In a statement to the media on Tuesday, the ministry said given the recurrent delays and adjournments since the incident and the initiation of the tribunal, the decision was taken by the Ministry of Education to preserve the integrity of the tribunal process.

“In the (case of) Anthony Leach versus the Public Service Commission, Justice Judith Jones ruled that after a period of four years of the Commission’s failure to determine a matter, the undue delays constitute to a breach of citizens’ rights to a fair trial.

In another matter, the Privy Council ruled that the courts must balance the fundamental right of the individual to a fair trial within a reasonable time against the public interest in the attainment of justice.” The ministry said the tribunal proceedings against the teachers began in July 2013 and was called approximately 20 times between that date and March 17 this year and on each occasion the Ministry of Education was ready to proceed.

It said the ministry had five witnesses prepared to give evidence in the matter.

“The matter was adjourned on multiple occasions for reasons beyond the ministry’s control including absence of officers charged and change of chairman appointed to hear the matter.”

Williams said every time he tries to contact the owner he is told that someone will get in contact with him but this has not happened.

“We left 27 items to be laundered over a year ago,” Williams said.

“I still have the bill.

It was ten waist coats and 17 tablecloths.

We went in to make a claim on February 26, 2016 and they never responded. These waist coats are used by our members to represent TTARP at functions.” He continued, “I made several calls and they have not put anything in the press to inform the public what is taking place and when they will settle with customers. I am not sure if there are other customers who lost items as well, but at least they can respond to customers who made claims.” He said TTARP paid $628.95 to clean the items and they were told that the company needs to send the bills to the company’s insurance to settle.

When Newsday contacted owner of Kleen Rite Dry Cleaners, Solomon Ali, he said, “The company is dealing with the matter internally.”

“This is quite phenomenal in terms of the innovation culture,” he said at the opening of the UWI St Augustine Campus Council Meeting on Monday at St Augustine.

Economic historians like himself, he said, know that this period is the innovation age of the Caribbean economy.

“The only way we are going to become more competitive in our industries, reduce costs to become globally competitive, and diversify existing industries to maximise export potential,” he said, “is by reducing costs and increasing productivity through innovation.” In many instances, he said, “it would mean an application of technology but in some instances it means a redesigning of existing strategies.” The main reason why the Caribbean economy appears so sluggish in its recovery from the current economic recession, Beckles said, “is precisely because of the low levels of innovation within our industries, and our private sectors needing to bring more innovation on board.” The UWI, he said, “has to be seen to be in the trenches with its sleeves rolled up pushing the economies out of the doldrums.” Noting that the Faculty of Social Sciences at St Augustine Campus was seeing an expansion and growth in graduate studies outstripping the growth in undergraduate studies, he said, “This is where we want to go in the long term.” The future of the UWI, he said, must be a network of university colleges of national universities operating seamlessly allowing UWI to divest a larger percentage of its undergraduate programmes to its affiliate colleges and institutions, and enabling a transition to the research and graduate level. The Faculty of Social Sciences, he said, “is already leading that way with its magnificent increase in research and graduate programmes.” Noting also that the United Nations Development Programme report for 2016 has observed that the greatest challenge holding back economic development for the region is the extreme levels of inequality in its societies, Beckles said, “As we pursue economic growth — a top priority for our societies — it is vital and equal to deal with the concept of social proof.” He said, “We cannot allow the social growth agenda to slip behind any other priority.

We have to build societies that are stable, sophisticated, elegant, and civil because we have a very difficult

She said women make up 51 percent of the world’s population and are responsible for 66 percent of the world’s development.

“Women possess only one percent of the world’s property and earn only ten percent of the world’s income,” Webster-Roy said.

“These statistics are alarming, however I encourage you not to lose the faith.” Webster-Roy was speaking on Tuesday at Association of Female Executives of TT’s (AFETT) International Women’s Day Women of Influence Awards and Mentorship ceremony, at the National Academy for Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain.

In attendance were Sharon Rowley, wife of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley; students from nine secondary schools; consultant, entrepreneur and owner of Chuck E Cheese’s Trinidad franchise Kristine Thompson, and family and friends of the five awardees.

AFETT’s five awardees were Neysha Soodeen – Business Pioneer Award; Rose McCartha Linda Sandy Lewis (Calypso Rose) – National Spirit Award; Krista Santos – Social Entrepreneur Award, Shannol Ince – Young Female Leader Award, and Colleen Cameron – Spirit of AFETT Award.

