“I was appalled to see that instead of talking with us (the trade unions) he wants to talk to those who he said previously could not do the job… but he wants to have talk sessions with them,” an angry Roget said, adding, “you condemn them for not being able to do the job (yet when) you run out of ideas you want to talk with them. We are at our wits end and must take action.” He raised the issue of Rowley’s invitation to Persad-Bissessar at JTUM’s second mobilisation exercise at Busy Corner in Chaguanas.

What is particularly galling for Roget and the trade union movement is the fact that it was the very same Rowley and the People’s National Movement (PNM) that signed a memorandum of understanding on August 27, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, in which there was an agreement for consultations.

Turning his attention on possible job cuts in the private sector as alluded to by Rowley during the latter’s conversations forum on Tuesday at the Point Fortin East Secondary School, Roget declared he would have none of this and neither will the labour movement allow itself to be fooled by pronouncements made on political platforms.

“I want to say to this government and those in charge of governance in this country, people are suffering and no amount of talk, no amount of trying to convince me that I have to suffer more for you to balance your books, will suffice,” Roget said.

“And so we are only hearing about announcements on political platforms about public sector cuts…we will not accept that!” “It is our right to do what we think necessary in defence of our members, from daily paid workers to to public sector workers.

We will not accept that workers must bear the brunt and that the full yoke of adjustment must rest squarely on the shoulders of workers,” he said.

“That is not what we sat and drafted out and agreed to (when the MoU was signed). Indeed, we were aware back then of the challenges we would face and as a result of that we drafted a proper way forward, a blueprint to surmount and overcome all challenges.” Roget said he was appalled that Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, a former leader of the Public Services Association (PSA) is unaware of how many persons have been retrenched since her government took office in September 2015 or that retrenchment is being considered in the public service.

At Bruno’s funeral service at St Theresa’s RC Church in Malick, Chairman of the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation Anthony Roberts gave a recent example of Bruno’s dedication which occurred during Tropical Storm Bret last month.

“While people were getting off the street to be at home to secure their family this man had other ideas.

Bruno in intense back pain and not knowing what exactly was responsible for the pain, he was able to persuade his son to travel with him to deliver sand bags leading up to and even after the hour the storm was to have made landfall.

So as we bid farewell to our brother we recognize the lessons he has taught us. Commitment and dedication to duty, genuine love for ones community and talk less and do more,” he said. Bruno, 53, died on Saturday last after a brief battle with cancer. Delivering the eulogy was former MP Joseph Ross who said in the four years Bruno was a councillor, he walked the streets every day and night checking every drain and street light.

“If there are less vehicular accidents on the roads of Barataria today we must say thanks to Pernell for ensuring that we are protected by the humps he has placed on every street in Barataria. If there are young men and women and not so young as well playing in the savannahs we must say thanks for his efforts in ensuring the grounds are properly maintained at all times. He treated those grounds as though it belonged personally to him,” he said.

Among those attending the service were Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein, Energy Minister Franklin Khan and members of the various regional corporations. Bruno was later laid to rest at the San Juan Hill cemetery.

He made the remark after Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan announced new construction packages heading to tender at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

Sinanan said Cabinet agreed to four additional packages being tendered (to give a total of seven so far), and five more packages are for tender next month. He said a stretch of highway from Gulf City Mall to Dunlop Roundabout in Point Fortin will take two years to complete.

Sinanan said the Moruga Road rehabilitation project will consist of fixing 22 landslips and constructing 22 culverts plus road repair where needed. He said it will begin very shortly and maximise the use of local content thereby giving opportunities for local contractors.

Regarding the Tobago sea bridge ferry, Sinanan expressed confidence in Port Authority board chairman Allison Lewis describing her as someone who is thorough in her decision-making process. “I’m putting my faith that Mrs Lewis and the board would have done the right thing,” he said.

“My information is that we have two vessels en route to TT. One would be here on Sunday which would take care of the cargo aspect of it, and sometime later this month we have a ferry vessel that is expected to arrive on the island.” Saying the due date was supposed to have been July 17, he said he expects the board took their attorneys’ advice on this.

Ecuador are currently ranked 31st on the FIFA ranking and lie in sixth position on the South American World Cup qualifying table, two points behind Argentina who they defeated 2-0 in 2018 World Cup qualifying action in Buenos Aires in October 2015. Their next qualifying match is away to Brazil on August 31.

Ecuador have appeared in three FIFA World Cups.

TT will host Honduras on September 1 before travelling to Panama City to take on Panama four days later. Coach Dennis Lawrence indicated that the outing on July 26 will give him a chance to assess the available players.

“The game versus Ecuador is another step in our preparation for the (forthcoming) World Cup qualifying match against Honduras,” Lawrence told TT FA Media.

“The game is against a good South American opposition and I expect it to be good for us. It will give us an opportunity to assess those players who are selected and provides us valuable game time in a period when some of our other CONCACAF opponents are also involved in international matches,” he added.

Through its partnership with RSC International, the ministry isaiming to empower local NGOs, social development groups and community agencies using digital technologies to assist them in enhancing their operational efficiency throughout the IT Enabled Services (ITeS) sector Attendees included participants represented through the Gift for Life Foundation, members of the visually impaired community, various women’s organizations focused on gender equity and empowerment and students from the Caribbean Union College.

