RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA

Se­nior Mul­ti­me­dia Re­porter

rad­hi­ca.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Nom­i­nees for na­tion­al ho­n­ours un­der­go care­ful in­ves­ti­ga­tion and vet­ting by the Na­tion­al Awards Com­mit­tee be­fore rec­om­men­da­tions are sub­mit­ted to the Prime Min­is­ter.

Ac­cord­ing to the Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent, the process be­gins with nom­i­na­tions, with any per­son or or­gan­i­sa­tion able to nom­i­nate a cit­i­zen for a Na­tion­al Award.

The nom­i­na­tions are then con­sid­ered by the Na­tion­al Awards Com­mit­tee, which is head­ed by the Chief Jus­tice.

The Com­mit­tee in­ves­ti­gates nom­i­nees and con­sid­ers the nom­i­na­tions be­fore com­pil­ing rec­om­men­da­tions for the Prime Min­is­ter.

The Prime Min­is­ter then con­sid­ers the Com­mit­tee’s rec­om­men­da­tions and ad­vis­es the Pres­i­dent on the nom­i­nees se­lect­ed to re­ceive Na­tion­al Awards.

The Pres­i­dent sub­se­quent­ly for­mal­ly con­fers the awards.

The Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent says the Pres­i­dent’s role is to act on the ad­vice of the Prime Min­is­ter.

The Na­tion­al Awards sys­tem has five cat­e­gories.

The Or­der of the Re­pub­lic of Trinidad and To­ba­go (ORTT) is the coun­try’s high­est na­tion­al award. It is con­ferred in Gold on­ly for dis­tin­guished and out­stand­ing ser­vice to Trinidad and To­ba­go, with no more than five awards made in any one year.

The Cha­co­nia Medal recog­nis­es long and mer­i­to­ri­ous ser­vice that pro­motes na­tion­al wel­fare or strength­ens com­mu­ni­ty spir­it. It is award­ed in Gold, Sil­ver or Bronze, with a max­i­mum of ten awards an­nu­al­ly.

The Hum­ming­bird Medal recog­nis­es loy­al and de­vot­ed ser­vice ben­e­fi­cial to Trinidad and To­ba­go in any field of hu­man en­deav­our, as well as gal­lantry or oth­er hu­mane ac­tion.

The Pub­lic Ser­vice Medal of Mer­it recog­nis­es out­stand­ing and mer­i­to­ri­ous ser­vice in the Pub­lic Ser­vices, De­fence and Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices or statu­to­ry bod­ies per­form­ing na­tion­al func­tions. On­ly cit­i­zens are el­i­gi­ble for this award.

The Medal for the De­vel­op­ment of Women recog­nis­es out­stand­ing con­tri­bu­tions to the de­vel­op­ment of women.

OR­DER OF THE RE­PUB­LIC OF T&T

(Award­ed for dis­tin­guished and out­stand­ing ser­vice to T&T)

Chief Jus­tice Ron­nie Boodoos­ingh

Sen­a­tor Wade Mark

Dr Su­ru­jrat­tan Ram­bachan

CHA­CO­NIA MEDAL

(Award­ed for long and mer­i­to­ri­ous ser­vice in pro­mot­ing na­tion­al wel­fare or strength­en­ing com­mu­ni­ty spir­it)

GOLD

Dr Paul Elias Alexan­der

Joseph Toney

Kesh­mani Dhani­ram-Go­sine

Maukesh Bas­deo

Jus­tice Al­lan Men­donça (re­tired)

Ha­ji Churchill Azad Akaloo (posthu­mous)

SIL­VER

Omatie Ly­der

Ria Taitt

An­drea De Sil­va

Jai Paras­ram

HUM­MING­BIRD MEDAL

(Award­ed for loy­al and de­vot­ed ser­vice ben­e­fi­cial to T&T in any field of hu­man en­deav­our or for gal­lantry or oth­er hu­mane ac­tion)

GOLD

Sham­sudeen Ayube (Hunters’ Search and Res­cue)

Val­lence Ramb­harat (Hunters’ Search and Res­cue)

Ganesh Ut­sav Foun­da­tion

Chin­maya Mis­sion

Rakesh Yankar­ran

Shamshad Ali

Sadhrud­din ‘Sadro’ Mo­hammed (posthu­mous)

Emamool ‘Mamoo’ Deen (posthu­mous)

Syl­bert Rob­ley

Win­ston Mans­ingh

SIL­VER

Rawle Raphael

BRONZE

Ju­nior Bis­nath

Fy­zo­ol Awardy

Bish­op Mar­jorie An­der­son

PUB­LIC SER­VICE MEDAL OF MER­IT

(Award­ed for out­stand­ing and mer­i­to­ri­ous ser­vice in the Pub­lic Ser­vices, the De­fence and Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices or ser­vice with Statu­to­ry Bod­ies)

GOLD

Ian Mac­in­tyre, SC

Ray­mond Su­ru­jbal­ly

Mas­ter Ralph Doyle

Leonard Brad­shaw

T&T Cadet Force

MEDAL FOR THE DE­VEL­OP­MENT OF WOMEN

(Award­ed for out­stand­ing con­tri­bu­tion to the de­vel­op­ment of women’s rights and is­sues)

GOLD

Deb­o­rah Moore-Mig­gins

Rudrawa­tee Nan Go­sine-Ram­goolam

De­stra Gar­cia