In stark contrast, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TT Chamber) is warning about the possible negative repercussions of such a move.

Speaking during the post-Cabinet news conference, Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s on Thursday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said, “It can’t be that all of the foreign exchange is focused on importation of goods like motorcars and finished goods coming from abroad.” “We have have to focus our foreign exchange on the companies in TT that are employing people and are generating economic activity, exporting Trinidad’s goods, made in Trinidad…I can tell you, it is something that we are looking at very seriously and a statement will be made about that in the near future.”

Responding to this on Friday, the TTMA said it was “extremely pleased…that strong consideration will be given to afford manufacturers a higher priority as it relates to access to foreign exchange. Such news is welcomed as foreign exchange within the manufacturing community is critical to our operations and export growth mandate.”

The TTMA expressed hope that “a major emphasis in Government’s consideration will be to design the mechanism in such a way that all manufacturers have fair and equitable access to foreign exchange, which we consider critical to the overall growth of Small, Medium and Large enterprise development.”

Thanking Imbert for heeding its concerns, the TTMA applauded “the foresight demonstrated here”, adding that it looks forward “to execution of an appropriate plan within the short to medium term.”

The TT Chamber however said while it accepts fully that Imbert “would be constantly searching for solutions to the many problems that confront us – including the issue of foreign exchange”, it was “disappointed” with Government’s announcement that there might be a return to “what would, in effect, be a regime of Exchange Controls.”

“As laudable as (Imbert’s) objective might appear to be, if he fails to change the underlying management of the exchange rate, such a measure, as proposed, would further decrease the amount of foreign exchange available to other key sectors and industries in our country. Government can be assured that numerous other groups which regard their businesses as just as significant as the manufacturing sector, will make equal or superior claims for access of foreign exchange.” The TT Chamber said while it fully agrees that Government policy should seek to encourage the growth of the export business for manufacturers, “it must not be done at the expense of providers of services. Ironically, a more dynamic and proactive management of the exchange rate would have achieved this.”

The TT Chamber argued that “better management of the exchange rate would have permitted the TT dollar to find its right balance. If this flexibility is not permitted and instead exchange controls are implemented, this could be followed by a deep devaluation of the TT dollar.” Imbert was advised to “consider the impact of his statements on the foreign exchange markets.” The TT Chamber said it “therefore urges the minister to engage with all stakeholders before finalising the new arrangements as outlined.”

“It is well known that the Government has undertaken to pay public officers a substantial sum of back-pay at the end of March 2017.

Current estimates of the amount of this back-pay is in the vicinity of $1.6 billion.

The originally scheduled date for the closure of the public offering was March 24th 2017, which meant that the offer was initially open for a period of two weeks.” “However,” the ministry continued, “one of the primary objectives of any divestment of a state enterprise is the widest possible public participation in the transaction.

Accordingly, as a result of a significant level of enquiries and interest from public officers who will receive their back-pay within the next week and other individuals and organisations who wish to participate in the APO, the Ministry of Finance has decided that it would be in the best interest of all concerned to extend the APO to April 7th 2017.” The ministry noted that the initial public offering (IPO) for FCB shares in 2013 was open for four weeks. As such, the extension of the APO by another two weeks to four weeks “is exactly the same as the IPO and will give public officers and other potential investors more time to complete the required procedures for participation and investment in the FCB APO.”

“We see the reports on a daily basis in the newspapers. I am beginning to sound like a stuck record. Senseless violence against our women is now a national plague.

“And it matters not who you are or where you come from. In some sectors of our society, it is simply that the abuse is suffered in silence.

“We talk about women in the changing world of work, and assume that most women are working,” she said.

Mrs Rowley was addressing the URP’s International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration at City Hall, Port-of-Spain.

