Mark Loquan was an amazing man who lived a life of many accomplishments and deservedly in 2024 he received TT’s highest honour, the Order of the Republic of TT. Most of those celebrating his achievements have focused on his accomplishments in his work in the oil and gas industry where his skills brought him to work not just in TT but from Norway to Africa to Australia and then to head the National Gas Company until his retirement last year. But I write of his amazing and devoted work in the arts and especially in the steelpan world which must be told and celebrated because what he did was overwhelmingly important and unique.
Loquan, 63, died on April 6, some 14 months after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He funeral service will be held on April 14, at St Finbar's RC Church, Diego Martin.
In the early 1990s, he became mesmerised by going to the panyards and decided he must play pan. He joined Silver Stars under the leadership of Edwin Pouchet that changed his life. He would devote himself to composing for pan and over the years his compositions were chosen for Panorama and festival compositions. None were more successful than Colours Again which was performed by dozens of steelbands in the 2006 Panorama competitions at levels from junior and single pan to large band and later by steelbands in events and competitions from the US, Canada, England, Sweden and Japan. He worked closely with many great arrangers and his longtime producer Junior “Ibo” Joseph and distinguished singers like Destra Garcia, Denyse Plummer and Terri Lyons. When he was based in Perth, Australia he started the first steelband there.
His involvement with pan led him to look for what was lacking, what needed doing, and how he could help. He looked up to Pat Bishop as a mentor and met regularly with her in this regard. He saw the need for further music education for young pannists, about the preservation by music notation, and how to celebrate those who were leading the way.

His concerns about music education for young pannists led Loquan to becoming the founding director of the now inactive Music Literacy Trust that for many years worked on expanding education programmes at various steelbands around the country and in the City Angels programme in Port of Spain. Post graduate scholarships were given to leading young pannists like Amrit Samaroo, Seion Gomez, Barry Mannette, and Vanessa Headley-Brewster and in pan transcription.
Loquan saw the need to transcribe and preserve the amazing arrangements of pan performance in Panorama and other competitions or they could be lost. This came from his time in Sliver Stars as he mentioned later in a tribute to Pouchet.
“Edwin was busy arranging several new pieces of music, with some being truly outstanding. Unfortunately, some of the songs would disappear from the repertoire as players left or as people forgot their parts with time.”
Through the Music Literacy Trust, several of Pouchet’s compositions were fully scored.
The creation of written pan arrangements so they would not be lost would be a focus of his work for years to come so that pannists around the world could perform these arrangements. He worked with Simeon Sanch on the Pan in Education CDs, which offered not just the music CD but a second one with music notation set up so any music teacher could have scores that could be passed out to students.
This series produced two of his own compositions and ones featuring Jit Samaroo and Ray Holman compositions. This led to a secondary school steelband up in Alaska winning an award at the finals of the state school music festival for their performance of Loquan’s composition The Challenge is Minor because of the access to the charts that the Pan in Education CD gave to the band leader.
This passion for written scores evolved as Loquan worked closely with Dr Mia Gormandy-Benjamin, assistant professor at UTT and head of the steelpan programme there to create PanNotation, an important subscription library of lead sheets, musical scores, and academic articles for pannists.
She noted, “Mark was an absolute joy to work with. His genuine passion for the arts shone through in every project he undertook, where ideas were transformed into meaningful realities that touched many lives. I am so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to work closely with him on projects such as Pan Kingdom and the Virtual Steelband II, his 20th anniversary celebration, the Women in Pan series and PanNotation. I have no doubt that his impact will endure as we all strive to honour his legacy in our ongoing efforts."
Loquan saw the need for the corporate world to support the arts and the importance of corporate sponsorship for steelbands. As head of NGC, he worked to be a leader in such support for the arts beyond pan to their support of Bocas and Film Festival. During the Carnival season, he regularly took a busload of oil executives on a panyard crawl to share his joy as the steelbands prepared for Panorama.
When based for a few years far from home in Perth, Australia, he formed and led a local steelband there. But that is just a part of what he was doing. He was always offering support and praise for pannists he admired in and out of TT from Ken “Professor” Philmore in TT to Liam Teague in the US and Michael "Manish" Robinson in Japan.
In 2020, he premiered his song Better Tomorrow sung by Lyons, and from its title evolved an amazing series of documentary films on aspects and innovations in the pan world. Gerelle Forbes produced and directed Pan on the Move, a film on Ray Holman. And then Loquan collaborated with photographer and filmmaker Maria Nunes who worked with him on four projects between 2022 and 2024. The first highlighted Uni Stars and National Steel Symphony Orchestra director Kareem Brown, followed by a ten-part series on Women in Pan, then Duvone Stewart: the Man Behind the Music with Pan Universe on the Siparia Deltones being the final one released last August.
Nunes just posted on Facebook, “I will be forever filled with gratitude to have had such a wonderful opportunity to work so closely with such an extraordinary, generous and deeply sincere man.”
In the summer of 2023 with the creation of World Steelpan Day, the Ministry of Trade and Industry appointed Loquan as the chairman on a steering committee of stakeholders in the pan world holding weekly meetings to focus on an implementation plan and strategy to support the development of the steelpan industry.
This work continues under Dr Clement Imbert, chairman of the Board of Governors at UTT, after a long career in the Engineering department at UWI focused on pan technology. Imbert knew Loquan first decades ago when he was a student at UWI in Engineering.
“He was not yet involved in pan then but when he did he achieved such great things. He set the tone for this committee, its terms of reference and work plan which we have followed and expect to have a report in the not too distant future," Imbert said.
There is a website and a YouTube channel on Loquan so the details, audio and video of his long and complex career are available and documented. In an interview several years ago with Nasser Khan, he talked of the need to “plan for the future, [focus on] how can you make a difference…by making a positive contribution with your time, intellect and energy.”
Loquan lived that life. He was driven to dream and to work for a better tomorrow. (Source: Newsday, April 13, 2025)
​

A Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) will be in Trinidad and Tobago from April 22-30 to observe and make its findings on the conduct of the April 28 general election.
In a statement on April 17 in London, Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said the COG's deployment to TT is in keeping with the Commonwealth's "commitment to supporting democracy and good governance in our member states."
The team will be led by former Maltese foreign affairs minister Evarist Bartolo who has over 30 years of parliamentary experience.
Other members of the team have expertise in media, law, electoral management and civil society.
The COG will observe all aspects of the elections, offering recommendations to ensure the highest standards of electoral credibility, inclusivity and transparency as they assess the pre-election environment, the voting process, and the post-election period.


The team arrives in TT on April 22.
They will meet key stakeholders, including the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), political parties, civil society groups, media, the diplomatic community and other regional and citizen observers.
From 26 April, the COG will deploy in small teams to different parts of TT to observe election preparations and meet with local stakeholders in their respective locations.
On April 28, the team will observe the opening, voting, closing, counting and the results management processes.
The COG will then issue an interim statement on its preliminary findings on the election on April 30.
Bartolo was pleased to be leading the COG to observe the election.
"Our team will provide an independent assessment, promoting trust and confidence in the democratic process in line with the country's laws, regional and international standards, as well as Commonwealth values. We'll examine not just election day but also the pre- and post-election periods to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the entire electoral process."
He said the COG will provide "an independent assessment, promoting trust and confidence in the democratic process in line with the country's laws, regional and international standards, as well as Commonwealth values."
The COG will be supported by a team from the Commonwealth Secretariat, led by Lindiwe Maleleka, political adviser (electoral support section).


