Contact The Legislative Agenda

However in 2009, theMinistry of LocalGovernment took abold step to produce

Municipal Development Plans (MDPs) foreach regional corporation to rationalise thephysical planning process at the localgovernance level.

In order to achieve thisagenda Trinidad andT o b a g o w i l l b eexpected to have theappropr ia te legalframework to enable a

modern, knowledge-based society and treatwith ICT related issues such as cybercrime,data privacy, e-waste, e-commerce, andtelecommunications policy.

Therefore, to addressa topic like “TheLegislative Agenda”is by any measure anambitious goal. Still,it was a topic the

Chamber felt an acute need to address whenit considered the country’s development andstate of current affairs.

Procurement” meanst h e p r o c e s s o f

acquiring property or services, commencingwith the identification of the need for theproperty or services and ending with the specificperformance of the related contract.

It’s more thanpassing laws

19

Editor: Halima KhanEditorial Board: Communications Committee: Moonilal Lalchan, Catherine Kumar, Tricia Henry,Hugh Ferreira, Anthony Agostini, Andrew Johnson

Design & Layout JG Design CaribbeanPublished by Eureka Communications LimitedSuite #2 No.9 Avenue First, St. James, Trinidad W.I.Tel: (868) 622-2017 • (868) 628-1555 Fax: • (868) 622-4475E-mail: • [email protected] • [email protected] • [email protected]

For The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and CommerceColumbus Circle, Westmoorings, P.O. Box 499, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago W.I.Tel: (868) 637-6966 Fax: (868) 637-7425 E-mail: [email protected] • Website: www.chamber.org.ttFor this magazine contact: Tel: (868) 637-6966

Tobago Division:Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce2nd Floor ANSA McAL Building, Milford Road, Scarborough, TobagoTel: (868) 639-2669 Fax: (868) 639-2669 E-mail: [email protected]

7

Contents 1

SpatialDevelopmentPlanning for‘Other People’- US?

The e-LegislativeAgenda - Trinidadand Tobago

A quarterly publication of The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

10

22 The Tobago Tourism Plan

24 The Caribbean Court of Justice:

Catalyst for Regional

Integration?

28 The Metrology Act

30 What every business person

should know

32 World Equity Markets Q1 2014

34 Economic and Financial

Statistics

36 Economic Outlook

37 First Quarter 2014 Review

40 Fiscal Agenda in Energy

42 Energy Statistics

64 Branford General Contracting

Services

Going Global Limited

66 Quarterly Report-Tobago Division

Welcome to New Members

69 The TT Chamber CSR Committee

CSR Workshop Launch

70 The History of Nelson Island

72 Advertisers

A modern publicprocurementlaw for Trinidadand Tobago anecessity forgood governance

15

Information on Trinidad & Tobago

rinidad and Tobago (T&T) has a population ofapproximately 1.3 million people who inhabit 4,827 squarekilometers (1,886 miles) in Trinidad and 300 squarekilometers (117 miles) in Tobago. Trinidad is located

between 10º 2’ and 11º12’ N latitude and 60º 30’ and61º 56’ W longitude or 11 Kilometers (6.8 miles) of the easterncoast of Venezuela. Tobago is located 32.2 Kilometers (20 miles)

T

2

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

to the north-east of Trinidad. There are two international sea portsin Trinidad, Port-of-Spain and in Point Lisas. The Internationalairports are located in Piarco, Trinidad and Crown Point, Tobago.

Trinidad’s economy is primarily dependent on the petrochemicalsector, while the island of Tobago is mainly dependent on tourism.

The twin island republic boasts a multi-ethnic people, diverse cultureand unique cuisine. As a result of its cosmopolitan population, thecountry celebrates a significant number of festivals around the yearincluding carnival, Phagwa or Holi, Divali and Eid-Ul-Fitr. Tobagothe smaller island, has a population of just over 54,000 and has aninteresting history in that, during the colonial period, French, Dutchand British Forces fought for the possession of Tobago and theIsland changed hands more than 22 times – more than any otherCaribbean Island.

Nariva Swamp, Trinidad

Contact • Vol.14 No.2 2014

VISION STATEMENTWe are the Voice of Business.

MISSION STATEMENTTo be the voice of business in the development towards a strong,sustainable national economy.

BOARD OF DIRECTORSMoonilal Lalchan, PresidentAndrew Sabga – Immediate Past PresidentRobert Trestrail – Senior Vice PresidentChristopher Mack – Vice PresidentRonald Hinds – Vice PresidentRakesh Goswami – Vice PresidentWade George – DirectorLuana Boyack – DirectorPaula Rajkumarsingh – DirectorJacqueline Francois – DirectorJean-Pierre Du Coudray – DirectorReyaz Ahamad – DirectorDiane Hadad – Chairman, Tobago DivisionCatherine Kumar – Corporate Secretary & Chief Executive Officer

• Crime & Justice• E-Business, Information Technology &

Telecommunications (EBITT)• Energy

COMMITTEES - TOBAGO• Business Development & Tourism • Security• Inter-island Transport • Environment

HOW TO CONTACT USTrinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and CommerceColumbus Circle, Westmoorings, P.O. Box 499, Port of Spain,Trinidad & Tobago W.I.Tel: (868) 637 6966 Fax: (868) 637 7425E-mail: [email protected] • Website: www.chamber.org.tt

Tobago Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber ofIndustry and Commerce2nd Floor, ANSA McAL Building, Milford Road, Scarborough,TobagoTel: (868) 639 2669 Fax: (868) 639 2669E-mail: [email protected]

• NOVA• Trade & Business

Development• Health, Safety &

Environment

COMMITTEES - TRINIDAD• Communications• Corporate Social Responsibility

• Facilities Management & Maintenance

Trinidad and Tobago Chamberof Industry and Commerce 5

It’s more than passinglaws

By Moonilal Lalchan

egalities dominate every aspect ofour lives. From birth to death andthroughout our lives, the law is aconstant reference. However

mundane or complex the task, it is usuallyreferenced against some law – from buy cableto registering a new business.

Therefore, to address a topic like “TheLegislative Agenda” is by any measure anambitious goal. Still, it was a topic the Chamberfelt an acute need to address when it consideredthe country’s development and state of currentaffairs. The reference to the Legislative Agendais on two levels: the first is addressing somekey issues that impact on development ofbusiness and our society and the second isidentifying what needs to be put in place atthe governmental level to regulate suchdevelopment.

That being said, the articles contained in thisissue are by no means exhaustive; there aremany other areas we would have liked toaddress. In fact, some key issues such ascampaign finance reform and crime have been

addressed in past CONTACT magazines andyet others will be included in future ones.However for this magazine we felt that certainissues have such wide-ranging implicationsthey deserve special mention. Procurementis a buzz-word on everyone’s lips and rightlyso in a country where government is oftenthe largest purchaser of goods and services.Spatial planning is much less a topic ofnational discussion, but we believe that itshould be, as this issue has far-reaching effectson our quality of life since traffic, floodingor even access to utilities are all linked to it.

Any aspirations to development must besupported by a cohesive ICT framework –something to which this country still aspiresto develop and implement. In Tobago, thetourism dependent economy is grappling tofind a balance between preserving the island’straditional culture and encouraging modern-day investment.

As we go forward as a nation, these and manyother areas need to be addressed. But it isnot simply a matter of passing law – we need

to get the right legislation that can be effected.There are currently several pieces of legislationwhich have been assented to but cannot beput into law because the supportinginfrastructure is absent, such as the packageof legislation that includes the Children’s Actof 2012 or one included in this issue – theMetrology Act.

In many instances, too, we do indeed havethe legislation but what is lacking - as we cansee from the wilful ignoring of our road laws- is the proper monitoring and enforcement.

We must also consider that our laws cannotremain stagnant; they need to be constantlyreviewed in order to always meet the ever-evolving needs of our society, and to keepabreast with international legal requirements.Those who determine the Legislative agendafor Trinidad and Tobago are, we are certain,interested in seeking good for the country.They must consequently firmly pursue anagenda that provides our citizens and visitorswith a society that respects the rule of lawand the rights of their fellow men.

Moonilal Lalchan, President, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

L

An Editorial Note from the President 7


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For more information contact: THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTRE, Ground Floor,Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Building, Columbus Circle, Westmoorings.

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A modern public procurement law forTrinidad and Tobago a necessity forgood governanceBy CAT HerbertAttorney-at-Law LEC, LLM (UWI), BA/LLB (ANU) Australia

PART 1The Context of Public ProcurementA Sunday newspaper columnist identifiedpublic concern about the use of State fundsinvolved in settling litigation claims as aprocurement issue. Other writers hadconcentrated on the ethical issues. What isclear is that there is increasing public awarenessthat procurement is no longer only aboutbuying goods and services by State entitiesbut also about the spending of public money.

“Public Money” is understood to mean (a)money which is received or receivable by theState and its agencies or raised by aninstrument for which, it can be reasonablyinferred, the State accepts ultimate liability inthe case of default; and (b) money which isspent or committed for future expenditure bythe State or its agencies, distributed by theState or its agencies for a public purpose orraised by a private body in accordance with astatutory instrument for a public purpose. Itshould be noted that this definition of publicmoney does not currently exist in the statutebook of Trinidad and Tobago.

“Procurement” means the process of acquiringproperty or services, commencing with theidentification of the need for the property orservices and ending with the specificperformance of the related contract. “PublicProcurement” therefore means procurementinvolving the use of public money.

Procurement and Good GovernanceAn issue of prime importance currently in thepublic domain is the relationship of publicprocurement to good governance. However,the subtle distinction between Governmentand Governance should be noted. Governmentis about what, that is, the activities to be

undertaken by the elected representatives ofthe people. Governance is about how, thatis, the values and processes involved in theundertaking of those activities.

So what do Governments actually do? Inessence, a Government raises money andspends money. It raises money by taxing thepublic, or by borrowing, ostensibly toimplement its policies and programmes. Intheory when a Government spends money itdoes so for and on behalf of the people.Government essentially manages thetaxpayer’s business. Persons elected orappointed to undertake that responsibility onbehalf of Government therefore effectivelyact as stewards in the public interest. In thiscontext, the term ‘Government’ embracesGovernment Bodies and State-OwnedEnterprises (SOEs).

Public sector procurement differs from privatesector procurement because of the use ofpublic money. By definition, the use of publicmoney imposes a duty of care to act in thepublic interest on all those who are involvedin procurement transactions. The duty of careembraces the duty to safeguard and ensurethat value for money is attained. Because ofthe duty of care, the public sector procurementtransaction is subject to a greater degree oftransparency and accountability than thatwhich obtains in private sector procurement.

Obviously, the use of public money demandsthat its use will only be for the purposesintended and its expenditure will be disbursedonly by authorized persons. Therefore, allpersons, individual or corporate, involved inpublic procurement, are obliged to accountto the taxpayer for the achievement of valuefor money.

Concept of Public MoneyPublic money must be understood to be morethan receipts and monies held in trust ascurrently defined in the Exchequer and AuditAct. However, any legislative notion of publicmoney should also include a reference tothose public agencies for whose expendituresthe taxpayer is ultimately liable.

However, this notion of public liability forexpenditure by Government, a feature inmodern fiscal management legislation, is notspecifically embraced in the current definitionof public money in the Exchequer and AuditAct Chap. 69:01, an Act which is over 100years old! It is interesting to note also thatcommon best practice in fiscal managementlegislation specifies the operation of principlesof good fiscal management to include,wherever possible, balanced budgets and thereduction of debt. Thus, because of its useof public money, the State cannot be seen asan ordinary player in the commercial market.Any involvement of public money attractsduty to serve the public interest.

When Government is governing i.e. promotingthe public interest, it incurs obligations thatimpinge upon commercial activities involvingthe spending of public money. In the contextof public procurement other public policyconcerns are taken into account such ascompetitiveness in the market and protectionof local industry which may be just asimportant as the core activity addressed inthe medium of the procurement contract.

When the Government is one of the partiesto a contract, the legal nature of the contractshifts from private law to public law becausethe use of public money and the accountabilityby Government to the taxpayer, a third party.

10 Feature



The Government’s involvement in a contracttherefore demands public law values whichsometimes lie uneasily with the strictcommercial principles operating in the privatesector where the terms of the agreementgenerally rule. The list of public law valuesincludes openness, fairness, participation,impartiality, accountability, honesty andrationality.

The justification for special standards inpublic procurement contracts is the spendingof public money, yours and mine. In realterms, this means that we are liable forGovernment’s bad spending and we benefitfrom Government’s spending when theprinciples of transparency, accountabilityand value for money are implemented. Thelink between public expenditure, particularlyin public procurement, and good governanceis therefore clear.

The contract, a tool well known in commerce,is essentially an agreement between specifiedparties for the transfer of goods and servicesfor consideration and, as such, attractsprinciples of private law. Yet, whenGovernment uses a contract as a tool forimplementing public policy the rules canshift. In the context of public procurement,the contract is merely a tool in the process.

Government tends to use the Contract to –1. Procure goods and services;2. Provide goods and services; and3. Implement policies.

Increasingly, the government contract is beingused as a tool of public administration.While the ordinary principles of contract lawapply to Government contracts, the questionarises as to whether the general rules andpractices of contracts are suited to the use ofcontracts in the public sector. In publicprocurement where the main instrument inthe process is the contract, the applicable lawinevitably comprises a fusion of public andprivate law principles.

In contract law the remedy for an aggrievedperson before the Courts is damages orfrustration. But in public law, the remedy isa review of the decision which enablesamongst other things a review of that decisionand also damages. This remedy is availableto third parties who are aggrieved by that

decision. In contract law only the parties tothe agreement can access the assistance ofthe Court in the event of a grievance.Taxpayers are strictly not party to a contract.The Court is aware that taxpayers, outsidethe ballot box, have limited avenue of redressfor bad management of their money or forpoor delivery of service in contract law.

However, it should be noted that theapplication of rules of contract law toGovernment contracts present someanomalies because of the unique nature ofGovernment as a party in a privatecommercial transaction. In the final analysis,and for the following reasons, a Government’saction cannot be fettered if there is a contestbetween the contract and the Government’spublic responsibilities:

1. Application of Doctrine of NecessityGovernment can call upon certain doctrinessuch as “the doctrine of executive necessity”to void a contract. This avenue not availableto parties in a private contract as aGovernment cannot be held liable if there isa contest between a breach of the contractand the Government’s public responsibilities.

2. Government’s Legislative CapacityGovernment can legislate out of itscontractual responsibility. For example,where a statutorily established powercompany entered an agreement with a localgovernment company to supply electricityat one penny per unit “for all time thereafter”,the Court upheld the agreement. The Courtsaid it was possible for the supplier to obtainrelief by legislation. The contractual doctrineo frustration was rejected. In this case, ThePower Company Limited v Gore DistrictCouncil [1997]1NZLR537, the Courtobserved that private law values which havetraditionally governed contractual solutionsare not necessarily appropriate where thecontract is between to public sector agencies.

3. Government as an exemplarThe obligation upon Government to servethe public interest particularly when it entersthe commercial arena separates it from otherplayers in the commercial arena. Essentiallyit has a higher duty of care; it must act as anexemplar. In Olmstead v the United States227USA438 (1928), a case about Governmentoffices illegally tapping telephones, the Court

Feature 11

said: decency, security, and liberty alikedemand that Government officials shall besubject the same rules of conduct that itcommands to the citizen. In a Governmentof laws, existence of the Government will beimperiled if it fails to observe the lawscrupulously. Our Government is the potent,the omnipresent, teacher. For good or ill, itteaches the whole people by its example.Crime is contagious. If the Governmentbecomes a law breaker, it breathes contemptfor law; it invites every man to become a lawunto itself; it invites anarchy. The generalsentiment of the Government as teacher isrelevant to the Government’s commercialactivities.

These points illustrate that a Government asa party to a contract cannot be equated to aprivate person in a contract. Essentially, therules can change at any time. This impactson how a public contract may be interpretedby the Courts. It is therefore appropriate thatany law pertaining to public procurementshould ensure appropriate remedies for thetaxpayers who, while effectively NOT partiesto the contract, are the purported beneficiariesof the contract and are ultimately liable forthe expenditures incurred by the contract.

PART 2Justice Sharma, dissenting, at paragraph 76NH International (Caribbean) Ltd vUDeCOTT and Hafeez Karamath Ltd CoA95/2005 said: “In a small country whichpossesses enormous wealth, and in whichallegations of corruption are rife, theGovernment has proclaimed its commitmentto accountability, transparency and integrityin public life. The Courts have a special roleto play in protecting this ethos particularlywhere state companies incorporated as privatecompanies with unlimited taxpayers’ fundsat their disposal have the freedom to bypassthe CTB.” No greater statement justifies atotal review of the current procurement regimein Trinidad and Tobago, even if the authorwas a dissenting judge.

Current Procurement Regime in Trinidadand Tobago

The legal framework of the currentprocurement regime in Trinidad and Tobagoresides in the Central Tenders BoardOrdinance. The current law, process driven,

12 Feature


highly bureaucratic and with little connectionto a sophisticated marketplace, particularlywith respect to multi-million dollar capitalworks using BOLT, or outcomes largelyconfined to the tendering stage of theprocurement cycle with little reference to thecritical design and execution components ofprocurement.

While there has been some delegation so that,for example, a Permanent Secretary can entera contract of up to one million dollars, withoutlimitation on the number of contracts, thelegislation nevertheless reflects a commandand control approach by a centralized agencyin respect of the purchase of goods and servicesby Government. There is no concept of thepurchaser’s, or the supplier’s responsibility tothe taxpayer because of the use of publicmoney, the medium of the transaction.The Central Tenders Board also excludesGovernment to Government transactions andthose where public money is used fortransactions that go beyond goods and servicessuch as completed capital works by BOLT orBOOT schemes provided by privatecontractors. This leaves an open playing fieldwhich screams for regulatory oversight ofpublic expenditure.

