The perception of social injustices form the prejudices and mistrust of governments and leaders alike. How else would a distressed society view the careless spending by ministers who are egregiously slumberous when it comes to detail, efficiency and accountability, whether on official business or not? Remember the officiality of any minister’s business is the people’s business.

Recently in Great Britain, David Cameron resigned as prime minister because he was in support of being part of the EU while the slim majority voted otherwise in a referendum. So in keeping with the honour of the Parliament he resigned.

The lesson here is if we adopt the Westminster system we must also have values, integrity to sit in the House of the people and show some sort of genuine concern with the public purse and how we serve our country.

COLIN FORTUNE Arima

I contend that idle youths are a symptom and not the cause of our social ills. There was a study done in Cleveland in the US in 2016 that showed a link between youth violence and unemployment.

From the 1970s, TT started to experience social upheaval and the underlying problems were never addressed.

The economic and governmental systems have produced a lot of poverty and crime.

TT was blessed with an abundant supply of oil. The people should have been living well.

But there are less and less people in TT enjoying a quality life.

The system has offered very little support for the disadvantaged.

Logically, a parallel economy was created because human beings are designed to survive.

One reason TT has not had a civil war is because people can survive using the informal economy. This economy produces crime and indiscipline.

If a more inclusive economic/social system is not implemented, more destructive youths will be born.

The statistics on violent crime and poverty suggest there is some correlation.

The authorities must make sure every citizen has a living wage and the other social problems will be mitigated.

It seems utopian but it is pragmatic. The data is there to support this.

You reap what you sow.

BRIAN ELLIS PLUMMER via email

The suggestion came in a letter sent to Gaspard by attorney Criston J Williams, who along with Wayne Sturge, represents six men whose frustration led to a near riot at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court last month, and to Ayers-Caesar’s resignation as a judge. The six – Chicki Portello, Anton Cambridge, Kareem Gomez, Levi Joseph, Anthony Charles and Israel “Arnold” Lara – quietly returned to court yesterday when their matter was adjourned to June 1. That was the date given by acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle- Caddle for all part-heard cases left behind by her predecessor (Ayers-Caesar).

The six are before the court for the murder of CEPEP employee Russell Antoine at Covigne Road on May 2010. In his letter to Gaspard, Williams suggested the DPP invoke powers under Section 90 of the Constitution and file indictments for the six which would send them straight to the High Court, bypassing the PI stage. His suggestion also included the possibility of discontinuing the charges.

His letter was sent to the DPP last Thursday, but an attorney from the DPP’s Office who was in court yesterday, said as she only received a copy of the letter yesterday morning, she would have to follow up with DPP Gaspard on Williams’ suggestion.

After Ayers-Caesar was elevated to the High Court, the judiciary first said her appointment would not have any negative impact on the administration of justice and in particular matters over which she presided as then chief magistrate.

Ayers-Caesar presided in the Eighth Magistrates Court in Portof- Spain up until she became a judge on April 12. She resigned as a judge on April 27.

I also agree, entirely, with the declaration by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, as he introduced debate on the Bail Amendment Bill 2017, that the delay in justice is very, very expensive for the people of Trinidad and Tobago; although I suspect he and I have a different thought in mind as to the nature of the expense.

Mr Griffith was objecting to a documentary, Caribbean to Caliphate, produced by Al Jazeera and broadcast globally last week that seeks to understand why this small island in the Caribbean could be churning out such a relatively high number of people — men, women and children from various walks of life — who are willing to risk theirs lives in the search for a truer way of life.

Where Mr Griffith and I part ways is on the short shrift he gives in his interview within the documentary to the underlying factors that drive people towards antisocial behaviour.

Al Jazeera concludes that there is no one explanation, but in Trinidad and Tobago one finds a fertile ground for ISIL recruitment, “a rich mix of violence, marginalisation and disillusionment.” Some may argue that our international infamy really began to pick up with the execution of Dole Chadee and his cohorts. A documentary entitled The Execution of Cocaine Chadee described the country, in 1993, as having “the fastest growing murder rate in the world.” For another documentary entitled Guns, Drugs and Secrets, it was the declaration of the 2011 state of emergency that peaked the interest of a series called Unreported World. In this documentary, the presenter observes a situation in which, despite widespread knowledge that gang warfare was being driven by higher-level corruption, “street-level criminals are the main focus of the state of emergency; little black boys used as pawns.” A police officer tells stories of corruption amongst his colleagues and the Minister of National Security at the time, Mr Griffith himself, argues that “we needed a state of emergency to protect law-abiding citizens of the country from getting killed” but that it could not address corruption, which, he said, was the domain of the criminal justice system.