In a statement on April 12, the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry said it received letters from Caricom Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett and then Commonwealth secretary-general Baroness Patricia Scotland confirming the presence of observers from both organisations for the election.
Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley wrote to Caricom on December 10, 2024, to request the presence of a Caricom electoral observer mission for the election.
Barnett replied on January 13, confirming it was prepared to undertake the necessary administrative arrangements for the Caricom observer mission.
Rowley resigned as prime minister on March 16 and Energy Minister Stuart Young officially succeeded him one day later.
On March 18, Young advised President Christine Kangaloo to dissolve the Parliament and announced April 28 as election day.
On March 19, Young wrote to Scotland to request the presence of a Commonwealth electoral observer mission.
Scotland replied on March 25, that arrangements would be made to deploy a mission.
Young wrote to the Carter Centre on March 25, to invite the group to send an observer mission.
The centre subsequently indicated it was unable to send one.


Young confirmed all of these details at a news conference at Whitehall last month.
He noted previous letters from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to Rowley and himself for observers.
Young said the sequence of correspondence to Caricom, the Commonwealth and Carter Centre dispels any claims from the UNC that the election would not be free and fair.
In a statement on April 16, the EBC dismissed claims from the UNC about irregularities in the process for special voters in San Fernando East.
The commission said the situation arose from an "oversight" by the returning officer, who "neglected to immediately affix a seal to the empty ballot box while witnesses for candidates were present."
EBC said the oversight was "quickly identified" and the returning officer contacted representatives from the various political parties, who were present earlier in the day.
"However, despite numerous follow-up calls, the representative for the UNC did not come back to complete the procedure. As a result, the empty ballot box was sealed in the presence of a returning witness, two electors, the returning officer, and the election clerk. All necessary seals were signed and affixed to the ballot box according to the required process."
Members of the Commonwealth Observer Group
Evarist Bartolo: Former Malta foreign affairs minister (chairman).
Nazima Raghubir: Journalist, Guyana
Orrette Tyndale Fisher: Election management expert, Jamaica.
Aiman Rasheed: Deputy program director, International Republican Institute, Maldives
Winnie Anna Kiap: Commonwealth Foundation chair, Papua New Guinea
Kryticous Patrick Nshindano: Public Policy and Electoral Management Expert, Zambia (Source: Newsday, April 17, 2025)

From Facebook to TikTok to X, Instagram, Whatsapp and more, sifting truth from lies online continues to be a topical issue for everyone.
Social media posts with shocking reveals, photos that may have been altered, and even videos created with AI are now possible, making it even more difficult for the average person to figure out the difference between what’s real and what’s not.
But how can the public tell fact from fiction in the digital age?
Loop News spoke with Digital Anthropologist Daren Dhoray of CybersafeTT on tips to help Trinidadians sift through the digital confusion:
1. Use common sense
“Before clicking on that share button, ask yourself, does this sound a bit strange or even too good to be true?”
“Read below the headline: Many of us simply read the headline of an article and then click share without even reading the content of the actual article. This only serves to make the article more viral and you’re now contributing to the spreading of fake news.”
2. Don’t get fooled by the image
“There are many examples where the image associated with the news article doesn’t match however the image is scandalous enough to warrant a quick click of the share button without reading further. Secondly, you have to be very discerning about images (and videos) that you see with the rise of AI tools.”
“A quick Google Search for ‘AI Image Detection’ will put you in touch with some free tools that can check an image for you.”
3. Check the sender or author
“If the message is posted from a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, check the profile pic. If the profile pic isn’t representative of the person sending the article, it could mean that the person might have something to hide. Be aware also of any personal agendas the sender may have.”
Another handy tip is to check the profile of the social media account sharing the news. Was the account created recently or are there only a few friends on their contact list? Chance are it may be a fake account.
4. Check the website address or media house name
“Many website addresses are registered to look very similar to more well-established websites. This is done to present a level of credibility to the fake news website.”
“Check if the same story is being run by other recognized media sources: If the news is real, it will most likely be carried by multiple major media houses. A quick Google search will help you figure this out.”
5. Double-check shocking, scandalous posts 
“If a post is scandalous or shocking at first glance, chances are the headlines may be misleading and the article itself may not be entirely true. As with the pointers above, check to see if there are multiple reputable news houses carrying the story.
“You certainly don’t want to share or comment on the post. Even if you’re commenting something like ‘Hey, this is fake, you should delete’, as what sharing or commenting does is tells the social media platform that this post is interesting and will result in it being seen by more people, when in fact, we want the exact opposite.”
6. Use available online resources to fact-check 
“So if after trying all the above and you still have some doubts, there are some websites that can be used to see whether a social media post, email etc is true or not:
https://www.factcheck.org/ – Specifically for US Politics
https://www.politifact.com/
https://www.snopes.com/
“Unfortunately, there is no sure fact checking site for Trinidad and Tobago politics, so you will have to use the pointers shared and ultimately your better judgment in this regard.”
Ultimately, always take what you see online with a “grain of salt” until you have enough verified sources to confirm that the information is true.
Do you double-check your social media news before sharing? Have you ever mistakenly shared a fake social media post?  (Source: The Loop, March 25, 2025)

