The minister, who is also the MP for Diego Martin West, said he was “very pleased to see young girls taking part in the tournament.” Sport, he said, held tremendous opportunities for young men and women and football was no exception.

Once you display a high level of discipline and commitment, he said, you can realise your full potential.

Minister Smith congratulated RBC for its commitment to the West Penn tournament, adding that it was important for the corporate sector to support such initiatives especially for the development of TT’s youth.

RBC Royal Bank’s Managing Director, Darryl White, said the bank was proud to be a partner with the West Penn league to help provide a positive avenue for young men and women to improve their football playing skills and to develop important values such as teamwork and fair play. White said the programme was in line with RBC’s own commitment to helping clients thrive and communities prosper.

“The work of West Penn, as with many other youth programmes, is important not only for the development of our talent pool in the sport of football, but for the focus on giving a sense of purpose to young men and women who can be so easily be distracted by the ills of our society,” he said.

“When you look back at the great names in football in Trinidad and Tobago, such as Russel Latapy, Dwight Yorke and Stern John, they all played in leagues for their schools and in their various communities.

I hope we have players in the RBC West Penn League who would wear the red, white and black in the future.” The RBC head called on the players to express their talent with pride, discipline and harmony.

Matches start tomorrow with Rise Again coming up against Greenhill Bagatelle at 2pm in the Boys’ U-15 Division followed by Goodwood Eagles agianst Rise Again in the U-18 Boys’ Division.

The crowd was just blown away by Cartar’s performance.

Speaking with Newsday after the April 29 event, Cartar said he was overwhelmed with love and extreme euphoria. “I really didn’t expect so much love really.

Doing a rock solo in a jazz festival, and especially after seeing sax legend Arturo Tappin destroy the stage! This is an experience that I’ll never forget! It gave me a second wind to keep on trying and to work even harder at my craft.” Asked about how his music career began he said: “Firstly, I always wanted to play the electric guitar but my father saw to it that I learn classical piano first, from the age of eight. I finally got my guitar at 15 and from that point onwards I have been addicted to practise and improving myself.” Cartar’s first band was the rock band Krash which he helped formed, fresh out of school. He said it went as far as LA for a performing arts competition, then he joined the famed Orange Sky, which he said was an invaluable experience. “I travelled to the UK with them to record and play gigs,” Cartar said, but a bit later he started his family band, the Cartars, with his siblings which was managed by his mother.

“After this I began working as a part-time session musician –featuring on various artistes’ recordings/performances, then I joined local rock band Hail The Hatter.” It was not long after Carter’s musical career was about to take a new and positive turn. “It’s a bit after this point that I got the call from Carl Beaver Henderson.

The rest is history!” Of his musical prowess Cartar said: “I had an extreme urge to play the electric guitar. I just love it! Combined with the knowledge of my classical piano, I excelled really quickly on my guitar.” After completing his A-levels, he said he was supposed to go to Berklee College of Music but that dream died with his late father.

“I then realised at this point that music is gonna be my full-time career. Giving it my all to put Trinidad on the map for rock guitar virtuosity. I’m getting my own original guitar instrumentals ready for uploading on my YouTube channel.” Interested music lovers can check it out by searching Dax Cartar and he is hoping they give him some subscribes, he said with a laugh.

“I’m looking forward to working again with Beaver and the UTT Project, and the other bands I’m in. Most importantly, expanding my talent outside of Trinidad. That’s the ultimate goal – the international platform.” Speaking about his new jazz project Beaver he said a lot of thought and planning went into the Turtle Beach production.

“With all my productions of this nature, I don’t just hire the talent.

I try to be as aware as possible of the content of the talent segments, so in putting together the show, there is a flow and continuity in the presentation. I try to make it as smooth and enjoyable as possible for the patrons.

“I also make it as comfortable and eye-pleasing as possible, thus I’m surrounded by a team that makes it so easy to do. Also, the technical team made the impossible, possible.” Of the performances on the day, and Cartar’s in particular, he said: “I expected a really good crowd response because I know my audience and I know my product, but, this time it was over the top. The reaction to the whole show was amazing.

