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.

The two policemen and the 24-year-old El Socorro man were intercepted and detained by South Western Division Task Force officers after a chase from Cedros to Rousillac on Tuesday.

The Task Force officers, led by Sgt Shaeed Ali, report finding four crocus bags containing marijuana, three guns, ammunition and bottles of alcohol in the marked police Xtrail.

“The arrest of the two officers and the recovery of the illicit items has severely impacted on the image of the police service and the credibility of police officers,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Irwin Hackshaw told Newsday yesterday.

He said the service remains determined to rid itself of rogue cops.

“They would have put the dreams for the future of their children in their school bags. As a result of the effects of the hurricane, children would now be without books and bags.” The ESC through its Special School Supplies Hurricane Appeal it will seek to help to bring some hope to those families.

The school supplies campaign will collect and send school supplies to all school age children in need as a result of the hurricanes.

ESC estimated that throughout the region there could be between 20,000 to 30,000 children who may be in need. ESC said that it will start with those most in need and is calling on families in Trinidad and Tobago to provide school supplies even for just one child who has been affected.

ESC said that Initially it would like to meet the needs of at least the children in Barbuda (approximately 200-300) whose homes were completely devastated; those in the BVI, particularly from Tortola that have also suffered devastation, approximately 6,000 to 7,000.

For the drive three collection points have been established: for Port of Spain and environs school supplies, including copy books, note books for primary and secondary school children, pens, pencils, school bags, tools for mathematics and science subjects and art and music supplies can be left at the Emancipation House, 5B Bergerac Road, Maraval; in the South at Southern African Book Store, St George Building #6 Johnstone Street, San Fernando next to Harry the Barber; and for those along the East West Corridor, at the Moyo School of Excellence #10 2nd Street West, Montague Avenue, Trinicity.

ESC said that donations must meet the shipment of goods headed off to the hurricane victims in the Eastern Caribbean this weekend and all donations should be made by tomorrow at 4.30 pm.

For further information contact the ESC at 628-5008, Facebook – Emancipation Support Committee- ESC or at info.emancipation@ esctt.org.

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

Organisations are increasingly looking at their business practices; their operations, products and services. Not only do they receive numerous calls for change from organisations such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, or groups of ‘eco-warriors’, but from the United Nations, CARICOM, the European Union, to name a few. Recognition that our current way of life poses a threat to us and our planet, and this has led to global agreements on action to prevent future environmental damage. Such agreements include the Montreal Protocol, the Rio Declaration, and the Kyoto Protocol.

Environmental risks cannot be ignored, they are now as much a part of running a successful business as product design, marketing, and sound financial management. Poor environmental behaviour will have an impact on the business and its finances. Punishment includes fines, increased liability to environmental taxes, loss in value of land, destruction of brand values, loss of sales, consumer boycotts, an inability to secure finance, loss of insurance cover, contingent liabilities, law suits, and damage to corporate image.

Accounting is affected by environmental pressures on the business. Initially, there are pressures felt in external reporting, but environmental issues cannot be dealt with solely through this disclosure. Environmental issues need to be managed before they can be reported on, and this requires changes to management accounting systems.

Many businesses overestimate the cost and underestimate the benefits of improving environmental practices. Management accounting techniques can distort and misrepresent environmental issues, leading to managers making decisions that are bad for businesses and bad for the environment.

This leads to a failure to enhance customer value, while increasing the risk profile of investments and other decisions with long-term consequences.

For management accounting to contribute to improving the environmental performance of organisations, then it has to change. Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) is an attempt to integrate best management accounting thinking and practice with best environmental management thinking and practice.

Businesses in the Caribbean have had to adjust to government polices to address environmental concerns. In a bid to continue to position itself as one of the world’s most green-focused countries, Guyana banned the importation and use of Styrofoam earlier this year. Styrofoam waste makes up about 2-5 per cent of the waste stream in Guyana, primarily used in the food service industry.

Guyana’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment has already begun implementing serious measures to address waste management and promote biodegradable materials.

Most recently, cosmetics giants have been in the spotlight as governments in the US and UK move towards banning the use of microbeads in their products. Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic that have been used to remove dry cells from the surface of skin. However studies have found that they are tiny enough to pass through water filtration plants and therefore end up in lakes and rivers. This contributes to the growing amount of plastic waste in the ocean that is entering the food chain and harming fish and other marine life.