Imperatives of ReformBecause of the increasing use of the publiccontract as a tool for implementing publicpolicy, the sophistication of Government’sinvolvement in the commercial market placeand the extraordinary domination and impactof the public sector on the economy of Trinidadand Tobago, a fresh assessment of the legalmanagement of public procurement is beingpromoted by Civil Society and Private Sector.

Any reform should acknowledge that theultimate responsibility for the transactioninvolving public money is that of the taxpayer.Therefore any law should require theapplication of public law values andappropriate grievance procedures. Thefundamental question to be addressed must beto what extent is the person actually spendingpublic money liable and accountable to theultimate purchaser i.e. taxpayers. The coreelement is the transaction involving publicmoney rather than the instrument which is thecontract.

The secondary public policy consideration isthat any system of public procurement besensitive to the demands of the market bybeing sufficiently flexible to accommodatechange. A systemic approach in contrast toa regulatory approach is therefore desirable.

The justification for reform is clearly identifiedin the White Paper on Reform of Public SectorProcurement Regime tabled in Parliament in2005. The submission of the PrivateSector/Civil Society Group comprising,among others:(a) the Joint Consultative Council for the

Construction Industry (JCC);(b) the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency

Institute (TTTI); and(c) the T&T Chamber of Industry and

Commerce;(d) the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers

Association (TTMA);(e) the American Chamber of Commerce

(AMCHAM) to the Government in April2012, proposed a modern publicprocurement regime endorsing the policyconcerns in the White Paper and reflectingcurrent international best practice inprocurement law.

See www.jcc.org.tt/procurement

The objectives of the Bill proposed by theCivil Society/Private Sector Group were to

• Systematically bring all agencies spendingpublic money under a single, overarchinglegal and regulatory framework based onclear principles that effectively cover allstages of the procurement process andparties involved in a transaction involvingpublic money;

• Provide effective mechanisms for oversightand control;

• Require appropriate transparency of thevalue and impact of transactions involvingpublic money;

• Ensure as far as possible, integrity in thepublic procurement process;

• Meet international anti-corruption standardsconsistent without international obligations;

• Promote the prevention of corruption andthe consequent increase in investment;

• Enable parties within that framework tobe responsible for the transaction andrelated process.

The following 5 elements were embedded inthe Bill:

1. The use of public money as the cornerstoneof defining any public procurement;

2. Procuring agencies encapsulated anyorganisations using public money to acquireservices or property;

3. Effective independence of the Office ofProcurement Regulator from the Ministeror Cabinet both in the procurement systemand the grievance mechanism;

4. Value for money is linked to efficient useof public money;

5. Participation of Civil Society in themaintenance of the integrity of theprocurement system.

The Government on 2 April, 2014 tabled aPublic Procurement and Disposal of PublicProperty Bill, 2014 in accordance with itspromise to the electorate to undertakeprocurement reform. The Government hadavailable to it a Bill which has been incirculation since 2010 prepared by the CivilSociety/Private Sector Group. This privatesector driven Bill proposed an architecturethat was not only consistent with internationalbest practices and the needs of the marketplace but also reflected a legal approach thatenabled the parties to the contract to determinetheir aims within a principled framework.The Government Bill reflects elements of thePrivate Sector/Civil society Bill, provisionsof the Central Tenders Board Ordinance andrelated regulations particularly with respectto disposal of obsolete furniture (a small subsetof “property”) and the draft law proposedover a decade ago by UNCITRAL – now outof touch with modern procurement practices.

After the Constitution, the draft Procurementand Disposal of Public Property Bill, 2014 isthe most singular piece of legislation affectingnot only the efficiency of the market place,the operations of local businesses fromproduction, manufacturing to retail operationsbut also the reputation of Trinidad and Tobagoin the international market. Theimplementation of the principles of goodgovernance in the Bill will require the PrivateSector/Civil Society Group to assist the peopleto obtain a procurement law that is truly nationbuilding.

15Feature

The HistoryIn 1984, the two-volume National PhysicalDevelopment Plan (NPDP) was approved byParliament after approximately four years ofwork by the Town and Country PlanningDivision. It was felt that a plan enshrined inlaw would provide the framework to both guideand regulate development in the country. Thirtyyears later, we now know that the plan and itssupporting legislation cannot by themselvesachieve sustainable and equitable development.To be sure, the NPDP has informed most ofthe major development in the country. It forecasta capital region and highlighted the emergenceof the conurbation of towns in central Trinidad.It recognised that the petrochemical sectorwould continue to grow and remain thedominant earner of foreign exchange. A growthpole model was proposed, which would enablethe provision of services and employment toall regions. It also proposed development ofTrinidad’s north coast and Tobago’s tourismsector based on both natural resources andculture. What the NPDP failed to address wasthe inability of our leaders to steer its peopletowards the proper utilisation of our naturalresources. It was written before the two last ‘oilbooms’, before the electronic andcommunication revolutions and before the loveaffair with the private car. It did not provideany answers to dealing with a country with‘more dollars than sense’ and a belief thatplanning was for the “other people”.

The PresentIn our current situation, unauthorised hillsidedevelopment continues despite a moratoriumon building above the 100-metre contour line.The marginalised capture the last remnants ofthe forests and subdivide agricultural land toconstruct homes, often with little or no urbaninfrastructure or services. The love affair withthe automobile lingers and the State extends itshighway building campaign and subsidy of gasprices, thereby fuelling private car ownershipinstead of promoting public transportation use.The rural experience is becoming increasinglydifficult to find and the farmers that persist,battle loss of crops to flooding, theft and disease,

Spatial Development Planning for‘Other People’ – US? By Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners

poor access roads, difficulty to secure financingand the influx of cheap foreign-subsidizedproducts. Even worse, the State itself is a majoroffender in the breaking of its laws – from theuse of illegal banners and advertisement boardsto building without planning permission.

The PlansIn the past, several regional development planswere prepared but there was no attempt tobring them to the legislature. However in 2009,the Ministry of Local Government took a boldstep to produce Municipal Development Plans(MDPs) for each regional corporation torationalise the physical planning process at thelocal governance level. These were developedwith more stakeholders’ consultation than hadpreviously been the case. These MDPs haveas their strategic focus the identification anddirection of each municipality’s assets andresources to ensure balanced andcomprehensive development throughout thecountry and to enable the municipal bodies toimplement the policies, programmes andprojects of the State with specific regard totheir local areas. The THA has also producedplans focusing on the socio-economicdevelopment of the island. In an unprecedentedmove in 2010, the government adopted thesemunicipal plans and while they have notformally been brought to Parliament, they aregenerally regarded as guides to spatialdevelopment that at least the municipalitiesare taking seriously.

At the national level in 2014, the Ministry ofPlanning and Sustainable Development(MPSD) produced the National SpatialDevelopment Strategy (NSDS). The NSDS isdescribed as the overarching framework thatwill spatially represent the socio-cultural,economic and environmental developmentpriorities for Trinidad and Tobago. Its strategiesand policies articulate the government’s visionfor sustainable development. Critically, thedocument builds on the 1984 NPDP and is anattempt to renew the relevance of planning toa generation whose greatest and most importantchallenge is achieving sustainable development.

In essence, the NSDS aims to sketch broadlyhow the country should develop spatially overthe next 20 years. It is intended that thisdocument will articulate a sustainable, long-term vision for the country’s futuredevelopment, enunciate the spatial allocationsof major land uses, present sectoraldevelopment priorities in a holistic fashion andsuggest a framework for the co-ordination ofan integrated planning system that involves alllevels of governance. A framework forreviewing the MDPs in the context of theNSDS is currently being developed to ensurethat they complement each other.

The LawWithin the past two years, the MPSD hasstepped up the pace, producing the Planningand Facilitation of Development (PAFD) Billand its complementary legislation, theRegistration of Urban and RegionalProfessional Planners (RURPP) Bill. Both Billshave been laid in Parliament with the formernow moving through a select committee of theupper house. The new legislation adopts a two-pronged approach to guiding, facilitating andregulating spatial development. The NSDSwith the MDPs will serve as the frameworkfor guiding and stimulating development, whilethe PAFD Bill and the RURPP Bill will serveto facilitate and regulate planning and theplanning profession. Once enacted, the PAFDBill will replace the Town and CountryPlanning Act of 1960 and seek to revolutionisethe way that development is regulated. Thepresent legislative framework does notadequately deal with informal and illegaldevelopment. The PAFD Bill enshrines in lawa new enforcement unit charged with ensuringthat all development is in conformity to landuse policies and development standards, armedwith an arsenal of new tools and stricterpenalties to ensure a greater level of compliance.The Bill also introduces a more transparentjudicial appeal process, utilising the existingcapacity of the Environmental Commission.

While the PAFD Bill provides the ‘teeth’ ofenforcement that has been sorely lacking, it


16 Feature


more importantly brings planning closer tothe people. The determination of simpleapplications—a specific category ofdevelopment as defined in the bill—is movedto the Municipal Corporations, which willthen function as ‘one-stop shops’ where thecomplete land and building approval processwill be located. It is envisioned that the systemwill permit greater flexibility and adaptabilityin the responses of planning officials todevelopment initiatives.

To bring planning functions closer to thegeneral public, two provisions of the PAFDBill are key. The first is the introduction ofthird party rights. Under these provisions, the

public must be notified of all applications fordevelopment, and be permitted to commentand have these comments taken intoconsideration in the determination ofapplications. Secondly, sub-national planningfunctions are moved directly to the peoplethat they serve. This involves a mandatoryprocess of participatory consultation in thedevelopment planning process, which will beunder the mandate of the MunicipalCorporations and the THA, guided by theplans and policies of the National PlanningAuthority. This Authority will establishtechnical and quality assurance mechanismsfor all local planning bodies. SpatialDevelopment Planning for US? As we move

towards a new era in planning, achieving abetter system not only involves envisioningwhat the system should be but also changingthe ways in which people act. While intensivestakeholder consultations and subsequentamendments to the Bills might result in publicacceptance of the new regimen, a nationalplanning conversation must be initiated toensure that we move towards efficiency aswell as people-focused objectives. Since wenow know that policy and supportinglegislation alone cannot achieve sustainableand equitable development, we must have atthe centre of our plans and laws, answers tothe questions of who development is for andwhat it aims to achieve.

The e-Legislative Agenda -Trinidad and TobagoBy Atiba Phillips

Feature 19


Act 2000 and the Electronic Transfer of FundsCrime Act 2000. The Computer Misuse Actcreates offences for unauthorized access tocomputer programs or data, unauthorizedmodification of computer programs or data,obstruction of the use of a computer andunauthorized disclosure of access codes. Thereare investigation provisions providing limited“lawful access” to computers. The ComputerMisuse Act may also be amended to includenew but related offences. The ElectronicTransfer of Funds Crime Act prohibits theunauthorized or fraudulent use of a credit ordebit card, the theft of a card, forgery of acard, trafficking in counterfeit cards and useof information (e.g., lists, account numbers)about cards by a financial institution withoutthe permission of the cardholder. TheChildren’s Bill 2012 / Act treats with childpornography and its publication.

ii. Amendments to Exchequer and AuditActA major objective of new legislation must beto facilitate Government’s ability to transactbusiness electronically, including receivingor making electronic payments of money,maintaining records, collecting, storing,transferring, receiving or otherwise handlinginformation and documents. This requiresamendments to the Exchequer and Audit Actto allow for electronic monetary transactionswith Government.

iii. Amendments to Exchequer and AuditRegulationsSee above: (i) E-Payments (Gov’tReceivables) Regulations, (ii) E-Payments(Gov’t Expendi ture) Regulat ions .

iv. Electronic Transfer of Funds ActThe Electronic Funds Transfer (“e-money”)Bill to allow for payment of monies and taxesonline. (As a comparison similar electronic

transactions Acts were fully passed inBarbados (2001), Bahamas (2003), Antigua(2006) and St. Vincent (2007)).

v. Amendments to the TelecommunicationsActThe Telecommunications Act has been ineffect since 2004 and there are severalamendments now for consideration to treatwith Authorisation, Spectrum, UniversalService, Number Portability, Consumer Rightsand Obligations.

Other legislation which will also be critical– which have been developed and deployedacross the world incliuding the UK, HongKong, Greece, the European Union, Ghana,Mozambique and Mauritius - but is yet toenter into our domestic drafting processinclude:

1. Technical Standards and InteroperabilityFrameworks for ICT infrastructure /SystemsThis will allow for a standards based approachto enable further efficiency and enable servicesto be developed across Ministries and sectors.This is an essential pre-requisite for “joined-up” and Web-enabled Government.

2. Online Piracy (Digital rightsmanagement)Laws/policies against online trafficking incopyrighted intellectual property andcounterfeit goods. It criminalizes productionand dissemination of technology, devices, orservices intended to circumvent measures(commonly known as digital rightsmanagement or DRM) that control access tocopyrighted works.

3. Online PrivacyInternet privacy involves the right or mandateof personal privacy concerning the storing,

he Minister of Finance Larry Howai,on the July, 10, 2012 at the Trinidadand Tobago Chamber of Industryand Commerce, stated that the four

areas Trinidad and Tobago needed to focuson to make the economy more competitiveare: tourism, downstream energy, financialservices and ICT. On the October 10, 2011the Minister presented a budget statement for2012 entitled “From Steady Foundation toEconomic Transformation”. At page 17 of hispresentation under the heading of BroadbandInfrastructure the Finance Minister stated:“…the country-wide deployment ofInformation and Communications Technologyis a key enabler of sustainable economic andsocial development in Trinidad and Tobago.This has been identified in two of our sevenpillars proposed for sustainable development,namely the quest for a knowledge intensiveeconomy and access to Information andCommunication Technology.”

In order to achieve this agenda Trinidad andTobago will be expected to have theappropriate legal framework to enable amodern, knowledge-based society and treatwith ICT related issues such as cybercrime,data privacy, e-waste, e-commerce, andtelecommunications policy.

Some of the legislative items which areabsolutely necessary to clarify marketplacerules and build confidence in Trinidad andTobago as a preferred innovation / knowledgeeconomy destination, and are currently in-process (some for many years) include:

i. Cybercrime BillAn Act to provide the legal tools to treat withcyber-crime (e.g., fraud through the Internet,hacking, manipulation of data, introductionof viruses, cyber-stalking etc.). Some of theseissues are treated with in the Computer Misuse

T

Communications CommitteeThe Communications Committee is a Board-appointed Committee of the Chamber, chairedby the sitting President. Its role is toconceptualise and execute the Chamber’scommunications strategy as guided by theBoard of Directors. As such the committeeoversees the publication of CONTACTmagazine, three weekly newspaper columns,a weekly radio programme, media releasesand other electronic newsletters and bulletins.

Each CONTACT magazine is thematic sothat two thirds of the articles explore the issuesrelated to the particular theme. The magazineis distributed free of charge to Chambermembers. Complimentary copies are givento Members of Parliament, diplomaticmissions, hotels and subscribers to the

Guardian newspaper. CONTACT may beread online at www.contact-tt.com.The weekly “CONTACT with the Chamber”radio programme airs on I95.5 FM at 7:25a.m. each Tuesday. It represents a Chambereditorial and is voiced by the Chamber’s ChiefExecutive Officer, Catherine Kumar.Programmes are available on the Chamber’swebsite www.chamber.org.tt.

The main issues that form the basis of theChamber’s lobbies are largely reflected in thenewspaper columns. Since 2004, the Chamberhas maintained three weekly newspapercolumns - Wednesdays in the Business Expressand Thursdays in both the Guardian Businessand the Newsdays Business Day. Writing onthe premise that all issues which affect the

national landscape also affect business, thecolumns serve to express Chamber opinionand policy. Topics for articles have includedthe economy, trade, crime, education,agriculture, health, the environment andculture. The committee encourages Chambermembers to submit columns or ideas forcolumns on topics of interest. Columns maybe between 700-900 words in length and theChamber reserves the right to publish, subjectto review by the Committee. The weeklycolumns may be accessed on the Chamber’swebsite at www.chamber.org.tt.For further information on this committeekindly contact Halima Khan, CommunicationsOfficer, Marketing and Communications, at6 3 7 - 6 9 6 6 x 2 2 7 o r e m a i [email protected].

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repurposing, providing to third-parties, anddisplaying of information pertaining to oneselfonline.

4. Establishment of the InformationCommissionerPursuant to the Data Protection Act.

5. Policy on re-use of GovernmentInformation (Open Data)Policy / Laws on sale or re-use of Governmentinformation - e.g. statistical information, mapsetc. For example, when the U.S. Governmentreleased weather and global positioningsatellite (GPS) data to the public, it fueled anindustry that today is valued at tens of billionsof dollars per year. Now, weather andmapping tools are ubiquitous and helpeveryday Americans (and citizens around theglobe) navigate their lives1

The Issue of GovernanceA recent World Bank Report on the Trinidadand Tobago ICT Sector stated that “Thepolicy-making function for the ICT sector inTrinidad and Tobago is very fragmented, as

it is currently shared among multipleministries and agencies, with a weakcoordination mechanism in the form of anICT Inter-Ministerial Committee”.

Indeed while the Ministry of Publicadministration has historically housed thenational ICT mandate (and continues topossess the mandate for Public Sector Reformand develop policies and standards whichimpact the area of ICT), other Ministries playpolicy-making and oversight roles. TheMinistry of Science and Technology hasoversight of the National ICT Company(iGovTT) and the regulatory body for thetelecommunications sector, TATT; theMinistry of Trade and Industry managesTTBizLink – the national single tradeelectronic window and oversees e-Teck,manager of Tamina technology park; theMinistry of Public Utilities oversees the state-owned telecommunications and electricityproviders TSTT and T&TEC and the Ministryof Finance has been given the mandate tooversee the roll out of a National BroadbandStrategy.

