The three charges were laid by Sgt Anthony Williams following directions on Saturday to do so by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Roger Gaspard.

This follows a pre-dawn breakin last Monday on the Chacon Street, Port-of-Spain side of Excellent Stores, Excellent City Centre mall.

Around 1.30 am on August 21, two men gained access to the compound by entering the building through the eastern side of the roof.

The guard who was on duty at the time later reported to police that he was held up by the two men who then cut open a safe belonging to Western Union and removed $653,000 in cash.

According to police reports, the guard claimed that he was then abducted and dropped off somewhere in central Trinidad.

Later that same day, he filed a report with officers of the PoS CID, following which two men from Laventille were detained.

A team of police officers, led by Supt Ajith Persad and including Sgt Anthony Williams and PCs Fernando, Hoyte, Persad, carried out extensive inquiries. The security guard was detained during this time.

Several people were interviewed and a file on the robbery was submitted to the DPP, who on Saturday, gave directions for three charges to be laid against the security guard, who is expected to appear before a Portof- Spain Magistrate today.

Although Harvey weakened overnight into a category 1 hurricane and has since been downgraded further to a tropical storm, it is destroying buildings, ripping off rooftops and creating life-threatening floods putting the lives of many at risk.

Trinidadians with friends and relatives in Texas were greatly concerned for their well being.

Gerard Alfred, who was previously a resident of Santa Rosa and is now living in Houston stated, “The downpour here has not had much impact so far.” Residents there were advised to stay indoors and no one was evacuated as Houston had not experienced a brutal onslaught of the storm.

Alfred said, “I’m waiting to see what happens with the storm but, if it turns, it could be bad for us.” He continued, “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow morning,” but he was hopeful that the storm would pass.

His locally-based family were worried at first but once they spoke to him they felt assured of his safety.

One relative said, “I’m not overly worried because I believe first-world countries, like America, are prepared for such events and I trust my relative to do what is necessary to protect himself.” Brittany Louis, previously of Malabar, Arima, who lives in Arlington said, “There is currently a state of emergency and people are advised to stay indoors.”But, fortunately, before the storm, her family went back to Trinidad.

St Vincent-born Lorna Thomas, who previously lived in Laventille for more than 20 years, now resides in Houston and was in the midst of Harvey’s downpour when she spoke to Sunday Newsday.

“There is a lot of rain and flooding,” Thomas said. “The rain is the one that is causing the major damage for me, if it continues it will be disastrous.” The expected increase in the amount of rainfall worried both Thomas and her relatives. Houston was bracing itself for more than a foot of rain as the flooding continued to increase yesterday.

Thomas said that her area was not affected as bad as the other cities such as Corpus Christi on the southern side of Texas and expressed deep concern for others in surrounding vicinities.

“There is a highway called highway 95 that had a tornado touch down there and routed out a lot of houses,” she said.

When the storm made its second landfall on the North-eastern Shore of Copano Bay, Thomas’ concern grew, in particular, for a friend of hers who lived in Cypress.

“There was a tornado in Cypress and it struck it real bad.

Houses have collapsed. “Thomas said. “A home caught on fire and 33 houses burnt down from that.

It’s really serious but I have peace in the middle of the storm.” Although Harvey left hundreds of thousands along the coast of Texas without electricity, Thomas fortunately received power for the entire duration of the storm.

She said, “I have electricity where I am but in Cypress there are a lot of others without.” Although Harvey had been reduced to a tropical storm Thomas said it was still bad because of strong winds.

Her niece, Masheica Thomas, said, “We called her last night and she told us that a lot of people moved out so far but she was under her covers and safe.” The following days of rain were expected to cause catastrophic flooding but the Texas residents were hopeful that it would not occur. Thomas said that many were advised to remain indoors for their safety.

The 25-year-old, who, representing the North West Laventille Cultural Movement, was recently crowned Miss La Reine Rive 2017, sat with WMN in the comfort of her office for a hearty interview.

“I have spent many years of my life living in Tobago.

However, I was born and raised in Point Fortin for about 10 years before going to live in Tobago. My family has very humble beginnings,” said Rayshawn thoughtfully, as she spoke about her childhood and upbringing. Currently she resides in El Dorado with her family.

“I come from a household of five siblings — four girls and one boy of which I was the second child.

My mom spent most of her life doing house-keeping work in Tobago’s hotel industry. We lived there [Tobago] for most of our lives.” “My mother, Alicia Mark-Campbell was a single parent for an extended period, then she got married to Tobagonian Terrance Campbell. My biological father, Clinton Rayshawn lives in Central, Trinidad and he was present in my life. He was extremely happy on my win and he is supportive in whatever I do.” Her love for theatre began at a tender age. “I was attending Dow Village Government Primary School, Caroni and the school’s choir had won an award from Republic Bank. I was lead in the choir and that was the eye-opener for me that I had talent,” recalled Rayshawn.

Later, relocating to Tobago, she attended Pentecostal Light and Life Foundation High School, Scarborough Tobago where her love for everything artistic blossomed under the mentorship of Jared Primer and Mearl Baird, teachers who inspired her love for the arts while simultaneously focussing specifically on Tobago’s culture.

“I went on to do A-Levels at the Signal Hill Secondary School and under the Tobago House of Assembly I did the practitioners certificate of the Theatre Arts at the University of the West Indies.” Rayshawn is about to start her third year at The UWI, St Augustine, pursuing a degree in Theatre Arts and Carnival Studies, while she interns at a division within the Ministry of National Security.

Her outspoken personality and calm demeanour shined through as she describes what theatre arts meant to her.

“Theatre is my whole life. I have spent a significant part of my life on stage and now I am delving into understanding the theory of it and how theatre can be used to transform lives and inspire change in society. For me theatre has to have transformative power! It has to go beyond just performing for entertainment purposes.” Rayshawn, the mother of two-year-old Chaezaya Kerr recalled some of her accomplishments for WMN, “I have been a participant in Sanfest and I also won the storytelling category of it. I have participated in Talented Teens competition, debates and public speaking with the Rotary Club of TT where I won three years in a row for public speaking. I was also in cadets, when I left I was a sergeant. I also played pan with NLCB Buccooneers (steelband), Tobago for seven years straight and now I tutor at a local community centre because I like working with children and of course I like plaiting hair,” she laughed.

Rayshawn is also involved with the Bucco Academy of Performing Arts and is a member of Tobago’s Theatre Company.

So how did she become involved with the North West Laventille Cultural Movement (NWLCM)? “I had an encounter with Kelsey John, a dancer with NWLCM three years ago and I did some work on their fashion show and helping backstage. Since then I have worked with the group and this year they were looking for a representative to send up for La Reine Rive, they asked me and I said why not, so we went for it.” The initial stages of preparation were difficult. “The competition started in early March so we started to work on deciding which piece to do for the talent aspect of the competition, if it was going to be a dance or song and because acting is my strength we decided to go with a monologue. Writing it – draft after draft was tedious. The people who were instrumental in this were Kevin Sayer and Jarell Alder.” For the self-expression category, Rayshawn compiled previous information used over the years on the history of Laventille and creatively tweaked it. For the preliminary round, she won both self-expression and talent categories.

“There were a lot of late nights, sometimes finishing at two in the morning. We worked hard going from work to rehearsals.

It required a lot of dedication and sacrifice from me in terms of having to leave my daughter with her father, Al Kerr, who is very supportive, and to go rehearsals. Sometimes I would not see her until the next morning, just to get up to get ready to go to work again. There were times I would see her for only 10 minutes before leaving home, so it was a lot.” How did she overcome the challenges? “Overall support from the community and other groups I am heavily involved with was quite helpful.” “Kareem Henry a member of the NWLCM’s executive; Gail Edinborough, president (at whose home rehearsals were held); Bernard Shepherd, vice-president; and Jaleesa Phillip, runner up for La Reine Rive 2016 representing North West were instrumental in keeping me hyped up and motivated as the Best Village audience is one of the hardest audiences to walk in front of.” Members of the group were also active in bending the wire used for the creation of her gown titled- Enigma which was a tribute to the wire and steel benders in Laventille. Her dress was constructed out of wire and steel created by Kareem Henry and Sharon Phillips.

