BAICO will now have to prove its debt to CLF’s joint-liquidators.

At a brief hearing yesterday, Deborah Peake, SC, who along with Ravi Heffes Doon represents BAICO, reminded Justice Aboud that a summary judgement had been applied for, after which the proceedings had been put on hold in October 2014.

She said a further request was made to have the stay lifted and summary judgement proceed.

However, since then, the High Court has ordered the liquidation of CLF and there will be no necessity to obtain the summary judgement, Peake told the court.

In granting the request, Justice Aboud said the stay shall remain in force until further notice, pending the outcome of the liquidation.

BAICO, in its 2011 lawsuit, claimed it was owed over US$50 million by CLF under the terms of a Promissory Note dated December 31, 1998. The Promissory Note had a maturity date of December 31, 2010, although the principal became due and payable in the event that CLF failed to settle the interest due on the loan.

A demand for payment was made but nothing was paid and attorneys for BAICO, which was placed under the control of the Central Bank as part of the bailout agreement, filed a lawsuit including a claim for US$39.575 million in principal and US$10.75M in accrued unpaid interest.

Attorney Stephen Singh appeared for CLF. According to a preliminary report by joint liquidators Hugh Dickson and Marcus Wide of international accounting firm Grant Thornton, CLF’s Management Accounts, dated June 30, show a shareholders’ deficiency of $3.44 billion, before taking into account the obligations to the Government as part of the 2009 bailout agreement.

In a telephone interview, Corneal, the former TT men’s team assistant coach and national Under-17 team tactician, said, “We have to look at the whole overall system, especially all the stakeholders (including) Primary Schools (and) Secondary Schools.

“To put the plan together, we have the elite programme which is ongoing right now, giving some of the advanced (Under- 13) players the opportunity to play against each other,” Corneal continued. “We hope that each zone would continue training with their (boys and girls) teams. So we’re really trying to build from the bottom up.” Among the coaches involved in the programme are Stuart Charles-Fevrier and Marlon Charles, who will oversee the respective boys and girls categories, as well as Clyde Leon and Ahkeela Mollon.

Corneal said, “This is something we hope can be sustainable (and) not just done for six months or a year. But I have to say the administration is supporting these programmes. A lot is being done behind the scenes, when it comes to the construction of new fields and possibly a home where we can keep weekend (and) regular camps for all the national teams at one venue.

This is being spearheaded by the president David John-Williams.

“This is something we’ve asked for (a number of) years, to be able to have a place where all the national teams can come in and camp. There we’ll have a control over their diet, their rest, especially in preparation for tournaments.” The TTFA’s Home For Football will be at Balmain, Couva, next to the Ato Boldon Stadium.

“Right now they’re building some additional fields and a 72- room hotel at the Stadium that would be able to house these teams,” said Corneal.

A major complaint about local football is the lack of one playing style, from the youth teams to the senior ranks.

“That is interesting because we have to figure out our strengths as a people, our strengths in the game and make sure that our strengths are seen in the way we play,” noted the ex-national striker. “We don’t need to hide our strengths. If our strengths are speed and carrying the ball, then we need to see that. If it is flair then we need to see some of that. We need to make sure that our strengths are seen in our style of playing.” He continued, “It will be discussed among the coaches and we’ll take it from there. What is best for us may be a combination of what is best for our region (and) what has brought results.

“We have to look at the past to see what brought results for us,” ended Corneal.

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.”

“Bay Ferries maintenance contract was cancelled and millions of dollars were saved. We ask and our members asked, ‘To whose benefit?’” Speaking to the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure yesterday on the procurement of the MV Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2 and the operations of the Port of Port of Spain, Birchwood-James thanked Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for his apology made on Monday to the people of Tobago for the current crisis situation they are experiencing in relation to the passenger ferry service. “The fast ferry is no longer fast,” she said.

On the cancellation of Bay Ferries contract which was replaced by Magellan Services Limited with no maintenance component, Birchwood-James said, “There lies the problems with the ferry.” The ferry, she said, could not leave the Tobago yesterday morning as scheduled because of maintenance problems. Passengers then flocked to the Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) ticketing counter to see if they could get seats to travel to Trinidad.

