Roberts wore a bright orange dress and elaborate head tie and present was La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre who said such celebration of life was happy news for Santa Flora.

Calling upon the congregation to value the rich history that Roberts is part of, Olivierre said Roberts, who was born in 1913 and has three children, would be able to tell them first-hand what life was like during World War 11.

“She will tell you how different oven-baked bread tasted,” Olivierre said.

“Ms Roberts can gave an account of life as it was then without the use of electricity and pipe-borne water.

She lived in a time when oil was just $3 per barrel and in a time when life was simple.” Olivierre proudly announced there are eight centenarians living in her constituency and, as MP, she will be planning a function soon to honour them.

Roberts could still walk without the use of any aid and has a very good appetite.

Her children 70-yearold Henry, 68-year-old Roseline and Inniss, 64, were present at the function.

Chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh also brought greetings saying 33 percent of the country’s population is over 60 years old and this indicates that people are living longer.

“One must admire the serenity of this place called Santa Flora,” Ramadharsingh said. He said when a cricketer scores a 100 runs he or she removes his hat and raises his bat for the people.

“Lilla has scored big and we have to salute her.”

They said for the last month they have only received water once a week and they criticised their Member of Parliament, Maxie Cuffie, for not assisting.

“It came this morning and it gone already. Our tanks are empty and the people are fed up. Our MP has not been in the community for months.

The two councillors were here this morning.

Why can’t he find himself here? This is a community he was born and raised in and he made promises to us,” one woman said.

Councillor for the Caparo/Mamoral district, John Lezama, said it has been a long time residents have had to face these water problems.

“The residents come out here to vent their frustration with the tardiness of the authorities in dealing with matters like this. Why every time on Sunday I have to call WASA to see if we could get water? The people would be satisfied if they could get water two, three times for the week but when you getting water once a week and only in the night, it coming in drips.

That is not satisfactory,” he said.

Councillor for Longdenville/ Talparo, Ryan Rampersad, said Cuffie contacts WASA regularly to ensure the residents get a water supply but there has not been any major improvement.

“We still get very low pressure when the MP contacts WASA. School reopened today and the children haven’t had water all weekend. This is a rural community and there are a lot of poor families and they can’t afford to purchase water all the time so something really needs to be done,” he said.

This week at the British High Commission we are celebrating the 91st birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

This is a milestone in itself.

But February 6 also marked Her Majesty’s Sapphire Anniversary, 65 years since she acceded to the throne of the United Kingdom.

This makes the queen the longest- serving monarch in British history and the world’s longest- reigning living sovereign.

As we celebrate both of those anniversaries this week, it strikes me that the sapphire connection is particularly apt.

The qualities of wisdom, virtue and resilience which Her Majesty embodies have served Britain, the Commonwealth and the world well during the last 65 years.

Her wisdom derives in part no doubt from long experience.

She has after all seen 13 British Prime Ministers during her reign. Her wisdom also comes from a dedication to a life of service to the public in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, during which she has visited over 100 countries.

We also take this moment to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s virtuous commitment to charity.

During her reign she has supported more than 600 charities, from national military and sporting bodies, to local associations, to organisations championing children’s rights, faith, education and the arts. Her Majesty’s support as a patron has been unwavering, highlighting the value of active engagement in society and service to community.

The queen’s steadfast resilience has seen the people of Britain and the Commonwealth nations through times of great change and uncertainty, as well as those of peace and tranquillity.

At the British High Commission we take inspiration from these qualities shown by our “Sapphire Queen.” Wisdom, virtue and resilience provide an excellent guide as we go about our work in developing the partnership between our two countries. Whether in supporting much-needed criminal justice reform, a drive to tackle the cancer of corruption in our countries, efforts to tackle gender- based violence or our support for local charities.

I am delighted that a number of our partners in this country, including bpTT , G4S, Angostura, First Citizens, Atlantic LNG, Oxford Motors, Shell Trinidad Ltd, Unilever, Massy Wood Group and the TT Fine Cocoa Company, are supporting us in making this year’s celebration of Her Majesty’s birthday particularly memorable.

