On Wednesday, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi said the DNA legislation which was passed in 2011 allows for all prisoners convicted and remanded as well as the arrestee population and all officers from the protective services, Customs, Prisons and Immigration to submit themselves for DNA testing so that the information could be placed on a DNA database.

The AG also said he expects the lab to be set up by September or even earlier and added that the legislation makes it mandatory for the DNA test to be carried out on certain individuals.

However, President of the Police Social and Welfare Association (PSWA) Inspector Michael Seales yesterday lashed back at the AG claiming that he will have a legal fight on his hands if no consultation is carried out on the matter with the PSWA and other relevant bodies.

He said Government can legislate to do anything but once you have to impact on terms and conditions, you have to have a discussion with the representative unions and it cannot be the position that the Government could legislate without consultation.

“The membership of the Association can assure that although they have nothing to hide, (it) will challenge that legislation in court. “You can legislate but you cannot abrogate the rights of an individual under the Constitution.

“So any officer will have the full protection of the law and must not be in a position that he is disenfranchised because of the law. I think the Association will recommend consultation because the membership will have to have a clearer picture why they need a DNA data base, but without consultation it is a recipe for chaos”.

He noted that whenever a request is made for DNA tests to be carried out on any officer, the executive will meet with the membership to arrive at a consensus on the matter.

Yesterday President of the Prison Officers Association Ceran Richards said that he had not yet discussed the matter with his membership but added “The same haste and energies the Attorney General is extending to gather data for their DNA data bank we want the same haste and energy applied for the protection of prison officers on and off duty, that we call for Law Enforcement Act and although the Attorney General has set up a commit to treat with it we want a committee and the Attorney General to move with the same haste and energy having these laws brought before the parliament to protect law enforcement officers in this country who are under constant attack from the criminal element”.

He said that It appears that the state is not interested in the officers’ safety and security, “so we want the same enthusiasm haste and energies applied to this particular fundamental area.

We want politicians as well to take the same DNA tests” Newsday understands that Government is in negotiation with experts from England and the United States with a view of getting the best persons to set up the DNA lab.

The DNA regulator has already been contracted and is in the process of recruiting suitably qualified persons locally to assist in the setting up of the lab.

Connection, who defeated St Ann’s Rangers and Point Fortin Civic, are the only team with a 100-percent record this season.

The Connection- Sando match will get going from 8 pm and will be staged at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

Reigning champions Central FC were inactive for a week as their Round One Match Day Two fixture against North East Stars was abandoned due to alleged poor lighting and improper field markings at the Arima Velodrome.

They will take to the field today to meet Point Fortin Civic in the earlier match at Couva, from 6 pm.

Rangers have been on a break since their scheduled Round One Match Day Two match against Club Sando was cancelled on Tuesday due the passage of Tropical Storm Bret.

Rangers will be back on the field tomorrow when they face Police at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima from 4 pm.

And Round One Match Day Three action will conclude on Tuesday with a pair of matches at Couva – Defence Force versus North East Stars (6 pm) and Morvant Caledonia United versus San Juan Jabloteh (8 pm).

Speaking to the media following Jack’s two-hour presentation, Charles said he was indeed pleased with the presentation.

“Ecstatic, actually as you recognise, this is the first budget under my watch and I am very, very pleased with the areas of focus,” he said.

The Chief Secretary noted that things must be done differently, as it is not business as usual.

“I think that Tobagonians recognise that there are things to be done and in fact the theme of the budget which is ‘Unleashing the creative and productive capacity of our people’, as you would, I am sure on sober reflection, will understand is what is needed.

Everyone in Tobago recognises that this is the time for change, everyone recognises that we must do things differently, we are now calling the people to action and we would be leading the charge in ensuring that the requisite mindset as well as the kinds of activities to complement that mindset are effective,” he said.

Questioned on the issue of Sandals and its proposed construction in Tobago, Charles said negotiations are at a delicate stage.

“Have patience my dear friend, have patience, Rome was not built in a day.

As I did promise, once we begin to get information that we feel can be disseminated to the population, we will do so. As you know, we have begun our negotiations and negotiations are at a delicate stage but don’t worry, you shall be advised appropriately.” He said the people of Tobago will be involved in the process soon.

“Consultations in the main will revolve around issues relative to the environment and so on and therefore, as soon as the application for CEC (Certificate of Environmental Clearance) and so on, the Environmental commission will set up those conversations and we would expect Tobagonians to participate fully.” … And with an inefficient sea and air bridge, Charles is hopeful that the situation will be fixed shortly.

“The solutions are imminent and if I were a betting man I would bet you but, I am not a betting man but these things will be attended to.

As a matter of fact, as was indicated in the budget presentation, I have been in close communication both with the Minister as well as the Chairman of the board, so I am aware of the actions that have been taken and at this stage all that we are really doing is dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. Two vessels will be here and arrive in time for the busy season, that assurance I give you,” he said.

