She said, however, that this action will only be taken if the Statutory Authorities Services Commission (SASC) does not heed its call for an in-house acting CEO to be appointed.

“We will move our resolution in council. We feel very strongly about this,” an adamant Morris-Julien told Sunday Newsday.

The mayor’s stance came a day after she issued a media statement saying she has appealed to the Statutory Authorities Services Commission (SASC) asking that it reconsider its choice for acting CEO of the corporation.

Her statement followed news that the “pending appointee” for the acting CEO position originated from another corporation.

She has recommended that a qualified senior officer from the Arima Borough Corporation “who has previous experience acting in the position and is familiar with the corporation’s operations and upcoming plans.” Morris-Julien, in the release, said proper leadership was critical for the borough “as it changes hands in the local government arena and requires institutional stability.” She has yet to receive word from the SASC about the issue.

Yesterday, she added: “The fact of the matter is that we are a new council, this is a new mayor and obviously we want a CEO with the institutional memory to continue with a course of action within the next two months.” Morris-Julien said those who have acted as CEO were already apprised of several major projects currently in the pipeline.

“We have Carnival, the clean-up.

We have the maxi taxi situation, several things that the people that are currently in administration, who usually act in the position, are fully aware of and support,” she said.

Morris-Julien said she had also spoken to Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein about the issue.

She said Hosein has vowed to “see what he could do from his end.” On plans to develop of the borough, Morris-Julien said the market was of critical importance.

“Mayors have come and gone with regards to the market and I have decided to ask every living mayor to join with me to get a solution to solve this issue,” she said.

The mayor said the borough also was in dire need of an administration complex.

“The sod-turned since 1973, three times and we still don’t have a place to call our own,” she said, adding that the corporation’s administrative staff was currently being housed in a section of the top floor of First Citizens Bank in Arima.

Morris-Julien said the inadequate accomodation has created health and safety challenges.

“So, we have to find a place. My plans for Arima are really to get those two things done, at least start the ball rolling.

Morris-Julien said she cannot do it alone.

“No matter what political party.

The only requirement is that you have to care for Arima and want the best for Arima and I need that support,” she said.

Speaking yesterday at the relaunch of the UNC’s Academy/ Training Session at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, Chaguanas, Lee called for unity as the party positions itself for the 2020 general election.

“Brothers and sisters, there is a saying that in unity there is strength and in today’s society the fact is as a united force, we will be able to achieve, beyond our wildest dreams,” he said.

“For too long we have looked to allow small differences and misunderstandings to divide us which has time and time again led to our downfall. If we are to progress, we must do it together.” He added: “We must all understand that our different qualities make us stronger. It is time we end the small “bickering and bickering” over positions, over territorial control, over individuals, because as we do so the PNM moves ahead. Let us remain focussed, united, determined and we will win…we will win.” Yesterday’s session, Lee said, sought to devise a strategy to take the UNC back into government by enabling enable “each one of us to understand, to practice and to pass on the philosophy of the United National Congress.” “If we, as a family, are not able to undertake or enact our party’s vision then we would have failed as a group,” he said.

Lee said the session focussed on three key components: unity, mentorship and venturing out of one’s comfort zones. Regarding mentorship, Lee said while many of the party’s more experienced members and office holders would say they have been thought these lessons before “one of our greatest issues has been the inability to mentor others. The inability to pass on knowledge to less experienced individuals.” “Many times new councillors are brought into the local government framework or someone is elected into a constituency executive and instead of passing on what is the correct way of performing their duties we withhold that knowledge. The time for those tactics are over. It is time we pass on our knowledge and groom others to be agents for change as ourselves so we can truly fulfil our party’s philosophy,” he said.

Lee argued that unity, mentorship and service meant nothing if it cannot be “translated to those areas where we must solidify our UNC support to ensure victory.” “For example, the councillors within the constituency of Moruga must be given full support if not a tad extra support from their colleagues at the Princes Town Corporation to ensure they can best meet the needs of the electorate allowing us to retake Moruga Tableland in the next general election,” he said.

“The same can be said about the Pointe-a-Pierre constituency, a marginal seat in the heart of a number of safe seats.”

The accused men are Jovin Jotis, 27, of Rest House Village in Mayaro; Kevon Pierre, 23, of Gran Lagoon, also in Mayaro; and Cobin Scott, 21, of Plum Mitan Junction as well as Point Fortin. All three accused are unemployed.

They appeared in the Rio Claro Magistrate’s Court charged by PC Abraham with two counts of robbery with aggravation and possession of ammunition.

