Guardian

Trinidad & Tobago $4 Residents living

in fear after
highway
murders
The apartment complex where two PAGE 4
women were found dead at
Bottom Road, Moriah, on Wednesday.
PICTURE VINDRA GOPAULBOODAN

Shevonne Moffat, one of the

women found dead.

MYSTERY
DEATHS Women, 34 & 62,
found in Moriah
Cops find no marks
of violence; to
Family, community
stunned; hoping
Page
5

apartment await autopsies for answers

Curious villagers look on as police

search the site where the bodies of two
women were found in an apartment at
Bottom Road, Moriah, on Wednesday.
PICTURE VINDRA GOPAULBOODAN

Cops kill Carapichaima

couple in bed PAGE 5 Kern Fraser and Sheckeela Davis, shot dead by police
2 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

$%LVKRSIURP0DODZL$IULFD
KDVSXEOLFO\UHMHFWHGWKHGHFODUDWLRQVLJQHG
E\3RSH)UDQFLVRQWKHEOHVVLQJRIVDPH
VH[FRXSOHV+HVDLG
³7KLVVFDQGDOL]HVDQG
RৼHQGVWKHIDLWKIXO´
&DUGLQDO5D\PRQG/HR%XUNHDQ$PHUFLDQ&DWKROLF&DUGLQDOSXEOLVKHG
D³GHFODUDWLRQRIWUXWKV´WKDWGHVFULEHGWKH&DWKROLF&KXUFKDVGLVRULHQWHG
DQGFRQIXVHGXQGHU3RSH)UDQFLVVD\LQJWKDWLWKDGPRYHGDZD\IURPWKH
FRUHWHDFKLQJVRQGLYRUFHFRQWUDFHSWLRQKRPRVH[XDOLW\DQGJHQGHU

&DUGLQDO=HQRI+RQJ.RQJ&KLQDVHQWDOHWWHUWRDQXPEHURIELVKRSV
DQGFDUGLQDOVDWWHQGLQJWKH³6\QRGRQ6\QRGDOLW\´VD\LQJHVVHQWLDOO\WKDW
KHLVFRQIRXQGHGE\ZKDWKHVHHVDVDQH൵RUWWRSURPRWHWHDFKLQJVFRQWUDU\
WRWKHIDLWK

%LVKRS6FKQHLGHURI.D]DNKVWDQVD\VWKDWWKHEOHVVLQJRIVDPHVH[FRXSOHV
LVDQDERPLQDWLRQDJDLQVWQDWXUHDQGFRQWUDU\WRWKHZLOORI*RG

3 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
The
News
Digest
Today’s stories
in capsule
OPINION
Using the
loopholes
Well, Christmas came
and went. Touching lives,
changing lives, bringing
joy and hope to many. The
celebrations have subsided to
an extent and we now gear up
for Old Year’s Night and New
Year’s Day.
I made an observation over
the period and I wish to draw
our attention to it.
But first, let me define
the term ‘loophole’—when
someone avoids following the
rules or detects an ability to
circumnavigate a system and
still achieve the objective. A
loophole allows a person or
business to avoid the scope
of a law or restriction without
directly violating the law.
Approximately 3-4 years
ago, I advised, as we were ...
Garvin Heerah
Page 13
Port-of-Spain:
22–24 St Vincent Street,
(PO Box 122)
Telephone:
235-5668 Exts 5133,
5135, 5116,
5174, 5113, 5115
San Fernando Bureau:
235-5668 Exts 5224,
5225, 5226
LEAD STORY
Moriah stunned by
mystery deaths of
two women
Relatives and neighbours of
34-year-old Shevonne Moffat are
shocked by news of her death.
This, after Moffat and 62-year-
old Gemma Alexis were found
dead at Moffat’s Bottom Road,
Moriah apartment on Wednesday
evening.
Police told Guardian Media that
the women were last seen alive
on Christmas Eve. The landlord
found their partially decomposed
bodies inside a bedroom in the ...
—Page 5
INSIDE YOUR GUARDIAN
Nine-year-old Mekhai Callender plays Savannah Grass by Kes, alongside his fellow San Fernando Boys’ RC
Primary School pupils, as they prepared for the 2024 Junior Panorama competition at the Heritage Petroleum
Company Ltd Skiffle panyard on Coffee Street, San Fernando, yesterday.
NEWS INTERNATIONAL REC
Sombre Christmas for Haley under fire for Raíces explores the
relatives of WASA worker omitting slavery from roots of flamenco
Overwhelmed by grief, grandmother Civil War response The Embassy of Spain in Port-
Joyce Grant-Roberts recalled how of-Spain, in collaboration with
she could not bear to see the faces of Republican presidential candidate the Ministry of Tourism, Culture
her granddaughters who spent their Nikki Haley was asked by a New and the Arts, presented the
first Christmas without their father, Hampshire voter about the reason 12th edition of its traditional
Kern Etienne, following his horrific for the Civil War, and she didn’t flamenco benefit concert, Raíces,
death at a WASA jobsite. mention slavery in her response— on December 7 at the National
Etienne was buried alive inside a leading the voter to say he was Academy for the Performing Arts
trench.
The girls—Kiara, 15, and Kimora,
“astonished” by her omission.
Asked during a Wednesday
(NAPA).
The event featured renowned
5—were inconsolable on Christmas
Day. Their father had been the sole
night town hall in Berlin, New
Hampshire, what she believed
guest artiste Rebeca Ortega from
Seville, Spain, who enthralled the
breadwinner and their mother who had caused the war—the first shots audience with her spectacular
suffers from a back injury has been of which were fired in her home performance.
trying to foot the family’s bills. state of South Carolina...
—Page 7 —Page 14 —Page 35
Quote of the Day
567
“Be there for others
but never leave
yourself behind.”
WEATHER
— Dodinsky SUNNY
Generally sunny
conditions
despite one or
two isolated
afternoon
showers. Fair
night.
Piarco Max 32°C Min 22°C
Crown Point Max 32°C Min 24°C
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
10.30 am: 2 (Old Lady)
1 pm: 14 (Money)
4 pm: 14 (Money)
7 pm: 11 (Corbeau)
10.30 am: 28, 7
1 pm: 35, 6
4 pm: 3, 25
7pm: 24, 14
10.30 am: 7, 3, 5, 0
1 pm: 4, 6, 8, 8
4 pm: 1, 9, 2, 9
7 pm: 7, 4, 3, 9
PICTURE KRISTIAN DE SILVA 5, 9, 10, 14, 20 M: 3
 4 news
Fallout from ambush that led to
innocent businesswoman’s killing
Neighbours living in fear
SHANE SUPERVILLE
Senior Reporter
shane.superville@guardian.co.tt
One day after four people, includ-
ing an innocent businesswoman,
were killed during an attack in
their neighbourhood, Valsayn
residents say they are too fearful
to walk outside their homes over
concerns there may be a reprisal.
On Wednesday afternoon, gun-
men opened fire on a car along
the Churchill Roosevelt Highway
in St Augustine, in an attempt to
kill local Trinibad artiste Kashif “K
Man 6ixxx” Sankar. Investigators
said the shooting happened when
the car Sankar was in stopped at
the UWI lights.
In a bid to escape the attackers,
Sankar’s entourage sped off but
crashed into a shipping container
on the westbound lane of the
highway in Valsayn.
Security camera footage of the
incident shared on social media
showed gunmen pursuing two of
the men before killing them.
While Sankar survived the at-
tack, Damien Criss, Levi Criss
and Jerry Hollingsworth, who
were also in the car, were killed.
The three murdered men were all
from east Port-of-Spain.
Businesswoman Lana Sahadeo,
51, who was inside her home
nearby at the time, was struck by
a stray bullet when she opened
her curtains to look outside.
When Guardian Media visited
the neighbourhood yesterday,
wreckage from the crash was still
at the scene, while bullet holes
were visible on a nearby wall and
Family of driver killed in attack defend his name
‘Levi was no gangster’
ANNALISA PAUL
Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
Ricardo Levi Criss was not affili-
ated with any gang.
And while he was unfairly la-
belled due to where he lived,
relatives said yesterday it was his
love for his cousin, Damien Aaron
Criss, that led to his untimely
death.
Criss, 31, was driving the car
which was transporting Trinibad
artiste Kashif “Kman 6ixx” Sankar
and his entourage from the Piarco
International Airport on Wednes-
day, when gunmen ambushed
them and opened fire on them,
killing three and wounding one.
Sankar, who was the intended
target, escaped unharmed.
The Criss boys, along with
friend Jerry Hollingsworth; and
Bassie Street resident Lana Sa-
HIGHWAY QUADRUPLE MURDER
the window pane on Sahadeo’s
home.
Few people were seen walking
outside the home, as many resi-
dents preferred to stay inside in
the aftermath of the murders.
One resident, who spoke under
condition of strict anonymity,
said she heard of the incident
while at her son’s home nearby
and was shocked at how quickly
the incident happened.
“I got a phone call from a neigh-
bour saying it had gunmen in the
area and that they were jumping
over neighbours’ walls. Then we
heard that someone peeped out
when she got a stray bullet.
“I couldn’t even eat. I told him
that I normally go to the grocery,
which is right around where it
happened. I’m afraid because
you don’t know when someone
can come in the area.
“I could be in the grocery here
one day and someone comes in
and starts shooting.”
Another resident who asked not
to be named said he was a lifelong
Bassie Street resident but noted
that issues of crime and violence
were an increasing concern in re-
cent years.
Referring to the murder of Akel
Modeste in August, the resident
said people in the neighbourhood
were usually hesitant to venture
out after dark even to dispose of
garbage, and noted that the latest
quadruple murder only added to
the panic.
Pointing to the track parallel
to the highway where two of the
murdered men were chased and
eventually killed by gunmen, the
hadeo, who was hit by a stray bul-
let, were among the dead when
the gunfire ceased.
Trembling from grief and shock
as she spoke with reporters at the
Forensic Science Centre, St James,
yesterday, a distraught female
relative begged people to stop
publishing claims that Levi was a
gunman or a gang member.
“He was just the driver,” she in-
sisted.
Levi’s family said he was em-
ployed as an operator at National
Flour Mills and he accepted the
private hire job to collect his
cousin and Sankar’s arriving party
on Wednesday, although he was
due to report for work.
Another woman confirmed he
told them he would be back soon,
before leaving his home at Anni-
sette Street, Clifton Hill, Port-of-
Spain.
One said, “Is not everybody in a
Lana Sahadeo
resident said the area had been
avoided by residents since the
shooting.
“I used to take my granddaugh-
ter for a walk in the grassy part
you’re seeing there when she
finishes with school, now I can’t
even do that. People don’t want
to be anywhere near there to be
honest,” the resident said.
“Even though they (the victims)
didn’t intend to crash here… it
shows how anywhere could be
the scene of a murder.”
The resident added that one of
his neighbours, an elderly woman
with a heart condition, was se-
verely affected after hearing the
gunshots and had to be hospital-
ised.
Residents said Sahadeo was
known for her warm, friendly
demeanour and her passion for
cooking in her small Silver Spoons
restaurant on the Southern Main
situation bad.”
Remembering Levi as a, “cool,
hard-working and fun person,”
those present agreed he lived for
his children, aged 12, nine, four
and three.
Asked if Levi had expressed
fear or had spoken of any premo-
nitions prior to the incident, they
said no.
Relatives said he had spent an
enjoyable Christmas holiday pe-
riod with the family and had even
hosted a pajama party on Boxing
Night.
One relative choked up as she
struggled to get the words out,
“Why he didn’t just go to work?
Why he take that job? Why he
didn’t just go...just go?”
Pulling hard on a cigarette,
one of the distraught women
defended Levi’s memory, as she
said, “Levi ain’t no gunman.
“The police never one day
Road, Curepe.
Sahadeo’s eatery was featured
on an episode of local food re-
viewers’ Foodie Nation, who vis-
ited to taste her ‘fish choka’ dish.
When Guardian Media visited
the restaurant it was locked up.
Nearby business owners said
they were shocked and saddened
to hear about her passing and re-
membered her as a pleasant busi-
ness neighbour who attracted
customers with her breakfast
items.
“A lot of people used to be out
there from as early as 5 am to get
something to eat,” one nearby
business owner said.
“She worked very hard and
would be out there to serve her
customers, she only closed off last
week for Christmas, I heard what
happened on Wednesday and still
can’t believe it.”
Speaking with Guardian Media
at his office at the St Joseph Police
Station yesterday, North-Central
Division head, Snr Supt Richard
Smith, said he was aware of the
concerns of residents but assured
them there would be a height-
ened police presence in the area
to restore a sense of safety.
come byb our door...allyuh could
walk up the road in the area and
ask anybody bout Levi...I ain’t
telling allyuh no lies.
“He never get lock up, he was
never in jail...they can’t say noth-
ing bout Levi.”
Acknowledging he was living
in an area off St Paul Street, East
Port-of-Spain, which was known
for gang activity, she said despite
this, he spoke to everyone.
“But he never lime with them,”
she said.
Begging social media users to
stop labelling the three men killed
as gunmen, Levi’s relatives said
that was an unfair stigma being
ascribed to the victims.
Meanwhile, it was a calm and
collected Ricardo Anthony Criss
who told reporters, “He just went
to pick up Aaron.”
Confirming his son had run
away from work to pick up his
cousin and their friends to drop
them home, he said, “That was
it.”
However, he declared, “This
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Lana Sahadeo’s business on the
Southern Main Road, Curepe,
remained closed yesterday,
after her murder on Wednesday.
PICTURE KERWIN PIERRE
He noted the attack was well-or-
ganised by the gunmen and sus-
pected the attackers paid close
attention to Sankar’s social media
posts to keep track of when he
arrived in Trinidad. Smith con-
demned the brazen nature of the
killings, noting that criminals op-
erated in disregard to innocent
bystanders.
“What they did on Wednesday
was nothing to glorify, what they
did was an act of cowardice. The
people who were travelling in the
vehicle were not armed. They
just came and killed them,” Smith
said.
“This bullet killed the woman
who was standing by their win-
dow. It was simply coward people
walking up to unarmed people to
shoot them.”
Smith said police from the gang
intelligence units in different divi-
sions were activated and are now
working closely with neighbour-
ing divisions, particularly in the
Port-of-Spain Division, to find the
perpetrators. He urged the killers
to turn themselves in.
“Come in with your attorneys
because we are coming for you.
Make it easy on yourselves.”
Ricardo Levi Criss, who was killed in
Wednesday’s quadruple murder in
St Augustine.
was a sign of the times as we are
living in the last days. We expect
these things.”
The devout Jehovah Witness
added, “The fact that people get-
ting killed left, right and centre...
we expect these things. Jesus said
that is how it will be in the last
days.”
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt news 5
Women’s mystery deaths stun Moriah
Cops await autopsies to advance probe
ELIZABETH GONZALES
Tobago Correspondent

Relatives and neighbours of bicycles.

34-year-old Shevonne Moffat are
shocked by news of her death.
This, after Moffat and 62-year-
old Gemma Alexis were found
dead at Moffat’s Bottom Road,
Moriah apartment on Wednes-
day evening.
Police told Guardian Media
that the women were last seen
alive on Christmas Eve. The
landlord found their partially de-
composed bodies inside a bed-
room in the apartment which
was rented by Moffat, after not
seeing them for a few days. He
then made a report to Moriah
police around 6.20 pm.
Alexis was found lying on the
bed on her back in a white night
gown with green flowers, with
her feet touching the ground.
Moffat was discovered in a white
and blue top lying on her side,
with her head on Alexis’ lap.
A District Medical Officer pro-
nounced them dead on the scene
and ordered that their bodies be
removed and transferred to the
Scarborough General Hospital
mortuary. The women’s deaths
remain unclassified yesterday,
pending an autopsy to deter-
mine the cause of death.
Even while the cause of death
remains unknown, Moffat’s
uncle, Derrick Aberdeen, said
the family was struggling to be-
lieve rumours that she had died
by suicide.
In a phone interview yester-
Police officers on the scene where Shevonne Moffat and Gemma Alexis
were discovered dead at Moffat’s Bottom Road, Moriah apartment on
Wednesday.
day, Aberdeen said, “It is unbe-
lievable. It come like a miracle
that you wake up and hear that
Shevonne is dead in Tobago.
That is like a wrong side miracle
that is not supposed to be. This
is shocking. I would like to know
what had happened there and
how the two of them had died.
That is my biggest question.”
Moffat, who was from Trin-
idad, moved to Tobago seven
years ago. Her uncle said she
could not bear living in Trinidad
after her mother was killed and
wanted a safer environment. He
said she had no plans to return
to Trinidad to live.
“Her mother was murdered
(shot dead), which was my sister
and probably two or three weeks
after the funeral, she moved to
PICTURE VINDRA GOPAULBOODAN
Tobago because she could not
live in the surroundings where
she was living anymore,” Aber-
deen said.
He said Moffat worked in the
hotel industry on the island.
“I spoke to her a couple weeks
ago and she had no problems …
Shevonne was a dolly. A nice,
sweet person.”
Aberdeen said he was not fa-
miliar with the second woman
but he believed she was Moffat’s
sister from her father’s side.
When Guardian Media visited
the area yesterday morning, the
house—sitting at the centre of a
slight incline—was empty and
locked. The community was
quiet, and the street was empty,
except for one man washing his
car and two children riding their
One neighbour, who didn’t
want to be named, told Guard-
ian Media that Moffat said she
was excited to spend Christmas
with her sister at the apartment.
“She used to pass out here and
always call me out. She was so
excited days before Christmas.
She told me that her sister com-
Shooting victim Kern Fraser
ing to spend some time with her.
That sister came for Easter, but I
didn’t get to see the person,” he Family wants probe
said.
“The last time I saw her was as man, girlfriend
when she was taking some gro-
ceries up to her apartment the killed in bed by cops
day before Christmas Eve.”
SHASTRI BOODAN
He said it was unusual for
Freelance Correspondent
Moffat to stay inside for days. He
said he grew concerned when
Relatives of Kern Fraser are demanding
she did not answer his calls.
an investigation into the police-involved
“We good with each other. I
killing of him and his girlfriend Shaquella
would call her and she would
Davis.
call me. I called her Christmas
The duo were shot dead when police
Eve and then I find it was strange
raided their 10x10 apartment located at
when I called her on Christmas
the back of a house at the corner of Wa-
Day and she didn’t answer, her
terloo Road and Coconut Road, Carapi-
phone was off. She always re-
chaima, yesterday.
turned my calls,” he said.
Police said officers from the Central
“This is not only sad, it is also
Division Task Force Area North and the
shocking. I want police to do
Freeport CID visited a house on Water-
their job. I and all want to see
loo Road around 4.10 am to follow up on
how they died.”
enquiries of a shooting that happened on
Other neighbours said they did
December 23.
not know either of the women
A TTPS release said the officers identi-
personally but described the in-
fied themselves as police and walked into
cident as shocking for residents
the home, where they found Fraser, 34,
in the community.
lying on a bed. However, officers claimed
Sgt Dumas is continuing inves-
Fraser pointed a gun at them and fired
tigations.
a shot but missed. The officers returned

UNC: PNM failing ‘black young men’