The Oval outfield was badly affected with persistent rainfall on Monday night and Tuesday morning due to the passage of Tropical Storm Bret. There was a persistent drizzle at the venue yesterday afternoon and the forecast for today is cloudy, with a 22 percent chance of rain.

However, the hosts will be hoping that the rains stay away, as they seek to overturn a poor run of form in 2017, with only two victories in nine ODI matches.

With fast bowler Shannon Gabriel ruled out with a side strain, pacer Miguel Cummins or Kesrick Williams will likely partner Alzarri Joseph with the new ball, with Ashley Nurse and/or Devendra Bishoo providing the spin options for the hosts.

But it is with the bat that the West Indies may need improvement as they have struggled badly on home soil against England, Pakistan and Afghanistan during the year.

India, who were thrashed by 180 runs in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in London, England last Sunday, will be looking to put aside an off-field controversy involving captain Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble, who resigned as the team coach on Tuesday citing a strained relationship with the number one ranked ODI batsman.

Windies captain Jason Holder, speaking to the media before yesterday’s practice session at the Queen’s Park Oval, commented, “The team morale is very good.

The guys got a chance to refresh and we’re happy to get outside. We made full use of it.” Looking ahead to the challenge which will be posed by India, Holder said, “Once we do the correct thing and execute our plans, we have a good chance of defeating India. We’ll start the series in Trinidad and we want to get off the mark.” Asked about the issues affecting the visiting camp, Holder made it clear, “That’s not a concern for me.

We’ve got to focus on the West Indies and what’s best for us. At the end of the day, we’ve got to deal with our own problems.” The second ODI will be con tested at the Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday.

Squads: WEST INDIES: Jason Holder (capt), Evin Lewis, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Jonathan Carter, Jason Mohammed, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Devendra Bishoo, Ashley Nurse, Alzarri Joseph, Miguel Cummins, Kesrick Williams.

INDIA: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.

Four teams, namely the Under- 15 Male, Under-18 Male, Senior Female and the Senior Men, represented the host nation (Team TTO) on the opening day.

The tournament’s first match saw Puerto Rico dominating Jamaica 16-9 in the Under-18 Male category. Team TTO’s Under-15 Boys were evenly matches against the Bahamas and lost a close encounter 12-11, in their first round game of the best-of-five series. Ross Gillette scored three goals for the hosts while Everson Latchman and substitute Yannick Robertson scored two apiece in the losing effort. The local boys will be looking to level the series at 1:30 pm today.

Team TTO’s U-18 Male, looking to make a positive start to their campaign, thumped Barbados 24-8 in their opening match of the preliminary rounds. Chad Rowley led the offensive charge, scoring 11 goals in the process and Jean Luc Hinds contributed nine as Team TTO cruised to victory. Also getting on the scoresheet for Team TTO were Joshua Welsh and Jason Hackett, both ending with four goals.

In the other games contested, Cuba defeated Mexico 10-6 in the Open Senior Female category and Jamaica emerged victorious over Barbados 14-7 in the Open Senior Men’s.

Team TTO’s Senior Female team were set to battle Venezuela at 4pm, however, the match was rescheduled to 7:15pm, due to the Venezuelan team’s late arrival.

Team TTO’s Senior Men faced Cuba at the same time last evening as both games were being played up until press time.

After winning the toss, Valley Boys posted a competitive total of 153 runs for the loss of five wickets from their allotted 20 overs.

Smith played possibly the best innings of the tournament in front of the eager crowd who were deprived of cricket for two days due to Tropical Storm Bret.

Smith’s stroke-filled innings was the backbone of the total and it came off 63 balls including seven fours and seven sixes.

The right-handed Smith shared in a 77-run partnership with the experienced and former Trinidad and Tobago Red Force player Sanjiv Gooljar who scored 20 runs from 22 balls. West Indies Under-19 player Kirstan Kallicharan was the best bowler with 2/21.

The confident All Stars B team who were unbeaten in their two previous matches had a horrid start to their run chase when Kris Goomansingh had Amir Jangooo brilliantly caught in the gully by Gooljar for 10 runs. After slipping to three wickets down for 18 runs, Vikash Mohan gave them some hope with a positive knock of 34 runs. Also contributing with the bat was Nathaniel Mc David (32 runs not out) but they could only muster 133 runs for eight wickets when their 20 overs expired. Goomansingh was the best bowler with figures of 2/20.

Seepersad-Bachan in a release yesterday that her decision was made after many conversations with the wider COP membership and encouragement from COP veterans. “I made this decision with the understanding that a new political leader will be required to awaken the party from its current slumber, and lead us to a place well beyond the former glory days of 2006, when we were seen as the political vehicle of change.” “The Congress of the People was formed out of a demand for transparency and fairness in governance, but many who were once attracted to the COP’s ideas now feel that the party has veered off its original charted course. It will be my mandate to steer the Congress of the People back on track.”

