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Deportation is quickly becoming a sore point for conversation in many Caribbean countries.  While persons are deported for a plethora of reasons, criminal activity tends to be at the top of the list.  A deported criminal often re-enters their birth country and is expected to pick up wherever he or she may have left off.  However, this is certainly not the case and it is up to our Caribbean governments to try and make provisions for these citizens to once again become productive.

Many governments have put programs in place for these deportees. Some have even partnered with non-governmental organisations to ensure that the needs of these persons are met and that they are properly socialised before returning to society.  While I do believe that these programs are helpful, there should also be programs for the persons who must socialise with the deported once they are reintegrated into society.  Namely, their families, fellow employees and employers. By so doing, the government lessens the dependence of the deportee on his family or on the government, through an unemployment grant of any sort.  In this way, the country not only gains a new citizen but also a productive one.

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Illegal immigrants have already been making their way back to Trinidad from the United States on chartered planes and, given President-elect Donald Trump's immigration policy, the rate will increase and this country is not ready for this.

This was stated yesterday by head of Vision on Mission, Wayne Chance, who added that, as it stands now, the needs to house and rehabilitate deportees are not being met and adding more to the system will result in more pressures.

"We already have a high number of people being deported. There are chartered flights coming here every three to four months. I would have had to make several trips to the airport to pick up persons, sometimes six, nine, ten, up to 15," he said.

Vision on Mission is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) set up since 1995 and incorporated in August 2001 under the Trinidad and Tobago Companies (1995) Act.

Vision on Mission is non-denominational with responsibility for the reintegration and rehabilitation of deportees/returning nationals, prisoners, ex-prisoners, delinquent youth and socially displaced persons.

Chance said that the Vision on Mission facility in St Clair has a capacity for 30 persons. He said, for this year, 32 "direct deportees" came straight from the airport to the programme.

He said there were some 62 walk-in deportees for the year. Chance said there are programme cycles from three to six months to one year to assist the deportees with acquiring skills and knowledge in order to reintegrate into society.
Deportees homeless on the streets
Chance said two weeks ago, six persons were deported, three for murder and another three for aggravated felonies.

He said two of these persons spent 35 and 38 years in the US prison system before being deported.

He said he anticipates that there will be an "uncontrollable demand for space" as many deportees are abandoned by their families when they return to Trinidad.

He noted a number of deportees are homeless on the streets.

Chance said the person who left Trinidad at the age of eight and then returns home as a deportee at ages 34, 50 and older is not the same person their family would remember them as.

He said a lot of these deportees suffer with mental illness, bi-polar disorders and alcoholism, while some are HIV-positive and possess no skills to allow them to be easily reintegrated into society. He said a number of serious social ills develop, posing a threat to this small island.

"Presently the need that we have is not properly met, if that practice continues, we are definitely not ready," said Chance.

He added that if this issue is not taken seriously then it will impact on the crime situation.

Chance said Vision on Mission is responsible for every aspect of the deportees' care, from providing psychological help, training, accommodation, food, etc.

He lamented that there are some people at the facility who are over the age of 60, which was challenging. Chance said there is another facility at Riverside Plaza, Port of Spain, which is also used to house deportees.

He said Vision on Mission receives a government subvention of $1.3 million annually but this was insufficient to cover all expenses.

Chance said the Government can consider utilising the Vision on Mission facility in Wallerfield, which can house 100 people as a measure to deal with mass deportations from the US.

He said the NGO does not have the money to meet recurrent expenditure to keep this facility open and functioning.

Chance said there is also another facility in Claxton Bay, which will be completed in December this year and can house some 65 female deportees.

He said the facility at Wallerfield was constructed on State lands which were leased for 100 years and the one at Claxton Bay is on private lands.

Chance said the facilities were constructed with monies from grants and from assistance from the corporate and private sector.

He said the majority of the deportees return home with convictions for serious crimes such as murder, aggravated assault, drug trafficking and gang-related crimes.

However, Chance pointed out that when they come home many of them embrace the Vision on Mission programme as they see it as a new chapter in their life.

He said their convictions are not registered here and therefore they can obtain a clean certificate of police clearance, which can help them reintegrate into society and the job market.

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Illegal immigrants have already been making their way back to Trinidad from the United States on chartered planes and, given President-elect Donald Trump's immigration policy, the rate will increase and this country is not ready for this.

