The Energy Sub-Committee is chaired by the Prime Minister and was appointed in March after Cabinet called for a review of the operations at Petrotrin because of the company’s falling revenues, allegations of mismanagement and falling global oil prices.

The Petrotrin Review Committee is chaired by Selwyn Lashley, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy & Energy Industries. Its other members are: Prof Chandrabhan Sharma, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of the West Indies; Helen Drayton, former Independent Senator; Robert Riley, head of safety and operational risk, competency and capability development at the BP Group in London and former chairman and CEO of BPTT; Wilfred Espinet, AeroMarine Trinidad Ltd; and Gregory Marchan and David Abdulah, representatives of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU). The statement says members of the Petrotrin Review Committee have agreed to remain empanelled on assignment with Cabinet until December 31.

According to reports,at about 3pm yesterday, David Marshall, a prison officer from Morvant, was walking along Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain when he was accosted by two men who attempted to rob him of jewelery.

Marshall pulled out a licensed firearm and fired at the men who returned fire.

Marshall was not wounded in the process and the bandits escaped empty-handed.

A report was made to the Port-of-Spain CID and officers went to the scene and carried out a search for the suspects.

Eyewitnesses to the incident said yesterday that they ran for cover when the shooting incident occurred and were happy about the quick response of the police. Police said yesterday that checks were made at the Port of Spain General Hospital and other medical institutions to ascertain if persons went there for any gunshot injuries.

Investigations are continuing.

The Minister of Local Government went on TV and openly admitted that the respective agencies did not act on time. Who should take responsibility for this? The chairman of the Penal-Debe Regional Corporation, did not ensure that emergency shelters were made available to families and individuals who were in dire need of shelter and basic amenities. Who should take responsibilty for this? Kamla Persad Bissessar must be commended for taking time out to meet with those citizens to highlight their plight.

Where were the great men of the PNM? Where was Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley? Where was the eloquent Faris Al-Rawi? Where was the brilliant Colm Imbert? Where was the so-called knowledgeable Stuart Young? Did these men take an emergency vacation when they got wind of the approaching storm? What were the contingency measures that the great PNM would have put in place to replace all of the working mechanisms of the past administration? Are we seeing good governance or failed governance? Failed is the Government and it has prevailed.

JAMES MILLER via email

our closest neighbour, is suffering political traumas because of its different mode of governance. We care deeply but its brand of politics is its brand of politics. We are not going to proffer who is right and who is wrong. Venezuelans have to fight it out for themselves. I am not taking sides. All we can do is commiserate. We cannot send them troops. We cannot send them money. But we can supply as much food, water.

clothing and essential toiletries to the best of our abilities. What we cannot do is allow too many of them to flood TT . There are several more millions of Venezuelans than us. At what point do we say no more Venezuelan refugees? Three quarter of a million? One million? The leader of the Movement for Social Justice is always expressing deep sympathy for President Nicolas Maduro. Does David Abdulah care that some Venezuelan citizens are allegedly being murdered so that Maduro can hold on to power? Abdulah asks that Caricom helps Venezuela. To what end? To send our regiment to injure Venezuelans? Once whichever power controls Venezuela sticks with any energy agreement signed between Venezuela and TT , we are not expected to interfere in its politics. Perhaps Abdulah can ask the government to turn the Queen’s Park Savannah into a giant refugee camp to shelter the Maduro protesters. And how are we going to handle more refugees than we can chew?

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin

There are also plans to do DNA testing on the arrestee population throughout the country including Tobago.

Newsday understands that a DNA regulator from Jamaica has already been contracted to assist in the setting up of the DNA lab and he has already started the recruitment process for specialised persons to work in the DNA lab.

That person is based at the office of an elite agency at St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain.

Yesterday, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi told Newsday that the DNA legislation has already been passed and the Government intends to comply with the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.

“We are on an urgent operationalisation of the DNA laws which were last put into the statute books without any advance since 2011. The Ministry of National Security in conjunction with the office of the Attorney General has taken the lead on the following matters – The appointment of a regulator under the DNA legislation, the regulations for the DNA laws to be put into effect, the mapping of the DNA samples to be taken from the entire prison population, the exclusion population (TTPS, Prisons, Immigration, all protective services), and the arrestee population which is estimated at 1000 persons per month.

“So what we are doing is putting into effect the DNA laws because the country has for many years, simply just passed laws without putting them into operation.We are doing the same thing with respect to the electronic monitoring system.” The Attorney General also noted, “So, we will report further after the completion of the procurement exercise because we intend to operationalise this with immediacy”.

He said that DNA results will be fed into specialist courts which will manage the trial processes.

