Thursday 6th March, 2008


Liat reborn?


The 51-year old regional airline bids to renew its image with T&T at the centre of a bold,

new strategy



BY COREY CONNELLY(Guardian Business)



Like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes, Leeward Islands Air Transport (Liat) stands on the threshold of a revolution.

And T&T is at the heart of the airline's new strategic drive.
Penny Gomez, Liat's
corporate communications specialist

"The T&T market, we believe, is still a very young one," Liat's corporate communications specialist Penny Gomez said last Wednesday.

"But we recognise Trinbagonians have very refined tastes and we believe that in terms of travel, that more and more, they are very travel savvy. We believe that they are also adventurous people."

Gomez was speaking to T&T journalists at the end of a one day visit to Barbados.

The visit highlighted the airline's interest in forging closer ties with Trinidad as it seeks to re-energise its operations throughout the region.

She said that to facilitate this thrust the airline was partnering with tourism authorities in various territories to give journalists a greater appreciation for the region's offerings.

During Wednesday's visit, Linda Christian Clarke senior business development manager, Caribbean and Latin America, Barbados Tourism Authority accompanied journalists on a tour of some of the island's popular tourist sites and eateries.

"March is the month for Trinidad. You will be seeing more and more of a presence in the market through promotions as we seek to forge a greater relationship with Liat and the whole Trinbagonian community."

A similar visit was also planned for St Vincent.

A former journalist, Gomez assumed the position of Liat communications specialist last October during a turbulent period in the airline's 51-year history.

Her responsibility was to change the commercial face of the airline with a view to making it an even more viable entity.

"We set up a new commercial office just over a year ago and it was really reflecting the new image of the company. We had a mandate to at least break even, if not to make a profit."

Apart from bringing several business analysts on board, the airline has also set up a new marketing department.

Gomez regarded the intervention as timely.

"There is a very focused approach to Liat at this time as we move into this next phase in its development."

Plagued by strikes and tardiness (in arrivals and departures), the airline has long been the target of criticism by passengers and shareholder governments (Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St Vincent) alike.

However, in January, Liat chairman Dr Jean Holder said the airline had erased more than EC$300 million in debt from its books and could be on the verge of realising a profit.

On that occasion, he also said it was the first time in the airline's history that the board was able to turn around its EC$5 million monthly operating loss.

Liat's chief executive officer, Mark Darby, had attributed the airline's success, in that regard, to a revised fare structure; one which reflected its operating costs.

Gomez reiterated that the fares being offered by the airline were in keeping with its costs, particularly in light of increasing fuel prices.

"It is not a matter of us, all of a sudden, trying to get rid of debt and that is why that fares are high. It's just that before the fares were not realistic fares. So, now the fares reflect the cost."

Gomez was non-committal on calls for a strategic alliance between Liat and Caribbean Airlines.

The idea had been raised during a meeting between Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his Barbados counterpart David Thompson during Thompson's visit to this country on February 20.

"It (calls for an alliance) has not come to us (Liat) yet as far as I am aware, and certainly it is not at that level.

"Our shareholders are three governments: Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St Vincent and the Gernadines. Certainly, it will be discussed at that level."

She also discounted the perception that an alliance between the two entities would redound to cheaper fares.

"We do try to make fares very attractive by offering several promotions.

"We just came from one where we offered 50 per cent off. It wasn't just a gimmick. It was literally 50 per cent off."

She said if a passenger booked on-line way ahead of schedule "you will find that the fares are going to be really cheaper.

"So, we are encouraging more and more people to go to the Web site and book their fares.



Mark Darby, Liat's chief executive officer.

Country must prevail



By CLINT CHAN TACK Tuesday, March 18 2008(T&T Newsday)



PRESIDENT GEORGE Maxwell Richards yesterday warned TT could become a failed state and he appealed to the nation's children to "let TT be a state that prevails not a state that fails." Speaking after taking the Oath of Office at an open air ceremony at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the President defended the decision to hold the inauguration in the public domain.

Richards also committed himself to "impartiality, independence, evenhandedness and objectivity" as he begins his second five year term as President of the Republic.

Addressing thousands of schoolchildren and a large gathering of dignitaries which included Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and surviving former Presidents Sir Ellis Clarke and Arthur NR Robinson, after he took his oath of office at 10 am, the President said failed states are defined as countries devastated by war, famine and social disaster. "We do not fit in that profile. However, there is evidence when we consider crime, education, youth alienation inter alia to lead us to recognise that the underpinnings of strong statehood are not as strong as they should be."

"One of these days they are going to recognise that indeed a failed state is one not failed to achieve its full potential. I charge this country to live to its potential," he stated. As the country continues to struggle with rising food prices, the President said: "In our situation, hydrocarbon money is supposed to be enough to save us from starvation and consequent social malaise but that is not so. Economic deprivation is a powerful provocation to the failure of states."

Stating that the warning signs for this country are "emblazoned in the media every day," Richards was deeply concerned about "educational malaise in which children who are not stupid become failures and consequently increase our population of those who are considered anti social."

Recalling that it was TT's first prime minister Dr Eric Williams who said the nation's children carried the future in their school bags, Richards said it was his "moral, political, social and patriotic duty, to reach out to the generation that carries school bags and say to them that I agree that the future of this country should be contained in your school bags."

The President said the current generation of leaders could not remedy the country's ills and "it is for this reason that this inauguration focuses on the generation that has to solve the problems that have been created."

Referring to the UNC Alliance's decision to boycott the ceremony, Richards declared: "It is a departure from tradition that has given rise to comments for and against. This is to be heartily applauded. It tells me that our democracy is alive and well. The decision to open this event to the general public was not taken lightly. I am firmly of the view that the nation as a whole must be more aware of the ceremonial and their meaning that are part of the decisional activities of our country. They are not, as some might suppose, useless pomp."

Richards suggested that the core problem which TT faces is "failure at social cohesion" in a country which has the potential to teach the world that persons from different cultures can live together in peace and prosperity. "I charge this country to live to its potential," the President declared to the cheers of the assembled school children.



HEAD OF STATE: A stern looking President George Maxwell Richards at his inauguration ceremony yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

PAST HEADS: Former Presidents Sir Ellis Clarke (left) and Arthur NR Robinson were also at the Stadium for the ceremony.
[IMG]http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/7-

ROBO COP: This officer casts a menacing look, armed to the teeth, dressed in tactical combat uniform including bullet proof vest and knee guards, as he stood guard at the Hasely Crawford Stadium during President George Maxwell Richards' inauguration yesterday.

You have over 600 cut and paste articles on one thread. It's time you pay for the space you occupy.. Can you afford it.. pea brain.. ??

quote:

Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
You have over 600 cut and paste articles on one thread. It's time you pay for the space you occupy.. Can you afford it.. pea brain.. ??

Why don't yuh come to Bramalea city center area and call me that yuh Pee Pee Pee jack...u know what!

I soon gonna change my name to Fineman.

Improved public service by 2010



Thursday, March 20 2008(T&T Newsday)



BY JANUARY 2010 citizens will be able to access a spectrum of services designed to provide ample infmation on government services and agencies through a Public Service Transformation Programme launched by the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA).

This was announced by Public Administration Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh, at a briefing on the Ministry's agenda for the next two years at the National Library, Port-of-Spain.

According to Swaratsingh, one of the main proposals under the MPA is the Transformation Programme which includes the development of two initiatives, the ttconnect Service Centres and the coordination of the implementation of the Community Access Centres (CAC). He stated that these centres also regarded as "One stop Shop" would allow citizens to conveniently access government information and services.

The ttconnect Service Centres would provide citizens with the comfort and convenience of having many services in one location, less travel to government services and shorter transaction time. These centres have already been successfully launched in St James and Princes Town and among the services provided to citizens are applications for computerised birth certificates, home improvement and purchase assistance and applications for employment in the public service.

It was further revealed that over the next four months, additional centres would be opened in Tobago, Rio Claro, Point Fortin, Arima, Couva and Sangre Grande.

Likewise the CACs provide residents in rural and remote communities with access to computers and internet services and a broad range of information.

He said that the promotion of the MPA's initiative depended on the development of the nation and the ability of the government to satisfy the demand for better quality service.

Swaratsingh said that in order for this to take place, technology needs to be developed to enable individuals to access information. Such reform is necessary because there are problems with job satisfaction in the public service due to unhappiness with promotion and the absence of motivation among other factors. Swaratsingh focused on the process of engendering change that is sustaining and developing a culture that encouraged effective service delivery. He said that part of their strategy to do this is to "engage in stakeholder dialogue".

Following the launch of the fast forward programme in 2003 the MPA was able to establish connectivity between government offices and make sure government agencies were online. Swaratsingh stated that the MPA is now embarking on phase two of that project in an effort to ensure that information as well as services are provided.

He said that the MPA would "spare no dedication, technology and finance to ensure they complete this programme".

SPEAKING: Public Administration Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh

TT company puts business on Internet



Thursday, March 20 2008(T&T Newsday)



IN THIS age of technology, it seems unthinkable that a thriving company, big or small, does not have a website letting the public know about the company, or displaying its goods and services. Unthinkable as it seems, that is the case of many businesses in TT.

In order to set up a website, you need to register a domain, chose a reliable hosting service, create the web design and layout for the site, then add the content. Since most people do not have the technical knowledge to do this, they hire web designers. Also, if your business is one where you may need to change the photos or information occasionally, that too will cost you as web designers start at $150 an hour just to update a site.

With this in mind, Internet marketing company, E-marketers International and the Blue Phoenix Group, a Web and software design company, recently introduced a software solution called The Kaizen Platform.

The Kaizen Platform is part of a series of "E-initiatives" by the two companies which seek to help the country and its citizens enjoy the technological benefits of approaching developed nation status. With this E-initiative, they seek to tackle the need for businesses to use the Internet as a medium for sales, marketing and communication.

The campaign focuses on several issues, including:

"¢ The need for every member of every household to have access to a computer and the internet.

"¢ The need for every business to make information about its products and services available on the internet.

"¢ The need for businesses to put systems in place for consumers and other businesses to communicate with them over the Internet.

"¢ The need for businesses to set up and engage in e-commerce, etc.

The Kaizen Platform offers businesses a complete website at a low cost. Owners have full control over all the information that is kept on their site and they can securely access and modify their website in seconds. Businesses have the ability to communicate with customers, as well as sell items online.

Kwesi Stewart, architect of The Kaizen Platform said: "In my eight years of dealing with local and foreign businesses, I realised that the owners always wanted an easy way for their staff to create and modify information stored on their company website. This makes it as easy as sending an email and dramatically reduces the cost."

Elisha Le Maitre, President of E-marketers International said: "We created The Kaizen Platform because we believe that every business can and should take advantage of the ability to be present and sell online in a local and global market. We are the first in the region to make such a system easily available to the public and at a low cost."

The Kaizen Platform is being offered at a special introductory price of $1,500 to the first 100 businesses.

After this promotion, the cost for the basic package will be $2,500. Included in this price is a professional template of the client's choice from TemplateMonster.com. For more information about the Kaizen Platform, visit the website at www.kaizenproject.net.


Elisha Le Maitre (left) and Kwesi Stewart, the software innovators behind the Kaizen Platform.

Govt's corruption buster


By ROXANNE STAPLETON-WHYMS Friday, March 21 2008
(T&T Newsday)



GOVERNMENT has now included an anti-corruption clause as a standard element of all contracts for large scale projects, the acquisition of military hardware and similar goods and equipment.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne made this statement yesterday, on the closing day of the Caribbean Public Procurement Law and Practice Conference at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port-of-Spain.

Questioned by reporters, Browne did not rule out that the insertion of the clause could hamper future attempts by Government to procure certain goods or services, in light of it being the purported breaking point of talks between Caribbean Airlines and Bombardier for purchase of a private jet.

He said the clause will be one of the mechanisms in ensuring transparency and accountability in upcoming public procurement processes. "We have used the clause unabridged elsewhere, certainly in the procurement of the OPVs (offshore patrol vessels) and the fast interceptor craft," Browne said. He said public consultation is not necessarily required in matters involving the purchase of private jets and goods of that nature.

"If we're buying OPVs, are we going to consult the public in terms of the technical requirements of OPVs. I don't agree with that. There are some decisions that have to be made and that is why Government is empowered to act in a certain way. We need to balance the need for privileged information and sensitive information to be treated in that fashion," he stressed. Asked if everything was done above board with regard to the procurement processes in the attempted purchase of the jet, Browne answered in the positive.

"Yes, there is a standard procedure and there is a methodology which allows for a sole selective tender. In these circumstances there was an evaluation of alternative possibilities or opportunities, and the best equipment was chosen in the circumstances," he said.

Browne noted that in 1987, provisions were added to allow Government to procure goods and services without involvement by the Central Tenders Board in the event of an emergency, and in 1991 the Act was amended to allow for special ministerial tenders committee to procure arms, ammunition and equipment for the Defence Force, and protective services.


Mariano Browne, Minister in the Finance Ministry.

Sando students show off for Easter



Friday, March 21 2008(T&T Newsday)



STUDENTS of San Fernando Girls' Government Primary School dressed up in their Easter best for the school's annual Easter Bonnet competition yesterday at the school.

Flowery bonnets, lace gloves and baskets of flowers were plentiful as the students showed off before their proud parents, classmates and teachers.

Newsday South Bureau photographer NISAN SUPERVILLE was on hand to bring back these delightful images.


SPLENDOR: Natalia Hoston portrays "Tropical Splendor" at San Fernando Girls' Government School's Annual Easter Bonnet competition yesterday morning at the school's compound.

EASTER GARDEN: Shakia Proverbs in her outfit "Easter Garden".

CLASS: La-Quisha Cooper strikes a fashionable pose with her portrayal of "A local classic touch" which was made from brown cotton and all natural fibre.

BONNETS ON DISPLAY: Dressed to impress in their Easter bonnets, these young ladies participated in an Easter parade yesterday hosted by the Port-of-Spain City Corporation.

This pretty little girl is seven-year-old Mandisa Matthews at yesterdays' Easter bonnet parade.

Dressed as a Victorian Princess is two-year-old Morana Ramoutar.

Four-year-old Leanna Cadogan looks adorable as a Butterfly Princess, as she paraded in her Easter bonnet in Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Out of the basket: Renee Mike, left, and Chelsea Clarke proudly display their baskets at the Carapichaima RC School Easter bonnet parade.

Stepping out: Kair Clarke steps out in high-fashion style for the Easter bonnet parade at the Carapichaima RC School.

Top models: Shakeela Phillip and Ashaka Julien pair up to model their Easter dresses at the Carapichaima RC School Easter bonnet parade.

More Pics of POS Easter Bonnet parade

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Eric's_Revenge,

Pt Lisas firm wins world certification


Tuesday, March 25 2008(T&T Newsday)



A manufacturing firm operating at the Pt Lisas Industrial Estate (PLIPDECO) has won international certification for its locally built offshore containers from Norwegian based Det Norske Veritas (DNV), one of the world's leading maritime classification societies.

The local firm Industrial Welding Equipment Sales & Rentals Limited (IWES) is the first manufacturer of offshore containers from Trinidad and Tobago to be awarded the prestigious level of certification, says its Senior Project Manager, Larry Drakes.

Several types of offshore containers built by IWES earned Type Approval Certification, listing them as compliant with worldwide industry standards DNV 2-71, EN 12079, as well as IMO MSC Circular 860.

According to Drakes, "this development clearly shows that DNV and IWES have built up a high level of trust over the years, due mainly to the constant striving for high quality workmanship throughout the IWES organisation."

Mervyn Waterman, IWES' President, believes that the Type Approval Certification will open doors for ready acceptance of locally made offshore containers in the global market and increase opportunities for growth of this local breakthrough industry.

Waterman said potential national benefits include greater local employment, transfer of foreign technology to nationals, a wider export market and greater earnings of foreign exchange, as well as worldwide recognition of TT as a producer of goods of international standard.

Offshore containers are used worldwide by the oil and gas sector for the safe transportation of cargo offshore and to protect the marine environment from pollution.

Det Norske Veritas (DNV) is an autonomous independent risk management foundation whose Ship classification is a system for safeguarding life and property in the marine environment.


INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION: Workers at the Pt Lisas-based contracting firm, IWES, enjoy the honour of international certification granted for its offshore containers.

Bombardier open to new jet talks



Monday, March 24 2008(T&T Newsday)



CANADIAN company Bombardier yesterday indicated that it is willing to speak with Caribbean Airlines (CA) again about the acquisition of an executive jet despite the fact that talks with CA to purchase a $400 million executive jet "crashed and burned" on March 18.

The proposed CA executive jet service would have been used by Prime Minister Patrick Manning, government officials and corporate clients.

Contacted yesterday in Montreal, Bombardier media relations officer Danielle Boudreau told Newsday it was "a fair comment" to say that Bombardier maintains an open door policy and remained willing to speak with a particular client even if previous negotiations with that client were unsuccessful.

Boudreau said because of the confidential nature of discussions between Bombardier and its clients, she could not say whether or not the company has spoken with CA following the collapse of their talks last week. Boudreau further indicated she could not provide any information about why the CA-Bombardier talks failed.

On March 18, CA said in a statement it would not proceed with the jet's acquisition because "it has not proven possible to reach an agreement to the full satisfaction of the parties involved within the defined time frame."

The Global XRS jet which featured in those talks has since been released by Bombardier for sale to another customer.

At a post Cabinet news conference at Whitehall on March 6, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert said the jet would not be acquired unless Bombardier agreed to the insertion of an anti-corruption clause in the contract.

Imbert told last Thursday's post Cabinet news conference that the same clause will be included in any final contract to acquire four fast ferries for the proposed national water taxi service. Cabinet has approved a US$40 million budget to acquire these new vessels and efforts are now underway to source interim vessels for the service. CA said it would return all of the money advanced to it by the Government for the jet's acquisition.

The sum has varied from US$65 million to US$54 million in conflicting public statements made by Imbert, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne and CA chairman Arthur Lok Jack.

Browne said the Government would support future efforts by CA to acquire an executive jet. With this country scheduled to host the Fifth Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit next year, Imbert said the Government would be placing an increasing reliance on private jet travel over commercial jet travel.

Saturday 29th March, 2008



More Govt help for disadvantaged



By Raphael John Lall


Minister of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development Rennie Dumas, said yesterday his ministry is seeking to use small and micro enterprises and non financial co-operatives for the benefit of disadvantaged groups in T&T.

Dumas made the comment at the 48th annual general meeting of the Employers' Consultative Association (ECA) at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.

"The issues to treat with women, disabled persons and the unemployed as an avenue of creating employment and wealth is also taken into account," he said.

"One of the urgent priorities of the Ministry at this time is the implementation of the fair share programme which aims to level the playing field by the allocation of a designated share, ten per cent, of all Government purchasing and capital project spending including local government and state enterprises to qualifying small and micro-enterprises as well as by encouraging large private contractors to subcontract to small businesses," he said.

Dumas said his ministry was working on mechanisms to develop such programmes "while at the same time continuing to enhance the services provided by the Enterprise Development Division and the National Entrepreneurship Development Company Ltd. Complimentary to activities in the Small and Micro-Enterprise sector is work that has commenced on the revitalisation of the non- financial co-operative sector and the Co-operative Division of the ministry.

He said a number of recommendations would be implemented in the Co-operative Division.

"A recent assessment of this sector in the Co-operative Division has highlighted a number of recommendations that will be implemented to maximise the full potential of non-financial co-operatives and to re-engineer the division so as to deliver support for micro-enterprise development," he said.

Dumas said policies are currently being drafted in other areas such as HIV/Aids and child labour.

"You would be pleased to know that an HIV/Aids workplace policy has been drafted in consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations and is soon to be finalised.

"This policy seeks to address issues related to workplace education programs on HIV/Aids, workplace protection against stigma and discrimination and increased worker access to prevention, care, and support for treatment services," he said.

Dumas said that a similar policy was being drafted for the preve



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UTT launches Fashion Academy



Saturday, March 29 2008(T&T Newsday)



THE UNIVERSITY of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) will be launching the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design (CAFD) on September 1.

With the collaboration of fashion professionals from Paris, New York and London, as well as key members of the TT fashion industry, CAFD is the first of its kind in the region.

Modelled after major international schools with notable fashion design programmes, CAFD will offer full and part-time diploma and degree programmes in Fashion Design and Fashion Management. With a view to expanding, developing and raising the standards in an already flourishing regional industry, CAFD aims to train young designers and marketers in the art and business of fashion.

Students opting for studies in Fashion Design will learn all areas of garment production encountered in a professional atelier including: design concepts, drawing techniques, textile design, theory and market research, as well as pattern drafting, draping, tailoring and computer aided design.

The Fashion Management programme addresses the business aspect of this industry.

Fashion marketing, merchandising, management, visual merchandising, presentations, public relations and the dynamics of product development are explored.

Students are imprinted with a basic marketing foundation while gaining comprehensive knowledge of the fashion industry and its cycles.

Further information can be found at: www.u.tt./fashion.

