The mandir’s executive pleaded in a claim filed in the High Court, that they have been using the land adjoining the temple to house their jhandi with flags, religious offerings and providing parking for devotees and have been doing so for several years. The temple is an affiliate of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha and the disputed land comprises 408 square metres.

Artma Maharaj, Shiva Mohan Mahabir and Reuben Pariag, in their capacity as executive members of the mandir, accuse Raghoonanan of unlawfully entering the property while a religious function was in progress on November 6. They further alleged that wedding functions were often interrupted and, on another occasion, guests were forced to move their vehicles while a religious function was in progress.

They are contending that at no time Raghoonanan ever asserted ownership over the land although he has paper title to it and that the mandir has been in uninterrupted occupation of the plot for more than 16 years. The case came up before Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh yesterday who gave directions for filing of witness statements by both sides, by October 2. The matter was then fixed for November 6 for a pre trial review.

“Having travelled extensively to different locations throughout the world (and) currently consulting in India with a remit to train 100,000 tailors in three years…I have had first-hand access to the missed opportunities that we in the Caribbean can have in areas of high quality craftsmanship, design and delivery.” Ramroop was addressing a gathering of people from Trinidad and Tobago’s (TT) business and fashion communities at the July 6 launch of his foundation.

Held on the grounds of the Chancellor Hill, St Clair, home of FAME-Caribbean’s brand ambassador, Brian Lara, the event included a fashion show which showcased local design talent.

FAME-Caribbean is based on Italy’s Pitti Immagine in Florence, which Ramroop explained is an annual marketplace during which, thousands of buyers place orders for items on display by hundreds of fashion and accessory designers.

Ramroop believes that if given the right support to take advantage of opportunities, they and other creative people across the Caribbean can become as successful as those in traditional careers; such as lawyers and doctors, with the additional benefit of generating much-needed foreign exchange (forex).

“FAME-Caribbean’s primary objective is to take advantage of export opportunities in fashion by positioning ourselves to offer sustainable business development, training, mentoring and support to practitioners in TT… Antigua, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and St Lucia.” Ramroop cited the fact that the two biggest consumer industries are food and clothing, followed more recently by electronics.

Ramroop plans to hold the first FAME-Caribbean event later this year – in Trinidad from November 7 to 9 and in Tobago from November 10 to 11.

Referring to the upcoming showcase of talent from the six aforementioned countries as ‘Fashionomics’, Ramroop said, “Fashionomics is about opening doors for overseas markets.” Ramroop added that it is of paramount importance that apparel businesses benefit from FAMECaribbean’s initiative, looking beyond ‘tropical clothing’ to designs that would also appeal to buyers in cold climates.

“There is an enormous market in North America and Europe for the highest quality menswear, womenswear, resort wear and winter wear. TT and the rest of the Caribbean could rise to the standard required to satisfy demand. The Caribbean could have a huge impact on the rest of the world in garment manufacture.” Ramroop then pledged to use his “considerable experience, contacts and acquaintances to open the markets for goods produced here in the Caribbean, particularly in TT.” He explained that the objective is to create high quality employment and to attract forex. Hence the plan to invite local and foreign buyers to the Buyers Tent at “FAME-Caribbean 2K17”; sometimes referred to as FAME, in November.

“The Buyers Tent Will have for sale accessories such as jewellery, shoes and handbags, all made in the Caribbean. Absolutely no imports except for raw materials,” Ramroop declared.

Guests that evening also heard about the TT Government’s plans to establish a garment production facility to help boost the manufacture of clothing by local designers.

This is part of its economic diversification thrust away from the country’s dependency on oil and gas revenues. This was one of three initiatives announced by Tunapuna MP Esmond Forde on behalf of Prime Minister (PM) Dr Keith Rowley, who at the time was attending a CARICOM meeting in Grenada.

Shabazz was given those mantles by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TT FA) on Tuesday, after Italian-born Carolina Morace, and her English- born Australian deputy Nicola Williams, resigned last week, for apparent lack of salaries.

Attin-Johnson, Cordner and Mollon, members of the national women’s team for over a decade, fell out of favour with Morace during her six-month-long tenure as director of the TT Women’s programme.

During a telephone interview yesterday, Shabazz, the former Guyana men’s coach, said, “I met with (the) three players who were out to see if we could have the matter resolved and have them reintegrated into the programme.

“I start with a clean slate,” added the ex-joint national coach (along with Hutson Charles from 2012-2013). What is gone is past, what is to come is near.” Asked about the feedback he has gotten from the football fraternity, Shabazz replied, “I have not met with the players (as) yet. I will meet with them (later) this week. But I know them, they know me. We have a lot of respect for each other and I’m eager to get started.