AKASH SAMAROO
Senior Reporter
akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt
The United National Congress
(UNC) believes Wednesday’s
shooting along the Church-
ill Roosevelt Highway which
claimed four lives, including an
innocent bystander, is another
symptom of the Government’s
failure to meaningfully address
the pervasive issue of “black
young men” and their involve-
ment in crime in this country.
Speaking during a media con-
ference at the party’s Chaguanas
headquarters yesterday, UNC
deputy leader Jearlean John,
said the brazen shooting con-
firmed this country had become
a wasteland.
Holding a T&T Guardian with
the headline “Highway Carnage”
aloft, John said, “This country,
as of December 28, 2023, is in a
state of total chaos, breakdown,
lawlessness and anarchy and
that is not me speaking in hyper-
bole. We are not descending, we
are here; the barbarians are at
our door.”
John claimed some members
of a certain demographic now
feel empowered to terrorise peo-
ple due to a low police detection
rate and the feeling of abandon-
mental work.”
John said in 2013, then-prime
minister Kamla Persad-Bisses-
sar laid as a paper, the report
of a committee chaired by Prof
Selwyn Ryan titled, No Time to
Quit, Engaging Youth at Risk.
That report examined the causes
of crime among youth in T&T
and made recommendations for
reducing these crimes. However,
she said the PNM administration
made no use of the valuable
work done by the committee.
John said on Boxing Day, Op-
position Leader Persad-Bissessar
held a small caucus and signalled
UNC deputy leader Jearlean John holds a T&T Guardian aloft, while she will restart consultations
lamenting the state of crime in Trinidad and Tobago during yesterday’s with the public to discuss the
media conference. PICTURE AKASH SAMAROO impacts and solutions of crime.
ment from the Government. citizens in broad daylight, invad- Asked about the status of the
“Young men, mainly black, ing homes, raping, stealing and publicly promised anti-crime
unafraid of dying, as far as killing. Extortion is widespread talks between the UNC and
they’re concerned when they and mainstream and nothing Government, John said, “The
are 20 years old, they have seen from this Government of quacks Leader of the Opposition said
everything, their eyes have and invalids, who don’t appear that she’s open, but she wants
seen the glory of the coming of to believe that the children of the to meet with the leader of the
the Lord, and they could die, women who are the backbone of country, what is she going to
they are not afraid of anything, the PNM, that those children are meet with an intermediary to
they’re not afraid of anyone,” worth saving,” John lamented. talk about?
John said. “They don’t believe that there “Dr Rowley, at this time, has
She said while the Prime Min- is need for an intervention from to show that he’s serious. How
ister is busy “zessin and flexing”, the ground up. An intervention much people have to die?”
he is ignoring that this group that is fundamental, brick by The PM has said he will not be
could be saved. brick, stone by stone, child by attending the anti-crime talks be-
“So mainly black young men child, that’s how we must take cause the team he has appointed
are not afraid of dying. Killing it. We have to do the hard funda- is capable enough.
fire, hitting him several times.
The release said police then removed
the covers on the bed and found a woman
lying beside Fraser who was also shot. Of-
ficers took Fraser and the woman to the
Chaguanas Health Facility, where they
were both declared dead.
Police also reportedly found and seized
a pistol at the scene.
However, Fraser’s sister said relatives
plan to request an investigation from
the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).
She said Fraser was a scaffold rigger who
has two children, a girl, 7, and a boy, 10.
Davis, 33, who lives at Orange Field Road,
has four children.
Fraser’s sister, who asked not to be
identified, said she did not know why her
brother was targeted by the police.
She said, “They (the police) run in here
without a warrant and break down the
door where Kern and his girlfriend was
staying and opened fire.”
The elder sister said while Kern may
have acted like a “bad man”, he was actu-
ally a non-confrontational person. “Kern
was a big coward, he would not pull any
gun for a police, I know my brother.”
When Guardian Media surveyed the
scene, the bed in the small room was
covered with blood and there were bullet
holes in the wall at the back of the bed.
There was also a trail of blood from the
apartment to the road.
The sister said, “They drag him out
from here and take him in a jeep, they say
he get shoot in his foot.”
All police-involved killings are investi-
gated by a First Division Officer (FDO) at
the rank of assistant superintendent of
police (ASP) or higher.
 6 news
Cop accused of
killing two siblings
at Courts wants bail
ANNALISA PAUL
Senior Reporter
annalisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
PC Sidney Roberts will ring in the
new year behind bars, after he
was remanded into custody yes-
terday, charged with killing siblings
Simeon and Siniaya Lessey and
shooting with intent to do grievous
bodily harm to Nathan Pierre.
While he was remanded in cus-
tody and scheduled to reappear
on April 5 for a status hearing and
April 26 for a sufficiency hearing,
his attorneys have signalled their
intention to apply for bail on his
behalf by as early as January 3.
Roberts, 34, was not called upon
to plead when he appeared before
Master Shabiki Cazabon in the Port-
of-Spain High Court.
The accused, who is from Emon
Road, Valencia, was last assigned to
the Justice Protection Programme,
which is an arm of the Homicide
Bureau of Investigations.
During the proceedings yester-
day, it was ordered that Roberts
must be indicted by Director of
Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger
Gaspard by February 28.
In addition, the DPP was also in-
structed to disclose all evidential
materials collected by investigators
thus far to Roberts’ team of attor-
neys by the end of January.
Roberts is being represented by
Ulric Skerritt, James Caruth and
Arissa Maharaj.
He was charged with killing the
Bleak Christmas for auxiliary fire officer
Union boss blames manual system for late salaries
CARISA LEE
Reporter
carisa.lee@cnc3.co.tt
One auxiliary fire officer claims
he has not been paid on time be-
fore Christmas Day for 16 of the
21 years he has been in the Fire
Service.
So, when news came that close
to 300 auxiliary fire officers
would not be paid their Decem-
ber salaries before the 25th, he
was not surprised but once again
disappointed.
“I am working continuous, I
am a public servant and I sup-
posed to get paid at the same time
everybody else getting paid,” the
officer, who asked not to be iden-
tified, said.
The fire officer, who is assigned
to the Southern Division, ques-
tioned why this recurring issue
Simeon Lessey
Lessey siblings at the Courts Megas-
tore, San Juan, on December 17.
He was arrested four days after
the incident, which also landed
Simeon’s wife Kerry-Ann Moore
and family friend Nathan Pierre
in hospital, and was charged on
Christmas Day by ASP Daniel Her-
nandez of the North Eastern Divi-
sion.
Roberts was held by officers
of the Port-of-Spain Criminal In-
vestigations Department and the
Professional Standards Bureau on
December 21.
A total of four investigations were
held simultaneously, as the Profes-
sional Standards Bureau, the Police
Complaints Authority and the Na-
tional Security Council joined the
TTPS to conduct their own respec-
tive investigations.
Roberts’ appearance yesterday
President of the Fire Service
Association of T&T, Second Division
Keone Guy
was not addressed in the past and
hopes the new executive of the
Fire Services Association will ad-
dress it in 2024.
“In my mind, things will im-
prove because we’ve been under
Leo Ramkissoon, we have been
talking to him, writing him, some-
times getting a response,” he ex-
Siniaya Lessey
was one of the first to be held fol-
lowing the proclamation of the Ad-
ministration of Justice (Indictable
Proceedings) Act 2011 (AJIPA).
This amended legislation will
now see matters such as these
being scheduled before a Master of
the Court for sufficiency hearings.
AJIPA and its six amended Acts
were proclaimed on December 12.
The Office of the Attorney Gen-
eral and the Ministry of Legal Af-
fairs said the proclamation of the
AJIPA, which abolishes preliminary
enquiries, will create sweeping
changes to the functioning of the
courts and the dispensation of jus-
tice. Anticipated improvements in-
clude a reduction in case backlog,
an ease in the burden on witnesses
and a significant curtailing in the
wastage of time and resources in
the disposal of indictable matters.
plained.
Keone Guy was appointed as
new president of the association
earlier this month and plans to
look at the holistic needs of fire
officers. One of his campaign
promises is to address the terms
and conditions for auxiliary fire
officers.
“We are committed to honour,
at least my administration, to en-
sure that they are included on the
human resources information sys-
tem utilised by the Government of
Trinidad and Tobago to pay sala-
ries to government workers,” Guy
said.
Guy said even though some aux-
iliary officers have been in the ser-
vice for more than two decades,
they are still seen as temporary
workers by the State and paid on
manual pay sheets and that’s why
their salaries are often late.
Relatives of mom killed
in hit and run: Driver
could’ve helped her
Although relatives of the
woman killed in a hit-and-run
accident near the NP Flyover
on Wednesday, are angry that
the driver never stopped to
render assistance, they urged
those responsible to spare a
thought for Paige John’s chil-
dren, who have now been or-
phaned.
John, 35, of Pashley Street,
Laventille, was found lying in
a grassy area off the northern
side of the Beetham Highway
around 6 am on December 27.
The mother of two, who
was employed at NP as a
cleaner, was reportedly on
her way to work at the time.
Passersby who stumbled
upon John’s body contacted
the Emergency Health Ser-
vices, but attendants were
unable to revive her.
The District Medical Officer
visited the scene and ordered
John’s body removed to the
Forensic Science Centre, St
James, for an autopsy, after
injuries were observed on the
left side of John’s face.
Her personal effects, which
were found strewn on the
ground nearby, were col-
lected by officers.
Although investigators re-
trieved a license plate near
the spot where John’s body
was found, officers have yet
to confirm if it was in any way
connected to John’s accident
or if it was from a previous
accident.
“That places them in very
difficult position because on a
monthly basis, their rent is due
on the 30th, the bank charges of-
tentimes come up on the 30th and
their salaries reach late and often-
times they are paying penalties for
not paying on time,” he explained.
Guy called on the National Se-
curity Minister Fitzgerald Hinds
to urgently address this issue.
The auxiliary fire officer who
spoke with Guardian Media said
his Christmas celebrations were
simple.
“We don’t go over and beyond,
we get the necessities and some
extra,” he said.
But he added that to accomplish
just a basic celebration, he had to
do odd jobs to earn money for the
holiday season.
“Well, remember Christmas
everybody want a painter, they
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
John’s relatives, who de-
clined to provide their names
yesterday, described her as a
committed and hard-working
mother who would do any-
thing for her children.
A mother of two young
children, John had promised
to visit them around 4 pm on
the day she died to drop off
their Christmas presents.
Relatives said John’s chil-
dren had been spending the
Christmas holidays with her
father, as she had volun-
teered to work extra hours to
earn more money.
Revealing that the children
were aware something had
happened to their mother,
one relative said they contin-
ued to ask for John.
Another said, “They hav-
en’t really understood what
happened yet.”
Confirming John’s children
had been left without any par-
ents as their father and now
John were both deceased, one
relative said the driver could
have helped her.
The woman, who shook
her head in disbelief at the
incident, added, “Is a life you
take. I want justice.”
The relatives said they
were currently undergoing
different phases of grief as
they struggled to come to
terms with John’s death and
the manner in which her life
ended.
ANNALISA PAUL
want a tile man and that’s what I
do once it pops up,” he said.
The officer, who was finally paid
on Wednesday, was thankful that
he still had a trade to lean on, un-
like some of his other colleagues,
whose Christmas was more blue
than his.
“One guy called me last week,
with tears in his voice, he said
‘What I go do boy, I promise my
son for Christmas I’ll buy X, Y, Z
for him and right now I don’t have
any means of getting that money
to buy it for him, what I going and
tell my son’,” the officer recalled.
He lamented that Chief Fire Of-
ficer Arnold Bristow and others in
the Fire Service executive allowed
late salaries to continue all these
years.
Guardian Media called Bristow
several times for a comment but
those calls went unanswered.
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Forgotten for Christmas
Family of dead WASA
worker struggles with grief
RADHICA DE SILVA
Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Overwhelmed by grief, grandmother
Joyce Grant-Roberts recalled how she
could not bear to see the faces of her
granddaughters who spent their first
Christmas without their father, Kern
Etienne, following his horrific death at a
WASA jobsite.
Etienne was buried alive inside a
trench.
The girls—Kiara, 15, and Kimora, 5—
were inconsolable on Christmas Day.
Their father had been the sole breadwin-
ner and their mother who suffers from
a back injury has been trying to foot the
family’s bills.
Etienne’s last paycheck at WASA was
never paid and the family has not re-
ceived any NIS or Workman’s Compen-
sation.
Speaking to Guardian Media,
Grant-Roberts broke down in tears as
she relived the haunting memory of her
granddaughters’ sorrow. Avoiding the
gaze of those innocent faces resembling
her son’s, Joyce said she has been endur-
ing personal agony, worsened by what
she called WASA’s contemptuous behav-
iour.
“Nothing, not even a phone call. After
the wake, everybody like they forget us
and everything just sweep under the car-
pet. For Christmas, no calls, nothing. No
messages. It’s like I’m awaiting trial,” she
said.
Wiping away tears, she added, “Christ-
mas was very hard, real hard without my
son. I just can’t take it anymore. It’s really
hard without my child.
“To get up Christmas morning and he
not there to eat a plate of food or to hear
his jokes. My other son, his twin, broke
Flash flooding hits north, central Trinidad
KALAIN HOSEIN
Meteorologist/Reporter
kalain.hosein@guardian.co.tt
Heavy afternoon showers across parts
of central and northern Trinidad were a
reminder the country is still in the Wet
Season, with street and flash flooding
across numerous areas yesterday.
The situation was so bad that fire of-
ficers had to rescue a woman and two
children in floodwaters.
Up to three inches (75 millimetres)
of rainfall was recorded across parts of
Chaguanas, Endeavour, and Charliev-
ille where multiple roadways became
inundated as drains and small streams
reached capacity. Social media was also
flooded with videos of flooding within
Chaguanas Proper as several roads be-
came temporarily impassable.
Officers from the Trinidad and To-
bago Fire Service were spotted at Elea-
nor Street and Market Road, Chaguanas,
rescuing a woman and two children
who drove into the high flooded streets.
The northbound lanes of the Uriah
down in tears when he went to check on
the children. Forty days gone and not a
word,” she said.
Grant-Roberts alleged that it was negli-
gence on WASA’s part that caused Etienne’s
death. She vowed to visit the authority’s St
Joseph office next week.
“I want to ask them if they enjoyed their
Christmas. I want to ask them if they forget
Kern’s children,” she said. The distraught
grandmother revealed that both grand-
daughters had been facing difficulties
since the death of their father.
“They not coping, they really missing
their father and to see Christmas morning
their father is not around to give them a
gift. Sometimes I feel I can’t face them be-
cause they look like my son. I can’t handle
this. I cannot handle it at all,” she wept.
Cousin Alison Bailey said she too had a
difficult Christmas.
“I consoled myself by remembering the
good times we had. He had a nickname for
me. It was always laughter and joy with
Kern. It was remembering that laughter
that took me through on Christmas Day,”
Bailey said.
Etienne, 39, of Embacadere, San Fer-
nando, died after a mound of dirt col-
lapsed on top of him as he was standing
Cars make their way through floodwaters yesterday on Macoya Road, Macoya.
PICTURE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO WEATHER CENTRE
Butler Highway at Chaguanas, and
as the rains spread north and west,
the eastbound lanes of the Churchill
Roosevelt Highway in the vicinity of
Macoya, also experienced brief street
floods.
Joyce Grant-
Roberts, left, and
her son’s cousin,
Allison Bailey,
reflect on the
memory of her son
Kern Etienne,
during their first
Christmas without
him, following his
death in a trench
while working for
WASA in October.
PICTURE KRISTIAN
DE SILVA
inside a 12-feet trench near the San Fer-
nando Licensing Authority at Cipero Road,
near the Cross Crossing Overpass on Oc-
tober 22.
Eight of Etienne’s colleagues frantically
clawed through the dirt to try and save
him, but by the time he was pulled out, he
was severely injured.
A post-mortem at the Point Fortin Hos-
pital by Dr Arlene Rampersad found the
primary cause of his death was the tran-
section of the thoracic spine. The police
said it meant the injuries to the spinal cord
were fatal.
WASA, the Occupational Safety and
Health Authority and Agency and the po-
lice conducted investigations following the
tragedy.
Guardian Media yesterday reached out
to WASA acting CEO Kelvin Romain, who
said the probe into Etienne’s death is com-
ing to an end and should be presented to
WASA’s board of commissioners in two
weeks’ time. He said WASA’s HR team
has been in touch with the family and
advised them of the documents needed
to commence proceedings related to his
estate. Romain said WASA will ensure the
proceedings are expedited once the docu-
ments are submitted.
Roadways turned into rivers in
Tunapuna and in Maracas, St Joseph,
as heavy rains persisted through the
mid-afternoon. Parts of the Priority Bus
Route in the vicinity of Tunapuna also
became impassable due to flooding.
news 7
Michael Prentice, president of the Amalgamated
Workers’ Union, speaks with GML at the union’s
headquarters in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
PICTURE VASHTI SINGH
Union boss claims
job cuts looming
at PoS City Corp
JESSE RAMDEO
Senior reporter
jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt
The president of the Amalgamated Workers’
Union is taking the Port-of-Spain City Council to
task over an alleged recent decision taken which
could threaten the jobs of some corporation
workers.
During an interview with Guardian Media yes-
terday, Michael Prentice suggested that the corpo-
ration was attempting to impede operations at its
garage in an effort to re-direct work.
Just before the Christmas holiday, garbage truck
drivers were reportedly instructed to hand over
the keys to the trucks to municipal police officers.
Prentice said then the decision led to a messy
situation with garbage trucks out of service.
“At this time, the place is in a mess because
when you don’t pick up garbage for one day it
becomes bad and when you don’t do this for two,
three and four days ... and this is Christmas time,
so the pile-up is humongous.”
Yesterday, the union boss maintained that once
resources are provided to ensure the upkeep of
the corporation’s garbage trucks, work will be
completed. He, however, alleged that there was a
deliberate effort to disrupt the corporation work-
ers from executing their tasks.
“A resolution has been passed at the corpora-
tion council. What they are now attempting to do
is stymie the garage functions so that it will give
rise to the fact that the garage cannot carry out its
functions and they will have these functions then
transfer or make arrangements with VMCOTT.
“We (are) opposed to this vehemently and not
supporting this in any shape or form and we
stand by that because once the parts are provided
for the corporation workers, the work is done,”
he explained.
Prentice also claimed there was another motive
behind the council’s alleged move.
“This may very well be a smokescreen, more
importantly for the lands at Christopher Samuel
Drive because the real estate down there now is
very high at this point in time and people prob-
ably seeing it as a benefit and a way and means
of getting their hands on the lands,” he claimed.
Christopher Samuel Drive, off Mucurapo Road,
St James, is where the corporation’s garage is lo-
cated.
Prentice said the Amalgamated Workers’ Union
will continue to raise the workers’ concerns as he
believed the move posed a serious threat to their
future.
“We not going to rock back and allow this type
of behaviour to grow root at all, whatsoever,
when it comes to putting workers jobs security
on the line,” he said.
Several attempts to contact Port-of-Spain Mayor
Chinua Alleyne for a response to Prentice’s claims
were unsuccessful up to late yesterday evening.
 8 news
Venezuela objects to
British Navy ship in Guyana
RAPHAEL JOHNLALL
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Min-
ister Yvan Gil has strongly con-
demned the presence of the
British warship HMS Trent in Guy-
ana, and has warned Guyana to
remove the military vessel from
its waters.
In a statement, Gil accused Guy-
ana of violating the Argyle Decla-
ration signed with Venezuela in St
Vincent and the Grenadines two
weeks ago, where the two nations
promised not to use violence or
force to resolve the dispute over
the oil-rich Essequibo region.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley
was among the Caricom leaders
present for the signing of the Ar-
gyle Declaration.
Last week, it was reported that
the UK was sending the Royal Navy
Patrol Ship to Guyana in a show of
support for that Caricom country.
The HMS Trent has a crew of
65, a top speed of 24 knots and a
range of 5,000 nautical miles. It is
armed with a 30mm cannon and
a contingent of Royal Marines and
can deploy Merlin helicopters and
unmanned aircrafts.
In a statement on his X account
(formerly Twitter) yesterday, Gil
Regulatory Board needed—ASTT
RADHICA DE SILVA
Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
In a bid to prevent surplus produce
from burdening farmers in 2024,
president of the Agriculture Society,
Darryl Rampersad, is calling for a Reg-
ulatory Food Import Board to oversee
agricultural trade in the future.
Speaking to Guardian Media about
his recommendations for agricultural
production, consumption and impor-
tation in 2024, Rampersad said there
was a need to have monitoring of im-
ports.
“We need to have a regulatory
Board that can assist with impor-
tation in terms of monitoring how
much we are actually importing. For
example, during February, it is cus-
tomary for tomatoes to drop to $1 or
$2 per pound and this is why we need
such a Committee or Board in place
to monitor these things so when there
is that volume of produce on our mar-
ket we have to ensure we don’t im-
port surplus produce,” he explained.
Noting that supermarket giants
often import food grown by local
farmers, Rampersad said this causes
a glut in the market.
“When prices drop on the local
market and then giant food chains
bring in the same commodity, we
take away a market from our farm-
ers,” he contended.
He also called for improvements
in the agricultural incentive pro-
Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister
Yvan Gil
said, “The Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela categorically rejects the
arrival of the HMS Trent, a vessel
from the British Navy to the coasts
of Guyana, which becomes an act
of hostile provocation and a vio-
lation of the recent Argyle Decla-
ration, assumed as a roadmap to
gramme.
“Our first priority should be to
make the agriculture incentive pro-
gramme more accessible to the
farming community by removing
the criteria from land tenureship to
those in production. This will allow
many farmers in active production to
access the agriculture incentive pro-
gramme,” Rampersad stated.
Emphasising the importance
of self-sufficiency, Rampersad
said items that are not produced
in T&T should be on the food im-
portation list. These include on-
ions, garlic, carrots and potatoes.
He also critiqued Namdevco’s role,
urging them to expand markets be-
yond mere infrastructure provision.
Discussing consumption, he high-
lighted economic constraints impact-
ing sales despite product availability,
emphasising the need for financial
accessibility.
Asked why food prices had
dropped so drastically during the
Christmas week, Rampersad said cli-
mate conditions facilitated this.
“Usually coming down to the end of
the year, there is excess flooding but
this year, there were changes in the
weather patterns that permitted the
farmers to produce. Around Septem-
ber and October we had a drought pe-
riod but after that climate conditions
were favourable to produce crops in
time for Christmas,” he said.
He also called for better agriculture
infrastructure in the new year, noting
Guyana’s President Dr Mohamed
Irfaan Ali PICTURE ABRAHAM DIAZ
address the territorial controversy
over Guayana Esequiba between
Venezuela and Guyana.”
He added, “The presence of the
military ship is extremely serious
since it is accompanied by state-
ments by political and military
spokesmen of the person who
served as the looter of Guayana
ASTT president Darryl Rampersad
PICTURE VASHTI SINGH
that in some areas drains and rivers
needed cleaning.
An abundance of produce caused
record-low prices on Christmas Eve at
Debe’s Southern Wholesale Market.
Despite the attractive deals, a surpris-
ing lack of shoppers was observed.
Rough skin lemons priced at $2
each, while six oranges fetched $20.
Peppers hit a new low, with 50 for
$20. Sweet bell peppers, typically $20
per pound, went for $8, and ample
bundles of bodi were sold at $6. Forty
ochroes sold for $10, and large ap-
ples went for $4 each. Farmers said
they had no choice but to sell cheap
as there was a glut of produce on the
market.
Esequiba, who insists on getting
involved in said controversy.
These statements have also been
synchronised with actions by the
United States Southern Command,
which clearly becomes a direct
threat to peace and stability of the
region.”
Gil urged the Guyanese authori-
ties to take immediate action to re-
move the ship, HMS Trent, and to
refrain from continuing to involve
military powers in the territorial
controversy. He also pointed out
to the members of Caricom and
the Community of Latin American
and Caribbean States (CELAC) that
these actions are contrary to the
spirit of peace and understanding
agreed on in St Vincent and the
Grenadines.
In response to the Foreign Min-
ister’s claims, Guyana President Dr
Irfaan Ali said, “Neither Venezuela
nor any other state has anything
to fear from activities within Guy-
ana’s sovereign territory or waters.
“I have iterated before, that
we harbour no ambitions or in-
tentions to covet what does not
belong to us. We are fully com-
mitted to peaceful relations with
our neighbours and all countries
in our region. Guyana remains
Couva Carnival in need of funds
SHASTRI BOODAN
The Couva Carnival Com-
mittee (CCC) has a $475,000
budget for the staging of Car-
nival 2024 events.
As he announced plans for
the season, CCC chairman
Ramchand Rajbal Maraj said
the theme for next year’s cele-
bration is “Better than Before
in 2024”. However, he said the
CCC is stumped for funding.
“The NCC (National Car-
nival Commission) gave us
$250,000 and we have a
budget of $480,000. How-
ever, when we approached
companies on the Point Lisas
Industrial Estate, they said we
needed a letter from the NCC
stating that the CCC is a bon-
afide entity associated with
the NCC,” he said.
“Bear in mind that these
same companies had funded
us before in the past. How-
ever, they said their policies
have changed. We did not get
the letter from the NCC for
Carnival 2023, but we plan to
meet with the NCC before the
close of 2023 to have this issue
sorted out.”
“Because of the lack of
funding, we had to cut prize
monies short and many
band leaders were unhappy,”
Rajbal Maraj added.
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
fully steadfast in promoting and
advancing peace whilst pursuing
national development.
“Guyana has long been engaged
in partnerships with regional and
international states aimed at en-
hancing internal security. These
partnerships pose a threat to no
one and are in no way intended to
be aggressive or constitute an of-
fensive act against any State.
“I wish to renew my best wishes
to the people of Venezuela, our
neighbours.”
Apart from the British warship,
Guyana has also courted the US
military. On December 19, Dr Ali
posted photos on his X account
of a meeting with retired United
States General Wesley Clark.
The post stated that they
discussed hemispheric secu-
rity and geopolitical relations
within the Western hemisphere.
Guyana has also been involved
in joint military exercises with
the US. On December 7, the Guy-
ana Defence Force and the US
Southern Command conducted
flight operations in what was de-
scribed as “routine engagement”
to enhance the security partner-
ship between the two countries.
He said staging Carnival
events is costly because it
also involves constructing an
elevated stage at the Couva
Car Park at a cost of $60,000.
Carnival activities in Couva
will begin tomorrow with
screenings for the Miss Cen-
tral Carnival Queen Pageant
and culminate on February 13
with the Parade of the Bands
at the Couva Car Park.
Couva Carnival Events
December 30: Screening
for Beauty Pageant, Balmain
Community Centre, 10 am.
January 7: Junior Calypso
Monarch screening, Balmain
Community Centre, 9 am- 5 pm.
February 2: Sashing of Queens,
Metro Hotel,.
February 8: TUCO South Kaiso
Showcase, Couva Car Park, 8 pm
February 9: Couva Calypso
Monarch Competition, Couva Car
Park, 7 pm.
February 10: Miss Central
Carnival Queen Show, Couva Car
Park, 7 pm
February 11: Kiddies Parade of
the Bands, Couva Car Park, 2pm
February 12: Jouvert, Couva Car
Park, 5 am
Monday Night Mas, Couva, Car
Park, 7 pm
February 13: Parade of the
Bands, Couva, Car Park, 2 pm
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Acquittals, escaped convict and a missing file
DEREK ACHONG
Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
Of the thousands of cases de-
termined in the justice system
over the past year, two stood out
among a long list of many impor-
tant matters. Both involved police
officers.
In one case, six members of a
specialised policing unit went on
trial for murdering three friends
from Moruga in 2011. In the other,
a teenage human trafficking vic-
tim, who was forced into prostitu-
tion, claimed police officers were
among her clients.
Both cases ended in November
but with very different outcomes.
Moruga triple murder trial
On November 24, Sgt Khemraj
Sahadeo and PCs Renaldo Re-
viero, Glenn Singh, Roger Nich-
olas, Safraz Juman, and Antonio
Ramadin were acquitted of mur-
dering Abigail Johnson, Alana
Duncan, and Keron Eccles.
As in all criminal trials, the re-
sult brought mixed reactions from
those involved in the case.
For the officers, who spent
more than 12 years on remand be-
fore their case came up for trial,
the jury’s decision brought im-
mense relief.
“It was a trying time. Twelve
years or 4,409 days away from
our families,” Sahadeo said, as he
and his former colleagues were
reunited with their family mem-
bers on the steps of the Hall of
Justice in Port-of-Spain.
For the victims’ relatives, many
of whom attended every hearing
of the case after it started before
High Court Judge Carla Brown-An-
toine in June, the jury’s verdicts
were an atrocity.
Agonised, the relatives made
their way to the courtroom exit
well before the jury foreman de-
livered verdicts for each of the
officers.
Eccles’ mother Geraldine was in
disbelief.
“They killed my son. God don’t
sleep,” she said.
“Ask the jury how much they
get paid,” she added.
When a news team from Guard-
ian Media visited her home in St
Mary’s Village, Moruga, the fol-
lowing day, she had still not come
to terms with what transpired.
“It hurt. It hurt bad. I could not
sleep,” she said.
“Six police officers and no-
body found them guilty, none? It
is hard. It is hard, and there was
evidence to show what they did.”
During the trial, the officers
never denied that they shot and
killed the trio at the corner of Ro-
chard Douglas Road and Gunness
Trace in Barrackpore on July 22,
2011.
Hours before the shooting, Dun-
can, her then-boyfriend Shumba
James, along with James’ two
friends, Johnson, and Eccles were
Attorney Ulric Skerritt, left, with PC Antonio Ramadin, second from left, PC Safraz Juman, PC Roger Nicholas, Sergeant Khemraj Sahadeo and PC Renaldo
Reviero, after the officers were freed at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, in November.
liming at several bars near their
homes in St Mary’s Village. Be-
fore meeting up, James made sure
he went to the nearby police post
to report as part of his bail condi-
tions for a robbery charge.
Around 7 pm, the friends de-
cided to go to Barrackpore to pur-
chase food. James went with his
friends in their car, while Duncan,
Johnson and Eccles followed in
his ( James) car.
As they passed the junction,
the officers unleashed a barrage
of gunshots on James’ car. James
and his friends did not stop on
hearing the gunshots and only got
a brief glimpse of what was tran-
spiring as they looked behind.
The shooting lasted approxi-
mately ten seconds and was par-
tially captured by a CCTV camera
from a nearby business. In the
footage, shown to the jury, an of-
ficer was heard shouting “Don’t
move” before gunshots were
heard.
The trio was pronounced dead
at Princes Town Health Facility al-
most an hour and a half after the
initial shooting.
The response of the victims’ rel-
atives and friends was swift. They
surrounded the facility and de-
manded answers. The officers
had to request backup to leave.
Irate relatives and friends did
not stop there as they blocked
roads in the community for sev-
eral days following the shooting.
During the trial, lead prosecutor
Gilbert Peterson, SC, presented
the evidence of two eyewitnesses.
Leeladeo Surujbally was purchas-
ing food near the junction when
the shooting occurred.
In his statement to police and
during the preliminary inquiry,
Surujbally claimed he heard one
of the officers shout “Shumba you
dead tonight” before they opened
fire on the car.
Confronted at the trial with
CCTV footage which had clear
audio that did not reflect his
claim, Surujbally admitted he had
difficulties remembering the trau-
matic incident but maintained
news 9
PICTURE NICOLE DRAYTON
that he told the truth. ing consistent statements and Clement’s claims.
The most contentious witness revisiting the crime scene to co- The jurors took a little over half
was WPC Nicole Clement, who ordinate their responses to inves- an hour to return with unanimous
was among the last to enter the tigators. not-guilty verdicts for the officers.
witness box. In his closing address, Khan de- It remains to be seen what ac-
Clement, a relatively junior scribed Clement as a pathological tion, if any, DPP Gaspard is going
officer, worked alongside the of- liar and referred to the fact that to take about Clement, whose sen-
ficers in the San Fernando Rob- months before the trial, she wrote tencing for the lesser charge was
bery Squad for six months before DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, indicat- deferred pending the outcome of
the shooting. She was initially ing that she would not testify. her colleagues’ trial.
charged alongside them but en- Khan said Clement provided a Less than a week after the trial,
tered into a plea agreement with statement in which she claimed to her civil lawsuit against the Min-
the Office of the Director of Pub- have been the “mastermind” and istry of National Security was dis-
lic Prosecutions (DPP). The mur- threatened her colleagues into ex- missed by High Court Judge Frank
der charges were dropped and ecuting the two friends after the Seepersad.
she was instead charged with at- initial shooting. In that case, Clement claimed
tempting to pervert the course of “She is crazy. I don’t think any- that while she was in the Justice
justice in exchange for her testi- one here is so crazy as to believe Protection Programme awaiting
mony against her colleagues. what she said,” he told the court the trial, the security detail at the
While she testified during the However, Peterson had more safe house she was being held in
preliminary inquiry almost a dec- faith in the State’s case. was removed in November last
ade earlier, Clement was deemed “She never said that she lied,” year.
a hostile witness at the trial. Citing he said and called on the jurors Justice Seepersad noted that
safety and security concerns, she to consider the circumstantial her case became academic after
refused to testify and sat silently evidence, including spent shells the trial was completed.
for several days as Peterson and found at the second crime scene
the officers’ lawyers Israel Khan, which he claimed corroborated Continues on page 10
SC, and Ulric Skerritt fired
questions at her to no avail.
Her evidence during the
inquiry was read to the jury.
Clement claimed her col-
leagues received instruc-
tions from senior officers to
apprehend James, who they
claimed was wanted for a
series of murders and was
believed to be “armed and
dangerous”.
She claimed that as the
car James was known to
have used drove past them,
her colleagues opened fire
and she joined in. She also
claimed that Duncan and Ec-
cles survived the initial volley
of gunshots and were taken
to a remote location off the
M2 Ring Road in Woodland,
where they were shot again,
reloaded into the police vehi-
cle and taken on a slow drive
to the health facility.
Clement also detailed the
steps she and her former
colleagues allegedly took to
attempt to cover up their
actions including prepar-
 10 news
State wins US$131.5M airport case
From page 9
Clement still has a pending case
against the DPP’s Office over its
alleged failure to continue plea
discussions with her about finan-
cial support after the trial.
While the outcome of the case
remains a major disappointment
for the trio’s relatives, they can
now only hope to find some sol-
ace in their pending wrongful
death cases filed against the State
seeking $2 million in compensa-
tion for each.
When the case went to trial
before Justice Kevin Ramcharan
in 2018, the State offered no ev-
idence to challenge it. However,
Justice Ramcharan recused him-
self before determining the case
based on the fact that the rela-
tives’ lawyer, Keith Scotland, was
a member of the legal team rep-
resenting him in a drunk driving
case.
The case has since been reas-
signed.
First human trafficking
conviction
In early November, Tunapuna
resident Anthony Michael Smith
made history when he became
the first person convicted of
human trafficking in T&T. How-
ever, Smith was not present for
sentencing as he absconded be-
fore the trial ended before Justice
Geoffrey Henderson.
He was convicted in absentia
for five charges under the Traf-
ficking in Persons Act and sen-
tenced to 15 years for each.
Smith is to serve the sentences
concurrently, if and when he is
eventually apprehended.
The outcome of the case, which
was held in-camera to protect
the identity of the victim, was
announced by National Security
Minister Fitzgerald Hinds on No-
vember 3. While Hinds lauded
the case, Lawrence Hinds, the
head of his ministry’s Electronic
Monitoring Unit was at the press
conference to explain how Smith
seemingly managed to evade jus-
tice.
Smith was initially charged with
21 human trafficking offences in
2016 and remanded. At the end
of his preliminary inquiry a little
over a year later, he was commit-
ted to stand trial for five of the
charges and granted bail with
conditions including house arrest
and electronic monitoring.
Before the trial started, Smith
made an application to vary
his bail conditions so he could
work. He was fitted with another
monitoring device but after two
days of evidence in the trial be-
fore Justice Henderson, Smith
disappeared.
Hinds detailed the steps taken
after Smith tampered with the de-
vice at 6.32 am on September 24.
“Following our standard oper-
ating procedures and all relevant
Anthony Smith, who was convicted
of human trafficking PICTURE TTPS
checks, we initiated the police
response mechanism after all at-
tempts to contact him failed. That
proved negative, as there were
no signs of Mr Smith. The police
continued their actions based on
what they had to do and Mr Smith
was no longer seen,” he said.
A press release from the Judi-
ciary issued hours after the press
conference provided more insight
into Smith’s crimes.
Smith came under the radar of
the T&T Police Service’s (TTPS)
Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU)
after detectives found the victim’s
passport in a building in east Trin-
idad used by foreign sex workers.
The victim was eventually lo-
cated.
The teen, who came from a sin-
gle-mother home with four sib-
lings, claimed that in 2015 she left
school to look for a job to assist
her family. She met Smith when
she responded to a classified ad in
a daily newspaper.
During an interview with Smith,
she was told that she would need
to take off all her clothes to be
photographed and the true na-
ture of the work being offered
was selling sexual services.
She declined the offer and was
instead offered a job as a bar-
tender in Smith’s business and
subsequently given a place to stay
in east Trinidad.
“Sometime after, Anthony
Smith pleaded with the 16-year-
old to help him with an important
client, as he had no other availa-
ble girls that day,” the release
said.
“She relented with her first cli-
ent, a foreign national staying at
a city hotel in the waterfront area
of Port-of-Spain.”
The teen claimed she was
forced to continue sex work while
attending school part-time and
was subjected to physical, emo-
tional and sexual abuse by Smith.
In August 2015, she managed to
leave with some of her belongings
that could fit in two bags.
“She was forced to leave behind
her puppy and her other belong-
ings including her passport,” the
release said.
In sentencing Smith, Justice
Henderson ordered that tran-
scripts of the proceedings be sent
to the CTU as evidence in the case
revealed that the victim’s clients
included several police officers.
In an exclusive interview with
Guardian Media, Smith’s girl-
friend claimed the victim was in
a relationship with Smith before
they met. The woman said Smith
was an “absolutely wonderful
person” who took care of her
when no one else cared for her.
“There is literally nothing bad
that can be said,” she said.
“They were making it seem
as though this case was very im-
portant, so why after eight years
it is now important to you all. It
should have been important from
the first day,” she added.
Murder convicts
re-sentenced
Despite perennial issues
with staffing partly due to key
long-serving staff members taking
up local and regional judicial ap-
pointments, the DPP’s Office was
still able to complete the re-sen-
tencing of more than a dozen
murder convicts over the past
year.
The convicts had benefited
from the landmark Privy Coun-
cil ruling in the Jamaican case
of Pratt and Morgan, which only
permits executions within five
years of conviction. The death
sentences they received upon
conviction were commuted to life
imprisonment.
They applied to be re-sen-
tenced under another landmark
judgment last year, in which the
Privy Council ruled that murder
convicts who can no longer be
executed should receive defin-
itive terms of imprisonment as
opposed to blanket life sentences.
In cases that came up for
re-sentencing this year, many of
the convicts were freed after serv-
ing almost 30 years in prison. A
handful did not secure freedom
immediately but were instead told
the remaining period they had to
serve before being released.
Those released included the
country’s longest-serving death
row inmate, Wenceslaus James
who was convicted of killing a
taxi driver with a sledgehammer
during a botched robbery in 1992
and served a little over 31 years in
prison.
Several of the cases involved
domestic violence.
Parbatee Dass served a little
over 28 years for ordering a “hit”
on her estranged abusive husband
that also resulted in his new love
interest being murdered. Amir
Mowlah, who chopped his wife to
death during a heated argument
over his infidelity, was freed after
serving more than three decades
in prison.
DPP under fire for
unoccupied building
DPP Gaspard came under crit-
icism this year not for his office’s
performance in the courts but
for failure to relocate from the
Winsure Building on Richmond
Street, Port-of-Spain.
It was revealed that since 2019,
the Government had spent almost
$55 million to rent and outfit a
more spacious building on Park
Street.
Gaspard reportedly initially
agreed to move to the building
but he and his staff later refused
to occupy it based on a Special
Branch report that raised security
concerns.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Row-
ley was asked to comment on the
issue several times over the year.
At a post-Cabinet press briefing
in late October, he said, “I must
say, I’m disappointed, hugely dis-
appointed.”
“I think something has to be
radically wrong where the Parlia-
ment, in enquiring about the per-
formance of a certain government
department can be told over and
over that the reason why he (DPP)
can’t function is because you
don’t have staff. And the reason
they don’t have staff is because ‘It
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
The building at the corner
of Park and Henry Streets,
Port-of-Spain, which was
refitted to house the
Office of the DPP.
PICTURE KERWIN PIERRE
have nowhere to put them’.”
Responding to questions in
Parliament, Attorney General
Reginald Armour, SC, said that
the DPP’s Office will remain at its
current location with temporary
accommodation being provided
for additional staff until a long-
term solution, which is mutually
acceptable, is found.
“Consideration is being given to
a site on which a proper building
will be built out for a number of
legal staff, and hopefully, the DPP,
if that is actualised, will agree to
move there,” he said.
$20 million case
with a missing file
On January 30, High Court Mas-
ter Martha Alexander ordered
$2.1 million in compensation for
nine men who were acquitted
of the kidnapping and murder
of businesswoman Vindra Nai-
paul-Coolman in 2016.
Armour was on an official over-
seas trip at the time and called
a press conference upon his re-
turn. He claimed the outcome
was due to the case file going
missing after being served on a
staff member of the Solicitor Gen-
eral’s Office in 2020.
Armour appointed former High
Court Judge Stanley John and
retired Assistant Commissioner
of Police (ACP) Pamela Schulle-
ra-Hinds to conduct a probe.
In late June, John and Hinds
delivered their report in which
they made several recommen-
dations, including the complete
restructuring of the Civil Law De-
partment (CLD) of the Ministry of
the Attorney General and Legal
Affairs (AGLA).
Armour also retained Senior
Counsel Rolston Nelson as he
promised to attempt to have the
outcome reversed.
He made good on his promise
when on December 6, High Court
Judge Joan Charles upheld an ap-
plication to set aside the default
Continues on page 11
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Former Chief Magistrate secures first victory
From page 10
judgment. Justice Charles agreed that the
court filings were not properly served on
the AG’s Office as required under the State
Liability and Proceedings Act.
Immediately following the ruling, the
men’s legal team filed an urgent appeal
seeking to overturn the ruling as it meant
their case was dismissed as it could not be
refiled and served outside the four-year
statutory limit.
They also claimed the ruling would have
an unforeseen effect on all litigation filed
against the State as it was the first time such
an issue with service was raised and upheld.
The appeal is yet to come up for hearing.
State wins US case
over Piarco Airport
In March, there were two major devel-
opments in corruption cases related to the
construction of Piarco International Air-
port.
The month started with DPP Gaspard
discontinuing charges against former
prime minister Basdeo Panday, his wife
Oma, former Cabinet minister Carlos John
and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh.
The charges related to a £25,000 bribe
allegedly received by Panday and his wife
and allegedly paid by John and Galbarans-
ingh as an inducement concerning the air-
port project.
Gaspard said his decision was based on
the low probability of securing convictions
in the case. He explained that several key
witnesses had died and one main witness
is now elderly and lives abroad.
The decision brought relief for Panday
who said: “This was a burden hanging on
my shoulders and my whole personality
for 18 years. Now that it is over I have to
reconstitute my life.
“I suppose this was a political prosecu-
tion. It seems that they cannot forgive me
for building the finest airport in the Carib-
bean.”
Days later, Gaspard announced plans for
the three remaining cases which had been
before the courts for almost two decades.
“I have made no determination except
that we are proceeding with the rest,” he
said.
Former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar
Pressed further, Gaspard admitted that
his position might change based on evolv-
ing circumstances.
Weeks later, a jury in Miami upheld the
Government’s civil asset recovery case re-
lated to two construction contracts and a
maintenance contract for the airport.
The jury ordered former government
minister Brian Kuei Tung, businessman
Steve Ferguson, and United States busi-
nessman Raul Guiterrez Jr to pay US$131.5
million in compensation.
The final judgment was based on the
US$32,385,988 in compensation by the
jury, which had to be tripled as the rack-
eteering charges were filed under the US’s
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organi-
sations Act (RICO).
US Judge Reemberto Diaz, who previ-
ously disqualified AG Armour from the
case for downplaying his role in briefly
representing Kuei Tung, upheld the jury’s
decision.
The trio has since appealed the decision.
Former Chief Magistrate wins
forced resignation case
On October 12, former chief magistrate
Marcia Ayers-Caesar secured her first legal
victory in her lawsuit over being pressured
to resign as a High Court Judge by Chief Jus-
tice Ivor Archie and the Judicial and Legal
news 11
by Venezuelan migrants seeking to block
deportation for breaching immigration
laws.
In July, Justice Frank Seepersad ruled
Service Commission ( JLSC). that the United Nations’ 1951 Convention
Ayers-Caesar was appointed a High Court Relating to the Status of Refugees, which
Judge in April 2017 but two weeks later, she this country signed on to in November
resigned from the post amid public criti- 2000, does not apply. He ruled that it had
cism over the 52 cases she had left unfin- to be incorporated into local laws by Parlia-
ished when she took up the promotion. ment to be applicable.
Ayers-Caesar filed a lawsuit in which she Since the decision, it has been cited by
claimed she was coerced into resigning. the State in numerous cases from migrants.
Appellate Judges Allan Mendonca, Nolan The ruling is being appealed.
Bereaux, and Alice Yorke-Soo Hon over-
turned the decision of Justice David Har-
ris, who previously rejected the case. The
No more preliminary inquiries
judges wrote separate but consistent judg-
The year ended with the long-awaited
ments in which they criticised the JLSC,
proclamation of the Administration of
chaired by Archie, for improperly and ille-
Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act 2011
gally pressuring Ayers-Caesar to resign.
which replaces preliminary inquiries for
Her lawyer Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj,
serious criminal offences before magis-
SC, said he was deeply troubled by what
trates with sufficiency hearings before
transpired in the case and the fact that
High Court Masters.
his client had to utilise every legal redress
The step coupled with new Criminal
available to clear her name.
Procedure Rules, additional courtrooms
He welcomed a final appeal to the Privy
for criminal trials as well as more judges
Council, which was filed by Archie and the
are expected to address chronic backlogs
JLSC.
in the criminal justice system.
“I think this is the kind of appeal that the
The proclamation on December 12
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council will
followed a comprehensive training pro-
want to hear very quickly,” Maharaj said.
gramme for stakeholders.
CJ Archie calls for more
PUBLIC NOTICE
HR autonomy
Days before the Appeal Court de-
livered its ruling in Ayers-Caesar’s EPPLEY CARIBBEAN PROPERTY
case, CJ Archie renewed his call for FUND LIMITED SCC
the Judiciary to be given more free-
dom to hire specialised staff. VALUE FUND AND
“In the same way that we cannot DEVELOPMENT FUND
fight modern crime with old meth-
odologies, tools and training, we Public Notice is hereby given that pursuant
cannot run a modern court system
to Section 67(2)(c) of the Securities Act, 2012
with antiquated structures and staff-
(“the Act”), the audited financial statements
ing models,” he said.
of Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited
Archie noted that previous pleas
SCC-Value Fund and Eppley Caribbean
were ignored.
Property Fund Limited SCC-Development
“This is not the first time I am
Fund for the year ended September 30, 2023,
doing this publicly either, but it ap-
pears that the right people have not have been completed and are available for
really listened up to now,” he said. viewing at
www.eppleylimited.com.
Asylum seekers can be
Should you require additional information,
deported please contact Ms. Stevie-Ann Powell at (876)
929-8451 or send an email to
Over the past few years, the courts
PowellS@eppleylimited.com.
have been inundated with litigation
 12 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