Cuffie made the comments yesterday at the National Library and Information Service (NALIS) Public Service Day, commending workers for their commitment to TT and citing the preparedness and organisation on the part of the public servants as a crucial factor in minimising Bret’s impact.

“The country depends to a large extent on the work of the public servants,” he said.

“On Monday, I was at the meeting where the public servants met and prepared for what was going to take place on Monday night going into Tuesday, and there was extensive preparation by public servants and as part of that extensive preparation, I think there was a marked decrease in the kind of damage we could have had.

“I think that they responded well in a reduction in the extent of damage that could have occurred, and I want to praise the public servants who worked assiduously to ensure that T&T was protected from the damage that could have unfolded even with a relatively small tropical storm like Bret.” Cuffie said while he did not have the exact figure available, he was pleased with the overall turnout of public servants on Tuesday and yesterday, adding that all the relevant ministries would remain open throughout the week.

He also said there would be no different procedure to treat with the absence of workers on Tuesday than on any other day, adding that it was the responsibility of employees to apply for their days off.

“Neither the absence of workers nor the flooding are new to us. There is a procedure to govern absence from work and that is the same procedure that is applied to every occasion. That is, people will apply for their days, the relevant accounting officers will conduct the checks and balances. This is a normal part of the public service.” The event ,which was held at the National Library, Port of Spain, featured several different government public service agencies aimed to provide information on these arms as well as the opportunities available for those seeking employment.

The findings of this investigation, including any recommendations that could improve protocols and procedures currently in place, should be swiftly reviewed by Cabinet with a view to implementation as soon as possible. It is essential that these safe houses function at an optimal level if we, as a society, are to protect our most vulnerable. To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, the greatness of a society can be judged by the way its children are treated.

No child should end up dead at the age of 16. Not only is this a tragic loss of life, it is a devastating blow to all those around the child.

On Monday, the Children’s Authority said it was focusing on children housed at the centre, and therapeutic support was being provided to the children as well as the staff.

It is essential that therapeutic support is provided not only in the short-term but also in the long run. Trauma manifests itself in often insidious ways and at unpredictable intervals. These children need to be able to draw upon the resources they will need as they face the future together.

Sadly, while the victim in this case was assessed as depressed, that intervention did not prevent his death. Whatever lessons can be learned must be applied to future cases.

One of the major challenges when it comes to tackling mental health issues in teenagers is the stigma that accompanies these issues generally. Mental health is a public-health concern and until it is seen as such, we will continue to lose lives needlessly.

Too often are people — both young and old — asked to “man up” or to dismiss clear signs of distress amid the hustle and bustle of modern-day stresses. We do not treat mental-health issues seriously, viewing them as temporal when they may reflect long-term patterns and underestimating their depth by finding easy explanations for conduct that is morose.

As a society we must arm ourselves with knowledge and take this matter seriously.

Know the warning signs. These include: withdrawal from friends and family members; trouble in romantic relationships; difficulty getting along with others; changes in the quality of schoolwork or lower grades; rebellious behaviours; unusual gift-giving or giving away own possessions; appearing bored or distracted; writing or drawing pictures about death; running away from home; changes in eating habits; dramatic personality changes in appearance (for the worse); sleep disturbances; drug or alcohol abuse; talk of suicide, even in a joking way.

Those who man hotlines like Lifeline — 645-2800 and 645- 6616 — should be given adequate resources to ensure these hotlines are consistently available and provide a high-quality level of intervention.

One of the basic things we can do as a nation is not treat suicide and mental health issues as taboo concerns. Talking about suicide is essential so that no other person has to experience that same pain and grief as the communities of people who have taken their own lives.

This is an issue that is not going away. According to the World Health Organization, by 2020, there will be more than 1.5 million suicides. Local statistics suggest the problem is on the rise among our teenagers.

We must do what we can to prevent the tragic and devastating loss of life. No one should be robbed of their bright future.

Teenager Tenika Teressa Joseph of Renee Street, Chaguanas was reported missing at 10.15 am on Tuesday. Relatives last saw her at home at about 9 am on Monday.

Her mother, Shelly Ann Joseph, made the report to the Chaguanas police.

Tenika, who is of African descent and five foot seven inches tall, has a scar on the left side of her forehead. She is brown in complexion and has black braided hair.

Relatives said she was last seen wearing a jersey, jeans and mauve slippers.

In the other incident, Natasha Phillip of Sonata Drive, Marabella, was reported missing by her stepfather Peter Lashley on Tuesday.

He told police at the Marabella station that Phillip was last seen at her home at about 9 am last Thursday (Corpus Christi).

Phillip has a tattoo of a flower on her lower left leg, is of African descent, five foot seven inches tall with a brown complexion, and was wearing purple and blonde braids.

