Crime affects all of us and has claimed victims from all walks of life. But this incident was particularly pernicious given the history of the victim involved, the location of the attack and the aggravating way in which the attackers — judging from initial reports — appeared to have taunted the priest with the possibility of kidnapping.

The matter is subject to action by the law enforcement authorities, but the details that have been sketched thus far paint a disturbing picture.

The incident took place shortly after 5 am at the St Martin de Porres RC Church compound in Gonzales, near a dormitory where Harvey — who is on sabbatical — had spent the night. After being robbed, the priest was hogtied and gagged.

For close to half an hour, the outspoken priest, who is known for his decades of working with at-risk youths, struggled to free himself while silently praying to his God to get through the ordeal.

At one point, Harvey later told police, one of the gunmen became agitated and said to him, “You is a priest, you must have money.” The gunmen threatened to kill him.

It was also reported that one of the bandits asked Fr Harvey whether, if he was kidnapped, Archbishop Joseph Harris would pay a $50,000 ransom. The distressed priest answered no.

He was robbed of $1,000, a watch given to him as a gift and a cell phone. Not content with their attack on the priest, the bandits moved on to the church where they forced open a door. The House of God was ransacked.

The shaken priest would later tell shocked parishioners, “I now know how a pig feels when it is tied up.” Harvey is a national treasure. In addition to his vocation, he has been an outspoken advocate concerned with the public interest. He has contributed support in untold ways to many, whether through spiritual guidance or simple acts of encouragement. He was awarded the Humming Bird Medal Gold in 2011 for his role in community service and religion. He is also the chairman of three non-government organisations — Community Intervention for Transformation and Empowerment, South AIDS Support and the Morris Marshall Development Foundation.

Harvey has a clear record of working in at-risk communities.

As such, there is something decidedly perverse about this attack. It is not Harvey who should have been treated like a pig, but rather the cowardly men who sought to take advantage of him.

Still, we know Harvey is not likely to be made bitter by this incident.

In fact, we believe he will come back from this stronger than ever. The question of forgiveness is for him.

For now, the law must be allowed to take its course.

Yet again, the public has been driven to outrage over the latest assault on our collective decency.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who chairs the National Security Council, said, “These miscreants have parents and I hope that somewhere in this country today there are a few parents who are hanging their heads in shame as they reflect in private as to what more they might have done to prevent any of our citizens from behaving in this despicable way.” We are confident the authorities will continue to do their best to apprehend the culprits. But more importantly, we continue to express the hope that crime is brought under control through plans that are not only comprehensive but effective.

Let us all take a cue from the Prime Minister, however, in realising that we all have a part to play in solving this problem

This is according to leader of government business Franklin Khan who moved the motion at yesterday’s sitting of the Senate.

The Welch report, along with “the long awaited” gas master plan which he will table in the Parliament today, Khan said, was Government’s commitment to transparency under Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

“There has always been a clamour in this Parliament to be more involved in policy formulation and policy evaluation.

This is your opportunity today. Grasp it with both hands,” he said.

The JSC is meant to consider the first and second reports of the committee which was established to review the levels of health care delivery by regional health authorities and to rationalise the system of public sector doctors in private practice.

The committee led by Dr Winston Welch was established in November 2015. It was commissioned by Rowley.

Other members of the committee were Dr Wayne Frederick, Professor Karl Theodore, Charles de Gannes, Dr Adesh Sirjusingh, Valerie Alleyne-Rawlins and Dr Albert Persaud.

The JSC will be mandated, Khan said, to review and analyse the reports, consider the findings and recommendations, and report its observations and recommendations by June 30.

Opening the debate on the motion for the opposition, senator Khadija Ameen said the motion was “an attempt to get the Parliament to do Cabinet’s work.” Government was challenged, she said, particularly when it comes to policies and the ordinary citizen who believes that the Parliament and Government was one will be misled. The PNM which was elected to run the country, she said, are the ones to design policies and not the Parliament.

The PNM political leader, she said, would have chosen members to form his Cabinet and they are responsible for making plans and deciding on policies.

In a meeting of the top two men’s seeds, Ramasra had a tough task on his hands, but he managed to hold off number one ranked Kale Wilson 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9.

Yearwood did not have such trouble in the women’s final, as the top seed cruised past eighth-ranked Marie Claire Barcant 12-10, 11-7, 11-7.

In the men’s semi-final round, Ramasra spanked third seed Chase McQuan 11-6, 11- 3, 11-4 while Wilson got the better of fourth seed Paul De Verteuil 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4.

