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00:00:00Good morning Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world. I'm Marlon Hopkins and as always
00:00:16welcome to The Morning Edition. It's Thursday, June 20th and thank you very much for joining
00:00:22us this morning. I hope that you had a very good Labor Day yesterday and you had some
00:00:28time to spend with the family and so on and to the persons who went down to Faizabad.
00:00:33Of course from what I'm seeing in the news, it was, to put it this way, highly spirited
00:00:41contributions from some of our union leaders yesterday. Alright, so we're glad that you're
00:00:46with us this morning. We do have a lot for you on the program today, so please stay with
00:00:51us. Alright, let's check out to see what's happening with Daily Express. On the front
00:00:54page today, Rowley must go. Hundreds call for change of government at Labor Day March.
00:01:02And the picture, into the fire, oil fields, Workers' Trade Union, President Ansel Roger
00:01:08places a photograph of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley into a barrel to be burnt while
00:01:12performing his original calypso, Bandem, following his address at the annual Labor Day celebrations
00:01:18at Charlie King Junction in Faizabad yesterday afternoon. So, he has an original calypso
00:01:26called Bandem, yeah, the President General of the OWTU, Ansel Roger, of course, yeah,
00:01:34Stalin was the first person to sing Bandem, right? So it's, I would have loved to hear
00:01:38that. We need to get a video of that to hear it, right? So let's touch a little bit on
00:01:43that story. Blows for government, PM, during Labor Day rally, vote them out. Rowley must
00:01:48go, UNC, and vote them out were some of the chants that rang out from hundreds of workers
00:01:54at Charlie King Junction, Faizabad, yesterday as they commemorated Labor Day. The chants
00:01:59came during an impassioned speech by Public Services Association President Leroy Batiste
00:02:04who criticized the government and the People's National Movement, adding that members of
00:02:08the National Trade Union Movement should engage in meaningful discussions with the
00:02:13opposition United National Congress. He said, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Who is
00:02:18the archenemy of my enemy? I know you all afraid of that one. I am only asking the question,
00:02:25comrades. Therefore, comrades, who is our best friend in this struggle, this is not about
00:02:30who you like. This is about your survival. And if you do not care about yourself, you
00:02:35better start caring about your children and your grandchildren, all right? So we're moving
00:02:40on to some sport now. Under lockdown, TNT swimmers put on pause because of severe weather.
00:02:48After securing six medals on Monday's opening day of the 2024 Central American and Caribbean
00:02:53Swimming Confederation Championships, Team TTO swimmers were ordered to stay indoors
00:02:58until a severe weather system passes over in Monterey, Mexico, where the competition
00:03:03is being held, all right? Okay, so we're moving on. So it's time to remind you about
00:03:09Trinbago, your nice feature. Remember to participate, WhatsApp your videos or images to 737-3778.
00:03:16What do we have for our viewers this morning? Yeah, that's a nice picture. Although there
00:03:20is a lot of sargassum, yeah, over the years that has been a major problem on the coast
00:03:28around Trinidad and Tobago, but still a beautiful picture. You all take a guess. Where's that
00:03:34fence looks very familiar. You see that yellow or orangey type fence? Yeah. Yeah, that fence
00:03:41looks a little bit familiar. Yeah. Someone is saying that's my arrow. I just hope it's
00:03:47my arrow. All right. There's a big debate going on in studio as to where that is. But
00:03:54thank you very much to the person who would have sent that to us. We always appreciate
00:03:59your photographs and videos. All right. So as I said to you earlier, we do have a lot
00:04:03for you on the program today. You have your coffee, your tea, get something to eat and
00:04:07come back. I'm standing here waiting on you. Look at me.
00:04:29Forget about bucket list. We want to know what's on your best life list. Vacation, education,
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00:04:52or islandfinancetrinidad.com and live your best life now.
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00:06:49All right. So welcome back, everyone. This morning we are speaking about child safety
00:06:57following the death of two-year-old Xavier Glasgow. The child was pronounced dead at
00:07:01hospital last Friday after he was left in the care of a babysitter in Cuva. His parents are
00:07:06now calling for answers. On the line this morning, we do have Rondall Fields, the president of the
00:07:11Fathers Association of Trinidad and Tobago. Mr. Fields, always good to speak with you.
00:07:15Thank you for joining us this morning.
00:07:17Hi, good morning. Thanks for having me, Marvin.
00:07:18Yeah. Mr. Fields, what strikes you when you read this story, when you hear about what has happened?
00:07:28I mean, the first thing that actually struck me, apart from what possibly happened directly in
00:07:35this story, is that this happened just after Father's Day. And I could imagine the family
00:07:43having Father's Day, the last Father's Day they spend with their family. I read the article.
00:07:55That seemed to have a very big position when it comes to nurturing the children. I realize,
00:08:03I mean, I don't know if it's a separated scenario or not, but for some, when they drop into the
00:08:09daycare, the one picking up from the daycare, these kind of things, the type of fathering that
00:08:13we want to see in our society today. So, I can imagine the impact this is going to have on both
00:08:18parents and the other sibling with the loss of that young boy in the family. So, condolences
00:08:25before anything else goes out to them. Yeah. Now, in the story, it speaks about the father,
00:08:31the father expressing concern about the situation. But you know, Mr. Fields, in the past,
00:08:35you have spoken about fathers being given much more time so that they can attend to their children
00:08:44and spend time with their children. Of course, we know when it comes to a couple and a woman
00:08:51becoming pregnant, she's given some time to tend to that child and take care of that child,
00:08:58but her father is only given a limited amount of time to do so. And you have spoken about that
00:09:04in the past. Yeah, most definitely. And I hope even from this story, this story actually serves
00:09:11as a level of testament of the level of importance you see in a modern-day father. I mean, gone are
00:09:17the days that you're seeing fathers shying away from their responsibility as much as people don't
00:09:23want to believe that and as much as we want the past rhetoric to continue. You are seeing fathers
00:09:28many a time now doing the daycare thing. You're seeing fathers now doing the stay at home thing.
00:09:33I've seen a number of articles that came out. You're seeing the fathers doing,
00:09:41and this is additional to their job as well, doing a lot of the nurturing. And
00:09:47the problem is exactly what you alluded to. Because we have seen the past generation per se
00:09:56not pick up that role of nurture or be involved in some of these things that creates what I
00:10:01determine to be a greater level of intimate bond with the child physically. I think we haven't
00:10:08really progressed when it comes to bringing the right policies and legislations to support that
00:10:13change, to support that move. Hence the reason we're still looking at opportunity leave policy
00:10:18that is two to three days. And to me, I think that's our ultimate slap in the face to a society
00:10:24that has called on fathers to step up. If you as a society and heads and leaders of this society
00:10:30says that, hey, we want fathers to be more actively involved because we see their involvement
00:10:35as crucial and impacting the life of a child, then you must do things from state to say that
00:10:41we support this. And at a time like this where we're still seeing opportunity leave at two to
00:10:47three days, it's unlegislated and it's insufficiency in time, then something is critically
00:10:52wrong. You're talking about men and men that pay the same national insurance contribution. So I
00:10:59don't want to get about the economic aspect of it because they do exactly what the mother does.
00:11:05Why aren't we now not extending times of opportunity leave so that the father has
00:11:11that time to bond with the child intimately immediately at the immediate postnatal stage
00:11:18of this child's life. You're talking about this is the first time really that men get the real
00:11:25opportunity to embrace the holy child physically and create a physical closeness and bond with
00:11:32their children. Mummy has the opportunity to start doing that in the prenatal stage. Yes, the father
00:11:38is there sometimes and he runs to the stomach to touch it when there's a kick, when there's a pulse,
00:11:43when there's anything. But the first time that these fathers have that opportunity is the immediate
00:11:49postnatal stage. So to say two to three days is actually a slap in the face. Where is the father
00:11:55able to build this bond with the child? Where is the father able to support the mother during this
00:12:00time? Some mothers go through postpartum depression just just like you see some men at work go through
00:12:05PTSD and they don't even want to see the child. The father needs to have the opportunity to step
00:12:10in in places like that. And we would look at situations where the children are born, are still
00:12:17born, are still born, are born dead. They don't have that immediate time to really say that they
00:12:23can grieve. They don't have that time to support the other family members during that time of
00:12:28grieving. We saw 11 babies died and I can guarantee you those fathers couldn't find the time to heal
00:12:36for themselves or also help their families heal through this death as well. Loss of our newborn
00:12:43baby. Now Mr Fields, I know that you have been speaking about the issues, the challenges of
00:12:50facing fathers in Trinidad and Tobago for a number of years now. But do you think that there is
00:12:57a misunderstanding as to some of the challenges that fathers are facing in society? Because you
00:13:04know every time we speak about crime, we always speak about where's the father? Is the father in
00:13:08the home? And we always speak about the contribution that a father can make in the home
00:13:16and the benefits of that. But do you think that the system has been reconfigured now to allow
00:13:26the father the freedom to do what he would want to do within the home and society? I mean I can
00:13:37we can take it from two aspects. The person that gets before the court and the person who hasn't
00:13:42before the court. I can't say the person who gets before the court is on that level it has improved.
