THE grieving mother of 14-year-old schoolgirl Simone Pierre, who was fatally stabbed on Saturday at home, yesterday declared that she forgave her daughter’s killer, who is also a relative and is pregnant. “Just like the Almighty can forgive his people and although I am grieving in my heart, I too forgive my daughter’s killer, for she is also family,” stated frail Jennifer Ross, a mother of six. Pierre, 14, who was a Form Two student of Curepe Junior Secondary school, was stabbed in the left side of her chest while picking up clothes from a clothes-line at her Bally Street, Thavenot Road, Tacarigua home. Arouca detectives have arrested a seven-month pregnant relative, in connection with the murder. A bloodstained ice-pick has also been seized. Recounting the life of her second child, Mrs Ross told Newsday that Simone, contrary to earlier media reports, was not one to pick a fight, but rather was a loving and jovial youngster. “If you and she fall out…in the next five minutes she coming to you to make up. That’s the kind of person she was,” Ross said as her other children gathered around her. Ross told Newsday that today would be a bitter-sweet day for her. “You know tomorrow I celebrate my thirty-eighth birthday. But it is also the day I have to go to the mortuary to see them cut open my daughter. Boy, what a way to celebrate a birthday, eh.” According to police reports, around 2 pm on Saturday, Pierre went to pick up clothes from a clothes-line at the back of the house when a 20-year-old relative ran up to her from behind, “locked” her neck and stabbed her once in the left side of the chest. “I was not home at the time but I hear that Simone ran out of the house and collapse in the yard. She eyes had already start to roll up into her head. When she reach the hospital, I hear she did done dead already,” Ross said as tears welled up in her eyes.

Moments after the fatal stabbing, Arouca police arrived at the house and detained the suspect, who had locked herself in a room. “I feeling sorry for she. You know she is pregnant and I hear she real taking on Simone’s death while she is being kept at the police station,” Ross said. The grieving woman told Newsday that all day on Saturday, Simone had been singing a song by top US recording artiste 50 Cent entitled “Many Men.” The song’s chorus reads: “Many men wish death upon me. Lord I don’t cry no more. Don’t look to the sky no more. Have mercy on me.” “Like she foresaw her death, because she was only singing that song,” Ross said. She told Newsday that her daughter wanted to be a policewoman when she left school and was also looking forward to next term, since she had missed some weeks last term because she had to have her appendix removed. “I don’t know how…but I will get through this. I must get through this, if only for my other children,” Ross said. An autopsy will be done today on Pierre’s body at the Forensic Sciences Centre. Detective Sgt Beepath Samai of Arouca CID is continuing investigations.

A THREE-month-old baby girl died at hospital yesterday, following an accident along the Eastern Main Road, Wallerfield involving two cars, one of which was driven by an off-duty policeman. According to police reports, around 1.45 pm, a blue Toyota Corolla driven by an off-duty PC, who is attached to the Court and Process Branch  was proceeding east along the Eastern Main Road. The cop was accompanied by his wife and a three-month-old baby Makilla Sotillo. On nearing Colonel Road, a car in front the cop’s vehicle suddenly slowed down on the road, forcing the PC to attempt to overtake the stopping car. However, the officer’s car crashed head-on into a blue Nissan Sunny, proceeding in the opposite direction.

A report was made to Arima police and the unconscious baby girl was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope where she underwent emergency treatment. However, she died at 3.30 pm. Up to news time, investigators could not ascertain what relation the dead child was to the policeman and his wife. The cop was treated at the Sangre Grande District Hospital and discharged. His wife remains warded at that hospital. Both vehicles were later removed to the yard of the Arima police station and investigations are continuing.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is to receive from the International Cricket Council (ICC) (US) $2.5 million dollars to assist in the preparation for the 2007 World Cup in cricket to be held in the region. As WICB President Rev Wes Hall said, this sum of money will be the last that any host country will receive from the ICC for World Cup preparations, hence the year 2007 was unique. Rev Hall and Chris Dehring Managing Director of World Cricket Cup 2007 reported to CARICOM heads on Friday on their progress towards preparation for the big event. Dehring is the Managing Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. Hall, who said as President he was responsible for policy, came out from the meeting to report, “I know from what we told the Heads they are satisfied that the process of preparation and everything else connected to it will be transparent.” He assured the leaders that the WICB was very much on track, and he was sure the leaders all of whom indicated their governments’ commitment to assist, were pleased with the progress being made. Dehring said they will contract the best people in the Caribbean and in the world to help them deliver this event.

Rev Hall said that South Africa which hosted the last World Cup will be approached to provide technical assistance and already he hinted that they have agreed. He also revealed that American Donald Lockerbie will be new development consultant for the big event. Dehring observed that at the last World Cup the South African government had a very efficient security system in place. He said he was highly impressed with it. He hinted that Caribbean Heads should know by next April which cricket venues will be asked to host World Cup matches. As for himself, Hall said despite opting out of being re-elected President, as long as there was breath in his body he will play a role in West Indies cricket, whether it be coach, selector or manager. “I think God has given me the strength and ability to do that, and I will be able to give advice in most capacities if not all.”  He recalled that from 1950 to 2003 he has played a role from the period of John Goddard to Brian Lara. Hall assured he will be willing to give advice at any time. He also assured that West Indies cricket was again on the upswing with the number of young players coming into the team. “Long time you did not have to compete for a place on the team, but now you have to,” he added.