The Superfast Galicia, she said, departed with no replacement, there were conflicting testimonies at the JSC from all parties involved and evidence of many episodes of bad corporate governance.

“Public servants, past and present ministers in questioning want to be politically correct when questioned. No real answers. We are yet to hear words that they have Tobago and Tobagonians best interest at heart,” she said.

Many of us who sell services often think that we haven’t quite found our passion. We move from industry to industry, change jobs but still find that after the glow of the new job fades, we’re back to square one – feeling unfulfilled. Not that we can’t do the job. We are more than competent but there’s something missing, and we can’t quite put our finger on it.

Your success is based on the convergence on the following:

Clarity. Entrepreneur Peter Voogd says that in a world filled with so many options, mindless distractions and evolving technology and information overload, it has become extremely difficult to gain clarity. Most entrepreneurs haven’t come to grips with how important clarity is and how big a role it plays in their success. Clarity brings confidence and confidence raises standards.

Many times we’re advised to follow our dreams, identify our passions, do what we love. If you’re here, stop. I think it’s more important to figure out how you’re naturally wired to perform. What’s your behaviour pattern? Do you like to build on things, do you like to solve problems, do you work best under extreme pressure? Don’t for one second think it’s not important.

Dan Sullivan, founder and president of the Strategic Coach Inc explains it this way: “Has anyone ever encouraged you to improve in areas where you struggle? If you’re like most people, the answer is yes. This is how most of the world thinks and operates. But does it truly make your life better? Do you absolutely love doing it now that you’re better at it? Our guess is no it doesn’t, and no you don’t. Your unique ability is a completely different mindset that honors your natural strengths, what’s already within you and comes most naturally to you. It’s you at your very best —the way you create your best results and what people count on you for. Even if you do have a pretty good idea of what you do really well and are really passionate about doing, you might take it for granted. Most people downplay it, thinking anyone can do what they do, but that’s simply not true. You have a unique way of doing what you’re best at because of who you are as a person — your personality, your unique experiences in life, your natural hard-wired talents… no one is exactly like you.”

This is your zone of genius. You must get clear on what this is for you.

Next you need to do something that creates value and can be sold. We often love to draft strategic plans but to have a REAL strategy, it must really matter to your existing and potential customers and it must differentiate you from others in the same field. You get clarity around this by asking your present AND potential customers. Let them know what you’re designing and find out if it is of value to them.

You must figure out a way to get their attention. Michael Zipursky found of Consulting Success shares this: “The fact is, every [service professional] is different and requires an approach that is a fit for their goals and circumstances. More Facebook advertising or social media posts won’t necessarily help you. Learning how to do cold sales phone calls won’t change things much. While the people pitching you those tactics may be qualified in teaching them, they are far from qualified in teaching you the timeless and powerful fundamentals essential to building a successful practice.”

And finally you need to have a sales conversation. Without it, you won’t get paid for your solutions.

What you need is a clear mind and deep focus on each one of these four steps to execute them properly. Take Michael’s advice: If you’re spending all your time dabbling in different marketing tactics without giving these four steps the attention and care they deserve you’re leaving money on the table.

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.”

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.

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.

Caricom member state Dominica was on Tuesday left completely knocked out by Category 5 Hurricane Maria which caused significant damage to that country’s physical infrastructure, its tourism- based economy and even its communication capabilities. Eight people were confirmed dead with search and rescue officials still to reach areas cut off completely as roads were washed away or blocked with debris.

Speaking with the Guyana media yesterday in New York prior to pitching to the United Nations General Assembly, the need for the international community to put measures in place to protect the environment now reacting to man’s exploitation, Granger said Guyana is the largest Caricom state which has to to consider its land space “as being the hinterland of the Caribbean.” Guyana’s land mass is 215,000 square kilometres with a population of just over 750,000. “We have to sit down and speak to other Caricom states to see how this gift could be utilised to give the Caribbean people a better life in the wake of these disasters.” In his lifetime, the 72-year-old Granger said, “I have never seen such a catastrophic series of hurricanes one after the other.”

HUMANITARIAN EFFORT

Noting Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit who reported that winds blew away the roof of almost every building owned by people whom he had spoken to, made it clear climate change was not something to be ignored, particularly for small island states of the Caribbean.