The charges against the accused men alleged that on Thursday at about 7 pm, they together with another person, being armed with a firearm and a knife committed the act at Unipet Service Station located at the Naparima/ Mayaro Road in Rio Claro.

Police report Anil Moonan was at the service station where two men, one armed with a firearm and the other with a knife, stormed in.

The armed men ordered Moonan as well as a pump attendant to hand over all cash to which they complied.

The armed men made off with an estimated $11,000 and fled the scene in a car which had two accomplices.

A report was made to the nearby Rio Claro Police Station and under the supervision of Cpl Naim Mohammed, officers responded.

Police reported Mohammed, together with PCs Abraham, Sookoo, Mohammed, Meighoo, Charles, Ali and Ramkissoon intercepted the car a short distance away along the Naparima/Mayaro Road.

The officers only retrieved a portion of the stolen cash and a fourth accomplice managed to evade them.

The report added that when police searched the car, they found four rounds of ammunition.

When the matter was called before Ramsaran, court prosecutor Sgt Ramnarine Gadar did not make any recommendation on how to proceed.

Ramsaran remanded the accused into custody for tracing to reappear in court on Wednesday.

An emergency meeting was held at the school on Thursday among officials including Mayaro MP Rushton Paray and chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh.

Paray, after the meeting, said the issues raised included the scheduling and co-ordination of spraying and fogging close to public institutions.

“As we ramp up agricultural activities throughout the country, events such as these have the potential to flare up and we must put systems in place to deal with them with urgently,” Paray said via a post on Facebook.

On Wednesday at about 9.15 am, while classes were in session, students and teachers complained of headaches, nausea, a burning sensation in their stomachs and respiratory problems.

School sources said there was a pungent stench at the school’s compound that day. The incident came days after 14 students of the Rio Claro Vedic Primary School were taken to San Fernando General Hospital with similar symptoms.

It is believed the students inhaled pesticides from a nearby farm.

Paray also called on the Agriculture Ministry and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to collaborate in addressing the issue of chemical usage among agricultural practitioners who operate in fields near educational institutes and residential homes.

According to reports at approximately 8.50 pm, a Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard interceptor while on routine patrol intercepted a 28 foot pirogue approximately four kilometres south of Diamond Rock with two occupants on board.

The pirogue, occupants and contents on board were escorted back to Staubles Bay where further searches were conducted.

During the search one crocus bag with 20 packets of a plant like substance was discovered, weighing approximately 10 kilograms with an estimated street value of one hundred thousand two hundred dollars.

The two Trinidadian occupants were detained by the Coast Guard and subsequently handed over to the Organized Crime Narcotics and Firearm Bureau of the Police Service who will be continuing investigations.

Certainly the organizers would have been pleasantly surprised and the spread through other countries would have been a happy lagniappe for them all. It all was organized and planned, even if hurriedly so.

But whoever came up with the idea certainly suddenly and effectively garnered tremendous support.

That indeed was obvious. Of course we should not be interested in the silly debate now sweeping the United States, emanating from Trump’s White House that the event was meaningless. Clearly, millions of people who were suddenly self-compelled to go out in harshly cold weather and demonstrate their concerns generally and specifically against a President who is bringing shame to much of America, had significant impact. To be fair, he is also bringing cheer and pride to the long-dormant “Archie Bunker” element of American society.

But I digress. This is less about America than it is about us, our people, our abdication of responsibility and civic duty and civic protest in our own land. Although one Facebook commentator on a thread I was following condemned our copycat penchant for anything American, or done by Americans, the simple truth is that we (the women and concerned citizens of Trinidad and Tobago) did nothing to organize or participate in any way in what became a huge demonstration of concern almost worldwide. So that FB contributor’s concern was clearly misplaced on this occasion.

While I would not have been joining any demonstration or protests against Donald Trump, I did note that people posted that they wanted to join, but they did not see where anyone else had organized anything or had called for a demonstration or a gathering in support of the concerned women of the United States.

Some—and these are well known, strong, concerned and outspoken women we all know—were sharing posts before and during the marches in other lands. “Where to go, to gather?” “Is anything organized?” “If there was something, I would join.” Everyone made their inquiries in their Bibles of Action—Facebook, and everyone stayed at home, watching on television while the rest of the world actually went out in bitter winter cold to demonstrate and show their concerns.

