Rowley said that Roget’s comment was not good for the nation at a time when this country is in a recession and must do all it can to remain competitive and attract investments from global energy players.

Speaking to reporters while union members staged a protest outside of TSTT’s human resource offices on St Vincent Street in Portof- Spain, Remy yesterday stated, “Let me say without fear of contradiction the CWU, over the years, relentlessly pursued a national agenda.” He cited the union’s efforts for TSTT, “to remain in the hands of locals” and its objection to the closure of the Tourism Development Company (TDC), as examples of this national agenda.

Remy had a pointed suggestion to the leader of the government. “If the Prime Minister is of the belief that we (in the trade union movement) are not (patriotic) he needs to re-check himself. This union is more patriotic than the Prime Minister and (Tourism Minister) Shamfa Cudjoe!” Reiterating that the CWU is “a true patriotic union”, Remy declared, “I am convinced that what we are saying is very nationalistic.

What they are saying is destroying the country.” Alleging that Cudjoe was misleading the country about the reasons for the closure of the TDC, Remy said the CWU will present its proposal to restructure this company next week.

He repeated the union’s call for a report — used to justify the TDC’s closure — to be made public and for Rowley to fire his Tourism Minister. Noting the hint dropped last week, by Roget, of a major announcement either on May Day or Labour Day in June, Remy said the CWU will be part of those efforts under the banner of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM).

Reminding reporters that JTUM has withdrawn from the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC), Remy said, “We are mindful of the current economic circumstances but that must never be used as an excuse to exploit workers.” Against this background, Remy said the union has concerns about the contents of the Mid-Year Review to be presented by Finance Minister Colm Imbert. “In the absence of a genuine forum, we are going to question the figures that are going to come out (in the Mid- Year Review) and we will do what we have to do as a labour movement to challenge those things.”

These are some of the lessons we are yet to learn, judging from the unfortunate statements of trade unionist Ancel Roget. In relation to one multinational’s decision to locate certain activities elsewhere, the trade unionist advised the company it could take its oil rig and go.

He appeared to be paraphrasing the Mighty Sparrow’s lyrics from his 1981 social commentary, We Like It So (Steel Beam), “We grieving with frustration through maladministration / Take you steal beam and go.” To be fair, Roget’s comments came in the context for his group’s lobbying for safe working conditions for workers. This is a call with which we can hardly disagree. It matters not where a company comes from.

Once operating within our borders, it must ensure adequate measures are in place to preserve worker safety – be it locals or foreigners working on these islands.

Local companies, too, have a similar obligation to ensure enough safety systems are in place and that work safety/OSHA rules are complied with. Yet there is a way to lobby for things. Issuing a belligerent statement effectively threatening to run the company out of town is not the way to represent workers’ interests.

Roget must learn the difference between power and influence. It is a difference which even world leaders like US President Donald Trump do not always grasp, as demonstrated by his forced rowback on a range of foreign policy matters.

Roget must be independent, yes, but he must also be able to maintain the ability to get company officials to come to his point of view. Otherwise the price is too high.

When these companies leave, they don’t just take investment, they also take with them jobs and vital momentum needed to keep the economy vibrant and thriving.

Their departure damages our standing internationally.

At the end of the day, all multinationals are free to come and go as they please. What is required, however, is the proper enforcement of all laws and rules that our Parliament has deemed fit. These companies have, in certain sectors, enjoyed incentives and benefits. But for good reason.

We hope Roget’s statement was one that was made in the heat of the moment. Whether careless or deliberate, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has had to intervene to seek to neutralise any damage done. Acknowledging Roget’s right to speak freely, Rowley nonetheless described the statement as an unhealthy one. “Lead in a way that is beneficial to the national well-being,” Rowley urged leaders generally.

His perspective has been shaped by the realities of boardrooms in which he has recently had cause to lobby on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago in Houston, Texas.

As the head of Cabinet, Rowley will also have seen first-hand the country’s reliance at this stage on all forms of investment. Rowley said it was a matter of concern when investors are picking up their plants in South America and taking them to North America where gas is more available in terms of volume and price. In TT, he said, plants are closing because of a lack of gas.

“That is not the kind of environment that attracts investment in the gas industry.” An economic downturn is not the time for the industrial relations environment to degenerate into open hostility.

It is not that stakeholders must kowtow uncritically to foreign companies.

Rather, they must understand the fact that we are now in a global world and must partner with these actors to advance our interests.

