The letter was sent to the Acting CoP on Tuesday, however Williams is out of the country and is due back tomorrow.

On his return he is expected to seek legal advice on the matter.

The SRP in question received her suspension letter last week Tuesday in which she was accused of “bringing into disrepute the police service” and she was informed that she will receive no pay during her suspension.

The SRP became embroiled in a raging controversy after photos of her posing in her police uniform with her legs upraised went viral on social media.

The pre-action protocol letter sent by Rodriguez and De Silva which was made available to Newsday also called on the Acting CoP to reconsider his decision to suspend their client without pay. Rodriguez and De Silva accused the Acting CoP of failing to provide their client with the particulars of the disciplinary offence, and the “circumstances attributable to the investigation to be conducted”.

The letter continued: “It is a basic requirement of natural justice that an individual is notified of the particulars of a disciplinary offence alleged to have been committed by him or her. It is also necessary that our client is provided with the particulars of the offence so that she can be allowed meaningful participation in the investigation process.

Further, the disciplinary punishment of SRP officers is dealt with comprehensively under section 5 of the Special Reserve Police Act, Chapter 15:03 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago”.

The letter from Rodriguez and De Silva also stated “Section 5 of the Act identifies the disciplinary offences for which an SRP officer can be charged and the procedure to be followed after such charge is preferred.

The attorneys also noted that the Act further identifies that disciplinary punishments are to be dealt with by the officer in command of her division with the SRP officer having a right of appeal to the Commissioner of Police if dissatisfied by the decision of the officer in command.“By your decision to issue this notice of cessation under your hand, you have effectively usurped the function of the officer in command and therefore you have stripped our client of any right of appeal to which she is entitled. Your decision to suspend our client without pay will result in her significant hardship”, the letter concluded.

These, along with the prolonged economic stagnation, capital allowances, and challenges with tax administration have continued to contribute to weak revenue collections, leading to still significant fiscal deficits and rising public debt levels, the Fund said.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it seems—while the economy seems to have contracted in the first half of the year, the energy sector, our purported saviour, is poised to rebound in the second half. Even beleaguered state oil company, Petrotrin, was noted for its relatively positive contribution in boosting oil production through increased exploration efforts and refinery upgrades. The gas sector, in particular, is of interest to the IMF as a major kick-starter for the economy. As such, it expects knock on effects throughout the entire economy, with positive spill-over into non-oil sectors as well.

Then again, the light at the end of the tunnel could also be an oncoming train. The overall outlook for the country remains stagnant to negative growth for the year. While the IMF praised the government for making fiscal policy adjustments, it cautioned that a sustainable solution would require more measures, especially regarding rising public debt levels. The Fund also noted the levels of foreign reserves remained “healthy… reducing and eventually eliminating the imbalance in the market is of paramount importance,” and suggested structural reforms to give greater flexibility to the market.

The report was fairly predictable.

In fact, even last year, the evaluation team at the IMF made similar observations: Trinidad & Tobago’s economic woes stem from low energy prices, and government needs to implement mitigating and sustainable policies to manage the economy… and foreign exchange systems probably need to be reevaluated.

What is most interesting about the IMF report is what it doesn’t mention: the country’s continued dependence on oil and gas revenues at the expense of other industries; Petrotrin’s bloated operational costs; the current labour climate; the lack of a reliable connection between Trinidad & Tobago; the country’s increasing debt levels, which several local economists have considered beyond the point of no return; and the political unrest in Venezuela.

Perhaps these aren’t the IMF’s focus—perhaps these issues are too specific, or even new, to its overall assessment— or else not as impactful to the macroeconomic outlook of the country than energy, foreign exchange and policy.

Perhaps the IMF team wasn’t able to get access to reliable data, considering the woefully inadequate or outdated information available from the Central Statistical Office.

But resolving these issues are just as integral to returning the country to economic equilibrium.

Even US-based credit rating firm Moody’s overlooked most of these concerns in their assessment, issued in April this year, focusing on reduced oil and gas receipts.

Moody’s did, however, point out the government’s alternative revenue raising measures—changing the value added tax (VAT) structure from 15 per cent on certain items to an across the board 12.5 per cent, as well as sales of assets and dividends from the National Gas Company, have had “limited results,” primarily because government spending remains rigid and expensive.

“…These measures have not changed a rigid expenditure structure, in which wages, subsidies and transfers account for 70 per cent of total government spending.

Furthermore, total expenditures will continue to increase this year amid higher debt servicing costs and larger capital expenditures,” the report said.

Moody’s was also clear about the lack of timely macroeconomic data and weak policy execution that has stymied the effectiveness of official response to energy price decline.

The agency did make a note that “government efforts have promoted only limited economic diversification, modestly decreasing the dependence of the economy in the energy sector.” The Central Bank’s economic indicators for 2016 point to how important—and how much of a priority—the non-energy sector has become to the economy.

In 2012, the energy sector contributed 41 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product; in 2016, it was 18.8 per cent (preliminary).

Meanwhile, even though growth has contracted in the non-energy sector, it is contracting at a slower rate than the energy sector. In 2016 the energy sector shrank 9.6 per cent while the non-energy sector fell 1.8 per cent.

In the Mid-Year Budget Review, Finance Minister Colm Imbert noted the significant loss of US$2.5 billion per year in foreign exchange inflows from oil and gas receipts since 2014.

As a result, foreign reserves have fallen by 12 per cent from US$10.4 billion in May 2014 (12 months’ import cover) to US$9.1 billion in April 2017 (10 months).

Meanwhile, even though though the gas deal between Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela that would allow this country to process natural gas from neighbouring and shared fields had been scheduled to be completed last month, there still has been no official word to seal the deal, and the current political unrest—including deadly protests— in that country suggests that its government has other priorities.

As the country prepares for the 2018 National Budget—expected sometime in September—it’s time to note the government’s promise of delivering its promises of diversifying away from oil and gas and building the capacity in other sectors like manufacturing, tourism and agriculture, all of which can contribute to foreign exchange earnings.

With the nation gearing up towards hosing the highly anticipated Elite Pan American Track Championships in two weeks time, the recent results and athletes’ form can only mean positive things moving forward.

In a recent interview with Newsday, Racing Director at TT CF, Gary Acosta, stated, “The competition ran smoothly and the level of competition was outstanding as the athletes’ times showed they are really ready for the upcoming Elite Pan Ams.” According to the TT CF, the official national team of cyclist which will represent the twin-island republic at the Pan Ams, will be selected by Monday.

Since there were not enough teams registered for last Monday evening’s Madison race. The tall female PSL cyclist, Teniel Campbell, once again dominated the Women’s proceedings on the final day of the National Elite Championships, which concluded on Sunday evening.

Campbell started the last day of activities by setting a new National 3-kilometre Individual Pursuit record with a time of three minutes 55.44 seconds, eclipsing her 2015 record of 3:56.86, which she established at the high altitude track in Chile.

Her closest competitor was newly switched track cyclist, Alexandra Bovell (Unattached), who is also sister of famed TT swimmer George Bovell III, in a time of 4:00.84 with Christiane Farah (Breakaway) in third with a solid 4:11.07 pursuit. Campbell did not stop there though and saved the best for last when she came up against Kollyn St George of Breakaway Cycling Club in the 500-metre Time Trial. With a half lap remaining, St George was comfortably 0.3 seconds ahead.

However, when the clocks stopped on both ends, Campbell was adjudged the winner by 0.001 seconds in a time of 36.507 seconds.

Jovian Gomez (PSL) snatched the 4km Individual Pursuit event in a time of 4:52.90, just ahead of teammate Akil Campbell’s (PSL) time of 4:53.422. Quincy Alexander shrugged off the pain from his hard fall on Saturday morning in the Sprint Qualifications to set a solid time of 1:05.31. In the process, he captured the 1km Time Trial title with Akil Campbell also placing second in that race and Ako Kellar (Team Foundation) finishing third.

A police report stated that around 9.35 am on Tuesday, Claudius Nicholas of Washington Street, Marabella, was walking through a shortcut near Charles Street, when he was approached by a man who locked his neck and ripped off his chain. The man then escaped.

PC Khan of Marabella Police Station later arrested and charged the suspect of George Street, Marabella.

He is expected to appear today before a magistrate in the San Fernando Court.

Governments of the future will need to adapt and continuously evolve to create value. They need to stay relevant by being responsive to rapidly changing conditions and citizens’ expectations. Citizens are demanding more visibility on the allocation of public resources and challenging governments to be more efficient and equitable through accountability and transparency.

What is needed today is a flatter, agile, streamlined and tech-enabled government.

One of the ways in which governments can become flatter is through citizen engagement, which means decreasing the distance between government and the people using social media, mobile devices and other tools, increasing participation through consultations, surveys and other communication modes and committing to open data that provide citizens and businesses with access to information. Members of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government devoted particular attention to the impact of new networks on democratic processes, focusing on citizen engagement. While this issue remains centrally important, the focus has broadened to encompass how the strategies, structures and practices of governments must change in the coming years, and how new information and communication technologies and networks can be leveraged to transform government capacity.

Agility and adaptability are also critical to effective and innovative governments. Successful governments can organize themselves to consolidate public and private resources quickly to address challenges. Governments must also be able to easily transform themselves when specific structures and processes are no longer needed.

This requires an agile workforce made up primarily of highly skilled knowledge workers with broad problem-solving capabilities and equipped with real time data and business intelligence – working in teams and networks, often with private sector partners. Adaptive governments that share services, labour and resources can deliver on their mission in more effective and innovative ways.

Consequently, governments of the future must be fully tech-enabled with a tech-savvy workforce. Policy, legal and regulatory frameworks and processes must be redesigned to align with the dynamics of the networked world. Information infrastructures must support new modes of collaboration, information and intensive governance. Even in the poorest regions, brilliant examples of service innovation have been driven using cheap mobile and wireless technologies.

Now there are tools and systems that allow citizens to examine government activities and expenditures. At the same time, citizen engagement allows governments to reach out and incorporate the perspectives and ideas of citizens in decision-making and policy-making. Still other governments are building networked relationships between the public and private sectors to solve challenging problems that cannot be addressed by either sector working alone.

An increasing number of countries are building transparency and accountability and driving public and private innovation by information and communication technologies, including social media. It is hoped that our government will also follow this forward-thinking path into the future.

Police officers found the narcotics during an anti-crime exercise in Besson Street on Tuesday night.

Police said that between 9 pm on Tuesday and 2 am yesterday, officers of the Inter-Agency Task Force Strike Team carried out an exercise which covered Dan Kelly, Laventille, and Nelson Street in Port of Spain.

Police officers went to Nelson street at around 11 pm and searched the rooftop of one of the buildings in the area. During the search they found a black plastic bag under some clothes.

Inside the bag was a large Tang container, which contained 13 packets of marijuana, weighing 320 grammes, and an Axe deodorant can containing 12 packets of cocaine, weighing 19.42 grammes, and two packets of heroin weighing 1.77 grammes.

No-one was arrested in connection with the discovery.

Prior to the drug find police found a firearm in Dan Kelly.

Task Force officers were in the area when they noticed a group of men liming. The men saw the police and ran off.

Although they did not catch any of the men, police officers searched the area and found a black plastic bag with a revolver and ammunition.

We congratulate Marie Siewnarinesingh, Sophia Ali, Neil- Ann Mc Millan, Randel Hamilton, and undergraduate scholar in health technology, Anand Hanuman.

They will be funded for a period of five to seven years.

The undergraduates stand to benefit from exposure to a country which has become world-famous for its medical expertise.

Since the 1950s Cuba has embarked on “doctor diplomacy”, practicing medical internationalism as a kind of soft diplomacy in order to consolidate its socialist reputation and exert influence.

Cuban doctors have played impressive roles on the front lines of the 2014 Ebola crisis.

It is widely believed medical doctors are Cuba’s most important export. As at 2012, 52 medical officers and 83 nurses arrived here from Cuba.

We benefit from this source of medical expertise given the clear gaps within our own beleaguered health care system. The scholarships are a chance to grow local talent.

However, it must be noted that Trinidadians trained in Cuba have in the past had difficulty when returning to practice here. The Ministry of Education must therefore ensure that it collaborates closely with the Ministry of Health and the Medical Board to ensure that appropriate systems are in place to enable returning professionals to be integrated in a system that is in dire need of an infusion.