Every performance did what it was supposed to do, and I thank every performer, either leading up to the next or following the energy of the previous group, delivered to all expectations.

“The UTT Project group surprised everyone there as it was their very first time performing publicly. There is so much talent within, that I was only able to highlight a few of the gems. As was heard and seen, Dax Carter and Kay Alleyne ‘thundered’ at centre stage. All I’m doing is giving these talented guys a platform to shine and excel in a space I believe is naturally theirs.” On his own feeling being back on stage, Beaver said: “I felt really great on stage. It felt very natural, because as you know, that is where I am most comfortable.” Beaver said for next year’s programme there is so much more to feature, but it can’t be done in only one performance. He hinted that Atiba Williams is yet to come.

“As stated on the Turtle Beach stage, I have a three-to-five-year plan. I have skipped the second year and gone directly to the third year….A lot of surprises!” As for the UTT band? “Hahahahaha! Stay tuned! “I have fulfilled my mandate for this year. I have given the people that feel good moment.”

Ramkissoon said even the Divisional Headquarters at Wrightson Road, Mon Repos, Chaguanas and Scarborough were seriously understaffed and about 400 vacancies needed to be filled.

He said the matter was brought to the attention of the previous administration in 2015 and he was told it was taken to Cabinet, but nothing more was heard about the situation.

A proposal was taken to the government of the time for auxiliary officers to fill the vacancies.

He said, “Officers have been retiring and clear vacancies have not been filled, and coupled with that, recruitment to fire services has not kept pace with the attrition rate.” He said staff who left the service for other reasons and those who left through compulsory retirement had led to the vacancies. Ramkissoon said all fire stations are undermanned.

He concluded, “We will continue to make representations to the government to fill the vacancies adversely affecting the ability of the fire services to meet the mandate of the public…”

Apart from the local female players there are eight West Indies players from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Grenada and St Lucia who will strengthen the franchise teams- TECU Southern Titans, Creation Group Gladiators, KJ Sports Eastern Diamonds and Sacha Northern Starblazers, as they prepare to do battle for top honours in the newly-launched T20 tournament that will be sponsored by Unicomer Courts Trinidad Limited to the tune of $75,000.

Jamaican Shanel Daley and Grenada’s Akeira Peters have been drafted to the TECU Southern Titans which is led by Trinidad and Tobago’s successful captain Merissa Aguilleira and also includes her triumphant West Indies player Britney Cooper. Barbadian exciting opener Hayley Matthews and her WI World T20 winning compatriot Shamila Connell lines up with the Kieron Pollard- owned franchise know as KJ Sports Eastern Diamonds.

Guyana’s West Indies all-rounder Shemaine Campbell and Barbados Shakera Selman will play for the Creation Group Central Gladiators that have West Indies spinner Anisa Mohammed as their captain while Grenada’s Afy Fletcher and Jamaica’s Chedean Nation will show their talents for the Sacha Northern Starblazers.

According to Sururj Ragoonath, TT CB’s CEO, the regional players’ airline return fares and stipends will be sponsored by the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago which will also assist with the tournament. The players are expected to arrive today for training sessions tomorrow and Sunday.

Ragoonath outlined the concept and value of the franchise tournament and thanked the sponsors for their support to help promote women’s cricket in TT .

At the media launch held at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva yesterday, Roger Rambharose, Unicomer Commercial Director, expressed joy for his Company to be the major sponsor for first-ever women’s T20 franchise tournament in the Caribbean. He expects the tournament to serve as the catalyst to identify and encourage new talented cricketers in the region who will eventually represent the West Indies team.

Rambharose also emphasised the value of their 15-year association with the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the value of their sponsorship over the years. “This is a most significant event for us, as it celebrates another historic moment in the evolution of Women’s cricket. We have had a long and very fruitful relationship within the cricket fraternity. And this partnership further pushes the envelope for the development of the sport to new heights.