Liquid Litter a Biosafe Alternative to Chicken Manure



Saturday, March 29 2008(T&T Newsday Business section)



Caribbean Chemicals and Agri-Gro Marketing have recently introduced Liquid Litter in Trinidad and Tobago, a bio safe replacement to chicken manure.

The impact has been tremendous in the vegetable sector especially pumpkins, watermelons, corn, lettuce, celery and patchoi. This product was developed with the large Export Pumpkin Growers who traditionally use chicken manure in their production and who have expressed concerns as to the availability and quality of chicken manure. Liquid Litter now occupies much more than this traditional chicken manure sector, but as a "Real Safe Fertiliser" for organic farming and a product that increases the yields and quality of all crops.

Liquid Litter was trialed and tested on various crops during 2007 such as lettuce, patchoi, celery, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, caraili, hot peppers, melongene in Aranguez, Macoya, Cunupia, Orange Grove and Wallerfield. In pumpkin, the product was applied two weeks after transplanting as a Root Drench and the results were as follows; vigorous vines, thicker stems and bigger leaves. In Corn, applications as a side dress were extremely successful at the second and fourth week after germination; corn trees were taller with thicker stalks, lush green growth, bigger ears and better ear colour.

Rohit Ramcharitar, owner of Rohit's Garden Shop and a leading farmer, is a user and highly recommends liquid litter. "I've used this product once in my three week tomato as a drench and have gotten more pickings, larger fruits and healthier trees," he said. Liquid Litter is a High Energy Liquid Microbial product that combines the benefits of Compost with the soil building properties of Chicken Litter in an easy to use Liquid form. Unlike chicken manure, Liquid Litter is easy to apply and less cumbersome than applying chicken manure. Also, farmers do not have to endure the smell of chicken manure when using liquid litter since it is odourless.

Traditionally, farmers use approximately 100-200 bags of chicken manure per acre which must be incorporated into the soil. Liquid Litter can be applied as a side dressing or as a broadcast application at up to five to six gallons per acre.

The use of antibiotic in Chicken Rearing has had a negative impact worldwide on the safety of chicken manure since there is increasing awareness on its ill effects on the food chain. Liquid Litter is free from antibiotics as well as deleterious bacterial and fungal organisms making it a Bio safe alternative.

Liquid Litter contains Carbohydrates, Vitamins, Enzymes and Amino Acids that assists in rapid growth and development of plants. It contains "no free ammonia or soluble nitrate," does not burn plants and so can be applied to growing crops .

Liquid Litter is much more than Chicken Manure and provides numerous benefits to the soil by improving its fertility and health. It improves the soil structure by reducing compaction, increasing aeration, improves soil tilth, better drainage and improves water percolation. Liquid Litter is excellent on soils close to the sea since it results in lowering excess sodium making these soils less saline.

Liquid Litter also stimulates the soil microbial activity which increases the uptake and availability of soil nutrients and applied fertilisers by up to 80%. It also reduces the cost of fertilisers inputs and improves fertiliser efficiency.

With the phenomenal increases in prices of urea and other compounded fertilisers locally, Liquid Litter can be incorporated in any fertiliser programme as an effective fertiliser substitute.

Caribbean Chemicals has introduced Liquid Litter at an economical price and is available at all their distributors throughout TT. With the introduction of Good Agricutural Practices (GAP) protocol in TT for the development of safe healthy foods, Liquid Litter will no doubt be a perfect fit.

EWMC celebrates 10th anniversary



Saturday, March 22 2008(T&T Newsday)



TODAY IS the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of the Eric Williams Memorial Collection (EWMC), by former US Secretary of State, Colin L Powell, at The University of the West Indies (UWI) in St Augustine.

Williams, the country's first Prime Minister who died in office on March 29, 1981, was heralded by Powell as a tireless warrior in the battle against colonialism, among his many other achievements as a scholar, politician and international statesman. More recently in 2007, Williams was honoured with the posthumous conferral of South Africa's highest national award. Two months later, President Thabo Mbeki's authorised biography was dedicated to Williams.

The Collection consists of Williams' Research Library, Archives and Museum. In 1999, it was named to UNESCO's prestigious Memory of the World Register. At the time, the documentary heritage of only 47 other countries had been so designated.

Available for consultation by researchers, the Collection amply reflects its owner's eclectic interests, comprising some 7,000 volumes, as well as correspondence, speeches, manuscripts, historical writings, research notes, conference documents and a miscellany of reports.

A Museum containing a wealth of emotive memorabilia of the period; copies of the seven translations of Williams' seminal work, Capitalism and Slavery (Russian, Chinese and Japanese among them) a Korean translation will appear in 2008; as well as photographs depicting various aspects of his life and contribution to the development of Trinidad and Tobago completes this extraordinarily rich archive, as does a three dimensional re-creation of Williams' study.

Dr Tony Martin, Wellesley College, Massachusetts, states that "(The Eric Williams Memorial Collection at the University of the West Indies) is the most important development in scholarship in the Caribbean in recent years."

To date, four scholarly biographies of Williams either have been published or are in progress one dedicated to the EWMC. In the prior 17 years, nothing of note was written.

Several international book launches have been arranged by the EWMC, and the University of South Africa Press will soon publish two of his best known. In addition, the Collection has been the subject of several academic papers, lectures and books, and has been actively involved in supplying and being prominently featured in collateral materials for a "walking tour" Black Oxford: Untold Stories encompassing vignettes of the Black scholars who have contributed to Oxford University's academic reputation. In the future, the Collection will team up with Williams' alma mater at Oxford instituting a scholarship in his name in perpetuity.

All of these efforts have been amply promoted in the local, regional and international media from London's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the British Virgin Islands Island Sun to the Organization of American States' Americas magazine in both English and Spanish.

Thus, with all of its other endeavours, the EWMC is a model for the Caribbean, a means of demonstrating to its younger generation the vital connection to the past what that means for both the present and for the future.


Dr Eric Williams

Are you trying to compare Eric Willams to Cheddi Bharat jagan??
Eric williams like Burnham rigged all T&T elections with voting machines.. Millions went missing during Eric's reign and cannot be found up to now..

Wednesday 2nd April, 2008


Govt pushes for local investment in BpTT, BGTT



Participants at yesterday's symposium on the International Financial Centre.


The American Chamber of T&T (AmCham) is calling on Government to take the lead in lobbying for the passage of a bill in the US Congress seeking to extend the life of two important programmes which allow duty free access to the US market for products from Caribbean Community (Caricom) and other developing countries.

The two programmes are set to expire this year unless extended.

One is the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) which was established in 1983 to promote economic growth and development by stimulating investment in export industries.

The CBI allows preferential access on a unilateral basis to the US market. CBI is the collective term given to the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).

According to AmCham, these acts allow duty free access to a number of manufactured goods, including T&T's fastest growing exports fuel ethanol, methanol and petroleum products.

In fact, AmCham said in a statement that it is critical that T&T leads out in the campaign for the extension of the programmes, adding that T&T is the largest user of CBI within Caricom.

It said CBERA and CBTPA require a waiver approved by all other World Trade Organisation (WTO) members to operate legally under WTO rules.

The waiver on CBERA expired on December 31, 2005. AmCham said a renewal was sought, but Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka initially objected Paraguay is the only remaining objector. The CBEBRA (including CBTPA) will expire on September 30, 2008, unless the US Congress passes new legislation to replace it, AmCham said.

AmCham said a bill has been introduced by House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles B Rangel, to extend certain trade preference programs including CBTPA. The bill proposes to extend CBI, GSP and the Andean Trade Preference Act to September 30th 2010.

The statement said, "It is important therefore that as a region we begin lobbying through the various channels open to us. It is at this stage that we can make an impact on the programme. We have the opportunity now to work towards shaping a bill that will benefit Caricom/Caribbean nations as most of the other recipients of the CBI are moving towards a free trade agreement with the US namely Panama. We must work together to expand the program to allow for services financial and professional; expand the list of products eligible for duty free access and make the preference program for Haiti permanent."

AmCham said it was willing to spearhead the effort to ensure the timely passage of the bill. "We look forward to the collaboration of all stakeholders and would welcome everyone's input in this regard," the statement said.

AmCham said as part of its campaign it will send letters to members of the US Congress from companies and business organisations benefiting from CBTPA. All corporations who are beneficiaries of the CBTPA are urged to contact AmCham so that their views could be fully represented.

"We must all work together and do our part in lobbying our Government and Caricom to get this bill passed. CBTPA must be extended so that we can continue to diversify our economies and our manufacturers and the US can benefit from a predictable market," AmCham said.



Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira chats with Samir Misra, a consultant with the firm Oliver Wyman, the consultant on the establishment of an International Financial Centre (IFC) in T&T. Misra was scheduled to make a presentation yesterday on the opportunities for T&T in setting up the IFC.
Photo: Shirley Bahadur

Wednesday 2nd April, 2008


Trini to the root



Ramdeo Boondoo in his plantation at Bartlette Road, Palmiste. Photos: Adrian Boodan


By Adrian Boodan


IN these hard times, with concern and anxiety over rising food prices and scarcity of goods, cassava (manihot esculenta crantz) may be the ideal crop to save T&T from the onslaught of soaring global wheat prices.

In the past five years global production of wheat has dropped as the expanding worldwide population places a higher demand on this precious commodity.

Wheat prices have more than doubled in the past year as adverse weather has reduced output in Europe, Canada and Australia, raising the cost of bread, roti, doubles, cakes, biscuits and related commodities.

The cassava guru

Ramdeo Boondoo, a local cassava guru, who has been planting cassava on the lands of Palmiste in Central for the past 25 years, said T&T could become self reliant in cassava. He said cassava could gradually reduce T&T's dependence on wheat as a major source of carbohydrates.

Speaking with the Guardian, Boondoo said his family run farm produces 120,000 pounds of the product annually. However, he said in the heyday of production, he harvested 300,000 pounds annually. Boondoo attributed the drop in his production to the present labour shortage facing T&T.

Boondoo said 30,000 acres of the idle estate land, once cultivated by Caroni (1975) Ltd, could be leased out in 20-acre plots to farmers solely for cassava production.

He said: "If the government was serious about battling high food prices and reducing T&T's foreign dependency on wheat, it would also establish a processing plant that would purchase the cassava from the farmers for production into flour.

"Once the government starts putting measures in place, results could be seen in under 18 months."

Boondoo, who maintains selected germ plasms of cassava varieties on his estate, said 1.5 million pounds of the product was produced locally from registered and unregistered farmers. However, he said this was only a fraction of the cassava that is demanded by local consumers.

Agricultural savvy is the key

Boondoo also partners with the Palmiste Government School, an educational establishment in his community, and also lectures to UWI students.

He has produced a handout on the crop and volunteers to assist the students of Palmiste in their ongoing agri-science programme by setting up a plot of cassava in the school's garden and assisting the school's agri-science teacher in getting the project off the ground.

Boondoo said the Ministry of Education should play a greater role in getting agricultural science going at all schools. He said this move would ensure that the next generation would develop a love for agriculture and show the initiative towards planting vegetable gardens at home, or entering into commercial agriculture.

Boondoo said the greatest challenge would be to establish cassava as one of the main dietary staples to nationals who have grown accustomed to products made from wheat. He suggested that the school nutrition programme utilise cassava/cassava products as part of the 80,000 meals served daily in the programme.

About cassava

Cassava is a starchy root crop that has been cultivated in tropical America for more than 5,000 years. The crop was introduced to Africa and Asia by Portuguese traders during the 16th century and is now cultivated in more than 90 countries. Cassava provides food and a livelihood for 500 million people in the developing world.

On the global scale, cassava is planted on about 16 million hectares. Fifty per cent is grown in Africa, 30 per cent in Asia, and 20 per cent in Latin America. Total root production is around 152 million tons. Under ideal conditions, cassava can yield as much as 90 tons of fresh roots per hectare. The crop is relatively tolerant of poor soils and seasonal drought and can recover from damage by pests and diseases.

The crop, safely left in the ground for seven months to two years after planting, is then harvested as needed. Once harvested, cassava roots spoil quickly and must be processed (cooking, grinding, drying, or fermenting) within three to seven days to preserve their food value. The root contains mostly carbohydrates, but it is also rich in vitamin C, carotenes, calcium, and potassium, though poor in protein.

Cassava leaves, in contrast, contain high levels of protein, in addition to being rich in vitamins. In some parts of the world the leaves are consumed as a vegetable.

Growing cassava

Cassava is propagated vegetatively by means of stem cuttings. According to Boondoo, the 12-inch cuttings are placed 18 inches apart, 6-8 inches into the soil on banks raised 42 inches high. The crop does not need a high level of rainfall during the 8-11 months it take to produce. It is usually harvested by hand.

Cassava flour coming as food security thrust finds its feet



By Raffique Shah



Wednesday, March 26th 2008(T&T Express Business section)



AS Caribbean governments finally face the reality of a food crisis that was looming for several years, here in Trinidad and Tobago the fight back is underway, albeit late and on still wobbly legs.

Leading the thrust not only to grow more food, but to re-direct our perception of what is food security, is the Trinidad and Tobago Agri-Business Association (TTABA).

Chief executive of the State owned agency, Vassal Stewart, Government is at long last "putting its money where the mouths are".

"It has taken some time for those in authority to understand that food production does not mean only growing crops or rearing livestock. Very important, it means going all the way downstream, to processing and manufacturing," he added. "Now, people must understand the need to put serious money into attaining a measure of food security."

Stewart, Jamaican by birth but 'Trini' by 25 years of living here, worked with a number of food agencies CATCO, CARDI, among them and as an agri-business consultant, before being selected two years ago to head TTABA.

"By then it had dawned on many people, both at the production level and those in authority, that we needed not only to produce more food but also to extract everything we could from what we grew. We set ourselves three major goals. The first was to exploit the food chain down to the manufacturing level. The second was to create linkages with those involved in, or interested in going downstream. And the third was to convince Government it needed to spend much more money than it did on food security."

Backing Government's initiative to establish ten large farms (each 100 acres plus), he said large farms benefit from economies of scale.

"Mechanised agriculture can be done on farms of this size, and there are many other benefits," Stewart said. "For example, purchasing of equipment and inputs like fertilisers and seeds in large quantities, will mean savings for the operators."

While many farming groups have lashed out at the "large farms" concept, saying these would necessarily exclude small farmers, Stewart disagreed.

"Why can't small farmers pool their resources, form cooperatives, and run these farms?" he asked. "In fact, even where there are small farms, as is the case with ex-sugar workers, they would do well to use the co-op method to minimise their expenses and maximise their earnings. Because farm labour is scarce, mechanisation is the way to go. But mechanisation will only work on large scale farming. Small farmers need to become large farmers."


The TTABA is not responsible for that aspect of food production and food security. In consonance with the National Agri-business Development Programme (NADP) launched in 2007, the programme has three main goals:

1. Repositioning the Agricultural Sector Moving from the narrow focus of primary agriculture to the broader context of agri-business (agriculture, agro-processing, food manufacture, food service, agro-entertainment) and from a minor to a major sector in national economic and social development, with an attendant increase allocation of the national budget.

2. Restructuring the sector Moving from large numbers of small disorganized low technology farmers and agro-processors to a highly organized SME sector backed by high level technology and technical support including a contract production and marketing service.


3. Expanding the sector Introduction of large farms, establishment of a national agro-processing centre and focus on selected commodities for development of a range of innovative, value added products targeted at the local, regional and international markets.


Its objectives are:

To bring a minimum 20,000 additional acres of land into production, inclusive of up to 14,000 acres given to former CARONI workers, at least 3000 acres from government large farms and 3000 acres from other private farmers;

Keep annual inflation associated with domestically produced foods below seven per cent;

Increased direct and indirect employment in the agri-business sector by at least 5,000 persons;

Earn or save foreign exchange of at least US$150 million (TT$945 million)

Increased gross income in farming community based households by at least TT$ 800 million and Significantly increase the portion of the national diet sourced from national production.

"These are serious challenges," said Stewart. "TTABA cannot do it alone, nor can government, or for that matter, the farmers and manufacturers. We all need to collaborate. Government must prioritise agri-business and back it with funding. Farmers must make use of best agronomic practices, hence increase their yields and earnings. Manufacturers and must make use of more local products and we are already seeing this happening in the case of ketchup from paw paw. And most important, consumers must learn to use local foods in the many ways they can be prepared. We must all wean ourselves away from traditional staples that we grew up on but which we do not produce. Local and regional food and root crops can replace much of what we import. That way we can cut into the heavy import burden we now carry, while at the same time increase our farmers' and manufacturers' earnings."

The organisation has already initiated projects intended to go downstream with root crops like cassava and sweet potatoes.

It has also provided groups of farmers with thousands of paw paw plants, and gives them guaranteed prices for their produce. It has a pilot project that produces cassava and sweet potato "fries".

This project is currently being tested by selected consumers, and will eventually be fine tuned to meet local taste buds.

And with Colombian cassava specialist Omaira Avila Rostant on board, TTABA is about to go several steps forward.

It has adopted a plan originally conceptualised by TICFA (the cane farmers organisation) that will see cassava flour trying to break into the traditional wheat flour market. In a TTABA paper on the potential benefits of using cassava flour, Rostant wrote:

"The benefits of using cassava flour as a wheat flour replacement should not be underestimated. The replacement of 15 per cent of wheat flour imports could equate to an annual foreign exchange savings of US$14.8 million. Within the country net returns to processors could be US$12.7 million; and cassava farmers could expect to receive a gross benefit of US$4.2 million.

"According to the FAO global perspective, a substitution opportunity for wheat is cassava flour, which can be used as a partial replacement for many bakery and pasta products.

"Cassava flour can be used as a partial replacement for imported wheat flour. As an initial estimate of the wheat and wheat flour import substitution opportunity for cassava flour, it is assumed that ten per cent of current wheat and wheat flour imports could be replaced."

As the latter project gets underway, TTABA has sourced farmers who are interested in producing and supplying it with cassava (as well as paw paw and sweet potatoes) at a guaranteed price.

Several cane farmers are among this group, having converted parts of their holdings into cassava and paw paw production. The tuber takes around eight months to mature, and farmers are reporting yields of up to 12,000 pounds per acre. At a price of $1.30 per pound, farmers say they can realise profits of close to $10,000 per acre, with the option of doing a short crop between cycles.

"This is vastly more than we ever earned producing sugar cane," said one farmer. "And we do not run the risk of wild fires adversely affecting either the crops or our earnings. For us, if this project comes to fruition, we shall be far better off than we were planting cane."

Stewart said TTABA is seeking to further improving cassava yields by the introduction of different new varieties.

To this end, Farouk Shah, manager of farm production and produce procurement, will attend an international cassava conference in Colombia this week.

Stewart told Business Express that TTABA is exploring all aspects of using cassava to replace some of our wheat imports.

"There is a variety we came across in El Salvador that not only has a higher yield per acre, but also has a thinner skin than ours," he said. "This allows for easier peeling through mechanical means. And we are currently examining a range of cassava mills available on the market with a view to establishing our plant this year. We should be producing cassava flour and other cassava products before the end of 2008."

(continues

next week)

Friday 4th April, 2008



Prisons Service wins Prime Minister's Award



Public Administration Minister KENNEDY SWARATSINGH, right, has the attention of a proud Prisons Commissioner JOHN ROGUIER and his communications specialist SHARON RAMSARRAN. Photo: Sean Nero



BY SEAN NERO


THE T&T Prisons Service has won the Prime Minister's Breaking New Ground Award for innovation and service excellence.

Having conceptualised and executed a revolutionary project entitled Behind Prison Walls, the Prisons Service took home the prize at Wednesday's fourth annual Prime Minister's Innovation For Service Excellence ceremony.

The project, which seeks to foster a culture of re-education as well as re-training for inmates in preparation for their release back into society, won favour with the panel of adjudicators to capture the top accolade at the function held at Queen's Hall in St Ann's, Port-of-Spain.

Behind Prison Walls satisfied the adjudication criteria which called for powerful impact, original thought and innovative impact and the imaginative use of technology and delivery.

Meanwhile, the Housing Ministry took home the Customer Service as well as Information and Communication Technology Service Awards.

The Social Inclusion Award went to the Ministry of Social Development with its project known as the Community Mediation Programme.

Delivering the feature address on behalf of Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Public Administration Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh said innovation had and continues to be a key factor of human civilisation.

"It is clearly a natural condition of the human mind to seek new and better ways of doing and achieving. That creative urge is the main ingredient that continues to drive individual and organisational success," he said.

Swaratsingh called on public servants to grasp every opportunity to foster creativity and imagination.

The minister said: "Traditional approaches and systems are often disincentives to the innovative talent. Our public service, whilst it has been of tremendous value over the years in national development, is itself steeped in its own tradition of systems and regulations, long in operation; and the Service has like many other long serving organisations, developed its own culture and ways of transacting business. Innovation has certainly not characterised its operations in the past."



©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited

From bargaining to the boardroom


By Julien Neaves


Wednesday, April 2nd 2008(Trinidad Express Business section)


picture
NATUC president, Michael Annisette



WITH more than 25 years of involvement in the local trade union movement newly elected president of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) Michael Annisette believes trade unions need to evolve and start owning businesses.