And, in the women’s semis, Yearwood hammered fourth ranked Jinan Al Rawi 11-5, 11-0, 11-1 while Barcant came from two sets down to defeat fifth ranked Jamie Leigh Edghill 10-12, 3-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-3.

Other Results: Men’s Open Quarter Finals – Kale Wilson bt Zachary Loquan 11-1, 11-7, 11-3; Paul De Verteuil 4-11, 10- 12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8; Chase McQuan bt Brandon De Montrichard 11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9; Colin Ramasra bt John Holley 11-1, 12-10, 11-4.

In a release yesterday the PCA said the review comes in light of incidents involving fatal and non-fatal shootings of mentally ill people over the past four months.

In that time, three men – Paul Marchan, Daniel Paul and Eddison Thompson – were all shot by police. On March 14, 30-year-old Marchand was shot dead while having a mental breakdown at his home at Richplain in Diego Martin.

Police claimed he was acting violently and when they tried to detain him, he attacked them with a broken bottle and injured two policemen.

On June 6, 23-year-old Daniel Paul was killed in Ste Madeleine after he threw stones at the police. Reports said he was also acting violently.

Last Friday, Edison Thompson, 45, of Princes Town, died after he was shot in the buttocks by a soldier on South Quay, Port of Spain, near Henry Street .

The release said the PCA was taking note of conflicting statements by officials.

Once the review is established, the PCA intends to monitor and audit investigations into the shootings of all three mentally ill men.

Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan mentioned this while addressing students and teachers at the launch of Penmanship with a Purpose, hosted by the Ministry of Education held at the Government Campus Plaza, Richmond Street, Port of Spain.

“Those of you who are preparing to write the SE A next year, you need to take note,” he said. Seecharan said there are those who argued that penmanship was no longer relevant in this age of keyboarding, e-mail, texts and tweets, but new evidence suggest strong links between penmanship and broader educational development.

“Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information.

In other words, it is not just what we write, but how. Putting pen to paper stimulates the brain like nothing else.” He said although living in a digital era, most people still write in some way every single day and writing is part of daily life.

“We keep notes, we jot down reminders to ourselves, we leave messages for others. “We teach penmanship because good handwriting help students to focus. Penmanship is a powerful learning and a creative tool aligned to self-esteem, creativity, thinking and improved academic performance.

“As we prepare students to take their place in the world of work, we must recognise that whatever part we take, it requires legible handwriting, regardless of the age we are in, or the technological resources that are at our disposal.” Also speaking at the launch, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said handwriting must be a skill that all students must acquire.

“Handwriting is of extreme importance, although many people do not attach that level of importance to it, which is a form of communication. If we are to communicate effectively, then an important component of the communication process is the way in which we write.

“Due to this we have decided that we needed to launch this project, which will be carried throughout our primary schools in particular and Forms One and Two in our secondary schools.” He said after the first phase the ministry would move into the schools to train teachers, ensuring what they did was in accordance with the proper practices of handwriting.

Garcia said long ago one could tell what primary school a student attended by their handwriting. This still applied in some cases.

“There is one school – Arima Girls’ RC school – the students who leave that school show a type of handwriting that is similar throughout, and it could be read easily, and it is something the ministry admires.

“It is our hope that this type of teaching of handwriting skills will be infused throughout the education system, in particular throughout our primary schools.” Garcia is the MP for Arima.

In an interview with Newsday, he urged people who said they were looking for the gunmen, not to seek vengeance. Asked how he was doing, Harvey said, “Today, physically I feel just a little damage to my knee. But I am feeling okay. I felt bad at the time for the two young men and the third guy who came in afterwards who was obviously manipulating them.” On the public outrage and dismay over his being held up, robbed, gagged and hog-tied, Fr Harvey said, “If my neighbour who is a little old lady, get tied up and robbed…the papers would not report it. Yes, I am a national figure, but every citizen is important.” Harvey advised that people should prepare themselves for the worst, “in terms of what people would do to get money”, given the current economic climate.

“Money is the new God. Money is not only the God among the poor bandit but the God among the class of those who would do anything to make a profit,” Harvey observed.

