Justin Sow­ley was de­ter­mined to make the most of the op­por­tu­ni­ties avail­able to him as he cared for his broth­er who was un­der­go­ing phys­io­ther­a­py in Cana­da fol­low­ing a car ac­ci­dent in Trinidad in 2005. The re­sult has been pro­fes­sion­al suc­cess for him since join­ing the Roy­al Cana­di­an Navy (RCN).
His achieve­ments were high­light­ed in May when Lt Lin­da Cole­man post­ed a short bio of Sow­ley’s pro­fes­sion­al achieve­ments to the RCN’s web­site in which she de­scribed his com­mit­ment and ded­i­ca­tion to the job.
Sow­ley and his broth­er were grant­ed Cana­di­an cit­i­zen­ship through their fa­ther but grew up in T&T. He ad­mit­ted that he nev­er had any in­ten­tions of per­ma­nent­ly re­lo­cat­ing there. How­ev­er, his broth­er’s cir­cum­stances led to that de­ci­sion which changed the course of his life.
While help­ing to care for his broth­er in Cana­da, Sow­ley de­cid­ed to start look­ing for a job af­ter set­tling in Burling­ton, On­tario, dur­ing his broth­er’s phys­io­ther­a­py treat­ments.
“Liv­ing in Cana­da full time was a bit of an ad­just­ment. My first im­pres­sion was that it was ex­treme­ly cold. But, my thoughts were that this was a de­vel­oped coun­try with ex­cel­lent in­fra­struc­ture and a lot of op­por­tu­ni­ty for peo­ple will­ing to work,” he said.
He de­cid­ed on his ca­reer path af­ter see­ing a tele­vi­sion com­mer­cial, Fight with Forces. That in­spired him to take the first step of en­rolling as a naval war­fare of­fi­cer. By 2010, Sow­ley was off to ba­sic train­ing.
Since then, he’s been sail­ing with the RCN’s west coast fleet which has in­clud­ed de­ploy­ments on Op Caribbe in 2014, fol­lowed most re­cent­ly by Op Artemis where he was a bat­tle watch cap­tain for Com­bined Task Force (CTF) 150.
Sow­ley said what he loves most about the job is “see­ing dif­fer­ent places and do­ing some of the re­al­ly ex­cit­ing things we get to do.”
His most chal­leng­ing and re­ward­ing ex­pe­ri­ence so far was as the nav­i­gat­ing of­fi­cer of the HM­CS Regi­na.
His pro­fes­sion­al jour­ney has not been with­out chal­lenges. Sow­ley was un­suc­cess­ful in his first at­tempt at the fleet nav­i­gat­ing of­fi­cer course but was en­cour­aged to try again.
“I did so, know­ing full well the amount of work and ef­fort that would be re­quired,” he said.
He jokes that the suc­cess of his mar­riage to wife Sha­nia is that they have not spent more than six months to­geth­er. She is a lo­gis­tics of­fi­cer in the RCN, “so she un­der­stands the na­ture of the job,” he said.
Up­on con­clu­sion of the CTF 150 on April 11, 2019—a de­ploy­ment which was in the Mid­dle East—Sow­ley is now back at Naval Fleet School Pa­cif­ic Ven­ture Di­vi­sion where he serves as a course train­ing of­fi­cer, men­tor­ing and de­vel­op­ing ju­nior naval war­fare of­fi­cers in their ini­tial trade train­ing be­fore they are post­ed to sea-go­ing units.
Source:  Guardian, June 10, 2019

A significant Saharan dust event is expected during the first week of June, as a plume of dust is expected to move through the region.
This according to the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service.
The Met Office provided a Saharan dust update on Sunday.
You can read the update below:
“As stated in our previous update, mild concentrations of Saharan dust linger in our atmosphere and is expected to do so into June. Keep in mind that mild concentrations can also have an impact on those that are more sensitive. Latest data also suggests that is significant event is possible during the first week of June, as a plume of dust is expected to move through the region within a wind surge.”

Persons with respiratory ailments are advised to take the necessary precautions.

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith is urging the public to engage in more responsible use of social media, by verifying information before sharing posts that could lead to undue panic.
His call comes as police were called out to investigate bomb threats at St. Mary’s College, St. Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain, Fatima College, Holy Name Convent, and St. Joseph Convent, St. Joseph on Friday.
The schools were thoroughly searched and declared safe for occupation by teachers and students later in the day. 
Commissioner Griffith said at the time when persons were sharing the post, police officers were actively engaged in investigating these threats. He said the "undue panic" resulted from one individual’s decision to share the post on social media.
The Top Cop said there are those who may use these incidents as a way of self-promotion or to achieve a sense of self-importance by sharing information on social media, but, all this served to achieve was increased anxiety and panic among students, parents and staff at these schools, as many students were sitting their CSEC and examinations.
The Commissioner said no bomb threat should be trivialised.
He strongly advised citizens that on receiving such a threat, that they should immediately make a report to the police so that relevant protocols for investigating the authenticity of such threats can be activated.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Anthony Garcia has strongly condemned the act to send a bomb threat email to several of the nation’s schools, labelling it as the work of a mischievous person or persons. 
The Minister said the email is a clear attempt to thwart the CSEC and CAPE examination process currently underway in secondary schools. 
Garcia indicated that his Ministry is working closely with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service will continue investigations and treat with the threat as a matter of urgency.
The examinations at all schools continued uninterrupted after the schools were cleared by police and other officials. Source: The Loop, May 27, 2019

