The disconnect is as wide as it has ever been. It is a part of our nation’s DNA. The question is how do we reconcile that relationship with the kind of leadership that we have at this time.

On May 17, Winford James lamented about the relations between the people and Government.

Readers should pay careful attention about what he wrote: “… you can’t fail to sense that the ruling politicians are scarcely interested in engaging the input of the public or, perhaps more accurately, the various publics on how both the nation of Trinidad and Tobago and the island of Tobago is being or should be governed. If you criticise them on their adjustment policies, they will ignore you, or bristle at your impertinence, or give you a begrudging moment in the sun.

“No doubt they are carried away by the ingrained canard (untruth) that they are in charge and so are not bound to listen to … the now-frustrated voices that elected them …” I also go back several years to the 1970 Black Power revolution when we were grappling with our newly declared independence.

Coming out of that experience the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) prepared the People’s Declaration of Policy for the Development of a New Trinidad and Tobago (Blue Book). It was published in time for the 1981 general election.

In the Blue Book the party said that “…representative institutions must be subordinate to and serve institutions of direct people’s participation, an arrangement which would in fact make the people collectively, the national executive, and their chosen representative’s servants of the people.

Furthermore, the Blue Book carried this statement, “Offering the people a complete format of preconceived procedures, rules and regulations as a people’s institution will not work. The psychological bind of man to institution comes when there is involvement in the process of creating the institution.

It is over time, by constant observation, assessment and development that it will become possible to formalise the structures of people’s institutions.

What is vital is that the principle of people’s power remains the guide in the building of the institutions.” That whole concept is part of the legacy left by the late Chief Servant Makandal Daaga. When he spoke on the night of April 21, 2010, just after the Fyzabad Declaration was signed, he asked the assembled people to shout in unison, “I am the government.” The Chief Servant did so to emphasise that the people in TT must not be passive but should participate creatively in national affairs.

Blocking roads with burning rubbish and picket lines in front of schools are hardly enough to guarantee participation.

Former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar repeated on many occasions what Daaga had said but time and the requisite will power did not allow the message to sink in. So we are back to square one.

Neither the People’s Partnership (other than NJAC) nor the PNM has had a clue about making people feel that they are really the power in this land.

The disconnect will continue for a very long time until there is popular involvement in the process of creating the institutions that will guarantee real people’s participation.

And that will not happen unless the leadership of the country is prepared to become midwives to the process.

AIYEGORO OME Mt Lambert

Charles was taken by ambulance to St Clair Medical where he was listed in critical condition.

On Sunday at around 1 pm Charles succumbed to the injuries sustained. Police investigators said yesterday that they were treating the death as an accident and they have ruled out suicide as a motive for the incident.

Employees and co-workers of Charles were in a state of mourning on Sunday after learning of his demise. The management of National Flour Mills also expressed condolences to friends, family and co-workers of Charles who had been working with NFM for the past 25 years.

Officers of the Central Police Station who are probing the incident went to NFM yesterday and interviewed several persons as part of their investigations

“As espoused by our union’s founding father Adrian Cola Rienzi, one could not control one’s destiny at the workplace without having some say in directing the nation’s course.

Thus agriculture, fishing, livestock farming, the taxi driver, the salesperson in a store, the CEPEP worker etc, are all working class and all contributed to the development of Trinidad and Tobago and therefore all have a right to celebrate Labour Day wherever and however is convenient to them.” The union cited the national Carnival celebration which had “gained impetus on Duke Street but is now celebrated in every nook and cranny from Port of Spain, to San Fernando, to Couva, to Sangre Grande, to Tobago.” The union said it believes Labour Day, as the next working class holiday, should also be celebrated everywhere.

“It should not be isolated to one geographical location, since this defeats the very purpose for its vision – to educate and raise the awareness of the general population.

It is a national celebration and the time has come for it to be truly celebrated nationally.” The celebration is expected to begin with a march from the Esperanza Recreation Ground to Dow Village onto the California Main Road and continue through the Couva main road into Rienzi Complex for a mass meeting and cultural show.

“We believe it is better to have one hundred thousand people celebrating throughout our beloved country rather than fifteen thousand in Fyzabad alone.”

