In a farcical escalation of the everyday deception indulged in by people on dating websites who put pictures on their profile that are of someone better looking, slimmer or cooler, images shared on social media were really of Finland and Slovakia. Perhaps they thought no one would notice.

After all, they must know social media extends to every nook and cranny of the earth; did they think nobody was looking at a little Baltic state that has never won the World Cup or Miss World and has at no time put a man on the moon? In a commendable show of gallantry, the head of the state tourism department, Jurgita Kazlauskiene, has stepped down, as well she might. Her online photos show her looking like a Soviet spy, but of course she can’t help that. Presumably she is now going to have to do a bit of falsifying on her CV in order to get another job.

Tourism? Pah! Not me – I was in the espionage business, which is far more honest than public relations.

It might not have been her idea, of course, but if she was in charge of the department, she clearly wasn’t doing much in the cause of transparency.

The least she could have done was draw fake moustaches and black in some teeth in the pictures, or perhaps alter the names on street signs; even if she doesn’t have the technical skills to use Photoshop, some of her staff must.

It’s enough to make us doubt even ourselves, because which of us hasn’t indulged in a teeny bit of embellishment or erasing at some point? People do it when marketing apartments and hotels: they walk around the property, camera in hand, looking for an angle that will eliminate the traffic-choked main road that runs right in front of it. They take interior shots that make the rooms look cavernous.

What they don’t do is substitute a picture of the Taj Mahal or a huge white mansion that looks like something out of Gone With The Wind.

And why don’t they do that? Because somebody might recognise it and smell a rat.

Anyway, it’s not as if Lithuania was an ugly place. It’s a bit short of palm trees and waves breaking gently on pure white sand, but not everyone is looking for those things.

We like to present ourselves in the best possible light. Caribbean nations are keen to sustain the world’s image of them as carefree, pristine places, and the world is happy to play along.

People like to imagine it’s all hammocks strung between coconut trees and smiling male beanpoles flirting with slinky, exotic girls.

Think of France and the stock view is of outdoor cafes in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, where sophisticated, Gauloise-smoking men eat frogs’ legs and drink Burgundy while quietly coveting their neighbour’s wife.

We don’t want to think of that all being blown to pieces by a Muslim extremist driving a stolen lorry into a crowd. We would rather bask in the traditional image.

What is the USA? It’s a land where anyone can be successful. Canada? Quiet, cold and welcoming. Australia? Unpretentious people who have barbecues seven days a week while Aborigines play with Skippy out in the bush. What’s Jamaica like? It’s full of peaceful rastafarians and broadly- grinning cricketers — and Bob Marley is still alive.

Trinidad? It’s all about steel drums; never mind where all the barrels that made the drums came from. Oil industry? That’s for ugly places. Guns? Have you ever seen a calypso singer brandishing one? As for the UK, the global perspective is still that it’s just England, because Scotland is separate, Wales doesn’t really exist and Northern Ireland is just a geographical technicality.

Nope, it’s England, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, Ian Botham and Adele; it’s a place where policemen are known as Bobbies and patrol the peaceful streets on bicycles.

If Tobago — now under new management and eager to prosper — were to misrepresent itself, it wouldn’t be by showing someone else’s beaches, because it has its own and they’re as good as any in the world.

What it probably will do, when the new tourism bigwigs get their feet under the table, is present itself as a vibrant place. It will try to project an image of what it would like to be, or what it thinks people would like it to be. Perhaps someone will want to get rid of the website called Tobago Safe Again, because what does that imply? T h e cynics in the outside world may think t h e r e ’ s s o m e – thing they h a v e n’ t been told.

Linda McArtha Sandy-Lewis, from Bethel in Tobago has earned the respect; some might even say the adulation, of the global music community. Her song, ‘Abatina’, had the huge audience on their feet as she bade them to get up and dance.

Some of our local commentators have noted rather cynically that it takes foreign recognition of our arts to make us cognisant and appreciative of Trinidad and Tobago’s input to the world cultural legacy. Many of the honours which Calypso Rose has won over the years have come from Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Belize, France and other countries where artistes are affirmed for their valuable contribution to humanity.

