Responding to a statement issued on Saturday by Permell, Imbert said, “If Permell was serious about a threat of legal action, he should have taken action five years ago.” The minister asked, “Who is he threatening to take action against anyway?” At last Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, Imbert identified Permell and Carlton Reis as two of the “mouthpieces” for CL Financial (CLF) shareholders. Imbert said Permell has no shares in CLF and cashed in his Clico policy in May 2012. A subsequent statement issued by the Finance Ministry last Friday said, Permell received the sum of $75,000 in cash for each policy with the rest being paid in bonds.

On Reis’ statement that the transfer of shares in Dalco Capital Management Company Ltd from company owner Lawrence Duprey to him at a value of $99 was a private matter, Imbert said, “The Companies Registry is a public forum.

So there is nothing private about a share transfer.” He added, “Further, being aware of the reported value of the shares and what is recorded in the Companies Registry, I am duty bound to investigate.” Last week, Imbert said Reis publicly claimed CLF was worth $40 billion. With Dalco owning 26 percent of CLF, Imbert said this worked out to $10 billion.

“The stamp duty on a transfer of shares worth $10 billion, is $50 million,” he stated. However, Imbert observed, “The stamp duty on a transfer of shares worth $99 is 50 cents.” On this basis, Imbert said his ministry will be investigating this matter to find out why a company supposed valued at $40 billion by one of its owners, had its shares transferred for $99, “instead of at a rate of $10 billion, attracting stamp duty of $50 million.” Imbert said the court-appointed liquidators will investigate this matter.

He also said there will be an investigation into the leakage of some $1.1 billon from CL World Brands (CLWB) which was apparently used to settle debts owed by companies within CLF.

The teams met in the opening match of the CPL on Friday in St Lucia, with the Knight Riders coming out on top by nine wickets.

In a media conference at the Oval yesterday, TKR captain Dwayne Bravo said he was glad his team got off to a winning start.

“We are happy to get our first game under our belt, it’s always good to win cricket games especially in a tournament like the CPL that is so competitive,” Bravo said.

The Knight Riders will play five matches in the next eight days at home. Bravo wants his team to have a good run at home, but knows the CPL is challenging.

Bravo said, “It is a tough competition.

Ideally we will like to win as much as possible but you got to be realistic.

Playing five games at home I will be happy to win three out of those five.” Bravo is also counting on the support at the Oval.

“Playing home in Trinidad is always good, because we have that crowd factor that always give us that extra boost and support.

We know the conditions very well, but all the teams have a lot of good international players and local players as well.” South African Hashim Amla was set to join the team this week after the conclusion of the South Africa Test series against England.

However, Amla has been ruled out of the CPL due to injury.

Stars captain Darren Sammy knows his team was disappointing on Friday against TKR, but says the Stars will improve. “We were very short, we did not look like a team but it is just the first game of the tournament,” Sammy said.

“Last year in the same fixture we defeated them here at home so hopefully we could get some inspiration from that, but one game does not win you a tournament.

We will definitely improve and there is no better place to start that path to what we want to achieve than right here in their own back yard.” Sammy said it is good to get the poor performances out of the way. “We played a poor game but I am not counting my guys out. I have some excellent quality in my team and it is a game of cricket. It is good to get the bad ones out of the way very early.” After tonight’s match TKR will play Jamaica Tallawahs at 8 pm on Wednesday, Guyana Amazon Warriors at 9 pm on Friday, Barbados Tridents at 9 pm on Saturday and St Kitts/Nevis Patriots at 8 pm on Monday. All matches will be played at the Queen’s Park Oval.

One is the cocrico, which I will never learn to like. I wrote this in a 2005 article: “(The) cocrico (is) described in official publications as representing Tobago in our coat of arms.

Bizarre representation, because (it) is, quite simply, a considerable agricultural pest … I have the impression that it eats everything but sour limes … It even eats flowers … and … has also learned how to dig up sweet potatoes for dinner.

Or lunch. Whatever. As far as I am concerned, it has absolutely no redeeming qualities … At a time when we’re being lectured on the need for food security, we protect a ‘national’ bird which revels in wholly anti-national behaviour by creating food insecurity … If I were Basdeo Panday, I would call it an avian terrorist.” Since then, I’ve modified my views somewhat. It does have one important redeeming quality: it is family-oriented, and can thus teach many of us humans a valuable lesson. But I still say its bad behaviour outweighs the good.

The tropical mockingbird is another co-habitant. “(The) male singing for female company,” I wrote in 2005, “is, with apologies to Charlie Parker, the Dizzy Gillespie of birdland. He can improvise melodiously for hours on end without repeating a single passage.” Parker, whose nickname was “Bird,” and who was the joint composer of a jazz tune called Ornithology, would have learned a thing or two.

