There is crying need for those who served the nation well to be treated with dignity and respect in their twilight years.

Over the years I have seen the elderly treated like gobar at government offices, health institutions and other public places.

Lately, I have been hearing that the elderly, who enjoy the facility of travelling free on Public Transport Service Corporation (PTS C) buses, are being told to go to the back of the bus. Is this the policy of the PTS C? This has to be overreach by some lamebrain operatives of the PTS C who like to show off on old people.

Is this the way they are getting their kicks? I will always praise the wonderful women at the Pension Division in Port of Spain, National Insurance Scheme offices and telephone operators of TSTT who always make a habit of good customer service. They deserve hugs and kisses.

KEITH ANDERSON via email

One long week where some residents are trying to recover from damaged homes, blown off roofs and floodwaters.

Hundreds were affected, some with there homes under three and four feet of water. And to exacerbate the situation, there were intense showers over the weekend.

However, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said the ministry had the clean up efforts under control.

“Right now we have equipment all over. I got a report from Siparia today and the manager said they hired a contractor to rebuild areas that were damaged and to start to have the area pumped out. All the district managers have their instructions, and we have equipment in some of the major roadways.

“All the area managers know that we have to repair some of the major areas that were damaged and continue the clean up.

“We had started about three months ago with the major water courses which is something that should be done by a drainage programme. We want to put some more resources behind it.

There are some areas that may not have been maintained in the way they should have been, so it is something they we are going to ramp up,” Sinanan told Newsday.

The minister said he visited El Socorro South yesterday morning where they were having problems with the water pumps.

However the matter has since been rectified as they were able to bring in more pumps and the water had receded significantly.

Sinanan said the weekend rain did not hamper their clean-up efforts “I don’t think we would have gotten the amount that would have put us under any more pressure, but I’m glad we got some sunny weather. When I visited El Socorro this morning, which was one of the lowest areas, we still had some water there. Our people are out there working and we will get the results that we are looking for. I should be getting another report (today)” Sinanan said.

The minister said his ministry’s main priority was bringing relief to the people.

However, he could not say what could not put a figure as to how much damage Bret left behind.

As to sanitising homes in flooded areas, especially where there were outhouses with raw sewage and animal rearing, Sinanan said health departments in the regional corporations had a programme especially for this.

“The health department takes this very seriously, especially in the rainy season. I am sure the programme they have for that would have kicked in already.

This is something that they monitor even through the dry season, especially insect vector because with floods we have a lot of mosquitoes and so on,” he said.

Sinanan said he was also quite happy to see this time around people, most anyway, heeded warnings about venturing out into floodwaters since there was no way to tell what contaminants there were lurking there.

Chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation Martin Terry Rondon said his staff had been given assistance by the Port of Spain City Corporation which loaned them two water trucks and a cesspool truck.

Sangre Grande/Valencia sustained heavy damage with several residents having their roofs blown off.

In Sangre Grande, especially in Vega de Oropouche, Fishing Pond and Leemond, residents were literally swamped with muddy flood waters.

“Right now they are cleaning the cesspits and washing down all the houses. Leemond still has some water which has receded significantly. We are distributing bleach and sanitisers and disinfectant to residents to help with the clean up. They are also cleaning all the parks and recreation grounds,” Rondon said.

Valencia councillor Simone Gill said clean-up in Valencia has been going very well.

“The corporation has taken up some short term employment in each of the electoral districts so councillors were able to have burgesses in the area, with the volunteers they would have had, to assist with the clean up,” she said.

Gill said the Lockhart family of 15, of Evergreen Avenue, Valencia, were back home. Several members of the family had to seek shelter at the Valencia South Government Primary School after part of their roof was blown off.

She said the corporation donated a tarpaulin and through contributions in the neighbourhood they were able to purchase wood, nails and other materials for the family to make repairs.

According to reports, Pradeep Bridgelal parked his vehicle outside Munroe Road Hindu Temple, at about 9 pm on Saturday, and went inside where prayers were being recited. He returned at about 11 pm to discover the glass smashed and his valuables missing. Cunupia police were alerted and they carried out enquiries resulting in the arrest of a 36-year-old man, of Munroe Road.

The suspect was held with a small amount of cocaine rocks and some of the stolen items. He was taken to the Cunupia Police Station and will appear before a Chaguanas magistrate today.

Combine could only post a mere 104 runs for nine wickets from their quota of 20 overs.

