Trinidad and Tobago cultivates 11 varieties of Trinitario beans and is one of 17 countries that produces the highest quality cacao bean strains known as fine flavour cacao.

Other producers of fine flavour cacao beans include Ecuador, Grenada, Dominica, Belize, Costa Rica, and Jamaica.

Cacao production in TT has declined from 30,000 tonnes in the 1920s to less than 1,000 tonnes today and if we are serious about rehabilitating the cacao sector, there must be no further delay in increasing production since there is an increasing demand and a high price being paid for high-quality cacao beans across the world.

In 2014 the world production of cacao beans was 4.6 million tons with the Ivory Coast producing 1.5 million tons followed by Ghana with 836,000 tons and Indonesia, 777,000 tons.

However, only five percent of total world production of cacao beans is of the top quality fine flavour variety as produced in TT and used in the manufacture of gourmet chocolate products.

The leading chocolate manufacturing countries in the world, the US, Belgium, Switzerland, and the UK, do not grow cacao and the internationally popular brands are manufactured using mainly cheaper Forastero beans originating mainly from West African countries.

The sweeter something is, the more sugar it contains and the less cacao it has. Chocolate is not sweet.

Sugar is sweet. If it is sweet, it is not chocolate, it is candy. Milk chocolates contain less than 30 percent chocolate and few milk chocolates exceed 20 percent. White chocolate is an imposter since it does not contain cocoa powder.

Since the mid-1990s, a number of the smaller chocolate manufacturers have introduced products that contain 60 to 90 percent cocoa.

Some high-quality “dark chocolates” which contain more than 70 percent of cocoa include l’Artisan du Chocolat, Lindt, Taza, Vivani, Godiva, Poscha and Ghiradelli.

These are real chocolates and are more expensive than milk chocolates.

With an increasing demand for fine flavour cacao beans as produced in TT, chocolatiers from various parts of the world have been visiting TT to obtain first-hand information on the local products.

With the exclusion of “the middle man,” quality local beans can attract a price of US$5,000 a ton for the farmer. The lower quality beans sell for about US$2,000 a ton.

The Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company, which was launched in August 2015, will produce liquid chocolate and cocoa liquor at its factory at la Gloria Estate in Centeno for export to Europe, where the company has a partnership with the UK’s l’Artisan du Chocolat, which will produce flavoured chocolates for sale in its shops worldwide.

It is not well known that there are a number of small chocolatiers in TT whose products, limited as they may be, are available from a few local retailers. Following are the names of some of our local producers of good quality chocolates, not candy, made from Trinitario fine flavour cacao: Brasso Seco Chocolate Company, Cacique Chocolates, Cocobel Chocolates, Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride, Gina’s Chocolate Truffles, House of Arendel, House of Orlando Chocolate, JB Chocolates, Long’s Chocolate, The Lopinot Chocolates, Omarbeans Organic, Sun Eaters Organic, Tobago Cocoa Estate, Violetta Fine Chocolates, Soular Chocolate, Spirit of Chocolate, Tucker Vale Chocolate.

I have been told by connoisseurs that the flavour and quality of these local estate chocolates are excellent.

It is my wish that the Government gives every encouragement to this long overdue initiative to add value to our quality cacao beans and to encourage the resuscitation of our cacao-growing industry by providing the necessary guidance from agronomists and agricultural extension officers together with the required incentives.

The family has tentatively given the date for the funeral as February 24. Blackman died on February 20 at 9am due to cancer.

Blackman grew up in Rankine Street, San Fernando and so the funeral is also expected to take place south side.

Blackman married Ras Shorty I in 1964 and had 14 children among them singers Abbi Blackman, Nehilet Blackman, Isaac Blackman and Sheldon Blackman.

Granddaughter, Nailah Blackman has entered the local mainstream music market with her single, Workout done with Kees Dieffenthaller.

“My daughter is sick,” said Gregory Lopez, a father of three. “We need to get her back home. Please, whoever has her, let my daughter come home.” Lopez told Newsday that his daughter suffers with a heart condition and asthma. She went missing from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EW MSC) on January 20. He said since her disappearance, she has been in contact with him, but for the past days, all calls have ended.

Gillian suffered a seizure at her Valencia home and was taken to the Arima District Hospital, then to the EW MSC where she was warded for observation.

On January 20, officials at the hospital reported to St Joseph police that she was missing from her ward. Newsday understands that nurses noticed louvres in the ward had been removed.