LONDON: An openly gay clergyman whose appointment as a bishop divided the Anglican church has decided not to take up his post, the Church of England said yesterday. The church’s spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, said the decision by the Rev Jeffrey John should give Anglicans “pause for thought.”  “This has been a time of open and painful confrontation, in which some of our bonds of mutual trust have been severely strained,” Williams said. “We need now to give ourselves the proper opportunities honestly to think through what has happened and to find what God has been teaching us in these difficult days.”  A spokesman for Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries said John planned to seek permission from Queen Elizabeth II to withdraw his acceptance of his appointment as Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford. Several Anglican bishops from around the world wrote to oppose John’s selection by Harries in May, saying the appointment violated church teaching that gay sex is “incompatible with Scripture.” John had been due to be ordained in Westminster Abbey on October 9. In his letter, released by Harries’ office, John said he had decided to decline the post because of “the damage my consecration might cause to the unity of the Church, including the Anglican Communion.”  Harries wrote in reply that he accepted the decision, “made in the interest of wider Church unity. However, I would like you to know that not only did you have my unswerving support, but also that of a great many others in the diocese,” he added.  John said he was in a long-term relationship with another man but that he has been celibate since the 1990s and would uphold church policy on sexuality. Williams said last month that John’s appointment did not violate Church of England teachings. But his predecessor as archbishop, George Carey, said he would not have approved John’s selection.

“I’m very distressed by the situation. I would have followed the rule book,” he said Sunday. “Jeffrey John is a good man. He’s a fine thinker, but I would not have allowed his name to go forward.  “If someone said to me ‘I had a relationship,’ I would stop the ordination, then I would satisfy myself that the person had repented of his lifestyle,” he added. The Sunday Times newspaper reported Carey as saying he had ordained two gay bishops in the 1990s after they assured him they were celibate. But on Sunday Carey said he had “never knowingly ordained a practicing homosexual. I am a traditionalist and I believe that sex should be restricted to monogamous heterosexual marriages.” Carey was spiritual leader of the world’s 70 million Anglicans from 1991 to 2002.  The issue of homosexuality has recently flared elsewhere in the worldwide Anglican Communion: with the election last month of a gay priest, the Rev Canon Gene Robinson, as bishop in New Hampshire in the United States, and the decision in May by the western Canadian diocese of New Westminster to sanction the blessing of gay relationships. Speaking to reporters outside his Lambeth Palace office, Williams said John’s withdrawal “should not be taken to mean that the Church can now stop being concerned about how it discerns the will of God in this area of ethics.” He said some of the opposition to John’s appointment had been “very unsavory indeed.” “Our official policies and resolutions as Anglicans commit us to listening to the experience of homosexuals and recognising that they are full and welcome members of the Church loved by God,” he said.

THEIR STORY possesses all the ingredients for a romance novel. He met her at school and after overcoming numerous obstacles and a physical disability, tied the knot after a two-year courtship. Now 57 years later, Arthur, 81, and Earthice Richards (who laughingly declined to give her age), are the proud parents of nine children, 29 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Quite an achievement for a couple, especially since they are both blind. Speaking to Newsday from their Purcell Street, San Fernando home, the couple, whose hearing is also not quite the best, reminisced on their life, love and the secret of marriage. Earthice, who lost her sight at age 22, said their marriage was just like any other. “We have our disagreements as any other normal couple,” she said, adding, “we fall out and fall in, but we have learned to understand each other.” With Arthur adding, that in good times and bad, co-operation, compromise and understanding were the best healers for any disagreements. “Try to co-operate, never get vex and always be happy with whatever you have,” he said.

Arthur, who lost his sight at age five, is a former handicraft instructor at Swanson home for Blind Lads and first met Earthice at the St Mary’s home for Blind Young Ladies, Port-of-Spain, while conducting classes in basket and cane-chair weaving. After receiving their parents’ approval, they got married in a simple ceremony in Port-of-Spain and later relocated to San Fernando. But, as the young couple soon realised, living together brought its own particular brand of problems and Earthice’s mom soon moved in, to help with the couple’s first child. “Since then we have always had someone living with us to help around the place,” Arthur said. After Earthice’s mother passed away, the couple’s elder children were drafted in to help raise their younger siblings. It is a task that does not seem to bother the children, all of whom were born without any physical disabilities. “Our children were always helping us and never showed us that they did not love us,” said Arthur, who also reads Braille and plays the guitar. Asked whether another 57 years was in the making for the inseparable love-birds,  Richards answered in the affirmative with Arthur concluding that: “All is in the Creator’s hands.”