Guardian
opinion
Established 1917
Jonathan
Matthews and
Jace Ramsey, , of
Atlanta, Georgia,
USA, play in the
sand at Store Bay,
Tobago, on
Crime continues to be cloud of doom Boxing Day.
PICTURE
The good news of Venezuela having finally signed-off on the VINDRA
Dragon Gas deal, to have its raw materials processed here in GOPAULBOODAN
Trinidad and Tobago to the benefit of both countries, came
to brighten somewhat a year of turmoil and disaster now
receding from view.
That, however, has not in any way shifted, not even
marginally, the heavy cloud of doom that hangs overhead
because of vicious, unconscionable, murderous and free-
flowing criminality which prevailed during 2023, and over the

C
last ten to 15 years. hristmas is a time when
What made it worse for another year, is the obvious
inability of the police, allied security services, inclusive of
the army and Coast Guard, the Minister of National Security
some of us get a much-
needed escape from our
daily hardships. Some enjoy the
A national reset
and his ministry, Cabinet and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley season by celebrating with their
and his Government to, in any way, assuage the fears and loved ones, family, and friends,
renewing kinship and cementing
Dr Varma Deyalsingh
horrors of crime which confront people in their existence varmadeyalsingh@gmail.com
bonds over the sharing of food,
everywhere.
drink, and old talk.
No matter the scattered and minimal claims about success I will forever cherish the mem- part of our way of life and inno- nal mortality rate outperforms
in a few small and insignificant ways, successive People’s ories of my mother’s mouthwa- cent people can be mowed down first-world countries. Our rates
National Movement governments, with the absolute political tering black cake, gingerbread as ‘collateral damage’ - former PM have been steadily declining since
responsibility to protect the nation, have not been able to cookies, baked turkey, bread, sor- Patrick Manning’s words. 2016, with this year being the
drive the crime-fighting machinery of the state to infiltrate, rel and ginger beer. Nothing can Murdered Lana Sahadeo was hit first with no maternal deaths. He
disrupt, and smash the criminal gangs. Most outstandingly, replace the love, commitment, her by a stray bullet on Wednesday af- might have had a panic attack if he
there has been no breach of the operations of the major sense of duty that she had in mak- ternoon in her house, when three heard of anyone giving birth in a
organisers and financiers of crime. ing these goodies for her family. It men were shot and killed after manger filled with bacteria, faeces
The so-called white-collar criminals who source and import was part of her make-up. their car was ambushed by gun- and slobbering animals.
guns, drugs and co-opt the Customs, the police service, and With my mother’s passing, that men along the Churchill Roosevelt With a few days remaining to
all the layers of protection upon which the society depends chapter in my life has ended. Highway. end 2023, there seems to be a six
to keep crime to a minimum, remain free from detection and My wife and I are now chal- In this season of hope, do we per cent reduction in the murder
apprehension. lenged to provide family activities have any reason to be optimistic? rate from last year (not taking into
There are those in Government and the security services that will build a reservoir of beau- Well, some good things are hap- account missing persons). This
tiful memories to be passed on to pening. is not the CoP’s promised 20 per
who will cite one or two seeming advances against crime, and
successive generations. The Dragon gas field negotia- cent reduction, but it is still an im-
rail against the media for spreading the above conclusions
This year, I was fortunate to tions, which, if allowed to ma- provement.
across headline banners and editorials. However, the truth
spend Christmas in Orlando with terialise, will benefit us. Prime In spite of crime, we have to
of people feeling unsafe in their homes, on city streets and a Minister Dr Keith Rowley and establish a mindset to count our
justice system which creaks is hard to deny. my family and some neighbours,
the Rahamut family. Energy Minister Stuart Young de- blessings. While some gave thanks
Even when he was prime minister, Patrick Manning claimed serve kudos for managing these that their saviour was born,
to know who the “Mr Big” and his/her associates were; but My children complained that I
have played Rasika Dindial’s Jing complicated negotiations, in others prayed for good health,
the passage of time and the failure to disrupt their operations which the National Gas Company maintaining stable relationships,
Ah Ling more than a thousand
have made those claims unsubstantial. Is it that the “knowers” is now the owner of ten per cent of supportive siblings, and financial
times. I hope in years to come,
are afraid to touch the crime lords? Will they self-incriminate this song will trigger our memora- all four trains. well-being.
if they do? ble stay at the Gaylord’s Hotel and The IMF has thankfully fore- For the new year, we need to
Very predictably, on yet another occasion, after much hype Magic Kingdom in Orlando. casted that our economy is ex- reset our commitment to God,
about the Government and the Opposition putting aside their In Orlando, I visited a friend pected to grow by 9.8 per cent family, community, and country.
politics and electoral ambitions in the interest of countering who five years ago migrated to (between 2006 and 2023, we were On Christmas Day, Safia Hosein
the endemic crime culture, the intentions dried-up almost the USA. He originally came from one of the slowest-growing Cari- became the first T&T citizen to
instantly, showing the intended participants for what they India, then opened a successful com economies after Barbados). climb Mount Vinson, the highest
are: People and institutions more interested in political business in T&T and he now re- Our corruption perception peak in Antarctica.
mileage than the possibility of co-operation against the sides in the USA. index score was 42 points in 2022, She posted pictures of herself
criminals. After five years in the USA, he which shows a slight improve- with a sign proclaiming, ‘I stood
So what can citizens expect in 2024 if the current law maintains that the best place he ment in comparison to the previ- on the top of Mt Vinson at 18:14
enforcement efforts cannot conquer crime, and thereby lived was in our sweet T&T. ous year. Since 2017, the score has proudly flying the red, white, and
prevent the state and people from becoming wholly captive to He left India, the fifth largest remained above 40, an improve- black AND the name of my home-
criminal gangs? economy in the world (behind ment in comparison to previous town. Because it doesn’t matter
the US, China, Germany and years. where I am on the planet, I will
More of the same will be a fair conclusion to arrive at.
Japan), and lives in the US, this In education, the latest edition of always be a ‘Biche Girl’.”
Still waiting to be fully explored and exploited are efforts to
superpower that has the most the World University Rankings data We need to take Safia’s pride,
meaningfully incorporate communities against crime in their
economic, political, military and shows that while having seen a commitment and positivity into
towns and villages. As significant as any other effort, there slight downward adjustment in its the new year.
must be programmes to encourage quality parenting, and cultural influence across the
planet. overall score, the UWI maintained There is no challenge we can-
ways and means to allow for especially deprived communities its relative position among the not overcome as a nation, we just
of people, susceptible to adopting criminal lifestyles, to be His words made me appreciate
that we all live in a paradise, save best-ranked universities globally. need committed leaders to en-
able to join the workforce and with dignity. Health Minister Terrence Dey- courage us to move forward with
for the crime.
Notwithstanding expecting the worst, there must be hope. alsingh can boast that our mater- set goals.
Crime, unfortunately, is now
Newsgathering Editors Editor: Robert Alonzo
CONTACT US Kejan Haynes —kejan.haynes@guardian.co.tt robert.alonzo@guardian.co.tt
Commercial Manager, Print: Rennie Ramcharan
rennie.ramcharan@tbcnetwork.co.tt
Chester Sambrano —chester.sambrano@guardian.co.tt Melissa Sambrano
Managing Editor: Kaymar Jordan Ryan Bachoo —ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt melissa.sambrano@guardian.co.tt
kaymar.jordan@guardian.co.tt Circulation Manager: Cashyap Sharma
Guardian on Sunday Editor: Debra Wanser Production Editor: Natasha Saidwan cashyap.sharma@guardian.co.tt
Deputy Managing Editor: Sampson Nanton natasha.saidwan@guardian.co.tt
sampson.nanton@cnc3.co.tt debra.wanser@guardian.co.tt
Email the Editor: letters@guardian.co.tt Port-of-Spain classifieds: 22–24 St Vincent Street, (PO Box 122)
Lead Editor Investigations: Asha Javeed
Lead Editor, News: Irving Ward Newsroom (daily) 235-5668, ext 5133, 5135, 5116, 5174, Telephone 235-5668, ext 5060, 5061, 5058, 5063, 5032
asha.javeed@guardian.co.tt
irving.ward@guardian.co.tt 5113, 5115 (Sports) 5130 (Sunday) 5112 Port-of-Spain subscriptions 5059, 5062
Consultant Business Editor: Anthony Wilson Lead Editor, Sport: Keith Clement newsroom@guardian.co.tt San Fernando Bureau 235-5668, ext 5224, 5225, 5226
anthony.wilson@guardian.co.tt keith.clement@guardian.co.tt/sports@guardian.co.tt Address 22-24 St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain San Fernando classifieds 5222, 5223
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Using the loopholes
W
ell, Christmas came and
went. Touching lives, chang-
ing lives, bringing joy and
hope to many. The celebrations have
subsided to an extent and we now gear
up for Old Year’s Night and New Year’s
Day.
I made an observation over the pe-
riod and I wish to draw our attention
to it.
But first, let me define the term
‘loophole’—when someone avoids fol-
lowing the rules or detects an ability
to circumnavigate a system and still
achieve the objective. A loophole al-
lows a person or business to avoid the
scope of a law or restriction without
directly violating the law.
Approximately 3-4 years ago, I ad-
vised, as we were facing head on, and
still up to today, the almost uncontrol-
lable increase to the mass migration
of illegal immigrants from Venezuela.
Mind you, they are also coming from
the Dominican Republic and Colom-
bia, but via the Tucupita channel in the
Delta Amacuro. I advised that in order
to deal with the influx of increased
Venezuelan immigrants, we must
begin to address capacity building.
These additions to our populace are
going to begin (Have started already)
tapping into our resources, our social
repositories and depend on what was
outlined for ‘us’, a certain percentage
and number of our population, a cer-
tain demographic, T&T citizens.
But without capacity building and
improvement to our infrastructure, we
will continue to put a severe strain on
our resources, health, education and
Garvin Heerah
Strategic Security Consultant and
Organisational Transformation Expert
helloheerah@gmail.com
social services platforms to a great ex-
tent.
A couple years ago, I was invited to
speak at the University of the West In-
dies’ National Conversations on the In-
flux and Impact of the Illegal Migration
from South America. Speaking to the
direct integration of the Venezuelan
and Trinidadian cultures, I delved into
National Security and the cross fertilis-
ation of criminality. A blend of LATAM
and Trinidadian criminality, where
a new trend, a new style of criminal
would emerge in the centre, sooner
or later. My advice was to proactively
begin addressing these signs and sym-
bols before they became too big for us
to manage. I noted there was a strong
possibility that the ‘face’ of the Trini-
dadian would change within the next
20 years. As a matter of fact, it would
not be surprising that we may very
well see in the not too distant future, a
governmental representative or office
to address Venezuelan (in-country)
affairs. I may have gotten the wording
or the office wrong, but please do not
sidestep this matter, citizens, this is at
our front door.
I went on to advocate (it drew many
negative comments) that National Security should
consider utilising and recruiting legit Venezue-
lans (who have become citizens or permanent
residents) to aid and assist with a better under-
standing of the challenges and networks coming
out of the Delta. So we could become more pre-
pared with our National Security capacity build-
ing because trust me, a significant volume of the
transnational crime problems we are facing are
emanating out of the Delta. Those dismissing this
theory are harbouring a monster that could come
back to haunt us.
As we look, drive and walk around, it seems
like almost overnight, or maybe we were just
plain oblivious of how fast the new population of
Venezuelans (Latin Americans) were increasing.
How invaded our local spaces were becoming. To
many, it’s ok. Many may argue that I’m over react-
ing, many may believe … not important. I just ask
you to slow down, look at your communities, your
residential areas, some of the social recreational
spots and you do the assessment. See if we are not
giving way to a new group. Our capacity is being
stretched.
I am honestly hoping that the requisite govern-
mental and support groups are paying attention
to this growing concern. As we ponder, the dam
is filling; if we do not have a proper distribution
strategy, a proper diversion or a proper expansion
contingency, sooner or later, we will have an over-
flow. This overflow can lead to a bursting at the
seams which will eventually lead to a mass flood
out.
How many of you are concerned about the
amount of families (placard toting), with babes in
arms and strollers who are now manning our traf-
fic intersections, day in and day out. The image,
the socio-economic dark cloud that this creates.
Have you asked, “Where did this come from?” Not
surprising, we are now seeing some Trinis joining
the line, appalling.
What I am leading to is that a LATAM culture,
behaviour and norm infiltrated our culture almost
overnight and is now becoming a cultural norm for
us Trinis. What have we done, what are we doing
as children continue to come up to your car win-
dows with crudely written cardboard signs, beg-
ging for food. Think how this will impact the large
influx of tourists we are expecting on the island for
Carnival 2024.
So, as I close, I am advising this migrant prob-
lem is going to get worse. I’m reading now that
the ratio of the Venezuelan population to that of
Trinidad and Tobago is 30:1. Meaning we have 1.5
million citizens and Venezuela has 30 million. I
wonder which side is more vulnerable as spaces
become invaded.
I read further that there was no fleeing of hard
times or asylum seekers or people running from
poverty. There were properly underlined ‘loop-
holes’ however. Abilities and strategies to circum-
vent systems and not break the law.
I also was privy this week to the art of “Hamper
Hopping”, a clearly designed plan to know where
and how to collect many food hampers from mul-
tiple agencies, church organisations, ministries
and business places. An art that our neighbours
from Venezuela have mastered. So hampers that
could’ve gone to needy and genuine T&T citizens,
were actually distributed to people who under-
stood the loopholes for “Hamper Hopping”.
Let that sink in T&T.
opinion 13
QUESTION:
SHOULD POLICE INCREASE
HIGHWAY PATROLS IN LIGHT OF
WEDNESDAY’S MURDERS?
PICTURES KRISTIAN DE SILVA
Greta Edmund-Dillon, 65,
La Brea, pensioner
Yes, there should be lots of
police patrols and bring back
Gary Griffith and things will be
alright for the new year.
Pearl Smart, 67, Penal,
pensioner
Yes, because I find it’s too much
murder.
Roland Halls, 70, Couva,
pensioner
Well, I am saying yes, it might
help. But then again, police can’t
be all over the place all of the
time, but yes, a greater police
presence may help in deterring
crime.
Bertrand Francis, 58,
Princes Town, marine supervisor
Yes, definitely! You will be safer with
a police presence because people
will think twice about certain
things, so definitely there should
be a police presence on the
highway, especially coming down
to the end of the year.
Leona Bertrand, 43, Princes Town,
medical social worker
Definitely, there is a need for
increased police patrols, not
just for this but also for traffic
violations and to curb some of
the other challenges we face on
the roads.
Keene Baptiste, 35, Fyzabad, electrician
Yes, they should, because crime is
increasing and nobody is doing
anything. These people just
sitting in the station and doing
nothing. Everybody knows T&T
is a small place. I believe there
should be more police presence
all over the place. They need to do a
better job.
Of the 1,154 online respondents,
below is a tally of the answers
16%
NO
84%
YES
 14
Guardian
Trinidad & Tobago
World Digest
KINSHASA, CONGO
Scientists warn:
Stigma against gay men could
worsen Congo’s mpox outbreak
As Congo copes with its biggest
outbreak of mpox, scientists warn
discrimination against gay and
bisexual men on the continent
could make it worse.
In November, the World Health
Organization reported that mpox,
also known as monkeypox, was
being spread via sex in Congo
for the first time. That is a signif-
icant departure from previous
flare-ups, where the virus mainly
sickened people in contact with
diseased animals.
Mpox has been in parts of cen-
tral and west Africa for decades,
but it was not until 2022 that it
was documented to spread via
sex; most of the 91,00 people
infected in approximately 100
countries that year were gay or
bisexual men.
In Africa, unwillingness to re-
port symptoms could drive the
outbreak underground, said
Dimie Ogoina, an infectious dis-
eases specialist at the Niger Delta
University in Nigeria.
“It could be that because ho-
mosexuality is prohibited by law
in most parts of Africa, many peo-
ple do not come forward if they
think they have been infected
with mpox,” Ogoina said.
TAIPEI, TAIWAN
China reaffirms military threats
against Taiwan
Weeks before Taiwan holds elec-
tions for its president and legis-
lature, China renewed its threat
to use military force to annex the
self-governing island democracy
it claims as its own territory.
Defence Ministry spokesperson
Colonel Wu Qian told reporters
yesterday at a monthly briefing
that China’s armed forces would
“as always take all necessary
measures to firmly safeguard our
national sovereignty and territo-
rial integrity”.
Taiwan’s 23 million people
overwhelmingly favour maintain-
ing the island’s de-facto independ-
ent status, leaving the January 13
polls to be decided largely by con-
cerns over housing prices, health
care, employment and education.
China has continued sending war-
ships and fighter jets near Taiwan
as an intimidation tactic, even as
FILE - This 1997 image provided by
the CDC during an investigation into
an outbreak of monkeypox, which
took place in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, formerly
Zaire, depicts the dorsal surfaces of
the hands of a monkeypox case
patient, who was displaying the
appearance of the characteristic
rash during its recuperative stage.
WHO officials said they identi-
fied the first sexually transmitted
cases of the more severe type
of mpox in Congo last spring,
shortly after a resident of Belgium
who “identified himself as a man
who has sexual relations with
other men” arrived in Kinshasa,
the Congolese capital.
Taiwan’s military said it’s raising
alert levels before the vote.
The ruling party’s candidate,
William Lai, holds a lead in most
surveys, while the main opposi-
tion Nationalist Party’s candidate,
Hou You-yi, has sought to appeal
to voters who fear a military con-
flict with China that could draw
in the United States and lead to
massive disruptions in the global
economy.
Hou’s campaign literature, dis-
tributed yesterday in Taipei, af-
firmed his opposition to Taiwan
independence and concurrence
with Beijing’s view of Taiwan as a
part of China.
Long a melting pot of Asian and
European cultures, Taiwan was a
Japanese colony for 50 years until
1945, when it was handed over to
Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nation-
alist government.
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA
Haley under fire for omitting
slavery from Civil War response
Republican presidential candi-
date Nikki Haley was asked by a
New Hampshire voter about the
reason for the Civil War, and she
didn’t mention slavery in her re-
sponse—leading the voter to say
he was “astonished” by her omis-
sion.
Asked during a Wednesday
night town hall in Berlin, New
Hampshire, what she believed
had caused the war—the first
shots of which were fired in her
home state of South Carolina—
Haley talked about the role of gov-
ernment, replying that it involved FILE - Republican presidential candidate
“the freedoms of what people Nikki Haley speaks during a town hall,
could and couldn’t do”. December 8, 2023, in Sioux City, Iowa.
She then turned the question
back to the man who had asked it. which she said, “Of course the GOP foes, recirculated video of
He replied that he was not the one Civil War was about slavery,” the original exchange on social
running for president and wished something she called “a stain on media, adding the comment,
instead to know her answer. America”. She went on to reiter- “Yikes”.
After Haley went into a length- ate that “freedom matters. And DeSantis faced criticism of his
ier explanation about the role of individual rights and liberties own over slavery early in the cam-
government, individual freedom matter for all people”. paign, when Florida enacted new
and capitalism, the questioner Haley, who served six years as education standards requiring
seemed to admonish Haley, say- South Carolina’s governor, has teachers to instruct middle school
ing, “In the year 2023, it’s aston- been competing for a distant sec- students that slaves developed
ishing to me that you answer that ond place to Donald Trump for skills that “could be applied for
question without mentioning the the 2024 Republican presidential their personal benefit”. US Sena-
nomination. She has frequently tor Tim Scott of South Carolina,
word ‘slavery’.”
said during her campaign that the only Black Republican in the
“What do you want me to say
about slavery?” Haley retorted she would compete in the first Senate and DeSantis’ then-rival
for the GOP presidential nomina-
before abruptly moving on to the three states before returning “to
next question. the sweet state of South Carolina, tion, rejected that characterisa-
But 12 hours later, Haley walked and we’ll finish it” in the February tion, saying instead that slavery
back her comments, with her 24 primary. was about “separating families,
campaign disseminating a Thurs- The campaign of Florida Gov about mutilating humans and
day morning radio interview in Ron DeSantis, another of Haley’s even raping their wives”.
DEIR ALBALAH, GAZA STRIP
On foot or donkey cart, thousands flee
Israeli assault in Gaza
Thousands of Palestinian families
fled Wednesday from the brunt
of Israel’s expanding ground of-
fensive into Gaza’s few remain-
ing, overcrowded refuges, as the
military launched heavy strikes
across the centre and south of the
territory, killing dozens, Palestin-
ian health officials said.
On foot or riding donkey carts
loaded with belongings, a stream
of people flowed into Deir al-Ba-
lah—a town that normally has a
population of around 75,000. It
has been overwhelmed by several
hundred thousand people driven
from northern Gaza as the region
was pounded to rubble.
Because UN shelters are packed
many times over capacity, the Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip arrive
at a makeshift tent camp in the Muwasi area yesterday. PICTURES AP
new arrivals set up tents on side-
walks for the cold winter night. crush homes full of people. also threatened greater military
Most crowded onto streets around Israel has said its campaign in action against Lebanon’s Hezbol-
the town’s main hospital, Al-Aqsa Gaza is likely to last for months, lah, hiking fears of an all-out war
Martyrs, hoping it would be safer vowing to dismantle Hamas on that front.
from Israeli strikes. across the territory and prevent a The two sides have exchanged
Still, no place is safe in Gaza. Is- repeat of its October 7 attack into fire almost daily across the bor-
raeli offensives are crowding most southern Israel. Benny Gantz, a der. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli
of the population into Deir al-Ba- member of the country’s three- Cohen warned Wednesday that
lah and Rafah at the territory’s man War Cabinet, said the fight- “all options are on the table” if
southern edge as well as a tiny ing “will be expanded, according Hezbollah does not withdraw
rural area by the southern coast- to need, to additional centres and from the border area, as called for
line. Those areas continue to be additional fronts”. under a 2006 UN ceasefire.
hit by Israeli strikes that regularly He and other Israeli officials (Stories AP)

Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
CinemaONE’s revenue jumps, but firm loses money
It was a recovery year for Cine-
maONE, as several blockbusters
boosted the gross revenue of the
local cineplex company by 75 per
cent to $17.01 million for its finan-
cial year ended September 30,
2023, from last year’s $9.71 million.
In CinemaONE’s audited finan-
cials for 2023, chairman of the pub-
licly listed company, Brian Jahra,
said that coupled with the lifting
of the COVID-19 restrictions, the
major movie studio releases helped
with the increased revenue.
Jahra indicated that gross profit
increased by 92 per cent to $10.8
million from $5.6 million in 2022.
The company declared an after-tax
loss of $688,303 in its 2023 finan-
cial year, compared to an after-tax
loss of $1,420,596 in 2022.
Following a successful equity
rights issue of $6 million and con-
ANSA McAL partner closes solar financing in Dom Rep
A company, in which T&T’s ANSA
McAL group has an interest, com-
pleted the financing last week for a
solar development in the Domini-
can Republic.
In a material change notice on
the T&T Stock Exchange, MPC Car-
ibbean Clean Energy announced
that the financial close of Phase
II of the Monte Plata project was
achieved on December 19.
Monte Plata’s Phase II is a 42
MWp solar photovoltaic plant that
is under construction.
The first phase of Monte Plata is
a 33.4 MWp of installed solar ca-
pacity in Dominican Republic.
The project secured funding
from FMO (the Dutch Entrepre-
neurial Development Bank and
CIFI (Panamanian non-banking
financial entity).
The Monte Plata solar park cur-
business
CinemaOne executive chairman,
Brian Jahra PICTURE KERWIN PIERRE
summation of debt financing from
Republic Bank Ltd for $5.7 million,
Jahra said the group established
rently sells all its generated power
under a 20-year power purchase
agreement to the state-owned Do-
minican Corporation of State Elec-
trical Companies.
The solar park was the first util-
ity-scale power station in the Do-
minican Republic and the largest
project of its kind in the Caribbean
at the time of commissioning in
2016, according to MPC.
The project has undergone ex-
pansion in Phase II, reaching an
installed solar PV capacity of 75.6
MW. This expansion involved se-
curing a new 15-year PPA for an
additional 42.2 MW of capacity.
“Over its operational lifespan,
the expanded solar park is poised
to mitigate the production of
nearly 1.5 million tonnes of CO2
during the life span of 20 years,”
says Gözde Kurusoy, MPC’s direc-
CINECentral as a subsidiary and
invested $9.9 million in property,
plant and equipment to open new
cinema facilities, bringing diversity
and economies of scale.
In the context of a noteworthy
recovery year, the chairman said
CinemaONE managed to open two
new locations in Gulf City Mall, San
Fernando, and Price Plaza, Chagua-
nas, almost doubling its screen
count.
“Coupled with the lifting of the
COVID-19 burden in the 2023 fi-
nancial year were the major movie
studio releases of true blockbuster
content such as Disney’s Avatar
(US$2.3 billion), Universal Pictures’
Super Mario Brothers (US$1.4 bil-
lion) and Warner Brothers’ cul-
tural phenomenon Barbie (US$1.4
billion). Audiences flocked to both
Barbie and Universal Pictures’ Op-
tor of project finance.
“The financial closure of Phase
II underscores MPC Caribbean
Clean Energy Fund’s commitment
to the Dominican Republic, fos-
tering economic growth, support-
ing the transition to a low-carbon
economy, and driving positive
community and social impact,”
the executive was quoted in the
online publication, Solar Industry
as saying.
The commercial operation date
of Phase II is projected to occur in
the fourth quarter of 2024, accord-
ing to the MPC Caribbean Clean
Energy.
In its 2022 annual report, ANSA
McAL disclosed that in 2021, the
group and its co-investor, MPC
Caribbean Clean Energy Fund
LLC, Grupo Pais Solar SA (GPS),
along with two additional minor-
penheimer (US$900 million) dur-
ing the summer months, which
propelled the global box office to a
single month of July tally of US$4.5
billion, which was actually 17 per
cent higher than the pre-COVID-19
three-year average,” according to
Jahra.
Future outlook
Jahra highlighted that the global
box office is projected by industry
analytics provider, Gower Street,
to close the calendar year 2023
at US$33.4 billion, representing
29 per cent growth over 2022 but
still—20 per cent below the pre-
COVID-19 three-year average of
US$41.6 billion.
CinemaONE, he said, expects a
similar trend to be partially offset
by the Group’s expansion to three
The Monte Plata solar farm in the Dominican Republic, which is owned by
the ANSA McAL group, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy and two minority
shareholders.
ity investors from the Dominican
Republic and Canada, indirectly
acquired full ownership of the
Monte Plata Solar Park in the Do-
minican Republic.
The ANSA McAL group holds
a 50 per cent interest in the joint
venture company, CCEF ANSA
Renewable Energies Holdings
15
major metropolitan areas in Trini-
dad.
However, the chairman noted a
lagged impact of the newly finalised
Hollywood strikes which should be
prudently expected to trigger a re-
gression in recovery momentum in
2024 as key movie titles have been
postponed by approximately the
same four- to five-month period of
the strikes, some just outside of the
Group’s financial 2024-year end, or
into 2025.
“Despite the above and other
macroeconomic headwinds, finan-
cial 2023 demonstrated that audi-
ences still relish the movie magic
and that cinemas and studios con-
tinue to deliver global cultural im-
pact and shareholder value. The
Group thus maintains its pragmatic
optimism for the big screen cine-
matic experience,” Jahra added.
(CARE), a company incorporated
in Barbados. CARE signed an
agreement to acquire 72.8 per cent
of the shares in Monte Plata Solar
Park 9 on May 9, 2022.
CARE is also the 100 per cent
owner of a 21MW wind farm, Ti-
lawind SA, which is located in
Costa Rica.
 16 stocks Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

Daily Report on Trading, Thursday, December 28, 2023 GHL

rises
ALL T&T INDEX: 1,803.65 COMPOSITE INDEX: 1,207.94 NUMBER OF SHARES VALUE OF SHARES
CHANGE: 4.26 CHANGE: 2.56 BOUGHT/SOLD: 100,214 BOUGHT/SOLD: $924,750.64
OPEN DAY’S DAY’S O/S BID O/S BID O/S O/S LAST SALE LAST SALE VOLUME CLOSE CHANGE
SECURITY PRICE HIGH LOW ($) VOL. OFFER OFFER PRICE($) DATE TRADED PRICE ($)

3.16%
($) ($) ($) ($) VOL. ($)

ORDINARY SHARES
AGOSTINI’S LTD 68.33 68.50 68.49 68.33 20 68.50 17,305 68.50 28-12-2023 3,000 68.50 0.17
ANGOSTURA HOLDINGS 19.99 19.99 19.99 18.51 490 21.92 177 19.99 28-12-2023 5,133 19.99
ANSA MERCHANT BANK 45.10 42.50 20 46.00 500 45.50 21-12-2023 45.10 Overall market activity resulted
ANSA MCAL 54.06 55.90 55.00 55.00 2,505 55.90 205 55.00 28-12-2023 89 54.06 from trading in 20 securities of
FIRST CITIZEN GROUP FINANCIAL HOLDINGS 49.17 49.50 49.21 49.11 1,642 49.50 127 49.50 28-12-2023 400 49.31 0.14
which eight advanced, five de-
FIRST CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL 7.05 7.04 7.01 7.01 1,408 7.04 602 7.01 28-12-2023 137 7.04 -0.01
GUARDIAN HOLDINGS 18.03 18.60 18.60 18.60 4,150 18.90 9,247 18.60 28-12-2023 850 18.60 0.57
clined and seven traded firm.
GRACE KENNEDY & CO 4.11 4.16 4.15 4.16 13,851 4.40 7,348 4.16 28-12-2023 40,000 4.16 0.05 Trading activity resulted in
GUARDIAN MEDIA LTD 2.20 2.10 100 2.20 303 2.20 27-12-2023 2.20 the following movements of the
JMMB GROUP LTD 1.35 1.35 10,920 1.36 7,608 1.35 20-12-2023 1.35 TTSE Indices:
LJ WILLIAMS A 0.21 0.22 23 0.21 03-10-2023 0.21 • The All T&T Index advanced
LJ WILLIAMS B 2.18 2.24 2.24 2.00 269 2.24 999 2.24 28-12-2023 1,000 2.24 0.06 by 4.26 points (0.24 per cent) to
MASSY 4.44 4.50 4.40 4.39 3 4.40 23,901 4.40 28-12-2023 16,099 4.43 -0.01
close at 1,803.65;
NCBFG 3.40 3.15 500 3.40 6,632 3.40 22-12-2023 3.40
NATIONAL ENTERPRISES LTD 4.15 4.15 4.14 4.01 5,000 4.15 37,395 4.15 28-12-2023 14,741 4.15 • The Composite Index ad-
NATIONAL FLOUR MILLS 1.94 1.95 1.74 1.74 9,265 1.95 7,101 1.74 28-12-2023 10,035 1.94 vanced by 2.56 points (0.21 per
TTNGL 10.30 10.51 10.35 10.48 140 10.99 1,000 10.35 28-12-2023 1,912 10.48 0.18 cent) to close at 1,207.94;
ONE CARIBBEAN MEDIA 3.80 3.50 3.50 3.50 983 3.80 54,660 3.50 28-12-2023 17 3.80 • The Cross-Listed Index ad-
PRESTIGE HOLDINGS 9.25 9.30 9.30 9.26 1,000 9.30 125,433 9.30 28-12-2023 164 9.30 0.05 vanced by 0.10 points (0.13 per
POINT LISAS DEV 3.56 3.50 571 3.60 4,133 3.56 20-12-2023 3.56 cent) to close at 79.84; and
RFHL 122.84 122.84 121.50 123.00 100 123.90 26 122.84 28-12-2023 1,642 122.84
69.99 69.95 69.95 69.90 100 69.95 973 69.95 28-12-2023 219 69.95 -0.04
• The SME Index declined by
SCOTIABANK
T’DAD CEMENT LTD 2.86 3.00 2.95 3.00 6,707 3.05 13,841 3.00 28-12-2023 4,515 2.95 0.09 1.90 points (2.62 per cent) to
UNILEVER CARIB LTD 11.25 11.20 11.20 11.00 2,664 11.20 6,120 11.20 28-12-2023 235 11.20 -0.05 close at 70.72.
WEST INDIAN TOBACCO CO 9.00 8.95 8.95 8.90 880 8.95 4 8.95 28-12-2023 26 9.00 Guardian Holdings Ltd led ad-
vancing stocks, rising by 3.16 per
cent, and adding $0.57, to close
PREFERENCE SHARES at $18.60. Trinidad Cement Ltd
GUARDIAN MEDIA LTD 65.85 66.00 1 65.85 22-08-2023 65.85
3.79 3.85 1 3.79 29-09-2023 3.79
was up by 3.15 per cent, rising
WILLIAMS LJP
by $0.09, to close at $2.95.
SECOND TIER SHARES Endeavour Holdings Ltd led
MORA VEN HOLDINGS 12.00 12.00 14-12-2018 12.00 declining stocks, dropping by
$0.40, to lose at $13.10.
MUTUAL FUND UNITS Trading activity on the First-
CALYPSO MACRO INDEX FUND 22.75 22.71 178 23.50 8,445 22.75 20-12-2023 22.75
Tier Market registered a volume
CLICO INVESTMENT FUND 27.46 28.00 30-12-2022 27.46
0.71 0.71 09-05-2023 0.71 of 100,214 shares crossing the
EPPLEY CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND
EPPLEY CARIBBEAN VALUE FUND 1.60 1.60 10-02-2023 1.60 floor of the Exchange valued at
$924,750.64.
SME SHARES GraceKennedy was the vol-
CINEMAONE LIMITED 7.20 7.20 2,250 7.20 27-12-2023 7.20 ume leader with 40,000 shares
ENDEAVOUR HOLDINGS LTD 13.50 14.75 13.10 13.11 1,253 14.75 3,073 13.10 28-12-2023 504 13.10 -0.40 changing hands for a value of
$166,365, followed by Massy
USD EQUITY SHARES
MPC CARIBBEAN CLEAN ENERGY LIMITED 0.98 0.95 15,500 0.98 20-01-2023 0.98 Holdings with a volume of
16,099 shares being traded for
$71,365.60.
The Mutual Fund Market did
Note: Closing Price Methodology updated as of December 6, 2023 not record any activity.
The Second Tier Market did
not record any activity.
Endeavour Holdings Ltd was
the only active security on the
SME Market, posting a volume
of 504 shares valued at $6,615.
The USD Equity Market did
not record any activity.

(0$127,&(
7KHSXEOLFLVKHUHE\

.8&+(/$
(17(57$,10(17

Attorneys-At-Law ∙ Patent And Trademark Agents ∙

Notaries Public WKH1RLVH3ROOXWLRQ&RQWURO

WE ADVISE THAT OUR OFFICES WILL BE 'DWHRI(YHQW$FWLYLW\

CLOSED ON
TUESDAY, JANUARY 2nd, 2024 'HVFULSWLRQRI(YHQW
$FWLYLW\

$GGUHVVRI(YHQW$FWLYLW\
WE RE-OPEN ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3rd, 2024 
AT OUR USUAL OFFICE HOURS:
8:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. 'XUDWLRQRI(YHQW$FWLYLW\

SEASONS GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES TO ALL FOR

THE NEW YEAR
22 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Child
endangerment
Dr Radica Mahase
radica.mahase@gmail.com
Kelly (name changed) is a 25-year-old
single mother of two children. Kelly
is one of many mothers, accord-
ing to the Gender and Child Affairs
Division of the Office of the Prime
Minister, “who resort to illegally
engaging persons on the street for
cash or kind.” That is essentially the
practice of begging on the streets, in
shopping malls, in front of banks and
other public spaces.
At the entrance to the Twin Walls
compound in La Romain, I saw Kelly
and five other adult women, along
with 13 children, between ages one
year to about 14 years. Ninety per
cent were migrants, and no men
were present. In a conversation with
Kelly, I learnt that they usually sit on
the side of the road all day with the
children. Everyone has a spot, and
sometimes they share snacks and
toys.
Kelly’s husband died from COVID,
and she is the sole breadwinner. She
dropped out of school when she was
in form three, and with no qualifi-
cations, she struggled to find a job.
Out of desperation she resorted to
begging.
When she started begging she was
very embarrassed. She used to leave
her children by a neighbour and go
for a couple of hours. As the price of
food and rent increased, she found it
more difficult to provide for her chil-
dren, so she would stay on the road
begging for longer hours. The neigh-
bour couldn’t keep the children all
the time, so she started taking them
on the road with her.
According to Kelly, she doesn’t
have a choice and at least she knows
they are safe with her, and she can
see them all the time. She does it out
of desperation because she is try-
ing to take care of her children—to
make sure she can pay rent and buy
food for them. She doesn’t have any
other support and she is illiterate
and doesn’t know how to apply for
social welfare.
In the wake of the pandemic,
there has been a visible increase in
the number of women accompanied
by their children begging in public
places. The prevalence of women
and children, both migrants and lo-
cals, on the streets throughout T&T
is certainly a social problem which
needs to be addressed immediately.
Last week, the Gender and Child
Affairs Division of the Office of the
Prime Minister met with various
stakeholders, “to focus on the re-
sponsibilities of responding state
agencies to the issue of child en-
dangerment … and to explore op-
portunities on workable solutions
to ensure that the rights of children
are protected.” The ministry advised
the public to report cases where
opinion 23
children are endangered to the Chil-
dren’s Authority or the Trinidad and
Tobago Police Service.
This meeting is step towards en-
suring that children’s rights are
protected and enforced. However,
simply asking the public to report
cases of children on the streets is not
enough. On a few occasions, I have
seen officers from the TTPS driving
past these children; I have yet to see
any police vehicle stop and question
the parents. In fact, when I asked
Kelly, she said that the police leave
them alone. Once a social worker
asked if the children were not in Vinod Maharaj gives his dog some love by kissing him at Heartland Plaza, Chaguanas, on Wednesday.
PICTURE VASHTI SINGH
school but other than that, no one
questions them.
While the interest in these children
by government bodies is commend-
able, this needs to be translated into
action quickly. At the meeting, it was
stated that there will be the “imple-
mentation of sustainable workable
solutions and joint efforts.” Social
problems need real solutions and to
curb them, we need to have clearly
outlined policies and structures in
place to address the needs of both
parents and children.
What happens when members
of the public make reports to the
Children’s Authority or the TTPS?
If parents are warned by the TTPS,
will they just move from one area
to another? A change of venue does
nothing to alleviate the problem. If
the parents are arrested for child
endangerment, what happens to the
children? Will they end up with rel-
atives or in a children’s home where
there might be other risks of endan-
germent?
Passing off the problem to NGOs is
not a solution either. Superintendent
Claire Guy-Alleyne, head of the TTPS
Gender-Based Violence Unit, called
for NGOs to step up and help to get
the children and adults off the street,
but surely this cannot be the “work-
able solution” the stakeholders met
to discuss.
While NGOs can certainly play a
supplemental role, handouts from
NGOs and members of the public
are not long-term solutions. Gov-
ernment agencies need to adopt a
more serious approach to this social
problem—data collection to deter-
mine the exact nature of the prob-
lem; policies to effectively integrate
migrant groups; employment and
training opportunities for vulnerable
groups are more realistic long-term
solutions.
Dr Radica Mahase is a historian
and founder of Support Autism
T&T. She is also the recipient
of a Chaconia Medal Silver for
education, volunteerism and
advocacy.
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt 31
32 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt 33
 34 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

A Tobago Yuletide—Unwrapping Christmas traditions

ANNMARIE DAVIS
A feeling of nostalgia always grips my inner
being when I sit and reminisce on Christ-
mas Day of days gone by.
These were awesome days, filled with
pleasant memories and hectic Christmas
activities all leading up to Christmas Day.
Our household was always a beehive of
activity for the Christmas holidays, which
we, as siblings, all enjoyed and anticipated
on a yearly basis.
At home, we were involved in shining the
living room armchairs with the famous O
Cedar polish, which left our furniture look-
ing brand new and store-bought, and left a
heavenly scent throughout the living room.
The same O Cedar polish was applied to
our massive but outdated piano on which
my dad would play a variety of worship
songs for family devotion every Sunday
night.
Christmas in our family could never
be complete without cutting our famous
picker tree from a nearby savannah, put-
ting the tree in a Crix biscuit pan full of
sand to steady it, and decorating the pan
with coloured paper, bows and ribbons.
This was a yearly ritual of my dad year after
year, which we kids thoroughly enjoyed.
Then the best part of the activity was the
decoration of the tree with winking lights,
coloured Christmas balls and tinsel, and
we would always squabble each year about
who would place the precious star on top
of the tree.
We were sometimes selected based on
who was the oldest, who was the most
helpful (me of course), to who was the ug-
liest (I’m out of that race for sure!).
Christmas preparations at our home
could not be complete without the usual
boiling of the ham in a pitch oil pan in the
yard behind the tank. We took turns stok-
ing the fire and ensuring that the dogs did
not cart away our precious ham, which we
guarded like hawks. When it reached the
perfect golden brown colour, we carefully
carried our prized possession indoors, to
be devoured on Christmas Day.
My mom would go shopping at this time
of year, minus us, the kids (all 8), and from
year to year, we were able to predict what
our gifts would be.
These would all be hidden carefully on
top of the tester of the wooden four-poster
bed. Out of curiosity, I would climb up on
the side post, armed with a broom in hand,
determined to pull the gifts closer to take a
lil peep into the bags and yes! There were
always several dolls for my sisters and my-
self safely tucked inside ... as expected.
The baking of our Christmas cakes was a
massive undertaking, with my sister taking
full charge of the proceedings. We willingly
took turns to cream the butter into a soft
light mixture until it met with her approval.
When the batter had reached the right
consistency, and was poured out into bak-
ing pans, we all waited on the pan armed
with our spoons to be able to get a little lick
as was customary.
Christmases of years gone by evoke
many pleasant memories for me and even
with all the trappings and advancement of
modern day living, I still yearn for the sim-
ple uncomplicated Christmas that I thor-
oughly enjoyed in the past.
Ann-Marie Davis is a published author and
a member of the Tobago Writers Guild.
To contact the Guild call 1(868)620-5799, Former TWG vice president Ann-Marie Davis
email TobagoWritersGuild123@gmail.com enjoying the yuletide season.
or find them on Facebook and Instagram. PICTURE ANNMARIE DAVIS

Tobago House of
Assembly Chief Secretary
Farley Augustine, centre,
poses for a photo with the
pupils and teachers of the
Tiny Tots for Jesus
Preschool during their
visit to his office.

