Board of Directors
Board of Directors
CHAMBER’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2011/2012
- Andrew Sabga– President
- Angella Persad – Immediate Past President
- Moonilal Lalchan – Senior Vice President
- Robert Trestrail – Vice President
- Dane Darbaise – Vice President
- Christopher Mack – Vice President
- Jo – Anne Julien – Director
- Wade George – Director
- Paula Rajkumarsingh – Director
- Allan Fitzwilliam – Director
- Ronald Hinds – Director
- Luana Boyack – Director
- David Wong – Chair Tobago Division
- Catherine Kumar – Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Sabga
Andrew Sabga is the Sector Head–Beverage for the ANSA McAL Group of Companies. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Development Company Limited from August 2003 to April 2007.
Mr. Sabga has over twenty years of industry experience in the Manufacturing Sector of the Group, having previously held senior managerial positions at Carib Brewery Limited, as well as directorships at Carib Glassworks Ltd, Caribbean Development Co Ltd, Carib Brewery Ltd and Trinidad Match Ltd. He was the former Chairman of Alstons Marketing Co. Ltd., and is currently the Chairman of Carib Brewery Ltd, Grenada Breweries Ltd, Carib Brewery (St Kitts & Nevis) Ltd and Carib Glassworks Ltd.
He is a Director of ANSA McAL Limited and a Director and Senior Vice President of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
He holds an MBA, Marketing from the University of Miami and a B.Sc. – B.A. Marketing / Finance from Boston University.
Angella Persad
Angella is the Managing Director of The Office Authority Ltd, which combines the businesses of Trinpad, Media Sales, Eric Solis Marketing and Office Express. Prior to joining the family business in early 2007, Angella was a Partner at Ernst & Young where she built the Transactions Advisory Practice in Trinidad. She was appointed Country Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Trinidad in 2005. Before that, she was employed at Development Finance Limited in the positions of Senior Corporate Manager in charge of Corporate Lending, and Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors.
Angella was appointed President of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2009, its first female President in 130 years. She is also a Director of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business.
Monilal Lalchan
Moonilal Lalchan is the Vice-President – Finance and Administration at Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the e-MBA programme of Auburn University Alabama USA, and the Advanced Management Programme (AMP 165) of Harvard Business School USA.
Moonilal is a member of ICATT, A fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants of the UK.
He is The Chairman of the Audit Committee of the National Energy Skills Center, and also an Alternate Governor. An Alternate director of Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He was the past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Education Facilities Company Limited.
He is married with five children.
Robert Trestrail
Mr. Robert Trestrail joined the Senior Management Team of Sagicor Life Inc. in May 2001, as an Assistant Vice President of the Trinidad Operations. In August 2003, he was appointed to the post of Vice President (Administration) of the Trinidad Operations. Effective January 1, 2007 Mr. Trestrail ascended to the position of Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sagicor Life Inc’s Trinidad Operations and in 2008, was assigned responsibilities for Life Administration across the 19 territories of the Sagicor Life Inc. group.
A graduate of the University of Toronto, he brings several years of Commercial Banking and executive management experience. In addition to serving on the Board of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce as Vice President, he currently holds the post of Vice Chairman for Trinidad &Tobago Insurance Institute (TTII). Mr. Trestrail has previously served on the Board of the Association of Trinidad & Tobago Insurance Companies (ATTIC), holding the position of Vice President Life Insurance.
Mr. Trestrail currently holds the position of Company Director at a number of private companies in Trinidad & Tobago.
Dane M. Darbasie BSc
Mr. Darbasie is the Chairman of DeSK Restaurants Ltd., he has over eighteen years restaurant industry experience, including serving as chief executive officer and director of a Publicly Traded Restaurant Management Company which he led through its most dynamic stages. He is a Director of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce, a former Chairman of The Employers Consultative Association, and a past president of the KFC Caribbean and Latin America Franchise Association. Mr. Darbasie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Actuarial Science from the City University London.
Christopher Mack
Christopher is the Managing Director of J.T. Allum & Company Limited, a real estate and investment company with significant commercial property holdings based in the southern region of country. One of the company’s major subsidiaries is JTA Supermarkets Limited (“JTA”), of which Christopher also holds the Managing Director position. JTA is one of the largest supermarket chains in the country.
Christopher previously held a senior executive position in the Investment Banking sector with RBTT Merchant Bank, now owned by the Royal Bank of Canada. He was responsible for origination and structuring transactions with private and public sector entities throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Several of his transactions earned international recognition with select global financial publications.
Christopher is a graduate of the University of Toronto (Canada) where he obtained an undergraduate degree in Pharmacology (Honours BSc.) and a graduate degree in Business Administration (MBA specialized in Finance).
Jo-Anne Julien
Ms. Jo-Anne Julien is an established conveyancer and specializes in corporate commercial work. She has experienced in mergers and acquisitions, complex real estate structures and developments, banking and finance, including cross-border transactions. She has done important work in the standardization of security documents for a premier client. Ms. Julien has negotiated and drafted complex agreements involving the formation of strategic alliances for two major publicly traded companies in Trinidad and Tobago.
She has acted several times as the lead Attorney in the compilation and preparation of legal due diligence reports on financial institutions outside of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of one of the firm’s established clients in relation to mergers and acquisitions. She has acted as local counsel for a leading financial institution based in the United States, which has financed the operations of a local energy related company in Trinidad and Tobago. Ms. Julien has been involved in negotiations for the divestment of local companies and has been responsible for preparing the documents in connection with the sale of shares and assets of such companies. She continues to act as legal advisor to one of the major local companies providing support services to the local telecommunications company and has revised contracts between these entities.
