Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC) general manager Kelvin Ramsook, speaking to Sunday Newsday in a telephone interview, explained the fallen trees were due to inclement weather and extensive rainfall. He reported that on Friday at 6.30 pm they lost supply in the area but were able to restore it by 9.30 pm.

He said that at 9 am yesterday two trees fell and pulled down lines leaving Maracas, Las Cuevas and up to Blanchisseuse without electricity.

He reported that TTEC worked around the clock and electricity was scheduled to be restored by 6 pm.

Ramsook explained that because of weather conditions over the last week, and the last couple months, the soil area in Maracas, Las Cuevas and Blanchisseuse became water soaked soil a number of trees had fallen. He recalled that on Wednesday there was outage due to a landslide and electricity was restored the following day.

He pointed out that His Holiness Pope Francis had declared 2016 as the Ecclesiastical year of Mercy and Forgiveness.

“To the families that have grown apart for whatever reason, Christmas time can be the balm that can heal and unify broken family relationships and fractured friendships.

We must engender hearts and minds that rejoice in the miracle that is Christmas. What better time for forgiveness than this season of peace and harmony,” he said.

He quoted the author, Clarence Baird in his Christmas message in December 1919 in The Spirit of Christmas “Close your book of grievances against the universe and look about you for a place to sow a few seeds of happiness and go your way unobserved.” Carmona urged citizens to let this Christmas be the catalyst that transforms our personal lives and positively change our relationships with each other.

“At this Christmas time, extend a helping hand to your fellow man, whether it may be to assist a differently-abled person to cross that street of life, to purchase a toy for a child whose parents cannot afford to or simply by being kind and compassionate to each other. Your genuine act of kindness will not only assist someone else but will fill you with tremendous personal joy and contentment,” he advised.

Carmona said the way of life associated with Christmas can manifest itself in people’s daily lives, in the way they treat each other, their parents, co-workers, children and even strangers.

He pointed out that Christmas may be an emotionally and financially trying time for some.

“Jobs have been lost, homes and roads have been shattered and destroyed by the force of Mother Nature, the results of climate change and environmental degradation.

And then there is the ultimate- the loss of cherished ones through natural causes and regrettably through violence. It can all put a damper on this Yuletide season and there is no easy fix to ease that sense of loss and grief. We have all lost loved ones and Christmas time can be a stark reminder of what really matters. Bring back we must, the Christ-Child in Christmas,” he added. Mrs Carmona urged all to celebrate the real magic of Christmas and “one that ensures that the weak becomes strong, the sad, happy, the marginalised, to feel a sense of inclusion and the broken-hearted to be embraced with a caring heart”.

“We cannot therefore allow the true meaning of Christmas to be forgotten and Christmas must not be about mere dividends, goods sold and bought and profits made. In the energised, happy hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping and preparation, we should always take some time to truly appreciate the reason for the season, the birth of the Saviour Lord Jesus Christ,” she said.

“Let us therefore, give a gift that lasts, a gift that endures for all time this Christmas. We can all be a better son or daughter, a better husband or wife, a better neighbour, a better friend, a better citizen and most of all, the best person that we can be.”

Earlier this week, San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello relaxed the vending policy to allow vendors the chance to sell on the street.

Bartlett yesterday described High Street as “very chaotic” and noted neither the municipal police nor national police “could control what is going on on High Street.” “They cannot, it’s just too much for them to handle, because one of the ministers gave permission for people to break the law on High Street in San Fernando, so if a minister is giving that opportunity for people to break the law what do you expect for all those bandits around, they would say it is a free for all,” Bartlett said.

“I think we have to careful that we don’t degenerate into a banana republic where anything goes,” she said, adding, “and I always say if we maintain law and order, things would go very well in the country.” Bartlett described sales for business owners as “very slow” saying the anticipated last minute rush had not materialized with persons purchasing the “very minimum” in gifts.

“We are not seeing the expected increase in sales, it is still very slow,” Bartlett said, “I mean I am in the second city of the country, San Fernando and one would have thought that people would rush to do their last minute purchases, but we are not seeing that at all, we are just seeing people buying barely the minimum, gifts, probably the very main one, and purchasing small and inexpensive gifts,” she said, adding, “remember we in San Fernando cater for the poor people, we are not in the mall, so it has not picked up as had anticipated.