"We need to move from collective bargaining to the boardroom," he said.

He said that unions had to get involved in business to be truly independent and self sufficient as it was a counterproductive situation "where you cussing the business community but you have to go to them to beg".

He questioned why trade unions could not own businesses like gas stations and travel agencies, or even hospitals.

"The trade union movement cannot survive without economic power and therefore we need to be involved in the productive aspects of this economy," he noted.

Annisette said he has been preaching this message for a long time and will continue, though he has detractors.

"Some of my leaders believe that business is the domain of a certain people and the trade union is only about collective bargaining. I don't share that view," he added, his eyes closed meditatively.

He expressed hope that other trade unionists would take example and engage in similar ventures.

He was speaking with the Business Express during an interview last week at the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) Hall at Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

SWWTU set up its own business, Port and Maritime Services, in 1993 in response to the retrenchment of a number of workers.

He noted that the company, of which he is chairman, is a partnership between the union and private sector partners and is providing employment for more than 300 of their members.

He expressed the belief that when workers are to be retrenched, unions should be given the option to establish a company to absorb the workers, and the union should receive preference for the work rather than having it put out to private tender.

Annisette expressed the hope that Government would support these union ventures and recalled that Prime Minister Patrick Manning lent support when Port and Maritime Services was being established.

He said that SWWTU was collaborating with the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) to build low cost housing for members and was completing a third phase of 400 units at Valsayn.

His life in trade unionism unofficially began back in 1972 when he was employed at the Port Authority as a junior clerical officer.

He recalled at that time SWWTU was powerful but mostly labour oriented and "blue collar", which resulted in daily paid workers getting a "better piece of cake" than the monthly paid workers during wage negotiations.

Noticing this trend and the issues of justice of equity Annisette began speaking on behalf of the monthly paid workers.

This led to a post as secretary of the Port Authority staff branch in 1975, and after three years he became a SWWTU grievance officer.

He said that at the port he enjoyed the great wisdom of the dock workers and was the captain of one of the football teams.

He also started training for professional cycling but a chin injury ended his career.

In 2002 he was elected president general of the union and has held that position to date.

He said the movement is about empowering people and being a voice for the downtrodden.

"A trade union is a family, is about people, about working together."

This month Annisette was elected president of NATUC and included in his 100 day plan is a project to establish a food cooperative to combat rising food prices.

He noted that he had some discussions with investors in Guyana who are setting up more than 100 acres of land to cultivate for food stuff, and, if and when this gets off the ground, it would be a great assistance to Trinidad and Tobago and help cut down on food prices.

"My approach has always been to find solutions rather than grieving," he explained.

He noted that in this country there was a propensity to say what was wrong but in the area of getting solutions the nation fell short.

He is also involved in discussions with colleagues in Guyana to see if possible to acquire some land in Guyana to build a holiday resort for union members.

Annisette also plans to establish a headquarters for NATUC, which could become the centre of the national trade union movement.

He says he re-energises from his busy work schedule by exercising at a gym located at SWWTU Hall.

He noted, however, that sometimes when he arrives at 6 a.m. to work out, there are union members waiting to discuss their problems with him, and he cannot turn them away.

Questioned on how he manages to look years younger than 54, Annisette said that he learned to keep peace of mind from his religious and practical grandmother.

"You don't keep people in mind, you don't get angry, you deal with the issues and forget about the personalities," he added.

He said this was one of his guiding principles and he has applied it to his trade union work.

He noted that he was not opposed to marching and "tearing down the streets", but there had to be more to the movement.

"It has its place, but it cannot be the be all and end all of trade unionism."

Annisette also had a first hand experience in the area of politics when he was appointed an Independent Senator last year.

He lamented, however, that the question of the "people's business" was not being adequately addressed in a meaningful way and it was as though General Elections had continued.

A topic that does make him smile, however, is his family.

Annisette, who has never married, has nine children and five grandchildren, whom he enjoys spending time with.

Another of Annisette's passions is reading, and he goes through about one book per week.

At the interview he brought a book by American scholar and public intellectual Dr Cornel West and the opened pages showed paragraphs he had underlined in blue ink.

He said that he reads a lot on history, politics, philosophy and business, including the success stories of business tycoons.

He explained that he does not only focus on trade unionism but the business side as well.

"If the trade unionists do not understand business and vice versa...we will always be antagonistic towards each other," he added.

He noted that this approach could help build bridges and the antagonism as a historical factor of trade unionism "could go by the wayside".

"We are no longer fighting the colonial masters and we need to evolve in our thinking."

$8.7B on new downstream projects


Thursday, April 3 2008(T&T Newsday)



The National Energy Corporation (NEC) is prepared to spend billions of dollars on new projects to develop this country's down stream sector, according to the company's president, Prakash Saith.

Billion of dollars will be required to make these projects operational, said Saith who divided the costs into three categories : estate development - $315 M; port development - $298M and proposed projects $8.7B.

He further said that some specific future activities includes, the facilitation and development of a plastic industry, biochemical products as well as the future development of alternative sources of energy and facilitating the creation of more downstream opportunities for the manufacturing sector.

Saith was a guest speaker of the Florida based group, the Diaspora of Trinidad and Tobago (DOTT), which held at the African American Library Auditorium, Ft Lauderdale.

Saith said NEC's present mandate includes identifying and developing new industrial estates, developing new industrial deep water ports to facilitate these estates. It also includes operating marine and other infrastructure to facilitate all gas based petrochemical and metal plants as well as developing and managing the La Brea Industrial Estate and promoting new energy-based and downstream industries for several new industrial estates located throughout the country.

Saith started by telling a packed auditorium that TT has 0.3 percent of the world's proven gas reserves yet accounts for 1.2 percent global natural gas production. TT, he noted, was the global leader in export of methanol, ammonia and the export of LNG to the United States of America.

He pointed out that TT's energy sector contributed 45.1 percent to its GDP. Among the guests were, TT's Consul General, Gerard Green and his deputy Kirk Francois; St Lucian Ambassador, Donatus K. St Aimee and his Consul General Kent Hippolyte; Dr Anita Pennathur, Prof: of Finance, Florida Atlantic University, Dale Holness, deputy mayor, City of Lauderhill, Andy Ansola, president of DOTT and his VP Kamal Abdool.

Giving an overview of the business development, Saith went on to noted that the business development in TT continues to be the planning, promotion and facilitation of new energy-based projects.

TT in AA spotlight



By JOAN RAMPERSAD Saturday, April 5 2008(T&T Newsday)



THE COVER and a ten page feature on Trinidad and Tobago are the highlights of the April- May edition of American Airlines' (AA) Nexos magazine which was launched at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel on Wednesday evening.

The magazine is in Spanish and Portuguese, as it caters to all American and American Eagle flights to destinations in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Spain. This amounts to a circulation of 240,000 copies that reach three million people.

On the cover of the magazine is Kim Lee Inniss in her own Carnival creation.

The article titled "Contrast in Harmony" that was written by Guillermo de la Corte features many aspects of TT including Carnival, Maracas Beach with Richard's bake and shark, the country's architecture, culinary delights and the beauty of the cosmopolitan people.

The article highlights the vibrancy and transformation of Port-of-Spain, the Brian Lara Promenade, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Frederick Street, Woodford Square, the Red House, the National Library, the Queen's Park Savannah, the Magnificent Seven and a number of other historical buildings.

It also lauds the tranquility of Tobago, its crystal clear waters, its eco-tourism and the upcoming Tobago Jazz Festival in Plymouth.

Noting that Nexos focuses on the people, places and passions Latin Americans want to read about, Reymundo said they chose TT for the cover story to give travellers information about the uniqueness of the country.

Referring to TT as a gem she said: "It's all about the unique experience that TT provides."

Offering his own remarks was president of the Tourism Development Company (TDC), Ernest Littles who stated: "Due to our strategic location vis a vis Latin America, it is opportune that we seek to strengthen linkages between us.

"The article within Nexos will assist in raising awareness, deepening linkages and promoting understanding of T&T within the minds of Latin Americans."

He then extended TT's appreciation to AA for featuring our festivals, cuisine, our many sites and our passion.Tobago, its crystal clear waters, its eco-tourism and the upcoming Tobago Jazz Festival in Plymouth.

In TT for the magazine launch were AA managers Minnette Velez-Conty Corporate Communications and Ernesto Quigley Country Manager, Director Ana Christina Reymundo and AA Marketing Director Publishing, Michael Woody.

He then extended TT's appreciation to AA for featuring our festivals, cuisine, our many sites and our passion.


The April-May edition of Nexos.

Posing with the magazine cover are from left, AA Caribbean Region Manager Mark Ewing, Ernesto Quigley, Ana Christina Reymundo and Michael Woody.

Minnette Velez-Conty is flanked by TT sales team Nicole Corbie-Barnes, left, and Danah Cheekes.

Pension funds need freeing up


Thursday, April 3 2008(T&T Newsday Business section)



Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira, has said well funded pension plans, once well organised and efficiently administered, could be used to boost the country's investments.

The benefits, she said, include the deepening of capital markets but "mobilising long-term saving and allocating it to the most productive uses."

The effect of this, she said would be "raising economic growth by increasing aggregate savings and investments and by increasing the productivity of these investments."

Speaking at a cocktail reception, hosted by Mercer and Oliver Wyman at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, last week, Nunez-Tesheira also told an audience, comprising of leading business executives, senior government officials and diplomats, that pension reform was critical to the country's economy.

Nunez-Tesheira said that while the current pension system should continue to fulfill its core social insurance objectives, it also needed to be a financially sustainable scheme.

Some of the objectives that she identified for the system included, a redistribution of income, provision of adequate income protection for the aged and the need for some degree of international risk sharing, which, she believed, would encourage individuals to save for their old age retirement. She emphasised that these targets, however, must be "carefully weighed against any distortions the pension system could cause in the labour market."

She said that estimates had indicated that combined costs of the current pension system would increase from approximately 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2005, to 4.5% in 2020.

The Minister of Finance went on to explain that the nature of the current TT pension industry was a mixture of both private and public pension fund arrangements of varying structures: voluntary or mandatory, defined benefit or contribution, funded or nun-funded and publicly administered or privately managed.

For instance, she said that the publicly administered pension system consisted of the Senior Citizen's Grant (SCG), formerly the Old Age Pension System, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and Public Service pension arrangements.

On the other hand, she said that privately managed schemes were made up of either private occupational pension plans sold by insurance companies, banks or trust companies or non-tax approved retirement savings arrangements, such as mutual fund based savings plans.

One of the problems that Nunez-Tesheira identified within the local pension system was that the range of investment opportunities for pension funds registered in TT is relatively limited.

She explained that the Insurance Act of 1980 stated that a minimum of 80 % of the assets of pension funds be invested in TT, noting that these investments were restricted to equities, real estate, certificates of deposit and mortgages, and even subjected to stipulated limits imposed by the Insurance Act.

According to Nunez-Teshiera, such restrictions are responsible for a significant concentration of pension fund investment in TT, "limiting its ability to reduce local market risks through international diversification."

She said since pension arrangements were guided by various pieces of legislation, this made it extremely difficult to manage both the public and private systems.

"The government proposes to implement new pension legislation aimed at modernising the pension industry by developing and implementing a comprehensive pension regime for Trinidad and Tobago," she stated.

She said that this new pension regime would deal with issues like consolidation and modernisation of the various pieces of legislation, integrated regulation and supervision of the industry and administrative integration of the NIS and the senior citizens grant.

In addition, she explained that provisions were being put in place to deal with corporate governance, proper criteria for fund managers and trustees, portability and transferability, as well as financial reporting standards.

Furthermore, she said that there will be consultation among relevant stakeholders on the coming changes. In closing, she reminded her listeners that the Government is still responsible for the provision of a minimum pension for the most vulnerable in society.

This, she said, was the basic pillar of any pension system and was the foundation from which the private pension systems can flourish.

For individuals who can afford to take care of themselves, Government, she stressed, will continue to provide the incentives to participate in the private pension industry and provide the supervisory and regulatory infrastructure to ensure the effective and efficient investment and management of pension funds.

Mercer's pension expert, Malcolm Hamilton, explained that pension systems worldwide were inevitably subject to reform.

He said that a "funded pension system" might be most suitable to TT's current needs because of high interest rates.

Sando tries solar bin

Carolyn Kissoon South Bureau



Monday, April 7th 2008(T&T Express)



picture
NEW TECHNOLOGY: San Fernando Mayor, Kenneth Ferguson, places a bottle inside the new solar bin which was installed at Harris Promenade, San Fernando. Looking on is Anthony Allum, director of Piranha International, manufacturer of the bins.-Photo: TREVOR HACKETT



A solar bin which uses energy from the sun to compact garbage instead of allowing it to overflow onto sidewalks has been handed over to San Fernando mayor Kenneth Ferguson.

The bin was installed by Piranha International Limited at Harris Promenade, San Fernando.

Ferguson said the project was being monitored and if the San Fernando City Corporation was satisfied with the solar bin it would consider buying one for the city. Another bin was installed in Port of Spain.

The solar bins are four feet high and use the sun's energy to compact 150 to 220 gallons of trash. The garbage is compacted to a quarter of its original volume.

A Piranha official said the bins held about five times more than a normal bin.

"This will cut down on fuel and truck costs, city traffic, noise pollution and scattered street litter.

"It also means there is a reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants from the garbage trucks," he said.

Piranha officials also presented a key to the bins to Ferguson.

The SFCC will be responsible for emptying the bin when it is filled.

Tuesday 8th April, 2008


BGTT president:

Enough gas for all govt projects



Derek Hudson


BY IAN GOODING (Trinidad Guardian)



President of BGTT, Derek Hudson, has given the assurance that the country possesses enough gas reserves to satisfy the demands of all Government projects.

Hudson made the statement following a presentation to the American Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AmCham) at their monthly meeting at the Hyatt hotel in Port-of-Spain last Wednesday.

Hudson said BGTT has tremendous confidence in the gas potential of the country otherwise it would not be investing US$4 billion in exploration and recovery of natural gas.

He said that US$860 million will be spent on the company's operations on the North coast and US$270 million on its eastern operations.

"I believe that the Ryder Scott report is one that we should pay attention to," he said. "All basins as they get older will go through this phase. What it requires, however, is the appropriate response. We have gone back and taken a new look at some of our fields and recognised that we can produce from some of these reservoirs that we didn't focus on initially," he said.

He said that US$860 million will be spent on the company's operations on the North coast and US$270 million on its eastern operations.

He said that this can be done with other fields belonging to EOG and BpTT.

"So there is opportunity within the fields that we have," he said," and in some of the smaller ones that could bring on reserves, and then it's how we go out into the newer frontiers like the ultra deep. Based on our investment, we are extremely optimistic, going forward, as to the continuation of the energy industry."

Hudson said that T&T was still supplying about 50 per cent of the natural gas requirements of the US, now that the US was also importing from other countries.

"I think the gas sector is going to be maintained like this for a long time and we have to be very prudent working with Government as to how we exploit the opportunities for growth in terms of the types of industries we choose to have and dependent on the types of success that we have with the drilling programmes that we have going on at present."

Hudson said that price of the commodities will remain high because of today's high cost of production and the cost of capital in the upstream sector.

"Therefore we have to look very carefully at the sort of downstream industries that we have so as to match the cost of capital in the upstream sector," he said, adding that the other gas producers were just as optimistic about the longevity of the industry.

"We are putting our money where our mouth is," he said. "And we would not be investing US$1 billion if we were not optimistic about the future of this industry."




©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited

quote:

Originally posted by Eric's_Revenge:
Tuesday 8th April, 2008


BGTT president:

Enough gas for all govt projects



Derek Hudson

da bald head guy looks almost like you!

He looks like any afro creole West Indian person, out of many we are one!

quote:

Originally posted by Eric's_Revenge:
He looks like any afro creole West Indian person, out of many we are one!

not everyone has that big round head like yours

PM: Master plan for south west peninsula

Louis B Homer



Tuesday, April 8th 2008(T&T Express)



In the midst of objections from various organisations to the construction of industrial estates along the south west peninsula, Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced yesterday a plan for the industrialisation of the entire area.

The plan includes the development of industrial estates, he said at the formal opening of the new Icacos Government Primary School.

Manning said: "We have now completed a master plan for the development of the southwest peninsula, which will bring this entire part of the country into the mainstream of modern development."

He said the plan envisages the development of the economic, social and physical infrastructure of the area, which will produce vast improvements in roads, bridges, water supply and other community projects.

As far as industrial estates were concerned, Manning said:

"Part of the vision is the establishment of industrial estates appropriately located along the entire south west coast of Trinidad, from Icacos to Point Lisas, with commercial activities which have particular pertinence to the resources and traditional activity of the area."

He singled out the development of the fishing industry, which will be helped with six new ports at strategic locations "at Cap de Ville, South and East Point Lisas, Brighton, Galeota and Moruga".

Manning said these would better enable the industrialisation process as well as the growth of greater global trade for Trinidad and Tobago.

"The ports will stimulate maritime activities as well as the consequential greater supervision of the area, and help in the fight against the illegal drugs and arms which now employs our presently largely unpatrolled coastlines for its pernicious activity," Manning said.

He said the new school replaces one that had become unsuitable for use since 1998 and the children were accommodated at two churches in the community.

He said a decision was taken by Government in 2003 to rebuild the school, and it became the first primary school to be delivered by the newly established Education Facilities Company.

Manning called on the teachers and parents to accept responsibility for the new school, so that the children would receive the maximum benefits from such an institution.

Govt leases 4 ferries for water taxi service


Ariti Jankie South Bureau



Wednesday, April 9th 2008(T&T Express)



After nearly a year of false starts, the San Fernando-Port of Spain water taxi service is at last underway.

Government has finally acquired four foreign used ferries for the service from Europe, it was learned.

The cost of the vessels was not disclosed, but they were said to coming from France. Each is said to be about five years old.

Works Minister Colm Imbert did not want to disclose much about the deal yesterday, but he admitted that "we are looking at the acquisition of four used vessels".

Imbert said the water taxi service will begin within a month of their arrival in Trinidad.

He said it would be "a week or so" before the deal was concluded and that, based on past experience, he was afraid to announce the formal acquisition of the vessels.

"I am virtually afraid to make a statement," he said, explaining that many problems had been encountered with owners and suppliers in the past few months.

He said, however, the four vessels would be used as an interim measure until new ones were acquired.

Imbert said a team of officials from the Work Ministry and National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) had recommended seven potential manufacturers and a choice would be made before ordering new vessels. "An order will be placed for four brand new vessels, which we hope to get in 15 months," he said.

Everything else has been put in place for the start of the water taxi service to operate the San Fernando to Port of Spain route.

In San Fernando, the harbour has been dredged and the finishing touches are being put to the temporary car park and walkway leading to the jetty.

Promising a state of the art facility, workers cleared 7,335 square metres of land at King's Wharf, San Fernando, where a car park was constructed on land leased from the Public Transport Service Corporation to the Ministry. The car park is made up of 260 parking bays, two security booths and a covered walkway between the mobile office and barge facilities.

The $98 million water taxi service was set to start in July last year and has been postponed on several occasions. Officials from the Ministry and Nidco had been searching for vessels in the US, Europe and Egypt and had gone as far as Indonesia, sources said.

Two weeks ago, Imbert announced that Government had approved $40 million for the acquisition of four new vessels to operate the water taxi service.

Trini Major Stephen Blizzard honoured



By ANGELA PIDDUCK Sunday, April 6 2008(T&T Newsday)



In honour of black history month, Canada's Air Force pays tribute to Trinidadian, Major Stephen Blizzard, who despite the many challenges, climbed the ladder in the Canadian Forces and became a role model to all those around him. The 80 year old retiree lives in Ottawa with his wife Merle (nee La Borde).

Blizzard, who studied to be a veternarian in Scotland, practised in Trinidad before moving to Canada in 1958. where he practised for one year before entering the University of Western Ontario's medical school, and there joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Programme to subsidize his studies.

"I spent my summers when I was off school on Bases" Blizzard told Jenn Gearey, a writer of Air Force Articles. "First I went to College Militaire in St Jean, Quebec, and then I was sent to Trenton, Ontario., My next position was at the National Defence Medical Centre (NDMC) in Ottawa, and was one of the first three students to work there."

At that time, Blizzard was treading unchartered territory as a black man, both in medical school and in the Air Force, but didn't think about it much because he says, "I was so busy studying but I remember being the only black guy in my class and one time a classmate asked me, ˜How do you feel being the only black guy in the school? I just laughed and said ˜As good as any and better than most!' I can't say I really struggled with it." When Dr Blizzard graduated in 1963 and finished his medical internship at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, he went back to the NDMC and became the first resident in surgery there.

He spent two years at the Rockcliffe base in Ottawa and then was sent to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, as Base Surgeon.

Having already obtained a Canadian commercial pilot's licence, Dr Blizzard started flying training on jets, in addition to his full time job as Base Surgeon and Flight Surgeon. It was the most difficult thing he had ever done in his life. "The medical staff was very proud of me but some instrcutors weren't too happy. Here was this doctor doing the flying training part time and still keeping pace. But I worked hard; I did ground school on my own and studied in my office from two in the morning."

