Jamaican Valaine Clarke and Indian Amritalakshmi Shanmugam defeated Jones and Tom Yew 6-2, 6-1 to advance to today’s final. In the other semifinal, American Jackeline Lopez and Ariana Salgueiro-Estela of Puerto Rico outlasted American Odette Beagrie and Japanese Remika Ohashi 7-6, 7-6.

On Thursday, Kamran McIntosh- Ross of TT defeated his countryman Nathan Valdez 6-3, 6-1 to win the boys Under-14 singles title. Alexis Bruce of TT could not win the girls Under-14 singles title, after falling to Sarinah Maduro of Curacao 6-1, 6-4.

In an all-TT final, Isabel Abraham and Keesa Lee Young lifted the girls doubles Under-14 title after defeating Aalisha Alexis and Shauna Valentine 7-5, 7-5.

In the boys doubles Under-14 final, Kyle Kerry and Ethan Wong of TT went down 4-6, 2-6 to Aidan Bousquet and Maxx William of St Lucia.

Today is the final day of the Under-18 tournament with matches serving off at 9 am.

The reports of this matter are shocking. A family home, nestled in a forested area miles off the Carlsen Field Road, was invaded then burnt to the ground. Three bodies were recovered at the scene. Dead are Michelle Harrylal, 26, her common-law husband Michael Applewaithe, 35, and another male.

We express condolences to the family of the victims. They should be given the necessary support and counselling they will badly need during this trying and traumatic time.

Miraculously, a four-year-old child – understood to be Michelle Harrylal’s child – escaped from the scene. How the child managed to escape is unclear but he will forever live with the pain of the circumstances of the death of his family. Though he was left without physical injury, the psychological injury he is likely to have endured is profound and will affect him for the rest of his life. We hope he receives the requisite counselling. If it becomes necessary, the Children’s Authority may have a role in this matter.

Certainly lawyers with experience in representing the interest of minors should be present at all points of contact between the child and the police to ensure his best interest is kept at heart during this investigation.

This matter is still under probe, but it is shocking to think of how events may have unfolded. The family may have been set upon during their sleep in the dead of night, murdered and their house destroyed. Another possibility – suggested by a trail of what appeared to be blood – is the murders took place outside of the home and then the bodies were dumped in the house to be burnt.

The crying child told a woman who found him wandering barefoot along the roadway that his mother was burnt in a fire and is in heaven.

The facts of this case will remind many of the brutal murder of an entire family in Malabar in June, the murder of a family in Brasso Seco in 2014, and the 1994 murders of Deo, Rookmin, Hamilton and Monica Baboolal of Piparo at the behest of Dole Chadee. In the latter case, two children survived. Chadee was later hanged.

While members of the Carlsen Field community are shaken at this time, it is important for all to cooperate with the police and to come forward with any information they may have. They must assist law enforcement authorities as much as possible and also offer whatever support is needed by the family.

News of the murders in Carlsen Field came as the body of a woman was found in Valencia bearing marks of violence.

The country is on edge. These developments show that crime remains too much of an element in our social fabric and efforts to tackle it must continue intensely.

We hope the police have the required resources they need to comb the scene and to pursue leads. While there are many important issues facing the land, eradicating crime must be our number one priority.

That includes reforming the Police Service, as well as the criminal justice system as a whole. But more immediately, it means ensuring there are enough trained and experienced officers to work on the large number of cases that continue to emerge daily.

In a few weeks, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert will set out his Budget for the next year. It is hoped that while economic times remains hard, the Budget for the national security apparatus remains protected.

For now, all efforts must be aimed at finding the killers behind the Carlsen Field murders.

According to reports, the constable was on duty when he was struck. He suffered some injuries after being thrown from his motorcycle. He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he was treated and warded.

While, to some, the results may not be unusual, the school has been labelled a “problem school” over the years because of the behaviour of some students.

Many of the students at the school come from depressed areas in and around Marabella.

School principal Sheldon Jodha was clearly elated at his students’ success, “The hard work of students and teachers combined, ensured the academic success of six of our students at the CSE C exams this year,” he said.

