Indeed, the first half of 2017 represents a difficult time for the country, as continuing fiscal deficits brought on by relatively weak performance of the energy sector and the inadequate progress of fiscal consolidation result in disequilibrium between demand and supply of foreign currency.

Of course, there are those who would point to the anticipation that natural gas production is expected to reverse its steep slide in the coming quarters. BP’s offshore Juniper development is to commence production in a few months’ time.

This hopefully will stop, if not reverse, the deterioration in output experienced from the country’s maturing assets. Additionally, if higher average energy prices are experienced, this will buttress the continued development of new upstream projects, including BP’s Amherstia, EOG’s Sercan field and BHP Billiton’s Greater Angostura project. Despite this positive expectation there is also the matter of having to deal with possible rate hikes from the Federal Reserves in the USA.

To finance the present budgetary shortfall, we have seen the floating of a billion-dollar bond on the local market. This is expected to soak up liquidity, if only temporarily, as well as affect private sector credit creation.

Of course, the targeting of the domestic capital market may be a reflection of rising global interest rates, resulting in policymakers’ not wanting to return to the international capital markets.

If over the next two quarters we see wide current account deficits, fiscal deficits and shortages of foreign currency, the Central Bank (CBTT) will have to consider allowing the currency to depreciate.

Any such action will raise import costs and drive price pressures on a wide range of goods and services.

Additionally, there may also be an increase in transport costs if global prices for oil edge higher.

The truth is, as has been stated earlier, the CBTT must pay attention to preserve the country’s interest rate differential with the US to limit, if not prevent, portfolio realignment. Of course, there are those who suggest that the present combination of events could create a loss of confidence and we could see capital flight that would exacerbate the country’s already strained external accounts, thus placing downside pressure on the Trinidadian dollar.

This means that the government and the CBTT have some delicate balancing ahead of them. They must decide how much to allow the currency to depreciate, as the external accounts worsen, but not too sharply less inflation exasperates conditions for the poor, unemployed and destitute.

Interest rate hikes may be considered if inflationary pressures arise and/or the spread between Trinidad and Tobago and US Treasury bills widens.

Of course, in an economic environment in which the economy has experienced negative growth for a sustained period, reversing this trend is also in the mandate of the CBTT. Which policy choice is viewed as more important to the economy we wait and see. Indeed, challenging policy choices ahead.

Gervon Abraham, Manager Government Sales and Services, Enterprise, TSTT, commended Naparima College for its pioneering efforts and commented that TSTT looks forward to the day when smart schools in Trinidad and Tobago are no longer a novel concept.

“At TSTT, we believe that not only is life on, but life is constantly evolving and to meet the demands of tomorrow’s world, we too must adapt and adjust accordingly. Hence, in 2016, TSTT rebranded its commercial arm, bmobile, to reflect the company’s transformation from a traditional telecoms company to an agile broadband organisation. How is this relevant, you ask? You see, Naparima College and TSTT are cut from the same cloth. We respect tradition but value the power and promise of innovation. TSTT is proud to partner with Naparima College as you transform into Trinidad and Tobago’s first ever Smart School. As the only full-service, locally-owned telecommunications provider, we are deeply committed to shaping the future by investing in Trinidad and Tobago’s greatest assets: the future leaders and decision makers.”

The Smart School will go beyond the concept of a Smart Classroom by incorporating modern technology into many more elements of the school’s environment and will benefit all the school’s stakeholders, including the 875 students, 52 staff members, alumni and PTA. TSTT is in the process of completing a campus local area network (LAN) via Wi-Fi and fibre to provide internet access for the whole school compound. The LAN will support the Smart School elements of interactive classroom boards and projectors; ICT smart rooms for CXC and CSEC Courses; an E-Library; a virtual learning management system using Google Suite, Schoology and Blackboard Learn; school administrated software; a VOIP, messaging, PA and alert notification system for students and parents; IP cameras and CCTV System; and smart and solar power to reduce the school’s energy footprint.

