Territories impacted most by these storms include Dominica, Anguilla, Barbuda, Saint Martin, Turks & Caicos and the Virgin Islands, Antigua, the southern Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico and St Kitts & Nevis. Barbuda was said by its Prime Minister to be “uninhabitable”, as was the case with several areas in southern Florida, especially the Keys.

BMI Research has announced that they expect substantial negative impacts on real GDP growth across the region, as much of the local infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed and the tourism industry is unlikely to rebound in the near future. In some smaller economies, most notably those of the ECCU and the US Virgin Is lands, there is increased risk of a credit event.

While accurate data on the extent of damage will likely not be available for some time, media reports indicate that the destruction is likely to be severe on islands directly hit by the storm. As a result, in the days ahead, forecasts regarding economic growth will need to be revisited for impacted countries and territory, for both 2017 and the years thereafter.

There are several precedents in the Caribbean for the damage done by Hurricane Irma. Most notable is the case of Grenada after Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which damaged or destroyed more than 90 per cent of structures on the island. Real GDP growth fell from 8.6 per cent in 2003 to 0.1 per cent in 2004, due to collapses in the agricultural, manufacturing and tourism sectors. Grenada defaulted on its debt as the storm hollowed out the country’s revenue base and forced the government to ramp up spending on recovery efforts, undermining its ability to service its obligations. Similarly, Montserrat’s real GDP growth slowed from 8.6 percent in 1988 to 3.0 per cent in 1989 following Hurricane Hugo, and Dominica saw its real GDP contract 3.7 per cent in 2015 after being hit by Tropical Storm Erika, following a 4.0 per cent expansion in 2014.

It is expected that reconstruction efforts, possibly fuelled by foreign grants, would see economic growth rebound at a rapid pace after major storms. In the case of Grenada, real GDP accelerated from 0.1 per cent in 2004, when the storm hit, to 12.5 per cent in 2005, in large part due to 90.8 per cent year-on-year growth in the construction sector. This suggests that some of the islands impacted by Irma could see a “V-shaped recovery”, marked by a rapid re-acceleration of real GDP growth. However, the capacity of each economy to recover will depend on the availability of external financing, as most are unable to fund this process themselves. In addition, depending on the extent of damage, a return of the non-construction sectors to pre-storm activity levels may take several years given the extent of damage reported, as well as shallow domestic capital and labor pools.

The extremely limited fiscal capacity of domestic governments in several cases will make the Caribbean heavily dependent on outside grants to finance rebuilding efforts. It is possible that those islands which are overseas territories of larger, more developed nations are likely to rebuild at a faster pace in the years ahead, as they will have greater access to substantial relief funds. Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten, St Martin and Turks & Caicos are overseas territories. Antigua & Barbuda as well as St Kitts & Nevis are not, suggesting they may face a more challenging rebuilding process. The most vulnerable economies are Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda and the US Virgin Islands as these have high debt loads, wide current account deficits and fixed exchange rate regimes. The likelihood of a credit event in each of the affected economies will be significantly impacted by the degree of international support each island receives.

Last week in an article entitled Coping with the Cost of Natural Disasters, this newspaper identified three solutions to address the impact of natural disasters in the region: the establishment of a regional stabilisation and liquidity fund, as well as a catastrophe fund and the adoption of stricter building codes. However, these are medium to long term solutions. We return to the issue of disasters because these affected countries need help now and the response must be quick and sustained to get the countries back to a position that will allow them to function and begin to take care of themselves. While individual countries will offer assistance, as the CARICOM region, we must provide coordinated assistance. This is where the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) which is a regional inter-governmental agency for disaster management in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Included among its many functions are mobilising and coordinating disaster relief, mitigating or eliminating, as far as practicable, the immediate consequences of disasters in participating states and providing immediate and coordinated response by means of emergency disaster relief to any affected participating state. As a region, these member institutions of CARICOM have a critical role to play in assisting the member countries to address the effects of natural disasters. As citizens of this region we must demand that our governments fulfil their obligations both bilaterally and through institutions such as CARICOM to fulfil the expectations we had in these regional institutions.

Struck several times with a Taser, you become comatose. No need for a gun. With our history of rampant domestic violence, Tasers could provide another form of giving “loving chastisement.” They do not want you dead, just in a lot of pain.