Clevion Fredrick and Clevan Williams were the topscorers with the bat with 25 and 23 runs respectively. Deonarine bamboozled the batsmen in his four overs and ended with figures of three wickets for 10 runs. He was eventually given the Man of the Match award for his excellent performance.

Embattled West Indies batsman Darren Bravo continued his tidy job with the ball in the tournament as he ended the match with figures of 2/12.

Bamboo reached their target of 105 runs quite comfortably in 14.1 overs, for the loss of only two wickets. Johnathon Narine top scored with 47 runs while Bravo made 34 runs.

In another fixture, Ihiley Smith continued his rich vain of form as he scored another half century to lead Valley Boys over Youngstaz by 61 runs.

After being inserted to bat, Princess Town Valley Boys posted a challenging total of 171/3 in their 20 overs. Smith belted 65 runs from 33 balls including four sixes and two fours. He was later adjudged the Man of the Match and received the ‘purple cap’ for being the leading runscorer in the tournament. Also, contributing with the bat was the experienced Shazam Babwah with 28 runs from 15 balls. Uthman Mohammed performed with the ball as he took 3/27 from his 4 overs. Youngstaz’S innings never got going and they could only muster 110/7 from their 20 overs. The lone contributor with the bat was Andy Gobin with 46 runs from 31 balls. Kris Goomansigh had the best figures of 2/12.

He was speaking during the debate on the bill at Parliament. He said he would like to see the day when no fines are collected for traffic violations.

“That is what this bill aims to do not to raise fines but it aims to raise our consciousness as a society as to how to treat ourselves and how to treat fellow road users and how to behave as a civilised society. That is the purpose of the legislation and to make our highways safer,” he said. Sharing statistics from the TT Police Service for deaths by road users, Deyalsingh said pedestrians account for 21 per cent of the deaths due to road accidents and cyclists three percent. Passengers in four-wheel vehicles and light vehicles account for 34 per cent of the deaths while drivers of four-wheel cars and light vehicles account for 34 per cent. “So cars and pick up trucks and light vehicles combined account for 71 per cent of the road fatalities. That is a frightening figure and that is what this bill is about. This bill as the Opposition will have you believe is not about revenue generation it’s about life.

It’s about inculcating a culture of safety on our roads because our roads are a place of lawlessness,” he said.

Responding to points raised by Opposition members that the bill interfered with freedom of movement, Deyalsingh said it does not.

“A licence to operate a vehicle is a contract between the individual and the state. You take away that licence because they have broken the law several times it does not therefore interfere with freedom of movement. Even if you own the car and you lose your licence your freedom of movement is not impeded, simply get a driver. Hire a taxi, go by bus but let us not fool the public into thinking that your constitutional rights are being taken away, they are not.”

Biput, who turned 17 last December, has progressed from the junior level to the senior level. Biput left TT last Wednesday for the World Championships, which started last Saturday and ends on Friday.

The tournament is a high quality, high ranking international tournament with some of the world’s best fighters including Olympic participants.

Biput is fully aware of the quality of this tournament, but he is not daunted by this as he is expected to give it his all on fight day.

Biput, who is being coached by Colin Mofford at the tournament, was dominant as a junior national athlete. He was the best men’s junior and the best overall fighter at the National Taekwondo Championships in 2015 and 2016.

The Fatima College student, who has a supportive family, is also coached by Master Cheryl-Ann Sankar. The World Championships will be a good test for Biput who has aspirations of competing at the 2020 Olympics.

This money was spent on goods, services, infrastructure (including roads, drains, fences and utilities), building construction (including foundation and steel structures), furniture and consultancy.

As of May the project was 82 per cent complete, he said.

However, Garcia could not say when the institute will open, but said, “We are hoping that by the end of 2018 we might have some determination”.

Garcia, in reply to a separate listed question by Karim, said that while UTT is exploring its efficiencies and seeking to balance its costs, at this time there are no concrete plans to reduce the university’s staff.

Otherwise, Garcia, in reply to another question by Karim, said that to date his ministry had funded the School Improvement Project by $1.22 million.

Only one contractor had been paid, some $510,000, even as he could not recall the names of the other contractors awaiting payment

According to reports, around 3 pm last Thursday, businesswoman Monica Knott had stopped at a restaurant on Naparima Mayaro Road in Tableland when three men, one armed with a gun, entered, announced a robbery and pushed her to the floor.

She was robbed of $600 and two cellphones.

While the robbery was in progress, Tableland officers on patrol noticed a grey Nissan Cube parked near the restaurant with the driver inside.