WASA has of­fi­cial­ly charged two farm­ers who were re­port­ed­ly si­phon­ing wa­ter in Aranguez for their gar­dens.
The farm­ers were served with sum­mons­es to ap­pear in court lat­er this month while they were meet­ing with Agri­cul­ture Min­is­ter Clarence Ramb­harat on Tues­day evening.
On Sat­ur­day, se­cu­ri­ty of­fi­cers em­ployed with WASA con­fis­cat­ed the pumps of two farm­ers in the Aranguez dis­trict.
The farm­ers had threat­ened le­gal ac­tion against the move and de­mand­ed the re­turn of their equip­ment.
WASA has im­posed re­stric­tions on the use of wa­ter hoses, sprin­klers and im­posed a sched­uled sup­ply of wa­ter to res­i­dents as it claims its reser­voirs were be­ing de­plet­ed by the harsh dry sea­son.
The farm­ers are ex­pect­ed to ap­pear be­fore the Port-of-Spain Third Mag­is­trates' Court on May 22.
Source: Sheldon Awai Breaking News

Dozens of Venezuelan asylum seekers and refugees flocked to the Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church in San Fernando on Monday, hoping to get assistance ahead of the government's May 31 registration.
From as early as 7 am, the Venezuelans gathered at the church on Harris Promenade where they were interviewed by officials from the Living Waters Community.
A spokesman at the church said through the Living Waters Community, Venezuelans get assistance with housing, health, education, documentation, security and other social services. Living Waters Community is also the implementing agency for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCHR).
Venezuelan national Joseph Figuera, his wife Daniella and their daughter Victoria were among those who came for help.
Figuera said he came to Trinidad nine months ago and was interested in getting registered as an asylum seeker.
Asked how he was coping, Figuera said his mother was Trinidadian so he was faring better than most Venezuelans.
During the interview, a security guard at the compound called Figuera and told him he will not get any help if he spoke to the Guardian.
Earlier the same guard barred Guardian Media from entering the church compound saying it was private property.
She said she had instructions from senior officials not to allow the Guardian inside their premises.
Other Venezuelans who stopped to talk with the Guardian outside the church gates were advised not to comment if they wanted help.
However, when contacted, an official from the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency said it works closely with the Living Waters Community to ensure that Venezuelans who fleeing the horrific conditions in their homeland are treated well.
A senior official at Living Waters Community said it conducts registration twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
UNHCR Registration staff conduct registration interviews, enroll persons in UNHCR’s Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS), and issues and renews UNHCR documentation.
Under the UNHCR, asylum seekers have the right to live in an environment free from discrimination, regardless of ethnicity, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, nationality, economic position, birthplace or any other personal attribute.
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, any person whose life is in danger in their own country has the right to seek protection and asylum in another country.
The Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago guarantees rights without discrimination on the basis of race, origin, colour, religion or sex.
On May 31, Venezuelans who do not have a criminal record will be registered in T&T.
Once they are cleared, they will be given the opportunity to live and work in T&T for a year.
- by Radhica De Silva. Photo by Kristian De Silva. Source: CNC3 May 2019