​Prime Minister Stuart Young SC has addressed the issue of Cuban healthcare workers in Trinidad and Tobago, saying the programme will continue as Trinidad and Tobago is not in violation of any practices that the US has outlined.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet media at Whitehall on Thursday after returning from a meeting in Jamaica with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Young said the topic did not arise during their discussions, however he said Trinidad and Tobago is in adherence with best practices regarding the contractual engagements of Cuban medical workers in the country, and this information will be relayed to the US.
“It did not feature in our bilateral conversation. We had had certain conversations prior to my bilateral meeting with Secretary of State Rubio and just today at Cabinet I instructed the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs to work along with the Minister of Health to get our position to the United States.
“In the development of the policy, and everyone trying to understand what the United States was referring to, a number of concerns that they had, that certain things, if they were not done, would fulfil what they were describing, human trafficking [and so on], and Trinidad and Tobago has ticked every single box, so I was happy to see that…I’ve asked today…let us send our information to the United States because we certainly don’t fall in the categories of their concern at all.”
In response to questions as to whether the programme would continue, Young responded:
“The answer is yes, we’ll continue with it.”
Regarding allegations made by a former minister that the salaries of Cuban healthcare workers were going back to Cuba instead of directly to them, Young said this may have been the case under the previous government but it is not the case currently.
“That may have happened under his tenure but it certainly isn’t happening under our tenure…we actually help the Cuban medical practitioners that are contracted within Trinidad and Tobago… set up their own personal bank accounts here in Trinidad and Tobago, and that is where the government pays their salaries.
“I also can tell you that we provide passage for them to come and at the end of their contract, to leave, we provide for vacation in between, we don’t have anything to do with their passports, they hold on to their passports, we provide housing. Their terms and conditions are determined by the Chief Personnel Officer under this government.”
Young said based on a briefing document provided to him there are approximately 87 nurses and nine medical doctors.
In February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement announcing the expansion of an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy “that targets forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export program”, with a focus on Cuba’s overseas medical missions.
CARICOM heads of government spoke out in defence of the programme, emphasising its role in enhancing the delivery of healthcare within the region as well as the fair treatment of Cuban healthcare workers. (source: The Loop, March 27, 2025)

TOBAGO House of Assembly (THA) electoral representative for Roxborough/ Argyle and political leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) Assemblyman Watson Duke said Tobagonians must win in any deal with Sandals Resort.
Duke spoke with Newsday on April 8, one day following a high-level meeting between Prime Minister Stuart Young, government officials, THA officials, tourism stakeholders and the Sandals executive team, led by CEO Adam Stewart, at the Prime Minister’s residence in Blenheim.
At a media conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Central Administrative Services Tobago (CAST), Young said it was agreed to give Sandals a “clean slate.”
Sandals' return to Tobago followed an invitation by former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley.
The government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sandals for a resort to be built in Tobago, but negative publicity about the project resulted in the luxury hotel pulling out of the deal.


