Contact Magazine April 2018

Vol.18 No.1 – April 2018 

The Voice of Business in Trinidad & Tobago 

Transforming 

Trinidad & Tobago 

Settling disputes | Letting go of fossil fuels 

Digital revolution | The art of rejuvenation

www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine 01 

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber 

of Industry and Commerce


Contents 

ON THE COVER 

Joseph, Robert and John Hadad, 

joint CEOs of the HADCO Group, 

which is moving beyond imports 

and distribution to manufacturing 

and exports 

04 

The President’s 

pages 

Chamber President Ronald 

Hinds on transformation 

THE CHAMBER IN ACTION 

06 

10 

14 

The Chamber in action 

Digital revolution, business 

insights and coming events 

Lange Trinidad to supply 

the Caribbean’s battery 

needs 

Innovator profile by Natalie 

Dookie 

HADCO invests $35m in a 

new ice cream plant 

Innovator profile by Natalie 

Dookie 

18 

It starts right 

here, with you 

Jonathan Charles asks who should 

lead the urgent transformation 

ahead 

TRANSFORMING T&T 

22 

28 

30 

32 

35 

Making things new 

Pat Ganase on the art of 

rejuvenation 

Why is it taking so long? 

Kevin Baldeosingh wonders 

how T&T has dodged the 

transformation challenge for 

so long 

Do we really like it so? 

Sunity Maharaj on Dr Terrence 

Farrell’s 2017 study: are we too 

fond of things as they are? 

Desperate for change 

Hillary Young wonders whether 

current plans can bring Tobago 

the transformation it sorely needs 

Can we let go of fossil 

fuels? 

David Renwick on the 

transformations needed in the 

energy sector 

02 

Trinidad 

and Tobago Chamber 

of Industry and Commerce 

www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine


The Voice of Business in Trinidad & ToBago 

Published by 

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of 

Industry and Commerce 

Transforming 



Digital revolution | The art of rejuvenation 

38 

40 

THE STATE OF THE NATION 

A return to growth in 

2018? 

Economic outlook: with luck, 

back in the black this year 

Oil, gas and 

petrochemicals 

Statistical profile: how is the 

energy sector faring? 

Columbus Circle, Westmoorings, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 

PO Box 499, Port of Spain • Tel.: (868) 637-6966 • Fax: (868) 622-4475 

Email: chamber@chamber.org.tt • Website: www.chamber.org.tt 

Tobago Division: 

ANSA McAL Building, Milford Road, Scarborough, Tobago 

Tel.: (868) 639-2669 • Fax: (868) 639-2669 

Email: tobagochamber@chamber.org.tt 

Produced for the Chamber by 

MEP Publishers (Media & Editorial Projects Ltd) 

THE CHAMBER AND ITS 

MEMBERS 

6 Prospect Avenue, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 

Tel.: 622-3821 • Fax: 628-0639 

Email: info@meppublishers.com • Website: www.meppublishers.com 

Chamber liaison Halima Khan 

Editor Jeremy Taylor 

Page layout & design Bridget van Dongen 

Design template Christophe Pierre 

Advertising Halcyon Salazar 

Production Jacqueline Smith 

Editorial assistant Shelly-Ann Inniss 

44 

47 

How to settle a dispute 

Niall Lawless on the work being 

done at the Dispute Resolution 

Centre 

Welcome to new 

members 

DISCLAIMER 

Opinions expressed in Contact are those of the authors, and not 

necessarily of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and 

Commerce or its partners or associates. 

CONTACT is published quarterly by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and 

Commerce (TTCIC). It is available online at www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine. 

© 2018 TTCIC. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any 

form without the written permission of the publisher. 




the chamber in action 

The President’s 

pages 

Welcome to the new-look Contact! 

As you can see, we have made some substantial changes to the 

Chamber’s magazine. We have given it a new look and feel, a new 

design. We have re-thought and re-angled the editorial. The result, 

we hope, is something more like a general-interest business magazine than a 

corporate statement. 

In fact, we’re thinking of Contact as a forum, a meeting place where members, 

and business readers generally, can discuss and debate business issues and ideas. 

So please treat the arguments and ideas in these pages as the views and 

opinions of the respective writers, not necessarily of the Chamber itself. Just 

as a debates commission can host and preside over an election debate without 

necessarily agreeing with anything the candidates say, so the Chamber can host 

and preside over a lively business discussion in Contact. 

Please make use of the magazine as a forum. We welcome your feedback on 

this new-look version. We welcome your ideas and suggestions for future coverage. 

We welcome your letters, whether about material in Contact or about general 

business issues (just mark letters “Contact – for publication”). 

We also welcome your advertising support, whether for informing members 

and readers about your goods and services, or as a corporate presence in the 

Chamber’s own magazine. 

The main theme of this issue of Contact is national transformation, 

appropriately enough, and we make no apology for returning to that vexed 

question. 

As it happens, the Chamber is very much in agreement with the broad 

argument running through the articles about how to implement change in Trinidad 

and Tobago. 

We all know that our economic situation is dire; virtually every social and 

economic sector is crying out for change and rejuvenation. But the problems are 

so complex that many people feel overwhelmed, open to change but not knowing 

where to start. 

We want to intensify the national debate about that: where are we, where 

do we need to go, what can each of us do about it? Large-scale change requires 

large-scale buy-in, and that can’t develop until the nation has a clear idea of what 

it needs to do. 

Each one of us, therefore, has a patriotic duty to embody the change we 

want to see. Every one of us is either a problem or a solution. But if, together, we 

can develop clear goals, and all pull in the same direction, is there anything that 

Trinidad and Tobago could not do? 

Contact magazine is just one of the services and connections the Chamber 

provides for its members and for readers further afield. In these pages, for 

example, you will find a first-hand story written by a veteran mediator about 

the experience of mediating an industrial dispute at the Dispute Resolution Centre. 

04 

Trinidad 




The DRC is a fully autonomous 

organisation. Opened in 1996, it was 

first developed by the Chamber, and 

we continue to enjoy a very close 

relationship with it. I hope the story 

will remind readers of the services 

offered by the DRC in preventing and 

settling conflicts and disputes in the 

workplace. 

Among other services is our 

MVA (Membership Value Added) 

programme, under which our partners 

offer attractive discounts on services 

ranging from insurance and couriers 

to hotels and restaurants. There’s good 

value here waiting to be taken up, and 

I urge all our members to get with the 

programme! 

I would also like to remind 

members of our Business Insight 

facility, which offers “training for 

business by business”. It provides 

remote access to live events and to 

video recordings on business issues, as 

well as hooking up entrepreneurs with 

consultants and mentors. 

There are video sessions, for 

example, on economic transformation, 

surviving the recession, and financing 

innovation, not to mention an export 

toolkit, all subjects very relevant to our 

current theme. Make the most of them. 

Ronald Hinds 

President, Trinidad and Tobago 

Chamber of Industry and Commerce 





Be a part 

of the digital 

transformation 

WORDS By: Derrick Villeneuve 

We stand at a fork in the road, 

and the direction we take 

will determine Trinidad and 

Tobago’s future. We can be 

idle spectators and watch the downward 

spiral, feeling helpless about crime, jobs 

and the government; or we can choose to 

make a difference. 

The road to a better future must 

include a plan to diversify the economy 

and make us competitive on the world 

stage. The Economic Development 

Advisory Board (edab.org.tt) has identified 

seven industries that will lead us from our 

current state – where non-energy exports 

are a mere 15 per cent of the total – to 

40% by 2030. A key enabler in exporting 

these goods and services is information 

and communication technology (ICT). This 

demands a digital transformation in our 

businesses and government. 

customers and trading partners more 

easily. It allows us to get things done 

without having to spent three hours 

in traffic or waiting in a line at the 

bank. It helps prevent crime and catch 

criminals. We have been exceptionally 

successful at digitally transforming our 

personal lives with the use of Facebook, 

LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other 

social media platforms. Now we need to 

bring that level of digital expertise to 

business and government. In our focal 

areas we need to be the best! 

This transformation begins with 

The committee is a group of 

volunteers from leading local companies 

who are passionate about ICT and are 

working towards a vision of Trinidad and 

Tobago as a digital society. Committee 

members have already organised seminars, 

network events and webinars; now this 

signature event can bring together the 

ICT community and business leaders to 

advance our digital transformation. 

The Canadian government has 

assisted us with a keynote speaker, Peter 

van der Gracht, a serial entrepreneur with 

global experience who has participated 

We will offer a choice of 50 

different breakout sessions 

Keeping up 

The world is moving ahead of us, while 

we remain constrained by institutions 

and habits that undermine this future. 

Our government agencies are still 

fundamentally manual and burdened with 

bureaucracy. We lag behind our Caribbean 

peers in passing legislation to enable 

digital business. We are still mostly a 

cheque-based society, and our vendors are 

still expected to collect their cheques in 

person. Many of our institutions straggle 

significantly behind the firms we will be 

competing with in North America, Europe, 

China, India and, significantly, even in the 

Caribbean. 

Digital transformation is about 

enabling a better and more efficient 

way of doing things. It allows us to 

share information with our associates, 

education and information exchange. 

Your managers and ICT departments 

need exposure to what is available for 

them to move your business from where 

it is today to where it needs to be in the 

digital age. This is a journey we will all 

have to undertake on a continuous basis 

as the world and its business evolves in 

disruptive ways all around us. 

The ICT conference 

We all know it is tough right now, and it will 

probably get harder before it gets better. 

This is why ICT Pro TT, a committee of the 

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry 

and Commerce, will host the conference, 

“Ignite Your Digital Transformation”, at 

the Hyatt Regency on May 15-16, 2018. 

in diversification strategies in other 

countries. Other presenters will include Dr 

Wayne A.I. Frederick, President of Howard 

University; Marla Dukharan, Caribbean 

economist with the financial technology 

company Bitt; and other notable business 

leaders. 

To top it off, we will offer participants 

a choice of 50 different breakout sessions 

to expand your digital knowledge, in topics 

including analytics, business applications, 

IT-enabled services and social media. 

So please join us, and join Trinidad 

and Tobago’s digital transformation! 

The author is chairman of ICT Pro TT, a 

committee of the Trinidad and Tobago 

Chamber of Industry and Commerce 

06 

Trinidad 








Business Insights 

sessions at the 

Chamber 

January 16 

Restructuring Options in the Current 

Economic Climate 

Given today’s tough economic environment, the T&T Chamber 

hosted a Business Insights session to address issues of corporate 

restructuring. As CEO Gabriel Faria noted: “It is important 

to understand and identify the early warning signs of financial 

troubles ... Should businesses fall into difficulty, it is important 

that you have an efficient debt-restructuring plan.” 

Feature speaker Maria Daniel pointed to the danger of 

ignoring the signals of difficulty ahead – worsening cash flow, 

rising costs and declining revenue – and failing to change 

current practices. She proposed solutions for business owners 

who may run into difficulty. 

A group panel discussion followed, featuring Jeremy 

Bridglalsingh (Chief Financial Officer/Executive Director, 

Trinity Exploration and Production), Karen Yip Chuck (General 

Manager, Corporate and Investment Banking, Republic Bank), 

Richard Beckles (Principal Consultant, The Legal Consultancy), 

and Maria Daniel (Partner, Transaction Advisory Services, 

Ernst & Young). 

