At the same time, by now people should be well edified on the dangers of scratch bomb. Therefore, even as we welcome the Cuffie initiative, the Government must go further.

Consider the device blew of the grandmother’s fingertips, broke her finger bones and seared her flesh. Surgery saw her undergo skin grafts, implantation of steel rods in her hand and surgical removal of splinters of bone. Diabetes has impeded her recovery, even as she longs for some good Samaritan to intervene to help her seek plastic surgery abroad.

Even amid all her pain, Ms Cuffie still has a household to run and bills to pay.

As she is now unable to work and faces uncertain job prospects, she is now in need of social assistance which Minister Cuffie has pledged to assist her access.

The Government must take Ms Cuffie under its wing as a special case deserving of priority attention, as an expression of our collective abhorrence at her undeserved agony that was the result of this society’s cumulative failings to stop the scratch-bomb menace More broadly we await details of Minister Cuffie’s public education campaign on scratch bombs, which have the sole purpose of creating a sudden, loud, sonic shock. Explosive noises can create severe anxiety and increased blood pressure and heart-rate in nearby residents, possibly even heart-attacks.

We also lament reports of animals being badly maimed by scratch bombs thrown at them by evildoers.

Public education must be supplemented by law enforcement against scratch bombs, which are discharged in every community from Divali to Christmas to Old Year’s Night and in between, according to the whim of the neighbourhood brat. Sadly, anecdote suggests to us that it is extremely difficult for a resident suffering any sort of noise pollution including scratch bombs to get a positive response from the police, who simply seem unwilling or unable to deal with it.

Yet legally there are many devices they can use against miscreants, including common law tort offences of nuisance, plus breach of at least two statutes – the Explosives Act and the Summary Offences Act sections 9 and 101.

The Summary Offences Act penalises the illegal discharge of fireworks including scratch-bombs by a $1,000 fine.

The Explosives Act imposes a fine of $20,000 and 10 years’ jail for the illicit import of explosives, plus a $2,000 fine for illicit wholesale and a $1,000 fine for illicit retail.

These penalties must be raised, and enforcement must follow.

We ask what new initiatives will the police deploy to impede the import of scratch bombs by shipping container, suitcase or pirogue, and to charge unscrupulous retailers? The harm done by scratch bombs to mental well-being is real, as are the physical wounds as suffered by Ms Cuffie. No combination of neighbourhood lout and unscrupulous retailer must outweigh the tranquillity of an entire neighbourhood.

The public outcry is deafening for this cause whose time has come, and the population now demands real action by the authorities

The word, “hope,” is widely used by evangelists, during political campaigns and even when people get sick. That is, the “hope” that things will get better, don’t give up, etc.

The workers at this Arima office told me they “hoping for a new building soon.” This promise has been made many times, with hopes dashed many times too. I sympathise with the workers there, I hope somebody will now listen, particularly new Minister of Works and Transport, Rohan Sinanan who pledged “a corruption- free” ministry and expeditious consumer service. Arima MP, Anthony Garcia has a duty here too.

Also Public Administration Minister Maxie Cuffie.

Mr Sinanan, let’s hear something now about the Arima Licensing Office, please. And the Chaguanas Licensing Office too, After all, the number of vehicles and drivers has increased by over 1,000 percent since these offices were there. Proper office space and facilities help ensure reliable record-driven evidence, especially for tracing vehicular fraud or other transportation-linked crimes.

At a recent FM 96.5-sponsored community policing launch in Cunupia, Acting Inspector Christopher Swamber, quite diligently showed how effective licensing statistics could be used for crime-fighting.

New Minister Sinanan brings a fresh, friendly-looking understanding to his job. He has a golden opportunity to fix things now. His promise to fix pot-holes is commendable, but fixing office conditions will bring added value. And this is where the other new minister, Kazim Hosein, comes in. Last year, this column commended Mr Hosein as San Fernando Mayor for the hands-on manner in which he began to handle the Borough’s traffic challenges, street-vending, irregular health and building permits, even resisting criticisms while doing what was right.

As Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Mr Hosein should work closely now with Works and Transport Minister, Mr Sinanan, to bring all-round improvements to our communities. For example conditions of both major roads and minor roads should be tackled together.

So too are traffic and rural public offices – from washrooms and markets to parking and sanitation. Hosein showed he has the guts. Sinanan shows hopes of being “an action man.” These two have ground-level duties for places where common folk has been suffering for too long – and too silently.