There has, of course, been national recognition of a woman who began writing her songs at the age of 15. The National Carnival Commission records her achievements and dominance in the calypso arena which forced a change in title from ‘Calypso King’ to ‘Calypso Monarch’ in 1978, when her songs ‘I Thank Thee’ and ‘Her Majesty’ saw her a convincing winner in a previously male-dominated competition.

Rose’s calypsoes range from party songs to politico- social commentaries and the NCC states her ‘Fire in Me Wire’ of 1966 has been translated into eight languages. Her collaboration with Manu Chao and Jean-Michael Gibert of France, Trinidadian Drew Gonzales and Belizean Ivan Duran produced a masterpiece with an irresistible melody that highlights an issue occupying national attention yet again – the tragedy of domestic abuse and spousal homicide.

‘Abatina’ was lucky to marry the rich, handsome charmer, Harry. Nobody believed that he would harm her and it was not until she was “buried by the church were she got married” that it was acknowledged she was “no deceiver”.

Our season of national merriment is juxtaposed with the ugly reality of physical, emotional and psychological cruelty in the very place where we seek and expect shelter, comfort and strength. The love of the family is crucial to the well-being of the individual, but child and spousal abuse plague the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens. This is a problem that we ignore or minimise at our peril. It knows no race or class barriers and is no respecter of age.

Today’s Gospel (Mt 5:38-48) urges us to love our enemies and to love those who persecute us. It recognises the hurt we sometimes heap on each other’s heads and it does not condone the evil deed. It instructs us to seek to forgive those who harm us.

Experience teaches us that healing may extend over a long period of time and the ‘physicians’ who attend may encompass family members as well as members of the immediate or the wider community.

Calypso Rose has faced many difficulties in her personal life as well as in her career. She has gained the respect of those who know how easily she could have become bitter or hopeless but who admire her indomitable spirit of faith and tenacity.

May we all fight to right our national wrongs and to overcome our national ills.

This is the same promise made in the 2016-2017 Budget debate in the Senate by Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus that the Rowley-led administration is partnering with Hire Pro Drivers, a British Columbia-based recruitment agency which is looking to ship “long-haul drivers” from TT to Canada, as part of a move to fill “35,000 vacancies.” The minister said then Hire Pro will be visiting TT in December 2016 and has indicated to the Labour Ministry that it welcomes the opportunity to partner with TT as part of a move to fill “35,000 vacancies.” What type of discussions and possible agreement is the Government looking at with this private recruitment agency? Is the Government aware that Hire Pro was under investigation by the Alberta Government, the neighbouring province of BC, over its offshore recruitment practices and allegations that it sought a fee in exchange for job-placement services.

Under labour regulations in both provinces, it is illegal to charge workers in exchange for jobs.

Is the TT Government knowingly associating with a company that has allegedly engaged in questionable hiring practices? According to the Toronto- based Globe and Mail of February 14, 2013, BC’s Employment Standards Branch had an “active investigation” underway in relation to Hire Pro Drivers that links Canadian employers to truck drivers from other countries, including Jamaica.

The article alluded to fraudulent recruiters and consultants claiming to help people get to Canada which had become so bad that the Jamaica Government has a warning on its national labour website urging citizens to check the legitimacy of their representatives.

Is this another pie-in-thesky imaginative idea to mislead the most vulnerable – those who have lost their jobs in this field since the PNM came into office in 2015? What is the process that Hire Pro Drivers must follow to recruit foreigners? Firstly, to recruit a foreigner for any job in Canada, Hire Pro must first advertise the job with Service Canada. If it cannot have the vacancy filled, then it must get the position approved by Service Canada before advertising same abroad.

A driver simply cannot land in Canada, with no driving experience in winter, no experience driving left-hand drive vehicles and get a job driving heavy-duty 18-wheelers. It’s a graduation process to have the licence to drive such vehicles.

Another issue is insurance which is very high for new/ commercial drivers.

Was the Prime Minister misled by his Labour Minister’s pronouncements?