00:13:49I'm still not saying it good. I cannot say it's good when a father and a mother both on equal
00:13:55footing, both having the same level of competency, both being no threat to the child. A father only
00:14:02stands 32%. Only stands 32% of the time to have custody awarded to him. 66% of the time goes to
00:14:10the mother and 2% is shared care and control. It means that even in the system we still view
00:14:18women and their gender as a better parent so we give custody to them over just because of their
00:14:24gender. So I can say I'm grateful that I'm seeing now at least 32% but I'm seeing we still need to
00:14:30do more. In an instance when mothers and fathers show the same level of competence and the same
00:14:37level of safety, we must increase that percentage of shared care and control. It could never be 2%.
00:14:44That should be 98% rather. So I can say I've seen a very small small move into that direction but
00:14:53I'm saying that needs to be better. When it comes to the home that isn't faced with possibly
00:14:58separation, I think you may see more level of involvement but I think it's still really much
00:15:03the same where the father has certain roles and the mother has certain roles. In situations however
00:15:11where their job doesn't allow mummy to play certain roles and daddy to play certain roles,
00:15:16we may see an interchanging of the roles played but I am saying that sometimes there needs to be
00:15:22an intentional commitment from mother and father to jump in into the other role sometimes because
00:15:30the child needs to feel affection from daddy as well. He needs to know that daddy will put off
00:15:35work one day and come to the parents day. Daddy will put off work one day and come to the cricket
00:15:41match if there's a surprise or something like that. They need to see that connection and they
00:15:45need to see it from both mother and father. Now particularly where we're in a system where both
00:15:50mother and father are working. So you're not even seeing that level of intimacy I believe that you
00:15:56used to see before between mothers and children because mothers are working and sometimes working
00:16:01more so now than fathers. That's possibly why this child had to be, these children had to be
00:16:07in place in a daycare up to that hour in the night because mummy and daddy are trying to make it
00:16:12financially in this economic world. So in instances like that and I heard what the father said and I
00:16:18support that. It's a call for the external family network to jump in if possible and support
00:16:28families now particularly in this new age. You need that support from that external family network,
00:16:34the grandparents who are available, great-grandparents who are available who can assist
00:16:39so that there's a better chance when it comes to the protection and when it comes to the immediate
00:16:44care of children within that family circle. So then is there a greater need for sensitivity,
00:16:51empathy and an understanding as to the father's role in the home and in society and to also look
00:17:00as to how the father's role has changed because as you know and everyone knows the father was seen
00:17:07as the person in the past who brings home the money and instills a level of discipline in the
00:17:15home and he was portrayed as this rigid person, someone that you really can't touch and someone
00:17:23that he will not touch you because of, because you know that sort of, I don't want to say
00:17:29standoff role but not a role that, a loving role then if I can put it that way because he had
00:17:37a particular function and he had to carry out that function in this sort of rigid black and white
00:17:43sort of way. Well I think it's not even to say that it was that he was so rigid or he was so
00:17:52much of a monster so to speak. Yeah. But it was that he may have been frustrated, he may have been tired,
00:17:58he may have been drained and we are seeing people struggling in this economy with dual
00:18:04incomes coming in. Imagine if you were the sole breadwinner in a time like that. You alone over
00:18:11the financial contribution was on your shoulders only. I can imagine a more frustrated father,
00:18:20I can imagine a father working longer hours, working more jobs to make ends meet. So we've
00:18:26seen that transition, we've seen now that now we're meeting a lot of homes, most homes are now
00:18:33dual income. So it actually has actually given the father more time to be able to spend with his
00:18:39children as well. It may have taken some away from mummy but this is why now they need to work
00:18:44and think. So when mummy has come in now to contribute financially, daddy can now contribute
00:18:50socially. And I think instead of us seeing that as a society and seeing the family now as a unit
00:18:57and seeing where mummy has dropped off and daddy can pull in, it's now become more competitive in
00:19:03our society. Now that both parties are able to earn, it's now become competitive about who's
00:19:08earning more and who's now the head of the household. So we've been discussing the wrong
00:19:13things as opposed to discussing how we could use this dual income to strengthen the family,
00:19:19how we can support each other socially to strengthen the family. These conversations
00:19:24are conversations I'm pretty sure families don't have anymore. We don't have sit downs and back in
00:19:29the days when the families were more religious, they had worship sessions where I'm sure they
00:19:33had family discussions. I don't think families ever meet. Sometimes they have family discussions
00:19:38and the best way to run their families. But we have board meetings and the best way to run other
00:19:44persons' companies and companies that we have built ourselves.
00:19:48Yeah. So I suspect that I can say that you believe that there has to be a greater level of
00:19:57sensitivity and empathy when it comes to the father in the home, not only in the home but
00:20:02in the wider society because they still face a number of challenges in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:20:09Yeah. And I mean not just the sensitivity aspect of it, man. And there needs to be a greater sense
00:20:15of awareness, a desire to understand the family now, the transition that the family came from.
00:20:21As I said, we don't put the effort on the social things. We don't put the effort on our human
00:20:27resource, not from a state level and not even from the level on the ground. We just live in on
00:20:31the ground. And from the state level, once anybody don't die, everything is okay. And that is where
00:20:37the problem lies. You have to realize that besides all the other resources you may have
00:20:43and reserves you have and energy and all these things, you have a human resource,
00:20:47not only in the work field but in your society, that you need to really cater to socially to
00:20:53realize that if their families are functioning in a way that's healthy for them to contribute
00:20:58positively to the society. And that is what you get no political leader speak of. That is what
00:21:05you get no political leader who is intending to take governance of this country speak on.
00:21:11And to me, that is a challenge. To me, they are no better than the rest. If you haven't spoken or
00:21:15even identified or had the awareness to notice that this is the key engine of our society,
00:21:22the family, and no one is speaking about that. Everyone is speaking about crime alone and not
00:21:27saying sometimes the source of the crime comes from the failure of the family.
00:21:32And that takes me to this question because you have been speaking about these issues for years
00:21:37now. And the question is, who's listening? Because I know Mr. Fields, you and members of your team,
00:21:44you have been doing work all across the country. And in some cases, you all have to be the fathers
00:21:52to some children in various communities in Trinidad and Tobago. So again, who's listening?
00:22:02And my line is not so much who's listening. Who cares the act? People are listening. People hear.
00:22:08People comment me everywhere they see me. Mr. Fields, good, we'll keep it up. Mr. Fields,
00:22:12good, we'll keep it up. Mr. Fields, good, we'll keep it up. But Mr. Fields want to know,
00:22:16what are you doing? I am keeping it up. But keeping it up is only so far. Where are you
00:22:22letting your voices be heard? And I can understand not everybody could go on a television platform,
00:22:28a radio platform. Not everybody could go on social media and explain what they want inside of them to
00:22:34be said outside. I can understand that. But on times when you're called, like next year when
00:22:39there's an electoral year, where are you going to let your voices be heard? When are you going to
00:22:44let your MPs know that you demand more than potholes, you demand more than box drains,
00:22:48you demand a revitalization of your family life and your community? What are you going to do for
00:22:54paternity leave? What are you going to do to stop things like parental alienation? After we've heard
00:22:59men like Selvon Reyes, men like Shannon Ali, men like Kevin Camberbatch said that because they were
00:23:04not allowed to be a part of their children's life, their children were murdered by their ex-partner's
00:23:10current intimate lover. Why are these things important on our manifestos? Why are we calling
00:23:16on our would-be leaders to show us what is their intention when it comes to the protection of our
00:23:23children and the protection of our family and sustenance of our family? Why is it important to
00:23:29us? And the only way we will get them to listen, because they're hearing me, yes, you know, whether
00:23:34it's by email, whether it's by messages, they've been hearing me. But the people on the ground have
00:23:39not given them the motivation to move. And I guarantee you, once that man comes from the ground,
00:23:46the leaders up top who won their votes will surely listen. Yeah. Mr Fields, I want your perspective
00:23:53on an issue. It's a hot topic that people have been discussing over the past few weeks.
00:24:00And it really deals with the videos that we saw on social media recently, with young men walking
00:24:08in certain communities with these big rifles and machine guns in their hands, and even saying
00:24:19to people, look, this is what is needed in these communities, because we are the protectors
00:24:25of these communities. And you have these men with the guns, and in the vicinity of these
00:24:32men with the guns, you're seeing children going about their business and playing football, and
00:24:37it's just a normal day in the neighborhood. Correct. I mean, and that speaks to the level
00:24:45of hopelessness our young boys are facing. That speaks to the value in their life, how
00:24:52much they value their lives. They don't care to lose it anymore. And that speaks to the abandonment
00:24:59that we as a society have placed on our males. People may say, no, I'd say, Mr Fields, you want
00:25:05to blame everybody else, but the people themselves. But it is honestly, we have abandoned them
00:25:12from every level, from the top come straight down. Yes, firstly, their parents have abandoned
00:25:18them and haven't created the right environment to guide them to the right levels. Then we see now
00:25:24that the school system now, I would say, has abandoned them because it only captures education
00:25:29under one light. If you are not academic, you are a failure. Then we can say even the neighborhood
00:25:35has abandoned them now because we've no longer been our brother's keeper. We no longer raise
00:25:41the children in our village. We raise them in our silo. So long and short of the story,
00:25:46I can only say we have abandoned young boys in our society. From the head, when you look at
00:25:52programs of leadership, because of what had happened in the past where people claim to patriarch,
00:25:58which is another discussion for me with you all with another day, we have used that as an excuse
00:26:04to leave boys out of programs like leadership. That that pushed them towards innovation,
00:26:09pushed them towards leadership. So when you see programs come out from the corporate world
00:26:13or sponsorship from the corporate world and programs from the state, it's always for girls.
