Quacy Bowen, 31, stood before Senior Magistrate Nanette-Forde in the Fourth Court charged with the kidnapping Zhang last week Thursday plus a host of other offences including possession of a firearm and ammunition. After the charges were read out and the accused was told he was not being called on to enter a plea since the charges are all indictable, the court prosecutor petitioned Magistrate Forde-John to refuse bail as Bowen was charged for committing the kidnap while out on bail for other unrelated charges. The firearm, a magazine and 16 rounds of .9 mm ammunition were presented to the court yesterday as evidence by Corporals George, Fenton and Best of the Anti Kidnapping Unit. Bowen who was not represented by an attorney, requested the court to provide one for him immediately so that he (the attorney) could argue on why Bowen should be granted bail.

“Your worship, I don’t have any funds for an attorney and if I apply through Legal Aid I will have to wait too long. Me being in prison without an attorney will mean the matter will be delayed even further.

I am asking as it is for one to be provided for me now,” Bowen said.

However, Magistrate Forde-John said he would have to apply to the Legal Aid Authority for an attorney or source a lawyer privately.

Zhang was snatched while walking along Hayde Street in Woodbrook last week Thursday. A ransom of $20,000 was demanded but not paid as he was rescued four hours after being snatched. Bowen was remanded into custody and ordered to return to court today.

Last week, driving along a main road in slow moving traffic in a Port of Spain suburb, I suddenly felt a heavy impact on the left side of my car. An SUV had pulled out from a side street and collided with us. Only five minutes earlier I had moved my nonagenarian mother from her customary back seat on the left to sit behind the driver’s seat.

The damage to my car is extensive — both doors wrecked, the frame of the back door connecting to the wheel frame and roof is irredeemably buckled, the front door frame had shoved the front bumper out of alignment, and the back tyre is rubbing on the partly collapsed wheel arch.

The humbug from that second of inattention by the other driver is inestimable.

Having comprehensive insurance turns out to mean very little.

The claims clerk explained to me that since my car is no longer new, even with only 13km on the clock and in perfect condition, I would have to pay depreciation on the cost of repairing the damage since the parts to be fitted “would be newer than the rest of the car.” If I chose to go to a body “straightener” who would access “used parts” then there would be no depreciation payable.

If I went to VW, as I want to because other repairs are needed, then I would have to pay. And the explanation for this bizarre logic is that I have no “new for old” on my policy, something in car insurance that I had never heard of until that moment.

A couple of calls around and I soon learned that nobody has used VW parts lying around and they, like the not-to-be-favoured VW Body Shop, will need several weeks to get them in.

Considering the cost of repair and the near new condition of my car, the deprecation charge is going to be $3,300.

In addition, I apparently don’t have “loss of use” on my policy so that I will be car-less during the two-week repair, and insurers don’t claim from one another for that.

So, here I am, totally blameless, and now facing financial hardship, which I thought I had paid to avoid. With an elderly person needing frequent medical visits, what am I to do? I asked several people who have new, comprehensively insured cars what they thought they are covered for. Not one knew about the “new for old” or the “loss of use.” We have misplaced confidence that we are fully covered.

There has to be something fundamentally wrong when so many intelligent and experienced drivers are misguided. Simply, it is that insurance companies are guilty of mis-selling.

Each year when we go to pay our premiums it should be every company’s duty to ensure their clerks, rather than acting as mere money collectors, make customers aware of changes to insurance cover and advised on the appropriate level of insurance.

If companies notify clients in its renewal notices then it is not evident enough to draw our attention.

We must suspect intentional obfuscation. Insurance companies are unpopular because they want to pay out the least while customers want maximum redress. They are impenetrable because they flood their communications and policy documents with legalese. And, they seem untrustworthy because we can rarely rely on them in times of need. With the group I am insured with doubling after-tax profits last year they can afford to do better and government watchd o g s s h o u l d demand b e t t e r p e r f o rm a n c e from the i n s u r – ance sector.

The most important area of agreement was on the matter of campaign finance reform. By the Opposition Leader’s account, the Prime Minister accepted her view that all past documents on this matter should go to the Law Reform Commission (LRC).

