Relatives said that Alphonse and another friend got into an argument with a group of men.

The argument escalated into a fight, and Alphonse defended his friend during the altercation.

Relatives would not reveal the cause of the argument, but said that on Saturday last they received a call that Alphonse, 15, had been shot.

According to reports, Alphonse was among a group of persons who were playing cards near Roots Pan Yard, off Morne Coco Road, in Petit Valley.

At about 10.30 pm on Saturday, an unknown gunman approached the group and started shooting.

Alphonse, along with 31-year-old Shelly-Ann Criag, and 17-year-old Kadeem Lavia, were also shot in the incident. Alphonse died while undergoing emergency surgery, while Craig and Lavia are in a stable condition at hospital.

Bakr was giving evidence before Justice Frank Seepersad in a malicious prosecution claim he brought against sitting magistrate Nalini Singh, who on September 29, 2010, acting in the capacity of a coroner, ruled that there was sufficient evidence for both Bakr and Brent “Big Brent” Miller to be charged with the murder of Israel Sammy, 22, who was killed on May 20, 1998. Bakr and Miller were the subjects of an inquest into Sammy’s death at the Portof- Spain Magistrates’ Court.

Three weeks after Magistrate Singh gave her ruling, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, discontinued the preliminary enquiry, saying there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

As he left the witness box yesterday, Bakr accused Justice Seepersad of being arrogant. He said he was not going to be subjected to the judge’s arrogance, further accusing the judge of being discriminatory against him. Bakr said he had evidence to support his claims.

His lawyers at the start of the trial had called on the judge to step down from hearing the case, as he had previously dismissed a constitutional motion brought by Bakr in which he claimed his right to a fair trial was infringed when he was charged with the 1998 murder as a result of the Coroner’s decision.

Seepersad held that Bakr’s constitutional motion was an abuse, and any challenge against the magistrate’s decision as Coroner should have been done by way of a judicial review application.

Bakr’s application for the judge to recuse himself was based on apparent bias, but Seepersad refused to do so, saying such a request should have been long before as the malicious prosecution claim was before him for the past two years, and at any point during the case management stage Bakr could have made his application for recusal.

It was the judge’s refusal to step down that drew Bakr’s ire which he exhibited as he entered the witness box and was being led into evidence by his attorney Farid Scoon.

After his walkout, the trial was recessed for 30 minutes. When the matter resumed Bakr apologised to the court for his earlier outburst.

The trial continues on February 21.

Surratt told Newsday the TTBWA met yesterday with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, the district’s school supervisor and their legal representatives at the ministry.

No decision, he said, was taken in relation to the removal of the school’s principal and his wife, who teaches at the school. He said that the TTBWA was informed that the Teaching Service Commission was responsible for transfers, disciplining and firing. He said, the meeting was similar to the one held last year with similar outcomes.

He was asked on that occasion for the TTBWA to send their complaints about the principal and his wife, which he did. He was once again asked to resend copies of the complaints which, he said, he will do once again.

Whatever new appointments are being made in terms of teachers and principal, he said, the association must be consulted. The association was not consulted in 2009 when the current principal was appointed.

Since then, he said, teachers were being appointed without consultation.

At present, he said that the school has six teachers and a principal and about five or six children attend school daily. This was due, he said, to the principal shutting down the dorm facilities since 2012 which would have provided live-in accommodation for students who live in both Tobago and Trinidad. It is the only school for blind children in TT, he noted.

On the reopening of the school, which the TTBWA closed a week ago, Surratt said, “We are saying that moving forward to reopen the school, we must get written commitments from the ministry.” The ministry has also promised, he said, to send the association a counter proposal to its memorandum of understanding in relation to the management and administration of the school.

The TTBWA, he said, submitted its draft proposal in June last year.

“The ministry has now have found time to look at it. Once we get their counter proposal,” he said, “the association’s council will meet to discuss it.”

The closure would affect about 300 students.

A delegation of parents met with Education Minister Anthony Garcia at his office at 7 am yesterday to discuss the next step for their children.

