Ma Pau, over the years, has developed a relationship with the North Zone Basketball Commission and supported various events. The Zone is featuring four divisions – Boys 16 and under; Boys 21 and under; Girls 18 and under; and Men Open Divisions.

The Zone has an estimated 315 players and action is expected to conclude this month.

The North Zone is a very critical component in local sports as it helps many players gain athletic scholarships at American colleges and universities through the NCAA scholarship programme.

Players competing in the league boast improved skill level and personal development.

Many players are recognised as role models in their communities and some have even obtained employment because of their basketball skills which are highlighted through the local media.

“Ma Pau identifies with the positive message telegraphed by the North Zone Basketball Commission and shares the value of building the community through sports,” a press release yesterday stated.

She gave her entire working life to TT .

She was the architect of the National Museum, and her love for the preservation of culture is unsurpassed.

Notwithstanding her sterling contribution some misguided person or persons felt that her blood must be shed in the sanctuary of her home and they accomplished their mission.

The moral fabric of our society has been broken for some time now and the will to repair it is nowhere on the horizon.

Is it that we have reached a level in criminal activity and there is “no turning back, no turning back.” The most important institution in any society is the family.

We in TT have invested in almost everything, yet we have failed to invest in the fabric that makes the society.

Just where are our priorities? Remember, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” As we mourn the untimely and tragic death of Claire Broadbridge, we must and can overcome this scourge of criminal activity plaguing this society.

Wake up, good people of TT !

STANLEY JOHN retired Justice of Appeal

Mieres appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle in the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrates Court, just before noon yesterday, on the conspiracy charge and a separate charge of being in unlawful possession of a yellow- crowned parrot.

The conspiracy to murder charge comes more than one year after Alexis was killed.

On July 17 last year, Alexis and two others were shot dead at his Enterprise, Chaguanas business place. Mieres, 44, of St Michael’s Village, Las Cuevas, appeared in court on crutches, wearing a light blue long sleeved shirt and blue jeans.

He was not called on to plead on the conspiracy charge and pleaded not guilty to being in possession of the parrot on August 31; the date he was arrested at his home by police.

The parrot was brought to court in a wire cage by game warden Edwards.

Mieres’ attorney Mario Merritt, in his application for bail, said his client had two pending matters for obscene language and resisting arrest arising out of an incident in 2012 and a previous conviction for which he was fined $5,000.

In objecting to bail, prosecutor Inspector Winston Dillon said the conspiracy charge was a very serious one and was allegedly committed while Mieres was on bail on the pending charges.

He also said there was likelihood of the accused interfering with witnesses if granted bail.

On the charge of the unlawful possession of the parrot, Dillon objected to bail on the grounds that it was a criminal offence and the bird was a protected species.

Mieres is to reappear in court on October 2.

The two contributions to which I am directing attention were by Robin Montano and Ernest Koylass, the latter a recent appointee to the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. Both learned gentlemen have purported to offer possible solutions to the matter.

In his piece, Montano made the point that restarting the 53 part-heard cases de novo after the “subject” prisoners had been languishing in Remand would be “wrong” and “unfair” and would be tantamount to “collateral damage.” His solution would be that “conditional pardons be given to each and every one of the 53 matters,” the condition for not figuratively being “dragged back to court on the initial charge” being what I would term life-long “good behaviour.” Before proceeding further, let me seek to correct clearly an apparent misconception which has been responsible for having sparked the whole controversy in the Marcia Ayers- Caesar issue.

The germane issue was not the fact that a total of 53 cases were in the hand of the former Chief Magistrate as, among these, would have been matters of varying lengths.

The central point concerned the seven or eight murder accused who, for whatever reason, had been languishing for several years in Remand, and whose position had been highlighted by their Senior Counsel. It is certainly inconceivable that matters of this nature had not occurred over the years.

In his piece, Koylass reviewed what, to him, are “options” for a solution. Among these are applying the powers of the DPP under the Indictable Offences (Preliminary Enquiry) Act. He sees “no reason why the current situation should be allowed to fester” (with which I fully concur).

Nevertheless, Koylass points to the fact that “there is no statutorily- prescribed procedure that speaks to such a situation.” However, he seems to favour an age-old procedure in 1909 for a hearing in the circumstances of a presiding magistrate becoming ill and unable to continue.

Of course, the question therefore now arises as to the manner by which this 1909 procedure could be “transformed” to meet the current impasse. Here Koylass offers a possible procedural solution involving, inter alia, the reswearing and recross-examination of witnesses.

I wrote, inter alia, in a letter dated June 6 in this matter: “Certainly, this is a challenge for a young bright attorney to flex his or her muscles voluntarily and do some challenging research into the authorities which would properly inform opinion.” This, I now repeat.

ERROL OC CUPID Trincity

I thought about this as I joined and enjoyed TT’s Independence Day celebrations last week.

Not least given the other issue which dominated much of the news at the end of the week.

As British High Commissioner it’s not for me to get involved in domestic politics. But I do see room for an international perspective on the issues raised, from two angles.

First, your country’s democracy is derived from that of mine. So, how your democracy develops is inevitably part of our bilateral partnership and why I keep a supportive and watchful eye.

While enjoying the well-organised celebration of 55 years of independence from Britain, I also thought again how interdependent our lives are, nonetheless, in this globalised world. Simply put, this means what happens here matters in Britain, the Commonwealth and wider.

Democracy means society has a right to expect that no one is above the law. That all, whatever their position, should be held accountable in a timely way.

Or else the cancer of corruption spreads.

At the same time, in our democracies any citizen should feel confident of a fair trial, innocent until proved guilty, with a judgment based on the facts and the application of the rule of law.

In this interdependent world a determined effort to hold all to account and to implement the rule of law raises the international standing of a country. That means more trust and agreements, more trade and investment, more prosperity for all.

Successful attempts to distract or derail the due legal process with claims of bias do the opposite.

Some may accuse me of naivety, that I simply don’t understand how things work here. I return to my first point. TT has worked to sustain its democracy over the last 55 years. The rule of law, its practice and implementation, is the bedrock of any democracy. It’s only right — particularly as this country once again celebrates its independence — that the citizens of this country demand, foster and treasure this essential democratic principle.

TIM STEW via email

Her throat was slit and her killer or killers set fire to several pieces of furniture in an apparent attempt to burn the house down.

Stephen was among 13 families waiting for hours for autopsies to be done on their loved ones yesterday.

At about midday yesterday, only two of the bodies were examined.

Family members were told there was a problem for funeral homes to get the required police escort for the bodies to be transported to the FSC. Added to that, there was only one attendant present.

“There is no parking, the place smells, it is overcrowded and no one knows exactly what is going on,” Stephen said.

“This is totally inadequate and it is a national disgrace. People are already traumatised and this facility should not be adding to the stress that we are already enduring. This is making an already upsetting situation even more unpleasant.” He told reporters he and other relatives were told to arrive there for about 9 am.

However when he got there, his mother’s body had not yet arrived.

It was the same situation experienced by other families.

“Some of us have been waiting since 8 am, some before that, so at the end of the day, what is really going on?” said a relative of Ronald Marshall who was shot dead in Enterprise on Sunday.

“Since last year I have been seeing the same pathologist on TV. I heard him with my own ears making pleas for things to change around here and nothing has happened yet.

Everything is falling apart too fast. This country is on its way for an uprising; it is just a matter of time before it explodes.” Stephen told Newsday yesterday the autopsy was finally done at about 2 pm.

He said if the government was really serious, it would have removed all stops to dealing with the matter of crime. This includes the proper management of the FSC.

“We are a culture of tolerant people and I think we need to be less tolerant, more demanding, and less fearful.

It seems that everyone is always afraid of repercussions when giving evidence. We are afraid of saying the wrong things and not having the parties in power give them aid or jobs.” Newsday was unable to reach Alexandrov for comment.

The murder toll for the year so far is 321 with 40 of the victims being women.

A variety of local dishes, entertainment from TT artistes and pan music added to nationalistic atmosphere.

Live performances came from calypsonian Brown Boy (Knolly Brown) and KV Charles (Knolly Charles) who performed both popular calypsoes and reggae songs. Backed by a band led by Joey Rivers, Skatie (Carlos James) added another dimension to the celebrations as he delivered some of the best songs from some of TT ’s top calypsonians.

Resident steelband Harvard Harps wrapped up the live action.

“The FA wishes to further confirm that it has in fact made a request to FIFA to have the match sanctioned and is currently awaiting their approval.

“The FA will also like to place on record that it was only on the 29th of August 2017 it received from the TTSL information requested since early August by the FA to support the TTSL’s application to send to FIFA .

“The TTFA will in no way attempt to stall an event of this magnitude which is intended to aid the promotion of the sport in Trinidad and Tobago and the region.

“The FA will continue to support the development of the TTSL,” a TTFA press release stated.

The TTFA quoted Article 78 of its constitution which states, “The Authority for organising international matches and competitions between representative teams and between Leagues, Club teams and/or scratch teams lies solely with FIFA, the Confederation (s) and/or the Association (s) concerned. No such match or competition shall take place without the prior permission of FIFA, the Confederation (s), and/or the Association (s) concerned in accordance with the FIFA Regulations Governing International Matches.” It also cited Article 79 which states, “TTFA, its Members, Players, Officials and match and players’ agents shall not play matches or make sporting contact with Associations that are not Members of FIFA or with Provisional Members of a Confederation without the approval of FIFA.”

AMTSTC president, Rodney Ramlogan, said maxi taxi drivers’ children have also been affected by the delay in paying $12 million for services rendered in May, June and during the first two weeks of July.

“I don’t know how the minister could say that. He’s making it seem like only schoolchildren were affected but we have children too. Up to now, we can’t even afford to buy school books and uniforms to send them to school, so I don’t know how (Garcia) could say we using schoolchildren as pawns.” Ramlogan was speaking to Newsday yesterday about how a decision by members to withhold their services yesterday left a reported 30,000 primary and secondary school students stranded on the first day of the new school year. However this was disputed by the ministry, which cited data from School Supervisors in the seven education districts across Trinidad.

Chief Education Officer, Harrilal Seecharan, said a check of Government and Government- assisted schools revealed that “ten primary schools and 14 secondary schools were negatively impacted to some extent because of the disruption in the service.

In some cases, several maxi taxi concessionaires doubled up (to ensure affected students get to school).” Seecharan was speaking yesterday during a press conference at the Education Ministry’s head office, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, where Education Minister, Anthony Garcia, criticised the association’s actions.

“While I have absolutely no problem with any group of workers withholding their services; because that is their right, always remember that we must not use our children as pawns…Those maxi taxi drivers, if they had entered into discussions with me last night (Sunday), they would have been told that today (yesterday), a cheque for in excess of TT $6 million was forthcoming and later on this week, the remaining sum of (just under) $5 million would have been paid to them.

There was absolutely no need, as far as I see it, to take the type of action that was taken,” Garcia declared.

Management of the school bus system, including payments to drivers, is handled by the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC). That’s why the ministry issues cheques to the PTSC and not directly to the AMTSTC.

Garcia recalled that “sometime last week or the week before, we were able to give PTSC $1 million as part payment to maxi taxi drivers.

Today (yesterday); and this is what I wanted to discuss with (Ramlogan), we made available to PTSC in excess of $6 million; so that is in excess of $7 million. “ The minister added that he was informed “by our Permanent Secretary that later this week,” the remaining sum of just under $5 million will be paid.

This news did not appease the association. Ramlogan told Newsday that it’s not simply about keeping their word to withhold service until full payment is received. “Financially we can’t afford to go out to work.”

The band titled Street Party will be launched on September 30 at the Government Campus Courtyard on Richmond Street, Port of Spain.

Charles, an acclaimed jazz trumpeter dedicated to preserving our history through music, decided to bring live music back to TT ’s streets after observing that such music no longer ruled the road on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

He assembled his musicians and singers Lima Calbio, the soca artiste formerly known as Designer and David Rudder to lead a 1,000-member band that included Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his wife Sharon. The band performed music from Shadow, Kitchener, Sparrow and a range of soca classics. The overwhelming response reinforced to Charles that there was indeed a void that needed to be filled.

“It lifted me just to see people lifted.

People say people don’t want live music on the road and they come up with all these excuses as to why people don’t want live music on the road. When we started playing Rainorama that was one of the high points, everybody started singing – from the Prime Minister go down,” Charles said in a media release.

The launch of Street Party will see performances from Etienne and Friends, with special guest David Rudder. In addition to food on sale, patrons will be served complimentary corn soup and doubles. Secured parking will be available at The Parkade at a cost. Charles will also stage a concert titled Folklore at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s on October 22.

Tickets are available at Queen’s Hall Box Office.