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I am a member of the St Andrew Anglican Youth Group, which is connected to the St Andrew Anglican Church in Couva.  Over the years there has been an overall decline in the number of new members in the Anglican faith.  Due to this fact, our group took it upon ourselves to make suggestions of ways in which we could become more accommodating in hopes of growing our congregation.

Some of our suggestions included incorporating more percussion instruments into worship, attempting to keep our services under two hours in duration and even incorporating dance into the service.  While our priest welcomed these suggestions, some of the older members of the congregation were not as encouraging.  They believed that the church should not have to change to accommodate persons but persons should be willing to conform to the ways of the church.

This situation helped me to understand that years ago religion, especially those which belonged to the colonizing nations were very rigid.  There was also the thought that anything done in the colonizing nation would be better than anything done in the Caribbean.  This also ties back to the monocrop thought which makes us believe that there is only one way to do the right thing and benefit from it.

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Posted on: October 10, 2014 4:43 PM
Photo Credit: Bellah Zulu/ACNS
By Bellah Zulu, ACNS

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has been challenged to conduct a study to find out exactly why young people are leaving the church and the extent to which it is affecting the different communities within the Church.

In a motion raised at the recent annual Provincial Standing Committee meeting held in Johannesburg from September 21 to 24, the proposer, the Revd Jacques Pieterse, said that a study should be conducted to "establish the extent to which young people are leaving the church, and their reasons for doing so."

The conversations that ensued after the motion saw different points of view being raised with others suggesting that such a study should also include older members among those that may be leaving the Church.

Committee member and Rector of the Province's College of Transfiguration, Dr Barney Pityana raised another important perspective when he suggested that trends might be different in the white and black communities revealing that when he visited parishes in the black areas, he found "a burgeoning ministry among young people" and that the phenomenon may "only affect white Anglicans".

He added that there should be a study of whether there was "a flight of white people from the Anglican Church, and if so, we need to come to an understanding of why this is happening."

In an interview with ACNS, the Provincial Youth Co-ordinator, Tony Lawrence said, "It is imperative that the study is done. One needs to regularly evaluate our effectiveness as an organisation and people leaving would be one of the key indicators of our efficacy," he reasoned.

Mr Lawrence also suggested that a reputable institution be approached to do the study. "I would be very interested in the question list that will be developed to determine why people are leaving, as well as what approaches will be taken to get the information from the people who have left."

The question was also put out to members of the Church through the youth Facebook page. Most of those that responded agreed that a study is needed.

Demakatso Malele Mashile, a young person from the Province said from what she has seen in her Parish, "the youth leave because of the elders failing to address or talk to them."

Recently, the Primate of the Province, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba agreed that "the Church now realises that young people need to be given an opportunity [to take part in mission]" but challenged the youth "not to always seek permission from adults all the time but rather take the initiative to get things done."

He concluded, "Young people should not be undermined because they are also equally called as a child of God."

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"Find out why young people are leaving the church" - challenge to SA Anglicans

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Posted on: October 10, 2014 4:43 PM Photo Credit: Bellah Zulu/ACNS By Bellah Zulu, ACNS The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has been challenged to conduct a study to find out exactly why young people are leaving the church and the extent to which it is affecting the different communities within the Church.

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The government of Guyana is determined to continue to receive increasing profits from the cultivation and exportation of rice.  The climate and topography of the country makes for favourable conditions for rice cultivation.  Additionally, with such a large export market for a commodity which is considered a ‘dinner table staple’ worldwide, the Guyanese government believes that improving the rice cultivation system is the best move.

The Guyanese export market was once known for its diverse range of commodities which included sugar and lumber, to name a few.  As time progressed and governments changed each government agreed on one thing. his was that investing in the rice industry would be a wise move.  This eventually led to rice getting preferential treatment when compared to other export crops.  This marked the beginning of the monocrop culture in Guyana.

By implementing programmes for current and aspiring farmers, tax breaks, allocating state land for agricultural purposes and even investing more money into rice cultivation and exportation, they placed rice cultivation at the fore front of productive activity for the country of Guyana.  While they are aware of the risks that are associated with entering and specifically catering to the export market, it appears to be a risk they are willing to take even after losing one of their largest markets.

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Local rice production last year has exceeded the level set in 2014. According to Head of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan, as at December 31, 2015, paddy production was 1,058,129 tonnes, equivalent to 687,784 tonnes of rice.