00:26:20ICT for girls. I create STEM for girls. But you don't see similar and comparative things being
00:26:26done for boys. If you see programs that boys are allowed to be involved in, you better know it's
00:26:32rehabilitative. It's a MILAC or a CCC because you've seen them as a failure somewhere else before
00:26:39and now we just need to shuffle them in at the age of 16. But if it was something that provided
00:26:44a level of leadership and a feeling of leadership and a feeling of purpose and a feeling of value
00:26:50to these young boys that we catch them at the very vulnerable ages of 11 and 12 when the young
00:26:56man catches them, I am telling you, you will see a brighter production of younger, stronger,
00:27:02more positive thinking males. But we've abandoned them. So what do you do if you can't plant
00:27:08and pick mangoes? So long and short of the story, you have to see that we have abandoned these boys
00:27:14in this generation and do better on the next occasion. We also need to go into the communities,
00:27:20not spend 100 million to bring new soldiers in to police them, but spend that money and invest
00:27:25in neighboring clubs that you know are clubs that have invested in your development.
00:27:30It has the Harvard club that have every type of sports you could think about.
00:27:34They have clubs in south, clubs in east, clubs in west, and take some of the boys out of the
00:27:39environment that they are accustomed to, the same environment you're talking about with the AR man
00:27:44and the gun man and the block man. And if it's once a week, let them go out in the other communities
00:27:49and meet other boys from other communities so they form those gang relationships, loving gang
00:27:54relationships with good positive influence in the forms of coaches and teams and sporting teams
00:28:00opposed to the gangs that are going to do bad things in our society.
00:28:04But you must give them an avenue to leave the environment they've grown so accustomed to
00:28:09and they've grown to love to some extent. But if we don't do these things, we will see no change.
00:28:16And I continue to say we need to understand the value of our positively influenced men in society
00:28:22because it's only a positive influence man could deter or rehabilitate a young boy or a male who
00:28:30errant in his behavior. And we must support that level of mentorship to these young boys.
00:28:36We must guide them out of the environment and create new environments for them,
00:28:41give them new visions, new goals, let them hear something different.
00:28:44They have been traumatized into comfort, you know.
00:28:48Seeing the police with the Galileo all the time and the army man with the Galileo all the time
00:28:53and not being afraid, unshook by it has become normative for them. It's not something normal.
00:29:00There are big posts in some other communities that if you see that level of police and army presence
00:29:05and gunmen in your neighborhood, that will be scared out of their socks.
00:29:09But these young boys are quite comfortable because that is the environment they know.
00:29:14And if we don't expose them to different forms of environment as much as we can,
00:29:19whether it's by a sport, whether it's by a drama, whether it's by a steel pan,
00:29:23once we don't take them out of the community to do things, even though they live in the community,
00:29:27give them an exposure of a different community that seems more hopeful, that seems more enjoyable,
00:29:35that seems more prosperous, that seems that it isn't all hopeless and lost.
00:29:41Yeah. Rondell Fields, you have given us a lot to think about this morning. We do appreciate it.
00:29:47We thank you for it. I didn't mean to raise your pressure this morning, but thank you for it.
00:29:54But, you know, one point that you made there, and I didn't really ever think about it,
00:30:01but that's a very important point that even some of the programs that we have put in place,
00:30:08it's to reform the individual and to transform the individual rather than from the beginning,
00:30:16say to the individual, here's what, we believe in you. We believe that you have leadership qualities
00:30:23and to build on all of that. I never thought about that before, Rondell Fields,
00:30:28and I thank you very much for raising that issue with us this morning. Thank you again.
00:30:33Speak to you soon. Bye for now. All right. So we are going to a very short break. But first,
00:30:37we have this for you. It's an image from a viewer. Yeah. A lot of beaches on the
00:30:41program this morning. We're coming back, everybody.
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00:32:28an upcoming game, or just simply show us your passion and discuss a memorable CPL moment.
00:32:35The winner will get a live sport presenting masterclass from some of our CPL directors,
00:32:40and of course, you get to work with me and the rest of the team. But don't forget the hashtag
00:32:45CPL talent search. Get sharing. I can't wait to see what you guys have got in store.
00:33:00All right, so welcome back everyone. So with the advent of the rainy season,
00:33:17the Ministry of Health is this morning warning you about dengue. Joining us this morning,
00:33:22our Minister of Health, Terence Diao-Singh and Dr. Mark Dukeran, Chief Public Health
00:33:27Inspector. Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming this morning. Thank you for having us,
00:33:31Marlon. Yeah, Minister, what's the message this morning about dengue? Right, so we were here this
00:33:35morning when we originally planned this interview a few days ago to continue our dialogue with the
00:33:40population, which we started around March, April. We had people go out on radio. We were doing
00:33:46public health events at malls and so on about the rainy season and dengue. However, the conversation
00:33:54this morning has now become much more urgent in that yesterday afternoon we recorded our first
00:34:01death due to dengue in about five years in Trinidad and Tobago. So although this conversation
00:34:07was planned some days ago about rainy season in general, it has now become much more urgent
00:34:14that the population takes on board the advice we have been given since around March, April
00:34:21about mosquito eradication and how they could partner with us in addition to what we do as a
00:34:29ministry with education, spraying, but the real action is in source reduction, which is in your
00:34:36homes and your communities. So unfortunately, we have recorded our first death, first one in about
00:34:43five years and condolences to that particular family, but we really want to urge the public
00:34:51to heed the messages we have been giving out since around March, April about mosquito eradication.
00:34:58Yeah, is there anything again you can tell us about this case? I'm not telling asking you to
00:35:05go into the nitty-gritty of it, but maybe from from what area, what are some of the circumstances
00:35:11that would have contributed? Yeah, so dengue is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. You get
00:35:18bitten. It has an incubation period of about 2 to 14 days and that's one of the problems with
00:35:24controlling dengue because people will travel and so on. It happened in South Trinidad. I can't give
00:35:32you more details than that obviously to protect the privacy of the family, but again our condolences
00:35:38go out to them. What we are asking people to do, what we ask people to do every year is to help us
00:35:46with source reduction in their homes, your gutter ins, your flower pots, your drains, your vases
00:35:53inside your houses. So anywhere where you have still clear stagnant water is a breeding place
00:36:03a bottle cap. I mean I did an audit of my yard Sunday and even in my yard I found three potential
00:36:11breeding sites. You know what was my main one which was I was horrified about in my own yard
00:36:17a birdbath. Right. So I moved it out. Yes. I moved it out. So all these common sense approaches can
00:36:24really help us. Yeah. Dr. Dukkaran and of course Dr. Dukkaran it's the he's the chief public health
00:36:33inspector, but when you have incidents such as these persons getting dengue in communities I
00:36:41know that there is a specific type of program that that that is rolled out almost immediately
00:36:48and I'm speaking about things like spraying and and so on. Just let's get speak a little bit about
00:36:53that program. So once we have a dengue case definitely the ministry of health would go in
00:36:58immediately and try to do what we call break the chain of transmission. So we go in there first of
00:37:06all we do what we call ULV spraying which is ultra low volume space spraying. So this is a machine
00:37:14mounted on a vehicle that we normally pass very early in the morning. So we normally do this
00:37:20because it does not put our workers at risk when we go in to the actual homes to treat the homes.
00:37:28So whatever infected adults are in the area the ULV would knock down those adults and of course
00:37:35the workers are in the vehicle. It just takes two workers, a driver and an operator to operate this
00:37:41machine. After the ULV spraying then we go directly into the home where the affected person
00:37:50was and we conduct what we call perifocal work. We inspect around the homes and we identify
00:37:59breeding sites and potential breeding sites. In addition to that if there's any area that the
00:38:05mosquitoes would be able to harbor or to live such as undergrowth grass bushy areas and so on
00:38:14we identify those and we ask the homeowner to cut and remove the grass and bushes and so on.
00:38:22So in addition to that we speak to the householder as well because if you have four cases
00:38:30in a home automatically you would think well they are not getting that from outside they are
00:38:35getting that from in the home itself. And transmission is not as how it was with COVID
00:38:43where it is close contact and things like that. Transmission of dengue is by a mosquito. The
00:38:49mosquito must bite you. So if there is no mosquitoes there is no transmission of dengue.
00:38:56But is it, before I get back to the minister, is it that a mosquito in a household it can bite
00:39:05one person, gives that person dengue and then moves on to other individuals within the home
00:39:12and that is how it can be spread also? That is possible. So one mosquito can
00:39:18infect more than one person. Yeah. Additionally to that an uninfected mosquito
00:39:26when they bite someone who has dengue they now ingest that virus with the blood when they take
00:39:33in the blood. The virus replicates as minister would have said for COVID it operates like a
00:39:40photocopying machine. So the virus replicates in the mosquito body. It gets into the saliva.