She questioned whether a woman could hold down a job when she is persistently absent because she has to deal with being bruised and battered in the home because her man wants to show that he is the boss? Mrs Rowley also asked, “Can a woman be alert in her job when half the night she is up rubbing the feet of her alcoholic man, and if she stops for a second, it’s licking for her? Can she be treated equally in the office when she is always late for work because while her man sleeps she has to be up by 3.30 am to go to the market to buy fresh chicken to cook before going to work since her husband doesn’t eat frozen chicken? Can she be at ease in the office when the smell of dog mess he threw on her because she didn’t clean it up stays in her nostrils? Can she think of equality on the job when on a daily basis he threatens to kill her and her children?” She said many women live in fear.

Rowley encouraged the women in the audience not to let the circumstances of their lives, where they came from or how much money they have, prevent them from advancing themselves.

“The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with what we do with our lives. When you succeed, not only do you clear the path for yourself but you clear the path for your children and their children.

“Let your motivation come from the negative stigma that is placed on your community. The key is to have a positive outlook on life, prove your detractors wrong,” she advised.

Rowley said it is hoped that by 2030 men and women will be treated equally, and in the workplace, they would be paid equally, would be given the same opportunities and would lead equally.

“Education is our best chance for our future, not just for ourselves, but for our children, our family and the nation. We must all ensure that we are equipped to work. We must take advantage of the opportunities which are given to all of us. We must let our children take advantage of the opportunities.”

Justice Frank Seepersad ordered the AATT to allow the vendor, Shaffie Mohammed, to reopen his lotto booth in an injunction lawsuit which he filed against the AATT.

Mohammed, of Arima, had filed the lawsuit against the AATT claiming that he took over operation of a lotto booth from a tenant on the airport’s ground floor just after the old terminal building was condemned upon a construction of the new airport in 2001. Following the formal opening of the new airport, Mohammed stated in his lawsuit that he was in the process of transferring the lotto machine to a new space at the airport when he received a letter from the AATT.

It cited the section 20 regulation which states that no person shall at any place at the airport operate any gambling or gaming device.

The letter, however, admitted that the section 20 regulation was an outdated law because there are legal forms of gambling in Trinidad and Tobago which are controlled by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).

Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan and attorney Alvin Pariagsingh argued Mohammed’s injunction before Justice Seepersad, in which they contended that the AATT ought not to have refused Mohammed to continue with operating a lotto machine based on the fact that it had allowed the previous operator to do so. Senior Counsel Elton Prescott represented the AATT.

Justice Seepersad stated that there was evidence which could lead a court to conclude that the AATT knew of the operation of a lotto machine since 1995, and permitted same despite the section 20 regulation. In fact, the judge added, the said lotto booth was advertised on the AATT’s website.

The Opposition’s Chief Whip immediately objected on a point of order, citing under that same 50 (3) that the move was an infringement of the rights of the minority — the Opposition.

The Speaker, Bridgid Annisette- George, overruled the objection but not before she allowed a rebuttal by Deyalsingh, who claimed there was prior discussion “behind the chair” on the matter. The Speaker then put the question to the House to adjourn debate on the Bill, to which the Opposition strongly objected, and called for a division of votes. The votes were split 16-16.

The proceedings got interesting when the Speaker stated, “So there is a tie and therefore as Speaker I now do my casting vote. I have to vote in favour of the status quo.

We have done this before and therefore I vote yes.” Standing Order 56 (2) states that when the votes are equally divided, the Speaker “shall have and exercise a casting vote, and any reason stated shall be entered in the minutes of proceedings.” It would be quite interesting to see the reason reflected in the minutes because, based on what transpired, according to a YouTube video from the Parliament Channel, the Speaker’s reasoning did not appear to justify her vote.

It is ambiguous as to who the “we” referred when the Speaker stated, “We have done this before,” as a check of the parliamentary records indicate that the casting vote has not been previously exercised in the House by this current Speaker or even her predecessor in the Tenth Republican Parliament.