Tiny Tots visit

Chief Secretary
for Christmas
Pupils from the Tiny Tots for Jesus Preschool in Bagatelle paid a
visit to the office of Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary
Farley Augustine on December 14.
During the visit, the pupils sang Christmas carols for the holi-
day season, while the Chief Secretary gave them gifts and treats.

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine distributes gifts to the

children during their visit to his office.
PICTURES COURTESY THA INFO DEPARTMENT
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Teresa White, left, Monica Davis-Iton, Honorary Consul
for The Bahamas and Dr Greer Iton smile for the camera.
Rebeca Ortega
and Alan Nuñez
Raíces explores
T
he Embassy of Spain in Port-of-Spain,
in collaboration with the Ministry of
Tourism, Culture and the Arts, pre-
sented the 12th edition of its traditional fla-
menco benefit concert, Raíces, on December
7 at the National Academy for the Performing
Arts (NAPA).
The event featured renowned guest artiste
Rebeca Ortega from Seville, Spain, who en-
thralled the audience with her spectacular
performance.
Raíces showcased a bold yet elegant fusion
of song, dance and instruments, expressing
profound emotions through movement. With
a theatrical flair, the performance beautifully
captured the deepest roots of flamenco, in-
corporating the luminosity of the “alegrías,”
the depth of the “taranto,” the rhythmic
melodies of the “tangos” and “bulerías,” and
the intense expressions of the “farruca” and
“soleá.”
Ortega boasts extensive training in fla-
menco dance, Spanish dance, and ballet
Staff of the Embassy of Spain pose for a photo with the performers.
35
Founder and director of La Casita Hispanic Cultural Centre Alan Nuñez and Giselle Laronde West
Andreina Briceño-Brown, left, Joaquin Arangones and Ambassador share a light moment.
of Spain Fernando Nogales have a laugh at the event.
Flamenco dancer
Rebeca Ortega
during her
performance.
PICTURES
MARIELA BRUZUAL
from prestigious institutions such as the
Amor de Dios Centre of Flamenco and Span-
ish Dance in Madrid, the Carmen Amaya Cul-
tural Association, and the Escuela Mayor de
Danza in Madrid, among others.
Currently residing in Seville, Ortega
seamlessly combines her expertise in ballet,
Spanish dance, flamenco, and contemporary
dance. She frequently performs at renowned
venues in Seville, including Tablao Los Gallos
and Peña Flamenca Torres Macarena, and
shares her talents through teaching engage-
ments in various European countries.
All proceeds from the concert were ded-
icated to supporting La Casita Hispanic
Cultural Centre, a local NGO that provides as-
sistance to Venezuelan women and children.
The Embassy of Spain expressed grati-
tude to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture
and the Arts, as well as sponsors Repsol,
Hyatt Regency, SDV West Indies Ltd, Global
Exchange, and Tatil, for their invaluable sup-
port in making the event possible.
 36 rec Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

Jerod Baker, winner of the heavy category, competing in the deadlift

Djmon Peters in the squatting competition. competition. PICTURES EDISON BOODOOSINGH Kerwin Lambert takes part in the squatting competition.

T&T strongmen and women compete in Couva

OMG Fitness, located
at Southern Main Road,
Couva, held its Strong-
man/Strongwoman the
Return recently.
The competition had
not been held since Sep-
tember 2019 because of
COVID-19 restrictions.
Established in 2016,
the gym offers a variety
of indoor and outdoor
classes with state-of-the- Anya Persad
art equipment. takes part in
The goal of the event the bench
was to inspire members press
competition
by bringing them to-
gether in a competitive
setting with prizes to
encourage their contin-
ued participation. It also
encourages members to
Some of the participants in the competition. work harder in order to
achieve their goals.
Competition was in
four categories: women,
men light (130-150 lbs),
men medium (150-170
lbs) and men heavy
(over 170lbs) in the
squat, bench press and
deadlift. Venus
Franklin, 63,
The next Strongman/
takes part in
Strongwoman compe- the bench
tition is scheduled for press
March 2024. competition.

Valini Maraj in
the deadlift
competition
Wednesday 3rd January 2024
Aravinder
Narinesingh
in the (light)
bench press
category
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
T&T shares sustainable energy
vision at AEE Conference
RADHICA DE SILVA
Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
T&T’s strides toward a sustaina-
ble, renewable, and affordable
energy future took centre stage
at the annual Association of En-
ergy Engineers (AEE) World Con-
ference & Expo held in Orlando,
Florida, recently.
Representing the T&T Chapter
of the Association of Energy En-
gineers (TTAEE) were president
Ryun Singh and vice president
Graeme Jones.
Jones said the expo allowed
them to showcase the nation’s
commitment alongside global
leaders in the energy sector. He
said the AEE World Conference
is renowned for convening indus-
try magnates, technical experts,
and professionals dedicated to
advancing the energy industry’s
evolution towards sustainability
and affordability on a global scale.
Embracing a momentous mile-
stone, T&T’s flag was displayed
among the distinguished member
nations that embarked on the de-
carbonization journey under the
AEE umbrella.
Jones said this marked a signif-
icant achievement for the TTAEE
board of directors, who worked to
secure T&T’s position in the race
towards a clean, renewable en-
ergy sector.
He said TTAEE’s participation
in the conference reaffirmed its
rec 37
dedication to steering pivotal dis- generations to come,” she said.
cussions and fostering impactful For those interested in TTAEE’s
decisions. The goal is to elevate training and initiatives, further
T&T’s energy efficiency, manage- information is available at ttaee.
ment, policy, security, and overall org or contact administrator@
sustainability at both micro and ttaee.org for general inquiries and
macro levels. training@ttaee.org for technical
“Our team of dedicated profes- training queries.
sionals shares a unified vision for
the TTAEE and T&T energy sector. T&T Chapter of the Association of
With the right people, anything is Energy Engineers president Ryun
Singh and vice president Graeme
possible,” he said.
Jones at the AEE World Conference
“As a non-profit NGO, our ef- in Florida.
forts have already yielded sub-
stantial impacts within a year,
such as enhancing the technical
expertise of energy profession-
als through globally recognised
training, promoting sustainabil-
ity awareness, and nurturing the
next generation of energy lead-
ers.”
Jones said TTAEE is poised for
impactful initiatives, including
Certified Energy Manager (CEM®)
training for industrial engineers,
the establishment of an Energy
Transition Centre of Excellence,
and a high school debate centred
on energy sector challenges.
Corporate secretary Krystle
Maharaj emphasised the need for
widespread industry support.
“We urge the energy sector to
rally behind these initiatives fa-
cilitated by TTAEE, seizing the
opportunities available to bol-
ster sustainability and resilience.
Collaborative participation will
amplify our collective impact, fos- A Mounted Branch police officer gives directions to visitors who arrived on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship on the
tering a robust energy sector for Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain, on Wednesday. PICTURE KERWIN PIERRE
38 quik flix Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

This image released by Warner Bros Pictures

shows Fantasia Barrino, left, and Taraji P Henson
in a scene from The Color Purple. PICTURE AP

The Color Purple is a

stirring big-screen musical
Exuberant performances from a
cast led by Fantasia Barrino, Taraji
P Henson and Danielle Brooks
breathe life into Blitz Bazawule’s
stirring The Color Purple, adapted
from the Tony-winning Broadway
production.
Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-
winning 1982 novel, which Steven
Spielberg turned into the 1985 film,
may be an unlikely book for such
bright adaptations. Walker’s novel,
told through Celie’s letters penned
to God, is harrowingly bleak in its
tale of trauma, poverty, abuse and
rape. Much of Walker’s The Color
Purple doesn’t scream song and
dance.
But the emotional triumphs
of Walker’s novel and its soul-
stirring tribute to the power of
Black women lend themselves to
the kind of maximalist spectacle
of Bazawule’s razzle-dazzle
adaptation. The tragedy found in
The Color Purple makes its final
release all the more rousing.
It can still be an awkward mix,
and, like Spielberg’s movie, not
all of the tonal changes work in
this version of The Color Purple.
But the payoff is immense, as are
the thrilling performances at the
movie’s centre.
Barrino, who in 2007 took over
the role on Broadway, plays Celie
with a raw soulfulness. In the film’s
opening scenes, she’s picked by
Mister (Colman Domingo) to be his
wife, though her role at his messy,
ramshackle home is much closer to
servant.
Life with Mister, who regularly
beats her, is a nightmare. That
Domingo is able to play such
a loathsome, cruel character
and yet still find subtle notes of
woundedness and ultimately
redemption in Mister is a testament
to his dynamism as an actor. The
roots of Mister’s barbarism are
traced to his own brutal father
(Louis Gossett Jr), one of the
numerous ways in which The Color
Purple contemplates cycles of abuse
and inherited pain.
Celie, separated from her beloved
sister Nettie (Halle Bailey), has little
to look forward to. But after years
go by, signs of possibility begin
entering the orbit of her savage
rural corner of early 20th century
Georgia.
First there’s Sofia (Brooks), the
wife of Mister’s more sensitive son
Harpo (Corey Hawkins), who builds
a juke joint on a pier above a
Continues on page 39

0257*$*((6$/(
72<27$$;,2
3('

9HKLFOHFDQEHYLHZHGDW5H[.DU
8ULDK%XWWOHU+LJKZD\&KDUOLHYLOOH

6HQG6HDO%LGVWR

2))(56)256$/(
32%R[
&8183,$

&RQGLWLRQVRI6DOH
  9HKLFOHVDUHWREHVROG³DVLVZKHUHLV´
  7KH0RUWJDJHHGRHVQRWELQGLWVHOIWRDFFHSWWKHKLJKHVWRU

  8QDFFHSWDEOHELGVZLOOQRWEHDFNQRZOHGJHG
  %LGVFORVH
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Exhilarating portraits of
survival and strength
From page 38
swamp. Brooks, reprising the role
she played in the 2015 stage revival,
is a revelation as the strong-willed,
admirably reckless Sofia. Her
forceful and funny entry (and her
thundering song Hell No!) announce
a female empowerment Celie hasn’t
ever dared to imagine.
Bazawule’s film, penned by
playwright Marcus Gardley, wavers
most in the balance of its first
half. The musical scenes, with
kinetic choreography from Fatima
Robinson, perhaps come too fast
and furious, distracting from our
connection with the meek Celie.
The numbers are richly conceived—
the juke joint (part of the excellent
production design of Paul Denham
Austerberry) is pierced with light
shining through wooden planks.
But some flights of fancy, like
one number in which Celie is
transported onto a giant turntable,
make for a herky-jerky flow. The
jumbled book-to-movie-to-musical-
to-movie-musical path of The Color
Purple sometimes shows.
But the film takes off when Shug
(Henson) makes her show-stopping
entrance. Shug, a glamorous singer
who breezes in and out of their
country lives, is whom Mister most
pines for—and whom Celie has great
affection for, as well.
Henson, outfitted sumptuously
by costumer Francine Jamison-
Tanchuck, gives The Color Purple
a vivid, movie-star splash. Celie
and Shug’s romance has often been
quik flix 39
downplayed—it was almost totally
absent in Spielberg’s film. This
version, while still falling short,
does a little better thanks to their
tender duet “What About Love?”
In this lengthy and star-packed
musical (Ciara, Jon Batiste, HER and
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor are just some
of the cameos), there are more
dramatic ups and downs to go. But
the movie builds irresistibly towards
the hard-earned emancipation
of Celie, and Barrino’s climactic,
impassioned performance of I’m
Here.
Bazawule, the Ghana-born
filmmaker, has made one previous
feature (The Burial of Kojo). But
he also performs as the hip-hop
artist Blitz the Ambassador and
directed Beyoncé’s Black Is King
visual album. And his adroitness
in capturing musical performance
is easy to see in The Color Purple,
produced by a trio of heavyweights
from the first film: Oprah Winfrey,
Spielberg and Quincy Jones.
But it’s the movie’s own power
trio of Barrino, Brooks and Henson
that makes The Color Purple one
of the most moving big-screen
musicals in recent years. Each in
their own way transforms suffering
into exhilarating portraits of
survival and strength.
The Color Purple, a Warner Bros
release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion
Picture Association for mature
thematic content, sexual content,
violence and language.
Running time: 140 minutes.
Three and a half stars out of four.
40 rec
Was 2023 a tipping point for movies?
NEW YORK (AP) — Eight years ago,
This image Steven Spielberg predicted that the
released by superhero movie would one day go
Universal “the way of the Western.”
Pictures shows Spielberg’s comments caused a
Cillian Murphy widespread stir at the time. Aveng-
in a scene from ers: The Age of Ultron was then one
Oppenheimer. of the year’s biggest movies. The
PICTURE AP following year would bring Captain
America: Civil War, Deadpool and
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Jus-
tice. The superhero movie was in
high gear, and showing no signs of
slowing down.
But Spielberg’s point was that
nothing is forever in the movie
business. These cycles, Spielberg
said, “have a finite time in popular
culture”. And the maker of E.T.,
Jurassic Park and Jaws might know
a thing or two about the ebbs and
flows of pop-culture taste.
As 2023 draws to a close, no one
is sounding the death knell of the
superhero movie. The Walt Disney
Co’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol
3 made $845.6 million worldwide
and Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the
Spider-Verse ($691 million) was one
of the most acclaimed films of the
year. Marvel is still mightier than
any other brand in the business.
But more than ever before, there
are chinks in the armour of the
superhero movie. Its dominance in
popular culture is no longer quite
so assured. A cycle may be turning,
and a new one dawning.
For the first time in more than
two decades, the top three movies
at the box office didn’t include
one sequel or remake: Barbie, The
Super Mario Bros Movie and Oppen-
heimer. The last time that happened
was 2001, when Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone, Shrek and
Monsters, Inc topped the box office.
No, it’s not exactly a lineup of
originality like, say, 1973, when The
Exorcist, The Sting and American
Graffiti led all movies in ticket sales.
Barbie and The Super Mario Bros,
based on some of the most familiar
brands in the world, will generate
spin-offs and sequels of their own.
But it’s hard not to sense a shift
AGOSTINI INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED
AND
CARDEA BENEFITS LIMITED
&/2685(
2)2)),&(6
3/($6(127(7+$72852)),&(6
:,//%(&/26('21
FRIDAY 22ND DECEMBER 2023
ALL BRANCHES – CLOSED
FRIDAY 29TH DECEMBER 2023:
ALL BRANCHES – 12 NOON
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
in moviegoing, one that might have
reverberations for years to come for
Hollywood.
“There’s an inflection point in
2023,” says Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst for data firm
Comscore.
“Barbenheimer is just one part of
that story. Audiences, they want to
be challenged. I think the tried and
true is not necessarily working.”
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, from
Warner Bros, was the year’s runa-
way hit, with more than $1.4 billion
in ticket sales worldwide. It was a
blockbuster like none seen before:
an anarchic comedy that set a string
of records for a movie directed by a
woman.
Nearly as unprecedented was the
success of Christopher Nolan’s Op-
penheimer, a three-hour drama that
nearly grossed $1 billion. As differ-
ent as it and Barbie were, they were
each original feats of cinema and
personal statements by its directors.
At the same time, the Walt Disney
Co’s Marvel, a hit-making machine
like none other in movie history, fal-
tered like never before. The Marvels
marked a new low for the Marvel
Cinematic Universe, collecting $200
million globally.
DC Studios, in the midst of a re-
vamp, saw disappointing results for
The Flash and Blue Beetle before
watching Aquaman and the Lost
Kingdom sink to a $28.1 million
debut.
Both Marvel and DC have already
made moves to right their ships.
Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive,
has called turning around Marvel
his top priority.
He said the superhero studio has
suffered greatly from too many
films and series leading to “diluted
quality.”
The James Gunn, Peter Safran-led
DC, meanwhile, won’t officially
launch until 2025 with Superman
Legacy.
In the meantime, something else
will have to fill the void. That was
Continues on page 41
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Barbie’s success and Marvel’s struggles signal a shift
From page 40
a theme in 2023, too, when
the writers and actors strikes
marred release plans and
forced the delay of several films
including Warner’s Dune: Part
Two, Sony’s next Ghostbusters
movie and MGM’s Challengers.
Those disruptions will con-
tinue in 2024. Analysts aren’t
expecting a banner year for
Hollywood in part because
films like the next Mission:
Impossible film and the Spi-
derverse sequel, both delayed
by the strikes, won’t make their
original dates.
Overall ticket sales in US and
Canadian theatres for 2023 are
expected to reach about $9 bil-
lion, according to Comscore, an
improvement of about 20 per
cent from 2022. The industry is
still trying to regain its pre-pan-
demic footing, when ticket sales
regularly surpassed $11 billion.
Output of wide-releases in 2023
(88) still trailed those in 2019
(108) by 18.5 per cent.
Hollywood is still coaxing
moviegoers back to theatres—
something Barbie, Oppen-
heimer and Mario went a long
way to helping.
“It reinforced something
that we’ve known for 100 years
in the business: People like
going to the shared experience
out of the home,” says Jeffrey
Goldstein, distribution chief for
Warner Bros.
“They love being entertained.
Movies are a good financial
proposition and can bring in a
mass audience.”
“It probably started with
Mario last April,” adds Gold-
stein.
“I think that showed audi-
ences again that theatres are
a fun place to be to. And it
showed studios and content
creators: Up your game.”
If 2023 is any guide, hits will
come from increasingly unpre-
dictable places.
Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Ministry of Finance
Inland Revenue Division
PUBLIC NOTICE
&/2685(2)&$6+,(56¶81,76
The Board of Inland Revenue wishes to advise the public that the
)5,'$<'(&(0%(5DQG)5,'$<'(&(0%(5
That was the case with Tay-
lor Swift: The Eras Tour, a film
released just two months after
Swift’s recorded concerts in a
first-of-its-kind distribution deal
with AMC Theatres. It grossed
$250 million worldwide, and
was followed by the similarly
released Renaissance: A Film by
Beyoncé, another No 1 debut.
More surprising was Sound
of Freedom, a $15 million film
from the independent Angel
Studios, which matched Swift
with $250 million worldwide.
It was released with a unique
“pay it forward” programme
that allowed people to donate
tickets.
Going into 2023, no one was
betting Sound of Freedom
would outgross The Marvels
or that Five Nights at Freddy’s
would have a bigger opening
weekend than Indiana Jones
and the Dial of Destiny.
“There are going to be exam-
ples of big-budget, traditional
blockbusters that do well,” says
Dergarabedian.
“But for every one of those,
there have been two that failed.
An audience that’s finding a
CASHIERS’ UNITS
will be closed on
$7$0
rec 41
This image
released by
Warner Bros
Pictures shows
Margot Robbie
in a scene
from Barbie.
PICTURE AP
lot of interesting material on
streaming is becoming more
open to films like Godzilla
Minus One, Indian cinema,
Japanese anime. There’s a shift
in audience taste and studios
need to get a handle on this.”
That poses as much of a
challenge as an opportunity to
studios. If more-of-the-same no
longer has quite the same ap-
peal for moviegoers, an indus-
try that for years has depended
on sequels, prequels, reboots
and remakes to make up the
bulk of its profits may require
new creativity.
The Western didn’t vanish
all at once. After two decades
of ubiquity, it began going out
of style in the 1960s. And the
Western, of course, continues
to be rich territory for film-
makers. This year, 81-year-old
Martin Scorsese made his
first Western in Killers of the
Flower Moon, the three-hour-
plus $200 million epic from
Apple Studios.
The superhero movie, like-
wise, won’t ever die. But its
heyday might have reached its
endgame.

 ‡ ,5'7RZHU*RYHUQPHQW
&DPSXV3OD]D

6DQ)HUQDQGRDQG7REDJR
3OHDVH(QVXUH7KDW$OO3D\PHQW
'XH$UH0DGH(DUO\
The Board apologises for any
inconvenience caused.
For more information
Visit us at www.ird.gov.tt
42 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt 43

NATIONAL ENTERPRISES LIMITED

2023 Summary Financial Statements

As at September 30, 2023

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Incorporation and principal activities Audited As at Audited As at

September 30, September 30,
National Enterprises Limited (the “Company”) was incorporated in 2023 2022
Trinidad and Tobago and is controlled by the Minister of Finance $ ‘000 $ ‘000
(Corporation Sole). The Company was formed by the Government of the Assets
Property, plant and equipment 514 499
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as part of a re-organisation exercise,
Investment in subsidiaries 445,818 387,934
to hold its shareholdings in selected state enterprises and facilitate a Investment in associates and joint ventures 2,156,593 3,037,307
public offering on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange. Other long-term investments 251,873 230,847
Other non-current assets 111,687 111,924
The Company’s initial portfolio of investments in National Flour Mills
Limited (NFM), Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Total non-current assets 2,966,485 3,768,511
(TSTT) and Trinidad Nitrogen Company Limited (TRINGEN) were
transferred at their last audited net asset value by the Minister of Current assets 318,443 271,446
Finance (Corporation Sole) on behalf of the Government in exchange Total assets 3,284,928 4,039,957
of 500,000,000 ordinary shares of no par value in the Company.
All formation expenses were borne by the Ministry of Finance. Equity
Subsequently, on December 14, 2001, the Company acquired a 20% Share capital 1,736,632 1,736,632
shareholding in NGC NGL Company Limited (NGCNGL) financed by Translation reserve 63,866 63,866
the issue of an additional 50,511,540 shares and on December 8, 2003, Remeasurement reserve 16,422 16,422
the Company acquired a 37.84% shareholding in NGC Trinidad and Retained earnings 1,463,923 2,219,027
Tobago LNG Limited (NGCLNG) financed by the issue of an additional
49,489,101 shares. Total equity attributable to equity shareholders 3,280,843 4,035,947

The Company’s principal business activity is to purchase investments, Liabilities

primarily for long-term capital growth and investments. Current liabilities 4,085 4,010
Total liabilities 4,085 4,010
The Company has a wholly owned subsidiary, NEL Power Holdings
Limited (NPHL). In December 2014, the Company entered into a joint Total equity and liabilities 3,284,928 4,039,957
venture arrangement, acquiring 33.33% of Pan West Engineers and
Constructors LLC.

