Shade has been part of the team pool that worked with former coach Carolina Morace but she will renew acquaintances with Shabazz, the first coach she worked under upon her entry into the national programme as a 13-year-old.

“It was very heartbreaking to say the least after hearing that coach Carolina Morace and assistant coach Nicola Williams was leaving us,” Shade admitted on Sunday. “It was very sudden but all I can say is that I know God is in control and I trust His will for us as a team.

“Jamaal was one who was very instrumental in bringing coach Carolina and her assistant Nicola here so because of this, I have great confidence that his mind and heart is in the right place and he indeed has a great plan for the future of this team,” Shade said in an article on the TTFA (Trinidad and Tobago Football Association) website.

The 25-year-old looked back on her early days as a national team player, a period which she says allowed her to develop under Shabazz.

“I know coach Jamaal very well. I joined the national programme when I was 13 and was among the few players in my generation like Karyn Forbes and Rhea Belgrave who started playing with the senior team at first before playing with the youth teams. I remember being in several senior and Under-20 camps in the US, Caribbean and home, and playing in several CFU and CONCACAF Qualifiers under Jamaal as coach.

“He has always been a very serious yet no-nonsense person who appreciates hard work. I was a youth on both teams and so it was a different atmosphere for me because I was learning and growing and developing as a very young player,” she continued.

“Though he has always been around women’s football, this is the first time as an adult that I would be coached by Jamaal and I feel very positive as we move forward in our preparations.

My focus has always been giving my best in training so the game becomes easier and I will continue to by God’s Grace,” Shade stated.

The former France-based pro who now plays for Petrotrin in the TT Women’s League (WoLF) believes that Shabazz will fit right back into the programme because of his past alliance.

“One very positive thing about Jamaal being head coach of the team is the fact that he has known most, if not all of us since we were in our early teens and at some point or another most of us played under him. He knows our ability and has seen our development as players and commitment to the program throughout the years, so he knows what he has to work with.

“I’m expecting that this will make the transition easier and faster so we can get back on track with our preparations for France 2019,” Shade concluded.

The Caribbean phase of the qualifiers is carded to start next year towards the CONCACAF final stage and Shabazz will resume the training sessions within the next few days.

In related news, Shade is set to launch her first book, Tunnel Vision – A Set Apart Life on August 5 at the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards.

The book is based on a young Christian’s survival guide for spiritual success, empowerment and blessing.

Police sources said that Padarath held a three-night Ramayan (Hindu prayers) at which he invited Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, family and friends to attend and pray with him. Newsday understands that for the three nights of the prayers, a policeman was hired on extra duty to provide security.

However, at 11.30 pm, 15 minutes after the policeman left when his allotted extra duty time had elapsed, a gunman entered the house and announced a hold-up. At the time of the robbery, Persad-Bissessar had already left.

Padarath and about 20 others, who at the time were deep in prayer, were relieved of personal valuables including cash, cellular phones and jewelry. When the bandit ran off, a report was made to the Couva Police Station.

The robbery put an end to the prayer service. Up to press time, no arrest was made and investigations are continuing.

Joseph, 48, of Upper Seventh Avenue, Malick was before Justice Maria Wilson in the Port of Spain Fourth Criminal court charged for shooting Stewart, 21, at Cocoa Road in Febeau Village, San Juan on September 29, 2002. A 12 member jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict.

Senior State attorney Anju Bhola prosecuted.

According to evidence, Joseph went to bathe at a spring at Laventille Road in San Juan. Stewart and a group of neighbours were already at the spring when Joseph arrived. After being told to wait his turn, Joseph became angry and started to argue with Stewart and his friends.

“Anybody that want to live better run,” Joseph said as he drew a gun from a bag he was carrying and began shooting at the group.

Stewart was shot several times while his friends managed to escape and reported the incident to police. Stewart’s friends were placed in protective custody and testified against Joseph at the trial.

They claimed to have known Joseph before the incident and were able to point him out at identification parades.