“We are looking forward to a better 2017 with more law and order, not just anything goes.”

And there are also anecdotal stories of pet owners ill treating their pets as well as numerous reports about cruelty to animals made to the T&T Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TTSPCA) and the local Veterinary Association. And while there is legislation against animal cruelty local NGOs and other stakeholders have described it as archaic and ineffective and called for it be amended.

Sita Kuruvilla, former TTSPCA president of the and member of the management committee of the Animal Welfare Network (AWN), described the legislation as “so minimal” and added that there was very little history of any action being taken. Kuruvilla reported that a few years ago an Animal Welfare Working Group was formed to work on an animal welfare act for this country and included representatives from the Veterinary Association, TTSPCA and Animal Welfare Network. She said, however, that it “fell by the wayside”.

Section 79 (1) of the Summary Offences Act states, “Any person who cruelly beats, ill-treats, starves, overdrives, overrides, overloads, abuses, tortures, or otherwise maltreats any animal is liable to a fine of four hundred dollars or to imprisonment for two months.” Attorney Bijili Lalla pointed out that the current act treats the animal as a working animal though dogs and cats included.

“The legislation has not come up to speed with today’s society,” she stressed.

She said the difficulty was that while someone can ring up the police and say someone is treating an animal cruelly and the police can come and apprehend the offender and penalise him there is no provision for removal of the animal.

She said that in law an animal is still considered property and you cannot take away someone’s property.

She said other societies such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia have moved forward from viewing animals as property to having a right to basic necessities and the human is their guardian.

President of the Trinidad and Tobago Veterinary Association, Dr Nicholas McKenzie, said the association is of the view that the legislation is “terribly outdated and inadequate”.

“One of many, many, many laws in this country in general that are very outdated and need to be revamped,” he stressed.

Returning to the legislation regarding animal cruelty McKenzie also described it as “archaic” and the penalties as “ridiculous”.

“Four hundred dollars is not going to stop anybody from hurting an animal,” he added.

He reported that the association receives “a lot of calls” about people being cruel to animals and not only domestic pets but horses and farm animals like chickens. He said there were viral videos of a man in a forest kicking a dog repeatedly and also of people strapping scratch bombs to animals and causing fatal injuries but more common than that “is everyday neglect and cruelty”.

“People not taking care of (pets). They are chained up in a yard, not fed for three or four days.

That is tremendous cruelty,” he lamented.

McKenzie said this behaviour goes “unchecked and unpunished”.

He referred to the quote by India independence activist Mahatma Gandhi, “the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

McKenzie said that the law served its purpose 50 years ago but the legislation should be amended to have longer jail sentences and a “very hefty time”.

But even with an archaic law and low penalties is Section 79 regularly enforced? Kuruvilla said she was aware of one or two cases over the years and she believes charges were laid.

When the TTS PCA get reports it is usually for neglect of animals – half starved, tied up for long periods, lots of puppies – and they would try to use moral suasion with the owners. They do not, however, have the authority to remove the animals. Kuruvilla said when the owners are violent or aggressive they try to refer to the police and at times officers will accompany them.

“By and large police have other priorities.

Either they don’t know or not interested.

It depends on whether the individual officer is interested,” she said.

McKenzie explained that vets can by law contact law enforcement and use police officers to go to premises and lay charges and they have done that. He said this is done sometimes as a “scare tactic”.

Lalla said a difficulty was that it was not an important issue and there are other crimes which the public are more concerned about. She also said they have to get police to recognise that protecting a non-human being is worth spending time on.

“The question we ask is ‘how to make animal rights important (to people)?’” she added.

She said another problem is that animal welfare currently falls under multiple Government ministries when it shall fall under one, with the most logical choice being agriculture.

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat, speaking with Sunday Newsday in November at an honorary game warden induction at Caroni, said animal cruelty does not strictly fall under his ministry “but of course the ministry has a responsibility across the board for animals”.