“AH! If only someone, anyone, had organized something, anything, then I would have gone yes!” How convenient really. All those who said they wanted to demonstrate their concerns against Trump and the coming wave of removals of women’s rights would have come out if only someone had directed them where to go, how to dress, and what to do? Forgive my scepticism though. I return again to my call when attorney Dana Seetahal was assassinated in her car in Woodbrook. I put out a call on FB for all who were expressing such grief and anger to gather at the site of her murder. No one came but me and my family and one other! Many sent their Facebook excuses “What a good idea, but sorry…… not me, not now”.

However, that protest was “organized” in terms of time and place, and no one came. Yes, the notice was short, but we so admire the spontaneity in France, in Belgium and other places when people feel concerned enough to bestir themselves immediately.

But not here. Not ever. Well sometimes yes, like when a “known gang leader” is gunned down, whether by police or rival gangs, protest is spontaneous, immediate and strong. Is it that only the supporters of the underworld who can bring off a protest against what they perceive as injustice? But that those who are respected, or hold or have held office in this land have relegated themselves to the status of sheep? And must search Facebook to see if there is anything they can “join”? Of the handful or more who were sharing opinion that they were searching FB for something they could join, none could say “Let us meet outside the United States Embassy, right now!”? Make their placards and get there? And they, we, could have shown support for other women’s issues right here—like the Underage Marriage Bill, abuse of our women, and the like. Those who were vexed with Ambassador Estrada for venting his frustration at our support for violent and white collar crime could have been there. Yes, you might have been a bit embarrassed if no one else came to support you. I understand—been there, felt that already.

But the truth is, as a Jamaican work colleague once told me; “Trinidadians are not serious”. We mock serious protesters like Ishmael Samad and Wendell Eversley, who stand alone for issues we all say we believe in, while we are embarrassed to stand with them for our beliefs, our future or our country.

We salve our consciences in Facebook dithering instead.

For some people in Trinidad and Tobago, owning a vehicle seemingly illustrates wealth or success, while for others, it simply illustrates a person’s ability to senselessly enter into unnecessary debt. The only thing that this state of affairs has ‘developed’ is disdain towards users of public transportation, because apparently, taking a bus or riding the ferry to Tobago is reserved for our society’s poor.

Despite the Trinbagonian opinion on the situation, ironically, many are all too happy to chase after buses or squeeze through closing train doors when visiting foreign countries. The time has come for a change in mind-set to the way we approach policies on public transportation and alleviating traffic.

In cities like London, New York and Paris, the vast majority of residents use public transportation, and it is not because they are poor. In fact, in these three cities that have consistently ranked in the top 10 wealthiest cities for years, commuters park their Range Rovers, Jaguars and Porsches at home or at a parkand- ride and hop on a train or bus instead. Others even opt to don a helmet to accessorise their expensive suits and ride bicycles to their business empires, their fancy offices and firms, or to the financial districts of Canary Wharf, Wall Street, or La D?fense.

In contrast, poverty is glaring throughout Trinidad and Tobago, yet many people, despite working monotonous poorly paid jobs in “the city,” are forced to purchase vehicles where it now seems that cars outnumber pedestrians at peak hours.

Thankfully, I don’t have to endure the sickening commute to and from Port-of-Spain every day, unlike so many children and the core group of workers in our government ministries. I am not in possession of a bus route pass, nor do I have the option of a police convoy at my disposal like our politicians who are clearly disconnected from the commuting public; I merely have a job that offers flexibility.

However, on the very rare occasion when I have to make the morning commute into Port-of- Spain, I can never understand how every day these children and civil servants are forced to waste several unproductive hours in traffic, crawling along our overcrowded roads.

And not just that, I notice that many vehicles have only one occupant.

Politicians do not care about the extent of the traffic woes facing the general public; and that is exactly why no one shows any concern with progressing public transportation policies or on improving the infrastructure and systems in place for public travel.

Socially, family time is reduced while fatigue increases. We talk of family structures being in turmoil and blame crime on parents who are unable to “raise their offspring properly,” but that is almost impossible for a single mother working an 8-4 government job, who has to leave home at 0500 (even earlier for the folks from deep south and far east) to reach to work in Port-of-Spain on time, and then reach home at 6 pm (or later) just in time to prepare for the next day and get some rest.

A properly functioning public transportation system has great social benefits as it (1) helps foster a sense of community as people travelling together are more likely to feel a connection than those travelling in cars in isolation; (2) encourages our society to have a more active healthy lifestyle; (3) reduces car accidents; and most importantly, (4) rather than driving in traffic or wasting time looking for a parking spot in a place where the unconstitutional wrecking cartel continues to operate with impunity, public transport passengers can relax and listen to music or read a book.