The Requirement for the Road AheadICT is a specialised area that requires subjectmatter experts to craft the necessary laws,regulations and rules which are best suited toour particular national aspirations while atthe same time being informed by internationalexperience and good practices. To drive thecontinued development and diversification ofthe Economy of Trinidad and Tobago, theremust also be a lead entity as well as asupportive institutional framework which isso empowered by statute and mandate, whichis charged with ensuring that the fourth andfifth pillar of development (i.e. ICT, and theestablishment of a Knowledge-basedEconomy) are soundly achieved as thealternative economy to the energy industry.This would include driving a suite of legalenactments which will set up the necessarylegal frameworks to enable a rapidtransformation to a ICT enabled smart island.Such an enabling environment and governancestructures will be crucial to T&T in deliveringon the promise of economic diversificationand the attainment of a knowledge economywithin this decade or the next.

The TobagoTourism PlanBy Dalia King

22 Feature


n August 15th 2012, NewZealand’s Green Party presentedto its parliament the OverseasInvestment (Restriction on Foreign

Ownership of Land) Amendment Bill.Proponents of the bill stated that “New Zealandmust protect its global advantage by keepingNew Zealand land for New Zealand citizens…”to which its detractors responded that it was“blatant xenophobia”, “anti-growth”, “basedon fear”, and “a national embarrassment”. Therejoinder to this was to clarify that the Billsought to restrict foreign investment in landwhere there was no likely economic benefitto New Zealand. Things then turned rhetoricalwith the question: “How can it be xenophobicto require foreign owners to add value to oureconomy?”

One of the last advocates of the Bill lamentedthat “New Zealand is a target if we are notsmart enough to have the intelligent debate,which obviously the National Party is incapableof, to discuss how we engage with foreigninvestment, what kind of foreign investmentis good for New Zealand, and what kind offoreign investment does not add anything tothe New Zealand economy…that is the kindof sophisticated discussion that we need tohave as a country, as we engage as a small,open economy with the rest of the world.”

The dig at the ruling party was just one of themany ripostes that characterised the debate,memorable among them the description of thebill by an opponent as “like something thatthey have cooked up over a joint out the back”.It had been a heated debate; and the GreenParty’s bill failed, but only just, by 59 votesto 61. Five years earlier on February 14th2007, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister ofFinance, by virtue of The Foreign Investment

O(Tobago Land Acquisition) Order 2007,declared the island of Tobago “an area forwhich a foreign investor shall first obtain alicence…before acquiring any land.” Thisorder set Tobago apart from Trinidad whereto this day, a foreign investor may under theForeign Investment Act, acquire residentialland not exceeding one acre or commercialland not exceeding five acres, withoutobtaining a licence.

Independent Senator Dr. Victor Wheeler inhis address on the State of the Economy, onJuly 20th 2010, stated that “...the coming intoeffect of this Order occurred without it beingdebated in the Tobago House of AssemblyChamber. In fact, it is said this Order camelike a thief in the night.”

The paths taken which led to the declarationof the Trinidad and Tobago 2007 Order andthe failure of the New Zealand 2012 Bill arestarkly different. The former encountered noobstacles and traversed hidden corridors toits destination. The latter opened itself up tothe possibility of constructive critique as wellas aggressive New Zealand-esque picong; itssuccess or its failure to be memorialised inthe annals of Hansard and available for thisTrinbagonian author to find, read and reflecton what could have been, back in 2007.

It is quite possible that, even if it had beenbrought up for debate in the Assembly’sChamber, the implementation of a landlicensing regime would have been approved.Despite the tendency of detractors of this andsimilar regimes to denounce them as ridiculousand barely worthy of debate, the desire toprotect one’s homeland for oneself is a strongone. The islands of Anguilla, Antigua andBarbuda, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts

and Nevis and St Lucia all have licenceregimes. In the British Virgin Islands, propertyfor sale is advertised for four weeks in thelocal press to give ample notice to anyBelonger (a BVI national) the chance topurchase. Globally, foreigners to Australiacannot purchase from existing housing stockfor investment purposes (as a rental or vacationproperty). This restriction was implementedto curb rising property rates and comes outof the current government’s policy that“foreign investment in residential real estateshould increase Australia’s housing stock.”Everyone’s dream destination, Switzerland,has annual quotas which limit the number ofhouses or flats that can be sold to foreigners.

The Chinese government, also in a bid tocurtail rising prices, placed new limits onownership in 2010 such that foreigners couldonly own one residential property, and musthave resided in the country for one year beforethey could purchase.

Mr. Orville London, Chief Secretary of theTobago House of Assembly has always statedthat the purpose of the Order was not to turnaway foreigners ad nauseam, but to“discourage” the speculation which he hassaid was to the disadvantage of nationals andto the detriment of the economy. His wordscan find mirrors throughout the globe; and socan the counter-claims of “xenophobia” and“closed-mindedness”. Where it appearsTobago stands alone, is in the absence ofdebate.

The closed-door approach to that 2007 Ordermust be seen as a strategic misstep. Its one-sided, heavy-handed, hurried and disorderedentry into local legislation was followed bya seemingly interminable three year period

Feature 23


of administrative delays which in turn hasallowed those who oppose land licensingregimes in principle, to bolster their argumentswith the convincing winch of economicdistress.

The tourist flow into Tobago remains anaemicand property development has yet to regainpre-2007 levels. The relatively poorperformance on both of these fronts shouldcome as no surprise as the two are correlated.The land licensing regime is an easy target toblame, particularly due to its ignominiousconception and even worse implementation.However, to begin and end with the 2007Order as the cause of Tobago’s tourismdoldrums is to ignore and therefore negate theadverse effect that a lack of strategic directionspecific to the tourism product, has placed onthe island.

The THA’s 2014 Budget was titled“Responding to the People’s Mandate” andone of the primary issues was stated to be therevitalisation of the tourism sector. TheBudget made some welcome, frank statementsas to the current state of Tobago’s tourismproduct (the first step to deliverance being toacknowledge the problem) and proceeded toset out numerous ways in which Tobagowould be elevated into a competitive touristdestination.

As comprehensive as the address was, it islikely that every previous Budget has goneinto a similar level of detail. At this stage,words are insufficient; as are the public-private consultative groups established everso often, which create working papers no onein the general public sees, and probably, noone in the public sector reads.

A successful plan for a Touristic Tobagorequires the active input of its people duringthe development stage, the constantreinforcement of the plan in the local pressand then evidence of its implementation inproperty, plant and human resourcedevelopment. This will provide the people ofTobago with something to rally behind thathas more dynamism than a budget statement.

It’s a tough market out there. The IndianOcean is really blue. Asian countries are reallycheap. Jamaica is really famous. But Tobagohas something to offer, even with a landlicensing regime. It’s “clean, green, safe andserene”, so goes the current slogan. Well it’stime to let the world know. It’s time for theTobago House of Assembly to work furiouslyin the background to promote the serenity ofthe foreground that is Tobago.

n 16th April, 2005, the CaribbeanCourt of Justice (CCJ) wasinaugurated at Queen’s Hall, Portof Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The first President, Justice Michael De LaBastide, hailed from this twin-island Republicwhich became the seat of the Court and theplace from where it operates. The Court hastwo discrete jurisdictions - original andappellate. In the former, the CCJ interpretsand applies the Revised Treaty ofChaguaramas (RTC) which established theCaribbean Single Market and Economy(CSME), and is an international court withcompulsory and exclusive jurisdiction in theinterpretation of the Treaty. In its appellatejurisdiction, the CCJ hears appeals as thefinal court in both civil and criminal mattersfrom member states which have replaced theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council(JCPC) with that of the CCJ. Currently, theseare [update]Barbados, Belize, and Guyana.

The reluctance of most CARICOM states tosubscribe to the appellate jurisdiction of theCCJ has been the topic of much debate atseveral political, judicial and academic fora.Although the Court operates as an independentjudicial body with a fair and rigorous processfor the selection of its seven judges, mistrust,fear and suspicion still pervade the minds ofboth governments and populations across theregion with regard to the Court’s potentialfor impartiality and sound judicial decisions.Moreover, domestic politics continue to posea serious obstacle to the regional integrationprocess and by extension, to influence thechoice of governments to subscribe to theCCJ’s appellate jurisdiction. The fear andsuspicion of the CCJ has its roots in a more

fundamental mistrust of the local judiciarywithin the CSME. This was evidenced intwo recent instances in the Trinidad andTobago media. In the first, two televisionhosts publicly voiced their opinions, oneclaiming that he “knew of cases before thecourts where magistrates and Judges, etc,have been bought out ”; the second involved a journalist who described judges of theSupreme Court as “long-winded clowns”.

Domestic politics have also worked againstthe CSME countries’ accession to theappellate jurisdiction of the CCJ. In April,2012, Prime Minister of Trinidad andTobago, Kamla Persad- Bissessar, announcedthat the time was ripe as “our democracyhas grown in strength to take responsibilityourselves for the final adjudication of ourdisputes consonant with the pristine principlesof justice and fair play and say good-bye tothe Judicial Committee of the Privy Councilas our final Court of Appeal”. She also statedher intention to abolish the London-basedPrivy Council as a final court of appeal forcriminal matters only. However, the Leaderof the Congress of the People, wanted it tobe taken to the people in a nationalreferendum as outlined in the PP’s manifesto.

Moreover, abolishing the Privy Councilwould require a three-quarters majority inthe House of Representatives and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Successivegovernments have not been guaranteed ofOpposition support for such a motion.In April 2014, as the final speaker at thelaunch of the Faculty of Law at the St.Augustine Campus of the University of theWest Indies, T&T’s Prime Minister Kamla

Persad-Bissessar was obliged to respond towhat she called “the elephant in the room”.

All the previous speakers – Dean of theFaculty of Law, Professor Rose-Marie BelleAntoine; Law Association President, SeenathJairam; Campus Principal, Prof. ClementSankat; and President of the CCJ, Sir CharlesMichael Dennis Byron - noted in theirrespective addresses the need for a regionalCourt of Appeal, particularly because of thehigh quality of the legal fraternity in theCaribbean. Mrs. Persad-Bissessar repeatedthat accession to the CCJ is inevitable. Shenoted that “in Trinidad and Tobago’sConstitution, the UK-based Privy Council asthe country’s highest appellate court is “oneof the most entrenched provisions”, whichwill not allow a simple majority to remove.“Accession to the CCJ is inevitable, not onlyfor T&T but all of us in the Caribbean. Thatis inevitable. The question is always one ofwhen.” However, domestic political woesalso plague Jamaica and St. Lucia althoughthe latter is now inclined as is the rest of theOECS and Dominica to begin the process ofabolishing the Privy Council and adoptingthe CCJ’s appellate jurisdiction.

At the launch, Sir Dennis Byron noted that“Although we train our lawyers on Caribbeansoil, we still journey to foreign soil seekingjustice. The CCJ is at the apex of threeCaribbean countries (Barbados, Belize andGuyana), although the accord for (its)establishment was signed by all twelve(CARICOM) countries. All signatoriescommitted to the accession ... determinate ofthe court in the further development ofCaribbean jurisprudence and deepening of

24 Feature


The Caribbean Court ofJustice: Catalyst forRegional Integration?By Dr. Indira Rampersad

O

the regional integration process. The CCJstands ready and willing to fulfil its destinedrole in the economic development and socialstability of the region.”

The judicial record of the Court suggests thatit can act as a catalyst for both social andeconomic integration and regionaldevelopment. This is reflected in the myriadof cases adjudicated by the CCJ. As of June2014, it has delivered eighteen decisions inits original jurisdiction and eighty five in itsappellate jurisdiction. Among the mostoutstanding is the ruling of 4th October, 2014,on the case of Shanique Myrie v Barbados(2013) which addressed the vexing questionof the free movement of persons withinCARICOM. The case catapulted the CCJ intothe limelight with its historic decision that“Ms. Myrie had been wrongfully denied entry

into Barbados, subjected to a humiliatingcavity search and unlawfully detainedovernight in a cell and expelled fromBarbados”.

Other cases involve business interests acrossthe region such as the decision in RudisaBeverages & Juices and CaribbeanInternational Distributors Inc v Guyana(2014). The Court noted that the Stateadmitted that the imposition of tax amountedis inconsistent with the principles of tradeliberalisation and free movement of goods asenvisioned by Chapter 5 of the RTC. MauriceTomlinson v the State of Belize (2014) andTrinidad Cement Limited and TCL GuyanaIncorporated v Guyana (2009), are othernotable cases reflecting the CCJ’s trust toboth social and economic justice.The CCJ has a phenomenal role to play in

Feature 25

advancing both social and economicintegration through the administration ofjustice. Not only can it reassure personsseeking to move throughout the region ofobtaining legal certainty and impartiality inthe resolution of disputes but can provide ameasure of protection for private companiesto operate without fear of discrimination.

Thus, the irony is not lost as the host countrystill hesitates to subscribe to the Court’sappellate jurisdiction. Accession is not justinevitable but also an imperative. As SirDennis Byron asserts, the CCJ “stands as atestament to our ability to govern ourselvesand develop a body of jurisprudence reflectiveof our unique Caribbean morals and values.Accession to the appellate jurisdictional courtis the next logical step in the region’sevolution”.


etrology is the science ofmeasurement and its applicationand is inclusive of all theoreticaland practical aspects of

measurement regardless of the field andclassification of that measurement.The Metrology Act No. 18 of 2004 was passedby Parliament in 2004 and now awaitsproclamation. This legislation addresses issuesfundamental to the conduct of measurementsin Trinidad and Tobago. It also outlines theregulatory control of measuring devices fortrade, public health, safety and environmentalprotection.

The Act has named the Trinidad and TobagoBureau of Standards (TTBS) as the agencyresponsible for the implementation of itsprovisions and its Regulations, specificallythe Metrology Regulations and Quantity ofGoods Regulations.

Having Metrology legislation is fundamentalto the day to day activities of a country. TheAct gives the Inspectors of Metrology of theLegal Metrology Inspectorate (LMI) thepower to conduct mandatory inspections andverification work for which there are penaltiesfor offences as specified in the Act.Metrology in application fosters increasedefficiency by providing an objective basis fordecision making. Metrology is made up ofthree functional areas:

• Scientific Metrology – has theresponsibility for the maintenance ofNational Measurement Standards (physicalartefacts). Research and development ofmeasurement systems and disseminationof traceability of National MeasurementStandards from the International System

of Units (SI) to all measurements ofsignificance conducted locally.

• Industrial Metrology – has theresponsibility for the dissemination oftraceability through the NationalStandards and other equivalentmeasurement standard by the conduct ofcalibration of measuring instruments.

• Legal Metrology - has the responsibilityfor ensuring that transactionalmeasurement is accurate, fair and legal.The LMI is responsible for theexamination and approval of weighingand measuring devices to be used fortrade, and to establish compliance withthe requirements of the Metrology ActNo. 18 of 2004. E.g. measuring devicesin the markets, supermarkets and fueldispensers etc.

In addition, the International System of Units(SI) will become the primary system ofmeasurement in Trinidad and Tobago andall units of measurement will be determinedon the basis of the SI system. The Act alsomandates the TTBS to establish the NationalReference Standards of Trinidad and Tobagofor the proper administration of the Act. TheAct has outlined the following key activities:

• Certification – Organisations or personsimporting, selling, installing, servicingor repairing and calibrating measuringdevices used for trade must be registeredand certified by TTBS.

• Pattern Approval – This is the processwhere a measuring device is examinedand tested to ensure that it is adequate to

M

28 Feature

The Metrology ActTrinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards


carry out the function for which it wasdesigned.

• Verification – Test performed on themeasuring device to ensure reliabilitybefore use and during use.

• Quantities of Goods – Monitoring andtesting of prepackaged goods by ensuringaccurate quantities are contained inpackages.

Legal metrology is very important from asocial, economic and legal perspective, whichstrives to protect all elements of the society.Every day consumers, traders, governmentregulators and industry make decisions basedon measurement results. These measurementsaffect economic and personal well being.Legal Metrology plays a key role in health,safety and the environment.

How does Legal Metrology help theEconomy and Society?Measurement is an important part of allsocieties and effective trade needstransparency and a balance of informationand trust between traders and consumers.

• Reducing disputes and transaction costsCorrecting bad measurement practice canbe costly and time consuming to bothbusinesses and consumers. Taking legalaction against traders who breakmeasurement laws can be equally costly.When all parties are confident that themeasurement is correct, it is accepted astrue. Measurements made outside the legalmetrology framework are often subject tochallenge and may incur costs to bothindustry and consumers.

Feature 29


• Supporting tradeHaving metrological control lessens anyunfair commercial advantage or tradepractices. This ensures that trade measuringinstruments are fit for their intended purposeand meet international standards. Forexample, fuel dispensers at gas stations areof an approved type and verified to makesure they deliver the correct amount of fuelto consumers.

• Managing stock control and reducingfraudTraceable measurements provide aframework for reliable stock control, thereduction of fraud, and efficient stockmanagement systems.

• Collecting government revenueGovernments collect revenue throughexcise and taxes based on measurement.

These include excise duties on productsproduced, sold, imported and exported.Legal metrology ensures a fair paymentof tax for both government and business.The sale by measure of bulk commoditiescan be a significant component of bothexport and national income particularly inproducts such as oil and natural gas.

• Reducing technical barriers to tradeA formal legal metrology system whichis in accordance with internationallyaccepted requirements promotesconfidence and clarity of measurement.This reduces or avoids barriers to tradeand provides assistance to participate morefully in the global trading system andsupport national economic development.

• Consumer ProtectionThe societal benefits are consumer

protection, support of a civil society,reduction of death and injury fromaccidents for instance through the use ofradar speed devices, improvement innatural environment and improved healthfrom standardization of measurement andtesting.

The Metrology Act No.18 of 2004 will bethe vehicle through, which the above benefitswill be realised. It will bring about trust andconfidence in measurement, ensuring thatconsumers get what they pay for. Accuratestandards and equipment will be used toinspect scales, fuel dispensers and packagedproducts at markets, supermarkets andfactories. This would result in greaterconsumer protection for the citizens ofTrinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobagoawaits the imminent proclamation of theMetrology Act.