“We operate as a family. The cultural movement has been the engine room in this entire process from prelims to now they have given me resounding support.” Rayshawn was also grateful for the of support of her mother, family members in Trinidad and those who came from Tobago, UWI’s Department of Creative and Festival Arts, including Louis Mc Williams, Dwayne White Jr, Rhesa Samuel, UWI’s student body and staff alike, and from her workplace.

“There are too many to mention, but they know who they are and I am truly grateful for their support.” Asked about her inspiration throughout the pageant, Rayshawn said that queens are not made they are born and manifested by how they live. “We see queens through words, thought and action – how women interact with people. It has so much to do with will and how you treat people on the whole. It is not just a crown. Being a queen is a way of life and that inspired me.” She aspires to be a catalyst that motivates young people to re-evaluate how they see themselves.

As a child she has experienced her fair share of negativity from people who told her that she would not amount to anything because of life’s circumstance — growing up in a single parent household with five siblings.

“We need to change the way young people see themselves. Nothing is impossible, you just have to work and make the hard sacrifices because it will be worth it in the end.” “The stage I am at now in life I can say that I have developed tremendously over the years, not because of where I am now in my academic life or career but because of where my mind is at right now. I believe life is not about excelling but inspiring people who are told they can’t make it because of where they live or who their family members are. Amidst all the things I have excelled at I am proud to be able to motivate others to excel. All you need is faith, will, passion and purpose. Once you have that you will be good to go. You need to be active in wanting to change your circumstances.” She admits to having strong faith in God. “My entire life is rested upon the will of God and I am led by him throughout every encounter in my life.” What’s next for Rayshawn? “I am looking forward to graduating with my degree and entering into a master’s programme right after I decide which one I would like to do. I also plan to do an outreach programme to revitalise storytelling, because I feel like in our society, storytelling is on a decline because of the prominence of spoken-word poetry. Storytelling is crucial to our culture because Trinbagonians are story tellers by nature, so with the NWLCM I intend to start a programme to inspire storytelling in communities from the oldest to the youngest but not limiting it to them [NWLCM] I will carry the initiative to the other groups I work with as well.” In the grand scheme of things, she has hopes of becoming involved in cultural policy.

Rayshawn’s advice to women is not only strong but it displays distinct morals within her.

“As women, we must continuously approach life with the mantra that nothing is unattainable. It requires faith, sacrifice and strength. Secondly, excellence is habitual you can’t wake up one morning and be good at anything; you have to continuously be developing your craft. If you’re good at something respect your gift enough to harness it and make something out of it — constantly try to broaden your scope.” She continued, “Believe that approaching life with positivity, peace and the word of God will always leave you with a lot of blessings to gain in life. There will be hard times but be persistent in rising above your circumstances.”

So having become a professional lurker, there are quite a few pages that I subscribe to that usually either have me grabbing for my popcorn or tea and occasionally both! One of these pages is your not-so typical advice column that dishes out the most honest, realest and borderline scandalous responses, but as tough as the advice may be it is always spot on!

This week a reader wrote in asking for some guidance in how to deal with a friend who ruined her engagement surprise. It seemed the boyfriend confided in the BFF to help plan his “surprise” proposal, turns out said BFF must have missed the key word in that sentence – cough “surprise” cough – because not only did she buss the mark to her friend, but she also threw in a sneak peek of the ring.Needless to say, the Girlfriends were not impressed.
They sound off savagely below.

Staci: She mixed with heartless or what?? Not a friend move at all.

Martie: Oh hell no. X that “friend” one time, cause you’re NOT a friend!