Joseph claimed he was assisting in campaigning for that year’s general election at the time of the incident. At the time of the murder, Joseph was on bail in relation to a charge that he shot at police Constables Jason Boney and Marlon Maslier at Seventh Avenue, Malick on July 24, 2001.

After passing the sentence on Joseph, Justice Wilson praised Senior Superintendent David Abraham for his comprehensive investigation which was performed while he was a Sergeant in the Homicide Bureau of Investigation

A man alighted from the vehicle, pulled out a gun and fired shots at the limers before running off into nearby bushes while the car sped off. Police said Roxanne was shot in the hands while her cousin was shot in his hand and feet. The victims were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope where they were treated and remain warded.

No motive has been established for the shooting, no arrest has been made and Santa Cruz police are conducting investigations.

Named the Caribbean Steel Pan Connexion (correct spelling), the band consisting of Andre Robbley, Kwesi Paul, Carlon Morris and Terry Guischard left the country yesterday to spend 49 days promoting TT’s national instrument in the Central Asian country. The team was the only one chosen by Caricom to represent the Caribbean at the show.

The team’s manager, Israel Mc- Leod said the men were all professional universtity-qualified musicians who have received an opportunity they have always dreamed of with hopes that more doors like this would open up to them in the future.

The team’s leader Robbley is the lead tenor with the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra for the last 30 years while Paul plays with Pandemonium Steel Orchestra and Phase II Pan Group. Morris is the lead double tenor also with Desperadoes and Guischard plays with NLCB Fonclaire.

McLeod said the group first found out about the expo through an advertisement on Facebook asking for all steel pannists to submit an audition fee and contact information.

She said this invitation came from Caricom and they had to submit a seven-minute video highlighting local music including calypso, soca, and, just to show their diversity, threw in a version of Ave Maria.

“We submitted a proposal which described each of the musicians and their experience, our repertoire and the number and types of pans that we would propose to be used for a trade show like this.

“Caricom would have identified a sponsor company in Kazakhstan to partner with and out of whatever submissions they received, we were the successful group. I don’t know how many other parties would have submitted, but I don’t think it would have been that many, maybe about two others submitted.

Israel said this was the first time that steelpan was being introduced to Kazakhstan and this was the only group in TT representing the Caricom in the trade show. However, she bemoaned the fact that TT was the last group to arrive in the country, when other reprsentative countries had arrived for over a month.

“It has been going on for a while so, we are really going to show up and show off what we have to offer,” she said during a telephone interview yesterday, while she was clearing their steelpans at the Piarco International Airport.

McLeod said she could not say what was the keep back, but was grateful that they were finally on their way.

The manager said the pannists were very excited for this opportunity to showcase their talent, and also the culture of their country.

“Besides pulling out our hair this morning they are very excited.

They are musiciians, they don’t have another option such as plumbing or going into IT or things like that. They are trained and qualified at university level as musicians, so this is the opportunity that they have been dreaming of, to be self sufficient as musicians and to have doors open up. They are also looking forward to more opportunities coming out of this arrangement,” McLeod said.

“These threats arise from a combination of factors, not least of which is our predilection as citizens to be authors of our own misery,” Robins on-Re g i s stated. She asked, “ How else does one explain a bonfire being set on a beach that is known to be a nesting site for our leatherback turtles that results, based on reports, in about 80 hatchlings literally being roasted alive? How else do we explain the tonnes of garbage illegally disposed along river banks and in watercourses that contributed in no small way to the flooding experienced in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Bret? The members of the newly inducted IMA Board are Paul Gabbadon, Andrea Julien, Hayden Alexander (chairman), Nadia Jardine, Dave Elliot and Beverly Khan.

Members of the Green Fund Advisory Committee also received their instruments of appointment at the same ceremony. This committee is chaired by former Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams.

Other members of the committee include, “Clarence Bacchus, Anthony Ramnarine, Tricia Ford and Rennie Gosine.

Despite local and global economic trends of falling energy prices, and the urgent need to reduce public spending, the ministry said, Government has provided continued access to tertiary education through means testing and adjusted loan ceilings to help those who may still be unable to meet necessary costs.

