Police sources said that Padarath held a three-night Ramayan (Hindu prayers) at which he invited Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, family and friends to attend and pray with him. Newsday understands that for the three nights of the prayers, a policeman was hired on extra duty to provide security.

However, at 11.30 pm, 15 minutes after the policeman left when his allotted extra duty time had elapsed, a gunman entered the house and announced a hold-up. At the time of the robbery, Persad-Bissessar had already left.

Padarath and about 20 others, who at the time were deep in prayer, were relieved of personal valuables including cash, cellular phones and jewelry. When the bandit ran off, a report was made to the Couva Police Station.

The robbery put an end to the prayer service. Up to press time, no arrest was made and investigations are continuing.

In a statement, the UNC cited comments by Rowley at a news conference at Tower D of the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront Centre on July 18, following a meeting with Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the same venue.

Rowley indicated that following consultations between Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the AG came to him with a proposal from DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, to legislate amendments to the Summary Courts Act and Preliminary Inquiries Act, “so the problem that now exists of people not being able to have their matters heard could be dealt with.” This related to 53 cases currently in limbo as as result of the imbroligio arising from the appointment of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers Caesar as a High Court judge and her subsequent resignation from that post.

Persad-Bissessar said the Opposition would not support this move but wanted Section 137 of the Constitution, which involves the removal of a judge from office and appointment of a tribunal as part of the process, to be activated.

Rowley said he and Persad-Bissessar reached no agreement on this issue. However Rowley agreed with him that Government and the Opposition have further discussions about the process whereby judges are appointed to the High Court, “with a view to modernising the process.” Rowley maintained that the matter is on “in the Judiciary” and Government will have to be advised on the options available to it.

The UNC claimed that shortly after Rowley’s statements, s Al-Rawi said his intention is to proceed with legislative intervention.

The UNC alleged Al-Rawi said the necessary amendments to the Summary Courts Act and the Preliminary Inquiries Act do not require a special majority. The Parliament is currently on recess There has been no move to date by Government to reconvene Parliament during the recess to deal with any urgent matter

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh announced the initative during the opening of a camp hosted by the Diabetes Association at the Preysal Secondary School on Saturday. He said the plan included a total reduction in the sale of sweetened drinks-soft drink and juices- to children and replace them with healthy options.

Deyalsingh said only 100 per cent fruit juices, water and other drinks which had been cleared by the ministries of Health and Education, will be available to students from the new term. “It is also going to include what we provide with the free lunches and breakfast. We are working with the Education Ministry and School Feeding Programme to redo the meals that are served,” he said, adding the sale of energy drinks at schools would also be banned. In a telephone interview yesterday, Ramatali said the organisation “fully endorsed” the Minister’s statements as too many children throughout the country had exhibited symptoms associated with Non-Communicable Diseases such as diabetes.

And for its leaders, Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez and Carib Queen Jennifer Cassar, the one-off holiday granted to the community on October 13 signals a renaissance for a group almost forgotten.

Its significance is so meaningful to the group, that preparations for the holiday have already begun, with an almost concluded calendar of events. The calendar includes educational/learning opportunities, DNA testing, the unveiling of a totem pole and the sod turning for the first building at the First Peoples Heritage Village.

Bharath Hernandez said to Newsday, at a visit to the community’s office at Paul Mitchell Street, Arima: “What we are doing is going out to the communities, meeting with the people and getting them involved.” He said there were currently 900 First Peoples in TT with 200 of those being members of his community.

The group is also expected to host a ceremony at the Red House, where skeletal remains and artefacts belonging to First Peoples were found, and host a procession up Frederick Street and then to a day of activities at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

He said nine countries are expected to attend this year’s celebrations, including the US and Canada. Seven regional partners would attend this year’s celebrations as well.

But the global connections with other First Peoples have always existed, he said. “In terms of the global partnership, that has been taking place for quite a few years.

For quite a number of years, we have been interacting with the region because there is an organisation called the Caribbean Organisation of Indigenous Peoples and its members include Guyana, Suriname, Dominica, St Vincent, Puerto Rico and TT.” TT is currently the chair of the organisation. “During this week of activities we will take the opportunity to discuss what is happening in the region as each country will have an opportunity to report on the development of the first peoples in their respective country…” Bharath Hernandez said what appears to be a renewed interest in First Peoples culture began since the 1970s.

“From the 1970s there seems to be a reawakening of indigenous people at that time…it happened here in Trinidad and at the time it was happening we were not aware of what was happening globally. I like to term that an inspiration from above…” “I think one of the reasons for that besides the divine intervention…the dominance of First Peoples and other ethnicities, the colonial power was that seemed to be so heavy on other countries seems to be lifting away. And that could come through education and the modern technology that we have.” He said as people became more educated, they became more empowered and what was happening today was a result of that empowerment and education.

