“But, if you have a blunder you must accept responsibility for the blunder. I think one of the things that impressed the meeting was the fact that there has not been any acceptance of responsibility by the JLSC, or apology, or as I like to say, beg pardon,” Daly said.

Daly said he believed Thursday’s vote of no confidence was because people felt that they had been disrespected.

“As far as I am concerned, this is a very, very important moment to the pressure of public opinion,” he said. Daly said the CJ would have to decide whether he would resign from his post.

“All along we have been saying do the honourable thing. If people lose confidence in you it does not mean that you have committed some constitutional wrong.

You have conducted yourself in such a way that you have destroyed people’s confidence in you, and therefore you can’t can’t continue to preside if people have no confidence in you,” he said. Daly said people did not understand that the confidence in power had two components.

He said legal authority meant people had the law behind them, and moral authority.

When asked what this decision meant for the CJ, Daly said the moment one exercised legal powers without legal authority, they became illegitimate.

“He has to decide what he wants to do, I can’t speak for him,” he said.

It would seem that Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith fails to recognise himself as a role model to our citizens, both young and old. In these recent circumstances the minister somehow seeks to trivialise matters of serious concern to the public.

The image of the minister holding onto a member of his staff while posing for a photo is truly distasteful.

If this is the way a member of the Cabinet interacts with a member or members of his staff at a government ministry, then he should not be allowed to hold such office.

This matter also digs deeper into the psyche of women and the battle in the workplace.

While this may seem trivial to some it opens up the question of abuse of power with regard to employer and employee relationships in the ministry.

Further to this highly inappropriate photo in the office is the issue of spending $92,000 on a Tobago trip with a 12-member contingent. Most of us have been to Tobago and we know that this figure is outrageous even for an official visit by a government minister.

Dr Keith Rowley as a Prime Minister is on a State visit to Chile and has a contingent of nine people but a Minister of Sport attending a Tobago House of Assembly awards function to present a trophy leaves with a contingent of 12 people. We are in real trouble if we see nothing wrong with this type of extravagant behaviour and expenditure.

In these tough economic times the Government must be clear on the message it is sending to citizens. I await the return of our Prime Minister to see how this matter will be handled.

RONALD HUGGINS St Joseph

The teachers are being trained to run the Arrow (Aural, Read, Respond, Oral, Write) programme in the school with full support from the Arrow Foundation. This process allows the entire school population access to the powerful literacy intervention programme and is in support of the Laventille School Project launched by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley late last year.

“Angostura Ltd is again at the forefront of supporting schools and children in the Laventille and environs, and see this partnership as crucial to the development of young people in the area,” Giselle Laronde- West, Angostura’s senior manager Hospitality and Communications, said in a media release.

The House of Angostura which is a manufacturer of world-renowned and award-winning products is located in Laventille.

The Success Roman Catholic (RC) School is situated mere minutes away at Church Street.

Christopher Bonterre, managing director, of the Arrow Foundation praised the efforts of Angostura in bringing the programme to life for these students and teachers.

“It provides us with the impetus to continue to meet the educational needs of the nation’s children. Arrow’s focus is on raising self-esteem through literacy improvement, which is vital to addressing behavioural problems in students,” Bonterre said.

He stated that “a lot of the aggressive behaviour found in our primary and secondary schools is rooted in students’ academic failure and the frustration this manifests.

When students are able to read and write, they feel better about themselves allowing them to engage others without feeling frustrated.” The foundation, which has a proven track record working with thousands of children in schools across TT , is viewed as a key partner with many corporate sponsors in building self-esteem, improving behaviour and significantly raising literacy levels of students.

Arrow’s literacy model has been proven to significantly increase not only reading skills and performance but also spelling, concentration, self-esteem, speech, confidence and motivation in students. It is listed as one of the leading literacy interventions in the UK (Greg Brooks Report 2003/2013). Arrow is an audio visual multi-sensory based programme developed by Dr Colin Lane in the United Kingdom, and focuses on learning through self-voice and multisensory techniques covering reading, spelling, dictation, speech and learning exercises.