00:39:49When the mosquito bites another person, when this mosquito now bites another person
00:39:53they inject saliva. The saliva has an anticoagulant to prevent the blood from
00:39:58clotting so that the blood the mosquito can now uptake the blood from that person.
00:40:04And the mosquito doesn't intentionally go to bite persons and transmit dengue. It is part of
00:40:11their cycle, their successionary cycle whereby they need a blood meal for their eggs to develop.
00:40:17Yeah. So minister with this death how has it changed the ministry strategy?
00:40:23Well the strategy is one of the community, personal responsibility and the ministry of health.
00:40:33As Dr. Dukkaran said when you have a case you move in there and you try to break the
00:40:38chain of transmission. But I am working with the minister of local government because local
00:40:45government has a role to play in the community with drains and so on and I'm thankful for that
00:40:50support. We will do the chemical spraying as Dr. Dukkaran says but the population has to play its
00:40:59part also in keeping their surroundings stagnant water free. Flower pots and their sources. People
00:41:08like plants but that is your primary source of egg laying. Visas around your house, you have to
00:41:16clean your gutterans, all your water collection, things like barrels and buckets, all those things
00:41:25you have to make sure that these things are not there for the female mosquitoes to lay their eggs
00:41:31and then you have a problem. And as Dr. Dukkaran says the transmission can be broken
00:41:39significantly around the house, in the home. Spraying has a role to play but the population
00:41:48always feel that spraying is be all and end all. It is not. It is a part of a multi-pronged
00:41:55coordinated approach and people always say why don't we spray more often. Well simple, there have
00:42:02been no new chemicals for mosquitoes in the past 30 years and if we spray more often the mosquitoes
00:42:13develop resistance and then you create a bigger problem. You now have mosquitoes which are
00:42:20resistant to whatever we are doing. So source reduction at the level of the homes
00:42:25or the communities is critical. It's absolutely critical and that's the message we have been
00:42:31given out over the past couple of months. So I'm hoping now with this unfortunate incident
00:42:38that people will go out into their yards this morning and get rid of all breeding sites,
00:42:46your saucers, your gutterings, your visas inside your house. You're right, that is a major source
00:42:55of mosquitoes laying eggs inside your house. So we have to do all of these things.
00:43:01Yeah, so is it then Minister that we are going to see an increase, an uptick? Are we going to
00:43:10see the presence of more spraying in communities across Trinidad and Tobago? Well I see you've
00:43:17gone to the default position. I just said spraying is just a part and you have just said are we going
00:43:23to see more spraying? And I have just explained that. So you're going to spray south. So I'm
00:43:29asking so are we going to see spraying in central and other parts before mosquitoes spread? That's
00:43:35the question. And that is the default position that the population has which you have just
00:43:39unfortunately reflected. Okay. The main thrust of mosquito eradication is source reduction.
00:43:48Right. And these sources are in your homes, in your bedrooms, in your kitchens. So yes,
00:43:55spraying is part of a coordinated activity but it is not the main or be-all and end-all
00:44:03for the reasons I have discussed. Yeah, the power is really in your hands. The power is in the hand
00:44:07of the homeowner to work with us. Yes, we will spray but spraying is not the only thing that
00:44:16needs to be done. It's a partnership between householders, communities, the Ministry of Health.
00:44:21Go ahead. So the mosquito life cycle has four stages. Three of those stages are water stages.
00:44:29So you can have thousands of mosquito larvae in a container that is holding water. It is much
00:44:37easier to kill that thousand larvae before they develop into a thousand mosquitoes by turning
00:44:45over that container rather than coming around with a ULV machine,
00:44:52using up a lot of resources in terms of manpower, equipment, and chemicals.
00:44:57And the other aspect of that we have to understand that it is chemicals that we are spraying.
00:45:03Chemicals in large doses. I mean the doses that we use are safe but if we have to continuously
00:45:11spray over and over and persons are inhaling and absorbing these chemicals, it is not quite
00:45:17good for them. So there are easier methods to destroy the mosquitoes than going around spraying.
00:45:25Let's speak a little bit about that point because it's really according to who you speak to. So some
00:45:31people will tell you when you see the ministry comes around with the fogging equipment and so on,
00:45:38open up your house. Other people will tell you no. Other people will tell you that will
00:45:42kill your fishes in the aquarium. What should we do when that happens? So normally before we spray,
00:45:48we pass around and inform householders that we are going to spray on a specific day and time
00:45:55and there are certain precautions that you need to take. So you need to cover your food,
00:46:00you need to cover your fishes, you need to cover your birds, you need to secure your pets and
00:46:04animals. So whereas the chemical is not sufficient to harm humans but smaller animals such as fishes
00:46:13and birds, it would harm those. So this is the reason why we have to inform person. In areas
00:46:19where we have bees, so we have a list of apiaries in Trinidad and areas that where we have bees,
00:46:26we don't even go there to spray because if we spray, we will not only kill the mosquitoes but
00:46:31we are going to kill the bees as well. Yeah but minister, you told us earlier that this is the
00:46:39first death in five years. Yes. So it means that we have had a number of good years. What has gone
00:46:49awry if I could put it that way? What is responsible for this? A mosquito? Yeah.
00:46:56But you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. If you have had such a good four years. So we have to
00:47:00understand the global and regional context. Globally, dengue is on the rise globally
00:47:07because of weather patterns. If you look at the United States, there are states in the southern
00:47:13United States that were temperate, that never had dengue. Yeah. With global warming as those states
00:47:19get more tropical, you find states moving up north are seeing dengue for the first time.
00:47:26So it's a phenomenon due to global warming. El Niño, La Niña weather patterns change the
00:47:33reproductive life cycle of the mosquitoes so they are breeding faster. Travel. So let me just give
00:47:39you some global statistics. Up to 30th of April 2024, globally there were 7.6 million cases of
00:47:48dengue globally, of which 3.4 million were confirmed as dengue. We had 16,000 severe dengue
00:47:58cases and 3,000 deaths. When you look at the global map for dengue, the region of the Americas
00:48:05features where we are. And in the Caribbean, if you look at, I don't want to call Caribbean
00:48:09countries, but look at other Caribbean countries, they have been suffering from many dengue deaths
00:48:16over the past few years. In the Caribbean, 2022 you had 20,349 cases. 2023 it went up to,
00:48:26get this Marlon, 62,460. There was a three-fold increase in dengue in the Caribbean.
00:48:35So it's a global, regional, and now Caribbean issue that we are facing with. And in the Trinidad
00:48:43and Tobago context, for the year to date, we have had 123 cases. And the counties we are most
00:48:51particularly concerned about will be Victoria, Caroni, and St. Patrick. Those are the three
00:48:57counties that are contributing to the vast majority of these 123 dengue cases. So while
00:49:05our numbers are still low, relatively speaking, this one death, unfortunately, alerts us to the
00:49:13need for all parties, Ministry of Health, local government, but most importantly, the householder
00:49:20to work with us to eradicate potential sources of breeding. And as Dr. Dukkaran said,
00:49:30one plant saucer could hold a thousand eggs. That's a thousand mosquitoes waiting to be born
00:49:37and take flight, right? So if you want to blame something, we have to blame the mosquito.
00:49:42But we have a duty to eradicate breeding spaces. Dr. Dukkaran, speak about the symptoms a little
00:49:50bit for us, because you know that there have been incidents in the past where some people
00:49:56would have died because they would have taken too long to seek medical attention and may have
00:50:04misdiagnosed themselves. So dengue fever, as it is a fever, sometimes you have rashes
00:50:15in your skin, headaches, you have retroorbital pain, so pain around your eyes. So those are
00:50:23some of the common symptoms. What is major with dengue, your platelets drop significantly.
00:50:31And of course, in some cases, you may get what we call severe dengue and you can go into shock.
00:50:39So once you are getting symptoms of fever, retroorbital pains, rashes, and so on, you need to
00:50:46seek medical attention immediately. Yeah, gentlemen, we just have about maybe two more minutes again.
00:50:52Minister, can I? Yeah, of course. So we have been doing all these health education programs, all of
00:50:59these outreach programs, and we have recognized that we are not getting the results that we desire.
00:51:06So the Ministry of Health is going, through the Public Health Inspectorate, is going to get tougher
00:51:11on some of the delinquent householders. So we are going to inspect homes, and when we do inspect
00:51:18homes, we are going to serve notices and lay charges in court for persons who are delinquent
00:51:25in cleaning around their homes. The ministry cannot be responsible for cleaning around
00:51:31persons' homes. On summary conviction, persons can be charged up to $3,500
00:51:40or six months imprisonment. So it is not an automatic charge. It can have a jail sentence
00:51:48as well. So we hope, it is not that we want to penalize persons, but we want to force behavior
00:51:54change. We recognize that education and awareness alone is not causing a behavior change in the
00:52:03householders. So we hope that this would at least encourage them to clean around their homes.
00:52:10Minister. Yeah, thanks. So I just want to echo everything that Dr. Dukkaran has said.
00:52:14We don't want to charge people, but we will. We will. Unfortunately speaking, and at all the
00:52:21outreaches, all the ads we put on papers, does not get the desired change in habits.
