Mohammed of Libertville in Rio Claro, appeared before Magistrate Ava Vandenburg-Bailey in the Second Court who read out a charge that on June 30, at Belle View Industrial Estate in South Oropouche, Mohammed sent a grossly offensive message via telephone.

Mohammed, a driver who celebrates his 25th birthday today, pleaded not guilty to the charge laid by Cpl Badree of Fraud Squad (South). Investigations were led by Snr Supt Totaram Dookie and including ASP Ghisyawan and Legal officer Cpl Bassarath.

Court prosecutor Sgt Starr Jacob told the magistrate that the prosecution cited five witnesses, among them Mohammed’s mother who attended the court hearing yesterday and who is the owner of the cellular phone from which the offensive message was allegedly sent.

The prosecutor requested that Mohammed’s initial bail, which was granted at the San Fernando Police Station, be regularised.

He was granted $500 own bail on Tuesday night but the magistrate changed the amount yesterday to $15,000 with the accused man’s father as the surety.

Attorney Hasine Shaikh, who represented Mohammed, told the court her client lives with his parents in Rio Claro. The attorney added that due to the allegations, Mohammed lost his job. She acknowledged that she received ten items of disclosure from the prosecutor who noted that a newspaper article remains outstanding.

After Magistrate Vandernburg- Bailey granted bail, she adjourned the matter to August 2. On Tuesday night, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions instructed members of the Fraud Squad to lay a charge in relation to a post on social media which stated, “Someone should find Rowley daughter and wife and slit their throats n rape them.” In a subsequent facebook post, an apology for the comment was made.

The maximum fine for the charge is $200 or a term of imprisonment of one month.

Speaking to media following the hearing yesterday attorney Shaikh said the alleged incident was a situation in which a person rose up against what is happening in the country and is now being penalized for this.

“At the end of the day there are a number of persons on social media and on television and radio programmes who have lots of things to say and the reality is, it’s a lot of emotion. I think we have been distracted,” the attorney said.

“So, unfortunately Mr Mohammed may have found himself in a little bit of a sticky situation based on the content of what was said. But, at the end of the day, it was an emotional response and I think he has issued his own apology on that issue,” the attorney said.

Guyana is an emerging economy, rich in natural resources, and strategically located between the Caribbean and South America, with access to key export markets, affordable labour and English as the official language. All things considered, the TT Chamber has found favourable conditions for doing business in Guyana, given the stable macroeconomic policies, attractive investment incentives, and a regulatory environment that does not discriminate against foreign investors.

Thirty-eight TT delegates from 25 companies took part in the Mission, representing the following sectors: ICT, Real Estate Development, Manufacturing, Business Support Services, Financial Services and Educational Services.

The two-day mission was structured in such a way to allow participants to not only engage in Business to Business (B2B) meetings with prospective business alliances, but also, to give them a better understanding of the wider trading and commerce opportunities available in Guyana.

On Day 1 of the visit Guyana’s Minister of Business, the Honourable Dominic Gaskin delivered the Feature Address at the opening ceremony, pledging his government’s and the private sector’s support of trade between the two countries.

The B2B meetings which were arranged by the Chamber, in collaboration with Action COACH Guyana, matched respective TT business representatives with Guyanese companies, based on their specific interest and needs in that market.

Over 100 B2B meetings were hosted over the two days – linking our 25 participating firms with over 60 Guyanese counterparts – fostering potential and actual linkages between the two CARICOM countries.

Trade Mission delegates gained a deeper understanding of the regulatory framework of the Guyanese market through several company site visits.

They met with the heads of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, GoInvest and the Guyana Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The TT Chamber extends its gratitude to the President of the Georgetown Chamber, for his resourcefulness and responsiveness.

A valuable mix of insights about the general landscape for operating a business in Guyana, advice from key regulatory organizations and personal anecdotal references were at the delegates disposal. For many the mission represented their first interface with Guyana in a bid to explore untapped potential in one of the Caribbean’s fastest-growing economies. Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin gave all assurances that his government, working along with the World Bank, would continue to improve on Guyana’s ranking in the Global Index with respect to conducti ng business. The future looks quite promising for business in Guyana! The TT Chamber would like to thank our corporate sponsors for making it all possible: Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited, exporTT, Caribbean Airlines Limited and the Pegasus Hotel (Guyana); and of course, TT business people who made the trip with us

The opportunities that can be derived from developing strong business relationships during the networking process are immeasurable once the process is purpose-driven, authentic and value-added to all parties involved.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the networking process is almost intrinsic to our personalities. This, as evidenced by the many varied opportunities we have developed to create the networking platforms. I am certain many of you can attest to having created the best business opportunities on a Friday evening lime, or at an all-inclusive event, prior to the late evening increased alcohol intake.