He informed the Government Information Agency (GINA) that this figure was 80,840 tonnes or 8.27% higher than the production of paddy for 2014. He said 977,289 tonnes of paddy equivalent to 635,238 tonnes of rice were produced in 2014.
EXPORTS AND PRICES
In terms of exports, Hassan indicated that for the period January - December 2015, the export figure was 537,334 tonnes compared to 501,208 tonnes for 2014. This figure, he said, was 7.21% more that the overall export figure for 2014.

Hassan noted that despite the increase in volume of exports, the value was 11.48% lower than the value for 2014. For the period January-December 2015, the value of exports was US$220.85M compared to US$249.5M for 2015.

According to the GRDB Head, the price being paid was the major contributing factor for the lower value of the exports. When Guyana exported to Venezuela, the price received from that country was US$760 per tonne of rice. However, after the loss of the market Guyana had to settle for between US$340 to US$400 per tonne.

Guyana last year exported to countries in North America, Latin America, West Africa, European Union and CARICOM countries. Of these, the Latin American countries accounted for the largest revenue generation, importing as much as US$99.5M worth of paddy.

The GRDB top official also told GINA that the agency and other stakeholders remain committed to finding additional markets for rice producers across the region and further afield.

The agency is also playing an integral role into the research and experimentation of various types of rice to boost farmer's production through stronger and resilient varieties of rice, across Guyana.

The strains of rice, GRDB 12, GRDB 13 and GRDB 14 will continue to expand in acreages in 2016. Nineteen (19) advanced breeding lines are currently being tested in advanced yield trials in four locations across the country. These candidate varieties will be tested in farmers' fields, and if found suitable, will be released.

Sixty-fiveadvanced breeding lines are currently being tested at the Research Station at Burma. Each season, over 4,000 breeding lines are studied by the team at the Research Station.

The GRDB said it will be implementing a proactive programme to manage 'red rice'. Similarly comprehensive studies will be done on the paddy bug menace and its management, aimed at reducing losses.

The Ministry is expected to access at least 500 varieties of paddy from international research institutes and centers this year.

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Local rice production last year has exceeded the level set in 2014. According to Head of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan, as at December 31, 2015, paddy production was 1,058,129 tonnes, equivalent to 687,784 tonnes of rice. He informed the Government Information Agency (GINA) that this figure was 80,840 tonnes or 8.27%...

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After widening the observation to include other Caribbean territories, it was observed that the process of diversification is already underway on the island of Jamaica.  Like Trinidad, Jamaica’s largest exports take the form of natural resources, namely, aluminium and bauxite.

While Jamaica benefits from profitable returns from the exportation of these products, their balance of trade is still unfavorably disproportionate.  In other words, their imports are still more costly than their exports.  This influenced the beginning of diversified exports, particularly agricultural exports.

For the process of diversification to be successful, an adequate amount of money and effort must be invested into the project.  However, the Jamaican government and by extension the people, are a bit hesitant to take this gamble even though it could boost their economy and potentially make the balance of trade figure more favorable.  Another “side effect” of the monocrop culture manifests itself here.  Even though the country is aware of the possible profits associated with developing the agriculture market for export, they are also aware of and have been benefitting from the profits of aluminium and bauxite exportation and so are more comfortable investing in this.

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LAST year, Jamaica exported more yam than traditional agricultural exports combined.

Even the value of ackees and sauces sold to overseas markets are set to individually surpass coffee export sales shortly.

Non-traditional agricultural exports have enjoyed substantial growth in recent years -- increasing from US$119 million in 2009 to US$153 million last year.

But Donovan Stanberry believes the market for Jamaican produce is far greater than is currently being realised.

"We have discovered that the marketplace can absorb so much more than what we are now exporting," said the permanent secretary of the agriculture ministry.

What's more, food items which used to be classified as 'ethnic' have now gone into the mainstream.

"Now we are having big supermarkets like Walmart (in the US) and Tesco (in the UK) literally having designated shelf spaces for the produce, so we are moving from the territory to the mainstream," he added.

A new export platform, which is to be officially launched in September, is being developed by the agriculture ministry to increase and safeguard the export of Jamaica's non-traditional agricultural produce.

The programme will partly follow the one used in Costa Rica to grow non-traditional exports, such as pineapples, which over the last decade alone has grown from US$160 million, or 17.5 per cent of global trade in 2002 to US$826 million, or 35 per cent of world exports last year.