He pointed out the NGO Animals Alive is partly funded by the ministry. He said the “beautiful facility” is located in South Oropouche and care for stray animals. He reported that it supports a number of regional organisations “and it’s good work and the type of work we want to encourage”.

“So far I have not given consideration to how we can afford further protection to domestic animals.

It is something of course I am prepared to consider and make the appropriate recommendations to the Cabinet,” he said.

On establishing animal cops locally, Rambharat pointed out that game wardens perform functions similar to animal cops abroad and they can go into the places where people keep pets. He said if there is expansion of regulations it will be game wardens who would be empowered to deal with those.

On the legislation he said that it is not just about increased fines but also education, information and enforcement.

On whether this country needs animal cops as obtains in the United States, Lalla said even before that we need to change people’s mindset and this she described as the “greatest hurdle”.

She said both TTS PCA and AW N have been working to propose legislation and have pulled examples from different jurisdictions.

She said it was “just sitting there” to be taken and adapted for Trinidad and Tobago.

McKenzie reported his association is “working on it” and there are a number of laws under review.

“When the laws are changed people will think much longer and harder before acting out on an animal,” he stressed

However, the birth and life, and indeed the death of Jesus Christ did set in place a movement among mankind which held great promise, at least if we look at the potential for good, for decency and for love that the Man Jesus Himself espoused.

But the same can be said of the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhists and other “faiths” which mankind embraced, for mankind’s salvation and for the destruction of all other faiths. I do not know if there is a life-cycle for religions, where they have to pass through times of dreadful violence in the deity’s name, like we are seeing with Islam and have seen with Christianity’s name. But we need to accept that the two newest major faiths of mankind have brought and wrought the most dreadful hatred and bloodshed across the whole planet, in conquest, in God’s Name. Millions have been murdered, raped, enslaved, shipped to distant lands, had their customs, religions, languages, names and cultures stripped from their very memories.

And the perpetrators of these atrocities console themselves by claiming that “these poor devils have been saved” by being forced through millennia of atrocities so that they could mimic the rituals of “the faithful”.

I do not wish to be scornful of the potential for religion to put something significant into the lives of peoples, especially to Christians on Christmas Day. But as we look out at the world from wherever we sit—Christians and non-Christians alike, we need to ask what have God, gods, or at least religions, done for mankind? Certainly the most recent two “faiths” –Christianity and Islam—have histories dominated by wars, enslavements, genocides and the most repressive laws and cruel punishments imaginable. It seems that love and enlightenment is always trumped (take that!) by bigotry, hatred and violence in the name of peaceful gods? This Christmas Day, we look at life and living here in our own land, and wonder what is going to become of us. Our disgraceful inability to govern ourselves, far less to develop our society with the bounties which nature has bestowed upon us, puts us firmly into Failed State Category.

No serious person can deny that we teeter at the edge of an abyss yawning to consume us in violence, racial hatred and destruction of an infrastructure already cracking along its seams.

Our hopeful remedies to hold back the fires and the floods involve prayers: a day of prayer, a march of prayers, hymns and mantras. Shall we sing to Rudolph, his red nose to light a way for us? Are we so comfortable and irresponsible in our failures that we believe prayers will lift this society out of its morass of corruption, laziness and indiscipline? Heal this society, Dear Lord. Cure our neighbours of their cruelty and corruption. Heal us please Lord, no lectures about individual or societal duties, please just heal us all. A little war somewhere to jack up the price of oil and gas again, Oh Lord, in time for Carnival Oh Lord? That is all we ask— again. Do you know what is the answer to your prayer, Oh T&T?: “Take up thy bed and walk”. Our malingering, our failure to even clean our premises— schools, offices, streets and parks, indeed our penchant for destruction and defilement rates us among the societal failures of the 21st Century.

If we stop by a clear stream to bathe and eat, we leave the place littered with debris which cannot even decompose.

The same for our beaches and our forest trails and wetlands; places which other societies, so less endowed than us, admire and preserve, and use as natural attractions to lift their spirits and their wealth.

Talk not of our once beautiful and historic towns and cities.

The homeless living and defecating on our pavements, assaulting pedestrians trying to step past; the pavements cluttered with market stalls, selling imported items to visitors hoping to find something local.