An efficient public transportation system has to be a priority going forward, not just a 2020 vision or dream, and the development of rural transportation systems must be as important as it should be in urban areas.

Just like I did in England, I would love to leave my vehicle parked at home during the week and catch a bus or a train to my destination; vehicle ownership should only be necessary for commute after hours and weekends when the frequency of service is reduced.

Similar to our options for dealing with crime, making this type of progress is not because the research must now begin, it is because the people with the ideas and draft polices are being ignored. Dr Rae Furlonge and former Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) general manager, Dr Trevor Townsend, are transportation engineers and experts who have drafted policy after policy after policy and nothing is impl e – mented.

But it doesn’t b o t h e r our politicians, so why w o u l d t h e y care?

“We went past it twice,” says Coogan.

On a similar note, I would like to thank the taxi drivers of Trinidad and Tobago for facilitating my knowledge of the country, and particularly the back streets, down which they nip on their lifelong mission to avoid junctions and congestion.

When I first lived in Tobago and had to have an overnight stay in Port-of-Spain, the owner of the little hotel I phoned gave me a tip: don’t use the regular taxis, because they’re expensive. She described how to get from the boat to Woodford Square, where I would find the kind of taxis that you share with three or four other people and which ply a set route, which makes them more like very small buses.

You have to be careful, though, because although most of the drivers are honest, some are not. There is one, for instance, who cruises around slowly, very gently pipping his horn to attract attention, so desperate is he to fill the space in his tired family-size Nissan. And woe betide you if you don’t have the correct money, because this man doesn’t give change. Hand him a larger note and it disappears into his pocket with nothing coming in the other direction.

Having acquired a car in which to criss-cross Tobago, it became my own mission to learn how to get around, while avoiding crashing into the back of the selfsame cabs, whose habit it is to pull up immediately, without warning and without pulling into the side of the road. If somebody wants them to stop, they stop, right there, right then.

It must be a boring way to earn a living, going up and down the same roads all the time, so maybe slamming on the anchors and challenging the rest of us to avoid them adds spice to their existence.

The traditional taxi driver, though, faces no such boredom, because he is constantly trying to outwit everyone else. Although at first it seems as if they are pulling the wool over your gullible, recently- arrived eyes, the fact that they never seem to be going the right way may in fact be proof of their innate cunning. There is always traffic at junctions, so they will turn left just before one and then take the first right, or vice versa. On a chess board, if articulated lorries are the queens and motorbikes the bishops, taxis are knights, taking small detours, achieving results by doing unexpected things.

In this respect they are the antithesis of satnav, that tediously literal, uninventive dictator who knows the route because it’s obvious. Follow the satnav’s instructions and you’re going the same way as everyone else. What the expert local driver knows is not just that certain roads are congested at times, but at what times. He may even have inside knowledge of parties, weddings, funerals and other special events that are going to make a particular area a nightmare on one particular occasion.

If such a driver were to develop his or her own satnav, the vocal instructions would have to be laced with clarifications such as “You’re not going to believe this…” or “I know this sounds crazy, but…”.

On one such trip recently, with the destination being a building just outside the really busy part of town, the driver actually went into the growling, exhaust-filled maelstrom just long enough to get going the right way up a one-way street that had seemed destined to spoil everyone’s fun – or in my case make me late, and if there is one thing I hate it’s that. “Nauseatingly punctual” is an expression that covers it, and those of us who suffer from it are, of course, living in the wrong place, in a geographical area which laughs off its lack of respect for schedules with the concept of “island time”.

Even I, though, had to tip my hat to a woman I knew briefly in the UK. When I warned her that I would be picking her up at exactly eight o’clock because that’s just how I am, she said, “That’s okay, I’m the same. I think ten minutes early is late.” But I digress, which is perhaps a strange thing for a punctualist to do. While taking taxis obviously costs money, at least it saves the cost of buying local newspapers, because the drivers know what’s going on, even if it is often delivered from a rather jaundiced viewpoint.

Election time? This guy has his finger on the pulse – and that pulse is pretty weak, he will tell you.

Ha n g on a minute: didn’t we just pass the Eiffel Towe r ? Wh a t ’s going on here?

The murders with impunity of so many young men is one thing: the killings of innocent young women quite another. The country was shaken to its core by the recent murders of Shannon Banfield and then teenaged schoolgirl Rachael Ramkissoon, these only the latest in several deaths of girls and young women by violence over the years.