We see this as our investment in building the potential of our people and our communities,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the women cricketers, an emotional Aguilleira was overwhelmed and thanked everyone.

“We are so thankful to everyone, especially the sponsors who have come on board to help us develop our talent and to create new opportunities for women cricketers to be better prepared for regional and international competitions.

We, the players are so excited to play and entertain everyone.

Competition will be strong and already the players are talking up their chances,” an excited Aguilleira said.

“At the end of the day you have to decide what you want to have, a market driven economy or one that is directed by the state. When things are directed by an entity that’s not an actor in the system, distortion is created and you have to be very careful of this. But we do accept that there is a need to make some decisions, to make a change and frankly, some of our membership benefit from what the minister has done.” During his delivery of the Mid-Year Review on May 10, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said he had requested that the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) give priority to trade and manufacturing regarding access to foreign exchange.

“From our perspective,” De Silva said, “this direction of foreign exchange to three priorities, trade, education and health care (is) already happening.” “Clearly those are critical areas and fundamentally, it’s the CBTT’s injections, so it’s the country’s reserves and I assume it’s within the minister’s right to direct (the bank) but in a free market it’s not always best to do those kind of things…because it disrupts, it creates distortion.

As a business chamber, we are very much in favour of as free a system as can possibly exist.” De Silva was speaking with reporters following AmCham TT’s 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM), held yesterday at Hilton Trinidad, Port-of- Spain.

Prior to his election to the post of president, De Silva served as AmCham TT vice-president for the period 2015 – 2017.

Luis Jose’ Alonzo Benitez, 34, of Venezuela, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Indira Misir- Gosine, to the charge of entering Trinidad and Tobago at a place other than a port of entry.

The magistrate heard from the police prosecutor Sergeant Krishna Bedassie, that on Friday April 26, Benitez entered the country and has been here since. However, last week Tuesday, police of the South-Western Task Force arrested him in south Trinidad and presented him to the Immigration Enforcement Unit.

The police prosecutor went on to tell Misir-Gosine that their records showed that Benitez had been in the country legally, but until June 8, 2016 when he left.

Through Spanish language interpreter Rachael Gosine, the magistrate asked him why he had opted to get into Trinidad and Tobago through an illegal port and failed to present himself to an immigration officer. Benitez said he is married and he has three daughters whose ages are 16, 15 and four. The interpreter added, “He said that he works as an administrator with the social security services in Venezuela.

The situation in my country is very hard. Ninety per cent of the people eat only twice a day. Misir- Gosine reprimanded and discharged Benitez of the charge and told him that no criminal record would be made against his name.

The woman, of Laventille Road, San Juan, appeared yesterday afternoon before a Justice of the Peace in the said courthouse to answer the charge. However, the JP denied bail and remanded her into custody to appear before a magistrate this morning.

Police reports stated, Cpl Crawford and other officers of the San Fernando CID observed the woman wearing a black t-shirt with the word “POLICE” imprinted at the front and back.

The front of the t-shirt also had the TTPS logo and motto. The t-shirt is similar to what police, who are based at the court, wear.

It is alleged that Crawford enquired if she was a member of the police service to which the woman responded in the affirmative.

When asked to produce her police identification, she directed Crawford to her personal vehicle nearby and subsequently confessed to being a civilian. The accused woman also claimed to be an accountant.

In Awong’s contribution to the debate on Wednesday, he said between 2003 when he entered local government and 2010, 36 communities in his region were dependent on truck-borne water. He said within that period, despite the existence of land and building taxes, only one pavilion and no play parks were built, forcing him to take his children to Chaguanas for them to enjoy the privilege of a play park.

This changed between 2010 and 2015, he said, when 23 pavilions and 14 play parks were built, and the number of areas dependent on truckborne water reduced from 36 to 13. All this was done while the Property Tax and Valuation of Land Acts 2009 were suspended by the PP government.