Webster-Roy hailed women like Hazel Brown, Professors Patricia Mohammed and Rhoda Reddock who, she said, have blazed the way for women and girls.

“Recently we had Calypso Rose winning the heart of the world by her impactful and uplifting music, winning the World Album of the year award at the Victoire de la Musique award ceremony in France.

We are surrounded by such a great circle of bold and powerful women.” She told the students that they too can be courageous and bold and they do not have to blend in or be like everyone else.

While this neglect is seen among employers of all types, it seems to be much more problematic among small and medium businesses. The ECA is sympathetic to the fact that managing a small business can often times be quite demanding, but the importance of performance reviews and appraisals cannot be underestimated. This is a vital tool that not only offers invaluable insights into the strengths, weaknesses and shortcomings of your employees but can also save your business valuable dollars in the long run since these documents, together with a performance improvement plan, are considered strong pieces of evidence for employers dealing with performance-related matters and cases.

A performance improvement plan takes your performance review process a step further by giving struggling employees the opportunity to improve and succeed while still holding them accountable for past performance. This also establishes that the employer would have made legitimate and meaningful attempts to correct undesirable behaviour before the principle of progressive discipline is applied. Human Resource professionals are typically exposed to a variety of tools for preventing, and if necessary, defending against, inter alia, legal charges and lawsuits. However, performance evaluations are one of the most powerful pieces of evidence HR can use to demonstrate where an organisation would have legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for termination or other adverse action against an employee or unsuccessful job applicant. In fact, most management-side employment lawyers may agree that performance evaluations can make or break the attorney’s successful defence of an employer against employee claims, charges and lawsuits.

The ECA is therefore a strong advocate for the implementation and use of a performance review system by all employers. However, there are several basic parameters that should be followed to ensure that the review system and process is effective, equitable, and efficient.

• Even before a review meeting is conducted, staff should be given real-time feedback about good or poor performance; as much as possible, the performance review should never contain “new” information
• Employers must ensure that employees understand how their performance will be assessed before the review
• Goals should be set in advance, ideally, in collaboration with the employee. A good measure of effective goal setting is to use the SMART approach, that is, goals must be specific, measurable, applicable to your strategic plan, relevant to the department’s purpose and time-sensitive
• Anticipate problems which may occur during the meeting and develop a strategy for dealing with them
• Be clear about your expectation that the employee participate fully in the review process as this should be a two-way process
• Always ensure that the employee has read and agreed to their appraisal results and that expressed commitment to change or modify performance is obtained Performance reviews may seem like a cumbersome exercise but despite the size of your business, its benefits are substantial enough to warrant the investment in time and effort. The ECA has developed several tools and templates that can assist employers in this regard, which will ultimately serve to foster improved employee performance, strengthen reward and incentive programmes, engender open and mutually beneficial communication and save money.

The Oxford dictionary defines influence as a noun and verb: • action of one person or thing on another • ascendancy, moral power over, with a person or thing exercising power • exert influence upon, have effect upon etc.

Hmm, so how to translate “influence” into our everyday lives.

Are you a social butterfly with every social media handle and thousands of followers? Or maybe you are the life of the party. What is your personal brand? Are you an expert in your chosen profession? Let it marinate and hit home. For all your wishful thinking and popularity are you an influencer in the workplace with your peers and leaders? If you already have the capacity to compel others to be swayed by your actions, behaviours and opinions …congratulations, keep it going! However, if you have to wonder if you are influential, then probably you should develop this skill.

Here are some tips for your consideration: We often trace our views on influence to Aristotle. He considered that you need to learn how to win over minds with logic, win hearts with emotions and effectively manage yourself to become a successful influencer.

Let’s examine the required skills, regardless of level in the workplace.

Effective influencing encompasses the arts of persuasion and negotiation.

The fusion of the three stated skills provide the foundation for us to appreciate the importance of influence: • Purpose • Approaches • Invest in People • Create time for one on one conversations.

• Build relationship with mutual respect Negotiate win-win agreements Empower others, use collaborative and participatory techniques Add value to others Seek first to understand your stakeholders’ needs, then confidently and enthusiastically focus on satisfying them.

Motivate others to bring out their best performance Tune into WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) to showcase benefits of solutions to problems and passion to achieve shared goals.