What is certain, however, is that the Speaker clearly gave as her reasoning before saying “yes,” that she was inclined to vote in favour of the status quo. For almost a minute after this announcement, a veil of confusion loomed over the House, which lifted only after the Speaker repeated her response and the proceedings resumed.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines “status quo” as “the existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues.” By this simple definition, a vote in favour of the status quo would mean to not interrupt the business of the House already under discussion and leave the debate on the Pre-Trial Procedure Bill to carry on. This would have required her to vote “No” against the digressive motion. The Speaker’s decision, however, did not follow from her explanation.

One may reasonably wonder whether this is a case of the Speaker, herself a former Attorney General, simply misinterpreting the meaning of voting in favour of the status quo. Or was the line that defines the strict non-partisan approach expected of a presiding officer of Parliament breached?
RALPH DEONARINE via email

I now add my small piece from a patient’s perspective as this area could possibly have been given more prominence.

I know I speak for thousands of Tobagonians who Dr Patrick attended to in a professional capacity over the many years and where his thoroughness, his warm, gentle manner, his focus on assisting humanity rather than on any monetary consideration endeared him fully. Surely a man for all seasons.

The void created by his loss is going to be greatly felt and the hope is that some recognition of his efforts, including the prostate clinic, could be given by the powers that be to ensure his legacy lives on.

Finally, I would be failing if mention is not made of the dedication, unstinting support given by Dr Helene Crooks, who ensured this well loved doctor remained with us for as long as he did.

RB OTTLEY Tobago

However, he said he is hoping to have indepth discussions on all these subjects at the Caribbean Fraud Conference 2017 to be held from June 5-6 at the Radisson Hotel, Wrightson Road.

Chambers was speaking at a news conference at the Normandie Hotel, St.

Ann’s to launch the conference which he said would focus on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA); Human Trafficking and Financial risks and personal safety issues.

Gillian Ash-Henry, a director of the company, said it was important for firms to establish whistleblower policies within their organisations.

She said that employees should feel safe informing management of improprieties and fraudulent activities within the firm. The launch included several of the speakers who will make presentations at the conference.

Ash-Henry said the conference was planned because the Global Forensic Institute has seen that there are risks that companies are not aware of and they see this frequently when the institute does fraud investigations, compliance matters and compliance audits.

She said the conference will provide education and ensure that compliance professionals will leave the two day meeting able to return to their companies and effect change.

She said there will be many international and regional experts who will be able to provide a level of training that is not usually accessible to professionals.

One speaker, Jennifer Koo Rogers, Chairman of the Interbank Anti-Fraud Committee of the Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT), said organisations lose more than five percent of their revenues through occupational fraud, a subject she said will be discussed in greater detail at the conference. She warned that businesses are at risk from employees who are familiar with the operation of the company and can take advantage of that familiarity to commit fraud.

Another speaker, Kathleen Charles Jackson, Ethics and Compliance Manager at BP Trinidad and Tobago, said the conference will sensitise participants about anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) and anti-money laundering (AML) risk and the consequences associated with those risks.

She said she will address the conference about the consequences of non-compliance with the requirements and raise awareness of the penalties associated with non-compliance.

WPC Roxanne Meharris was the lone officer on duty at the station, two other officers who were stationed there having gone out on patrol. Never in her wildest dreams would she have believed that the victim would be her brother, and the shooter one of her colleagues.

Alone in the station, Meharris wept bitterly while at the same time having to attend to station duties as every five minutes she was being bombarded with telephone calls that it was her brother who was shot dead.

Detectives are investigating the incident in which Kerwyn Meharris, 34, of Mamoral Road, Flanagin Town, Brasso Village, was playing a poker game on the Mamoral Junction at about 12.58 am on Saturday together with friends, among them a Special Reserve Police (SRP) officer.

When the game ended, Kerwyn who lived a short distance away from the junction, returned to his home. Police said based on their investigations, Kerwyn had won some money in the card game, but he received a call on his cell phone to return to the junction.

What happened next was up to yesterday still being investigated, but according to the report, Kerwyn was shot in the yard of a house on the junction. When Sunday Newsday visited the scene yesterday, there were blood stains on the wall of the garage of the house.

