Sleep was difficult as the noise continued to 4.30 am.

There were many foreigners staying at the hotel at the time but this situation will not encourage them to return. With the already alarming drop in visitor arrivals in Tobago, this does not bode well for Tobago.

I spoke to at least four foreign couples who told me they did not pay for a green and serene holiday to be disturbed at night by noise.

I am back home but will choose differently when next visiting. I ask the Environmental Management Authority and the police to get involved, if only to save our tourism industry from further destruction.

Richard Lobo Diego Martin

A quick meal for many is a roast pork sandwich and a soft drink and for some a cold beer. Cutters as we know are is usually roast pork.

A “quarter” of roast pork is in the vicinity of $30 ($120 a pound).

My beef is with the price. If it is local pork I can understand but with the revelation in the House and from what we know, a pound of imported pork costs around $9. Now tell me, is the price of roast pork fair to the consumer? Simply put, these roast pork vendors are buying cheap and selling very expensive.

Is there some kind of moral or ethical value here or is business all about making the most money — profit maximisation? What about the removal of VAT on certain items by the PP government? Wasn’t that meant to lower prices? What happened to that glorious expectation? Creative ways were found to work around that. Are we at the mercy of businesses?

Sahadeo Ragoonanan via email

Hang them high. Give us guns. Pray. Get the police to do their work.

New crime strategy.

And on and on. As well I saw a sound bite with the Prime Minister talking at a community meeting where he was again calling on the police to do their work as they had the tools to do so.

Regretfully, it is not as simple as that. The Prime Minister must take the bull by the horns and act now, making brave decisions.

I guarantee that the public will get behind him with maximum support.

There are many other recommendations I can make, but will start off with the obvious: * Consult the Darby and Bruce Reports.

There is a wealth of information, with possible solutions.

* Get rid of the Police Service Commission forthwith.

* Return the Police Service to its rightful quasi-military position as a police force. A politically correct Public Service cannot be in control of security in our country.

* Reinstate the officer corps, if necessary, for a time with foreign input.

* Eliminate overtime.

Buy it out.

* Cut out sick leave and vacation abuse, especially accumulated leave. Use it or you lose it.

* Institute proper management throughout the service with foreign help. Another Dwayne Gibbes or Jack Ewatski (former Canadian police commissioner and deputy police commissioner).

There are a host of other recommendations that can be made but space does not permit.

The Prime Minister can take matters into his hands and make lives better for us. Work a Donald Trump (US President) on them and make it happen.

F Mouttet Westmoorings

According to police, at about 1 am, Mohammed was driving along the Tarouba Link Road near the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Marabella when their vehicle was blocked by a white AD wagon. Reports are that occupants of the wagon opened fire on Caliph and Mohammed.

Caliph was shot to the lower abdomen and died on the spot while Mohammed was shot but survived.

Police said in an attempt to escape the assailants, Mohammed sped off to the nearby Mon Repos Police Station on Royal Road where he sought assistance.

A bleeding Mohammed was rushed to San Fernando General Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. There were 11 bullet holes in the vehicle including a shattered window on the front passenger side. Minutes before the shooting, Caliph and Mohammed had attended the official opening of Steel Restaurant and Lounge at South Park (Mall) in Tarouba. On Monday, scores of mourners gathered at the family home in Gasparillo to bid farewell to Caliph.

The new website, designed by MBLM features: a responsive design, which can be viewed with ease on any size/resolution screen; an inviting user interface, and access to the airline’s multiple products and services as well as the best deals for customers who book online.

The vibrant design is friendly and authentic, inviting customers to experience the warmth and pride of the region and what it means to be Caribbean.

Sean Quong Sing, Caribbean Airlines Vice President Commercial (Ag) stated, “Our new website is further evidence of our commitment to improved customer service and reinforces our core message that we are the Caribbean.

“The updated content structure is much easier to navigate and features exciting destination guides with locally produced content and imagery of popular Caribbean attractions”.

“As an integral part of the project team, MBLM’s goal was to create an outstanding user experience, ensure seamless technology integration and provide an appealing visual design that would showcase the essence of being Caribbean”, stated Claude Salzberger – President, MBLM

Acting Energy Minister Colm Imbert made the disclosure as he responded to a matter on the adjournment in the Senate on Tuesday night, raised by Opposition Senator Wade Mark. Indicating that Mark was wrong to say only the union submitted a restructuring plan, Imbert said Petrotrin has also made recommendations.

Promising all of these submissions will be reviewed, Imbert said, “We will in due course come up with a restructuring plan for Petrotrin that is in the best interest of all concerned.” He said the OWTU’s proposal included splitting the company into four operating units which each reporting to an independent autonomous managing director. He also said the union provided a quick-win document with various ideas, including how Petrotrin could improve production at individual wells.