The failure of our governance, regardless of whom we put, failures enhanced by the disregard we have for everything beyond the immediate hustle as we rush over the edge of a precipice we do not even acknowledge is there, will manifest itself in violence soon. T he rest of the world, in case we have not been noticing, will not have time for our petty bloodshed, T&T.

We must take up our own beds and walk to our salvation.

Despite the fact that many families could barely afford to buy juice, Santa Colm came through big time for the wine drinkers this holiday season; wine like rain — the liquid type, not the physical…

even though sometimes the liquid type does induce the physical version.

Nevertheless, thanks to Santa Colm, ‘it go be wine, lamb, and jam’, literally.

Santa Colm’s charitable announcement really made me realise how aloof politicians are.

With the amount of jobs lost this year, the large number of people hovering to barely avoid descending into poverty and an estimated 17 percent of our brothers, sisters and children living below the poverty line, there are obviously a lot of people struggling to have a decent meal or even give their children a small toy this Christmas.

But who cares about poor people; all that matters is that those who can already afford to buy wine can now have a cheaper glass of it with their lavish Christmas spread today.

Notwithstanding the perverse selfishness of the aforementioned, this season (today is not the end) I want to encourage every Trinbagonian to give something — anything — back to society; regardless of whether it’s an organisation or individuals. It is our duty as human beings to help others and whilst some people want to ‘rounds up’ the mentally- unstable homeless population and throw them into a dilapidated car park, we can start by giving to those folks because no one consciously chooses to live on the street.

Giving has a very interesting dynamic because even in the worst times, people who have nothing will readily give everything; whereas even in the best times, many who have everything, give nothing. I saw it recently on UWI’s campus when I just happened to be passing by the Student Activity Centre on the day when the owner of a small cafe at the back of the building was offering her customers a special Christmas lunch with a free pastelle, slice of black cake and a cup of sorrel- all for the usual price. She is definitely not a wealthy woman, but yet she felt compelled to give something back so generously to these (mainly) students who patronise her business.

Then I compared this to some of those upscale restaurants that are offering Christmas and New Year’s dinner “specials”, which is always more expensive than the regular, and with a more limited menu. What a rip-off! Now, if this column inspires you to dig deep and give back, I want you to consider the following two options: The Elpis Centre is the most awe-inspiring charity I have ever seen. It is operated by an attorney, Mrs Rebekah Ali-Gouveia, who always puts her private practice second to running this centre that she established in 2009.

It is primarily a crisis centre for women, particularly those who are pregnant or who are suffering from the loss of a pregnancy, but most importantly, counselling is provided for women facing a range of issues like depression, relationship challenges, abuse, and childhood dysfunctions.

The centre is also an affiliate of Heartbeat International, and a friend of LIFE International, two Christian, pro-life organisations who seek to give women life-affirming alternatives to abortion.

In addition to these in-house services, the centre conducts many outreach programmes with school PTA groups, churches, youth groups, and social work students and practitioners. Many years ago, I volunteered at a battered women’s home close to my university in Baltimore, Maryland, so I have seen the pain first hand and I cannot begin to stress the importance of a place like this to society.

With all the violence and abuse that women endure in Trinidad and Tobago, there is no organisation more deserving of your charity, support and assistance, so don’t even think twice: elpiscentre@ gmail.com or 383-2674.

The Give a Gift Foundation is based in Arima and although its name may suggest that it’s seasonal, this charity assists families with basic necessities throughout the year.

Last Christmas the Foundation assisted the children of the Home of Our Lady of Wayside and you should have seen the faces of those children when they opened their presents – pure unbridled delight! So, if you want to atone for your 2016 sins, it’s not too late to contribute to their gift and hamper drive across the country this year into 2017: giveagifttt@ gmail.com.

Let’s look out for those less f o r tu n a t e than us; trust me, it’s worth it.

Happy Holidays to the News d a y readership.

See you in 2017! jamille85@msn.com

While the world’s economies struggle and cuts are made in noble professions from healthcare to policing, there is a new hair and nails shop opening every five seconds.

Because nothing makes a woman feel as good as when she is being restyled and polished up.