And ultimately, in 1968, all of Maj Blizzard's hard work paid off. "My Wings graduation day was the proudest moment of my life, it was December 13, 1968. I did my jet training on a Tutor and advanced jet training on a T-33. Shortly after, the T-33s were sent elsewhere and everybody got their Wings on the Tutor." He was then sent to the Royal Canadian Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine in Toronto as deputy commander of the Central Aircrew Medical Board.

It was time to come home to Trinidad to pioneer aviation medicine in his country. After six years, in 1975, Major Blizzard rejoined the Canadian Forces, beginning a whirlwind of postings to Borden, Ontario; Goose Bay, Labrador; and North Bay, Ontario. In 1978, he was the first doctor on site in ˜Operation Magnet', the first airlift of Vietnamese refugees coming to Canada from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "We brought 604 to Canada " he told Gearey.

Then came a posting in Egypt where he earned a United Nations Peacekeeping Medal, followed by one in England where he completed post graduate work in Aviation Medicine in 1980.

He returned to the Surgeon General's office in Canada as the advisor in Aviation Medicine, and in 1981 was sent to Zimbabwe for three months as a Medical Advisor to the Zimbabwe Air Force. In 1983, Major Blizzard went back to emergency duties at NDMC and was deputy commander of the medical clinic at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa., which was home to him.

In retirement from the Forces, Major Blizzard worked in the Department of Civil Aviation Medicine for 12 years as a senior consultant in safety, and later became chief of the department. A highlight of his civil career was a trip to the Soviet Union in 1990 when he visited the city where cosmonauts, and now Western astronauts, train, and to another city where rockets are launched into space.

Major Steve Blizzard has accomplished an invaluable amount of work for Canada's Aviation Medicine, and also internationally, in both military and civil capacity. His work on the effects of pilot fatigue, jet lag, and proper in flight patient care is among the most celebrated.

Saturday 12th April, 2008


Longer trading hours for stock exchange


...as depository receipts se tfor launch




Chairman and chief executive officer of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Osbourne Nurse, second from right; and CEO and General Manager of the T&T Stock Exchange, Wain Iton, right, are all smiles as they discuss the launch of the depository receipts programme with executives of the SEC. From left are, deputy general manager of the SEC, Charles de Silva, and
Susan Francois, legal counsel to the SEC.

Photo: Shirley Bahadur



BY VERNE BURNETT(Trinidad Guardian)



The T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE) is expected to lengthen its trading hours from July to facilitate the introduction of a new kind of security called depository receipts.

The TTSE trades from 9.30 am to noon five days a week.

At a seminar on Tuesday at Jaffar restaurant at the Queen's Park Oval, Woodbrook, TTSE CEO and general manager Wain Iton said the exchange will have to extend trading until 4 pm to accommodate the trade in depository receipts.

The new security is expected to be launched in July.

Iton said the first depository receipts will be based on shares of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). He said RBC shares trade on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges where the trading hours are from 9.30 am to 4 pm.

Iton welcomed the extended trading hours on the local stock exchange. He said, "For me, that's a good thing because we have to represent ourselves as a credible market, which is what the whole five day trading week is about."

Just last week, the exchange began trading five days a week instead of only three.

Depository receipts are derivatives of stocks which are neither listed nor traded on the local stock exchange. Iton said since the foreign securities on which the depository receipts are based will be trading on exchanges which operate all day, then the local exchange will have to trade for the entire business day as well.

Iton was speaking at a seminar organised by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce depository receipts to stockbrokers, and the institutional investing community.

Earlier, SEC chairman and CEO Osbourne Nurse opened the seminar by saying that the introduction of depository receipts was a consequence of the sale of RBTT to RBC. He said RBC had given a commitment to introduce depository receipts.

Nurse explained that in talks with executives of RBTT and RBC prior to the sale of the bank, the SEC had expressed concern about the implications of delisting the RBTT shares from the local stock exchange as intended by RBC.

He said RBTT shares represented 13-15 per cent of the stock market's capitalisation and 25 per cent of the market capitalisation of the banking sector of the market.

He said the SEC felt it would have been too "traumatic" for the market to lose such a large share of its listing at once and asked RBC to replace the RBTT shares with some kind of security.

It was agreed that this would be done via depository receipts based on RBC shares.

Nurse said it was expected that the depository receipts to be issued by RBC would replace almost all of the market capitalisation to be lost by the delisting of the RBTT shares.

He suggested that Mittal Steel Point Lisas Limited could be the next company to take advantage of the depository receipt programme. He said there was a longstanding commitment by Mittal Steel to provide up to 40 per cent of the market value of its local operations to its employees and the local market.

Nurse said Mittal Steel depository receipts are heavily traded in New York and the SEC thought depository receipts would allow Mittal to fulfil its commitment "in a relatively painless way."

He added, "We believe that this is an instrument which, if it were successful, would allow Trinidadians and ultimately people in the region, to have a real active participation in some of the industries that contribute so much to T&T's gross domestic product (GDP) but which we can't buy a share of easily."

The SEC's deputy general manager, Charles de Silva, said the introduction of depository receipts would allow local investors to diversify their portfolios.

He said the SEC would consider it a success if there were 12-20 depository receipt programmes in existence five years from now with the new instruments accounting for at least 10 per cent of total market capitalisation.

Thursday 10th April, 2008



Govt presses on with International Financial Centre



The buildings of the International Waterfront Centre, intended home of the International Financial Centre, under construction at Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
Photo: Edison Boodoosingh



BY ASHA JAVEED(Trinidad Guardian)



Finance Minister Karen Nunez Tesheira is intensifying her pitch for the establishment of an International Financial Centre (IFC) in T&T.

She's on high rotation these days, a week after a two day consultation with stakeholders at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain; her husky sound bytes are heard on the radio; she's been on television talk shows and been quoted in newspaper interviews.

The recent formation of the Securities Dealers Association (SDA) appears to be a curtain-raiser for Nunez-Tesheira's outing.

The tall, sophisticated, Dolce and Gabbana spectacled Nunez Tesheira is an ideal choice to convince the average person of the viability of IFC's. Lecturing at Hugh Wooding Law School was her training ground for public speaking.

"There's nothing quite as challenging as lecturing law students or people who already have an MBA," she said with a smile.

The IFC is one of her top priorities, and key to the Government's diversification strategy since she assumed her portfolio in December.

"The utilisation of our oil and gas revenue to build a modern, viable and competitive financial services sector represents an important public policy initiative in the same way in which the monetisation of gas reserves was utilised to transform the economy from oil-based to gas-based," she said at the opening of the consultation.

It's a topic she's eager to reinforce.

"As the country continues to modernise and diversify, the financial sector has been playing an increasingly important role and since 2000 has been the fastest growing non energy sector at an average rate of 8.2 per cent over the period 2000 to 2007.

"It has outperformed the non-energy sector as a whole which grew at an average rate of 5.6 per cent over the same period. In 2007, the financial services sector contributed 13.5 per cent to GDP."

Impressed by the statistics, she looked across at her marketing officer, Dominic Hinds, who sat in for this Business Guardian interview.

"Did you know that, Dominic?" she asked, almost to check if he was following the conversation. Caught off-guard, a smiling Hinds said yes.

A nod of the head and she quickly continued to outline the benefits of an IFC.

As Nunez-Tesheira tells it, these are the most obvious:

The creation of a sustainable, diversified economic model and its associated employment generation,

The management of front office operations,

The strengthening of the payments system,

the development of a secondary capital market,

the development of a depository receipts market,

increased access to capital for small businesses

the creation of a mini-city with integrated living and office accommodation

T&T's main advantage is its location, which will assist in promoting a core business that consists of a regional "captive market."

"These foreign earnings from the captive market will afford T&T the opportunity to determine how the funds are managed. This development could, in effect, lead to a secondary market providing much needed capital to small and micro enterprise; regional governments and larger companies that require funding at competitive rates; other investment management opportunities and international loans syndication."

Seated in her office at the Eric Williams Financial Complex, formerly occupied by Conrad Enill, who has since moved to the Energy Ministry, Nunez-Tesheira talked fluidly about IFC's around the world, particularly impressed by the models of Dublin and Dubai.

From a politicking MP for D'Abadie /O'Meara, its obvious that she's grown into her role as Finance Minister. Although there's sometimes the word she can't place, which she assumes that the listener would pick up if they have been following the thought process, confidence has sharpened her delivery to one of authority.

She said that the conclusion of the conference left her with one resounding conviction: the need for self-belief.

All the countries which have successfully established IFCs talked about the challenges they encountered.

"There were so many challenges and there was someone who believed in it and made it happen. Because of technology, physical location does not matter. But what came out of the symposium is that people still like to do business in clusters, they like a physical location, somewhat of a mall."

Why is T&T well-positioned?

"Well, we are certainly not coming from the back. We are not coming from that position. We are in a strong position."

What are the things we have going for us?

"I am sure you know them," she said, ticking them off one by one.

"Our foreign exchange reserve is about $6 billion; T&T is the bond issuance capital of the Caribbean; T&T controls about 85 to 88 per cent of the trade in the OECS territories; the coming on stream of a Caribbean Stock Exchange with one order book for trading; investment in Information Technology (IT); a Central Securities Depository is in place; every macro-economic indicator is excellent for T&T; political stability."

She said the Financial Institutions Act and the Securities Industry Act will need to be tailored to the needs of the institutions raising funds on the international market.

"One of the things we are looking at and are excited about is the depository receipts. That is an exciting part."

Symptoms of a developing nation

She said that the Royal Bank of Canada had committed to listing its shares by way of depository receipts on the T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE). A call which she also made to the energy majors of the country.

"We see the depository receipts as exciting. Against all competitors in the Caribbean, it sets us apart. With the Caribbean Stock Exchange coming on board, we see us being at the centre of depository receipts for the Caribbean. That's a financial instrument that has so many pluses."

She said a formal launch of the IFC is scheduled for Q308. The IFC will be housed in two 26 storey towers now under construction at the International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.

The Government's optimism about T&T's future as an International Financial Centre (IFC) is not concomitant with a reality of high food prices, crime, inflation and traffic congestion.

Oftentimes, these are known as symptoms of a developing country.

Yet, how can T&T forge ahead with a future as a regional hub of finance when these circumstances can affect the tenants of a sound financial centre?

It is argued that hours spent in traffic are a loss to productivity, that the country's liquidity and high food prices are fuelling inflation and crime spirals despite efforts to curb it.

The emphasis is placed on the country's economic strength, political stability, infrastructure, which includes roads and airlift and its business infrastructure: regulatory and tax infrastructure framework.

Yet, the IFC is being hailed as a diversification endeavor away from the country's reliance on its energy industry.

"The IFC is supposed to be the replacement of oil and gas. It's the story of diversification away from oil and gas," said economist Jwala Rambarran, managing director of CAP-M Research.

He noted that while there are things that work in T&T's favour, there are limiting factors. Rambarran worked on the position paper on the IFC which looked at how T&T could channel the funds that already flow between the North and South and mediate other significant flows between Russia, Mexico and even China.

"No one would want to work in Port-of-Spain when there are high levels of crime."

Nunez-Tesheira pointed out that crime has not impacted on T&T's expatriate community as the multinationals were still coming.

"I don't want to minimise the impact of crime but what I am saying is that it has not stopped the foreign investment inflows or stopped people from coming. You have to look at the hard data.I don't think, the data does not say that has stopped it. Inflows are still strong and expatriates are still coming without minimising its impact," she told the Business Guardian.

As for inflation, Rambarran concluded that the issue was one of mismanagement of the economy.

"Macromanagement is important for an IFC. Why would a company opt to set up shop to manage other people's money if you can't manage your own economy?" he asked.

"The IFC supports a big expat population who are accustomed to a certain lifestyle. So you have to pitch the living standard to a metropolis level. So the physical infrastructure needs to be managed properly," said Rambarran, with regard to the traffic congestion.

Nunez-Tesheira likened the food challenge to that of a global one.

"I think the food challenge is a challenge internationally. In America, what is their challenge? Credit crunch, rising unemployment and low consumer confidence. Those are their challenges. Does that mean that they are not a success?" she said.

She noted that the price for flour and oil was lower in T&T than the US and Canada.

"Do you know that? And people don't recognise that," she said.

"When you talk about food prices, as I said before, it can't just be a discussion about food. It's poverty. That's what you are really talking about," she said.

For Rambarran, the issue goes further.

"The social situation is going to impact on an IFC. The Government should not see it as a disconnect. We now have growth without development. We are growing fast but our economic growth has not translated into basic development," he said.

The financial sector has been playing
an increasingly important role and since 2000 has been the fastest growing non-energy sector at an average rate of 8.2 per cent over the period 2000 to 2007.


Karen Nunez-Tesheira

Govt commits $190m to Phase 1 of railway project


Ria Taitt Political Editor



Saturday, April 12th 2008(T&T Express)



Picture
cheers! Transport Minister Colm Imbert, second left, raises a toast with officials after yesterday's signing ceremony for the contract of the Trinidad Rapid Rail Transit System at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann's. Also present were Gregory Duquesne, left, of Alstom Transport; Kaisha Ince, Nidco president; and Christian Gazaignes of Bouygues. -Photo: ANISTO ALVES



Government yesterday committed US$30 million (TT$190 million) in expenditure to Phase 1 of the Rapid Rail Transit System. A further US$42 million will be spent on the second portion of this phase, Works Minister Colm Imbert said yesterday.

Phase 1, which involves design and planning, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009.

Speaking at the signing ceremony at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann's, yesterday, Imbert said the contract provides a number of points at which Government has the discretion not to proceed.

However, in such a situation, it would not be able to recover any part of the committed costs of $190 million, which, he said, was "a small figure" in the context of the overall estimated capital costs of the project of US$1.2 billion (TT$7 billion).

The contract was signed between Government and Trinitrain, a consortium comprising Bouygues Construction, Alstom and RATP Development.

Imbert said the first geographical segment of the project the Port of Spain to St Joseph and to Chaguanas route could be operational within three years. He added that when the railway is fully operational by "2012 or 2013", it would have a capacity to move at least 100,000 people daily.

Imbert stated that the procurement exercise was "one of the most transparent in the world".

He said the contract had an anti-corruption clause and Government had no problem with making it public.

He said Government does not have an estimate for the cost of the land acquisition involved in the project.

"We have a ball park figure, which I would prefer not to disclose at this point in time," he said.

He noted that a railway did not take up much space, occupying ten to 11 metres in width, "far less than a road".

"We are going to try and minimise land acquisition but there were some areas where it is inevitable, especially where you come into Port of Spain and it is densely populated," he said.

He added Government may have to go overhead in some locations.

The contract is a design, build, operate and maintain (DBOM) contract, which means that the Consortium would operate and maintain the service for 15 years.

Stating that Government would set the fares, he said "obviously there would be some level of subsidy".

Geographical segments include a Diego Martin to Port of Spain route, Port of Spain to Arima, Arima to Sangre Grande and Curepe to San Fernando.

University launches consultancy company



Sunday, April 13th 2008(T&T Express)



The University of the West Indies (UWI) has launched UWI Consulting, a subsidiary which draws on the expertise at the University and provides advisory and capacity building services across the region and internationally.

Launched on March 5, UWI Consulting will focus on policy analysis and development, programme management and project implementation, governance and organisation management in a wide range of disciplines. The company will offer strategic advice, consultancy and related services on all aspects of management and innovation to businesses, government, international agencies and community organisations.

Carleen Gardner is the CEO of UWI Consulting, which has its headquarters in Castries, St. Lucia and offices at Mona (Jamaica), St. Augustine (Trinidad and Tobago) and Cave Hill (Barbados).

Professor E Nigel Harris, UWI Vice Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of UWI Consulting said the establishment of the consulting company was consistent with the stated aim of the university "to be the first point of call for Caribbean businesses, governments and agencies that need in depth expertise and advice on management, planning and development issue."

"No other organisation knows the Caribbean so well, or is so well connected, or has done so much to influence its development," he noted at the lauch in Barbados.

Describing the University as the largest and most significant concentration of advanced knowledge and technical expertise in the Caribbean region, Professor Harris said that this resource would now be available to everyone who needed it.

"UWI has produced most of the region's prime ministers, has helped to shape the politics, culture and identity of the Caribbean and boasts thousands of graduates who are influential in every walk of life throughout the region and the Diaspora," he said.

International experts to discuss contract practices in Trinidad



Sunday, April 13th 2008(T&T Express)



A team of distinguished international experts on procurement contracts will be in Trinidad for discussions at an international conference in Port of Spain on May 5 and 6.

Sir William Francis, a former president of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers, will lead the team at the conference at the Amabassador Hotel on Procurement and Management of International EPC Contracts. Other members of the team will include Andrew Goddard, QC, who has appeared in many disputes referred to arbitration under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce; Dr Christopher, an engineer and barrister with the firm Elliot of Pitchill Consulting and Akbar Ali, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, attached to the international commercial law firm, AFA Law.

The conference comes in the wake of concerns expressed by the local industry over contract procedures and practices.

Organised by First Forum International Limited, a global leader in training and conferencing, a number of local speakers will also participate in the two day event which will bring together leading experts from the Caribbean and the international community of Caribbean based construction, infrastructure, gas and petro chemical industries.

With particular focus on large scale projects with international contractors, the conference will provide a comprehensive review of different types of contracts for project delivery from employer's design to turnkey EPC and hybrid forms. It will deal with the apportionment of risk, project management, claims, delay analysis and dispute resolution.

Passionate TT humanist had vision



Sunday, April 13 2008(T&T Newsday)



MELBOURNE: EVERY Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning for more than 30 years, a small, modest man carrying a black briefcase would enter the Beaurepaire Swimming Centre at Melbourne University, backstroke 20 laps before visiting the Victoria Market, and then take a bus home.

Neighbours who saw him come and go found him to be gentle and friendly, a good conversationalist who had once written a book or two.

Further afield, Ralph de Boissiere, who has died of kidney failure at home in North Balwyn, aged 100, was known as an outspoken opponent of racism, injustice, greed and corruption, a passionate humanist with a vision of a just society.

He was a powerful voice for the masses.

The identity by which Ralph recognised himself was that of a creative writer. As a young man in Trinidad, where he was born, he tuned in not only to the cadences and dialects of the people as he learned of their sufferings under colonialism, but to their intelligence, their aspirations and their amazing strength. In his teens, he had aspired to become a concert pianist but, discouraged by his family, he turned to his other passion, writing.

In the 1920s, he joined the emerging Beacon Group of writers in Trinidad and is now acknowledged as having been one of the founders of the West Indian literary tradition.

Ralph migrated to Australia in 1948 and worked at GMH in Melbourne and later, the Gas and Fuel Corporation.

He sought out people of like mind and joined the Communist Party from which he later resigned and the Realist Writers group. It became his habit to get up at 4.30am and write; he became the first published author of the Australasian Book Society with his novel Crown Jewel. The ABS also published his Rum and Coca-Cola (1956) and No Saddles for Kangaroos (1964). As well, his musical play Calypso Isle enjoyed a successful season in Melbourne in 1955.

In 1957, he was in a party of Australian writers who travelled to China and the Soviet Union, and the letters he wrote home during the visit gave a detailed and insightful account of those places at a time when they were largely closed to the West.

His novels were translated into eight other languages, but were not published in Britain or even the Caribbean until 1981, when Crown Jewel was met with rave reviews from Salman Rushdie and the New York Review of Books.

Ralph's Tolstoyan breadth of vision he took a course in Russian at Melbourne University in order to read Tolstoy in the original and his respect for the strengths of women in times of crisis are among the traits for which he became noted.

He had left Trinidad because of the strict racial and social demarcations that governed society there and on arrival in Australia was stunned to find how different its practices were. Children at school still had to recite an oath of allegiance to Britain, but an astonishingly egalitarian climate prevailed.

On his first day at work on the assembly line at GMH, he almost ducked for cover when one of the workers looked up at the boss passing by and called him by his first name. "G'day, Harry," replied the boss. "How're your wife and kids?"

Ralph never lost the joy of finding that here, he was, after all, a man. This was the start of his becoming a genuine Australian, a pride he was describing again less than a week before he died.


Ralph de Boissiere...died in Australia.

The article forgot to mention he is also a cousin to Dr Eric Williams.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Eric's_Revenge,

Tourists still safe despite crime



Monday, April 14 2008(T&T Newsday)



Tourism Minister Joseph Ross said his Ministry has embarked on a programme to implement mechanisms to safeguard tourists and ensure they enjoy their stay while in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Ministry of Tourism's role is to ensure TT is made as safe as possible for both visitors and residents, he said.

His comments came yesterday at the Second Annual Tourism Family Fun Day held at the Greens North of the Kayak Centre, Chaguaramas. Ross said that under his leadership for the past four months and a half, some of the measures put in place include the posting of security at the nation's beaches and the move to advise and disseminate information on criminal activities in Trinidad and Tobago.

Ross expressed great confidence in his Ministry and the Government as he said that they are working closely to address the matter of spiralling crime.

