I am reminded of my mother who died two years ago at the age of 95. She was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known, although she had the benefit of just two years formal schooling, just enough to learn to read and count.

There was hardly ever any topic she was not versed on and very few things she could not do. It just goes to show, you don’t need a PhD or MBA to be smart.

I would like to think I inherited some of her intelligence.

Several matters have been aired recently which seem to have rather simple remedies that those people with all their book learning seem to miss because they are unable to think simply: 1. The question of racism.

In Trinidad that does not exist.

Every ethnic group has intermarried since the first settlers arrived on these islands and have lived in perfect harmony.

The divide that exists is based on education and behaviour differences. Politicians must stop beating this dead horse.

2. The question of child-flogging. The older generation who grew up being flogged by their parents, and sometimes even by caring neighbours, did not produce the callous murderers and bandits we have today.

Those generations produced respectful, productive, hard-working and loving individuals.

Failure to correct children because those in authority consider flogging cruel breeds criminals who these same people in authority will lock away in a very small room, for quite a long while, without considering that punishment to be cruel. Prevention is always better than cure.

3. The death penalty. Over the past ten years these islands have experienced about 4,000 murders, give or take a few hundred. This should be looked at from a mathematical approach. How many murderers have committed these murders? Four thousand, 400, 100, 50? The lower the number of murderers the higher the number of people each has killed on average. The death penalty, if imposed, would save the lives of many people.

4. Banning of prayers in schools. These are the formative years of our children who mimic what they see and hear. Teach them good and they will imitate good. Some parents choose to send their children to schools where praying before and after classes is practised and then they object to their children being exposed to prayer.

Those who object to prayer are a minority yet their demand becomes law. Why are the parents who want the practice of praying keeping quiet? Stand up for your right and let the children whose parents are against this practice stay outside the class until the prayer is over. Religion does play an important role in the formation of good character.

Note : Ever notice that the Judiciary always starts its year with a religious service at the Trinity Cathedral as well the politicians also begin their year with prayers? So why not in schools? 5. Suspended schoolchildren.

Simply suspend the offending child until such time that one parent comes and spends a day in class alongside the child. I guarantee the child will never misbehave in school again.

R DEANE Diego Martin

But the passage of Brett and then isolated days of heavy rain twice since then have brought early flooding, landslips and tree falls to most neighbourhoods. The heavy rain in north Trinidad last Tuesday saw raging waters closing roads, flooding homes and trapping persons in their cars, workplaces and out by rivers in the Northern Range.

It could be said that the difficulties were generally not the faults of those trapped or inconvenienced.

The causes of flooding are not always the faults of the victims of flooding. But the causes are due to much more than heavy rain or “Acts of God”.

Most flooding incidents which we suffer have been caused or grossly aggravated by acts of man—cutting forests, bulldozing hills, blocking rivers and drains— and usually the people who have caused the problems are not affected by them.

However, for the group of “curry duck limers” on the bank of the Caura River, they need to accept responsibility for the predicament into which they had placed themselves.

Firstly the Meteorological Office had issued heavy rain warnings from the night before, and people should have postponed or cancelled their outing.

But since we refuse to acknowledge that dangers do exist during the rainy season, we do not check the weather or the warnings before we set out. The group set up their cookout across the river from where they had parked their cars.

Notwithstanding the bad weather warnings on radio they obviously were not monitoring the river flow until it was too late. And they were stuck on the far side of the eventually raging stream. There are warning signs of the river beginning to rise, if one knows to look for them. And on a day when warnings have been issued, it is the responsibility of leaders of the group to look out for these signs.

I, with two other hikers, were once lunching at Macajuel Pool on the Madamas River when we noticed the water rising. We were able to collect everything and scramble up a very steep bank to safety just as the torrent arrived. We clung precariously to trees on the steep bank before the flow subsided enough for us to begin trekking back along the river bank. On that day there were no clouds, no signs of rain, nothing until the water began rising. And it was not the Madamas River, but a tributary, the Miguel River which had collected a heavy but localised shower far up on Cerro del Aripo, and brought the torrent down.