The minister congratulated the OWTU for its “scientific and professional approach to this problem as opposed to the scaremongering of Senator Mark.” In raising this matter, Mark claimed that some 3,000 workers could be retrenched at Petrotrin and the Government had failed to develop a plan to restructure the company.

Imbert advised Mark to deal with the real issues facing Petrotrin rather than engaging in “histrionics.” As he referred to the company’s recommendations, Imbert said many people would not know that in July 2016, it cost Trinmar (which falls under Petrotrin) US$44 to lift one barrel of crude oil while a joint-venture arrangement which included Petrotrin was lifting the same barrel of oil at US$9.48. “These are the kinds of things as a country we need to look at. Not all this rhetoric of retrenching 3,000 workers,” Imbert said.

In fact, relatives expressed gratitude to the man, and lambasted the security officers who detained him. “Do your duty. Don’t chastise people just like that (sic),” said relatives to the security officers. “Imagine you come to a small lime with your girlfriend and you see someone on the ground and decide to help…and they hold you.” Newsday understands that the man went to MovieTowne on Sunday to celebrate his birthday.

When he got into the parking lot, his girlfriend noticed De Reveneaux’s body and they raised an alarm. Officers of Telecom Security detained the man until police officers arrived. It was not until CCTV camera footage was reviewed, that authorities realised the detained man was not the killer. He was released from police custody yesterday, while the actual killer remains at large.

De Reveneaux was killed at about 8.15 pm on Sunday. According to reports she received a phone call and left her place of work at the Manderos restaurant at MovieTowne. Minutes later, after loud screams were heard, her body was discovered lying in a pool of blood. Her throat had been slit.

Relatives yesterday described De Reveneaux, from Gonzales in Belmont as a friendly and loving person, but added that she was very quiet, and did not open up about her problems. Relatives believe she may have been killed by an estranged boyfriend, with whom she had been in an abusive relationship.

“We don’t know him, but we think it’s him because we know for a fact that she was being abused by him,” relatives said.

Management at MovieTowne extended condolences to the the De Reveneaux family. In a statement Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart, De Reveneaux’s brother-in-law, expressed sadness over her death.

“The pain of this loss is tremendous,” the statement read, “In addition to sharing a close sibling relationship with Blaxx, Jamilia was a wonderful, loving aunt to Blaxx’s children – which was a clear reflection of the closeknit family circle that was cherished and shared by all. Jamilia shared a particularly close bond with Blaxx’s youngest daughter, Faith, aged five, who adored her immensely. Jamilia was extremely loved by those who knew her, and will be sorely missed. May she rest in peace.”

A fortnight ago, news broke that the national men’s 4×100-metre relay team (Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender and Richard Thompson) was expected to get gold medals from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China after Nesta Carter, a member of the victorious Jamaica team, tested positive for a prohibited substance.

Both Thompson and Callender openly complained of the lack of financial support athletes receive from the Ministry of Sport, while the Sports Ministry, in return, last Friday, stressed that during the period 2012-2016, they disbursed approximately $24 million to athletes and teams in 13 disciplines with 73 percent going towards track and field..

Daniel, the former national 200 and 400m runner, stressed yesterday in a telephone interview, “it’s something that we shouldn’t really have, that kind of controversy between the Ministry and the athletes.

I feel that they’re both big enough and should be able to sit down and probably discuss things in a better manner.” Daniel pointed out, “on the other hand, one of the things the Ministry have to take into consideration is that these athletes representing Trinidad and Tobago and when they finish running, or coming close to the end of their career, they don’t really have (anything) to fall back on or have a job waiting for them.

“Time and time again, athletes have been representing Trinidad and Tobago and when they finish competing, they’re like a vagrant at the side of the road,” he added. “It’s time we put some things in place that if an athlete have been doing well (in competitions), they can do something better (after retiring).

“In terms of an athlete’s future after athletics, I don’t think that we have anybody in Trinidad and Tobago who is really taking care of that. This is a major concern for athletes representing their country.

Everybody will jump on the bandwagon when an athlete is doing good but nobody putting anything in place for an athlete when he’s finished competing.” A number of national athletes are beneficiaries of athletic scholarships in the United States, but Daniel insisted that the qualifications of the TT competitors should not matter when it comes to financial aid.

“When you look at other disciplines, this is their jobs,” noted Daniel. “In an athlete’s stint, (they aren’t) getting millions of dollars unless they come out like Usain Bolt and break some world records or achieve a couple gold medals. To say that an athlete is earning every single week like a footballer is (not true).

“What the Government needs to do, to get away from all of this too, (is) to have a proper policy in place, and a proper programme, not just saying that we spend over $25 million as the case may be. When you check, I don’t know how much that the athletes receive.” Concerning funding for athletes during his era (the 1980s and early 1990s), Daniel stated, “based on the teams that you make, which ones (fell) under the Olympic (Committee), that was taken care of. We always had to struggle when you made a team under the NAAA (National Association of Athletic Administrations).

I know I had to buy clothes to represent Trinidad and Tobago on several occasions.” He continued, “the times (are) changing. Maybe we need some kind of insurance in place so when an athlete (retires), they can get something. People (tend to) say ‘how they’re asking for this’ but half of the people not going out there and representing Trinidad and Tobago to that level. Some of them don’t even have the potential.

If we’re giving up 20-25 years of our lives to ensure that we can put (our) country on the map, why we don’t get something for it.”

In the first of what has been deemed ‘Conversations with the Prime Minister’, Dr Rowley sat on a stage in the Maloney Mall amphitheatre before a large audience.

Next to him was National Security Minister Edmund Dillon.

Prior to the question and answer segment of the evening, the prime minister in his preamble, said that there is no one in this country who is more concerned about the crime rate than him. “But at the same time, there is only so much that the prime minister can do.

We the government have to make sure that those whose job it is to respond to the criminal element, they must do the job they were hired to do,” Rowley said.

Saying there are 6,000 regular police officers in the Service and another 2,000 in Special Reserve, Rowley said that this country’s police officer to citizen ratio exceeds global standards.

He said that in terms of national expenditure to fight crime, this country with a population of 1.3 million, spends more on National Security yearly, that any other country in Latin America.

He said what is needed to combat crime and murders, in no State of Emergency, but rather a more effective, well-trained and well-resourced Police Service. He said that the Police Manpower Audit to be overseen by a committee led by criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran, is a critical tool in dealing with short comings in the Police Service.

“At the level of government and the National Security Council, we are trying to make sure we have a Police Service that is fit and working to the level of expectations.

The bottom line is it is not that we have been providing resources to the police, it is just that there are a series of tangled systems guaranteed not to give you the results desired and we are putting something in place to deal with the tangled system by way of this Manpower Audit,” Rowley said.

Rowley said he met with the audit team and assured them that as soon as the report of the audit is handed to him, it will be brought to Parliament.

On the issue of calls for a state of emergency, predominantly by business chambers and the Opposition, Dr Rowley said no state of emergency will be called. “As you may know, people affected by the last State of Emergency (called during the People’s Partnership administration) are lining up in the courts to collect half a million a piece,” Rowley said.

Dillon later spoke of the five pillars to improving National Security, namely, Prediction – how to keep ahead of elements bent on destroying society; Deterrence: how to deter those bent on committing crime; Detection: what is needed to improve the detection rate of crime; Prosecution: how to increase prosecution of criminals and; Rehabilitation: ways and means of rehabilitating criminals willing to be rehabilitated.

Getting emotional at times, Minister Dillon said he has urged the police service to make life “more uncomfortable” for the small percentage in society bent on committing crime and attacking law abiding citizens.

In making this statement yesterday, president of the Police Social Welfare Association (PSWA) Insp Michael Seales added that it was supreme irony that the same general public that is castigating the Service for not solving murders and arresting criminals is hesitant to cooperate with law enforcement by way of providing information.

Seales said that coupled with the frustration among police officers is sheer physical exhaustion from working long hours trying to get a handle on the crime situation, with all of their efforts not reaping the desired results. He said that despite this frustration and exhaustion, policemen and women remain committed to upholding their Oath of Office and to fulfil the Service’s motto: To Protect and Serve with Pride.

Seales said that law enforcement officers are also members of the public who have families, friends and relatives and who are equally frustrated (just like other members of the public) with crime levels. He said the time had long come for all law-abiding citizens to work with the police to make the country safer.

“It cannot be a good position for our membership who feel exhausted and having no reasonable prospect that things will change given the long hours they are putting in and there is no reciprocal results consistent with an improvement in prevention, detection and conviction of people committing the acts of criminality especially murders,” Insp Seales said.

Inspector Seales reiterated that citizens need to play a more meaningful role in the fight against crime. “The Association has publicly made the call that citizens play an integral part in not only stemming the tide but turning things around. There is a part for every single citizen to play in the administration of justice and we are calling on all not to be fearful of crime but to put their trust and confidence in law enforcement so that they can improve the performance and efficiency of the police.” He also called on Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to do more when it comes to the issue of corruption in the Service and also with the issue of rogue elements. Seales also warned that the Association is observing a growing disquiet among various civil society groups gathering, discussing and challenging the State for a better result.

“The Association is fearful that it would not be too long when persons decide to take matters into their own hands because of the rapid loss of confidence in law enforcement,” Insp Seales said.