"Rome was not built in a day," he said. He explained that the Government is working arduously to put things in place to prepare a proper system where gang warfare and other forms of crime will become a thing of the past.

President of the Trinidad and Tobago In Coming Tour Operators' Association Lorraine Pouchet explained that the day's proceedings was geared towards exposing the variety of destinations and attractions available to the visiting public.

She said that the her contingent along with other arms of the Tourism Ministry are actively involved in a programme to promote the wonders of the islands to not only tourist, but also to those who live here.

She said that her greatest desire is for the people of TT to appreciate what they have at home. She added that the "uniqueness" of the people and the "combinations of cultures" were irreplaceable assets that Trinidad and Tobago possessed.

She said that although crime was prevalent it did not "drastically" change the local tourism industry, since crime is an international problem. She used Jamaica as an example, saying that although they have a high crime rate, tourist arrivals are consistent.

The inclement weather did not put a damper on yesterday's itinerary as Ross accompanied other participants on tours throughout the Chaguaramas area.


Ross' Ride: Tourism Minister Joseph Ross gets some assistance from a cyclist as he gets ready to go on a bike trail at yesterday's Second Annual Tourism Family Fun Day held at the Greens North of the Kayak Centre, Chaguaramas.

GTL Plant to deliver cleaner diesel


first such commercial venture in Western Hemisphere



By Raffique Shah


picture and source
Wednesday, April 16th 2008(T&T Express Business section)



THE highly touted gas to liquids (GTL) plant at the Petrotrin refinery may be one year behind schedule in becoming operational. Its cost has risen from US$170 million to US$240 million. And the "new" plant is really an idle methanol plant from the USA that was scrapped, stripped and shipped to Pointe a Pierre, now re-assembled, and being fully refurbished and upgraded.

But World GTL (T'dad) Limited's chief operating officer, Carlos Contreras, who heads a team of 55 employees that is overseeing the construction and commissioning of the first such plant in the Western Hemisphere, is confident it will be a resounding success.

Speaking at his Marabella head office, Contreras, a former Energy Minister in Bolivia, said although the plant at Petrotrin was World GTL's first such venture, he was confident it will blaze a trail for many more similar projects as oil prices shoot through the roof, and demand for clean energy increases worldwide.

"In many ways, GTL is a fuel of the future," he told Business Express. "We expect to produce 2,200 barrels per day (bpd) of 'clean' diesel which will exceed current world standards. Our fuel will be sulphur free and carry a Cetane rating of 74, way higher than the 38-to-51 ratings of diesel currently being produced here from Nigerian crude."

GTL is not new technology it was developed in 1920 by two German scientists, after whom the Fischer Tropsch Synthesis process, which the local plant will use, was named. During World War II, when Hitler's armed forces were starved for fuel, its scientists were able to make diesel from coal using the Fischer Tropsch process.

And in the 1950s, when apartheid South Africa faced a world trade embargo, that country, too, developed and used diesel and paraffin, also made from coal. Today, GTL, which is cleaner than conventional fuel, is a synthetic liquid fuel derived from natural gas.

Speaking about delays in construction, Contreras said most energy sector projects worldwide had to contend with the few global firms that specialise in critical components for such plants being stretched beyond their limits. "Ours is not the only energy related project that suffered delays," he added. "But we were fortunate coming to a country that has a rich history and much experience in the oil, gas and downstream energy sector.

Besides 90 per cent of our staff for the planning and operational phases being nationals of this country, our main sub-contractors are local." He cited Damus, Weldfab and Insertech as the three main local contractors.

Ventech, a Houston, Texas company, specialises in dismantling old plants and reconstructing them, performed that role for World GTL.

"We now expect to start production in the last quarter of 2008," Contreras said. The locally-registered company that will run the plant is a joint venture between Petrotrin (49 per cent) and World GTL (51 per cent). During the construction phase the contractors employed up to 800 persons, many of whom are still on the job. When it becomes operational, its staffing will comprise around 100 persons.

In what way will this plant add to Petrotrin's profitability, seeing that the national oil company is the minority partner in the venture?

Contreras responded: "Oh, several. In the first instance, we shall buy all our feedstock (natural gas) from Petrotrin. As an added benefit, the plant will attempt to utilise gas from existing fields that are currently shut-in, or gas that is being flared or re-injected. So our daily requirements of 21 million cubic feet (mcf) will, in part, be met from gas that is not now being utilised.

The joint venture will then sell the 2,200 bpd of GTL to Petrotrin, to be blended at a ratio of at least 20 per cent GTL to 80 per cent regular diesel to meet superior emissions standards. Petrotrin then sells the finished diesel and makes even greater profits."

The premium diesel and paraffin coming out of the joint venture will fetch higher prices than what is now paid for low grade diesel. Petrotrin currently produces around 7,000 bpd of diesel. Paraffin numbers were not readily available, but Contreras pointed out that a derivative of this product (known locally as kerosene) is used as Jet A-1 fuel. "The potential is enormous," Contreras added. "Airbus, France's big aircraft manufacturer, is already experimenting with use of GTL fuels. And several motor vehicle companies have begun using the synthetic fuel."

In Qatar, which boasts of the largest proven gas reserves in the world (900tcf), several GTL plants are either on stream or under construction. Oryx GTL Ltd. was established in January 2003 as a joint venture company between Qatar Petroleum (51%) and South Africa's Sasol (49%). The design capacity of the project is 34,000 bpd of diesel. Qatar

Petroleum and Sasol/Chevron have signed a MOU for the Oryx expansion project that will support the planned increase in the output of the foundation plant to 100,000 bpd.

Shell's GTL is an integrated project which will develop about 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas to produce approximately 140,000 bpd of synthetic fuels and base oils. The project will be developed in two phases with the first phase operational in 2009. Sasol/Chevron submitted a proposal in July 2002 for an integrated upstream/downstream GTL project to produce 120,000 bpd of GTL product in two phases.

And to underscore his confidence in the synthetic fuel, Shell's country manager in Qatar, Andrew Brown, drives a GTL powered Audi sedan to show how the fuel burns quietly and without the smell of early forms of diesel. In fact, Shell V-Power Diesel is already available in parts of Europe. Other companies involved in GTL projects in Qatar are ExxonMobil, PetroCanada, Occidental and ConocoPhillips.

Reuters quoted Qatar Energy Minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah as saying: "It's time to take the genie out of the bottle. We want to be the capital of the world for this new age of fuels."

GTL holds immense potential. Its fuels can be made from any hydrocarbon gas, coal, factory sludge and carbon, according to one industry source. Global production potential stands at 27 million bpd. Global oil consumption stands at around 80 million bpd. Its other attributes, says World GTL, are:

GTL fuel is a synthetic fuel, produced from natural gas by chemical transformation.

GTL fuel can be made from any hydrocarbon - gas, coal, factory sludge, even garbage - the daily supply of which could create 27 million barrels of GTL fuel each day.

GTL fuel is clean: it is non-toxic, biodegradable, and does not contain nitrogen or sulfur.

GTL Diesel is pollution free with no sulfur, aromatics, or toxic ingredients so pure that one can even drink it; it's simply hydrogen and carbon.

Blending just 20 per cent GTL diesel with conventional diesel results in a fuel that exceeds nearly all international environmental standards for 2015.

The technologies to manufacture GTL gasoline and diesel refining crude oil and to distribute them to end users through pipelines, road and rail tankers are well known, cost effective, and largely in place, making GTL a realizable alternative fuel option.

World GTL will be the first GTL producer in the Western Hemisphere, further reducing many travel costs and inconveniences.

World GTL owns a patented process for converting idle methanol reactors into GTL plants, which will bring a refinery online sooner.

According to a 2006 industry report, worldwide, gas to liquids production is set to grow rapidly over the next decade. "It joins fuel sources like bitumen, which is mined in vast open pit operations in Canada, and ethanol, which is widely consumed in sugar cane rich Brazil, in easing reliance on crude oil for transportation. A small experimental plant also exists in Ponca City, Oklahoma, though gas to liquids production in the United States is likelier to one day come from coal since the nation's natural gas is expensive and in short supply."

Malaysia (where Shell's first pilot GTL plant was commissioned) and Qatar are not the only countries in the race to corner the old-new technology for cleaner transportation fuels.

Reuters reported: "Qatar is not alone in what may be the largest multinational experiment with alternative fuels. Chevron is building another US$3 billion complex in Nigeria to produce 34,000 barrels a day. Syntroleum, an Oklahoma company, is attempting to advance similar ventures in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, while in Algeria, companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil of Norway and Sasol of South Africa are vying for a project focused on that country's Tinhert gas field. Energy companies are also targeting gas rich nations such as Australia, Iran, Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago for projects."

Reuters reported: "Qatar is not alone in what may be the largest multinational experiment with alternative fuels. Chevron is building another US$3 billion complex in Nigeria to produce 34,000 barrels a day. Syntroleum, an Oklahoma company, is attempting to advance similar ventures in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, while in Algeria, companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil of Norway and Sasol of South Africa are vying for a project focused on that country's Tinhert gas field. Energy companies are also targeting gas rich nations such as Australia, Iran, Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago for projects."

On the prospects of more GTL plants being constructed here, World GTL says: "We would like there to be additional plants based on the success of this plant. The development of this industry would give an additional diversification for natural gas use in Trinidad. World GTL (Trinidad) Limited was formed by Petrotrin and World GTL to build and operate this plant and to develop additional GTL projects. So we hope those additional plants will be WGTL projects."

The company adds: "With investment in GTL, almost all the value added is in Trinidad. GTL produces products that are needed and used by the local or regional market. GTL diesel reduces the emissions from diesel fuelled trucks, buses and cars. With LNG, only a portion of the value added is in Trinidad as there are significant investments required to transport and re-gasify LNG."

Mega farms, mega headache?



By Denise Balgobin Sunday, February 10 2008(T&T Newsday)



Many citizens feel that the Government's plan to create several mega farms at different locations throughout Trinidad and Tobago could not have come at a better time.

This is because it has become increasingly difficult to meet the high cost of food items and fresh produce at the groceries and markets.

In the past few months, the prices of several staple items such as milk, flour, chicken and oil have increased, while vegetables and root crops seem be getting out of the reach of the average buyer.

Mega farms are proposed to be located at Jerningham (108 acres for vegetable crops); Edinburgh (354 acres for vegetable crops); Orange Grove (100 acres for vegetable crops); Caroni (100 acres for root crops and rice); La Gloria (364 acres for mixed farming and livestock); Mon Jaloux (417 acres for integrated farming, livestock and aquaculture); Picton Estate (1,201 acres for livestock, tree crops and root crops); and Chaguaramas (200 acres operated in collaboration with the government of Cuba for root crops, rice production, mixed farming, livestock and integrated farming).

With these mega farms in operation, citizens hope that food production will increase while prices will decrease drastically. However, it may be coming at a cost to another agricultural sector.

Workers at the government owned Chaguaramas Agricultural Development Project (CADP) at Tucker Valley have expressed concern for the future of agriculture in the country if proposed plans continue for the Chaguaramas mega farm.

This is because lands that the CADP currently use form part of the 200-acre plot set out for the mega farm, and its creation would mean the closure of the CADP project on that site.

The CADP is the seed production plant for the country, producing all the seeds for crops grown locally and some for export to the Caribbean region.

Acting Foreman Ian "Chapel" Joseph revealed to Sunday Newsday that since October last year, the workers have been fearful, not just for their jobs, but also the future of seed production.

"At that time, we were asked to demonstrate our operations to three Cuban nationals, who we were told would be part of the contingent working with the TT Government to establish the mega farm."

Joseph said he took the Cubans, along with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture on a tour of the seed project. "After that, we heard rumours that we were to be relocated to an area in El Carmen, while the Chaguaramas lands would be allocated to the mega-farm.

"We were given confirmation of the relocation (scheduled for March) a few weeks ago by an official of the CADP, who instructed us to start stock-piling seeds, since production would not be started immediately at El Carmen."

CADP workers believe the Government is on a path of destroying agriculture instead of developing it, since the relocation to El Carmen would incur millions of dollars in cost. Also the land in that area, they claim, is not the best for growing any type of crop.

"We already have all the infrastructure and equipment here at Chaguaramas, so why do they want to move us to a site where crops may not even grow properly?" they questioned. "Also we were told the Cubans would be under a three year contract for the Chaguaramas mega-farm, so we want to know what will happen after that time. Will they be training local persons to plant there?"

The CDAP currently has 58 employees, down from the initial required number of 200. "Every year, people retire but the Government doesn't hire replacements, so the ones left often have to perform duties other than what they are paid for," Joseph stated.

"People I have trained as apiarists have to spray crops sometimes, or manually dry seeds, and vice versa. It seems that there was always a plan to shut down this project and now they are doing it under the guise of creating a mega farm to increase food production."

Sunday Newsday made several requests for information on the mega-farms from the Ministry of Agriculture, with no positive response.


DRYING SEEDS: Apiarist Winston Caldeira manually drying seeds.

CORN FIELD: A newly planted corn field.

CHECKING BODI: Winston Caldeira and Ian "Chapel" Joseph check bodi plants for harvesting.

NEW HARVESTER: A newly purchased harvester for legume crops.

A commodities market for T&T?


By Juhel Browne



Wednesday, April 16th 2008(T&T Express)




Trinidad and Tobago's proposed International Financial Centre (TTIFC) could become the location for a commodities market that would trade in oil and other natural resources.

At least, this was the idea that was proposed for the TTIFC during a symposium on the centre held recently at the Hyatt Regency hotel, in Port of Spain.

That suggestion which came from an unidentified participant during a closed door session at the symposium was disclosed by Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira during an interview with the Business Express last week.

"We are looking at, although, it is still under consideration, maybe we could look at a commodities market," Nunez-Tesheira said.

And she dismisses any suggestion that such an idea is either ridiculous or not practical for this country which earns most of its revenue from the energy sector especially as oil is now trading at more than US$100 per barrel.

"In terms of the energy sector and that is just a thought... there was a consultation and in the context of the consultation that was thrown up," Nunez-Tesheira said.

She said the point of such events was not just to present the Government's plan for any new initiative, but to get ideas from the participants as well.

"That was something that came, that was put forward on the table not by the Ministry of Finance, but it was put on the table by someone whose views I would have respect for. So I am not going to throw it out without considering it," Nunez Tesheira said.

She said that with regard to the TTIFC, "we have to put ourselves where we are best suited".

"We have areas that are our strength and we have to build on our strength," Nunez-Tesheira said.

She said the Finance Ministry's consultant on the TTIFC, Oliver Wyman, carried out analyses in which they benchmarked Trinidad and Tobago "against 14 IFCs to see where we stood and they are in the process of developing the value proposition determining where Trinidad and Tobago's position is in terms of a financial services sector."

"What is the market that we need to get into because we can't be all things to everyone.

We recognise we have to create our particular niche and certainly that has been part of the discourse with the consultant. They have done a tremendous amount of work and the symposium was intended to get the input of the various stakeholders to see where they thought Trinidad and Tobago should be as a financial services sector," Nunez-Tesheira said.

She said that the symposium showed that the Ministry and the participants "were on the same page" in this regard.

Nunez-Tesheira said some of the ideas focused on include:

The capital markets for Trinidad and Tobago

Developing the secondary bond market

Strengthening and diversifying the financial instruments

The proposed depository receipts system that would allow local investors to invest in foreign stocks that would be listed on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE).

Nunez-Tesheira also said the major financial institutions that are to be housed in the TTIFC would not be the only ones to benefit from the centre as there will be a "spill over effect" for those who provide services such as catering, transportation, accommodation, security and so on.

"That ripple effect would go on in the economy... It also allows the man on the street to participate in a wider way in the development of our financial markets because if you're gonna be a financial centre, clearly one of the things we have to do is to broaden and widen and deepen the financial instruments available," Nunez-Tesheira said.

Energy Minister calls for hybrid cars



HYBRID vehicles may soon replace lead emitting forms of transport on the nation's roads, if government has its way, according to Energy Minister Conrad Enill.

He insisted that Government was concerned about the impact of lead emission on the environment and called for the adoption of friendly modes of transport.

Speaking at the formal opening of the renovated headquarters of Toyota T&T Ltd in Barataria on Wednesday, Enill said that at a time when oil prices were at an all time high over US$115 on the New York Futures market on Wednesday and as T&T was witnessing increasing numbers of vechicles on the nation's roadways, preserving the environment was more crucial than ever.

"With the continual rise of fuel prices and the effects of emissions on the environment, I wait in anticipation to see Hybird Synergy Drive car available as a solution to the environmental challenges that we all face," he said.

The minister lauded Toyota's push for hybrid automobiles on the international market, being the first company to commercially mass-produce and sell such vehicles.

Enill cited the company's innovative spirit which he said was in keeping with transport innovation.

Toyota is presently testing a plug-in hybrid vehicle which could have even lower environmental impact than existing hybrids.

"T&T as a developing society must continue with our efforts to protect and preserve the environment. We must now look for cheaper and more environmentally friendly modes of transportation. We also need to preserve the environment and the impact of the environment on human health," he said.

Enill added: "T&T as a developing society must continue with our efforts to protect and preserve the environment. In 2004, we took the decision to phase out leaded gasoline from the T&T market."

He reminded the gathering of plans by the Patrick Manning administration to modernise the transportation network with major highways criss crossing the country and a light rail transit system connecting the major population centres, which he said would soon benefit citizens.

Understanding that it could be sometime before this car of the future rolls out of showrooms onto the nation's roads, Enill said Government has embarked on several initiatives in response to the looming emission crisis.

Topping the list is the construction of a multi-product fuel pipeline to allow safe and efficient transportation of fuel products from the Point-a-Pierre refinery and a new fuel depot and loading facility is to be constructed in Caroni for automotive fuel.

According to Enill, this would improve security of supply and eliminate environmental and health risks associated with road transportation.

"The construction of a new gantry in the Caroni region will facilitate the deliveries of fuels to service stations in north Trinidad and will help to increase efficiency of fuel distribution between the refinery and north Trinidad and the airport. The pipelines are scheduled to be commissioned by the second quarter of 2009."

Interchange bridge makes a move



By ROXANNE STAPLETON-WHYMS Saturday(T&T Newsday)



A TECHNOLOGICAL first for this country will take place on Monday morning, when the bridge for the $321 million interchange will be pushed across the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Valsayn.

The project's contractor, Vinci Construction Grands Projects, will commence "pushing the bridge across the Churchill Roosevelt Highway over the eastbound lanes of traffic."

A statement from the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIDCO), in partnership with the Works and Transport Ministry, yesterday said the "movement would be a dramatic moment for all, as the interchange bridge will be visibly crossing three lanes."

NIDCO's communications specialist Majid Mohammed told Newsday that the interchange project is well within budget and on schedule for delivery in November.

The exercise is expected to take place at about 7.45 am at rush hour.

NIDCO said the process would not disrupt the traffic flow, curious commuters are likely to stop for a peek at the bridge at the Uriah Butler and Churchill Roosevelt highways intersection.

Traffic normally piles up for simple fender-benders on the highway, as drivers slow down and glance at the vehicles involved, so it is expected that eyes will divert to what will be transpiring overhead.


Work in progress: In this file photo, a construction worker is busy at the interchange project site at the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Valsayn.

Flyover 'flies over': Cars drive past the partly constructed flyover at the intersection of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway and the Uriah Butler Highway yesterday. Several weeks ago after the media viewed the shifting of the flyover across two lanes, it has now been extended further across more lanes.
Author: Roger Jacob

On the move: A truck transports a steel beam bound for the site of the interchange at the intersection of the Uriah Butler and Churchill Roosevelt highways yesterday.

BRIDGE PUSH: The steel structure of the bridge hangs over the Churchill Roosevelt and Uriah Butler Highways as cars pass beneath. The final push of the bridge took place last Thursday. The project is expected to be completed at the end of November this year.
Author: ISHMAEL SALANDY

Taking notes: Engineering students take notes as the west to south ramp of the overpass is pushed across the intersection of the Churchill and Uriah Butler Highways yesterday.

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Three days of jazz


Friday, April 25 2008(T&T Newsday)



THE PICTURESQUE fishing village of Plymouth, Tobago, will transform into what Forbes Traveler has described as "one of the world's coolest music festivals" this weekend.

For three glorious days, jet setters, international partygoers and music lovers from around the world will descend upon the island to revel in the melodious sounds of root music, covering the genres of soul, funk, blues, reggae and jazz.

The Plymouth Jazz Festival has thrilled audiences for three consecutive years with powerhouse performances by music's finest entertainers at the Fort James/Plymouth Recreational Field.

Barrett LaRoda, CEO of the LaRoda Group will once again produce the event in conjunction with executive producer, Anthony Maharaj, CEO of Music Radio 97, Ebony 104, Radio 90.5 and ieTV Channel 1.

The fourth annual celebration, sponsored by CL Financial, parent company of Angostura1919, Clico and CIB, boasts legendary icons Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Shakira as headliners. Smokey Robinson, Peabo Bryson, James Ingram, En Vogue, and Steel Pulse are also scheduled to partake in the festivities.