30 Feature


What every business person should knowVIII Americas Competitiveness Forum -Trinidad and Tobago 2014This year the VIII Americas CompetitivenessForum “The Human Imagination at Work-Driving Competitiveness, Powering Innovation”will be held on 8-10 October, 2014 in Port ofSpain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Speakers will include• Deborah Wince- Smith – President, Global

Federation of Competitiveness Councils• Dr. Kiran Akal – President and Creative

Director of Infinite Worlds• Dr. Fred Medrick – Founder, Teachers

Without Borders• Jane Allen – Global Leader- Renewable

Energy, Deloitte• Suhas Gopinath – CEO and Founder of

Global Inc.For more information and to register pleasevisit www.competitivenessforum.org .

32nd International Fair of Havana, CubaThe Chamber of Commerce of the Republic ofCuba will be hosting the 32nd International Fairof Havana (FIHAV), on 2-8 November, 2014at EXPOCUBA fairgrounds. In the last edition,1400 companies from 65 nations participated,of which 24 were from Latin America and theCaribbean. For further information, pleasecontact the Cuban Chamber of Commerce at:Tel# (537) 8381322 or 8381124Email: [email protected]: www.camaracuba.cu

IMF Concludes 2014 Staff Visit of the USA

In 2014 US Article IV highlighted five broadthemes to both strengthen the recovery andimprove the long-term outlook; raisingproductivity growth; raising productivitygrowth and labour participation, confrontingpoverty, keeping public debt on a sustaineddownward path, managing the exit from zeropolicy rates, and securing a safer financialsystem. To achieve these goals and fortify thecountry’s economic future the policy focusshould be to undertake more proactive labourmarket policies that lower long-termunemployment and raise participation; increasethe minimum wage while strengthening theEarned Income Tax Credit; invest ininfrastructure; improve the tax structure andraise revenues, fundamentally reform socialsecurity and lower the growth of health carecosts.

(i) Near Term Growth – In the early part ofthis year, as a harsh winter conspired withother factors (including inventorydrawdown, a still struggling housing market,and slower external demand), momentumfaded in the US economy. Recent data,however, suggest a meaningful rebound inactivity is now underway and growth forthe remainder of this year and 2015 shouldwell exceed potential. This reneweddynamics, however, provides only a partialoffset to the weak first quarter and so growthis now projected at 2% for 2014, rising to3% in 2015.

ii. Longer-run growth – Potential growth is

forecast to average around 2% for the nextseveral years, below historic averages andthe outlook assessed at the last Article IVconsultation. A combination of factors areat work in lowering longer-run growthincluding the effects of population agingand more modest prospects for productivitygrowth. This puts a significant premium ontaking immediate steps to raise productivity,encourage innovation, augment human andphysical capital, and increase labour forceparticipation.

Finance Act 2014The Finance Act 2014 was passed and assentedto on 3rd June, 2014. It is an Act to providefor the variation of certain duties and taxes andto introduce provisions of a fiscal nature andfor related matters. Among the provisions madewere amendments to the Corporation Tax Act,the Petroleum Tax Act, the Customs Act, theGambling and Betting Act and the LiquorLicences Act. A full copy of the Finance Act2014 can be access on www.ttparliament.org.

Business investment in filmTrinidad and Tobago’s first big film aboutsteelpan with international distribution, PAN!Our Modern Odyssey premieres with live panin France on June 24 at the world’s largestdocumentary TV festival, Sunny Side of theDoc. This is a unique opportunity for thebusiness community to invest in the arts andculture and advance diversification efforts. Forfull information visit www.pan.tt. Help putT&T on the map.


Finance & Economy32

Leaders and LaggardsOf the 93 recognised primary indices byBloomberg, the top performing index for thefirst quarter of 2014 was the United ArabEmirates Stock Market Index, posting anenviable market return of 32.08% (in USDterms). European countries posted mixedperformances, indicative of idiosyncraticsovereign considerations within the region.While two European markets were in thebest 5 markets list (Bulgaria and Portugal),three European national indices were amongstthe worst Q1 2014 performers (See Table1). Russia and Ukraine recorded the leastimpressive equity performance for the quarter,attributable to on-going tensions and threatof military action between the two nations.

ASIA DIVERGENCEAsian financial markets, on average, contracted1.06% over the period. Of the major Asianmarkets by market capitalization, India wasthe star performer. The BSE Sensex 30, India’sbenchmark equity index, was up 9.2% at theend of Q1 2014 compared to a decline of 2.5%in the comparable period 2013, one of thehighest returns in the Asian space.India’s strong performance for the first quarter2014 has been driven by elections currentlyunderway in the country. Foreign InstitutionalInvestors (FIIs) are expecting a more stableand reformist government post-election, whichwould increase the pace of economic recoveryexpected in FY15 and FY16. For the threemonths ended 31st March 2014, FII equityinflows to India were over US$3.5 billion,compared to US$10 billion for the comparablequarter 2013. Notwithstanding the weaker FIIflows, the Indian market was the top performerof the top ten largest equity markets excludingthe US (See Exhibit 1). As at 24th April 2014,the Indian Sensex was up 9.58% in USD terms.Indonesia also performed commendably,registering a return of 19.51% in USD terms,earning a place in the top 5 best performingindices. China showed signs of economicweakness during the first quarter but theeconomy’s growth is still one of the highestin the emerging market sphere. The ShanghaiComposite Index ended the quarter down 6.5%in USD terms.

LATIN AMERICA MIXEDBrazil’s Ibovespa Index which gained by 2.3%in Q1 2014, was fuelled by positive marketsentiment regarding economic policies for thefuture. With the October 2014 elections drawingnear, waning popularity for President DilmaRousseff spurred a market rally in hopes of amore market-friendly Government or thatPresident Rousseff would adjust to moreaccommodative economic policies. As at 24thApril, 2014 the Brazilian equity market was up6.6% in USD terms. The Brazilian Real hasappreciated 3.8% on a quarterly basis fromBRL2.36 to BRL2.27 at the end of the firstquarter, as investor’s comfort with Brazilian

World Equity Markets Q1 2014

his week we at Bourse review theperformance of international equitymarkets and consider the potentialopportunities available to investors.

When compared to the same period last year,international equities started off on a muchcooler note in Q1 2014. Developed marketsregistered a volatile performance whencompared to an upward trajectory 12 monthsearlier. The Asian and Latin American regionsshowed more promise in 2014. Russia-Ukrainepolitical tensions, economy-unfriendly weatherconditions and investor uncertainty pulledfinancial markets in several directions, whilemajor central banks continued to keep interestrates at historical lows to aid economic growth.

T

Table 1:

Finance & Economy 33

exposure increases. The star performer of theregion for the first quarter was Colombia withthe main equity index reporting a quarterly upsideof almost 4%. The favourable returns were dueto improvements in economic indicators,including better-than-expected GDP growth inthe fourth quarter of 2013. In contrast, the stockmarket indices of the Latin American countriesMexico, Chile and Peru were broadly lowerduring the first quarter. Despite this, analystprojections remain favourable on both the marketsand economies, forecasting positive returns byyear-end 2014 due to reform activity andoptimistic economic outlooks (see Exhibit 2).

USThe S&P 500 has advanced 1.3% on a quarterlybasis, ending the first quarter of 2014 at 1872.34after ending the year 2013 at 1848.36. Theprogression marks the fifth straight quarterlygain for the index. As at 24th April 2014, theS&P 500 was up 1.6%. At the last FederalReserve (FED) meeting on March 19th 2014,

the FED announced a further reduction of itsmonthly bond purchases from $65 billion to$55 billion. The Federal Reserve hasemphasized that it intends to keep interestrates low for an extended period after the endof the tapering cycle. Most major researchhouses foresee interest rates being raised duringthe second half of 2015. The US economy iscontinuing to show signs of resilience. TheIMF in a recent report projected 2.8% GDPgrowth in the US in 2014 and 3% growth in2015, which would be much improved fromthe 1.9% attained in 2013. There is a generallyoptimistic sentiment among investorsanticipating higher corporate earnings in 2014,leading to expectations of further upside inthe US markets. The average projection amonganalysts is a potential appreciation of 6%, withthe S&P 500 ending the year at 1970.

EUROPEAfter two years of contraction, Europe’seconomic indicators showed signs of


improvement over Q1 2014. The EuropeanCentral Bank projected that in 2014 all EUeconomies are expected to register positivegrowth, excluding Cypress and Slovenia. Thevulnerable PIIGS, (Portugal, Italy, Ireland,Greece and Spain) have also registeredmoderate rebounds with the expectation of animproved performance leading into 2015.During the quarter, tensions between Ukraineand Russia over the city of Crimea intensifiedand earned both equity market indices a placeon the worst performers for the first quarter2014. The Europe Index ended the quarter up1.4% in USD terms and up 2.5% as at 24thApril, 2014.

A Good Time to Invest?For investors with medium to long-termoutlooks, the international equity marketspresent several opportunities. Access tointernational equity markets can be achievedthrough direct equity purchases, ExchangeTraded Funds (ETFs) or locally listed mutuallyfunds focused on international markets.Countries/regions experiencing marketcorrections or facing uncertainty throughgeopolitical events may offer clients anencouraging entry point into these markets. Ina similar vein, investment destinations whichare gaining momentum could also provideinvestors with a chance to benefit from upwardtrajectory through improving economic andmarket sentiment. Equity investments one ofthe riskier and ultimately more rewardinginvestment asset classes, characterized byswings in market prices. Investors should, asalways, consult with qualified investmentadvisors in deciding which equity investmentsare best suited for their risk appetite andportfolio.

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34 Finance & Economy

Economic and Financial StatisticsTrinidad and TobagoTable 1: Summary of Central Government Fiscal Operations (TT$ Millions)

2013/2014p 2012/2013re 2011/2012

Revenue 55,040.8 52,984.8 49,277.9

Energy 29,096.9 26,748.0 26,625.8

Non-energy 25,944.0 26,236.8 22,652.1

Expenditure 61,397.9 59,198.5 51,474.8

Current 53,397.9 50,953.3 44,487.1

Wages and salaries 8,942.3 9,618.8 7,282.3

Goods and services 8,887.7 7,969.3 7,061.6

Interest Payments 2,968.3 3,063.7 2,937.1

Transfers and Subsidies 32,599.6 30,301.5 27,206.1

Capital expenditure & net lending 8,000.0 8,245.2 6,987.7

Source: Monetary Policy Report, Nov 2013, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago P: Preliminary Estimates Re: revised estimates

Table 2: Summary of Economic IndicatorsINDICATOR 2013p 2012 2011

Real Sector Activity

Real GDP (y-o-y % change) -0.5* 1.2 -2.6

Energy (y-o-y % change) -4.1* -1.0 -3.9

Non Energy (y-o-y % change) 1.9* 1.9 -0.5

Headline Inflation (y-o-y % change) 5.6 7.2 5.3

Headline Inflation (% average) 5.2 9.3 5.2

Core Inflation (% average) 2.4 2.5 1.7

Unemployment Rate (% average) n.a. 5.0 4.9

Source: Economic Bulletin January 2014, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago *Year-on-Year Change for QIII 2013


2013 2012 2011

DEBT/GDP

Barbados 92.0 85.9 78.0

Guyana 58.2 65.3 65.2

Jamaica 142.7 146.1 141.6

CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE/GDP

Barbados -1.9 -1.7 -1.1

Guyana -5.8 -4.5 -4.6

Jamaica -15.9 -13.5 -15.6

REAL GDP

Barbados 1.1 -1.7 1.0

Guyana 0.4 -0.5 1.4

Jamaica 0.2 -0.9 1.8

Source: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, Oct 2013

Regional IndicatorsTable 3: Selected Macroeconomic Indicators for the Caribbean

International Indicators

Quarterly Per Cent Change

2013

QI QII QII QIV

United States 0.3 0.6 1.0 0.6

United Kingdom 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.7

Euro Area -0.2 0.3 0.1 0.3

Japan 1.2 1.0 0.3 0.3

Sourced from Bloomberg by Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

Table 1: Advanced Economics - Quarterly GDP Growth

Per Cent

Dec-13 Nov-13 Oct-13 Sep-13 Aug-13 Jul-13

United States 6.7 7.0 7.3 7.2 7.3 7.4

United Kingdom 7.2 7.1 7.4 7.6 7.7 7.7

Euro Area 12.0 12.1 12.1 12.2 12.1 12.1

Japan 3.7 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.1 3.8

Sourced Bloomberg

Table 2: Rate of Unemployment in Developed Countries

The Chamber's "CONTACT with theChamber" radio series is a five minuteprogramme which airs every Tuesday at7:25a.m. on the I95.5FM morning show. Thisprogramme is voiced by the CEO of theChamber, Catherine Kumar and is one of themeans by which the Chamber communicateswith members and the public at large. Theseries focuses on business-oriented subjects,social responsibility and other issues affectingour country.

The Chamber wishes to thank the most recentsponsors of its programme which has made itpossible for us to continue expressing our

The Chamber’s “CONTACT with the Chamber” radio series

views on matters affecting our community.They are: Voice Outsourcing LimitedforApril, Pharmaco Limited for May andGA Farrell & Associates Limited for June2014.

We also open our doors to all membersinterested in coming on board as short-termsponsors of “CONTACT with the Chamber”, for packages of one, two or three months.Sponsorship is at a cost of TT $900.00 perprogramme. Your organization will becredited on I95.5FM and recognized throughother communications produced by theChamber.

For more information on sponsorship andbranding opportunities please contact: MalikaRouff, Members Communications and PROfficer, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber ofIndustry and Commerce Columbus CircleWestmoorings P.O Box 499 Port of Spain.

Tel: (868) 637-6966 Ext. 289Fax: (868) 637-7425Email: [email protected]: www.chamber.org.tt

36

Economic OutlookInflationCore inflation reduced from 2.9 per cent in September to 1.9 per

cent in October 2013 and is expected to remain stable for the

rest of the year. Food inflation rose slightly to 3.7 per cent in

October 2013 from 3.0 per cent in September 2013. In the twelve

months to October 2013, headline inflation decelerated to 2.7

per cent from 3.0 per cent in September and 5.1 per cent in

August 2013.

Monetary PolicyLiquidity levels in the banking system remain high and business

lending contracted for the tenth consecutive month in September

2013. The Central Bank continues to maintain the “Repo” rate

at 2.75 percent.

Consumer lending increased by almost 6.0 per cent in September

2013, slightly lower than the 6.3 per cent growth posted in the

previous month but up from 2.3 per cent at the end of 2012.

Finance & Economy


Business lending, fell by 3.7% in September 2013 compared

with a decline of 5.8 per cent in August 2013 and growth of 1.0

per cent a year earlier. A sectoral examination of commercial

banks’ business loans showed contractions in lending to the

finance, manufacturing and petroleum sectors.

Energy Sector PerformanceLarge scale maintenance activity in the natural gas and downstream

industries in September resulted in a sharp contraction of just

over 4.0 per cent (year-on-year) in energy sector activity in the

third quarter of 2013. The fall-off in natural gas production

impacted the entire energy sector, with the production and

exploration, and refining sub-industries contracting by 5.0 per

cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively. With the majority of the

maintenance work completed production in the energy sector is

expected to return to more normal levels in 2014.

Source: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago


Finance & Economy 37

Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited(JMMB) was next with 7.33 per cent of alltrades or 2,664,824 shares changingownership. This was followed by TrinidadCement Limited (TCL) with 4.99 per centof the total volume traded or 1,813,565 shareschanging hands.

On the TTD Mutual Fund Market, anoteworthy 3,218,436 CLICO InvestmentFund (CIF) units traded in Q114 with a valueof $71,299,446.78. CIF closed Q114 at$21.85, down 0.64 per cent or $0.14.Additionally, 10,000 Praetorian PropertyMutual Fund (PPMF) units traded with atotal value of $34,070.10. PPMF’s pricedeclined 4.23 per cent or $0.15 in Q114 toclose at $3.40.

Overall there were 12 stocks advancing and15 declining in the first quarter. The majoradvance in Q114 was L.J. Williams ‘B’Limited (LJWB) with an increase of 38.46per cent or $0.25 to close at $0.90. NationalFlour Mills Limited (NFM) followed, postinga 32.63 per cent gain or $0.31 to $1.26. Neal& Massy Holdings Limited (NML) roundedoff the top three, up 10.50 per cent or $6.30to end Q114 at $66.31.

Flavorite Foods Limited (FFL) led the declinesin Q114, dropping 14.74 per cent or $1.21 toclose the period at $7.00. The second majordecline was First Citizens Bank Limited(FIRST), down 13.07 per cent or $5.26 to$34.99. Next was Angostura Holdings Limited(AHL) which fell 11.79 per cent or $1.47 to$11.00.

Dividend Payments

Highlights for the First Quarter of 2014

March 2014• Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited(JMMB) informed the Stock Exchange thatthe company (JMMB), through its Trinidadiansubsidiary JMMB Investments (Trinidad andTobago) Limited, has received the approvalof its Regulators for the acquisition of AICSecurities Limited (a securities dealer andstock broker, headquartered in Trinidad).JMMB, therefore, will now seek to move tocomplete the transaction which, uponsuccessful completion, will see it acquiring100% of AIC Securities Limited, which is amember of the AIC Financial Group.

February 2014• 103,642,984 BCB Holdings Limited FundUnits (BCB) were de-listed from the StockExchange on Tuesday February 4, 2014. Thede-listing order was granted pursuant to anapplication for de-listing made by theExchange. On January 15 2014, the Board ofCommissioners considered the applicationand approved the de-listing.

January 2014• Sagicor Group Jamaica announced that thecompany will be acquiring RBC Royal Bank(Jamaica) Limited and RBTT Securities

First Quarter 2014 Review

Local Market SummaryThe three month period ended March 31, 2014(Q114) saw all three Indices on the localequity market close in negative territory. TheComposite Index declined 1.16 per cent or13.77 points to close Q114 at 1,171.28, theAll Trinidad and Tobago Index fell a minimal0.33 per cent or 6.52 points to 1,987.20 andthe Cross Listed Index ended the first quarterat 46.62, down 5.68 per cent or 2.81 points.

