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. . . we express our best wishes to Professor Clement Sankat on his retirement.
Due to the pending uncertainty of the current state of the Oil & Gas Industry, the STAN had engaged Professor Andrew Jupiter, head of the Petroleum Studies Unit (PSU) at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. Mr. Jupiter, also the Chairman of the Board of the Petroleum Company of Trinidad & Tobago Limited discusses the challenges facing the state-owned Petrotrin. He provides some comfort to this situation, and conveys why he remains optimistic about the company’s future. Dr. Terrance Farrell, the head of Government’s Economic Advisory Board doesn’t sugar-coat the realities facing Trinidad and Tobago, and says the first order of business is effecting a swift and orderly adjustment of the economy to the reality of lower oil and gas prices and lower production levels. Optometrist Dr. Subash Sharma, the clinical coordinator of UWI St. Augustine’s Department of Optometry and Visual Sciences talks about the importance of the only English-speaking Optometry school in the Caribbean. Also featured, is
Alfred Reid, Senior Project Officer II at Campus Projects Office, UWI. He gives us an update on the major renovations and upgrades of the Canada Hall; a dormitory with great history, for Caribbean students attending the St. Augustine Campus of The UWI. The launch of two books at the Office of the Principal took place recently. On May 10, the book Shifting the Frontiers: An Action Framework for the Future of the Caribbean co- edited by former Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister Winston Dookeran and Carlos Elias was launched. Shifting the Frontiers follows a 2015 Forum on the Future of the Caribbean in Port of Spain with over 400 persons, the majority of whom were young Caribbean scholars. Participants, in presenting over 100 papers, were challenged to engage in disruptive thinking. Also, at the end of May, the book, Inequality, Crime and Education in Trinidad and Tobago: Removing the Masks, by Professor Emeritus Ramesh Deosaran, was launched. Professor Deosaran’s latest book is
research-driven and examines the connection between the failures of the education system and high levels of crime and violence. Reginald Dumas, former Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister and Head of the Public Service of Trinidad and Tobago in 1991, Diplomat, and adviser to world leaders, talks about his recently published book, The First Thirty Years: a Retrospection; permanently recording the era in which he lived and served. He dedicated the book “To the young people of the Caribbean, whom I encourage to see the past as the indispensable portal to the present and the future.” There are numerous other interesting articles, features, interviews and photo features in this issue of STAN. As usual, we welcome your feedback on our articles. In closing, the editorial team of the UWI STAN magazine, once more welcomes Professor Brian Copeland as our new Principal, and we express our best wishes to Professor Clement Sankat on his retirement.