Ricky Minor will serve as musical producer. LaRoda has worked tirelessly for several years to position the Plymouth Jazz Festival Tobago as the crème de la crème of music festivals, diligently collaborating with the Tobago House of Assembly.

Past festivals have successfully paved the way having hosted Stevie Wonder, Sting, Sir Elton John, Sean Puffy Combs, Gladys Knight, Earth, Wind & Fire, Mary J Blige, Natalie Cole, Babyface and LL Cool J to name a few. "We have worked tirelessly in taking this year's festival to the next level," said CL Financial's chairman, Lawrence Duprey.

"Our primary goal has always been to brand the island as the tourism capital of the Caribbean." "The island's white sand beaches are the perfect backdrop for three days of unforgettable entertainment," adds LaRoda.

"It is the most unbelievable experience. The concerts just keep getting bigger and better. We are already planning for our fifth anniversary celebration and it is going to be simply mind blowing!" The Pymouth Jazz Festival Tobago is marketed throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, North America and the Caribbean.

This weekend's line-up is as follows"

TODAY

Showtime "” 7 pm

James Ingram, Peabo Bryson, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson

TOMORROW

Showtime "” 6pm

Steel Pulse, En Vogue, Shakira

SUNDAY

Showtime "” 5 pm

Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart.



Diana Ross

Rod Stewart

WHITNEY HOUSTON

Smokey Robinson

Peabo Bryson

Shakira

Locals may soon invest in Microsoft, Google


Curtis Rampersad


Saturday, April 19th 2008(T&T Express Business News)


Local investors are expected to get the chance to buy and sell shares of foreign publicly listed companies through depositary receipts by mid June or July.

Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Osborne Nurse said yesterday he will take the necessary draft legislation to make depositary receipts a reality to Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira and Cabinet next week.

The draft could become law by the end of May, after which the first sponsored receipts could be issued for Royal Bank of Canada shares which are traded in the United States after the US$2.2 billion deal for the takeover of RBTT by RBC is finalised.

A depositary receipt is a type of negotiable financial security that is traded on a local stock exchange but represents a security that is issued by a foreign publicly listed company.

During a workshop on the topic at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at Invaders Bay, Port of Spain, yesterday, the SEC showed a slide presentation which suggested that local investors might have the opportunity to buy and sell stocks through depositary receipts in foreign companies like BP, IBM, Google and Microsoft.

This will depend on if an issuer (like a brokerage house) can provide the depositary receipts for investors to buy into.

It provides a chance for investors who don't have access to trade online or can't afford to buy a share in a company like Google which trades at hundreds of US dollars per share to buy a fraction of a stock unit in these companies in TT dollars.

Nurse described the depositary receipt concept as the "'next best thing since sliced bread" for local investors and added that the time was right for the introduction of this activity.

He said depositary receipts would provide an "excellent incentive" for people to indirectly own foreign stock and would also be an avenue to soak up excess liquidity in the financial system as well as provide an injection into the local stock market.

If people, especially RBTT shareholders who will split about $8 billion in cash when the RBC deal is completed, invest in depositary receipts, it could take some of the money out of the system and also reduce inflation, other SEC analysts said during the workshop.

Diana Ross rules the night



By Vashty Maharaj Sunday, April 27 2008(T&T Newsday)



SHE CAME, she sang and she conquered. All over again. But this time she was able to do her full one hour presentation, complete with dramatic costume changes and the assurance that Tobago was "her house" and she was going to live it up right here, right now.

Lady Diana Ross, the diva of divas, captured the hearts of the more than 9,000 strong audience at the Plymouth Jazz Festival on Friday night with a seemingly effortless performance as she segued from hit to hit to hit, much to the delight of the crowd that had surged to their feet the moment she made her dramatic entrance on the Tobago stage.

Included in that crowd were the likes of President George Maxwell Richards, Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his wife, Local Government Minister Hazel Manning and, most noteworthy given his recent fallout with Mr Manning, Diego Martin West MP Keith Rowley.

There were claims by some in the VIP section that Dr Rowley was shunned by some of his Cabinet colleagues there that night, but the MP made his presence known as he was seen laughing and chatting and glad handing patrons at the front of the VIP section and in full view of the media. Dr Rowley charmingly (really!) declined to speak to the media but said he was "feeling fine".

It is doubtful whether Prime Minister Manning and Dr Rowley encountered each other at any point since the PM and most of his Cabinet colleagues and THA members were in a VVIP section located at the back and above the general admission section. It was near impossible to see those who were in that section and photographers were denied the opportunity to take any pictures of the elected people's representatives.

It was suggested, though, that they had the worst seats in the house since one would have needed binoculars to properly appreciate the show from that position. Some ministers may have agreed as the likes of Colm Imbert and Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira were seen enjoying the ambience of the regular VIP section. Minister Tesheira in particular seems to have had a ball.

But even though the movers and shakers were out and about, lively with drink and bonhomie, the night truly belonged to Diana Ross. At the Plymouth Jazz Festival in 2007 the predictably unpredictable songstress sought the sympathy and raised the ire of her audience when she told them that she had been asked to cut short her performance. A stunned and bewildered crowd was then left with the departing notes of "I Will Survive" as the woman they had all come to see left the stage in a true diva like huff.

She returned triumphant to Plymouth this year, starting her performance with her signature opening number "I'm Coming Out" and easily moved into hits from her Motown days including "Baby Love" and "Stop In the Name of Love". From there it was a move into hit upon hit including "The Theme From Mahogany", "It's My House", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and ending with her closing number "I Will Survive".

There were those last year who said that when she was forced to cut short her performance she was denied the chance to appear in the national colours of red, white and black to show her appreciation for the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Whether this was true or not the international icon did make three costume changes from a vibrant red, flamenco style costume to a stunning besparkled white number and then a glitzy black number.

But Ms Ross was not the only artiste of the night who stirred the 9,000 plus audience members, the highest recorded on a Friday night in the four years of the jazz festival, according to organisers.

James Ingram crooned his way into the hearts of the audience as he presented his hits including "100 Ways", "Just Once", "The Music Never Ends," "I Don't Have the Heart" and many others. Ingram's voice was as strong as ever, his passionate tones as rich and vibrant as ever. It is no wonder that his hits continue to be played over and over again on local and international radio stations.

His music will never end. Ingram, the only artiste of the night to agree to speak to the local and international media gathered for the event, said that he had enjoyed his time in Tobago and was ready to come back whenever he was called. He described Tobago as "da bomb".

Peabo Bryson, looking stunning in a white suit, captured the hearts of the ladies with his many hits, beginning with "Can You Stop the Rain" and including his international charting "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)" which he originally sang with Regina Belle.

But if there was a man of the night it was Diana Ross' longtime pal, Smokey Robinson who had the crowd in the palm of his hands as he presented his amazing body of work. Looking spiffy in a pale blue suit, complete with ruffled shirt, the 68 year old artiste spent about an hour on stage, seemingly as in love with his audience as they were with him.

Audience members sang along with most of his hits and he at times gave them free rein as they sang entire lines of hits like "Tears of a Clown" and his enduring hit "Cruisin'" which even the youngest members of the audience seemed to know well enough to sing along to. Smokey smoked up the night and he may remember this one as fondly as his audience will.

Kes the Band closed the night on a high note, although, as last year, most audience members chose to leave after the final foreign act. It was their loss. Giving a high energy performance worthy of any international stage, Kes and Nadia Batson and band sang their hearts out for "the true Trinbagonians" who had stayed behind.

And the band took the opportunity to show their versatility when they put down a truly remarkable cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" accompanied by Kes' mom and another soprano. The local band did the country proud on Friday night.


SUPERSTAR Diana Ross, looking stunning in her red gown, captivated the large crowd at the
Plymouth Jazz Festival on Friday night with a power-packed performance of severalof her hits.

Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira and WASA CEO Errol Grimes in the crowd at the show.

Sacked Trade Minister Dr Keith Rowley in the VIP section on Friday night.

773 former Caroni workers start planting crops


Ariti Jankie South Bureau



Tuesday, April 29th 2008(T&T Express)



DESPITE varying degrees of soil acidity on two acre plots of land allocated to 7,800 former Caroni (1975) Ltd workers, 773 farmers have started cultivating crops at 17 agricultural sites on the former Caroni sugar estate.

Chief Executive Officer of Caroni, Deosaran Jagroo, said yesterday that soil scientists and other experts have been working with the new Caroni farmers to treat the land before cultivation.

He said most of the two acre plots were ready, and farmers were planting sweet potatoes, pigeon peas, hot peppers, melongene, bodi, ochro, sweet peppers, patchoi, pimento, banana, sorrel, celery, pineapple, eddoes, caraili pumpkin, tomato, corn, cucumber, watermelon and lettuce.

Jagroo said seven major crops have been cultivated, including 67 acres of sweet potatoes, 36 acres of cassava, 20 acres of eddoes, 85 acres of pineapple, 15 acres of hot peppers and 14 acres of tomatoes.

He said more farmers were expected to begin cultivation as a result of the current favourable market and the existing leap year weather conditions.

A former Caroni worker who has started land preparation at Exchange Village, Couva, said he spent $300 to plough the two acre plot and purchased 76 hundred pound bags of limestone at $25 each to treat the soil.

"A soil test was done free of charge and recommendation made by Government experts," he said, adding he would be specialising in peas and eddoes.

Other farmers have been planting bodi, ochroes and watermelon on the Exchange sector.

Farmers said growing food crops had been a lifelong hobby and despite the challenges, they were ready to plant the land.

Anil Ramnarine, of the Cunupia Farmers Association Cooperative Limited, said land preparation began with "brush cutting" the land to clear it of weeds. The land is then ploughed to loosen the soil, treated with limestone and manure and rotated before cultivation. He said there was currently a shortage in supply of limestone, available at quarries.

"The construction industry has been using limestone for landfills and have used up most of the available supply," he said, adding farmers also face difficulties in getting manure.

"Cattle manure is scarce and poultry litter insufficient," he said, noting farmers had no choice but to purchase fertilisers at exorbitant prices.

He suggested that former Caroni workers plant pumpkin, corn, cassava, pigeon peas and patchoi, which he said were better suited to the type of soil on the Caroni estate. He called on Government to provide irrigation and access road to the new farmers.

"Government must step up if they are serious about food security," Ramnarine added.

He pointed out hat chemicals and fertilisers should be subsidised and labour mobilised to improve conditions in the agricultural sector.

Farmers, he said, had also been suffering huge losses as a result of praedial larceny and something must be done.

De Montbrun: Let us see agriculture moving


By Curtis Rampersad



Wednesday, April 23rd 2008(T&T Express Buisness section)


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Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson, left, TTMA President Karen de Montbrun, centre, and Trade Minister Dr Keith Rowley, right, share the main table during last week's TTMA annual general meeting. Photo: Curtis Chase



The audience nodded appreciatively as newly re-elected Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association president Karen de Montbrun quoted a solution for the crisis in agriculture last week.

"The solution must be found in the Caribbean Community countries as a group and not unilaterally in each country," she quoted.

The several hundred businessmen listening to de Montbrun at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel in Port of Spain were taken aback when she told them this solution had come from a speech made by the country's first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams, 30 years ago.

"Thirty years later we are still in discussion but we must act. In the midst of the understandable panic that surrounds us, panic driven by high prices and issues of access to goods, we must also understand that the global agricultural crisis means there are opportunities," she told TTMA members during the organisation's 52nd annual general meeting last Wednesday.

The transformation of the country's agricultural industry into a higher value added industry must position us not just to ensure our own food security but to take advantage of these opportunities, she maintained.

The TTMA has called on Government to make a visible move into agriculture.

"Let the citizens see irrigation, drainage and roads being built in the infamous Caroni lands which were promised to their tenants, let us see the model large farms side by side with the small farmers, let us see praedial larceny being tackled, let us see subsidised fertilisers and incentives for farmers' production, let us see inroads into Guyana," she said. "Let us see agriculture moving more quickly than this hotel grew and let us see opportunities for manufacturers using available crops to enter into the very lucrative Caribbean export market."

Alternate energy and agriculture are two areas that the TTMA sees for extensive collaboration and development.

De Montbrun said: "In essence, I have used them as case studies to make the point that there are significant opportunities, right now, that we can and must take advantage of."

On another subject, de Montbrun said local manufacturers were keen to see the financial centre of T&T materialise and were cognizant of the potential benefits of it in terms of sustainable employment and diversification.

"At the same time, however, we must make the point that, to the best of our knowledge, no country can become a successful financial hub without the strong and viable capital market," she said, adding that the trend of globalisation requires that companies of the Caribbean need new sources of capital in order to compete effectively in the growing global marketplace.

"Capital also allows us to buy new equipment, increase productivity and offer better services," she said.

The regional stock exchange can provide a market for buying and selling a variety of securities, de Montbrun suggested.

"This gives entrepreneurs a powerful new vehicle for raising capital to support modernisation, expansion, new employment opportunities and economic growth," she added.

On the concept of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, de Montbrun maintained that it was time to make this a reality.

"With globalisation; the imminent competition due to the erosion of preferential treatment; T&T's relatively small market size and the resulting inability to dictate the direction of world trade, it is imperative that manufacturers become innovatively competitive, creating new paradigms for answers to these shifts in trends," she said. "The TTMA believes that CSME is the machinery to get things started via a strategy to become gradually efficient through competition with producers and manufacturers of similar sizes as us in the western hemisphere."

Int'l youth forum on climate change



By SANDRA SINGH Tuesday, April 29 2008(T&T Newsday)



DELEGATES from several countries including Turkey, Suriname, Argentina and Japan yesterday gathered at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre for the launch of the Natural Youth Summit where they engaged in discussions on Climate Change and Disaster Reduction.

Various presentations and projects were on display by local and foreign schools dealing with the effects of climate change and agriculture as well as coastal erosion.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown, who attended the opening, emphasised the importance of the summit saying that climate change was affecting every part of the world with strange weather patterns also being experienced here.

Emphasis on disaster preparation is important. I was in New Zealand last year and there was a lot of rain for three days. I visited the Disaster Preparation Centre and got an Act with respect to disaster preparation which I sent to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management to see how it could fit in for this country said Brown.

He added that work was also being done to ensure that each municipality had a separate disaster preparation section working closely with the ODPM.

Brown also stated that the results of the conference would be very meaningful as the various representatives can go back to their countries with a plan. National Coordinator of the TT International Education and Resource Network Gia Gaspard Taylor stated that youths were also victims of natural disasters.

Displaying a toy kitten which was sent to a victim by a delegation in Iran, Gaspard encouraged students to make and send tokens to victims of natural disasters as it provided a lot of comfort.

She added that the findings of the summit will form part of the concept paper for the Organisation of American States Summit which is scheduled to be held 2009.

Local Youth ambassador for the Natural Disaster Youth Summit Abraham Ferguson, told Newsday that several initiatives were undertaken by participating countries such as tree planting as well as I Earn projects which was an international educational and resource network.

This is the fourth conference to be held with the projects and presentations at the summit being the result of a six month study by students.

The Turkish delegation was the largest at the summit and according to student Serap Dink, they hoped to raise awareness of the effects of climate change in their country.

She stated that their city, Istanbul, was being affected by drought as a result of climatic changes.

Our rivers and lakes have started getting dry and we are having a water problem in our country said Dink.


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SWEET ON TURKEY: Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown accepts a Turkish sweet from one of their delegates at yesterday's international youth forum on climate change and disaster at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre.

TIC flexes workshops on business survival



Thursday, April 24 2008(T&T Newsday)



DR HARVEY MILLAR, Professor at the School of Business, St Mary's University, Halifax, Canada, will present two participatory workshops as part of this year's Trade and Investment Convention Business Education Programme.

On May 1, Dr Millar will facilitate a full day workshop on "IDEA POWER: How to unleash Creativity and Innovation in your Organisation" which, for the first time, introduces the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Process to TT businesses.

The session is sponsored by the Business Development Company Ltd (BDC) and the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA).

"A firm's success is directly linked to the ability to create and innovate its products and services so it can remain one step ahead of its customers and its competition," says Dr Millar, adding that this workshop will teach participants several techniques for awakening the collective, creative and innovative genius that exists within all organisations.

The TTMA also hosts a second workshop facilitated by Dr Millar entitled: "Process Mapping and Analysis for Improving Manufacturing Performance." This workshop focuses on improving manufacturing performance through process mapping and analysis.

It will help manufacturing firms understand their key business process and give them the means to improve them.

"Firms that do not understand their core processes or fail to periodically review their core business processes soon find themselves uncompetitive and obsolete," says Dr Millar. "By the end of this session, participants will know how to design their processes for success, from drawing process maps to developing implementation plans for process improvement," he said.


http://www.tic-tt.com

Anzac Day in Chag



By ANNE HILTON Monday, April 28 2008(T&T Newsday)



CLOUDS veiled the Northern Range in mourning for the Australian and New Zealand troops slain in Gallipoli during the First World War in a battle that should never have been fought that began on April 25 1915 and continued until January 9, 1916. The Anzac Day dawn ceremony, held every year for the past three years, also remembers those killed in the Second World War.

Speaking at the dawn ceremony, Australian High Commissioner H E Philip Kentwell read out the names and ranks of three members of the Australian Air Force killed at Fort Read (now Wallerfield) and buried in the Military cemetery.

He had only very recently learned of four Trinidadians serving with the Australian and New Zealand forces in Viet Nam and some who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He said he would like to include their families in the Anzac Day ceremonies in 2009.

Colonel Roland Maundy read the 23rd psalm, British High Commissioner, Eric Jenkinson OBE, representing New Zealand, read the poem "We shall keep faith" and the Australian High Commissioner the traditional Remembrance Day poem, Laurence Binyon's "For the Fallen".

The High Commissioners and Colonel Roland Maundy laid wreaths at the base of the War Memorial; the bugler played the last post. Two minutes' silence in honour of the fallen were followed by Reveille while the flags were raised.

After the Regiment band played the national anthems of Australia, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago the High Commissioner invited all those present (including the Regiment and Coast Guard) to a "Gunfire Breakfast" of fruit, bacon and egg, tomato choka, saltfish, bakes, coffee, juice and the traditional rum and milk, given to the troops before they went into battle.

So ended the fourth commemoration of Anzac day in TT, a simple, very moving dawn ceremony to honour the dead of lands half a world away from TT in a war that ended before most of us were born. And yet, at that time and in that place (the Chaguaramas Military Museum) it was a most moving tribute, a continuing reminder of our Commonwealth ties.


Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency Philip Kentwell, laying a wreath at the base of the memorial to TT airmen killed in World War II.

Members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force standing guard at dawn by the War Memorial.

Clouds veiled the Northern Range in mourning as the small crowd of Australians, New Zealanders and TT friends attend the ceremony.

Modernising NP service stations


By Phoolo Danny-Maharaj



Wednesday, April 23rd 2008(T&T Express)




TRINIDAD and Tobago National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (NP) has started a transformation programme to positively impact its brand image as well as to fulfill the mandate in the energy sector of providing a modern service station network which adheres to all statutory and regulatory requirements, said NP's Chairman Lawford Dupres.

In addition, NP's CEO Richard Callender spoke about the expansion of the company's service station network to the English speaking Caribbean within the next three years.

They were speaking at the formal opening of the multi-million dollar upgraded Carousel Service Station at Cocoyea, San Fernando recently. The station, which was upgraded at the cost of $7.5 million, is now ready to serve the public with increased enthusiasm. San Fernando Mayor Kenneth Ferguson cut the ribbon to open the station and he also delivered the feature address.

Dupres said that within the next few months similar facilities would be opened at Beetham Gardens, Valencia and Wrightson Road. Work would begin soon on seven additional sites, four of which would be fully upgraded and three would be commissioned with fuel and dispensing systems. Those to be upgraded include NP O'Meera Road, Lee Heung Arima, NP Aranguez, NP Duncan Village, and those to be commissioned include Moonan Diego Martin, Nobbie Vistabella and Cedros Fishing Cooperative.

Dupres said NP has acquired 18 new Road Tank Wagons (RTW) of 8,000 imperial gallons (igs) each and these tankers which were put on the road two weeks ago, coupled with larger fuel tanks at the stations, will reduce frequency of refills and tanker traffic on the roads. "This investment will ensure that our distribution process becomes significantly more efficient and reliable," said Dupres.

Meanwhile, Callender said before expanding NP stations to the English speaking Caribbean, "we have to get it right at home first."

He described the Carousel station Cocoyea, as a more user friendly and service oriented set up. It represents the image of what NP wants to achieve at other stations, so that more traffic could be accommodated, provide easy flow of traffic, public washroom facilities and improved customer service, said Callender.

He added that NP has been rationalising the service station network to optimise what they have and to secure new sites for stations on key intersections, and new highways that are to be constructed.

After "getting it right at home," then NP will venture to other islands. Callender, however, alluded to an understanding between Barbados and Suriname. "We are also talking to some state companies in Barbados to go into joint venture arrangements with them. They are very interested in operating NP stations in Barbados. We have had some discussions with them and also some state companies in Suriname, who are eager to do that too. But we figure we should get it right here at home first and then go there," stressed Callender.