His persistence at retaining outdated, gender-biased and paedophilic legislation, which flies in the face of children’s rights must be of serious concern to the population at large, inclusive of those who accept his regressive persuasion and rhetoric .

The youth of today respect tradition in as far as there is a proper rationale for its continuance .

History shows that child marriage was once somewhat accepted globally as it tended to have several benefits for a minor whose family wished them a better life when opportunities for progress was scarce .

However, this must no longer be an option .

Respected societies periodically take the time to assess its traditions and practices that have the potential to either facilitate or stymie growth .

On behalf of the youth of TT and the movement for a more progressive society, I urge Maharaj to cease and desist as it relates to any move to reverse the position of the duly elected Parliament to prohibit the marriage of children .

Having debated and voted in the Senate on this issue, I stressed the dangers of retaining legislation which promotes slavery or child labour; a forgoing of opportunities; unhealthy physical, mental and emotional development, and forced marriage .

Today my position remains the same .

Maharaj has a following and therefore the potential to poison efforts to move the country forward .

While the Constitution provides for free speech, citizens must stand up against statements and actions that are divisive, hateful, destructive and counterproductive .

NIKOLI EDWARDS via email

Last Friday, the Lower House followed the Senate to introduce a universal marriage age of 18, but an irate Maharaj has since hinted at a legal challenge to this new law. Edwards in a press release said Maharaj’s stance taints the image of this country and, “All right thinking citizens.” He said Maharaj was wrong to support old laws which according to him, are gender biased and contrary to children’s rights.

“The youth of today respect tradition in as far as there is a proper rationale for its continuance.

History shows that child marriage was once somewhat accepted globally as it tended to have several benefits for a minor whose family wished them a better life when opportunities for progress were scarce. However this must no longer be an option,” Edwards said.

“Respected societies periodically take the time to assess its traditions and practices that have the potential to either facilitate or stymie growth.” He urged Maharaj to not try to reverse Parliament’s prohibition on child marriage.

“Having debated and voted in the Senate on this issue, I stressed the dangers of retaining legislation which promotes slavery or child labour; a foregoing of opportunities; unhealthy physical, mental and emotional development and forced marriage. Today my position remains the same,” Edwards said.

He said Maharaj’s post as secretary general of the Maha Sabha gives him a certain degree of influence and he hoped Maharaj’s stance would not hurt efforts to advance society.

“On behalf of the Commonwealth Youth Council, the TT Youth Convention and the youths who share similar views, I wish to commend fellow Members of Parliament for taking the most obvious decision to protect the children of this country and positively shape the environment in which future generations will be raised,” Edwards said.

However, the Cape legacy has not been erased from the band as Roy Cape Jr is co-manager of the band along with Roberts.

The band, however, is no longer owned by the Cape family, Cape Jr confirmed in a brief phone interview with Newsday. In the release, the new band thanked senior Cape for his contribution to the band’s development and growth.

The release on the band’s name change from its PR arm, Chambers Media, said: “The name change is a natural progression for the organisation, which has been home to several soca artistes over the years, many of whom have gone on to make significant contributions to entertainment, in the Caribbean and diaspora.

“Uncompromising in delivering a quality music experience, D’ All Starz timeless sounds will continue to be led by a stellar frontline vocal line-up, which currently consists of a star-studded soca line-up: Blaxx, Ricardo Drue, Teddyson John and Tizzy.” In a Newsday, April 2 article by Gary Cardinez, Cape [the band’s founder and former lead] then said he was hanging up his sax after 57 years in the business and that that was not the way he had planned to end his career. The article quoted Cape as saying, “I was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and it changed my life completely. I had to take care of myself and that has been my focus over the last few years.

From now on there will be no more Roy Cape All Stars. I have reached an agreement with the band. They are still functioning, and will call a press conference to announce the new name sometime later.” Yesterday’s release said Roberts has been a, “staple with the band for over 25 years.” The release quoted Roberts as saying, “D’ All Starz is a family vibe, and we are really happy to continue on this journey with everyone on board.

“In addition to the brass line, technical team and vocalists from all over the Caribbean, we have all of our long-standing band members on board like Stephen “Drummy” Jardine (drums), Anthony “Bassey” Boynes (bass) and Arnold “Sly” Punnette (guitar)….” Thanking Cape for his contributions to the band, it said, “The band would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Dr Roy Francis Cape, fondly known as ‘Pappy’, for his invaluable guidance to this family of musicians and selfless contributions to the development of music for almost six decades. He has been a pioneer and advocate for the development of the music industry and the creative arts in the region, and his contributions have been recognised as indispensable to many singers, songwriters, musicians and other industry professionals in the circuit.

“D’ All Starz is honoured to have worked with this iconic, award-winning musician, and is forever indebted to Dr Cape’s vision, passion and selfless life’s work. The band looks forward to supporting Pappy with his continued philanthropic efforts as chairman of the Roy Cape Foundation, whose goal is to bring hope and healing to communities across Trinidad and Tobago, by way of music education.” The release indicated the band’s next tour stop would be Bermuda Heroes’ Weekend on June 16, where it is billed as the headline act for the island’s 2017 Carnival celebrations.

“What we are seeing is a sorry state of affairs in industrial relations at the RBC where permanent workers with years experience are being retrenched and the company is issuing fixedterm contracts for two months where, at the end of this two months, the workers again finds themselves under the gun as to whether or not their contracts will be renewed. This is a case of exploitation where you replace whips and chains with contracts.” Cabrera said despite receiving accreditation from the Registration, Recognition and Certification Board (RRCB) earlier this year, RBC continues to undermine BIGWU’s authority as a matter has been lodged with the High Court to review the board’s certification and accused management of holding their workers to ransom.

“After 45 years where the RRCB’s right to issue a recognition certificate was a normal feature of industrial relations in this jurisdiction, RBC has initiated litigation against the board in the form an application to the High Court seeking a judicial review of the decision by the RRCB to give us a certificate. They (the RBC) are once again using their deep pockets to block the protection of the workers, in essence they are using the High Court as a shield to prevent the Union from reaching the workers and continue their exploitative practices.” Cabrera also called on government to intervene in the matter citing the collapse of manufacturing giant, ArcellorMittal last year in which more than 600 workers were retrenched.

“I am calling on the state to amend the Industrial Relations Act and avoid a repeat of what we saw with ArcelorMittal last year.

The state has a responsibility to ensure that it’s local workers are not being exploited by foreign entities. I would also like to add that the day is soon approaching where the union may have to shut down the bank if it continues to disregard it’s authority.” Asked if he was concerned that such action would do more harm than good for workers, Cabrera said the move was necessary because of RBC’s refusal to observe protocol and said he was prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure the protection of workers’ rights.

“People tell me I should be in the Hall of Fame and that’s what I would truly like,” said the still mobile woman who will be 87 on August 8. “In my day women were supposed to be housewives, cooking food, see about the children, wash clothes and see about the house etc…..men was everything.” Gooding made contact for this interview, still able to use one of her St Ann’s taxis so that we could meet at the stand near to Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain and continue to Newsday’s interview space on Chacon Street.

Since we had never met, I was about to give her my car number for identification, but the very feisty woman preferred to let me know the colour outfit she would be wearing instead, and would call me on the morning in question. “Too many television crime dramas….” I thought with a chuckle.

And, there she was in her “light-green blouse and jeans” –not with one or two trophies as was asked for picture purpose– but all her trophies fitted into one hold-all bag which she was able to easily carry. In nearly 20 years of representing school, club and country, those were the sum total of her awards. To quote one of her peers, Marjorie John, who was fortunate enough to make it into the Hall of Fame: “Those were the days when you won a cup, spoon, saucer, plate, bowl or maybe fork.” Born in Belmont in 1930, Gooding started to run as a five-year-old at St Margaret’s School at a time she says: “When the schools in Belmont used to challenge each other and before school went on vacation, Belmont Intermediate, St Margaret’s EC, Belmont Boys and Girls RC, the Methodist schools and all the government schools in Belmont would meet in a day of sports organised by the schoolmasters and mistresses. They would take us to the [Queen’s Park] Savannah and run the races….it was heavy competition.” Then Gooding went to Providence Girls Secondary, in the days when it was run by the nuns, where she continued running.

