Trinity will play two matches today and two on Tuesday against a Barbados development team.

Team coach, Don Sucre, said the school’s rugby team has been performing at a high level and this trip will celebrate the team’s effort.

Sucre said, “(This trip) is to commemorate two years since the team has started playing within the school’s league. The Under-14 team were very successful.

They won the league and knockout champions (competition).

Because of their age all of them will be going into the Under- 17 division, so I am hoping to build the team and have them gel a little more.” Sucre is also hoping the players implement the style of play they have learnt recently. “I am looking to see team support and team play. I want them to be able to put the game structure that we have been practicing for the past few weeks into play on the field. We have no idea what the opposition is like, so we are trying to work on every aspect on the field – defence and attack.” The team is preparing for the Trinidad and Tobago Schools Rugby League, which starts in late September or early October.

Carmona explained that he had previously written to several stakeholders, to express his view that the awards ceremony should be held on Republic Day. In his letters of consultation, Carmona said he is the Chancellor of the Order of the Republic of TT, “which is that Society of Honour established in the Constitution for the recognition and awarding of what are commonly referred to as National Awards.”

As Chancellor, Carmona said he is responsible, “for the administration of the Order, which includes the ceremonial presentation of the National Awards.” He reminded stakeholders that with TT having achieved republican status and no longer owing allegiance to the Queen, “this paved the way for National Awards to be conferred in the name of the Head of State, the President, whose constitutional and ceremonial authority, legitimacy and remit are embedded and rooted in the Republican Constitution.”

Carmona recalled that in his Republic Day speech in 2013, he spoke about many people in TT being uncertain about the significance of Republic Day and its difference to Independence Day. The President said holding the National Awards Ceremony on Republic Day, is not meant to, “ minimize or trivialize the historic significance and importance of Independence Day.”

The President was confident that staging the ceremony on Republic Day would, “raise the national consciousness of our people, deepen our sense of patriotism and pride in ourselves, give added credence to the Republican Constitution.” Carmona said he looked forward to celebrating the achievements of the awardees, “who will be receiving National Awards for distinguished or meritorious service or gallantry to this great Republic”, on September 24.

The show began promptly at 7 pm and maintained a good flow to the end, just under four hours later.

On entering the venue patrons were greeted with three stages, each with a band set up and ready to play.

The bands opened with the ISF Theme Song, composed by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, then got into their repertoire, each featuring guest performers.

First up was Republic Bank Exodus, with members dressed in black and white long sleeved dashikis and black pants. They immediately had the crowd nodding their heads in approval to their rendition of Pan in A Minor (Aldwyn Roberts). The band then soothed the audience with Air on a G String (Johann Bach) conducted by Venezuelan Jesus Acosta, and subsequently raised the tempo with Bailamos (Enrique Iglesias).

This was followed by lovely versions of Jordu (Irving Duke Jordan) and Flying Home (Benny Goodman), featuring a brass section and Pelham Goddard on keyboard.

Vocalist Natalie Yorke then joined the ensemble for Calypso Rising, earning her a lusty round of applause. This paved the way for classical singer Eddie Cumberbatch, who did a rendition of Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma, accompanied by the Lydians Singers.

Members of the audience stood in appreciation of the performance.

The band closed with The Ganges and the Nile.

Members of Phase II in partnership with Hadco were dressed in patterned shirts and black trousers and opened with the theme song.

This was followed by Close to You (Maxi Priest) and Sonita (MultiSymptom), before young Antonio Waithe joined the band to render You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban).

Unfortunately there were technical difficulties during the performance of featured act, 3canal. However, the band’s finale of Umbayao (Merchant) and a Sparrow medley Wood in the Fire and Drunk and Disorderly lifted the spirits of the crowd.

BP Renegades was up next.

Dressed in black shirts, patterned on one side and black trousers, the band started with Maria Maria (Carlos Santana), followed by Be Strong (Barrington Levy) before the talented Arielle Cowie gave arguably the best feature performance of the night. Her powerful delivery of Jennifer Hudson’s And I’m Telling You recieved thunderous applause and a standing ovation.The presence of the band’s late arranger, Dr Jit Samaroo was certainly felt during its Tribute to Dr Jit, featuring extracts from its nine winning Panorama pieces.