Her father, who lives in North Carolina, USA was informed of her being hospitalised but when he arrived in Trinidad, she had already gone missing from the hospital. Anyone knowing of Gillian’s whereabouts are asked to contact the nearest police station, or family members at 470-8785 or 736-5729.

There was so much chaos that inspection stickers, affixed to the left side of the front windscreen of vehicles that passed inspection, ran out. This led to panic among drivers whose vehicles were inspected and passed but could not get the stickers for their windscreen. A man said he spent the entire day on Monday driving to authorised inspection centres in a vain attempt at getting the sticker.

Ram Deo from Tunapuna said ge got his car inspected and passed “very early” on Monday morning but there was no sticker.

He was advised to check other centres.

“I spent the entire day driving around. I even reached as far as San Fernando going to different garages, but all the stickers had run out,” Deo said.

Newsday was told that even in Tobago, motorists got wind of the social media post and went to the few inspection centres in the sister isle. Lines were long as motorists waited for several hours to have their vehicles inspected.

Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan yesterday said there was a challenge with some centres which ran out of stickers, due to the mad rush caused by the social media post.

“Someone ran a campaign that licensing officers were clamping down on people and everybody rushed to these garages.

These garages went to licensing office and bought up the stickers and now we have a little challenge. Now they (garages) are out of the stickers. But there is no campaign on by the Licensing authorities. It was just a rumour that caused a lot of panic and put the system under some pressure,” Minister Sinanan said.

A release from the Ministry also confirmed no specific, planned crackdown by Licensing Office and that the inspection of vehicles is in fact an ongoing process conducted by Motor Vehicle Officers throughout the year.

“Cabinet Minute No. 1787 of 2013 which saw the Expansion of the Traffic Warden System noted that the Traffic Warden Division is ‘an institutional framework for dealing with the management of traffic and providing much needed assistance to the police service’ as well as “increased awareness of road safety in schools and on the roads,” the ministry release stated. The fine for non-inspection or expired inspection stickers is $5000.

According to a news release from the Regiment, two gunmen approached Carter and his friends and opened fire on them. The soldier was shot in his neck, chest and groin while another limer was grazed by a bullet.

Carter was taken to the Arima District Hospital and was later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EW MSC) where he remains in a stable but serious condition.

Francis condemned the actions of the gunmen and extended commiserations to Carter’s family.

He said the Regiment is providing support to the family and praying for Carter’s full recovery

Griffith was killed yesterday morning a stone’s throw from his relatives’ home in Malabar, Arima.

Grieving and confused relatives were at a loss as to who wanted him dead. Police are also trying to find a motive for the murder.

In a brief conversation with Newsday, relatives counted themselves as among those who did not understand the effect that crime has on a family, until it reached their doorstep.

“Please understand that this is very confusing right now,” said a relative. “He was the kind of person who did not bother anybody, He was hard-working and peaceful. The most peaceful person you could ever come across.” Griffith, a joiner, leaves behind a 15-year-old son.

Police said Griffith was liming on Subero Street, Malabar, with friends Kevon George and Kerron George.

At about 10.30 am, a gold-coloured Nissan Tiida pulled up in front of them and a gunman got out and began shooting.

The men tried to escape but Griffith was shot multiple times.

Kerron was shot in his left knee.

Residents called the police after hearing the gunshots and a Rapid Response Unit arrived to find the shot men on the ground.

Griffith was taken to the Arima Health Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The crime scene was cordoned off by police officers led by ASP Beddoe. Crime Scene investigators recovered 15 spent shells.

Inspector Ramdeen along with officers of Homicide Region II are investigating

His widow Moulda led the congregation which included Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, Assistant Commissioner of Police Tobago Garfield Moore and Snr Supt Joanne Archie, along with staff from the Judiciary. Archie was praised for his religious beliefs, his frequent presence at church and his role as a family man and worker.

In his 25-minute eulogy, the Chief Justice reminisced on life with a father like Ivanhoe. “There has been an outpouring of love and support which has comforted and sustained us which is touching and testament to the generational impact of a truly remarkable life and a life that was lived in extraordinary fashion,” he said. He noted it was extremely hard to summarise the life of his father in a few minutes.

“It is important to keep him alive, because what we have going forward are just memories. He was sometimes difficult to love up close but he always tried to be a man of honour and for those of you struggling to understand Ivanhoe Archie, all I could say is goat don’t make sheep,” he said. The Chief Justice said his father was keenly competitive but with a keen sense of fair play.