“However, I intend to utilise other coaches, locally, in women’s football and follow in (TT men’s team coach) Dennis Lawrence’s footsteps of trying to build a super staff because this is a programme that demands all hands to be on deck and people working selflessly for the country.

“These girls are no strangers to sacrificing for their country, and neither am I.” Shabazz, who has been involved with the national women’s football circuit, in various capacities, since the mid-1990s, is keen to make use of his time back at the helm of the TT squads.

“Given the circumstances, I’m happy to come in and strive to provide stability,” he said. “I (have) come in, in an unforseen circumstance, but having worked with a lot of these seniors since they were kids, I am not overawed by the situation in any way.” He continued, “I am excited where these players have reached and knowing where they’ve came from. And I’m ready to give off my best.” Shabazz returned to the coaching ranks with Morvant Caledonia United, after Rajesh Latchoo left the job to become the men’s coach of Dominica. He is also the TT FA Youth Football Coordinator and involved with the Elite Youth Development Programme, organised by the local governing body. Asked how he plans to balance those positions, Shabazz said, “those roles (with the TT FA) will be reassigned to someone else.” But he insisted that he will stick with the Morvant Caledonia United portfolio, once the national women’s teams are not in active competition.

“In the past, when we started this programme, I was with Caledonia,” stated Shabazz. “And now I don’t see what conflict exists.” However, he pointed out, “the national team always comes first.

Service to the nation is first and foremost. When time permits for something else, so be it.”

Acosta, a former supervisor for the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) stood before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John charged with the possession of marijuana and heroin with intent to traffic. Augustus was arrested by officers of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Bureau (OCNB) during the execution of a search warrant at his Barataria home in 2009.

Charges were read aloud in open court yesterday and Augustus pleaded guilty. His attorney Patrick Godson-Phillips told the court that eight years in prison awaiting the trial’s start, was tantamount to a sentence served. He said Acosta was deeply traumatised on being separated from his family for so long.

“Your worship, my client has no previous matters before the court and during his time in prison he has shown good character. When a man is charged with an offence between the time of his arrest to the time he appears in court, there is trauma. They don’t forget about it.

I am convinced he has turned over a new leaf and is trying to put the past behind him.” Magistrate Forde-John placed Acosta on a bond to be of good behaviour and then informed him that the case was ended and he was free to go. Acosta thanked the magistrate and left, walking out of the courthouse and seeing Port of Spain as a free man, for the first time in eight years.

“Saying that this is the first plan doesn’t mean that the other two plans were unsuccessful.” The difference between these two statements by Maxie Cuffie, Public Administration and Communications minister is a year. The first was made during an interview with Business Day last year, the second, during the recent launch of Fastforward II.

Fastforward II is this country’s latest draft national ICT plan.

Business Day sat with Cuffie after the event to discuss it and where this country’s ICT is heading. We bring up the issue of implementation, as we did during the interview last year. The public is always hearing about plans, but very rarely the results. Fastforward II was preceded by a Fastforward I and SmartTT plan both covering the period from 2003 to 2016.

“The first version of Fast Forward led to Gov.net, the government backbone as well as lot of infrastructure. It was really geared toward increasing connectivity as well. SmarTT was also about going for greater connectivity. It had a short lifespan, but it had some successes.

Because of the changes in the ICT industry, cloud computing, for example, now plays a far bigger role than it did say four or five years ago.

You need to consequently update your plans and make them and make them consistent with the changes in technology. That is what this plan is about,” said Cuffie.

Some of the successes the plan reported was this country’s move up the World Economic Forum Network Readiness Index from 70 to 2015, to 67 out of 139 countries. It also has a mobile penetration as of 157 per cent, where the average for most countries is 97 per cent. As of 2013, 70 per cent of homes in this country had computers versus 42 per cent in 2010. Meanwhile Internet household penetration has jumped from 58 percent in 2014 to 65 percent in 2015.

It also said all government entities are now online and the government portal, TTconnect, makes available 627 services for citizens, 256 for businesses and 118 for non-residents.

The plan also cites improvements in the number of service providers available, as well as the quality and choice of services and a reduction in prices. ICT’s contribution to the country’s GDP also increased from three per cent or three billion in 2006 to 3.4 per cent or 5.59 billion in 2015.

But it recognised shortfalls as well.

This country still relied largely on market forces to construct this country’s ICT infrastructure and said this may not be enough. The country also lagged behind developed nations in the productive and innovative use of ICT. The population, moreover, was still largely unaware of e-services and even though ICT penetration itself was high, digital literacy remained relatively low. Several pieces of legislation within the Electronic Transaction Act and the Data Protection Act, necessary to support the operation of ICT infrastructure, remain in limbo.