Desperadoes players, dressed in black with their moniker on their left pockets, opened with a fanfare and Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long (Barry White) before giving the audience versions of Autumn Leaves (Nat King Cole), Bound to Dance (Joey Lewis) and Night in Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie).

Despite problems with the sound system, the band rose to give perfect accompaniment to Karene Asche, who sang her own Every Knee Shall Bow. The band went on to do Different Me (5Star Akil), segued to The Can Can – from The Orpheus before returning to Different Me, Panorama style. To the surprise of all present, David Rudder accompanied by Pelham Goddard on keyboard entertained with 10,000 Flowers Bloom, and got the crowd to sing the refrain with him. As he ended, the crowd would not let him leave the stage. He obliged with a verse and chorus of Dus In Dey Face.

Looking smart, Massy Trinidad All Stars gave the audience Sunrise (Perry Como) and Oye Mi Canto (NORE). After a lull, the band struck up with Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna (Franz von Suppe), and ws joined on stage by Jerry Jemmott. Frontline pannist Dane Gulstan took to the stage for Shape of You (Ed Sheeran), and along with featured saxophonist Arturo Tappin, they thrilled the crowd. The party got started with the band’s rendition of Full Extreme (MX Prime & the Ultimate Rejects) and All Stars’ trademark siren going up.

But All Stars was not yet finished, and gave a lagniappe — Woman on the Bass (Owen Reyes Johnson) and Curry Tabanca (Robert Elias) to close the show.

The ceremony will be held at an Emancipation Day openhouse event which will take place at the office of the National Action Cultural Committee (NACC), 40 Duke Street, Port of Spain, on August 1.

A number of artistes are expected to perform at this historic event, including nine-time Road March King, SuperBlue, former calypso monarchs, Karene Asche and Duane O’Connor, 2017 National Calypso Queen, Sasha Ann Moses and People’s Calypsonian, Bro Valentino.

The Stars of Stars Dance Troupe, the Guanapo Police Youth Club Drummers and the Sapophonics Steel Orchestra will also be in attendance among other groups.

Speaking with Newsday on Thursday, the former minister of National Security said both leaders needed to look past politics and look at the bigger picture.

Griffith said: “The Opposition Leader needs to support legislation to make kidnapping a non bailable offence as well as being arrested as a gang member and the possession of illegal firearms.” He said the Prime Minister needed to look at the 25 to 83 per cent drop in serious crimes between 2009 and 2014.

“In the year 2009, there were 22,000 serious crimes. In the year 2014, there were 11,000 serious crimes. That means in 2014, in every hour of every day of every month, one less person was killed, robbed, abused or had their car stolen,” Griffith said.

“The Prime Minister needs to understand that two years ago, there was less fear and people felt safer. Political blinkers need to be taken off though some lieutenants see politics more than patriotism,” he added. Griffith also said that the incorporation of the National Operations Centre (NOC) into the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) was a bad move on the part of Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon.

“What we need is a single National Operations Centre,” he said. “There is no doubt that when the NOC was in action, people felt safer.” He also said the NOC fulfilled the role of a centralised coordinated agency which was a major recommendation of the 2014 Commission of Enquiry into the attempted coup. He added that the NOC was a pivotal crime-fighting body and was important for communication between police agencies and the state as well as between the people and the state.

Commenting on the 27th anniversary of the July 1990 attempted coup d’état, Griffith believed history would not repeat itself. Griffith said the country possessed the capabilities to prevent the re occurrence of such an event, as long as the government heeded the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry.

He added the country had learned from its mistakes and the lack of intelligence gathering and breakdown in communication with police services had been corrected.

“We have good police officers, contrary to what the wider population thinks,” Griffith said.

“Also, thanks to the foresight of the then prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, that “Pandora’s box” has been opened and we are aware of our shortcomings back then.” “If the government adheres to the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry, I am fully confident that a situation like that will not happen again,” he added.