00:52:31So we are here this morning to ask householders, work with us, don't get fined. We don't want to
00:52:37go that way, but with the advent of this first death, it tells us that our approach in the past
00:52:45needs to be relooked at. We are going to work with you, work with local government,
00:52:51but at the end of the day, the mosquitoes breed in your houses, in your homes, and you have a
00:52:56personal responsibility to your family. And I want to make a personal plea to pregnant women,
00:53:02cover yourselves, use insect repellents, sleep under a net, and that is general advice for
00:53:07everybody now. Wear long sleeves, insect repellents, sleep below a net, you know,
00:53:13and let's protect ourselves from another, let's not go back to the days of 2015, 2016,
00:53:21when we would have six dengue deaths per year. We have been doing very, very well,
00:53:25but let's continue that trend. Gentlemen, Minister, thank you very much for coming this
00:53:33morning, and Dr. Dukkaran. Minister, I have an aside question, and I just want to speak about
00:53:38the weather and the impact that it has had on your head office. How soon can we see things
00:53:43returning to normalcy? So the PS, I was there yesterday, yesterday morning. The PS will be
00:53:51inspecting today together with Udicot and the contractor, and I suppose by lunchtime this
00:53:56afternoon, they will make a decision as to whether we reopen tomorrow or not, but that will be in the
00:54:02hands of the PS, Udicot, and NH International. All right. Gentlemen, thank you very much for
00:54:07coming this morning. Minister, it's always good to speak. Thank you very much, sir.
00:54:10All right, so we are going to a very quick break, but first we have this
00:54:13for you, this image from Taramati Kenneth. We're coming back, everyone.
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00:56:24Good morning, I am Alessia Boucher with your news to the hour. The oil fields workers trade
00:56:41union will not take a hands off approach on the petrochrome refinery. This was a message
00:56:46conveyed by OWTU and joint trade union movement leader Ansel Roger. It comes amid reports that
00:56:52the prime minister met with Indian businessman Naveen Jindal in relation to the refinery,
00:56:58addressing thousands gathered at Labor Day celebrations in Faizabad on Wednesday.
00:57:03Roger made claims that while refineries in the world are presently making large profits,
00:57:08TNT's refinery is mothballed and he issues a warning to the government.
00:57:14The oil fields workers trade union will not stand idly by and allow anybody to walk in here
00:57:21and take over that refinery. For a non-businessman or not, whoever you be,
00:57:26we must be a part of going forward. The judiciary is now weighing in on the issue
00:57:33of constitution reform. During the 10th distinguished jurist lecture, Chief Justice
00:57:38Ivor Archie said the challenges facing the country are not unique or insurmountable,
00:57:44as he expressed a view that South Africa's constitution is one of the more progressive
00:57:49models. Future Speaker, retired judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa,
00:57:55Justice Edwin Cameron says apart from gaining more independence,
00:57:59there are other reasons to abolishing the Privy Council as the final court of appeal.
00:58:04Not least amongst these reasons is the fact that the Privy Council sometimes seems to have
00:58:12a lack of conversance or comfort with affording large interpretative meaning to constitutional
00:58:20phrases. Secondly, the Privy Council has shown a disinclination to heed clear voices from the
00:58:27Caribbean itself and dissenting voices from within its own ranks to give more generous spirited
00:58:37interpretation to constitutional texts. It's now time for a look at your weather forecast.
00:58:43You can expect initially sunny, hazy and breezy conditions with a few showers developing as the
00:58:48morning progresses. There is a medium chance of isolated thunderstorms favoring the afternoon
00:58:54and evening period. Street and or flash flooding and gusty winds are possible in the event of a
00:59:01heavy downpour. A moderate concentration of Saharan dust is present in the atmosphere.
00:59:06The temperatures are expected to climb to 33 degrees Celsius in Trinidad and a bit lower
00:59:12at 31 degrees in Tobago. Seas will be moderate with waves of up to two meters in open waters
00:59:19and below one meter in sheltered areas.
00:59:26The TV6 Daily Health Tip is brought to you by Omega XL.
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01:04:16Plenty people wonder how different they would be if they had a more supportive family.
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01:04:55tips. Letter of the day. S. Supportive.
01:05:26And there's no roof to shade them from the sun nor to protect them from the rain.
01:05:32When I started looking at Habitat for Humanity Trinidad and Tobago
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01:06:07This is Mary. Mary has bills to pay and takes a chance parking in front of the
01:06:14building at the no parking sign. Mary returns to her car and this is what happens.
01:06:22Mary decides to call when she's five minutes away to let her daughter know that she is close by
01:06:33but Mary forgot one thing.
01:06:42After two tickets Mary just isn't paying attention to her speed.
01:06:51Don't be like Mary. Obey the laws of the road. A message from the TTPS.
01:07:21I say we jam in to the songs of the Caribbean. We grooving.
01:07:32All right so welcome back everyone. So we are discussing now
01:07:35UE's garden party and we do have in studio this morning and we're glad to have her
01:07:40here this morning. Usually we speak to her via Zoom but she's here with us this morning so we
01:07:44do appreciate it. Dr. Deirdre Charles, Director Board of the UE Development Endowment Fund and
01:07:50Director of the Division of Student Services and Development. Doctor, good to have you here.
01:07:57It's really nice being here, being back. Yeah so doctor let's get right into this
01:08:02garden party. Tell us about it. The garden party, what a lovely premium event.
01:08:11We moved away from the carnival effect and decided to come into the summer season
01:08:17and put on a product that's different from a carnival effect and what I mean by that we
01:08:24have different genres of music. We have soca with soca meets jazz and of course jazz again with soca.
01:08:32So there's been different genres of music of course a premium effect and people will have a ball.
01:08:38Yeah so let's be clear doctor because when we think about UE and you know how we are in Trinidad
01:08:45and Tobago people are going to say well they're no longer having their carnival effect but they
01:08:50have another effect but this is a fact a little bit different to what we can what we know about
01:08:56the UE effect right? Correct, correct. So that's why it's called a garden party. Right. So it's
01:09:02really a kind of a different vibe to a soca effect yeah. So it's a garden party where people again
01:09:09will come and mingle and have lovely drinks and enjoy the different genres of music and I think
01:09:16this is a real different point in terms of the carnival effects. The carnival effects
01:09:21are predominantly soca and although we must have soca because it's Trinidad we also want to bring
01:09:27in jazz and other types of music that we know people enjoy. Yeah I also understand that there's
01:09:33a particular way that you would like people to dress when you're coming. Yes so you want to have
01:09:38some hats. We're looking at hats. Right. Flats and floors. All right. So you want the ladies
01:09:47we know the gents will be in flats so we want the ladies to be comfortable now that doesn't mean
01:09:52ladies you cannot wear your platforms or your heels but we want you to be super comfortable
01:09:58so of course you could wear your flats your floors and your hats if you feel like.
01:10:03Well doctor let's speak a little bit about the lineup the entertainment. The lineup. So we have
01:10:08the all-stars. Right. We have Vonette and her band. We also have Faminappi. We have Nashad M.
01:10:19We have Ding Dong and we have Voice. All right. You brought out all the big guns right? Yeah. Let's
01:10:26talk about the food and drinks. Well we have an Italian theme so you'll get some Italian cuisine
01:10:32of course there'll be pasta. We'll have antipasto grazing boards. There'll be different types of
01:10:38panini as well and of course tiramisu. We must have some tiramisu and of course that has to be
01:10:44coupled with our Trini cuisine. So we expect our Trini cuisine and you know we cannot have
01:10:50a garden party with our bacon shark and our doubles but it'll be all types of Trini cuisine
01:10:58as well so it's a combination a combination of both. And for those who have never attended
01:11:05what would you say to encourage them to come to this garden party? I think for me well there are
01:11:11two major reasons and the first for me is the cause. Why are we keeping a garden party and why
01:11:18did we keep a soca party or carnival party? And the main reason of course is to help our students.
01:11:26Our students there's a dream that students come to pursue higher education and most of them face
01:11:33some really financial challenges and in order for them to realize those dreams the UWE Deaf has
01:11:40decided to put on a number of events to fundraise for those students and the garden party is one of
01:11:46those events and what I want to really stress upon is the fact that every cent goes into a
01:11:53bursary and a scholarship. I really want people to know every bit of the proceeds are
01:12:00converted into a bursary and scholarships. The UWE Deaf gives 200 bursaries per year, 200 and to
01:12:07students who have to make a decision between eating or traveling. So it really makes a difference in
01:12:13our young people's lives and of course by extension the labor force in the Caribbean.
01:12:18Secondly, so you're partying for a cause, you're going to have a very good time and for our
01:12:25business community it also gives you an opportunity to come and network and see how best you could
01:12:32further help the students. So it's really a space for that. It's all about the students, whether it's
01:12:37the businessmen, whether it's our various patrons, but understand that your hard-earned money you're
01:12:43going to have a good time but know you'll be helping all the young people regionally and
01:12:48locally as well. And you know doctor I think that what you're telling, of course this is not the
01:12:54first time that we have spoken about this, but you see sometimes we never think about university
01:13:00students because when we think about university students we think well they have parents and they
01:13:04have they have family who can give them money and to make their education almost seamless,
01:13:12but sometimes it's hard to wrap around your mind to think that some of these students just don't
01:13:20have the funds to pursue their education. They don't. While they are funded by Gates and some
01:13:25of them is just a percentage, they're the other living expenses. They have to travel, they have
01:13:30to eat, they have to get books, they have to photocopy and the challenges are real. We have
01:13:35students who cannot eat, so we give out various hampers, we have various food drives and of course
01:13:42something like a scholarship, ten thousand dollars, will help a student for a whole semester.