She acts as local advisor to a number of state corporations and quasi-state corporations and provides legal support to the boards of such corporations. Ms. Julien is a former member of the Council of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago, a member of the Board of Trinidad Building and Loan Association, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Electrical Industries Limited, and a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago.
Wade George
Wade is the Tax Leader of Ernst & Young Caribbean. He is an Attorney-At-Law and has a Masters Degree in International Tax from the University of London.
Wade joined the Firm in 1994 and was transferred to New York in 1996 where he was on assignment with Ernst & Young LLP until early 2000 as the Caribbean Tax Desk. He then joined the Trinidad & Tobago office in 2003 where he has responsibility for advising MNCs on foreign direct investment and large regional companies on cross border tax matters.
Some of his responsibilities and experiences include:
- Advising US & Canadian MNCs on various tax considerations involved in FDI into the Caribbean territories of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the OECS.
- Advising large regional companies on cross border tax issues involved in merger and acquisitions, green field projects and investment into the United States.
- Utilizing Caribbean investment vehicles for global tax minimization planning, including mergers/acquisitions, green-field projects and capital markets transactions.
Paula Rajkumarsingh
Paula Rajkumarsingh is a croporate Finanical Executive withover 10 years of experience at the senior management level. Currently, she is an Executive Director and the Cheif Financial Officer fo the Neal & Massy Group of Companies, where she has established a solid record of contributions leading to improved financial performance, enhanced internal controls and heightened productivity.
Allan Fitzwilliam
Mr. Fitzwilliam brings approximately 20 years experience in the local financial sector, spending much of that time with the Republic Bank group. During his tenure at Republic Bank, he specialized in corporate finance. He entered FT Farfan in the year 2002 as a Director, Finance & Business Development and currently holds the position Deputy Managing Director. He is also a Non-Director at Republic Bank, A.S Bryden & Sons Holdings Ltd, Trinidad & Unit Trust Corporation, Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce and Unit Trust Corporation (Cayman) SPC Ltd.
Mr. Fitzwilliam has a Bachelor’s degree with a Major in Finance from the University of Western Ontario.
Mr. Fitzwilliam interests and activities are fishing and boating, which he is very passionate about.
Ronald Hinds
Mr. Hinds is Chairman and Chief Executive Office of Teleios Systems a Trinidad and Tobago based software services company. Before the formation of Teleios, Mr Hinds held key positions in the financial services sector. He served as Managing Director of West Indies Stockbrokers and later at TATIL Life Insurance. He also served as Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange. In a major career shift in 1979, Mr. Hinds along with two colleagues founded Teleios Systems.
In addition to leading Teleios, Mr. Hinds devotes considerable time to the pursuit of his interest in a range of initiatives including leadership, doing business with integrity and the development of the local and regional ICT sector. He currently serves as Head of the Strategic Leadership Team of Congress Corporate, a global Christian Business Network, Vice Chairman of the government appointed e-business Roundtable and a member of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago’s Payments Council. Mr Hinds is also an Honorary Consultant to the Communication Systems Group in UWI’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Luana Boyack
Mrs. Luana Boyack operates under the firm Menezes Boyack Law Offices. Menezes Boyack commenced operations on August 1, 2009. Prior to commencing operations at this firm, Mrs. Boyack was a partner of Trinidad and Tobago’s oldest and largest firm.
Mrs. Boyack specialises in the corporate and commercial field which includes Project Finance, Telecoms, corporate structuring and restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions. She has provided professional support to overseas Counsel in complex international financing projects and capital market transactions. These transactions involved meeting both international and domestic requirements of the clients involved.
Her expertise is sought particularly by large corporations involved in the launch, expansion or re-engineering of their operations in Trinidad and Tobago.
Mrs. Boyack has been involved in advising clients in relation to the de-monopolisation of the telecoms market, power plant projects and the establishment and financing of large natural gas fuelled manufacturing plants (which included providing assistance in the negotiation of essential services contracts such as gas, water, electricity and pier use).
Mrs. Boyack is a member of the following Associations:
- Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago;
- Law Association of Grenada.
David Wong
Mr. David Wong is Managing Director of J. Wong Feed Shop (Wholesaler of Foods), a family business for five years. He is also the Director of G1′s Enterprises (Technologies) for the past 6 years.
He served as President of the Trinidad & Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) for 4 years and was a former YBTT Mentor.
Mr Wong is currently the Chairman of the Tobago Division of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce and served as a member for the past 6 years. He has been a member of the Management Committee of the Tobago Division for the past four years.
He is also a member of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) International Representative for the past 7 years.
Catherine Kumar – B.Sc. (Hons), FCCA, CA
Ms. Catherine Kumar currently the Chief Executive Officer and the Secretary to the Board at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce – a position she took up in January 2010.
Prior to this, Ms Kumar held several senior leadership positions such as President & Country Head of RBTT Bank Limited and Inspector of Financial Institutions at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. She also served as the first female President of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago and the Bankers’ Association of Trinidad and Tobago, and she also chaired the Caribbean Group of Banking Supervisors.
Ms. Kumar served the country as a director on several State Boards and as a representative on other committees.
She gained a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Management Studies, and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Ms Kumar was inducted into the Hall of Excellence at St. Joseph’s Convent P.O.S, in recognition of her outstanding achievements in business.