The police report stated that Kerwyn was taken in a police vehicle to the Chaguanas District Health Facility wounded on the left upper chest. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

Detectives, Sunday Newsday learned, have since seized the gun from the SRP who had only six months ago obtained a firearm user’s licence to carry his personal firearm. Kerwyn was a father of one and has a twin brother, Sherwin, also of Mamoral Village.

Meharris who also lives along the Mamoral Road near to her deceased brother, said she was at the time on duty at the station along with two other officers. The station is a police outpost and it is normal for just three or four officers to be on duty in the otherwise quiet and very rural Brasso Village.

She said it was at about 12.58 am when she received a call on the wireless from Command Centre, that explosions were heard at Mamoral Junction which is a short distance from the outpost. “I could not leave because I was the lone officer in the station,” Meharris said.

What happened after, Meharris said, was nightmarish to say the least. The policewoman said she then received a telephone call from a cousin who broke the tragic news that it was her brother who had been shot at the Mamoral Junction.

“I could not believe it. I broke down crying. I wanted to leave the station and go on the scene but I could not. I was the only officer and could not take that chance,” Meharris said.

Pacing up down the charge room and praying silently for her brother, she almost fainted when she received the next call.

The caller, another relative, told Meharris that her brother, Kerwyn, was dead.

She said, “I went to the washroom about 10 times. I was hoping and praying it was not true. I knew that my brother was murdered because he was not involved in anything that would have warranted him being shot dead, especially by a police officer.” Meharris said she waited in the station for three and a half hours, during which her cell phone kept ringing. And during her sudden grief, she had to attend to normal duties in the station as she waited for the two other police officers to return. Meharris left the station in tears and in her police uniform at about 3.15 am yesterday and made her way to the Chaguanas health facility where she saw her brother’s body.

She said a police report on the shooting has been filed and homicide detectives are investigating what led to her brother’s murder.

Up to midday yesterday, Meharris said personnel from the police service’s Victim Support Unit were yet to visit the family’s home. An autopsy will be performed on the body tomorrow. “I want to say that as a police officer, I stand by what the law requires me to do and having said that, a report would be made to the Police Complaints Authority,” Meharris said.

“I’m not the type to speak much, although I will if I am called upon to do so,” he says of his ministry. “I prefer that people see how I handle different situations in life, whether it be family, work, social or in the church.” At just 31, Hypolite holds the lofty title of shepherd in the church, a position he has held for over 15 years.

“This is a leadership role,” he told Sunday Newsday during an interview on Wednesday.

“We are responsible for a host of activities within the church, including conducting services, making and implementing recommendations to improve the church and faith, and ensuring that we are constantly learning about the faith from all angles, be it theological or spiritual.” Emphasising he does not take his title lightly, Hypolite said the role of shepherd spans the entire ministry.

Hypolite said apart from teaching and assisting members when required, he also defends the church’s flock against dangers, threats and negative trends.

There was no specific attire for a shepherd, he said. “There are many other spiritual factors that go into the clothes that we wear.

What I would wear or use as a shepherd might be totally different to another individual.” A third-generation leader of the church, the young minister has followed in the footsteps of his parents, Bishop Earl Hypolite and Episcopal Reverend Mother Geraldine Hypolite, both respected members of the faith.

He said his late maternal grandparents, Bishop St Hill Hypolite and the Reverend Joyce Hypolite, also had a powerful influence in his development as an individual.

His grandparents, Hypolite said, had founded the church many years ago in Belmont, but it was destroyed in a fire. They later held services in the garage of the family’s home in Chaguanas, eventually moving to the church’s current location at 36 Longdenville Old Road.

“My grandparents were the leaders of the church and my parents took over after them,” Hypolite said with pride. “My three brothers and three sisters are also active members in the church, along with many extended family members.” He said the church, though relatively small in membership, has made quite a name for itself in the archdiocese over the years. It has become known for its vibrant ministry, people- centred sermons and sizeable youth congregation.