He also spoke about the use of dispensers where drivers can pay with their bank cards, while at some stations. "You will be able to remain in your car and use hand held monitors to pay," said Callender.

Furthermore, in some areas, such as Duncan Village, San Fernando, NP decided to amalgamate two sites to provide 25,000 square feet of land to put up a convenience store with a service station. This is expected to be completed within a year.

Thai culture and cuisine at Hilton



By ANNE HILTON Thursday, May 1 2008(T&T Newsday)



DIPLOMATS and other distinguished guests gathered by the Hilton poolside for cocktails at the official opening of "Flavours of Thailand". Drinks included lemon grass (accepted by the adventurous) others stuck to red or white wine or fruit cocktails together with a taste of hot and spicy Thai food by way of a chicken appetiser.

The Thai Ambassador in Ottawa, Snanchart Devahastin came to Trinidad especially for the Thai festival. Speaking at the cocktail he pointed out that in the past two years the relationship between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago had been growing quite rapidly.

"In January 2007," he said, "a group from Agriculture and Orchid Society of TT participated in the Royal Gala Exposition in honour of His Majesty the King's 80th birthday, followed by a big group led by Clico comprising 425 delegates visiting the Kingdom for a conference."

Referring to a joint venture in agribusiness between the two countries, he said his country was "pleased to transfer our experience in agriculture and food production to Trinidad and Caribbean as a whole". He ended his short speech by declaring the Thai festival open.

Photographs show better than words can tell the performance of Thai dancers in full, exotic costume that followed the Ambassador's speech, the skill and art of carving food for the buffet table, the brief fashion show of gorgeous Thai silks, and artist Prasert Krachod painting a sunshade.

"Flavours of Thailand" continues nightly, with live entertainment dancers, food carving, fashion show, sunshade painting in the Pool Terrace Garden Restaurant of the Hilton until Saturday.



Ambassador of the Royal Thai Embassy, Ottawa, Snanchart Devahastin.

A change of national dress for these dancers at the dinner on the opening night of "Flavours of Thailand".

Thai dancers

Display of carved fruit. Note the TT coat of arms carved into a pumpkin.

All Imports.. No trinidadian culture to brag about.

Profits soar as banks lend more



Despite higher interest rates, inflation...



Aretha Welch



Friday, May 2nd 2008(T&T Express Business)



Though inflation and the global credit crunch are major threats to the local economy, several local banks released financial statements earlier this week which show them making significantly higher profits within the last six months.

First Citizens banking group has reported a 16-per cent profit increase for the last six months ending March 2008. And the Republic Bank Group has recorded a 23 per cent core increase in their earnings for the same period.

Earlier this year both banks and several other local financial institutions had increased the interest rates customers would have to pay when borrowing money.

Sources say the Central Bank had urged all banks to increase rates in order to curb excess borrowing and therefore decrease the amount of money which was fuelling inflation.

But the banks' records show the changes in the interest rates have not had a negative impact on their net interest income.

In fact banking insiders have said borrowing has actually increased this year and the spending power of both banks and individual citizens has been increasing. Despite the high interest being charged for taking out a loan, citizens are still borrowing to buy cars and homes, further pushing overhead inflation, financial sources have said.

The income First Citizens made off of interest on loans and other business transactions increased from $269 million for the same period last year to $325 million this year.

The bank's chairman, Samuel Martin said, First Citizens made $230 million in profit. For the same period last year the bank had recorded an after tax profit of only $198 million.

In yesterday's release of the bank's unaudited financial statements, Martin said the growth was possible because customers had increased their loan portfolios. He said, "This increase was mainly due to continuing high quality growth in our customers' loan portfolio which increased by 16 per cent to $6.2 billion in March 2008."

In a release, Ronald Harford, chairman of Republic Bank noted that the last six month period, "was a very difficult one for global financial institutions because of the problem occasioned by the write down of sub prime mortgage assets."

The sub-prime mortgage crisis is an ongoing economic problem which has lead to liquidity issues in the banking system which came about as several banks in the United States had to reclaim houses and absorb debt from hundreds of families who could not pay their mortgages. While economists say the crisis began in United States, it triggered a global financial crisis which began last year and is continuing.

Speaking on behalf of the Republic Bank Group, Harford stated, "I am pleased to report that the bank has not been impacted by this situation."

However, he said local banks were not totally out of danger.

He said, "Concurrent with the financial crisis, the world is experiencing the double threats of rising food and energy prices, which are placing significant upward pressure on inflation in the Caribbean, and the likelihood of a downturn in economic growth."

He said Republic Bank was continuing to assess and monitor the situation and was adjusting their operating strategies to suit, "to ensure that we are well placed to meet any challenges that may arise."

Gangs in primary schools



By RHONDOR DOWLAT Thursday, May 8 2008(T&T Express)



The principals of two primary schools on Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain have turned to the police to help stop their students from becoming members of gangs after reports of students stashing weapons and attacking each other on the streets.

Principal of Sacred Heart Boys' RC School Carl Thomas sought the intervention of the police last Friday when he became concerned about reports of a rivalry between the Standard Five students of his school and the Standard Five students of Richmond Street Boys' Anglican School.

It was reported that the students of both schools had formed gangs and walked around with knives, pen knives and the protractors from geometry sets and allegedly fought each other on the Brian Lara Promenade, Duke Street and outside the National Library, between Abercromby and St Vincent Streets.

Thomas contacted Inspector Sheila Prince of the Community Policing Secretariat for help. Prince contacted the principal of Richmond Street Boys' (who did not want to give his name when contacted by Newsday) and arranged for the students of the two schools to attend a lecture at the Police Museum, Old Police Headquarters, St Vincent Street yesterday.

These students are waiting on the results of the Secondary Entrance Assessment examination which they wrote in March.

Prince brought in Inspector Mc Donald Jacob of the Crime and Problem Analysis Unit to lecture the boys about the dangers of being a gang member. Jacob used a prop with the pictures of six gang leaders who were killed to discuss gang violence in his lecture, which he titled, "Looking at the Future".

Before Jacob spoke, Prince addressed the boys. She told them that she, Jacob and their principals loved and cared for them and said that was why they had brought them together. The boys were seated in separate rows.

Prince then spoke about the violence that had taken place among them. "We know that you have been hiding knives, pen knives, in the bushes around the National Library and when school is over you run and look for it and do what you are focused in doing, the fights at the Brian Lara Promenade and Duke Street. You should have no room to have these things. You all are children and you all should be engaging in children talk, football, cricket, sports, music and games," said Prince.

She told the boys that the police would meet with their parents at another date and said they would have to recite a school pledge and sign copies of it after they heard what Jacob had to share with them. Early on she warned them about the consequences they would face if they did not keep the pledge.

"If there is any breach of that we will have to take the next step and you all should know what the next step will be," she said.

Jacob then stepped up with the board featuring the faces of Sean Sandy, alias "Pig", Rommell Sandy, alias "Bumbles", Akaiho Atiba, alias "Reuben", Kerwin Phillip, alias "Fresh", Thor Oluna John, alias "Cat" and Sheldon Scott, alias "Crow". They were gang leaders who were all shot dead. Some of the boys, eager to see the board better, stood up.

"These six men you see here, they are dead. Killed by gang wars and they were only between the ages of 18 to 25. They lived fast lives, drove fast cars and had a fast death. Some of them were shot 21 times, while some had their faces blown off. This is what happens when you get involved in criminal activities, including gangs," Jacob warned the boys.

Some of the boys appeared to be amazed by what they heard and others just sat with a fixed look on their faces. A few blurted out, "I know him, he lived where I live."

Jacob told them not to follow the gangs they may see in their neighbourhoods and encouraged them to get involved in sports and community activities.

"Gangs are formed because those people lack love, affection, bonding and attention. You all don't need to do that, you don't need to copy that because you are loved and cherished by your teachers and by us police officers and of course, many of you, if not all, by your parents," he added.

Jacob warned the boys that if they got involved in gangs and were arrested they would be incarcerated at the Youth Training Centre in Arouca.

"Whilst it is a good rehabilitation centre, it is not a place that you all should be set on going." Jacob told them a criminal record affected their chances of getting jobs as adults.

"If you commit a crime as a young person and end up in prison you would have a criminal record, so even if you decide to turn your life around after the fact and study, you still won't get a job because of that criminal record, so it is like your past will haunt you."

He also told them that violence was not the way to solve their problems.

"You don't need to turn to knives, pen-knives and fights to solve problems. Go to your teacher and tell them what is happening and let the solution stem from there. You have to learn to deal with conflict in a non-violent manner."

Thomas, Sacred Heart's principal, encouraged the boys to practice what they had learnt at the lecture and advised them to turn away from gangs. "If I had it my way I would let you all hear it from those gang members but unfortunately they are dead but you are going to have to take it from the inspector and really make up your minds to go the positive way. We care for you and there is so much that we can do."

Head of the Teachers Department at Richmond Street Boys Nigel Hercules also encouraged the boys to avoid violence.

"Knives, pen knives, drugs, alcohol, stealing, fighting, these are not the answers and the direction that you all should turn to. Take what the inspector has taught you and move on with it in a positive manner."

After these speeches the boys were made to recite the pledge, to sign copies and to shake each others hands. Each student of Sacred Heart Boys' was given two souvenir pencils and had to give one to a student of Richmond Street Boys'.

Two students of Sacred Heart Boys' said they appreciated what the police had done for them.

"It was good for us to meet face to face with the Richmond Street Boys' and interact with them. I am definitely going to keep with the pledge I made," said one of them.

His schoolmate recommended that the exercise be conducted at all primary schools.

"Let the children like us be aware of the consequences that we will face when we get involve in gangs."

Two students of Richmond Street Boys' agreed with what the Sacred Heart students had said.

"I am glad that we were able to come together, meet one another, and stop the warring. I also thank God for the teachers for making this possible," said one. His classmate also promised to stick to the pledge. "I hope that together we can stop the crime and stop creating the crime."


Inspectors Mc Donald Jacob and Sheila Prince lecture to students of Sacred Heart Boys' RC and Richmond Street Boys' Anglican schools about the dangers ofjoining gangs, pointing out that many gang leaders, like those pictured on a prop, end upbeing killed. The lecture took place at the Police Museum, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain,yesterday.

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Real men can cook


By VERDEL BISHOP Wednesday, May 7 2008(T&T Newsday)



THERE IS nothing a woman can do that a man can't do at least that is the case when it comes to cooking.

At a time when there is a major concern with the development of males in our society, 100 men took up the challenge of learning cooking techniques and the art of fine dining as a way of defining their masculinity. The opportunity came during an eight week programme offered by the Ministry of Community Development and Culture and Gender Affairs.

At the end, the men put their culinary skills to the test and graduated in fine style with a ceremony at Queen's Hall, St Ann's. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, Junia Regrello, said while there are positive advances being made by women, attention must be focussed on young men who are leaving the education system without the qualifications for proper employment.

Regrello said as a result many of them have become entrapped in deviant behaviours and criminal activities. He said the programme was a welcome intervention, providing training options for men who are at the cross roads.

The Defining Masculine Excellence Programme was developed to stem the tide of the societal problems associated with concepts and perceptions of masculinity. It specifically addresses the ways in which masculinity is defined. The training also provides men with the knowledge to cope with stereotypes such as men being labelled as aggressive, underachievers and irresponsible.

The participants explored issues such as self esteem, the man and his feelings, father/son bonding, male friendship as a second class relationship, masculinity in the work place and a man and his mother. Among the guests at the graduation ceremony were the High Commissioner of Costa Rica, Ricardo Thompson; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development and Gender Affairs, Earl Nesbitt; and Head of the School of Continuing Studies, University of the West Indies, Dr Lennox Bernard.

Here are some of the culinary masterpieces produced by graduates of the programme.


The men get some help with the layout of their dishes.

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Wednesday 14th May, 2008

US Energy Secretary: Impact of biofuels on food shortage overblown



By Ian Gooding(Trinidad Guardian)



The impact of biofuels on the current worldwide food shortage is being overblown, US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said yesterday.

He said that while food prices in the US had risen more than 50 per cent, the cost of corn had contributed only about three per cent to that increase.

Bodman was addressing members of the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (Amcham T&T&) at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, 1 Dock Road, Port-of-Spain, as he prepared to co-chair an energy infrastructure roundtable discussion with Minister of Energy Conrad Enill and meet with Prime Minister Patrick Manning later in the day.

Bodman praised development in T&T, especially in the energy sector, saying that this country was supplying almost 50 per cent of America's liquefied natural gas (LNG) needs. He said this was expected to grow, prompting his two day visit.

He said that his visit would highlight both countries' joint efforts to ensure energy supplies and to increase the security of the energy infrastructure.

While acknowledging that fossil fuels would be around for many decades as an important source of energy for the world, he stressed that T&T should become more involved in research and development as the US was now doing.

He said an energy assessment in Trinidad was done in January this year, and it highlighted the need for the private sector and the government to work more closely together in energy matters.

He added that the two energy challenges facing the world would be that of global energy security and global climate change. He said the US had opened three biotechnology centres to deepen critical research into alternative energy sources.

After the meeting, Bodman told journalists covering the event that he was against the removal of the tax on gasoline in the US, since as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said, this would encourage Americans to drive more and eventually send prices back up.

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T&T attracts big business



By Clint Chan Tack Wednesday, May 14 2008(T&T Newsday)



UNITED STATES Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman yesterday hailed Trinidad and Tobago (TT) as a pillar of transparency in the Western Hemisphere and said this was the reason many major American companies invested over US$1 billion in this country in recent years.

Bodman made this declaration at an American Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain.

Describing TT as "a true friend of the US," Bodman explained one of the reasons US/TT commercial ties had endured over the years was the Government's commitment to transparency and open market principles.

"In order to ensure the scale of investment that we need for reliable and secure global energy production into the future, open market principles are essential. Transparency is essential. Trinidad and Tobago has certainly played a leading role in the region in this regard by eliminating investment barriers and providing a welcoming climate to foreign direct investment," he declared.

Bodman said even in the face of strong pressure from some regions in other parts of the world, TT "has shown great leadership in resisting non-market based energy supply arrangements."

"This is one of the reasons that the US commercial ties with TT have always been strong and have grown substantially. US firms have invested over $1 billion here and many of America's largest corporations have offices and operations here," the US Secretary added.

Recalling that he discussed energy security issues with Prime Minister Patrick Manning at his Washington DC office, last June, Bodman said those talks resulted in the US Departments of Energy, Homeland Security and Defence working with the Government on "an LNG sector assessment focusing on emphasising areas of good practice and areas for corrective action."

He said this exercise was conducted in January and "the US government is committed to continuing that effort with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago."

Speaking afterwards with reporters, Bodman said he hoped there would be more LNG exports from TT entering the US market even as his country continues to search for other sources of LNG.

Notwithstanding Venezuela's Petro Caribe initiative, Bodman said the US was confident that TT "will expand its role as a reliable market based energy producer as well as a busy port of call along a busy energy supply route servicing the Western Hemisphere."


US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.

Friday 16th May, 2008

Substantial oil and gas potential still in T&T Repsol



Allan Russell, business adviser, Repsol, addresses yesterday's energy luncheon at Cara Suites hotel, Claxton Bay. Photo: Tony Howell



BY ANIKA GUMBS-SANDIFORD(Trinidad Guardian)



Spanish oil and gas major, Repsol, said yesterday that there was still good petroleum potential remaining in T&T and that the company is set to move full speed ahead with exploration along the country's North Coast.

The announcement was made at an energy luncheon hosted by Repsol in collaboration with the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce (STCIC) at Cara Suites hotel, Claxton Bay.

Repsol's business adviser Allan Russell told Southern business leaders that the North Coast had been identified as an area in which there were substantial opportunities to find new gas.

He specifically referred to Block 22 in the North Coast Marine Area (NCMA) as being particularly promising. Russell said, "Those blocks have good dry gas and there is very good potential."

Not wanting to be specific about the volume of gas and oil Repsol expected to find, Russell reiterated the potential of the NCMA, saying that it consisted of largely unexplored areas.

Russell said the concession was open, but the Energy ministry was expected to put out three blocks because of the significant amount of growth for natural gas reserves.

Petro-Canada is expected to conduct seismic surveys through the entire area.

He added that two fields containing reserves Iris and Orchid were discovered along the coast and are going to be offered out for bids because of their good potential.

Russell said Iris was located close to Tobago while Orchid was near Blanchisseuse.

But, while plans to develop the North Coast are on stream, Russell said Repsol was hopeful of also finding oil and gas along the East Coast.

With the company investing $27 million to be divided between development funding and exploration capital, Russell said that main areas being focused on were asset integrity, which will ensure that rigs are operated in keeping with the Occupational Safety Health Act, cost optimisation, and production improvement.

Russell added that Repsol intended to increase its production targets from 135,000 - 140,000 barrels of gas per day and from 16,000 to 18,000 barrels of oil per day.



©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited

CariCRIS reaffirms top ratings for T&T Government


Wednesday, May 28th 2008(T&T Express)



Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS), the Caribbean regional credit rating agency, has reaffirmed the ratings of CariAAA (Foreign Currency Rating) and CariAAA (Local Currency Rating) in its regional rating scale, and ttAAA on the Trinidad and Tobago national scale to the debt issue (notional) of the size of US$500 million of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

These ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligation, adjudged in relation to other obligations in the Caribbean and within Trinidad and Tobago is the highest.

The ratings on the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago continue to reflect its superior external liquidity, sharply reduced net public debt and increased fiscal flexibility resulting from a robust macroeconomic performance for just over a decade. A booming energy sector underpins a very strong track record of real GDP growth, continuing fiscal and current account surpluses, and rising foreign exchange reserves.

This performance, supported by a well educated labour force, good transportation and communication links, a strong legal system, a reasonable measure of social and political stability as well as a soundly regulated financial system, underpins strong economic growth prospects in the medium term and supports the ratings.

However, these strengths are tempered by the adoption of an expansionary pro-cyclical fiscal policy as well as an upsurge in crime which, if not tackled effectively, could undermine investor confidence and the stability of the local business environment over the medium to long term.

England is playing TT next Sunday.

YBTT offers direction and finances for the youth


By Aretha Welch



Wednesday, May 28th 2008(T&T Express)




The Youth Business foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (YBTT) has experienced much success in helping young unemployed persons jump start their businesses and careers.

The principal behind YBTT is to offer direction and finances for nationals between the ages of 18 and 35 years who are economically or socially disadvantaged.

YBTT manager, Garland Samuel said thus far YBTT has worked on 139 projects with young people (from all over the country) who have gotten their businesses off the ground and on the road to success.

Samuel calls their 139 successes projects and not loan payments because YBTT does not only give out loans but also pairs their clients with mentors who are already in the world of business. The mentors offer guidance and business tips, giving their candidates an edge over the average new comer in the business world.

Samuel said mentors from several well established business organisations volunteer their time. He told the Business Express, "Mentors come from Scotia Bank, Guardian Life, Atlantic LNG, the Arthur Lok Jack School of Business and several other high performance business organisations."

The company which was the brain child of Peter Harborne, former British High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago was molded after the Prince's Youth Trust in England which offers employment aid to British youth up to age 29.

YBTT's success also has been pushed along by the strength of its high powered board. CEO of Scotiabank, Richard Young, as well as Norman Sabga of Ansa McAl and Dr Rolph Balgobin of Plipdeco all sit on the board.

One very successful graduate of the programme went on to start Big Shoe, the business in Tacarigua. Another is now the host of her own show, Chunkay in Central on Gayelle, the television channel. She purchased film equipment with her loan.

Samuel said YBTT has high faith in all the interviewees who they approve. "Based on their business proposals we believe they will be able to repay the low interest loans and still make a profit. But in some cases we give them up to a six month moratorium in which they do not have to make any payments."

He said if a business is not making money YBTT is not the type of organisation which just tries to get reimbursed and leaves the person high and dry.

"We look at the business, at their plan to see why it is not working and we help them re-strategise."

He said the maximum amount of money which can be granted by YBTT is $30,000, however the average loans given are about $11,000.

YBTT which has been around since 2000 has been granted charitable status by the Ministry of Finance. While Samuel who used to work at the Agricultural Development Bank could not give an exact tally of YBTT's asset base, he said financial donations from corporate sponsors total about $2 million at present, while gifts in kind such as computers and furniture have been worth a possible $80,000.

He said YBTT relies on these donations to keep their programme afloat.

"Our aim is to show unemployed youths there is an option and entrepreneurship is a viable career path."

He is urging interested youth to visit their website, www.ybtt.org.

A well oiled balancing act US looks forward to new T&T refinery but wants more alternative energy



By Juhel Browne



Wednesday, May 21st 2008 (T&T Express)



United States Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is looking forward to establishment of a proposed new US$3-4 billion oil refinery in Trinidad and Tobago even as he is calling for an acceleration in the development of alternative energy resources.

And what might appear to be a mixed message to some is in fact a reflection of the dilemma facing the United States and other large oil importing countries in the face of record high global oil prices.