It is also hoped that tuition and stipend disbursals will be protected from budget cuts given the problems that have arisen in the past. If we are serious about developing our human resources we must ensure that the funding for education is prioritised. Administration of these scholarships must also be efficient so that payments are made in a timely way, allowing students to focus on their education.

Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba have a long history of diplomatic ties. This began formally in December 1972. As recently as 2011, Raul Castro attended the 7th Caricom- Cuba Summit here. Caricom as a whole has maintained close relations with Cuba through thick and thin, notwithstanding the fallout between that country and the United States.

There was a time, in the 1970s, when this type of collaboration between this region and Cuba might have incurred Washington’s wrath. But the end of the Cold War and the failure of economic sanctions to effect change in Cuba have changed dynamics.

The Cuban scholarships come at a time when the fragile progress made in thawing relations between the US and Cuba have been shaken by Donald Trump’s insistence on reversing the policies of his predecessor.

The “Cuban Thaw” overseen by Barack Obama, with the help of Pope Francis, has been hampered by Trump. On June 16, 2017, he announced that he was “cancelling” the Obama administrations deals with Cuba, while also expressing that a new deal could be negotiated between the Cuban and United States governments.

Trump reinstated a ban on individual travel to Cuba by Americans, while leaving in place travel permission for organised “educational” groups and family visits.

He expanded the prohibition on American money going to the Cuban military.

But at a time of utter turmoil in Cuba’s close ally Venezuela, we must seek to deepen our ties with Cuba, not turn back the clock.

These scholarships are a sign that we will continue to engage with Cuba, not turn away.

A statement issued yesterday by the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs said Young signed the warrant of committal (by consent), which was presented before Acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle by the Central Authority Unit, for Sookdeo’s extradition.

The ministry said this is another victory for the Attorney General and the Central Authority Unit in the co-ordination of efforts with their international counterparts in the fight against crime.

Sookdeo is alleged to have committed several offences.

These include one count of conspiracy to defraud the US and to commit theft of government funds (which is punishable with a maximum term of five years imprisonment); one count of false claims to the US (which is punishable with a maximum term of five years imprisonment) and one count of interstate and foreign transportation of money taken by fraud (which is punishable with a maximum term of ten years imprisonment).

He is alleged to have committed these offences between 2006 and 2010 in the US and Canada before fleeing to this country.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, upon being advised by the Central Authority Unit that it had received a request from the US for the Sookdeo’s extradition, signed the authority to proceed on July 28. This triggered the extradition process. Sergeant Narace of the Interpol Bureau swore to and obtained the warrant of arrest from the court.

Sookdeo was arrested by Interpol police on July 28 in Debe, south Trinidad. He was taken before Earle-Caddle in the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrates Court on August 2. Attorney Graeme Mc Clean, head of the Central Authority Unit, and Netram Kowlessar appeared for the US. Sookdeo consented to being extradited to the US.

Police said Ian Grant, 36, was at the facility at about 9 am on Tuesday when he had an altercation with another homeless man. Grant was reportedly stabbed by his attacker who then fled the scene.

Members of the Homicide Bureau, located a short distance away from the crime scene, searched for the suspect but he was not found up to late yesterday.

Several witnesses were interviewed and statements recorded.

Grant’s killing pushed the murder toll to 296 for the year thus far.

The result follows 4-0 and 6-0 defeats to Costa Rica and United States respectively.

Canada took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute through Jérémie Omega Nkoy, an advantange they took to the half time interval.

Nkoy would add a second item after the break with Cameron De Silva adding another goal.

TT coach Russell Latapy said, “It was a good experience for the players over the three matches.

Definitely a learning experience and for the players who were able to see and experience a lot of different aspects of the game at the international level. Unfortunately at home we are not playing at a high enough level for these players to be really exposed to international football. The boys are seeing the importance of a lot of different aspects in terms of tactical awareness and the right mentality, the winning mentality.. a professional mentality.

“This trip was good for us especially staying here at the IMG Academy where these boys can see the way the professional athletes live and behave. I think in terms of potential and talent we are not far enough from some of these other teams. But again it is imperative we get into the right habits and this tournament was really important for that,” Latapy added.

“Things are going to take time to come through but we will continue to persevere with what we are trying too achieve,” the former national men’s team captain and coach ended.