“The ministry is very active, having service at least once a week, with other activities and supporting other churches regularly. We have at least 80 members in attendance on any given Sunday, and as our new facility is being completed, we hope to greatly increase this number.” But Hypolite said that figure is likely to grow when the church completes its refurbishment work in 2018.

He estimated that at least 60 per cent of the church’s membership were young people.

“We have one of the strongest youth followings in the faith,” he claimed. “It has become known among the churches that we visit and they are always excited to see not only the youth but the little children as well. You don’t usually see so many little children in a Baptist church.” Hypolite said, too, that the Mt Zion Spiritual Baptist Cathedral does not take its youth congregation for granted.

“Even though we have a strong youth following, we understand the importance of youth in any movement, just as much as the elders,” he said.

At present the church’s focus is on getting the facility completed to offer additional activities for the youth, including an internet caf? and recreation rooms.

“We will also have more time on our hands to have more youth-oriented events and programmes.”

The former Tranquillity Government Secondary student said he cannot recall any incident or experience which was particularly inspiring to him in the faith.

“There isn’t just one but the experience of being a Baptist is enough to draw me into the faith. There is so much potential.

It’s a wonderful experience to be a part of what we are trying to accomplish.” Specifically, though, he enjoys the manner in which Baptists are allowed to worship.

“We can dance, sing and shout freely,” Hypolite said, adding he was also moved by the extensive knowledge to be gained in the faith.

“It is amazing how many things you can learn in the faith, not just about church or religion but about life in general.” As a young Baptist leader, Hypolite said he was deeply concerned about the superficialities in parenting.

He told Sunday Newsday: “I see too many people doing things to make their children happy in the short term but it is detrimental to them in the long term. I always appreciated the fact that my parents always guided and corrected me when necessary even though I may not have understood or thought it was excessive at the time.” Many young people, he observed, also do not apply themselves as they should but expect to be rewarded for it.

“I think this leads to a feeling of false sense of entitlement, which can only be harmful to society.” As the high point of the Baptist’s centenary celebration approaches on Thursday, Hypolite lamented that members of the faith have been subsumed by disunity for too long.

He believes Baptists need a strong leader with the power to draw its flock not by words but actions, “displaying love and fairness.” “We do not need to form one organisation but if everybody follows the example of love and fairness, unity will naturally follow,” Hypolite said.

It is his hope that the Baptists will execute successfully its first unified Liberation Day celebrations at the Maloney lands.

He said although leaders have been clamouring a secondary school and university for its followers over the years, Baptists also needed their own credit unions and real estate and investment firms “Other denominations and segments of society have achieved it and so can we.” Hypolite said there also must be greater education among Baptists about how different events in the faith’s history continue to affect its followers.

“We need to break out of a certain mentality that our previous oppression has been ingrained in us. This can only be done by education and uplifting ourselves. No one can do this for us.” An engineer and IT architect at the National ICT Co Ltd, Hypolite regarded the view that Baptists were “poor and duncee,” as perhaps the greatest misconception about the faith.

“Our church is doing a great deal in correcting these misconceptions,” he said.

“There are many intelligent and educated individuals in the Baptist faith. In our church alone we have doctors, optometrists, engineers, architects and business majors (at university).

“We have individuals in medical school, dentists in training and many others who are at or near the top of their classes in school and many more. We also preach prosperity; the Bible clearly lays out certain laws about prosperity which we have been practising and seeing the results of.” Asked if he dreamt of perhaps leading the church some day, Hypolite said calmly: “I don’t look at positions and say I want to see myself in this one or the other. The way I was taught and the way I practice is to serve God and do his will with the goal being to inherit the kingdom of God and see how many people I can help to achieve the same goal.”

But the Royal Reading Room, which was opened on March 16, is not just a library. It also contains a children’s reading room where inmates can take part in a literacy programme, tentatively called Caribbean Fathers Are Reading (CFAR), where they can read to their children.

