FIFTY young people from Beetham Estate, Port of Spain and Misir Lands, Morvant recently graduated with certification in music. The graduation ceremony was held at City Hall and came after nine months of training at the Beetham Estate Community Centre and the Misir Lands Community Centre Morvant.
The instruments used in both programmes were donated by the Foundation for Enhancement and Enrichment of Life (Feel) to the Roy Cape Foundation, who in turn donated them to the Office of Law Enforcement Policy (OLEP) of the Ministry of National Security and to Women in Action for the Needy and Destitute (Wand).
The Roy Cape Foundation also donated a set of marching band drums to the Oropune Police Youth Club.
According to Kevin Greenidge, leader of the Oropune Police Youth Club, the drums will be used to enhance the music programme, which is sponsored by the Massy Foundation.
There are 235 members in the youth club but only 85 are active at present.
Greenidge said in addition to music, the members are taught martial arts, basketball, drama, garment and dress making, life skills and conflict management.
Source:  T&T Newsday

T&T’s sprinter Marc Burns, right, with his father Alec after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science (Physical Conditioning and Performance) at Auburn University in Alabama, USA on Sunday.T&T’s well-decorated sprinter Marc Burns graduated on Sunday with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Science from Auburn University, Alabama in the United States.
“Super elated,” said Burns yesterday on his achievement. “Looking back at the journey, having that dream as a young child coming up competing in Carifta, CUT Games, all those things and have that dream of having free education, getting that scholarship and furthering my career. Looking back at it, I checked all those boxes.”
He was one of some 4,000 new Auburn graduates, who was part of spring commencement exercises over the weekend.
His parents Alec and Josephine Burns were present to witness their son open this next chapter in his life in a field which specialises in physical conditioning and performance.
“I was also so blessed to have both, my parents, here, I feel super elated,” said the two-time Olympic medallist, who shared that following the ceremony his parents told him: “Moments like these make parents teary-eyed, actually being alive and blessed to see those moments and have it to cherish forever”.
Burns most recently represented T&T at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia last month. However, it was an unfortunate end to the experience as the men’s 4x100 metres relay team was disqualified.
But that disappointment did not sideline him as he stayed focus on his academics.
“Me personally, I don’t compartmentalise my success,” said Burns when asked where does this achievement rates with his success on the track. “Over the years, I tried to deal with it (each challenge) as objectives that I need to complete and in going about it that way I am more focused at the job at hand. I just try to complete those objectives and in that way, I stay grounded and actually focused on what I need to do and not get sidetrack by outside noise so to speak.”
He is now aiming to fulfil his dream of earning a Master’s Degree Biomechanics, which is the study of the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organisms.
“Getting my Master’s in Biomechanics is my next objective,” said Burns as he prepares for life after track but he is not yet hanging up his boots.
“Yes, I will still be competing. At this point in my career, I have to choose my battles wisely so to speak so everything is based on after every training cycle how I feel, how the body feels, how well am I recovering so now it’s just tentative but I am still competing.”
Source:  Guardian, May 9.

LAST month, 100-year-old Jasso Sookram told us the health benefits of her favourite food - Crix crackers.
On Monday, the Bermudez Biscuit Company paid her a visit.
Jasso lives of Mount Stewart Village, Princes Town.
According to granddaughter Gloria Sinanan, one of her favourite thing to eat is Crix and she would always tell her relatives to “eat Crix so you wouldn’t get wind.”
Managing Director at Bermudez, Ingrid Lloyd read the story and contacted the Express, hoping to provide a hamper on Jasso’s milestone birthday.
A Company representative visited her home to make the deliver in person. Sinanan said Jasso was thrilled to be presented with the products

She said: “She was so happy. She spoke with the young man who came and told him about her life and how hard she worked. He was very nice to her calling her ‘darling’ and she wished him well before he left. He also wished her many more years. This is a wonderful thing and I really want to thank them for this.”
Jasso worked as a cane farmer on the Caroni Estate and to date, does not suffer from any ailments.
She is a devout Hindu and attributes her long life to living well with others and her dedication to God. Her life’s philosophy is to work hard and live peacefully with everyone.
Source:  Daily Express

The Scarlet Ibis will soon be added to the Sensitive Species Category, according to Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat.
He said the Minister of Planning, Camille Robinson-Regis, is expected to carry a Note to the Cabinet to declare the Scarlet Ibis an environmentally sensitive species.
Minister Rambharat said the nesting period was successful and he's confident that the National Bird is in safe hands.
But he added that when we have a successful nesting season, we also have a successful poaching season. He's hoping that harsher penalties would deter poachers.