The workshops centered on computer repair and refurbishment, robotics and game design, computer skills for the visually impaired and digital media train –the- trainer training provided to participants to teach their peers.

RSC International, is in the process of conducting online workshops and peer to peer support teaching for local and regional students through their online teaching teams.

These teams comprise several national scholarship winners and students who volunteer their time and services to disenfranchised groups and personnel to build capacity in academic and or business endeavors through ITeS training.

The wounded man is under police guard at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

Police said at about 10am, members of the Port of Spain CID and Task Force were at Nelson Street when they saw the man with what appeared to be a gun.

They said they ordered him to surrender the weapon but he allegedly refused and fired at them. The man was shot in the right foot and taken to hospital.

Police said they recovered a .9mm pistol and several rounds of ammunition. Investigations are continuing

Brennon Rampersad, 28, of Siparia is facing Justice Kathy Ann Waterman-Latchoo in the San Fernando High Court.

In opening the case to nine jurors yesterday, senior State attorney Shabanna Shah, said it was at about 3 pm on May 12, 2007, when Rampersad was driving a car along the Siparia Erin Road. In the vehicle, Craig Harrypersad, 15, was seated in the back passenger seat and the attorney said that Birsingh Gadraj, 69, was driving a truck in the opposite direction heading towards Penal.

Rampersad was driving on the left side of the road on his way to Siparia.

Shah told the judge and jury that during the trial they will hear how the car swerved onto to the extreme right and slammed into Gadraj’s truck.

Shah said that Harrypersad suffered injuries and was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died the following day.

The incident was investigated and Rampersad, who was 18 at the time, was charged with causing the death of Harrypersad by dangerous driving. There was a preliminary inquiry in the Siparia Magistrates’ court and he was committed to stand trial before a judge and jury.

Truck driver Birsingh was not called to give evidence yesterday.

Waterman-Latchoo was told that he suffers from Alzheimers.

The deposition which contained his evidence given in the magistrates’ court, was read to the jury and it stated that when he saw the car “open” wide on the bend, it started to swerve. Birsingh pulled to the left and stopped.

The car continue swerving and stopped under the truck, the jury heard from disposition.

The trial continues today

The status of the school was revealed by Education Minister Anthony Garcia at the Conversations with the Prime Minister event held at the Point Fortin East Secondary School on Tuesday evening. The revelation was in response to a parent asking how soon her child and other students of the school could expect to be moved out of the community centre and into a new, more comfortable school.

“Earlier this year,” said Garcia, “the MP for the area and myself visited a number of schools in this area including the Fanny Village Government School. What we have found is that the new school that was being constructed was being constructed in a swamp, and the school is sinking.” Garcia added, “We are taking measures to ensure that those who were responsible for the design would be held accountable, because we cannot understand how a school could be built in a swamp. In addition to that, we have identified a number of schools that we are going to continue the construction and as soon as we have the requisite funds, the Fanny Village Government School would be among those that we would be constructing.” Construction of the new school began in 2015 after the old structure was burnt in April that year. Since then, Standards One through Three students were accommodated in the community centre, while Standards Four and Five were housed in a prefabricated building. The school has an enrolment of approximately 250 students.

In a telephone interview with Newsday yesterday, Garcia said the building is not usable and would therefore be demolished.

He could not say when or where construction of a new school would begin, but assured that discussions were underway between the Ministry of Education and the Education Facilities Company Limited.

Garcia said the original designers of the building, intended to be a two-storey building, were fired. When another designer was hired, it was decided that a single-storey structure might have been able to stand up on the site. He said government is now in search of a new location for the construction of the school.

Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis told Newsday his investigations into the school revealed that villagers warned the contractors against building the school on that site.

“The villagers told me they told the contractor to be very careful about building the school on that site because it used to be a dam so the water table there is very high.” He said prior to this government’s tenure, there were also plans to retrofit the sinking school which would have skyrocketed the cost from $28 million to about $68 million.

“The end of the tale is a sad one because we have children who are in a community centre so the community does not have use of the centre. We have $28 million odd on the ground that cannot be used and then now in the midst of these difficult times we have to find money to build a new school.” Asked who was ultimately responsible, Francis said “EFCL has been asked to conduct an investigation and they have assured that one is underway. I am adamant that somebody owes us money and I am adamant that somebody is going to pay us.”

Police believe the man was first shot while at Prince Street and ran towards Charlotte Street where he collapsed and died.

However checks by police revealed the surveillance cameras at Prince Street were not working. Four shots were heard at about 4.45 am near Prince Street and police were called.

Inspector Harvey Jawahir and members of the Homicide Bureau and district medical officer Dr. Ojahr went to the scene.

They found the body of a man of African descent wearing only blue jeans and black sneakers.

Two spent shells were found nearby.

People at Prince Street told police they only knew the man as ‘Yankee’.

Lewis intended to travel from Curepe to Arouca and then to the airport for his flight to Guyana. He told police he entered a gold Almera car with four people including two women. However, on reaching near Rich Gold Hotel, Chase Village, one of the men pointed a gun at him and announced a hold up. He was robbed of $1,000 in cash and other valuables and ordered out of the car. He made a report to the Central Division police who began investigating and the car was intercepted at Crown Trace, Enterprise at about 1am.

The 25-year-old woman and the men who are in their 20s were arrested.