“We’ve got to think of evacuation, where these people will go to,” Granger said. They cannot be moved from one affected island to another affected island and that it was largely it is a humanitarian situation.

A man was reported killed in Guadeloupe and several islands were left inundated by floods caused by Maria’s outer bands.

Though reports of the devastation were scarce yesterday, to contain the situation in Dominica, a state of emergency was declared and a curfew from 4 pm to 6 am, imposed.

Hartley Henry, Principal Advisor to Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit reported that was difficult to determine the level of fatalities in Dominica. With seven confirmed dead, he said, “the Prime Minister fears the number will rise as “he (waded) his way” into the rural communities yesterday.

Henry reported Skerrit as saying yesterday morning as saying that his family was “fine” but Dominica “was not”. There was tremendous loss of housing and public buildings, he said. “The main general hospital took a beating. Patient care has been compromised.

Many buildings serving as shelters lost roofs, which means that a very urgent need now is tarpaulins and other roofing materials.”

TT HELPING OUT

He said that little contact had been made with the outlying communities but persons who walked 10 and 15 miles to Roseau reported total destruction of homes, some roadways and crops.

“Urgent helicopter services are needed to take food, water and tarpaulins to outer districts for shelter.” Canefield airport, he said, could accommodate helicopter landings and it was expected that from yesterday that the water around the main Roseau port would be calm enough to accommodate vessels taking relief supplies and other forms of assistance.

The urgent needs, Henry said, “are roofing materials for shelters, bedding supplies for hundreds stranded in or outside what is left of their homes and food and water drops for residents of outlying districts inaccessible at the moment.” Trinidad and Tobago yesterday despatched a Coast Guard vessel with relief supplies, and a helicopter with search and rescue and initial damage assessment personnel along with supplies to Dominica.

The Coast Guard vessel was due to arrive by noon yesterday.

Hurricane Maria yesterday continued on its way to Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands where it also wreaked havoc on islands that were already damaged by the Category 5 Hurricane Irma which left about 84 people dead in the Caribbean and mainland USA.

And Jeff Charles, the main organiser of the Classic, also lamented the fact that the event,will have to operate on a reduced budget.

However, he is expecting that the UCI-sanctioned event, dubbed “Tour of Tobago”, will be the one of the most exciting to be staged on the sister isle.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Charles noted, “The more hurricanes come in this region is the more cyclists I’m losing.” Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria have terrorised the Caribbean within the past couple weeks, destroying homes and in some cases making some places uninhabitable.

Charles said that, within the last week, he has lost riders from St Maarten, Guadeloupe, Miami and Dominican Republic.

“These people are devastated,” said Charles. “I’m disappointed that they can’t come.” He continued, “Apart from that, we still have about 12 international teams, which is good. I was just hoping for a record number this year. I don’t know what (Hurricane) Maria will do now, that’s a different story.” Charles said, “Other than that, we have everything going full speed ahead.” Last year’s race was won by James Piccoli of Canada, but there is no confirmation if he will return to defend his crown this year. But former champ and hometown hero Emile Abraham is expected to compete in next week’s event.

As far as sponsorship is concerned, Charles admitted, “The Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Tourism, for the first time in about seven or eight years (will not assist). They (had) approved sponsorship but they have no money to give.” As a result, the highlight package of the 2017 race will not be aired on the cable network ESPN.

“This is our smallest budget in the last 10 years,” Charles said.

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) are the Gold Sponsors, while other monetary assistance will be provided by Dasani, Powerade, Holiday Snacks, Kiss Baking, Econo Car Rentals, British Airways, Caribbean Airlines, Bmobile, Crown Point Beach Hotel Limited and Coca Cola.

With regards to the support services for the five-day long Classic, Charles noted, “We’ll have the TRHA (Tobago Regional Health Authority) supporting us, and the Red Cross, as far as the ambulances and the medical services.

“We have the full support of TEMA (Tobago Emergency Management Agency) and the police, and REACT,” he added. “We have the races covered. We have the support of the Tobago Division of Infrastructure to ensure all the roads are safe and secure. We have all the logistics in place.

“It’s going to be a very big race this year. It’s going to be exciting.

We have some top teams (from) Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, USA, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

The event will be better than last year. We can guarantee that,” Charles ended.