This session is available from our Business Insights ondemand 

library at https://chamber.org.tt/paid/restructuringoptions-current-economic-environment/. 

Left to right: feature speaker Maria Daniel, panellists Richard 

Beckles, Karen Yip Chuck and Jeremy Bridglalsingh 

Left to right: Dr Ronald Ramkissoon, Allana Steuart, 

Joe Pires, Sheivan Ramnath, Arun Seenath 

January 29 

Insights into the Agricultural and 

Agro-Processing Industry 

Agriculture is a sector with enormous potential for 

diversification. This Business Insights session aimed to increase 

awareness about the incentives, opportunities and impediments 

for anyone operating in the agricultural sector. 

The feature presentation was by Senator Avinash Singh, 

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land 

and Fisheries. He focused in detail on government incentives 

and programmes. 

An interactive panel discussion followed, which allowed 

the audience to pose questions and make comments to the 

panellists: Senator Singh, Sheivan Ramnath (CEO, Agricultural 

Development Bank), Joe Pires (Managing Director, Caribbean 

Chemicals), Allana Steuart (Managing Director, Bertie’s Pepper 

Sauce), Arun Seenath (Tax Partner, Deloitte), and Ronald 

Ramkissoon (Economic Development Advisory Board). 

This session is available on demand from our BI library 

at https://chamber.org.tt/paid/insights-agricultural-agroprocessing-industry/. 

08 

Trinidad 




March 12 

Firing Up the Food Industry 

The food industry attracts plenty of attention in 

Trinidad and Tobago, and attracts tourists as well as 

locals. This session aimed to assist existing operators 

and anyone interested in starting up a business in this 

sector. 

The feature speaker, consultant Kami Jerome, 

shared her international and local experience in the 

industry, and explored areas that must be considered 

in order to create and sustain a successful business in 

the food and hospitality sector. 

In the subsequent discussion, panellists Richard 

Ramjohn (Big Rolph Food Truck), Aka Ali Kerr 

(Hyatt Regency Trinidad), Suzanne Daniel (Beautiful 

Buffets), and Christian Stone (More Vino) shared 

their industry experience. 

Left to right: Richard Ramjohn, Kami Jerome, Suzanne Daniel, 

Christian Stone, Aka Ali-Kerr 

This session is available on demand from our BI 

library at https://chamber.org.tt/webinars/foodin/ 

For partnering with us on the BI series we thank our platinum sponsors The JMMB Group and The Guardian Group; diamond sponsor 

C&W Business; and key sponsors One Caribbean Media and Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi. 

Coming events 

ICT Pro TT Conference 

• When: May 15-16, 2018 

• Where: Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain 

• Who for: Regional ICT and business professionals 

• Rationale: Deepening ICT knowledge; 

understanding ICT technologies, 

trends and services in business and 

government; networking with ICT 

professionals and business partners 

• Register: http://ictprott.com 

Taste of the Caribbean 

• When: June 22-26, 2018 

• Where: Hyatt Regency, Miami 

• Who for: 

Food and beverage professionals, 

aspiring and established chefs; lovers of 

Caribbean cuisine 

• Rationale: Celebrating and showcasing Caribbean 

culinary arts; developing professional 

skills; gathering practical information; 

sampling, purchasing, strengthening 

established supplier relationships, 

meeting new vendors; innovative and 

exciting educational sessions 

• Tel.: 786-476-8623 

• Email: 

• URL: 

events@caribbeanhotelandtourism.com 

www.chtataste.com 

Global Business Travel Association Convention 

• When: August 11-15, 2018 

• Where: San Diego Convention Center, California 

• Exhibition: 400+ companies 

• Conference: 100+ education & professional development sessions 

• Attendees: 7,000+, representing over 50 countries. Nearly 1,300 

business travel buyers making purchasing decisions 

• Email: conventionreg@gbta.org 

• Phone: 888-574-6447 

• URL: convention.gbta.org/new 

China’s International Import Exposition 

• When: November 5-10, 2018 

• Where: National Exhibition and Convention Centre, Shanghai 

• Who for: Government officials, business communities, 

exhibitors and professional purchasers 

• Exhibits: GOODS: high-end intelligent equipment; consumer 

electronics & appliances; automobiles; apparel, 

& consumer goods; food & agricultural products; 

medical equipment & medical care products 

SERVICES: tourism; emerging technologies; culture & 

education; creative design; service outsourcing 

• Info: China International Import Expo Bureau, National 

Exhibition and Convention Center, 333 Songze 

Avenue, Shanghai, China 

• Tel.: +86-21-67008870/67008988 

• Email: info@sinoexpo.cc 

• URL: www.shanghaiexpo.org.cn/zbh/en/ 




INNOVATORS 

Lange Trinidad 

to supply the 

Caribbean’s battery 

needs 

WORDS By: natalie dookie 

PHOTOGRAPHY courtesy: LANGE TRINIDAD 

Astalwart in the automotive industry since 1957, Lange is one of the 

leading battery distributors in Trinidad and Tobago. With 80 employees 

and four departments – automotive, batteries, industrial and insurance – 

the firm was one of the first companies in Trinidad and Tobago to earn an 

official “SME 2000 certification for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Quality and 

Environmental Management System”. 

Today, Lange is building on that track record of success by establishing its first 

manufacturing venture, through its subsidiary LTL Manufacturing Limited. 

Lange carries a wide range of battery products, including Premium, E-Series, 

Heavy Duty, 6-Volt, Traction and Gel Batteries for light and heavy duty automotive 

application. It also supplies the construction and marine sectors’ needs. 

Steven Blanc, Chief Operating Officer, Lange Trinidad Limited, notes that the 

locally produced TRACK battery brand, established in 1987, is a household name 

with consumers. “In 2014, we began looking at new export markets and decided to 

source an international supply that would be able to compete on quality globally. 

“Eventually, we found a manufacturer in Turkey, which met our needs of being 

strong on quality, and research and development. We began importing from them 

with the goal of setting up a plant in Trinidad and Tobago.” 

From importer to manufacturer 

Blanc believed that, as Trinidad and Tobago was heavily reliant on revenues from 

the oil and gas industry, there was a shortage of export-oriented manufacturing 

businesses generating foreign exchange. “We saw this opportunity as a member of 

the private sector, to help improve the economy, through diversifying our business 

into manufacturing. As a distribution firm, we had been experiencing foreign 

exchange challenges, and wanted to reduce our import bill. Now, as an export driven 

manufacturer, we will become a net positive US dollar earner.” 

The Ministry of Trade and Industry came in for high praise from Blanc, who 

credits their team with providing excellent support to first-time manufacturers, 

especially one like Lange, whose product is sophisticated and requires significant 

engineering and research and development services. The Ministry also assisted with 

obtaining the necessary certifications, and with the preparations for export. The 

Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Customs and Excise Division and 

exporTT were also helpful in getting Lange to this point. 

10 

Trinidad 




Stephen Blanc, COO, Lange Trinidad: “As an 

export driven manufacturer, we will become 

a net positive US dollar earner” 




INNOVATORS 

batteries with Calcium Shield 

Technology, which basically means 

that you never have to worry about 

maintaining your battery as the 

structure and composition of the 

materials and chemicals minimise 

water loss, extending the overall life 

of your battery.” 

Technology modernises 

battery production 

The new TRACK plant is located at e 

TecK’s Industrial Park, Arima, on 44,000 

square feet of land, and will have the 

capacity to supply the Caricom market. 

The new factory has cutting-edge 

technology with a modular design, 

allowing for ease of expansion in the 

future. The equipment is state-of-theart, 

and the manufacturing process 

will be fully automated, with quality 

control stations at every stage. 

The first phase of configuration 

will allow for the production of 

automotive and heavy-duty batteries, 

which will supply Lange’s current 

local and regional export markets. 

The plant will provide employment 

for 20 to 50 people at its maximum 

capacity by year-end, creating highly 

technical jobs for a different class of 

manufacturing. 

The TRACK brand has three 

differentiating points of value, 

according to Ibrahim Abdool, 

Marketing Manager, Lange Trinidad. 

The new factory has cuttingedge 

technology with a 

modular design, allowing 

for ease of expansion in the 

future 

“VR Guard Technology protects your 

battery against the rigours of driving 

in harsh conditions. Secondly, Power 

Plus Technology ensures that the 

battery is able to start all modern 

vehicles which carry more components 

and features than in the past. 

“We are also developing the 

Targeting one million 

units 

Blanc is keenly looking to the future. 

“Once the plant is up and running, 

we will be ready to export. We have 

already commenced negotiations with 

partners in the Greater and Lesser 

Antilles, as well as South and Central 

America. From our early interactions, 

they are very impressed with where we 

are going, and with the product and 

operations of the company. Our goal 

is to manufacture one million units 

within the next five years. We want 

TRACK to be seen as an international 

brand with the ability to compete on 

quality in the international market.” 

In the medium to long term, Lange 

plans to add renewable energy, and 

industrial traction batteries for fully 

electric equipment, to its product line. 

Blanc explains: “As vehicles become 

more automated, with increasingly 

complex electronic systems and 

equipment, we will monitor changes 

in the market, and we have set up 

the plant so it will be easily adaptable 

to manufacture batteries of any 

specification. 

“Our mission has always been 

to provide high quality products 

at competitive prices, so this move 

into manufacturing will allow us 

to focus on quality control and 

competitiveness, while adapting as the 

industry evolves.” 

12 

Trinidad 




epublictt.com 

email@republictt.com 

625-4411

INNOVATORS 

Hadco invests 

$35 million 

in new ice 

cream plant 

WORDS By: natalie dookie 

PHOTOGRAPHY courtesy: hadco ltd 

The HADCO Group is the largest importer and distributor of ice cream 

products in Trinidad and Tobago, representing premium brands such 

as Häagen-Dazs, Breyers, Nestlé, and Ben and Jerry’s. So it comes as no 

surprise that the Group is adding ice cream manufacturing to its list of 

achievements, with the development of a $35 million ice cream production plant. 

Started in 1992 by three brothers, Robert, Joseph and John Hadad, the Group 

Co-Chief Executive Officers, the HADCO Group now consists of five divisions and 12 

subsidiaries, representing 154 different brands. Employing more than 800 people, 

the Group has a wide reach, exporting across 12 Caribbean markets from its base 

in Trinidad. 

No stranger to manufacturing and innovation, HADCO recently bought and 

expanded a local recycling plant which converts used cooking oil into a feeder for 

biofuel; and its subsidiary, Imanex Limited, is already the largest manufacturer of ice 

cream cones in the Caribbean. Having successfully produced the Happy Time wafer 

cone for the past 20 years, HADCO is adding new machines to produce sugar and 

waffle cones. It hopes to secure 50 per cent of the regional ice cream cone market 

with the introduction of these new products. 