However, he believed that the new interest in First Peoples culture today could little impact TT .

He said the society was steeped in the direction of the economy and money and doing “all things for this mighty dollar and advancing through that.” This, he said, was a vast difference to the way of life of First Peoples.

He said even among the indigenous communities, the way of life was changing because of what people expected.

“What people expect for advancement, that power is also reaching into indigenous communities and they want to follow the same pattern. Most people want cellphones and other things and that is making its way into indigenous communities…” Bharath Hernandez said it was important to preserve the traditional ways since it provided a certain peace of mind and impacted positively on health.

While Bharath Hernandez and the other older indigenous peoples’ fight to preserve their culture, getting youth involved posed some difficulty. “It is a challenge but we cannot give up.

We have to continue to engage the youth through education.

Through educating them on the different aspects of indigenous life and the benefits to humanity…” He said there were many youths in the community but not many were involved in the organisation. The organisation needed to do more to reach out to them, he said.

This, Bharath Hernandez said, was the reason for requesting the national holiday. “The whole reason for the holiday was so the whole country could stop and reflect on the reason for the holiday.

We don’t expect everyone will be involved in the activities some people are happy for the holiday not to go to work… but that some would stop and say we have a holiday. Why? Because of the First Peoples, their contributions of the past, their present situation and their vision for the future. We do have a vision for the future that would help the country as a whole.” The holiday provides an opportunity for all those interested in wanting to know more and learn more to attend one of the events, he said.

“These threats arise from a combination of factors, not least of which is our predilection as citizens to be authors of our own misery,” Robins on-Re g i s stated. She asked, “ How else does one explain a bonfire being set on a beach that is known to be a nesting site for our leatherback turtles that results, based on reports, in about 80 hatchlings literally being roasted alive? How else do we explain the tonnes of garbage illegally disposed along river banks and in watercourses that contributed in no small way to the flooding experienced in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Bret? The members of the newly inducted IMA Board are Paul Gabbadon, Andrea Julien, Hayden Alexander (chairman), Nadia Jardine, Dave Elliot and Beverly Khan.

Members of the Green Fund Advisory Committee also received their instruments of appointment at the same ceremony. This committee is chaired by former Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams.

Other members of the committee include, “Clarence Bacchus, Anthony Ramnarine, Tricia Ford and Rennie Gosine.

The robbery occurred at about 11.40 am when the bandits held up the owners of Jemtel Jewellers located inside RRM Plaza off High Street. Matthew Pierre, 40, of Safe and Secure Security Services Ltd, was on patrol inside the plaza when he was alerted by a commotion and on checking, saw the bandits fleeing from the jewelry store. As he tried to grab a bag from one of the bandits, a shot rang out.

The gunmen retrieved the bag containing an undisclosed amount of jewelry, which fell to the floor before running out of the plaza.

They crossed the street and ran through the Carlton Centre towards St James Street where they were last seen.

Closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage, captured by cameras mounted at the entrance to RRM plaza has since been handed over to police.

It showed security guard Pierre chasing after one bandit while the other two were running behind the guard. The bandit behind Pierre was seen pointing a gun at the guard’s back. Moments later, Pierre was seen hopping back into the plaza.

The robbery drama attracted a large crowd of people who stood and watched as Pierre, grimacing in pain, was taken on a stretcher to an ambulance which took him to the San Fernando General Hospital where he was treated and is warded in stable condition.

Police sources later confirmed getting fingerprints from the crime scene which they hope can lead to the identities of the bandits and arrests.

Detective Inspector Don Gajadhar is leading investigations.

Speaking yesterday at the Port of Spain Ferry Terminal, trucker John Dickenson said he was excited about the new vessel and “ready to go home.” Dickenson added that he had been waiting almost two weeks to get back to Tobago and was holding on to the hope that the Star outperforms the MV Super Fast Galicia.

“They say it can hold more than the Galicia so we hope it fixes the situation. Things are getting worse so I really hope this is the solution to the problem and that this vessel can bridge the gap between the islands,” Dickenson said. Asked how things were going yesterday at the terminal, Dickenson said that everything was “running good” and there weren’t any setbacks.

Newsday understands that there was no sailing for the truckers over the weekend and there was a backlog of trucks waiting to be transported to the sister isle. The Cabo Star will serve as a temporary relief to the sea-bridge for a chartered one year at a daily cost of approximately $157,500.

The vessel was expected to depart Port-of-Spain at 2 pm with some 100 vehicles and passengers. The Star can reportedly hold 120 passengers and has space for 130 vehicles.

“I do not think that in its current form, the potential cost to food producers is going to be exorbitant or something that drives up food prices. But I think that when we get beyond land and we start dealing with structures, the Commissioner of Valuations and Government would have to define what happens, given different scenarios,” Rambharat said.

“Let us say the Commissioner of Valuations determined that a one acre parcel of land has a value of $100,000.

“The first step would be to calculate the annual rental value and that would be two percent of the $100,000 (which) works out to $2,000. The next step, which a lot of people missed, was that the Property Tax will be one percent of that $2,000. So if you have a vacant parcel of land that the Commissioner determines that the value for agricultural purposes if $100,000 per acre, you will pay $20 a year in tax for it.”

Shortly after 1 pm, pall-bearers brought Matthew’s casket to the top of the stage facing the stands.

One of Matthews’ relatives explained that it was one of his wishes that they try to create a festive atmosphere as a tribute to his life as an entertainer.

Javi Monsegue, Matthews’ long-time friend and business partner delivered an emotional address in which he recalled Matthews’ journey from a makeshift stage at his home in Santa Rosa Heights to the international stage.

Monsegue said that he was deeply shaken by his friend’s passing.

“He was my brother, my boy and my partner.

As strange or morbid as it might sound, Devon and I would at length talk about each other’s funerals and what arrangements we should make in the event one passed before the other.

“Devon would always tell me, ‘don’t dress like you’re coming to a funeral, dress like you’re coming to fete and have a good time.’ He wanted performances from his friends and he also wanted us to sell tickets. He didn’t want us to mourn his death. He wanted us to celebrate his life. Devon if you can hear me…you have packed the Velodrome.” Matthews’ colleagues and mentors Jason Williams and Ancil ‘Blaze’ Isaac Jr echoed Monsegue’s sentiments and said Matthews’ passing was a tremendous loss to the entertainment community.

Matthews’ idol, soca superstar Machel Montano, during his address, said he was deeply saddened by his passing.

“The last time I saw Devon was at the video shoot for ‘Buss Head’ with Bunji Garlin.

He was always very supportive of me and I knew I could always expect a call from him around Carnival time telling me how much he loved my new tracks.

In those last days, I remember telling him how proud I was that he had found his own way…

not Machel Montano’s way, but his own.

I was always thoroughly impressed with his work and I’m sad to see him gone.” Matthews’ body was later taken to Allen’s Funeral home in Arima for private cremation.

Matthews died of a heart attack after a performance at St Mary’s College grounds, two Sundays ago. His last track, ‘I’m Free’ was released posthumously.

GROWING up as a child, I would often hear my grandparents (may they rest in peace) say “common sense make before book sense” and because of the constant repetition, this saying has resonated in my head up today as it is extremely relevant to life.

Unfortunately, based on many of the incidents that I have witnessed and continue to observe on a daily basis, I am forced to ask if common sense still exists? Common sense is free and should be acquired by every human being on this earth as it remains critical to success.

It requires us to be alert about our surroundings, knowing what and why things are happening around us, learning from those happenings and identifying strategies to treat with same in the event you are impacted.

Many senseless incidents could have been avoided if only a couple ounces of common sense had been applied. It is unfortunate for some to think that because they are degreed they don’t need anything else in their toolkit for survival but they are indeed wrong.

Though I am degreed, the greater part of my success particularly in relation to basic co-existence is sheer common sense.

Keen observation of those around you, their body language, how they respond to your communication towards them, whether or not they make eye contact when communicating, all of these help in making decisions as well as boost your wisdom.

Essentially it is the know-how of life. The who, what, why, when and where of life. Books provide us with technical competence and knowledge but not the basics.

Common sense is also linked to our environment as it contributes to shaping who we are.

Also in some aspects, it relates to the principles of integrity as sound decisions must be based on all facts and evidence applicable to each situation, something for which only common sense may be required.

Therein lies the challenge of those looking in from the outside in understanding why a particular decision was made. Common sense traverses the many facets of life including business, politics, relationships, entrepreneurship and the list is endless, one just needs to be keenly observant throughout every moment.

Because of the current volatility and competition faced by entrepreneurs and business owners, they have no choice but to exercise more prudence and wisdom in their decision-making as it hinges on sustainability and profitability.

Those in management and supervisory positions must at all times be vigilant and be able to think quickly on their feet as well as out-of-thebox, all of that requires common sense. Like water, common sense is required for our daily survival, as it has a tremendous impact on all segments of our lives and by extension the entire society.

Sandrine Rattan is a communications/ branding consultant, author and president of the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) Contact: thecorporatesuitett@ gmail.com or intlwomensresourcenetwork@ gmail.com or 283-0318.