In responding to a question about the poor government response, the late hero of the streets, peacebuilder Hal Greaves, tells the interviewer, “The government is not powerless, just not focused.” What is interesting about the earlier documentaries and the more recent Al Jazeera expos? on this country, is how little has changed by way of government policy. The current Attorney General, like his predecessor some administrations ago, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, is advocating a tightening and strict application of the laws of the land in response to the worsening violence and crime.

In fact, the two are working together now to reintroduce hangings, a strategy that clearly did not have the desired lasting impact when employed by Mr Maharaj in relation to Chadee and his cohorts back in 1999.

Mr Griffith may wish to direct his embarrassment at foreign journalists for exposing the underbelly of this country. He will be no different than many other happy-golucky Trinidadians who, in their nationalistic pride, choose not to see deeper.

However, in the meantime there are “street-level” people for whom the situations described in these documentaries are real. People experiencing everyday kinds of real things like the spectre of impunity, the injustice of corruption, frustrating delays in justice and the unequal spread of the burden of economic adjustments (real or imagined).

We have only ourselves to blame for the ugly realities that the rest of the world finds so interesting to study.

The corporation is almost equally split between the Opposition UNC, which has seven council members (five councillors and two aldermen) and the ruling PNM,which has six council members (four councillors and two aldermen).

The motion of no confidence was filed by PNM alderman Christopher Max Encinas and is expected to be debated at the SRC’s next statutory meeting tomorrow at 1.30pm. The motion needs ten votes or a three-quarter majority to pass.

However, speaking at a press conference at the Fyzabad constituency office yesterday, Ramadharsingh laughed out loud when asked about the political division of members at the council,saying “You will know when they vote on Thursday.” Siparia East/San Francique South councillor Leo Doodnath, a former UNC chairman and current vice chairman, has declared himself an “independent” member who would be “guided by conscience and merit” on all issues brought before the council.

Ramadharsingh described the motion as a “pen-pal memo” which had not adhered to the official procedure for filing an official motion.

He said although the motion was filed on letter-sized paper as opposed to legal-sized paper, the Opposition’s council members were “prepared to respond” to the motion.

Ramadharsingh, added, “This motion is not fit and proper to be laid before council. It was not registered by the CEO of the corporation, who is the administrative head.

We deem it to be illegitimate, ill-advised and badly delivered to the corporate secretary and the CEO, without proper information and due process.” Ramadharsingh then responded to the five clauses of the motion, saying the first point alluded to the introduction of a chairman’s outreach initiative, when in fact there was a SRC initiative, and not a chairman’s initiative.

“What has happened, after the first successful one that had 300 persons in Cedros, we agreed to discontinue until we have a retreat with the Opposition, and that was approved,” he said.

He said the second point said the chairman was aware of a truck, a backhoe and a driver being used at Coromandel village, but pointed out that he was not the dispatcher at the corporation.

“I do not preside over the garage, I don’t work in the personnel department, I don’t approve overtime, and my checks have told me this power lies with the county superintendent,” he said.

“In the clean-up campaign, there were 50 trucks on the road, and about 15 backhoe picking up rubbish, helping the national community, a project of the ministry.

We are not members of the Government, we are an Opposition council, and we supported the goodwill of the minister, and I think this flies in the face of the goodwill of the minister,” he said.

On financial propriety at the corporation, he said, “I hold fast to the ideals and the integrity and morality in public life and for proper disbursement of the public funds.”

“We heard nothing, absolutely nothing. This has shocked the entire village. Len always had a smile when he met you. He was a darling. If he walked the road and saw you sad or looking worried, he would try to get you to smile. That is the type of man he was,” said a resident. At about 2 pm on Monday, a female friend paid Fortune a visit only to find a section of his Ibis Street house burnt. When she entered the bedroom, the woman saw Fortune’s body and contacted police.

Fortune, a retiree of the Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Ministry’s Forestry Division lived alone.

The house was ransacked and police believe he fought with robbers who overpowered and killed him. Police said his body was placed under a mattress which was then set on fire.

An autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday revealed Fortune died as a result of multiple stab and blunt force trauma injuries. A resident said she last saw him alive on Saturday evening and added that his death was nothing short of, “horrifying.” “He didn’t deserve that. He was a retiree who lived alone and kept to himself. It is hard to see an innocent man go in such manner. Here is a quiet place,” stated one of Fortune’s neighbours.

