Many of the chronic diseases affecting the country — and also putting pressure on our health infrastructure — can be avoided by a better quality of intervention on the part of the State. It is true that we each of us control our lifestyles and habits, but if we are really serious about addressing public health issues we must realize that health is not just a question of the volition of an individual. Every single choice a person makes comes in the context of a specific history as well as social, community and family context.

The decision to better manage the food and drink offered for sale to students at school acknowledges that in the end our decisions are influenced by environmental factors. We can tell children overly sugary drinks are bad. But that will not be enough to sway them if they see students in the school yard and in the cafeteria indulging in the latest sugar crave or energy drink. Peer pressure is powerful.

It has also been suggested that some forms of foods rich in sugar and carbohydrates are addictive.

Meaning, once a child is accustomed to a certain palate, it may be hard to wean them off.

The more responsible course of action is to get the vendors to sell only the healthiest of options.

As such we are heartened by the decision of the Ministry of Health to mandate that, come September, only 100 percent fruit juices will be available to students. Ideally, this screening system should graduate to looking at the snacks and foodstuff offered as meals. These are the kinds of interventions necessary if we are to effectively tackle our high rates of juvenile diabetes and childhood obesity. However, while there is rightly much focus on chronic non-communicable diseases, other matters also call for attention.

As noted recently by Dr Yansie Rolston it must not be forgotten that when dealing with medical issues, patients are not to be regarded merely as machines.

The physical picture is tied to the mental and social as well. Many food disorders begin in childhood and are linked to emotional considerations. There is a reason why we talk of “binge eating” and “comfort foods”. If a person is under mental and social stresses, they are more likely to be at risk of physical ailments.

More work needs to be done when it comes to offering our students better access to counseling, particularly in secondary school.

And just as we need to keep an eye on the physical and mental well-being of students, we must never forget the role of social factors in their overall well-being as well. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the arena of education about sexually transmitted infections. While we focus on diabetes and obesity, we must not lose sight of equally pressing threats such as HIV/ AIDS and STIs. We must ensure students have access to sexual health information and are encouraged to adopt best practices.

Abstinence is often venerated as the ideal prescription. But — as countless social media videos set in schools have taught us — that ideal is not a realistic expectation in a world where we no longer have shame about being sexually expressive. We must assume our secondary school students need the information about condom use and regular testing that will serve them well.

The human being is a complex, sensitive and sacred thing.

Mental health goes alongside physical health, which is affected by stress, emotions and sexuality.

Sugar is something we need to be weary of. But it is not the only thing we need to keep an eye on

My mission was to investigate some widely-held views about Indo- Trinidadians to ascertain to what extent such views represented reality or were merely myths, half-truths, misconceptions and misrepresentations.

I concluded that (a) the notion that Indo-Trinidadians dominated the national economy or the public bureaucracy at any level was a myth, (b) the view that they were significantly over-represented in the professions was a half-truth in that this position was probably true only of medicine and law but not of the whole gamut of other professions in the country, (c) the belief that Indo-Trinidadians were more clannish and indeed more racially-oriented than other ethnic groups was a misconception and possibly a deliberate misrepresentation.

Such conclusions I had hoped would serve to place ethnic perceptions and indeed ethnic relations on a realistic footing.

With respect to (c) above and the allegedly more deep-seated racial psyche of Indo-Guyanese and Indo- Trinidadians as propounded by Raffique Shah in his column in the Express of 16/5/17, I had intended to respond earlier to draw attention to the flawed premises of Shah’s emphatic conclusion. In the meantime, one Kamal Persad penned a response in the Express of 15/7/17 which refuted Shah’s assertions that Indo-Trinidadians are more racially predisposed than Afro-Trinidadians in their voting behaviour.

My own view is that substantial numbers of both Afros and Indos are motivated by tribal instinct and deep ethnic sentiment. However, any attempt to determine which ethnic group displays greater racial consciousness and solidarity may be both unproductive and inconclusive.

To assert, as Shah does, that Indos are more guilty than Afros in this regard can hardly be supported by all the available data and seems merely to be the result of selective interpretation.

Shah is of course free to hold whatever view meets his fancy but the motivation which compels him to easily castigate Indos as racists and inveterate tribalists is a matter of speculation.