Tanagers and bananaquits are around as well, though not in the numbers I used to see when I would put crumbs on a dining- room window sill. I had to discontinue the practice. Watching them feed was all very pleasing.

The trouble was that they were not toilet-trained, and defecation followed digestion with alarming immediacy. On the same sill. Constant cleaning-up became a chore too many.

The ubiquitous ground dove, with its brisk, head-jerking walk, is also present. And though doves — at least, according to the United Nations — are a symbol of peace, the ones in my yard spar interminably over who is to get what, and how much: raised feathers and spread wings, to indicate primacy and authority, are normal conduct.

Even in doveland, it seems, there are assertions of who is in charge.

Last year there was a new and not at all welcome arrival: parrots.

Small and green, they fly in large flocks, squeaking and squawking, on their way to or from attacking your fruit trees, in my case, pommecythère.

And they have a thoroughly irritating habit of pecking one fruit, leaving a hole, then moving on to another, where they do the same.

Why not finish one fruit and leave some whole ones for me? But no: that’s too easy. First cocrico, then parrot. What sin have I committed? It must be a grave sin, because recently I’ve been woken earlier than usual by the activity of a clearly demented woodpecker, which has persuaded itself that my galvanised metal roof (if I said “galvanise roof,” I would be promptly rebuked by Prof Clément Imbert) is really made of wood.

Does anyone know a good bird psychiatrist? Several years ago another bird species appeared in my backyard, but this one was and is easily acceptable: the motmot. Where the first one came from and why, I have no idea. But one day there suddenly it was, sitting in a poui tree watching me.

Did it want food? But what did motmots eat? I hurriedly consulted Richard ffrench’s Birds of Trinidad and Tobago; scraps, it said. I threw out a piece of bread; the bird zoomed in on it. Word spread in the motmot community, and — with the exception of three weeks some months ago, when clearing of land for a new housing project nearby apparently obliged them to look for fresh accommodation — they’ve been coming ever since: early morning and late afternoon, occasionally at lunchtime as well, though not on rainy days.

They call when they don’t see anyone — a hoot or a turkey-like gobble — and not infrequently fly into the house and perch expectantly on the back of a chair. A dining- room chair, of course. Mercifully, they have outside toilets. And they are discriminating in their tastes. After close examination, one the other day not only rejected my offer — the bread, admittedly, was stale — but then gave me a look which needed no interpretation.

I hastily corrected my error.

Now why can’t a well-behaved bird like the motmot replace the cocrico in our coat of arms? Incidentally, did you know that our current republican arms feature “the Queen’s helm?” What queen? M o r e p r e c i s e – ly, which q u e e n ? P e r h a p s President Ca rmona and the PoS City C o u n c i l could help?

According to reports, Jaglal was seen entering the water with his two step-daughters.

A few minutes later, one of his daughters got into difficulty.

It is believed he drowned while trying to save her.

One man who helped pull Jaglal out of the water is calling on authorities to assign lifeguards to that beach.

Abdoull Lasheen, an American citizen who is currently vacationing in Tobago told Newsday yesterday what happened on that day.

He said he was walking on the beach with a friend when he heard screaming but he thought it was just children playing on the beach until the screams grew louder.

“I just dropped everything and went into the ocean.

“I saw two girls near a float that got away from them so I grabbed the float and I was able to get them on it thank God and I got them to shore,” he said.

Lasheen said once the girls were safely to shore they screamed for their father but he could not see them.

A scuba instructor who was nearby went into the sea to look for Jaglal.

She pulled him from the bottom of the sea and with the help of Lasheen brought him to the shore.

He said what was frightening for him was the way the paramedics handled the situation.

“I witnessed first hand how nonchalant they were about the whole incident.

“The paramedics were strolling to the beach, there was no urgency whatsoever. The scuba instructor performed CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on him for 15 minutes before they arrived. When they came, they placed him on the stretcher and put him in the ambulance and that was it,” he said.

Lasheen said that beach was a favourite of his and it needed a lifeguard.

“I really want people to be safe, we don’t want to lose more innocent lives,” he said.

THE Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH), located in multi-ethnic Brooklyn, was founded in 1992 by tennis champion and humanitarian, Arthur Ashe.

Since its inception, the Institute has collaborated with community members to reduce morbidity and mortality from disease through improved access to care and increased health knowledge among the most vulnerable populations in urban, under served areas. The Institute collaborates with community members to design, incubate and replicate neighbourhood- based interventions that address health conditions that disproportionately affect minorities, reduce health disparities, improve outcomes for under served groups and better prepare a more inclusive workforce.