Evidence of the link between illiteracy and violent behaviour has been well researched and confirmed, the release stated quoting The US Department of Justice: “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.” A study by Dennis Hogenson titled Reading Failure and Juvenile Delinquency found that reading failure was consistently found to correlate with aggression in populations of delinquent boys. The literacy statistics and juvenile court “USA 2009” state that 85 per cent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment also indicates that below level reading abilities are significantly related to the development of aggressive antisocial

Cudjoe has done the citizens of TT a world of good by exposing the Bahamas for what it is. To be charging almost 10 times the amount that normally is agreed upon in the region is what some would call “spider web tourism.” I have viewed many tourism advertisements about the beauty of the Bahamas and its lovely beaches and nowhere do they inform about the country’s exorbitant roaming charges.

I am sure that when you arrive at their airport, their welcome would not be intimating to you that their roaming rates are 10 times the normal regional charges. So they suck you in and then they “wet” you.

So all those naysayers who are on Cudjoe’s back, just divide her charges by ten and you will see that the goodly minister was not reckless nor abusive with the use of her phone. Her total bill, therefore, should have been less than $6,000. It is the Bahamas therefore that should be charged with abuse.

I hope that this matter, as hinted by the Minister of Finance, would be taken up by the heads of Caricom at their next meeting to have the Bahamas fall in line with normal regional rates.

I finally say thanks to Cudjoe for alerting citizens of TT and the wider Caribbean and for opening our eyes to this kind of abuse.

Thanks again, Minister Cudjoe.

LAURENCE PERCIVAL via email

Saying he had read the Attorney General’s contribution to the debate on the bill in the Hansard, Senator Sturge said that the bill would cause chaos, mayhem and confusion and doesn’t take account of the practices and procedures in the local magistrate’s court.

He said those who chose to contest violations will be punished in some way, noting that the bill states that the State has to prove the offence on a balance of probabilities. However, he said this was not the criminal standard which was that the State must bear the burden of the proof and the standard of proof in criminal matters was “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Sturge said that in amending the bill one would be dealing with behaviours which cause death and serious bodily injury as well as serious damage to property.

Looking at the procedures to be adopted, he said that under the act the owner could be deprived of his vehicle without due process.

For example, he said a police officer can affix a notice to the vehicle but wondered what would be the owner’s position if someone removed the notice or if it is simply blown off the vehicle.

According to Sturge, the bill would limit the accused person to two defences, that the vehicle was stolen or that he was not the owner, but he said this violated many Constitutional issues, adding that in criminal law one is liable for the acts they commit but under the proposed legislation one might become liable for something done by someone else if they were unable to fit themselves into the two defences allowed.

He added that if the accused did not attend court the matter could be heard without his presence and said the accused did not get a chance to plead and the police officer is not obligated to attend the court either. He said this represented two violations of the fair hairing rule, in this case the only way for the accused person to defend himself would be to go into the box and give evidence, risking incriminating himself.

Sturge said that in Trinidad everyone has the right to silence, but if the police officer who laid the charge did not attend the hearing then this could be the only option left open to the accused person.

The suspect, believed to be suffering from depression, stabbed his relative Jonathan Murphy to death at their Temple Street, Diego Martin home shortly after 6.50 am yesterday. After commiting murder and with his clothes stained with Murphy’s blood, the suspect is said to have gone back to his bedroom and fell asleep.

Other relatives later discovered Murphy’s body and of the victim alerted police. The suspect was awakened from sleep and told police that he heard voices in his head and got a message from Jesus telling him to stab Murphy in the back. The 19-year-old suspect said he went to the kitchen, took a ten-inch knife and stabbed Murphy in the back.

The suspect remains in custody at the Homicide Investigations Bureau (Region I) office. Police investigating the case are expected to approach the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions shortly for directions in the matter.

Murphy’s body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy. The body was viewed and identified by mother Pam Goolcharan and a man identified as the victim’s stepfather.

A distraught Goolcharan told police it was very difficult having to deal with the death of a son and at the same time have to come to terms with the arrest of another relative for the murder.

MAN GUNNED DOWN In an unrelated incident in San Juan, police said that a Diego Martin man was chased by gunmen and shot to death near a tyre shop. According to police, at about 3.45 pm yesterday, Denzil Phillip, 46, of Bagatelle, Diego Martin was conducting repairs to a car when two men ran in his direction and began shooting.