Such opportunities for networking are boundless, and can provide the atmosphere for incredible business potential, including referrals, business leads, increased personal profile, increased business connections, and sound business advice among other areas.

This being stated, I started this article with the word art, as the networking process indeed requires a measure of clever interaction to advance your agenda, as the wrong process used has the potential to cripple your networking and business possibilities almost with immediate effect. A few weeks ago, I was invited to a social event, with many ‘captains of industry,’ and other similar personalities. At this event, a young man, obviously fresh to the industry setting, thought it would be a great idea to canvass as many of these business persons as possible. His modus operandi was clear from the get go, as I viewed him identifying his target, circling at least two to three times, before interjecting himself either into the conversation circle his potential target was stationed, or placing himself in the proximity of same.

Whilst observing this process, I took mental notes of the do’s and don’ts for business networking based on his interactions. On the positive side, he was clear, mission-oriented and focussed on the outcome he sought.

His personal presentation was impeccable and his courage to ‘swim with the sharks’ was certainly noteworthy. On the other side, he gave the impression of being overly aggressive, bordering on obnoxious, and clearly did not understand the art of becoming part of a conversation, as he simply positioned himself and jumped into conversations – without first being introduced by anyone.

Business networking provides a wonderful opportunity once conducted in the right manner.

The first step is to choose the right opportunities to attend for your networking potential. Face-to-face networking remains one of the best ways to build effective networking potential. In addition to the many possibilities presented, it may be useful to peruse social media sites for potential networking opportunities that may be in line with your strategy.

Once you have identified the right opportunity, it is important to be prepared. Being prepared includes, knowing the ‘how to’ as it pertains to the process of introductions, versus interruptions.

The brash young man, of whom I spoke, clearly did not appreciate this difference, as his interventions were being construed as simply interrupting other people’s conversations.

It is a good lesson to attend your networking event with someone who may be already connected to the event, or its attendees. It is never a good idea to intrude into a conversation uninvited. If, however, you are introduced into the conversation, this is your opportunity to begin by developing a relationship with those whom you interact BEFORE launching into your sales pitch.

The most important aspect of the introductory conversation is to develop the relationship..

According to a release issued by the Police Service, Giselle Buckmire, 43, of Red Hill, D’Abadie was charged for the offences which occurred between July 26, 2012 and July 28, 2015 and allegedly arose from the falsification of an academic certificate .

Senior Magistrate Gillian David-Scotland granted Buckmire cash bail in the sum of $150,000 surety and adjourned the matter to July 31 .

According to the police, Buckmire was accused of forging a Bachelor of Arts certificate from the Anglia Ruskin University in support of her job application to the ERHA in 2012. An investigation was launched by the Financial Investigations Bureau (FIB) of the Police Service .

PC Christopher Walcott laid the charges on Tuesday after instructions were received from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions .

I see you as no less or more than any other grouping that makes up the mosaic of this country.

Like all of us you would make mistakes from time to time, and we have no choice but to forgive you because that’s what Christian brothers do.

ANISA GRANT via email

The fall in rankings in the series of indices such as the Global Peace Index (GPI), Human Development Index (HDI), Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Global Competitiveness Index (GCR), Index of Economic Freedom and World Press Freedom Index should be a worry for us all, especially when placed in the context of the wealth generated in this country between 1960 and 2015.

The GPI is an attempt to measure the relative position of a nations’ peacefulness. The index gauges global peace using three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarization. Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 was ranked 77th out of 163 countries. This ranking deteriorated to 97 in 2017.

Another index the HDI is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. This country had a ranking of 67 out of 159 countries in 2016 when compared to a rank of 58 in 2009.

Transparency International (TI) has published the CPI since 1996, annually ranking countries “by their perceived levels of corruption. The CPI generally defines corruption as “the misuse of public power for private benefit”. The CPI currently ranks 168 countries “on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). As at December 2016 Trinidad and Tobago had a scale of 35 giving us a ranking of 101. This scale describes us as mostly corrupt. The scale in 2015 was 39. We increased in corruption perception between 2015 and 2016. In 2009 this country was ranked 79.

The GCR is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum and ranks countries based on the GCR. The report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens. This in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources.

The GCR measures the set of institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and mediumterm levels of economic prosperity. The most 2016-2017 edition of Global Competitiveness Report assessed 138 economies. The GCI score varies between a scale of 1 and 7 scale. A higher average score means more competitiveness.

Data for 2015 ranked this country 94 out of 138 countries with a score of 3.9. In 2008/09 the country was ranked 92 with a score of 3.85.

While our score may have improved, our ranking fell suggesting many more countries had improved on their GCR scores.

The Index of Economic Freedom is an annual index and ranking to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world’s nations. The highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labour, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself. In 2016 this country was ranked 67 with a score of 64.1. A country with such a score is considered moderately free. When we look at the 2009 report we were ranked 41 with a score of 68.

This is another index where both our score and ranking have fallen.

In 1997, we were ranked 16th and this improved to our best ranking ever in 2000 when we attained a rank of 13th in the world.

World Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon the organization’s assessment of the countries’ press freedom records in the previous year. It reflects the degree of freedom that journalists, news organizations, and citizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.

A smaller score on the report corresponds to greater freedom of the press as reported by the organization. In 2017 this country was ranked 34th, much higher than Jamaica which was ranked 8th. We should note that in 2009 we were ranked 28th but in 2003 were we ranked 5th. What a deterioration! We have had the good fortune of improving material wealth in this country. This begs the question what did all this wealth generated between 1960 and 2015 translate to. Our loss of rank must be a matter of concern.

This statement is far from the truth and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the current administration is incapable of reducing the rising crime rate.

It is extremely weak and reckless because it emboldens criminals.

It would have been better for Baptiste-Primus to say the Government is doing everything in its power to ensure that crimes of passion are reduced by imposing stricter punishment on those who commit such brutal acts.

Crimes of passion in TT are on the rise and there is no justification whatsoever for these despicable crimes. It does not matter how hard the culprits try to defend their actions and justify their behaviour.

The rate of moral decadence in our society is frightening and if we do not come together as a nation to stop this, then we are headed for destruction.

One of the main reasons why the acts are on the rise is because the law is very lenient on crimes of passion and unless we make the laws stricter these crimes will continue escalating.

Most are engaging in these acts because no serious action is being taken against them. The media highlight the cases and no one bothers to follow up to ensure the criminal is brought to justice, hence some tend to think there are no consequences.

Urgent measures should be put in place to curb the worrying trend of partners injuring and killing each other over petty issues that would have otherwise been solved peacefully.

Intense public education should be carried out on how to handle relationship pressures so as to prevent people taking extreme measures over minor issues and knowing when to walk away instead of holding on.

Religious leaders also need to take up the challenge and intensify teachings on moral values as we cannot continue along this path of moral decay.

SIMON WRIGHT Chaguanas

At a news conference yesterday at the ministry’s Port of Spain office which was also attended by Chief Education Officer Patricia Mc David, the ministry’s permanent secretary Angela Sinaswee-Gervais and TTUTA head Lynsley Doodhai, Garcia gave a breakdown of the statistics of this year’s exam.

He noted, “a little dip” in the number of pupils overall, scoring over 50 percent, from 64.84 percent last year to 63.22 percent this year.

For Language Arts, Garcia saw a “huge improvement” in pupils scoring over 50 percent from 62.8 percent last year to 76.4 percent this year. Garcia did not offer figures for Math.

He did not present figures for Creative Writing, saying this subject was held under conditions of the Continuous Assessment Component (CAC) last year but as an exam paper this year, so no valid comparison could be made.

Garcia said the proportion of pupils scoring over 90 percent overall was now 14.25 percent, up from 12.17 percent last year.

For Language Arts this figure of high-achievers was 14.74 percent, up from 0.8 percent last year.

“Our Evaluation Department will have to look at it, a great disparity,” he said. Garcia lamented that some pupils have poor literacy and numeracy despite seven years of primary schooling.