Continuous learning and development • Complete your self-assessment to “know thy self” then explore your career possibilities.

• Expand your knowledge and experiences • Construct purposeful symbiotic networks and contacts Successful managers execute activities through logical thinking and shared goals in the affective domain.

Becoming that go-to person where people seek out your involvement or opinions must be pursued through working with others to achieve shared goals and results.

John Maxwell surmised that you can be influential from any level in your sphere of operations. Here’s how you accomplish this feat with your peers: Establish your principles and values for success.

Create a compelling, credible personal brand, be an expert in something. Become someone others can and will follow, then you will begin to see partnerships and influence blossom.

Practice the laws of abundance.

Give generously of your time and ideas, share BIG love and support for others. Provide objective, honest feedback when asked.

Note “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” (K Blanchard). Live joyfully, peers will toot your horn, you won’t have to! Avoid office politics.

Traditional conventions on leadership and influence often promote unhealthy individualistic and competitive rivalries where protectionism and withdrawals from emotional bank accounts reign.

Thankfully, using progressive human resource management approaches we can promote 360 degree communications and participatory opportunities to explore issues and examine quality ideas. Mature peers will encourage creativity and allow varied perspectives to shine brilliantly.

Be patient, you’ll get your deserved recognition.

Think and live outside the box.

Operate in the realm of possibilities.

Adopt a can-do attitude by taking calculated risks than will stretch you beyond your current levels of performance. This will prove to be invaluable to your peers/leader.

Value openness and innovation from anyone by empowering your peers to get involved and participate towards their personal growth and success. Celebrate victories and support your teammates.

Be authentic.

Build trust, clarity by honouring commitment to relationships with your peers. Be consistent and reliable.

Invite others to be contributors in your gang and learn to listen. Invite peers in with an infectious SMILE.

Go ahead, try it now. Allow people to be and feel safe with you. President Roosevelt said it best, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Conversely, if you are seeking to be known by your leadership then employ these strategies: Ta ke responsibility for your career goals and set priorities.

Your path to your professional success must commence with selfexamination to unearth your why. A healthy dose of reality should frame your values, motives and emotions.

Remember to traffic in the currency of an internal locus of control; believe that you can influence events and desired outcomes.

Leaders need relationships too.

Remember they are humans first, and as Maslow states, we all need a sense of belonging. Engage your leader on an appropriate personal level, inquire about their preferences and build a relationship based on your findings.

Show enthusiasm and become a Go-to-Player.

You must be the person who needs no invitation to lead. You must pick up this attitude and motivate others by your example. Think the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force cricket team needing a moment of inspiration from DJ Bravo. Like a champion, he plucks a ball out of mid-air and in that moment, steers the team to victory.

You be that one! C’mon! Use your initiative and add value.

Apply continuous improvement and innovative practices to achieve success on the job. Say yes to the difficult, complex tasks that most people avoid and then wow your boss with your professionalism and excellence. She or he will notice and will eventually reward you accordingly.

Always be in a state of readiness.

Increase your luck. Of course, I mean increase your preparedness by working hard on choices, decisions and actions that will increase your knowledge and capability, then successfully marry these to opportunities. That would definitely make you a precursor to be an opinion-shaper.

Remember these won’t work unless you make the commitment to be optimistic and persistent towards accomplishing your goals with people at the heart of your engagement.

Don’t shoot for Mars as your first goal towards increased influence, rather evaluate some SMART goals first. Be flexible and adapt as necessary in light of changing situations. Good…Now strap in …Get ready influence is coming.

AFETT is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2002 with the goal of bringing together professional women and engaging in networking opportunities, professional training and business ideas. ASK AFETT is a column meant to address issues and concerns of professionals seeking advice to assist in progressing in their careers.

Today’s response was written by AFETT member, Caron Greaves, AFETT Membership Director, HR Consultant, HRM educator and philanthropist.

Learn more about AFETT at www.afett.com or by contacting the Secretariat at admin.afett@gmail.com or 354-7130.

Search for AFETT Events on Facebook and follow @AFETTEXECS on Twitter.

The primary purpose of transit is to provide integrated, reasonably priced public service aimed at maximisation of ridership, and its secondary purpose is commercial enterprise aimed at increased economic and organisational efficiency. At present, transit not only has to compete with auto drivers for passengers and road space, but has to fight among its own operators (PTSC/maxi-taxi/taxi/ PH).