Market activity on the First Tier Market morethan doubled in Q114 when compared to thesame period in 2013. A total of 36,377,788shares crossed the floor in Q114, up 120.18per cent from 16,521,966 shares traded inQ113. When compared to the previous quarter(Q413), volumes traded rose 49.76 per centfrom 24,290,021 shares. The value of sharestraded increased a significant 32.37 per centfrom $247,713,824.78 in Q113 to$327,889,600.28 in Q114. Comparing Q114on Q413, the value of shares traded rose 19.48per cent from $274,420,590.18.

The volume leader for the period under reviewwas National Commercial Bank JamaicaLimited (NCBJ) commanding 58.18 per centof the market with 21,162,943 shares traded.


Finance & Economy38

Jamaica Limited (collectively “RBC Jamaica”)from Royal Bank of Canada. The acquisition,subject to all regulatory approvals, is expectedto be finalized in the coming months. Thepurchase price of the agreement is estimatedat JA$9B.

• Neal & Massy advised that on December 30,2013, the Group purchased an additional42.708% stake in NMGPL from its formerjoint venture partner, Air Liquide International,S.A., to attain a 100% controlling interest inNMGPL. Prior to the acquisition Neal & Massyowned a 57.292% stake in NMGPL. NMGPLowns a 100% stake in IGL and this acquisitionnow renders IGL a fully owned subsidiary ofthe Neal & Massy Group.

• Neal & Massy Holdings Limited acquiredan additional 63.3% stake in GablewoodsSupermart Limited. Prior to the acquisition,Neal & Massy owned 36.7% of Gablewoods,a Company registered in St. Lucia. Gablewoodsholds a 60% interest in Consolidated FoodsLtd. whose principal activity is the operationof supermarket chains in both St. Lucia andSt. Vincent. On December 31, 2013, Neal &Massy entered into a sale agreement with theshareholders of Gablewoods to acquire 100%controlling interest, through the acquisition of63.3% of Gablewoods’ share capital. Thepurpose of the acquisition was to increase Neal& Massy’s ownership in Gablewoods to acontrolling interest. This initiative permitsNeal & Massy to expand its presence in foodretail by acquiring the leading supermarketchain in St. Lucia.

Fixed Income Market SummaryAccording to the March 2014 Monetary PolicyAnnouncement released by the Central Bankof Trinidad & Tobago, headline inflationmeasured 3.90 per cent as at February 2014,an increase from 2.90 per cent in January anda decline from 5.90 per cent a year earlier.Core inflation, which excludes the impact offood prices, accelerated to 2.70 per cent inFebruary 2014 from 2.00 per cent in December2013. In March 2014, the yield on the 1-yearOpen Market Operations (OMOs) remainedunchanged from February 2014 at 0.41 percent. The Central Bank has maintained the

Repo Rate, the rate at which it lends tocommercial banks, at 2.75 per cent.

Key Rates

Jamaica Market SummaryFor the first quarter ended March 31, 2014,the major benchmark, the JSE Market Index,declined 5,405.99 points or 6.70 per cent toclose Q114 at 75,227.56. Market activity onthe Jamaica Stock Exchange resulted in865,794,267 shares traded, an outstandingincrease of 154.12 per cent when comparedto the 340,709,404 shares traded in Q113.When compared to the previous quarter(Q413), volumes traded were up 104.21 percent from 423,968,192 shares. The value ofshares traded for the quarter under review

amounted to J$3,498,951,609.78. Thisrepresented a decline of 2.56 per cent fromQ113’s total of J$3,591,034,101.85 and adecline of 35.98 per cent from Q413’s valueof J$5,465,213,069.13. The volume leaderwas LIME with 61.15 per cent of the marketor 529,474,298 shares traded.

In Q114, the major advance was LIME, whichrose 168.75 per cent or J$0.27 to close atJ$0.43. Hardware & Lumber (HL) followed,up 63.93 per cent or J$3.90 to J$10.00. Thethird major advance was Ciboney GroupLimited (CBNY), increasing 40.00 per centor J$0.02 to close the period at J$0.07.

Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) led thedeclines falling 24.46 per cent or J$0.68 toend Q114 at J$2.10. Next in line was PulseInvestments (PULS), which fell 12.64 per centor J$0.11 to J$0.76. This was followed byKingston Properties Limited (KPREIT), down11.11 per cent or J$0.50 to close the firstquarter at J$4.00

Energy Prices

Global Market Indices

Energy Update40


n its four years in office, the People'sPartnership government has introducedmore legislation relating to the energysector – particularly the upstream part

of it – than any previous administration inTrinidad and Tobago's history.

All of that has been benign, offering taxincentives to companies to go out andundertake the activities the Ministry of Energyand Energy Affairs (MEEA) deems necessaryto halt the worrying decline in crude oilproduction in particular (details on that laterin this story).

One legislative move being considered by thegovernment, however, will be restrictive,rather than expansionary, and may not be aswelcome to companies as the others haveundoubtedly been.This is not to say that theinitiative under review is necessarily unwise:on the contrary, it could be very positive asfar as national development is concerned butit will limit exploration and production entitiesin their choice of service providers. The matterrevolves around the subject of local content,which all Ministers of Energy over the yearshave declared it their intention to encourage.

All competitive bidding orders for productionsharing contracts (PSCs) and exploration andproduction (E&P) licence rounds havecontained a requirement that bidders indicatetheir plans for “the maximum utilisation ofservices and facilities available in Trinidadand Tobago in both the exploration andproduction phases.”

That is meant to encourage them to hire localservice providers in preference to foreignproviders, so the former can obtain the workthat will help stimulate the domestic economy(foreign providers are assumed to take theirmoney out of the country and to employ

Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan in August, 2010and said to be still applicable, was moreexplicit in its description of local content(which attracted 10 points in the overallconsideration of whether a project should beapproved or not). It judged local content toinclude local ownership, equity and debtfinancing from local institutions, locallyprovided engineering design, feasibilitystudies, project management and technicalskills, particularly in information technology.It will be interesting to see what definitionMEEA comes up with after the “publicconsultation”.

A degree of controversy will probablysurround the forthcoming examination of howlocal content can be made compulsory and towhat extent but there was widespreadacceptance of fiscal incentives for upstreamenergy activity in the PP budgets for the lastfour years. These incentives were not given“vi-ki-vi” but were meant to encourage thecompanies to take action in specific areas toachieve results the Ministry wanted.

For example, in order to encourage an increasein crude oil production from mature (25 yearsold) and small (production rate of up to 1,500b/d) oilfields, a reduction of 20% onsupplemental petroleum tax (SPT) was offeredin 2010. An investment tax credit of 20% onSPT for qualifying expenditure for thedevelopment of both types of fields, as wellas the application of enhanced oil recovery(EOR) methods, was also introduced. SPTitself was also fixed in that budget at 18% forland and (forthcoming, it is hoped) deep waterproduction.

Deep water exploration and production isvery much an activity MEEA wants to seehappen and, in addition to the favourable SPTrate, it also re-defined deep water (for tax

foreigners rather than local people). But thewording is imprecise to start with:“servicesand facilities available in Trinidad andTobago” could also cover overseas serviceproviders who have set up an office in thecountry.

Even if genuinely local firms – those ownedby locals – did get some of the businessavailable during exploration and productionactivities, there is no specific percentage ofthe work they should receive and no monetaryvalue put on it. The Minister of Energy andEnergy Affairs, Kevin Christian Ramnarine,wants to tighten up on this situation and makelocal content mandatory, not discretionary.

At the Energy Chamber’s annual conferencein Port of Spain in February he stated, “I wantto stress the importance of local content inour energy sector. There is a local contentpolicy that is dated 2006. This will be updatedin 2014 following public consultations andserious consideration is being given tolegislating local content in the energy sector,as had been done in Norway. Local companiesin the energy sector must be afforded a fairchance to benefit from the resurgence ofactivity in our upstream sector.” We shall seehow far all this goes in 2014, bearing in mindthe Minister only has one more year in officebefore a general election must be called.

His prime difficulty may well be in definingwhat really is a “local company.” The localcontent policy to which he refers took a stabat it, by saying it should be defined “in termsof the level of local ownership, control, anddecision-making” and the degree of “localfinancing” involved in the company's activities.

The “Evaluation Framework For Allocationof Tranches of Gas for Project Development”,publicised by Ramnarine's predecessor,

Fiscal Agenda inEnergyBy David Renwick, Energy Journalist HBM (Gold)

I

Energy Update 41


purposes) to 400 metres (previously, it startedat 1,000 metres) to benefit more producers.Petroleum profits tax (PPT), paid annuallyafter discounting for quarterly SPT payments,was also lowered to 35% for deep waterproduction.

In 2011, as a further incentive for upstreamactivity, the government removed VAT fromall the equipment coming into the country forupstream work. This was a nuisance tax oncompanies, because they could have reclaimedit later, but it now frees them to spend moneyon actual drilling and other upstream activity.

In a move to encourage companies to developany small oil pool discoveries they may havemade but did not consider commercial, aspecial SPT rate of 25% was introduced in2012. The opportunity was also taken toharmonise SPT on offshore oil production inshallow and average water depths at 33%,the lower of the two different rates thatpreviously applied, again in an effort toincrease output from such fields, where mostof the existing offshore crude productionemanates.

In the same budget, the Ministry took aim atan area of potential oil production it has longbeen eager to see opened-up.

This is the so-called “deep horizon” area onland and offshore, which has remained largelyunexplored over the years. To persuadecompanies to be more adventurous in thisregard, a 140% write-off on exploration costs(dry holes not included) on approved deephorizon wells has been offered for a periodof five years. The specific time frame ispresumably meant to encourage companiesto take quick action. The definition of deephorizon is 8,000 feet on land and 12,000 feetoffshore. The land depth prescribed is notvery onerous and even smaller companiesshould have little difficulty trying their handat that.

The most recent budget, 2013, made theinvestment tax credit of 20% on SPT formature and small oilfields and EORapplication claimable over two years, shouldthe incentive not all be used up in one year.The write-off of exploration costs generally

A response to tax reliefs does take some timeto show results but the trend is clearly not inthe right direction, moreso since the majorityof the incentives were designed to effect short-to-medium term increases in output.

The one area where there has been a positivereaction to incentives is on the deep waterexploration side, though any productionbenefits from that will arise only in the longterm.

Seven deep water blocks are at the pre-drillingstage, with 3D seismic exploration now takingplace.

This is a good number to be going on with,since there has been no such exploration sincethe early 2000's.

But the significant factor is the extraordinaryinterest shown in this exercise by one company– the Anglo/Australian multi-national,BHPBilliton.

It bid for, and won, four deep water blocksin the 2012 auction – TTDAA 5, TTDAA 6,TTDAA 28, TTDAA 29 – and then added23b to the list after improving its bid madein the 2010 round.

The BP Exploration Operating Co. won blocks23a and TTDAA 14 and, according to reportselsewhere, has allowed BHPBilliton to farminto them and assume operatorship. Why BPchose to do such a thing has not been publiclyexplained but it illustrates beyond doubt theAnglo/Australian group confidence in theTrinidad and Tobago deep water.

Even after all that, BHPBilliton still continuedto bid in the most recent deep water round,which closed on March 28, 2014, showinginterest in blocks TTDAA 3 and TTDAA 7.

It was the only bidder on TTDAA 7 and onlyhas competition from Repsol on TTDAA 3.If the observation by BHPBilliton executivesthat Trinidad and Tobago has the potential tobecome “a third core area for the companyafter the US and Australia” proves true, thenfiscal incentives for the deep water will reallyhave achieved the intended result.

was made more attractive for the next fouryears by allowing them to be fully claimed inthe year incurred. 100% of the cost ofworkovers and qualifying sidetracks is nowalso claimable in the first year.

For developing a new oil or gas field, 50% isnow allowable in the first year, 30% in thesecond and 20% in the third, in place of theexisting system.

To encourage gas producers to keep productionup, the installation of compression facilitieswas also encouraged in 2013 via an increasein wear and tear allowance from 25% to 33.3%.

The key question in all this, of course, is –will the incentives achieve their variousobjectives?

Minister Ramnarine seems to think so. In ananswer to a question posed to him in the Senatein January this year, he claimed that “the SPTallowances for mature fields, for EOR and theharmonisation of SPT on offshore production,provided over the period 2010-2014, have ledto increased investments in the energy sector,increased activity and increased revenues fromtaxes.”

He based this observation on the number ofdrilling rigs now active offshore and thedrilling activity being undertaken, with381,164 feet of drilling in 2012 as against185,238 feet in 2010.

The fact that both helicopter companies whichservice the offshore rigs, National HelicopterServices Ltd., (NHSL) and Bristow, are addingto their fleets because they see more business,was also cited to support his case.But the actual production figures, certainly inrelation to crude oil, do not seem to justifyRamnarine's ebullience.

If anything, they do the opposite. Crude oilproduction actually fell by 1,282 b/d onaverage in 2013 – 67,780 b/d, compared with69,062 b/d in 2012.

Of course, production has to rise by a certainamount just for the level to remain stable, asexisting wells deplete and by more than thatto achieve an increase.

Energy StatisticsIn this SECOND quarter issue of CONTACT for 2014, we continue our evaluation of the current statistical data arising from Trinidadand Tobago’s prosperous energy sector. We place special emphasis on crude oil, and natural gas production under both time-series andcross-sectional circumstances.

Energy Update


42

Table E.1 – Crude Oil Production by Companies for Januaryto February 2013 and January to February 2014 (Barrels of oilper day)

Table E.3 – Natural Gas Utilization by Sector for January toFebruary 2013 and January to February 2014 (mmscf/d)

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No. 2 &Vol. 50 Nos 1-11*Figures in red are preliminary

Company January February January February

2013 2013 2014 2014

BG 978 952 778 795

REPSOL 13,295 12,519 9,582 11,111

BPTT 8,561 9,638 6,540 10,726

TRINMAR 21,229 21,509 22,178 23,048

TEPGL 2,245 1,667 1,305 1,271

EOG 1,671 1,956 1,565 1,440

BHP 11,478 10,958 9,478 9,434

PRIMERA 477 530 357 374

PETROTRIN 13,688 13,417 13,058 13,184

TEPL 472 543 442 556

BGCB 931 1,399 1,105 1,114

NHETT 87 65 83 78

NMHERL 113 126 103 133

PETROTRIN (FO) 959 962 787 788

PETROTRIN (LO) 5,800 5,804 6,208 6,171

PETROTRIN (IPSC) 492 509 1,129 1,157

BOLT 3 6 6 8

MORA 507 290 292 295

LAND SUBTOTAL 22,552 22,817 22,836 22,920

MARINE SUBTOTAL 60,437 60,032 52,160 58,765

TOTAL 82,989 82,850 74,996 81,685

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No.2 &Vol. 50 no. 1-11

Table E.2 – Natural Gas Production by Company for Januaryto February 2013 and January to February 2014 (mmscf/d)

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 50 No2. &Vol 50 No. 1-11*Figures in red are preliminary


2013 2013 2014 2014

BPTT 2,403 2,446 1,906 2,344

TRINMAR 20 15 14 14

PETROTRIN 5 5 5 5

EOG 495 504 571 563

BG 1,061 1,007 1,049 1,026

BHP 433 416 426 419

REPSOL 35 35 27 27

TOTAL 4,453 4,429 4,006 4,397

Sector January February January February

2013 2013 2014 2014

Power Generation 290 297 298 306

Ammonia Manufacture 599 623 597 608

Methanol Manufacture 576 572 533 549

Refinery 50 73 64 43

Iron & Steel Manufacture 115 76 113 126

Cement Manufacture 14 15 12 10

Ammonia Derivatives 26 26 24 26

Small Consumers 12 11 11 11

Gas Processing 29 30 27 28

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) 2,417 2,389 2,015 2,407

TOTAL 4,128 4,111 3,695 4,113

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No.2 &Vol. 50 No. 1-11

Table E.4 - Ammonia Production for January to February 2013and January to February 2014 (Tonnes)


2013 2013 2014 2014

YARA 18,518 18,713 22,503 21,789

TRINGEN 1 35,546 35,418 37,811 34,099

TRINGEN 2 45,996 40,397 44,609 43,345

PCS NITROGEN 179,245 170,674 173,241 174,551

POINT LISAS NITROGEN 57,951 48,525 59,263 53,185

CNC 53,332 50,344 55,189 48,815

NITROGEN 2000 38,746 48,126 48,485 25,140

AUM-NH3 3,709 3,449 12,323 1,509

TOTAL 433,043 415,646 453,424 402,433


Table E.5 - Ammonia Export for January to February 2013 andJanuary to February 2014 (Tonnes)


2013 2013 2014 2014

YARA 24,720 24,685 24,678 0

TRINGEN 1 58,324 0 45,126 49,224

TRINGEN 2 26,986 52,429 43,216 58,092

PCS NITROGEN 181,469 116,588 134,210 135,343

POINT LISAS

NITROGEN 45,063 25,000 69,156 34,500

CNC 44,638 33,647 68,707 57,946

NITROGEN 2000 42,483 51,060 55,564 44,206

AUM-NH3 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 423,683 303,408 440,657 379,311

Energy Update 45


Energy StatisticsChart E.2 Natural Gas Production by Company (mmscf/d)

Chart E.3 Natural Gas Utilisation by Sector (mmscf/d)

Chart E.4 Ammonia Production (Tonnes)Chart E.1 - Crude Oil Production by Companies (barrels perday)

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 49 No. 1-12 &Vol. 50 No. 1-11

Table E.6 - Methanol Production for January to February 2013and January to February 2014 (Tonnes)


2013 2013 2014 2014

TTMC I 30,458 664 34,862 29,548

CMC 41,758 40,502 43,315 41,329

TTMC II 40,549 40,932 45,526 40,670

MIV 48,059 46,440 45,885 17,025

TITAN 69,565 63,579 41,193 38,336

ATLAS 129,579 138,473 125,541 130,143

M5000 161,717 130,611 119,373 144,219

TOTAL 521,685 461,201 455,696 441,270


Table E.6 - Methanol Exports for January to February 2013and January to February 2014 (Tonnes)


2013 2013 2014 2014

TTMC I 30,754 9,224 0 0

CMC 200,744 206,916 199,942 184,004

TTMC II 0 0 32,971 44,626

MIV 0 0 0 0

TITAN 62,551 35,387 67,100 31,496

ATLAS 130,596 78,863 125,711 129,713

M5000 124,981 37,027 43,415 49,582

TOTAL 549,626 367,416 469,138 439,422

Corporate Social ResponsibilityThe Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)Committee was established in November 2007as one of the Chamber’s special focuscommittees providing support and assistancein areas relevant to its members. TheCommittee’s mission is to build a platformfor learning, advocacy and technical assistancethat enables every business to be an activepartner in creating a socially andenvironmentally sustainable Trinidad andTobago. Corporate Social Responsibility is acommitment by companies to contribute tosustainable development by working withemployees, their families, other organisations,communities, government, and the society atlarge, to improve the quality of life and theenvironment in ways that are good for bothbusiness and social development.