Harvey added that the country needed a kind of leadership that challenged that perception. People also need leadership that demonstrates that they are not ripping people off. “As long as people think their leaders are doing certain things, then they will feel justified (to do likewise).” Harvey called for people to lead simpler lives as well as to have “ordinary citizens” appointed to the National Security Council. This was because “both political parties know what is going on, both political parties have the information, yet nothing is being done. I suspect that both political parties are beholden and therefore cannot touch certain elements in society.” Harvey said he considered the two young men who committed the act to be ignorant and victims of, “The journey we have made as a nation over the last 25 years. We have done very little if anything, to really confront that. I have been very clear in my own mind that we lost a generation, and there is a new generation now.” Asked if he felt the church needs security, Harvey said while it has been looking into security for a while, he hopes that public places of worship do not become fortresses, because now more than ever, they need to be more open and accessible to people. Yesterday, there were unconfirmed reports of three men being arrested, but police sources said that no arrest had been made.

Magistrate Natalie Diop read the charge that on Friday last at the Solomon Hochoy Highway at Gandhi Village in Debe, they had a .40 calibre pistol and ten rounds of ammunition. T hey were not called upon to plead as the charges were laid indictably.

Attorney Cedric Neptune represented Forde who, he said, works as a barber and lives at Buen Intento, Princes Town. In his application for bail, Neptune told the court his client had neither previous convictions nor any pending matters. Attorney Chantal Paul represented Ray, a construction worker of Lengua Road, Princes Town. He has four previous convictions, two of which are of a similar nature. The youngest accused Francis, of Springvale Avenue, Tarodale was unrepresented.

However, in assisting the court, Paul told the magistrate Francis has two pending matters, one for attempted murder and the other for robbery.

Prosecutor Sgt Chanardath Jhilmit objected to bail saying the offences were of a serious nature and prevalent in society. Diop granted Forde $100,000 bail to be approved by a clerk of the peace and ordered him to report to the Princes Town Police Station once weekly.

However, she denied bail to Ray and Francis and remanded them into custody, informing them of their right to apply to a judge in chambers. The three are to reappear in court on July 11.

The bank’s position was stated in a media release issued on Monday in response to allegations from the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU) that RBC was extending workers’ hours to include Saturdays.

The release said the event, which is scheduled to begin next month, is aimed at easing the stress of elderly customers who visit the bank to cash their pension cheques on the Monday after the month-end.

The bank said, “We have asked employees to volunteer for the additional paid shift so that we can support this special event.

Those who qualify will be paid overtime for working. As the shift is voluntary, those branches where employees do not volunteer will not open.” Addressing claims of worker exploitation by BIGWU president Vincent Cabrera, RBC said the claims were unfounded, and a number of members of staff had welcomed the Saturday event “Our RBC values inform everything we do. These values are at the core of every decision. We hold ourselves to a high standard of acceptable behaviour and do not – and would never – exploit our colleagues,” the release stated.

Newsday spoke to BIGWU’s labour relations officer Sharon Miller, who called the claims “an unequivocal lie.” She said she had received complaints from staff that management had been pressuring them to take the Saturday shift without any promise of overtime pay.

“It is not voluntary,” she said.”We have workers in Tobago who told their manager that they won’t be able to come out that Saturday, and their managers told them that unless you come out that Saturday they will be chaired. Management is holding the contracts of these workers over their heads.”

And also making a return to the saddle will be four-time local champion rider Brioan Boodramsingh, who has recovered from a broken collar bone.

Also, Barbados champion Jalon Samuel will be in the saddle on Labour Day.

Husbands has three booked rides including th4e Jake O’Brien-trained Valorous in the feature Carib Brewery Guineas, first leg of the local triple crown.

Boodramsingh (B), rides Rocket Wheels in the Guineas among his two booked rides while Samuel will be astride Royal Moon in the Guineas among five booked rides.

The ARC stewards framed a nine-reace programme for the day, timed to begin at 12.45 pm.

Regrello welcomed the delegates and fielded questions from them. So impressed was he, the mayor offered to assist by making the city hall’s auditorium available as one of the venues for the upcoming shows .

“Based on the fact that there is little sponsorship for this national beauty pageant, the San Fernando City Corporation would be willing to help by offering the auditorium for any part of the overall competition,” Regrello said .

Pageant director Vanessa Sahatoo- Manoo told the mayor the finalists have committed themselves and are working very hard to capture the title of Miss World T&T and then to advance to the international competition. Regrello reminded them that in the end there will be winners and losers and urged them to do their best. Based on the theme Beauty with Purpose, each delegate will be involved in a charitable cause in the lead-up to the final show .

They are Jade Mascall, Sherisse Bideshi, Melissa Aguilliera, Tanisha Lalla, Djennicia Francis, Anastasia Mootoo, Chandini Chanka, and Zayna Mc Donald .

Sahatoo-Manoo announced the talent category of the competition will take place at the San Fernando City Corporation auditorium on June 23, while the finals will take place at Central Bank Auditorium later on this year .