The principal business activities of the Company’s subsidiaries,

associates and joint ventures are disclosed in the notes to the financial
statements. The registered office of the Company is Level 15, Tower D, SUMMARY STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.
Audited
On July 27, 2021; the Board of Directors approved the change of the Audited 18 month
Company’s year end from March 31 to September 30 annually. The Year ended period ended
comparative included in these summary financial statements have been September 30, September 30,
prepared for the eighteen-month period ended September 30, 2022. 2023 2022
Additional disclosure has been included in the notes to the full version $ ‘000 $ ‘000
of the financial statements for comparison purposes. Dividend income 382,740 296,431
Interest income 10,713 9,478
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Other income 3,231 256
These summary financial statements are prepared in accordance Operating expenses (5,378) (8,760)
with established criteria developed by management and disclose Operating profit 391,306 297,405
the summary statement of financial position, summary statement of Net unrealised (loss)/gain on financial
comprehensive income, summary statement of changes in equity and assets at fair value through profit or loss (841,905) 1,685,865
summary statement of cash flows. These summary financial statements
are derived from the audited financial statements of National Enterprises Net (loss)/profit before taxation (450,599) 1,983,270
Limited for the year ended September 30, 2023 which are prepared in Taxation (4,505) (3,510)
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. A full Total comprehensive (loss)/income
version of the audited financial statements will be available on the for the year/period (455,104) 1,979,760
Company’s website.
44 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

NATIONAL ENTERPRISES LIMITED

2023 Summary Financial Statements

As at September 30, 2023

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

Share Translation Remeasurement Retained Total

Capital Reserve Reserve Earnings Equity
($ ‘000) ($ ‘000) ($ ‘000) ($ ‘000) ($ ‘000)
For the year ended September 30, 2023
Balance as at October 1, 2022 1,736,632 63,866 16,422 2,219,027 4,035,947
Total comprehensive loss for the year - - - (455,104) (455,104)
Dividends paid - - - (300,000) (300,000)

Balance as at September 30, 2023 1,736,632 63,866 16,422 1,463,923 3,280,843

For the period from April 1, 2021 to

September 30, 2022
Balance as at April 1, 2021 1,736,632 63,866 16,422 407,267 2,224,187
Total comprehensive income for the period - - - 1,979,760 1,979,760
Dividend paid - - - (168,000) (168,000)

Balance as at September 30, 2022 1,736,632 63,866 16,422 2,219,027 4,035,947

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF CASHFLOWS

Audited Audited Eighteen

Year Ended Months Ended
September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022
($ ‘000) ($ ‘000)
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net (loss)/profit before taxation expenses (450,599) 1,983,270
Depreciation 218 296
Other non-cash movements 841,605 (1,685,574)
Net change in operating assets and liabilities:
Net change in accounts receivables 16,868 (17,078)
Net change in accounts payables 75 85
Net change in related parties 237 682
Taxation paid 408,404 281,681

Cash generated from operating activities (4,956) (3,623)

Net cash generated from operating activities 403,448 278,058

INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Net change in other financial assets 31,679 (85,958)
Net change in other long-term investments (23,530) 61,892
Purchase of fixed assets (233) (112)

Net cash generated from/(used by) investing activities 7,916 (24,178)

FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Dividends paid (300,000) (168,000)
Cash used by financing activities (300,000) (168,000)

Net change in cash resources 111,364 85,880

Net cash resources at beginning of year/period 131,204 45,324

Net cash resources at end of year/period 242,568 131,204

Represented by:
Short-term investments 179,810 117,874
Cash and cash equivalents 62,758 13,330

242,568 131,204
Friday, December 29, 2023
g
guardian.co.tt rec 45
Oscars shortlists revealed
Here are the films one step closer to a nomination
The Barbie power ballad I’m
Just Ken and AP and Frontline’s
documentary 20 Days in Mari-
upol just got one step closer to
an Oscar nomination. The Acad-
emy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences announced shortlists
in ten categories, including best
original song, documentary fea-
ture, international feature, orig-
inal score, and crafts like hair
and makeup, visual effects and
sound.
Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days in
Mariupol was shortlisted in both
the documentary and interna-
tional feature categories, repre- This image released by A24 shows Christian Friedel in a scene from The Zone of
senting Ukraine in the latter. Interest.
As expected, Greta Gerwig’s
Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower with both Pedro Almodóvar’s Ethan
Barbie, Christopher Nolan’s
Moon and Napoleon. Hawke and Pedro Pascal western
Oppenheimer and Martin Scors-
Though Oppenheimer fared well Strange Way of Life and Wes Ander-
ese’s Killers of the Flower Moon
in most categories, it was not among son’s The Wonderful Story of Henry
were prominently represented
the finalists in the visual effects cate- Sugar, with Benedict Cumberbatch
among the finalists in many
gory. The film’s surprising omission and Ben Kingsley, among the con-
categories, including score and
from the list of the original 20 final- tenders.
sound, as was Jonathan Glazer’s
ists was previously reported. The For the most part, shortlists are
The Zone of Interest. Yorgos This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Emma Stone, left, and
visual effects contenders are often determined by members in their re-
Lanthimos’ Poor Things also Mark Ruffalo in a scene from Poor Things. PICTURES AP
comprised of superhero and fran- spective categories, though the spe-
advanced in makeup, visual ef-
chise films that aren’t otherwise con- cifics vary from branch to branch:
fects and score and Spider-Man:
sidered big awards players—this year Some have committees, some have
Across the Spider-Verse in visual for Can’t Catch Me Now, from the Flower Moon. Joe Hisaishi
The Hunger Games: The Ballad could also be headed for his first that includes Zack Snyder’s poorly minimum viewing requirements.
effects, song and score.
reviewed Rebel Moon-Part One: A Final nominations in all categories
Among the 15 international of Songbirds and Snakes, Jon Oscar nomination for The Boy
Child of Fire, Indiana Jones and the will be announced on January 23.
features advancing are The Batiste for It Never Went Away and the Heron.
Dial of Destiny and Guardians of the The 96th Oscars, hosted by Jimmy
Zone of Interest (United King- from American Symphony, Composer Kris Bowers ad-
Galaxy Vol 3. Kimmel, will be held on March 10,
dom), Tran Anh Hùng’s The Lenny Kravitz for his Rustin vanced for The Color Purple,
Live action, animated and docu- broadcasting live on ABC from the
Taste of Things (France), Lila song Road to Freedom and Jar- but not for Origin, which also
mentary shorts finalists were also Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The
Avilés’ Tótem (Mexico) and Aki vis Cocker’s Dear Alien (Who missed out in the song category.
announced. The live action cate- show will begin one hour earlier
Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves (Fin- Art In Heaven) from Asteroid Past Lives, by Christopher Bear
gory is a little starrier than usual, than usual, at 7 pm ET.
land). Justine Triet’s acclaimed City. and Daniel Rossen, was another
Anatomy of a Fall was not se- Diane Warren will also get an- surprise exclusion from the
lected to represent France and other shot at a nomination for score finalists.
thus was not eligible in the cat- The Fire Inside from Flamin’ Documentary nominees in
egory. Hot. But several expected final- addition to 20 Days in Mariupol
Original song contenders ists were left off, including Jus- include American Symphony,
competing against I’m Just Ken tin Timberlake for Trolls Band about Batiste, Still: A Michael J
include two other songs from Together and Jack Black for his Fox Movie, Going to Mars: The
Barbie: Dua Lipa’s Dance the Super Mario Bros Movie ballad Nikki Giovanni Project, The
Night and Billie Eilish’s What Peaches. Wonka was also miss- Eternal Memory, A Still Small
Was I Made For? Only two songs ing from the list. Voice and Four Daughters. Some
from a single movie can advance The 15 original score finalists were surprised at the omission
to the nomination stage, how- included a number of familiar of Kokomo City, about the lives
ever. Both Flora and Son and players, including John Williams of Black trans sex workers, and
The Color Purple had two songs (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Little Richard: I Am Everything.
advance. Destiny), Ludwig Göransson Barbie missed the cut for
Other contenders include (Oppenheimer), Mica Levi (The makeup and hairstyling, which
Sharon Van Etten for Quiet Eyes Zone of Interest) and the late included nominations for Beau
from Past Lives, Olivia Rodrigo Robbie Robertson for Killers of is Afraid, Poor Things, Maestro,

Shakira’s hometown unveils giant statue of pop star

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA AP  Pop
star Shakira was immortalised
in her Colombian hometown
of Barranquilla, where officials
unveiled a giant bronze statue
of the music diva known around
the world for her catchy tunes
and exhilarating moves.
The six-metre (20-feet) tall
monument depicts the multi-
ple Grammy and Latin Grammy
winner in one of her famous
belly dancing outfits, with her
hips swaying to her right and
her arms raised gracefully to-
ward the sky.
A plaque under the statue
says that on February 2, 1977,
the town of “Barranquilla and
the world witnessed the birth
of a heart that composes, hips
that don’t lie, a voice that moves
masses and a pair of bare feet
that walk for the good of chil-
dren and humanity.”
The statue, located on a re-
cently built promenade along
the Magdalena River that runs
along the edge of the town, was
unveiled in a small ceremony on
Tuesday attended by Shakira’s
parents and the mayor, Jaime
Pumarejo.
However, the bronze giant is
not the Caribbean town’s first
Shakira statue.
In 2006, Barranquilla un-
veiled a Shakira monument
that depicts the pop star in her
early days, playing an acoustic
guitar and wearing jeans and
boots. That statues stands near
the entrance of the local soccer
stadium.
In a post on X, formerly known
as Twitter, Shakira thanked
sculptor Yino Marquez and his
students at Barranquilla’s pub-
lic art academy for the latest
statue, which she described as
proof of the “enormous talent”
of Barranquilla’s citizens.
The Colombian pop star won
three Latin Grammys earlier this
year, and also made headlines in
January, when she published a
fiery rap song about her ex-part-
ner that broke YouTube records.
She also settled a tax-fraud
case in Spain with a $7.5 million
dollar payment this year, and re-
cently moved to Miami with her
two children.
 46 comic relief Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

Horoscope Eugenia
Last
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Keep your goal in focus. Stick to the truth, do what you know and do
BY DEAN YOUNG

best, and maintain consistency as you move forward. Look at the big
BLONDIE

picture and fine-tune each component of your plan as you proceed. Don’t
ignore how much things cost or let anger take over or lead you astray. If
you choose progress over revenge, you’ll find it easier to feel gratitude.
BIRTHDAY BABY
You are amenable, talkative and influential. You are organised and
attentive.
YOUR NUMBERS
3, 14, 21, 25, 32, 37, 43.
HEART OF THE CITY

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY

Jude Law, 51; Patricia Clarkson, 64; Ted Danson, 76; Jon Voight, 85.

Aries Libra
BY MARK TATULLI

March 21-April 19 Sept 23-October 22

5 STARS Travel, amusements and a
carefree attitude may feel inviting,
but if the price tag exceeds what
you can afford, back away. Set
boundaries and stick to a plan
that doesn’t cause stress. Make
maintaining structure and balance
in your life your top priorities.
Taurus
BY TOM ARMSTRONG
4 STARS Pay attention to the
changes taking place financially,
physically or contractually, and
adjust to ensure you aren’t
penalised for late fees. Laziness or
not gathering sufficient information
will cost you. Take care of business
before moving on to pleasurable
pastimes. Romance is favoured.
Scorpio

April 20-May 20
October 23-Nov 21
2 STARS A desire or offering will
MARVIN

tempt you. Refuse to give anyone 2 STARS Act quickly before a

an inkling of how you feel or what
you’ll do next. Recognise a pressure
tactic and remove yourself from
any situation that makes you
feel uncomfortable. Make self-
improvement your first choice.
window of opportunity closes. Rely
on your intuition and connections
to help bring about positive change
and long-term results. Don’t give in
to someone trying to goad you into
unrealistic expenditures.

Gemini Sagittarius
May 21-June 20
Nov 22-December 21
4 STARS Keep your eyes wide
open. Situations are not as they 5 STARS Ask questions before
appear, and tensions are mounting. passing the information along.
PEANUTS

Don’t be too quick to reveal your Look for alternative investments

position or to sign up for something
uncertain. Gather information and
refuse to pledge time or money you
may regret.
Cancer
June 21-July 22
3 STARS Keep your money and
possessions safe. Hasty decisions
will put you in a vulnerable position
that will be difficult to clear up
within the necessary time frame.
BIZZARRO
or ways to save money. Changing
your attitude toward work, money
and life goals will help you realise
what’s possible and how to get
ahead. Choose a healthy lifestyle.
Capricorn
December 22-Jan 19
3 STARS Creativity will spark your
imagination, but before you follow
through with your plans, consider

Someone you think you can trust how much it will cost. A physical
will let you down. Revisit your tally of your resources and the
options and choose the path people you can rely on to help you
adversaries least expect. reach your goal will pay off.

Leo Aquarius
July 23-Aug 22 January 20-Feb 18
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

3 STARS Emotions will surface, 3 STARS Simplifying things will

and your patience will wane. Your bring you peace of mind and a
best recourse is to challenge your chance to consider your next move.
mental and physical skills to ensure Information, research and physically
BY STEPHAN PASTIS

you are in tiptop shape and ready trying your hand at something
for whatever comes your way. you want to pursue will bring you
Making personal improvements will insight into the possibilities. Love
confirm what’s important to you. conquers all.

Virgo
August 23-Sept 22
3 STARS Be prepared to alter your
course to accommodate the changes
you encounter. Observation will pay
off and encourage you to oversee
every detail regarding meaningful
relationships, your position and your
path forward. Proceed with caution
BY MARK TATULLI
Pisces
Feb 19-March 20
3 STARS Curb your emotions and
focus on what you can do to ensure
you complete unfinished business.
Being fully prepared to wipe the
slate clean so that you can start a
new chapter will ease your mind,

and only trust what’s verified and allowing you to enjoy the upcoming
authentic. festivities.
1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes. 2 stars: You can
accomplish, but don’t rely on others. 3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach
.LIO

your goals. 4 stars: Aim high; start new projects. 5 stars: Nothing can
stop you; go for gold.
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt comic relief 47
SCRABBLE ACROSS CROSSWORD 957
1. Comparative word
5. One way to hang
10. Siberian indigenous
person
12. Earth Day month
13. Colorful celebration
14. Kilns
15. Climate patterns
17. Chill
18. 2002 Win. Olympics
locale
19. Yucatán years
20. Reach the lowest
point
23. Brainstem part
24. Yoga class need
25. Inc. relative
26. Since
30. Astound
32. 1981 machine release
33. Conical dwelling
34. Mixer
35. Twisty turns
36. Days long gone
DOWN
1. Variety
2. Hemp fibre
3. Similar
4. Naturists
5. Vientiane’s land
6. Deutsch grandpa
7. “Twelfth Night” duke
8. “30 Rock” or “3rd Rock
From the Sun”
CONTRACT BRIDGE 9. Someone ___: Not
mine
11. Potato sack wt.,
maybe
16. Carol opener
19. “Way to go!”
20. Potter portrayer on
“Dawson’s Creek” 23. You can eat off of it 28. Latin root for “breathe”
21. Like an online shout 26. Wax makers 29. ___ signum: Here is the proof
22. Implied 27. “Yeah, I don’t think so” 31. 26th of 26

SUDOKU YESTERDAY’S SUDOKU SOLUTION

CROSSWORD SOLUTION 956

WORD WARP
 48 rec
„ TOMORROW
Annual Fundraising Banquet
Hosted by Chinmaya Mission
Venue: Chinmaya Ashram, Couva
Time: from 6pm
„ SATURDAY, JANUARY 6
Salsa Vive presents
Dancexcitement 2024
Venue: Pleasantville Community
Centre Time: 8 pm
South Market
Venue: C3, Corinth
Time: 10 am to 6 pm
„ SATURDAY, JANUARY 20
Vintage Kaiso Meets King
David Rudder
A Society of St Vincent d Paul
presentation
Venue: St Dominic’s Hall (next to
St Finbar’s Church)
Carnival schedule
„ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30
National Pan Small
Conventional Bands Semis
Venue: Victoria Square
„ MONDAY, JANUARY 1
TUCO Annual Cooler Fete
Venue: Carnival City, QPS
Time: 4 pm
„ TUESDAY, JANUARY 2
National Extempo Prelims
Venue: Kaiso House, QPS
Time: 7.30pm
„ SATURDAY, JANUARY 6
National Pan Small
Conventional Bands Finals
Venue: Carnival City, QPS
Time: 7 pm
„ SATURDAY, JANUARY 13
Opening of John Cupid
Carnival Village
Venue: QPS
Time: 7 pm
„ SUNDAY, JANUARY 14
National Junior Pan Finals
Venue: TBA
Time: 7 pm
„ FRIDAY, JANUARY 26
National Stickfighting Prelims
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Venue: TBA
Time: 7 pm
„ SUNDAY, JANUARY 28
National Pan Semis (Medium
& Large)
Venue: Carnival City, QPS
Time: 1 pm
„ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31
National Stickfighting Semis
Venue: Diego Martin Sporting
Complex
Diego Martin
Time: 7 pm
„ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Senior Kings & Queens
Prelims
Venue: Carnival City, QPS
Time: 7 pm
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt 49
Trinidad & Tobago Guardian

Classif ieds
It’s Easy!
Via
Classifieds Online
ne
Call Us Go to classified@guardian.co.tt
o.tt
Directly at WhatsApp Click on ‘Book an Ad’ and select
ect the
ds.
plan that best suits your needs.
235-5668 353-3464 Provide your Classified Ad byy filling
ng
in relevant information in the required
he reququired fields
ed fi
fie
ellds
ds
PORT OF SPAIN (22-24 St Vincent Street)
Dial 1 then ext. 5061 or 5062 Proceed to checkout
d
to Pay using your Credit Card
SAN FERNANDO (South Park Plaza)
ext. 5222
Opening Hours – Monday to Friday No Credit Card? No Problem..
8:00am – 4:30pm Pay via SurePay at all Massy Stores nationwide
d

EXPERIENCED TECHNICIANS;
automotive, a/c, electrical. info@
ai4ne1.com
RETIRE EARLY
Earn US$ Online
www.NicoleNimrodBlake.com
DIEGO MARTIN senior home
rental/rent to own 716-4900
H.R./ SEPTIC CESPIT/
LIQUID WASTE REMOVAL
SERVICES
681-8458/623-6343
#1 COUSINS
CESSPIT CLEANING
24HRS
672-2852/ 765-4442
H.R. TRANSPORT Service. 681-
8458/ 623-6343
D.MUNGAL
SEPTIC CLEANING
745-1835/ 742-8277
DISCOVER DR Yokomuro the
new counter’s world AU Login;
H.R. PLUMBING SERVICE Wesley Dr Yokomuro Lab AU
681-8458/ 623-6343
H.R. PRESSURE WASHING
FASHION JEWELRY/
SERVICES
CROCHET COURSES
623-6343/ 681-8458
7820851
BT50 9000KM $200,000.00
381-8324
EQUIPMENT RENTAL: Back
Hoe, Roller, Excavator. Services
Offered: Demolition, Con-
struction, Road Paving. Call:
374-9976, 489-2232 for more
information.
3.5 Ton Diesel FORKLIFT
ART COLLECTION
MAKE AND OFFER
CAZABON Watercolour,
Sales Office: Phone: 622-3831 / 228-9927 /
787-6857 / 685-5596 / 296-7307.
Email: laurahomestt@gamail.com.
Facebook: Laura Homes TT
ARIMA – Manuel Congo – Single Family Units
AM MARKETING and Townhouses – 3 bedrooms, 2 baths –
Starting at TT$1.35M
COMPANY LTD BELMONT – Norfolk Street – 1-bedroom, 1-bath
apartment – TT$900,000.00
Reg, Dealer #10 CUREPE – Southern Main Road, Commercial
Building – 5,000 sq. ft internal, 9 parking –
#392-394 Cedar Hill TT$13.75M
Road, ClaxtonBay D’ABADIE – La Florissante – 4 bedrooms, 3
baths – TT$3.7M
768-9800/373-2558 GASPAREE – Gasparee Island – Main House: 3
bedrooms, 1bath; Back House: 3 bedrooms, 1
BRAND NEW bath – TT$2.5M
GLENCOE – Gittensdale – Apartments – Two
3 Ton LPG FORKLIFT 1-bedrooms –TT$1.2M & TT$1.4M
LA ROMAIN – Bamboo Village – 2 Units – 6
bedrooms, 4 baths & 2 powder rooms each –
TT$2.6M each or TT$4.8M (entire house)
MARAVAL – Barcant Avenue – 3 bedrooms, 2
baths – TT$1.85M
PETIT BOURG – Commercial & Residential;
Upstairs – 2 bedrooms, 1 bath; Downstairs – Roti
shop and restaurant – REDUCED: TT$2.9M
PETIT VALLEY – Majouba Crossroad – 1- &
2-bedrooms – TT$2.2M – TT$2.4M
PORT-OF-SPAIN – Stone Street – Commercial
building – 10,503 sq ft – TT$7.5M
SOUTH OROPOUCHE – 6 bedrooms, 4 baths,
ocean views– TT$5.5M

-2%9$&$1&< CAZABON 1857 ST. ANN’S – Fondes Amandes – 4 -storey,

Lithographs (18),
Karen Sylvester,
Leroy Clarke,
Old Maps, Prints,
over 50 pieces
FB: Wrightson
Investments Ltd.
Call Ormarys or Shalice
624-5905
ANTIQUE OAK Desk $6,500
707-0781
CHRISTMAS PUPPIES. Pure-
bred Black German Shepard.
Vaccinated & Wormed, great
 ‡ 0DUNHWLQJ'LSORPD protection, $2,500.00 negotiable.
740-3236.
 PCZ BMW X3. Very Good Condi-
tion, 81,000KM, Well Maintained.
$145,000. O.N.O. 683-0766
FULLY LOADED Kia Sorento
4WD diesel. 80K neg
785-8168/ 491-2669
USED VEHICLES
PDT TOYOTA FIELDER
HYBRID (70K)
TDW (5E) WINGLE P/UP
(80K)
E25 LOW TOP GLASS
SIDE ($65k)
BUYING
USED VEHICLES
275-6252
2 FAW 10-WHEELER
TRUCKS
FOR SALE. 381-7427
TABAQUITE 7 lots, 2 road front-
age, $595,000.00. 707-0781
FAIRWAYS NEWLY renovated
4bedroom. Saddle Road office
space, gym, doctor, accountant
716-4900 or 749-7553
VALSAYN PARK south, 1/2acre
immaculate home, 4 bedroom, 5
bathrooms, pool, 772-6938.
MAYARO HOUSE for Sale. What-
sapp 631-620-9826.
BLANCHISSEUSE
L’Anse Martin Beach. (D2)
Fully AC, Furnished,
4 Bedroom (en suite) on
the beach. Pool & Large
decks. $5,788,000.00
Building 5360 sq.ft.
Land 14,000 sq.ft.
In a Company Name.
See FB: Paradis or
Call Adam 624-5905
WESTMOORINGS 5 bedroom
villa, $13M. Whatsapp-680-2978
LUXURY WATERFRONT 4 bed-
room, Renaissance $13M What-
sapp 680-2978
ARIMA 2 bedrooms, move-in
ready. 778-8862
WEST HILLS 3 bedrooms,
2 1/2 toilet/ bath, air-
condition, swimming
pool, security, parking.
776-9654
DIEGO MARTIN,
PETIT VALLEY
1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments.
776-9654
3-bedrooms. 3.5-bath T/H – TT$3.2M
ST. JOSEPH – Townhouses – 2- & 3-bedrooms -
TT$1.7M – TT$2.4M
TOBAGO – Shirvan Road – New Development - 2
bedrooms, 2 baths – Starting at TT$1.35M
WOODBROOK – One Woodbrook Place – 3
bedrooms, 2.5 baths, FF&FE - TT$3.85M up
TABAQUITE 7 lots, 2 road front-
age, $595,000.00. 707-0781
3 ADJACENT lots, Phillipine.
Seperate deeds, all approvals.
684-7424, 781-7892
BLANCHISSEUSE 8139 sq.ft.
freehold. 759-3452
TAMANA-
CARMICHAEL ROAD.
13 ACRES FREEHOLD
AGRICULTURE,
$950,000.00
CALL: 788–8010
(SERIOUS OFFERS
ONLY)
MAYARO BEACHFRONT. What-
sapp-680-2978
CARENAGE GATED, ocean
views. Whatsapp-680-2978
CANOEBAY 5 acres. What-
sapp-680-2978
BUSINESS FOR SALE
Including land in Arima
with office, trucks, loader
and more.
FB: Wrightson
Investments Ltd
or call Adam 624-5905
50 classifieds Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
HENRY STREET Port-Of-
Spain. 3 levels, 15,000
sq.ft. excellent invest-
ment. 776-9654
ROYSTONIA COUVA 5 bed-
room, 2 t/b, 2 storey, $6800.00
479-8101
CHAGUANAS
NEAR PRICE PLAZA
2 bedrooms $4,400.00
3 bedrooms $5,400.00
Negotiable, Utilities
388-8240
GLENCOE 1 bedroom. All
amenities included. $950 a week.
$3,900 a month. 747-1244/
633-1846
SAN FERNANDO air-condition,
single person, $2,500.00. 787-
9150, 487-8889
ST. JAMES 2 bedroom, A/c. No
agents. 787-7400.
GLENCOE ONE bedroom, air-
condition, electricity, cable, wifi,
$3,800.00. 610-7228
classifieds 51
2 BEDROOM Maraval, 327-0147.
ARIMA 3 bedrooms, close to
PBR. 269-3858
3 BEDROOMS, 2 1/2 bath, un-
furnished townhouse. Cocoyea.
353-5825, 652-1124
UNION HALL 304-6814
ROYSTONIA COUVA upstairs
3 bedroom, 1 t/b, a/c, $3800.00
479-8101
ROYSTONIA COUVA downstairs
2 bedroom, 1 t/b, $3500.00
479-8101
2 BEDROOM Maraval, Pet
friendly $4500.00 685-6345
MAYARO SPACIOUS 3 Bedroom,
2 toilet & bath. Call or whatsapp
768-9759.
MAYARO LARGE Office Com-
pound. Whatsapp-680-2978
MAYARO,
FRONTIN ROAD,
Beachfront, 5-Bedroom,
A/C, Wifi, Security
Cameras.
678-4210
 52 classifieds Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

3XEOLVKHG SXUVXDQW WR WKH RUGHU RI WKH +RQ 0U

-XVWLFH'HYLQGUD5DPSHUVDGGDWHGWKHWKGD\RI
'HFHPEHU
.5/$//$ &203$1<

7KH5(38%/,&2)75,1,'$'$1'72%$*2
,17+(+,*+&28572)-867,&(
&ODLP1R&9

%(7:((1
%(57+$7$.(02%(1(7&+,
)LUVW&ODLPDQW
$&+$7,(0$*5$7(&$))8(/$621* MALE AND male fun. South
266-3560
6HFRQG&ODLPDQW
9(11(66$1-(&.(1-(. HARDER DOUBLE Stimulation
7KLUG&ODLPDQW Explosive & Orgasmic! Get a Total
+803+5(<1&+(1$1*)25 Body Sensual Massage. 373-5821
)RXUWK&ODLPDQW
%5,1*6/8&.)581&+(
)LIWK&ODLPDQW
$1'
&+,(),00,*5$7,212)),&(5
)LUVW5HVSRQGHQW
$77251(<*(1(5$/2)
75,1,'$'$1'72%$*2
6HFRQG5HVSRQGHQW

127,&(
72 $&+$7,( 0$*5$7( &$))8(/$621*
+803+5(< 1&+( 1$1*)25 DQG %5,1*6/8&.
)581&+(

7$.(127,&(WKDWD1RWLFHRI$SSOLFDWLRQWR&HDVH FULLY FURNISHED Holiday

apartments. Storebay area, close
$&+$7,(1$*5$7( to all amenities. Daily rentals.
&$))8(/$621*+803+5(<1&+(1$1*)25 1,2 and 3 bedrooms. 747-0400,
770-1557.
DQG %5,1*6/8&. )58 1&+(

LONG TERM, CROWN POINT-

residential, some suitable for
$1' 7$.( 127,&( retirees, near Pigeon Point,
from $2,600.00 up. 767-9300
before 5:00pm.

CROWN POINT furnished ca-

7REDJR bana adjoining Storebay. Augus-
tus 633-0406
$1' 7$.( 127,&( 7+$7 WKH KHDULQJ RI WKH

<28 0$< 2%7$,1

SANDY POINT TOBAGO.