What about the zip-codes promised for every district? What about missing street signs? Where are the promised government-printed licence plates? How you expect to have effective community policing when the police may not know where to go? Where is the national waste disposal policy? This electorate has already suffered from many broken promises. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, at a public meeting three weeks ago, complained that “garbage collection was one of the most corrupt expenditures of the state.” Two Municipal Corporation chairmen, Aiknath Singh (Princes Town) and Premchand Sookoo (Penal/Debe) denied this. So did San Fernando Deputy Mayor Junia Regrello.

This matter should not end here.

Too much rubbish all about – some nasty citizens, yes, but where are the garbage bins along the streets, along the beaches, etc? That’s why, reform plans (almost ten so far) by former Rural Development and Local Government Minister, Franklin Khan, to allow each corporation to “collect its own taxes” is welcome in part. The new minister and his government should regularly publish results from rigid accountability and performance audits – as a voting guide for next time. Too many ugly, corrupt things remain covered in this country.

Will things get better after next week’s local government elections? The country hopes so. (Professor D e o s a r a n was chairman of the JSC to oversee M u n i c i p a l Corporations and Service C o m m i s – sions.)

As he addressed supporters on Friday night in Chaguanas, Rowley declared: “We (PNM) went all the way around the 14 corporations in Trinidad, that consultation, that effective consultation cost us less than $2 million.

When we talk about wasting money and value for money, compare that with the UNC, PP, Prakash Ramadhar consultation that they were consulting about election reform.

“That cost $15 million and all that came out of it was a highway man in the middle of the night trying to change the law to bring about run-off in the election because they felt that run-off would have benefited them in 2015.

And even the very people who were part of the commission going around in their consultation came to the Parliament to tell the country whatever else was in the report of the consultation, there was no run-off in there, “ Rowley declared.

The PNM political leader referenced several instances where the ruling party spent considerably less on similar events hosted by the PP.

“The Children’s Christmas party, we had one too, and I dare say a fantastic one with the children, it cost $454,000. They one that they had cost $1.1 million almost three times as much.

“We had a Baptist Liberation Day function, all the Baptist leaders told me how pleased they were with the function, they came out in their numbers and at the PM’s residence we acknowledged Baptist Liberation Day and it cost us $257,000 in total.

The same function cost them $938,000.” He also cited an Emancipation Day event which also cost considerably less that one hosted by the PP.

According to reports at around 4.32 am Anthony Joseph, 26, was reportedly attacked in his cell by another inmate following a heated argument. It is alleged that the killer used an improvised sharpened weapon and violently stabbed Joseph several times. Other inmates alerted prison guards who rushed to the cell and alerted the prisons doctor where Joseph was found to have suffered severe blood loss.

He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope where he was pronounced dead in arrival.

The suspect was then detained by prison guards and was expected to be handed over to Arouca police yesterday.

A team of Homicide Officers from the Region 2 Homicide Bureau visited the prison and statements are to be recorded from several eye witnesses.

President of the Prison Officers Association (POA), Ceron Richards, told Sunday Newsday yesterday in a telephone interview that he could not confirm the incident but he “would not surprised”.

“It is not uncommon to see stabbings in the prison. It is overcrowded and congested. It is not uncommon to see inmates perpetrate violence against each other,” he said.

Richards pointed out that these incidents happen especially at Remand and the institution is a “hot bed” for such attacks “Something has to be done,” he stressed.

He said Remand at Golden Grove has been in dire need of attention and now that the oil dollar has dropped it “spells volumes for its attention in the future”.

He pointed out that when the oil dollar was high the State did not use part of the money to fix Remand or build a new purpose-built facility which is what the POA has been asking for. Richards said the necessary resources have not been put into Remand and predicted that without this “these types of incidents will continue to happen”.

“Remand is a hot bed, a volcano waiting to erupt,” he cautioned.

Attempts to contact Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart yesterday were unsuccessful.

According to police Keron Fortune, 17 from Fairley Street, Tunapuna, was walking along Pasea Extension, Tunapuna about 3.30pm when a car passed.

Several loud explosions were heard and Fortune was found slumped over.

He was rushed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope where he underwent emergency surgery.

He remains warded in critical condition.

Investigations are continuing.

Fortune was shot in the vicinity of where Josiah Ramsahai, 15, and recently released St Michael’s Home for Boys, was shot dead by police in a reported shootout on Friday morning.