For the spouse, the partner or even the humble boyfriend, this imposes extra demands in terms of discipline, patience and holding our tongue.

When the woman went out this morning looking as gorgeous as ever but comes back looking different and silently demanding that we fall on the floor in worship, we don’t understand if we’re supposed to be worshipping her or the architect of her transformation.

As a gesture of solidarity and sympathy in advance, I offer a little story about an erstwhile girlfriend, a story with which I think many can identify. She was good looking, elegant and intelligent.

Not chocolate-box perfect but she had learned over the years how to make the most of her attributes.

What she didn’t need was for the latest wizard of the scissors to work his magic on a face he had never seen before. She walked into the house in late afternoon with that strange quietness that heralds a row.

She’d told me about this hairdresser, shown me his advert in the paper, where he described himself as “an artist”, and while I thought that was unbelievably pretentious, she had apparently seen nothing funny in it. All her friends were going to him. He was the Messiah of the salons.

And now he had done his stuff.

The maestro had cut several inches off her flowing black locks. He had straightened out all the lovely waves that gave it such character. But worst of all, he had arranged it like curtains so that only her nose was visible. And suddenly that perfectly ordinary nose made her look like a pampered medieval hag.

Gentlemen, you know what was going through my mind. She wants me to say it’s great – she looks lovely. But if I do that, she might persevere with the style and I’ll have to buy her a broomstick for her birthday. But the alternative — to tell her straight — would lead to an instant scene, followed by a long drawn out cold war that would poison the evening and possibly several days to come So what do you do? You do nothing.

The world might end in 30 seconds or an axe murderer might break in and dismember you, and you will never have to give your opinion. Or she might laugh and say “Yes, it’s terrible, isn’t it? Don’t try to be nice, darling.

You’re so sweet.” But none of those things will happen. In the real world you’ll avert your gaze so it doesn’t draw attention to the scene of the crime. Pretend you haven’t noticed, which is a category B offence to be avoided in normal circumstances but for which you will gladly take the rap in this case. Say nothing, act casual and wait for the bomb to drop.

It drops.

“So? What do you think?” You quickly run through a range of responses. “What I think is that I’m going to break that hairdresser’s fingers and shove his scissors up his blow dryer.” Or perhaps this: “I think that when you left here this morning you were beautiful, and, don’t get me wrong, you will be beautiful again, but…” Nothing is going to work. Like George Washington and his father’s cherry tree, you go for honesty. But you can’t put it into words.

No words are needed. She smelled your treachery before she even came through the door.

All hell breaks loose and a ton of unwarranted guilt weighs down your stomach. She charges off upstairs and you sit in the kitchen, trying not to finish the bottle of wine you were supposed to be sharing.

It’s only a matter of time. Sooner or later she will calm down, come down and either you will make up with that unique brand of passion that follows a furious argument or she will brush past you and head out into the night to drown her sorrows with the girls.

You find yourself in the bathroom with its bewildering array of half-empty hair products.

Conditioners, dyes, “treatments” and plastic bottles that probably contain shampoo, even if the word doesn’t make it onto the packaging, crowded out by nutri- gloss, hi-shine, luxi-care and blah blah glyco silk.

What is it with women and hair? Oh, to hell with it: you might as well dem o l – ish that b o t t l e of wine a f t e r all. You c o u l d be in for a long night.

At the centre of the cr?che are not the animals, nor the shepherd, nor the magi, even though they are all integrated into the Christmas message. It is not Joseph either, or even Mary, the greatest woman in history.

At the centre of the cr?che is Jesus. People are drawn to it because of the little child that lies at the centre—the passer-by who hardly comes to church; the intoxicated chap on the way home; curious schoolchildren; those who are not sure where they really are in this God’s business.

The infant Jesus in his purity and innocent beckons us forth, perhaps because we feel there is something in us that is still innocent and pure, something that sin has not touched.

This is not a misguided notion but something real. There is a part of us that sin cannot touch because Jesus dwells there. It accounts for every conversion and every hope of renewal. It reminds us that grace is stronger than sin and new beginnings are always possible.

Is it any wonder then that Christmas is a time for new beginnings? Families reconcile, spouses give each other a second chance, friends make up, warring groups enter peace making. The new creation brought about in Bethlehem continues into the present.