Some weeks ago, a collection of NGOs and citizens came together outside the Parliament to make the case for more concerted community action to reduce crime in our country. Around the same time another group launched an app that would assist in the reporting of crime. These initiatives are note-worthy. First, we are prepared to take responsibility for our society. The traditional attitude has been that crime is the problem of the government or the police alone.

For its part, the police have for a very long time, been saying that crime reduction requires community activism and support. However, the police themselves have a huge trust deficit with the society, which inhibits cooperation.

And we would be naive not to acknowledge that the police service has problems of corruption as well as lack of competence and commitment within its ranks.

But there can be little real improvement in the crime situation without real cooperation between communities and the police. The second reason to applaud the initiatives is that they signal that the population will not succumb to fear. To do so would be effectively to surrender our society to the criminal element. It is fear and a sense of helplessness, which fuels the strident calls for capital punishment. It is fear that prevents the Inland Revenue from pursuing gambling operations and persons whose assets and wealth cannot be explained. It may be fear that has paralysed successive administration into promoting palliatives and public relations, instead of taking bold and purposeful action. Cynics may well say that, over the years, we have had many marches, vigils, days of prayer and other public demonstrations of concern for the worsening crime situation, and these have not been sustained and have borne no fruit.

That cynicism can turn into despair or seek refuge in the literal reading of beatitudes that somehow, sometime, the meek, the humble righteous will triumph. But the beatitudes, which remind us of the ultimate life to which we are called, do not preclude our taking responsibility for our communities and our society while we are here in this life. Indeed, we have a duty to do so.

It is not beyond us to tackle and resolve crime and criminality in our country. It is certainly time to implement as quickly as possible local police units under the regional corporations and in Tobago, with a separate command structure though under the Commissioner of Police, as well as for an elite police unit focused in drugs, gambling and white-collar crime also with a command structure separate from the mainstream police service, and which employs information technology experts, scientists and senior officers recruited from abroad.

It is time to strengthen the Police Complaints Authority and provide more resources to the Director of Public Prosecutions. It is certainly time to target and choke off the profits of drugs and gambling by punitive taxation of gambling and by strengthening the FIU to investigate and prosecute money laundering.

And it is time for our magistrates and judges to put the citizens first and recognise that justice is not served when slothful prosecutions and the delaying tactics of lawyers are accommodated far too easily. We too must do our part in our communities by being vigilant, by agitating for purposeful official action, and by reporting suspicious activity and incidents to the police.

Citizens fear criminals and consequently turn a blind eye to criminal activity.

The media fear government and big business will not support their organisation if they report on issues at variance with their modus operandi.

Consequently, we fail to take the obvious steps necessary to improve the quality of life for our citizens. Few will argue that the following must be done urgently if TT is to recover from its declining state: * Restructure agriculture incorporating the land and infrastructure of Caroni Ltd.

* Build an alternative access to Chaguaramas.

* Repair Whitehall, the Red House and President’s House.

* Have special court sessions for dealing expeditiously with gun-related offences.

* Revise the gun laws to allow farmers, businessmen and homeowners an easier path to obtaining legal firearms.

* Have a gun amnesty followed by exceedingly strict gun laws that allow for immediate court hearing, no bail and heavy mandatory sentences.

* Allow non-lethal self-defence devices like stun guns, mace and pepper spray to be legal, thus possibly saving the lives of our threatened female victims of crime.

* Take an aggressive approach to dealing with criminal elements, with zero tolerance for gang activity, loitering and threats to citizens.

* Partner with the business community to arrive at a comprehensive tourism model that allows for a restructured Carnival package, manufacturing and marketing the steel pan, nature hikes and secured access to campsites on State lands, restructuring the Gasparee caves, development of Chacachacare, improvement of our beaches, and marketing culture and sports.

* Partner with the business community to arrive at new manufacturing, food processing, engineering services and downstream industries from the energy sector as part of an economic diversification plan.

* Restructure local government to allow communities to be managed locally, thus reducing the levels of bureaucracy attached with central government management.

* Rebuild the water distribution network to change from a dependence on pumps to gravity, thus reducing overall cost and ensuring a reliable supply of water on a sustained level.

These critical decisions and many more are possible and will benefit all of TT is we were to ever move away from the fear of perceived ethnic domination that is spread to allow the continuance of a system structured to empower and enrich a few.

Steve Alvarez via email