That dilemma is how to reduce imports by finding alternative sources of energy while trying to meet the existing demand for fossil based fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

The United States' Central Intelligence Agency factbook's last estimates for that country's oil consumption (2005) show it consumed about 20.8 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) but produced only 8.332 million bpd before oil prices crossed US$100 a barrel last year.

Imported oil accounts for about two thirds of the United States consumption.

"Among other reasons that I am here, I look forward to hearing how the Government is partnering with the private sector to increase its refining capacity for crude oil," Bodman said in Port of Spain last week.

He also noted: "While the world will remain dependent on hydrocarbons for years to come, it is clear that we absolutely require new energy options in the form of alternative fuels and clean energy technology."

Oil in demand

Bodman spoke of the United States Government's high expectations for the proposed new refinery in Point-a-Pierre just three months after Energy Minister Conrad Enill announced the proposal.

Ironically, Enill did so at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Port of Spain, the same hotel where Bodman spoke on the issue while he delivered the feature address at an American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago breakfast meeting last week.

Enill said the new refinery is to be constructed at a site where the nation's only and State owned Petrotrin oil refinery is located.

He said Trinidad and Tobago produces approximately 150,000 bpd, and this country "would benefit from being able to refine its own crude and convert it into saleable products for the fuels retail market."

A crude discussion

The State imports oil for Petrotrin to convert into gasoline, diesel and other products since it is mainly configured to refine heavy crude oil as opposed to the light sweet crude extracted by the major energy upstreamers such as bpTT off the Northern and Eastern coastlines.

Enill made the announcement on February 13, while delivering the feature address during BG T&T and First Citizens Bank (FCB) Energy Luncheon Series in his first major speech since being appointed as the Energy Minister after the November 5, general election.

Last week, he met with Bodman at the Hyatt to discuss several issues including this country's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports to the United States.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning also met with Bodman and Enill as well to finalise those discussions.

In his address at the AmCham event, Bodman noted that Trinidad and Tobago is the largest exporter of LNG to the United States as it supplied close to 60 per cent of the gas based product in 2007 "and is recognised globally as a leader and innovator in moving LNG to market."

Bodman also said Trinidad and Tobago's petrochemical industry plays "a very important role in the US industrial sector" since the majority of ammonia, methanol and urea it imports is produced in this country.

But for the United States, the demand for LNG is not as large or as critical today as that for oil and more specifically, the gasoline and diesel produced from it.

Refining the imports

Most of the oil that is exported to the United States comes from Middle Eastern states such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico and T&T's closest South American neighbour, Venezuela.

And Bodman made it clear that the United States was not only interested in expanding its LNG relationship with Trinidad and Tobago.

"I also see opportunities for expanding our energy partnership beyond the gas sector... The way I see it, the stakes for a continued and strengthened relationship between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago could not be higher," Bodman said.

He noted that the world needs "safe, reliable, clean, affordable and diverse energy supplies" and it needs those quantities "in significantly greater numbers than it now has."

"We face a global challenge, perhaps one of the most significant of our time and one that you all understand very well," Bodman said.

The twin challenge

Bodman gave figures from the International Energy Agency to support his point which showed that the world's primary energy needs will grow by 55 per cent by the year 2030 which is just 22 years from now and it will require an investment of US$22 trillion.

It was at this point, that Bodman explored in depth the new dimension to the global energy challenge the global warming.

"At the same time, we all must recognise the reality of global climate change and look for clean sources of energy that, at the very least do not worsen and hopefully can improve the health of our earth's environment," Bodman said.

He added, "These are our twin challenges. On the one hand improving global energy security in a way that allows all nations of the world to prosper and simultaneously addressing global climate change."

Bodman said meeting these challenges will require responsible, sustained action both from consuming nations and producing nations.

"Actions to expand the energy alternatives available to the world and move to sources and methods of production and delivery that are more efficient, cleaner, sustainable and secure," he said.

"For conventional fuels, the principle challenges facing the world are: Will the necessary investments be made to bring sufficient hydrocarbons to market? Will that US$22 trillion actually be invested? Is the investment climate in producing conducive to inviting such capital flows and are we adequately investing in ways to produce fossil energy more cleanly and more efficiently? These are key questions facing Trinidad and Tobago?"

IT fast becoming the norm


By Kim Boodram



Wednesday, May 28th 2008(T&T Express)


picture
Carol Herrera



There is simply no other way to go.

It took some time but the local community and the business sector in its entirety finally has begun to snuggle up to the Information Age as a potential partner for the future.

The wariness that this type of technology was a passing fad has all but dissipated and Trinidadians are finally looking at the different dimensions of Information Technology. It's more than having a PC in the home for entertainment and a unit in the office to store data it's about children learning to create and animate and whole service systems being safeguarded by computer systems.

Familiarity with miniature systems have helped the use of cellular telephones with wireless technology being the most common bringing more confidence and comfort with technology to the general public.

From the lens of a company like international software colossus Microsoft, this country is perfectly poised to dive into the technology as it pertains to development.

MBS Partner Account Manager, Carol Herrera, has seen definite changes in the business community towards IT, with most local companies chomping at the bit to T&T bring computerisation to essential public services.

"We have noted that as the economies of the Caribbean grow, corporations view IT more as a strategic asset and enabler of competitive advantage, cost reduction and improved operational efficiency rather than just a cost center," Herrera told Business Express.

"With this has come the interest in learning how the benefits of technology can impact businesses of any size. Small and medium business continue to invest in IT but do look to increasing their returns on the investments made in this area. For such businesses, capital expenditure must be carefully managed and being able to have scalability in their technology solutions is one of the most important considerations. "

In places like T&T, where IT is in the toddling stages, the returns to the GDP are seldom thought of by the public but the industry is just a viable as traditional sectors.

"As investment in IT grows, it generates a multiplier effect on the economy. The latest report from the International data Corporation (IDC) indicates that for every US$1 invested in software purchases, US$23 is created in software opportunities for local companies in Trinidad and Tobago," Herrera disclosed.

" Thus the potential for local IT based businesses focussed on either core software development, or more importantly, service and project management capabilities, is evident. It is our view that this has been recognised by both local business enterprise and government policy makers alike and is well articulated in the Government's Fast Forward programme. Our own network of over 600 partners in the Caribbean who deliver such service is testament to this business opportunity."

According to one of Microsoft's Regional Managers, Beatriz Zolezzi, computerisation can act like a sieve in certain areas of the development of a country like this one, minimising corruption, service error and time wasting processes.

"The nest generation is not going to want things any other way," Zolezzi stated, adding,

"The human challenge is actually more challenging that the setting up of the technology but this can be worked with in any country."

Zolezzi has seen small townships throughout the region begin to turn around their economic lives with technology and so sees little challenge in a place like Trinidad.

"At some point, you cell phone may your computer in its entirety, more and more people are getting savvy to technology so it will not be a great shock to them."

Herrera noted that most Government departments already have some form of computerisation and Microsoft is prepared to work with the State to ensure a smooth transition into global level systems.

"Microsoft actively supports the government's Vision 2020 and its fast Forward program which shows an important role for IT in the country's socio-development," Herrera said.

"We see opportunities for E-government solutions which can improve the delivery of citizen services via the computer, whether that computer access is via a traditional computer, a mobile phone or a digital kiosk in community centre."

Caribbean Airlines begins service to Fort Lauderdale



Wednesday, May 28th 2008(T&T Express)




picture&source
From left, Adam Diaz, Caribbean Airlines general manager in Miami, Robert Corbie, vice president of commercial and network operations and Francois Pariseau, director marketing chat at the Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale.



Caribbean Airlines will increase its flights to Fort Lauderdale to daily beginning June 15.

Company CEO Philip Saunders made the announcement during the carrier's inaugural flight to the Fort Lauderdale last Thursday.

While Fort Lauderdale is the second South Florida destination for the airline, it continues to offer daily service to Miami International Airport. It also is the fourth North American destination for Caribbean Airlines. The others are New York and Toronto.

Saunders added that the airline is planning to increase the number of its flights New York and Toronto. The airline began operating nine flights per week to Toronto, Canada from April 15 this year and from July 1, 2008 will start operating three daily flights to New York City.

"At a time critical in the airline industry, Caribbean Airlines has shown its sustainability," Saunders said.

"Fort Lauderdale is the 13th airline destination served from Trinidad. We are the only carrier which offers two destinations in South Florida."

After a short ceremony at the Piarco International Airport, members of the media were invited to experience the inaugural flight, which took place on a newly acquired Boeing 787-800. The passengers on the fully booked flight were given a true Caribbean experience with entertainment from extempo artiste, Lord Relator. On landing, the entertainment continued at the ticketing counter in Hollywood International Airport, where Moko Jombies and masqueraders put on a "Trini' show for the American crowd.

Adam Diaz, Caribbean Airlines general manager in Miami said the Fort Lauderdale community welcomed the new service.

"I think it's a very exciting time for Caribbean Airlines with this being our 13th destination," he said.

"The feedback has been very positive. We've talked to the travel agents and the community and everyone's very excited about the service. And there are connecting destinations you can take off this route as well," he said.

Robert Corbie, vice president of commercial and network operations said future booking looks good.

"Florida is normally a late booking market. Sometimes you see a flight with 50 passengers and in the next two weeks it will full up, so we are hopeful it will improve. I think it will do well."

The Fort Lauderdale flight will depart Piarco International Airport in Trinidad at 4.15 p.m. arriving at the Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale at 8.15 p.m. and then depart Fort Lauderdale at 10.15 p.m. and return to Trinidad.

In March this year, Caracas, Venezuela was the first new international destination to be added to the network since the airline started its operations. State owned Caribbean Airlines was launched on January 1, last year. The company replaced 66-year-old national carrier BWIA, which shut down operations on December 31, 2006.

Hey Eric, England will thrash TT tonight 7-0

Eric you started this thread just over 2 years ago and I am amazed it is still going strong.

It's a one-man show.

well he certainly do have an audience.

To be like Singapore, London



By CAROL MATROO Thursday, June 12 2008(T&T Newsday)



If Trinidad and Tobago plays its cards right, then an international financial centre (IFC) could be a big boon to its economy, according to British High Commissioner Eric Jenkinson.

Speaking during the Port-of-Spain Rotary Club luncheon, at Goodwill Industries at Wrightson Road Extension, in Woodbrook last week he said TT had evolved as the economic powerhouse of the Caribbean.

"It is the gateway to the Americas and has to provide a bridge between the two economic masses of the USA and the European Union," Jenkinson said. He said the UK is ready to provide support and financial expertise to help TT attain IFC status.

He said Government, in taking full advantage of TT's geographic and economic position, is working on creating the right environment for an IFC to flourish.

Jenkinson said the UK, boasting some 481 foreign banks, the vast majority in London, has been acknowledged as the world's largest IFC. This he compared with 287 IFCs in the US, 242 in Germany and 92 in Japan.

About one third of global foreign exchange transaction is done daily in London

He said the volume of insurance business generated in the UK is the third largest in the world, exceeded only by the US and Japan because of the size of their domestic market, and has the largest share of net premiums in the world from marine and aviation insurance.

Jenkinson noted that the financial service industry in the UK directly employed over one million people while the financial services sector paid one third of the UK's corporation tax. London alone accounted for between two-and-a-half and three per cent of the UK's entire GDP.

"The UK is perfectly placed therefore to support the development of an IFC in TT," he said, noting London has world class physical assets for modern office accommodation to state-of-the-art telecommunication and transport systems.

There are many other factors to which London owes its position, a position it earned well before its modern day skyline took shape, Jenkinson said.

He said London's success derives from invasion, adaptation and its history of openness in welcoming foreign firms. The most obvious sign was the transparency seen in the London Market, he said, and, as a result, the investment banking market was now dominated by foreign firms.

"In today's market there is a transparent, prudential regulatory regime that is affected, fair and focussed on the future. The UK financial service regulatory body the Financial Services Authority has become an international benchmark and a draw for international business," Jenkinson said.

He said the key to this venture was to ensure a safe and fair system for customers and investors, but not to overregulate and stifle the market.

The ambassador added that while there were difficulties within all financial centres, these problems were now contained.

Jenkinson said the development of TT into a financial services hub of the Caribbean would contribute greatly to the country's wealth, and aiding the Government's target of diversifying the economy

"With careful planning, foresight and development of a secure investment climate, not just physical infrastructure, TT stands a strong chance of achieving what the likes of Ireland and Singapore have achieved in a relatively short period of time."

The foundation, he said, must be laid in robust prudential legislation within a strong independent legal system, with careful informed parliamentary oversight. There must be encouragement of greater competition as competition brings with it innovation, which is so important in a fast moving, global financial market, Jenkinson said.

Deryck Murray chosen as Father of the Year



Sunday, June 15 2008(T&T Newsday)



Deryck Murray, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, and a director of the West Indies Cricket Board, has been selected as the father of the year 2008 by the National Father's Day Council of TT.

He and wife Maureen were married in 1967 and have two son, Michael and Nigel, who both reside in England.

The annual award is bestowed upon a national who has exemplified himself as a good role model, according to council president, Hubert Dolsingh.

He added that the council selects the Father of the Year through a consultation process. "We would normally ask persons from different fields of endeavour to nominate someone whom they believe has contributed to the development of the national community. About 18 different people in total were suggested for their yeoman services to the country."

The recipient is decided not from a majority number, but rather the information received about them, Dolsingh said.

"We are satisfied and appreciate the contribution and commitment Mr Murray has made in the field of community service and cricket. Like a father forging ahead to make a happy family, he has promoted peace, happiness and prosperity to a great number of families in this country."

In accepting the award, Murray said it was a great honour for him. "It has given me the responsibility for ensuring that I continue to be a role model and I hope I can live up to the expectation and confidence placed in me."

Murray said it is vital as a father to manage the responsibility of being able to guide those around you and to ensure that you convey the right messages, as well as setting an example from your own life.

"All fathers should strive to live in a manner that ensures the betterment of your fellow man. I hope my sons will agree the title is deserved and be proud of me. Also I live my life according to the examples set by my own parents, with the complete support of my wife."

Murray was first selected for the West Indies Cricket team while still at Queen's Royal College, and went on to represent the team at 62 test matches between 1963 and 1980.

He graduated with a BA in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham, England, and served in the TT Foreign Service from 1978 to 1989.

He worked abroad for a number of years and on his return to this country in 2001, Murray took up a post at Guardian Life of the Caribbean, where he is Vice-President, Employee Benefits Department.


Deryck Murray, father of the year.

Murray in his cricketing days.

LNG could hit US$40



Thursday, June 26 2008(T&T Newsday)



As the world thirsts for LNG Trinidad and Tobago stands to benefit as prices go up, according to Dr Ranato Bertani, the former president of Perobas America, a subsidiary of the Brazilian energy giant.

Speaking at an energy luncheon hosted by First Citizens at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, Bertani, now president of Thompson and Knight, Global Energy Services, a legal firm that has an appetite for energy deals, predicted that at the present rate of demand LNG prices could hit US$40.

He said this was possible given the fact that energy demand across the globe was rising.

"That is good business for Trinidad and Tobago," he said of the LNG prices increase.

He pointed out that there could eventually be a convergence of oil and gas prices, if the global energy dynamics don't change.

The theme of his address was, "The Risks and Opportunities in the Energy Sector."

According to Bertani, the world will have to spend US$20 trillion by 2030 if it is going to meet the demand for energy.

LNG prices on Monday stood at US$13.23, according to Bloomberg, while oil was at US$137 a barrel. "Oil prices are not going to come down to gas prices but gas will get closer to oil," he said.

Using a diagram to show the changes in LNG flow, he pointed out that in 2030 the US and Asia will see a significant increase in LNG usage.

He said although there are security concerns across the US regarding the use of LNG, he said they will soon have to re-examine this stance given that the price of oil is rising. He said for a gas economy like TT, this was good news because a market was going to be assured.

He said there could be converge of oil and gas prices and where gas would become a major player in the global energy scenario.

Noting that there could be more demand for LNG from developing countries in the next ten-20 years, Bertani said the supply of LNG will reach the consumer in different ways. His view is that in addition to oil, LNG will play a more significant role in the US energy portfolio, saying that the spot market for LNG will increase.

Such a market occurs when an LNG buyer takes the LNG at an agreed price from a supplier and sells it on the open market to the highest bidder.

He said with LNG prices increasing, this was a possibility and said that this could carry prices further up.

On oil and the world's demand for it, Bertani said this was not going to change soon. He took the view that the world's ceiling for oil can be sustained in the US$140-US$150 bracket, adding that after that it becomes unsustainable.

He said at such a price, companies are looking at going after oil that was once considered unattainable.

"There is now pressure to explore and extract," he said, noting that for oil companies it was now possible to take the risk.

Giving a global overview on energy, he said developing countries like China and India and their increased energy demand is what is pushing up the price of oil. On ethanol, he said this was extremely lucrative and profitable and stressed that with massive tracts of land, the Caribbean could reap the benefits.

To back his case, he said the world consumes about 20 billion tonnes of gasolene a year with half of that being consumed in the US. Stressing that this was a huge opportunity for the Caribbean, Bertani said ethanol coming from the Caribbean into the US would face no tariff.

He said in the case of Brazil, the US has imposed a tariff on ethanol coming into the country.

MHTL eyeing downstream business



Thursday, June 26 2008(T&T Newsday)



Methanol Holdings (Trinidad ) Limited's (MHTL) plan to diversify is well under way with production of ammonia, through their AUM project, scheduled to begin in the last quarter of this year.

Rampersad Motilal, MHTL's managing director said the project is 63.4 percent completed and will be ready by the final quarter of 2009.

"We are on an aggressive schedule to complete the project but we intend to keep it," he said of the project, which is the second largest producer of methanol in the world.

The AUM project is a petrochemical complex of seven plants, located within the Point Lisas Industrial Estate, which will produce the end products, urea nitrate 32 (UAN) solution and melamine for export and for the downstream industry.

Last Thursday in Miami, MHTL signed an agreement with German bank, KfW-IPEX, granting the company access to US$200 million to be used in the construction of the AUM project. This is the second loan granted to MHTL by KfW for the project.

The first loan signing for $1.2 billion was completed in July 2006.

Speaking at a celebration of the loan signing held last week at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port of Spain Motilal revealed that so far $1.15 billion has been spent on construction of the project which began in February 2006, $300 million which was funded by MHTL.

The ammonia plant , he said, is the first phase of the project which would be completed and operational. The entire project, he added, is poised to provide major benefits to the local economy when completed. This includes the provision of 400 permanent jobs with a support staff of 600 employees. The project is currently providing an estimated 2500 jobs, 200 of which are already filled with permanent employees.

UAN, he explained, is used as a popular nitrogen solution and as a direct application fertiliser in large scale farming. Melamine, he added could be used in multiple applications in the production of laminates, wood adhesives, fire retardant materials, surface coatings and moulding compounds.

Further investment in the local economy includes current and planned projects in acetic acid and urea formaldehyde melamine formaldehyde plants, he said, which in turn will provide further opportunities for the manufacturing of other local products.

TSTT CEO still cautious



By ANNA-ROSE MADRAY Saturday, June 28 2008(T&T Newsday)



TELECOMMUNICATIONS Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), CEO Roberto Peon said although the company had recovered a profit of $159.9 million this financial year, improvements were still needed if the state company was to stay afloat.

In a press release issued by TSTT yesterday, Peon said that he was pleased with the company's performance for the financial year April 1 2007 to March 31 2008, but cautioned, "the results may not be sustainable unless the company improves its performance in certain key areas." These areas were identified as customer satisfaction, revenue growth and operational expenses including employee costs.

TSTT's audited financial results were prepared by Ernst and Young and approved by the company's board of directors on Wednesday.

Based on the results, the company saw an after tax profit of $159.9 million. An advertisement highlighting the company's audited financial statements, demonstrated net revenues of $2,958.3 million this year as compared to net revenues of $2,789.9 million last year.

TSTT said this profit was enabled by several strategic initiatives including an eight percent reduction in operating costs.

"This is an extraordinary rebounding from the company's $239 million loss for the period April 1 2006 to March 31 2007," said Peon in the statement. He also noted that revenue had increased to six percent, driven mainly by mobile and broadband services and interconnection rates.

Peon also said that the company had implemented "a partial re-organisation" along lines of business to focus on customer needs. This course of action, in addition to aggressive controls and more efficient processes, Peon said, had helped address the area of expense that had contributed to last year's loss.

Additionally, he said that issues of fraud and bad debt which had negatively impacted on TSTT's profits last year were reduced to "industry tolerant levels."

"Also, the impact of cable theft and vandalism were mitigated using improved cable installation techniques, greater surveillance and in several instances substituting copper cables with fibre optics," said Peon in the statement.

According to the CEO, TSTT also reduced marketing costs and experienced much lower asset impairment costs due to the company's sustained investment in the modernisation of facilities and equipment.

"Our senior management's focus on operational efficiency and cost control led to an overall reduction of $231.9 million in operating expenses for the year," he stated, adding, "we have turned the corner, but still have more to do."


TSTT CEO Roberto Peon