Do I need to walk down the road of naughty teenagers running about with cans of pepper spray? Bullying in school will reach a new dimension.

Who is going to provide legislation to prevent misuse of these deterrents? Who would sell them? A doomsday scenario shows more women injured and beaten with their own Tasers. There might well be an increase in blind young people in all communities because bullies do not know when to stop.

Shops selling Tasers and pepper spray could outdo the Chinese restaurants that are often raided.

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin

The remaining 2018 World Cup qualifiers are of academic importance, possibly a good lime, because the Road to Russia has been bombed.

Already the argument of local coach versus foreign coach has reared its ugly head and the long knives have been drawn.

My view is that we need to stay local with coach Dennis “Tallest” Lawrence. He could at least tweak his coaching staff.

Frankly, the fluctuating quality of play, the individual defensive errors, the gun-shy approach outside the box and lack of fitness by some players were key factors in derailing our campaign.

We also did not make use of our opportunities.

I hold the view that every player must bring his A-game and agonise over poor performances. The team lacked the killer instinct moving as a force to demolish opponents.

At the end of the campaign moving forward, I would like to see football jefe David John Williams put on an “ideas shop” where all stakeholders and fans can have an input in the way forward. After sifting through the noise, he and the Football Association will have a clear idea on the pathway to Qatar.

KEITH ANDERSON via email

“We are just a couple weeks away from the presentation and we expect that, as with the fake oil scandal, Government will act in the interest of the few and not the many,” she said, adding, “We have to tighten our belts when money is being thrown around without benefiting those most in need.” She claimed that Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s government has prioritized spending on areas that do not benefit wider society including $100 million to finish the Brian Lara stadium in Tarouba.

“They will say times hard, we have no money but they would have spent about $110 billion in two years.

Where that money gone,” she asked.

Speaking at the UNC’s Monday Night Forum, Persad-Bissessar said government has no clue on diversification, revenue generation or creation of sustainable jobs. “We need a ready work force for sustainable jobs to attract foreign direct investments. We were investing in our human resource. But to this Government…

that is not important,” she said.

In response to a question at a news conference following a meeting of the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC), Keston Nancoo, chairman of the Employers’ Consultative Association (ECA), said the business sector will hold to the commitment. However, he added that he had not discussed it with anyone but he believed that good sense will prevail when it comes to layoffs in the current economic situation.

The other business representative, Gabriel Faria, Chief Executive Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that without consultation he could not speak for the hundreds of businesses which are members of the chamber and the different business groups. “We represent a multitude of businesses and while I am sure that the desire and the goal of every business is to retain and grow, we know what’s happening in the economy so, unfortunately I cannot speak for every business in TT. I know today there are companies that are hiring and growing while I know that there are companies that have stark economic realities. So I think we have to be practical as to what we could assume.” Yesterday’s NTAC meeting was the first which included representatives of the labour movement since its withdrawal from the council in March.

It was reported at the time that labour walked off the council to protest Government’s decision to shut down the Tourism Development Corporation, but JTUM’s Vincent Cabrera said the real reason was the lack of consultation before the decision was taken and announced.

Joseph Remy, President of the Communication Workers’ Union, the majority union at the corporation, has said he was informed of the decision in a telephone call lasting just over a minute from Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe, shortly before the decision was announced at a post-Cabinet news conference. The trade union movement saw that lack of consultation as an insult to all trade unions.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley attended the meeting and participated in the discussions.

Briefing journalists afterwards, NTAC chairman, Camille Robinson-Regis said it was a fruitful two-hour meeting and all sides agreed, “we were in this together and we would work together to foster an ethic that is in the best interest of all the people of Trinidad and Tobago.” She said the prime minister reminded the meeting of the country’s watchwords: “Together we aspire, together we achieve,” and said they were holding fast to those watchwords. Robinson-Regis said there was free and frank discussion and all sides agreed to work together, adding that “We feel quite certain that the three entities, labour, government and the private sector are essential to ensure that the challenges we find ourselves in at this time can be overcome and that it will be overcome if we work together.” In a statement on behalf of JTUM, Cabrera said the meeting represented a process of revitalisation and the return of the labour movement marked the revitalisation of NTAC. He said Rowley conveyed the government’s view that all parties should be forward looking.

