keron Neptune’s initial shot away from goal.

And just as the match looked destined for draw, Bartholomew delivered the Civic 90th-minute winner which was preserved two minutes into stoppage- time by Adams, who acrobatically tipped overbar a deflected Omari Lezama free kick.

Last evening, Roger Bell, one of the directors of the Trinidad and Tobago Powerboat Association confirmed that Carib will no longer be the title sponsor of the Annual Great Race, which will take place on August 19.

Bell said, “They opted out of the Great Race. We have a brand that is now 49 years old and we are continuing with it as the Trinidad and Tobago Great Race.” It is unclear why Carib decided to stop sponsoring the Great Race.

Bell said he understands that is the nature of business. “These things happen in life and business.

We are moving on and we are going to put on a really good show this year. The Great Race has been growing year after year and we have quite an international following that we are extremely happy about.

“What is especially exciting is that next year 2018, our 50th year, we have some people coming in from overseas who will be racing in it because it will be our big, big year.” Bell, who said he is confident the Great Race will continue every year, is thankful for Carib’s support over the years. “We are very grateful for them for the 16 years that they have been with us. They helped us build the event and we are very appreciative of that. There is absolutely no regrets where that is concerned.” Bell also confirmed that the event will now end in Store Bay as oppose to Scarborough.