Rook­min Mathu­ra is 104 years old but she still walks with a pep in her step.
To prove her en­er­gy lev­els and re­mark­able abil­i­ties, Mathu­ra, dressed in her gold­en dress and orhni, gave a brisk and dig­ni­fied walk for the Guardian Me­dia crew dur­ing her birth­day par­ty cel­e­bra­tions last Sat­ur­day.
Four gen­er­a­tions in­clud­ing her sev­en daugh­ters, sev­en sons and a mul­ti­tude of grands who at­tend­ed the cel­e­bra­tion, ap­plaud­ed loud­ly.
Her youngest daugh­ter Cin­ty Nar­ine who vis­it­ed from New York said it was her wish to re­turn home and hug her moth­er.
Hav­ing been abroad for 19 years, Nar­ine said it was amaz­ing that her moth­er still had such abil­i­ties and ab­solute­ly no health com­pli­ca­tions.
“She has nev­er been in the hos­pi­tal for any ail­ment. Up to when she was 86, she was still mind­ing cows and mak­ing a gar­den.
“She was al­ways a hard work­er. Then we de­cid­ed that was too much for her and we got rid of the cows,” she said.
She added that Mathu­ra no longer cooks but still does every­thing else for her­self.
“She has no di­a­betes, heart prob­lems, stroke, noth­ing. If she walks in the sun she gets a bit dizzy but that is it,” she added.
Nar­ine said Mathu­ra’s moth­er came to Trinidad as an in­den­tured labour­er. Mathu­ra was born in 1915.
Dur­ing an in­ter­view, Mathu­ra said she had for­got­ten how old she was. She said she spent most of her life work­ing on the es­tate.
“I had sev­en daugh­ters and sev­en sons and all are alive,” she said. How­ev­er, her hus­band died 57 years ago, leav­ing her to care for her chil­dren sin­gle-hand­ed­ly. She nev­er mar­ried but raised an­i­mals, plant­ed a gar­den and en­sured that all of the chil­dren had a firm spir­i­tu­al up­bring­ing.
One of her great-grand­sons, Chris­t­ian Rud­der, said he was thank­ful that his great grand­moth­er was still around. He said de­spite her age, she was al­ways ac­tive.
“She so old but she does still be cut­ting grass. She has a cut­lass which she us­es every day. She loves to walk the vil­lage and check peo­ple. This is how she stays hap­py,” Rud­der said.
He added that she was full of wis­dom.
So what was her best ad­vice?
“She said girls are too hard­en and don’t study them. She tells me that do some­thing bet­ter than that like my school work be­cause girls are trou­ble,” Rud­der laughed.
He added that Mathu­ra al­so ad­vis­es them to stay away from cig­a­rettes and al­co­hol.
“She says she used to drink and smoke and it did not do her good. Now she eats lots of veg­eta­bles and she re­mains ac­tive,” Rud­der said.
Mathu­ra’s favourite food is dhal, rice and bha­gi.
“She doesn’t know how to sit qui­et­ly. She likes to move around. She talks a lot. She loves to tell us what hap­pened in her ear­ly days. I want to thank God that she is here and I could still see her, hug her and love her,” Rud­der said.
Mathu­ra and all of her fam­i­ly went to the beach on Sun­day to cel­e­brate her life.
Source: Sheldon Awai, FB, April 25, 2019

Laventille teen gets into US Ivy League university
Every year Princeton University in New Jersey, USA, receives around 35,000 applications for entry. Fewer than 2,000 applicants are admitted, making the private Ivy League institution one of the most difficult schools to get into.
But not only was 19-year-old Laventille resident Jafar Howe accepted into Princeton, but he also got accepted into Dartmouth College, another Ivy League school in the USA.
He grew up in Quarry Street, Laventille.
Howe told the Express when he sent out the applications he was not optimistic.
He had narrowly missed out on a Government scholarship despite performing well in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency (CAPE) exams.

To­ba­go’s Main Ridge For­est Re­serve has been named the Caribbean Na­ture Park of the Year in the Caribbean Jour­nal’s Caribbean Awards 2019.
Caribbean Jour­nal (CJ) is the world’s largest web­site cov­er­ing the Caribbean, has orig­i­nal con­tent and video fo­cus­ing on trav­el and tourism across the en­tire Caribbean and is the glob­al leader in cov­er­ing Caribbean trav­el and trade news.
Ac­cord­ing to the Jour­nal, the Green Awards are meant to “cel­e­brate those who are al­ready work­ing to pro­tect and strength­en this beau­ti­ful cor­ner of the world.”
In the ar­ti­cle post­ed on their web­site, Caribbean Jour­nal em­pha­sised that be­ing “green” en­com­pass­es re­new­able en­er­gy, lo­cal and sus­tain­able tourism, and con­sid­er­a­tion of the en­vi­ron­ment.
To­ba­go’s Main Ridge For­est Re­serve, which was recog­nised by Caribbean Jour­nal as the Caribbean Na­ture Park of the Year, was de­clared a Crown Re­serve in 1776 mak­ing it the old­est legal­ly pro­tect­ed for­est re­serve in the West­ern Hemi­sphere es­tab­lished for a con­ser­va­tion pur­pose.
It was al­so nom­i­nat­ed as a UN­ESCO World Her­itage Site in Au­gust 2011, and was vot­ed the “World’s Lead­ing Eco-Tourism des­ti­na­tion” by the World Trav­el Awards in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The Caribbean Jour­nal de­scribed the Re­serve as “a liv­ing ex­am­ple of the pow­er of con­ser­va­tion and one whose con­tin­ued stew­ard­ship sends a dai­ly mes­sage to the rest of the re­gion. It’s al­so one of the most re­mark­able places to vis­it in the re­gion, a haven of bio­di­ver­si­ty and a por­tal in­to the nat­ur­al splen­dor of this gem of the South­ern Caribbean.”
The Main Ridge For­est Re­serve is one of the is­land’s at­trac­tions that form part of its thriv­ing eco-tourism prod­uct—one of the four pil­lars for growth of the tourism in­dus­try iden­ti­fied by the To­ba­go Tourism Agency.
Vis­i­tors to the re­serve can en­joy its lush trop­i­cal beau­ty through guid­ed tours, na­ture walks, bird watch­ing and moun­tain bik­ing.
Source:  CNC3