14 

Trinidad 




Above HADCO Group co-CEOs: Joseph Hadad, Robert Hadad, John Hadad 

Right Creamery Novelties partner, Paul Gabriel 

Foreign exchange needed for survival 

“About five years ago we did a gap analysis,” John Hadad 

explains, “as we had built our business around distribution, 

and it was heavily reliant on foreign exchange. As a result 

of this, we decided to get involved in manufacturing, 

because we needed foreign exchange earnings within the 

Group for the survival of the structure of the business. We 

needed to generate our own foreign exchange as well as 

take the foreign exchange we have and create a valueadded 

multiplier effect.” 

So the Group began looking for manufacturing 

opportunities in any part of the business where it was 

strong, “around our core competencies and what we 

already know, which is distribution.” 

Hadad also notes that getting involved in the 

manufacturing of ice cream was a huge benefit to the 

Group, as it already sells 80 per cent of all imported ice 

Employing more 

than 800 people, the 

HADCO Group exports 

across 12 Caribbean 

markets from its base 

in Trinidad 




INNOVATORS 

hlphoto/shutterstock.com 

cream in Trinidad and Tobago. “Having 

an understanding of the distribution 

side means that we can go to market 

with ice cream products a lot faster, 

because we have the infrastructure of 

cold storage, trucks, and a knowledge 

base of frozen products.” 

Creamery Novelties is 

established 

A few years ago, businessman Paul 

Gabriel approached the HADCO Group 

about distributing a local ice cream 

he wanted to produce. He had already 

completed a lot of research and 

development on the manufacturing 

process for a new brand. After much 

discussion, a 50 per cent partnership 

was born, Creamery Novelties. 

Located on the e TecK Diamond 

Vale Industrial Estate, the new plant 

consists of two buildings, of 10,000 

square feet each. One will house 

the ice cream, and the other the ice 

cream cones. Production starts in 

May, creating 25 new jobs at startup. 

The plant machinery was sourced 

from China, while the manufacturing 

process is uniquely designed to have 

very few touch points, from mixing 

to freezing, in keeping with a wellcontrolled 

sanitary environment. “A 

lot of work has gone into researching 

the equipment, and we have started 

creating recipes for the various 

flavours,” Hadad says. 

Taste testing and research and 

development were done locally, 

working with the Caribbean Industrial 

Research Institute, CARIRI. Product 

development, including packaging 

and design, was also sourced locally. 

“In addition, we will be collaborating 

with Caribbean CGA with respect to 

ingredient sourcing,” Hadad explains. 

The ice cream is initially in the 

basic flavours of chocolate, vanilla 

and coconut, with more endemic 

local flavours to be added as the 

product is rolled out. The firm will 

focus on bringing novelty products 

to the market such as an ice cream 

lolly called Creamee, as well as an 

old favourite, Choc Ice. Another 

innovative item will be a “Dairy 

Dainty”, which is five cubes of 

chocolate-coated ice cream in a box. 

This distinctive product was originally 

manufactured in Trinidad and Tobago 

by Paul Gabriel’s family more than 30 

years ago. 

The future of HADCO 

In the short term, HADCO is keen 

to see how the product performs in 

the Trinidad and Tobago market, and 

to understand consumer behaviour. 

“We want to start exporting as soon 

as possible, and will engage our 

distributor network across our 12 

export markets,” John Hadad says. 

“We feel positive that the product will 

sell very well throughout Caricom, 

and also in a few Central American 

markets. 

“Creamery Novelties targets the 

general consumer and affordability 

– we want to produce a good quality 

product at the right price. With our 

focus around novelties and flavours, 

the Group can become a dominant 

ice cream manufacturing force in the 

region within five years. 

“HADCO is owned by a 

Trinbagonian family, with Trinbagonian 

employees, and we want to continue 

to exist here, to grow our employee 

base and to grow our business. And 

we believe that the only way to do 

this would be to further diversify into 

manufacturing, in order to become 

self-sufficient with respect to foreign 

exchange earnings.” 

16 

Trinidad 







transforming t&T 

It starts right 

here, with you 

Enough talk, enough evasion. It’s time to 

get serious about change 

WORDS By: jonathan charles 

PHOTOGRAPHY courtesy: trinidad express newspaper 

“ 

Change is something we always say, / but every time we change things 

remain the same way,” sang the 2018 Calypso Monarch to the Savannah 

crowds back in February. “It won’t change despite all we do / if change 

doesn’t start with you.” 

It wasn’t a new message that Helon Francis was delivering. But the idea that 

each listener must become an agent of change was something of a novelty. Usually 

it’s the government which is supposed to change, or the opposition, or the business 

community. Someone else, anyway. 

But no matter who is urged to change, things have so far stayed the same. 

On the website of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) there is a scholarly 

paper which makes this point. Entitled “Diversification in T&T: Waiting for Godot?” 

(Khadan & Ruprah 2016). It refers mischievously to the 1953 Samuel Beckett play 

Waiting for Godot, in which two loquacious Irish vagrants wait for a mysterious 

saviour called Godot who never arrives. “Let’s go,” says one. “We can’t,” says the 

other. “Why not?” “We’re waiting for Godot.” 

So maybe Godot will come. Maybe the price of oil will get back to US$100. 

Perhaps the deepwater blocks will be teeming with recoverable resources. Perhaps 

Venezuelan gas will help us out. Perhaps everyone will start living within their 

means. But Godot never seems to turn up. 

In the world of economics, this seems to be quite a common view of Trinidad 

and Tobago’s progress in diversifying its economy. Another post on the same IDB site 

(Khadan 2016) says bluntly that “diversification away from the energy sector has 

largely failed”. It puts much of the blame, controversially, on “Dutch disease”: “the 

Trinidad and Tobago dollar has been consistently and substantially overvalued”. It 

might as well have blamed national complacency. 

18 

Trinidad 




Helon Francis, 2018 Calypso Monarch: “It 

won’t change despite all we do / if change 

doesn’t start with you” 





211 

240 

The idea that each listener 

must become an agent of 

change was something of a 

novelty 

180 

The 

problem 

We don’t really 

need to be told 

that the Trinidad 

170 

160 

and Tobago economy 

is over-dependent 

on the energy sector. 

Diversification is one of the 

buzzwords that have been in the air for 

decades. Plans and visions, speeches 

and policy briefs, have come and gone 

over the years. But somehow the latest 

energy pricing crisis, combined with 

falling oil and gas production, still 

managed to catch us by surprise and 

unprepared, still dependent on the 

wells and the rigs to pump out the 

national patrimony and monetise it, so 

as to keep us in the style to which we 

have become accustomed. 

The horror story that has unfolded 

in the last couple of years does not need 

detailing again here: the disastrous 

fall in energy revenue, the decline in 

output, the foreign exchange shortage, 

the gas shortfall, the budget deficits, 

the slashing of government spending, 

the erosion of savings, the piling up of 

debt. 

Once the severity of the situation 

became really clear, it was too late to 

avoid this crisis. Even if the recent 

cautious optimism about energy price 

gains and improved oil and gas output 

turns out to be justified, the 

risks of dependence have 

been demonstrated 

for all to see. 

175 168 

157 

157 

154 

150 

151 

We’ve had the final 

warning. To continue with 

business as usual is too great a 

gamble. The nation has to adapt itself 

to sadly straitened circumstances, 

and quickly. It has to learn again to 

live within its reduced means. In the 

process, it will finally have to face up to 

the challenge of diversification; and to 

the larger issue of transforming itself 

– its economy, its society, its culture 

– into something more efficient, more 

rational, more productive and more 

sustainable, than it is now. 

Obstacles 

One hurdle is that these heavy abstract 

nouns have been around so long and 

have become so familiar that they no 

longer mean very much. They fly in 

one ear and out the other. They fall 

to the ground like hunks of dead wood. 

Diversification. Thud. Innovation. Thud. 

Transformation. Clunk. Lip service is paid, 

brows are duly furrowed, and then we 

return to business as usual. 

Another hurdle is that there is no 

clear definition of what these key words 

mean in our national context. Diversify 

what into what? Transform ourselves into 

who? What would a diversified economy 

and a transformed Trinidad and Tobago 

actually look like? There is as yet no 

common understanding, no shared 

vision, about what these 

words and ideas 

would involve 

if they 

137 

135 

132 

131 

were taken 

seriously: and no 

sense of what anyone 

should start doing about them. 

130 

124 

Plans and visions 

It is not that explanations are lacking. 

The planosphere is swimming in plans, 

policies, briefs, visions and speeches. There 

is Vision 2030 above all, aka the Draft 

National Development Strategy 2016- 

2030, which is available online, though 

few people seem to know what is in it. 

There is an array of documents ranging 

from a National Innovation Strategy and 

123 

12 

Oil production 1980-2017 (bbl/day) 

1981 

1982 

1983 

1984 

1985 

1986 

1987 

1988 

1989 

1990 

1991 

1992 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

20 

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123 

Policy to a National Environment Policy. 

There is even a Green Government 

Policy. 

The Economic Development 

Advisory Board (EDAB) that was set up 

after the 2015 election has produced a 

lot of material on these very issues. If the 

electorate is less than familiar with the 

intricacies of national transformation, 

it is not for lack of reading material. 

But that painful fact points to 

another difficult hurdle. It is very hard 

to imagine a Trinidad and Tobago 

transformed in the way the official 

literature urges, with its people 

enthusiastically adopting a new 

mindset and a new culture. What is 

economically sane and sensible is sure 

to be politically toxic. One commentator 

(wisely claiming anonymity) told 

Contact: “What we all want is high 

living with low productivity.” 

So there is the vision of 

transformation on 

one hand, while 

on the other is 

the way 

122 

125 

113 

134 

122 

123 

145 

things actually work in Trinidad and 

Tobago. Real change would threaten 

and trample on a vast web of entrenched 

interactions, systems, and processes. 

So much is invested in the status quo, 

both political and commercial, that it 

is hard to believe there is any scope for 

genuine change. 

Still, it must be done. The world is 

changing around us and is not waiting 

for Trinidad and Tobago to get its 

house in order. Even with a return to 

growth in 2018, even with a pickup in 

the energy sector, the end is in sight for 

fossil fuels; their terminal decline may 

well be only a couple of decades away. 

Dodging the issue now simply means 

kicking the can down the road for a 

new generation to pick up. 

Private sector leadership 

In the face of these challenges, the 

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of 

Industry and Commerce has 

143 

121 

an unavoidable role to 

play in providing 

inspirational 

leadership. 

Which is 

to 

114 

107 

What 

is economically sane 

and sensible is sure to be 

politically toxic 

98 

92 

say, it has to entice the business 

community to go the whole length of 

the road. It cannot leave leadership to 

the government alone. 

The private sector will have to 

divest itself of business models and 

processes which no longer work to 

the national good. It will have to 

prioritise products and services which 

save or earn foreign exchange. It must 

innovate and diversify. It must develop 

a greater sense of global markets, and 

the external demand which Trinidad 

and Tobago can supply. 

Even so, without partnership and 

mutual support from the government 

and labour, the road leads straight into 

the desert. Somehow, the visions of 

the three partners in transformation 

must find a way to mesh. To have them 

pulling in different directions in pursuit 

of separate goals is a recipe for national 

deadlock and stagnation. 