Griffith said there was no need to reinvent the wheel and Dillon was not heeding the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry.

He added that, because of that, we were actually opening a window that could be closed.

“We also have no counter terrorist unit,” Griffith said. “Look at Belgium, the United States, England, those countries. They have an elite body of armed counter terrorist forces to deal with terrorism.

The government needs to reinstate the National Operations Centre, establish a counter terrorist unit and a national security alert state. All of these were the biggest recommendations that came out of the Commission of Enquiry.” He also said that an increase in national security apparatus was vital at this stage.

The upcoming period of just over a month will be as vital as any as head coach Dennis Lawrence attempts to get the best out of his squad in search of much needed points in order to keep the Russia 2018 qualifying chances alive.

Mitchell, returning from injury after a six-month lay off and wearing the captain’s armband for the first time, described Wednesday’s encounter played in front of just over 20,000 fans at the Estadio Banco del Pacifico, as useful for the TT team.

“It felt great for me personally to get back out there for the national team. Captaining the team was no doubt a great honour and I was happy to put one in the net on the night especially against a team like Ecuador and we were playing away from home,” Mitchell told TTFA Media.

“I thought we were organised and compact in the first half and we matched them for some periods. But unfortunately we didn’t maintain that and they (Ecuador) began to pressure us and they got a lucky penalty which they put away and then we gave up another goal late in the match. But overall I thought we looked decent and it was a great opportunity for some of the new boys to get a taste of high level international football,” Mitchell said.

Mexican-based winger Jomal Williams also made good of his opportunity before Lawrence after missing out on the two recent qualifiers against Costa Rica and United States because of injury. Williams put in a good shift and had a near miss on goal in the first half after Ecuador had taken a 1-0 lead.

“The game wasn’t bad by any means. Yes there were some parts where we let ourselves down and they took advantage especially with a large crowd behind them but I thought our boys handled it well. We had a couple really good chances to score again, including the one I put wide and maybe if we got the goals at those points in the match then things may have turned out differently,” Williams said.

“But now we have to look ahead to the Honduras game and I feel very good about the direction we are heading in. I think the coach has a good idea of what level the players are on after this last game and he will now sit and assess things and come up with the best formula for the next game against Honduras.

I think we will be ready and with strong preparations we will be looking to get the win on September 1st,” Williams added.

Mitchell, who is off to India to play with East Bengal FC alongside forward Willis Plaza, will be hoping to return to qualifying action after last appearing in the qualifiers in the 3-1 defeat to Honduras in November in which he also scored with a header.

“My last qualifier was against Honduras and I scored. I am definitely looking forward to making a return against them and hopefully make a solid contribution to the team. Everything we do between now and September will be critical both on and off the field and I know the boys are all looking forward to the occasion,” Mitchell said.

TT will face Honduras at the Ato Boldon Stadium from 8pm on Friday September 1 before travelling to meet Panama four days later.

The senior team will resume training on August 14.

“Since diabetes is a major cause of blindness and consuming too much sugar could lead to diabetes.

A patient suffering from diabetes could develop diabetic retinopathy which could lead to complete blindness.” Suratt said diabetic retinopathy affects blood vessels in the light-sensitive tissue called the retina that lines the back of the eye, and is the common cause of vision loss among people with diabetes.

There should be no fear that you would compromise yourself if you want to go to the Kambule Parade organised by the Emancipation Support Committee, because what I am suggesting can be done before or after the parade.

I say light a candle, play a drum, say a prayer. These three ritual acts can be your spiritual foundation and guide for the celebration.

In the time before your celebration, I also suggest that besides calling your family together to remember its achievements, it would be good to pay some attention to your family’s health.

No doubt many times when we go through our family’s history we may forget to factor in the physical, mental and emotional challenges that continue to be a part of the African experience.

Africans should know that some of their health issues are genetically determined, sickle cell trait and sickle cell anaemia, for example.

In an article titled “The difference between sickle cell trait, disease,” Dr Helen Minciotti of the US wrote, “According to the National Institutes of Health, sickle cell anaemia is most common among families originating from Africa, South America, Central America (especially Panama), the Caribbean islands, Mediterranean countries, India and Saudi Arabia.