According to reports Roger Plaza, who is in his early 30s, died in the early hours of yesterday morning at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EW MSC) after he was shot on November 5 in a drive-by shooting. Roger Plaza, his father Frank Joseph, brother Kevin Plaza, 20, and friend Ricardo Singh, 38, were at John Lane, D’Abadie around 3.30 pm, when the driver of an unregistered, gray wagon drove into the street and pulled up alongside the group.

Police said two men armed with automatic weapons exited the vehicle and opened fire on the group. The men, police said, tried to run away but were pursued by the gunmen. Neighbours reported hearing as many as 50 gunshots.

Joseph, Kevin Plaza and Singh were all killed while Roger Plaza was taken to the EW MSC in a critical condition

“Good Lord, our children are being slaughtered and what are they (Government) doing to fight crime?”she asked residents during a cottage meeting at the Beetham Community Centre, held to endorse Indra Mohammed, the United National Congress (UNC’s) candidate for Beetham/Picton in the upcoming Local Government election.

Persad-Bissessar said since the PNM assumed Government crime in the country had “spiralled and sky-rocketed”.

“But you want to sit down and count roti. Tell us what is your plant to fight crime because if your children are not alive, you can enjoy nothing,” she said.

“The safety of a people is the number one priority in the country today. Prime Minister, stop hiding behind nonsense and come out and tell your people what you will do to fight crime.” The Siparia MP then extended condolences to the family.

As fireworks lit up the sky over Beetham Gardens during the early hours of New Year’s Day, on January 1, gunshots were simultaneously being discharged from an elevated position in Eastern Quarry, Laventille, a scenario which masked the fireworks display.

The shots killed six-year-old Rondell, a student of Eastern Boys’ Government Primary School. He lived with his aunt Diana Ramnath and other relatives at Third Street, Beetham Gardens.

Upset that the matter was still under investigation, Persad-Bissessar trained her guns on Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, declaring: “Up to today (yesterday), that man has not passed one piece of law in the Parliament to fight crime.

“In 14 months, not one piece of law has been passed and on the books but instead 90 percent of the legislation they brought is what, tax law, tax and more tax,” she said.

Reminding residents of her love for children, which she championed during her term as prime minister, Persad-Bissessar said: “If you develop the children, you will develop, the family, the community the home. They are the hope of the nation. The future of the country is in the bookbags of the children.” She lamented, however, that many of the social programmes implemented under her regime were discontinued by the PNM, including the laptop initiative.

“They have taken it away because they would have been able to see the discrimination taking place with this red and ready army.” The first stop in a four-community interface which also took her to Barataria, St Joseph and El Dorado in support of the UNC;s candidates for those areas in the upcoming election.

Flanked by Opposition senators Wade Mark and Wayne Sturge, Persad-Bissessar received a rousing welcome from Beetham residents, most of whom wore the party’s bright yellow jerseys.

At one point, following her address, she was mobbed by enthusiastic supporters at she distributed schoolbooks to the children.

Some openly remarked that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had never walked the community, which has long been stigmatised because of crime.

During her address, Persad- Bissessar also accused Rowley of telling untruths in relation to his claim that the People’s Partnership Government had racked up a $340,000 roti bill resulting from a Divali function at the Diplomatic Centre in October 2014.

“I have just come from the Parliament (Friday) where a question was asked of the Honourable Prime Minister and you see he does it all the time. He went to the public media and said that we spent $340,000 on roti. So, they asked him the question, MP Padarath, show us the bills, bring the bills for $340,000 in roti and guess what, he couldn’t provide a single thing. He lied. He lied,” Rowley has since promised to present the bills, saying overall expenditure for the function was $1.6 million.

Persad-Bissessar said Rowley’s fixation with roti was a “total distraction” from the issues confronting the country.

He said the cameras were only returned when he assumed office and dared Persad-Bissessar if she had information that criminals visit the Prime Minister’s residence, she should take it to the police, because the CCTV footage would show all.

Rowley was responding to questions asked by UNC political leader, Persad-Bissessar, on whether those responsible for the US$2 million found by Customs officers at the Port of Point Lisas often visited his official residence “If you believe that criminals are coming to see me there, then just go and ask the police to go and look at the cameras and see what the criminal is and case closed. But what she did when the house became under her control was to remove every single camera on the compound so that God alone knows what was going on there. Sodom and Gomorrah 24/7 and on steroids,” Rowley said at a PNM meeting on the corner of La Clave and John Streets in Chaguanas.