Capil Bissoon via email

Since Tommy was a little boy we have been hearing that the problem is due to our unprotected sea borders and close proximity to the Venezuela mainland.

Information obtained is that a few retirees who have been failures during active duties were given the mandate to come up with a plan to eradicate the heavy arms and ammo trade in TT .

The answer to this menace has always been with the Police Service. A heavy street operation by them is the answer.

There is too much free movement of people roaming the streets with the sole purpose to commit crime. Examples: pickpocketing, snatching of valuables, loitering, gambling, offensive language, throwing of missiles etc.

The Police Service has too much duplication within.

Many units are doing the same function. And there are some non-sensitive jobs done by police officers that could be done by civilians.

Free the officers to carry out rigid policing on the streets.

Athelston Clinton Arima

We can equip them with the knowledge that they can be anything they choose to be, even in an environment that is hostile, outward looking, materialistic, with gadgets and fast-paced stimulation.

Patricia Blades via email

She was speaking on Friday at the Business of Calypso Workshop hosted by Calypso Rose and MusicTT and held at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain.

She said that lucrative areas in the sector include production, sound engineering, composing, recording and publishing.

She reported that in a 2016 report by the Inter-American Development Bank the creative arts “and surprisingly so, to me at least” was identified as the industry with the potential for the highest employment for Trinidad and Tobago together with medicine and engineering.

She said that for small and medium entities in the music industry need to have access to financial support to succeed.

She reported that the Trade Ministry have been working on the World Bank to establish a secure transaction and collateral registry where movable assets, including equipment, can be used as capital.

She also stressed the need for intellectual property and to protect assets.

“The focus must be on the business aspect on music so that talented individuals, in particular our youth, would be encouraged to choose the music industry as a career path just as Calypso Rose bravely did,” she added.

She reported that, according to Pricewaterhousecoopers, the global music industry is expected to grow from US$42.93 billion in 2015 to just over US$47.7 billion in 2020 “and you have to be a part of that”.

“A burgeoning music industry is therefore not only critical to the preservation of our culture but also to the sustainable development of our economy and our country.” She said for many local music is viewed as pure entertainment but we need to see it in terms of economic revenue and jobs.

Minister of Community Development, Culture and The Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said in this country the development of creative arts is mainly as ways to enjoy ourselves which is in “stark opposition” to some other islands in the region where they develop creative arts and festivals around their economies.

“And that makes a big difference for how we indulge in our creative arts and how we view (them).” She said many times the creative arts is viewed as participatory and how people enjoy Carnival and not so much on the aspect of what it can yield to the country “because the enjoyment tended to be for many years what we concentrated on”.

“But we are realising in a time now, where others have taken their creative arts and done so much with it, and in a time where our oil and gas reserves are being threatened and this is the time now, when we are to look at our creativity as a way for diversification, as a way for bringing economic reserves to the country.” She said the issue of professionalising of the arts is very important as the country moves forward.

She described Calypso Rose as a forerunner who has stood the test of time and was able to derive income.

She said that her journey is very important information for young artistes to hear about her dedication and hard work. She added that she is very glad for Rose’s achievement and there are other successful artistes like Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and Kees Dieffenthaller.

He was speaking on Friday at the Business of Calypso Workshop hosted by Calypso Rose and MusicTT and held at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain. Arnold said Rose has given the country and the word a lot and has been able to amplify this country’s awareness and visibility as an ambassadors. He pointed out that in South Korea following the success of the song “Gangnam Style” by PSY the country used it to maximise tourism.

“By actually understanding the importance of artistes who bring glory and visibility and awareness to a destination. And certainly I’m sure, the minister is very, very supportive of what we have to do and I look forward to the fact that all the powers that be will certainly look at how we can maximise this very, very important achievement of Calypso Rose,” he said. Rose won the World Album of the Year award at the Victoire de la Musique award ceremony in France for her album Far from Home. Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, speaking at the event, described Rose as an outstanding example of someone who excelled, shattered the glass ceiling and made her way in a male dominated arena. She pointed out that Rose was the first female Road March winner and first female Calypso Monarch, and has also won numerous awards both locally and internationally.

Zebapique Productions’ 2017 presentation Mr Carnival pays tribute to the life of the iconic wire-bender and masman.

Sections of the band, which was expected to participate in yesterday’s Red Cross Kiddies Carnival competition, include Out of Africa, Amazonia, D’ Midas Touch and Ebony and Ivory. The band’s manager, Anthony Alleng, said Zebapique Productions had intended to pay tribute to Derek even before his untimely passing last year.

The presentation, he said, was originally called D’Midas Touch: A Tribute To Stephen Derek, but was changed subsequently to Mr Carnival after his death.

The masman started his own band, D’Midas, in 1978. Derek, 64, died on October 6, 2016, at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, after falling ill at his home in Woodbrook. The late masman received the Hummingbird Medal (Silver) for his contribution to the development of Carnival at the 1972 Independence Awards.

Speaking at a ceremony to hand over costumes to Zebapique’s Productions’ sponsors at the Beetham Community Centre, Beetham Gardens, on February 11, Alleng gave an overview of Derek’s contribution mas and the art of wire-bending. He recalled his early involvement with late bandleader George Bailey and his subsequent decision to carve his own path.

“He did not keep the gift all for himself. Any time, anybody could go to his yard, (and) he would show them what to do.” Saying the band was challenged by a shortfall in participation because of the economic downturn, Alleng revealed that Republic Bank had agreed to sponsor costumes for 80 children.

Alleng said the band, which was established in 2004, has never had any reports of violence on the road. Zebapique Productions had always made a point of monitoring the behaviour of its young people on the road, he said, as well as the music trucks that accompany them.

“One of the things that Mr Derek has always said is to let children be children,” he said.

“He (Derek) always covered all of his children, too. He protected them. Right now, more than ever, we need to protect our children.

So, if you look at the band, you will see that not one ounce of flesh is showing and that is deliberate.” Derek’s widow, Sharon, in a brief address, urged parents to support their youngsters who enjoy mas.

“Take your children to the Treasury Building (Independence Square, Port-of-Spain) for Emancipation Day, because that is where Carnival began,” she said, her daughter Shannon at her side.

“Ecological risk associated with use of rivers in the area is high, with the exception of Corbeaux Bay.

The reason for this exception is unknown.

“This high risk is because residents in the area use the river for personal uses, such as recreation and/or bathing. The consequences of exposure to heavy metals in water can be very costly to health of the residents and the economy in the area.” Newsday obtained an abstract of the report, done in May 2016 by a team led by Dr Denise Beckles from UWI’s Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science.

SWMCOL on Wednesday had told the JSC that lead is leaching from the Guanapo Landfill into local waterways such as the Guanapo River, which feeds into the Caroni Water Treatment Plant prompting some JSC members to decry a national catastrophe of a scenario of children drinking lead.

On Thursday the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) said water flowing into its treatment plant is properly treated by processes such as coagulation/ flocculation and sedimentation, which easily removed any lead contaminants and so produced drinking water that exceeded World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

However the original UWI report warned that people in contact with the untreated surface and ground water at Guanapo could be risking their health, particularly anyone swimming/bathing in Guanapo River during the dry season.

The report said, “Landfill emissions can negatively impact the air, soil and water around them; and in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the wider Caribbean, the ability of the current landfills to safely store waste is uncertain.” To fill this data gap, UWI did a full characterisation and modelling exercise of the Guanapo Landfill, in line with the Government’s solid- waste-management policy and existing efforts by the Water Resources Agency (WRA) and WASA to improve water quality in the Guanapo watershed.

“The study has indicated that Guanapo Landfill has a major influence on the water quality of the Guanapo River, though it may not be the only source, as other land uses play a significant role.

“Surface and ground waters are contaminated.

Of the parameters measured in the study the levels of heavy metals were generally of the greatest concern.

Sediments in the area can be highly contaminated with metals, [and] this is affected by season. Both water and sediment metal concentrations are higher during the dry season than in the wet season.” The report said the concentration of metal pollution in river waters is relatively lower in the rainy season apparently thanks to dilution. The slower flow of river water in the dry season also causes more deposition of sediments and therefore a higher concentration of heavy metals in river sediment.

These contaminants are removed during times of high flows, that is, the rainy season.

The report warned of heavy-metal contamination spreading outwards from Guanapo. “The geology of the area immediately surrounding the landfill is porous and heavily interconnected. There is a chance for the downward percolation of groundwater and leachate.

There is evidence that the landfill is impacting the water in the subsurface directly below the landfill.

“Contamination was observed at other groundwater monitoring locations, both shallow and deep at a greater distance from the landfill.

However, it could not be determined if this was as a direct result of leachate movement.” Noting the risk posed by leachate contaminants in local rivers, the report urged the remediation of the landfill.

“Mitigation works should focus on improving the collection, impoundment and treatment of leachate.

“Even with such a system in place, water quality in the Guanapo River will still be below acceptable standards until the contamination of the groundwater has been addressed by suitable techniques.

This can be done by increasing the capacity of the retention ponds, installing an active leachate treatment system, and implementing recycling and other activities to reduce waste (e-waste in particular).

Leachate treatment and other activities to reduce the contaminant loading of the leachate will go a long way towards improving the quality of the river water and bottom sediments.” The report said the air around the landfill had very low levels of volatile organic compounds, but the northern and eastern parts of the landfill should be further monitored.

“Soil samples had low permeability that may be due to a high degree of compaction, resulting in limited vertical transport of landfill gases.” Glad for the input into the research by local residents, UWI, SWMCOL and the WRA, the report said the work has empowered the community by way of providing accurate and reliable information about the quality of the en-

Chief executive officer at SWMCOL Ronald Roach said while leachate treatment could be done using mechanised methods, it was costly. He said to use this method to treat the current problem would cost $21 million.

However, by using an environmental method, it would cost $1 million.

The project will come on stream by the end of March.

“What we have done is implement a pilot project using an engineered wetlands approach, so we are essentially using plants that would absorb the toxic components of the leachate. It will be a trickle system where the leachate will flow through different containers and as it flows through, the plants would absorb so at the end of the process, the water that comes out will meet the drinking water standard “It’s a lower cost programme, but because it’s biological we have to do testing to see what is the efficacy of the treatment process. It is a matter of how many plants would treat what amount of leachate given the parameters that need to be treated,” Roach said.

Public Utilities Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said what SWMCOL has done was, given the fact that Guanapo was a hilly area, create pools around the leachate which would trickle down into them.

He said the only way to treat leachate was to establish a leachate treatment plant which would make it clean from toxic substances including lead and cadium.

The minister noted the Guanapo Landfill was downstream of the Water and Sewerage Authority’s (WASA) water treatment plant.

“This fear that we are dealing with now has to do with the proximity of our water treatment plant to the landfill.

Because of the proximity and the tributary rivers, some people fear that the leachate is running into the water treatment plant. It is the other way around, so it never goes into the water treatment plant,” he said.

However, he noted, there were rivers that entered into the tributaries that went into the Guanapo River which in turn emptied into the Caroni River. This, he said, was dealt with at the Caroni Water Treatment Plant.

Hinds said the University of the West Indies’ study showed leachate was causing that problem hence the pilot project was under way, which was an environmental way of dealing with the leachate.

“The people have been sensitised since 2014 so it is no secret.

They were told they could bathe in the river, but do not drink the water,” he said.

The WASA report stated: “The high concentrations recorded in the raw river samples are in no way a reflection of the quality of WASA’s potable water supply. WASA uses a rigorous treatment process in which heavy metal contaminants, including lead and cadmium and mercury are easily removed from the water during the coagulation, floculation and sedimentation processes.

There is disinfection to eliminate dangerous pathogens. The water supplied by the authority for all of its treatment plants, including Guanapo and Caroni, is safe to drink.” “The public need have no fear of the water that they use coming from the taps produced by WASA, and that action is being taken to deal with this question of leachate in the pilot project,” Hinds sai