Staci: She is a hater. How u go do your fren dat?

Staci: Agreed she go be moved to ex friend category after that stunt.

Martie: That’s jealousy.

Chanelle: Very poor conduct indeed

Ronz: Agreed! That is toots.

Rors: No invitation to the wedding. Annnnnd! I tellin your mother what u do.

Katherine: That def not a friend, it’s jealousy hence spoiling it.

Rors: Exactly! An ugly colour on any bridesmaid

Katherine: I would tell my man too so he could cuss her out as well, I mean, he ain’t tell you it’s a SURPRISE?!? Martie: There’s no way she could salvage herself after that.

Katherine: And don’t tell me no sh*t about u wanted me to be prepared for the moment.

Martie: Prepared my tail.

Ronz: None! What kinda awful person do you need to be to spoil someone’s proposal like that? Martie: You’re NOT supposed to be prepared.

That’s why he wanted to surprise you!

Katherine: Exactly.

Chanelle: She prolly ugly!

Rors: Would anyone else here have slapped her when she told? I think I would!

Martie: LOL…ok I think we all agree on this one.

This was easy.

Katherine: Bet no one ruined the surprise slap for her blabbing tail.

Martie: ALLYUH dat girl woulda run if this entire group was coming at her

Ronz: What a wicked thoughtless person.

Chanelle: I bet that same ‘real good’ fren wouldn’t tell her she getting horn if she knew though.

Katherine: Cause she would be the one the man horning with! Or she prob tried to get the man and he brace her so she spoil the proposal.

Rors: I feel yuh call ittt there.

Martie: She must be does eat Scarlet Ibis, heartless!

Chanelle: Omggg allyuh I eating soup!! That does burn when you spit it out all over yourself, hahahahahaah.

Rors: I’m seeing feathers in some ugly woman teeth right now!! Lol, y’all play too much in dis chat!

Staci: I leave the chat for a few minutes and this is the lackaray going on in here! Remind me not to get on allyuh bad side eh.

Now even better than the posts from the blogs I follow, the comments section is what actually keeps me going back! Of course, I returned to the original post to check out the comments especially seeing how heated and angry the Girlfriends reacted. Generally, most of the commenters were equally incensed and appalled at the behaviour of the so-called friend and her lack of cover for her mouth. But one of the comments stood out to me, as her opinion was in stark contrast to the status quo. Her perspective was one of a best friend who couldn’t keep the secret because of her overwhelming excitement and they are accustomed sharing secrets with each other…I tried to present this counter argument to the Girlfriends… needless to say they weren’t having it!

Katherine: This person also ruins surprises Rors: Ent. What wrong with them?!?

Chanelle: *spits out soup…A-gain!* Martie: I’m with you on that one Rors…and Chanelle you need to eat with an apron, not a bib!

Rors: Generally, you should just avoid eating while reading messages from this group.

Chanelle: I think so too oui, smh. This group is a health and safety hazard.

Ronz: Solid advice there Rors! Now I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt but not in this situation. It’s not like de friend slip a random piece of info. She sit and tell de girl outright and even show her the ring! Nah man!

Niks: Oh lord 189 unread messages! Ah ‘fraid to scroll up.

Staci: Trust me Niks you wanna read up, just don’t eat soup while reading, k… Martie: I feel she just shouldn’t eat.

Chanelle: Once is not soup or ibis yuh good.

Martie: Or Ibis Soup! The Girlfriends is a group of 15 women between the ages of 26 – 45 who are willing to give an unadulterated look into their own experiences. Some names have been changed for privacy.

Both teams have won their respective two matches, including their contests on Friday – TT brushed aside Curacao 7-0 while Grenada hammered the United States Virgin Islands 9-0.

The group winners will progress to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Final Round, which will feature hosts Haiti and four other qualifiers. From that stage, three teams will advance to the 2018 CONCACAF Championships, which will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2018 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay.