I am convinced that one of the biggest errors to be made in the development of privatelyoperated transit was the naming of these transit vehicles: maxitaxis.

Note, I am not against the idea to introduce a large transit vehicle that is privately owned – in fact, I strongly support it, especially when I found out in 1996 that maxi-taxis in the East West Corridor were transporting more than 95 percent of the public transport users, without Government subsidy, and the Government-owned company (the PTSC) was attracting 2 percent, despite huge subsidies.

But the name “maxi-taxi” is perhaps the reason why this mode of transit is treated exactly like other taxis: without any Government concern, except that these vehicles must be licensed and provided with on-street parking spaces to ply their trade.

In the case of maxi taxis, Government has extended their arrangement for permits to use the Priority Bus Route, provision of facilities for the yellow band in South Quay, Port-of-Spain, and provision of facilities in the PTSC compound in Port-of-Spain for red and green bands.

A maxi-taxi is closer in size to a bus than a taxi, so why was it perceived as such? Perhaps that is why the maxi-taxis terminals are all on the streets, with the exception being those referred to above. The authorities must be confused having to manage the storage of these large vehicles on already-congested roadways.

My information is that the intention of the introduction of the 12-seater maxi-taxis in 1979, to be followed by 25-seaters later on, was not primarily to facilitate higher capacity passenger vehicles, in order to maximise the movement of persons per unit segment of roadway. It was to create jobs for the employees of some of the powerful unions who were to be laid off, such the PTSC and the highly-paid stevedores of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. That would explain the original regulation of the Maxi- Taxi Act that the vehicle was to be owner-driven.

My suggestion for the overall road transit industry includes renaming the entire mode system: • the articulated bus should be formally known as Megabus, and no longer called the artic;

• the regular large Governmentowned PTSC buses should be called the Macrobus;

• the large maxi-taxi would be the Mesobus; and

• the small maxi taxi, the Microbus.

• Taxis would remain as called.

These vehicles would all form part of the national transit system which would be managed by a dedicated transit authority or commission. This authority/ commission would be in charge of planning and developing transit, and managing both publiclysupplied and private-supplied transit operations.

The large buses, over 40-seater, might not be attractive for purchase by private operators, and so the State could continue to supply and operate those as needed by the overall system.

The Mesobuses and Microbuses would be supplied by private operators. Taxis would also be supplied privately.

Transit has to be recognised as a critical national transportation essential service, and not as a Government bus company for those who have no other choice.

While transit is not essential to some people, because alternative modes are available, it has social purposes, because alternatives are not available to everyone.

Transit service has to be classified as a utility. With that, the national transit authority/ commission will be the regulator monitoring competition, productivity, efficiency, and in general, the protecting the interests of the users and other stakeholder.

Obviously, the re-naming of transit vehicles does not solve the problems in the transit industry.

There are many other issues that would have to be addressed. But, the thought-process should begin with establishing the correct context. To be continued.

e-mail: info@ccost.org

What then does President Trump mean when he speaks about the end of global trade? Perhaps we need to look at some of the arguments for and against free trade and globalization, and we must also include the benefits and costs that have arisen. Free trade and globalization have allowed companies to develop various segments of value chains around the world, taking advantage of countries’ comparative advantage. We have seen many cross-border supply chains develop that have lowered production costs, increased productivity, and improved competitiveness. This has benefited producers (higher profits and market share) as well as consumers with lower priced goods.

The advocates of free trade and globalization have argued that it increases the global level of output because free trade permits specialization among countries. Such specialization allows countries to dedicate their scarce resources to the production of the particular goods and services for which that country has a comparative advantage. The benefits of specialization, together with economies of scale, increase the global production possibility frontier. When there is an increase in the global production possibility frontier, it signals that the entire quantity of goods and services made is highest under free trade. Not only is the entire amount of goods and services higher, but the specific combination of goods and services actually made will produce the highest possible utility to consumers around the world. This in turn makes societies more prosperous.

The increase in GDP provides a larger national pie to share among citizens, at least this is the argument that was presented. In addition, it was argued that free trade relieves extreme poverty throughout the world. Bj?rn Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus on International Development Challenges was of the opinion that reducing subsidies and tariffs would improve the well-being of the global poor more than any agricultural, political, or environmental program. Freer trade policies lead to faster economic growth and less poverty and unemployment. Dierk Herzer, a German economist, found that trade openness in general has a positive longrun effect on health, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality.