She said that she has always been a faithful supporter of the COP “even when I viewed the actions of some as contrary to the party’s founding values.” Seepersad-Bachan said that she still continues to believe in the ideals and vision on which the COP was built on. “If elected, my focus as your new Political Leader will be to regain the trust of our membership and supporters, and to once again instill confidence in the people of this nation that we can get the politics right.” In July 2016, Dr Anirudh Mahabir was elected as political leader following the resignation of Prakash Ramadhar.

ustice Frank Seepersad, in delivering a judgment, cited negligence by the Corporation in failing to respond in a timely manner to remove the dogs from the premises which could have avoided such tragic circumstances. The dogs , at the time of the attack, were on a portion of property which belonged to resident Darryl La Pierre under the HDC’s control. The judge said the Corporation knew that the dogs were dangerous and capable of causing injury as there were previous incidents where the dogs had attacked persons in the area. In addition, Seepersad said that as a consequence of the failure of the HDC to take action so as to prevent the presence of the dogs on Flamboyant Avenue, security was denied to the deceased woman and she was mauled to death in a horrific and tragic way.

It is the first time that such a lawsuit has been filed against the corporation. The case was filed by widower, Lionel Rackal, 54, of Indian Trail, Couva.

Denise Rackal was 47 years when she was mauled to death by four pitbulls on May 9, 2011. On that day, Denise was walking along Bengal Avenue, Edinburgh South Gardens, which is one of the HDC’s housing developments in Chaguanas, when she was attacked by the dogs named “Obama”, “Champion”, “Zola” and “Fella” which belonged to resident Darryl La Pierre, the occupier of a HDC lot at Edinburgh South Gardens. La Pierre was named as the first defendant in his lawsuit for negligence while the HDC was named the 2nd defendant.

There were also holes in the fences of the property which is where the dogs escaped.

Seepersad said the HDC failed to address the issue and took no steps to have the fence repaired nor did it mandate La Pierre to do so. In addition, he said no steps were taken by the HDC to have the dogs removed. The judge said that there were options available to the HDC which were not explored which could have prevented the tragedy. “The HDC had knowledge of the threat that the dogs posed and the substantial threat which these dogs posed was not fanciful or farfetched and the HDC had an obligation to ensure that common places such as Flamboyant Avenue was safe and to circumvent the evident danger,” he stated.

On the day in question, Denise was walking on her way to work when the dogs near Lot No. 65 on Flamboyant Street attacked and mauled her. The mother of two died after her Carotid artery was punctured by several bites and she bled out. Rackal, the widower, stated then that the HDC’s Programme Project Manager Christopher Booker, had spoken to La Pierre about the pitbulls. He also stated that former HDC managing director Jearlean John had stated in an interview, that La Pierre had breached his contract with the HDC as occupier, because no such dogs were allowed on the premises.

Damages were awarded for loss of expectation of life, loss of earnings for the lost years, pain and suffering along with other aggravated and special damages

Fitness played a huge factor in this event since each lap of the 2.4 mile course had 322 feet of climbing.

Despite the challenging circuit, cyclists rose to the occasion with stellar performances on the day. Ryan Chin from Team Breakaway convincingly won the Open 1 Division in a time of 1:02:30.

Coming in second and third were Christopher Govia from Team Breakaway, in a time of 1:04:49, and Adam Farfan from Team Survival OS, in a time of 1:06:19, respectively.

The Open 2 Division was a much closer contest. Andrew Darwent from Team Survival OS won the division in a time of 43:16, closely followed by Vishal Bachoon from Team Slipstream in a time of 43:20 for second place.

Matthew Lazzari from Team Survival OS came third with a 44:08 clocking.

Shelly Ann Augustine from team Jumbies Multisport won the Women’s Open 2 Division with Wendy Ann Thomas from Team MTB Kings coming in second.

MTB Kings is one of the top mountain biking clubs in the country with a large vibrant membership and a strong focus on developing the sport for all to enjoy.

MTB Kings hosts monthly night rides and annual rides in Tobago, Paria and other destinations.

For information on joining and mountain biking in general, contact 683-8236.

However, Bret has exposed some things we should not take for granted.

First of all is the poor drainage throughout the length and breadth of the country. And while we can blame the floods on the amount of rainfall, I am certain that with proper drainage a lot of the destruction could have been prevented.

Then we have the issue of building houses in flood-prone areas. Who gives permission for these houses to be erected? Look at the flooding now taking place in some of these areas.

And remember TT did not get the full blow of this storm.

I do hope that Bret has opened our eyes to the serious need to deal with the drainage problem and the construction of homes in flood-prone areas.

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH via email