Sleeps 7. All amenities.
632-4127/ 754-9705

$1')857+(57$.(127,&(7+$7,1'()$8/7

3RUWRI6SDLQ
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt classifieds 53

Guardian lives remembered

RALPH THOMAS CHAN passed
away unexpectedly at Brampton
Civic Hospital on Sunday, Decem- 5LFKDUG/XNH+RVSHGDOHV
ber 24th, 2023 at the age of 81. ,,Q0HPRU\2I
,Q
Q0
0HPRU
HPRU
HPRU\
\ 2II %RUQ2FWREHUWK

Jacqueline
J acqueline
q Ramesar Paryag
Beloved husband for 58 years to
Maria (Chow). Beloved father of 'LHG'HFHPEHUWK
FR. GERVASE GIROD C.S.SP Richard and his wife Jane Ann,
a member of The Holy Ghost Russell and his wife Jane, and
Fathers, died peacefully on Lianne and her husband Kevin.
26th December, 2023. Son of Adored “Papa” of Elise (Chan),
Louis & Lena (both deceased). Ryan (Chan), Robin (Chan), Julia
Brother of Dion, Pauline, (O’Neil) and Lauren (O’Neil).
Magarete Rose, Mary Ann, Survived by his sister Nancy Black
Michael (deceased), Yolande and predeceased by his sisters
and Dr. Everard. Loving Uncle Gwen and Glenda, and brothers
of Many. Funeral Mass for the Ray and Ronald.
late Fr. Gervase Girod at 10:00
am on Friday 29th December,
NUNES, MARIA JULIETA (Born
2023 at St. Theresa’s R.C. on February 4, 1927 in Arima)
Church, de Verteuil Street, died peacefully on Saturday 23rd
Woodbrook, thence to the December, 2023 at the age of
Lapeyrouse Cemetery. For 96. Daughter of the late Jacinto
enquiries; call C&B: (868) 625- Fiel Nunes and Olinda Ferreira ³7KRVHZHORYHGRQ¶WJRDZD\
1170. To send condolences Nunes. Sister of Marlene and the
late Arlindo, Inez and Angelo. WKH\ZDONEHVLGHXVHYHU\GD\
please visit our website www.
clarkandbattoo.com Sister-in-law of the late Valerie 8QVHHQXQKHDUGEXWDOZD\VQHDU
and Margaret. Aunt of Stephen, 6XQULVH
6XQ
6 XQULVHWK-XQH6XQVHWWK'HFHPEHU
'HFHPEHU
HU
  VWLOOORYHGVWLOOPLVVHGDQGYHU\GHDU´
PARRIS: BARBARA née David and Catherine. Great aunt
Bernard (Babseedoo, Aunty of Sinead, Liam, Maia and Isabel.
Babs) passed away peacefully Cousin of Jose, Duarte, Pedro, ,,W¶VEHHQIRXU\HDUVVLQFH\RX¶YHOHIWXV
W¶VEHHQIRXU\HDUVVLQFH\RX¶YHOHIWXV :(:,//$/:$<6&+(5,6+
on Monday, December 21, 2023. Ines and others in Madeira, and <RXUOLIHI ZDVDEOHVVLQJDQGPHPRULHVZLOO
<RXUOLIHZDVDEOHVVLQJDQGPHPRULHVZLOO 2850(025,(672*(7+(5
Beloved wife of Hugo (deceased). Maria Nunes in Trinidad. Dear DDOZD\VEHDWUHDVXUH
DOZ D\V
\ EH
EHD
DWUH
WUHDVXUH
UH
Mother of Renee (Richard),
Andre (Karen) and Maxine
friend of Bruce and Consuelo
Pereira and family, Dave and :HORY
:H
:HORYH\
ORY H \\RX
H\ RXEH\
EH\RQG
RQGGZR
ZRUGV
Z UGVDQ
:HORYH\RXEH\RQGZRUGVDQG DQG
D G )URP\RXUORYLQJZLIHFKLOGUHQ
(John). Grandmother of Stephan,
Jenna, Marytza, Victoria, Joshua,
Jeanne Protain and Stacey Ann
Marhue. Funeral mass for the late
PLVV\
PLV V \RX
V\ RXX EH\
EH\RQG
RQGGPH
PHDVX
PHDVX
PLVV\RXEH\RQGPHDVXUHD UHUH JUDQGFKLOGUHQDQGIDPLO\
Andre Jr (AJ), Raven and Keanu. Maria Julieta Nunes takes place
Great-Grandmother of Ilan, at St. Theresa’s RC Church, Wood- <RXZL
<RX ZL
ZLOO
OOO
OO
O
O IRUUHYHHUU
U UHPD
HPDLQ
LQ
LQ
QLLQ
LQRXU
RX KH
<RXZLOOIRUHYHUUHPDLQLQRXUKHDUWV KHDUW
DUWV
WVV
Alaynna-Marie, Jacob, Robyn and brook, on Tuesday 2nd January, /
/RY
RYLQJ
LQJO\
O\
O\
\UHP
UHPHPE
HPE
PEHUH
P HUHGE
GE
GE\\
E\\RXURXU+X
RXU
/RYLQJO\UHPHPEHUHGE\\RXU+XVEDQG + VEDQG
+X VEDQG
QGG
Matthias. Sister-in-law of Victoria 2024 at 9:30am followed by
Pritchard (Vernon - deceased). FFKL
FKKLOG
OGU
GUUHQJ
JU
JUDQG
JU DQGFKL
GFKL
F OGU
FKLOGUHQJUDQGFKLOGUHQ GUHQ
GU
GUHQ
Q
private cremation. For enquiries,
Aunt of Keith Pritchard and Aldric contact Chancellor Walks Funeral DQGJU
DQG
DQ JU
JUHD
JU HD JUDQG
HDW
HDWJU DQG
QGGFKLLOGU
DQGJUHDWJUDQGFKLOGUHQ OGUHQ
HQ
HQ
HQ
Q
Cummings. Aunt of the Parris, Services, 287-0403/04.
Pritchard, Adams, Ramkissoon,
Tam and Gormandy families.
Childhood friend of Mona Adams
and Olive Ramkissoon. Cousin
to the Bernard family and many
many others. Funeral Mass for
the late Barbara Parris takes
place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday,
December 30, 2023 at St. Crispin’s
Anglican Church. Alberto Street,
Woodbrook. Interment at Mu-
curapo Cemetery, Woodbrook.
For enquiries contact R. M. de
Souza Memorial Chapel Limited
at 223-2007/8 and 637-2009.

54
India crashes to innings defeat inside three
days of first Test against South Africa
CENTURION, South Africa — Debutant
left-arm pacer Nandre Burger took
4-33 as India crashed to a stunning
innings’ defeat to South Africa on day
three of the first Test yesterday.
Burger’s burst combined with two
wickets each for Kagiso Rabada and
Marco Jansen saw India bowled out
for a paltry 131 runs in its second
innings. That meant South Africa
won the first test by an innings and
32 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-
match series.
Burger finished with a match haul
of 7-83 on his test debut, while Ra-
bada finished with 7-91 across both
innings. The latter had picked 5-59
in the first innings.
The Proteas earlier finished the
first innings on 408, thanks largely
to a marathon 185-run knock from
Dean Elgar. India had been bowled
out for 245 in its first innings.
Trailing by 163 runs, India’s sec-
ond innings got off to the worst pos-
sible start and never recovered.
Opener Yashaswi Jaiswal had been
dropped at slip off the very first ball,
but he didn’t survive long. He was
caught behind off a rising delivery
by Burger for five runs off 18 balls.
Skipper Rohit Sharma was bowled
for an eight-ball duck when Rabada
broke through his defence in the
third over.
Shubman Gill played some attrac-
tive shots but was bowled playing
across the line against Burger, out
for 26 off 37 balls.
Gill had added 39 runs with Kohli
for the third wicket. Even so, it
Australia recovers from poor 2nd-innings start
to lead by 241 runs over Pakistan in 2nd Test
Australia’s Mitchell Marsh bats against Pakistan during the
third day of their cricket Test match in Melbourne yesterday.
PICTURES AP
sport
MELBOURNE Australia — Australia lost its
MELBOURNE,
first four wickets for 16 runs in its second
innings but a 153-run stand between
Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh had
the hosts in a good position with two
days to play in the second cricket Test
against Pakistan.
Marsh was out for 96 and Smith for
50 to leave Australia at 187-6 at stumps
Thursday and with a 241-run lead going
into the fourth day at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground.
Marsh fell just short of his fourth test
century after Salman Ali Agha hung
onto a spectacular diving catch in the
slips. Smith battled his way to his first
test 50 since the Ashes from 176 balls,
the second-slowest half-century of his
career.
“It’s obviously disappointing. I
thought we navigated our way out of a
tricky situation in that partnership with
(Smith),” Marsh said. “I guess there’s a
lot of history at this ground, the Box-
ing Day test, and a bloody big honours
board that I was close to getting on, but
it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully I get
South Africa’s batsman Dean Elgar takes
evasive action against a high ball from
India’s bowler Mohammed Siraj during the
third day of the Test cricket match between
South Africa and India, at Centurion Park,
in Centurion, on the outskirts of Pretoria,
South Africa yesterday.
one more crack at itit.””
Captain Pat Cummins took his 10th
five-wicket total in test matches ear-
lier to help Australia earn a 54-run
first-innings lead. But Pakistan came
back from the innings break to take
the wickets of Usman Khawaja for a
duck and Marnus Labuschagne for five,
leaving Australia two wickets down for
only six runs and an overall lead of 60
at lunch.
Cummins, who swung the Boxing
Day test in Australia’s favour late on day
two, grabbed two wickets on Thursday
morning to finish with figures of 5-48.
Pakistan’s tail showed far more resist-
ance than expected to push its over-
night score from 194-6 to be dismissed
for 264 in reply to Australia’s 318.
Australia’s 54-run lead after the first
innings was helped by Pakistan’s 52
extras.
Fast bowler Aamir Jamal frustrated
Australia’s bowling attack Thursday,
hitting an unbeaten 33 in just his sec-
ond test. Afridi, who averages 6.74 with
the bat, also thrashed his way to his
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
wasn’t a comfortable partnership
and India went to tea at 62-3.
The procession of wickets contin-
ued straight after play resumed as
Jansen bowled Shreyas Iyer for six,
again playing across the line.
Burger then made quick work of
the lower order. First innings’ cen-
turion Lokesh Rahul was caught at
second slip. Ravichandran Ashwin
hung out his bat on the first ball he
faced — caught at gully for a golden
duck.
Kohli played some attractive
strokes towards the end, and
reached 50 off 61 balls. Overall he hit
12 fours and a six, but was unable to
complete his century, out caught off
Jansen.
India was bowled out in just 34.1
overs across less than two sessions
in a hapless batting display.
This was after South Africa added
only 16 runs to its first innings post
lunch. Skipper Temba Bavuma did
not bat owing to his hamstring in-
jury.
Jansen was stranded at 84 not out
with Jasprit Bumrah wrapping up
the tail with two quick wickets. The
pacer finished with 4-69 in an oth-
erwise uninspiring Indian bowling
display. (Stories AP)
BRIEF SCORES
India 245 (Rahul 101; Rabada
5-59) & 131 (Kohli 76; Burger
4-33) lost to SA 408 (Elgar
185; Bumrah 4-69) by an
innings & 32 runs.
highest test score of 21.
21
Cummins had strong support from
spinner Nathan Lyon (4-73).
Pakistan is trying to avoid losing its
16th consecutive test in Australia.
Australia had resumed Wednesday
on 187-3, following a rain-interrupted
first day of play in which only 66 of the
scheduled 90 overs were bowled.
Australia won the first test in Perth
by 360 runs.
The third test in the three-match
series is scheduled to begin Jan. 3 at
the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Pa-
kistan won its last test in Australia in
1995.
BRIEF SCORES
Australia 318 (Marnus Labuschagne
63, Mitchell Marsh 41; Aamer Jamal
3-64, Mir Hamza 2-51, Hasan Ali 2-61,
Shaheen Afridi 2-85) & 187/6 (Mitchell
Marsh 96, Steve Smith 50; Shaheen
Afridi 3-58, Mir Hamza 3-27) lead
Pakistan 264 (Abdullah Shafique 62,
Shan Masood 54; Pat Cummins 5-48,
Nathan Lyon 4-73) by 241 runs.
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
DENVER — There were times when
Jo Overstreet felt all alone as a
standout flag football player on
boys teams growing up in Texas.
Sure, she was accepted. Consid-
ered just one of the boys.
She longed for something
more—a sense of sisterhood.
These days, the 40-year-old
receiver for Team USA sees a
thriving community of females
of all ages and all abilities lifting
the sport to new heights. It’s an
expansion that will only be en-
hanced with the sport’s recent ad-
dition to the Olympic program for
the 2028 Summer Games in Los
Angeles.
The non-contact game featur-
ing plenty of fast-paced action
has really been on the rise for a
while, with girls-specific teams
and leagues springing up from
coast to coast—from continent to
continent, too. Eight states have
sanctioned girls flag football as a
high school varsity sport—more
are initiating pilot programmes —
and college scholarships are now
offered for female players on the
NAIA level. The NFL has even
thrown its weight behind flag foot-
ball through leagues and events.
“This is so big for women to be
able to say, ‘I have a dream to play
football’—and to actually know
that opportunity is really there,”
said Overstreet, a former basket-
ball player at the University of
Houston who hopes to be in the
mix for a spot on the inaugural
Olympic roster. “Just saying that
to myself now, I’m still in shock.”
Flag football is a sport many
may have grown up playing, ei-
ther through gym class in elemen-
tary school or a youth league or
perhaps on the playground at re-
cess. It became even more visible
last winter, when the NFL turned
to flag football as part of its Pro
Bowl festivities.
On the international level, the
game consists of five players per
side on a field that’s 50 yards
long—plus ten yards for each end
zone—and 25 yards wide (about
half the traditional American foot-
ball field). The offensive team has
four downs to reach midfield for a
first down. If they reach midfield,
the team has four downs to score.
Even more, every offensive
player is an eligible receiver.
The speedy nature has caught
on, too.
According to research by USA
Football, over a stretch between
2014 and 2022, the participation
rate for girls ages 6-12 increased by
178 per cent. There were roughly
112,000 girls in this age range that
played the sport in 2021 and 2022.
Like Makayla Martinez, a
14-year-old wide receiver from
Phoenix who stood out during the
USA Football/Los Angeles Rams’
talent identification camp last
summer. She started playing at 5
years old after watching her cous-
ins take the field. She switched to
soccer, though, not seeing a route
going forward in flag football—
until now.
“My dad was like, ‘There’s this
girls’ team that’s starting. Do you
want to give it a try?’” Martinez re-
counted. “I was like, ‘No, not re-
ally.’ Because I only had played on
Flag football gives female
players sense of community,
scholarship options and
soon shot at Olympics
Ashlea Klam, 19, right, tries to evade a defender during a training session for her flag football team at Keiser
University in West Palm Beach, Florida, Thursday, November 30, 2023. The no-contact sport featuring plenty of
offensive action has really been on the rise for a while, with girls-specific teams and leagues springing up from coast
to coast.
A defender pulls a teammate’s flag during a
drill at a training session for Keiser University’s
flag football team in West Palm Beach, Florida,
Thursday, November 30, 2023.
a boys team. But I gave it a shot. I
went for it. I just started focusing
on flag football, because I saw that
it was growing.”
Currently, Alabama, Alaska, Ari-
zona, California, Florida, Georgia,
Nevada, and New York offer flag
football as a varsity girls sport on
the high school level. More states
are testing it out, with New Jersey
FEATURE
recently moving it from a club
sport to one overseen by the New
Jersey State Interscholastic Ath-
letic Association for the next two
spring seasons.
The powerful promotional arm
of the NFL is generating growth,
too. The league has set up camps,
clinics, a circuit and even exhibi-
tions.
PICTURES AP
The Klam family of Austin,
Texas, used to be a baseball
household, travelling all over to
tournaments for their son. Now,
Jason and Amberly Klam are
fully invested in the world of flag
football, even starting their own
female travel teams. Their 19-year-
old daughter, Ashlea, has long
been a star in the sport — since
sport 55
she first stepped onto the field
for a boys team at 7 years old. A
few years later, Ashlea joined an
all-girls squad and they travelled
all over.
That led them to launch Texas
Fury, an all-girls flag football se-
lect travel team. At first, they had
six girls. These days, the Fury has
more than 60 players and seven
different teams in various age
groups.
Ashlea earned a flag football
scholarship to Keiser University
in West Palm Beach, Florida, one
of nearly two dozen NAIA schools
that have programmes. Last May,
Ottawa University in Kansas ce-
mented its dynasty by winning
the programme’s third straight
NAIA women’s flag football title
over Thomas University (Georgia)
at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in At-
lanta.
The US and Mexico already
have a robust rivalry on the wom-
en’s side. The Americans beat a
Mexico team led by star QB Diana
Flores during the International
Federation of American Football’s
Americas Continental Flag Foot-
ball Championship in Charlotte,
North Carolina, over the summer.
At the World Games the year
before, Flores led her squad to a
gold medal.
It’s years away, of course, but it
could be quite a gold-medal show-
down at the LA Games.
The roster? It’s still a ways away,
but beginning next season, there
are official USA Football sanc-
tioned events, tournaments and
combines to kick off the selection
process. It’s anyone’s guess who
makes the team as the sport may
start luring athletes from other
sports (imagine the speed of track
stars such as Sydney McLaugh-
lin-Levrone and Sha’Carri Rich-
ardson ).
“The announcement (of flag
football being in the Olympics)
was rocket fuel to an already very
fast-paced growth trajectory for
the passion of girls and women
wanting to play football,” Scott
Hallenbeck, the CEO of USA Foot-
ball, said of a sport that’s an invi-
tational Olympic event for now,
but already working ahead to be
included on the programme for
the 2032 Brisbane Games. “It’s
been an explosion of participa-
tion.”
Receiver Madison Fulford dis-
covered flag football nearly two
years ago while playing in an
intramural league. In no time,
the Limestone University track
standout was putting her speed
and agility to use for the national
team, where she scored four TDs
in the gold-medal game versus
Mexico last summer.
Fulford balances her time be-
tween serving as an Air Force
mental health counsellor in San
Antonio with wearing the red,
white and blue for the national
team and running flag football
skills camps all over the country
for young women.
Anything to inspire the next fe-
male flag football player.
“I tell them to just have fun,”
Fulford said. “Have a fun time
bonding with your teammates,
your sisters.” (AP)
 56 sport Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

Galopin Des Champs is over the last.

PICTURE COURTESY SPORTINGLIFE.COM

Galopin Des
Champs scores
for Willie Mullins
Tight race Galopin Des Champs came roaring back to his
scintillating best with a devastating performance
in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown.
The seven-year-old skipped Ireland’s Christmas
highlight en route to winning the Irish Gold Cup
Three-year-old and Lester and the Cheltenham Gold Cup last season, but
Alexis-trained Afridi, defeat at the Punchestown Festival in April, and
from left, with jockey again when only third in the John Durkan on his
Omar Mohammed return to action in November, left one or two crit-
astride, flies past front
ics doubting his credentials. However, they were
runners Pure Strike with
jockey Ridge Balgobin, made to eat their words yesterday.
Quasimoto with veteran This looked a strong field, despite the with-
jockey Nobel Abrego, and drawal of Galopin Des Champs’ dual Punchestown
Fulfill with champion conqueror Fastorslow on account of the heavy
jockey Brian ground, but the well-backed 6/4 favourite showed
Boodramsingh to win a brilliant turn of foot to spread-eagle his rivals
Race Two, the Modified and bound to a 23-length success.
Benchmark Handicap Townend took a wide course coming off the
3YO-and-over horses at final bend and with just the last fence standing be-
Santa Rosa Park, Arima, tween him and victory, Galopin Des Champs flew
on Boxing Day.
it before pulling further and further clear.
PICTURES RALPH
BANWARIE Main market rival Gerri Colombe (7/4) jumped
well and ran a bold race in second for jockey Jack
Kennedy, but he simply didn’t have the gears to

Afridi
match the Willie Mullins-trained winner, who was
slashed in the antepost markets for a Gold Cup re-
peat. Paddy Power and Betfair go 5/4 from 3/1 with
Sky Bet cutting the winner to 6/4.

connection
Patrick Prescott, left, and Anna-Marie Hosein lead
After the front-running Conflated unseated at
the final fence, third home was Capodanno with
another Mullins-trained runner, I Am Maximus,
back in fourth, but the winner was in another par-
Afridi with jockey Omar Mohammed into the winner’s ish and looked right back to his very best.
enclosure after the horse won Race Two at Santa Rosa Mullins said, “Paul was keen to change tactics
Park, Arima, on Boxing Day. today, he wanted to bounce out and let him enjoy
himself over the first few fences. I said ‘let’s do
that’ because the last twice he was beaten and
things didn’t work out. I think the
horse gave it back to Paul. When I
When De Mark Buss FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2023 LAST DRAW: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 saw him jumping the first the way
he did I thought ‘right, game on
Marks Times played Marks Times played PLAY WHE PICK TWO
10.30am 1pm 4pm 7pm Total 10.30am 1pm 4pm 7pm Total here today’.”
01 CENTIPEDE 3 10 8 10 31 19 HORSE 5 9 7 5 26 TODAY’S STAR BETS 10.30 am 28 7 On the possibility of running
02 OLD LADY 7 6 10 5 28 20 DOG 10 8 7 12 37 6 (Belly) against Fastorslow in the Irish
03 CARRIAGE 7 8 11 13 39 21 MOUTH 11 11 5 8 35 18 (Water Boat) 1 pm 35 6 Gold Cup back at Leopardstown
04 DEAD MAN 6 10 10 11 37 22 RAT 6 6 7 10 29 22 (Rat)
05 PARSON MAN 7 9 8 8 32 23 HOUSE 5 9 14 7 35 30 (House Cat) in February, Mullins added, “We’ll
2 (Old Lady) 10.30 am 14 (Money) 1 pm 4 pm 3 25
06 BELLY 9 7 11 7 34 24 QUEEN 9 7 7 3 26 see, he obviously likes this place.
07 HOG 4 6 5 6 21 25 MOROCOY 10 8 6 11 35
08 TIGER 5 6 12 11 34 26 FOWL 10 7 8 5 30 BACKUP MARKS 7 pm 24 14 The Irish Gold Cup is a great prize
09 CATTLE 5 6 7 6 24 27 LITTLE SNAKE 12 12 7 8 39 4-14-20-24-27-34 and I love having horses good
10 MONKEY 6 6 5 13 30 28 RED FISH 6 11 5 4 26 Under: (Last Friday) enough to compete in it. We’re
PREFERRED LINES 10.30 am................................ 25-19
11 CORBEAU 12 10 6 13 41 29 OPIUM MAN 9 9 6 7 31
3-4-5-7 1pm..........................................30-26 lucky enough we have him.
12 KING 7 7 6 8 28 30 HOUSE CAT 12 11 7 4 34 14 (Money) 4 pm 11 (Corbeau) 7 pm
13 CRAPAUD 10 9 8 5 32 31 PARSON WIFE 3 9 11 8 31
4 pm........................................... 36-3 “We won’t make any decision
PICK FOUR 7 pm........................................ 22-17
14 MONEY 12 7 13 6 38 32 SHRIMP 14 9 12 14 49 about that until later on.”
15 SICK WOMAN 5 6 14 5 30 33 SPIDER 16 7 8 10 41 10.30 am Under: (Last Friday) PICK TWO SELECTIONS Elliott could offer no excuses
7 3 5 0 5-14 22-5
16 JAMETTE 10 5 9 5 29 34 BLIND MAN 6 11 2 8 27 10.30 am................... 5-1-7-4
17 PIGEON 4 8 7 8 27 35 BIG SNAKE 5 11 8 7 31 1 pm........................... 6-9-9-3 for the runner-up and said, “I
1 pm 4 6 8 8 CASH POT
18 WATER BOAT 16 4 11 13 44 36 DONKEY 8 10 7 13 38 4 pm........................... 9-6-8-5 thought he was a bit disappoint-
7 pm........................... 3-9-2-1 SELECTIONS ing. The winner was awesome and
Play Whe—Under: (Last Friday) 4 pm 1 9 2 9 4-7-9-11-15
PICK FOUR SELECTIONS RESULTS I don’t think any horse would have
10.30 am: 30 (House Cat) 1 pm: 4 (Dead Man) 4 pm: 19 (Horse) 7 pm: 7 (Hog) 7 pm 7 4 3 9 6-2-2-5 5-9-10-14-20 Mx3 beaten him on the day.”
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt sport 57
TTCB 2023 REVIEW

Bravo carried his bat consistently

IAN WASON
Sports Correspondent
The year 2023 was a mixed bag
of everything for the Red Force,
but it was a memorable year for
skipper Daren Bravo, who was ad-
judged the Trinidad and Tobago
Cricket Board (TTCB) Cricketer of
the Year.
The Red Force began the
year with back-to-back drawn
matches in the West Indies 4-Day
championships. Bravo scored
back-to-back hundreds in the sec-
ond-drawn match against the Lee-
wards when he scored 100 and
100 not out.
The Red Force finished the
tournament 4th on the 6th team
table after losses in the next two
matches before winning against
Jamaica.
Bravo for his part finished sec-
ond to Alick Athanaze on the runs
list, with the two hundreds and an
average of 55.
He continued his good run in
the Regional Super 50 where he
scored yet another hundred with
an average of 83 to lead the tour-
nament’s batting and the Red
Force to their 14th fifty-over title
in an unbeaten campaign.
But with all his success in 2023,
it was not enough to earn a recall
to the West Indies team to face
England in the ODI and T20 Se-
ries.
T&T Under 15 and
17 teams unbeaten
The Trinidad and Tobago under-
15 team also played unbeaten. The
Brendan Boodoo-led team won
the West Indies under 15 cham-
pionships with a match to spare.
Boodoo was Trinidad and Toba-
go’s top batsman and the tourna-
ment’s third-highest with 166 runs,
and second on the tournament’s
T&T Red Force captain and batsman Darren Bravo plays a shot against
Guyana Harpy Eagles during the CWI Super 50 tournament first semifinal
match at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando on
November 8, 2023. Bravo scored 53 runs not out off 70 balls.
wickets list with 11 scalps. Team-
mate and vice-captain Yasir Dean
was the leading wicket-taker with
14 victims.
The under-17 team was also un-
beaten, but because of the com-
plexities of rain and bonus points,
Barbados won that tournament,
held in Trinidad. Fast bowler
Aadian Racha was one player who
caught the attention of the other
teams as questions were asked
about him by the Barbadians
ahead of their meeting that even-
tually rained out.
However, in contrast, the
under-19 team was a bit of a disap-
pointment as they endured a hor-
rible tournament to finish bottom
of the West Indies Under 19 Rising
Stars tournament. Before the de-
parted for the tournament Presi-
dent of the Trinidad and Tobago
Cricket Board, Azim Bassarath re-
marked, “This is the best prepared
Under-19 team”. The team played
as a unit in the TTCB Premiership
PICTURE DANIEL PRENTICE
Division II during the 2023 sea-
son and the players also enjoyed
several tournaments and matches
during the season including the
North-South Classic, Under 19
Zonal Competition, and the Under
19 Cup.
Boodoo’s success stemmed
from school, as he was part of
a Presentation College San Fer-
nando team that went unbeaten in
claiming all of the formats in the
Secondary school season. Riyad
and Khaleem Mohammed, Aadian
Racha, Nickel Jalim, Ricardo
Chase, and Jacen Agard were too
strong for the other schools this
year.
Cricket off the field
The business of cricket was also
in the courts, as Powergen Sports
and Victoria United went for legal
counsel against each other.
The issue started on Saturday
11th February when Powergen and
Victoria showed up at Victoria’s
Barrackpore home venue but the
pitch was deemed unfit for play.
That resulted in the first day being
abandoned.
Play was only possible on the
second day and the match ended
in a draw.
Powergen initially won the case,
citing it was Victoria’s responsibil-
ity to have the pitch playable.
That ruling would have given
Powergen the win and the vital
points to win the championship,
but Victoria won the appeal thus
allowing Queen’s Park to win the
title.
Dream 11 visits Tobago
Tobago hosted its first Dream
11 Bago T10 tournament from No-
vember 16 to December 5, 2023,
at the Shaw Park Recreational
Ground, which concluded with
Pirates Bay Raiders winning the
title and Red Force player Kamil
Pooran being awarded ‘Player of
the Tournament.”
Throughout the tournament
and despite the repeated battles
with the rain, the players had their
skills and talent on display. With
six teams competing for the title,
it was smooth sailing for some and
there were also some disappoint-
ments. Mt Irvine Surfers topped
the points table in the first half of
the tournament, going unbeaten
but No Man’s Land Explorers and
Pirates Bay Raiders put up a fight
to take first and second place.
Leading up to the title match, the
Raiders dominated in their last
five matches to earn their spot in
the final.
Meanwhile, Explorers showed
their strength and worked hard to
place themselves into the semi-fi-
nal, where they won by nine wick-
ets against Store Bay Snorkelers.
They were later greeted by Raiders
who were waiting for their oppo-
nent. Chasing 109 for victory, De-
journ Charles smashed 39 not out
as the Explorers got to their target
with two overs to spare and took
to the title.
Raiders were first on the points
table with 19 points, followed by
Explorers in second with 15 and
Surfers with 13. Trinidadian crick-
eter Pooran was awarded for most
runs in the tournament attaining
350 runs, while Jyd Goolie was
runner-up with 336 runs. In the
second category, most wickets
were given to the Vincentians
from team Snorkelers, Dillon
Douglas for picking up 12 wickets
throughout the tournament, while
Mikkel Govia from Explorers was
awarded for most dismissals, six
catches.
Trinidad and Tobago Cricket
Board President Azim Bassarath,
also the vice-president of Cricket
West Indies and president of the
Tobago Cricket Association Ker-
win John was offered the oppor-
tunity to make an international
footprint on the shortest format of
the game.
John said he was elated and ap-
preciative of Bassarath, and the
TTCB for the honour of having the
prestigious tournament.
“Tobagonians will also witness
an internationally recognized
standard of cricket and their tal-
ented cricketers will relish rub-
bing shoulders and sharing the
dressing room with their more
illustrious national and regional
colleagues,” said John.
According to TTCB president
Bassarath, the main focus was to
maintain the quota for Tobagoni-
ans, it was a big step to push To-
bago cricket up a notch.
“The platform will encourage
Tobago cricketers to rise to their
fullest potential and stake a bigger
claim for national selection, and
move on to regional and interna-
tional prominence,” said Bassarath.