We discussed these during last year’s interview with Cuffie. Then, he had deemed the legislation one of his main priorities.

This year, he admitted some of the legislation was still unproclaimed and it was affecting the implementation of other initiatives. One of these is the roll out of Wi-Fi across the country. So far, 13 buses feature the technology. We asked the minister for an update.

“The telecommunications provided for it,” said Cuffie, “But it was not spelt out and enforceable. What we needed to do was to get the act amended and implemented. We are in the process of doing that now. While we are doing that, we are working on a schedule as to where we are putting it, how we are going to deploy it. We now have commitment, because I have spoken to the telecommunications authority and the providers. To facilitate the deployment of Wi-Fi at no cost to the public, the concessionaires will be absorbing the cost.” Cuffie shied away from saying more until the details were approved by Cabinet.

The plan has ambitious targets.

Over its five-year life span, it seeks to increase this ICT’s contribution to this country’s GDP by five per cent, increase broadband access to 85 per cent with minimum download speeds of 100 mbps for households and businesses, 30,000 directly created jobs and number one status among our the Caribbean neighbours in the World Economic Forum rankings, among others.

It is expected to be reviewed in 2021. Built within the plan is also a measure to monitor the implementation of Fastforward II’s objectives, including the formulation of a National ICT steering committee and the appointment of a National Chief Information Officer.

The stakes for success, or failure, are high.

The World Bank estimates for every ten per cent increase in Internet speeds boosts economic growth by 1.3 per cent.

“I just want to underscore the importance of this for diversification and for economic growth. People don’t see the connection,” Cuffie told Business Day. “They expect to see that we are going to open this a company. But an economy isn’t driven by government. It is driven by ordinary businesses and what we are doing is facilitating through ICT, the growth of businesses.” The draft plan is available on the public administration and communications ministry’s website for feedback and comment.

When we were at the point of the main course, the only entrée option was that of poultry. The beautifully presented entrées were placed before each of the guests.

As the guests began to enjoy the meal, and amid the various conversations, came a portion of poultry flying off the plate of one guest, all the way down the table, eventually landing on the nicely tiled floor. Thankfully, both guest and host saw this as great humour, and laughed it off, with the host stating, “Why didn’t you just pick the darn thing up with your hands?” This scenario raises several dining dilemmas, the first being the service of dining options. One school of thought when serving poultry is to ensure the poultry is served in filet form – meaning, served without the bone. Unless one is very adept with the use of cutlery in such scenarios, it is incumbent upon the host to ensure the most comfortable and enjoyable dining experience for the guest. As such, it may be best to serve the poultry without the bone.

The second dilemma raised is that of eating with one’s hands. When does it become acceptable to eat with your hands? This is based on a few premises, including, event (style, location, suitability) culture (country you may be in), and dining option (casual, fast food). I have been asked about the management of finger foods at cocktail styled events, and how does one manage in such a scenario. The first point to understand is that the term ‘finger food’ refers to foods that can be easily consumed in one or two bites and that can be held with your hands.

The issue with the management of finger foods, particularly in the cocktail event, requires the appreciation of a few steps. If you are required to visit a buffet table to avail yourself of the pieces, it is wise to visit just once, in the first instance, using the utensils provided to place the foods into your plate – sometimes you may see finger foods dressed with toothpicks, to make it easier for lifting – do not use these toothpicks to lift other foods off the serving trays. It is useful to keep a napkin handy – best placed under your plate, as in cocktail styled settings, you are usually standing or walking and chatting.

Keep the napkin placed discretely under your plate to assist with any spillage, as well as to ensure your fingers and mouth remain clean always.

In some settings, cocktail forks and other utensils are made available, whereas in other settings, the finger foods are meant to be eaten with your fingers. In either setting, it is important you do what you feel most comfortable with, as you would not want to end up with a piece of poultry flying off your plate. In a cocktailstyled setting, I may avoid the ‘buffalo wings,’ based on the style of the event. If the event is more formal, the further away I would steer clear from the more difficult fare. However, if the event is more casual, then it is perfectly acceptable to consume the finger foods to one’s delight.

Again, it is always important to appreciate the cultures within which you operate, as this informs the dining style and options available. In another dining setting in London, I was invited to a very formal event, hosted by a family originally from India. The invitation stated formal or traditional dress, and when I arrived, the setting certainly was indeed formal.

However, the menu was what I am very familiar with, being various forms of curried cuisine, with the option of rice or roti, and the host leading the dining experience with her hands. A similar experience is shared in Trinidad and Tobago and many other countries.