Every year, the AAIUH partners with Non-Governmental Organisations to carry out a research programme for secondary school students, focused on public health issues.

The Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust has been collaborating with this organisation for the past three years and continues this year with research focused on disease outbreaks due to natural disasters.

Participating students conduct their study at the Trust, collating information from Trust visitors about their knowledge about natural disasters and their links to public health issues. Students participate in interactive presentations with Dr Maurice Frank, a veterinarian working at the Pan American Health Organisation; Trust educator Tamara Goberdhan, Trust president Molly R Gaskin and vice president Karilyn Shephard, who share wide-ranging discussions, as this programme is designed to address the social determinants of public health and their linkages, in Trinidad and Tobago.

They give their lives in exchange for the advancement of their countries when there are wars. We can offer no tangible thanks for self sacrifice.

In my estimation, trade unions had to come into being because there had to be guidelines about how we treat the working classes of the world. There had to be honour and respect for the working poor.

We do have it in TT but, when our trade unions decide that theirs is the one and only yardstick to measure success, we have a problem. Somewhere, along the way the politics of envy has invaded and is slowly poisoning the goodness of effective trade unionism and destroying worker attitudes regarding entitlement.

Out there on the ground, we have an out of control level of crime and criminality that appears to be based on envy. The expression, “’So poor as to thief” is really a poverty of thought and education.

We envy the success of others without caring how hard they worked to get their possessions.

Cars are stolen, houses broken into, money, farmers’ fruits, anything that can be moved and resold, gets taken. The must have syndrome of envy is killing us off in TT .

We have become a derisive nation. We intentionally use negative remarks to damage opponents.

Shortness of stature, blackness of skin, ugliness of face, over weight, under weight and remarks about sexuality, gender and mental capacity are thrown negatively at people to diminish them.

We need to get out the dictionary and look up the word “respect”. We also need to understand what is true self-respect because we are drowning.

There is a dangerous paucity of self belief holding back individuals.

T here is no race but the human race. All human life is reputed to have begun in Africa.

But, hear this-The face of the Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, many thousands of years old, is that of an African man.

Until the African people know their true history we will continue to self destruct and remain buried in the Sands of Time, forever.

Lynette Joseph Diego Martin

The robbery occurred at the Kam Wong Restuarant, Eastern Main Road, Arouca at around 7.45pm. The men, who were unmasked, were armed with guns and robbed restaurant patrons of cash, cellphones and a women’s handbag. There were no reports of injuries during the incident.

One of the men was wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt, blue three-quarter pants and a blue cap while the second wore a black cap, white vest and a red three quarter-pants. A video of the incident was posted on social media on Friday morning.

Investigations are continuing.

The incident was the latest in a series of crimes where Chinese nationals, mostly business people, have been targeted.

On July 12, 57 year-old Zhang Sijiu, the driver of Chinese Ambassador Song Yumin, was snatched along Hayes Street in St Clair shortly after 7 am. A call was made to the Embassy and a $20,000 ransom demanded. Arrangements were made for the money to be dropped off at the Roxy roundabout at 11 am. However, the kidnapped was unaware that the stolen car he used to transport Zhang, was outfitted with GPS and it was intercepted and forced to come to a halt by police. Zhang was rescued and taken to hospital while the suspect was arrested and taken into custody. On June 27 businesswoman Yana Zeng, 33, was robbed and shot dead at her mini mart in Santa Cruz.

Then on June 15 businessman Shirui Zhao and his employee Yanli Gu gunned down in the car park of Kosume bar, New Haven Avenue, Marabella. On June 13 Francis Lee Lon, 67, and his wife Sylvie, 77, were robbed at their Fourth Street, Barataria home by three men. The couple handed over cash and jewellery valued at $13,530 and were tied up. They untied themselves and alerted the police. The three bandits and getaway driver were held and the stolen items recovered.

Newsday also found four separate incidents of Chinese nationals being robbed in 2016.

The sustained collaborative foreign and local bombardment of the PPP Government succeeded and Dr Jagan was forced to accept constitutional changes on the basis of which elections were held in early December 1964 resulting in the PPP winning 45.8 per cent of the total vote, the PNC 40 per cent and the United Force 12.4 per cent.

By Order in Council of the British Government, Dr Jagan was removed as Premier on December 14, 1964 and shortly thereafter a coalition Government of the Afro-Guyanese dominated PNC and the United Force was installed in office. The United Force’s 12.4 per cent vote came substantially from Indo-Guyanese further disputing the claim by Freddie Kissoon of their undiluted tribalism.

Given the British Government’s haste to shed its colonies, the country was being propelled to independence and ethnic conflict would continue unabated in anticipation of this event. The colonial power would play a critical but not neutral role in the outcome.