Doctors yesterday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex voiced their total dissatisfaction with the Medical Board (Amendment ) Bill 2003. This according to Lakhan Roop, Assistant Secretary of the Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT). The Act proposes to establish a five-member panel, headed by the Chief Medical Officer, to issue “special temporary licences” to foreign doctors. The Act is intended to permit easier registration for Cuban and other foreign doctors, who have been recruited by the Health Ministry to address the shortage of doctors in the country. According to Roop, this shortage of doctors is a result of the government’s failure to provide adequate remuneration for doctors and proper training facilities. For the past 50 years, the Council of the Medical Board had the responsibility of issuing temporary licences. The duration of the licence is based on the type of graduate and their medical school. Licences do not exceed three years. In a statement to Newsday, Roop reiterated that the country has always had a shortage of doctors and  MPATT has never objected  to foreign doctors practising in Trinidad and Tobago. In fact, there have been many foreign doctors in Trinidad particularly from India and Nigeria.

Roop said that the problem with the proposed amendment was that  it might lead to a declining standard of health practice in the country and that the public needs to be protected from a falling standard of health. According to Roop, the Bill was an effort  to “chastise and subvert the Medical Board by  undermining the duties of the Medical Board and the standard set.” He said that one of MPATT’s aims was to try and persuade the Government about the “frivolous” nature of the Bill. Roop stated that MPATT wants  to educate the public of the risk of  lower health standards if the Bill is passed. The Bill was brought to the Senate last month by Attorney General Glenda Morean. Dr Albert Persaud, president of the Medical Board said after the meeting that he hoped those  involved in the passage of the Bill take the concerns of the doctors into consideration. The Minister of Health, Colm Imbert is expected to present the Bill for debate in Senate on Tuesday.

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago Bakers Association says that Government’s recommendation that the price of bread should be reduced by 15 cents per every 10 loaves, is more than the reduction in the price of flour bakers are receiving. Any such reduction, therefore, the Association is arguing, will mean a loss to bakers. In a press release on Saturday, the Association explained that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs sent a recommendation on bread prices to the Bakers’ Association, prior to the public statement the ministry issued. The release, which was signed by the Association’s President Ronald Austin, stated that a survey was carried out between July 3 and 4, and it was confirmed that the prices of hops bread ranged from $4.50 — $6 per 10 loaves, with the latter representing prices in the distant areas. The Association noted that to date, the ministry has neither invited nor contacted them for information on the prices of bread. However, Austin said that the Executive of the Bakers’ Association is willing and available, to meet with the minister to address any matter pertaining to the baking industry.

Listed for debate at tomorrow’s 1.30 pm sitting of the Senate, is the Medical Board Act, which seeks to provide for the establishment of a panel to issue special temporary licences, in cases of shortage of medical personnel in the public health sector. The legislation is being put in place to accommodate Cuban doctors who are expected to begin working here in Trinidad by the end of the month. The Bill is expected to be presented by Minister of Health, Colm Imbert. Local doctors have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Bill. Also listed on the Order Paper are several questions by the Opposition UNC. One of the questions by Opposition Chief Whip, Wade Mark, asks Public Utilities Minister Rennie Dumas, to state the steps/measures taken, if any, to recover the sums of money which were overpaid to the CEO, General Managers and Deputy General Managers of WASA between March 2002 and January 2003.

Mark also wants to know if the Minister intends to take legal action against the Board of Commissioners of WASA for illegally increasing the salaries, allowances and other perks for the managers between the same period. The question was deferred to tomorrow three weeks ago. UNC Senator Sadiq Baksh is asking National Security Minister Howard Chin Lee, to tell the Upper House the number of kidnappings reported in TT on an annual basis between the period 1990 to 2001, as well as the number of kidnappings which occurred on a monthly basis from January 2002 to March 2003.

CARICOM leaders ended their four-day meeting Saturday night and confirmed the establishment of a new body with executive authority to implement their decisions, as they seek to generate the transformation of what is essentially a free trade and functional corporation grouping into a functioning Single Market and Economy. In fact, they appeared to be on the verge of an agreement in principle on the establishment of a Caribbean Commission with executive authority to steer CARICOM into the proposed Single Market and Economy. However, as expected, the leaders announced at a final press conference Saturday night that the official declaration of the group including depth and range of powers would be decided in November when the Heads of Government review the recommendations of a committee led by Dr Ralph Gonsalzes, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines. They expressed that whatever is likely to be in place will require domestic legislation and in some cases constitutional adjustments. They however stressed that CARICOM will remain “A community of sovereign nations, and not a political union.”

The final communiques on the Summit and a Declaration of Montego Bay recommitting leaders’ resolve to create the Caribbean Single Market and Economy by the end of 2005, were issued Saturday night. The 30-year-old grouping had long been haunted by complaints of its failure to implement decisions — a move which some people are viewing the proposed CSME with cynicism. At the closing press conference Saturday night conference chairman Prime Minister Percival J Patterson warned his colleagues that they must take steps to create a mechanism “to make our decisions, declarations and commitments binding on all governments.” The Jamaican Prime Minister emphasised “We cannot continue to talk and fail to implement.” Like Patterson, Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur the man with lead responsibility for the CSME said it was critical that something be done.