However, he stressed that, “We have made our position quite clear as a labour movement, we would not be putting workers as sacrificial lambs but at the same time while we look at fiscal responsibility, we have to look at social responsibility.”

Crime continues to be perceived as the most serious problem facing our country today. This perception is true for citizens in general and for the business community. As business people, we are all too aware that if fear of crime continues to dominate our society, it is inevitable that business activity will suffer even more. Over the years, the fear of violent crime has caused heightened caution and some curtailment of personal activities even as people set about their routine undertakings.

Although, for the past three years or so, National Security has continued to receive the largest allocation in the national budget, as a country we have not successfully brought crime within manageable proportions. Added to this, the detection rate remains abysmally low – and in the case of homicides, dangerously so. Without detection, few cases make it to prosecution and even less to conviction.

The TT Chamber is well aware that curbing crime is not an easy task. Like many other national issues with which we grapple, it has developed over many years, developing into the veritable beast that confronts us today. While the TT Police Service appears to be communicating their breakthroughs in cases far more regularly on various platforms, there is still a long way to go before crime is at a comfortable level. But they, the police, cannot do it alone. Crime can only be brought under control if the many national stakeholders display leadership and make a concerted effort to work in tandem towards a common goal of addressing crime.

Over a decade ago, the TT Chamber joined with other business representative organisations to develop a plan that made recommendations for a holistic approach to addressing crime, encompassing short, medium and long-term goals. Proposals centred on legislation, the judiciary and the courts, the police, the Witness Protection Programme, the Forensic Sciences Centre, the prisons as well as measures for crime prevention and deterrence. While there has been progress in some areas, many remain outstanding.

Currently, the Joint Chambers is again taking the initiative and developing a plan of action geared towards crime management and reduction. Following a recently convened meeting a series of activities are being pursued which will engage other stakeholders. At this juncture, we wish to signal our full support for this week’s Caribbean Security Forum 2017, which will be hosted by TTCSI and its partners.

We at the TT Chamber do not claim to have all the answers. But we do see our role as a responsible corporate entity in the society – one that can assist in a coordinated effort towards bringing as many stakeholders together to do its part in putting a noticeable dent in the crime challenge. We urge Government to be receptive to adopting the best of the recommendations we are currently compiling, with a view to restoring a sense of safety and security in our beloved nation.

Opening a Pre-Budget Forum titled Budget for Gender Justice: Make Households Matter to the House, last week at The UWI’s Learning Research Centre, head of the institute, economist Dr Gabrielle Hosein, said the institute had begun developing a Gender Justice Scorecard. A handout circulated at the forum said the goal of the scorecard will be to provide “a gendered analysis of national fiscal policy and its implications for peace, security and empowerment within households, highlighting how the national budget process and budgetary allocations have differential and inequitable impact on women, men, girls and boys in a time of economic crisis.”

It added that by stimulating wider engagement with “gender-sensitive budgeting, the scorecard will also support Central Statistical Office (CSO) capacity building for better governance, and will provide an example of action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 4 – Health; Goal 5 – Gender Equality; Goal 8 – Reduced Inequalities and Goal 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.”

However, Attzs said such an objective might risk being impeded by a lack of relevant data or gender analysis of economic developments in the country, observing that it was important for policymakers and researchers to have the kind of data to help them make informed decisions and recommendations. “The issue of data paucity cannot be ignored. We are essentially feeling our way in the dark, trying to make decisions, trying to mainstream gender, trying to develop things like

the gender scorecard, trying to achieve gender justice, but we don’t have the data to support the path that we want to take.”

By way of illustration, she showed a slide of a table on this country from the World Development Indicators which she said she had downloaded “in the last 24 hours” so that it was as current as possible. The table showed that information broken down by gender in a number of key areas was either missing or incomplete. She said the table was informative “in a perverse way” because “if we don’t have data then we can’t make policy decisions that help us achieve the desired outcomes”. She said “essentially, we treat Ministries and budgetary allocations as if they are operating in silos and not really understanding and recognising that if we are to achieve the empowerment, or that greater gender balance in terms of how our men and our women develop and how they access services and how they ultimately become empowered.”