01:13:48So this is our purpose, this garden party. We also have a golf challenge, we did an Ignite
01:13:55concert, so all those fundraisers are squarely and all goes to students to assist them in their
01:14:01education. But is there something that members of the public can do in relation not to the garden
01:14:08party but as it relates to bursaries, is there something that members of the community who want
01:14:14to donate, can they do that? They can and we have different funds. We have something called a doctor
01:14:20student and you literally there's a fund we have at the bursary and of course they just have to
01:14:26contact the division of student services and development and we'll steer them into the right
01:14:31direction and there's also where they could call even a bursary. Someone could say I want to have a
01:14:36bursary called Dr. Deirdre Charles and you put funds towards that so you could name the bursary
01:14:43after you, after your parents, after a child and give five thousand dollars and it will go a long way.
01:14:48Yeah, well doctor did speak a little bit about some of the items that are going to be
01:14:56at the garden party. So food, chicken, mozzarella, tortellini, spinach, rollatini, yep, antipasto,
01:15:04grazing boards, tiramisu, italian ricotta, cheesecake, etc. And let's get to the drinks now.
01:15:11Giardino swizzle, I hope I'm saying it right. Yes, you are, you are. Prosecco, specialty wines,
01:15:19Angostura rums, whiskey, vodka, etc. All right, so all of that to say doctor where can people get the
01:15:25tickets? We could go to Adams Bakery, we could also do Island E-Tickets, you could come to the
01:15:32UE administration building, you could go to Republic Bank, Twin City, Grand Bazaar,
01:15:38Chaguanas, Gull City, St. Augustine branch and also Hadco, Haagen-Dazs. You could go to Central,
01:15:46South and of course Queen's Park West. And having said that it wouldn't be possible if we didn't get
01:15:53the support of a few sponsors, Angostura, Extra Foods, Hadco, Unicoma, Carib and the NIL. So we
01:16:03have some support coming from the community as well and for this we are truly, truly grateful.
01:16:09And the event happens on Sunday July 7th. Correct. Yeah, on the beautiful grounds of the
01:16:15St. Augustine campus. You would not be disappointed. Yeah, what about parking and so on? Oh that's,
01:16:20that's a no-brainer. We have perfect parking, we have top security, they could park on the campus.
01:16:26So it's known to be a safe fet with no issues to park. Yeah, what location on the campus?
01:16:34Should I keep that a secret? Well it's up to you. The LRC Greens. All right. The LRC Greens. Yeah,
01:16:42well there's going to be a lot of security. Let's try to jump off and something, right?
01:16:46Where can people get additional information? Again, you could go on the website. We have VUE-DEF-SDA.
01:16:53There is also VUE-FET-SDA. You could search us on Instagram as well and LinkedIn. Yeah. And give us
01:16:59a quick call 662-2002 extension 82326. Yeah, anything else you'd like to tell us before you
01:17:07leave us this morning? Just a plea. Our alumni, patrons out there, come and support. Support the
01:17:15young people. Allow their dreams, and not only their dreams, but our society to have the right
01:17:21kind of human resources. You don't want to take over our future. So come, help a student, and have
01:17:27a good time. All right. Well doctor, now that you have said that, we come in. We have no choice,
01:17:34expect to see you. Doctor, it's always good to speak with you. Thank you very much for coming.
01:17:38Thanks for having me. All right. So we are going to a very short break everybody. We're coming back.
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01:19:51All right, so welcome back everyone.
01:20:20So, TrueMe ID is a locally founded verification platform which uses AI technology to ensure that
01:20:27people are who they claim to be. So, we do have on the line this morning, founder and CEO of TrueMe
01:20:34ID, Justin Lett. Justin, good morning and thank you very much for joining us. Hi, good morning,
01:20:40Marlon. Hi, good morning to Trinidad and Tobago. Yeah, well, Justin, let's get deeper into this.
01:20:46Tell us a little bit more about TrueMe ID. Okay, so Marlon, let me give you and take a
01:20:53step back a little. TrueMe ID started through our technology company, Ignition Innovation,
01:21:01and what would have happened is that during COVID, we realized that even though people
01:21:06were remote, business still had to continue. So, what was important and critical was how do you
01:21:13identify someone's identity remotely? People were doing transactions via their phones,
01:21:19via their computers, and as such, we needed to find a way for business continuity. So, the same
01:21:27way that, for instance, you would go into the bank and you could open an account where the CSR would
01:21:33look at your ID document and look at you and be able to verify that you are who you claim to be,
01:21:38how could you do the entire process and that same process remotely without stepping into these
01:21:45institutions? So, that is how TrueMe ID was born and the need and problem that we have been trying
01:21:52to solve. Justin, is this, how do I say, system, is it being used as yet in Trinidad and Tobago?
01:22:02Have organizations begun using this? So, in terms of within the country, not just yet.
01:22:10It's something that between the start of the year to now, we have continuously evolved. So,
01:22:18initially, it just started as an identity platform where you just simply identify someone for who
01:22:23they claim to be, but then what we realized is that a lot of the institutions, their challenge
01:22:28was how do they find a solution that could do the entire process and what this process is,
01:22:34is what we know as a KYC process. They know your customer process. So, what we would have done is
01:22:39evolve our solution a little bit that we can have an end-to-end solution that ensures that an entire
01:22:45KYC process, especially for financial institutions and us, can do this. So, that is what we're in the
01:22:52process of doing right now. We have had significant interest from credit unions, from a few banks,
01:22:58other financial institutions, even from some government agencies to see how best we can get
01:23:03this sort of solution integrated. But it's one that we think that the country needs to pay more
01:23:09attention, closer attention to, because I would say quickly, one of the fears that we look at
01:23:15in this industry is if something like COVID was to re-emerge or to raise its head again,
01:23:21are we in a better place than we were in 2020? Are we in a place where we can do remote school
01:23:29better? Where, you know, if it is that we are shut down again, would we be able to continue business
01:23:36in terms of our credit unions, in terms of our banks, e-commerce? How would we be able to identify
01:23:41persons? And from 2020 to now has been four years, but yet we continue to do business the same way.
01:23:48So, this is one of the solutions that I think had to revolutionize that,
01:23:52and we employ Trinidad and Tobago because their usage in other countries already,
01:23:56even in the Caribbean, but we're a little bit behind, for want of a better word, here.
01:24:02All right, Justin, I want you to put it in the simplest of terms, all right, for our viewers
01:24:09this morning. This is meant to solve what problem? So, what this is meant to solve
01:24:20is how do I prove I am Justin Lett, the same way I'm speaking to you right now.
01:24:27Typically, if you're going into a credit union or you're going into a bank or any sort of
01:24:36online transaction or any transaction that you would not want to do online, we have
01:24:40online banking, we have online shopping, you can pay for things online, but yet the people
01:24:45on the other side just have to trust that you are who you say to be. Beyond that, we've had
01:24:51significant issues where we've understood things like, you know, identity breaches,
01:24:56data breaches in society, and right now all you simply have to do is upload an ID
01:25:02in some instances. So, if somebody could now get a picture of Marlon and somehow find a picture of
01:25:10your ID somewhere, and we know there are instances where those things exist, then they can now trick
01:25:17systems and places and institutions to pretend to be you. And as such, our solution now provides
01:25:24a safeguard, not just for institutions, but for citizens themselves. So, it's something that I
01:25:31think institutions especially that deal with these sort of, you know, intricate and financial
01:25:38systems, especially our money, how do we now safeguard us and safeguard the institutions
01:25:44themselves? But who provides you with the information? Is it the organization or is it
01:25:53your responsibility to gather that information?
01:25:58So, during our process of research, solutions like ours exist globally, right?
01:26:06And how it would typically work is that you have what you call the source of truth. So, the source
01:26:11of truth in our instance of proving identity is your government-issued IDs, right? Your passports,
01:26:16your ID cards, your driver's license. This is something that the institutions have already
01:26:21gathered to say this is true as who Marlon is. So, who Marlon is. So, what we do is that we start
01:26:28from there. We start from a government-issued ID, you know, that is scanned. And once it is,
01:26:34we are able to ensure either true connections with the institutions on the back end to verify
01:26:39that this document is valid, and or the security features that are within the document, just to
01:26:46ensure that this document is valid. And once it is, that is the first part that we prove that there's
01:26:51a source of truth to who you are. And then we do something simply like a selfie, which is just to
01:26:57ensure that the person that is conducting this transaction, pretending to be Marlon or Justin,
01:27:03is really who they claim to be in real time. So, those are the two pieces to the puzzle that we use.
01:27:08The document that you should have in your wallet and your face, which you have on you,
01:27:16live, and combine those two things to create what we call a digital identity and start the
01:27:21process moving forward. Other things like proof of address, proof of employment, all those things
01:27:25can be integrated going down the road. But it starts from identity. It starts from being able
01:27:30to know who this person is and who they claim to be. Yeah, I'm just thinking what may be a challenge,
01:27:37Justin, because you know how we are in Trinidad and Tobago. We are not very, when it comes to
01:27:44sharing information about ourselves, we are quite hesitant to do that. And while we may think, well,
01:27:50the bank has information on me, but we may have a problem sharing the information with other
01:27:58agencies because we just don't trust the process. We do not want our information to be put into the
01:28:04public domain. So, what sort of protections are in place to protect my information?
