The incident occured on Mother’s Day at the home where the teen lives with her father in central Trinidad.

Her mother was murdered some years ago.

Yesterday the accused father was not called upon to plead as the charge was laid indictably.

The magistrate placed him on $150,000 or a cash alternative of $50,000.

The case was adjourned to June 27.

Justice Mira Dean-Armorer set September 26-29 for the trial, which will take place at the Port of Spain High Court.

McKenzie, 55, co-owner of Smokey and Bunty Sports Bar in St James, died on December 21, 2010, at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida in the United States.

McKenzie’s family claims gross medical negligence, bribery and fraud by Medcorp Ltd and the Cancer Centre of the Caribbean Ltd, operators of BLCTC.

BLCTC has been slapped with a $20 million lawsuit.

According to the negligence claim, McKenzie first complained of headaches, seizures and vomiting in August 2009 and was subsequently referred to the BLCTC in September 2009 for radiation treatment after a tumour was detected and removed from his brain. Between the months of September and November 2009, McKenzie was under treatment at the centre, but in April 2010, he collapsed and suddenly began having seizures, court documents stated.

His condition worsened after he became partially paralysed and complained of “severe headaches”.

Further medical tests revealed “a possibility of radiation necrosis” of the area where the tumour was removed.

By July 27, 2010, McKenzie had travelled to Jackson Memorial to obtain more expert medical treatment, where it was recommended that he needed urgent care for a wound infection at the site of the surgery.

McKenzie underwent brain surgery there two days later and again on August 20, 2010 to remove a mass of necrotic brain tissue. Two other surgeries were performed because of persistent brain swelling.

McKenzie’s condition continued to deteriorate until his death.

BLCTC has not accepted any blame for McKenzie’s death and disputes any negligence on its part.

BLCTC states that the Linear Accelerator machine was miscalibrated but not more than “13.9 per cent”.

McKenzie’s family claims the miscalibration was as much as 20 per cent.

McKenzie’s widow Lisa, who has brought the action on behalf of herself and her daughters, is represented by attorneys Terrence Bharath and Andre Le Blanc.

Responding to a question in the House yesterday, he stated, “ One can’t encourage people to give evidence of impropriety and not deal with it in a fair and even handed fashion.” At the same time, he said not all information provided by whistleblowers should be treated as fact, until proper investigations are done.

The AG said while some provide information under lawful circumstances, others may do so in breach of their terms of contract or oath of office.

This may be tantamount to a breach of statutory declaration for which the penalty is similar to perjury.

Although the company did not record a substantial profit in 2016 as it had in 2015 following a one-time gain from a re-financing arrangement, TCL chairman, Wilfred Espinet, said the board decided to make a dividend payment as a demonstration of their commitment to those shareholders who have been holding on to their shares “for an extremely long time”.

Espinet announced the dividend payment during TCL’s 2017 annual general meeting (AGM), held on May 26 at Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain.

This was in response to one shareholder asking if the company had “decided on some sort of dividend policy, given that you paid a (TT $0.04) dividend last year?” Espinet, seated at the head table, told the shareholder this was one of the matters discussed by the directors earlier that day.

“How do we continue to pay a dividend in the given environment? Is that prudent? Because you have had a reduction in the profitability of the company and the headwinds that we’re facing now, especially in Trinidad and Tobago (of) competition from Turkish cement, declining expenditure by the State and limited activity in the construction sector.” Espinet continued, “But there is also the argument that we see shareholders who have been holding on to these shares for an extremely long time and the directors agreed that they would pay a dividend of TT $0.02 per share, which we think is more of a demonstration of our commitment to the shareholders than it is, you know, a real major return (to profit). It demonstrates the directors’ commitment,” Espinet stated, to significant applause from many of the shareholders present.