In the TT-Curacao clash, striker Aaliyah Prince scored twice, in the sixth and 11th minutes, after Tianna Daniel opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Chrissy Mitchell netted TT’s fourth in the 19th minute, followed by items from Afiyah Cornwall (20th), Kayla Baboolal (26th) and Maria- Frances Serrant (55th).

Earlier on the day, Melania Fullerton had a dominant performance, netting five times (15th, 28th, 52nd, 68th and 82nd) while Sheranda Charles got a hat-trick (12th, 18th and 70th).

Captain Judy McIntosh also got her name on the scoresheet, in the 79th.

On Wednesday, TT trounced the US Virgin Islands 13-0 while Grenada strolled past Curacao 6-2.

Following Friday’s game, TT coach Jamaal Shabazz reflected, “Amazing first half by the team, and the way they exploited the space behind the Curacao defence.

I was impressed with that.

I think we took the pedal of the bike in the second half but, all and all, I’m very pleased with the result and the performance.” Asked if the players took things easy on Friday, instead of piling in the goals as they did against the US Virgin Islands, Shabazz replied, “The Curacao team is not a bad team. It’s a well-organised team (with) good talent.

They played a high defence and we were able to exploit that.

“It was always going to be a different game from the first night,” he continued. “Our job is not to just rain goals. Our job is to get the result. In doing that, if we score some extra goals, we’re happy. But in no way are we going out there thinking that each game we’re going to give certain goals.

“The landscape in women’s football in the Caribbean have changed. Who would have thought that Grenada would now be a force to be reckoned with in CFU women’s football? And they are. And we respect that.” And, about today’s encounter, Shabazz said, “It’s going to be an interesting one. The Grenada team (have) played at the CONCACAF level and we have tremendous respect for the work put in (by) them. But we, being at home, are confident and we think we’re up to the task.”

The good day he had on Friday, seemed to carry over into Saturday for Rowley, after a challenging week addressing the fallout over the sea bridge ferry fiasco, and addressing economic problems with labour unions.

He surprised guests at a function by singing a few lines of the 1969 hit, Reply to the Ministry, penned by guest of honour Dr Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, nine times National Calypso Monarch.

The event was the launch of Liverpool’s book of selected speeches, Thoughts Along the Kaiso Road at NAPA, Port of Spain on Friday night.

Relating to the song’s fighting spirit and paying tribute to the struggles of calypsonians for recognition, Rowley sang, “Aubrey Adams putting on play in Queen’s Hall every day, but your talent you must give away.” Afterwards he urged the fraternity, “Don’t let anybody stop you from being what you want to be.” Earlier, he began his unscripted address by saying, “I’m having a good day today. It’s not often people in my position can have a good day.” Rowley said his happy spirit was due to him earlier meeting a dozen young entrepreneurs (via Export TT) whose success would be great for the nation’s prospects, with his happiness continuing at Liverpool’s book launch.

He observed that TT culture often seeks to mask reality such as everyone referring to simple rum shops as beer gardens, when in fact if a foreigner were to say this is the best rumshop ever, then locals would also take cultural ownership of such establishments.

Endorsing the book’s theme of asserting local values rather than seeking foreign validation, Rowley said, “Nobody has to validate a calypsonian. They validate other people.” He was glad Liverpool’s book was published by the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), even as he recalled the criticism the former Patrick Manning Cabinet had faced in 2004 to establish UTT. Hailing Professor Ken Julien as the UTT’s guiding light, Rowley said, “If we had not been convinced by Prof Julien, we would not have the UTT now.” Julien was loudly applauded by other guests present.

“The UTT lets us tap into an otherwise underutilised asset,” he said, wondering without the UTT where would Liverpool have found his space? “Where would his talent have gone, other than to the shelf, or to the dustbin? Today the UTT is playing a seminal role in letting us become the people of the potential of 1962.” Rowley said he must be the only leader criticised for trying to return cultural items to a nation, as he defended his purchase of the Cazabon collection of paintings.