I myself in 1991 was deemed by Shah to be foremost among Indo- racists due to my effort to investigate the notion that Indo-Trinidadians dominated the economy. One wonders whether he is desperate to advertise his assumed credentials as a patriot and nationalist totally free from racial and tribal sentiment and, in order to do so, he sees the need to come down heavily against the ethnic group to which he belongs by lineage.

Incidentally, this self-acclaimed patriot led an army revolt against a constitutionally elected government and, on the charge of treason, was set free on a legal technicality.

There is also speculation that Shah’s bitterness against Indo-Trinidadians stems from his firm belief that in the merry-go-round contest for the parliamentary leadership of the ULF during the 1977-78 period, Basdeo Panday strongly appealed to Indo-Trinidadian racial sentiment against him and his radical associates which resulted in his and his group’s defeat.

Is it then that he has never forgiven Panday and his support base for his political demise? It is of course true that, consummate politician that he is, Panday is not averse to using any and every means at his disposal to defeat a political enemy. As we are aware, he has given currency to the dictum that “politics has a morality of its own.” The appeal to race as a mechanism of political mobilisation is not novel in Trinidad politics. The reality is that it has been used on occasions by politicians of all hues from the 1940s through the 50s and 60s to the present day.

Race was indeed a factor in the 1976 election campaign, even if muted and latent.

“It is our understanding that many companies, in fact, are making decent profits.

Why haven’t some of the profits used to repay some of their debt? We need to be informed why that is not taking place. Why are there no proper arrangements for repayment given the cash flows of those companies which have improved significantly post 2009?” Abdulah questioned. He was speaking at a press conference hosted at the party’s headquarters at St Joseph Village, San Fernando.

He said CLF had shares in companies such as Republic Bank, Clico, Angostura, insurance companies and so on. “Angostura is an iconic brand and we cannot have those dissipating. We cannot lose what is essentially part of our economic heritage by either a liquidator selling out or shareholders selling out to get cash to repay the debt,” he said.

Abdulah said the MSJ was opposed to the Government’s decision to go to Supreme Court to have CLF liquidated for repayment of an outstanding $15 billion owed from the bailout in 2009.

“In our view liquidation is a retrograde step because essentially what you are doing is selling all the assets to pay persons who are owed..In this case primarily the government,” Abdulah said. Liquidators are not interested in maintaining companies that are viable, he noted.

Abdulah said when a company goes bankrupt or into liquidation, voluntarily or court-ordered, persons begin to hover like ‘corbeaux around the carcass of that company.’ He said liquidators try to obtain assets at a price that is considerably less than the real value of the assets being sold.

The short-term solution to assets sales is unacceptable, he said, and called for full disclosure of all the information related to CLF/CLICO and the financial bailout.

The MSJ leader was also of the view that the persons who bought CLF to its 2008/9 crisis ought not to retain control of that company.

“We don’t believe that those shareholders involved in bringing CL Financial to its knees ought to now get back control of the company.

That will be a slap in the face of citizens of T&T and to those who have lost monies,” Abdulah said. He accused Finance Minister Colm Imbert of wanting to close the gap between revenue and expenditure in his budget before the end of this fiscal year and before the start of the new fiscal year.

Abdulah charged that the Government failed in all aspects within the past nine months of the last fiscal year. Among the failures he listed were poor international ratings and lower foreign exchange.

“Governments fiscal deficit continues to be large and many of the initiatives announced by the either not been initiated or started or where they have been, had limited success,” Abdulah said.

His closest competitors, Johnathan Gajadhar and Tau Lansee, both scored 170 points in the highest tally of results thus far in the tournament.

Over 140 participants, between the ages of seven and 12, competed for 20 spots in next week’s final tournament, from which the top three athletes would be getting the opportunity to travel to Spain to participate in a two-day training camp with the FC Barcelona coaches in early August.

However, due to the stiff competition on Saturday, an overall tally of 23 youngsters were chosen from the Couva camp since the final five footballers were all tied level on 125 points.

The chosen 23 earned their places in the final round which will be contested at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Arima this Saturday.

The participants were assessed by their speed, shooting, short passing, dribbling and control.