All this is going to hurt. People 

are going to bawl. At every level of 

society, people will have to climb out 

of their comfort zones. We’ll need 

mutual support and encouragement 

to keep cheerful and optimistic. But 

we don’t really have a choice. There is 

too much work to do. We have been 

hanging around too long waiting for 

Godot to appear. We’ll be better off 

remembering the Calypso Monarch’s 

warning about what will happen 

“if change doesn’t start with 

you.” 

82 

81 

81 

79 

72 

72 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 





Making 

things 

new 

What can individuals and communities 

do to help transform Trinidad and 

Tobago? Perhaps we should all find out 

about rejuvenation 

WORDS By: pat ganase 

For everything under the sun, there are seasons of decline and seasons 

of renewal. Every Jouvay, every Panorama, every Carnival, every year, 

masqueraders and musicians play and renew themselves and their art. Every 

successful business knows cycles of downturn and rejuvenation. Now the 

pace of change in the world is quickening: can Trinidad and Tobago rejuvenate itself 

out of its present decline? 

As the downturn in our economy threatens our wealth and stability, it is wise to 

count blessings and achievements. Against the odds, we have had a national airline 

for over 75 years. We have a regional university and a national university. We have 

products known the world over: La Brea pitch, Trinitario cocoa, the sound of steel. 

Trinbagonians become stars wherever they find themselves. We are seen as a place 

with which to be strategically linked. We have festivals for every tribe that calls 

these islands home; and the foods and spices to match. 

Such things should give us courage. But we need to look again at other 

industries and enterprises that we have come to consider foundational, but which 

may now have to be replaced or rejuvenated; or which we may have thought to 

be beneath our status as an oil-rich nation. We need to consider the global forces 

shaping our economy, and whether we should not strengthen our sense of ourselves 

as full global citizens, who must share the responsibility for what is happening to 

our world. 

22 

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olepeshkina/shutterstock.com 

Fresh produce is successfully being sold by Green 

Market Santa Cruz directly to the community 





Left Cocobel Chocolates’ owner Isabel 

Brash is a chocolate-making pioneer, 

transforming locally grown cocoa into 

exceptional confectionery. Below left 

Adrian Foster is an award-winning 

designer, whose fashionable Caribbean 

lines have been exhibited at New York 

Fashion Week and on Project Runway 

courtesy cocobel 

Climate change 

More severe storms, prolonged wet or dry 

seasons, the flooding of low-lying areas, 

and sea-level rise: these are some of the 

challenges that we should expect to face 

as the world gets warmer. 

As a species, we must join with 

the other eight billion other people on 

our planet to keep the temperature rise 

below 2 degrees Celsius. As individuals, 

we can start community action. As 

an oil and gas nation, with one of the 

highest per capita carbon footprints in 

the world, we can reduce our carbon 

production, mitigate it, rejuvenate plants 

and processes, conserve. 

Is carbon dioxide from our major 

industrial plants (LNG, methanol, gas 

processors) reusable? Some of the 

practices we need to adopt – reduction 

of waste, recycling, conservation – may 

seem futile to the ordinary citizen. But 

it is up to corporations to lead in the 

wise disposal of waste, including the byproducts 

of industrialisation. 

Plastics 

More efficient use of resources is generally 

seen as one of the keys to profitability 

and sustainability. At the rate at which 

we consume goods and services on our 

two islands, the recovery and re-use of 

waste should be a viable enterprise. How 

might we be innovative in producing a 

continuous cycle? Products from recycled 

plastics now range from cottage-industry 

reusable bags and woven rugs to new 

fabrics for shoes and blankets, industrial 

faux lumber, construction and road paving 

materials. Are we up to that challenge? 

michele jorsling courtesy adrian foster 

New energy 

As the world turns to renewable sources 

such as wind, wave and solar energy, 

might it be a natural step for the 

national electricity company to expand 

its business into the installation of solar 

panels, tapping a new, clean and infinitely 

renewable source of electricity? 

24 

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Sustainability 

We have heard the basic dictates of 

the UN Sustainable Development Goals 

charter: zero poverty; zero hunger; 

health, wellbeing, education and gender 

equality; clean water and affordable 

energy. Can we really say we are earning 

high marks for responsible, sustainable 

progress? 

Communities 

We need to tap the natural initiative of 

our small communities: for example, 

by negotiating partnerships instead of patronage to serve 

the corporate responsibility needs of large companies and 

multinationals. Community-based small business and nongovernmental 

organisations can contribute to the innovation 

and flexibility of big business. There are examples in many 

corners of our nation: we need to nurture and emulate them. 

Rejuvenative enterprise 

Rejuvenative enterprise depends on creativity and innovation 

that advances and updates sustainable industry and development. 

Below left Making a name for herself: Candice Caton, gospel 

singer/songwriter and granddaughter of Nelson Caton, one of 

the nation’s pioneer calypso composers. Below right Founder 

of the Plastikeep initiative, Rosanna Farmer is determined to 

build networks and educate communities on the importance of 

preserving the environment, recycling plastics, and making a 

lifestyle change towards sustainable living 

At the rate at which we 

consume goods and services, 

the recovery and re-use of 

waste should be a viable 

enterprise 

It will adapt systems and technology, but in the long run will 

reshape our very lifestyle and self-image, who we are and our 

place on the earth. Our future will depend on our willingness to 

relinquish what no longer serves us; and to embrace what serves 

not only humankind but the earth as a single ecosystem. 

Here are some areas of enterprise that are needed or 

trending today. 

Energy from the sun 

The cost of installing solar panels, for example, is falling as 

technology advances. Tobago might be the place where TTEC 

could introduce and promote alternative energy generation and 

supply, creating a model for a sustainable business of the future. 

The distribution system that has been installed over most of the 

country will facilitate the next step towards the use of renewable 

energy. 

Adam Mohammed courtesy CreativeTT/MusicTT 

abigail hadeed courtesy plastikeep 





Janet Bloom Fabres created the monthly 

UpMarket as an outlet for cooks, 

artisans and vendors unable to rent 

store space 

courtesy janet fabres 

Trinidad and Tobago cocoa estates. 

But chocolate production does not 

depend on owning an estate, as 

many local brands demonstrate: 

Cocobel, Ortinola, Mariposa, Gina’s, 

Brasso Seco. This initiative is being 

led by the Cocoa Research Centre, 

the rejuvenated descendant of the 

Imperial College of Agriculture at 

St Augustine which grew into the 

University of the West Indies. 

Most TTEC meters are bi-directional, so it should be simple to develop a net 

metering system. There is nothing to stand in the way of TTEC organising, promoting 

and utilising an alternate supply, like solar. Consider too that electric cars, to be 

recharged on household energy, are within ten years of mass production. Are we 

thinking ahead? 

Wealth from waste 

Three policy documents support a new enterprise: The Beverage Container Bill (1999); 

the National Environmental Policy (2006); and the Integrated Solid Waste/Resource 

Management Policy (2012). Is the iCare initiative going to industrialise waste recovery 

and help clean up the waterways? 

As an example, Sustainable Barbados is a private-public sector partnership 

recovering materials for re-use in Barbados. Similar waste recovery centres could be 

set up at Studley Park in Tobago and landfill sites in Trinidad. Materials recovered 

could be the basis of new inventions. 

From plant to plate 

It’s probably the most stable industry – agriculture, agro-processing, agribusiness – 

with the greatest scope for growth at every step from field to fine dining. In addition 

to pepper sauces, condiments, beverages, baked goods and catering services, here are 

just a few examples of innovation that are working: 

• The Green Market Santa Cruz is an experiment in direct marketing of agri-products 

to specific communities. The example has been picked up by the NAMDEVCO 

weekend markets which now move produce into communities. 

The relationship between producers and consumers helps with appreciation 

of, and access to, healthy food. It teaches us about the use and value of specific 

crops, such as the role of local honey, honeybees, and honey farmers in agriculture. 

Innovations in food production and marketing, especially in areas with limited land 

space, can grow into one of the most productive areas of rejuvenative enterprise. 

• Our Moving Table – a pop-up feast made from local produce – is successfully 

demonstrating new ways with food, and finding dining rooms around the country 

in garden settings like Ajoupa Gardens and San Antonio Nurseries. 

Growers are experimenting with hydroponic and vertical systems as well as 

looking into the composition and health of soil, scientifically increasing yield and 

managing multiple crop cycles. 

• Cocoa. The demand and world price has stirred revitalisation of some of the old 

“Edutainment” tourism 

Visitors to Tobago and Trinidad in the 

“active tourism” sector learn something 

every time they visit, whether they 

are returning residents or first-timers, 

whether they are here for festivals or 

business. 

Ask the guides at the Asa Wright 

Centre who are constantly teaching about 

the birds, animals and plant life – and 

learning too. Ask the turtle protectors at 

Grande Riviere, the Main Ridge Rainforest 

guides, or Ali Baba’s Sea Breeze and Tours 

in Castara. Tobago’s more active visitors 

want to learn to dive and explore the 

ocean, to bicycle round the island, and to 

meet Tobagonians where they live. 

There is much scope for a visitor 

market that is curious about TT 

lifestyle, festivals, food and the natural 

environment. The Environmental 

Research Institute of Charlotteville (ERIC) 

is tapping in to locals and visitors who 

are eager to understand and conserve the 

marine reserves around northeast Tobago. 

Buccoo Reef has long been a site of active 

tourism, a source of revenue for fisherfolk 

and tour operators, in spite of the failure 

to update management practices. 

The Nariva and Caroni wetlands, 

turtle nesting beaches, El Tucuche and 

Aripo, can all bring revenue to small 

and diverse communities. All that’s 

needed might be the infrastructure and 

safeguards that the government provides; 

and a continued flow of arrivals by air 

and sea. 

26 

Trinidad 




We need to tap the natural initiative of our 

small communities 

Conservation business 

Enterprises can be built on conservation and the wise use of resources. Erle Rahaman- 

Noronha has developed his farm in central Trinidad on permaculture principles. Wa 

Samaki now houses the El Socorro Wildlife Centre for rescued wildlife. And the Wa 

Samaki crew has been commissioned to rehabilitate the Walker’s Reserve quarry in 

Barbados. 

Our extractive industries – oil and gas, quarrying and mining – have to 

begin turning to sustainable practices. By partnering with proactive conservation 

enterprises, or including a conservation division in their operations, they can prepare 

for the “end of life” of the resource being exploited in order to evolve a rejuvenative 

enterprise. The quarries in the Arima valley, Matura forest and Aripo ought to be 

sites for re-foresting or conversion to parks. 

Neglected or actively used as a dump, the ocean itself holds the greatest 

potential for future food, recreation, education, and research and development. It 

is a resource waiting to be explored – not exploited – for what it might teach us 

about life on earth. 

For further reading 

Sustainable Innovation: the 

Rejuvenative Enterprise by Joss 

Tantram, available from Amazon. 

Below left Shari Cumberbatch is a 

fashion designer and owner of the 

Caribbean brand SHOP SHARI. Her 

business started online and now has a 

retail outlet. Below right In 2003 Alana 

Steuart and her husband created the 

world famous Bertie’s Pepper Sauce 

courtesy shopshari.com 

Russel Dos Ramos courtesy Bertie’s Pepper Sauce 





Why is it taking 

so long? 