She said the society was talking about improved access for women to various programmes so that they could improve their lives and become more empowered and more active participants in the economic space, “but we don’t have the dis-agregated sets of data to allow us to see what touch points of intervention are required to help us to achieve that particular outcome.”

Hosein referred to a number of calypso classics such as Singing Sandra’s Crying, Shadow’s Poverty is Hell, Sparrow’s Capitalism Gone Mad, and Brother Resistance’s Ah Cyar Take That, which all chronicled the hardships of poverty, saying these songs “all spoke to everyday life and the stresses of providing care for children and the elderly as well as the effects of violence on families, the pressures of unemployment, under-employment and informal work and an inability to make ends meet.”

Hosein said the project being undertaken by the institute was to provide data to respond to the cries of the calypsonians and to empower civil society advocacy for State accountability to these realities. She said the global political economy must be held accountable at a time of economic and ecological crisis, adding that “the current global and national economic models cannot solve this crisis because neither oil nor gas will get the country out of the economic and ecological crises it faces.” She said, “its permanence makes focusing on the insecurity it causes a matter of urgency. At the very least national fiscal policy and planning must be held accountable for how it addresses the causes and effects of this crisis on everyday life. “

She said that the country’s “big dreams” for development, peace and sustainability also require gender justice and where gender justice exists, ideas about womanhood and manhood do not reproduce discrimination, denial of rights and vulnerability to harm and inequitable access to power and resources. “States, communities and individuals all actively committed to transforming these into just opportunities, outcomes, norms and relations from women, men, girls, and boys.

She said that according to UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women which became operational in 2011, gender budgeting is not about creating separate budgets for women or solely increasing spending on women’s programmes, rather it looks beyond the balance sheets to investigate whether women and men fare differently under existing expenditure patterns. She said it calls for adjusting budget policies to advance gender equality and more equitable distribution of the gains of economic development, adding that it is a step toward greater public transparency.

The idea is not a new one. Hosein said that as far back as the 1970s, “Caribbean feminists showed how structural adjustment policies impoverished families and communities. Two decades later, they began to push for gender responsive budgeting with organisations like the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, and the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development, taking the lead. Two decades later, we continue to build on that legacy. Our goal is to press forward national conversations about the everyday life of this current crisis and its different impact on women, men, boys and girls. It’s the differential impact that makes commitment to and advocacy for gender justice so key. Our goal is therefore to begin to provide gendered analyses of the national budget process and budgetary allocations and their implications for peace, security, empowerment and gender equality as experienced in everyday life and in our households.

Hosein said that over the next three years, the institute will be working to produce a gender justice scorecard which will aim to access five sectors in terms of gender responsive budgeting: labour; social services; health; education and agriculture. “And we have a special focus on cross-sectoral concerns related to gender-based violence and the care of the economy. We hope that this will help to empower citizens to advocate for greater fiscal accountability to people’s lived realities, to influence the budget process and to press governments to meet international commitments, among them the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the Inter- American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of violence against women and the Sustainable Development Goals 2016 – 2030.”

“It promises to be a spectacular event as the people of TT and the region will come together to raise funds to rebuild Barbuda,” Fabien said.

Over 170 artistes will be performing soca, calypso, chutney, tassa, dancehall, reggae, comedy, theatre and much more.

Assisting Fabien in the concert’s presentation is No Laughing Matter, a group of conscientious and professional individuals within the theatre, arts, media, cultural ambassadors, business, and people with a passion for TT and the Caribbean.

One Island will feature 12 hours of performances in aid of victims of Hurricane Irma which battered several Caribbean islands including Barbuda. The public is being asked to make a contribution of $50, together with three canned items (expiring not before 2018) or a case of water at the event. “We have a 40-foot container on site waiting, and it will be stuffed as items come in, and on Monday the container is going to leave the Oval and go to the port to go on its journey,” Fabien said.

He is hoping to raise $1 million to assist in the rebuilding of Barbuda.

“The impetus is for Barbuda because when we saw the other places that were affected by Hurricane Irma we knew they have help from some other countries because they are Dutch or French or English.

But Barbuda have the Caricom.

We are Barbuda’s big brother so we are seeing about them.