Insp Banwarie together with PC Bahjan and others from the Point Fortin CID visited the scene. No arrests has been made and Insp Corrie of the Homicide Investigations Bureau (Region III) is continuing investigations

Officers on patrol intercepted a car which was speeding along the North Coast Road with no headlights on. They held two men and spotted fresh bloodstains inside the vehicle. The victims have been identified as Kimberly Lewis, 24, and Jonathan Garcia, 22, who collectively were chopped over 30 times.

Police are working on a theory that Garcia was the intended target as he and a group of men had an altercation shortly before the incident. Police said that at 10 pm, the men armed with cutlasses, forced their way into Lewis’ wooden house and chopped the couple.

Police under the supervision of ASP Sooker, who were on patrol in Maracas near Uncle Sam’s Bar along the North Coast Road, saw a car proceeding with no headlight on. On nearing the roadblock, the driver made a sudden left turn on to White Street as police gave chase.

Officers forced the car to a stop and held a 31-year-old man from Santa Cruz and a 17-year-old from Paramin, as they were trying to exit the car. Officers were later told that a man and woman had just been chopped in a shack.

Police later held a 26-year-old man from Maraval and a 25-yearold man from Tyrico, in relation to the incident.

As the officers were proceeding towards Tyrico Bay, with the four handcuffed suspects, they found a heavily-bleeding Garcia staggering along the roadside trying to flag down vehicles. Garcia led the officers to his home where police found Lewis on the floor.

Both were taken to the Port-of- Spain General Hospital where Lewis died at 11.40 pm.

An autopsy yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James confirmed that Lewis died as a result of shock and haemorrhaging consistent with multiple chop wounds. Her relatives expressed shock over her murder, describing her as a sweet and friendly young woman. Mother Shaffina Lewis said the last time she spoke to her daughter in person was three weeks ago, but added they would converse regularly over the phone.

Relatives said the couple got married under Muslim rites three years ago. Lewis is expected to be cremated tomorrow following a funeral service. Investigations are continuing.

However, they disagreed on the approach.

Gopee-Scoon said it is not something to be rushed to a Joint Select Committee (JSC) while Mahabir said there is merit in this avenue. They both made contributions yesterday on a motion, put forward by Opposition Senator Wade Mark, which called for the establishment of a JSC to consider and report, within three months, a legislative formula for Parliamentary autonomy.

Responding to Mark’s remark about, “the Parliament being a plaything of the executive,” Gopee- Scoon said, “I too felt the wrath, the big stick of the executive.

Not the bungalow.” In 2015, prior to a change in government, Gopee-Scoon said, she was chosen to represent the then Opposition on a mission to Malta. Air travel tickets bought and hours before she was due to travel, Gopee- Scoon said she was informed she was no longer going to Malta. “I had bathed already, packed. Parliament gave me my cheque the day before and a bag with wrapped gifts,” she said. Gopee-Scoon said she called to speak with the then House Speaker (Senatyor Mark), but was told she could not speak with him.

“When I probed a little deeper as to where this was coming from, I was told the Prime Minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) said I was not to go,” she said. This, Gopee-Scoon said, was the Executive treating Parliament as its plaything and “hijacking” the work of the Parliament. “I felt it. It was wrong.

There was a cost attached to it. It was not only financial…

it was diplomatic,” Gopee-Scoon said.

“We have to fix these things. We have to be treated with respect.

This must not happen again.” This Government, she said, is not afraid of parliamentary autonomy. While saying three months is not sufficient to deal with the issue of parliamentary autonomy, Gopee-Scoon said Parliament is due to go on recess at the end of June. She asked that the motion be amended. For his part, Senator Mahabir said there is a need to look at an autonomous Parliament with its own financing and a committee to which parliamentarians can plead their case, so the situation raised by Gopee-Scoon, will not occur again.

On his personal experience, Mahabir said he was invited to a parliamentary conference on economic development in London.

The organisers would have defrayed part of the cost, once he committed to making a presentation.

Government, Mahabir said, was not sending a representative and the Opposition’s representative was not going.

Mahabir was willing to go. He made overtures to the government to help fund his participation. He was denied.

Mahabir said there was merit in having a JSC meet in public with stakeholders and although Parliament will go on recess, he said there was a mechanism to allow for work from one session to be carried over to the next.

Mahabir said the current state of the Red House and President’s Residence, could have been remedied if Parliament had complete autonomy.

Fake news or propaganda, it all adds up to the same thing — disinformation, and the master of the science is once again at work, confusing gullible people.

If such propaganda is to be believed, Fidel Castro was a corrupt drug smuggler. He could not sleep two nights in the same place for fear of the assassination plots engineered against him by the mightiest nation on Earth.

Every effort was made to bring the Cuban economy to its knees, and to a point they succeeded.

The infamous and illegal trade embargo sought to prevent all countries from trading with Cuba, and the country has not been able to fully recover.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, few countries were willing to take the chance of trading with Cuba. The strongest supporter that the beleaguered nation had was Venezuela. Even before the oil boom of the last decade, Venezuela stood by its staunch ally and refused to be cowed by the US. The Cuban people have struggled manfully to maintain their independence in the face of sanctions rejected by virtually every other country, but insisted on by the world policeman.

The strength of the Cuban people is being tested every day, and they have stood strong, resolute in their determination not to be dictated to by any other country. Things are not as good as the people may want but it is their country and they are determined to make it on their own strength, despite the attempts at interference by big brother.

The Venezuelan people are equally adamant that outside interference will not be allowed to prevail, despite the machinations of a few power-hungry politicians, bent on their own personal agendas.

The continuing attempts to create discord in that country, even with the willing compliance of people who are only interested in their own pursuit of power, will not be allowed to destroy what has been created over the last several years.

What Hugo Chavez sought to achieve was a greater distribution of the nation’s oil wealth, such as has gained commendation for our governments over the years by a knowledgeable columnist. The success of this strategy is still to be determined, but it would be interesting to find out if there are people who oppose the principle.

Whether the Venezuelan people will succeed in their drive to create their own society without outside interference is left to be seen, but it cannot be reasonable that they should be condemned for wanting to do so.

KARAN MAHABIRSINGH Carapichaima

But the explosion which rocked the Manchester Arena – which killed at least 22 people and injured 120 – did not discriminate in those it took away. The dead include eightyear- old Saffie Roussos, 18-year-old Georgina Callander and 26-yearold John Atkinson. Young children, their parents and guardians were all equally placed in harm’s way. The British press identified the perpetrator as Manchester-born son of Libyan refugees Salman Abedi, 22. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, also reportedly claimed responsibility after the terrorist set off a homemade bomb.

Serious questions will be asked of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, as well as the administration of UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Could this attack have been prevented? It has been confirmed the bomber was known to authorities and died at the scene after weeks of what his neighbours deemed strange behaviour.

Dramatic footage emerged yesterday of heavily-armed police storming his home as officers carried out controlled explosions in a series of raids at addresses linked to the attacker elsewhere in the city. A 23-year-old man was detained.

Details about the identity of the attacker have led to fears this attack will lead to a surge in xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia. But a pushback has already started against that. “Muslims and migrants ARE Mancunians,” wrote writer Greg Thorpe, a Manchester resident, on Facebook.

What is most savage about this attack, however, is how it seems to have been aimed at a particular demographic.

The music of Ariana Grande – whose concert had just finished at the venue – is enjoyed by all. But her brand is associated with girls and young women. That brand is one premised on feminine empowerment, self-reflective sexuality and fun. Therefore, the attack represents not only the taking of lives in a public space. It is meant to have a chill effect on the idea that females can wield power effortlessly, can have ultimate domain over their own bodies, can take control of their lives. This could have happened to any other female artist out there, be it Britney Spears or Destra. Which is why the British security forces will face serious questions and the world will be looking to learn lessons. Current measures must cater for public events at which many people will be gathered. A pop concert involving an international superstar such as Grande should have attracted a high degree of security cover. How was the perpetrator able to get close enough? What is more, what materials were used to manufacture the bomb in question, especially since dangerous chemicals are already heavily regulated in the UK? And while we do not condone any act of Islamophobia, the Muslim community in Manchester may have questions to answer in relation to whether it has in any way harboured malice. Furthermore, while we do not condone any act of terrorism, the UK as a whole will also have to search itself deeply and examine whether it has isolated and marginalised non-white communities, adding to the risks. The Brexit vote – and the surge of racist violence in its wake – revealed much more work needs to be done.

World leaders condemned the attacks.

Speaking in Bethlehem where he was meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, US President Donald Trump condemned the “murder of so many young, beautiful, innocent people” and said the “wicked ideology” of the “evil losers” responsible must be “completely obliterated.” The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said he was willing to boost anti-terrorism cooperation with the UK.

Given recent concerns locally expressed by former officials of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, it is imperative that any lessons learned by the UK also be applied here. The sad fact is this is now the world we live in. A world where terrorists will not flinch at killing children who are just out to have fun.