As we plunge deeper and deeper into the depths of despair, we must realise that there is a way to rise again. Like the early Christians, we will learn that the task will not be easy, and it can only be accomplished through faith and hard work. Religion aside, we can look at the agony the early Christians endured for the sake of staying the course. They sacrificed much.

Many Christians sacrificed their lives for their beliefs, but they never gave up their faith.

We lament the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago. Whenever we think we have reached rock bottom, we find a new low to experience.

And it seems we remain in that dreaded space just passively waiting for the next low. So many people have become cynical and given up hope.

If there is any lesson beyond religion that Good Friday teaches us it is that even on the darkest day, there is hope. But we have to work towards a plan. Each and every person must find a way to turn this country around. Government must cease its useless rhetoric-like talk of hanging people as a deterrent to crime and seize opportunities to tackle problems at their roots. Government should inspire everyone to work harder for the sake of building this nation.

Government offices are stagnant places trapped in neo-colonialism, an endless bureaucratic cycle of incompetence where nothing works and no one functions. There’s a psychological go-slow left over from colonialism when thwarting anyone’s good efforts manifested rebellion. But we’re not a colonial country any longer.

We’re an independent nation in charge of our destiny, and we should care about an honest day’s work, productivity and pride in our country because it is ours to shape however we want.

Crime does not belong to the criminals or the police. It is a problem we all share — from the driver who runs the red light to the employee who cheats his boss out of a good day’s work to the business that engages in price gouging or the individual who gives a 14-year-old a cigarette to smoke.

If we were our brother’s keeper, we would not only pull up those around us who are not pulling their weight, we would model positive behaviour that reflects pride in our country. Public servants would answer the phone courteously and serve people with the intention of helping them instead of putting them off so that we are all stuck on an endless treadmill of democracy.

We would raise our children to be responsible citizens who conserve resources, recycle, and give to others. We would find meaningful ways to help the poor, which includes providing alternative methods of learning skills that can offer meaningful work.

Our schools would look much different because they would not centre on subjects. Instead, children would learn about empathy and tolerance. Community service would be a major part of the school curriculum for all schools. Students would come out of school knowing what it means to be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.

On this Good Friday, I am filled with hope because I believe in resurrection.

In our case, it will take a whole new way of envisioning our culture.

One man said he was at the terminal since 10 am with relatives, to travel on the ferry at 3 pm.

However, The Express did not arrive until 3.30 pm and it would be taking passengers who were waiting to depart at noon. The man said he travels to Tobago annually for Easter and while there have been delays in the past, yesterday’s was one of the worst.

When Newsday visited the terminal, hundreds of persons were in long lines leading to the ticket counters while others waited for news on the next sailing. “When I tell you that I’m fed up, I’m fed up,” one man remarked. Another man wondered why Caribbean Airlines could not use one of its larger jets to carry persons to and from Tobago, if there were delays with the ferries.

Contacted yesterday, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan confirmed there was a delay with the Express. However he said the TT Spirit is operating and the water taxis will be used to supplement the Spirit and the Express over the Easter weekend.

The cargo vessel, Super Fast Galicia (which leaves TT on April 21), will continue to operate on the sea bridge over Easter. Sinanan said the new board of the Port Authority was meeting yesterday to continue to looking at options for the sea bridge beyond the Easter period.

In a statement, the airlines’ Head of Corporate Communications, Dionne Ligoure, said that the domestic air bridge is a significant part of the operations for Caribbean Airlines and it gives it high priority. “We are cognisant of the high demand during the Easter Holidays and the Jazz Festival and have carefully planned how resources will be used on the air bridge. Additionally, our operations and airport teams are focused on careful flight management and service delivery,” the statement said.

Ricardo John, Winston John, and Sheldon Campbell are the latest victims . The murder toll is now 151 for the year.

An innocent bystander Ricardo John, 42, a resident of Riverside Plaza since 2010, was simply going to a parlour to get something to eat at about 8.15 pm, when he was hitby bullets intended for another man.

Newsday understands unknown gunmen came, seemingly from nowhere, with their guns in hand and began shooting at a man identified as Kenwin “Mang” Fagan.

John, who was shot multiple times along with Fagan, died at the scene while Fagan was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital. Fagan remains at hospital in a critical condition.

Newsday yesterday spoke to Roger Watson, manager of Riverside Plaza. He described the situation as sad. He said John was a jovial and friendly person who suffered from a mental illness.