Ann Marie Bissessar and John Gaffar La Guerre in their book mentioned in the previous column would note that:-“Both in Trinidad and in Guyana, the run-up to independence was characterized by increasing rivalry between the ethnic groupings and a dominant role for the colonial power was in settling these conflicts. What it meant, however, was that one ethnic group became the loser and the other the victor.” (p 91). It was clearly apparent that in 1964 the Indo-Guyanese ended up the loser and the Afro- Guyanese the winner resulting in the consolidation of Afro-Guyanese racial sentiment and solidarity. Guyana was granted independence from Britain in May 1966.

The Burnham regime through the PNC dominated the socio-economic and political life of Guyana for almost three decades from 1964-1992 initially under Forbes Burnham and later under Desmond Hoyte. The Burnham regime was generally regarded as a dictatorship- brutal, oppressive, manipulative and electorally fraudulent. It openly utilized the coercive power of the State to suppress dissent and hound its opponents and employed State resources for naked patronage in defiance of rights, laws, rules and conventions. It seems apparent that the sustainable support for the regime came primarily from the ethnic consciousness of its Afro-Guyanese base.

Yet, significant numbers of Indo- Guyanese lent their support to the Burnham regime. It is immaterial that they did so to protect religious or business interests or from threats and intimidation. The fact is that Indo-Guyanese sentiment and solidarity was fractured and did not reflect absolute tribal support for the Indo-Guyanese dominated PPP. It is therefore difficult to place credibility on Freddie Kissoon’s jaundiced conclusion that “….they (Indo-Guyanese) are racial from top to bottom.” On the present day situation, Raffique Shah quotes Freddie Kissoon’s lament that “In Guyana… if he met ten Indians and asked their views on the incumbent Afro-dominated APNU Government, they would be unanimously against it remaining in power. But if he spoke with ten Afro-Guyanese, five would be for and five against.” It is difficult to envisage that ethnic based support for the political parties would have changed substantially from what they were in the National Elections of 2015.

Given the ethnic demographics of the country, the Afro-Guyanese led coalition of parties could not have obtained their one- seat majority in the National Assembly nor could David Grainger have become President without the support of a sizeable percentage of Indo-Guyanese.

Pollster Vishnu Bisram, in his assessment of ethnic cross voting in the 2015 Elections, estimates that at least 12 per cent of Indo-Guyanese voted for the Afro-Guyanese dominated coalition and its leader. He also stated that, in his interviews during that campaign, some Indo-Guyanese expressed support for the Afro-dominated coalition of parties but he found no Afro-Guyanese in support of the Indo-Guyanese dominated PPP/Civic.

I therefore wonder how Freddie Kissoon chose his r a n d o m sample of Guyanese to elicit their views

The woman, Neera Bajan, 45, is currently warded in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) in critical, but stable condition.

A police report said Bajan was in the living room of her home when she was approached by a 36 -yearold male relative.

An argument started and things escalated quickly with each of them shouting and hurling allegations against each other. Police said the man left the house and returned with a gun which he pointed at Bajan and shot her in the face.

The woman’s two young children were at a relative’s home at the time of the shooting. When Bajan was shot, she began to bleed profusely and according to the police report, the male relative fled the house.

Police said the suspect also lives at Diaz Road. Neighbours, who were alerted to the commotion, contacted Emergency Health Services and shortly after an abulance arrived on the scene. Police said Bajan, who sustained a gun shot wound to the face, was taken to the Couva Health Facility and subsequently transferred to the SFGH. She underwent surgery and was warded in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. An hour after the incident, police officers from the Brasso Police Station arrested the relative. He was taken to the police station where he was being interviewed about the incident.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a 24-year-old man of Oropune Gardens, Piarco, was shot to death early Saturday morning in what police believes was linked to a domestic dispute in which he intervened hours earlier.

Police reports said Keston Knights was returning home when he intervened in a domestic dispute between a couple just before midnight on Friday.

Speaking with the Newsday, Alexander noted the need for a more youth centric political approach in the nation.

With his political party holding a youth rally on Saturday, at 19 Stanmore Avenue, Queens Park West, Port-of-Spain, Alexander holds the point of view that young persons have been left out of politics for too long and it is time to activate youths politically.

In speaking about his aim to mobilise youths, he said his party’s “Orange Army” initiative was simply an outlet for youths to raise issues that concerned them.

Citing home ownership, debt and infrastructure, as issues that would only continue to worsen in the future, Alexander said those issues must begin to be addressed if there was to be any hope for youths in the future.

Asserting that it was time for “dinosaurs to stop making decisions,” Alexander expressed his desire in seeing youths getting more involved in politics and, thus, adding the passion of youthful voices to the decision- making process of the nation.