Acting Vice Principal, Devanand Gosine, added that the smart school will include the use of an instructional model called ‘Flipping the Classroom’ which reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering online instructional content outside of the classroom. “We often feel that we must give the students the information ourselves. So traditionally, a teacher provides information inside the classroom, the child takes notes and goes home and does homework. But there is so much information out there. Why not let the child use the internet and learn at home? When they come to school, the teacher can now use that time to apply their expertise to guide the students’ deliberations on the topics and give the students a much deeper appreciation for the content they learned at home. In a Flipped Classroom, the homework is now done at school and schoolwork is done at home. What this does is make the student a lifelong learner,” he said.

Dr Dowlath agreed and said, “Our vision is for our students to become globally competitive so they will be able to work in any part of the world and achieve whatever goals they have after they graduate. It means that our infrastructure and technology must come up to first world standards similar to educational intuitions globally. Our present students and graduates, through the Smart School concept, will be exposed to advanced technology and we are very thankful that TSTT has understood and supported the vision we have for Naparima College.”

..

The pollutant, known to cause neurological disorders, has been contaminating water supplied to the Caroni Water Treatment Plant for years, posing a health risk to tens of thousands of citizens including children, Parliament’s Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) was told yesterday, during a meeting with officials from the Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL), led by its CEO Ronald Roach.

Unlike modern landfills, the Guanapo Dump was set up without first covering the ground with an impervious lining to prevent toxic chemicals from seeping into the subsoil and eventually making its way into water courses as run-off.

As such, rainwater has dissolved dangerous chemicals from items such as car batteries, medical waste and bio-hazardous materials dumped at the landfill site.

This resulting toxic soup (known as ‘leachate’) of deadly chemicals including lead has polluted ground water that runs into the Guanapo River which in turn feeds WASA’s Caroni Water Treatment Plant.

Independent Senator David Small dubbed the situation an, “ecological disaster and national emergency”. He said, “There is no safe level of lead for our children.

Our children are drinking lead!” Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh, a medical doctor, said lead retards brain function and also warned that smoke from dumpfires may be cancer-causing. “I’m quite alarmed,” declared Government Senator Foster Cummings.

“The country’s in quite a bad situation.”

TT BEING POISONED Gopeesingh added, “We are being poisoned! The matter is not getting the attention it should get.” Minister of Social Development Cheryl-Ann Cockburn Critchlow, chided the SWMCOL CEO’s report saying, “We didn’t pick up that urgency.” SWMCOL said they knew of this contamination since 2014, a fact that further shocked PAEC members.

Roach said SWMCOL could not afford to monitor the Guanapo Dump, whose sorry state was only unearthed by the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine.

SWMCOL officials said $24 million is needed to remedy the Guanapo Dump, but only $1 million was allocated through the PSIP (public sector investment programme) resulting in a mere ‘pilot project’ to deal with leaching.

The committee asked if SWMCOL had notified its line ministry – the Ministry of Public Utilities – of this crisis. The SWMCOL CEO replied “yes”, many times via documents, reports and position papers.

Labour Minister, Jennifer Baptiste- Primus, said the SWMCOL should have alerted the Ministry of the hazard by a special report, not by mere routine documents. Since 2014, Ganga Singh (under the People’s Partnership), Ancil Antoine and Fitzgerald Hinds (both from the current PNM administration) have been Public Utilities Minister with direct responsibility for SWMCOL and WASA.

ONLY $1M TO TACKLE LEAD Hitting SWMCOL over inaction, she said all persons should now be very worried. “This is very serious”.

Dr Gopeesingh accused CEO Roach of ‘beating around the bush’ and pointedly asked him, “What’s your plan? Can you do the job or not?” Roach said he is working with the line minister (Fitzgerald Hinds) but could only do so much with what funds are allocated. “$120 million is required to fix all landfills,” CEO Roach said.

Roach said Beetham and Guanapo Dumps must be remedied and converted to transit sites for sorting/ recycling trash, with all waste ultimately sent to a new site at Forres Park Dump that will possess an impervious lining and leachate- collection.

Gopeesingh was also upset that smoke from the Forres Park Dump led to a hike in cases of cancer in nearby residents, constituents of Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan.

Roach said another hazard is the build-up of combustible methane gas at public dumps.

Roach said a consultant’s report on lead levels, begun a month ago, will be ready within a month. Gopeesingh chided SWMCOL for knowing of the contamination since 2014, but taking no other action.

Small said he was mentally struggling to understand how this could happen, saying SWMCOL should have exposed the issue of lead in the water as a national emergency, even if they had to “take the rap” from the line minister later.

CEO Roach said he shares the committee members’ concerns but added the situation is “not overnight but took decades.” Public Utilities Ministry permanent secretary Maurice Suite said that last year’s $1 million allocation for ‘leaching had boiled down this year to zero dollars.

Baptiste-Primus said, “Lead in our water courses is a matter of national concern and should be in a special report to Cabinet.” She urged a special allocation as part of a concentrated focus to remedy a national problem. “Every citizen ought to be concerned. It’s not too late for a special report to Cabinet.”

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Richard Madray said the last available statistics was based on a survey conducted in 2011. The Pan American Health Organisation has given approval for another survey to be conducted which will start in March, he said. Meanwhile, Guidance Officer within the Education Ministry Darlene Smith said five children diagnosed with HIV within the school system are two boys – eight and 11 years, and three female – seven, nine and ten years old.

“They will remain in the system unless their health factors should warrant that they should be removed,” Smith said noting that the ministry believes in inclusive education and they should be treated in the same manner as other students. She did not say how the children contracted HIV and noted that their cases were confidential.

Questioned further, she said in the past, she worked with a student who at nine years had contracted the HIV and which mutated to full blown AIDS.

That student contracted the HIV due to incest. She has survived and is now an adult. On whether the school must get permission from parents to have a child medically examined for abuse, Smith said that the Education Act provides for the school’s principal to be loco parentis (in place of a parent) who will inform the parents and police.

It was more critical for the school to have the child medically examined, she said, “if the parent is the perpetrator of the incest, or abuse.” On cases put together by the Queen’s Park Counselling Centre (QPCC) which has branches across Trinidad, Specialist Medical Officer Dr Aruna Divakaruni reported that QPCC and its branches recorded 332 cases of STDs between 2012 and 2015. Of the STDs, 38 were HIV, 85 were syphilis, and 199, gonorrhoea.

The teenagers’ partners are older, she said, noting that “Most of the time they are abused by stepfathers, brothers, cousins or somebody like that.” On condom availability and sexual activity, Divakaruna said that in 2015, some 2,255 teenagers between 15 and 19 years presented themselves for condoms at QPCC, in 2014, a total of 2,503, and in 2013 a total of 2,492. The teenagers do not come school uniform, but she assumed they were school children.

Director, Medical Research Foundation of TT, Dr Jeffrey Edwards noted that the STIs from among the teenage population are presented in an advanced stage of infection. “Most teenagers do not come through the school system.

Video recordings of the naked woman walking along the road have gone viral after being uploaded to social media.

However, the person who uploaded the video faced stinging criticism from social media users for recording the incident instead of going to the woman’s aid.

Those who reposted the video, were also castigated for doing so. According to police, at 5.45 pm, the woman was driving her black Nissan Hilux pick-up south along De Verteuil Street in Woodbrook, when it collided with a black Volkswagen car which then slammed into a green Nissan Almera.

The 29-year-old woman who lives in Laventille, stripped off her clothes, got out of the van and walked towards Wrightson Road while the occupants of the other vehicles watched dumbfounded. No one assisted the woman with several men and women quickly pulling out cellular phones and tablets to record her nakedness.

Residents who saw what was taking place, brought towels and gently subdued the woman, covering her with the towels and cloth.

A report was made to the Woodbrook police and her parents contacted.

The parents begged police not to charge her, saying she lives with a mental condition that requires daily doses of medication.

Sympathetic officers offered counselling for the woman and told her parents to take her home, give her the medication and let her rest.

They advised that the woman return to the station and make a formal report on the accident.

Officers confirmed that no charge of public indecency would be laid.

Yesterday, officers of the St James Police Station said this case is now a traffic matter with the drivers of the Almera and Volkswagen having already reported the accident and both awaiting a report from the woman, so they can proceed via insurance claim, to have their vehicles repaired.

Speaking with reporters following a meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Local Government Authorities (TTALA), at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation’s conference hall, Cumberbatch Street, Chaguanas yesterday, Boodhan said the initiative had been suggested during a meeting with representatives of ten security companies which were headquartered in Chaguanas on Monday evening.

The meeting also had representatives including the Chaguanas police, the Fire Services, the disaster management unit, traffic wardens, the business community and the inter- religious organisations in Chaguanas.

“We have seen an upsurge in crime and criminal activity in the borough of Chaguanas, the Chaguanas police is working extremely hard and the initiative I used on Monday, I brought representatives from ten different private security firms operating in Chaguanas, and they have volunteered their support to the Chaguanas police to do any level of intelligence in the borough,” Boodhan said, adding, “so I call this operation a Third Force operation- you have the police, you have all the other security partners but I call the support of the private agencies a Third Eye operation.” “This is a new initiative in Chaguanas, we have tried it about five years ago for the Carnival period and we are looking a permanent operation where the private security companies and their employees would share information with the national police,” he said.

“What they are going to do is if you are in a residential community or industrial estate doing patrols and they see something or somebody in the community, they can immediately call the Chaguanas police,” Boodhan said, adding, “So it is intelligence as well as partners of the community.

Some persons may not want to speak to the police but they might feel because is a private security, they will quicker talk to a guard.”

Such was reported in yesterday’s Newsday story, “Firemen blazing mad”. While once upon a time the area was originally sparsely populated cocoa estates, companies such as Shell, Trintoc and Petrotrin successively developed local oil and gas fields. Yet such development was only possible if the companies could attract workers (local and small-island) by deliberate efforts to make the area attractive to their families. The result is that today few if any other towns have greater civil pride than “Point”, that endures even years after one has migrated outward.

Indeed, “Civic” is the name of a top local football team. No longer “behind God’s back”, Point is the home of “Borough Day”, a mini-Carnival of thousands including TT nationals from overseas visiting annually.

The area has a history of sporting and cultural personalities and groups, the latter including the Jeunes Agape Choir. Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons, Fay-Ann Lyons, Cro Cro, Mighty Duke (deceased), Iwer George, Morrell “Luta” Peters, and Roger George are bards who are firm testament to the area’s rich cultural heritage.

The area houses three secondary schools and is the site of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension and the long-awaited Point Fortin Hospital. Economically, the area is the home of Atlantic LNG (liquefied natural gas), TT’s mainstay gas export sub-sector. If there is one area in the country that epitomises both industrial production and cultural heritage, it is Point Fortin.

So for this reason it is very strange that matters have been left to deteriorate to the extent that Point’s firemen have to demonstrate their gross dissatisfaction.

As members of an essential service they are banned from outright striking but have vowed to find lawful ways to express their disdain for the current state of their headquarters.

We cannot fault them for this. If the edifice is deemed to be structurally unsound and under threat of collapse at any time, then for reasons of personal safety it is the firemen’s right to stay outside, and they would even argue that it is their duty to do so, to stay well and healthy to perform their duties.

“This building was deemed unsafe for human occupation. The structural integrity has been compromised,” said one irate fireman.

“The building is infested with rats and termites, there are no air-condition units in the dorms and there are holes on the flooring. We have been lobbying since 2015 for a new station.” National Budget documents indicate that for the first time in the past three years, an allocation has been made to build a new fire station to the tune of $11 million.

This sum is clearly less than sums allocated for other fire stations, respectively in Mayaro ($57 million), Arouca, Penal and San Fernando (each $20 million) and Woodbrook ($18 million), and on par with the $10 million allocated for the Chaguaramas facility.

This fiscal year about $163 million has been allocated to build all six stations, out of a planned total cost of $900 million. The Newsday story said a contractor has design plans for a new station at the same site, comprised of a concrete foundation, supplemented by prefabricated concrete structures.

“Work could start within the next two weeks once Government gives approval and disburses funds,” said one fireman. “We are in desperate need of a new station.” So, we’d hope Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon, as line minister for the Fire Service and as Point Fortin MP, could help expedite this construction and so “out this fire” now.

Quite apart from her hugely popular Carnival remix of Leave Me Alone, with Machel, Calypso Rose’s newest album, “Far From Home”, has gone platinum after taking sweet calypso to the French, and hence to all the world music fraternity.

France has been the womb of world music, with nearly all the great names — from Salif Keita to Cesaria Evora — making it there first. Next, Calypso Rose will be performing in the leading concert halls of London and Berlin.

In newspaper interviews she has revealed the critical role of her manager in her success, getting her the right music collaborators such as the infinitely exciting, musically imaginative Manu Chao for the album, planting her musical seed in fertile ground, timing the release of her album. I just want to say that one hand don’t clap.

This brings me to the bad: It is not good our Prime Minister being at the centre of a national debate because of careless utterances on domestic violence, abuse and the murder of so many TT women. While the honourable PM is quite right that women must exercise good judgment and care when choosing partners, that is not the end of the story. Before girls know what is happening to their bodies, the men and the boys are usually upon them like sharks. Most girls learn how to manage that to survive safely into maturity. That they do with parental and other adult guidance.

Unfortunately, many girls and women cannot count on such support and through vulnerability and inexperience find themselves in potentially dangerous relationships.

Every adult knows that intimate relationships are never plain sailing and demand personal strength and emotional intelligence. The role of the State is to protect the vulnerable by providing adequate systems. But, like in so much we do, we just fail miserably. The PM missed a chance to address our men, who too are victims.

For many very clear reasons they are emotionally unable to cope with life and its strains, with their lack of power. What are we going to do about that? It is not only down to women. The Police Service has a role in better supporting people like Christine Joseph whose deranged boyfriend murdered her last week.

She did what the PM advocates — she did get out of the relationship and there was a restraining order in place. However, that does not obviously offer foolproof safety and has to be improved.

For four years a National Geographic TV crew embedded itself with the US Border Patrol that works to reduce the importing of thousands of tons of drugs from Latin America across US borders and the exporting of an estimated US$25 billion of cash and guns south every year. I advocate that all police officers be made to watch that television series to see what real policing is about.

I don’t want to disparage a profession but our police officers cannot catch cockroaches in comparison with their US counterparts. It may be that our police are less clever but I would argue that they are not well trained or equipped. For example, US police routinely use canine patrols and X-ray vehicles and containers. Do we? Those officers follow their noses, observe tiny anomalies, can easily spot suspects and operate with a lot of information.

We spend more than many on crime prevention, so the failure is doubly offensive.

Both the police are State are culpable.

Both were shot in their head.

Rampersad, a father of two, was executed in his bedroom early in the morning. He was due to give evidence for the State yesterday in a kidnapping case, for which three men are before a San Fernando magistrate. According to a police report, at 4 am, Rampersad was at home when three masked gunmen stormed the house, asked for the man who drove a B15 car, went to his bedroom and shot him.

Rampersad died at the scene. An 11-year-old girl was in the house at the time, but was unharmed.

“His last words to us was, ‘doh worry…everything will be ok’,” a relative said. The gunman apparently did not know Rampersad’s address as they earlier invaded another house but left when they realised the lone occupant was an Afro Trini. “When they realised the occupant was an African man, they went to the next house. I was hit in the head with a gun butt by one of the gunmen as I was on the road and was confronted by the men who asked me for the man who drives a B15. When they found who they came for, gunshots were heard,” a neighbour related.

KILLED FOR JEWELRY In the other incident, relatives believe Joseph was killed for his jewelry and may have also known his killer. Brother Keldon Joseph said, “As far as we know, he was not involved in any criminal activity.

Because of all his tattoos he was nicknamed ‘Kidd Ink’.” Joseph was shot dead near his home.

A 74-year-old female relative, standing in the porch of her home, saw him fall to the ground on being shot in the head. Jewelry including a gold chain, two rings and pair of earrings together valued over $4,000 was missing. According to police, at 9 am Joseph was walking along Parakeet Boulevard when he was shot. “He knew the killer I am sure of this. That is why he was not only robbed but also shot dead. Only night before he told me he not going anywhere for Carnival because of men walking around with guns,” Joseph said. His brother’s body remained sprawled at the side of road in the hot sun for over three hours before being taken away. Autopsies are expected to be done today on both bodies and investigations are ongoing. No arrests have been made.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC also told police to charge two other persons for harbouring a fugitive. They too will appear in court today.

De Revenaux was found with her throat slit near her workplace, Manderos’ Peri Peri Grill at MovieTowne cineplex at Invaders Bay, on Sunday February 5.

She was laid to rest on Monday following a funeral ceremony at the St Martin de Porres Church in Gonzales. The Morvant man was held in Chaguaramas shortly after midday last week Friday near Crews Inn in Chaguaramas.

He was about to board a pirogue when police intercepted him.