So far, the sweet scent of petrodollars has 

been much more attractive than real economic 

diversification 

WORDS By: kevin baldeosingh 

In his book The Armchair Economist, University of Rochester economist Steven 

E. Landsburg writes: “Most of economics can be summarised in four words: 

‘People respond to incentives.’ The rest is commentary.” 

This is the basic reason why Trinidad and Tobago has failed to diversify its 

economy for the past 40 years: because politicians and business people responded 

to the powerful incentive of oil and gas money. 

As for the commentary, Dr Ronald Ramkissoon, a former senior economist at 

Republic Bank and present member of the Economic Development Advisory Board, 

noted in an interview with Contact that “while there was identification of the 

need for diversification, there was never any sustainable effort towards investment 

in research, innovation and the promotion of new high-value goods and services 

for export.” 

In the last budget debate, prime minister Dr Keith Rowley listed 

the sectors that the government has identified as the foundations of 

diversification (see next page). They have all been on the table of 

different administrations for the past 15 years, but state funding 

has seen no returns, particularly in the creative industries. As Table 

1 shows, the state has never made any consistent attempt to 

facilitate economic diversification, since this must necessarily 

start with government getting out of commercial activity. 

Economists’ view 

UWI economist Dr Roger Hosein, in an email response to Contact, 

argued: “The fundamental reason why the Trinidad and Tobago 

economy failed to appropriately diversify in the period 1999-2016 

was simply because the state did not show enough initiative, and 

the incentives or the lack of incentives provided to the Trinidad and 

Tobago economy were of such a nature that it was biased against 

the non-oil export-oriented sector.” 

28 

Trinidad 




Dr Ramkissoon had a somewhat different view. “Diversification will only take 

root with the private sector, domestic and foreign, in the lead,” he said. “The Dutch 

Disease has the all-embracing pull effect of all resources, human and capital, 

towards the booming energy sector and the non-tradable services sector. The focus 

of politician and people is similarly drawn away from diversification.” 

Economic trouble? Seize the moment 

The apparent paradox, therefore, is that diversification is more likely to happen when 

an economy is in trouble rather than when it is booming. The economic slump in the 

mid-1980s resulted in a Divestment Secretariat being set up in the 1990s, with several 

state enterprise companies being closed or privatised. But this process was quickly 

reversed once the new energy boom started in 2003. 

TABLE 1: State involvement in commercial companies 

Type 1970 1983 2008 

Wholly owned 5 34 44 

Majority owned 4 14 7 

Partly owned 2 18 29 

Total 11 66 80 

Sources: Williams, E. 1970; Mottley, W., 2008; Farrell, T., 2012 

The French economist Jean Tirole, 

winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize, in his 

book Economics for the Common Good, 

notes that broad reforms of the state 

have happened in countries like Great 

Britain, Finland, Germany, Sweden, 

Canada and Chile. He adds that while 

“it is often objected that ... a struggling 

economy makes it hard to compensate 

the losers of reforms ... the great 

majority of the reforms mentioned here 

were made precisely under difficult 

conditions.” 

Difficult conditions are exactly 

what T&T is now in, so the real question 

is whether the political incentives have 

changed sufficiently to trigger genuine 

economic reforms. 

Diversification in the 2017 budget speech 

Tourism 

“The Government is taking some bold steps to rectify the sector’s shortcomings by first addressing the governance arrangements in 

the sector. We have dissolved the Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC) which has been replaced by two new companies, 

one with oversight for Trinidad and the other with oversight for Tobago, bearing in mind that the two destinations have unique 

characteristics.” 

Creative industries 

“In the Music Sector, we will implement an Artiste Portfolio Development Programme which will support artistes who are on the 

verge of becoming export ready by leveraging their creative talents on the worldwide market. We will also launch a Production 

Assistance and Script Development Programme which will provide funding to film makers to produce high quality films.” 

Yachting 

“We are rolling out a new yachting policy which will establish a foundation to improve the competitiveness of the industry, with a 

view to establishing Trinidad and Tobago as the premier destination for yacht repair services.” 

Business process outsourcing 

“In this area we are pursuing a two-pronged approach: taking the necessary steps to make Trinidad and Tobago a preferred location 

for ‘Business Process Outsourcing’ (BPO); and making Trinidad and Tobago an International Financial Centre, offering a broader 

range of services and serving as a financial gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean.” 

Agriculture 

“We shall establish an agricultural financial support programme, with grants for new and existing farmers of up to $100,000. 

Appropriate training or certification in farming will be a prerequisite for applicants for this financial assistance since the objective 

is to encourage rational, efficient and methodical participation in agriculture.” 





Do we really 

like it so? 

Our resistance to change is rooted deep in the national culture 

Sunity Maharaj discusses We Like It So?: The 

Cultural Roots of Economic Underachievement 

in Trinidad and Tobago by Terrence W. Farrell 

A 

lifetime’s worth of experience as an economist at the highest levels of 

the public and private sectors of Trinidad and Tobago has left Dr Terrence 

Farrell with the question posed in the title of his 2017 book, We Like 

It So? This follow-up from the author of The Underachieving Society: 

Development Strategy and Policy in Trinidad and Tobago, 1958-2008 is both a quest 

to understand the source of West Indian economic underachievement and a clarion 

call for change. 

For a while, Farrell is detained by such theorists as the Dutch cultural researcher 

Geert Hofstede and the American psychologist David McClelland, whose work in 

culture, attitudes and behaviour enjoys international currency in the corporate 

world. However, he quickly comes up against the limitations of cultural extrapolation 

in the findings of a McClelland-inspired survey conducted in Trinidad and Tobago. 

According to the World Values Survey (WVS) 6th Wave (2010-2014), 

Trinbagonians value work more highly and leisure slightly less than global averages. 

They are also far less tolerant of corruption than the average person in other 

countries, with over 87 per cent of the Trinbagonian respondents saying bribery is 

never justifiable, compared to the global sample of 69 percent. 

Farrell knows quite enough about his country to recognise that such findings 

do not square with reality. “These anomalous or counter-intuitive results probably 

arise because people respond the way they think they are expected to respond,” he 

remarks. He ascribes the tendency to “ambivalence”, a cornerstone of his developing 

theory about the cultural roots of the phenomenon of economic underachievement 

in energy-rich Trinidad and Tobago. 

The intellectual context 

In fleshing out his analysis and argument, Farrell picks his way through the work of a 

broad spectrum of thinkers, social scientists, novelists and poets who have plumbed 

the Caribbean condition and provide theoretical ballast for his argument. 

For graduates of an education system that remains disconnected from its 

Caribbean moorings, We Like It So? is a useful introduction to the substantial body 

of Caribbean thought developed over the 19th and 20th centuries, going back to 

John Jacob Thomas, the revolutionary intellectual born in Cedros in 1841, three 

years after Emancipation. 

30 

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The book draws on the work of the Caribbean’s Nobel laureate economist, 

Arthur Lewis; anthropologist Daniel Crawley; C.L.R. James; the novels of V.S. Naipaul, 

George Lamming and Earl Lovelace; the sociology of Eric Williams and M.G. Smith; 

Lloyd Best’s plantation theory of Caribbean society; the poetry of Derek Walcott; the 

scholarship of Gordon K. Lewis, Rex Nettleford, Trevor Farrell, Carl Campbell, Gordon 

Rohlehr, Selwyn Ryan, Bridget Brereton and Selwyn Cudjoe, among others; and the 

writings of newspaper columnists. 

Although his analysis of Caribbean culture is grounded in these references, 

Farrell’s prescriptive response to T&T’s economic underachievement emerges from a 

world view very different from that held by many of them. 

Where thinkers like James, Best, Lamming and Nettleford see the challenge of 

change in the Caribbean as one of fundamental transformation of self and society 

through disruption of the historic power relations embedded in colonial institutions, 

Farrell argues that cultural change must be driven by “the elite who shape our 

institutions and procedures and establish and enforce the rules”. 

But they must first change themselves. To facilitate the process, Farrell proposes 

the “re-training of values and attitudes for persons about to assume leadership” 

through “structured, prepared encounters”. 

Role of the elite 

Persuading the society’s elite to “act like a true elite and take responsibility for the 

place” will then bring its own rewards, as a new culture, supportive of economic 

achievement, ripples outwards and transforms the wider society. 

Farrell’s own observations about the work attitudes of Trinbagonians abroad 

and at home in the courts, the energy 

sector, airlines and certain hotel resorts 

(namely the Sandals chain) have 

convinced him that they are capable 

of the “counter-cultural” behaviour 

required for economic advancement. 

Farrell’s counter-cultural situations 

are defined by clear lines of authority, 

mandated cooperation, and behaviour 

that is uncompromisingly enforced. 

“There is no rebellion or subversion, just 

quiet and respectful conformance to 

the rules,” he notes. 

If this smacks of autocratic 

leadership, it is not, Farrell says; it is 

what can happen with an attitude 

change in the exercise of authority to 

engender trust. 

respectful engagement; code-switching 

and contextual use of ‘formal’ language; 

establishing authority and enforcing 

discipline; making systems work; and 

connecting with the Folk to promote 

democracy and foster innovation. 

Drawn quickly, this prescription 

bears little organic connection to 

his analysis of the problem. Further 

reflection might lead to an exploration 

of the role of culture in the systematic 

selection of elites who pose no 

threat to the colonial architecture of 

underachievement. A glimpse into the 

self-perpetuating nature of culture 

might encourage him to second-guess 

his expectation that beneficiaries of the 

status quo would have an investment in 

changing the very system that rewards 

them while punishing agents of change. 

In any case, given the all-pervasive 

nature of culture, who will re-train the 

leadership elites for the challenge of 

change? 

Five initiatives 

Farrell observes that movement between 

the culture of underachievement and 

the counter-culture of achievement is 

negotiated through a process of “code 

switching”, including the transition from 

Trinidad dialect to Standard English. This 

leads him to propose Standard English 

as the language of the workplace, since 

it is “associated with seriousness and 

discipline”. 

In the end, he distills his prescription 

for change into five initiatives: 





Desperate 

for change 

Critically dependent on Trinidad, and 

badly hurt by the prolonged turmoil on 

the seabridge, Tobago is in urgent need 

of transformative action 

WORDS By: hiLlary young 

For economic transformation to take place in Tobago, the island must 

identify and develop its own industries, says Tobago-born UWI economics 

lecturer Anthony Birchwood. And “once the industries are identified, the 

youths must be part of any development going forward.” 

Tourism and manufacturing will benefit from investment flows, both 

international and local. But development must be driven by the private sector, or by 

the government/Tobago House of Assembly (THA) – or both. 

The THA’s plans 

The Tobago House of Assembly documented its proposals for Tobago’s economic 

development in its Comprehensive Economic Development Plan (CEDP) 2.0. 

Covering the island’s development from 2013 to 2017, the policy framework 

showed how the THA wants to “transform and diversify the Tobago economy ... to 

adjust to rapid changes in the national and international economies”. 

The plan concentrated on eight strategic areas: 

• good governance and institutional reform 

• business development and entrepreneurship 

• human capital development 

• social development and resilience 

• improved infrastructure and utilities 

• enhanced safety and security 

• environmental sustainability 

• branding Tobago “Clean, Green, Safe and Serene”. 

32 

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PHB.cz (Richard Semik)/shutterstock.com 

Parlatuvier Bay, Tobago 





To what extent these policy 

objectives were achieved is debatable. 

For sure, the project was starved of 

funding as budgetary transfers from 

Trinidad, the major source of Tobago’s 

finances, fell from $2.609 billion in 

fiscal 2015 to $2.19 billion for fiscal 

2017, a far cry from the $5 billion 

requested by the THA annually to run 

the island’s affairs. 

Tourism 

Some rebranding of the island to sustain 

the tourism product did occur, but its 

effectiveness remains in doubt, as the 

industry has declined rapidly, helped on 

by successive failures of the ferry service 

from Port of Spain. 

According to the Tourism 

Development Company of Trinidad and 

Tobago (since wound up), international 

tourist arrivals in 2005 were close to 

90,000, and occupancy levels were 

high. But by 2015 the numbers had 

fallen for the fourth consecutive year 

to 22,435, and industry insiders have 

reported that last year fewer than 

20,000 international tourists visited the 

island. 

For a while, the industry was 

kept afloat by an increase in domestic 

tourism. The World Travel and Tourism 

Council (WTTC) reported that domestic 

travel spending generated 53.7 per cent 

of the travel and tourism contribution 

to GDP in 2016, and noted that the 

market was expected to grow by 1.9 

per cent in 2017. 

Though the WTTC figures did not 

disaggregate travel from Trinidad to 

Tobago, the government in Port of 

Spain, in launching the Tobago leg of 

its “staycation” programme, said 59 per 

cent of domestic trips originated from 

Trinidad. 

The 2017 growth predicted by the 

To accommodate the 

Sandals project, extensive 

infrastructural work is 

planned 

WTTC never materialised. Domestic 

travel was seriously damaged by 

challenges on the air and sea bridges. 

But tourism arrival statistics and 

budgetary allocations from Trinidad 

tell only part of the island’s economic 

story. 

Its hotels and guest houses were 

starved for international and local 

direct investment flows; properties 

could not be upgraded. The Foreign 

Investment Act of 1990, requiring 

foreigners to acquire a licence 

before purchasing land, and financial 

institutions’ reluctance to give 

government-guaranteed loans to local 

investors, have blocked investment 

flows needed to build new properties 

and upgrade existing ones. 

Private sector participation 

The private sector is playing an active 

role in the island’s plan for economic 

transformation, but again the focus 

is on tourism. According to Demi 

John Cruickshank, immediate past 

chairman of the Tobago Division of 

the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of 

Industry and Commerce, “the business 

association will drive the economy 

with the government as its partner.” 

In January, Tobago business 

owners met with a ministerial team 

led by prime minister Dr Keith Rowley 

(himself a Tobagonian), and several 

decisions were taken involving 

private-public partnership (PPP). 

Revamping the economy 

in 2018 

The government-guaranteed loans 

programme will return, and the period 

of repayment will increase from seven 

to fifteen years. This facility can 

now be accessed by all tourism and 

tourism-related industry stakeholders. 

Two marinas are planned for the 

western end of the island, and the 

proposed Sandals Resort will proceed 

as planned. The government will 

build the hotel, sourcing funds from 

the private sector, and Sandals will 

provide management services. 

To accommodate the Sandals 

project, extensive infrastructural 

work is planned. Work will begin on 

desalination and sewage treatment 

plants, and Tobago’s electricity 

capacity will increase with a $132 

million expansion of the Cove 

Power Station. Twenty megawatts 

will be added to the plant’s present 

64-megawatt output. 

Three vessels will operate the 

domestic sea bridge, and a new 

terminal for Tobago’s airport will be 

built through a build-own-lease-andtransfer 

financial arrangement. 

These PPP projects are primarily 

geared towards reviving the tourism 

sector, but in the process they are 

intended to kick-start the transformation 

of Tobago’s economy are intended 

to kick-start the transformation of 

Tobago’s economy. 

34 

Trinidad 





Can we let go of 

fossil fuels? 

Does Trinidad and Tobago really believe in 

renewable energy? 

WORDS By: david renwick 

Average daily production of crude (bpd) 

and natural gas (bn cf) 

2016 71,846 3.3 

2017 71,700 3.8 

www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine 

Energy revenue (TT$bn) as a percentage 

35 

Economic transformation in the energy sector in Trinidad and Tobago 

would require two principal initiatives: raising the current level of crude 

oil production, and adopting renewable energy as an essential element in 

energy activity. 

The first is probably easier and quicker to implement. 

Crude production 

Current crude oil and condensate output is around 72,000 barrels a day (b/d). Raising 

that requires more development drilling by the upstream companies. 

At the very least, they should attempt to maintain that level in 2018. That means 

tht state-owned Petrotrin, which, together with contracted services, accounts for 

about 58% of total production, must up the ante. 

Petrotrin needs to be more active in its Trinmar acreage in the Gulf of Paria, 

and has indicated that it will be sinking five exploration holes there this year. On its 

land acreage, another five exploration wells will be drilled by lease operators and 

farm-out operators. 

EOG Resources will drill four exploration wells in its Modified Ub block, while 

BHP will be recommencing its deep-water exploration programme with the drilling 

of three wells, two in Block TTDAA 5 and the third in Block TTDAA 14. 

BHP sank the Le Clerc 1 well in 

May-August 2016 as the first of two 

Debt to GDP ratio 

exploration holes required during 

the first phase of the Block TTDAA 5 

production sharing contract. The result 

2016 

was preliminarily classified as a natural 

gas discovery. 

All this activity has convinced the 

energy and energy industries minister, 

Franklin Khan, that “the outlook for 

the domestic energy sector in 2018 is 

reassuring.” 

On the gas side, about 1.7 trillion 

cubic feet (tcf) is likely to be lifted this 

year. 

2017 

Caribbean Susta 

Strategy (C-SER 

20% by 2017 

28% by 2022 

47% by 2027 

“Renewable sources of energy a 

Trinidad and Tobago – Chamber Robert Le Hunte, Public Utilities 



2016 2017 

Renewable Energy 

1 

0 

-1 

-2 

-3 

-4 

-5 

-6 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and 

Strategy (C-SERMS) RE goal: 

20% by 2017 

28% by 2022 

47% by 2027 

“Renewable sources of energy are the way forward” 

– Robert Le Hunte, Public Utilities Minister, January 2018 

T&T RE goal: 

2017 

10% by 

2021 

Return on investment 

While minister Khan is happy about 

all this, he is not so pleased about the 

amount of revenue the government 

gains from this output. The government, 

he says, is therefore “reviewing the 

taxation system and the suite of 

allowances available to oil and gas 

companies.” 

This process began with the royalty 

rate on production, which was raised to 

12.5% in January. Other tax changes 

will be announced in due course. 

The minister has reassured the 

industry that “the government is 

receptive to, and welcomes, foreign 

investment” – but with the caveat that 

“there must be an equitable sharing of 

revenue earned from the exploitation 

of our hydrocarbon resources.” 

The UK’s Poten and Partners, in its 

Gas Master Plan report, highlighted the 

“great disparity in value”, as minister 

Khan put it, “between that which the 

government received, as compared to 

that received by energy companies and 

their affiliates from the monetisation of 

the country’s hydrocarbon resources.” 

He gave as a sterling example the 

revenue impact of the liquefied natural 

gas (LNG) trains in Point Fortin. The 

“potential value loss from the four LNG 

“There must be an equitable 

sharing of revenue earned 

from the exploitation of our 

hydrocarbon resources” 

trains averaged around US$6 billion a 

year between 2011 and 2014, which is a 

staggering figure,” he explained. 

Poten and Partners found that 

“the beneficiary of the substantial 

value generated by the trains was not 

so much the upstream gas suppliers 

but rather the offshore jurisdictions, 

which were either low-priced markets 

or high-priced markets, but with the 

revenue not flowing back to Trinidad 

and Tobago.” 

In the majority of transactions, 

it was found that “the offtake 

arrangements for upstream companies 

involved sales to downstream marketing 

affiliates, which potentially led to nonarm’s 

length transactions.” 

Renewable energy 

As far as renewable energy (RE) is 

concerned, Trinidad and Tobago has 

been a late convert. Minister Khan 

acknowledges this. “Trinidad and Tobago 

recognises the benefits that would 

accrue from the diversification of its 

energy mix” – but he points out that 

it is “the only country in the western 

hemisphere that generates 100% of its 

power from natural gas, the cleanest of 

the fossil fuels.” 

A target of 10% of RE in power 

generation by 2021 has been set. 

According to the minister, a 

“suitably qualified international firm, 

together with a joint venture local 

partner, will be required to design, 

build, operate, maintain and fund RE 

projects greater than, or equal to, 3MW 

for grid integration.” 

RE comes basically from the sun 

and the wind, but there is also the more 

esoteric waste-to-energy approach. 

Once there is a landfill, waste-to-energy 

becomes a possibility. The minister 

confirms that “expressions of interest 

have been issued for the development 

of a waste-to-energy facility at the 

Beetham Landfill for the conversion of 

municipal waste for power generation.” 

Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory 

to the Paris climate change agreement, 

36 

Trinidad 




which mandates it to “reduce 

cumulative greenhouse gas emissions 

from power generation, transportation 

and industry by 15% by 2030, relative 

to a business-as-usual baseline.” 

CNG 

“As part of our strategy of reducing 

greenhouse gases, the government is 

aggressively promoting the increased 

utilisation of CNG as a major 

transportation fuel,” minister Khan 

states. 

“Based on this commitment,” he 

adds, “the grant of fiscal incentives 

benefiting a cross-section of 

participants, ranging from individuals 

to installers, and a competitive price 

compared with liquid fuels, have 

encouraged an upsurge of interest in 

the adoption of CNG as a transportation 

fuel of choice.” 

Petrotrin has been told “to 

accelerate its enhanced oil recovery 

programme, especially the CO 2 

injection 

part of it.” The minister believes this 

initiative will have a “two-fold effect 

– boosting oil production and reducing 

our carbon footprint.” 

Other upstream companies are 

falling in line. “Over the coming years, 

upstream companies have committed to 

capital investment in excess of US$10 

billion, which will serve to maintain the 

momentum in the industry.” 

Minister Khan admits, however, 

that “there is still a lot of work to do. 

We are in the process of finalising 

negotiations with our Venezuelan 

counterparts for a tranche of gas 

from their Dragon field and for the 

sharing of production from our crossborder 

fields, Loran-Manatee, Manikin- 

Coquina and Kapok-Dorado.” 

The culmination of these 

developments, he says, “will bring 

a new and added dimension to the 

gas business in Trinidad and Tobago, 

particularly when combined with our 

proposed Caribbean energy diplomacy 

interventions.” 

Average daily production of crude (bpd) 

and natural gas (bn cf) 

Energy minister Franklin Khan 

2016 71,846 3.3 

2017 71,700 3.8 

Energy revenue (TT$bn) as a percentage 

of total government revenue 

$20.9 

2014 

$12.9 

2015 

$3.0 

2016 

$3.7 

2017 

Source: Energy minister Franklin Khan at 2017 Energy Conference 

Trinidad express newspaper 




transforming the state of the t&T nation 

Economic Outlook 

A return to growth in 

2018? 

Speaking to the nation on 

television and radio in 

January, prime minister 

Keith Rowley promised “a 

slow return to growth” in 2018. The 

international agencies back him up. In 

its latest country report for Trinidad 

and Tobago (November 2017), the IMF 

projected real GDP growth at 1.9 per 

cent this year. The CDB’s forecast was 1 2016 

per cent; UN ECLAC was less optimistic, 

forecasting a more conservative GDP 

growth rate of 0.5 per cent. 

The IMF predicted 7.7 per cent 

growth in the energy sector, thanks to 

the contributions of Juniper and the 

Trinidad Onshore Compression Project 

(TROC). But it thought the non-energy 

sector likely to contract by 1.2 per cent 

– cause for concern, as that sector makes up around 65 per 

cent of GDP, and non-energy export growth is vital for the 

country’s future. 

In estimating energy output for 2018, the IMF put the 

new norm of natural gas production in the range of 3-4 bcf 

per day, while oil production was expected to continue its 

decline, hitting record lows of 60,000-70,000 barrels per day. 

n of crude (bpd) 

s (bn cf) 

3.3 

3.8 

as a percentage 

t revenue 

3.0 

16 

Latin $3.7 America and Caribbean 

Overall, Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to see 

about 1.9 per cent growth in 2018. According to the IMF, 

growth in Central America has been strengthening; but in the 

2017 

Caribbean, domestic demand is expected to underperform, 

with growth of 2.3 per cent for tourism-dependent economies 

and 2.0 per cent for commodity exporters. 

n Khan at 2017 Energy Conference 

Debt to GDP ratio 

Debt 

In Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Jamaica, and St Kitts and 

Nevis, government debt-to-GDP ratios have been declining, 

reflective of fiscal discipline and debt restructuring. However, 

Barbados, The Bahamas, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago 

failed to sufficiently address their stubborn fiscal deficits 

and high debt levels, leading to downgrades by international 

credit agencies in 2016-17. 

According to the IMF, public sector debt remains a major 

vulnerability for the region. Barbados and Jamaica still have 

debt levels of over 100 per cent of GDP (102.7 and 109.5 per 

cent for 2017, respectively). However, they both reduced their 

debt levels, as did Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and St Kitts 

and Nevis. Declines in commodity prices exposed weaknesses 

2017 

Trinidad & Tobago GDP growth 

3 

2 

1 

0 

-1 

-2 

-3 

-4 

-5 

-6 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and 

Strategy (C-SERMS) RE goal: 

20% by 2017 

T&T RE goal: 

vital for the country’s future 

28% by 2022 

47% by 2027 

10% by 

in the fiscal policies of commodity exporters such as Trinidad 

and Tobago and Suriname, leading to large fiscal 2021 deficits and 

increases in public debt. 

“Renewable sources of energy are the way forward” 

– Robert Le Hunte, Public Utilities Minister, January 2018 

2017 

Non-energy export growth is 

The global outlook 

In its World Economic Outlook Update for January 2018, the 

IMF estimated global economic growth for 2018 at 3.9 per 

cent, a slight improvement of 0.2 per cent over the previous 

October’s forecast. This continues the global economic trend 

of steady but modest recovery since 2016. 

US and UK 

The US economy was projected to grow by 2.7 per cent in 2018 

and 2.5 per cent in 2019, following reforms to US corporate 

and personal income taxes approved in December 2017. 

The Brexit aftermath has created much uncertainty over 

issues like trade and cross-border financial activity, which 

impacts the growth prospects of the United Kingdom. UK 

economic growth remains sluggish, and is projected at 1.5 per 

cent in 2018. 

China and Russia 

China’s economy is expected to grow by 6.5 per cent, which is 

an upward revision of 0.2 per cent as a result of a continued 

expansionary policy. 

In an attempt to clear the existing supply glut of oil, both 

OPEC and Russian-led non-OPEC producers are expected to 

extend production cuts to the end of 2018. The resulting oil 

and natural gas production levels are expected to produce a 

higher-priced environment as 2018 progresses. 

38 

Trinidad 




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the state of the nation 

statistics 

Oil, gas and 

petrochemicals 

76,000 

Crude oil and condensate production (bbls/d) 

74,000 

76,000 

72,000 

74,000 

76,000 

Crude oil and condensate production 70,000 (bbls/d) 

72,000 

74,000 

76,000 

68,000 

70,000 

72,000 

74,000 

66,000 

68,000 

70,000 

72,000 

64,000 

66,000 

68,000 

70,000 

62,000 

64,000 

October November December 

66,000 

68,000 62,000 

2016 68,979 72,042 75,024 

October November 64,000 

December 

66,000 

2017 66,471 71,554 73,909 

2016 68,979 72,042 62,000 

75,024 

64,000 


2017 66,471 71,554 73,909 

2016 68,979 72,042 75,024 

62,000 

October November 2017 December 66,471 71,554 73,909 

2016 68,979 72,042 75,024 

2017 66,471 71,554 73,909 

4,500 


Natural gas production (mmscf/d) 

Natural gas production (mmscf/d) 

4,000 

4,500 

3,500 Natural gas production (mmscf/d) 

4,000 

3,000 

3,500 

4,500 

Natural gas production 2,500 (mmscf/d) 

3,000 

4,000 

2,000 

4,500 

2,500 

3,500 

1,500 

4,000 

2,000 

3,000 

1,000 

3,500 

1,500 

2,500 

500 

3,000 

1,000 

2,000 

0 

2,500 

500 

1,500 


2,000 

0 

1,000 2016 3,322 3,183 3,428 

1,500 

October November 

2017 500 

December 

3,102 3,654 3816 , 

1,000 2016 3,322 3,183 0 

3,428 


500 2017 3,102 3,654 3816 , 

2016 3,322 3,183 3,428 

0 

October November 2017 December 3,102 3,654 3816 , 

2016 3,322 3,183 Ammonia 3,428 production (tonnes) 

2017 3,102 3,654 3816 , 

450,000 

Ammonia production (tonnes) 

Ammonia production (tonnes) 

440,000 

450,000 

430,000 

440,000 

450,000 

Ammonia production 420,000 (tonnes) 

430,000 

440,000 

450,000 

410,000 

420,000 

430,000 

440,000 

400,000 

410,000 

420,000 

430,000 

390,000 

400,000 

410,000 

420,000 

380,000 

390,000 


400,000 

410,000 380,000 

2016 400,829 413,225 439,148 


400,000 

2017 429,721 

December 

438129 , 

417,525 

2016 400,829 413,225 380,000 

439,148 

390,000 


2017 429,721 438129 , 

417,525 

2016 400,829 413,225 439,148 

380,000 

October November 2017 429,721 December 

438129 , 

417,525 

2016 400,829 413,225 439,148 Ammonia exports (tonnes) 

2017 429,721 438129 , 

417,525 

450,000 

Ammonia exports (tonnes) 

Ammonia exports (tonnes) 

400,000 

450,000 

350,000 

400,000 

300,000 

350,000 Ammonia exports (tonnes) 

450,000 

250,000 

300,000 

400,000 

200,000 

450,000 

250,000 

350,000 

150,000 

400,000 

200,000 

300,000 

100,000 

350,000 

150,000 

250,000 

50,000 

300,000 

100,000 

200,000 

0 

250,000 

50,000 

150,000 


200,000 

0 

100,000 2016 402,089 329,198 371,737 

150,000 

October November 50,000 2017 361,474 

December 

407,844 401,647 

100,000 2016 402,089 329,198 0 

371,737 


50,000 2017 361,474 407,844 401,647 

2016 402,089 329,198 371,737 

0 

October November 2017 361,474 December 

407,844 401,647 

2016 402,089 329,198 371,737 


Methanol production (tonnes) 

40 

2017 

of Industry 361,474 and Commerce 407,844 401,647 

www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine 

600,000 


600,000 

500,000 


Methanol production (tonnes)

300,000 400,000 

350,000 250,000 

250,000 350,000 

300,000 200,000 

200,000 300,000 

250,000 150,000 

150,000 250,000 

200,000 100,000 

100,000 200,000 

150,000 

150,000 

100,0000 

100,000 0 

50,000 



50,000 

2016 

0 

402,089 329,198 371,737 

2016 402,089 329,198 October 371,737 

November December 

0 

2017 361,474 407,844 401,647 

2017 level than October 361,474 late 2016 November 407,844 2016 402,089 December 401,647 

329,198 371,737 

2016 402,089 329,198 2017 361,474 371,737 

407,844 401,647 

2017 361,474 407,844 401,647 

• Oil and gas output was edging up at the end of 2017 – but at a lower 

• Methanol output was ahead of 2016, but ammonia and urea showed 

sharp declines 

600,000 

600,000 


600,000 

500,000 

500,000 

600,000 

400,000 

500,000 

400,000 

500,000 

300,000 

400,000 

300,000 

400,000 

200,000 

300,000 

200,000 

300,000 

100,000 

200,000 

100,000 

200,000 

100,000 

0 

0 


100,000 


2016 

0 

351,394 338,318 406,894 

2016 351,394 338,318 October 406,894 


0 

2017 444,011 417,707 477,613 

2017 October 444,011 November 417,707 2016 351,394 December 477,613 

338,318 406,894 

2016 351,394 338,318 2017 444,011 406,894 

417,707 477,613 

2017 444,011 417,707 477,613 

500,000 

500,000 

450,000 

450,000 Methanol exports (tonnes) 

500,000 400,000 

400,000 500,000 

450,000 350,000 

350,000 

450,000 

400,000 300,000 

300,000 

400,000 

350,000 250,000 

250,000 

350,000 

300,000 200,000 

200,000 

300,000 

250,000 150,000 

150,000 

250,000 

200,000 100,000 

100,000 

200,000 

150,000 

150,000 

50,000 

100,0000 

100,000 

0 



December 

2016 

50,000 

0 

306,111 324,115 367,504 

2016 306,111 324,115 October 367,504 


0 

2017 457,607 408,913 393,079 

2017 October 457,607 November 408,913 2016 December 

306,111 393,079 

324,115 367,504 

2016 306,111 324,115 2017 457,607 367,504 

408,913 393,079 

2017 457,607 408,913 393,079 

70 

70 

Urea production (tonnes) 60 

60 

70 

70 

50 

50 

60 

60 

40 

40 

50 

50 

30 

30 

40 

40 

20 

20 

30 

30 

10 

10 

20 

20 

0 

0 

10 


10 


2016 

0 

58.3 48.8 63.1 

2016 58.3 48.8 October 63.1 


0 

2017 61.7 53.1 4 

2017 October 61.7 November 53.1 2016 December 58.34 

48.8 63.1 

2016 58.3 48.8 2017 61.7 63.1 

53.1 4 

2017 61.7 53.1 4 

80 

80 

Urea exports (tonnes) 70 

70 

80 

60 

60 80 

70 

50 

50 70 

60 

40 

40 60 

50 

30 

30 50 

40 

20 

20 40 

30 

10 

10 30 

20 

0 

20 0 

10 



10 

2016 

0 

36.3 41.9 66.3 

2016 36.3 41.9 October 66.3 


0 

2017 57.6 68.3 16.5 

2017 October 57.6 November 68.3 2016 December 36.3 16.5 

41.9 66.3 

2016 36.3 41.9 2017 57.6 66.3 

68.3 16.5 

2017 57.6 68.3 16.5 



Methanol exports (tonnes) 

Urea production (tonnes) 

Urea exports (tonnes) 











the state of the nation 

statistics 

• BPTT continued to be by far the largest producer of natural gas in 

Trinidad and Tobago in late 2017, while Petrotrin/Trinmar remained the 

largest crude oil producer 

• Trinmar alone supplied 27% of total crude production in the last quarter 

of 2017 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

Figures in red italics are preliminary 

42 

Trinidad 




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the chamber and its members 

mediation 

How to settle a 

dispute 

Based on personal experience at the Dispute 

Resolution Centre, a mediation expert reflects on 

how to manage the process 

WORDS By: niall lawless 

photos courtesy: the dispute resolution centre 

In November 2017, I worked at the Trinidad and Tobago Dispute Resolution 

Centre (DRC) for three days as an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)- 

appointed mediator in a multi-million US dollar engineering dispute, which 

resulted in a settlement. 

