I offer my concern as well to all others who have been swindled, robbed and murdered in the rising tide of criminality that has brutalised this country for many years now.

Maybe because a priest was the victim the country wants to bawl today that we gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone. The lines are a perversion of S Carter’s risqué song but the point is that the country is now in a state of anguish.

It happens that I differ from the general points of view on the situation because I and many others have always been of the opinion that we had gone past the point of no return already.

We were gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone a long time ago.

Some of us in NJAC in the 1970s witnessed the audience reaction to a film called The Executioner when the audience cheered as a man was thrown into a meat grinder. I remember when the late Chief Servant Makandal Daaga stated “the executioner is here” following a series of brutal murders in Point Fortin sometime in the 1980s.

Just last year Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley stated that we are losing the battle against crime.

Not too long the Prime Minister had blamed the parents for the criminality. He said the parents were breeding monsters.

This time he said, “able-bodied, gun-toting men sadly represent the worst that exists within our communities.” His press release added, “These miscreants have parents and I hope that somewhere in this country today there are a few parents who are hanging their heads in shame as they reflect in private as to what more they might have done to prevent any of our citizens from behaving in this despicable way.” Okay then. But the delinquent parents are really breeding very stupid monsters.

Because, if as Harvey allegedly stated, “one of the gunmen became agitated and said to him, ‘You is a priest, you must have money.’” And then asked Harvey if he was kidnapped, would Archbishop Joseph Harris pay a $50,000 ransom? I am saying that the bandit has no common sense. A ransom of $50,000 equally divided would give each gunman about $16,000 and some change. So out of that they would have to pay the “rent” for their guns, they would have brought two or three pairs of the most expensive sneakers, Brazilian bundles for their GFs and they would want to buy his and hers premium drinks, like Hennessy and Cîroc, pay car rent, go for boat rides, give the “side chick” nails price and so on and so on.

By then they would have spent it all.

What they did get eventually was $1,000, a watch and a cell phone. So after all the threats and pressure they put on Harvey they had to run, most likely to start all over again.

I repeat that we have been gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone years now.

AIYEGORO OME Mt Lambert

“People need to understand. that order. will be in Arima,” she. stated after meeting. with vendors, some of. whom had been occupying. spots illegally. on pavements alongside. the facility to sell. their produce.

A tough-talking. Morris-Julien told. Sunday Newsday that. vendors who persist in. disregarding the authority. of the council. will not get their way. in the market.

“They will not shout. me down into getting. their own way.

“I am just trying to. do the correct thing,”. she said.

She said for the. most part, the council. has clamped down on. illegal vending at the. facility,. Morris-Julien said. she received a rude. awakening, yesterday,. whilst hosting a Father’s. Day event at the. market.

“The council and. the mayor had a ‘soupque’. where we gave out. cow heel soup, corn. soup and fish broth to. show appreciation to. the fathers of Arima.

“But while we were. there, a few vendors. had a meeting. with members of the. Movement For Social. Justice (MSJ).

“They said it was a. protest but it was not. a protest.”. MSJ political leader. David Abdulah and. about a dozen other. members were present. at the meeting, she. said.

However, the mayor. said she did not. meet with the MSJ as. they were not the duly. elected representatives. for the constituency.

She claimed the. meeting was called by. vendors who were not. adhering to the rules. governing usage of the. facility. Morris-Julien. said she also learnt. that the law-abiding. vendors were being. threatened by their errant. counterparts.

“The people at the. back of the market, not. all of the people, they. have been calling the. MSJ consistently with. regards to the market. issue which does not. make any sense to me. because the MSJ is not. the elected officials.”. She said members. of the Market Vendors. Association also had. asked Fire Service officials. from the area. to attend the meeting. with the MSJ officials.

“They (Fire Service. officials) said we. (council) had enough. entrances and exits at. the market and that. we should open the. central gate, which. we did about a week. before they came,”. Morris-Julien said.

“But what happened. is that we have a few. vendors who are not. paying dues and depend. on placing their. goods along the pavement.”. Morris-Julien also. alleged that illegal. substances also were. being sold in the market.

“So, we are cracking. down on all illegal activities. in the market.

Over the past month,. there has not been any. illegal vending on the. pavement,” she said.