We should all remember an incident a few years ago when a group of hikers in the Guanapo River were ill-advised to cross the raging river, holding on to a rope, and two were swept away to their deaths. It was not just a flooded river they were trying to cross; it was a deadly flow of water with huge stones and tree trunks which could break your legs even as you clung to the rope.

The Caura group was wise enough to stay put and suffer on the far side of the river, but they all survived that discomfort.

But while it should be easy to avoid flooded rivers out in the hills, it is not so easy in our built up areas. “Rivers” like the Diego Martin, Maraval and St. Anns (these are now large concrete drains) flowing through deforested valleys, cannot be controlled or restrained within the concrete canals. These rivers will overflow more and more often as the hillsides continue to be stripped, bulldozed and “galvanised”, pouring more and more water into drains which cannot be enlarged.

As the rivers overflow onto roads, there is a danger that cars can be swept away, and yet we see people try to drive through deeply flooded streets. When a vehicle with children is swept into the river and out to sea, maybe we will then start to respect flood waters.

We have a long rainy season ahead. We all need to be aware of the real dangers of flash flooding, and the longer term deep nuisance of rising water due to constant rain. The truth is that we are not prepared to cope with what will come. We have about six weeks before schools reopen, when rains and floods will aggravate the logistics of children’s travel and the concerns of parents who cannot get their children home.

Two imperatives arise: the ongoing clearing and dredging of all rivers and drains, especially at their outfalls; and the publication of a plan—if one exists— which i n s t ruc t s the population on the means of evacuation of population centres and floodprone areas.

“I assure you that as we have our Constituent National Assembly, there is no need for this fear of Venezuelans coming across here in droves. We will be able to have increased democratic participation, empowerment of people and increased economic development,” she said. The Ambassador articulated her concern that in the media, including the local press, “whenever they speak of the CNA, they say that President (Nicolas) Maduro is looking to rewrite the Constitution.” However she stressed this was not the case. Calderon explained, “The CNA process really seeks to entrench the achievements made in the 1999 Constitution. So it is not really just to change the Constitution.” She said because of the economic and social conditions in Venezuela, the Venezuelan people are, “aware of a need to entrench their constitutional guarantees and this has been the action of the people since the time of the revolution.”

MADURO SHIELDING THE RULE OF LAW

She said it was against this background Maduro activated Article 347 of the Venezuelan Constitution.

“He is actively looking to shield and shore up the rule of law in Venezuela and ensure the guarantee of the people because they are under siege,” Calderon said.

Article 347 states, “The original constituent power rests with the people of Venezuela. This power may be exercised by calling a National Constituent Assembly for the purpose of transforming the State, creating a new judicial order and drawing up a new Constitution.” The ambassador added under Article 348 of the Venezuelan Constitution, a CNA can be called either by the president or by the Venezuelan National Assembly.

In the case of the Assembly, twothirds of its members must vote for a CNA. Calderon found it curious why Venezuela’s opposition did not exercise this option, since it has the majority in the Assembly. She claimed the opposition did not do this because, “they are desirous of making this country ungovernable so that President Maduro would be ousted from office.” However Calderon said despite the opposition’s efforts, Venezuelans “turned out in their numbers” for a simulation of the CNA which was conducted by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council. She explained by law, the Council, “is responsible for the election calendar and is also the guarantor of the elections.” Calderon said in last Sunday’s simulation, 55,000 Venezuelans presented themselves as candidates for 537 posts in CNA.

DEMOCRACY BEING STRENGTHENED

She said after July 30, TT can be assured that, “we will be strengthening our democracy.” Calderon said what is being portrayed as a humanitarian crisis is actually a crisis in humanity, fuelled by internal and external forces opposed to Maduro. To underscore this point, she showed Sunday Newsday a copy of a bill which was laid in the US Senate on May 3 and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

That bill called for the provision of, “humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people, to defend the democratic governance and combat widespread public corruption in Venezuela, and for other purposes.” One of the people who introduced this bill was Republican Senator John McCain who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.