Jacob, a writer, teacher, and head librarian at the International School of Port-of-Spain, told Sunday Newsday when she transferred to the prison from the Youth Training Centre (YTC) about four years ago, she realised fathers only received two visits from their children each year. She immediately had the idea of a programme where inmates could read to their children so they could spend quality time with their children, as well as help instil a love for reading in the young ones.

She said the inmates always talk about their children, worry about them, and think about their education.

They always expressed to her that a sense of accomplishment means a lot to them, especially as many feel they do not have a sense of purpose. Encouraging their children to read helps fill that gap.

In addition to this new treat of being read to by their fathers, the children would also receive DVDs of the visits in order to make it a more memorable experience.

The whole project, she explained, started with her book Wishing for Wings, which is based on her first CXC English class in YTC. She said her students found solace in books and began to write about their lives. She, in turn, shared their experiences in her book.

In time, however, she began to worry about boys’ transition to adult prison so she decided to follow them from YTC to the prison, where she once again took up teaching English.

“At YTC they had such a love for reading. It helped them navigate their way through the prison system, helped them think about their lives and their future. Then I got to Port-of-Spain prison and there were a few books lying around, but there was no library. I was bringing in books for my students,” she recalled.

She believed a properly functioning library was necessary and eventually assembled one through donations from the National Gas Company, the US Embassy, teachers from her workplace, and many individuals.

Jacob explained that founder of The Children’s Ark, Simone de la Bastide and directors Kathy Ann Waterman and Vicki Assevero had read Wishing for Wings and wanted to know how they could help.

The organisation is a charitable NGO that caters to the needs of marginalised and “at-risk” children under the age of 16. Although Jacob had already moved to the prison by this time, when she told them her idea for CFAR, they liked the idea of the project and started to work with her on it.

The library soon outgrew its small space but various suggestions for bigger space were rejected for security reasons. In addition, no one wanted to have the library in the part of the prison where the inmates were held because the idea was to bring children there.

“Everyone always liked the idea, including Mr Stewart (Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart), who is a very forward-thinking person. It was just that space is such a premium inside of there.” She said the authorities were very supportive of the idea because it encouraged the inmates to read, and they wanted to read “good” books, the most popular topics being history, biographies and Stephen Hawking.

Eventually a spot was found in the administrative area which was once the death-row block.

Inmates tore down the cells and The Children’s Ark spent approximately $250,000 to refurbish it.

Jacob’s daughter, Ijanaya, designed the children’s area and four prisoners from Carrera interpreted and painted the design on the walls.

The Children’s Ark also sponsored books for the programme, which children would be allowed to take home.

“It has been a really emotional project in many ways. One of the inmates who painted the children’s area used to be in one of those death-row cells. To be able to tear down those cells, which was literally and figuratively one of the darkest places you would ever want to see, and replace them with this light and hope means a lot to the inmates in there,” Jacob said.

The library is run by her NGO, the Wishing for Wings Foundation, so the organisation has control over what goes into the library, including the electronic component.

Jacob said because she was aware of the regulations and restrictions of prison libraries from YTC, the prison authorities trust her to know what is appropriate.

“I think it’s safe to say we now have the most advanced prison library. It was still a small space so we had to have an electronic library. I talked the authorities into a progressive library that inmates would want to come to with electronic devices. About 20 percent of the library is invisible because we have Kindles and iPads with e-books, and audiobooks.” The library contains over 500 titles, with 388 physical books, as well as a few documentaries and films, limited internet access, and a dedicated prisons officer who acts as librarian. Jacob said traditional books were important because the inmates could only visit the library for a few hours a week and could not take the electronic devices back to their cells.

Jacob said the prisoners were very excited about the Royal Reading Room as they see it as a way for them to improve their lives by educating themselves, being involved in their children’s education, as a form of entertainment, and as a connection to the world outside their prison walls.