Rowley said Persad-Bissessar’s statements were “stark, raving, reckless, and irresponsible” as it could turn investors away, especially as the statements were made by someone with the weight of a former prime minister.

“If she believes that where I live in the Prime Minister’s public house, built by you and supported by you, that criminals come there, I want to remind Mrs Persad-Bissessar that I am the Prime Minister who is living in the Prime Minister’s house and it is not a brothel, it is not a criminal location, it is good, ordinary, clean, decent, my family life going on there!” Rowley then trained his guns on Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who had asked on a UNC platform whether “drug money” was being used to fund the PNM’s local government election campaign.

Rowley explained that from the PNM’s inception, the party funded itself with members’ dues, saying every PNM minister, senator, mayor and local government official puts 2.5 percent of their salaries towards the running of Balisier House.

Rowley later corrected the 2.5 percent figure to five percent under the advice of party chairman, Franklin Khan. “Five percent?” he asked, “it is worse than I thought.” On the recent “roti wars” triggered by his disclosures of the last government’s spending on a Divali function, Rowley urged supporters to ignore the UNC’s attempts to make his comments appear racist. “Roti and red solo is a national dish,” said Rowley. He reminded his detractors the focus was not on roti, but on the wanton wastage of public funds.

Responding to the media’s discovery that murder statistics offered by UNC Senators Wayne Sturge and Gerald Ramdeen contained duplicated names, Rowley reminded the population that Ramdeen had used a similar method of “cut and paste” in the “prisongate” scandal.

“None of us could turn a blind eye to the proliferation of marijuana within the forest reserves and on State land across the country.

The Northern Range, Balata East, Moruga, Biche. All those areas. And it’s not just the trap gun but the presence of well armed people in the forest prepared to protect their turf,” he said.

He reported that he has asked for the Office of Law Enforcement Policy (OLEP) to train game wardens, adding that their work goes beyond “tattoo and lappe”.

He was speaking yesterday at the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and fisheries Forestry Division Induction of Honorary Game Wardens held yesterday at the Caroni Swamp Visitor’s Centre. At the event 139 game wardens in six conservancies were inducted.

He said it was important to recognise the economic significance of hunting and pointed out that some of the loudest voices for wildlife conservation is from the hunters.

“People believe the battle is between conservationists and hunters. The battle is between hunters who understand the need for conservation and poachers and marijuana cultivators who do anything to protect their illegal activity,” he added.

He said his main concern is enforcement and reported that from August to October 2016 game wardens dealt with more than 230 offences, which was a 50 percent increase compared to the same period in previous years.

He stressed no one must be spared and the game wardens should not replace enforcement with simply cautioning.

Rambharat also commented on two photos making the rounds on social media, one showing a young man with a protected matapel (twotoed anteater) and another with a dead ocelot which is also protected. He said he did not know if the photos were taken locally or in Guyana or somewhere else but it is the job of the Forestry Division to get to the facts behind the photos.

The Immigration Department was contacted concerning an illegal immigrant, a 38-year-old labourer of Westmorland, Jamaica who resides at Old Road, Lambeau who was arrested.

Among those also arrested were a 53-year-old handyman of Providence Road, Scarborough. His arrest was related to a recent report of larceny of a dwelling house in the Scarborough area.

A 25-year-old labourer of Crapaud Village, Speyside was arrested based on an outstanding warrant for malicious wounding and dangerous driving in the Roxborough district. A 29-year-old labourer of La Horquetta, Arima in Trinidad currently residing at King Street, Delaford, was arrested in relation to a recent report of robbery with aggravation which occurred in Crown Point.

The exercise was coordinated by Snr Supt Joanne Archie and was led by Sgt Piggot with a party of officers from the Criminal Investigation Department.

The police also executed a dangerous drug search warrant at a home located on Golden Grove Road, Canaan but found nothing mentioned on the warrant. Based on information, police went to Store Bay Beach Facility where they found in a beach hut four small packets of marijuana weighing 3.5 kilogrammes. No one was arrested.

Meanwhile, in a similar anti- crime exercise, last Friday, a raid and road block took place in Crown Point. It was coordinated by Snr Supt Archie and headed by Ag Inspector Noreiga along with officers from the Crown Point CID and Crown Point Police Station.

During this exercise, 13 stop and search forms were completed, six fixed penalty notices were issued; two for failing to wear seatbelts, one for defective tyres, one for defective ID plates, one for defective fittings and one for driving with no horn.