Queen Elizabeth has particularly fond memories of her visits to TT , most recently in 2009 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, an event which Britain is proud to be hosting in 2018. Her Majesty asked that I send her warm greetings to His Excellency the President, the Government and people of TT as we celebrate her birthday this week.

TIM STEW British High Commissioner

Jason Barry Kullis St Clair, 33, was described as a person with no fixed place of abode in Trinidad.

Douglas Raphael Mendoza Gonzales, 28, magistrate Cheryl Ann Blake-Antoine was told, is from Rio Salado, Guira, Venezuela.

He was the captain of a pirogue named MV El Castigador which is currently berthed at King’s Wharf, San Fernando.

Their arrests stemmed from investigations by Customs and Excise Division on Friday in which the boat was confiscated.

Blake-Antoine read to both men that they attempted to import into the country a Smith and Wesson gun and a Colt firearm together with five rounds of ammunition.

Attorney Devvon Williams represented Mendoza Gonzales and pleaded for bail to be granted to him, telling Blake-Antoine that he has no previous convictions and a fixed place of abode in Venezuela. Attorney Abigail Roach who represented St Clair, pleaded for bail as well and admitted although he is a national, he lives in Venezuela and is often back and forth. She said he stays in a hotel whenever he is in Trinidad.

Attorney for the Customs and Excise Division, Harricharan Cassie, objected to bail being granted saying that the importation of guns into the country was becoming quite known and popular to law enforcement agencies.

Blake-Antoine remanded the men into custody to reappear before her tomorrow.

I contributed much more than expected to her bank account. I don’t regret doing so, and I wish her well.

However, had I known that political lawyers were standing by to exploit this situation for their personal and party’s political gain I may have reconsidered.

DR DAVID SALINGER Maraval

“In many instances that glass ceiling has been broken but then there are still areas that we need to get in.

We need to get in more of the board rooms, get in more of the decision making process. When I speak with women in other organisations, they tell you of challenges that they have in terms of pay scales.

They have the same kind of responsibility for some reason they don’t enjoy the same perks but we think that with time that can be smoothed out,” she said.

Blackman was speaking with reporters at the opening of Administrative Professionals Week at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s on Sunday.

Addressing the small gathering at the event, Blackman said although the future may seem bleak and uncertain, its members were eternal optimists.

“The time has certainly come for us to take a second or even third look at the way we conduct business and operate as a professional organisation in today’s business environment.

The new normal requires an out of the box thought process, a different, more efficient ways of doing things towards achieving desired results.

The new normal now takes the business landscape into a different change, a fundamental change.

Tomorrow’s environment will be different but no less risk is possible for those who are prepared to embrace them,” she said.

Blackman encouraged administrative professionals to join the association as it was important to be a part of an organisation that can help them advance in their careers.

“The very way that we operate within the association, you cannot help but come in, learn, develop and grow.” She also encouraged administrative professionals to attend NAAP meetings every last Saturday of the month at 15 Fitzblackman Drive, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.

The industry overlaps with many other sectors including tourism; the storage and transport of fish, meats, fruit and vegetables; the industrial sector; the medical sector with respect to operating theatres, the storing of vaccines, and even the morgue.

“When you think about it, AC and refrigeration is way more than just sitting in a cool room. It underpins a lot of the sectors that drive our economy or at least allow it to be stable,” said Dr Marissa Gowrie, Deputy Environmental Manager and National Ozone Officer in the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development.

Gowrie told Newsday that in August 1989, Trinidad and Tobago signed on to the Montreal Protocol which addressed the depletion of the Ozone Layer and set obligations for countries under the Protocol.

She explained the ozone layer was basically a UV filter, and that unfiltered UV rays could cause illnesses such as skin cancer, cataracts, and weakened immune systems. The hole in the Ozone Layer is a result of gases released into the atmosphere, including refrigerants such as Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs); the fumigant Methyl bromide; Halon, a fire suppressant; and more.

“The countries came together in the 1980s and agreed to phase out these ozone depleting gases but the gases affect the ozone differently.