The Committee’s mandate is to serve thelearning needs of its members, as well as toprovide advocacy and technical assistanceusing practical, realistic and adaptedapproaches that enable these organisationsand individuals to maximise the efficiencyand effectiveness with which they undertakeCSR activities. This approach encompassesworking not only with members, but engagingother Chambers, civil society, public sectorand international organizations. Objectives:• LearningThe CSR Committee provides members andother stakeholders with access to relevantCSR related course materials to assist indeveloping an understanding and appreciationof CSR, both conceptually and in practice.This enables members to better incorporate

CSR into their organisations and fostermore responsible business practices. • AdvocacyThe CSR Committee provides a forum foradvocacy with key stakeholders tofacilitate an enabling environment thatencourages private sector investment inCSR related activities. • Technical AssistanceThe CSR Committee is working with itsmembers through outreach forums,workshops and individual meetings toassist in the implementation of CSRactivities and initiatives that are strategicin nature, in line with their core businesspractices and focused towards sustainabledevelopment.

Energy Statistics

Energy Update46

Chart E.6 Methanol Production (Tonnes)


Chart E.5 Ammonia Export (Tonnes)

Chart E.7 Methanol Exports (Tonnes)

48


he Environmental Management Authority(EMA) is pleased to announce thedesignation of five species of sea turtlesas Environmentally Sensitive Species(ESS) the: Leatherback, Green, Olive

Ridley, Loggerhead, and Hawksbill.

The EMA through its ESS Rules has been declaringspecies of Trinidad and Tobago protected accordingto criteria set out in said Rules. This designationmakes a species eligible for special protection andmanagement under the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.

“Through this designation the EMA has considerablycontributed to reinforcing existing legislation towardssafeguarding these magnificent creatures”, said Dr.Allan Bachan, Chairman, EMA. He continued, “thesespecies have for too long been victims of unfortunatedemise, from gillnet fishing, poaching, taking ofeggs, predation of eggs by dogs and by-catch. Whatis needed now is strict enforcement and patrolswithin the nesting areas across Trinidad and Tobago.With the onset of the additional one hundredEnvironmental Police Officers, the EMA will be betterpositioned to assist in reducing the numbers ofharmful incidents against these Sea Turtles andtheir habitats.

Why was this step taken?According to Ms. Gayatri Badri-Maharaj, Ag.Managing Director, EMA, for years the subject ofsea turtle protection has been blurred by conflictinglegislation. The EMA’s process to designate thesespecies started in 2005 with the AdministrativeRecord and Legal Notices submitted for comments.At this time sea turtles were considered fish andthere was an open season for hunting turtles. TheEMA was pleased, when the Cabinet approved anamendment of the Fisheries Act Chapter 67:51 toprotect turtles and turtle eggs in 2011, titling thema prohibited species. The amendment to the fisheriesAct prohibits the taking, removing or selling of anyturtle eggs and also prohibits the killing, harpooningor selling of any turtle. It was not until this amendmentto the Act that the EMA was able to proceed withthe designation under the ESS Rules. In additionto this, all five species are considered endangeredunder the International Union for Conservation ofNature (IUCN) list and all are considered threatenedspecies.

T

Legislation to Protect Sea Turtles

Exactly what does this Designation mean forthese Sea Turtles?According to the legislation the following activitiesare prohibited unless otherwise approved by therelevant Authority in accordance with existing laws:

a) the taking, removing, harming, injuring, hunting,selling or killing of the ESS and possession of,or trade in any specimen of the living animaland its parts, eggs and products;

b) deliberate or reckless capture or endangermentof the ESS through the setting of nets and otherfishing activities;

c) deliberate or reckless capture of the ESS incommercial shrimp trawler nets;

d) the use of any device or substance that mayharm, stun or impact negatively on the ESS.The negative impacts would be, but not limitedto, those that would impair the sight, hearing,ability to swim or move of the ESS or its abilityto detect prey and predators or affect its habitator nesting ground;

e) the sale, consumption, possession, offering orstorage of the ESS;

f) dumping, littering or polluting, including thedischarging or depositing of any substances thatare injurious to the ESS which does not complywith the provisions made under the Act;

g) the disturbance of the ESS at any time;h) the removal and exportation of the ESS or any

part thereof, except for scientific researchapproved by the designated managementauthority;

i) disturbing, destroying or any other action orhabitat alteration (including beach mining, landreclamation, and alteration due to fisheries,agricultural and industrial development) that willalter or upset the integrity of the beach, habitator surrounding ecosystems or cause unduedisturbance to the plant or animal communityupon which the ESS depends at any phase ofits life cycle; and

j) any other activity which, based on technical orscientific evidence, is determined to cause or islikely to cause harm to the ESS.

BackgroundSince its inception in 1995, one of the core functionsof the EMA has been to create and enforce lawsand regulations for environmental management as

guided by the Environmental Management ActChapter 35:05 (EM Act). The protection andpreservation of threatened plants, ecosystems andanimals fall under this tenet, whereby the EMAdevelops and enforces both the EnvironmentallySensitive Areas Rules 2001 (ESA Rules) and theEnvironmentally Sensitive Species Rules 2001 (ESSRules) which govern the treatment and protectionof these areas and species.

According to Section 70 (2) of the EM Act “Anyperson who knowingly or recklessly undertakes orconspires to allow any activity with respect to an“environmentally sensitive species” which may havean adverse impact on such species, commits anoffence and is liable, on conviction on indictment,to a fine of one hundred thousand dollars andimprisonment for two years.”

An EMA designated Environmentally SensitiveSpecies (ESS) is any species:

• that is indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago or,although not indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago,is present in Trinidad and Tobago for a part ofits life or reproductive cycle

• that throughout all or a part of its range is, or islikely to become, in danger of extinction andwhose survival is unlikely if the factorsjeopardising it continue to operate

• that is required to be protected for the purposeof meeting the Government’s internationalobligations

Other Species already declared EnvironmentallySensitive by the EMA are:

• Trinidad Piping Guan or Pawi (Pipile pipile);• White-tai led Sabrewing humming bird

(Campylopterus ensipennis) ;• West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus

manatus) local name - Manatee, lamantin, seacow;

• Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) local name - tigercat or leopard cat; and

• Golden Tree Frog (Phyllodytes auratus) localname- El Tucuche golden frog

For further information on the EMA’s legislation visitour website at www.ema.co.tt.

EMA

50


n its latest economic outlook for Latin Americaand the Caribbean (LAC), the InternationalMonetary Fund projected continued low growthof 2.5% for 2014. Low levels of public andprivate investment in Research and

Development, economic overdependence on naturalresources and a widening productivity gap wereidentified as contributing to regional economicstagnation. Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Minister ofPlanning and Sustainable Development, posits thatthe foundation of competitive economies is thedevelopment of high value products and servicesthat compete on the basis of quality, value andinnovation. In fact, within the dynamic globalenvironment, where nations vie to becomeknowledge economies, the ability of individuals,firms and institutions to innovate, has become thenew driver of sustainable competitive advantage,economic transformation and long term growth.

Regional progress can only be achieved throughdeeper integration of efforts and enhanced co-operation especially between the public and privatesector. The Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF)brings together government officials, businessleaders and academics in the Western Hemisphereto share best practices for achieving economiccompetitiveness and promoting innovation in theCaribbean and the wider Americas. During the periodOctober 8th – 10th 2014, Trinidad and Tobagothrough the Ministry of Planning and SustainableDevelopment, will host the eighth edition of theAmericas Competitiveness Forum, at the HyattRegency Hotel, Port of Spain. Over 1,000 high levellocal, regional and international representatives areexpected to attend.

The theme of the VIII ACF is ‘The Human Imaginationat Work, Driving Competitiveness, PoweringInnovation’ which underscores the critical importanceof improving innovation levels for regionalsustainability and prosperity. Through this theme,the VIII ACF will focus on the pressing challenges

I

Driving regional competitiveness andbusiness growth through the VIIIAmericas Competitiveness Forum

Ministry of Planning

“Imagination is more important than knowledge." — Albert Einstein

affecting regional competitiveness and theopportunities for innovation in areas such as,sustainable energy, financing for small and mediumsized enterprises and education reform. Thediscussions will also elaborate on the importance ofestablishing more effective national innovationpolicies and eco systems, the complementarygovernance mechanisms and the expansive role ofthe private sector. The human imagination can onlyflourish in an environment in which the supportmechanisms required to guide and leverageimaginative outputs are implemented. Private sectorintervention is mandatory in developing these supportmechanisms to facilitate greater access to financing,intellectual property protection, business incubation,robust research and development institutions andthe commercialising of entrepreneurial products andservices as key elements constituting effectivenational innovation eco-systems.

This year, the VIII ACF will strengthen its engagementwith the private sector through the introduction ofspecially focused activities highlighting businessdevelopment strategies and encouraging innovationfor business growth. The Forum will provide aplatform for greater collaboration and networkingamongst participants through initiatives such asConnectAmericas, the first social network forbusinesses in the Americas. ConnectAmericas willallow participants to initiate strategic businesscontacts that can result in access to internationalmarkets, new business partnerships and increasedfinancing options. Additionally, the InvestAmericasNetwork, will be launched at the VIII ACF, as a spacefor reinforced interaction among the private sectorand investors, third party service providers, enterprisesupport organisations and other enterprises. Privatesector participants will also have the opportunity forone on one meetings with renowned experts andinnovators from across various fields, imparting theirknowledge, advice and expertise on overcomingorganisational challenges. On the margins of theVIII ACF, an Innovation Village, will serve as an

exhibition space to promote innovative products,services and processes in the fields of Informationand Communications Technology, Health and Safety,Environment and Defence.

The VIII ACF will feature 40 high level speakersincluding; Suhas Gopinath, who is recognised asthe world’s youngest Chief Executive Officer andalso the founder and Chairman of Global Inc., anIndian IT multinational company offering quality ITsolutions for various industries in the form ofdisruptive and innovative solutions. Another featuredspeaker, Frans Johansson, a dynamic andinspirational innovation thought leader, is the founderand CEO of the Medici Group and author of criticallyacclaimed The Medici Effect and The Click Moment. In addition, Dr. Raul Cuero, distinguished professorand research leader is the Research Director of theInternational Park of Creativity with locations in theUS, Colombia and Israel. This initiative aims totransform imaginative youths into innovators with afocus on science, technology and new paradigmsfor economic sustainability and social progress.

The VIII ACF is an inclusive event with benefits forall stakeholders. The ideas shared and knowledgeexchanged will not only grow intellectual capacitybut also act as an important catalyst for improvingpolicy making, fine tuning business strategy andfacilitating complementarity between the two. Theintellectual richness and thought provokingexperiences that the ACF promises has the potentialto forge a new approach to achieving regionalcompetitiveness. Regional participation is consideredvital to the success of the VIII ACF. Trinidad andTobago extends an open invitation to governmentleaders, private sector executives, multi-lateralagencies, non-governmental agencies, academicinstitutions and the general public to be part of anexciting programme of activities guaranteed tostimulate and provoke the human imagination.

52


any of you may have heard stories orunfortunately, even experienced asituation where a stern faced receiveror liquidator (and numerous of hisassistants) has walked into a business

and immediately it’s clear to all that The End isnear! The “Corporate Undertaker” had arrived toremove the carcass of the demised organization.It has long been the history in Trinidad and Tobago,when debts could not be recovered, that receiversare appointed to effectively shut down or close upthe business. Even from my own experience ininsolvency I remember a gentleman who havingbeen terminated at one company, immediatelypacked up his bags and left when he saw thereceiver’s team walking in on the first day at anothercompany. In the past incarnation of the law, theelement of surprise was in fact a key feature forenforcing a secured debtor’s security in order torecover debts due. In truth, there was no practicalscope in law to restructure a company that wasinsolvent and rehabilitate or resuscitate the companybefore its demise.

In 2007 the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act 2007(BIA) was passed in the house of Representativeand the Senate. The BIA will supersede the windingup sections of the Companies Act Chap 81:01, andreplace the Bankruptcy Act Chap 9:70. However,the BIA was only proclaimed on 29 May 2014 asthe enabling structures required to support the Act,such as the setting up the Office of Supervisor ofInsolvency, the regulations and the retooling of theJudiciary, were only recently put in place. The BIAwill cover all aspects of insolvency and be applicableto both companies and individuals.

A key element of the BIA is that it gives debtors theability to present a proposal for exiting bankruptcyin a manner other than via a coffin. In essence, thereign of the undertaker may now be over. Enter, theCorporate Surgeons. Now, for the first time, debtors(i.e. companies, partnerships, individuals, etc.) cansubmit proposals for the formal restructuring of theirfinancial commitments under the guidance of theCourt. This is likely to lead to benefits for bothdebtors and creditors.

Another key change is the establishment of aregulatory office called the Supervisor of Insolvency

M

New systems for the CorporateUndertakers

which would be responsible for the registration oftrustees and providing oversight for the executionof insolvency mandates.

It is hoped that with the above changes, there willbe improvement in the time it takes to resolveinsolvency matters and an increased survival rateof those parties that were unable to make good ontheir financial commitments. However, given thatthe bankruptcy process now sits more firmly withinthe Judicial System, consideration should perhapsbe given by the Judiciary to the appointment ofspecial judges with a finance background or indeedto the establishment of commercial courts toadjudicate these matters to ensure that the greatestbenefits are obtained from this new system.

With respect to the practitioners, there is now arequirement to have a license in order to practiceas a trustee for insolvency matters. Further, underthe BIA a company is also permitted to be registeredas a trustee provided that a majority of its directorsand its officers hold licenses as trustees.This requirement has been extended to personsacting as receivers as well. In order to be granteda license, a trustee must meet including but notlimited to, the following:i. Be of good character and reputationii. Be a resident of Trinidad and Tobago or a holder

of a work permit or exempted from holding awork permit

iii. Be affiliated with a company incorporated underthe Companies Act;

iv. Be a member of one of the following institutions:a. the Institute of Chartered Accountants of

Trinidad and Tobago (ICATT)b. the Institute of Chartered Accountants of

the Caribbean (ICAC)c. the Institute of Internal Auditors of Trinidad

and Tobago (IIATT)d. the Association of Chartered Certified

Accountants (ACCA)e. Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago

v. Be in good standing with, and not subject to,any disciplinary action by any of the aboveprofessional organizations

Although there has been a practice of giving a periodof notice of up to 7 days on demand for enforcementby a secure creditor, the reality is that there was no

legislative obligation. This added to the element ofsurprise and was a method used by creditors topreserve the asset value. Under the new Act, securedcreditors must now give 10 days’ notice of theirintention to enforce their security in order to recovertheir debts. And in the case of receivership, Bankswill now be required to give the debtor notice of theirintention to enforce their security and appoint areceiver. There is an exception however, wherei. A proposal was already filed but not with respect

to that creditor’s security; orii. The proposal was refused by that secured

creditor

In the instance of these exceptions, the creditor isfree to deal with the security as they would normallydo under the Companies Act. The actions ofunsecured creditors would now be stayed (i.e.suspended) and they have an opportunity to votefor or against the proposal.

As noted earlier, the BIA now gives debtors theopportunity to present a proposal on how they wouldemerge from Bankruptcy. This proposal will haveto be developed together with a licensed trustee,accepted by the creditors and approved by the Court.

Once approved it would be binding on all creditorsand implemented by the trustee. If the plan is notapproved then there would be an automaticassignment of the assets for the general benefit ofthe creditors. However once a notice of intentionor a proposal is filed no agreements can be amendedor even terminated because of the insolvency.

Given the new tenants of the Act if your or yourclient’s business is insolvent or showing signs ofinsolvency, such asi. Persistent Cash flow challengesii. Loss of a major client/contractiii. Persistent and long overdue loansiv. Breach in loan covenantsv. Loss of key personnelvi. Continuous decline in revenues and profits

You should reach out to a qualified professionaladvisor for direction and guidance on your optionsand how you should proceed as there are nowavenues for the business to be restructured orrevived.

PWC

By Edmund Phillips, Manager - Advisory Services, PWC

54


Evolving TecKnologies and Enterprises DevelopmentCompany Limited (e TecK)

Evolving TecKnologies and Enterprises Development Company Limited (e TecK) is special purpose stateenterprise under the purview of the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Communications (“MTIC”). e TecKhas been in operation for the last eleven (11) years and manages nineteen (21) Light Industrial Parksacross Trinidad and Tobago as well as Hotel assets on behalf of the Government of the Republic ofTrinidad and Tobago (GORTT). Their new mandate centres on asset management and the developmentof new Economic Zones (EZs). They have embarked on the construction of seven (7) new economiczones and initiated management reforms at their existing parks that herald a new era for the organization.The organisation states its refocused, re-energised and ready. Mr. Kelvin Mahabir explains how.

1. Why are new Economic Zones being constructed in Trinidad?A 2011 survey on the market requirements for light industrial activities showsa demand for built accommodation. To meet this demand, the GORTTallocated additional land spaces to e TecK for the creation of seven newEconomic Zones in Trinidad. These new EZs provide approximately 625acres of additional leasable space to prospective local and foreign investors.