“Just on Tuesday, he went to Public Assistance to apply,” said Watson “He was a very nice person.

He was not a troublemaker.

He went to the clinic regularly and got his medication. He would be in before the gate is locked and would only come out when it was opened.

He was just a nice man who went to get something to eat, and now he is dead.”

Enterprise man killed in Santa Cruz Death came calling a second time on Wednesday night. This time, it claimed the life of 37-yearold Winston John, an Enterprise man who was staying at a companion’s home in Santa Cruz.

According to reports, at about 2 am yesterday, John heard knocking at the door of the house at Pipiol Road, Santa Cruz. The people at the door claimed to be police.

When John went to answer the door, the men drew their guns and shot him multiple times. He fell to the floor and eventually died at the scene.

Police investigating his murder say that he had been known to police, as he was a person of interest in several enquiries into criminal offences.

PH Driver killed in bed The last of the three murders occurred at about 4 am at Marcano Quarry, Laventille, while he was laying in his bed. The slain man has been identified as Sheldon Campbell. Residents awoke to gunshots early yesterday morning.

When they checked, Campbell was found lying in a pool of blood on his bed. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a District Medical Officer. Hours later, at the Forensic Science Centre,St James his brother, Lyle Worrel, said he had come from America to take his 14-yearold son away from the violence in this country, only to hear that his brother was killed.

“I came just this Monday to get my son, because of what is going on here.” said Worrel, “Life is a million times safer and better in America, than down here. The way Trinidad is now, if you from one place and you warring with another place you cannot go there. If one of the people from another place pass and see you they will kill you. That is what Trinidad reach to. What I want to know is how come they have police patrolling and these men still getting away with this?” Worrel described his brother as a friendly person who constantly preached the teachings of Rastafari.

Newsday understands he was a PH driver.

Maracas man died from gunshots An autopsy done on the body of Kareem Fernando, a 30-year-old man killed on Wednesday morning, confirms that he died from multiple gunshot wounds.

At about 11.40 am, Fernando was sitting outside his La Mango Road home, when two gunmen approached him and shot him dead.

No motive has yet been established for his murder and no arrests have been made.

“Innocent children do not know danger.” the priest said at the funeral service which was held at the Church of the Incarnation at Maloney Gardens.

“Be vigilant. God has given you children, and in his honour and glory he gave you the wisdom to raise them.” In his message, he sought to comfort the parents of the dead child.

“Fear, anxiety and guilt may cause you to blame yourself. It has already happened. Accept God’s will and ask him for forgiveness.

God is able to give you the grace you need. Ask God for comfort and strength.” Relatives and loved ones packed the church yesterday from as early as 9.30 am hoping to pay their final respects.

The brief service then continued at the D’abadie Public Cemetery where she was buried.

At about 2 pm last Sunday, residents of Herman Gerard Avenue began smelling smoke, and when they checked, they noticed that it was coming from a house belonging to 48-yearold Terrence Wilson. Residents alerted Fire and emergency services but, by the time they got there the house was gutted, and the charred remains of the three-year-old-girl were discovered in the debris.

Reports indicate little Tyran was left with Wilson’s six stepchildren, the eldest being 14, while he went to work.

The fire started on a bed in the house and spread.

An autopsy report done earlier this week confirmed Tyran died from smoke inhalation.

Justice Vasheist Kokaram yesterday awarded Boney a total of $70,000 in damages for his unlawful detention for the period November 30, 2011, to December 5, 2011. Boney was arrested on November 29, 2011, during the 2011 State of Emergency on allegations that he was involved in a plot to assassinate then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three members of Cabinet and had teamed up with other gang leaders such as Barry Barrington and Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis.

He was detained for seven days and eventually released at the end of the SoE without any charge being laid against him.

In his ruling yesterday, Kokaram warned against arbitrary detention of persons even during a declared state of emergency.

“This case of Mr Boney, as presented, demonstrates through an action of false imprisonment the balance between individual and collective rights in times where there is a threat to our public safety under a declared state of emergency.

“Freedom from arbitrary detention is a proud legacy of our shared values and equally threats to public safety lie not only in attacks against citizens’ security and well-being by criminal acts but, also acts of the State which irrationally deprives its citizens of their cherished private rights and individual freedoms,” Kokaram said.

In his written reasons, delivered in the High Court in Portof- Spain yesterday, Kokaram held that while Corporal Charles Budri, the police who arrested Boney, did have an honest belief in the suspicion that Boney was involved in criminal activity, there was no proper explanation for his detention beyond the first 24 hours.

“In the aftermath of many acts of terror, which have threatened public safety, democratic societies legitimately react to protect its citizens and their values of human security and their right to peace,” the judge said.

But he emphasised that “mere suspicion” to justify an arrest was “no licence to continue to detain” an individual without justification.

Kokaram said while there was an honestly held suspicion of Boney’s involvement in gun related violence, which may have destabilised the country, he was not satisfied that the five-day detention was necessary for the police to continue their enquiries into his involvement in the alleged plot.

Kokaram also dismissed the evidence of retired Deputy Police Commissioner Mervyn Richardson of the need to conduct interviews and make further enquiries into Boney’s alleged involvement in the plot as “unhelpful and very thin”.

“There is no question in this case of the legitimacy of the purpose of the Emergency Powers Regulations legislation under which the power of arrest is being exercised.

“…similarly, in this case, it cannot be overlooked that this is a nation that has endured the reverberating pangs of criminal activity from the 1970 insurrection to the 1990 attempted coup to an increasing crime rate for a small nation which resulted in the Government’s decision to declare the State of Emergency,” Kokaram said.

Boney was represented by attorneys Lee Merry and Kelston Pope while State attorneys Coreen Findlay and Rachael Thurab represented the Attorney General.

The complaint relates to the employees of the EXL 11 offshore rig, owned by Rowan Companies, who “downed tools” on March 30 after complaining that there was a series of accidents and incidents on the rig which caused damage to plant and injury to people over the past two months. Twenty- two workers, subcontracted by Lennox Petroleum to work on the rig, protested outside bpTT’s offices at Queen’s Park South in Port of Spain on April 3 complaining about their removal the previous weekend.

Labour relations officer for the OWTU Lindon Mendoza claimed the workers were “unceremoniously removed” through an order of the High Court after they ceased work under, what he said was, the established “stop work” policy.

OSHA said in a statement that after receiving the complaint, a safety and health inspector from the agency contacted the chief labour relations officer of the OWTU to verify the complaint and the next day (April 2) two inspectors flew to the rig by helicopter to begin the investigation.

The agency said its response to the OWTU’s complaint is consistent with its approved procedure for documenting, assigning and beginning investigations within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

In the statement, the agency said that between March 2016 and March 2017, OSHA has conducted more than 1,100 inspections; investigated more than 400 complaints and issued 69 enforcement notices which are being closely monitored.

The agency added that it has taken 50 cases to the Industrial Court within the last year and will soon hire eight more inspectors to improve the capacity of its inspectorate and enhance its mandate to improve safety and health in workplaces.

The bill is now being considered in committee stage and discussions will continue when the House sits again on April 28.

In committee, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had sought to get the Government to commit to a time-line for having the bill take effect, suggesting August or September.

However Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said he must first meet the Law Association to discuss any training needed ahead of these changes to courtroom procedure. He said Government is very anxious to effect the bill.

“We’ll be judged by the people,” he said.

“We’ll do our best and move with alacrity.” While admitting that the bill is not a magic bullet for a criminal justice system that did not become broken overnight but a longer period, Al-Rawi outlined his architectural approach to bringing a remedy.

He said he began a case by case inspection of the prison system including noting what crime victims were exposed to, how fast inmate cases moved, and what were the solutions.

“The gap between crime and conviction is way too long,” he said.

Al-Rawi became emotional as he related a tale of a taxi driver who was waiting to testify against two bandits.

“The bandits broke into his house one night, put a gun to his head and blew his brains out, all over his eleven year old daughter.

“Because of the length of time taken for that robbery case to get to court, it soon became a murder case. I’m quite upset about what I’m saying.” He said while MPs verbally jostled each other in Parliament, citizens were watching them closely.

“When we as parents are mortified and afraid watching our children cross the road at night to go to the neighbour’s house, where are we as a society? “Our criminal justice matters are just not moving.” He said from 2012 to 2015, some 371,000 criminal cases were filed in the magistrates court and 20,872 in the High Court. He calculated that the latter figure meant each of ten High Court judges should dispose of 2,087 cases per year. He said that of 226 criminals matters filed at the High Court, only 111 cases are approved for trial, a 49 percent rate per year.

He added that out of 2,010 people who are on indictment before the High Court, only 118 are dealt with. Apparently referring to the High Court, he said the backlog was some 68,000 cases.