Notwithstanding those efforts, Calderon is confident peace will be restored in Venezuela once the CNA is held. “We see what is going on as a ten-day wonder.” Saying the new constitution which will emerge will “shore up our economic and social development,” Calderon said TT citizens do not have to fear a flood of Venezuelans coming to this country to seek refuge. “Venezuela will be a net country receiving immigrants as opposed to a country that people are leaving. Even in the situation right now, which is not the best, we keep receiving Colombians for instance.” Calderon said in recent times some six million Colombian immigrants have gone to Venezuela which “has always had a policy of receiving immigrants with open arms.” Saying Spanish and Italian nationals have migrated to Venezuela, Calderon added, “We have some Trinidadians living in Venezuela, for many years, who are very happy, who have become part of our people.” However she did not indicate how many TT nationals reside in Venezuela.

Calderon said she is heartened by the position taken by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his administration on attempts to undermine Maduro’s administration.

Upon his return from a State visit to Chile in June, Rowley called for the removal of Luis Almagro as secretary general of the Organisation of American States over his engagement of Maduro in a “derogatory” manner. Noting the longstanding diplomatic ties between TT and Venezuela, Calderon recalled the 500,000 barrels of crude oil sent to Venezuela in 2002 by then prime minister Patrick Manning (now deceased) to the then Hugo Chavez administration in the midst of coup in the South American nation.

VENEZUELA OWES TT

Calderon said Chavez (also deceased) said that gesture by Manning meant that Venezuela owed the people of TT, “500 years of loyalty and love.” She said, “Trinidadians and Tobagonians are brothers and sisters and not partners” and praised Caricom for its support for Venezuela and the stance of non-intervention which the regional body has adopted. Calderon is also grateful for the support Venezuela has received from the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM). In a statement on Friday, JTUM expressed its support for the CNA and denounced” any further attempt to disband it.

Calderon condemned statements made by United States President Donald Trump in support of a plebiscite held by the opposition which rejected Maduro’s call to hold a CNA. She said this plebiscite is illegitimate as it was not authorised by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council. In a statement dated July 17, Trump vowed the US “will take strong and swift economic sanctions” if the CNA takes place on July 30.

According to Calderon, Trump is a victim of the Venezuelan opposition which is trying to create a situation which would cause foreign intervention in Venezuela.

Last week, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Moncada observed, “The trench that the government of the United States is digging in its relations with Venezuela makes it difficult to rationally predict its actions for the entire national community.” Describing the US as an empire which is in decline, Calderon said Trump’s statement was reflective of the double standards which the US takes in telling other countries how to solve their problems but is blind to problems within its own borders.

The Ambassador said dialogue was the only way to resolve the problems facing Venezuela today and this is something that Maduro has been calling tirelessly for.

Apart from Caricom, Calderon noted that support for Maduro’s call has come from Pope Francis, China and Russia. A BBC report Friday said millions of Venezuelans joined a general strike called by the opposition as pressure mounts on Maduro to cancel elections for the CNA.

The BBC reported clashes between police and protesters killed at least three people. More than 300 others were reportedly arrested.

Colombia, France, Spain, the US and the European Union have urged the Venezuelan government to cancel the vote for a new CNA.

Gorkin spoke to his child during the funeral service at the Tranquillity Methodist Church on Tragarete Road in Port of Spain. Gorkin said while the event has left him deeply traumatised, he is convinced God knows best. “I want to let everyone know that I love my son. I listened to people who lost their sons and felt their pain. But I never thought this pain would be mine to experience. Please! Please forgive me Messi,” Gorkin said. “Messi, I carried you to the beach. I carried you and did not bring you back,” Gorkin added.