The criticisms of free trade include increases in the likelihood of offshore outsourcing of production, which shifts economic production abroad leading to job losses and wage stagnation. There are also the arguments that free trade has led to the growth of inequality, lowwage competition, flight of capital to low wage countries, and in combination with the fourth industrial revolution, was leading to the compression of the middle class in developed countries and the substitution of workers with robots.

This has led to Bill Gates advocating for a tax on robots that replace humans.

Other arguments state that free trade boosts consumption, not necessarily production, benefits only the wealthy within countries leading to greater levels of inequality, possibly increases the risk of economic bubbles that may affect entire nations and perhaps the world instead of just individuals, as well as it tends to create economies too dependent on narrow specialties.

How should we respond to the lack of clarity and indeed the fear that the USA is no longer advocating free trade and does not seem clear on a policy position? Certainly we need to get our house in order. Our statistical data gathering needs to be improved with up-to-date information on imports and exports, not mirror trade data. We need to get data on trade-in services as well.

In fact, the lack of progress and questions raised about the recommendations being put forward by members of the committee regarding the restructuring of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) raises real concerns. We need to have our universities conduct research on possible effects of changes to the international trade system, and counterfactual experiments on possible policy prescriptions based on different scenarios. There is the need for our Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trade to be a part of this research exercise. Lastly, we need to assemble a team of negotiators to begin preparation for any eventuality. There should be a section in the Ministry of Trade that is preparing for another paradigm change in the world trading system; failure to act is not an option.

Addressing a news briefing yesterday at the Opposition Leader’s Office at Charles Street in Portof- Spain were Dr Gopeesingh and former Tertiary Education and Skills Training Minister Fazal Karim.

In light of a Mayaro schoolgirl being beaten unconscious, Gopeesingh told reporters of a raft of initiatives by the former People’s Partnership (PP) government but which have since been discontinued under Garcia’s tenure.

He said these initiatives would have considerably diminished school violence if given a chance, but that Garcia (and Minister Dr Lovell Francis) allegedly cannot manage education. “We call on the Prime Minister to arrest the precipitous decline in education by removing Garcia and Francis”.

Alleging a current reversal of gains made under the PP administration, Gopeesingh said, “You can’t put a woodworking teacher as Minister of Education and expect gains”. Gopeesingh, a gynaecologist, listed 21 initiatives of the PP government that are now in abeyance.

He listed PP initiatives directly for pupils as: more physical education; character education in primary school; more tech/voc education; more boy scouts, girl guides and cadet units; a Mentor- Mentee Programme; student councils; homework centres and Circle of Hope sessions.

Staff boosts under the PP regime include doubling the professionals such as psychologists and social workers at the Student Support Services Unit from 300 to 700; hiring 200 school safety officers; filling dean vacancies; training staff in mediation; and training principals and school supervisors in leadership.

Dissatisfied with the state of these and other initiatives, he claimed a lack of accountability in the management of the Ministry.

Listing the names of wealthy people who were accused of crimes but were subsequently determined to be innocent, Sturge claimed, “This is his ticket out.” Describing Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi as “Ramesh Al-Rawi”, Sturge also claimed the bill would not allow for the time frame set out in the Pratt and Morgan judgement of the Privy Council to be met, so that the death penalty could not be implemented. Claiming that Al-Rawi’s predecessor, John Jeremie, brought similar suites of legislation in 2005 and 2007 which worsened the criminal justice system, Sturge predicted, “Every bill brought by this AG will fail.” Sturge reiterated the Opposition’s claim that trial by jury is a constitutional right and the Judiciary should not advise any government about what legislation to put in place. Asking how the criminal justice system would operate if lawyers did not want to practice this type of law because of the risks they face, Sturge claimed that no lawyer wanted to do the Vindra Naipaul- Coolman murder trial.

Government senators Foster Cummings and Daniel Dookie dismissed this claim. “This bill does not trample on the rights of the accused,” Cummings declared.

Dookie said the Opposition did not want to cooperate with the Government in dealing with the country’s crime problem.

Independent Senator Melissa Ramkissoon said she supported the idea of trial by judge alone but could not support the bill in its present form. Ramkissoon wondered if it made sense to free ten guilty men but convict one innocent man.

Opposition Senator Rodger Samuel argued that the trial of Jesus Christ by Pontius Pilate was a classic example of “trial by bench” and not by jury.