Through this commercial office, Costa Rican and Trinidadian businesspeople have had a commercial partner that has been in charge of developing the relationship further, taking advantage of instruments such as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by the Central American country with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2004. The agreement applied to Costa Rica and 12 CARICOM states – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitt s and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

With this treaty, a solid trade agreement was reached which, like other trade agreements, is part of the main objective of foreign trade policy to promote, facilitate and consolidate the integration of countries into the international economy. This agreement constitutes a balanced legal framework, through which the trade and investment flows between Costa Rica and the Caribbean region are supported and promoted.

As a result of the commercial relationship between these countries, and benefiting from the tariff benefits established in the FTA, in 2016 Costa Rica exported to Trinidad and Tobago USD$58 million, including products such as: syrups and concentrates for aerated beverages, anti sera, carrots, plastic articles for packaging, medicines, soaps and cleaning preparations and boxes of paper or paperboard.

Trinidad and Tobago exported to Costa Rica USD$16 million – products such as liquefied natural gas, nitrogenous fertilizers or chemical fertilizers, cereal products, parts of lighting equipment, advertisements, signs etc, mixtures of odoriferous substances for the food or beverage industry, and electrical materials.

The commercial promotion office of PROCOMER in Trinidad and Tobago offers its services to both Costa Rican exporters and Caribbean importers. Some of the services provided by the office are: face-toface and virtual business agendas, trade missions, business contacts, and general business support for entrepreneurs.

In PROCOMER you have an ally for your business.

Contact us, it will be a pleasure to serve you.

PROCOMER Email: caricom@procomer.com Tel: 822-6085 Address: Solus Business Centre, 29 Long Circular Road, St James

She was last seen at her home in KP Lands at about 4 pm on Monday. She was reported missing on Tuesday morning by her brother Mark Peters. Shamia is of mixed descent, four feet 9 inches tall, brown in complexion and has short curly hair. She also has a birth mark on her chest.

In an unrelated case, 35-year-old Anisha Ramsundar of Carapichaima, who was reported missing by her husband on Thursday last week has been found.

A Cumuto teen was also found through the efforts of the police and family members.

Janika Harris, 16, was reported missing by her mother on July 6.

In a Sunday Newsday article of July 16, you reported a plan to change the name of Queen Street to Penny Street. What is desirable is that if anyone merits the honour of having a street named for him or her, this should be a new street, not requiring a change of name.

Penny Commissiong highly deserves a street being named after her but has it got to be a street already named — and named since 1797? And Queen Street itself is remarkable so far as naming is concerned. When the British soldiers invaded Spanish Trinidad in February 1797 and silenced Fort San Andrés, they called the first east-west street King Street to honour the British king, George III.

Having honoured the king they called the next street Queen Street for Queen Charlotte. The next east-west roadway they called Prince Street, and the following one, which was the last one up to that time, they named Duke Street.

This makes for special interest as the names King, Queen, Prince, and Duke are in descending order of royalty.

There are people who welcome the removal of such names mainly for being what they call “relics of colonialism.” True, they are such relics, but one cannot change history for that reason.

Have those people taken into account that the name “Trinidad” is also such a “relic of colonialism,” having come from Spain through Columbus? Also, the very language we speak, English, is a relic of English colonialism.

Should we change that too?

MICHAEL ANTHONY via email

The company was responding to reported concerns by staff of Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) who are protesting plans, reported exclusively in Newsday on Monday, by the airline to relocate its largely female corporate office staff from the company’s head office at Golden Grove Road, Piarco, to the Tamana InTech Park.

CAL’s employee change management team questioned the planned move, saying it was not consulted on the decision.

They said the Wallerfield area is “frequented by murderers and kidnappers” and questioned whether management considered providing security escort for the workers. In a statement responding to questions submitted by Newsday, e tecK said it is committed to the safety and security of all its tenants and visitors to the industrial estate.

Saying iQor has been occupying the e TecK Flagship Complex at the park since 2015, e TecK said it provides security coverage in and around the industrial estate which comprises 1,100 acres and has established positive networks with the country’s protective services within the area. “Companies on the park, in partnership with PTSC, can develop customised transportation solutions based on employee location and shift requirements. This cost is borne by the requesting company.” As to the suggestion by CAL’s change management team that the move is driven by e tecK’s mandate to fill space at the industrial estate, e tecK said it’s three-story flagship complex on the Tamana InTech Park is occupied by its staff and employees of its tenant, iQor Limited and it has space available for lease on the first and ground floors. e tecK said as owner and landlord of the estate it facilitates site visits by any organisation which requests such visits but it does not decide which companies lease space.