Destination Tobago is projected to receive approximately 80,000 cruise passengers by the end of the 2017-2018 cruise season, making it the island’s most successful cruise season in recorded history.
This figure represents a 236 percent increase in cruise visitors from the 2016/2017 season, which saw the arrival of 23,821 passengers.
“These figures are certainly great news for the destination as we continue to work alongside all stakeholders to stimulate growth within the tourism industry,” said Secretary of Tourism, Culture and Transportation, Councillor Nadine Stewart-Phillips. “It is clear that Tobago has made significant progress within the cruise sector – a fact that has positively impacted the island’s tourism business unit – and it is our intention to maintain this momentum moving forward.”
Thus far this season the island has received 55 cruise calls from ships originating in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and France.
Among the most notable arrivals are the seven calls from the MV Britannia, the second largest ship to call on the destination with a total of 24,269 passengers; as well as the MS Fantasia, the largest ship to visit the island with a total of 3,519 passengers.
It is expected that the successful berthing of both vessels in the Scarborough Port will boost industry confidence in Tobago’s ability to receive ships of that size, and result in the destination’s ability to attract new and larger vessels in the future.
Source:  The Loop

LAST month, 100-year-old Jasso Sookram told us the health benefits of her favourite food - Crix crackers.
On Monday, the Bermudez Biscuit Company paid her a visit.
Jasso lives of Mount Stewart Village, Princes Town.
According to granddaughter Gloria Sinanan, one of her favourite thing to eat is Crix and she would always tell her relatives to “eat Crix so you wouldn’t get wind.”
Managing Director at Bermudez, Ingrid Lloyd read the story and contacted the Express, hoping to provide a hamper on Jasso’s milestone birthday.
A Company representative visited her home. Sinanan said Jasso was thrilled to be presented with the products. She said: “She was so happy. She spoke with the young man who came and told him about her life and how hard she worked. He was very nice to her calling her ‘darling’ and she wished him well before he left. He also wished her many more years. This is a wonderful thing and I really want to thank them for this.”
​Jasso worked as a cane farmer on the Caroni Estate and to date, does not suffer from any ailments.
She is a devout Hindu and attributes her long life to living well with others and her dedication to God. Her life’s philosophy is to work hard and live peacefully with everyone
Source:  Daily Expess
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Prime Minister Theresa May has apologised to Caribbean leaders over the Windrush generation controversy, at a Downing Street meeting.
She said she was "genuinely sorry" about the anxiety caused by the Home Office threatening the children of Commonwealth citizens with deportation.
The UK government "valued" the contribution they had made, she said, and they had a right to stay in the UK.
It comes amid reports some are still facing deportation.
The deportation of one man, which had been due to take place on Wednesday, has been halted following an intervention by Labour MP David Lammy.
The Tottenham MP said the mother of 35-year-old Mozi Haynes got in touch saying her son was due to be removed from the country after two failed applications to stay.
Mr Lammy later tweeted that he had been contacted by Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes, who had said that Mr Haynes would not now be deported on Wednesday and his case was "being reviewed".
The Tottenham MP, who has called the controversy a "national disgrace," urged the children of the Windrush generation facing deportation to contact him, promising "justice will be done".
Mr Lammy said that of 12,056 deportations in 2015, 901 were over 50 years of age. and 303 were to Jamaica. He is calling on the Home Office to review all such cases since 2014 to "ensure no wrongful detentions have taken place".
The Home Office said it was making efforts to speak to Mr Haynes to advise him that there is no requirement for him to leave the UK. Officials say it is not a Windrush case and was never an "enforced removal".
The department said it was looking at 49 cases relating to Windrush migrants as a result of calls received on Tuesday.
Landing cardsA former Home Office employee has, meanwhile, told The Guardian that thousands of landing card slips recording Windrush immigrants' arrival dates in the UK were destroyed in 2010 during an office move.
The former worker, who is not named by the newspaper, said managers were warned by staff that destroying the cards would make it harder to check the records of older Caribbean-born residents experiencing difficulties proving their right to remain in the UK.
The government said the decision to "dispose of" the cards had been an "operational" one, taken by officials at the UK Border Agency, rather than the then Home Secretary Theresa May.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Registration slips provided details of an individual's date of entry, they did not provide any reliable evidence relating to ongoing residence in the UK or their immigration status.
"So it would be misleading and inaccurate to suggest that registration slips would therefore have a bearing on immigration cases whereby Commonwealth citizens are proving residency in the UK."
The prime minister's spokesman said things like school records, exam certificates, employment records and bills were seen by the Home Office as "more reliable evidence of ongoing residence".
In her apology to Caribbean leaders, Theresa May said she wanted to "dispel any impression that my government is in some sense clamping down on Commonwealth citizens, particularly those from the Caribbean who have built a life here".
She said the current controversy had arisen because of new rules, introduced by her as home secretary, designed to make sure only those with the right to remain in the UK could access the welfare system and the NHS.
"This has resulted in some people, through no fault of their own, now needing to be able to evidence their immigration status," she told the foreign ministers and leaders of 12 Caribbean nations in Downing Street.
"And the overwhelming majority of the Windrush generation do have the documents that they need, but we are working hard to help those who do not."