Jada Clarke, 17, and Venessa Bobb, 18, each secured seven ones and one Caribbean Vocational qualification (CVQ) in their exams.

Clarke obtained six distinctions while Bobb captured five.

Their outstanding performances were followed by: Kerdesha Barclay, 17, Elizabeth Cooper, 17, Renee Smith, 17, and Samantha Gangapersad, 16, who obtained passes in all their subjects.

These young ladies were part of the third and final group of girls under the Ministry of Education Single Gender Initiative.

Under this initiative, Jodha said, “The pass rates at exams significantly increased and the MOE should reinstate this programme to ensure higher success rates.” The initiative was introduced in 2010 by the ministry to convert 20 co-educational schools to single sex with hopes of increasing academic performances.

Jodha believed Marabella South Secondary’s performance this year was a testament to the fact the project was working along with administrative changes that were implemented.

Jodha said the new school policies ensured that teachers were prepared and attended classes regularly.

There were also incentive programmes for students such as prizes for the top performers at the end of each term for academic success and achievements in other areas. To make the students feel appreciated at school, Jodha said the school distributed tokens on Valentine’s Day, Universal Children’s Day and Christmas.

Clarke, an aspiring actuary as well as the school’s highest achiever stated, “I am proud to say I am a Marabella South student.

My advice to incoming students is to always ask for assistance and it takes long hours, hard work and sacrifices to get the result you desire.” Smith, whose next step is to pursue a certificate in criminology, advised, “It does not matter what school you pass for. It depends on how you work. And through prayer and determination you can achieve all your goals in life.” The six students expressed heartfelt thanks to their teachers Ms Doughty, Mr Ramsagar and Ms Ramlogan. They placed emphasis on the excellent support system that their teachers provided, as well as their parents.

This was announced by Housing Minister Randall Mitchell during a media tour yesterday of five under-construction HDC developments along Trinidad’s East-West Corridor.

“On or before the end of the year, we will have approximately 360 units that will be added to the housing stock. Throughout the country, we should have about 700 on or before the end of the year that will be added.” This will include, by the end of September, 44 apartments in Building A of the Vieux Fort Housing Development in St James. Another 78 keys are expected to be given out by December, when 36 single family units and 42 townhouse units at the Real Spring Housing Development in Valsayn are scheduled to be completed.

These are phase one units in two of five HDC housing developments for which the total construction cost is approximately $1.2 billion. After visiting Vieux Fort and Real Spring, the media was then taken to see Bon Air North in Lopinot/Bon Air, Trestrail Lands in D’Abadie and River Runs Through in Arima.

“It’s $140 million for Vieux Fort in St James. Real Spring Housing Development (in Valsayn) is $114 million. For this development; Bon Air North, $398 million.

Trestrail Lands (in D’Abadie); those 100 units as well as the townhouse units, that is $564 million, I believe, and for River Runs Through (in Arima), the contract price was around $48 million,” Mitchell said.

In total, these five housing developments would cost about $1.2 billion. In all, the ministry has 23 active construction sites, which Mitchell estimated “would add about 4,500 units to the overall housing stock” by 2020 at an estimated total cost of $2.4 billion.

Asked what sort of dent these 4,500 units would make on the HDC’s waiting list, the minister replied, “Not a significant dent because there are 170,000 persons on the database.” He noted however that the five sites toured yesterday form part of the ministry’s “accelerated housing programme, which is just one programme under our overall housing policy.

“There are some other initiatives we’re bringing forward under the Ministry of Housing; you will hear about it (and) our squatter regularisation programme…in the (upcoming) budget presentation.” The ministry is doing construction at each development in phases so that as units in phase one are completed, they can be given out to applications to the HDC.

Whether units are sold, occupied on a rent-to-own basis or simply rented out, Mitchell said money coming in from the occupancy of phase one of these developments will go towards financing the remaining phases.