In Jamaica, the programme aims to turn farmers into food exporters through training in international business practices, marketing and negotiating skills, and participation in trade missions and fairs.

Traditional markets -- Canada, United Kingdom and the eastern coast of the United States -- are being targeted by the export platform, which is to push growth in export of yam, papaya, pumpkin, dasheen, pepper, condiments, and ginger, among others.

Already, a UK-based association of fresh produce importers whose members comprise 700 businesses, from food packers and processors to retailers and distributors, has started to take direct supplies.

Since April, six shipments of local produce have been sent to Fresh Produce Consortium of the United Kingdom.

"Having established that the Jamaican products still have a strong preference in those markets, it is our intent to exploit that along with our strong brand image," said Stanberry.

However, Jamaica has to improve its export practices, at least in terms of consistency, if its products are to secure a spot on mainstream shelves.

The implementation of 10 agro-parks covering over 6,600 acres of land is expected to help lower the cost of production of Jamaican agricultural goods, while improving consistency.

The agriculture ministry also plans to strengthen its presence in North America - possibly by means of a small company, to streamline operations.

The export platform is being carried out under the agriculture ministry's Agricultural Competitiveness Programme (ACP), in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA).

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Already on the rise, non-traditional crops mount new export platform - Business

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LAST year, Jamaica exported more yam than traditional agricultural exports combined. Even the value of ackees and sauces sold to overseas markets are set to individually surpass coffee export sales shortly. Non-traditional agricultural exports have enjoyed substantial growth in recent years -- increasing from US$119 million in 2009 to US$153 million last year.

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Before I even started university, I was told that Caribbean Civilisation was similar to History.  This made me happy because I've enjoyed studying History throughout secondary school.  However, I don't know why I thought that this would be true.  As the semester progressed, it became very clear that this would not be the case,  especially after having to re do my first assignment.

This course has encouraged me to always have an opinion on whatever is going on around me because chances are it will or already has affected me.  If there was anything I wish I could've changed about this course is its delivery.  I wish there were physical lectures since the tutorials made up some of the best hours of my semester.
I also wish that we were taught to approach subjects like Caribbean History and Caribbean Studies analytically as opposed to being taught to learn off and regurgitate what is in our textbooks.

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From King Sugar to King Oil- "The Monocrop Tradition"

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From King Sugar to King Oil- "The Monocrop Tradition"

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Monocropping is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same piece of land.  This practice was very popular on all Caribbean islands during the period of colonialism throughout the region.  On many islands, sugar cane quickly became the crop of choice for this practice particularly, on the island of Trinidad.

Essentially, sugar cane production became the backbone of Trinidad’s economy until its production became less profitable and had to be scaled-down and eventually phased out.  The end of sugar production left a hole in the country’s economy.  Fortunately, the country was already benefitting from increasing profits from oil extraction and production and so, the hole was filled by oil profits.

While oil is not a “crop” in the true sense of the word, it is a natural resource and like all other natural resources, its value will appreciate and depreciate until it is depleted.  In recent times, people have been turning to renewable sources of energy to power their appliances and vehicles.  This means that oil is no longer as profitable as it once was and with prices continuing to drop, it leaves the economy once again vulnerable.  There has been a lot of talk of diversifying the economy to ensure that it does not rely on profits from one productive sector to fuel the entire economy.  One would think that they would have learnt this from the sugar debacle but better late than never right?

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The need for economic diversification has been a standard policy prescription since the mid-1970s when the second international oil shock sent the T&T economy into a major tailspin.

Led by the International Monetary Fund and supported by local stake-holders, the call has become more strident in recent years because of structural changes taking place in global energy markets and new uncertainties about remaining oil and gas reserves.

Last month, in explaining its downgrade of Government bond rating, Moody's, the global rating agency, cited among other factors the country's "limited economic diversification, which weighs heavily on economic growth prospects".

In a series of four articles, two retired bankers, examine the urgent need for meaningful economic diversification and make a case for an intensified exploitation of our comparative advantage in financial services and tourism.

The Background.

To any casual observer, Trinidad and Tobago is a striking example of a developing country that has made good use of its natural resource endowment, oil and gas, to increase its level of development and raise the living standards of its population. However, notwithstanding various attempts over the past few decades, "to sow the oil", the development of a competitive, dynamic and innovative non-energy export sector has been illusive.

