Up until yesterday, the murder toll was 394 for the year so far, compared to 365 for the same period last year. Yesterday Dillon told Newsday that he was especially concerned about the triple murder in the D’Abadie area this past Saturday afternoon, which also left two persons injured.

According to Dillon, his ministry continues to provide the necessary support to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and other security agencies in the fight against crime but he feels that more could be done to address the number of homicides in the country that are being committed with illegal arms and ammunition. Dillon said the TTPS is doing “a fantastic job” in removing illegal arms and ammunition from the streets but those still ‘outside’ are being used to commit murders and other crimes. He added that the TT Coast Guard will continue to provide the necessary support to help tackle the smuggling of these illegal items into the country. Dillon yesterday issued a call to the public to partner with the TTPS, to be so that information could be filtered and acted upon swiftly to deal with crime.

At today’s meeting, the National Security Minister intends to ask the Acting CoP and the northern and central divisional commanders to come up with new strategies to deal with the spate of murders.

Dillon told Newsday the TTPS must “step up their game” to bring the number of murders down, not only in these two divisions, but also across the seven other divisions. “I want results,” Dillon declared. “I want the public to feel a sense of safety and security. I want lives to be saved. I want the criminal elements to put down their guns. I want persons involved in crime to move away from that lifestyle and return TT to a place where persons could feel safe and without the fear of crime,” Dillon stated.

The minister also told Newsday he was in full support of the move by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to take a personal interest in the community policing programme of the TTPS, adding that Government will continue to put all resources in place to reclaim the society from the hands of criminal elements.

This weekend citizens should have been free to devote, as individuals and families, our fullest attention on the leisurely pursuits of life. Instead, we have been brought low by a series of events, starting with a spate of murders since Friday. Namely, the killing of a cop’s mother outside a church, the shooting of five people on a Saturday afternoon, and the discovery of US$2m at the Pt Lisas Port.

At heart, these crimes signal a deepening of a gun and drug culture and suggest continued penetration by criminal elements from outside our borders.

Political commentators will be quick to say none of this is good news for the administration of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

His political party speech a week ago placed him even more directly in the fray.

But an escalation of crime is not good news for anyone whether PNM, UNC or other.

We call for a national resolve to tackle this issue. Already the political and pragmatic obstacles to this are considerable.

It is only natural for there to be unease in a situation where criminals are not being apprehended, where the justice system is behind pace and where murderers seem to be more brazen. Witness the remarks of members of the Seventh-Day Adventist church, and those of the new head of the Northern Division, Mc Donald Jacob, who was deeply troubled by the D’Abadie killings.

But both the Snr Supt Jacob and the president of the Southern Caribbean Conference of the Seventh-day Conference, Leslie Moses, have appealed for courage and support not only of relatives of victims but of the police. Jacob even seems to marshalling resolve to not give in to gunmen.

We must follow suit and not cower. All of us have a role to play.

Meanwhile, the US currency find suggests a deepening of international illegal activity in the country. The easy access through a port is troubling. It is, however, hard to say whether the find is simply the tip of a iceberg that has long been floating in our waters.

We must commend, though, the Customs and Excise Division as well as the police for their interception which itself suggests some headway in intelligence gathering. However, there remains the perception that the systems in relation to the latter must be strengthened, along with measures to police our borders and control guns.

While we often decry the porous nature of our borders, the regional and international assistance being sought in this investigation shows how things work both ways. We have long stopped being just isolated islands.

Indeed, we never were.

We must stress the need for committed cooperation in the crime fight at all levels, including political. Given the pace of implementation of measures covered by the last Government/ Opposition crime talks, we not satisfied that the political directorate is working as well as it can on this matter.

If the plan to eliminate PIs and the pledge to hold further talks are not kept, all of the efforts thus far will be rendered nothing more than a lost opportunity for the nation’s leaders to truly work together to deal with this scourge.

It’s high time for a united stance. For now there is little to console the victims of crime and the innocent bystanders who are now in the line of fire. We express our deepest condolences to all who have been thus far affected by these atrocities and warn than we are all implicated in getting this situation under control.

IN ORDER to enable some comparison between what I advocated in my columns of December 2003 and May 2013 and the PNM manifesto of the 2015 general election, I will reiterate a few of my recommendations: “1. Constitutional provision should be made for the entrenchment of the functions, powers and responsibilities of local government bodies and for their funding and staffing which could not easily be amended or revoked by a governing party.

“2. Their functions should be expanded to include responsibility for activities being carried out by the Ministries of Social Development and Community Development.

“3. Local government bodies should be empowered by acquiring adequate resources to engage in regional planning and establishing priorities to be incorporated in national planning.

“4. Constitutional provision should also be made for the entrenchment of the method of funding of local government bodies. They should be directly funded by the Treasury (Ministry of Finance) via a formula which takes into account population, geographical area, state of existing infrastructure and facilities etc.” I had also proposed the following: “5. The post of Minister of Local Government (and Ministry) should be abolished.” The PNM manifesto for the 2015 general election had the following to say on local government by way of introduction (page 53): “The PNM also believe that there are several tasks and functions now managed by the central government that can be more effectively handled by local government bodies, especially social services and community development functions.

“Additionally, the PNM sees no need for a Ministry of Local Government.

We believe that the regional and municipal corporations should have a direct relationship with the Ministry of Finance … to ensure adequacy of funding and they should be given the autonomy to develop and implement their own regional policies, plans and programmes within the framework of national policy.” So much for comparison. However, my recommendations of December 2003 and May 2013 went much beyond what the PNM had proposed in its 2015 manifesto. I had additionally made the following suggestions: 6. Local government bodies should be responsible for the recruitment, deployment, management and discipline of their staff (supported by expert outside resources as necessary) with an independent appeal mechanism instituted for grievance.

7. In addition to the activities undertaken by the Ministries of Social Development and Community Development, local government bodies should be responsible for the community health services of the Ministry of Health as well as the local school boards and regional education programmes of the Ministry of Education.

8. Functioning community councils should be incorporated in the system of local government (as a mechanism for accountability and interaction with residents).

9. A local government committee of Parliament should be established and the plans and programmes of local government bodies should be submitted to this committee for information and subsequently be accountable to it for performance.

10. Provision should be made to have systems of ongoing internal and external audit whose findings would be subject to review by the local government committee of Parliament.

In its local government consultations held this year, the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government identified major impediments which prevented local government bodies from delivering services efficiently, promptly and cost-effectively.

Among them are (a) political interference, manipulation and expediency, (b) inadequate funding, © an overall lack of transparency and equity (accountability might have added).

However the ministry failed to systematically pinpoint how its proposed reforms would address these problems.

In order to insulate local government bodies from political interference and manipulation, I had proposed that their functions, powers and responsibilities as well as the method of funding be given constitutional status which could only be amended by a special majority of Parliament

The wooden house, known as “The Mansion”, is situated on San Fernando Street and went up in flames at about 6 am yesterday.

It was just outside that house where a female secondary school student was shot in the chest following an argument in November last year.

The girl had gone to the house with a male secondary school student and an older man.

Yesterday, neighbours reported the fire to the Mon Repos Fire Station and firemen arrived on the scene within ten minutes.

“The Mansion” had been abandoned for the last five or six years, but had been occupied by five homeless people, a police report stated, four men and one woman.

The abandoned house had been featured in the news as a hideout as well where police officers raided for drugs, and on many occasions, had to warn students against frequenting the building. In November last year, the female secondary school student was shot in the chest.

Following the shooting, former San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein who is now the Minister of Local Government, had instructed corporation workers to clean and close the house and debar members of the public from frequenting.

Betty Bhaggan, a neighbour, said, “I was lying down here sleeping when I heard my neighbour downstairs shouting ‘Fire! Fire!’ She said that when the heat became unbearable, she grabbed her grandchildren and ran outside.

Darrel Kissoon, who was asleep at the time, recalled, “This morning, God has saved us and I thank Him for that, because me and my family work hard and it would have been a really sad morning if my house had fall down too.” The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Mon Repos firemen are investigating.

Nomination begins at 9 am to noon and 1 pm to 3 pm for the electoral districts seats in the cities of Portof- Spain and San Fernando, the boroughs of Arima, Chaguanas and Point Fortin, and the nine regional corporations in Trinidad.

Of some six political parties contesting the elections, only the People’s National Movement (PNM) and United National Congress (UNC) have said they are ready with the names of candidates for all 137 electoral districts.

However, the eight electoral seats in the Chaguanas Borough Corporation have attracted candidates from the PNM, UNC, Independent Liberal Party (ILP) and the newly formed National Solidarity Assembly (NSA).

While PNM General Secretary Ashton Ford is of the belief that the PNM will make a clean sweep of the seats at stake, UNC Deputy Political Leader Khadija Ameen said the UNC believes there are electoral districts, currently held by the PNM, that the UNC will win.

According to the Elections and Boundaries Commission website, over one million electors are registered to vote for the upcoming elections.

Ford told Newsday yesterday that apart from the party filing the names of 137 candidates for the electoral districts, he will be submitting to the EBC, 137 recommendations for aldermen.

“We are well prepared for nominations.

We screened all our candidates in time.

Their documents are in order. We have held training programmes for them,” he said.

The party, he said, has appointed party chairman Franklin Khan as the campaign manager who is supported by campaign managers for each corporation.

Ninety eight of the candidates are new, but Ford said, experienced people such as Chairman of Sangre Grande Terry Rondon and Roger Parris in San Fernando are returning.

Facing the polls for the first time will be former national football captain in Point Fortin Reynold Carrington, former UNC minister Dhanraj Singh’s daughter Sharda Singh in Chaguanas, and 23-year-old Clint Baptiste of East Dry River. Also representing the PNM will be former Cumuto/Tamana UNC councillor Rajkumar Bhagaloo who crossed the floor to the PNM.

At the UNC Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is in charge of the campaign.

Each region has a campaign coordinator, and each candidate has a campaign manager, UNC Deputy Political Leader Khadija Ameen told Newsday.

The candidates are a good mix of gender, youth and experience, she said and a number of the young ones persons are already involved in community activities.

The involvement of women in local government was good for democracy, she said.

According to reports, during heavy thunder and lightning the two-year-old girl, who was asleep at her home in company with her 15-year-old relative, became afraid because of the loud thunder and bright lightning.

She ran into the main road, at Enterprise Village, Chaguanas.

While standing on the roadway, she began crying. Neighbors saw her and called the E999 Command Centre.

Command centre Officers alerted the Chaguanas Police and by the time they got to the child she was drenched and sobbing, uncontrollably. Officers carried out inquiries and discovered that the child’s mother, a 23-year-old woman, left the little girl and her relative at home alone and went to a party.

The girl and the relative were taken to the Chaguanas Police Station where they were being kept up until yesterday. The child’s mother turned up at the police station at about 9am yesterday.

Officers of the Child Protection Unit were also alerted and have been assisting in the inquiries.

Police investigators said the mother is likely to be charged with child abandonment and investigations are continuing.

Derrick McIntosh alias ‘Roti’, 27, of Moruga, had been on the run from police since his escape from the hospital in January, a police report stated.

According to a police report, McIntosh was reporedly seen at White Trace, just off the Moruga Main Road, at about 4 am yesterday.

Responding to reports of his appearance in the area, police officers went in search of him and according to a report, McIntosh was confronted.

The report stated that he shot at the police vehicle and officers returned fire.

After the shootout, it was discovered that McIntosh sustained bullet wounds to the stomach in the chest.

He died at the scene. Police said yesterday that McIntosh was wanted for several robberies and murders, including the murder of Michael Patterson in January.

The day after Patterson was murdered, one of relatives retaliated and had engaged McIntosh in a shootout at a house at Upper Hillside in San Fernando.

Following an exchange of gunfire, both men were severely wounded and warded at the San Fernando General Hospital. McIntosh was shot in one of his legs.

Police said that McIntosh had managed to escape police custody while he was been treated on a ward at the hospital, and had been on the run until yesterday.

Imbert was responsing to allegations in a report which alleged his wife had been paid TT$7.5 million by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) in April 2016 after two years of the invoices not being paid.

The article also alleged that the Finance Ministry released funds to enable the payments.

Responding directly to the claims that the Finance Ministry released funds for the payment to be made, Imbert responded, stating it was not true.

However, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar intends to take the matter of that allegation to the Integrity Commission.

Speaking around the issue, Persad-Bissessar used the wife of a minister, never directly referring to Colm Imbert’s wife.

She made the comments, yesterday, as she toured various parts of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation in a buildup to the upcoming Local Government Election.

Persad-Bissessar said to reporters when questioned on the matter, “I am reading in the papers today that the wife of a minister received payments of TT$7.5 million.

“The wife of the minister received payments before any other contractor had been paid.

There are persons in our team who have expressed the view that they will write to the Integrity Commission on that matter.

“We will take up the matter with the Equal Opportunities Tribunal.

“You have a list of persons who are owed by the HDC and yet they saw it fit…to pay the wife of a minister. So $7.5 million to the wife of a minister and it is zero, zero, zero for everybody else.

“I think that is totally deplorable and again is an example of the brutality being visited on the people and hard working people TT.

“We will send that matter and others to the Integrity Commission and others for further follow-up.

“The contractors have been complaining bitterly. Why is the wife of a minister allowed to jump the queue? “It reeks of discrimination of your friend and family taking care of them first. Totally unacceptable and I intend to follow through on it.” The report also alleges the Housing Development Corporation owes other contractors approximately TT$600 million.

As Persad-Bissessar walked along Cunapo Southern Main Road, Sangre Grande, aka Market Road, greeting residents and shoppers along the way.

Persad-Bissessar said to members of the media she was grateful for the support received but wanted that to translate into votes at the upcoming Local Government election.

“It has been very encouraging.

I want to thank all of the candidates. They have been out on the ground.

“They have been working for quite a while. I am seeing because of that work and the coordinating team we put into Grande, I am seeing it translating into the support being manifested today.

“All the support of love…you know you could walk and talk and you get a lot of hugs and greetings…I need that to translate into votes.” Persad-Bissessar said the major concerns she has heard form residents as she walked the ground in preparation for the Local Government Election has been crime and job loss.

“One of the major concerns is the loss of jobs and crime…

just last night what was it there or four more murders yesterday.

In the meeting and greeting crime fighting remains the number one priority but very close is the jobs.

“The thousands of people who have lost their jobs so far.

We are seeing it manifested. It is really sad.”

Citing the 2016 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SE A) results, Rambharat disclosed that he knew of two students who scored 19 percent and 29 percent in Mathematics and English respectively, but were still placed in secondary schools.

Speaking at the formal opening of Republic Bank’s new building in Rio Claro on Saturday, Rambharat said, “When I looked at the SE A results this year, I am absolutely shocked that someone could score 19 percent in Mathematics and be placed in a secondary school in this country.

When I looked at the SE A results, I am shocked that a youngster from Poole RC School could score 29 in English and put into the environment of a secondary school.” The minister made the point that he did not think physically, mentally, or from an education perspective, some youngsters at primary school were being prepared for the life in a secondary school.

Against that background, Rambharat made a plea for assistance from Republic Bank as a good corporate citizen, to help in the development of the young people in the Rio Claro community.

And such assistance, he added, should be given to those ‘weak’ pupils who are in the standard one and two levels.

Rambharat said, “And I think that young people from rural communities are particularly disadvantaged not only by not having the type of educational foundation, but having to travel, in many cases, with unreliable private and public transport to get to school.

If it is one thing that as a corporate citizen Republic Bank can do in this community, it is to assist in the school intervention that I believe are required particularly at the foundation levels of Standard 1 and 11, to identify and support with those students, who if they do not get the support, then nothing in life will prepare them further down the road.”.

Government, the minister said, also had a part to play in the development of rural communities which were often placed at a disadvantage during a time of economic downturn.

He said, “We are now yet again, as we have been in a few times in our history, in a period of risk where the government having curtailed its expenditure in line with revenue, can only afford to do things and you know the people who suffer the most, are the people who live in rural communities like Rio Claro, like Sangre Grande, like Moruga, Cedros, Erin and those areas where the State has a very large footprint in terms of how much it spends.” Rambharat said that he is proud to be part of a government that recently launched initiatives in Laventille.

And, he disclosed, when that initiative was discussed among my ministerial colleagues, he had made it very clear to them that he came from a part of the country that has the same educational challenges as communities in Laventille.

Meanwhile, Republic Bank executive director, Roopnarine Oumade Singh, described the new branch as a “state of the art banking hub” which sits on 11,700 sq ft of land, with two floors, including a sub-basement car park.

The bank is was outfitted with two ABM’s and protected by cutting edge RBL standard electrical and security infrastructure.

Coming forward in a most tangible way to emulate this young exemplar is the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT), which has announced that all children 12 years and under will be admitted free to the Emperor Valley Zoo on Sunday November 13th, 2016 in recognition of World Kindness Day.

World Kindness Day although an international observance on 13 November every year since 1998, would have been unnoticed if not for this young lady touching the hearts of Trinboganians.

The World Kindness Movement, a coalition of nations kindness NGOs in declaring this day aim to highlight good deeds in the community and serve as a means for people to bridge the divides of race, religion, politics, gender and nationalities.

The ZSTT in stepping forward to recognise this day said in a statement that the community of Trinidad and Tobago has been supportive of its thrust in promoting environmental education and conservation at the Zoo and this is its way of extending an act of kindness to the younger ones in society. “Children who come to the Zoo are immersed in our interactive programmes and we know that they leave with an indelible experience which augurs well for future generations,” stated Gupte Lutchmedial, speaking on behalf of the ZSTT.

Lutchmedial also went on to say that the ZSTT considers the gains to be more for itself as this act of kindness on its part can only serve to instill a feeling of satisfaction, happiness and pride.