Therefore One Island the Concert is reserved for Barbuda.” With the residents having all been evacuated from the island since Irma, Fabien noted: “Barbudans are all living with families in Antigua.

So that is why we need the help of people on the ground to get items to these specific people, hence the reason we are working with the HALO Foundation, an Antigua-based NGO.

They have been doing work there for a long time just as Feel has been doing in TT .” He then stated that ambassador Gail Christian from Halo will be coming for the event while Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda has sent his appreciation and his love, and the people of Barbuda, their gratitude.

Among the artistes who have confirmed their attendance are Blaxx, Shurwayne Winchester, Teddyson John (St Lucia), 3canal, Vaughnette Bigford, Ziggy Rankin’, Ronnie McIntosh, Orlando Octave, Baron, Michelle Xavier, Isasha, Swappi (Grenada), Myron B, 5Star Akil, Kevon Carter, Johann Chuckaree, Dane Gulston, Denise Belfon, Pternsky, Jason Seecharan, Adesh Samaroo, Raymond Ramnarine, Neval Chatelal, Sharlene Flores, KV Charles, Oscar B, Christian Kalpee, Asten Isaac and Nadia La Fond.

Performances will also come from top dance, parang, spoken word artistes and popular DJs. Also listed are Imij & Co, Los Alumnos, Malick Folk Performers and Wasafoli, Shiv Shakti dancers, D C Shell Theatre — Bollywood Dance, Wendy Sheppard, Lujoe & Gifted, Freetown Collective, Militant, Rembunction, Chantwell, Prince of Theatre Darrion — spoken word, Ninja, Allan the Entertainer, Rodey, Hamidullah, Bon Bassa, Leandra and Tyler Head, Anuradha Hansraj and Nigel Rojas.

Fabien is also hoping that Alison Hinds and Rupee will be able to make it.

Both parties periodically claim to be supporters of multiethnic unity but depend on mistrust and subliminal racism for their survival. Their history and base political supporters make it almost impossible to do what is necessary to move TT from a state of stagnation to development.

Imagine for a moment these major political parties seeking to diminish political influences in State corporations.

That will be almost impossible as supporters and financiers depend on these corporations for jobs and financial rewards as compensation for political support. The port is a perfect example of stagnation due to politics.

There is need for the Port of Port of Spain to be restructured. All the container business ought to be relocated to an expanded and upgraded Point Lisas port. The area off Sea Lots needs to be filled in and the entire Sea Lots community rebuilt.

This area along with the existing port along Wrightson Road should be transformed into a new passenger ship port with supporting infrastructure of stores and restaurants.

A new roadway from the Barataria roundabout through what is now the Beetham dump should be constructed in this area.

It should continue through what is now the old structures on the port, bypassing the city and supporting a new roadway all the way to Chaguaramas.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle may not have the political will and party support to close the existing Port of Spain port, relocate the people of Sea Lots and close the dump, building a new one with modern recycling facilities in the Caroni Plains.

TT needs an injection of new economic activities, finance and development. Such new initiatives will require a move away from the traditional personnel and business practices of the major financiers of the two major political parties.

There is an immediate need for new personnel, new investors and new ideas. The leaders of the PNM and UNC know this.

They are also aware of the positive potential of our country if one seeks new ways of doing things but remain paralysed by loyalty to structure and personnel within their parties.

If the major financiers and supporters of these two political organisations continue to benefit from keeping things as they are, our nation will remain in a state of stagnation and decay.

STEVE ALVAREZ via email

In an immediate response, Law Association president Douglas Mendes admitted that he was unaware of a delay in the association’s feedback on the rules but took full responsibility for it. “I know the committee has been working on it and I take full responsibility for the fact that it has not yet been delivered.

The fact that he has mentioned it in his speech has given me the further impetus to go find out right now and ensure our comments are delivered as soon as possible because the Juvenile Court System is extremely important,” Mendes said.

In his address on Monday, Archie spoke of the adoption of international codes to map every offence on the statute books to a numerical code.

This, he said, will enable better record- keeping, management, monitoring and planning. In addressing the recently established Criminal Procedure Rules, Archie said despite initial misgivings in some quarters, the culture change intended by the introduction of the rules was beginning to take root.