No festive cheer for Arsenal and Tottenham as north London rivals lose in EPL
LONDON — Arsenal lost at home
for the first time since May as a
2-0 defeat to West Ham cost Mikel
Arteta’s team the chance to return
to the top of the Premier League
on yesterday.
Goals by Tomas Soucek in the
13th minute and former Arsenal
player Konstantinos Mavropanos
in the 55th—combined with a stout
defensive display—gave West Ham
a surprising win at Emirates Sta-
dium and continued a midseason
blip by the Gunners.
That’s just one win in its last
four league matches for Arsenal,
which was in first place for Christ-
mas and needs to beat Fulham
away on Sunday to be in that posi-
tion heading into 2024. Arsenal is
currently in second place and two
points behind Liverpool, which
doesn’t play again until New
Year’s Day.
It could have been an even big-
ger win for West Ham but Said
of whether any of the ball was in
play and the referee stayed with
the onfield decision of giving the
goal.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s top-
four credentials were damaged
by a miserable performance in a
4-2 loss at Brighton in the Premier
League, yesterday.
Late goals for Tottenham by
Alejo Véliz and Ben Davies gave
the score a respectable look but
the visitors were outplayed at
Amex Stadium by a Brighton team
missing up to ten players through
injury.
Jack Hinshelwood powered a
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, centre, fights for the ball against Arsenal’s Martin shot into the roof of the net in
Odegaard, right, during the English Premier League football match between the 11th minute and Joao Pedro
Arsenal and West Ham at Emirates stadium in London, England, yesterday. converted a penalty in the 23rd
PICTURE AP after Dejan Kulusevski pulled back
Benrahma had a penalty saved by not showing definitively if the Danny Welbeck in the area.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya in ball was out of play when Jarrod James Milner also struck the
the sixth minute of stoppage time. Bowen turned it back into the post for Brighton in a first half that
There was some controversy area for Soucek to force home. saw Tottenham’s defence—miss-
over the first goal, with cameras Bowen’s leg blocked the best sight ing injured center backs Cristian
Romero and Micky van de Ven—
get sliced open time and again.
Richarlison also hit the post and
had a goal ruled out for offside for
Tottenham before halftime substi-
tute Pervis Estupinan made it 3-0
with a shot from 25 yards that flew
into the top corner in the 63rd.
Joao Pedro scored his second—
again from the penalty spot—in
the 75th after Evan Ferguson was
fouled by Giovani Lo Celso, but
Tottenham then rallied late.
Veliz netted his first Premier
League goal after Kulusevski
blocked Lewis Dunk’s clearance
straight to Son, who set up the Ar-
gentine forward in the 81st.
When Davies headed in Pedro
Porro’s cross four minutes later,
a sensational comeback was po-
tentially on but Brighton held on
despite more chances for Totten-
ham, which would have jumped
back into the top four with a vic-
tory. (AP)
 58 sport
Lewis siblings top Concorde Athletic awards
CLAYTON CLARKE
Sports Correspondent
Akilah Lewis and her brother,
Omari, were named the Female
and Male Open Athletes of the Year
at the annual Concorde Athletic
Club annual awards ceremony on
December 10.
Lewis took the Top Female
honours following her debut at
the 2023 World Outdoor Athletics
Championships in Budapest, Hun-
gary, in August where she ran the
lead-off leg on the national wom-
en’s 4x100m team which finished
12th in the preliminaries.
The multiple Carifta medal-
list also helped T&T to the sprint
relay silver medal at the 2023
Central American and Caribbean
(CAC) Games in El Salvador in
June. Lewis also copped the silver
medal for Minnesota University in
the women’s 60m finals at the Big
Ten Indoor Championships and
also helped her University’s relay
team to second spot at the Big Ten
Outdoor Championships.
In 2023, the Bishop Anstey grad-
uate lowered their personal best
in the women’s 100m, 11.21, to be-
come the joint tenth fastest local
woman over the distance, along
with Zakiya Denoon. She will com-
pete for Ole Mississippi University
in the 2024 season.
Omari also represented T&T at
the World Champs in the men’s
4x100m relay which finished 12th
in the heats.
The Liberty University sprinter
copped gold in the men’s 60m at
the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Indoor
Championships and in the 100m
at the ASUN Outdoor edition.
The Lewis siblings were among
several brother/sister pairs to cap-
ture awards at the ceremony.
Vincent twins Teneque and
Tyrique were the top Female and
Male Under-17 performers. Michal
Paul was voted the Best Under-15
Boy while his sister, Giana, won a
special award in the Girls Under-20
category. Revell Webster was an-
nounced as the Top Under-20 Boy
with his sister Reese as the Most
Improved Female.
Stroude sisters Samyiah and
Saryiah collected the Girls’
Under-9 and Under-15 awards re-
spectively.
Tenique won a silver medal in
the Girls Under-18 Heptathlon
at the North American, Central
American, and Caribbean (NACAC)
Under-18 and Under-23 Champion-
ships in Costa Rica in June while
Tyrique’s highlight performance
was a double gold medal (110m
hurdles and high jump) triumphs
at the National Secondary Schools
Championships. He also finished
seventh in the Boys Under-17 110m
hurdles event and ninth in the
high jump contest at the Carifta
Games in the Bahamas in April.
Michal was 14th in the Boys’
13-14 Heptathlon at the NACAC Age
Group Champs in the Dominican
Republic and also won the Second-
ary Schools high jump and long
jump crowns. Giana secured two
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
2023 CONCORDE
HONOUR ROLL
CONCORDE ATHLETIC
CLUB AWARDS
UNDER9
Most Outstanding
Girl – Samyiah Stroude
Boy – Roael Bravo Garcia
UNDER11
Girl – Kamyah Sylvester
Boy – Da Varja-Mayo Pierre
UNDER13
Most Outstanding
Girl – Seleil-Marie Caruth
UNDER15
Most Outstanding
Girl – Saryiah Stroude
Boy – Michal Paul
Most Improved
Girl –
Boy – Kristian Thomas
UNDER17
Most Outstanding
Girl – Tenuque Vincent
Boy – Tyrique Vincent
Most Improved
Girl – Nathaniela King
Boy – Cden James
Jenae De Gannes, right, was voted the Top Under-20 Girl Special Award – Symphony Patrick
Concorde Athletic Club’s top Under-17 girl Tenique of the Year at the Concorde Athletic Club’s annual awards
Vincent, right, collects her award from vice-president of ceremony on December 10. Vice president of the Trinidad UNDER20
the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee and and Tobago Olympic Committee and former president of Most Outstanding
the T&T Athletics Association (NAAATT) Ephraim Serrette
former president of the NAAATT Ephraim Serrette at the Girl – Janae De Gannes
presented De Gannes with her award.
club’s annual awards on December 10. Boy – Revell Webster
Most Improved
Girl – Karissa Kirton
Boy – Jeremiah Dickson
Special Award – Gianna Paul
OPEN
Most Outstanding
Woman – Aklilah Lewis
Men – Omari Lewis
Most Improved
Woman – Reese Webster
Men – Nickili Lewis
Masters
Woman – Michelle Sturge
Men – Murrien Mitchell
4x100m.
The Bishop Anstey student won
silver medals in the Girls Under-20
long jump and 4x400m at the Car-
ifta Games.
Revell was a member of the
local men’s 4x100m quartet at the
World Champs. The 19-year-old,
who was 7th in the Carifta Boys
Under-20 100m finals, also ran
away with the Carifta Trials and
Junior Champs 100m honours. He
booked his spot on the relay team
for Budapest when he was third
Akilah Lewis, left, and her brother, Omari, were named in the men’s 100m finals at the
the Concorde Athletic Club top Female and Male Athlete National Senior Championships
of the Year at the club’s annual awards ceremony on Michal Paul, left, collects the Boys Under-15 award from in the personal best time of 10.26.
December 10. Both represented Trinidad and Tobago at former World 400m hurdles champion Jehue Gordon, at
Reese won the 100m and 4x100m
the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the Concorde Athletic Club’s annual awards on December
Budapest, Hungary. PICTURE COURTESY AKILAH LEWIS 10. PICTURES COURTESY CONCORDE ATHLETIC CLUB events for Eton University at the
Coastal Athletic Association (CAA)
gold medals (Girls Under-18 Hep- Girls Under-29 top achiever trophy De Gannes also won the NACAC Outdoor Champs.
tathlon, 4x100m) at the NACAC following her silver medal in the Girls Under-18 long jump title with Michelle Sturge and Murrien
Under-18 & U-23 Champs. long jump at the Commonwealth a championship record leap and Mitchell were the top Masters ath-
Janae De Gannes landed the Youth Games. then helped T&T to gold in the letes in the Club.
60 Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt
Bassarath urges players to grasp their opportunities
IAN WASON
Sports Correspondent
Trinidad and Tobago Cricket
Board (TTCB) president, Azim
Bassarath is hoping local youth
cricketers grab the opportunities
before them in the Under 23 Cup
which bowled off at the National
Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva,
yesterday.
His comments came as captain
of the East North East Scarlet Ibis
Under 23, Leonardo Julien and
others already got a taste of inter-
national cricket.
Julien was wicket-keeper back
up to West Indies captain Shai
Hope in the recent home ODI se-
ries win vs England while Justin
Manick of the Central South West
Flamingos, made his First Class
debut this year with the Trinidad
and Tobago Red Force.
Bassarath says this can motivate
their peers to strive to do well and
follow in their footsteps.
“The selectors and coaches
have noticed the effort and the
potential in Leonardo Julian and
hence the reason why he was in-
cluded in that setup with the West
Indies team. It augurs well not
only for Leonardo but other play-
ers. Other emerging players who
are of a similar ilk to Leonardo,
and I think the other players will
be looking. They saw Leonardo
in the setup and I think they will
be moving forward and they will
want to be there too.”
Bassarath pointed out that the
region’s under-23 players have
been getting special attention
from Cricket West Indies.
“They have placed on the cal-
endar for 2024 a period for an
under-23 regional tournament.
We are waiting to see what will
transpire with that but they are
very, very interested in it.”
Meanwhile, on the field of play,
rain spoiled both matches in the
first round today.
T&T Cricket Board president,
Azim Bassarath
At the Inshan Ali Park, 48.1
overs were possible and that al-
lowed Central/South-West Fla-
mingos to bat first against North/
Tobago Masqueraders. Denzil
Antoine was the first casualty as
he was dismissed for one with the
score at one for one. Kyle Kissoon-
dath then came in at number
three. He stood there for 125 min-
utes for this 60 that included four
boundaries and one six.
Batting at number five, Justin
SUMMARISED SCORES
At the National Cricket Centre,
Balmain Couva:
South and South East Under 23
Hummingbirds 218- 5 (39 overs)
(Antonio Gomez 93 not out, Kyle
Roochand 67, Vasant Singh 4-50) vs
East and North-East Scarlet Ibis
SATURDAY MATCHES
At NCC, Balmain
East and North East Scarlet Ibis vs Central and South West Flamingos
At Inshan Ali Park, Preysal
South and South East Hummingbirds vs North-Tobago Masqueraders.
Manick scored 43 from just 27
balls as the Red Force player was
not wasting in the middle. He was
running between the wickets effi-
ciently as his solitary four and two
sixes will show.
In the end, 201 was all she
wrote before the heavens opened.
At the National Cricket Centre,
South and South East Humming-
birds’ Antonio Gomez was left
sport 61
At the Inshan Ali Park, Preysal,
Couva:
Central and South-West Flamingos
201 for 8 (48.1) ( Narad Kyle
Kissoondath 60, Justin Manick 43,
Chadeon Raymond 3 for 41) vs
North and Tobago Masqueraders.
stranded on 93 not out when
the rain prevented him from get-
ting to three figures. Gomez had
counted eight fours. He shared in
an opening stand of 146 with Kyle
Roopchand who scored 67, which
included seven fours and two
maximums.
The Hummingbirds were 218
for five when rain abandoned
play for the day.

Playing without reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, 76ers beat Magic 112-92
ORLANDO, Fla — Tyrese Maxey
scored 23 points, Tobias Harris
and De’Anthony Melton added 22
each ands the Philadelphia 76ers
beat the Orlando Magic 112-92 on
Wednesday night while playing
without reigning NBA MVP Joel
Embiid.
Paul Reed had 15 points, ten
rebounds and three blocks
for the 76ers while starting at
centre for Embiid, the league’s
leading scorer who missed a
second straight game because
of a sprained right ankle. Phila-
delphia has won nine of its past
11 games.
Franz Wagner scored 24
points for the Magic, who were
held to a season low in scoring
and have lost five of seven.
ten rebounds and a career-high
16 assists for his 18th career
triple-double, helping Phoenix
beat Houston to end a three-
game losing streak.
Durant was 9 of 16 from the
field and also had two steals
and a block in Phoenix’s first
road victory since November
26. The Suns improved to 15-15.
Eric Gordon matched Durant
with 27 points in his first game
back in Houston since being
traded in February. He scored
17 points in the Suns’ 43-point
second quarter en route to
a 73-55 halftime lead. Devin
Booker added 20 points.
Alperen Sengun led Houston
with 24 points.
THUNDER 129, KNICKS 120
Orlando Magic
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous- forward Franz
Alexander and Jalen Williams Wagner (22) is fouled
each scored 36 points, and by Philadelphia
Williams hit a pair of 3-pointers in 76ers forward
the fourth quarter in Oklahoma Marcus Morris Sr,
City’s victory over New York. right, while going up
Chet Holmgren added 22 for a shot during the
points for Oklahoma City, second half of an
which beat Western Confer- NBA basketball
ence-leading Minnesota on game, Wednesday in
Tuesday night and was playing Orlando, Fla.
PICTURE AP
its third back-to-back this sea-
son. The Thunder are 20-9.
Julius Randle led New York
with 25 points. (AP)
OTHER RESULTS
CAVALIERS 113, MAVERICKS 110
BUCKS 144, NETS 122
RAPTORS 132, WIZARDS 102

SUNS 129,
ROCKETS 113
HOUSTON — Kevin ' ( $7 +   $ 1 1 2 8 1 & ( 0 ( 1 7
Durant had 27 points,

9$50$$QXM6DW\DKZDQ$JH
)RUPHUO\RI8QLRQ+DOO6DQ)HUQDQGR
Soca ZHQWWREHZLWKWKH/RUGRQWK'HFHPEHU
Warriors 6RQRI'HRGDWK %DVGDLH9DUPD
ERWKGHFHDVHG
No 11 in +XVEDQGRI$PULWWD
%URWKHURI6KDUGKD5RPD6DQNDU 0DGDQ GHFHDVHG
CONCACAF, %URWKHULQODZRI$VKIRUG6DQNDU ,QGUD1DOD9DUPD
Jamaica 8QFOHRI-RYDQ $QWRQ9DQFH .LPEHUO\
5DYL$UXQ .HOO\ .DGHVK
p CFU
tops *UDQG8QFOHRI1DV\D
PAGE 62
P 2 )DLWKIXOPHPEHURI8QLW\7DEHUQDFOH
&KXUFKRI*RGRI3URSKHF\ +LOOSLHFH

)XQHUDORQ6DWXUGD\WK'HFHPEHUDW8QLW\
7DEHUQDFOH&KXUFKRI*RGRI3URSKHF\ +LOOSLHFH DW
DPWKHQFHWRWKH5RRGDO&HPHWHU\
$UUDQJHPHQWVHQWUXVWHGWR%HOJURYHV)XQHUDO+RPH
6DQ)HUQDQGR
 62 sport Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt

Warner to miss ODIs, T20Is against WI MELBOURNE, Australia—Australia
opener David Warner plans
to skip the home One-day and
Twenty20 International series
against West Indies in February
next year.
Media reports indicate that
Warner, who plans to retire from
Tests at the end of the current
home series against Pakistan, will
instead be playing for the Dubai
Capitals in the second edition
of the International League T20
tournament in the United Arab
Emirates.
Chief executive officer of the
Australian Cricketers’ Association
Todd Greenberg said Warner was
likely to start maximising his T20
league availability following Test
retirement in Sydney next week.
“I think the short answer to that
is probably yes,” Greenberg said.
“I know he’s pretty committed to
the BBL (Big Bash League in Aus-
Australia’s David Warner plays a shot during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
match between Australia and Bangladesh in Pune, India, Saturday, tralia).
November 11, 2023. PICTURE AP “There’s no doubt in the next
phase of Dave’s life, he’s going to
be looking to ply his trade where
he gets the best return on his in-
vestment. I don’t think there’s an-
ything wrong with that, in fact I’m
encouraging him to do that.
“There will be times where he’ll
be looking to miss certain games
and tours. That’s the sort of flex-
ibility we’ve got to get our heads
around. Some people won’t like
that, but that’s the modern world
of which we’re living in and we
have to embrace it.”
Reports indicate that Australia
are likely to rest top players for
the ODIs and T20Is against West
Indies—but a full-strength team
is likely to be picked for the sub-
sequent T20I series against New
Zealand, bearing in mind the T20I
World Cup to be staged in June in
the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies will also play two
Tests on the Tour of Australia and
have named a 15-member squad,
but the line-ups for the ODIs and
T20Is have yet to be announced.
(CMC)
FULL SQUAD
Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain), Alzarri
Joseph (Vice-Captain), Tagenarine
Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick
Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin
Greaves, Joshua DaSilva, Akeem
Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar
Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Tevin Imlach,
Shamar Joseph, and Zachary
McCaskie
MATCH SCHEDULE
17-21 January: 1st Test at Adelaide
Oval, Adelaide
(Start Time: 15-20 January 7.30pm
Eastern Caribbean/6.30pm Jamaica)
25-29 January: 2nd Test at the
Gabba, Brisbane
(Start Time: 12 midnight Eastern
Caribbean (24-28 January 11pm
Jamaica)

Soca Warriors No 11 in CONCACAF, Jamaica tops CFU

ZÜRICH, Switzerland—Trinidad
and Tobago’s Soca Warriors will
end the year ranked inside the
top 100 of the FIFA World Rank-
ings and 11th in the Caribbean
Football Union (CFU) team, while
team Jamaica will end as the high-
est-ranked CFU team.
The Jamaicans are ranked 55th
in the latest world rankings from
the apex body of the sport, mak-
ing them the sixth-highest-ranked
team in the CONCACAF region,
and one of four teams inside the
world’s top 100.
The Reggae Boyz, as they are
known, ended the competitive
year on a high note when they
summoned a comeback for the
ages to defeat hosts Canada 3-2 in
the second leg of their League A
quarter-final in the 2023-24 CON-
CACAF Nations League.
It was the first win for Jamaica
on Canadian soil, and it resulted
in a 4-4 final on aggregate, with
Jamaica owning the away goal tie-
breaker.
The Jamaicans have advanced
to the 2023-24 CONCACAF Na-
tions League Finals in March, and
they have also qualified for the
CONMEBOL Copa America 2024.
Earlier in the year, the Reggae
Boyz reached the semi-finals of
the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the
United States, where eventual
champions Mexico stamped their
class with a 3-0 win at Allegiant
Stadium in Las Vegas.
The other three teams in the
FIFA Top 100 from the CFU are
Haiti ranked at 89th (ninth in
CONCACAF), Curaçao at 90th
(tenth in CONCACAF), and Trin-
idad and Tobago at 96th (11th in
CONCACAF), while Antigua &
Barbuda ranked at 142nd in the
world is the fifth highest ranked
CFU team and 14th in CONCACAF.
All have held their positions
from the previous month’s rank-
T&T players Duane Muckette, left, and Justin Garcia, right, celebrate their victory over El Salvador in their
CONCACAF Nations League match in El Salvador in October 2023.
ings, along with the next four CFU
teams in the world rankings.
Earlier this year, the Soca War-
riors under coach Angus Eve to
the second position in Group A
of League ‘A’, courtesy of wins
against Curacao 1-0 at the Hasely
Crawford Stadium on September
7: El Salvador 3-2 at the Estadio
Nacional Jorge Magico Gonzalez
on September 10: and Guatemala
3-2 at the Hasely Crawford Sta-
dium on October 13.
However, Curacao snapped
their unbeaten record on October
17, with a 5-3 triumph at the Ergilo
Hato Stadium in Curacao, a result
that relegated the Soca Warriors
to second in the group with nine
points, while Panama assumed
the top position with ten points
with three wins and a tie.
The Soca Warriors also bounced
back from a 3-0 away loss to the
USA to record a 2-1 victory at
home on November 16 and 20 re-
spectively.
It was a tough year for Haiti
after they reached the group stage
of the Gold Cup and won two of
their three matches, then strug-
gled through the Nations League,
failing to win any of their four
matches in League A and will be
relegated.
Curaçao lost out to St Kitts &
Nevis in the first round of the
Gold Cup and managed a single
win in the Nations League, but
T&T had a memorable year.
It was a year of revival for the
Soca Warriors, which ended with
PICTURE COURTESY TTFA
them collecting three wins in
Group A of League A to finish sec-
ond behind Panama to reach the
Nations League play-offs against
the Canadians, where the winner
will qualify for the CONMEBOL
Copa America 2024.
The Soca Warriors also played
in the group stage of the Gold
Cup, where they won one of their
three matches.
The Antiguans played in the
first round of the Gold Cup, but
they were hardly a factor in Group
D of League B, where Guyana was
the dominant side.
The CFU top ten in the world
is rounded by Suriname at 143rd
(15th in CONCACAF), St Kitts &
Nevis at 147th (16th in Concacaf ),
Dominican Republic at 151st (17th
in CONCACAF), Guyana at 157th
(18th in CONCACAF), and Puerto
Rico, who slid one place down
to 160th in the world that makes
them 19th in CONCACAF.
St Lucia holding a world rank-
ing of 167th is the 11th ranked
team in the CFU and 20th in CON-
CACAF.
The Surinamese ended the year
with a third-place finish in Group
B of League A in the Nations
League after failing to get out of
the first round in the Gold Cup,
but the Kittitians, who started the
year strongly, finished the year
with a poor run in the Nations
League.
The Sugar Boyz, as the Kitti-
tians are known, reached the
group stage (third round) of the
Gold Cup with a couple of mo-
rale-boosting wins in successive
penalty shoot-outs, but they will
be relegated to League C after
winning only one of their six
matches in Group A of League B
to finish last of the four teams.
The Dominican Republic was
second in Group B of League
B, winning three of their six
matches, and missed out on pro-
motion to League A with crucial
late losses in the campaign, while
the Guyanese maintained a per-
fect record in League B of the
Nations League with five consec-
utive wins to secure first in Group
D and promotion to the top tier.
The Puerto Ricans reached the
second round of the Gold Cup
and finished second behind Guy-
ana in Group D of League B, win-
ning four of their six matches, and
will be hoping to script their pro-
motion story next time around,
while the St Lucians made a first-
round appearance at the Gold
Cup before they finished second
in Group A of League B behind
Guadeloupe, winning three of
their six matches. (CMC)
Friday, December 29, 2023
guardian.co.tt 63
Sport Friday, December 29,
9, 2023

WARNER OUT
West Indies cricket team will tour
Australia from January to February
2024 to play two Test, three ODIs
and three T20I matches

APPLAUSE

WINDIES SERIES PAGE 62

South and South East
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, centre, Hummingbirds Under-23
keeps the ball in play in front of the wicketkeeper/batsman
goal during the English Premier League
football match against Arsenal at
ANTONIO GOMEZ scored 93
Emirates stadium in London, England, not out from 119 deliveries
yesterday. See page 57. PICTURE AP in the first match of the T&T
Cricket Board Under-23 Cup
Tournament at the National
Cricket Centre in Balmain,
Couva, yesterday.

PLAIN TALK

There’s no doubt in the next

phase of Dave’s life, he’s going
to be looking to ply his trade
where he gets the best return
on his investment. I don’t think
there’s anything wrong with
that, in fact I’m encouraging
him to do that.
—TODD GREENBERG
Chief executive officer of
the Australian Cricketers’
Association.
HAVING
AN EVENT?
Contact us @ GML Sports
235-5668, ext 5127,
5128, 5129, 5130, 5131
email: gmsports@guardian.
co.tt • Visit our website
www.guardian.co.tt
& CNC3 facebook page
Printed and Published by Guardian Media Ltd, ANSA McAL Centre, Rodney Road, Endeavour, Chaguanas, Trinidad. Tel: 235-5668