Awong acknowledged the urgent need to raise revenue as the recession deepens, but said he had little reason to trust that their taxes would filter back into their communities based on the PNM government’s history of “rural neglect” during times of plenty.

Awong welcomed the concept of Local Government Reform as campaigned for by the PNM during the last local government election. The reform promised greater autonomy for corporations including the ability for them to collect and use taxes in their municipalities.

However, he said he has little faith in the implementation of reform as its concept has been touted on political platforms for as long as he could remember.

Awong supported the motion on the grounds that this was not the best time for the implementation of a property tax.

The motion calling for the government to suspend the tax for three years was put forward by Alderman Ravi Ratiram in a special statutory meeting of the council yesterday afternoon. All councillors, aldermen, the Chairman and the CEO were in attendance as the motion was passed with only one abstention from the lone PNM Councillor for Las Lomas/ San Raphael, Candida Pathron.

In his closing remarks before the vote, Ratiram ripped up a Property Tax valuation form as was done by UNC Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar on April 30 in Debe. Ratiram echoed Persad-Bissessar’s argument that there was no legal obligation to fill out the form.

Newsday asked Chairman Awong whether he supported the call for citizens in disagreement to not fill out the valuation forms. Awong said, “Yes.”

A woman must play three parts in her life: A good daughter, a good wife and a good mother.

These specific duties are expected of her. Only education can help her to discharge them satisfactorily.

Many men spend their evenings at clubs and societies but a gentleman with an educated wife will not feel the need of societies and club. He can share his thoughts with her, seek her advice and spend his leisure hours in her company.

An educated wife will be a good friend, a clever nurse and a useful adviser to her husband. She will be a true helpmate and can retain her husband’s affection and regard.

Education will enable women to make parents, husbands and children truly happy. Therefore, it is paramount that women be educated.

AHAMAD KHAYYAM Curepe

Melville is before Justice Maria Wilson and a nine-member jury, in the Port of Spain Fourth Criminal Court, charged with conspiring to murder his then secretary, Cox, on June 28, 2001. He is also charged with attempted murder, kidnapping and assault.

On the day in question, it is alleged Melville told Cox to wait at the corner of Park and Pembroke Streets, Port-of-Spain, where she was to go with some men to collect documents relating to a case in which Melville was involved.

Cox went to the location and was met by two men who later took her to Fort George Road, St James. One man took Cox up the hill and said he was paid $1,000 to kill her. She offered to pay him $20,000 to spare her life. Realising that she was going to be killed, Cox flung herself off the steep hillside and down a precipice. She was eventually held and stripped. One of the men squeezed Cox’s neck until she became unconscious. Eventually, she regained consciousness and hid.

The next day she made her way down the hill and made her way to the St James Police Station.

At the trial yesterday, the state tendered the evidence of two witnesses in accordance with provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act. The formal admissions were agreed to by the defence and the evidence was read out to the jury.

In his evidence, Zedekiah Aaron, the watchman of the building at 18- 20 Pembroke Street, which housed Melville’s law office said on the day in question, he saw Cox leave the building about 3 pm and walk up Pembroke Street. Sometime later, he saw Melville enter the building.

He said at about 4.30-5 pm Melville exited the building with some files which he gave to a gentleman down the street. The attorney then returned to the building and sometime between 5.30 to 6 pm, he again came back out and asked Aaron if he saw his secretary.

“I told him ‘Yes she went up Pembroke Street,’ Aaron said in his testimony which he would have given on a previous occasion.

The testimony of Eva Marie Edghill was also read out to the jury. She said she was in her yard on June 29, 2001, when she saw a young woman, completely naked, crying out for assistance.

She said she gave the woman something to eat and drink. She also gave her “duster coat” to put on. Edghill said the woman had cuts and injuries all over her body.

She said the woman appeared to be very frightened and was only looking over her shoulders and crying.

State attorney Anju Bhola is prosecuting while attorneys Ravi Rajcoomar, Larry Williams and Radeyah Ali are representing Melville.