Duke, who was part of the meeting on April 7, said the discussion for Sandals' return is on and he will be a part of the process. He said all hotels of a five-star nature are welcome, but “we have to look at it in a detailed way when the discussion takes place.”
He said for any five-star hotel to come to the island, there must be three wins.
“The first win, the hotel must win. The brand of hotel must win, that’s the reason for business. People want to make a profit on the dollar.
"Second, the THA must win. You can’t come and make the House of Assembly look like a dolly house, it must be respected as a house of legislature.
"And the third win – which to me is the most important win – is the win for the people. Unless the people of Tobago can win, there is no need for any hotel whatsoever in Tobago.”
When contacted on April 8, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said he agreed with the decision to re-invite Sandals and to have them make a “fresh pitch or fresh proposal” to the island.
“In other words, we’re saying that all of the former arrangements are now null and void. We are not pursuing anything in the former arrangement whatsoever and we want to start the conversations on a fresh page. Looking at basically everything from start.”
He said Sandals has agreed to develop a proposal for investment, which he said is an interesting sign.
“Sandals made the point yesterday that their preferred model of development is one where they build their own hotel using their own capital or money, and that too is welcomed information."


He said he was happy for the progress that was made during the meeting, adding that the Assembly remain committed to continue this discussion after the general election on April 28.
Questioned on the THA’s stance that Tobago wants a Sandals on the island but on its own terms, he said: “Given that we are starting brand new and there is currently nothing on the table, we are very much open to discussions.”
He said the only grouping not invited to the meeting was the environmental groups, however he was “assured that they would be definitely included in the conversations going forward.” (Source:  Newsday, April 8 2025)

A young Trinidadian doctor’s stellar academic achievement is a source of immense pride for the country as well as his peers and colleagues in the medical profession.
On March 13 Dr Panduranga Dattatreya Seetahal-Maraj, 37, MBBS MRCS, FRCS Neurosurgery, received the prestigious Norman Dott Medal for outstanding performance in the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) Neurosurgery examinations.
He obtained the highest marks overall in the UK. While the examinations were conducted in 2023, the felicitation ceremony to present the award was held in Belfast, Ireland, earlier this month.
He presented the UK’s first and largest case series on fetoscopic repair of neural tube defects at the event.
Dr Seetahal-Maraj is the first Caribbean doctor to obtain the highest marks in the rigorous FRCS examinations.
He is a neurosurgeon at the San Fernando General Hospital and is employed by the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA). He is currently on a leave of absence from SWRHA and is a Senior Clinical Fellow at Kings College Hospital in London, where he is midway through the paediatric neurosurgery fellowship programme.
Dr Seetahal-Maraj is a former national scholarship winner (science),and has published several papers in local, regional and international medical journals.

ANGELO JEDIDIAH

[email protected]

Dance is often described as an art form that transcends boundaries and transforms lives. For Zidane Roopnarine, it did just that—leading him all the way to Beijing, China.

Roopnarine always knew he had a deep love for dance, but it wasn’t taken seriously until his interactions with a teacher at Vishnu Boys’ Hindu College. Despite having no formal dance training, he competed in various competitions, showcasing his natural talent.

Speaking with Guardian Media from Beijing, it was during his secondary school years that he knew what career path he had to pursue.

“With the wisdom my drama teacher imparted on me, I was like, I want to do something that is meaningful and that I am going to enjoy for the rest of my life,” Roopnarine said.

After some research, he decided to pursue a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree with a specialisation in dance at the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy for the Performing Arts.

But upon graduating, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he explored what more he could undertake to further develop his skills and propel the arts. This led him to submit his application for a scholarship offered by the Dai Ailian Foundation here in T&T. The foundation is named in honour of Chinese-Trinidadian renowned dancer and ballerina Dai Ailian, known universally as the ‘mother of Chinese modern dance’.

Born in Couva, Madame Dai went on to found the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy. Through the foundation, local students with a passion for studying the art form are given the opportunity to receive funding.