Prime Minister Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley raised the issue of countries making inaccurate pronouncements on Trinidad and Tobago saying that this practice has an adverse effect on the nation’s ability to stimulate growth and development. The Prime Minister was speaking at the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) Heads of Government Roundtable today (April 18, 2018) when he made the comment.
The Prime Minister noted that Trinidad and Tobago pursues tourism as a viable industry for growth and development. However, when some nations issue negative travel advisories on incidents of crime, efforts made in the industry are stymied.
Dr Rowley also raised the subject of the categorisation of several Caribbean nations, including Trinidad and Tobago, as tax havens. This, even though the twin-island state continues to make significant steps towards fulfilling the requirements of the European Union and is FATCA compliant.
The Heads of Government Roundtable is the concluding set piece of the Business Forum that allows the business community to provide feedback directly to Heads of Government in order to inform discussions at the Heads of Government Meeting.
Earlier in the day Prime Minister Rowley paid a courtesy call on His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York at Buckingham Palace. He was accompanied by Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, the Honourable Dennis Moses, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister and Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs the Honourable Stuart Young, Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency Orville London and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ms Arlene Gorin-George.
Dr Rowley also attended a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, the Honourable Justin Trudeau. The meeting saw participation from leaders of Commonwealth Small Islands and Coastal States on the subject of oceans, coastal resilience and climate change.
Some of the issues raised by the leaders at this meeting included the need to increase capacity of small island and coastal states to respond to climate change and the significant cost associated with protecting the environment. They also raised the need for building clear development pathways for small island states.

Construction for the first Hindu temple in Tobago will begin soon, according to the Tobago Hindu Society.
The holy place with be built on land donated by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
The Society was founded 35 years ago by Trinidadians working and visiting the sister-island who sought a place for worship formed the organisation.
According to the officiating pundit Ramdath Mahase, the members came together to practice their religion, culture and traditions, but there was no space for them to do so.
In 2014, the former THA administration granted the Society four lots of land at Old Government Farm, Signal Hill for the Temple and Cultural Centre.
The members were encouraged to revive the Tobago Hindu Society and since they have worked tirelessly to promote the Hindu Dharma and Indian culture in Tobago.
An annual Indian Arrival Day and Divali celebrations are hosted by the organisation
The group will now be able to conduct its religious and cultural activities on its own grounds.
Source:  Daily Express, April 5.