Gilbert, having trained with W Connection from a tender age, also attends and represents Presentation College San Fernando at the Under-14 level.

Gilbert expressed satisfaction with his performances thus far, stating, “I am very proud of myself and I feel very confident heading into the next round of the competition.” His parents, Mishka and Dave, were more nervous than him as they waited anxiously for his named to be called as part of the final selection, getting a bit worried when coming down to the end. Both parents expressed their gratitude towards Milo and their partnership with FC Barcelona to have such academies for the nation’s youths.

Tournament Three Qualifiers: Dantaye Gilbert (230 points), Johnathan Gajadhar (170), Tau Lansee (170), Addae Paponette (165), Dante Moses (165), Giovanni Hospedales (160), Shaheim O’Brian (150), Ramon Sawh (150), Gervais Frederick (145), Lyndell George (140), Kanye James (140), Ethan Trotman (135), Jeremiah Miles (135), Logan Maingot (135), Elijah Francis (130), Aalon Wilson-Wright (130), Aydon Caruth (130), Terrel Acosta (130), Micah Nelson (125), Jaylon Cordieu (125), Nikosi Francette (125), Makesi Kendall (125), Jaydon Sargeant (125).

Horsford, the current Under- 18 boys javelin Carifta champion, threw the spear 69.43 metres on the closing day of competition.

Australian Neil Janse Van Rensburg won gold with a throw of 74.19m, while his countryman Oscar Louis Sullivan grabbed bronze with a 66.23m attempt.

Horsford was far from his best as he won gold at the 2017 Carifta Games in Curacao in April with a 76.50m effort.

On Saturday night, the TT boys beach soccer team got silver after losing 6-2 to St Lucia in the gold medal match. TT were trying to make it two gold medals on the night in the sport, as the TT girls defeated Jamaica 5-4 in the girls gold medal match.

TT ended the games with five medals – two gold, two silver and one bronze. Winning gold were the girls beach soccer team and Adell Colthrust in the boys 100m event. Horsford and the boys beach soccer team got silver and Jeron Thompson took bronze in the boys 50m freestyle.

Attorneys representing a minor whose murder preliminary inquiry was affected were asked by attorneys representing Earle Caddle to hold their hand on taking legal action until July 31.

In a letter to attorney Anand Ramlogan, SC, who represents the minor, Earle-Caddle’s attorney Vishma Jaisingh, from the firm Fitzwilliam Stone Furness- Smith and Morgan, on Wednesday last asked for the extension of time to July 31 to respond.

Jaisingh noted that the firm had only just been retained and attorneys were in the process of taking instructions from the acting chief magistrate.

However, Ramlogan in his reply to Jaisingh on Thursday last, said that an earlier extension had been granted and the 21 day extension had since elapse with no response to his ‘simple request for information.’ “We have received instructions to proceed with this matter and to not permit any further extensions.

“We have graciously extended this courtesy despite the fact that our client is a minor who has been detained for over three years and remains in a state of uncertainty regarding the proceedings brought against him by the State.

“The interests of justice would not be served by any further delay in this matter and I am therefore constrained to require your response on or before Monday July 24 (today), failing which I am instructed to commence proceedings without further notice,” Ramlogan wrote.

Ramlogan, on June 21, made the request of Earle Caddle seeking information on who gave the instructions to have the matters restarted and what further instructions were she given and by whom.

In his letter to Earle-Caddle, in which he initially gave her five days to respond, Ramlogan said, “This response has created grave doubt and intensified the confusion that surrounds the status and future conduct of my client’s PI. As you would no doubt appreciate, one would assume that the Honourable Chief Justice himself was the source of your instructions, which in turn arose out of a decision taken at the meeting convened at the request of the Honourable Chief Justice on Wednesday 24th May 2017. This was the clear, logical and inescapable inference conveyed by the press release from the Court Protocol and Information Unit on May 25, 2017, which stated the “consensus was reached” and the subject partheard matters will be heard de novo,” Ramlogan wrote.

Ramlogan further noted that the denial by the Chief Justice that the press statement was badly worded ‘had now called into question the veracity and integrity’ of Earle-Caddle’s statement in court that she had received instructions to restart the cases de novo.