The sickle cell gene was thought to have evolved within these geographic areas due to its somewhat protective effect against malaria.

“Ap p r o x i m a t e l y 100,000 Americans have full-blown sickle cell disease, while sickle cell trait is found in two million Americans. Disease occurs in one out of every 500 African-Americans, with one out of 12 African Americans carrying the gene as sickle cell trait.” All African families in the Caribbean should have some understanding of what the presence of sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease may mean in a family and thereby take the necessary action to mitigate any complications.

But there is more. The Caricom Reparations Commission set out a 10-Point Action Plan for Reparatory Justice and it has been adopted by the TT National Committee on Reparations.

The action point, captioned “The Public Health Crisis,” says: “The African-descended population in the Caribbean has the highest incidence in the world of chronic diseases in the forms of hypertension and type 2 diabetes. This pandemic is the direct result of the nutritional experience, physical and emotional brutality, and overall stress profiles associated with slavery, genocide, and apartheid.

“Over 10 million Africans were imported into the Caribbean during the 400 years of slavery.

At the end of slavery in the late 19th century, less than two million remained. The chronic health condition of Caribbean blacks now constitutes the greatest financial risk to sustainability in the region.

“Arresting this pandemic requires the injection of science, technology, and capital beyond the capacity of the region. Europe has a responsibility to participate in the alleviation of this heath disaster.

“The Caricom Reparatory Justice Plan addresses this issue and calls upon the governments of Europe to take responsibility for this tragic human legacy of slavery and colonization.” That is not all. African males also have a serious problem with prostate cancer. The report from the Second Annual International African-Caribbean Cancer Consortium Conference in Miami in May 2008 stated that “there is growing literature on the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer among other black men of West African ancestry in the Caribbean islands, United Kingdom and West Africa.” It was further stated that the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer among other black men of West African ancestry follows the path of the transatlantic slave trade.

Unfortunately, seriousness about the message about prostate cancer has not gotten through to African males. There is no doubt now that too many dislike and distrust rectal examinations which check the size of the prostate while testing for any abnormal conditions. I want to ask that African males to listen to Heather McIntosh’s calypso, The Finger, at https:// www. youtube. c om/ watch?v=spV85recbN8 I really hope we use our Emancipation Day family celebrations at home as well so that we can become more knowledgeable about our several African achievements as well as our many health concerns.

AIYEGORO OME Mt Lambert

According to reports, at 1.15 pm, Matthew Birch, 25, also known as “Jockey” of Hillview Drive, La Puerta, went to a shop in the area when he was accosted by a gunman.

A scuffle ensued and Birch was shot in the abdomen and left leg.

He was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he was warded in serious condition.

Police are working on information that Birch was accused by the gunman of being linked to a recent serious crime.

Five minutes later, two men who were searching for scrap iron were robbed and shot.

According to reports, Junior Joefield and Leston David who are both from Claxton Bay were at Simeon Road in Petit Valley when they were approached by a group of men who promised to give them some scrap iron. While the victims were awaiting the scrap iron they were approached by a man from the group who robbed them of cash.

The gunman then shot Leston David on both hands, while Joefield was shot in the abdomen. Both were taken to the General Hospital where they were warded. Assistant Commissioner of Police Irwin Hackshaw along with Acting ACP Radcliffe Boxhill and Acting Inspector Godfrey visited both scenes and investigations are continuing.

Carter finished 10th and last in 52.75 seconds of heat seven in the men’s 100-metre butterfly and failed to advance to the semifinals.

James Guy of Great Britain won the heat in 51.16. Heat seven was fast, as the top five qualified for the semifinals.

In the men’s 50m freestyle, Romany finished tied for seventh among the 10 competitors in heat eight.

Romany and Enzo Martinez of Uruguay both touched the wall in 23.30.

It was a competitive heat as Peter Wetzlar of Zimbabwe and Aleksey Tarasenko of Uzbekistan tied for ninth place in 23.37. However, no swimmers qualified for the semifinals from heat eight.