01:28:13Yeah, so our systems, even though it's not regulated just yet in Trinidad and Tobago,
01:28:20per se, we follow international standards. There are international standards that are
01:28:27facilitated through international bodies like ISO and other security institutions to ensure that
01:28:34the data protection, the privacy information is followed in a particular manner. We understand
01:28:40all those elements in terms of people's privacy. It's handled very, very specifically. Every
01:28:47transaction is encrypted right after. And what that simply means is that it's created into
01:28:53something that nobody would be able to figure out once the transaction is completed. So,
01:28:58it's pretty much like if you want to think about it in the real world, as soon as we scan your
01:29:02documents and you make a copy of it, it goes through a shredder. So, there is no storing of
01:29:09data. There is no storing of information. It's just done for that said purpose. And again, if
01:29:15persons think about the way that their information is held, you know, we've grown to trust institutions
01:29:24like the banks, like the credit unions. Sometimes we don't even know the CSR that is sitting in
01:29:29front of us, but they would have taken our two forms of ID or utility bill and all of that,
01:29:33go in the back room, make a photocopy, and then we trust that they're going to treat with that
01:29:38securely. All mechanisms, for want of a better term, once institutions go through our platform,
01:29:45they will understand that it has even more safeguards than just trusting that this person
01:29:50or institution is going to do right by it. We have standards that we must follow. And as I
01:29:54mentioned, even though it's not directly set just yet in Trinidad and Tobago, internationally,
01:30:00we fall under certain bodies to do so. Yeah. So, Justin, how do organizations get in touch with you?
01:30:08So, you can visit our website, which is www.trumeid.com, that is T-R-U-M-E-I-D.com,
01:30:17or you can reach out to us via social media or even telephone, you know, 708-2738,
01:30:25and we will be happy, you know, to sit down with you, do a demo, get you to understand
01:30:29how the solution works more directly. And one of the things I want to mention quickly is, you know,
01:30:35just the way that our rate of adoption is in the country. I think one of the things that we look at,
01:30:40as you mentioned, is that we have no issues with adopting new ways of doing business.
01:30:46And it's something that I always speak about when we travel and we have other conversations that
01:30:51our competitors are usually the traditional way of doing business. We're so accustomed to doing
01:30:55things a particular way that it's difficult for us to move away from it until it's too late
01:31:01sometimes, and we saw that in 2020. So, you know, it's just a matter of looking at ways to safeguard
01:31:07our business continuity and safeguard all our customers and members, right? So, www.trumeid.com
01:31:14would be the fastest way to get in touch with us. Yeah, Justin Lett, it was a pleasure speaking
01:31:19with you this morning. Thank you very much for all of the information that you have given us.
01:31:22Bye for now. All right, so we are going to have a very quick break. We're coming back, everybody.
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01:32:52It's about to break for you. I was in Gethsemane. He dragged that tire called salvation for man.
01:33:02Lift my eyes unto the hills. We only have one place to go for help. Hallelujah. So I celebrate in Jesus.
01:33:13There's a king who leads his people to victory. We are destined to be.
01:33:23Walking to your new season.
01:33:28Online here with this weirdo named Larry. I'm getting rid of him now.
01:33:32Let's take a selfie. It looking good boy. I'm posting it online.
01:33:53Hey, I thought you said you went to the beach with your parents. Who's you? It's me, Larry.
01:34:00From online.
01:34:30All right, so welcome back everyone. So we are talking about now the Caribbean Music Conference
01:34:41and more so Soca and Dancehall Week. We are now joined on set with panelists Kwesi Hyper-Hopkinson
01:34:48and Crystal Cunningham, marketing manager, to tell us more about this event. Thank you very
01:34:53much for coming. Yeah, thank you for having us. Yeah, it's good to see you all this morning after
01:34:58stinkin' dutty, right? Right, I'm not going to tell you who I'm most surprised to see here this
01:35:03morning, Crystal, but I think you all know. Crystal, let's begin with you and Hopper, you can
01:35:11jump in if you like, but I've been looking at what you all have been placing on social media and so
01:35:20concerning the Caribbean Music Conference. What is the big objective of having this
01:35:27conference? Of course, you know, the outcome is always to have a great impact and the impact
01:35:33one that would definitely enrich the music and entertainment industry in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:35:39So we want when young persons, especially emerging artists and even established ones and people in
01:35:44the creative and entertainment economy in Trinidad and Tobago, when they leave,
01:35:49they not only feel enriched, but they get practical solutions. All right, Crystal, hold on for a little
01:35:55while. We seem to be having some audio problems with Crystal. So Hopper, come in here. Let's
01:36:00talk about the main objective of the Caribbean Music Conference. So I felt that it was
01:36:06really important that the music, to me, is like the brown sugar in the street chicken
01:36:16and for our industry, as you see, being a promoter, I mean, I kind of went through it all, right?
01:36:23It starts with the music and our predominant genre of music is Zouk and dance. So since we started,
01:36:31we created this week, this festival, right? And the conference is really the educational,
01:36:36the theory of what we're basically practicing. That's why we decided to have, you know, the
01:36:42whole week and conference be a part of it so that even the younger ones coming in,
01:36:48DJs, artists, promoters, anybody could see the practicality. So Stink and Dirty was yesterday
01:36:55and then we have Stage Show on Saturday, which is the big two big concerts within the conference
01:37:00on the whole dance week. And I've been saying it over and over now, they have Saint Lucia Jazz
01:37:05and this jazz and that festival, whatever music festival. There's no festival for our music
01:37:11that is highlighted. This is our music. Zouk and dance are the main genres that, you know,
01:37:18belong to us as the Caribbean. So that's why the Caribbean Music Conference is important,
01:37:22this bringing, you know, bridging the gaps, bridging the generations because we have people
01:37:27on the panel like Beaver and Mice to Travis Will and there's an evident disconnect, right,
01:37:37through the succession of and practices and stuff that these fellows would have been doing from the
01:37:4360s come all the way up to today, right? So that's what we've been doing and that's the mission and
01:37:48that's what's been happening when in the conference you get a lot of that, you know, interconnection
01:37:55and education being passed down and knowledge, you know. Yeah. Christelle, what has struck you
01:38:00from judging from what has happened at the conference and what you have heard and seen
01:38:05at the conference because Hopper speaks about this disconnect with the older heads and the
01:38:11younger heads. So therefore the history has not been passed on, right? Right. So, I mean,
01:38:17naturally when we kicked off Zouk and Dancehall Music Week on Monday, we started off with a youth
01:38:21so the surprising knowledge that would have been transferred from the generations before to the
01:38:27generations that are now, I mean, you would have been surprised to see how many young persons were
01:38:33interested in what had to be said and oftentimes they label Gen Z as, oh, they're not interested,
01:38:38but, I mean, schools came out, the young people, we had a career fair where we had breakout sessions
01:38:45where young persons could learn about a particular field in the entertainment industry that they
01:38:49would want to go into and, I mean, I sat on the PR panel workshop and the amount of questions the
01:38:55students from UTT, they were very brave to, you know, to say what they were pursuing and, you
01:39:00know, to know that these programs were in the schools, but then they could still find a place
01:39:04where they can get practical examples, meet promoters from air committee illusions, you know,
01:39:09and just get that first-hand knowledge. With voice, we had DJ Adam there with a console showing,
01:39:16you know, some of the young upcoming DJs, this is what you can do and then experience people like
01:39:22Beaver and Mice also sharing their stories and unearthing things that we didn't even know in
01:39:27our consciousness where it came to, I wouldn't necessarily say the birth of certain genres of
01:39:32music, but where you think something started and one of the biggest realizations is that music
01:39:37inspire music, you know, we're not saying that, you know, soca was not created here or the genre
01:39:43wasn't established here, true to us, but everything influences everything and as time goes along,
01:39:50that influence may change a traditional music genre into a different genre, I guess, kind of like
01:39:57that's why we have Trinibad today, right? Yeah, there was also a very interesting discussion on
01:40:03Trinibad music, but let's look at today, what is being offered today, Thursday, you have Friday and
01:40:09of course, Saturday. Yeah, so today we are at Movie Town, workshops, well panels and workshops
01:40:15starts from 10 a.m and we continue till just about 5 or 7 p.m. We have a lot of workshops geared
01:40:22towards PR, social media and branding discussions, you know, featuring some of the artists and
01:40:28celebrities we have on board and then, you know, we continue to explore more of intellectual
01:40:35property and copyrights between today and tomorrow. We have experienced people on the
01:40:40panel like Steve Greenberg who has developed artists like Hanson Brothers, no, Hanson and
01:40:46Jonas Brothers and he's actually given a keynote address today. He's the guy who let the dogs out.