Acknowl edgi ng. the conditions in the. market were not ideal,. Morris-Julien assured. she was doing her. best.

“We deserve a new. market. We have had. the oldest market in. local government, yet. somehow we are not. on the priority listing,”. she said. “We had. asked for a few stalls. with their own awning. which we received because. that went out to. tender.

“I am happy about. that but the reality is. that it is not enough.

So, I really want a. brand new market.

But, in the meantime,. I have to work. with what I have.”. The mayor said vendors. must pay attention. to the rules of. the market, regarding. dress code, unruly. behaviour, storage of. produce and the paying. of dues.

Calls to Abdulah’s. cell phone for comment. went unanswered. yesterday.

“You have to change the mindset of the boys and the reason why the boys are there. They come from home. That is where they have to start from __ with their parents.” Speaking to Sunday Newsday yesterday after the closing ceremony of Exercise Tradewinds 2017 at the Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas, Dillon said the police as well as the St Michael’s authorities were looking into the matter.

“One thing for sure that they must do is to find out what were the causes and how the young men were able to escape from the area they were confined to and then put measures in place to prevent a reoccurrence.” Eleven teenagers escaped from the St Michael’s Home for Boys in Diego Martin last Tuesday and two were found walking along Cantaro Extension Road, Santa Cruz last Thursday.

A police source said they were still investigating the matter but had no new information on the other nine boys.

However, he noted that St Michael’s was not secure and boys had run away before. “If a fella decide he leaving, he leaving.

“Persons are accustomed escaping from there. It is quite common, just not in this quantum.” He also said he heard reports that, since the advent of the Children’s Authority, a large number of boys were becoming more disrespectful because “they know the staff can’t do them anything” in terms of reprimanding them.

In his remarks, Dillon echoed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who cried shame on the parents of the youths who robbed Fr Clyde Harvey at St Martin de Porres RC Church in Gonzales last Monday.

“These miscreants have parents and I hope that somewhere in this country there are a few parents who are hanging their heads in shame over what more they might have done,” Rowley had said in an official statement on the crime.

With that being said, last week something terrible did happen, and with the exception of blaming the parents of the young men who robbed father Clyde Harvey at gunpoint, Prime Minister Keith Rowley and I are definitely on the same page; this was a despicable act. I will leave the parent blaming/shaming topic for another time because in all of this, I saw comments on social media that were more despicable than the act itself.

One woman in particular made a remark along the lines of: ah sure if it was a pundit in the East Indian community, Rowley would not say a word. Unfortunately, I was unable to get the quote verbatim because this user blocked me after I called her an idiot for making the comment…

oh well.

I have long shied away from discussing race in my columns, but this is way too ridiculous to disregard. In my view, on a scale measuring the best and worst people in any society, the ones who are divisive and racist are the lowest form of living organisms.

The ignorance of the comment begins by suggesting that there is a community of East Indians residing in Trinidad and Tobago. It is possible that there is a medical doctor residing here who emigrated from a city somewhere in the eastern region of India and there may even be a surviving East Indian indentured labourer, but no one of Indian heritage born in this country is an East Indian.

Similarly, no one of African heritage born in this country is an African. Every time I hear these words, my visceral response is to cringe because the only acceptable demonym to describe a person born in this country is Trinbagonian. I have never used either of those terms to describe any of my fellow Trinbagonians and I religiously attempt to instil this into my students and almost anyone who interacts with me.

The terms are intrinsically divisive because whether or not a person’s surname is Singh or Smith, we are Trinbagonians, first and foremost. Only if there is a need for an identifier, do we include Indo or Afro before the demonym.

I always remember introduction days at my universities in London where students who were clearly not white identified as being British regardless of their parents’ countries of origin. And at my black university in America, African-Americans never referred to themselves as African, it was just American. It is absurd the way so many Trinbagonians speak of national pride, yet still identify themselves as East Indians and Africans.

Nevertheless, it is absolutely baffling that this woman would come to the conclusion that Dr Rowley only condemned the disturbing incident involving Fr Harvey merely because they are both Afro-Trinbagonians. It really is stupidity on an exponential level. Personally, even if the victim was Sat Maharaj inside a mandir, my reaction would be the same and I would expect Dr Rowley to denounce it just as strongly because such sacrilege is wholly unacceptable.

