Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was yesterday put on the spot at Labour Day celebrations in central by the All Trinidad General Workers Trade Union (ATGWU) which had been threatening to withhold its traditional support for her party in the September 7 general election.

Persad-Bissessar had barely settled into her seat at the head table at Rienzi Complex when ATGWU president general, Nirvan Maharaj Maharaj, told her not to forget promises the People’s Partnership made to ex-sugar workers.

Maharaj had been addressing union members who had assembled at Rienzi Complex after marching through Couva from the Brechin Castle Roundabout.

When the PM walked in around 1.30 pm with her security entourage and accompanied by Labour Minister Errol McLeod and Senate vice-president James Lambert, Maharaj stopped his address to welcome her.

As soon as she was seated, he told her not to forget the promises made by the PP to pay former sugar workers interest on profits made on a “Sweetener” loan plan, which went into default.

This money amounted to more than $51 million.

Maharaj formed a new political entity comprising ex-sugar workers, the National Solidarity Assembly (NSA) and had been threatening to contest seats in the sugar belt traditionally held by the UNC if their demands were not met.

The UNC’s base is in the sugar belt.

Persad-Bissessar, in a short address to the former sugar workers, gave her commitment that her Government will continue to partner with them to settle the matters.

She urged patience. “Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“Some matters have been dealt with and there are some we have to deal with.”

The PM reminded the union of the People’s Partnership’s strong ties with the trade union movement.

She said UNC founder Basdeo Panday was its former president.

Earlier, Maharaj said Adrian Cola Rienzi (Krishna Deonarine) began the labour movement in the 1930s but is given only footnote recognition in T&T’s history books.

Persad-Bissessar said her Government was the first to recognize him by posthumously giving him the nation’s highest award, through his son.

The PP has no less than five prominent members who are from the labour movement, she said.

They are Mc Leod, Lambert, Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh, House Speaker Wade Mark and Dr Roodal Moonilal.

The PM said she did not recall the PNM having trade union members when it was in government, or among its 2015 election candidates.

“Our party has come from the womb of the trade union movement,” she said.

Recalling the arrest of Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah outside Parliament during the last administration, she said the PP has never confronted the labour movement like that.

Instead, it settled 132 outstanding wage negotiations, she said, adding two were signed on Thursday with the Estate Police Association and Airports Authority workers.

Union leaders yesterday condemned the “disrespectful” move by the All Trinidad General Workers’ Trade Union (ATGWTU) to host its own Labour Day celebrations in Couva.

They made the remarks as they paid homage to labour movement icon Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler at his gravesite at the Fyzabad Public Cemetery at the annual Labour Day wreath-laying.

Standing in front a bust of labour movement icon Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler, however, president of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) Ancel Roget said the story of Butler has not been properly told.

“And these days people are attempting to rewrite history. They are attempting for their own political gains to erase off the political landscape of T&T the significant contribution that Butler would have made in our early years of development. Were it not for T&T would not be where it is today. Were it not for Butler those who went into office in May 24, 2010 would not have seen that office.”

Whether it be the Prime Minister, a trade union leader or former union leader turned minister, Roget added: “Today we condemn any action or any attempt to place significance on any other spot of ground than Fyzabad here and Charlie King junction. It exposes the deceitfulness of all of them.”

Also expressing his disapproval with the situation, Communication Workers Union’s education officer Clyde Elder said he felt extremely hurt, disappointed and disrespected because “Fyzabad is the birthplace of the trade union movement and if ever you have to say thanks to anyone on labour day it is thanks to Butler and all of those who struggled in the past.”

Saying it was never to late for the trade union movement to do what Butler did in the 1930s and unite every single worker, he said it would take a revolution of the minds, hearts, thinking and conscience to ensure that labour is protected, advanced and respected by all.

Bankers, Insurance and General Workers Trade Union executive Eric Cabrera said children should be encourage to attent this event and pay homage to Butler. 

Union members were also fortunate to hear from one of the few remaining Butlerites, Soogrim Coolman, who was with Butler when he took his last breath. 

“I am a witness of what happened at Charlie King junction, all that has been written is not true,” said 87-year-old Coolman who joined with members in singing hymns and labour songs as they paid homage to Butler. Wreaths were also placed on the graves of comrades Neville Taylor, Nicholas Patterson and Eric John. Homage was also paid to La Brea Charles who was shot by police officers after they mistakenly took him for Butler on June 19,1937.

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams has a lot of explaining to do as the image of the Police Service has yet again been tarnished with the alleged discovery of the marijuana find at the private residence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. 

So said the PNM’s public relations officer Faris Al-Rawi yesterday.

He also urged that former deputy police commissioner and head of the Rapid Response Unit Mervyn Richardson go beyond the “no comment line” and explain to the nation exactly what transpired.

“The Commissioner of Police has a significant amount of explanation to provide to the people of T&T in relation to the line of reporting and application of the law as it should be applied to the allegation.

“It is interesting to note that the Commissioner of Police is on record at the Joint Select Committee of National Security as saying that he is estopped from investigating the total policing event because of the Police Complaints Authority investigation into the same matter, yet on this matter he now says that he will commence an investigation while the PCA is investigating at the same time.

“Most regrettably is the public utterances of the Commissioner of Police. It stands as inconsistent on too many occasions.This does little to this to foster any confidence as the efficiency and capability of the Police Service in applying the law without fair or favour, malice or ill-will,” Al-Rawi added. 