With mounting criticism of their uses in their products, many brands have begun phasing out their use in response despite an official ban not being in place (yet). L’Oreal has said it will be looking for natural alternatives (for example mineral particles, fruit seeds) that can provide the same effectiveness and safety as before which of course will impact on their product innovations.

The pursuit of environmental quality management via the development of an Environmental Management System (EMS) can only be achieved if ‘environmental audit’ is a concomitant feature of such a system. In this respect the organisation becomes self-regulating and the undertaking of environmental audits on a regular basis provides the platform for organisations to adopt a self-critical and analytical posture as part of their routine organisational management processes. Organisations should be striving to achieve an integrated environmental strategy underpinned by the same type of culture that is required for the successful operation of a programme of total quality management (TQM).

EMS and TQM share the focus upon ‘continuous improvement’ and the pursuit of excellence. Such organisations pursue objectives that may include zero complaints, zero spills, zero pollution, zero waste and zero accidents. Information systems need to be able to support such environmental objectives via the provision of feedback – on the success or otherwise – of the organisational efforts in achieving such objectives. This approach to environmental quality management requires the development of environmental performance measures and indicators that will enable a comprehensive review of environmental performance to be undertaken. Many – if not all – total quality management accounting techniques can be modified and effectively adopted to help manage environmental issues.

Schnoor is also Senior Vice-President and Head of the Caribbean South and East, as well as Chairperson of Scotiabank Caribbean Holdings Limited; Scotia Insurance Caribbean Limited; Scotia Life TT Limited; and Scotia Investments TT Limited.

In addition, Schnoor is the current President of the Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT).

Congratulating its president on her new appointment, BATT yesterday said, “As an accomplished banker, who has made significant contributions to the banking sector, BATT is confident that Schnoor will bring a wealth of expertise to her new position.” BATT also recognised Schnoor for “her sterling accomplishments” as its president for the past year and as a director for more than four years.

“We wish her all the best and continued success in her new endeavour,” BATT stated. In her new role, Schnoor will be responsible for designing and delivering financial solutions that drive growth through Scotiabank’s Canadian branch network, call centres and digital channels.

Schnoor’s appointment was announced late Tuesday afternoon.

Commenting on the news, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Scotiabank TT and Senior Vice President of International Banking at Scotiabank, Brendan King, praised Schnoor’s experience and contribution to the bank’s Caribbean operations.

“Anya is a highly-accomplished banking executive with a wealth of financial management experience.

She has made significant contributions to our business in the Caribbean and instilled a customer-focused mindset with our teams across the 12 islands for which she has held oversight responsibility. Anya is an exceptional leader, and we wish her well in her new role,” King said.

In a joint statement, published in today’s newspapers, both organisations said they were shocked to learn via the media, of this decision.

On September 8, Education Minister Anthony Garcia at a press conference, announced the change would take effect in the 2018 to 2019 academic year.

He said Cabinet made the decision as it was more feasible and cost effective. In their statement, the two associations said it was “incomprehensible” that the Ministry of Education would make such a major decision affecting the education system without consulting with them.

They said they were “flabbergasted” by the reasons cited by the ministry for the change.

These reasons were that SE A papers can now be marked during the two weeks Easter vacation period, there would be no need to temporarily close secondary schools that are being used and marking centres and teachers selected as markers by CXC would not be required to be away from classes.

In a poll of their membership conducted by TTUTA, they found that more than 80 per cent of the respondents believed that students benefited from the extra time the May date afforded them.

Teachers pointed out that they welcomed the extra time to better prepare t heir students for SE A.

“We firmly believe that when such significant decisions are to be made, the major stakeholders should be meaningfully consulted.

We are also of the view that, in this case, the students’ best interest should not be sacrificed for expediency,” they said.

The organisations called on the Ministry of Education to immediately engage with them on the issue with a view to arrive at solutions to “this imbroglio.

If the Ministry of Education views both organisations as major stakeholders then it would no nothing less.” Efforts to reach Minister Garcia for a comment yesterday proved futile.

Approximately 80 people comprising of staff members, family and friends from these organisations, alongside hundreds of other local enthusiasts (at different locations) and millions throughout the globe, helped promote ocean conservation on this day.