2. Where will the EZs be built?Construction of the EZs will occur in phases. In Phase 1, six new EZs willbe located in Connector Road, Dow Village, Factory Road, FrederickSettlement, Preysal and Reform Village. In Phase 2, a Business Park willbe constructed in Endeavour. These locations fall within those regionsearmarked for development by the GORTT as part of the “4Cs-CentralTrinidad Growth Pole” initiative, outlined in the Medium-Term Policy Framework2011-2014.

3. What type of business activity will occur these EZs focus on?

4. How has e TecK zoned its parks to make use of the country’sdeveloped transportation and logistics infrastructure?Tamana InTech Park (TIP) is located adjacent to one of the main arterialhighways, the Churchill Roosevelt Highway and is 10 minutes from the PiarcoInternational Airport. The Park is 30 km from the Port of Port-of-Spain, oneof two fully developed industrial ports to serve as transhipment gateways tothe Americas. Additionally, three (3) of the seven (7) new Economic Zoneswe’re developing this year was deliberately sited close to our Port at PointLisas, roughly 10-20 km away.

5. Is TIP open for business?For investors with an immediate need for “shovel ready” sites, with allregulatory approvals in place, one location stands out – Tamana InTechPark (TIP). The Park’s strong environmental focus has been master plannedto reduce waste and pollution, efficiently share resources (such as information,materials, water, energy, infrastructure, and natural resources), and helpachieve economic gains for tenants and minimising our carbon footprint. Itspans over eleven hundred (1,100) acres of green space and is the largestgreen business and industrial park with an academic and research focus inthe Caribbean.

6. How can locating at TIP reduce an investor’s time to constructionand operations?We have 21 market-ready land-lots for companies involved in ICT, BusinessProcess Outsourcing, High-value manufacturing, Clean Technologies andBusiness Services. These lots have gained necessary approvals from thelocal authorities and range from 2,800 to 83,700 square metres per lot. The“green”, sustainably designed, Flagship Office Complex is ready for leaseand our rates are very competitive.

We work closely with Trinidad and Tobago’s Investment Promotion Agency,invesTT. Their Investor Services Division helps an investor throughout thedecision making process – from providing information to assisting with settingup operations. We’ve eliminated a lot of the uncertainties and bureaucracywhich is good news for any company seriously considering establishingoperations in the Latin America and Caribbean region. So if you’re lookingto start operations in the next 3 to 6 months, Tamana InTech Park is theright move.

7. What types of leases are available at TIP and the new EZs for potentialinvestors?e TecK has amended its leasing policy and now offers its tenants 30 yearand 99 year lease arrangements. We have also introduced tenant operatedPark Management Companies for the upkeep of the Parks’ common areas.In 2014 we are set to launch two (2) pilot companies.

8. What is the process for applying for a lot at Tamana InTech Park orat the new Economic Zones?To apply for an available lot at Tamana InTech Park or any one of the sevennew Economic Zones, visit our website www.eteck.co.tt or www.tamana.comwhere you can review the checklist of required documentation when applying.Once you complete the form submit your application with all the requireddocumentation to our Head Office, 131 Uriah Butler Highway, Charlieville,Chaguanas. Should you have any questions, contact our Sales Unit, RealEstate Assets Division at 1-868-638-0055.

EZ Location

Connector Road

Dow Village

Factory Road

Frederick Settlement Extension

Endeavour

Preysal

Reform

Business/ Industry

Manufacturing, Distribution, Commercial Services

Light Manufacturing; Petro Chemical Downstream

Processing; Services ; incubator facilities

Manufacturing; Distribution; Services

Manufacturing; Distribution; Services

Business/Commercial, BPO, Retail and Services

Logistics; Warehousing; Services

Agro-processing; Services

56


ost people would have heard aderogatory joke about lawyers in theirlifetime. This is a pity, since lawyersare irrefutably of immense social utility.This utility comes from them being

trained in a thing indispensable to modern society- the law. No area of study touches and facilitatesall of life like the law does. Law governs big and far-reaching matters like the structure of Government.

It directs smaller matters that affect private lives,for instance, the rules of an employment relationship.It dictates the parameters of acceptance of importantsocial arrangements in society. For example, theextent to which unions between unmarried men andwomen are recognised is decided by the law. Thuslaw is much more than simple pedantic rules togovern life. A society's laws represent the ethos ofthat society, and its stage and direction ofdevelopment.

As a nation, we turned 50 years old last year. Ageis relative, but by world standards, we are young inour nationhood, still in our identity-crafting years.Prior to taking our big step of independence in 1962,then becoming a republic state in 1976 we were acolony of England, subject to its laws andconventions, which were imposed upon us. Evenupon attaining independence, our former Constitutionwas characterised as an Order in Council of theQueen.

It was a notable time for us then, when in 1976, weenacted the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidadand Tobago. For the first time, we were governedby our own Law, an indigenous instrument producedby us for us. It determines the structure and functionsof Government, and sets out the fundamental rightsof every citizen as against the State. It representsa relinquishment of our colonial past and adetermination to fashion our own nation. The factthat our Constitution is written at all represents a

M

Law Promising Future

cutting of ties from England, whose constitution isunwritten. The cut was not a clean severance though,as noted in the very wording of our Constitution.The savings law clause found at section 6 retainslaw that existed immediately before the Constitution’scommencement and is the reason why some laws,which were not passed by any post RepublicLegislature, exist today on our law books.

At the time of the enactment of our Constitution, itwas wise to retain ties with our colonial parent.Indeed, it is far-fetched to imagine a child acting asan autonomous individual without some guidancefrom their parent. But, even the control of naturalparents over their children wanes over time. Beforea child attains the age of majority, the law entitlesthem to make autonomous decisions on importantissues. By the same token, as we grow older, weought to be addressing our views, as a nation, onmany of the positions set out on our law books,positions which we oftentimes never establishedourselves, but adopted wholesale by imposition.

What more deliberate and effective way to craft thephilosophy of a nation than through its laws? Themandate given to Parliament, the legislative branchof Government at section 53 of the Constitution, tomake laws for peace order and good government,is thus a heavy one that enables our departure, aswe see it, from political, social, cultural and ideologicalpolicy received through British Law. No arm ofGovernment is more important than another but thelegislative branch, comprised mostly of officialselected by the citizenry, is instrumental in definingwho we are and what we believe in as a nation.

And who comprises the Legislative branch ofGovernment, or even the Executive and Judiciary,which comprise the other two branches? Membersof the Executive can be of disciplines separate fromthe law. But all judges are lawyers, and, even if theactual members of Parliament are not lawyers,

certainly the members of the Legislative DraftingDepartment are lawyers, or at least trained in thelaw. Currently, the holders of the three highest officesin our land, the President, the Prime Minister andthe Chief Justice, are all lawyers. So we come backto lawyers. Love them or hate them, they are veryinstrumental to modern society.

It is excellent, then, that there is now a Faculty ofLaw at The University of the West Indies (UWI), StAugustine Campus. Before 2012, Trinbagonianstudents were forced to go to The UWI Faculty ofLaw at Cave Hill, Barbados to complete the last twoyears of a Caribbean law degree. This was aneconomic strain, which could possibly have eliminatedthe option to study law for some potential students. Now, our future lawyers can be trained on their localsoil surrounded by the ongoing, real issues thatoccur in our nation to provide context for the legalprinciples they learn. The students are generouslyexposed to the laws of the other Caribbean countries.The Law program as conducted in St. Augustine isas vibrant and as comparative in its approach asthe one conducted at Cave Hill. Further, the programis open to, and attended by, other Caribbean nationalsto facilitate a culturally diverse faculty where thestudents can learn from each other.

The future of the law profession in Trinidad andTobago is therefore promising. A strong mandaterests on the Faculty of Law, law students and qualifiedlawyers to contribute to our nation's development.We stand on the shoulders of those gone before us;giants in the law, like the late Dana Seetahal, whocontributed substantially to defining our nation'sethos with her life's work. The Faculty of Law at TheUWI St. Augustine Campus, is well poised tocontribute to the delivery of lawyers who will followsimilar footsteps. Honourable, service orientedlawyers, who leave the citizenry inspired andencouraged, not with a derogatory joke at the tip oftheir tongues.

UWI

Lawyers are necessary in a community. Some of you ... take a different view; but as I am a member of that legal profession, orwas at one time, and have only lost standing in it to become a politician, I still retain the pride of the profession. And I still insistthat it is the Law and the Lawyer that make popular government under a written constitution and written statutes possible.

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, speech, Nov. 4, 1909

58


Consumer Complaints Committee, stressed thatthe aim of the empowerment thrust would be toenable individuals to act discriminately, allowingthem to become capable of making informedchoices in purchasing goods and services withinthe industry, remaining ever conscious of theirrights and responsibilities.

TATT’s consumer advocacy initiative is the basisupon which TATT will continue to develop systemsfor consumer protection.

One of the responsibilities of TATT, as outlined inthe Telecommunications Act, is to protectconsumers of telecommunications and broadcastingservices such as fixed and mobile telephone.Internet, pay television and free-to-air radio andtelevision.

Specifically, the role of TATT, according to theTelecommunications Act, is to develop Trinidadand Tobago’s telecommunications and broadcastingsectors. With regard to consumer protection, theAct mandates this organization to “investigatec o m p l a i n t s b y u s e r s , o p e r a t o r s o ftelecommunications Networks, providers oftelecommunications and broadcasting services orother persons arising out of the operation of apublic telecommunications network, or the provisionof a telecommunications service or broadcastingservice, in respect of rates, billings and servicesprovided generally and to facilitate relief wherenecessary”.

Over the next three years, part of TATT’s strategic

plan is to escalate its public education efforts withthe aim of further empowering consumers.The organisation is also rigorously pursuing thecompletion of consumer protection regulatorydocuments such as Consumer Rights andObligations Policy and Regulations along withamending the existing Telecommunications Act

Looking ahead, the Telecommunications Regulatoraims to establish a “Telecommunications andBroadcasting Consumer Court” (Consumer Court)as part of its advocacy initiative. That plan wasannounced by TATT’s Chairman Mr Selby Wilsonto providers and other major stakeholders at a 10thanniversary stakeholder reception earlier this month.

The Consumer Court will be a roving entity that willallow TATT, as well as providers, to hear first-handcomplaints of consumers of telecommunication andbroadcasting services within various districtsthroughout Trinidad and Tobago.

It is expected that the Consumer Court will beestablished within the next year and will allowconsumers the opportunity to publicly outlineunresolved complaints about quality of service issuesin their area.

TATT’s consumer advocacy t initiatives are aimedprimarily at providing Trinidad and Tobago’stelecommunications and broadcasting consumerswith a strong, reliable empowerment platform thatwill keep the local Telecommunications andBroadcasting industry at the cutting edge oftechnology.

Telecommunications Authorityof Trinidad and Tobago

he Telecommunications Authority ofTrinidad and Tobago (TATT) recentlylaunched a consumer advocacy initiativein a bid to encourage a stronger consumervoice that will improve the quality of

telecommunications and broadcasting services inTrinidad and Tobago - particularly for disadvantagedpersons in rural communities, senior citizens and thedifferently abled. The Advocacy Launch held in bothislands – in Trinidad and in Tobago – formed part ofTATT’s 10th Anniversary Celebrat ions.

This advocacy initiative is a cementing of the workthe organisation has done to protect consumers overthe past ten years including:• Establishment of a facility to act upon complaints

from consumers of telecommunications andbroadcasting services

• Establishment of a toll free consumer complaintline 800-8288

• Appointment of a Consumer ComplaintCommittee, mandated in the TelecommunicationsAct and which reports to the board of TATT

• Cons is ten t l y d i ssemina te consumerempowerment information by way of print andelectronic media as well as via exhibitions,workshops conferences and ICT Open Forahosted quarterly by TATT.

In spite of these initiatives it is still evident thatconsumers of telecommunications and broadcastingservices in Trinidad and Tobago are not sufficientlyempowered to manage critical issues regarding theirservices. In her opening address at the launch of theinitiative, Mrs. Pamella Benson, Chairman of TATT’s

TATT moves to furtherempowered and protectconsumers

TCris Seecheran, Chief Executive Officer

Business opportunities are set to takeoff at AATT’S Piarco AeroPark

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Airports Authority of Trinidad & Tobago

irports Authority of Trinidad andTobago is poised to announce thelaunch of the Caribbean’s firstaerotropolis the Piarco AeroPark. Anaerotropolis is a city-like urban

development that is formed around an airport. ThePiarco AeroPark is located to the north of the mainterminal of the Piarco International Airport and eastof BWIA Boulevard Phase 1 of the Park occupies168 acres.

On June 30th 2014 Airports Authority of Trinidadand Tobago will announce the call for Proposals.Businesses seeking to expand would have theopportunity to submit their proposals to lease anddevelop prime real estate just metres away fromthe Piarco International Airport. The Piarco AeroParkwill contain zones for a wide range of activitiesincluding:

• international trade;• a four star airport hotel and conference center;• retail;• restaurants;• entertainment;• offices;• warehousing;• light manufacturing and• an aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul

Facility (MRO).

The Piarco AeroPark can emerge as a site thatcontributes to Trinidad and Tobago’s economicdevelopment through attracting investment and thecreation of new jobs. Louanna Chai-Alves, ExecutiveDirector of the Trinidad Hotel and RestaurantAssociation, Trinidad and Tobago (THRTA) firmlybelieves that Trinidad and Tobago stands to benefitfrom the Piarco AeroPark.

“We look forward to the development of the PiarcoAeroPark as an enhancement to the travellingexperience and the tourism product of Trinidad andTobago,” stated Chai-Alves.

Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago is theorganization responsible for managing both PiarcoInternational Airport and ANR Robinson InternationalAirport in Trinidad and Tobago respectively.

The Authority has also developed the infrastructurefor the Business Park which was officially named‘Piarco AeroPark’ in November 2013 after a ‘Namethe Business Park’ competition which was openedto all employees of Airports Authority of Trinidadand Tobago.

Aerial photograph showing the proximity of thePiarco Aeropark to the Piarco International Airport.

A

Are you looking for an ideal location to host your Private Meetings, Training Sessions,Product or Media Launches, Christmas Cocktails or even your Wedding Receptions?

Then your Chamber is here to meet your needs! Duncan CampbellMeeting Room

WM Gordon GordonBoard Room

Leon AgostiniConference Hall

Events have become the hallmark for many Corporate Communications andMarketing Divisions and finding that ideal venue is perhaps one of the mostimportant aspects to the success of all activities. At the Trinidad and TobagoChamber of Industry and Commerce we pride ourselves in providing rooms forsmall and medium sized functions. Our venue, at Columbus Circle, Westmoorings,has been rented by many members and non-members.

As a “One Stop Shop” we provide complete services - Wheel-chair access,Parking, High Speed Internet access, Catering, Audio and Video, all in our air-conditioned facility. Our rates are among the lowest, given our secure and sceniclocation. As a member of the Chamber your rental fee is discounted by 10%.

Named after the Chamber’s first President, our Leon Agostini Conference Hall,accommodates Theatre seating up to 200 persons and Banquet seating of 180(rectangular tables) or 120 (round tables). Our Duncan Campbell Meeting Roomcan accommodate Theatre seating up to 40 persons and Round table seating upto a maximum of 16 persons. Our special offer to weekend clients is the WMGordon Gordon Board Room which accommodates up to 14 persons in comfortableexecutive style.

The Chamber’s staff stands ready to assist and will work with you in ensuring thesuccess of your event. Upon request we will assist with the coordination at areasonable fee.

We invite you to contact Eustace Pierre at 637-6966 ext. 286 or [email protected] so that a tour of our facilities can be arranged.Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you.

Business effectiveness and the financefunctionBy Brenda Lee Tang, FCCA Head of ACCA Caribbean

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ACCA

ACCA and IMA (Institute of ManagementAccountants) undertake a regular survey every 6months into the priorities, effectiveness andchallenges faced by the finance function.

The latest survey, published in February 2014,shows that the finance function’s priorities havechanged since the summer of 2013. Traditionalaccounting, such as cost reduction, riskmanagement, forecasting, working capitalmanagement and improving controls – were themain priorities for finance leaders in February 2014,while in the summer of 2013 they were concernedabout strategic support for the business. This seemsto be attributable to seasonality in the finance team’swork.

The finance calendar is one dependent on deadlinesand timescales that cannot slip, so priorities andfocus wil l change throughout the year.Our survey also looked at the effectiveness of thefinance function, asking the question: “How effectivedo finance leaders perceive the finance organisationto be?”

Overall, the findings reveal a wide range ofeffectiveness levels expressed for the various financefunctions, and this has remained consistent duringthe two year life cycle of this survey. It shows thatfinance leaders are satisfied, but not delighted, withtheir effectiveness in areas such as advising onstrategy, in financial planning and in forecasting.

The biggest concern for the finance function wasabout people – about managing talent and aboutrecruiting the right people for the job. Having thetime and other resources to develop talent seemedto be an issue for those surveyed around the world.

It seems the respondent’s time is taken up dealingwith regulatory issues, rather than in developing theirpeople, and clearly this could have an impact in thefuture.

Being an impact for the future means it will also bea management challenge for the finance function.Another challenge identified by finance leaders wasthe issue of many priorities coming their way. CFOsand finance directors say they are concerned aboutadequately servicing the many demands placed ontheir organisations.

The next two most often expressed concerns thatcontribute to a finance area’s ability to handle thevolume of demands it is facing are poor IT capabilityand the over demand for management informationfrom the finance function. The managementaccountant’s skillset is very much in demand.Adequate technology knowledge and support canease these demands, and enable a finance functionto better deliver for the business, and more readilysatisfy the demands placed on them for managementinformation. But without this support, it will falter.

External demands from investors were seen as theleast challenge, showing how internal pressures canplace massive challenges on the finance function,especially when IT infrastructures do not supporttheir work or when the business is overly complex.