It is essential that both political parties commit to reform in this area. That commitment must be more than just pushing paper around. The objective must go beyond the mere tabling of a bill. It must involve the passing of legislation and implementation.

Having established that both parties are at the table on this issue, it is for the Cabinet and the Ministry of the Attorney General to go full speed ahead on this matter. The population will not tolerate a repeat of the procurement reform legislation which took years to pass.

We need legislation that reforms how election campaigns are run; that tells us who is financing what political party. Procurement reform is one thing; the other side of the coin is campaign finance regulation.

When we know who is paying the piper we can be more vigilant with how contracts are being awarded and whether procurement rules are being breached.

Another area of agreement was on the matter of crime. Going into the meeting PNM officials had said the agenda would be limited to areas where a special majority is needed – and therefore Opposition support – in Parliament. However, Rowley in the end entertained the issue being raised by Persad-Bissessar.

The Prime Minister said Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi will provide the Opposition with new legislative proposals about how to appoint a Commissioner of Police, while he will provide Persad-Bissessar with a report on what Government has been doing non-legislatively on crime, by the end of this month.

Unsurprisingly, there were areas of disagreement.

The biggest chasm involved the Government’s proposal to heed the recommendation of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Judiciary and the Ministry of the Attorney General in relation to the status of 53 cases left in limbo due to the Marcia Ayers-Caesar affair.

The Opposition Leader rejected outright the Government’s plan to pass legislation to salvage the 53 cases, citing the risk of legislative interference in the Judiciary. Quite bizarrely she, in the same breath, called for a Section 137 tribunal which would effectively mark the commencement of proceedings to remove a sitting Chief Justice. It is the latter option that would represent interference in the affairs of the Judiciary.

The Government has a responsibility to heed the recommendation of the independent office of the DPP and the Judiciary on this issue and cannot allow the Opposition to force it into error. It must legislate amendments to the Summary Courts Act and Preliminary Inquiries Act with or without UNC support.

Furthermore, it must heed the advice of legal experts on the question of Section 137, among them Reginald Armour SC – the attorney with the most experience on this matter nationally. Armour has found no basis to suggest impeachment might be made out.

Another big disagreement was in relation to the Integrity Commission, with Persad-Bissessar insisting the State can “build up” this faltering body. Clearly, there is need for the Government to go back to the table and to talk with the Opposition again. We are pleased, however, that the door remains open for them to do so.

It’s the handiwork of the zoo’s Recycling Project which has been in operation for the past few months. The project is a collaboration with the Flying Tree Environmental Management group and the Manatee Conservation Trust.

Sharleen Khan, the zoo’s Zoological Officer, told Newsday that $80,000 was spent on recycling machinery to get the project going.

“Right now, we’re just recycling all the plastic, aluminium and styrofoam from the zoo’s waste. In future, we plan on expanding. We’re trying to make the zoo greener.” Khan also said that the items are used to make tiles, bowls and pots. “We have a floor as well that is made from 200,000 plastic bottles,” said Khan, “We don’t just want to recycle plastic into another bottle to be thrown away, but we use these recycled materials to make something useful.” The zoo also uses animal waste and turns it into manure, recycles water as well as using solar panels to light the zoo’s pathways and car park.

Khan credits the director of the Flying Tree Environmental Management, Juan Andrade, with aiding the zoo in the project, with which patrons are “impressed” and “fascinated” by. The project also comes with an educational aspect, as an information board is established next to the recycling machinery.

The project is aimed at waste reduction and environmental protection, which subsequently protects the animals as less waste is filtered into animal territory.

Speaking with reporters at a business seminar hosted by the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute at the Centre for Enterprise Development, Innovation Avenue, Freeport, she said focus had to be placed on the exploration of new markets for local products at a time of fluctuating energy prices “The focus has to be on our products for export, products for import substitution as well, this is part of the transformation of the economy.