Francis said “a remarkably high number” of pupils are scoring zero in the SE A Exam, even as otherwise competition is getting tighter at the higher end of the scale to the extent that to get your first choice, you would need a perfect score.

Francis lamented the crisis where a cohort of 100 pupils enter secondary school but only 20 ultimately graduate.

“My heart, my soul and my mind are focused on those at the other end of the scale. We can’t afford to have 2,000 young people on the cusp of secondary school who are unable to read or write,” Francis said.

He lamented that the proportion of pupils failing to reach 30 percent remains as troubling as had been seen last year. Some are likely challenged by “undiagnosed issues”, he lamented, adding that the Ministry must focus more attention on these pupils.

Citing a constituent’s child who had scored just five percent in Math and six percent in Language Arts, Garcia said such a pupil lacks the foundation to start secondary school, advising, “It is in their interest to build on their foundation.” However, Garcia and Mc David sent different messages as to whether parents of low-scoring pupils under 13, could insist their child move on to secondary school, rather than re-sit the SE A.

Posed this question, Mc David said no, but minutes later Garcia said yes.

“It is not an option. It is ministry’s policy that under 30 percent (and under 13 years old) will be asked to re-sit,” Mc David said. Garcia cited a Cabinet policy document that said low-performing pupils have the “opportunity” to repeat, but the document did not say if parents could refuse that offer. “It is up to the parent to accept that opportunity or not.” When asked if the head table was giving two conflicting statements, Garcia cut off the reporter mid-question to accuse him of trying to drive a wedge between himself and Mc David.

This request was granted.

The implementation of the CSME was high on the agenda on the first day of heads three-day meeting which ends today in St George’s, Grenada. Speaking during the first plenary session, Rowley expressed his frustration with the lack of action on the matter.

“I get the impression that all we are willing to do is talk this issue to death,” he said. “We cannot expect to get the benefits of medication if we refuse to swallow the medication.” At last year’s Heads of Government regular meeting in Georgetown, Guyana, Rowley had requested the inclusion of the CSME on the Caricom agenda and it was.

The integration initiative had for some time been on the back burner.

He suggested that when the special meeting is held that the integration movement decide definitively whether it will move forward or not with the CSME initiative. He said that deciding to pause the process could prove dangerous to the overall development and progress of the region.

A review on the outstanding issues related to the implementation of the CSME was presented at yesterday’s first plenary session. The review noted the need for clarification on the status of Haiti, Montserrat and the Bahamas, and the need for closer examination of the definition of a Caricom national.

During the meeting several heads reiterated their commitment to the CSME but raised several challenges that have impeded its full implementation. At the start of the meeting Rowley asked for Venezuela to be included on the agenda for discussion. Given ongoing developments in that country, he said, it was necessary for Caricom to reiterate its position on the matter.

Other decisions taken included an agreement that the region will develop a prospectus of transformative development projects and programmes for submission to the World Bank’s Small States Forum to be held in October, 2017, Singapore.

The heads also agreed to urgently expedite the selection of their National Implementing Entities (NIEs), to initiate the capacity building that would be required to get them accredited to the Green Climate Fund, and to appoint dedicated staff to their national designated authority so they could undertake the relevant readiness functions.

Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator Clarence Rambharat received the keys from President of National Energy, Dr Vernon Paltoo.

Rambharat, who said he was happy to receive the keys on behalf of Guayaguayare, shared his two-point plan for the use and maintenance of the Guayaguayare Fish Landing facility, based on discussions to be had with the Member of Parliament.

According to Rambharat, the plan includes making the facility available to the community for uses beyond fisheries.

He said possibilities included food processing, particularly smoked fish, a Mayaro brand of fish, and an east coast brand of chilled or frozen fish.

The second point in the plan involved having discussions with the leadership in the fisheries sector.

In his opening remarks, NEC President Dr Vernon Paltoo said, “The facility was conceptualized to promote the economic sustainability of the community.” The facility, he said, had been completed in 2012 at a cost of US$5 million as part of the Port of Galeota Phase 1 Project. It was intended to provide the fishing community of Mayaro and Guayaguayare with a space to carry out fishing-related activities including boat and net repair. The fish landing facility is equipped with fuel, water, ice and cold storage as well as 25 lockers, washrooms and parking space.