After being away for so long, I honestly believed that race relations had improved, but now that I am home and more aware of what the racial dynamic is on the ground, the entire situation of race – closely linked to party loyalty – is completely abhorrent.

Being a black foreigner with an accent living in America and England where I looked and sounded completely different to the majority, exposed me to a lot of racism, but I expected that; what I did not expect was the extent of the racism in a country where vernacular is the same and skin tones are almost identical between the races.

I experienced racism here too, right before I migrated at 15 when I dated an Indo-Trinbagonian girl who I still consider to be my first love – I still vividly remember the hateful comments hurled towards us (mostly her) as we walked through Chaguanas holding hands. My naiveté is now exposed – things have gotten worse. It became clear during the last general election – my first experience being in the country for one – where I saw an unprecedented amount of hate being spewed on social media; it really was a shock to my consciousness.

If Dr Rowley wants to blame parents for the failure of their children, he should start with those who sow hatred because I know for damn sure that racism is something that children learn at home.

T h o s e are the parents w h o need to h a n g t h e i r heads in shame.

When passing by you were careful of what you did or even said. This has changed over the years.

Now we are experiencing the vandalising of churches, indecent acts being committed in them and this week a priest being tie up and robbed.

This in itself tells us of the decay of spiritual values in our country.

I hope these acts are not treated lightly and are dealt with according to the law. If these perpetrators have no regard for God and man there is no telling what they will do next.

Our country needs serious prayer but action is also necessary.

I thank God that Fr Clyde Harvey is okay but the bandits must be hunted down and dealt with.

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH via email

Trinidad and Tobago managed to walk away with two gold medals last year in Guatemala, in the Girls Under-19 and Boys Under-16 categories.

And they will be looking to hunt for more medals at home.

The CCCAN Championships will be taking place from June 22 to July 2 where the swimming, water polo, diving and synchronised swimming disciplines would be contested at the National Aquatic Centre while the Open Water category will be held at Turtle Beach, Tobago from June 24-26.

Water polo competitions are scheduled from June 22-28 and will act as a qualifier for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.

TT’s water-polo representation will come in the Boys Under-15, Boys Under-18, Girls Under-18, Senior Women and Senior Men categories as all teams went through their training routines, methods and drills.

In an interview with Newsday yesterday, coach of the national female teams, Charissa Hackshaw, expressed her ambitions heading into the competition. “So far the teams are looking very well, we started training just over three months ago where each week we conducted scrimmages and they have improved since.” She continued, “Now we are just working on the minor technical things and making sure we maintain the level where we want to be for the tournament.” Hackshaw is focused on her teams’ performances as she explained her main objective is to see them playing well and maintaining focus on the defensive end.

Also adopting the mindset of “a great defence is a great offence” is coach for the national senior men’s team, Andrew Francis.

He said, “This is one of the strongest (TT) teams I have seen heading into a CCCAN competition, in my years of experience, but what would win it for us is defence.

“We have enough firepower and goalscorers within but it is the strength and unity of our defense is what will have to get us through,” he added.

With the local players training just over a year together and the foreign-based players settling in under the natural conditions, the coach was able to pick his squad at the end of May and have been working with the athletes since then.

Slightly disappointed that the team was unable to participate in a preparation tournament ahead of CCCAN, due to funding, Francis is still confident his athletes have the physical capability and mindset to emerge victorious.

“Once we stay focused to the task given, we could pull off a surprise or two I believe,” Francis noted.

Matches were played at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain and at Canaan Grounds in Tobago.

Youngsters braved heavy downpours at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

In the Under-11 quarter-finals Hawks crushed Trincity Nationals 7-0 at the Savannah, while Hawks edged Jaric Titans 1-0 in Tobago in the Under- 13 division. Hawks got past FC Santa Rosa 5-2 in the Under-15 division with Hawks getting goals from Malachi Celestine, Josiah Edwards, Daniel David, Christian Smith and Kaihim Thomas.

The North Zone Under- 19 final was also scheduled to be held yesterday between Trendsetter Hawks and St Ann’s Rangers.