Saying that the country needed much ventilation of what has now become a “nefarious issue” A-Rawi said this was essential so that the average citizen many be left with confidence that no one was above the law.

He said the Prime Minister has financial authority for the National Operations Centre (NOC) as was observed in the 2015 budget in Appropriation Bill 2014.

At the finance committee stage the NSOC received some $80 million the majority of which was for operations.

“Having former DCP Richardson as the deputy of NSOC and allegation of a breech of police of operations procedures in failing to inform the Commissioner of Police of an alleged find and instead informing the then national security minister could only stand as an indictment.

“The continuation of this employment of his employment of the NSOC must not continue and clearly he clearly he needs to move beyond the no comment line and respond to questions,” Al-Rawi added.

The mother of the 16-year-old Mason Hall Secondary School boy who was arrested for allegedly stabbing his 18-year-old classmate at the school on Thursday, says her son was a victim of ongoing bullying.

In an interview yesterday Avianne Huyghew, 30, said Thursday’s incident was a regular occurrence for her son during school hours and has been occurring for several months. 

She said her son was hospitalised at the Scarborough General Hospital on May 15 for a broken finger, which had to be splinted with steel and a serious laceration to his head, which took several sutures, after five boys attacked him after school. She said although the incident was video recorded and numerous reports were made at the Scarborough Police Station, the matter was never dealt with.

On Thursday, Huyghew said her son was in the process of defending himself.

“If they did deal with this as quickly as possible, like how they deal with it today, it would not have escalated to this, because they deal with the situation very quick today. When I came to them with my son all battered and bruised they paid me no mind. I came back, I came back and nothing. 

“Today now, my son defended himself against the same individual what beat him up, they want to lock him up, he defended himself because he was being bullied all the time” Huyghew said. 

Huyghew also dismissed several news reports that her son would have passed MTS security officials with the knife used during the incident. She said her son was not the aggressor, but was a victim.

“He came home about half past nine telling me ‘mammy you see the same thing I tell you I didn’t want to go to school again’ ... he came with his hand bleeding, because right now is one hand he have because they break he finger last month... he said ‘the boy rush me, he slapped me in my face, when I asked him what is that one, he headbutt me’ and when he was about to stand up he slapped him again and that is when they started to fight. 

“He said the boy pulled out a knife from his right pocket and they started to scuffle and he managed to get the knife from him, when he had taken up the knife the boy was over him,” she said.

Huyghew said the matter was also reported to the school’s management but despite her evidence she was never taken seriously.

“I went back to the school after he was all better, he come out the hospital, he was dealt with and everything was good, I went back to school with him and I saw the vice-principal and the (he) was supposed to keep a meeting with the principal and myself, that did not take place. 

“They did not call me to verify any date or anything like that, so I am sure the principal knows about it, she didn’t even call me to find out what went on... well apparently seeing it didn’t take place in she school, it took place outside, she ain’t meddle,” she said. 

An emotional Huyghew also noted that she reached out to a well known senior police officer who is actively involved in an anti-bullying campaign and the co-host of a local crime fighting television programme on June 8 via a WhatsApp message about her plight, but she received no response.

The 18-year-old student remains warded at the Scarborough General Hospital in a satisfactory condition nursing stab wounds to the forehead, back and chest, while charges are yet to be laid on the 16-year-old.

Political leader of the Congress of the People (COP) Prakash Ramadhar says he can understand the disappointment the party’s founding father, Winston Dookeran, has expressed. 

Responding to questions from reporters at Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, Ramadhar, however, said Dookeran needed to better explain his disappointment.

Dookeran announced on Wednesday that he will be bowing out of politics and expressed disappointment with the party he founded. He said this during an interview with the media in Tunapuna after his announcement. 

“I think that Mr Dookeran needs to explain himself a little better. He needs to flesh out what he meant, we certainly are disappointed coming from a position where we contested 41 seats to a position where we occupy, ten under the present government,” Ramadhar said.

However, Ramadhar said the party has learned from its past experience that it cannot stand alone and it needs the People’s Partnership.

“So certainly that will be a disappointment to any party going forward, but having learned from our experience in 2007, that we couldn’t do it alone and we came together in a very successful coalition partnership. But I can understand his disappointment, because at one point in time he was presumed to become the Prime Minster and he gave that up (for the partnership).”

Ramadhar admitted that the COP is held back by the current political environment.

“In terms of COP’s growth we are certainly constrained by the present political environment, but we have done a tremendous amount within the limited aspect of our authority in government. I am very proud of that, as for the disappointment, of course all of us wish to have more and to do better.

“But I take very realistic and practical approach to the politics and things that we had dreamt of in 2007 we have achieved under the partnership.”

Asked whether he thinks Dookeran’s statement will affect the outcome of the party’s votes in the September 7 general election, Ramadhar said: “I hardly imagine the statement of his disappointment will really matter when we go to an election where serious decisions about the future governance of the country have to be made.” 

Ashridge Lad could well benefit from experience and make it fifth time lucky in the Maiden stakes over a mile of ‘good to firm’ Newmarket today; one of five rides on a seven-race programme for Hayley Turner.

Despite an exceptional talent this 32-year-old Nottingham lass hasn’t aspired in the way one hoped but she has ridden nigh on 600 winners and remains one of my ‘favourites’ for serious betting purposes; Ashridge Lad might just open a door at the yard of Brian Meehan.