Trinidad and Tobago is, by international standards, a very small oil producer. At its peak in 1978, oil production averaged 230,000 barrels per day. Oil gave way to natural gas in the 1990s and in 2006, oil and gas output reached 800,000 barrels per day oil equivalent.

While the new gas discoveries, combined with the surge in international oil prices, resulted in a major economic boom from the late 1990s, these factors also significantly increased the economy's dependence on oil and gas.

Heavy dependence of an economy on one sector has always been recognized as a major source of economic vulnerability. The risk is compounded if the dominant sector is mineral resource-based. In such circumstances, the case for diversification rests on several grounds:

* Diversification provides some insurance against the inherent volatility of mineral resource prices.

* Mineral resources are not large employers of labour and create few sectoral linkages.

* Perhaps the most compelling reason, is that, at some stage, the natural resources will be fully depleted and the economy will need to have alternative growth engines.

Point Lisas: Expanding energy frontiers

As far back as in 1969, stated strategy of the First Comprehensive Five-year Development Plan was "to convert the rents from the offshore economy to build a vibrant, internationally competitive onshore economy."

Following failed attempts to establish a viable, globally-competitive light manufacturing sector, around the middle of the 1970s, the Government of the day embarked on a strategy which essentially involved using the new discoveries of natural gas to expand the frontiers of the energy sector. This strategy, which gave rise to the creation of the Point Lisas Industrial Estate, has come to be considered as a model of downstream energy sector development for small countries.

As a result of this strategy, Trinidad and Tobago is now a major exporter of methanol, ammonia and urea. With our four Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plants, Trinidad and Tobago was up to recently, the major supplier of LNG to the East Coast of the US. For many, the Point Lisas complex remains our most visionary economic decision since Independence.

Unfortunately, however, this impressive petrochemical complex has made our a economy even more dependent on oil and gas. Moreover, the vulnerability of the economy has remained, given the dependence of the petrochemical sector on gas and the high degree of price correlation between oil and gas.

Running Out of Time

The uncertain outlook facing our energy sector, because of both external and domestic factors, now makes the need for the diversification of the economy both urgent and critical.

Global energy markets have recently undergone major structural changes, which have contributed to a decline of about fifty per cent in world prices over the past nine months or so. While not as dramatic, gas prices have also seen an appreciable decline.

As regards domestic supply, oil production is now a mere 85,000 barrels per day and natural gas output has also been on the decline. In fact, the current shortage of natural gas supplies has raised questions about the future viability of the petrochemical sector.

To compound the situation, since 2002, there has been a steady fall in the level of proven oil and gas reserves. The 2014 Scott-Ryder report puts the level of proven gas reserves at the equivalent of 8.5 years, and for oil 12 years .

Admittedly, interest in oil and gas exploration has been on the increase.

Even if ongoing exploration activities are successful, however, the changing global supply situation, reflecting the boom in shale gas production could seriously alter the global supply/demand balance with negative consequences for long-term oil and gas prices and the profitability of the domestic petroleum industry.

It is worth noting that T&T is a high cost oil and gas producer and that deepwater exploration is a high-cost business. If oil prices plateau at around US$ 60 per barrel, as many analysts expect companies, would certainly need to re-assess their exploration plans and some will certainly shift investment to lower-cost producers - the newly-emerging oil and gas producers. The future is indeed stacked against our energy sector.

At the very least, an intensification of the diversification effort is urgently needed to protect against the downside risk of imminent oil and gas depletion and/or the radical changes that are likely to be faced by the domestic petroleum sector.

A reasonable conclusion is that while oil and gas have been mainly responsible for the high living standards enjoyed by Trinidad and Tobago, it would take a more diversified economy to ensure that these living standards are maintained or enhanced. In the jargon of the economists, economic diversification has now become a precondition for medium-term sustainability.

The next article will discuss the role of an International Financial Center as one pillar of a feasible diversification strategy.

Disclosure: The authors, Ewart S Williams and Richard P Young, are part-time consultants who are working on a project that explores the deepening of T&T's International Financial Centre

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Beyond Energy The Diversification Imperative

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The need for economic diversification has been a standard policy prescription since the mid-1970s when the second international oil shock sent the T&T economy into a major tailspin. Led by the International Monetary Fund and supported by local stake-holders, the call has become more strident in recent years because of structural changes taking place in global energy markets and new uncertainties about remaining oil and gas reserves.