The police parked a short distance away and while waiting they saw three men running to the vehicle.

The officers promptly arrested suspects– two teenagers from Carlsen Field, a 20-year-old from Claxton Bay and a 30-year-old PH driver from Edinburgh 500.

A search was carried out and the stolen cellphones and money were found on the men.

They were taken to the Tableland Police Station where PCs Ramlogan and Roget questioned them and they confessed to throwing away the gun in the bush.

The officers found the weapon and all four remained in police custody over the weekend awaiting charges for armed robbery and possession of ammunitio

Hundreds of residents endured widespread flooding, some were even marooned, and incurred damage to property and crops.

In a release yesterday, Persad-Bissessar made it clear that the Opposition walked out of the House of Representatives only after the debate on the matter was completed, dismissing an editorial in the Sunday Express, which claimed the Opposition took this position when the country was going through such turmoil and hardship.

She said the Hansard recording and the audiovisual showed when Opposition MPs left the House. She said she filed the flooding motion under Standing Order 17 and the debate began at 6 pm to continue for one hour.

“I led off the debate, with a 20-minute submission as permitted by the Standing Order, and reported on the destruction of homes, livestock and farm lands, and dislocation of families, and noted the poor and slow responses of the Government.

“The Government’s main response came from the Honourable Minister of Works (Rohan Sinanan), who, in an address of about ten minutes criticised the Opposition and claimed the Government had responded to the flood in an effective and timely manner. Following that, several speakers made five-minute presentations, as permitted under the Standing Order,” she noted.

Persad-Bissessar said during his brief contribution, Princes Town MP Barry Padarath was accused by Leader of Government Business of being a “racist”, and was endorsed by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

She said when the Opposition called on the Speaker (Brigid Anniestte-George) for a ruling with respect to the said statements, the Speaker proceeded to suspend the sitting of the House for ten minutes, following which, she resumed debate on the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill.

Persad-Bissessar said when the Opposition again sought to have a ruling made, and was denied, they took a decision to demit the House for the day as “we felt that such a matter warranted a ruling”.

“I wish to reiterate that the Opposition did not walk out of a debate on the floods. In fact, it was the Opposition which caused a debate to take place…The Government’s reply was the typical fare of blame-casting, stonewalling and irrelevancies.” She said the Opposition did not abandon “the people’s business” with the walkout, noting six MPs had contributed to the debate on the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill over the two days of sittings, adding the six Opposition Senators contributed when the bill was before the Senate.

Opting to bowl first in a contest reduced to 43 overs following a two-hour delayed start due to rain at the Queen’s Park Oval, St Clair, the Windies watched as the visitors piled up 310 for five with opener Ajinkya Rahane top-scoring with 103. Captain Virat Kohli struck an imperious 66-ball 87 while left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan chimed in with 63.

“We didn’t bowl anywhere near as well as we could’ve done and that’s probably the first time that’s happened since I’ve been here so you can live with that to a certain extent,” Law told reporters following the defeat. “But you’ve got to be better than that with the ball.

The way we started, the way we set the tone for our innings wasn’t how we wanted to do it and I think at times our plans didn’t quite work out.” Opener Shai Hope’s classy 81 stood out in the Windies reply but they never quite recovered from a position of four for two in the third over, to end on 205 for six off their allotted overs.

Law, in his fourth series with the Caribbean side after taking over earlier this year, said the experience gained in the defeat would be beneficial to the young team.

“Some of our boys haven’t played a lot of international cricket so to get some time in the middle against some quality bowlers is good for thei confidence,” the Australian pointed out.

“When we batted I thought Shai Hope played extremely well.” With the gulf between the two sides evident in the encounter, Law said the Windies were aware of the odds against them up against a powerful India side.

However, he argued that West Indies still possessed enough ability to challenge the Indians, especially against the backdrop of their encouraging performances against Pakistan recently.

“We’ve got to understand that India are number three in the world for a reason and they’ve ben hovering around that top three for quite a while now.,” Law explained.

“They’ve got some of the best players, if not the best players in the world up there so we know that we’ve got to play really well and compete really hard to get anything out of these games but there is no reason why we can’t.

“We pushed Pakistan all the way when they were out here recently.

We beat them chasing down 308 in the first ODI and in the last two we nearly got over the line as well so those performances are in us.

“We’re lacking a little bit of something, a little bit of edge with our bowling and with our batting we are not quite getting off to good starts consistently.”