Stable-jockey Jimmy Fortune suffered a vertebrae injury when falling at Royal Ascot last Wednesday and Brian will be earnestly hoping to forge a link with a regular jockey; none better than Hayley, aboard Ashridge Lad when they were beaten only a neck on the Rowley Mile last month.  

A fortnight later this progressive Invincible Spirit gelding chased home Sahaafy over the same course and distance in a competitive handicap.

Obviously 85-rated, John Gosden-trained, Druids Ridge can’t be dismissed and is rated 2lbs better on BHA ratings but others need to improve considerably; with eight runners, and three places available, Ashridge Lad will form the first leg of an each-way double into once-raced juvenile Head East, one of eleven ‘decs’ in the Maiden Stakes over five furlongs of ‘good to firm’ Haydock tonight.

Head East shaped well at Catterick earlier this month; form from that fast, undulating, North Yorskhire course often works out satisfactorily and Head East is definitely worth a sporting nap from a good draw under proficient 3lbs apprentice Shane Gray, one of the finds of this year. 

Royal Ascot concludes with a fifth and final day; impossible but the £40,000 listed, Land O’Burns Fillies’ Stakes over five furlongs at ‘good’ Ayr looks solvable.

Spinatrix is a ‘good thing’ on the TH and should be backed accordingly under Conor Beasley.

Jeron Maniram and Shania Abdool won the male cricketer of the year and female cricketer of the year awards respectively when the Powergen Secondary Schools Cricket League held its Cricket Appreciation, Prize Giving and Awards Ceremony at the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce in Couva, on Thursday.

Maniram of Barrackpore West Secondary demonstrated his all round ability throughout the season to cop the award. The right-handed batsman scored 430 runs in seven innings at an average of 86 runs and with his off spin he snatched 21 wickets at an average of 14. Maniram was rewarded with a spot on the national Under-19 team for the West Indies Cricket Board Regional U-19 tournament, which bowls off next month.

Abdool also did some damage with both bat and ball during the season. Playing for Barrackpore East Secondary, Abdool scored 262 runs in six innings with an average of 65.5. She also took 15 wickets for only 71 runs at an average of 4.7.

Making the feature address was journalist and cricket commentator Fazeer Mohammed. Mohammed encouraged the young cricketers to play the game for the love of it. “At the end of the day you must enjoy your cricket. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing and you are just thinking about the money you will not achieve what you want to achieve.” He added that top sportsmen such as Lionel Messi, Kieron Pollard and Chris Gayle love what they do and this led to success. Mohammed encouraged the students to put in the necessary work by practicing their game.

Mohammed also told the youngsters that when people invest in their cricket they must not take it for granted. “We want to see a level of commitment to your school, community, country and region and then all the officials will say the investment was worth it.” 

Damion Bright scored for the second straight match as Queen’s Park handed table toppers Petrotrin its first loss of the season in  T&T Hockey Board Men’s Championship Division, 2-1 at the National Hockey Centre, Tacarigua on Thursday night.

Going into the match, the Oilmen (25 points) had a four point lead over defending champions Notre Dame and could have taken a major step towards regaining the crown.

However, the Parkites coming off a 2-2 draw with Notre Dame had other ideas and took the lead as early as the second minute through Jerazano Bell while Bright made it 2-0 ten minutes later which his team held until the end of the first quarter,

In the second period, Petrotrin went on an all out offensive to get back into the match and it was rewarded by a 30th minute goal from Atiba Whittington to trail 2-1 at the half-time interval.

A lot more was expected from both teams in the final two periods, but for all their efforts both Petrotrin and Queen's Park failed to add to their tally as the Parkites held on for a vital win to improve to 19 points from 12 matches and two left to play while the Oilmen remained on 25, four more than Dames.

Paragon is fourth with 13 points from nine matches, while Defence Force has 12 from 11 matches in fifth spot.

Last night, Petrotrin had another chance to inch closer to the crown when it faced Defence Force while Courts Malvern came up against Notre Dame while in the lone Women's Championship Division encounter, Notre Dame also came up Courts Malvern.

At the top of the Women’s Championship Division standing is Georgetown Cricket Club of Guyana which ended its 12-match campaign with 20 points while the trio of defending champion Paragon, Harvard Checkers and Shandy Carib Magnolias, are all on 13 points.

However, Magnolias has five matches to play while Paragon and Notre Dame has four and Checkers three to complete their campaigns.

Results

Thursday: 

Men’s Championship Division:

QPCC 2 (Jerazano Bell 2nd, Damion Bright 12th) vs Petrotrin 1 (Atiba Whittington 30th)

Upcoming T&THB matches

Today

Under-19 Boys: Courts Malvern vs Fatima, 2pm

Men's Championship: Paradise vs Defence Force, 3;30pm

Men's Championship: Fatima vs Paragon, 5pm

Women's Championship: SC Magnolias vs Paragon, 6.30pm

Trinity Men: Paradise vs Carib, 8pm.

Tomorrow (Sunday) 

Courts Malvern vs Paradise, 12.30pm; Petrotrin vs Notre Dame, 6.30 pm

Women's Championship: Ventures vs Courts Malvern, 2pm; Harvard Checkers vs Notre Dame, 5 pm

Trinity Men: Paradise vs Shape, 3.30pm; Notre Dame vs Paragon, 8 pm.

