The trial into the multi-million- dollar lawsuit began yesterday before Justice Mira Dean-Armorer in the Port of Spain High Court when neurosurgeon Dr Roberto Heros of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, testified. Heros treated McKenzie before his death in December 2010 and concluded that he died as a result of radiation necrosis caused by a radiation overdose.

McKenzie was being treated for brain cancer. Heros said the businessman’s case was the ‘worst’ he encountered in his 40 year career.

Heros was questioned extensively by Medcorp attorney Ravi Nanga about five operations performed on McKenzie to ease swelling to the brain before he died.

Nanga asserted that Heros and his team failed to produce its pathology reports, which allegedly proves matter removed from McKenzie’s brain was consistent with radiation necrosis. “Each time there was radiation necrosis and it was supported by pathologist’s reports.

I don’t lie,” Heros said.

He could not say why the reports were not provided and also admitted there were several several errors in the hospital’s post-operative reports.

Heros maintained the errors were administrative not medical and did not affect his final opinion about McKenzie’s death. He also denied that death was due to an infection developed at the hospital.

“The primary cause of death was radiation necrosis which caused the other problems,” Heros said.

The trial continues this morning, when McKenzie’s widow Lisa is expected to testify. McKenzie, 55, co-owner of Smokey and Bunty Sports Bar in St James, died on December 21, 2010, at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

His family is claiming gross medical negligence, bribery and fraud by Medcorp Ltd and the Cancer Centre of the Caribbean Ltd. Medcorp which has been slapped with a $20 million lawsuit is not accepting blame and disputes any negligence on its part.

As I read their comments I thought to myself, that’s the kind of irrational insular arrogance that has festered here since we led the way to the dissolution of the West Indies Federation in 1962. Fuming, I say to myself, here we are celebrating Republic Day with our backs to our neighbours, unwilling or, worse, unable to see and feel their troubles as our own.

Why, I wonder, can the naysayers not see that we are siblings of the peoples of the Caribbean, born of the same historical upheaval, sharing this tiny precious, vulnerable part of the planet and destined to grow together into mature nations.

Then, turning back to the task at hand, I think that actually this xenophobia is not at all widespread.

I am reminded of the immediate and earnest mobilisation of State level, private sector, civil society and individual support in all possible forms that has been channelled through me, let alone all the other efforts being channelled through others connected in some way to Dominica, or the BVI or St Martin or Antigua and Barbuda.

There has been no hesitation in doing what needs to be done.

So much so that the efforts by regional authorities to organise the chaos of caring has itself been enormous. I have had to start a database just to keep track of all the offers of open homes, money, relief supplies, equipment and vessels to ease the suffering in Dominica. Clearly the majority view is that we are in the mess together.

We will bumble along together and find our way through the climate vulnerabilities and the naked politicking around everything including emergency aide, and the breakdown in law and order, and the trauma of loss, and the broken economies, and whatever else will come next. These challenges are ours to overcome.

The situation in Dominica is catastrophic, like nothing we in Trinidad have ever experienced.

The level of human suffering and displacement is, as Prime Minister Skerrit said, “mind-boggling.” Dominicans are experiencing food insecurity like they have never imagined. The winds ripped the leaves off of trees even as they were flung crazily in every direction, it tore crops out of the ground and mud has smothered what was left. Livestock lie dead and rotting right where they were tethered. Water, as plentiful as it is in the nature isle, must now be purified and very few people have access to electricity.

In my small realm, aided immensely by the connectivity of social media, a cell phone and a strategic satellite phone at ground zero, we were able to put people in touch with each other to share critical information, to direct basic supplies and to send emotionally fraught messages of love and concern between Dominicans on the ground and around the world. Privy to these intense exchanges, I have concluded that we are connected viscerally as Caribbean people. So, in response to the xenophobes, I had wanted to say to my compatriots let us all “take a knee” against the racism and insularity that motivates the “close your doors” nonsense that emerged when our Caribbean family most needed us. On reflection though, I need only point out that if you close your doors, you lose. The rest of us are moving forward together.

He was not called upon to plead as the charge was laid indictably.

Michael Diaz, 32, who appeared before a justice of the peace on seven charges last week, reappeared before a magistrate in the Arima First Court yesterday where he was granted bail with a surety. He will return to court on October 23.

Diaz was charged with false imprisonment, common assault with a firearm, shooting with intent, possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm and ammunition to endanger life.

He was charged by Cpl Ronald Ramdeen of the Malabar police station and Acting ASP Mervyn Edwards of the Northern Division.

According to reports, a man arrived at the O’Meara campus with a 20-year-old female trainee in a taxi. The taxi driver approached the campus security saying the two passengers had been arguing and the man had threatened to kill the woman. The police were contacted and upon arriving at the institute, it was reported that a man fired at them.

The man then ran into the school and held a person captive for about ten minutes. Cpl Paul De Leon of the Arima CID persuaded the man to release the hostage.

“I was not guilty of that murder,” Maharaj said as he testified at an appeal court hearing which will determine if new evidence that has emerged from the prosecution’s main witness during the trial, is sufficient to exonerate him and eight of his co-accused.

Maharaj was one of three witnesses called yesterday to testify before Appeal Court judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Rajendra Narine and Prakash Moosai to verify telephone conversations between himself and the prosecution’s main witness Junior Grandison, who in 2011, swore in a statutory declaration that he lied at the 2001 trial.

Grandison — then the country’s ‘most wanted man’ — is still wanted but only by nine of the ten men who are now seeking their freedom.

A summons was issued last week for Grandison’s appearance to give his new evidence at the Court of Appeal but yesterday, he was again a no-show.

Grandison, in his statutory declaration dated June 1, 2011, swore that evidence he gave at the trial, “was false and did not represent the truth.” He was the main witness in the prosecution of ‘Rat’ Maharaj, Samuel Maharaj, Damien ‘Tommy’ Ramiah, Bobby Ramiah, Seenath ‘Farmer’ Ramiah, Daniel ‘Fella’ Gopaul, Richard Huggins, Leslie Huggins, Mark ‘Bico’ Jaikaran and Junior ‘Heads’ Phillip.

They were convicted on August 7, 2001, after a trial which lasted 33 days. The ten lost their appeals before the Court of Appeal but escaped the hangman’s noose because of the delay in hearing appeals at the London Privy Council.

Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

Boodram was kidnapped and beheaded in 1997. In his testimony yesterday Maharaj verified several telephone conversations he had with Grandison both in 2011 before he gave his statutory declaration, and again earlier this year.

Maharaj said he recorded the conversations unknown to Grandison.

Maharaj said he did so as a ‘sting’ because he was afraid that Grandison would go into hiding or would be killed now that he (Grandison) swore that the evidence he gave was a lie. “I wanted everybody to hear him,” Maharaj said. Portions of the recordings were played in court yesterday while other portions were read out from typewritten transcripts.

When Maharaj returns to court today, he will be cross-examined by special State prosecutor Travers Sinanan, who has submitted that the conversations cannot be admitted into evidence in the absence of Grandison’s own testimony.

Also testifying yesterday were attorney Gerald Ramdeen, who prepared Grandison’s statutory declaration, and another witness who asked the judges to remain unknown to the public. In 2015, President Anthony Carmona agreed to have the case remitted to the Court of Appeal to consider Grandison’s evidence.

According to sources, PC Bernard and WPC Sealy were in the changing room of the station when a firearm discharged. It was claimed that as both officers bent down to pick up a magazine which had fallen, their side-arms discharged.

When other officers in the station, heard the shot, they went to check and saw both Bernard and Sealy on the ground saw both officers bleeding from a gunshot wound. Sealy was shot in the stomach while Bernard was shot in his left hand.

The two were taken to hospital where they were both treated with Bernard being discharged while Sealy was still warded up to press time. Investigations are ongoing

That landscape requires a shift in political ethos.

Arguably, Merkel, who now equals the record of her predecessor Helmut Kohl, has been a practitioner of this new approach.

The key to her success has been her ability to reconcile warring ideological factions. Variously described as “centrist politics” or “asymmetric demobilisation,” her approach has left little room for her opponents by incorporating their views within her own party and coalition agenda. She has not ignored the conservative fringes.

Nor has she completely abandoned liberal ideals.

Two good examples are her approaches on gay marriage and immigration. Merkel allowed a free vote to take place on the issue of gay marriage after one of her coalition partners forced a vote. In that vote she voted no, expressing the view of her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), that marriage is between a man and a women. In the end, she was outnumbered by German politicians who voted in favour of the measure. But in the process she was criticised for what was seen as a backward stance on gay rights.

At the same time, Merkel was praised for her open-door immigration policy which, by some estimates, resulted in one million immigrants entering Germany after fleeing atrocities in Syria and elsewhere. For her stance, she earned the moniker “Mama Merkel” among immigrants and beyond. Yet, it was this issue that brought Merkel down among conservatives, costing the CDU about one million votes and arguably playing a role in the bolstering of the fortunes of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Merkel will now have a tough time ahead, as AfD will have its largest parliamentary presence in the Bundestag (13 per cent). Despite her historic victory, the chancellor’s conservative bloc secured 33 per cent of the vote, down 8.5 points on the last election, in its worst performance since 1949. The Social Democrats, Merkel’s former coalition partner, dropped about five points to 20.5 per cent.

Merkel will now turn to pro-business FDP liberals (ten per cent) and the Greens (nine per cent) to rule. Such an arrangement will force her to reconcile contradictory stances within her own coalition while balancing the tide of the AfD.

The world will be looking to Merkel to deliver in the wake of the dramatically shifted international political landscape.

The rise of Donald Trump has severely damaged the standing of the United States in the world.

In Europe, Brexit threatens to fragment the entire union. Turbulent developments continue in relation to North Korea, Venezuela and Russia.