Phillip ran into the back of the tyre shop’s store room but was pursued by the gunmen who cornered and shot Phillip seven times, killing him at the scene.

All of the shots, police said, were to Phillip’s head. The body was viewed by the district medical officer and ordered removed to the Science Centre for autopsy. Up to press time, the killers remained at large. San Juan police are continuing investigations. The murder toll for the year, up to press time, stood at 220.

In a release, the Ministry said its decision to utilise the system is expected to address a myriad of challenges encountered by clients in using the current cheque system.

It is also a response by the Ministry to recent numerous complaints from clients of lost/stolen/ damaged cheques.

The Ministry said during the roll out of the Direct Deposit System, clients will be asked to complete an application form and return it to the nearest TTPost delivery or retail office or a Social Welfare Local Board office in their respective region.

Clients are also required to attach their bank account information and a copy of their computer-generated birth certificate to the application form, which will be used to update existing records.

For persons with disabilities who may not be able to open a bank account, special arrangements will be made by the Ministry to ensure funds related to the disability grant are uninterrupted.

Persons who may wish to use existing Credit Union accounts will also be allowed to do so for the direct deposit.

The Ministry said it has embarked on a Premium Client Care Initiative which will also include retraining exercise for staff at its Social Welfare Local Board Offices to ensure clients are transitioned smoothly during the migration process.

These changes are expected to come into full effect by the end of this year as the Ministry seeks to provide clients with a sustainable, secure and reliable option for the delivery of financial assistance.

“This system would also assist in alleviating lost, stolen or damaged cheques, where they are able to access the money directly from their personal accounts.” The association said it was committed to working closely with the ministry “to ensure a seamless and efficient process at the various banks.” BATT also took the opportunity yesterday to advise those recipients who have to verify their accounts “to complete their forms with the required bank account information and attach copies of their bank account slip and computerised birth paper” before going to their bank to sign up for Direct Deposit.

Additionally, BATT encouraged all recipients who need to open new bank accounts to check with their preferred banks for the required information to ensure a seamless process

Last year the young pannists from Flabej had their dreams crushed when they were not able to participate in the 20th Annual World Championship of the Performing Arts due to a lack of funds.

This year they are hoping their dreams become reality as the 21st edition of the championship comes around.

According to leader/ manager John Douglas: “We are at it again hoping to acquire the necessary funds to take 15 members of the band and five parents to the World Championship of the Performing Arts in Long Beach, Hollywood, California, USA.

“It has not been an easy task raising the funds, I have written to many companies seeking assistance and to date they all blanked us. I am now seeking help from the government through one of their funds.” But the management is not just begging, they held two concerts over the past weekend in an effort to help themselves.

Last Friday, Newtown Playboys Pan Theatre on Tragarete Road was vibrating as the Single Pan Champions and Flabej Now performed for patrons.

On Saturday, the Arima Angel Harps Pan Theatre was the venue for the second concert. The young pannists from Flabej Now ranging in ages from five to 24 performed various symphonic melodies at both concerts as did both bands which hosted the events.

Douglas says it will cost each person US$3,400 for the trip to California for the World Championship, this includes airfare, accommodation, ground travel and meals. The event runs from June 30 to July 9.

He is hoping he will be able to take his young charges to show off their musical prowess and bring their dreams to reality.

Here are some highlights from the concert at Newtown Playboys.

Contacted for comment, Ali was thanking God for sparing his life as the stab could have easily severed a vein leading to his heart. Ali returned to the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday for a review of a 5 cm stab wound under his left shoulder blade. On Thursday morning he was rushed to Couva District Health Facility and then transferred to the Hospital where he was treated and later discharged.

It was at 8 am when Ali who owns and operates Old Mac Agro Supplies Limited and Trinidad Parboil Limited, was speaking to an employee about his conduct at the workplace when tempers flared.

Ali asked the worker to leave his office. The man snatched a knife and stabbed Ali under his shoulder blade.

Ali thanked doctors and nurses at both the Couva health centre and San Fernando General Hospital for the “excellent treatment” given to him. Ali’s stabbing comes less than a week after President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce Vishnu Charran called for changes to be made to legislation to allow easier access to licensed firearms for members of the business community.

Couva police are continuing investigations.