“We have prioritised a lot of our developments. So for example, in Vieux Fort, we’ve done it on a phase by phase basis and the money coming in from Victoria Keys (in Diego Martin) would be used as collateral to entering into a loan to fund the completion of Vieux Fort on a phase by phase basis.” “With respect to Real Spring, (that) will also be completed on a phase by phase basis. In fact, the contractor has funded the first phase and the monies that we will get from the allocations of those first 78 units, as well as other monies coming in from our mortgage conversions, we will fund the additional phases.” Mitchell also shared that in terms of Bon Air North, “at the end of first phase, we will have 92 units; both townhouse units and apartments which will be done on or before the end of the year, and we will go onto the other phase.” “Of course, with respect to the economic climate, the way we fund our housing construction programme is partly through Government sources as well as through our mortgage conversion programme.” Regarding the speeded up delivery of completed homes, Mitchell told reporters the ministry and the HDC had “realised that over the last years, there was some time lag between the delivery and allocation, and during that time, there was vandalism, theft.

“Of course, we also realised that, that is a cost burden to the HDC, so we need to allocate them and of course, the home seeker, who really desperately needs shelter, we have them first and foremost in our development plans.” Asked about the money HDC owes contractors, Mitchell said, “right now, about TT $700 million” for the 23 sites currently under construction. An HDC official noted that as contractors are paid, new invoices are certified, “so as we go down (in what’s owed), we go back up.” Meanwhile the Housing Minister was keen to point out the higher quality of work being done at River Runs Through in Arima, thanks to a 22-point Quality Assurance Plan that he came up with in conjunction with HDC Chairman, Newman George and HDC Managing Director, Brent Lyons.

“In the past, one contractor would have been given, say, a $1 billion contract to do 700 units and they would just do the units and when they are finished, then you would discover all the problems.

Now, construction is done via a protocol. So before you do your foundation, the project managers must sign off. After you put up your block walls, the project managers must come and sign off and before you get paid as well, all these things must be signed off and quality checked.

So that is what makes it different and I’m sure you can see the difference in quality with our townhouses and our single family units here,” Mitchell declared with a smile.

I did not intend to write about Deborah, but I could not let her passing go unmentioned.

The news hit hard, but caused a stream of thought starting with her quiet strength, progressing to the importance of solid journalism, and finally to the meaning of media for our nation.

So, I smiled when I heard that TTT will be revived, because the issue of local television is part of that flow of ideas; it is part of the history, ideology and sense of purpose that are bound up with Deborah. In 2016, I wrote that “I have always thought that it was a strategic error to get rid of brand TTT … a limited vision for what it could mean for our society, effectively neutralised a serious weapon in our social defence.” But what are we supposed to be defending? Over the past two weeks, in our Theatre and Carnival Arts camp, we explored local cultural forms as part of our quest to better understand who we are.

The young people were exposed to games, stories and play. In one session, even the grown-ups were singing Miss Mary had Some Fine Young Ladies, Brown Girl in the Ring, Do you know Mr John Boulay? and Allé muen ka al lé.

However, for many of the young people, the games, the stories, the “Crick Crack!” were alien concepts, while the knowledge about Carnival beyond bikinis and feathers was limited.

For two weeks we worked with them, eventually getting them to put down their tablets and other electronic devices and move outside their comfort zones.

But after the camp, they will go back to their solitary entertainment centres and virtual worlds.

An institution like TTT should be at the forefront of penetrating these worlds, infusing them with engaging and easily accessible local alternatives.

We talked about all of this with Deborah, the need for a clear vision and philosophy for how media should impact and drive nation building. The concepts of vision and philosophy are critical, because even though TTT and then CNMG were supposed to champion images of “we,” it may be argued that the people at the helm lost their way.

Yes, there was some local content like the early iconic programmes with personalities like Aunty Hazel, Allyson Hennessy and Sham Mohammed, and later with the rebranded station; but the mandate to enlighten and empower did not capture the imagination of the people as it did in those early post-independence days.

So, how to do this, how to harness our talent and resources and use the media to inspire? The name is an important start.

It goes to the core business of the station, that is, creating television for the people of TT.

Local films are being made and smart phones are used to create commentary on everything from the environment to labour issues.

There is a growing animation capability, live performances, and across communities people continue with their festivals and indigenous events. So, in 2017, the content is there.