Merkel is poised to become something of a pillar of strength amid all of this. But the question is whether her brand of politics is robust enough to overcome the serious tests ahead. It is clear, for now, however, that that brand will be instructive as the global fragmentation of political ideologies continues. Could a more Merkel-like approach be the key to healing rifts in the US? It should also be noted that Merkel’s victory makes her one of the most successful female political leaders in the world. She joins figures like Theresa May of Britain, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de factor leader.

It could well be that the time has come for a global push for gender parity in politics.

With threats of war looming, perhaps it is time for more women like Merkel to take charge and return our planet to security and prosperity.

Constables Stephen Johnson and Toola Jack stood in the Port of Spain 4A court where Magistrates Forde-John said she was unwilling to consider bail since the matters must be transferred to the district court in which the offences allegedly took place. The two will appear in the Siparia court today, when the presiding magistrate will address the issue of bail.

Johnson and Jack were arrested by colleagues from the South Western Division Task Force along Southern Main Road, Dow Village in South Oropouche last week Tuesday after their marked police vehicle was searched. They allegedly had in their possession four crocus bags filled with 103 packages of marijuana and three illegal firearms.

The drugs weighed 54.3 kilogrammes and has an estimated street value of $733,000. Johnson is on an additional charge of possession of ten rounds of ammunition allegedly found during a search of his Laventille home, a day after his arrest.

For that charge, he was granted $45,000 bail to be approved by a clerk of the peace or a cash alternative of $20,000.

He also has to report to the Besson Street Police Station every Wednesday and Saturday and will reappear in the Port of Spain Magistrates Court, on that offence, on October 24. The two were represented by attorneys Ian Brooks and Daryl Worrel. The charges were laid indictably so they were not called on to enter a plea.

I am one of those people who experienced the devastating earthquake in January 2010 in Haiti in which over 360,000 people lost their lives.

I rarely speak about that experience because of the effects of post-traumatic stress.

However, I recall the next morning after the earthquake seeing a six-year-old boy wandering around the Caribe Hotel, which while sustaining major structural damage did not collapse. The boy has cuts and bruises all over.

I brought him into the tennis court and with the help of a French-speaking woman put some makeshift bandages on his deep cuts. When asked by the woman where his father was he replied he had none. Asked about his mother, he said she was dead.

For the next 36 hours he followed me everywhere I went.

I shared whatever little swimming pool water I had with him.

It broke my heart when I had to leave him and the thousands of starving homeless people behind. I wished I could have brought him to TT .

Based on my Haitian experience, I fully understand the immense hardships and suffering of the people of hurricane-ravaged Dominica.

I fully support Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s decision to open our doors to Dominicans.

No man is an island.

You never know when it will be our turn.

RAMESH LUTCHMEDIAL Cunupia

In a statement, the band Etienne and Friends said it produced a successful band on Carnival Monday called We the People.

The group claims another group recently registered with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), with a political symbol which bears the title, “We the People.” Etienne and Friends assured masqueraders, friends, supporters and well-wishers that it is not connected or associated with any political movement, party, pressure group or entity bearing this title.

The group also said its only objective is the provision of a space, “within our Carnival where masquerade remains true to its finest traditions” and is supported by live music from some of TT’s best musicians.” There is a public group on Facebook called, “We the People – All Shall Eat” which is co-ordinated by former justice minister Herbert Volney, but checks by Newsday with the EBC indicated there is no registered political party with the name, “We the People.” Volney could not be reached for comment.

There are 151 political parties registered in TT. Some are active, such the People’s National Movement, United National Congress, Movement for Social Justice and the Independent Liberal Party.

Others, such as Team Unity, Democratic Labour Party, Tapia House Movement and the Natural Law Party, are defunct.

James yesterday was at the site surveying damage with his insurance agent.

He said while the majority of his equipment and goods were destroyed, he intends to start over from scratch.

The company’s warehouse would be relocated and James is in the process of looking for a warehouse to rent.

The 45 displaced staff will also be looked after within the next few weeks. Management and staff held a meeting yesterday to discuss what could be done in the aftermath of the fire. The staff agreed to hold on for the time being, and when stocks are brought in from the docks, help would be needed to restock the warehouse.

While there is still goods on the docks, much has to be done before JMH could be operational again. James told Newsday that all his trucks were destroyed in the fire.

At about 8.30 pm on Sunday, James got a call from a fellow tenant at the Trincity Industrial Estate that smoke was billowing from one of his warehouses.

The fire spread to four warehouses, destroying stockpiles of rice, sugar, oil and saltfish.

Counter tops and other kitchen appliances were also destroyed in the fire. Dr Yunus Ibrahim of the Supermarket Association, yesterday said the nation’s rice supply remains steady despite the loss of JMH’s stocks, which accounted for almost half of all rice supplied to local supermarkets.

“We are aware that it is a market that would be in demand, especially now with the Divali holiday coming up, but the shortage that we would experience will only be minor,” Ibrahim said.