Her teacher was Phyllis Mitchell. “The nuns those days were very sacred and proper and could not walk the streets unless properly attired. Every district in Trinidad, north, south, etc, took part in Inter-zone Sports, then the winners used to go to the [Queen’s Park] Oval and run against each other to find out the overall champions… This is how I started meeting people from the whole of Trinidad. I would run within my age limit to see who is the winner of the various age groups in Trinidad and Tobago…

I lost one race in my life to Eileen King here in TT .” Gooding’s first trip overseas was to Guyana while at Providence when Mother Pius, her parents and club Mitteo Harriet where Victor Roberts was her trainer, stood the costs so that she could represent the country.

Gooding’s board and lodge were courtesy Mitchell who boarded a plane and came to Guyana so that the young athlete could stay with her teacher’s parents who were Guyanese. In Barbados, she reminisced, “I stayed with the Blackburns.” As I listened to the octogenarian tell of her inability to represent the country any further than Guyana, Barbados, Grenada and the Caribbean because her mother could not afford to send her to run in England, as that was when the onus fell on club and parents to stand the costs, my mind went back to the 70s and 80s. During that period, as executive members of the TT Women’s Hockey Association, we held cake/bake sales at the side of the St James Barracks field, organised hockey queen shows and fetes to send national teams to Caribbean and world tournaments and host tournaments here.

And, I was even more amazed to read in Newsday, June 2, the plea from President Anthony Carmona for support for athletes…

“with the authorities of this country to support national athletes on their journey to success and not wait until they become heroes” –made at the installation ceremony of the executive of the TT Olympic Committee at his office. I realised that the President is unaware of the hardships of as late as the 1980s to train, prepare, outfit and support 15 members, plus staff of a representative hockey team on a minuscule Government subvention, as there was just no money in the national coffers back then.

My plea here is that the powers- that-be making nominations for the Hall of Fame, do some research into this woman sprinter of the 1940s/50s who also taught sports in the primary school system at St Dominic’s Home and St Martin’s School, Belmont, and seek to fulfil her dearest wish – induction into the First Citizens Hall of Fame.

The reason for the school’s early dismissal remained unclear as parents gave differing accounts as to why they had been asked to collect their children with one parent stating he had been informed by text message about a rodent infestation at the school.

“The reason why I came to pick up my son today is because I get a text that there is a rat infestation and a cockroach problem in the school and until they don’t sort it out, the Ministry, the teachers wouldn’t be coming back,” the parent said after picking up his son who is in standard three.

Another parent who was picking up seven students said she had been informed that there was no water.

An education ministry official said classes had been dismissed around lunch time to give parents enough time to collect their children.

The official said there were several issues at the school including a need for repairs to be carried out and a “pigeon problem” for which the principal had contacted an exterminator to deal with.

“In the short term, the city corporation would be working to sanitise and clean the school so that the EFCL would be able to effect repairs in the shortest possible time.”

Code named Exercise Tradewinds, it is a United States military-led exercise within the Caribbean region which started in the mid-80s.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon is assuring the public that there would be no restriction to their movements as most of the exercise would be carried out in the north-western part of the country, specifically Chaguaramas.

“You will see a number of troops from outside of TT and they would be wearing uniforms and carrying arms and that is done under our Visiting Forces Act.

When we held Cricket World Cup in TT and across the Caribbean in 2007, countries of the English-speaking Caribbean were asked to allow visiting troops to come into their country and bear arms and participate in exercises or in the event of security issues.

“TT was one of the countries that did not have that as sunset legislation and we have that in our books today. Some countries had it as sunset legislation which meant it died after Cricket World Cup.

All that is required of us is to ensure that we list the countries and, under the Visiting Forces Act, they would be able to bear arms,” Dillon said during a news conference held yesterday at the National Security Ministry, Temple Court, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.

He added it was not a classified exercise as the troops would not be using live ammunition and that it was a simulated exercise.

Dillon said the exercise was a multi-national maritime security exercise treating with both maritime security issues and disaster response issues.

Involved are 20 partnering nations including Bermuda, Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts/ Nevis, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, Surinam and Guyana.

He said there would also be international assistance and participation by the US, Canada, France, Netherlands and Mexico.

The US has contributed US$3 million for the exercise, while this country has approved about $382,000.