Gorkin said that on Thursday night he was unsure if he would have the strength to attend his son’s funeral yesterday, as he began to experience chest pains and dizziness. But through the strength and support of his family and friends, Gorkin said, he was able to attend Messi’s funeral and give him a final send off.

“I spoke to God last night because I was suffering with some high blood pressure. I was feeling really sick and I felt I would have to call the ambulance. But I’m here right now by the grace of God. I don’t want to fly in God’s face because He knows best…

but I’m really hurting right now,” Gorkin said.

Officiating minister, Acting Reverend Peter Lubsey said that he too was deeply saddened by Messi’s passing and assured mourners that the toddler was in a better place. “I doubt what I have to say this morning will offer you any instant peace. After a while, the pain eases but there will always be grief.

“There is an unnaturalness when parents have to bury their children. We might ask, ‘why only three years?’ but I want you to know that God created Messi for an eternity. He belongs to God,” Lubsey said.

Messi’s mother Patricia Gibbs was beyond consolation at the end of the service, as pall bearers wheeled her son’s tiny casket onto the Church foyer for a brief viewing.

Gibbs was not ready to say her final goodbyes just yet as she stretched her arms out to stroke his little face. Moments later, relatives had to hold her to prevent her from falling.

“Messi get up and talk to me,” she screamed. “Get up! Allyuh don’t hold me back, I want to hold my child.” Messi and his relatives were on a family lime at the Boardwalk in Chaguaramas last Sunday when tragedy struck.

Messi’s father was speaking to someone on the boardwalk with Messi at his side.

When he turned around, Gorkin realised his son was nowhere to be seen and a frantic search was carried out for the child. A missing person report was made to the Carenage Police Station that night and hour later on Monday morning, Messi’s body was found floating in the sea at Pier 1. An autopsy later confirmed he died by drowning. The little boy was later laid to rest at the Lapeyrouse cemetery.

Responding to claims that the State is moving to initiate disciplinary action against him, Jeremie told Newsday, “I welcome an opportunity to deal with any matter of this sort in any forum.” He said it would be an entirely novel but fulfilling experience to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Association, which would hear any complaint filed by the State.

A report in yesterday’s Express newspaper quoted an unnamed source who said Jeremie had a conflict of interest and a complaint could be made against him under the Legal Profession Act, as he would have been privy to all Government information with respect to the intervention into CL Financial. The newspaper report also quoted the unnamed source who pointed out that Jeremie, as attorney general in the Patrick Manning administration, would have instructed that legal action be commenced against CL Financial chairman Lawrence Duprey on behalf of the State.

It is not clear what legal action was initiated against Duprey by the PNM administration of which Jeremie was attorney general from 2003 to 2007, and again in May 2009 to September 2010. Following the PNM’s loss at the September 2010 polls to the People’s Partnership, a commission of inquiry into the collapse of the CLF subsidiary Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) was initiated by then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

COWARDLY ATTACK’

For his part, former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, who also appears with Jeremie for the CLF shareholders, said their legal team will not be intimated.

Maharaj, in a statement on the claims of a conflict of interest by Jeremie, said he carefully studied the conflict of interest principles which are ‘abundantly clear.’ “They (the principles) suggest that Mr Jeremie has not only the right to represent his clients but his clients have the constitutional right to representation of their choice.

Mr Jeremie is a critical element of the team,” Maharaj emphasised. He accused Government of mounting ‘a desperate and cowardly attack’ on the integrity of a Senior Counsel while ‘hiding behind the title of the anonymous source.’ “An analysis of the proceedings thus far reveals his importance to the team. We shall not be intimidated by yet another of what can only be described to be ham-fisted efforts which were not pursed in court to defeat the claims of our clients and we shall continue to vigorously defend the interests of our respective clients in this matter.

“This is an attack on the independence and fearlessness of attorneys- at-law to defend their clients in the interests of justice. It is also an attack on the rule of law and the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,” Maharaj said.