“By 2020, exporTT is to ramp up our export levels by 100 per cent so hence the reasons we are looking at new markets – Cuba, Venezuela, Chile. There are a lot of big companies doing it but you have to look at your smaller and medium enterprises in terms of marketing our export services and the push will come from, government, I can guarantee you,” she said.

“The Ministry of Trade and Industry will be making those recommendations, the final decision will belong to the government recommended by the Minister of Finance.” She said government would strive to ensure local manufacturers produced “competitive products” which were “world class and meet a high standard of excellence.” “We really want to diversify and the manufacturing sector is that potential sector, however what we will require is increasing our volumes and our productivity levels, and it means that we have to ramp up our production levels. We have to apply improved technologies and robotics so that our output is improved, our quality is improved as well. Quality is going to take us forward.” Chamber president Vishnu Charran said there was a need to “spur” growth in both the agro processing industry as well as small and medium enterprises as this would stimulate the local economy and increase foreign exchange reserves.

She was last seen at her home in KP Lands at about 4 pm on Monday. She was reported missing on Tuesday morning by her brother Mark Peters. Shamia is of mixed descent, four feet 9 inches tall, brown in complexion and has short curly hair. She also has a birth mark on her chest.

In an unrelated case, 35-year-old Anisha Ramsundar of Carapichaima, who was reported missing by her husband on Thursday last week has been found.

A Cumuto teen was also found through the efforts of the police and family members.

Janika Harris, 16, was reported missing by her mother on July 6.

The two sides discussed ways of improving operational efficiencies, unpaid liabilities to the State, liquidity and asset integrity, the company’s cost structure and competitiveness, and its lack of working capital. According to a statement from the ministry, Khan indicated that as the Government is the custodian on behalf of the state’s resources he has to ensure that all resources are put to best use and that “collectively we have to chart a way forward and that the Government will work together with the OWTU” to get the best out of Petrotrin.

The release said Khan thanked Roget for his “open and frank contributions” However, neither Roget nor other OWTU officials could be reached for comment on the talks.

The court was being asked to appoint the liquidators in conjunction with action taken by Government which has also petitioned the High Court to have CL Financial wound up because it is unable to pay the $15 billion debt.

The winding up hearing is set for July 25. At a marathon session at the Hall of Justice late yesterday, the judge heard from attorneys for the State who filed an application for the appointment of the provisional liquidators.

In its winding up petition, the Government has argued CLF is insolvent and its continued operation is reckless. It has also said it was in the public’s interest to have the conglomerate wound up to repay its debt to the Government and other creditors. It also noted that shareholders have sought to undermine the conditions under which the Government agreed to provide financial support to CLF and its subsidiaries by seeking to remove the government’s directors on CLF’s board.

Of that figure, $3.2 billion has been spent on professional fees and other associated costs, yet the last time annual audited accounts were published for the group was in 2007.

We quarrel about the Minister of Tourism’s roaming fees and the Minister of Sport’s luxury weekend in Tobago but barely complain about billions of our money lost in the Clico fiasco. Why is that?

STEVEN VALDEZ via email

A statement signed by MSJ political leader David Abdulah says the national interest would be best served by continuous payments toward liquidating the debt by CL Financial to the Government over a reasonable period of time rather than by a fire sale of valuable national assets through a liquidation of the company.

The MSJ also says that citizens need to know precisely what the options are for the repayment of the debt owed by CL Financial; and the implications of each option.

The statement says that it is not enough to be told by the Minister of Finance that the only way to recover the money is to put the company into liquidation, neither is it enough for the “Shareholders’ Group” to say they have a plan. Abdulah says the country needs to know what will happen to the assets of CL Financial if it is liquidated.

He also expressed concern over what the MSJ calls the sudden decision by the “Rowley/ Imbert Government” to apply to the High Court to have CL Financial liquidated because the Minister of Finance claims that this is necessary to avert a move by CL Financial Shareholders to add directors to the board in such numbers that would enable them to outvote the Government appointed directors, contrary to the 2009 Agreement between CL Financial and the Government.

The MSJ says that agreement has since lapsed and the “Shareholders Group” has not agreed to extend it.