Effective August 2017, only programmes and institutions accredited by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago will be eligible for funding under the GATE Programme.

However, the ministry said, “this policy has not yet been effected, hence it cannot be said that ‘some public institutions are not accredited but access GATE funding’.” Policies governing the GATE programme have been carefully implemented after extensive consultation and review, the ministry said.

From the inception of the GATE programme in 2004 up to the 2015/2016 academic year, the ministry said, Government spent over $6.3 billion covering programmes that ranged from technical and vocational training to PhD studies.

Government spends substantial sums in support of tertiary level education through national scholarships, Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) and the Financial Assistance (Studies) Programme.

Though the HELP Programme increased its ceiling from $25,000 to $35,000 for students studying locally, the ministry said, only three percent of the student population has accessed the loans in the past.

The quota system the People’s Partnership government introduced in February 2015 for students enrolled in medical programmes at the University of the West Indies Mona and Cave Hill campuses was rescinded by the current PNM Government in December 2015.

In respect of St George’s University, Grenada, only ten students were funded in 2015/2016 with no further intake.

While Government continues to adhere to the mandate of the 2000 Dakar commitment to Education for All, it is important to note that tertiary education participation increased from approximately eight per cent in 2002 to the estimated 65.23 per cent in 2015. The targeted tertiary participation rate of at least 60 per cent by 2015 has been exceeded. The current level of tertiary participation, the ministry said, “compares favourably with the rate for developed countries.” Giving a background to the current situation, the ministry said, Government is experiencing significant reduction in revenues and foreign exchange earnings as a result of the falling prices of oil and gas. The price of oil has fallen from a high of US$128 in early 2011 to a low of US$30 in 2015 and currently selling for about US$48 representing some 63 percent decline from 2011 to 2016.

When the GATE Programme was established in 2004, oil prices ranged from US$40 to US$50 a barrel. The subsidy for both postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at that time was 50 per cent of tuition fees. In 2004, students who were unable to pay 50 per cent of tuition fees, were able to access full tuition on completion of a means test. As oil prices increased in 2006, Government introduced free tertiary education at the undergraduate level.

While governments in developed and developing countries have over the last decade reduced public funding of tertiary education due to constrained economic circumstances, Trinidad and Tobago is the only country in the English-speaking Caribbean which currently provides free tertiary level tuition support at the undergraduate level.

In 2016, the GATE programme the review of the programme to ensure sustainability of funding found that most of the recipients are from families which fall in the middle to high income groups.

The re-introduction of means testing in 2017/2018 was identified as one of the adjustments that should be made to the GATE programme.

On Sunday, at the same venue, the large crowd gathered was eager for this clash between Express and Dream Team, as Dream Team were in a position to extend their lead.

However, their opponents Express had other plans.

Dream Team were made to come from behind to salvage a point after Akeem “Paaw” Dandrade scored the equaliser to cancel off X Navarro’s game opener for Express.

Earlier in the week, Dragon FC whipped North Oropouche’s 4-1 while, on Wednesday last, G Madrid registered a 5-3 win over Gremio.

Also on Wednesday, Alescon FC earned a 4-2 win over Two Touch. Fishing Pond Youths and Two Touch played to an exciting six-goal thriller at the North Oropouche Grounds on Saturday.

In a game that was seemingly balanced throughout saw the teams go into the half time interval with two goals each.

But Brent Campbell and Xavier Penia added a goal each to secure Fishing Pond Youths’

And for its leaders, Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez and Carib Queen Jennifer Cassar, the one-off holiday granted to the community on October 13 signals a renaissance for a group almost forgotten.

Its significance is so meaningful to the group, that preparations for the holiday have already begun, with an almost concluded calendar of events. The calendar includes educational/learning opportunities, DNA testing, the unveiling of a totem pole and the sod turning for the first building at the First Peoples Heritage Village.

Bharath Hernandez said to Newsday, at a visit to the community’s office at Paul Mitchell Street, Arima: “What we are doing is going out to the communities, meeting with the people and getting them involved.” He said there were currently 900 First Peoples in TT with 200 of those being members of his community.

The group is also expected to host a ceremony at the Red House, where skeletal remains and artefacts belonging to First Peoples were found, and host a procession up Frederick Street and then to a day of activities at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

He said nine countries are expected to attend this year’s celebrations, including the US and Canada. Seven regional partners would attend this year’s celebrations as well.

But the global connections with other First Peoples have always existed, he said. “In terms of the global partnership, that has been taking place for quite a few years.

For quite a number of years, we have been interacting with the region because there is an organisation called the Caribbean Organisation of Indigenous Peoples and its members include Guyana, Suriname, Dominica, St Vincent, Puerto Rico and TT.” TT is currently the chair of the organisation. “During this week of activities we will take the opportunity to discuss what is happening in the region as each country will have an opportunity to report on the development of the first peoples in their respective country…” Bharath Hernandez said what appears to be a renewed interest in First Peoples culture began since the 1970s.

“From the 1970s there seems to be a reawakening of indigenous people at that time…it happened here in Trinidad and at the time it was happening we were not aware of what was happening globally. I like to term that an inspiration from above…” “I think one of the reasons for that besides the divine intervention…the dominance of First Peoples and other ethnicities, the colonial power was that seemed to be so heavy on other countries seems to be lifting away. And that could come through education and the modern technology that we have.” He said as people became more educated, they became more empowered and what was happening today was a result of that empowerment and education.

However, he believed that the new interest in First Peoples culture today could little impact TT .

He said the society was steeped in the direction of the economy and money and doing “all things for this mighty dollar and advancing through that.” This, he said, was a vast difference to the way of life of First Peoples.

He said even among the indigenous communities, the way of life was changing because of what people expected.

“What people expect for advancement, that power is also reaching into indigenous communities and they want to follow the same pattern. Most people want cellphones and other things and that is making its way into indigenous communities…” Bharath Hernandez said it was important to preserve the traditional ways since it provided a certain peace of mind and impacted positively on health.

While Bharath Hernandez and the other older indigenous peoples’ fight to preserve their culture, getting youth involved posed some difficulty. “It is a challenge but we cannot give up.

We have to continue to engage the youth through education.

Through educating them on the different aspects of indigenous life and the benefits to humanity…” He said there were many youths in the community but not many were involved in the organisation. The organisation needed to do more to reach out to them, he said.

This, Bharath Hernandez said, was the reason for requesting the national holiday. “The whole reason for the holiday was so the whole country could stop and reflect on the reason for the holiday.

We don’t expect everyone will be involved in the activities some people are happy for the holiday not to go to work… but that some would stop and say we have a holiday. Why? Because of the First Peoples, their contributions of the past, their present situation and their vision for the future. We do have a vision for the future that would help the country as a whole.” The holiday provides an opportunity for all those interested in wanting to know more and learn more to attend one of the events, he said.

Speaking yesterday at the Port of Spain Ferry Terminal, trucker John Dickenson said he was excited about the new vessel and “ready to go home.” Dickenson added that he had been waiting almost two weeks to get back to Tobago and was holding on to the hope that the Star outperforms the MV Super Fast Galicia.

“They say it can hold more than the Galicia so we hope it fixes the situation. Things are getting worse so I really hope this is the solution to the problem and that this vessel can bridge the gap between the islands,” Dickenson said. Asked how things were going yesterday at the terminal, Dickenson said that everything was “running good” and there weren’t any setbacks.

Newsday understands that there was no sailing for the truckers over the weekend and there was a backlog of trucks waiting to be transported to the sister isle. The Cabo Star will serve as a temporary relief to the sea-bridge for a chartered one year at a daily cost of approximately $157,500.

The vessel was expected to depart Port-of-Spain at 2 pm with some 100 vehicles and passengers. The Star can reportedly hold 120 passengers and has space for 130 vehicles.