Still recovering from a heart attack suffered last month, and admitting to taking 12 pills daily, Diaz denied claims of the non-payment of $1,000 appearance fees to pan players for Carnival 2016; the purchase of two high-end cars and declared Pan Trinbago’s accounts have been audited by accounting firm Panell Kerr Foster.

In light of Minister of Community Development, Culture and Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly’s announcement last month of a forensic audit of Pan Trinbago after this year’s Carnival, Diaz said the organisation was the subject of audits under previous administrations which never uncovered any mismanagement and instead saw Pan Trinbago receiving outstanding monies.

Apart from the uproar among panmen over the fees, Gadsby-Dolly had raised concerns about unaccounted for allocations to Pan Trinbago.

Diaz counters that Pan Trinbago has always shared its accounts with members during annual general meetings, every last Sunday in October.

Pan Trinbago’s accounts are also sent to the line ministry, said Diaz suggesting the information is poorly recorded.

“I want to state they were all presented to the ministry, it is rather strange in my stewardship as president I have faced nine different permanent secretaries, every one come, you have to resend documents. Documents are piled up somewhere.” Diaz hit out at the minister’s decision to have the National Carnival Commission (NCC) oversee the gate receipts for the 2017 Panorama, starting this Sunday with the semi-finals for small, medium and large conventional bands.

He insisted it was the ministry which failed to pay the panmen’s fees, an estimated $7.8 million, and accused Gadsby-Dolly of misrepresenting the facts. “People accusing Pan Trinbago of taking the money; everything for all steelbands are in the ministry. We have given the list of names to her ministry,” Diaz said.

Given the delay, Pan Trinbago took out a loan in the interim until the ministry released the funds, he explained. “We did not have money to pay $7.8 million so we felt we should go and take a loan and pay the whole thing and when we get the allocation we would settle the debt with the bank. Is then you start to hear all kind of things, we thief the money, we put it in some account. Things start to fly and the NCC start to call shots.” Giving a breakdown of how its earnings are spent, Diaz explained, “We have to pay judges fees, appearance fees, prize money, on road, accommodation for pan people, guest performances, house announcers, pan players remittances ($8-12 million), printing, professional fees, sound system, transport, security and workers wages then we present the audit. Whatever money was allocated (by Government) and this is for Panorama only, we send back the audited accounts.” He sought to clarify that Pan Trinbago has not received a subvention since the Basdeo Panday administration (1995-2000) as Carnival stakeholders were instead allowed to keep gate receipts from their shows. “This (subvention) was stopped because we were able to pay our bills from the gate receipts. We were able to pay workers salaries, rentals for five offices, stationary, all adding up to a total of $8-9 million per year. Pan Trinbago does not get an annual subvention from government, and they want to know where the money gone,” he said.

But Pan Trinbago receives funding for the staging of Panorama, Diaz said confirming the organisation had requested $30 million for Carnival 2016 but got $25 million in tranches by last October 28. On Tuesday, Pan Trinbago issued a statement saying the NCC should be probed, while stating its president had never received a salary of $75,000 with $20,000 in perks.

Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste- Primus said the non-completion of a 2015 appraisal is unfair to the CoP as its absence denies him the chance to improve his performance. While the PSC looks at world benchmarks for performance, its appraisal of the CoP did not include those standards, nor any targets set beforehand by the PSC for the CoP to reach. PSC Chairman Dr Marie Therese Gomes said the CoP can’t be held to global standards as he cannot be placed in “a bubble” in isolation from the shortcomings of the Judiciary, of legislation and of a lack of resources .

Also, the PSC could not yet give the weighting that constituted each rating, nor explain the difference between a good and a satisfactory grading. Gomes replied to questions to reveal there are neither incentives nor sanctions to prod the CoP to reach any performance targets. Saying the CoP wants more realistic targets set for him, she then blamed crime on technology .

“We do look at international standards but we have to recognise that in terms of the crime situation in this country, because we have technology we have galloped in crime. We are almost a barbaric society in the nature of crime, whether it is through technology or the domestic violence crimes or murders .

“While we are a developing country we have a gap in terms of wanting to have developed country standards. We don’t have what people look at on television and solve crimes very quickly.” She said forensics and police training must be beefed up, even as she said the Police Academy syllabi must be redone, adding, “There is no magic wand.” On the recruitment of a new CoP, Gomes said the PSC has chosen a recruitment firm from the four that sent in offers .

Against the backdrop of a $2.5 million cost to recruit a CoP, Gomes suggested the PSC could recruit its own nominee, not any company. The committee listed its staff salaries ranging from $16,100 for assistant director to $7,000 for business operator .

The beach is an important one for this country’s tourism sector.

However it attracts not only foreign tourists but also locals.

A large number of people annually opt out of the city-based Carnival activities in favour of the cool and tranquil seaside.

Maracas is one of the major destinations during the festivities.

But it is not only Maracas Beach that draws crowds. All beaches along our coasts do so. Perhaps then as the State completes its upgrade of Maracas it can cast an eye on all of the other facilities that are in need of service.

We welcome the decision to make the Maracas facilities accessible for Carnival but emphasise that the ministry must also pay close attention to the need for maintenance of the facility as well as others across the country.

Unfortunately, the State has a penchant of building flashy beach facilities and then allowing said facilities to fall into disrepair.

Perhaps the time has come for a standardisation of standards across all beaches and the establishment of a specific agency to enforce these standards, under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism.

When, five months down the line, Maracas Beach is fully reopened, there must be some sort of commitment to continuous maintenance, both inside the facilities and outside in terms of the general environment.

The importance of these matters cannot be underemphasised.

Beaches are recreation spots, yes, but they are also important generators of income for a wide range of people.

They provide commerce for vendors and also drive traffic to parts of the country that rely on income streams from tourism.

Small hotels and guest houses need the overall beach infrastructure to be adequate to help draw visitors.

Care must be taken to make sure garbage collection at Maracas is regular and that dumping is not allowed to tarnish the scenery there and at adjoining bays such as Las Cuevas, Tyrico Bay and environs.

An audit of the state of beach facilities all over the country would be useful, especially as the weeks following Carnival are the busiest beach months. Easter time is peak season in this regard.

Meanwhile, we take this opportunity to remind all seagoers of the need for safety and vigilance when it comes to their sea frolics. All have a responsibility to pay attention to any advisories put out by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management on any bad weather conditions that might affect safety along the coast. Also, all must heed the warnings of lifeguards and must exercise responsibility. This means adults carefully supervising children and also desisting from imbibing alcohol if planning to swim. Finally, all beachgoers must be considerate of the environment and their fellow bathers.

It is hoped that Maracas will be adequately manned by lifeguards, such as those along the Mayaro coast and at Toco.

There must not be a repeat of the fraught industrial relations situation which resulted from lifeguards not being paid their salaries on time.

And it’s not just a matter of pay, the amenities in place for the lifeguards must also be fit for the purpose.

All of these auxiliary things must be addressed to compliment the good news of the opening of the beach. If they are not, the beaches will open and then will quickly be worn out by the elements. They will become dumps and then it will be, yet again, somebody else’s headache to address.

A new book by Rudolph Ottley, Ambataila Women: The Untold Story of Women in Calypso, Chanterelle to Calypsonian 1838- 2014, provides the back story of why women are not more dominant in the world of calypso, despite Rose’s enduring success.

There is a paradox about this reality, according to the author, since women are the reason we have calypso as we know it.

This nicely laid-out and easyto- read book takes us back to the barrack yards of the 1830s onwards, where women of African origin, freed from the yoke of slavery after abolition, were fully integrated into all aspects of life in the yard, and that included singing their own powerful songs, known as cariso.

Cariso is also what the women sang in the gayelle during the stick-fighting duels. When in 1884 our colonial masters banned the kalinda song and dance and stick-fighting, the men appropriated the cariso, which was not banned but lent itself to protest, later converting it into calypso.

With the establishment early in the 20th century of organised calypso syndicates and the calypso tents that charged an entry fee — a colonial strategy to clean up the barrack yards and sanitise the Carnival of the jamette — women got sidelined from the singing and their story fell out of the history of calypso.

This book aims to restore that history, in part by briefly but critically examining the existing literature on the subject, which Ottley argues barely tells the story and is often gender-biased when it does, focusing mainly on the male-female conflict in calypso and the male calypsonian’s repertoire on women in society.

His own new research and personal experience as the owner and manager of the world’s only all-woman calypso tent, Divas Calypso Cabaret International, bring interesting insights into that history that spans nigh on two centuries, through the early Carnival continuing through the developments of the 1920s and 30s to the present.

Ottley makes several fresh observations, including the willingness of female calypsonians to depend on male songwriters in order to better ensure a place in a tent or the national calypso competition, but the most arresting is the other irony — that the present- day female soca artistes have become as popular as the deemed “jamettes” of the barrack yard days, while the modern female calypsonians struggle to retain any status or power.

Ottley contributes this in part to the content of the calypsoes (not uplifting) and the way the groups of performers dress and present themselves. “The female calypsonians pride themselves in not revealing or promoting female sexuality, much in opposition to what the female soca artiste tends to exhibit…. (their)… mode of dress and performance style very closely approximates the attire and behaviours of the chanterelles of the barrack yard tents in the 19th century.” So, while female calypsonians try to remain true to the decency and high moral values of the traditional tent, in the choice of song and its rendition, their soca counterparts behave bad and find themselves much more marketable.

For me the pity of the calypso tent is that somehow the singers, male and female, seem to have forgotten that calypso is not only about lyrics but also about musicality.

So often, the music is tuneless, the accompanying band discordant, the entire experience jarring. Calypso Rose has probably triumphed because she can really sing, her songs, which she writes herself, are tuneful and her performances have always been “sweet.” I agree with Ottley’s recommendations, including rewriting the history of calypso to reposition women at its heart alongside the men.

Hear! Hear

Allison Williams who is employed as a security officer with a contractor is now on the street with her children, the oldest being 21 and youngest, only three.

Police reported that at 8.45 am, residents heard loud, crackling sounds and saw the three-bedroom wooden and concrete structure engulfed in flames.

Within minutes, the entire house was fully ablaze. At the time, no one was at home. The house was not wired for electricity and when Newsday visited the scene, no one from the Williams family was present.

A resident said that flames spread so quickly, they had no other choice but to watch the two-storey structure burn. “No one was home at the time and I say thank the Lord for that. The house was old, so within minutes everything was completely destroyed,” a neighbour said. Along the roadway, there were four cars parked, all of which had to be moved to safety.

Despite the prompt response from officers of the Mon Repos Fire Station (Southern Division Headquarters) they were unable to save the structure as it is already destroyed. Officers of the San Fernando and Marabella Police Stations visited the scene and are investigating.

“This service this morning was based on the Northern Division looking to restore a sense of safety and security and in so doing, we dealt with it on three pillars and one of the pillars is the interaction with the community. The church service we had this morning was part of that initiative,” Jacob said.

The service was attended by representatives of the Northern Division Police, the Defence Force, the Air Guard, the Fire Service and the Transit Police. Jacob said many of the crimes committed are not just based on organised crime, but based on a lot of negativity and dysfunction within the homes and institutions.

He said the police need to work together with all major foundations and institutions within society to arrest the issues of crime and delinquency.

“We want all of the various institutions, family services, the churches, the imams, the pundits…

the people who are involved in dealing with conflict resolution to be a part of this drive as mediators.

We are making this call to everyone to join with us, to join with the nation to solve this crime problem that we are having in Trinidad and Tobago,” Jacob said.

Fr Dwight Black, who delivered the homily, said, “we are all brothers and sisters under one God.

None of us is without sin and have come short of the Lord at some point. I am sick and tired of what we have created within the community where people are scared of themselves,” he said.

“We have had joint army and police patrols comprising of both mobile and foot patrol which will target persons with outstanding warrants .

We have had 719 road blocks in every station district especially in the Enterprise area where we were having some challenges.” He continued, “We have been conducting DUI exercises and generally partnering with all stakeholders which relates to our approach which would have been the tactical, investigative, intelligence and social intervention,” McIntyre said at the TTPS weekly press briefing .

He said to date they have had some successes arising out of these initiatives, with an overall of 34 percent decreased in crime. Mc Intyre said they have had 4,347 patrols for the year so far, 3,248 on mobile and 2,458 on foot patrol and have recovered 11 firearms .

He said they have conducted 719 road blocks, 990 DUI (Driving Under the Influence) exercises, 772 voluntary breathalyser testing, 175 coastal patrols from Caroni to Claxton Bay, and continue pressing on in order to get the crime rate at a manageable level .

The application for judicial review will be heard today by Justice Vasheist Kokaram at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain. Pan Trinbago’s acting President Richard Forteau confirmed to Newsday that the legal action surrounds the alleged hostile takeover of the Carnival interest group.

Forteau said the pan body will be seeking to have reviewed a decision of January 24 and 25, by the Minister of Community Development, Culture and Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby- Dolly, who ordered a forensic audit into Pan Trinbago.

Following allegations of financial mismanagement and impropriety by the Pan Trinbago Executive, Gadsby-Dolly also instructed NCC to take over the gate receipts for Panorama 2017, in addition to the financial audit. Forteau declined to give further details of the court action. The pan body has accused the Government and the NCC of usurping their role in Carnival and their legislative authority.

Pan Trinbago also accused the Government of failing to appoint members of the three stakeholder Carnival bodies to the NCC as was required under the law. In recent weeks, pan players have been demanding the immediate resignation of the Pan Trinbago executive after several issues of mismanagement of funds, including for the purchase of a luxury car, and the lack of payment to players were raised.

The players had threatened to boycott this year’s Panorama competition but an agreement was arrived at, in January, to allow for the staging of the national competition.

Pan Trinbago was said to be owing close to $31 million at the start of the year, according to NCC president Kenny De Silva in published reports.

Imbert, who was the chairman of the joint select committee (JSC) which dealt with the Procurement Bill, said the minutes of the fifth meeting of the committee clearly showed that Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie (one of two Opposition parliamentarians on the JSC) was in total support of the decision to change the terms of office for the procurement regulator and people working under the regulator. He said Mark would have seen this had he spent “two minutes” to read the minutes of that meeting instead of the minutes of the fourth meeting of the JSC.

Imbert said Tewarie’s only objection was to the proposal of a review board to assess any issues arising with the regulator in the conduct of his duties.

He added that while Tewarie attended all but one meeting of the JSC, Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge (the other Opposition member on the committee) was absent for all the meetings. The amendments reduced the terms of the regulator and deputy regulator from seven to five years while other members of the procurement board had their terms reduced from six to four years and four to three years, respectively.

Indicating the reason for this was “very, very simple,” Imbert said the terms of office of the President, Parliament and Government in TT were all five years. “We did not think that we should have someone holding this type of office transcending administrations. So we simply decided to limit it to the term of office of the Parliament, the Government and the President,” he stated.

Responding to Opposition Senator Khadijah Ameen’s concerns, Imbert said it was a mathematical impossibility for the terms of office of the regulator, President, Parliament and Government to expire at the same time.

He explained that when appointed this year, the regulator’s term will end in 2022, two years after the next general election and two years into the term of the next government.

Imbert added the legislation does not allow for the regulator to get another term in office after the five-year period is up. He also said the tenures of the other members of the board will ensure continuity.

Imbert thanked temporary Independent Senator Nikoli Edwards for informing the Senate about the wide range of interest groups (including women and young people) who will be represented on the board. After noting the regulator is appointed by the President after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, Imbert said the terms and conditions for the regulator must be settled before the President appoints that person. “That is in process,” he added.

Responding to questions yesterday from members of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee at the Office of the Parliament, Dhanpaul said, “With the proclamation of the Act, the existing Central Tenders Board (CTB) will cease to exist.” The 52 CTB employees, he said, are being offered three options – a voluntary separation of employment package, the opportunity to join another ministry within the public service, and to seek employment in the Office of the Procurement Regulation.

Gaining employment in the Office of the Procurement Regulation, he said, will depend on the procurement regulator.

Dhanpaul said, it was the Finance Ministry’s view that the Procurement Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation to be implemented in the nation since Independence.

“It is going to change the landscape in which we conduct business in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said adding that it will change the way in which government entities relate to suppliers, and suppliers to government entities. In terms of the proposed structure of procurement units to be established in the ministries, government agencies and departments, Dhanpaul said, job descriptions for the procurement units, are based on the size of the ministry as some ministries are large purchasers than others.

PAAC Chairman Brigid Annisette- George noted that when the committee interviewed six ministries two weeks ago the committee noted that only two knew there was Cabinet approval for the implementation of the legislation.

In response to who has oversight for the level of preparedness for whatever is required by March 31, Dhanpaul said that it was only two weeks ago that Cabinet approved the communication strategy for the rollout of the legislation.

“We will be outlining the strategy for implementation of the procurement units to the permanent secretaries on February 16,” he said.

Deputy Auditor General in the Office of the Auditor General, Lorelly Pujadas, also advised that Finance Ministry include in the rollout directors and all accounting officers of the various government entities as the board of permanent secretaries were not the only accounting officers.