Mediation is not adversarial. It works best when the participants trust the 

process, and are willing to cooperate to solve a shared problem. Nothing is agreed 

until everything is agreed in writing, which allows the parties to take risks when they 

come to deal with individual items. 

Five stages 

The whole process is confidential, private and structured. It has five stages: 

introduction, information exchange, option generation, negotiation, and conclusion. 

Information exchange and option generation are by far the most important. 

Commercial mediation begins with the parties agreeing to mediate, and usually 

ends with the parties settling their dispute. The parties are the stars; usually they are 

common-sense business people motivated by revenue and contribution, and a desire 

to continue future cooperation. 

The mediation outcome is affected by whom the parties choose to attend the 

mediation meetings on their behalf. Each party should bring a lead negotiator with 

full authority to settle the dispute, and to sign the settlement agreement. The role 

of lead negotiator is challenging, as it requires the evaluation and development of 

options, and being able to respond to any new information provided by the other 

party. The lead negotiator needs the support of respected, trusted and valued 

colleagues. 

The lawyers 

The parties’ lawyers can make or break the mediation. Good mediation lawyers 

can move seamlessly from advocate to advisor. In their role as advocate they will 

succinctly summarise legal principles, but not in an adversarial or combative way, 

gifting litigation risk to the mediator. 

They allow the business principal to take the lead, preparing their clients by offering 

44 

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advice, guidance and information 

on negotiation and mediation. Good 

mediation lawyers cope well with being 

challenged privately by the mediator: 

they are experienced and wise, and 

they are committed to finding the best 

possible solutions for their client. 

When the ICC supports the 

mediation, the mediator and the 

parties use the ICC Mediation Rules, 

administered by the ICC International 

Center for ADR (Alternative Dispute 

Resolution). For example, the selection 

of the mediator takes into account such 

considerations as nationality, language 

skills, training, qualifications and 

experience, and ability to conduct the 

mediation in accordance with the ICC 

Rules. 

The Centre is constantly striving 

to improve the ways in which the 

needs and expectations of the users of 

ICC Mediation can best be met, so the 

mediator and the parties are asked to 

provide comprehensive feedback when 

the mediation ends. 

Top Niall Lawless, mediation expert. Below Elizabeth Solomon, 

director of the Dispute Resolution Centre 





The location 

The importance of the mediation venue is often overlooked, 

but, simply stated, good mediation venues send a subliminal 

message supporting the parties’ quest for compromise. The 

location should provide each party with its own meeting room, 

with another room large enough for joint meetings with the 

mediator and both parties present. 

The venue will be a place which both parties consider 

as neutral. The Trinidad and Tobago Dispute Resolution 

Centre (DRC) was an ideal mediation host venue, as it is 

“dedicated to promoting an environment in which people 

are encouraged to work together to find alternative means 

of resolving conflict”. 

Under the guidance of executive director Elizabeth 

Solomon the DRC staff worked hard to ensure that the 

physical surroundings supported mediation objectives; they 

were available, offering support such as printing services, 

before eight in the morning and after six in the evening. 

Another example of support was the choice of excellent 

food to energise the participants, strategically located to 

encourage parties to mingle and talk outside the formal 

meetings. 

The mediator 

The mediator as a neutral third party assists the parties 

to compromise their dispute, using communication and 

negotiation skills. The mediator is the guardian of the process, 

facilitating the exchange of information, helping the parties 

to reality-check their positions, and leaving no value on the 

table. 

As a mediator, I always commit to following the European 

Code of Conduct for Mediators, which sets out a number of 

principles which individual mediators can voluntarily decide 

to adopt. 

Acknowledgements 

The aforementioned Port of Spain mediation was a success, 

mainly because there was balance and harmony between 

people and process. As mediation is confidential, all I can do 

here is to thank the parties’ lawyers, with their permission: Mrs 

Savitri Sookraj-Beharry from the law firm Pollonais, Blanc, de 

la Bastide & Jacelon; Mr Ravi Nanga, Advocate Attorney at 

Law; Ms Kimberleigh Peterson from the law firm J.D. Sellier & 

Co.; Mr Ravi Heffes-Doon, Advocate Attorney at Law; the ICC 

ADR Centre staff – Alina Leoveanu, Andrija Erac, Ana Sylvia 

Prado and Malgorzata Matowska; and the Trinidad and Tobago 

Dispute Resolution Centre’s Executive Director Elizabeth 

Solomon and her welcoming, hard-working staff. 

Niall Lawless is a Chartered Arbitrator and Engineer, 

Adjudicator and Mediator at Adjudication Solutions. 

The Dispute Resolution Centre has two meeting areas to suit 

the size of your delegation 

Dispute Resolution Centre, Ground Floor, Chamber Building, 

Columbus Circle, Westmoorings, PO Box 499, Port of Spain. 

Tel: 632-4051, fax: 632-4046. 

www.disputeresolutioncentre.com 

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Welcome, new members! 

The Chamber extends a very warm welcome to all those companies and 

individuals who have become Chamber members in recent months 

(June 2017 to February 2018). 

Action Coach Centre for Leadership & 

Development Limited (Crestcom) 

39 Hubert Rance Street, San Fernando 

236-3692, 398-8277 • indiracouch@actioncoach.com 

Allied Caterers Limited 

Golden Grove Road, Piarco 

285-9155 

www.alliedcaterers.com 

arajkumar@alliedcaterers.com 

Bell Insurance Services Limited 

15 Henry Pierre Street, Port of Spain 

235-2354, fax 667-1658 

www.bellistt.com • matthew@bellistt.com 

Jarrod Best-Mitchell 

21 Cawnpore Street, St James 

355-7640 • jarrodbestmitchell@hotmail.com 

Blu Pelagos Limited 

2c, Tower 3, One Woodbrook Place, St James 

729-1472 • dr.andrew.borg@gmail.com 

Business Lifeline Limited 

Intercontinental Business Park Building, LP 523, Eastern 

Main Road, D’Abadie 

235-4255, 361-6225 

www.businesslifelinett.com 

nichole@businesslifelinett.com 

Cite Up Limited 

215 Pinard Court, Palmiste, San Fernando 

652-9084, 653-1937 

www.citeup.com • roger.nicholas@citeup.com 

Coral Cove Marine Hotel Limited 

Coral Cove, Western Main Road, Chaguaramas 

634-2080 • fax 634-2248 

www.coralcovemarina.com • aaleongmkt@albrosco.com 

Crimson Logic (T&T) Limited 

1st Floor, T&T Chamber of Industry & Commerce, Columbus 

Circle, Westmoorings 

223-2588 • fax 223-2746 

www.crimsonlogic.com 

zyenudeanz@crimsonlogic.com 

Dennise Demming 

25 Mary Avenue, Diego Martin 

761-9426 • dennisedemming@gmail.com 

Gentle Dentistry & Implant Centre Limited 

6 Rapsey Street, St Clair 

628-1456, 672-6725 • fax 672-6725 

sarahramcharitar@gmail.com 

Innovation Factory Limited 

Upper Santa Cruz 

787-9100 • eddydevisse@gmail.com 

Jeannine Du Coudray-Collier 

6, Rapsey Street, St Clair 

235-3487 • jeannine.collier@jdclegal.net 

The Grape Vine 

78 Diego Martin Main Road, Diego Martin 

234-0059 

www.thegrapevinett.com 

emile@thegrapevinett.com 

Josal Consulting Limited 

7 White Street, Woodbrook 

622-4509 

www.josalconsulting.com 

djoseph@josalconsulting.com 

PEAPSL Consultancy Limited 

50 Richmond Street, Port of Spain 

658-6423 • fax 658-3272 

www.peapsl.com 

Phoenix Protective Services Limited 

73 Ramsaran Street, Chaguanas 

671-1449, 298-4398 • phoenix.protective@gmail.com 





Ramkaran Contracting Services Limited 

63 Monkey Town, 3rd Branch Road, New Grant 

655-0717, 299-5142 • patries@ramkarancontracting.com 

Regency Recruitment & Resources Limited 

48 New Street, Port of Spain 

625-6225 • fax 625-8655 

www.regencytrinidad.com • lara@regencytrinidad.com 

Solutions Expertz Limited 

2 Coconut Drive, Cross Crossing, San Fernando 

374-7751, 374-7919 • fax 657-7721 

Terra Caribbean Trinidad Limited 

5-7 Sweet Briar Road, St Clair 

628-2391, fax 628-2900 

www.terracaribbean.com • jean-paul@terracaribbean.com 

Towers Consortium Consultancy Limited 

61 Sapphire Avenue, Bacolet Park, Bacolet, Tobago 

635-1573, fax 639-5479 

www.facebook.com/pages/ 

Towers-Consortium-Consultancy-Ltd/1622275004737023 

The University of the West Indies 

St Augustine Campus 

662-2002, fax 663-2002 

www.uwi.edu • brian.copeland@sta.uwi.edu 

Valorem Services Limited 

6 La Selva Drive, Golden View, El Dorado 

680-2064 • scyrus@valoremtt.com 

Vanus Investments Limited 

17 Centenary Street, Tunapuna 

663-0500 • joanna.j@vanusinvestments.com 

Williams Offices (Trinidad) Limited 

Level 2, Invader’s Bay Tower, Invader’s Bay, Port of Spain 

235-6000, 235-6001 • stephanie.quesnel@regus.com 

Yekof’s General Trading Import & Export Ltd. 

47 Eighth Street, Barataria 

473-2374, 293-8121 • yebk2000@yahoo.co.uk 

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 

Andy Berahazar Jr. 

Colleen Cameron 

Tamia Griffith 

Shenelle Hills-Fife 

Nikita Legall 

48 

Trinidad 




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Fully air-conditioned room with 2204 sq ft of space, 

and ample on-site parking with security. 

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Contact Magazine April 2018

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