The Montreal Protocol addressed the worst ones first. However, in doing so, there was a time lag so all the others started to be used in so much quantity that their effect was just as bad. So the Montreal Protocol brought up the phaseout date for some of these gases.” Therefore, the National Ozone Unit has helped develop support systems and framework to assist TT in meeting the obligations of the Montreal Protocol, as well as safeguarding the country.

She noted that in 2007 the use of CFCs were phased out, the process of phasing out HCFCs began in 2013, and in 2015, TT banned the import of all assembled air condition (AC) and refrigeration units that use HCFCs.

Also, in collaboration with the TT Bureau of Standards, the Ozone Unit developed labelling standards for refrigerants coming into the country ; a license is now necessary to import all refrigerants; national guidelines for AC and refrigeration practices was developed; and the Unit was also in the final stages of developing an equipment labelling standard.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION One of the more recent steps was the Professional Certification for the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry which was launched on April 12 this year at the Hilton Trinidad.

Gowrie said the Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Association (ARIA) noticed a lack of professionalism and accountability in the industry.

The organisation felt it critical to address these issues given the various sectors it services and so approached the Ministry.

“For many years ARIA has been voicing that they were seeing a lot of practices they would not endorse. Because of the very rapid changes in technology and refrigerants, a technician needs to be kept abreast, must keep themselves current, and, let’s face it, as a consumer you assume the technician would give you the best technical advice because you don’t know better.”

I parked along the northern wall near the entrance and to my great consternation, within a sixfoot radius of my car, I picked up 14 nails and screws from among the gravel. When I drew it to the attention of the attendant, I was told they were trying to remove them. (There was no evidence of such activity at that time, though.) There is not even a sign warning motorists about this hazard, which could cause significant damage to tyres. Suffice it to say, I will not be parking there again.

I urge the owners/agents of this car park to please do the responsible thing of scouring the entire area and ridding it of these dangers to motorists who pay to park there. And I urge drivers to be especially cautious.

MARY LOCHAN via mail

The company announced its results at its Annual General Meeting held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre. Darbasie also announced that the bank’s total assets had increased from $37.5 billion to $38.9 billion and its capital base increased by more than 5.6 per cent from $6.3 billion to $6.7 billion.

Darbasie began her presentation to the meeting not with the hard numbers but by talking about the bank’s contribution to its customers and various interest groups. She said First Citizens is constantly upgrading its ATM network to provide better security and protection for its customers.

She also spoke about the bank’s consistent monitoring of customer transactions to spot and highlight suspicious transactions, and said First Citizens had introduced profit sharing for its employees.

She said while the benefits to employees were clear, it also benefitted shareholders by aligning compensation to maximise profit which benefitted the shareholders. She said that the just concluded Additional Public Offering allowed the bank to invest in the first Employee Stock Ownership Plan available for a majority State-owned company which ensured that employees’ compensation and retirement benefits were linked to the performance of the share price and as the share price performance improved it benefitted the shareholders.

She added that the bank works on staff creativity and camaraderie through staff conventions and other employee initiatives while it also gave back to communities through its corporate social responsibility programme which she said is built around women’s issues.

“All the cargo for Tobago was delivered and there have been no hiccups and we don’t anticipate any. This was an unfortunate situation, and I know there was a lot of misinformation in the public domain so, I’m happy we were able to weather it through,” he told Newsday yesterday.The Atlantic Provider and The Transporter barge have been selected as short-term replacements for the cargo vessel MV Super Fast Galicia on the inter-island ferry service.

The barge will cost Government between US$8,000 and $10,000 a day while the other vessel will cost US$14,500 a day.

“In the maritime industry, the longer you rent a vessel for, the cheaper the rate is. This is a very short-term thing so the rate will be a lot higher,” Sinanan said. The Port Authority took immediate action to find a provider for the inter-island service after it received a 14-day notice that the Galicia vessel would be withdrawn.

The minister said because it was an emergency situation, the authority went out to find a provider that would have been in the Caribbean region. He said it received seven unsolicited offers and three solicited ones. These were submitted to the board, he said, and two out of the three providers were chosen. Sinanan said the Government’s medium-term plan was to lease a vessel for three years.

He said the tender for that was expected to close at 4 pm yesterday.

For the long-term plan, Government will seek to purchase a new vessel