Roopnarine said that he was not confident at first applying for the scholarship but kept faith that if it was meant for him, it would come his way.

As you would expect, Roopnarine was granted this scholarship, but travelling to a distant country like China was a daunting experience.

“My family couldn’t process me leaving and going to China, which is like halfway across the world, right? And not speaking the language, looking at funding, you know, all of these different things. And I’m like, It’s going to work itself out.”

Though hesitant, Roopnarine’s family rallied around the aspiring dancer for this new chapter.

Despite an exhausting three-day journey, he knew he had to adapt quickly to the fast-paced environment.

Since September 2024, Roopnarine said his experience in Beijing has been life-changing. Other than the 12-hour time difference, he still had many adjustments to make to fully adjust to his new environment, such as cashless payments or utilising the metro for public transportation.

As expected, communication was a challenge, as his Mandarin-speaking teachers and instructors knew very little English.

Along with his Mandarin lessons, which he continues to take with another Trinbagonian student, he has also developed the habit of interpreting verbal cues to keep up in his classes.

“Sometimes the teachers may not know how to correct you or may not know how to speak, you just navigate that. Also, this may not be the right thing to say or do, but I like to make people laugh and be a clown. And the teachers love it and give me the needed attention based on that,” Roopnarine laughingly said.

Another shock was the discipline and dedication devoted to preserving the cultural arts.

The academy acts as a boarding school, where a great number of the students, as young as the age of ten, live full-time on campus and pursue their formal school education along with formal dance training. This, he said, is a testament to how much China ensures the preservation of their culture.

“The dancers here started at such a young age, and by age 20, they are already looking like professionals. Whereas for me, I started at age 17, unprofessionally. But for me, even being in the same class as them, it is still valuable to me. My leg isn’t at the highest degree, but I work with what I have.”

While Roopnarine has learned various Chinese art forms and classical dance, he remains a proud ambassador of soca music and dance, which he says has been warmly received at the dance academy.

“Music gives a sense of freedom and happiness. So when I was able to expose that reality to my Chinese colleagues and friends, you could see a whole new side of them that they had never uncovered before.|

“The people of China love to ultimately be kind and nice. Some of them would buy me Chinese snacks. Some of them will buy me food, and I’m like, ‘No, no, no.’ But they will be like, ‘Yes, yes,’” Roopnarine said.

When asked which food he misses most from home, Roopnarine’s response was entirely understandable.

“I could use ah double right now. Ah good roti. Ah good pelau!”

Source: Trinidad Guardian, March 23, 2025.

​Carisa Lee, guardian 20250221
Astrophysicist and Science Communicator, who is also an Assistant Professor at Princeton, Alexandra Amon, is encouraging aspiring scientists from the Caribbean to follow their dreams.
“I am very proud to have started on the tiny islands of Trinidad and Tobago,” she said on her website.
The T&T national is among this year’s 126 recipients of the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships which is a two-year $75,000 fellowship that is awarded annually to early-career researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.
Amon, was one out of 24 recipients under the category of physics to be selected. Other categories include Mathematics, Earth System Science, Economics and Neuroscience.
On her website, Amon and her group focuses on the ground-breaking Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which will image more than 1 billion galaxies.
The Princeton University website said the Observatory located on a mountaintop in Chile, is nearly complete and will capture the cosmos in exquisite detail. Using the largest camera ever built, Rubin will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years and create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the universe.
“We use galaxies to map the large-scale structure and confront questions about the composition and evolution of our universe,” she said.
Amon stated that their ultimate goal is to understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
Before Princeton, Amon was a Kavli Fellow at Stanford in Professor Wechsler’s group where she devoted three years to the Dark Energy Survey Year three cosmology analysis.
The 2025 fellows came from 51 institutions across the United States of America and Canada and is one of the most coveted awards for young researchers.
Many have gone on to become influential scientists in their fields.
​ (Source: Newshound, Feb 22, 2025)