01:40:52Who let the dogs out as well with, what's that group name again? Bahamen. Bahamen, right, so they are, he's here
01:40:59along with a host of other local experts as well to share more about the industry as we continue
01:41:04with day three today and day four tomorrow at Napa and then on Saturday, we end with the feature
01:41:12concert stage show featuring Popcorn, Chen Sia and amazingly, some of the youth performers who wowed
01:41:19us on Monday, we had a showcase called Youth on Stage where we let a lot of young people just
01:41:25showcase what they have and, you know, some of them impressed us so much that we are adding them to the
01:41:30opening lineup of stage show on Saturday. So, I guess that's like one of the main outcomes, you know, to give
01:41:38back and to give persons the opportunity. That was like one of the main things to scorch
01:41:43a committee and illusions and of course voice, you know, having started off as a young person in the
01:41:48industry and now growing is kind of like sometimes the artists think that they didn't have opportunities
01:41:53when they were growing up. So, this space is to create that opportunity for the young and upcoming
01:41:58generations to continue and not have that gap as Kwesi mentioned. Yeah, and I think as you speak,
01:42:04I remember when I was trying to get into the industry and Papa, I'm sure you would have
01:42:09thought that too when you were trying to get into the industry, you just didn't have the
01:42:13roadmap and you really just had to go out there and do ask questions and work for free, right? Yeah,
01:42:20learn through probably somebody not paying you on an unfortunate example. Another advantage of
01:42:28our part of the history that we have today but the point is that the conference provides that
01:42:35roadmap, yeah, and provides the opportunity for the big artists to touch people. I mean, we had great
01:42:42partners like the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service and the Ministry of Tourism
01:42:47that would have assisted us in making sure that that roadmap is established and there wouldn't be
01:42:52as much gaps. It's year one but hopefully in year two, we'll be able to fill that gap even more.
01:42:58I must really commend the Ministry of Tourism and the Youth Development because they came on board
01:43:05to really, without them, it'll be really difficult for us, you know, because it's free, it's free for
01:43:12everyone, right? And this education and bridging of also, what I want to mention as well is that
01:43:22even the whole industry, there's the music side of it but then you have the business side,
01:43:28right? And, you know, it's the music business. Yes. Entertainment business. So that's why it's
01:43:35so important for us to really, you know, have these discussions, have these stuff because
01:43:41a lot of people are operating in their own silos. The artists operate in their own silos, the promoter
01:43:46and then when you come in, you have a disconnect and the artist and promoter kind of war in each
01:43:50other, right? Because who's saying, well, you're charging too much or who's saying, you know,
01:43:55so you have that going on as well. So there's plenty of healthy discussions and then, you know,
01:44:00trying to come up with solutions for our industry, for our music and getting our music global to the,
01:44:07well, as they say, global, right? And that's the way it is. But for this to work,
01:44:15you all, there has to be and I don't know if you would have seen that over the past few days,
01:44:21there has to be an embracing of the ideas, right? Because sometimes you have people who are so
01:44:29rigid in their ways and so they have to embrace, right? So that's one of the environment today.
01:44:35So that's one of the things that definitely came out that we've been doing stuff a particular way
01:44:40for so long that that way has become the right way when really and truly, especially something as
01:44:45it relates to masters and publishing rights to music. That's one of the things that has not
01:44:51been done the right way. So a lot of these young writers who came out, yes, they realized, but wait,
01:44:57this is not what it's supposed to be, you know? So we had a great session with Angela, right?
01:45:03Yeah, she did a songwriting masterclass along with Jelani showing, you know, they shared their
01:45:08experiences, the bad and the good, and they're not saying that, you know, use the negative
01:45:13experiences that you had and use that to help change the direction going forward, you know?
01:45:19And as Kweisi mentioned, everything happening today at Movietown and then tomorrow at Napa,
01:45:24these workshops are free, you know? So you can go online at islandetickets.com,
01:45:29register, select the day that you would like to attend and get that day pass for free. Of course,
01:45:34you have to pay to come to the concert, right? Right, but you don't have to register for these
01:45:38discussions. No, you just show up. Yeah, you show up. Yeah, basically. Yeah, and you get a digital,
01:45:44you know, ticket at islandetickets.com and easy like that. And you just show that at the front,
01:45:50and we have some really cool merch. You come and you get some nice conference materials, you know,
01:45:54just to say thank you for coming out as well. And some of the workshops are also streamed live,
01:45:59so if you can't make it, you can also catch the live stream as well or even visit our
01:46:06social media page at Scotch Radio, and you will be able to see and get a grasp of everything
01:46:12that's happening. Yeah, so let's talk after the conference now, Hopper. What do you think
01:46:18should be the biggest takeaway from the conference? Well, there's a lot of things in play.
01:46:25The development of our young artists, right? And, you know, one of the things that even
01:46:34was mentioned last, the last day, was what Seoul Korea did, the government of Seoul Korea did for
01:46:43the music, which is K-pop. You know it, right? Right. Korean pop, Gangnam style. Right.
01:46:51He was the, actually, I think he was the pilot project. It was like ready to feast, right? Yes,
01:46:57and the success of that. So we are hoping that all these discussions and ideas could trickle up,
01:47:05stream, you know, government could get more involved. Because when I heard the actual,
01:47:13how much it was, a million dollars to the Music DT? Oh yeah, what their annual budget application
01:47:20was. That's impossible. That to me is like, you know, what you could do with that, right? In this
01:47:26creative field. So it's really trying to push the envelope and get the awareness, especially up to,
01:47:34you know, the people who can make things happen, right? That to understand the importance of our
01:47:43entertainment industry and, you know, the trickle down and what it does for lives. It changed my
01:47:49life. It changed your life, right? And we are the examples of that. And if we were to really,
01:47:56you know, they have this, they're talking about the Trinidad and how they're trying to associate
01:48:01it with the violence and stuff, which I don't believe. But these guys singing what they're
01:48:06seeing, what they're doing, right? And music is life, right? But there's so much talent we have
01:48:12here in Trinidad, all around, you know, it's undeniable. And we need to pay attention to this.
01:48:19We need to pay attention to the next generation. Because we have a gift here that it's on top
01:48:27and really under supported. What? Chrissy is sounding profound this morning.
01:48:33Chrissa, we have about a minute again. Yeah. Just to reiterate what he said and one of the
01:48:40surprising things as well that came out to yesterday, well not yesterday, on Tuesday's
01:48:44discussion with the Trinibad is that there are so many other positive Trinibad artists out there,
01:48:49but of course their music is overshadowed by the predominant music that we listen to. So if they
01:48:56are also, if they too are also given that opportunity to share the music, you know,
01:49:01it's that Trinibad as they explain is like, you know, if you have a shoes, you'd be like,
01:49:05hey, Trinidad song is, hey, that shoes real bad boy, you know, so really and truly Trinibad is
01:49:10really Trinigood, you know, but because of obviously violence that continued to kind of
01:49:15perpetuate it really made it into bad. But the real nexus behind, as you said, the real
01:49:21meaning behind Trinibad is really good dancehall music coming out of Trinidad and Tobago. And if we
01:49:26continue to see it like that, it would be interpreted like that, you know, and there are
01:49:32countless other artists and probably three or four that we focus on. So let's also give them a voice,
01:49:39give them a chance to let their music shine. Harper, you have 30 seconds. Well, I hope to see
01:49:45everybody on there in the Savannah on Saturday, Popcorn, Shensia and a lot of our local up and
01:49:54coming and established acts will be on stage as well. So, you know, massive international concert
01:50:01and come out to the conference today and tomorrow. Again, thanks to the Ministry of Tourism,
01:50:08Randall Mitchell in particular, which was very, very, very involved in what we're doing today,
01:50:14you know, and Foster Cummins with the Ministry of Youth Development. I want to say thanks to them
01:50:20as well. All right. Thank you all for coming this morning. We see the good work that you all are
01:50:24doing. Thank you. Harper, I told that any time I get to meet you, I would have to ask about that
01:50:31Hopkins name and we have to look and see if we related somewhere. If we really didn't. Yeah,
01:50:36if you know, you know. Thank you very much again. We're going to a very short break.
01:50:40We'll come back, everybody.
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01:51:33For quality products, trust your Gleasure Limited. 665-3336. Inspiration through song
01:51:39makes our souls rejoice.
01:51:58Inspired word of thought. Direct from the past.
01:52:02Join us every Monday morning at 8 30 a.m right here on TV6 for our many moments of inspiration.
01:52:14This is Mary. Mary has bills to pay and takes a chance parking in front of the building at the
01:52:21no parking sign. Mary returns to her car and this is what happens.
01:52:34Mary decides to call when she's five minutes away to let her daughter know that she is close by.
01:52:40But Mary forgot one thing.
01:52:43After two tickets, Mary just isn't paying attention to her speed.
01:53:07Don't be like Mary. Obey the laws of the road.
01:53:11Obey the laws of the road. A message from the T.T.P.S.
01:53:28All right, so you all, that was a joke earlier, right? So Kwesi Hopkins is my nephew. So for
01:53:34persons who didn't know, that's my nephew. And you know, while I was doing the interview this
01:53:38morning, I was thinking about my father who is no longer here with us and he must be smiling to see
01:53:43two Hopkinsons on television, right? It must be amazing, right? So thank you to all of our guests
01:53:49this morning. Thank you to all of our viewers. That's the end of our show for today. I leave
01:53:53you with this image. See you right back here tomorrow morning. Bye-bye everybody.
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