“It didn’t matter objectively how well you had done, second place was just never good enough. Looking back though I could see what drove it, it is that he really wanted the best for his children. In that regard, it was almost like he lived vicariously, conscious of the opportunities that he had missed, it was important to him that we had that. I suppose it paid off as his two children have three professions between them. Brian is a trained pharmacist and I am a bit confused, and of his five grandchildren, two are medical doctors, two engineers and the other a lawyer and I know that he was filled with immense pride and I am really happy that he lived to see all of that come to pass,” he said.

The Chief Justice said having grown older and become a father himself, he has gained a different perspective of the challenges facing black men. “I have come to realise how similar we are in many respects.

We all have an incomplete emotional and psychological toolkit and we don’t get a handbook for navigating this stuff that we call life.

“I think daddy did a pretty good job and so for me it came pretty easy as I got older to forgive whatever perceived shortcomings he had or mistakes he had made along the way. I hope that my own children will forgive me and come to understand as well the deep love that burns in my heart for them.

I am grateful that God kept daddy alive long enough for us to have some adult conversations and I can truly say that unlike many men I know, I do not have any outstanding issues or unfinished business with my fathe

The QRC administration had sought permission from the Education Ministry to occupy the former adjacent buildings which housed the Ministry of Education in St Clair, the release noted.

The release pointed out, however, that the facilities on Alexandra and Hayes Streets are under the remit of the Properties and Real Estate Services Division, Ministry of Public Administration and Communications.

The release also reported that Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis said repair works are needed on the school’s assembly hall where a portion of the gangway collapsed due to water seepage.r.”

Persad sustained head and spinal injuries during a fight between himself and another 14-year-old student. Yesterday, officials of the Ministry met with Persad’s family and the parents of the other teenager involved in the fight, at the Education Ministry in San Fernando.

Doctors said the Williamsville teenager, suffered severe memory loss and spinal injuries as a result of the impact of the blow to his head.

The attack, which was recorded and uploaded to social media, shows the teenager being slammed to a board inside a classroom by another student on February 7.

The video also shows Persad falling to the ground in an unresponsive state. The teenager’s grandmother Bina Pancham said she was informed by ministry officials that the necessary arrangements are being made to have her grandson transferred.

“Dario does not remember anything from the fight. When we showed him the video he became terrified and begged us not to send him back to that school. So I am really happy he is going to be transferred,” Pancham said. “It is not easy to see your grandson leave home in the best of health and end up in hospital unconscious,” she added.

She said the family continues to be very concerned at his memory loss as the school’s cricket coach paid Dario a visit but the youngster asked, “who is he?” The other pupil involved in the attack was suspended from school for a week and has since returned to school. Pancham said the family

However, the first band on stage at 7 pm will be Pan-Demonium in the grand finale of the medium and large conventional steelband finals. Twenty one bands, ten medium and eleven large bands will challenge each other in two categories as the transformation in steel reaches the ultimate heights .

The following shows the bands, playing order, song and arranger:
Medium Conventional Bands
1*Pan-Demonium*Cheers To Life*Akua Leith
2*NLCB Valley Harps*Total Disorder*Michelle Huggins-Wyatt
3*NGC Steel Xplosion*Wet Me Down*Arddin Herbert
4*Melodians*UmBaYao*Amrit Samaroo and Marlon White
5*Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille*Dangerous*Rudo Forteau
6*Curepe Scherzando*Stranger* Yohan Popwell
7*NLCB Buccooneers*- Rhythm Run Things*Seion Gomez
8*Pan Elders*Roti &Talkarie*Duvone Stewart
9*Petrotrin Katzenjammers*- Go
od Morning*Terrance “BJ” Marcelle
10*NGC Couva Joylanders* Band of the Year*Kareem Brown

Large Conventional Bands
1*Desperadoes*Good Morning* Carlton “Zanda”Alexander
2*PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars*We Are Conquerors*Liam Teague
3*MHTL Starlift*Good Morning* Robert Greenidge
4*Skiffle*Good Morning*Kendall Williams, Odie Gonzales, Mark Brooks
5*CAL Invaders*Full Extreme* Arddin Herbert
6*Phase II Pan Groove*Red, White & Black*Len “Boogsie” Sharpe
7*bp Renegades*Good Morning* Duvone Stewart
8*FCB Supernovas*Rumble In The Jungle*Amrit Samaroo
9*T&TEC Tropical Angel Harps*Single*Clarence Morris
10*Massy Trinidad All Stars*- Full Extreme*Leon “Smooth” Edwards
11*Republic Bank Exodus*- Good Morning*Pelham Goddard/ Terrence “BJ”Marcelle