Finance leaders were also asked about theimportance of different finance skills in the business– which ones are the most important? The top answerwas financial planning and analysis, a skill whichenables members of the finance team to deriveinsights that will lead to better decisions for thecompany.

The second ranked skill was the need for financeleaders to be good communicators, able to influencedecisions. A keen desire to be able to interpret andtell the story behind the numbers explains whyfinance leaders rank this so highly – after all, amanagement accountant has to be able to providethe strategic narrative to support their analyticalinsights. The third most important skill was somethingvery obvious for the finance leader, but which canoften be overlooked when someone is disengagedwith the business – and that is knowledge of thebusiness. This is a highly valued skill, where knowingthe business and what drives its results is an assetthat enables the ability to make meaningfulrecommendations about the future decisions to bemade for the business.

Engagement means building excellent internal andexternal relationships. The finance leaders for theACCA and IMA survey said that banks and creditorsremain the most important relationships for financeleaders, followed by auditors and then customers.It is heartening to see finance leaders think aboutthe importance of customer behaviour on financialresults and the impact of these on a wider audiencethan internal colleagues.

We also looked at how a finance leader spendstheir time across finance activities. The one on whichthey spend most of the time was business analysisat 30 per cent, with finance operations and strategydevelopment in at 19% and 15% respectively.During the lifecycle of this research, there has beenlittle change in how things are done - simplymanaging the day to day operations and doingdetailed analysis are the main activities of that seemto be central to the work of the professional workingin the finance function.

The Chamber’s NOVA Committee’s Jumpstart Programme wasestablished in 1998 and seeks to assist school-leavers to learn aboutthe working environment and to access opportunities for employment. Selected schools and institutions across the country are invited tonominate graduating students to participate in this highly regarded

‘youth development programme’.

Criteria for student selection- Each student must:• Be unable financially to pursue further education upon graduation,• Demonstrate potential and a willingness to learn,• Attend all scheduled training sessions, and• Complete a data entry form outlining goals,

skills & identifing areas requiring development.

Participating company requirements- Each company must:• Pay a weekly recommended stipend,• Assign a mentor to the apprentice and• Complete an assessment review at the

end of the apprenticeship.

Furtherinformation

is available on theJumpstart Programme fromthe Chamber’s Secretariat

or Cheryl-Lyn Kurban, ProjectAssistant at 637-6966 ext 228 or

[email protected]


Branford General Contracting Services

64 Member Corporate Profiles

ranford General Contracting Servicesare a complete Facilities MaintenanceCompany. Being in existence for 5years we have established ourselves

in the market and possess the resources andexpertise to handle a wide range of jobs. Whilegrowing steadily and strategically, Headed byChief Executive Officer Rory Branford, thecompany remains true to its core values of Safety,Integrity, Teamwork, Diversity, CustomerService, Quality, Growth and Performance.These are the cornerstones of the way we conductbusiness. Whether it is a residential or commercialproject, each one is handled with the samededication to excellence. The company's motto,"Experience the Difference" is observedthroughout the organization and can be found

in Branford’s seasoned team members as wellas in the diverse projects Branford undertakes.By selecting Branford our clients are assuredexceptional service from a company who willwork to understand their needs and deliverservices that will add value to their businessoperations.

Our goal is to develop into one of the mostcompetent and reliable Facilities MaintenanceCompanies in Trinidad and Tobago and the widerCaribbean. We will achieve this through teamwork, as we understand that this is one of thekey elements in creating success in the workenvironment. We will consistently offer ourcustomers the most well prepared and experiencedteam of professionals committed to getting the

job done. We understand that quality incraftsmanship is the most important thing whenit comes to doing the job right & satisfying thecustomer. It is our aim to keep abreast oftechnological changes & advancements in orderto maintain and expand market share.

The foundation of our success is built upon ourcommitment to quality and customer service.When you hire Branford you get an experiencedteam that takes total quality control. Ourmanagement style is safety oriented with ourfocus on constant process improvement. It hasbeen & will continue to be a key ingredient inour company’s success and a critical componentin providing consistently high levels of qualityservice to our clients.

B

uch has been said about thecontributions of the SME businesssector to both GDP to employmentgeneration around the world, but what

makes a business successful and enduring? AtGoing Global Ltd we offer a wide range of servicesdesigned to not just help your business becomesuccessful but to help your business Go Global.

Value PropositionOur proven techniques helps you craft thebusiness or marketing statement that summarizeswhy a consumer should make use of any of thebusinesses’ products or use any of its services.This statement will also help you connect witha potential target market in a way thatdifferentiates your particular products or servicesas to how it will add more value or solve aproblem better than other similar offerings.

Strategic PlanningStrategic planning is critical to any businesssuccess. Our approach is different from classicbusiness planning, not only does our strategicvariety involve vision and mission but alsooutside-of-the-box thinking.

Current State AnalysisThe current-state analysis Service involvesgaining a gap analysis of where the organization

is today so that it is possible to plan effectivelyfor moving from the current reality to the desiredresults. This integrated set of foundationalactivities is designed to accomplish the following:• Tack down where the organization is today,

reviewing:• The current strategic plan and goal attainment

percentage• In the case of divisions or subsidiaries,

reviewing the current alignment of strategicgoals

• Key executive and management jobdescriptions

• Organization’s core competencies• Key executive and management leadership

competencies• Assessing the organization’s culture

Project Execution PlanningStrategy without the benefit of implementationremains nothing more than words on paper.Using international standards from the ProjectManagement Institute your business will benefitfrom active strategy formulation which culminatesinto the identification of critical business issues.Issues are then translated into projects, withdiscrete deliverables and backup plans. Projectmanagement is the discipline that moves strategyfrom the boardroom, to back offices and theregional and global marketplace.

Employee TrainingHaving the right combination of motivatedemployees is an essential component of anycompany that sets its sights on making a globalimpact. The employee training service will helpimprove productivity and profitability as well asincrease your competitive edge.

Mystery Shopping ServiceHow do you know the type of service yourcustomers get in your absence?

Some reasons why Customers Leave...69% Poor Service13% Product Dissatisfaction9% Competitive Reasons5% Other Friends3% Move Away1% Die

It costs 5 (7 10, etc.) times more to find a newcustomer than to keep an existing one.One unhappy customer will tell 10 other peopleof their bad experience with service. These peoplemay then tell 10 others, and so on.

We work with you to develop and setup aprofessional team of ‘shoppers’ for your businessto audit the service experience of customers andpotential customers.

MGoing Global Limited

AUDAZ EVENTSAddress: 11 Mountain View Road , Maracas Valley,St. JosephTel: 756-9862Email: [email protected]

AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE LTDAddress: 4 Johnstone Street, San FernandoTel: 652-4122; Fax: (868) 652-4122Email: [email protected]

BIANA EDWARDSAddress: 56 Pelier Trace, Scarborough, TobagoTel: 639-3636Email: [email protected]

BRIAN FRONTINAddress: 1258 West Bank Road, Block 7, Palmiste,San FernandoFax: 222-0403Email: [email protected]

BRANFORD GENERAL CONSULTING SERVICESLTDAddress: 150-1 Bon Air Circular Rd., Bon Air Gardens,AroucaTel: 221-3127Email: [email protected]

CARGO CONSOLIDATORS AGENCY LTDAddress: 43 New Street, Port Of SpainTel: 223-7447; Fax: 625-6263Website: http://www.cargotrinidad.com

DEBT RECOVERY & ADMINISTRATION SERVICELTDAddress: 37 Eleanor Street, ChaguanasTel: 665-8444; Fax: 671-7681

EASTMAN & ASSOCIATESAddress: 31 Scott Bushe Street, Port Of SpainTel: 625-3232; Fax: 625-3219Email: [email protected]: http://www.eastmanandassociates.com

HADCO LTD (TOBAGO)Address: c/o JRJ Warehousing Compound,Bhagoutie Trace, San JuanTel: (868) 675-7628; Fax: 868-675-2641Email: [email protected]: http://hadcoltd.com

INGENIUM SEARCH LTDAddress: 1 La Bella Orange, 15 Coblentz Avenue,CascadeEmail: [email protected]: http://ingeniumexec.com

JOHNNY Q SOUND CO. LTDAddress: 72 Norfolk St, Belmont, Port of SpainTel: 868-621-2156; Fax: 868-621-2156Email: [email protected]: http://www.johhnyqsound.com

MONTAGE PRODUCTIONS LTDAddress: 63-65 Norfolk Street , BelmontTel: 752-2802

Welcome to New Members

66


he Chamber’s Tobago Division hasbeen very active throughout the firstquarter of 2014. In mid-January,the general membership of the

Division met with representatives of the PortAuthority of Trinidad & Tobago and theTrinidad & Tobago Inter-Island TransportationCo. Ltd. Problems relating to themalfunctioning of vessels, improper groundservices, and poor sea-bridge security werediscussed and solutions found.

The Inter-island Sub Committee met with ateam from Trinidad Cement Ltd. to discussthe best way forward to alleviate cementshortages in Tobago which is a chronic concernfor the island.

In February, The division teamed up withEnvironment Tobago (ET), a well respectedNGO under a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) signed by the heads of bothorganizations. The Division and ET agreed toshare capacities for “green” projects that can

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Chamber

benefit Tobago’s natural environment andTobago’s society in general.

The Management team of the Division alsopaid a courtesy call to the Chief Secretary ofthe THA. Chairman (Ms. Hadad) presentedto the Chief Secretary three (3) initiativeswhich the Chamber sought to participate withthe THA.1. New steel containers for small vendors

usage2. To provide expertise financial assistance

to Tourism and Tourism related businessesin Tobago

3. Plastic waste recycling project

The Chief Secretary bid farewell to theoutgoing Management Team as the TTCICelections we due to be held in March.

The $5.52 million revolving Loan Guaranteeprogramme in support of Tobago’s Tourismsector is one of the projects that the Divisioncontinues to work towards finding a solution

for. We continue to lobby the THA, the localbanks and Central Government to bring it tofruition since its launch in 2013.

The Tobago Division of the Trinidad andTobago Chamber of Industry and Commerceheld its Annual General Meeting on Monday17 March, 2014 at the Division’s offices inScarborough, Tobago, where Ms. DianeHadad was elected, unopposed, for a secondterm as Chairman of the Division. A newManagement Committee was also elected:• Immediate Past Chairman - David Wong (non-elected; 2nd term)• Vice Chairman - John Chapman• Honorary Secretary - Carlos Dillon• Assistant Hon. Secretary - Janet Parks• Committee Member - Andrea Tuitt• Committee Member - Christopher James• Committee Member - Curtis Williams• Committee Member - Demi John Cruickshank• Committee Member - David Ford • Committee Member - Ray Thomas

Quarterly Report - Tobago Division

Email: [email protected]: http://montageprott.com

MONSTER MEDIA GROUP LTDAddress: 1 Film Centre, Humphery Street,St JamesTel: (868) 628-9221; Fax: (868) 628-9221Email: [email protected]: http://www.monstermediagroup.com

RACHEL WILLIAMSAddress: PO Box 2079, National Mail Centre, PiarcoTel: 760-2079;Email: [email protected]

REDHEAD HOTEL LTDAddress: LPs 96 Milford Road, Crown Point, TobagoWebsite: http://www.redheadhotel.com

ROCKE AND ASSOCIATES CONSULTINGSERVICES LTDAddress: 3 Farfan Street, Diego MartinTel: 637-8977

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CREDIT UNIONAddress: 61 Tenth Street, BaratariaTel: 674-6514; Fax: 675-8479Website: www.policecreditunion.com

YEARWOOD’S QUALITY CLEANING SERVICESAddress: 3 Richardson Lane, Sam Boucaud Rd.,Santa CruzEmail: [email protected]

The Chamber’s CSR Committee

IMPACT 69

n the Trinidad and Tobago context, CSRis in its discovery stages. I say this notfrom a corporate perspective but froma societal one. You can usually gauge

the enthusiasm and interest when you broachthis topic at a social gathering. And if youlook really closely, you will see that point atwhich they come to a conclusion about CSR…I get it, you do Public Relations...Wonderful!

This tells us two things; firstly that theembedding of CSR is taking a while and onlythrough the advocacy such as a magazine likethis, and by taking the initiative, will wesucceed in making this the ethos of our society.The second reason, and perhaps the moreindicative of our society, is that we live in acountry where the level of social services andthe welfare system is adequate to supportthose in need. I do think that in some ways,CSR for Trinidad and Tobago (from aphilanthropic perspective), is a welcomedenhancement to our livelihood that is betterthan many of our Caribbean counterparts. Sowhile across the region, businesses arefocussed on those critical interventions thatsupport the social investment agenda. InTrinidad and Tobago the imperative for thebusiness community is to progress the socialresponsibility agenda in the areas ofresponsible governance, ethics andsustainability.

It is the role of the Chamber to act as thevoice of its membership; to represent themon the national business front which they areunable to do effectively on their own. It is

this coming together of minds and influencethat makes it possible to overcome challengesand work in the best interest of its membershipand the wider Trinidad and Tobago businesscommunity. The Corporate SocialResponsibility Committee which sits withinthe Chamber and is one of 10 purpose-drivenwork groups, is poised to entrench CSRpractice nationally and to serve as advocate.It is our mandate to educate, advise andpromote CSR initiatives amongst ourmembership and to implement a commonprocess for measurement and reporting.At the start of 2014, the CSR committeecompleted the first of a planned series ofdevelopment workshops. The series in itselfis geared towards deepening the understandingof CSR and to guide the process of CSRprogramme design and implementation. Thefirst session looked at the fundamentals ofCSR and an introduction to the UN GlobalCompact principles. The next two workshopswill look at Strategy and Implementation, andMonitoring and Evaluation. By doing this weare able to bring everyone on an equal footing.With the members in mind, it is a way to ofstrengthening the network and to sharelearnings.

A key objective for 2014 is to work with themembership in identifying risks, particularlyin the form of external expectations andpressures, and to transform these risks intoopportunities and competitive advantage. Ourmembers should be seen as the influencers insociety by embedding structured CSR intotheir organization and making Social,Economic and Environmental responsibility

an integral aspect of how business is done.Our committee is diverse and brings richcontext from across several industriesincluding Manufacturing, Government,Regulatory, Private sector SME’s, Oil andGas and Public Sector. Creating sustainedprofitability for its shareholders is the primarysuccess indicator for every good company.However organizations are accountable notonly to their shareholders, but also has varyingdegrees of accountability to governments,employees, customers, suppliers, regulators,community and the environment in which itoperates. Value creation includes all thesestakeholders. The role of the CSR professionalis to support a company’s business objectivesby aligning its Social Responsibilityprogramme with those objectives beingmindful of the organisations stakeholders.

Brand it as you may, the principles of CR,CSR, Sustainability and SustainableDevelopment are all the same. The BrundtlandCommission in its 1987 report “Our CommonFuture” coined what has become the mostoften quoted definition of SustainableDevelopment, “development that meets theneeds of the present without compromisingthe ability of future generations to meet theirown needs”.

So before a company begins to chart andimplement a plan for addressing socialresponsibility, it should work collaborativelyto define and evaluate the needs of itsstakeholders and make careful analysis ofhow any interventions on its part can bringbenefits for all.

I


By Anil Seunath, Chairman

The History of Nelson Island

70


elson Island is a part of six islandswhich are collectively known as“Five Islands,” one of the mostimportant historical sites in our

country. These islands are: Caledonia, Craig,Pelican, Lenagan, Rock and Nelson.They were called “Five Islands” after Craigwas connected to Caledonia via a causeway.Nelson Island is of such historical importanceas during the pre-Columbian period it wasinhabited by the Warau (Amerindians). WhenTrinidad was claimed by Spain in 1498 the

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island was used as a first line of defence whichcontinued with the establishment of a fort byEnglish Governor Thomas Picton after Spaincapitulated in 1797. Nelson Island got its namefrom the corrupted version of Dr. ThomasNeilson, a wealthy doctor who was granted theisland by the government. Book a tour to hearmore about the struggles and victories of theisland’s inhabitants which included enslavedAfricans, Indian indentured labourers, Jewishrefugees and Labour Leader Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz’Butler.

Article courtesy The National Trust of T&TTel: 623-9311 Ext. 2073/4Email: [email protected].

Every Chamber Member is entitledto benefit from our Group Healthand Accidental Death andDismemberment Plan

GROUPHEALTH

• Guaranteed protection againstlocal and foreign emergencies• CariCare Medical Card• Favourable premiums• Medicard discounts

For information call: 637-6966 Ext 1310, 1321, 1243

ACCA Pg 6

ACI Pg 9

Agility ICT Solutions Limited Pg 2

Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business Pg 17

Airports Authority Pg 61

BEI International Limited Pg 25

Beacon Pg 27

Boss Pg 35

Colfire Pg 3

Courts Pg 14

Columbus Business Solutions Pg 18

Crowley Pg 21

Eximbank Pg 5

EMA Pg 49

Eureka Communications Limited Pg 72

Evolving TecKnologies and Enterprises Development

Company Limited (e TecK) Pg 55

ExporTT Pg 39

Massy Finance Pg 4

Guardian Group Pg 71

Jaric Environment Safety and Health Services Ltd Pg 68

Laparkan Pg 67

Advertisers72

Lexmark Outside Back Cover

Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro

Enterprise Development Pg 8

Massy Motors Inside Back

Ministry of Planning Pg 51

Monix Grill & Lounge Pg 16

MBM Pg 31

Massy Technologies Pg 29

PWC Pg 53

RBC Pg 43

Republic Bank Pg 26

Securities & Exchange Commission Pg 23

Southern Sales & Service Co. Ltd (Kia Motors) Pg 13

Southern Sales & Service Co. Ltd (Audi) Inside Front

SSS Car Rental Division Pg 47

Telecommunications Authority of

Trinidad and Tobago Pg 59

TSTT Pg 63

TTPost Pg 44

Unit Trust Pg 65

UWI Pg 57

Voila Gourmet Catering Pg 30


Documents

Contact The Legislative Agenda