“Confusion now reigns supreme, as the Honourable Chief Justice appears to have “back peddled” from the position originally stated in his press release of May 25, 2017.

This flip-flopping has created a ridiculous and unacceptable state of affairs in the administration of criminal justice,” Ramlogan said.

Several of the matters are expected to come up for hearing today at which time the DPP is expected to State his position on the part-heard cases.

Harrysingh-Carmona also called for proper food labelling legislation, saying there must be more visual and real information on eating healthy.

“We must not glamorise bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyles. Legislation must, therefore, be in place to ensure that all foods sold are properly labelled in terms of fat content, cholesterol level and calories.

They must form part of the advertisements on radio, television and social media so that informed choices can be made by the public,” she said.

Harrysingh-Carmona made the suggestion on Saturday while delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony of a two-day children’s camp hosted by the Diabetes Association of Trinidad and Tobago (DATT).

The association hosted the event at the Preysal Secondary School at Couva.

Emphasing that there is need to devise innovative ways and means of arresting this health crisis in the Caribbean, she added it was why she promotes the child advocate model as a means of trying to push and encourage the message of a healthy lifestyle. The child and not an adult, Harrysingh-Carmona said, becomes the messenger among his/her peer group.

She urged coordinators and facilitators of the camp to ignite in the child that kind of child advocacy so that the youngster can spread messages of good health, well-being and exercise.

“The child advocate can warn his parents, friends and schoolmates about improper eating habits that can lead to diabetes and other health issues.

An informed child advocate can, therefore, trigger a veritable health revolution in the society at large,” she said.

Harr ysingh-Carmona is the patron of DATT, a non-profit organisation.

Those in attendance were President Carmona; Health Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh; DATT’s President Praimraj Boodram; and First VP Andrew Dhanoo (symposium chair).

She said too many persons in the country were hospitalised due to diabetes, which accounts for 28 percent of patients.

“Amputations because of diabetes mellitus are simply too high,” she added.

“Prevention starts at home, in the kitchens and in the lunch kits of our children. Our local cuisine can be a mind field given our obsession with oil, lard, butter, MSG and our well-known Siamese twins- salt and sugar,” Harrysingh-Carmona said.

However, she acknowledged that one can eat ‘local’ and still eat healthily.

“Our advocacy can, therefore, involve influencing the manufacturing world to do the right thing through legislative means because collaboration on such entities like issues of health has not proven to be very successful,” she told the gathering.

To the children of the camp, Harrysingh- Carmona encouraged them to maintain their focus in their advocacy against unhealthy lifestyles and non-communicable diseases. She publicly thanked Deyalsingh and the authorities for listening and hearing the cries of DATT and mandating the exclusion of drinks and juices with high sugar content from all cafeterias in schools.

Pledging her support to the association, Harrysingh congratulated members for their genuine and selfless volunteerism aimed at creating better lives for those who are vulnerable.

The association will host an expo from September 29- 30 at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya. The aim of this event is to bridge the gap between health care providers and the public. Organisers promise a healthy and delicious food options in a fun atmosphere in IN ORDER to grow its Food Zone.

The residents of Jaggan Village are now pleading to anyone that could render assistance. Residents said that an estimated$1.7 million in damages was incurred.

Emily Sookraj, one of the villagers, told Newsday about how her entire world came crashing down on the heads of her family when a landslide claimed her home and two others on Saturday.

Sookraj said at about 12.30 pm on Saturday, heavy rain began falling in their village. The rain was so heavy that water slowly began seeping into their home on top a hill in the village. Two hours later, her house, which was fortified with steel beams and concrete gave way to tonnes of mud and silt, which slipped from the side of the mountain, into her home.

“I was in the kitchen when it happened,” Sookraj said. “All I heard was rumbling, and when I looked back, everything came down on us.” Mud, sand silt and sediment from the mountainside broke through the back wall of Sookraj’s home, along with two other families, and flooded its interior. Sookraj said, her youngest child, 31-yearold Suzanne Gomez was sleeping in her bedroom at the back of the house when the landslide came down. Newsday was told that the landslide pushed Gomez out of her bedroom, through a wall and into another room where she was almost buried under the mud and silt along with concrete from the wall.

Sookraj said that her daughter managed to climb through a crack in the wall at the far end of the house. She was later taken to hospital where she was treated for a damaged ligament in her foot.

Residents yesterday told Newsday that they have been working around the clock, trying to clear mud and sediment out of the damaged houses. Friends, relatives and neighbours in the village chipped in to conduct repairs to the damaged homes. Newsday was also told that MP of St Ann’s East Nyan Gatsby Dolly went to see the damage and promised the villagers that they would be supplied with mattresses and other items, however up to press time yesterday, the villagers complained that they hadn’t gotten the mattresses. Villagers were also promised a monthly grant of $2,500, so that they could find other lodgings. Villagers told Newsday that it may not be enough for the people who lost their homes to get back on their feet.

“Right now we need somewhere to sleep,” said one villager. “We cannot sleep here and we cannot live here. It is totally uninhabitable. The hill could come down on our heads at the slightest bit of rain. Yes, we were given a grant, but we still have to find a place to rent for that money, and after the three months we would have to fend for ourselves. If we are not able to pay the rent what will happen to us? We are not rich people. We cannot pay rent. Even if we get units to rent-to-own that would be better than what they are giving us now.” Minister of Works Rohan Sinanan was yesterday overseeing clean-up work in the aftermath of Saturday’s heavy rainfall. He told Newsday that up to 11.30 on Saturday night, the Ministry of Works were conducting clean-up exercises in areas like Haleland Park. He said that the reaction time for flooding in several areas were cut in half because equipment was placed in strategic positions were available to clean up in the aftermath of the flooding. Sinanan said that the flooding which was experienced in several parts of Northern Trinidad, including Port of Spain, was not a result of poor infrastructure, but because of the amount of rain that fell in a short period of time.

“There was nothing we could do about it save for cleaning up after,” Sinanan said. “The amount of rain that fell in a matter of hours was so much that the water courses could not take it.” He added that along with the amount of rain, the time it falls is also a factor. The two occasions that rain fell in Port of Spain causing flooding, it fell at the height of high tide causing water to rush to the vcapital.

Over 200 rivers under maintenance my ministry of works.

Sinanan suggested that run off traps be placed at several rivers to catch water during rainy reason then slowly allow the water to run off.

So far, Garcia has done his part, completing a week of training and earning selection on the 19- man squad that will leave today for Guayaquil to take on Ecuador in an international friendly on Wednesday.

Garcia hails from a footballing family, as his younger brother Levi is a national winger who plays for AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie, while his eldest brother Daniel played with TT EC at the Pro League level. Another brother, Judah, is a member of Shiva Boys High School’s successful 2016 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division champs and a national youth team player.

“It’s been a good week of preparation for us,” Garcia said, in an interview on the TT FA (TT Football Association) website. “The step up has been good. We’ve all worked hard and tried to follow the instructions of the coach.

“I’ve had a chance to be around the training before and now this is another opportunity for me to really make a good impression because I’d love to get a look for the World Cup qualifying games in September,” Garcia added.

“The current squad has a lot of local-based players so we are all trying to push for selection and take on board everything the coaches are passing on in the sessions. There’s a lot for us to absorb in these sessions and it’s really getting us in good shape for international football.

The level is different,” Garcia noted

In a statement issued on the weekend, the ministry refuted claims in the electronic media that the decision by six leading courier companies to withdraw their lawsuit over the OPT on Friday may have been influenced by fear of victimisation in the companies obtaining foreign exchange.

“This is a ludicrous suggestion because the persons who purchase goods online do so using their personal credit cards through the commercial banks, and these personal credit cards are not in any way connected to the courier companies.

“Further, the very suggestion that courier companies might be victimised in some way is reprehensible because the Ministry of Finance is not in any way involved in the distribution of foreign exchange to courier companies. Foreign exchange is distributed by the commercial banks,” the ministry said.

The ministry added that the companies withdrew their lawsuit on the strength of the detailed written submissions filed by the Ministry and the Office of the Attorney General in the High Court. “Clearly, the courier companies realised that they had no case with respect to the Government’s legitimate right to vary or impose taxes in order to generate revenue to service the needs of the general population and the country at large,” the statement said.