The Christ child also reminds us that dependence is not an evil word. While we have to to admit that since the economic boom of the 70s we have suffered from a dependency syndrome — somebody must come and do it for us — dependency per se, is not a bad word. We all come into the world dependent on others, especially our parents.

The corporal and spiritual works of mercy, which we have celebrated so much this past year, remind us how much we depend on one another for happiness and well being. Like the infant Jesus we must allow ourselves to be lifted up and taken care of when we fall.

Independence is a highly valued commodity today, but it is truer of human beings to say they live in creative dependence or interdependence.

Lessons concerning ‘being’ are another message from the cr?che. A babe wears no mask; it does not seek its identity from material things. It is what it is; true being, an unselfconscious revelation of itself.

We lose that, as we get older. We become engrossed in material things, brand-name stuff; power gets to our head like Caesar Augustus and Quirinius.

If Descartes says, “I think therefore I am”, the unbridled free market says, “I have therefore I am.” Pope Francis offers a truer definition of the human person in Misericordia et Misera, I love therefore I am.” A baby elicits love from us and a baby loves whoever presents itself as parent. A baby’s love does not depend on the moral character of the one who cradles it, like God’s love for us.

Let the infant babe at the centre of the cr?che find us at the centre of life living more humbly and loving more selflessly.

Top of the list was the non-functional CT scanner which had not been operational for months. That anomaly continues to some extent to exist to this day. It is my understanding that the scanner works, but sporadically, with the dye-injection component breaking down repeatedly.

It is the bane of cancer patients who need to have full-body scans to ascertain whether their cancer has gone into remission or not, depending on where in the body the cancer was initially located, or whether it has spread to other parts.

Drugs to treat cancer and other serious diseases have not been available for some time now, and it seems no one can say when they might become accessible. One cancer patient was told his treatment would cost about $27,000. Where could this poor man get this amount of money? Many people prefer to access the services and facilities of the Sangre Grande Hospital because of the fantastic treatment and customer service every patient receives there. Every single doctor, nurse, attendant, worker, every member of staff gives of his utmost to satisfy the needs of patients, hence the reason for having fully functioning equipment in every department at all times.

It is therefore expected that everything associated with its quality delivery of services would be taxed to the limit.

Alas, this has not been forthcoming. As such, many patients needing critical diagnoses and treatment have been turned away because the CT scanner is old, has been often breaking down, and now is almost totally down. No one can say when it will be functioning at its maximum capacity.

Word has it that the worn parts that have been removed are recycled and replaced by the people who have been contracted to do the maintenance and smooth running of the equipment. This, one would agree, is highly untenable and unacceptable if indeed this is true.

The outrageous cost of a CT scan at private institutions is upwards of $5,000, dependent on what is required.

How are the elderly like me and others financially challenged going to get the funds to pay for this? I am pleading with Deyalsingh to please look into this critical situation as soon as possible and provide us with, especially, a functioning CT scanner which would not break down during its operation, as we choose to continue to access the wonderful services of the Sangre Grande Hospital, the best hospital in our nation.

My sincere thanks to the minister, and to every member of staff at the hospital.

Eva David-Swain Sangre Grande

Where did we go wrong? We moved from a God-loving country to one overrun with criminals and gangs. How can we repair the damage already inflicted on our nation? Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth into the world. He is the embodiment of the Christ Consciousness found within all of us.

His birth symbolises the coming of all things good and we should meditate and pray to ensure within us a rebirth of the feelings of love, joy and peace. This would bring forth righteous behaviour which would include tolerance, forgiveness and mercy toward our fellow man. Many people believe that religion is sentimental weakness and belongs only at certain times and places of our lives but religion or spirituality should cover all areas of our lives. Let us use Christmas to reflect on the wrongs we did for this year, to introspect and make sincere changes in our own behaviour and to pour out from our hearts Divine love and friendship to everyone. Do not use Christmas only as another social event. Make sure and worship the Lord Jesus without whom this day would not be celebrated. To all families, have a Blissful and Holy Christmas and a Loving New Year.

Kirk Budhoor am San Fernando