Vice president of marketing at TSTT , Camille Campbell, commended those who came out in their numbers to assist in the ICC activity.

Brand ambassador, Dwayne Bravo, was on hand to support the beach clean-up following his hectic but victorious Trinbago Knight Riders Caribbean Premier League T20 campaign.

“Both locals and tourists come to this beach and it’s good to see that bmobile has taken the lead when it comes to the upliftment of the country. For me personally, I saw it fit to come and support these volunteers, who took time out to help make this country a cleaner place, for all of us to enjoy. I’m also happy to see many kids out here today assisting in this effort to preserve our environment,” he stated.

The ICC initiative, held annually on the third Saturday in September, was coordinated on a worldwide scale by Ocean Conservancy Office of Pollution Prevention and Monitoring, and presented—in its 13th year locally— through the Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development (CNIRD)

A quarter of them don’t even know and about a third of children in both primary and secondary schools are juvenile diabetics or overweight, first vice president of the Diabetes Association (DATT) Andrew Dhanoo .

He said the epidemic was rising significantly while addressing the association’s Health and Wellness Expo at the University Inn and Conference Centre, St Augustine Circular on Wednesday. Dhanoo said while the Ministry of Health and Education and Minister of Health had embarked on a positive initiative to reduce the consumption of added-sugar beverages in schools, more educational information was needed in the public domain to support the initiative .

“We are taking away sugar- sweetened beverages from the schools,but children are getting it elsewhere. They are getting it outside the schools,” he said. “Education is the key, and this is what the event is all about, to educate the public, the children, and the adults, because education is really the key to a lifestyle change. You cannot just take away something from someone or tell them not to do something .

“You have to tell them why not to do it, and how to do it properly .

Every year we have reports and we will talk about it rising – but what are we doing? DATT is trying to change the mindset, the culture of people, just by educating them.” He said education gave people empowerment and the expo was aimed not just to inform the public about diabetes but also about health in general, and would give people the information they need to live healthier lives .

From September 29 to 30, the association will host an expo titled Diabetes Care – A Family Affair, at the Centre of Excellence at Macoya

Life for Jamie Lubon changed drastically on Monday night, when an army vehicle crashed into his car, shattering his peaceful existence and a conversation he was having with his wife and their three children in the back seat. The accident, which occurred at Bois Jean Jean, Moruga, around 8.20 pm, mangled his right arm so badly that it had to be amputated in an emergency surgery hours later.

Now the future looks grim for tradesman and sports enthusiast who used that particular hand to earn a living as a mason, to take care of himself and his young family.

From his bed at the San Fernando General Hospital, where he is warded after undergoing another surgery to remove blood clots from his chest and other injuries sustained from being pinned to the steering wheel of his car for almost an hour, Lubon contemplated his future.

“You see my condition.

Is only God now I could depend on to pull me through. All I am studying now is my family,” he said.

His wife, Casie Fonrose , 24, and their three children, Emmanuel, four, Candy, two and eight-month old Jamieson, were returning to their Penal Rock Road home, after visiting Fonrose parents at Moruga, when tragedy struck.

Fonrose, Candy and Emmanuel are also warded at the hospital, with different ailments.

Candy suffered a fractured arm and leg, while Fonrose and Emmanuel are experiencing excruciating pains in several parts of their bodies.

Baby Jamieson has since been discharged.

Jamie’s grieving mother, Diane Lubon, wept, yesterday, as she spoke to the Newsday, recalling that the last of her six children depended on no one for his livelihood, but worked hard to care for himself and his family.

“Now who is going to take care of them,” Diane said. “He is an A-class mason. He was building his house next to mine at Penal Rock Road. His hand was his life. Now, he will never be able to work again.” She became even more distraught as she spoke of the many trophies which lined the shelves of her home, mementos of Jamie’s prowess as a cricketer, as she realised he would never bowl another ball.

Diane said she had decided to go public with their concerns since no one from the army or the police had visited the family since the incident.

She said, “I fear there would be a cover up, because the soldiers are already saying they swerved to avoid another vehicle when they crashed into Jamie’s car.

That is not the story we got from eye witnesses.

They said there was no other car.

“My daughter-in-law told me that she saw the army vehicle coming towards them and she screamed out ‘Jamie.’ She said she grabbed her three children close to her chest as her husband tried to pull to the side to avoid a head on crash, but the van was already on them.”