She was last seen wearing a pink dress with a multi-coloured print and brown sandals.

Anyone with information on the missing women can call 800-TIPS or contact the police at 555, 999, 911 or any police station.

According to his lawsuit, being argued by his attorney Anand Ramlogan, SC, the teenager is being held in solitary confinement, which is not a normal consequence of being on remand.

“It is a form of punishment,” Ramlogan argued at the trial being heard by Justice Vasheist Kokaram.

In January, Kokaram granted leave to the boy, whose mother brought the action, complaining that her son was being kept in solitary confinement and was depressed.

He was moved to the house after Kokaram ruled in May last year that the YTC was not suitable as a remand facility for young offenders. He held that confining juveniles with adults at the YTC and the Women’s Prison in Arouca amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

He ordered that the juvenile should be placed in a community residence to be determined by the Children’s Authority.

The teenager was put in the house because there are no community residences in Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the lawsuit, the child’s detention at the house amounted to solitary confinement and was illegal, unconstitutional and cruel and unusual punishment.

He is said to be suffering from depression, loneliness and frustration, as he was the only person in the house other than the staff. He has also told his mother he was “so lonely that it hurt”, and on one occasion escaped from the house by destroying the burglarproofing in his bedroom.

His mother called the police, who took him back to the house, despite her son begging her not to send him back.

The guards at the house, according to the mother, did not even know he had gone missing.

In the lawsuit, the teenager’s mother is asking for him to be immediately released into her custody until the authorities find a suitable community residence as provided for under the Children Act.

Ramlogan argued that there was no evidence the teenager posed a threat to the welfare of others, and the move to secure his welfare has instead resulted in an unhappy and unfortunate state of affairs. He also reminded the court that a prisoner on remand is presumed to be innocent and the teenager was “worse off” than other teen remanded prisoners, since he is being isolated from interaction with his peers.

Testifying yesterday was independent expert Dr Rona Hollingsworth, who said while the teenager had developed coping mechanisms, he had difficulties with lonely periods and wanted to be around people.

She said it appeared he was being left to his own devices most of the time at the location where he is being kept.

Asked by the judge if that meant he should be taken to a public school, Dr Hollingsworth said yes, if it could be arranged.

“Whatever could be found for him to interact [with his peers],” she said. In its response, the Children’s Authority denied that the teenager was being held in solitary confinement and that not being with his peers equated to actionable solitary confinement or inhumane treatment.

I believe these statements are deliberately deceptive and take the opportunity to bring the clarity and truth that these issues so rightfully deserve.

The data from the Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development’s National Unemployment Register indicates that for the period September 2015 to June there has been 2,630 reported cases of people who have been retrenched. This is a far cry from Indarsingh’s outrageous and unsubstantiated figure of 25,000. In this regard, I call upon Indarsingh to cite the source of his fabricated figures.

It is disingenuous, to say the least, for Indarsingh to make a call “… for Government to lay in Parliament amendments to the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act” when he is aware that to date there are four draft policy position papers before Cabinet for its consideration. These documents include the Amendment of the Industrial Relations Act Chapter 88:01; the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act Chapter 88:13; the Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies Act Chapter 39:51, and the National Cooperative Policy.

I feel compelled to point out that over the last 50 years, there has not been a concentrated effort to address our antiquated and archaic labour laws and certainly not during the period 2010-2015 when Indarsingh was a minister in the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development.

However, this administration, in keeping with the Memorandum of Understanding with the labour movement, decided to address the updating of our antiquated labour laws and there is now an aggressive thrust to do so.

The process of amending legislation can often be long and arduous but to date we have achieved far more than any effort in the recent past and we are far from finished.

I also take this opportunity to remind the Opposition MP that there was a time in my career when I fought diligently and steadfastly for those under my charge as the head of one of the larger trade unions in this country. Today, I fight with the same conviction to represent the interest of all with equal fervour. I hold no sectoral interests, I represent the citizens of TT , employer and worker alike and there cannot be a partisan approach to genuine representation.

I invite Indarsingh and any member of the public to contact the ministry’s National Employment Services offices to enquire about our Adversity to Opportunity (A2O) Plan, also called “The Ten-Point Plan.” Through this plan, members of the public who have been retrenched and are experiencing the psycho-social effects of retrenchment can receive the support they need.

In closing, permit me to state that the media have a herculean task to find the balance in any issue as they seek to fulfil part of their mandate to inform and sensitise the public. I have always indicated my availability to your esteemed media house and remain available to bring clarity to any matter on which I have the authority to speak.

JENNIFER BAPTISTEPRIMUS Minister of Labour and Small Enterprise Development