Lamenting that many people in TT have stopped reading, he warned that this shift can promote the evolution of the un-informed pontificator.

“Against that background, we’ll always await external validation, and those who don’t know may prevail.” Saying that we must tell our own story, he said a textbook on the history of Trinidad and Tobago is now ready. He said it will be printed and will be made available at A’level (CAPE level) and upwards and at primary school level and upwards.

Rowley defend the re-branding of CNMG to the old Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) brand.

“Only yesterday (Thursday) Cabinet took a decision to withdraw from competing in the media.” He reeled off the numbers of different private-sector media houses in TT, saying it made no sense for the government to continue to waste millions of dollars to try to get a tiny percent of the media market. Instead they would re-create TTT “to provide an opportunity for the national culture, arts, information and civilisation to always have a place to go, for what may not be flavour of the day or may not be in the budget lines of the commercial stations.

“Very soon we’ll re-launch Trinidad and Tobago Television.

We really can do better and have the wherewithal to do better.” Continuing the topic of valuing local culture, Rowley said youngsters must be exposed to the likes of Liverpool’s book. “We are spending more and more money on education, but are getting less and less-educated people.” He hoped to stem the reality of many youngsters just drifting through high school but ending up uneducated, or otherwise things will get worse and worse for each successive generation.

“We might bring up a whole generation hankering after certification, while being poorly educated.

So we have to be able to observe the difference.” The Prime Minister hailed Liverpool as an educator all his life, saying, “When an educator is combined with an entertainer it must be a good book to read. So buy the book. Don’t leave the national conversation to the un-informed pontificator. You can join the conversation informed.” Earlier Liverpool said, “I want to give the Prime Minister a copy of the book to read when he crosses the sea-bridge, to calm him, and to give him power and resilience to face those challenges.” The Prime Minister’s good mood continued to prevail yesterday, as for two hours he acted as a DJ on i95.5 FM’s The Barbershop programme.

Rowley told the host, John Benoit, which songs to play and took calls from the public. But there were series moments as he spoke about his challenges as Prime Minister, the biggest of which he said was corruption.

“That is the biggest challenge that the government faces because, from the top to the bottom, there are people and instances of corrupt practices which make public service in the country more expensive, and make it less efficient.” One caller used the opportunity to express anger at the recent gang rape and murder of Leslie- Ann Gonzalez. Rowley said women deserved to be safe, and live their life without fear of being attacked.

To the men who perpetrate sexual crimes, he said they needed to remember they had mothers and sisters and they would not like it if their female relatives met someone like them.

After his time on air, the Prime Minister once again turned to culture to relax, attending last evening’s Independence concert at NAPA with his wife, Sharon, and daughters Dr Sonel Rowley, and Tonya Rowley-Cuffy.

Later this week, on Friday, Rowley is due to go abroad for a medical check-up.

It is one of eight pairings that includes Pro League clubs against lower league sides, while Central FC are against Morvant Caledonia United in the only all-Pro League clash of the Round of 64.

All this, along with huge cash incentives totally $415,000, were revealed on Tuesday afternoon during the preliminary round draw at the Media Room of the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva.

Venues and times are not yet determined although all participating clubs were to indicate their home venue prior to the draw.

The 2017 FA Trophy will involve all 10 Pro League clubs, 19 Super League sides, six each from the Northern FA, Eastern FA, Central FC, Southern FA and Tobago FA, and five from the Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU) — all hoping to advance to the $100,000 final.

The overall champions will, in fact, walk away with a total purse of $135,000 due to — for the first time in the tournament which have gone without prize money in its last few editions — a prize structure that will see winning teams of the Round of 64, Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarter finals, and Semi Finals earn $3,000, $5,000, $7,000, $9,000 and $11,000 respectively.

“It’s a great motivator for all the clubs involved, knowing the current situation clubs are in for financial support,” said North East Stars coach Derek King.

Ewing Davis, vice president of the tournament organisers — the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), said the competition currently stands without a sponsor and, at present, the prize monies would have to come from the FA.