“Essentially the meeting discussed what the Ministry of Education can give to them,” Minister Anthony Garcia said yesterday. “You have to bear in mind that it is a private institution, not a Government institution, and therefore there are limits to what assistance we can give. During the meeting we decided to keep the lines of communication open, and we will dialogue with the parents as often as is possible.” Garcia revealed,”They (the delegation) wanted to know if they wanted to establish another school what are the procedures that they must go through. They needed to get statutory approval and that would be from the regional corporation, TTEC (Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission), and WASA (Water and Sewerage Authority).

We will need to know if they could implement the curriculum and we would have to take into consideration what are the teachers’ qualifications, and also infrastructure issues.” Garcia said after meeting with him, the parents met with a senior officer of the ministry to outline different structures that would be necessary in establishing a new school. The minister said he had not received a report of that meeting as he was in other meetings for the rest of the day.

When Newsday contacted the school yesterday to find out about the closure of the facility, a person who identified herself as the receptionist said the principal, Helen Atwell-Koo, was teaching a class at the time.

Her message was brief: “The principal said she is retiring and that is all there is to this.” Garcia said that was what was puzzling the parents.

“Nobody seems to know,” he said.

“All we received was a letter from the school principal stating that the school will no longer function. It was dated January 27, 2017, indicating that the school would be closing to all students with the exception of standards four and five.

“These classes would close in July 2018 and that is to facilitate those students who would be writing the SE A exams. All other classes will come to a halt in July 2017.” Garcia said the parents stated that they were not consulted, that they had no prior information, there was no discussion with the school’s administration and up to the time they met with the minister, they had not heard anything further from the school administration.

Arima had become the traditional home of the semi-finals until it was moved to the Queen’s Park Savannah two years ago. Some people like Colin, who wished only to be identified as such, said the semi-finals lost its vibes when it moved to Port-of-Spain. Colin said he was not sure that many of the die-hards would turn out but was sure of one thing that “the event would have vibes.”

Another Arima resident, who wished not to be identified, said chairs should have been placed at the venue for patrons, but was generally satisfied with the early part of the show.

The early part of the show saw only a handful of people for its scheduled 5pm start but the crowd grew as time moved on. This year the show began promptly at 5pm with Omardath Maharaj singing “Ramsingh.” There were other major acts including Chuck Gordon, Patrice Roberts and New York/Jamaican Jason “Linky First” Henriques performing in the first half. There were deviations from slotted appearances as some artistes arrived earlier than others and the organisers allowing them to perform. After his presentation in eighth position, Jason “Linky First” Henriques said he believed he would move to the finals and did not expect as much love from the Trinidadian audience for his hit “Rock and Come In.”

The evening saw the crowd grow slowly but steadily. Acts such as Barbadian Damian Marvay had patrons swaying and singing to, “Know The Face.”

Daryl “Farmer Nappy” Henry was also a big crowd pleaser, as they sang along with him to his hit, “Technically” which he performs with Destra Garcia. He told the audience, however, that Garcia could not perform with him at the event because of some vocal difficulties but he promised if he made it to the finals she would be there with him.

Barbadian Peter Ram was also popular with “Good Morning.” He told Newsday after his performance that, “he felt wonderful…I had a wonderful performance.Dancers did a wonderful job and I am thankful.”

He said he would love to get into the finals. Asked if he felt that the number of Barbadians in the competition was wind of a second Bajan invasion as it was then dubbed in the late 1990s, Peter Ram said, “I don’t look at it as a Bajan invasion. I look at it as culture. Trinis working with the Bajans. Trinis writing their hard tunes and come with the Red Boyz [Barbadian music producers] it is a combination….so I call it a culture celebration with Trinidad and Barbados. I would love to see St Vincent, St Lucia, Grenada, Guyana combining as well…”

Devon Matthews in collaboration with Ella Andall were also favourites with their performance of “D Journey”. Some of the highlights in the latter half of the competition were performances by Iwer George and Sekon Sta. The moment the intro to George’s “Take A Bathe” played, the crowd went into a frenzy and started singing before the artiste did. As the veteran artiste performed, one man in the crowd held a hose and sprayed water inviting people to “take a bathe”.George also threw bottles of water to the crowd. During his performance, George spoke about the Ultimate Rejects and their song “Full Extreme” quoting the line “the city could bun down.” He assured that if that were to happen, he has the water. “The city can’t burn down when Iwer on stage,” he said

Soon after Sekon Sta (Nesta Boxhill) came to perform his 2017 offering, “Kings and Queens.” Dressed all in white Sekon was accompanied on stage by a full choir and Hubert Peter “Flagman” Diaz. He had the crowd’s attention from beginning to end as they sang along and followed his every move.Joining the younger artistes was veteran calypsonian Lord Nelson.The 86-year-old walked on stage with his cane but the moment he began his performance he quickly threw it on the ground. Lord Nelson dressed in a lavender suit sang his tune “Sugar Mammy” while displaying his signature moves. At the two-minute mark of his performance Lord Nelson took off his jacket, then his hat. He then slowly unzipped his suit just a little. Many wondered if he would have taken it off completely as he has done for many years.However, he did not. Lord Nelson ended his performance with more than a minute left and the crowd cheered.

Also performing in the latter half were two of the youngest competitors, Enrico Camejo and Aaron Duncan, who both gave energetic displays.

The investor has been in talks with the Steel Workers Union of TT (SWUTT) in a bid to restart the operations to provide employment for some 2,000 workers who were laid off when ArcelorMittal folded last year.

Newsday understands that on January 6, the investor wrote to Finance Minister Colm Imbert requesting a “formal meeting with the Government to discuss a proposed joint partnership.” However, the investor received no reply and took the proactive stance in coming to Trinidad to see what he could achieve.

In his letter, the investor said his company had extensive discussions with SWUTT which guaranteed their cooperation for the success of this venture that will contribute to the recovery of this country’s economy and provide employment for those displaced when ArcelorMittal folded in March last year.

The investor said, his company had done extensive research and recognised the need for specific essentials such as natural gas, water, electricity, and the use of port facilities to successfully operate the steel facility – utilities which are either owned by the government or in which it has shares.

The investor said, he believes that the imposition of tariffs, relevant duties and the granting of concessions of essential utilities would be required to maximise profitability and protect the integrity and quality of steel products consumed in TT and the region.

On the issue, SWUTT Chief Labour Relations Officer Timothy Bailey told Newsday that it would be disheartening if the investor was discouraged from investing locally. Bailey recalled that after the closure of ArcelorMittal, SWUTT was in talks with a number of investors to salvage the facilities at ArcelorMittal for workers who were laid off without any compensation.Bailey suggested that because of Government’s lack of interest to hold discussions with the SWUTT on the proposal to operationalise ArcelorMittal facilities, some investors have stopped showing an interest.

Late last year, SWUTT met with Government representatives at which additional information in relation to the investors and their sources of funding were requested.

Bailey said, the information requested was provided during the first week in January.

Subsequent to providing the information, Bailey noted that the Canadian investor indicated a willingness to travel to Trinidad to meet with Government officials. Bailey said, that apart from the investor requesting a meeting with Imbert, SWUTT also wrote to the Minister of Public Utilities, Minister of Trade, and Minister of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development requesting meetings with them.

SWUTT received a letter only acknowledging receipt on behalf of Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus.

Bailey said that SWUTT has followed up with phone calls and messages, but without success.

It appears, he said, that Government does not want to entertain discussions on the investment and someone needs to say something.

Politicians are talking about diversification and joint ventures, he said, and this was an opportune time for Government to take advantage of such an investment.

On the other hand, Bailey said, there are rumours that Government was showing an interest in another company that has an interest in taking over one of the three main plants of ArcelorMittal. Taking over one without the two others, Bailey said, will not do justice to the majority of former ArcelorMittal employees and will start the canibalisation of ArcelorMittal facilities to benefit a few.

Close to 180 players from the six regional associations (Northern, Southern, Eastern, Eastern Counties, Central and Tobago) assembled at the venue from 9am on Saturday after being initially screened by coaches in their respective zones. Latapy and his staff observed and assessed the players during a series of matches played among the zones before finalising a list to commence training in the coming weeks. TTFA president David John-Williams and Technical Director Muhammad Isa were also on hand to take a look at proceedings.

And the response was largely positive from the zones as the coaches voiced their support and satisfaction with the two-day programme.

Latapy shared his feelings on the two-day tryout, indicating that it is a step in the right direction “I’ve been very satisfied. I think when we started the screening, we set out some goals and we were able to achieve these goals. I must say congrats and thank you to all the zonal coaches and players. We had a wonderful weekend with a lot of cooperation and we were able to come out with some fantastic young players to start our national Under 15 youth team programme,” Latapy told TTFA Media “We wanted to have the opportunity to see what these players are capable of and in principle, we were able to do that. We saw a lot of exciting young players, technically gifted and physically strong young players and it says to us that with the right balance we can build a very strong team.

“We had about 180 young players on trials. We were able to start a player pool with 50 players and we know it is a lot of players to train with, but we wanted that opportunity to continue to see these players over a period of time. We definitely will have to break it down again when it comes to preparing for tournaments which we will do. But our main focus was achieved and that was getting a player pool of 50 players and I must say I’m impressed and excited to start working with them because we’ve got some wonderful talent,” he added.

“The main idea is not waiting on right before a tournament to start preparations. What will occur is we will start weekly training sessions with these kids and the closer we get to competition, we will intensify the preparations. What we do with the Under 17s is we train weekly and we are planning to do the same with the 15s,” said the former Porto player who conducted a one-hour training session with the 50 players selected to close off proceedings on Sunday evening.

Kendall Crawford, U-15 coach from the Southern FA; Nicholas Griffith, U-15 coach at Central FA; Anthony Streete of Northern FA; Tobago FA’s Earl Grey and Eastern Counties FA’s Philbert Charles all gave their approval of the initiative.

“This exercise was long overdue.

We were supposed to be doing things like this years ago,” Crawford said.

Charles added: “It was very encouraging.

The TTFA needs to do this a little more. The players were very excited. Most of them who felt they were good enough to make it and they came out and saw better players than them, had to think twice about their performances and their programme. To them, national duty is one of the most important things for a young footballer in Trinidad and Tobago.

Eastern Counties is one of the biggest districts in Trinidad and Tobago so we need more of these elite programmes.”

The victory gave Central FC an unassailable 47 points from 18 games, with W Connection finishing second with 46 points and Jabloteh third with 29.

The 27-year-old Mitchell, who joined the team from National Super League outfit 1976 FC Phoenix in 2013, said in a telephone interview yesterday, “I want to say thanks (to God).

“It’s a great feeling, a great achievement,” said Mitchell. “As a player, as a captain, it’s always good to lead your team to victory.

“Most of all the history, the only team to win the Pro League three times (in succession),” he added.

“The guys, everybody just excited right about now.” Mitchell replaced fellow midfielder Leston Paul as captain early in the 2016-2017 season and has grown into the position.

“It came as a (shocker) for me because there was no indication, it just happened,” admitted Mitchell.

“The coach (Dale Saunders) called me and say he watched me as a leader and somebody who could carry the team. And I (told) him ‘well no problem, I don’t mind taking up the responsibilities’. I have a great relationship with the guys and it’s nothing hard to get along with the guys.” Mitchell, who was born in Princes Town, moved to Scarborough at age 10 and spent 13 years in the sister isle living with his mother before returning to Trinidad when he joined Central FC.

Ex-national midfielder Rundell Winchester, a Tobagonian, returned to the team from a spell abroad while veteran defender Julius James joined Central FC as a free agent in January. “To be honest, this was a challenging (season),” said Mitchell.

“We had to cope with the changing of players. We had the same aim, the same mission, to go out there and win. But it was tough because knowing we had a chance to create history, it was hard work but it paid off.” Another player who spent a considerable part of the season with Central FC was former national captain Kenwyne Jones. The 32-year-old striker left on January 1 after his loan deal from MLS (Major League Soccer) team Atlanta United expired.

“Kenwyne is a great guy on and off the pitch,” said Mitchell. “First time getting to be closer to him and getting that kind of relationship with him. He’s a great leader, he tries to motivate you and tries to use his experience to help people improve on their game. To me, he was a big part of our success.” With regards to his personal ambitions, Mitchell admitted, “at this point in my career, I’ve reached where you can say the peak where things are just going good for you.

“I want to use this opportunity to market myself (overseas), if at any point in time this year that I can go out there and make a name for myself.” Second-placed W Connection were snapping at the heels of Central FC up to Sunday’s round but Mitchell explained the Central FC were untroubled.

“We always knew that it was in our hands because we (were) always at the top,” said Mitchell. “We always knew that it was up to us to slip it up. We always had it, it was just to get the results.”

President of the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT ), Wendell Lai Hing, conveyed his excitement on this country’s hosting of the tournament.

“The National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva, has opened a myriad of opportunities to host tournaments even at a world standard. Trinidad and Tobago hosting the UANA Cup from February 7th to the 11th, will see the national teams from Canada, Brazil and Argentina come to our shores. This not only gives our own national team international exposure right at home, but assists us (ASATT ) in promoting Trinidad and Tobago as a destination for sports tourism in Water Polo and all Aquatic Sports. As an Association, we will continue to seek opportunities to ensure that, as a country, we get a great return on investment on our world class facility,” he said.

Andrew Francis, senior Head Coach of the Trinidad and Tobago team, noted that while he is not expecting to top the competition, he wants the members of his squad to give it their best shot and prove to everyone – including themselves – what they are capable of. He explained that this tournament is geared towards analysing and improving their tactics in preparation towards their goal of securing medals at the upcoming Caribbean and Central American (CCCAN) championships, which will also be hosted at the Aquatic Centre.

The Trinidad and Tobago water polo team includes Russell Ferreira, Leon Daniel, Daniel Alvarez, Jesus Badal, Kyle Ferreira, Ethan Elliott, Kris Thomas, Tyrece Joseph, Sergio Des Vignes, Gregorio Felician, Kyle Simmons, Nathaniel Porter and Jon-Mycal Palmer.

The tournament’s schedule consists of two matches every evening until Saturday, with the first game starting at 6pm followed by the second at 7:30pm.

Admission for the event is TT $30 for adults and TT $20 for children 16 years and under.

Sunday’s game at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena at Tacarigua, never lacked good netball, with Fire holding a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the policewomen upped their game in the second period to snatch the lead 26-24.

Police continued to lead at the end of the third quarter 39-33 and entered the final stanza with their six-goal advantage.

But Fire, playing some excellent netball, caused some panic in the Police ranks, outscoring them 13-10 but the third-quarter lead proved enough to hold off their determined challenge.

Joelisa Cooper led Police with 34 goals from 43 attempts with Jeselle Navarro adding nine from 10 attempts while Tahira Hollingsworth got six goals from 12 .

Goal-shoot Aquila Blugh continued her good form scoring 44 goals from 54 attempts with veteran Simone Morgan getting two from six for Fire.

In the other Premiership game, UTT beat UWI 32-27 behind Kernesha Greenidge’s 16 goals, Anastascia Wilson’s 15 and Liliah Matthews’ one.

Afiya Vincent scored 15 and Akeela Rodriguez 12 for UWI.

Other results: Championship Division – UTC (42) Roannta Dalrymple 31, Ayanna Peters 11 vs BERMUDEZ (25) Indira Anderson 13, Makeda DeFreitas 10, Okera Dennie 2; UTT (35) Akeilah Francis 23, Oprah Douglas 12 vs LAS LOMAS (31) Raquel Russell 26, Anita Pitt-Russell 5; DEFENCE FOR CE (35) Karlene Sylvester 26, Kemaria James 8, Jody Sprott 1 vs JABLOT EH (31) Giselle Hobson 16, Samantha Lewis-James 12, Semo Bancroft 3.