Unfortunately that match was postponed to allow the Under-15 match between Hawks and Santa Rosa to be played.

The Under-15 clash between Police and Petrotrin Palo Seco was postponed because of a water-logged field.

The semi-finals will be held next weekend at Constantine Park, Macoya, while the finals are set for July 1 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.

Event co-ordinator Anthony Harford told Newsday that 90 teams have participated in the league. He said this will ensure the youngsters are well-prepared and they will graduate to adult level by way of the feeder programmes run by each club.

RESULTS – Under-11: Queen’s Park 3 vs Jaric Titans 0; San Fernando Soccer Academy 0 vs Defence Force 2; Trendsetter Hawks 7 vs Trincity Nationals 0; Santa Cruz FA 1 vs Jabloteh 2.

Under-13: Trendsetter Hawks 1 vs Jaric Titans 0; St Madeline Strikers 0 vs FC Santa Rosa 3; Cunupia Extreme 3 vs Santa Cruz FA 0; Central FC 5 vs Trincity Nationals 2.

Under-15: Trendsetter Hawks 5 (Malachi Celestine, Josiah Edwards, Daniel David, Christian Smith, Kaihim Thomas) vs FC Santa Rosa 2; Queen’s Park 1 vs Jaric Titans 0; Petrotrin Palo Seco vs Police FC – postponed due to rain; RSSR 0 vs Crown Trace 0 – RSSR won 7-6 on penalties

Bourdain, a chef, author and television personality, visited the country in January to film an episode for his Emmy award-winning food and travel show which has been on the air since April 2013.

A trailer of the episode was released on social media showing Bourdain holding a Carib beer, eating doubles, saying he “loves the food”, watching a steelband perform and a jab jab costume display, and chatting with locals.

He was also shown chatting with local singer Kees Dieffenthaller.

The episode is scheduled to air tonight at 9 pm but Flow in a release yesterday advised customers that CNN will black out the episode due to the lack of distribution rights outside of the United States and Canada.

Flow reported that while the show will be listed on the TV guide CNN will air substitute programming instead of the show.

“We do apologize to our customers, however, this is outside of our control,” Flow added.

In an article on travelandleisure.

com Bourdain reported speaking to locals about some of the problems the island faces including gang violence, drug trafficking and ISIS recruitment.

There was some backlash on social media by locals who disagreed with Bourdain’s inclusion of this country’s crime issues in his

It is a fact they will tell you, those apologists for the UNC, that Gene Miles fought against corruption in the PNM. It is a fact that ministers were accused of corruption from Japanese gardens to apartments in Toronto and Swiss bank accounts.

These “facts” are however little more that a justification for those that came after, indulging and engrossing themselves in the same behaviour. The preposterous nature of the defence and justification masquerading as outraged indignation is classic — attack them twice as hard when they lash out at you.

The best that can be said, is that these honourable gentlemen may have very well gotten away with it and perhaps are serving their sentences in hell. The living however need to be dealt with expeditiously before they pass from this world and it is for this reason that they need to be pursued.

I wish the Attorney General well in his endeavour to bring the wrongdoers to light.

To all those UNC apologists, you need to get the politics right and two wrongs don’t make a right.

SATU-ANN I RAMCHARAN Maraval

I am suggesting that Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi embarks on a programme to establish a network of community courts throughout the country to expedite minor traffic and petty family cases.

One of the easiest ways is to appoint Justices of the Peace (JPs) to deal with such trivial matters.

JPs are fully conversant with the laws of TT . They are former public servants, teachers and high-profile community and social leaders.

The community courts can be called to order at the Magistrates’ Courts at nights and on weekends. I believe this initiative is quite practical and would be welcomed by citizens.

It may require some amendments to relevant laws. And the opposition UNC would willingly support, I am sure. For far too long we have been hearing about the backlog of cases by magistrates, the Chief Justice and judges, who are concerned about the slow pace of justice. We must remember that justice delayed is justice denied.

Mr Attorney General, the people are not feeling that anything positive is being done to deal with the backlog.

You have to the stop talking and start the walking.

I call on you take heed of this request.

Show the national community that you are serious about the urgent dispensation of justice.

PARAS RAMOUTAR Caparo