The projection is contained in the bank’s Monetary Policy Report for May 2017, released yesterday, in which it says that much of the prospect for growth depends on three natural gas projects, namely the Trinidad Onshore Compression project, the Sercan field and bpTT’s Juniper project which is likely to start production in the third quarter of 2017.

The report says that the additions to natural gas production will be welcomed by the downstream LNG and petrochemical industries which will benefit from more reliable gas supplies for their operations.

Gas-dependent plants on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate have lost millions over the last two years due to the shortage of natural gas.

The report states that inflation is likely to remain controlled because of the slow pace of the domestic economy — although flooding in some agricultural areas could exert mild pressures on headline inflation as a result of damage to fruit and vegetable production and consequent price increases.

It adds that liquidity in the financial system will remain adequate, but credit growth is likely to be muted in the face of soft business and consumer demand.

According to the report, the foreign exchange market continued to face pressures as the fall in export earnings as a result of the terms of trade shock was not matched by a fall in demand for foreign exchange.

The local foreign exchange market saw a decline in purchases of foreign exchange by authorised dealers from the public (non-Central Bank purchases) by 25.8 percent over the first five months of 2017, as energy sector conversions fell by 30.2 percent compared with the same period one year earlier.

Likewise, authorised dealers’ sales of foreign exchange were lower by 6.9 percent over the period January-May 2017.

The Central Bank reported that it continued to support the market with bi-weekly sales of foreign exchange to authorised foreign exchange dealers; in the first five months of 2017 the bank sold US$810.0 million to authorised dealers, an increase of 41.6 percent from the comparable period of 2016.

According to the report, the weighted average selling rate of the TT dollar was US$1 = TT$6.7802 in May 2017, remaining unchanged from December 2016.

“These include the extent and nature of compliance with the use of body worn cameras, the quality of hotspot patrols, the use of force by police officers whilst out on duty. Firearm discharge by police officers, injuries caused to police officers during police civilian interactions, injuries caused to civilians during police civilian interactions. Complaints against police officers, the issues around police legitimacy within the realm of society,” he said.

Sixty cameras were provided to the TTPS by TSTT for free, for the initiative. Williams said TT will become the first country in the world to commission a national level study on the use of body cameras by police. He said there were many studies commissioned globally on these cameras but there was none commissioned across an entire country.

He said previous studies have shown the use of body cameras have impacts that relate to police behaviour, police use of force, citizen behaviour and other issues, however those findings were generated from studies in the United States and other western countries.

“We now have an opportunity to find out how effective is the use of body cameras in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

Williams addressed the issue of police officers turning the cameras on and off saying they are trying to allow their experiment to run with the cameras being on all the time with the exception of an officer going to the restroom.

“While an officer is out on duty we would love to have all events captured,” he said.

TSTT Chief Executive Officer Ronald Walcott described the initiative as ground breaking. He said the programme will enhance the relationship police have with the public and will aid in building the public confidence needed to effect good policing. He said they partnered with Motorola to provide the TTPS with the Motorola Digital Evidence Management Solution.

He said footage from these cameras cannot be modified by anyone as it is encrypted and once images are captured it will be sent straight to the command centre. “The command centre has a vault with several layers of security which restricts access to most people so the footage is encrypted and access to the video is highly secure,” Walcott said.

“If we are to effectively compete with countries who have already begun adopting the Fourth Industrial Revolution and those aiming to do so, we will undoubtedly require new innovation strategies so that our manufactured goods are world-class and competitive, using cutting-edge technology.”

Gopee-Scoon told the audience, the Government began setting a framework to promote and foster the use of innovation and technology as articulated in the National Development Strategy, more commonly known as Vision 2030; and several policies, plans and strategies that will ensure that innovation is embedded in TT’s economic development.

She added that “the Government’s National Innovation Policy is in its final deliberations for approval.

This will set the policy framework and environment that will position Trinidad and Tobago among the leading knowledge and skills-based countries in this hemisphere.