In her own quiet way, Deborah was a fighter, with her sharp mind and peaceful smile. She is no longer in pain, but I feel sure that she is still smiling, in anticipation of what is to come.

Dara Healy is a performance a r t i s t a n d founder of the N G O , the Ind i g e – n o u s Creative A r t s Network – ICAN

The samples taken from Aleena Babwah and Surendra Harrylal would confirm via Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing if the charred unrecognisable remains is that of Harrylal.

Harrylal, 26, her common- law husband Michael Applewaithe, 35, and another male were believed to have been tied up and the house set ablaze. At about 8 am, a villager in a car was alerted to the tragedy when she saw Harrylal’s four year old son wandering barefoot along the roadway.

The villager said the boy appeared to be traumatised. The crying child told the woman his mother was burnt in a fire and is in heaven.

The villager, who knew the boy, drove to the family’s home and saw the house burnt to the ground.

The house is located miles off the Carlsen Field Road in a forested area and there are no houses in close proximity to the structure.

Members of the Police and Fire Services were contacted and when they arrived, police said a trail of blood was found near the ruins. Investigators are working on the theory that the occupants were killed and their bodies set on fire in the house. Residents said they had seen smoke earlier that day but many assumed it may have been a bush fire in the area.

Yesterday Harrylal’s step father Errol Babwah told Newsday was still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

“We know it is Michelle. This is really hard and I don’t know if we will ever be able to get over this. My step daughter did not deserve this.” Police are asking members of the public to assist them with any information they may have with respect to the unidentified person believed to be an adult male. Homicide Region Three members are investigating.

The event is being produced by The Kaiso Unit in recognition of Crazy’s contribution to the art form.

Crazy is well-known for his rib-tickling humour as well as his social commentaries, infectious soca and parang soca music.

He is one of those artistes who have been able to straddle the political divide and remain relevant, His love for the artform and young people has manifested time and time again in his charitable nature — supporting many artistes over the years, the Unit said. The Kaiso Unit which comprises a group of prominent South-based artistes (led by Ras Kommanda) will honour this living legend who has been an inspiration to hundreds of artistes.

The show begins at 8 pm at the C Phillips Pub and will feature performances from Ras Kommanda, Kenny J, Gary Cordner, Lady Adanna, Versatile, Hamidullah, and Nerukhi (The Conscious Lyricist) and Crazy. The Unit said the show is another example of efforts by calypsonians to promote the national artform all year round and promises to be a memorable one.

On Monday, City Hall romped to a 5-0 win over Central Market in the quarterfinals. N’Kosi Raphael scored a hat-trick to lead the way for City Hall, which won the league title earlier this month.

City Hall also got goals from Atibal Daniel and Shevon Williams.

Central/Eastern were no match for St James Medical, as the latter eased to a 3-0 victory on Thursday.

Tevin Figaro, Stephan Guun and Keron James each found the back of the net. City Hall and St James Medical will battle in the first semifinal next Tuesday.

In another quarterfinal, St James Division defeated Western Division 2-0 as S Springer and Akhel Fairbain scored one goal apiece. Public Health upset Transport and Cleansing on penalties 3-2 after regulation time ended 1-1. Marvin Joseph scored for Public Health during regulation time, while Andy Charles was on target for Transport and Cleansing. St James Division and Public Health will meet next Wednesday in the second semifinal.

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS: City Hall 5 (N’Kosi Raphael 3, Atiba Daniel, Shevon Williams) vs Central Market 0; St James Division 2 (S Springer, Akhel Fairbain) vs Western Division 0; Public Health 1 (Marvin Joseph) vs Transport and Cleansing 1 (Andy Charles) Public Health won 3-2 on penalties; St James Medical 3 (Tevin Figaro, Stephan Guun, Keron James) vs Central/ Eastern 0.

SEMIFINAL FIXTURES: City Hall vs St James Medical, 5 pm, Tuesday St James Division vs Public Health, 5 pm, Wednesday

As a part of the community, Ma Pau readily identifies with this celebration and has contributed $5,000 to this year’s event which begins at 6 pm tonight at

Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook.