Headley is of African descent, five feet, six inches tall, slim built, dark brown in complexion with short curly hair. She was last seen wearing a moss green dress and a pair of slippers.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the police at 999, 555, 911 or any police station or call 800-TIPS.

After a brief ceremony at the ministry’s head office, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, Social Development Minister Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn said they received about 2,600 applications.

She said SEED was one of Government’s strategies being used to reduce poverty, get people off the food card or public assistance and have them in sustainable employment.

“So far payments would have been made to about 1,000 persons,” Crichlow-Cockburn said.

“We have about 400 payments outstanding and those payments would be processed by the comptroller of accounts and that should be done by the end of this week.” Crichlow-Cockburn said they were seeking to clear the backlog so some of the people who received their grants on Wednesday morning would have applied in 2013-2014, while at the same time trying to treat with applications from 2016-2017.

The grant was up to $15,000 and depended on each individual’s needs.

The minister said this was not a one-off event.

“We have not noticed a marked increase in the number of applications.

We are doing it based on constituencies and we have visited 30 so far seeking to educate the public in terms of what we offer.

So we expect we may see an increase next year because, as people become more aware of what the ministry offers and provides, we may likely have greater applications.” One recipient, Francis Vidal, whose wife is disabled, said he hopes to start a landscaping business, while Candice Lashley planned to purchase equipment for her small catering business.

Through the SEED programme, individuals were given access to tools, equipment and material to start or expand a mini/micro enterprise. These individuals were then supported through a multi-pronged system which provided business training, education and mentorship that maximised their potential for success.

Grants were given for use in welding, flag construction and decoration, agriculture, catering, an internet café, mini-mart and photography among others.

The recipients have already completed the mandatory entrepreneurial training and development in cash management, record keeping, customer service excellence, marketing and costing and pricing.

The recipients viewed the grants as a blessing.

“I am so happy for this opportunity. It would’ve been almost impossible to get equipment without this grant,” Lashley said, while Vidal said it would enable him to “create a better life for my family

That may have been the best thing that happened to Jareem Richards, Jarrin Solomon, Lalonde Gordon and Machel Cedenio as they registered a resounding victory in the race.

In doing so, our fantastic four shifted the paradigm on the possible future of an event which the US had won on the six previous occasions. That’s how game-changing this victory can be viewed.

Here’s an example of how those Trini warriors could plant the seed of victory in a fertile collective mind consumed in a burning desire. Fortify this with right preparation and faith in the highest forces to fulfil a vision larger than the individual’s personal interests and you have the winning formula to bring home gold.

This is the stuff which giants are made of. It’s what becomes available when we resolve to dig deep in the quest for something we’re willing to die for.

No wonder the same announcer soon recognised that Gordon was “running the race of his life” as he revved up into super mental/ spiritual gear in the last 50 metres. That’s when he thundered past the USA’s “wunderkind lastleg runner” Fred Kerley, who “seemed to have the gold locked on entering the final straight.” At a critical point in the third leg, Cedenio seemed to have transformed himself into another way of being to access the power to dramatically slash the distance behind his US runner before handing over to Gordon.

Richards and Solomon put up the fight of their lives to keep victory in the team’s line of sight.

The achievement by these brothers tells us that, as a people, we too can be winners — for ourselves, our families, our communities, our country. We can change our collective mindset.

We can learn something about the love which these four sons of the soil expressed in running their hearts to the brink to bring our nation to the fore. But we must be willing to make the necessary sacrifice, to pay the price.

How many of us remember, as one report stated, that Gordon was part of the TT quartet for the past five years until “he found the will to take over the lead.” We too — all of us — can find the will to work and wait in patience, confident that our noble efforts will pay off. Then we’ll be able to speak out as our sons did in London in the aftermath of their brilliant victory which we all embrace as ours.

Come on TT people, it’s time to change your mind.

RUDOLPH WILLIAMS St James

Haleema’s case has provoked debate over the workings of the Children’s Life Fund. The fund has rejected an application lodged by her family for her to seek treatment at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon, India, at a cost of $400,000.

That hospital boasts of being the “Mecca of Healthcare” for Asia Pacific and beyond.

According to the fund administrators, Haleema’s condition is not life-threatening and, therefore, she does not qualify for assistance.

It is unfortunate that Haleema’s application – which was subject to “careful consideration” by the board of management – got so far without anyone realising that she was ineligible for funding. There needs to be a more efficient screening process when it comes to these matters.

In healthcare, time is of the essence and parents can end up spending a great deal of time and attention lodging an application – and even filing court action – when they could otherwise be engaged.

But more than that, the administrators of the fund have serious questions to answer given the concerns expressed by High Court judge, Justice Devendra Rampersad. According to a Newsday report earlier this week, the judge, in hearing an application filed by lawyers representing the family, expressed concern over what he described as a lack of compassion in meeting and treating with the funding of life-threatening illnesses involving children.

This is a serious charge which merits a public response. To date, none has been forthcoming.

The deeper issues here, however, are matters which are entirely out of the board of management’s hands. That is: should the fund be limited to cases which involve life-threatening illnesses? Who determines what is a life-threatening illness? And should the State not adopt a far more liberal approach to facilitating the specialist medical care that it has failed to make available locally? Parliament should consider whether Section 4 and Section 19 of the fund’s governing statute are in need of reform. There are clear moral reasons why the State should foot the bill in cases where the required medical expertise is not available locally and where the family involved does not have the means to access foreign treatment.

Furthermore, there needs to be clarity on how the administrators of the fund determine individual cases. Clear, detailed reasoning should always be provided when handing down determinations.

And the experts consulted should also be identified.

It is unfortunate that a decision in this case appears to have come after legal proceedings. This is a course we do not look upon favourably. Critical healthcare matters should not be litigated in court. The Children’s Life Fund authority must do a better job of making determinations.

In the meanwhile, there may be a need to improve communications with the public when it comes to what qualifies for funding and what does not.

If the State is unable to assist, perhaps members of the public might. Anyone wishing to assist the family can make donations to: First Citizens Bank Penal A/C# 2430155 or contact them at 331-4672, 710-1137 or 270-0707.

Haleema’s case – life threatening or not – underlines the need for greater compassion on the part of the State and also our community.

At the risk of appearing to be a hair-splitting pedant, I add to this distressing list the disappointment we so often have in the command of English displayed by the constabulary.

The Newsday of August 14 quotes Inspector Michael Seales of the Police Social and Welfare Association as noting, “Our member, in her dire situation which has caused her irreputable damage, has approached the association . . .” There is no such word as “irreputable.” Perhaps Seales is creating such a word in response to the claim of Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams that the member of the association brought the Police Service into “disrepute.” Competence, corruption, detection and English are all serious subjects that the Police Service should address.

An inability to speak clearly could be an indicator of an inability to think clearly.

A BLADE via email

He said he was providing clarification in reply to concerns arising after a recent CNC3 television news programme that, he said, had only broadcast snippets of his interview with a reporter.

Maraj assured, “Of statements made that we are ‘closing down,’ these are exaggerated and erroneous.” Clarifying the school’s identity, Maraj said SBCS began operation in 1987, well before GATE was introduced in 2006. In that 19-year period, most of the SBCS’s development took place, including the establishment of three of its four campuses. “SBCS was created not because of or for GATE but for our learners,” Maraj said. “In fact, over our 30-year existence we have graduated over 6,000 learners, many of whom are successfully employed locally and internationally.” He said graduates hold qualifications (such as ACCA, CIPS and BTEC HND) from renowned foreign partner universities (such as the University of London, University of Greenwich, Heriot-Watt University, University of Sunderland and University of Leicester) are all internationally accredited and globally respected.

Maraj vitally clarified the SBCS’s status regarding accreditation versus registration.

“Like all tertiary education providers, SBCS is registered with the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) and we were among the first private institutes to do so,” Maraj said. “Once registered, all of our transnational programmes and foreign awarding bodies went through the process of being recognised by ACTT and are thus listed on their compendium.

This was a precondition for GATE.

“Accreditation, however, only applies to local programmes.” He added that each of the SBCS programmes had to undergo a rigorous assessment by the ACTT, including a market case justification, such that he believed his programmes met the country’s developmental needs

This was disclosed by Acting Attorney General Stuart Young at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s.

In a signed letter dated August 17 to Persad-Bissessar, Rowley said Young sent two packages of draft/proposed legislation to Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen to give to her as a continuation of their “productive” meeting at Tower D of the Portof- Spain International Centre on July 18 about legislative measures to address the country’s crime problem.

The letter was hand-delivered to the Opposition Leader’s Office in Port-of-Spain yesterday.

One package dealt with zones of special operations and the other dealt with anti- gang legislation.

Rowley also provided Persad-Bissessar with a list of Government’s anti-crime operational initiatives as promised. These included a counter terrorism policy and strategy sent to the National Security Council for approval; establishing a computer security incident response team to deal with cyber crimes; establishment of Police/Army bases in Enterprise and Laventille; engaging Interpol to establish a sub-office in TT and increasing the number of crime scene investigators in the Police Service from 15 to 75.

Young said legislative packages were hand delivered to Ramdeen on August 4. He said the zones of special operations legislation was unique and currently existed in Jamaica.

Young explained that allowed the Jamaican prime minister, on the advice of the Jamaican Defence Force, to declare certain places as, “zones where it would be akin to giving them new powers to go in and cordon off those zones and do certain things” to treat with criminal gangs operating in those zones.

Young said Government hoped, “that we can have a conversation with the Opposition, as to another way or method on how to deal with crime and the criminal element.” He also said Government hoped the Opposition would discuss ways to pass effective anti-gang legislation in Parliament. Young said Government had not received any word, to date, from the Opposition as to when they would want to meet or any written responses from the Opposition regarding the legislative packages sent to them.

He told reporters that the special operations zones legislation in Jamaica was supported by that country’s government and opposition. He reminded reporters that the Jamaican government only had a oneseat majority in the Jamaican parliament.

For a brief time — less than three minutes on Sunday — Solomon, Richards, Cedenio and Gordon made us all forget the problems this country faces. They restored hope in our young men, and so we replayed their victory over and over on the Internet. I did just that, marvelling every time at the determination of these young men. It certainly uplifted my spirits until I learned that the Pizza Boys down the street from me had just been robbed.

Then, I began to wonder, once again, why is that some young men stay on the right track and some go down the wrong road? Is anyone in this country trying to figure this out? Sports victories always create a buzz about pouring more money into sports, but what about other ways we have of paving a successful path for our young men? Who is looking at how to elevate poor boys in poor communities — or even in our prisons, for that matter — so that young men can have the opportunities to succeed — not just in sports, but in life? With the kind help of the Ministry of Community Development and the former Ministry of Justice, I introduced a skill-based programme in the Port of Spain Prison and marvelled at how excited young men were to learn how to make furniture from PVC pipe.

Most young men want to succeed, but too many teenagers and young men in this country don’t have support. They are lost souls battered and abandoned in our schools that don’t dig deep enough to discover their gifts or support their dreams.

Some boys are lucky enough to have a supportive family. They are strong enough to conjure up their own dreams and go after them, but sadly this is not the case for many young men. We forget success doesn’t come from a vacuum. It comes because someone — a parent, friend, teacher or coach — singles out a young man for praise and development.

Our schools only nurture the boys that are not deemed difficult.

Our educational system skims from the top, educating those who can neatly fit into the colonial system of education while casting aside the ones whose gifts are not easy to identify. Often, these are the most creative ones. I know because I find them in prison.

In this country, we have become very complacent in writing off our young men. We jump on the bandwagon when they do us proud in sports, but flippantly reduce their failures to some simplistic notion like having no father at home, as though their failure can be reduced only to that.

So, I ask again.

What does it mean when young men succeed in this country? What does it show us, and how can we learn from it?

Young told reporters at the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley obtained independent advice from senior counsels that this is the best option to resolve this matter.

He said the Cabinet agreed to support this option.

Young said in this summons, “We will basically lay the facts out as we know it, via affidavit, to the High Court and we will set out what are the various provisions of the existing law that apply and we will then invite the High Court to make a decision and to come to a conclusion as to how these 53 cases should be dealt with going forward.” He said interested parties who wished to intervene in these proceedings could make submissions to the Judiciary which, “will have management of this matter in having it dealt with as expeditiously as possible.” Young said once the summons was filed, the population would then see if anyone tried to derail it by “playing politics.” Young said Government was leaving the resolution in the remit of the Judiciary and, contrary to claims from the Opposition, the appointment of a tribunal under Section 137 of the Constitution would not resolve the concerns of people affected by the 53 cases being stuck in the magistracy.

Young said there was an appeal process all the way up to the Privy Council and it was possible for the matter to be resolved within a short time. He said litigation between Ayers Caesar and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, would not affect these proceedings.

Haleema’s mother Kristal Mohammed reiterated yesterday her five-year-old daughter had been suffering for too long and needed the surgery to take place as soon as possible.

When questioned about the possibility of further legal action, Kristal said, “We will not press for this matter to go further in court as yet because that will just delay the process and Haleema will have to miss her appointment and wait for a later date which we don’t want.” Haleema was diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia Major, a blood disorder, since she was 18 months old.

Her ailment requires her to visit the hospital three to four times monthly for blood transfusions.

To ease her ailment, Haleema’s parents sent an application to the CLFA on July 28 requesting assistance with the cost of the $400,000 procedure to be done in India.

The family lives at Mohess Road, Penal, and Haleema has two siblings. The family insisted they do not have the finances to fund Haleema’s bone marrow transplant and her subsequent stay there to facilitate her recovery.

Attorney Gerald Ramdeen petitioned the San Fernando High Court to force the CLFA to treat Haleema’s case with a greater degree of urgency. The CLFA in response to Ramdeen, issued a letter on Wednesday stating they had rejected the application on the basis that Haleema’s application “contains little evidence of a definitive diagnosis of Beta Thalassemia Major…” It added: “…and furthermore, it appears that the requisite testing for the donor has not been carried out, both of which may be required before the course of treatment can be appropriately selected. Thalassemia is not a life-threatening illness as required by section 19(e) of the Act.” The board indicated that Haleema’s case would be referred to the external patient programme unit of the Ministry of Health for their attention and consideration of assistance with funding.