“The implementation of this Policy will commence soonest and will promote the development of a well-educated, adaptable and technologically capable population with a strong scientific orientation, so that they can apply research, science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurial skills for economic growth”.

Gopee-Scoon indicated that, “part of creating an innovation driven economy is creating the necessary spaces in which businesses can leverage their intellectual property and utilize their innovative business solutions while contributing to economic growth and diversification.

The Tamana InTech Park has been designed specifically for technology and innovation driven enterprises and a key part of our country’s diversification thrust”.

Newsday spoke with Griffith yesterday, who said he was optimistic that a recent meeting between Rowley and Persad-Bissessar would yield long-term results for national security but stressed that the success of any initiative would hinge on both parties putting aside their differences and uniting for the common good.

“I do believe both of them have the country at heart, unfortunately, sometimes they have lieutenants that will only be thinking about politics.It is hoped that in that meeting they forget about politics and just do what is right for the country.

The Prime Minister has serious concerns that he needs the support of the opposition to push certain bills to reduce crime. There should be no reason why the Opposition Leader should disregard those things because those are the same things that we had when we were in government and it helped us in reducing crime drastically.” Griffith added that the Opposition leader should also make every effort in cooperating with the Prime Minister in the policy- making process, citing a drasatic decrease in violent crime during his tenure as National Security Minister, he said that the Opposition leader had a lot to offer the Prime Minister, by way of implementing crime plans.

“On the other hand, the Opposition leader has shown there were dozens of policies that she implemented as prime minister that played a part towards the year 2014 having the lowest number of serious crimes in 31 years. Every crime was reduced from 23 per cent-35 per cent it was the highest visibility of law enforcement ever seen in the country.” Griffith said that unless both parties are able to find common ground, the meeting would have been an effort in futility.

In an interview with Newsday yesterday, Daly says there were several legal authorities on the “open court principle” which dictates that the law belonged to the people and access to the legal system was a basic right and a public good.

“The open court principle is a key component to the rule of law,” Daly emphasised.

The open court principle, in practice, means that court proceedings, including evidence and documents disclosed, should be open to public scrutiny and was important for informing and educating the public while enhancing accountability and deterring misconduct.

Daly noted the court action filed by Ayers-Caesar on Wednesday last was a public law matter and “closed justice” should only be allowed in extreme circumstances.

According to Daly, what was disturbing was if there was to a be a monetary settlement between the parties, who would pay? “You can’t keep it secret and settle with public funds. It is not a private libel case,” he said. Newsday understands that attorneys for Ayers-Caesar have requested of the Registrar of the Supreme Court the procedure for the sealing of a case filed and on whose instructions was this done in the application filed by the former Chief Magistrate.

Ayers-Caesar has filed a judicial review application seeking to have the courts review the decision of the JLSC and the President to revoke her appointment as a High Court judge two weeks after she was appointed on April 13.

However, all the documents in the case – which has been assigned to Justice David Harris and has been given a case number CV 2017-02628 – have been sealed although it is not clear who ordered this.

It was also revealed that if discussions on a possible settlement – which is ongoing between the parties – fail, moves will be made to have the hearing of the application be done in private.

No date has been set for a first hearing.

Sources have said Ayers-Caesar’s lawsuit had three affidavits attached – one from Ayers-Caesar, her husband and friend Magistrate Cheron Raphael. Ayers-Caesar’s husband and Raphael were present at her swearing-in ceremony at the Office of the President in April.

A pre-action protocol letter dated June 16, 2017, points to certain pieces of evidence on which the former Chief Magistrate’s case will be hinged – among them private email exchanges between the Chief Justice and the Chief Magistrate.

Ayers-Caesar is asking for a review of the JLSC’s decision to seek her resignation by means of “unlawful pressure.” She said she was pressured to resign by Archie and had she failed to do so, she was told he would recommend that her appointment be revoked.

Ayers-Caesar is represented by Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj.