Well-placed sources said that at 3 pm, the top cop summoned head of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Snr Supt Simboonath Rajkumar and Head of Eastern Division John Trimm to his office where he served both of them letters outlining the reasons why he (Williams) would invoke sections of the Police Service Act and have Rajkumar and Trimm proceed on leave. Both officers were asked to respond to the notice within seven days.

The top cop’s move came hours after he met with Inspector Michael Seales, President of the Police Social Welfare Association to indicate his intention of making good on his promise to invoke the Police Act and terminate the service of any senior officer found to be not performing to expected standards.

The letter, issued to the two officers, was titled, ‘Retirement at the instance of the Commissioner of Police’. One letter identified a 28 percent increase in murders; 32 percent increase in woundings and shootings; 80 percent increase in burglaries and breakings; 69 percent increase in robberies; 41 percent increase in general larceny; 55 percent increase in larceny dwelling house and a 30 percent overall increase in serious crimes, as the reasons that recipient was being served with a letter of forced retirement leave. Details of reasons for the letter being served on the other letter, were not forthcoming.

It is understood that Snr Supt Rajkumar asked Williams what yardstick he used to single him (Rajkumar) out for such action.

Rakjumar, Newsday was told, has never been served any notice in the past about dereliction of duty or non-performance and had received an excellent rating in an appraisal done last year.

Sources revealed that both senior officers have sent the notice from the Police Commissioner to their respective legal counsel for a response and whatever follow up action may be deemed necessary.

Both officers have about four years service left before they reach the compulsory retirement age of 60. Snr Supt Rajkumar has one year leave inside while Snr Supt Trimm has about two years vacation leave accumulated.

Newsday understands that over ten First Division Officers, between the age of 50 and 55 are earmarked to be sent on early pre-retirement leave by the Acting CoP for non-performance and inefficiency.

Last year, Williams indicated his intention to invoke the Police Service Act of 2006 which states in Part IV, Paragraph 31 (1): “The Commissioner may terminate the appointment of an officer on the grounds of reported inefficiency and having regard to the officer’s job performances and, where applicable, his performance appraisal reports.” Sources revealed that next in line for the chopping block is a senior officer who retired but returned to active duty on contract. Efforts to reach both Snr Supt Trimm and Rajkumar as well as Ag Commissioner Williams for comment yesterday proved futile.

The state of the local economy and crime are among issues he is expected to address. A brief statement issued yesterday by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) confirmed the address but gave no details as to the content of his address. The PM’s address comes exactly one week after Government held a two-day retreat at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s and two days after strike action was averted at State oil company Petrotrin.

At a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre on January 4, Rowley said Government would act to protect the public interest if the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) initiated strike action.

The union called off the strike after Petrotrin offered a five percent interim wage increase, for the period 2011 – 2014. Both sides will meet on February 28 to continue negotiations for the 2011 – 2014 period.

Rowley has said Petrotrin at this time is “a ward of the Ministry of Finance” and the former People’s Partnership (PP) government had made a zero-zero-zero wage proposal to the OWTU for the 2011 to 2015 period, “in a time of plenty. The Prime Minister may refer to this matter in speaking about the economy and efforts to stimulate economic growth in TT.

In several of his previous statements, Rowley spoke of the challenging economic circumstances the country is facing and the need to do more with less. On January 4, Rowley indicated that several decisions were taken and he outlined some of them. These included a new management model for the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) north and south campuses; evaluation of proposals for the Couva Adult and Children’s Hospital; evaluation of proposals for a new hotel in St Clair; the resumption of construction of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project and consultations with respect to a proposed Sandals resort in Tobago.

Chamber president Shiva Roopnarine yesterday noted that the country could not “spend more than we are earning” and it cannot increase borrowing to fulfil debt at the risk of a devaluation and inevitable inflation increase.

“We ask these questions again.

If Petrotrin is running at a loss, who will pay for the increase in wages? Would it be the citizens by means of an increase in personal taxes or an increase in VAT,” Roopnarine asked in a press release, adding, “Would the business sector be faced with increased taxation to fund this increase? Would the Government continue to borrow? Would the management of Petrotrin send home workers in an attempt to fulfil salary obligations?” If salaries increase across the country, he continued, but purchasing power decreases, is that good for the workers? He said TT must decrease inflation and maintain cost of living at acceptable levels. If a devaluation is the key to paying increased salaries, then the question must be asked, “Is it worth it?”

Many voices were adamant for a resolution.

Labour Minister, Jennifer Baptiste- Primus, must be congratulated for her success in chairing the lengthy and exhausting talks.

Workers will get the extra five percent in their next pay-packs, with a final figure to be settled by February 28, and a timetable to be mutually agreed for disbursement of back-pay. Yet the five percent interim wage-hike leaves questions unanswered.

Firstly, even as the period 2014 to 2017 goes to the Industrial Court for conciliation on the heels of the 2011 to 2014 period, itself long past, we ask what can be done in future to mandate the prompt settlement of wage-talks for successive periods? Secondly, will a final deal indeed be struck by the agreed date of February 28? Thirdly, what will be the final percentage hike? Fourthly, will agreement be reached on a timeline to pay backpay? Fifthly, will anyone’s job be put at risk by the final deal, whether worker or management? Sixthly, while both Petrotrin president, Fitzroy Harewood, and OWTU head, Ancel Roget, said the extra $80 million per year on the wagebill will be generated by new efficiencies in Petrotrin’s operations, what exactly will these measures be? Roget foresees savings if Petrotrin rids itself of alleged corruption and mismanagement, even as another view is to link workers wages to their productivity, perhaps by an agreed formula on the simple realisation that monies can’t just be conjured out of thin air.

However underlying all of this is a huge question mark as to how much wriggle room Petrotrin actually has, to trim the fat and measurably boost its efficiencies. On top of its longstanding failure to refine/make a better quality product – by way of its lapsed US$1.4 billion Gas Optimisation Project (GOP), $3.2 billion Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) and most infamously its $3.3 billion Gas to Liquids (GTL) project, came last March’s downgrade by Moody’s.

In addition to issues over quality, Moody’s also questioned the quantity of output from Petrotrin’s refinery, and even the risk posed by having a single refinery.

Ironically, an inching up of world oil-prices could cost Petrotrin said Moody’s, apparently referring to costlier imported oil eating into its refining margins.

Even on Petrotrin’s other activity of drilling/extraction, Moody’s lamented that “the small size and maturity of its hydrocarbon reserve” means that much money must be invested to extract small pools of oil and gas.

The agency saw some positives, namely Petrotrin’s monopoly in the distribution/export of refined products, its operational integration in exploration and production, and TT’s supportive regulatory environment.

On top of the nation’s collective relief at the five percent settlement, we don’t wish to appear pessimistic but simple sound a cautionary note that much effort will now be required to generate the extra revenues to pay whatever sum is the final wage-hike agreed. Petrotrin’s best prospects may lie in pushing to achieve greater volumes of oil both refined at Pointe-a-Pierre and extracted from its wells, with better accompanying efficiencies where possible.

Norwegians Alexandra Andresen (19) and sister Katharina (20) are the youngest billionaires. At age 31 Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is the youngest self-make billionaire .

The six leading countries are : USA – 540 billionaires ; China-251; Germany-120; India-84; Russia -77 and Hong Kong-63 .

Fordes lists the six wealthiest persons as No.1 Bill Gates of Microsoft worth US $75 billion ; No.2 is Amancio Ortega of Mexico with US $67 billion ; No.3 Warren Buffet with US $60.8 billion; No.4 Carlos Slim Helu with $50 billion; No.5 Jeff Bezos with $45.2 billion; No.6 Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook with US $44.6 billion; The wealthiest woman is Liliane Bettancourt of L’Oreal Cosmetics ranked No.11 with $36.1 billion with Alyce Walton of Wal- Mart ranked the second wealthiest woman with $32.3 billion .

The Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangole is ranked No.51 with $15.4 billion while the Nigerian oil businesswoman Folorunsho Alakija worth $7.3 billion is the richest black woman .Oprah Winfrey is worth $3.2 billion. Forbes states that Donald Trump is worth $3.7 billion .

For comparison,the 2016/2017 Budget for Trinidad and Tobago of TT $53.4 billion is less than US $10 billion .

In sport, even after 13 years of retirement Michael Jordan ,the richest sportsman, is worth $1.14 billion. No.2 is Michael Schumacher worth $800 million, No.3 Tiger Woods with $700 million, No.4 Arnold Palmer with $675million, No5.Magic Johnson with $500 million, No.6 Eddie Jordan with $475 million, No7. Ayrton Senna with $400 million, No.8 Floyd Mayweather with $400 million, No. 9 David Beckham with $350 million, No.10 Shaquille O’neil with $350 million, No. 11 Kobe Bryant with $320 million , Lionel Messi is worth $311 million and Cristiano Renaldo is worth $305 million. Usain Bolt the best ever sprint athlete is worth $32.5 million but has recently signed a $10 million a year endorsement agreement with Puma ending in 2025. In December 2016 it was reported that Cristiano Renaldo declined an offer to play in China for $100million a year .

The six richest cricketers are No.1 Sachin Tendulkar worth $118 million; No.2 Mahendra Singh Dhoni $103 million; No.3 Ricky Ponting $65 million; No.4 Virat Kholi $53 million; No.5 Shane Warne $50 million and No.6 Shahid Alfridi $41 million .

The five richest Sports Clubs are 1.The Dallas Cowboys worth $4 billion; No.2 Real Madrid – $3.65 billion; No.3 Barcelona- $3.55 billion; No.4 New York Yankees -$3.4 billion; and No.5 Manchester United -US $3.32 billion .

The world’s leading philanthropists are No.1 Warren Buffett with donations to charity worth $27 billion . Buffett has pledged his entire worth of $58 billion in Hathway Holdings to the “Giving Pledge” Foundation before his death ;No.2 Bill and Melinda Gates have donated $32.91 billion to charity; No.3 George Soros who has donated $8 billion ; No.4 Azim Primjai ,Chairman of the Indian Information Technology giant WIPRO who has donated $8 billion, or 25 percent of his personal wealth for education reform in India. He has pledged to donate another 25 percent of his worth to charity in the next five years ;No.5 Chuck Feeney has donated his fortune of $8 billion to charity. and No.6 Sulaiman bin Abdul Al Rajhi a banker ,has already donated $5.7 billion to charity .

Bill and Melinda Gates together with Warren Buffett established the “Giving Pledge Foundation” to encourage billionaires to pledge the majority of their wealth to philanthropy .

In 2012 they each donated $12 billion to the Foundation .

In Trinidad and Tobago there are many philanthropists and Charitable Foundations but I select the Arthur Lok Jack Foundation as my preferred philanthropic organisation .

In 2005 the Foundation made a significant endowment to the University of the West Indies to establish and to finance the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business which today is the foremost Business School in the Caribbean .

Attorney Samantha Lawson was also ordered to pay her former client Eleonore Nollet-Neuhaus’ legal costs after the attorney failed to have the lawsuit struck out. Nollet-Neuhaus took Lawson to court in 2015, for breach of contract and is seeking compensation as well as the return of $390,000 which she said is owed to her.

The attorney was retained to represent Nollet-Neuhaus in her divorce proceedings as well as a land transaction, according to the lawsuit which is being heard by Justice Frank Seepersad.

Nollet-Neuhaus claims Lawson failed to act in her best interest and had a conflict of interest as she also represented the buyer of Nollet-Neuhaus’ property.

Nollet-Neuhaus also alleges that Lawson failed to pay her the deposit paid by the buyer of the property.

Following the filing of the claim, Lawson filed an application seeking to have the case struck out, saying there was no case against her and alleging that Nollet-Neuhaus had filed similar proceedings before the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Association.

Seepersad in an oral ruling on the preliminary application to strike out the case, held that the case should go to trial and Nollet- Neuhaus be afforded the opportunity to ventilate her case at trial. He said the court had to be careful in exercising its discretion to strike out a case and should do so sparingly.

Directions were given for the filing of submissions and the matter was adjourned to April 26.

Attorneys Thomas Cunningham and Stefan Mungalsingh represented Nollet-Neuhaus.

Leading the workers was OWTU labour relations officer Foster Carrington who under cool overcast conditions, briefly addressed the workers saying the tactics adopted by the union’s central executive was an almost ‘perfect’ strategy which had confounded the company’s management.

“It was the first time, in the history of the union, that the hourly, weekly and monthly paid bargaining unit were forced to go to the (Industrial) Court to have a negotiation resolved, so therefore the tactics of the executive of the union to include this current period to ensure we executed what we were supposed to execute, to deal with the period before, was almost perfect,” Carrington said.

After the workers sang several of the union’s battle songs including “Solidarity forever”, Carrington led them into the refinery’s compound.

OWTU President General Ancel Roget, who addressed workers on Monday night after accepting a five percent interim increase for the 2011-2014 period, revealed that Petrotrin’s strategy was to win public support by saying it could not afford to pay workers an increase. “The view was that if Petrotrin has to pay a rate increase to workers, the government has to borrow and the country will get a bad rating. But we have proven that all of that is not so,” Roget said.

However, he advised workers to remain “vigilant” saying they had to be prepared should the company renege on its promise to continue negotiations for the 2011- 2014 period on February 28. “If it becomes necessary for us to call you out at a moment’s notice, be prepared to respond. Because it is that type of response which will move mountains,” Roget said.

“Make sure you keep your eyes on the 28th of February,” he added.

Roget said the union’s focus is on the company’s future survival and this included the filling of vacancies at key areas of the company’s operations including operators and at the various craft departments.

they have reorganised their business so that they can effectively produce a product at this new (low) price and not have losses.

They’ve restructured their business to be able to operate in this new paradigm.” Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Faria said he therefore has some questions for Petrotrin.

“Has Petrotrin done this? Has Petrotrin really looked at how they can operate in this new normal?’ I don’t think that energy prices are going to go up in the short-term, so we have to now look at how we run, not just our energy ventures but our country in this new normal…What is the strategy to turn the business around? That’s what we wait with baited breath to hear. We’re also waiting for details about the agreement, so that we can speak to the matter properly,” the TT Chamber CEO stated.

At this time, Richins said her main concern, as the days wear on, are for three of her children who have since been removed from her care. They had lived with her until November 10 when the discovery was made at her Sobo Village home and all occupants were taken into custody. They were subsequently released with no charges being laid.

Two of her daughters, 16 and 14 and one son, 13, have since been placed in the custody of other relatives.

Her oldest daughter, Nicolette Harry, 18, who no longer attends school but graduated with seven O’Levels and wants to pursue medicine, still lives with her. Richins worries that the three teenagers who were enrolled at the Point Fortin Secondary School, La Romaine High School and Holy Name Convent and have not attended classes since 2015, are not safe in their new environment.

At this time she is not sure if they have started school for the new term as she has been shut out of their lives. Richins, a divorcee said upon her divorce she was given full custody of three children due to certain circumstances. Showing Newsday a copy of her divorce decree which was granted in February 2010, she pointed to the address of the other party which stated “Carrera State Penal Facility, c/o Royal Jail, Frederick Street, Port of Spain.” “You see why the children were given to me?” A well-spoken Richins said, “What people don’t know is that I am a survivor.

I have been through plenty.

I’ve been labelled as mad, called delinquent, an obeah woman but I love my children and don’t want them to walk the wrong road. I am really worried about them.” She told Newsday she saw them briefly last week Monday when a relative brought them over to her home. “They were sad,” she said. Richins wants the authorities to step in and save her children.

“I need to know what are my rights.” Over the holidays, Richins said no one, not police, nor anyone from the Children’s Authority, contacted her to enquire of her welfare.

“But thank God, my daughter and I doing the best we could,” she said.

“It is not easy living in a village where you are labelled.” When contacted yesterday, police confirmed that a DNA test was done and investigations were ongoing in the matter. Newsday was also informed that officials of the Children’s Authority continue to be actively involved in the case.

Yesterday, Attong reappeared in the San Fernando Second Court before Magistrate Margaret Alert jointly charged with Clint Gibbs and Hadeed Mohammed for the possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The charge against the trio alleged that on July 22, 2008, police were on patrol in La Romaine where they received information and went to Gulf View Link Road. There the police intercepted a vehicle in which they found a quantity of marijuana. All five occupants were arrested.

PC Safraz Juman, who himself is now in custody on a murder committal, subsequently laid the charge. Two of the men had pleaded guilty while the accused trio pleaded not guilty.

The matter was yesterday set for trial. But when the matter was called before Alert, court prosecutor Sgt Dianath Harricharan recalled that on June 30, 2009, the complainant (PC Juman) collected the exhibits from the Forensic Science Centre in St James. He lodged it with the narcotic custodian at the San Fernando Police Station.

Harricharan added that the court did not have the exhibits yesterday and Juman was always ready to proceed. Juman was present at the hearing. On July 15, 2013, Juman together with five other officers were committed to stand trial for the shooting deaths of Alana Duncan, 27, Abigail Johnson, 20, and Kerron “Fingers” Eccles, 29.