Teams will also benefit from gate receipts through to the quarter- final round before the FA takes control for the semi-final and final stages. North East Stars are third on the Pro League standings but inactive till September 8 due to a break in the Pro League to facilitate the Trinidad and Tobago men’s team preparations for crucial FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying.

“It’s tough trying to keep players motivated at the moment by just training and playing practice matches,” said King, who took charge of North East Stars last May.

“But we will try our best to be ready when the FA Trophy comes around.

We are the defending champions.

“We also know that the FA Trophy is tough; it’s a knockout tournament and you have to be on top your game not taking anyone for granted. Some teams in the Super League are good challenges for Pro League opponents.” Since the debut of the professional teams into the FA Trophy competition in 1999, clubs from the former Professional Football League (PFL) and the current Pro League have won the trophy in all but 2006 when WASA became surprise winners.

FA TROPHY 2017 Full Round of 64 match-ups (Home teams are listed first. Venue and times still to be determined.) September 16 – Central FC (Pro League) vs Morvant Caledonia United (Pro League); San Juan Jabloteh (Pro League) vs La Horquetta XF (EFA); Siparia Spurs (SL) vs North East Stars (Pro League); Eagles FC (CFA) vs Matura All Stars (ECFU); D’Marie Hill Youths (ECFU) vs Guaya United (Super League); Malta Carib Alcons (NFA) vs UTT (SL); Fire Service FC (CFA) vs Black Rock FC (TFA); Manzan United (ECFU) vs Prisons FC (SL); 1976 FC Phoenix (SL) vs Goal City FC (TFA); Perseverance Ball Runners (CFA) Erin FC (SFA); Biche United (ECFU) vs Trinity Rangers (EFA); Queen’s Park (SL) vs FC FC Santa Rosa (SL); Petit Valley United (SL) vs Cunupia FC (SL); Central Soccer World (CFA) vs Harlem Strikers (CFA); Calder Hall FC (TFA) vs Bethel FC (SL); Serial Strikers (SFA) vs Pitchmen FC (SFA).

September 17 – W Connection (Pro League) vs Tamana United (ECFU); St Ann’s Rangers (Pro League) vs Perseverance Ball Runners (CFA); Cultural Roots (NFA) vs Club Sando (Pro League); Red Hill FC (EFA) vs Point Fortin Civic (Pro League); Belmont FC (NFA) vs Defence Force (Pro League); WASA FC (SL) vs Police FC (Pro League); Santa Flora FC (SFA) vs Harlem Strikers (SL); RSSR (NFA) vs Signal Hill United (THA); San Fernando Giants (SFA) vs St Francois Nationals (NFA); Club Sando Moruga (SL) vs Perseverance United (CFA); Leeds FC (TFA) vs Creek SCC (EFA); Step by Step Maple (NFA) vs Stokely Vale FC (SL); Central 500 Spartans (SL) vs Marabella Family Crisis Centre (SL); Defence Force FC (SL) vs Youth Stars (SL); Pele Pele (SFA) vs Police FC (SL); WASA FC (EFA) vs FC Maloney (EFA).

Tourist alerts in different countries are advising citizens of the danger of vacationing in Trinidad, and now Tobago.

Can violent crime be eradicated? The answer is no. That pernicious evil in us–the inheritance of original sin–can only be brought under control, minimised but never fully eradicated. Violent and white-collar crime will, therefore, always be with us.

But are we doing enough to minimise them? Clearly not.

This is because nobody wants to touch the proverbial “big fish.” We refuse to believe the problem is a low detection rate. Our police have undergone training in Canada, the Unites States, the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany etc. We refuse to accept our police officers do not know how to detect and solve crime.

Why then this state of inertia? One inescapable reason is that powers higher than the police are preventing them from doing their job to the full extent.

The small size of our twin-island republic implies that the elite protects the elite. They form a tightly knit cabal that is almost impenetrable and from whom religious organisations benefit whether knowingly or unknowingly.

To assuage our collective guilt, we quietly allow the lower income group, often with little education, often illiterate, from disadvantaged families and geographically neglected areas to pay the price. They become the victims of hard labour or the hangman’s noose, notwithstanding the monstrous crimes some have committed.

Capital punishment in this parlous state of affairs will not solve our crime problems but only gives us the temporary satisfaction of washing our hands like Pilate.

We need aspire to a higher morality: as Jesus says to Peter in today’s Gospel: “It was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven: (Mt 16:17). We have been too concerned about what “flesh and blood” has to say to us in doing our duty–political patronage, the strong arm of business, the lure of money, our peers, promotion and job security. We forget many of our “heroes of faith” are martyrs.

We need more people–including clergy, no matter the ilk–to witness to public morality costing nothing less than everything. As the fourth century Church Father Tertullian observed: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”–both physical and metaphorical.

A moral society is the higher aim of politics. What we have been hearing for decades is ‘ole talk’ when it comes to moral reconstruction.

If we default on that goal as Church and society then we should point a finger at ourselves as we celebrate our 55th anniversary of Independence and sing lustily “yuh hear lie? King Liar! Teacher Murphy say if yuh tell ah lie yuh going to hell as soon as yuh die.” For that is what we’ve become–liars who give lip service to the vision of a moral society.

Let’s take a look at one of these companies.

A well-known company manufactures tomato ketchup, tomato paste and tomato sauces.

This company buys tomato sauce in drums and plastic squeeze bottles, pre-labelled, from abroad. The drum is dumped in a vat and squeezed into the bottles. That’s manufacturing? That same company has many foreign fast food franchises. Franchise fees have to be remitted monthly in US dollars. That same company also imports and distributes wines and other exotics. So the minister gives it preference as a manufacturer.

Who is to say that those US dollars are not remitted for wine imports and franchise fees. Meanwhile I have to beg.

I distribute machinery not made in Trinidad.

DAVID SALINGER Maraval

It is passing strange that coming on the heels of several questions surrounding the circumstances of the Super Fast Galicia that the Port Authority could so easily make a mess of this arrangement that has left us with a multitude of questions surrounding the Cabo Star and the Ocean Flower 2.

There are reasons to suggest that this is not a simple mistake. The debacle arising from the ferry service has already led to the demise of the Port Authority Board under Christine Sahadeo and is now pointing to the present board of directors and the line minister, who may also have to demit office.

How is it possible for the Tenders Committee at the port to consistently mismanage the procurement process for the acquisition of vessels for this service? Is the committee comprised of incompetent people or is it acting ultra vires to the well being of the people? Is it that someone or some people have more to gain from convoluting the process than to ensure that the country gets value for money from the contracts awarded? It is possible that the problems surrounding procurement of services at the port has nothing to do with the current minister or board, but may reside within the hands of the public officers that operate in the system. Perhaps the mismanagement is something endemic at the port and we may have to look in the direction of long-standing public servants for answers.

Once more corruption rears its ugly head and one wonders why, in the face of the Government that has shown more fight against corruption, this ferry fiasco has exploded, leaving so much speculation. Calls abound for the heads of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Works and Transport and the board, fresh elections and so on. To whose benefit are these calls being made? How will the country profit from new elections at this time? The stench of political interference wafts through the breeze surrounding this situation.

The efforts to have investigations by the Integrity Commission, the President and a joint select committee of Parliament suggest that the opposition forces smell the opportunity to score maximum points from the fiasco and are going in for the kill.

It also distracts from the incomplete probe into the circumstances of the Galicia, which must now take second place to the Ocean Flower 2 and Cabo Star.

Whatever the outcome of these investigations, the bottom line is that there is someone with a substantial amount of power within the system to so successfully manoeuvre the processes within the Port Authority, beyond the reach of the Cabinet, board and the line minister, and who used the urgency for the vessels for personal enrichment. Who has this power?

GARVIN COLE Tobago