Current T&THB selected tables:

Men’s Championship:

Teams    P    W    D    L    F    A    Pts

Petrotrin    10    8    1    1    36    14    25

Notre Dame    11    6    3    2    29    16    21

QPCC    12    5    4    3    29    21    19

Paragon    9    4    1    4    22    23    13

Defence Force    11    2    6    3    22    21    12

Malvern    11    2    4    5    16    21    10

Fatima    11    2    3    6    16    30    9

Paradise    9    2    0    7    16    41    6

Women’s Championship:

GCC    12    6    2    4    22    20    20

SC Magnolias    7    4    1    2    20    8    13

Paragon    7    3    4    0    17    7    13

Checkers    8    3    4    1    8    4    13

Notre Dame    7    3    1    3    12    13    10

Malvern    6    1    2    3    7    13    5

Ventures    7    0    0    7    1    22    0

BRIDGETOWN—The ongoing work of the West Indies Retired Players Foundation (WIRPF) is set to get a major boost as it stages the inaugural charity golf day in Barbados this weekend.

The WIRPF—a joint initiative of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and (WIPA)—will host the event, supported by CPL and Digicel, at the prestigious Sandy Lane Country Club today.

“The work of the WIRPF has been going smoothly since inception last year and we are aiming to go one step further with the Retired Players Golf Day at Sandy Lane … we couldn’t have asked for a better location—one of the world’s best courses,” said Dave Cameron, President of the WICB.

“We are pleased with those who have decided to participate so far but there is still some room left for others to join us and share in what will be a great day of golf and sporting camaraderie for this very worthy cause.”

Several former West Indies players including Desmond Haynes and Sir Richie Richardson, as well as current players will take part in the day’s competition—to raise funds for the programmes of the WIRPF.

 Several senior officials of the International Cricket Council as well as participants in the Caribbean Premier League tournament are also scheduled to participate.

“Since we started work last year the WIRPF has received excellent support from several stakeholders across the Caribbean and we have been able to offer tangible assistance to a number of our former cricketers,” said Dr Nigel Camacho, President of the WIRPF.

“Our Golf Day at Sandy Lane in Barbados is another opportunity for members of the public to show their support for our projects as we seek to broaden our base and do more for our former cricketers.”

The West Indies Retired Players Foundation was formed 18 months ago and part of its mandate is development of programmes and assisting with the welfare of former players who represented the Caribbean team at the international level. Proceeds from the Golf Day will go towards projects of the Foundation. (CMC)

Congratulations to the Australians on their series ‘whitewash’ of the West Indies a week ago. The visitors retained the Sir Frank Worrell series with a resounding nine-wicket win in the opening match of the tournament in Dominica and then took away a 257-run win in the second match at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

The man of the series was fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who came to the Caribbean desperate to do well in white clothes because Australia at this moment has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fast bowling.

It came as no surprise to me he was named player of the series because from very early on you could have seen the burning desire from the New South Wales player to mark his spot on the Aussie team.

His preparation for success started way before the series in the Caribbean. Retained by the Mumbai Indians on a US$100,000 contract for the 2015 season after being bought in the 2014 auction, Hazlewood was not with Ricky Ponting’s team for their match-winning IPL season.

After a gruelling summer, Hazlewood and Cricket Australia (CA) opted to withdraw the fast bowler from the lucrative tournament with a packed winter schedule on the horizon.

The West Indies tour and the ultimate for him, the Ashes, were up next. 

Hazlewood packed his bags and headed to Brisbane where he worked tirelessly at the High Performance Centre located at the Allan Border playing field. I remembered during the Test series asking him what he went to the HPC to achieve the most? His response was that he needed to up the number of overs he had bowled in an effort to get consistency with his art.

Losing out on the IPL was not a big deal for him as he put country first. He decided to represent Australia and came here and conquered. I observed him at close quarters during the series and the humble young man was always quick to say that it was all about learning for him. He showed tremendous respect to his teammates and opposition and also said he was a student of the game and wanted to get into the history of  cricket. I then looked at our players who didn’t achieve anything close to what Hazlewood did in the series but they were still walking all over the place like if they were champions. Our players are contented with average performances and sending messages as if they were something great.

I listened to Mark Waugh during the first Test and he said that he was shocked that Marlon Samuels was not playing the match for the West Indies. He said that to not play for the West Indies, you have to be really, really sick.

Samuels called in sick for the final match and did not participate yet you could have seen the Jamaican taking a knock every morning during the match. He looked in not much discomfort while batting but still did not see it fit to go out there and fight for his team, as they were looking to save a series.

One would have admired him a lot for going out there and playing for the West Indies no matter what, as they were still in with a chance of sharing the spoils in the series, when their plane touched down in Jamaica. Where is the fight? I no longer see it and one hopes that the young players coming though adopt a different approach.

I have written tirelessly that the West Indies team is a mirror of the Caribbean society. If we continue to don’t infuse a different team environment then we can never get the results that we so longed for and dream about.

I would like to see the young men on the West Indies team try to emulate Jason Holder in all aspects of his life, especially how he carries himself off the field. A number of talented players have played for the West Indies team before and did more harm than good for the team with their prima donna attitude.

Holder comes across to me as a man who is still in love with West Indianism and wants to make the people of the Caribbean proud. Not an ounce of ego in the young man, yet some players who have achieved much less than him, have an attitude like: “Hey look at me, I am the boss.” Well I can tell you something—during the World Cup in Australia earlier this year some of our players were made the laughing stock of the tournament without even knowing. The Aussie public had a good laugh observing their ‘big man’ movements when they were much less than that when the umpires called play. 

We need to improve leaps and bounds to get back that respect in the world of cricket and those of you who are waiting to see that happen soon, I hope you have WiFi to kill the time because it will be very long in coming.

Abilene Wildcats 400m specialist Joshua Jacob St Clair, who was named by the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA) to compete at the IAAF World Youth Championships, scheduled to take place from July 15–19 in Cali, Colombia and the Pan American Junior Championships, from July 31–August 13, 2015, Edmonton, Alberta Canada, appears doubtful because of an injury.

A media release from the NAAA listed St Clair to compete at these events, but injuries to both his legs have reduced his chances to sport the red, white and black national colours at both events.

NAAA president Ephraim Serrette told the T&T Guardian yesterday that St Clair had an achilles injury which was healing, but he later sustained a fresh grade two hamstring injury.

“He may be out of the Championships based on information coming from the medical team,” said Serrette.

The Samoa 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games was the third international event for which the NAAA announced its competitors. That event was carded to take place this September in Apia, Samoa.

Thirty athletes and ten officials have been named for the three Championships respectively.

Serrette said athletes were selected based on performances from Carifta to the NGC/NAAA Junior Championships and these would have been athletes who qualified and St Clair was among them, but recent developments would deny him a chance to represent T&T, at least for now.

He said for competition in the World Youth Championships only four athletes were selected and St Clair was among them. 

The other athletes were: Carifta double medallists Akanni Hislop of Zenith AC (100m / 200m) Khalifa St Fort (100m) Akidah Briggs of Toco Titans in the shot put.

“For the Pan American Junior Championships we have a little larger team, because of the relay factor. So, we have our women and men 4x100m and a men’s 4x400m that would automatically take the total up. But we would have selected athletes who we know are competitive and should at least make a final at these events,” Serrette said.

When the people of T&T hear the names Hislop, and Jonathan Farinha, said the NAAA official, they should know that athletes of this calibre were the future of track and field.

These athletes, according to Serrette, now have to be put on the transition list from junior into senior level. 

Hislop was selected for all three junior Championships.

“In the case of the World Youth Championships in Cali Colombia I am expecting great performance from Hislop. Hislop and St Fort can deliver performances that lead to the rostrum,” Serrette said.

Claims of money laundering and a front man to hide cash are at the top of the list of Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner’s latest planned exposé on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Though Warner is keeping the details on the matter for his press conference carded for Tuesday, the Sunday Guardian learned that Warner plans to link one of Persad-Bissessar’s close associates to a series of financial transactions kept deliberately under the radar.

While keeping his guns trained on Persad-Bissessar, Warner is still insisting that he is not in any war with the PM or her cabinet members.

“I am not at war with the Prime Minister, I am not at war with anyone,” Warner told the Sunday Guardian.

When questioned about his continued attack on Persad-Bissessar, Warner said he was attempting to atone for the wrong he did to the country when he helped bring the People’s Partnership into government back in 2010.

Warner plans to drop bombshell after bombshell in the build-up to the general election on September 2015. 

Warner said he planned to “unmask” Persad-Bissessar so that the country will know exactly who they voted for back in 2010. 

“I did the country wrong five years ago and I need to correct that,” Warner said.

He said Tuesday would not be the end of his revelations, but he planned to continue unveiling more and more information on Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet as the election campaign intensified.

“More is coming in the fullness of time,” he said. 

On Thursday, Persad-Bissessar said the Kristyan Gokool that Warner asked about was her neighbour and to her knowledge, he never received any Government contracts. But Warner was not satisfied with that response and said that it was now up to him to “clear the air” on the real relationship between Persad-Bissessar and the Gokool’s. But while the country waits to hear what else Warner has up his sleeve, at least one government minister is saying he had enough. Speaking to the media at a key handover ceremony in Edinburgh 500 yesterday, Housing Minister and Leader of Government Business Dr Roodal Moonilal said he was “fed up” of Warner and called on the media to stop giving him the attention.

“I think the media in this country is the only one who takes him seriously,” he said.

When asked to comment on the issues raised by Warner in the past week, Moonilal said he was no longer commenting on Warner.

“I personally am sick and tired like you are of Mr Warner and all of this mauvais lange and bacchanal and old talk...” Moonilal said. 

He said Warner should be focusing on the fact that while there were some 79 days before the general election, he only had 49 days to the end of his extradition matter.

“He should really focus on that...” he said.Moonilal said if it wasn’t for Warner, the People’s National Movement (PNM) would have nothing to say on their own platforms. “If Mr Warner did not exist there could be no PNM meeting or labour rally in Fyzabad.” 

Diverting from the topic of Warner, Moonilal said he was “saddened” to see how badly the labour movement was fragmented under the leadership of Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) boss Ancel Roget. Moonilal was referring to the fracas that broke out at the labour rally on Friday when Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke was physically removed from the meeting by riot police.

“Very, very sad day for labour when workers and their representatives are denied access to public space, denied access to march and participate in a rally,” he said.

When the media attempted to redirect the questions to Warner, Moonilal said he was trying to move the media away from that issue but recognised that it was not working.

“I think this is the only media across the globe that gives him that kind of prominence,” he said, adding that Warner had been reduced to a punch line for foreign comedians.

“It is not something I am prepared to comment on, but I am extremely sad because I think the next step is to ask for counselling. I think Warner needs some measure of counselling and prayer,” he said.

Moonilal said he would not be surprised if Warner claimed to have a file on the dog living in the Prime Minister’s compound. “He has gone to the dogs,” he added. 

Local manufacturers will again showcase their finest products at the 61st Annual Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, USA, from June 28 - 30. For the third consecutive year, the Ministry of Trade will lead the delegation, along with senior representatives of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and exporTT Limited. 

At the briefing session at the ministry’s Port-of-Spain head office, exhibitors were told by Jacqueline Charles, deputy permanent secretary: “The US market is absolutely essential and important for Trinidad and Tobago.  

“Notwithstanding what is happening with oil and gas, food and beverage is one of the most vibrant and dynamic sectors for diversification and the reason for going to this show is to encourage you to get more customers, to encourage you to get into the US market, to brand yourselves and also if I might add for the SMEs, one of the rationales for taking the SMEs along with the larger markets is to let you see what is happening in the US market, how they market themselves, how the big companies have gotten into there.  

“So it is a combination of large and SMEs and I think that really works to the benefit of Trinidad and Tobago because sometimes when you are small you are nimble and you are agile to what adjust to what is necessary, and that is one of the dynamics of actually exposing SMEs to these new markets.” 

“For the Fancy food Show we are really looking forward to taking Caribbean food to the world, that is our aim. We want Caribbean food to be known as Mexican food or Chinese food or any other food and we are trying to do it first with callaloo, which is our traditional dish.  So I am really looking forward to the Fancy Food Show. 

“I am looking forward to seeing so many different people from different ethnicities and I am looking forward to them trying our product and for them to really like it”, said Nicole Belfon of Habit Link Limited, a first-timer at the show. “My expectation for this year’s show is to carry my new products and to see the best.  I can let people know about my culture, and know about Trinidad and Tobago’s gift,” said Paul David, manager, Flavour Me Rite.

This is their second time participating in the Show. Show veteran Miguel Bermudez, international sales executive, KC Confectionery Limited, said: “We are looking forward to meeting with the buyers that we have invited to come to the show. Also we have some buyers coming in from the central part of the United States where we do not have distributors.  

“At this show we have buyers from all over the world, but we are trying to target more the areas like Texas and Las Vegas and Los Angeles this year.” 

The 13 T&T companies participating this year are Sunshine Snacks, Charles Candy, Smaks Luxury Group Limited, KC Confectionery, Matouk’s, Fresh Start, Habit Link Limited, Vemco, Jus Rite Creations, Flavour Me Rite, Simply Delightful, Spring Time Foods and Smart Foods. The Summer Fancy Food Show is North America’s Largest Specialty Food and Beverage Event and brings in more than 40,000 attendees from more than 80 countries with over 260,000 innovative specialty food products on display.

Representatives from 19 employers’ organisations from the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean will participate in a regional forum entitled Facilitating Participation of Cariforum Civil Society in Regional Development and Integration Processes, to be held at the Accra Beach Resort in Christ Church, Barbados, from today.

As part of an EU-funded project implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to strengthen the capacity of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) to play a greater role in regional policy making, participants at the forum will identify key issues of importance to employers’ organisations at the national and enterprise levels, so that CEC can effectively lobby an advocacy strategy on their behalf.

Each organisation will present one key area of particular concern or importance to their country/territory, such as: 
• Legislative focus to support the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Social Chapter, which incorporates the core ILO Conventions;
• Review of regulatory barriers, to develop an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises;
• TVET institutions – matching skills training to employment needs;
• Climate change and enterprise resilience;
• Migration issues in relation to building a Caribbean Single Market Economy;
• Institutionalising tripartism at both a national and regional level, to ensure a systemic approach to input from Employers' Organizations on social and economic policies; and 
• Productivity and competitiveness, particularly in small and medium enterprises.

Other topics to be discussed at the forum include Migration and Free Movement of Labour; International Trends Affecting Employers and their Organizations; and Social Dialogue Mechanisms. Findings from a recent study tour to Brussels will be presented on the subject of Regional Tripartite Good Practises and Strategies for National Input.

Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development for Barbados, Dr Esther Byer-Sukoo is carded to speak at the opening ceremony, along with Ambassador Mikael Barford, Head, European Union (EU) Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean; Anne Knowles, senior specialist, Employers’ Activities, ILO; Wayne Chen, president, CEC; and Ian Gooding-Edghill, president, Barbados Employers’ Confederation.

On Wednesday, an incident adamantly described by Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart as a “disturbance” between prison officers and inmates broke out at the Remand Yard of the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca. “It was not a riot,” insisted Mr Stewart, “It was a confrontation between prison officers and inmates and necessary force had to be used to safeguard both inmates and officers.”

No matter how he tries to avoid the simple term “riot” and has even used the rather more potent word “eruption,” this was an incident that sent 25 prisoners and five badly beaten officers to the hospital for treatment. Before the incident had reached its end at midday on Wednesday, members of the Riot Squad were on standby at the prison to help prison officers.

It was also regrettable that when lawyers intervened in the matter to represent 25 injured inmates, it became necessary for their legal team to request an emergency sitting of the San Fernando High Court to get access to the prisoners to photograph their injuries. It might have made sense for the leadership of the prison to authorise the request in the interests of a full and transparent investigation of the consequences of the disturbance, but that proved not to be the case.

That left the legal team, led by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, to appeal to the courts for this simple courtesy. And a full investigation is what the confrontation demands. Inmates have accused prison officers of drenching them with water during the night and of destroying religious texts.

The conflict between guards and inmates began on Tuesday night during a routine search of cells for contraband items. Scuffles during that exercise resulted in a dozen prisoners being taken to the hospital. At dawn, hostilities broke out again when officers came to serve breakfast and were attacked by inmates with improvised weapons. The pitched battle sent 13 more inmates to hospital along with five officers.

The 25 inmates who are behind the legal action are Muslim, a significant fact that did not escape Mr Ramlogan. Clearly such accusations call for investigation, but generally, conditions at the Remand Yard have been an issue for decades now.

In March 2013, before the nine-member committee led by Prof Ramesh Deosaran completed its report on conditions at the prisons, former Anglican Bishop of T&T retired Reverend Clive Abdulah reminded T&T about the then 33-year-old findings of the commission of enquiry into the nation’s penal institutions.

The 1980 Ryan Report called for a complete revamp of the Remand Yard, the shutdown of the Carrera Island Prison and other reforms. By the time Prof Deosaran submitted his report on the prisons system to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in November 2013, very little had changed beyond that committee’s finding that the prisons system had collapsed and was running on autopilot.

The overcrowding at Golden Grove Prison has long been a source of contention and concern, with 1,100 inmates in the Remand Yard alone, far in excess of its capacity. It’s clearly time to stop talking about the problems with the prisons system and to take action. The problems have been explained in multiple reports over at least four decades, and a solution is desperately overdue.

“The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.” This is an excerpt from Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical “Laudato Si” that is now out.

This certainly rings true here in Trinidad and Tobago and it is not only the elderly that lament. We live among trash so much so that I doubt we really see it anymore. The same way we no longer notice vagrants, stray dogs, potholes, crooked politicians and electrical outages. We are masters at blocking from our mind’s eye what we do not want to see. Maybe this is how we retain our sanity in this Alice in Wonderland place called sweet T&T, but by not acknowledging there is a problem, we embrace it.

Plastic bags and bottles clutter roadsides, clog drains and rivers, and drift up on our beaches. It is debatable whether littering is worse than disposing of garbage in bins. Bins go straight to landfills that are really just refuse tips. The largest of these, the Beetham dump, leaches toxins into the Caroni Swamp biodiversity hot spot.

The dump is overcapacity, a situation that would be so much worse if it did not catch fire on a regular basis, freeing up space for new rubbish while cloaking Port-of-Spain in toxic fumes. Despite a lack of studies we know those fumes must cost lives, yet there was hardly a sound from the public when the Waste Recycling Management Bill was shelved. It was the legislative foundation for the establishment of the Waste Recycling Management Authority, but time ran out for it to be debated in the Senate.

It is a global problem. The Pope’s environmental encyclical attributes this to “a throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as quickly as it reduces things to rubbish…A serious consideration of this issue would be one way of counteracting the throwaway culture which affects the entire planet…” T&T is not alone in the world in producing trash, but we are probably unique for a country that has such a consumerist lifestyle to have practically no recycling facilities.

Another prime concern of the encyclical is climate change. In my opinion this is the paramount environmental threat to human survival on Earth. Note that I did not use the word “life.” I’m quite certain that life on Earth will be able to adapt in some form or the other. Some actually liken a heating Earth to a fever. Is Earth trying to rid itself of its human virus? You may not think that this is a bad idea but the Pope is kinder to humanity and stresses “integral ecology,” which means for ecology to be complete it must include both human and natural ecology.

In a bit of a historical anomaly, the Catholic Church embraces some science under this Pope.

“Humanity is called to recognise the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming ...a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity…The problem is aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system.”

Climate change should be a grave concern for any islander. Trinidadians and Tobagonians, however, are just as unresponsive to trash as we are to greenhouse gas emissions. We are the second highest per capita greenhouse gas producer in the world. We have shown no desire to do anything to reduce this figure.

There is an occasional flutter from this politician or that one about renewable energy and energy efficiency (usually around the time of an international conference - we don’t want to look like we don’t care) but just like the Waste Recycling Management Bill they all amount to nothing.

Now every politician loves to quote from the Bible. Sometimes I listen to a politician and I think I’m sitting in church. It is time for the politicos to listen to the Pope: “The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the present with concern for all and without prejudice towards coming generations(…)

What is needed is a politics which is far-sighted and capable of a new, integral and interdisciplinary approach to handling the different aspects of the crisis. Often, politics itself is responsible for the disrepute in which it is held, on account of corruption and the failure to enact sound public policies.”

Can you believe a liar when he says he is telling the truth? Is a half-truth a lie or the truth? Central to answering these questions is the definition of the truth. So let us so do. It must be an accurate, unvarnished description of events that have occurred and in the sequence of their occurrence. This is exceedingly difficult for human beings to do, even if there is no malice and self-interest, for inherent memory processes lend themselves to subjective output. 

So determining the truth, is at best, very difficult and quite often impossible. But people, corporations, courts and governments need, on a daily basis, to know the truth in order make important decisions. The necessity to call out liars has thus become a fundamental human endeavour. There are five types of liars. Included are the occasional liars, compulsive liars and sociopathic liars. 

Occasional liars, as the name suggests, may tell a lie once in a while and when they do, they feel very troubled and uncomfortable. Many, if not most, decent, normal people fall in this category. Compulsive liars on the other hand, feel very uncomfortable about telling the truth. So to them, lying is as natural as breathing. It is an inherently reflexive and natural act. 

Of course, they easily pass the standard tests and indicators that are proposed by psychologists; like not looking into the eyes of the questioner and raising their eyes upward et cetera. Exhortations to their conscience are meaningless. For lying, to them, is a natural act and thus polygraph and other tests, based on physiological responses like increased heart/pulse beats or sweating cannot produce fool-proof results.

Sociopathic liars lie continuously over long periods of time, even over a lifetime. They do so in order to get their own way and do not care about who gets hurt or trampled upon in the process. They are very goal oriented. Pathological lying is indicative of deep psychological problems including narcissistic personality disorder.

To determine the truth, in the case of criminals and terrorists, various chemicals, generically referred to as truth serums, have been used. These inhibit or slow the speed at which the body sends messages to the brain. This makes it very difficult, but not impossible, to perform high functioning tasks like concentrating on a single activity, like walking in a straight line or lying. 

They came into vogue in the 1920’s but may have been known way before that. To date, however, there are still no known pharmaceutical compounds whose proven effect is consistent or predictable enhancement of truth telling. There is, however, some hope for optimism as there are new drugs that increase the level of trust between the questioner and the questioned.

With respect to persons not confined to the penal system, the administering of chemicals is out of the question and therefore different approaches need be considered. Google, recognising the cesspool of lies, rumours and chicanery the Internet can be, has, in a research paper, proposed a new way to rank search results. 

It proposes to use not popularity, but factual accuracy instead. Presently, rumours and lies are self-reinforcing as they spread quickly, thus attracting more searches which in turn attracts even more. The old saying “say a lie long enough and it is viewed as the truth” has become “Google it and it quickly becomes the truth.” So if Google were to implement this new idea, it would be a boon to seekers of the truth and a bane for the rumour-mongers and liars.

So where does this leave us? Well, back to good old fashioned intuition which is gaining acceptance in scientific circles. Listen to your gut feeling and balance it with some analysis and common sense. What are the chances that one who has been lying, over decades, for self-gain and self-promotion, would not lie again for self-preservation?

What do the billions of neurons in your gut say? 

Can the press be relied upon to be the impartial arbiter it ought to be in the upcoming election? With editors salivating at the expectation of mudslinging, something which typically occurs between politicians, it is very easy for editors to take the easy path and promote headlines that scream allegations about corruption, and other exposes. 

However, the press cannot say that we are just the messenger, they also have an important role to play in the decorum expected in society. Unless the two major media organisations, Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (Matt) and Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), provide some guidelines to their members about what constitutes non-inflammatory headlines and stories, they too will remain part of the problem during the upcoming election, and we can expect incendiary headlines to be the spark that can ignite already inflamed passions.

For example: now that the election date has been announced by the Prime Minister, and the opposition, according to them, is “ready to rumble,” the electorate has been bombarded with stories of a continuance of the same old conduct that has been proliferating over the last few months?
Recently, Jack Warner has accused the PP Government of everything from corruption to racism; this week, he even accused the Prime Minister of being involved in a cover-up of ganja found on her property in 2013. 

The PP Government, in their weekly propaganda paper, Voice Today, ridiculed Warner by calling him a Robin Hood with a twist, who, instead of stealing from the rich to help the poor, he stole instead from the poor Haitian people, allegedly pocketing US$750,000 that Fifa donated in the wake of the 2010 earthquake; and Dr Keith Rowley has accused members of the PP Government, in the Emailgate affair, to an attempt at intimidating a journalist, section 34 misdeeds, and other unfounded allegations, that, even though he all but admitted that the emails were fake, the opposition leader still insisted that the allegations spelled out in the fake emails should be investigated by the police. 

Some in the press have produced headlines and stories that make these seem like facts instead of allegations. Last year, when some of the leading civil society organisations came together to develop a code of ethics for political parties, for a moment, with all parties signing the code, the nation breathed a sigh of relief. 

All parties agreed to abide by the code that promoted elections free from “interference, fear, intimidation or bribery;” “publicly disassociate themselves from criminal elements and criminal activity;” “Confine their criticism of other political parties to the policies and programmes, past record and work;” “Commit, while acknowledging each other’s past and present errors and prejudices, to supporting one another in a common effort to overcome selfishness and arrogance, hatred and violence.” 

Clearly, all the parties, specifically the PP, PNM, and the ILP, all signatories to the code, have not abided by the major code elements that they agreed to. And they never will, unless the committee who developed the code had the power to apply some punitive measures to anyone breaking their word of unconditionally honouring the code —no exceptions, no excuses. 

Furthermore, the press should also be held to a similar code of ethics, where they will be held to a high standard of ethical behaviour. Recently, a Government minister spoke about controlling tabloid journalism. Neither the media nor the public wants government involvement in dictating press policy. 

If that happens, the press will raise a hue and cry bemoaning that freedom of the press was being infringed, and our international rating as a nation that upholds its own Constitution that protects a free press will suffer.

Rex Chookolingo,
Maraval