Speaking at a function at City Hall on Thursday night to commemorate World Day of Peace and make San Fernando a “Peace City,” Kokaram said the legal system which had been fostered on a people to resolve disputes instead served in most cases to exacerbate broken relationships.

“An adversarial system which sanctions civilised warfare between disputants. A system which has recoded physical violence for a far more insidious type of violence, of language which is socially acceptable and socially destructive.” Taking some responsibility for the system which he represents and symbolises, Kokaram pointed out that the system made it socially acceptable for someone to stop talking to their neighbour and instead send off pre-action protocol letters.

“It is a system which tells you don’t talk to your opponent, let your lawyers do that, conditioning you to remain in your private silos. impervious to alternative realities.” He cited real examples of family disputes between parent and child which had reached the court, and lamented the need for both parties to be respected and acknowledge each other’s importance in the family unit.

“Who is having that conversation?” he asked.

“Institutionally, the legal system as the force of the State compels people, orders them to do things. The force of the law legitimises violent acts such as the destruction of homes, the removal of crops, the laying of oil pipes in forests, the taking of a life.

“We live in an adversarial society. We have been conditioned to the view that to achieve peace there must be a war of attrition of rights. To achieve an increase wages there must be strikes, to achieve respect there must be inflammatory language, to achieve better conditions of life there must be protest.” His audience included San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello, Australia’s smiling policeman and Rotarian Geoffrey Bernard William Little, District Governor from Suriname Waddy Sowma, Basheer Mohammed, president of the Princes Town Rotary Club which initiated the commemoration.

Kokaram said simple issues had mushroomed into national controversies because of missed opportunites for working peace plans.

“The highway reroute conflict, the judiciary controversy, the ferry fiasco, the Couva hospital: all of these national controversies have mushroomed from simple desires to better the human conditions but that desire is now lost in our conditioning of positioning, leveraging, The judge knocked the celebration of peace in the face of humanitarian atrocities such as the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, the Isis campaign declaring war against established order, the sabre-rattling of the United States and the North Koreans, human-rights atrocities in Venezuela and the violence which erupted in St Maarten in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, with groups turning on each other, “the proverbial man crab betraying the social inequalities that existed under the mascaraed of the island paradise in the Caribbean sun.” Saying the system was outdated and there was need for a new way of doing things, Kokaram suggested that peace be the centre of focus in a new paradigm.

“Instead of doing things to people, institutions should devise a way of working with people. Our jurisprudence and our system of justice should work with people and not against them, towards finding results which allows them to enrich their lives and not destroy it.” He said the system should be more human and more humane.

After the function, the audience, led by the cadet corps, joined in a candle-lit peace march around Harris Promenade, which ended in front of City Hall, where Regrello planted a peace pole to mark San Fernando as a “Peace City.”

Although I was never a follower of the PNM, I felt that Dr Keith Rowley could make a difference in the leadership of TT . So, now that he has uncovered this major flaw in the government, I am anxious to know what his plans are to address the issue.

We read daily of many top-notch officials in foreign countries being sent to jail for corruption.

Is he strong enough to instigate same?

Maharaj took serious issue with Rowley’s appeal to assist Dominicans, saying Trinidad and Tobago already has too many refugees taking up residence in the country and availing themselves of resources.

“Our schools need assistance to repair and renovate. They are being closed down on a daily basis. We need assistance to keep them open.

Yet we are reaching out to Dominica when we have what I would consider refugees in our own country,” an upset Maharaj told Newsday.

The leader of the country’s largest Hindu organisation said TT is still recovering from the effect of Tropical Storm Brett which triggered extensive flooding in various parts of the country, in June. “The State has not assisted them at all to recover,” Maharaj claimed. He lamented that refugees were entering the country in droves without any form of proper surveillance.

“We have thousands of refugees from Venezuela coming across the Bocas,” he said. “We have people coming back…criminals they have sent back from America. Yet we are talking about receiving refugees from another country when we don’t have sufficient houses here for our own people.” During Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference, Rowley announced government’s decision to waive immigration regulations for a period of six months to allow Dominicans to stay in TT while their country rebuilds after Maria touched down as a Category Five storm, on Tuesday, leaving hundreds homeless and in dire need of food, clothing, water and basic medical supplies. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was also left homeless.

Maharaj yesterday said the Maha Sabha was mobilising food and other items to send to Dominica.

“Right now (yesterday), there is a truck out there. We are sending two truck loads of articles which we have collected. There is somebody in Port of Spain that is sending out these to the islands.

“So that we should be extending financial and other support to them rather than bringing in more refugees here because we have about 60,000 refugees already in Trinidad. Many of our citizens are refugees in their own country. That is my take on it.” Maharaj repeated that many schools in the country were “falling down.” “None of the schools have been repaired. They have unfinished schools and we cannot take in anymore.

We can’t take in what we have locally far less to take in foreign students. “But my punchline is that there are people living like refugees in their own country here.”

Police from the North Eastern Division Task force, led by Snr Supt Surrendra Sagramsingh, ASP Michael Sooker, and co-ordinated by Sgt Simeon Guelmo, conducted a 12-hour anti crime exercise from 11 am to 11 pm on Thursday.

During the exercise police were led to an abandoned car in Petit Bourg. They searched the car and found 109 grammes of marijuana.

The three men, all from Morvant, were then arrested and were said to be in custody up to press time, assisting police.

Police also found three firearms in separate locations during the exercise.

Task Force officers searched an abandoned building in Chinapoo Village, Morvant, where they found a Desert Eagle pistol with six rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Police then went to Bagatelle Road, San Juan, where they found a Smith and Wesson pistol with five rounds of ammunition.

Another Smith and Wesson revolver was found under a derelict car on Parry Lane, El Socorro. The gun was found with two rounds of .38 ammunition.

No arrests were made in connection to these finds.

In the Northern Division, police seized a gun which was dropped by an unknown man in Arouca.

According to reports, police from the Northern Division were on patrol in Windy Hill when they saw a man standing in the road. When he saw them, he ran off. Police chased him but lost him in some bushes. However, police noticed that he dropped something while trying to escape.

They searched the area, and found a revolver, loaded with six rounds of .38 ammunition.

Police are now on the search of the unknown man.

John-Williams said Deokiesingh tendered his resignation with immediate effect but he was unable to say what prompted him to do so.

Adding that Deokiesingh was on two months vacation at the time of his resignation, John-Williams said his departure will not impede the functioning of the board.

Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Franklin Khan has reportedly confirmed that Deokiesingh tendered his resignation earlier this week.

His resignation came amidst an investigation by Petrotrin into allegations first made by Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar at a Monday night meeting of the United National Congress that a lease operator supplying crude oil to the State oil company, Petrotrin, had defrauded the company of almost $100 million.

My company is no longer a member of the ECA and Nancoo does not speak on my behalf.

As Gabriel Faria, CEO of the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce, stated, every business has its own circumstances and some may be hiring and some may be forced to reduce staff.

Faria therefore acted responsibly in stating that the Chamber could not and would not make a similar commitment.

It is high time the labour movement understands that businesses do not set out to retrench. Labour is a valuable resource and the cost of replacing or retraining employees is extremely high.

Most responsible businesses value their employees very highly.

Unfortunately, there are times when, for the company to survive, sacrifices must be made.

If the labour movement is so concerned about unemployment, and if it so knowledgeable about running businesses, then why don’t the unions invest their own money and some of the dues and strike funds they supposedly have accumulated in starting their own businesses? Once again I urge the responsible business associations to join together and make public their recommendations as to how they see labour legislation having to be changed and updated for the good of the country.

The private sector has invested its own money in the creation of businesses that are the employers of this country. We are the employers and we will run our businesses the best we can. Unless they are prepared to guarantee my debts to the bank and suppliers, no ECA president or union leader is going to tell me how to run my business.

STUART DALGLIESH Diego Martin

Yesterday, the two constables, assigned to the Besson Street Police Station, remained in custody and were still being interviewed by officers of the Organised Crime Narcotics And Firearms Bureau (OCNFB). Sources revealed that the constables’ homes in Laventille were searched on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday but nothing illegal was found. It is alleged that the two officers left the Port-of- Spain CID on Tuesday claiming that they were going on enquiries. The officers then allegedly picked up a 24-yearold El Socorro man in a marked Police-issued Xtrail and took him to the South Western Peninsula .

While in the district, the El Socorro man allegedly collected four crocus bags containing high-grade marijuana that allegedly came from Venezuela, three hand guns with ammunition and a quantity of alcohol .

The items were placed in the vehicle and were supposed to be transported to El Socorro for packaging and sale .

However, officers of the South Western Division Task Force, led by Sgt Shaheed Ali and acting on a tip-off, attempted to stop the vehicle in Cedros shortly after 5 pm on Tuesday .

A roadblock was then put in place in Rousillac and the vehicle was stopped .

The police vehicle was searched, the drugs guns and alcohol were found and the two constables, along with the 24-year-old man, were taken into custody.Senior police officers, led by ACP Crime Irwin Hackshaw, condemned the alleged actions of the officers and said they had brought the Police Service into disrepute .

His comments were echoed by President of the Police Social and Welfare Association, Acting ASP Michael Seales .

Yesterday, sources at the OCNFB said they were now working on information that police vehicles were being used to transport drugs from the South Western Division to El Socorro for an extended period .

They added that, based on information received, a very senior officer was aware of the alleged illicit operation and supported the actions of some junior officers including the two constables detained on Tuesday .

It was that move, relatives believe, that led him to stabbing the two and later ingesting a poisonous substance. The man, 37, who is suspected of molesting the girl, remains warded in a serious condition at hospital under police guard. Mother and child are warded at different sections of the hospital and both are kept under armed police guard. The child was stabbed in the chest while the mother in her chest and hands. Both remain warded in serious but stable condition.

“On Tuesday, she dropped the summons at the Barrackpore Police Station for them to give him to appear in court next week Friday.

They (suspect and close relatives) knew about it and one even threatened her to drop it or else.

It seems like the one who threatened her is in hiding too,” said a close friend of the woman.

At 12.30 am on Wednesday, neighbours were awakened by screams and they later saw the woman and her daughter bleeding at the side of the road. Neighbours also found two frightened children, one a five-year-old boy and the other a ten-year-old girl inside a house unharmed. Hours later, residents found the suspect hiding in some bushes.

Sources said residents beat the suspect before dragging him out and leaving him at the side of the road for the police to pick up. When police arrived, he was frothing at the mouth. The Children’s Authority yesterday condemned the brutal attack adding that on Wednesday night, a team of investigators visited the child and mother.

Children’s Authority communications manager Cheryl Moses- Williams noted that given the traumatic experience, counselling and interventions will be provided to the family. “They are currently in a critical but stable condition at hospital. The Authority has also ensured the safety of the other children in the family. The Authority is also in high praise of the child’s mother, who immediately took action and reported the (sexual) abuse (on the child) once it was brought to her attention.”

Samlal’s white Nissan panel van was missing from his premises.

On Wednesday, acting on the advice of the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions George Busby, WPC Janelle Ransome of the Homicide Investigations Bureau (Region III), laid the charge of murder against Ranoo, also known as Ronnie Ranoo. He was expected to appear before a magistrate in the San Fernando Court yesterday.

A decree nisi is a court order that does not have any force unless a particular condition is met.

Once the condition is met, the ruling becomes a decree absolute (rule absolute) and is binding.

Archie gave a brief outline of statistics at the ceremonial opening of the 2017/2018 law term on Monday.

More detailed statistics will be made available when the Judiciary’s annual report is ready in a month or two.

Archie said, “In the final analysis, although this is not the only nor is it necessarily the best way of judging the effectiveness of a judiciary, public perception is influenced by disposition rates.” In the High Court Criminal Division raw data shows an eight per cent increase of indictments over the previous year and the highest total over the past six consecutive law terms.

“However, it takes five years on average to dispose of 70 per cent of matters filed in any given year, which does not compare favourably with civil matters,” Archie said.

He said he looked forward to increased use of plea-bargaining and trials without jury now that the latter is on the statute books.