Dividend payments were suspended back in 2008. Following the AGM in 2011, one shareholder told Newsday, “Even when TCL was making a profit in 2008 and 2009, we didn’t get dividends because the board said it needed the money for cash flow and for capital to construct a new kiln at CCCL in Jamaica.”Eight months later, in late March 2012, a major strike by TCL workers had entered its fifth week.

According to one article published on March 26, 2012, while this was going on, it had been 15 months since TCL’s bankers had received either interest or principal on its TT $1.8 billion debt.

Speaking with Business Day following the 2017 AGM last Friday, Espinet recalled that TCL “started off a dividend last year of TT $0.04 (which) was reflective of the fact that we had a substantial profit that came about with a one-time gain from a refinancing arrangement, where we got a gain of nearly TT $200 million.” “That’s no longer available, so that our profitability; net profit, in 2016 is considerably less than it was in 2015 because of the one-time gain. Therefore, we had to consider whether… it was prudent to make a dividend (payment) at all, given the headwinds I spoke about earlier. We thought, however, that relationships with our shareholders dictated that they, as one of the main stakeholders, would be treated equitably in the whole process of things. So that’s why we, as a board of directors, decided to pay a dividend of TT $0.02 by the middle of July.

That notice will be published in the newspaper within the next few days.” The reported impending name change from TCL to that of its majority shareholder; Cemex, was raised by another shareholder at the 2017 AGM.

The re-branding question came from shareholder, Peter Permell, who said he recalled reading about it “somewhere”.

While he gave no specifics, there was a March 2017 article; published in another local newspaper, which reported on TCL’s alleged intent to change its name to Cemex.

“Is (re-branding) a possibility? If so, I suppose there may be some advantages, in terms of brand equity, going that particular route as opposed to staying with TCL. What is the likelihood of that happening, in terms of a time frame?” Permell asked.

Espinet and TCL’s managing director, Jos? Luis Seijo Gonz?lez, both denied such a plan was in the works.

The chairman spoke first, telling Permell, “From my perspective, certainly there’s no intent to change the brand, anywhere on the table, as we speak today (May 26).” “More importantly, we’ve been spending on full-page ads in all of the newspapers. Not only here (TT) but also in Barbados, the Lesser Antilles and the Windward Islands, where we have been attacked with (imported) Turkish cement.” Espinet reminded that in all these ads, which warned against using cement more than 120 days old and which encouraged consumers to “keep it fresh” and to “keep it local”, TCL highlighted its brand of products.

“So, it would be, to me, not a very sensible thing to spend that kind of money (on ads). So, if we were doing that (re-branding), it would be very unlikely.” Echoing Espinet’s stance on the matter, Seijo told shareholders, “It would be wrong. It would be a big mistake, if we change our commercial brands. We have a very high brand equity.” The company does however make use of the Cemex name when dealing with some suppliers.

“Where Cemex has a global agreement…we try to leverage that into a bigger purchasing power. That’s why we’re trying to combine both things (TCL and Cemex brand usage).

Cement equipment is mainly produced in the US and Europe, so that’s where we take advantage of it (Cemex name),” Seijo told Business Day.

CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V. (Cemex) is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico.

As stated in Espinet’s Group Chairman’s Review in TCL’s Annual Report 2016, “Cemex now owns 69.83 percent of TCL.” He noted that this is subject to final approval by the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE).

Espinet stated that on January 9, through its wholly-owned direct subsidiary, Sierra Trading, “Cemex revised its offer price” from TT $4.50 per ordinary share to TT $5.07 per share “with the option for shareholders to be paid in US dollars at US $0.76 per share.” “Despite another recommendation to reject the offer by a special committee of the TCL board, again based on an Ernst & Young Fairness Opinion, the revised offer received overwhelming response, taking the Cemex shareholding in TCL from 39.5 percent to 69.83 percent, just short of its initial target of 74.9 percent,” Espinet stated in the Annual Report 2016. Among the other matters dealt with during the AGM was a change in auditors and an amendment to by-law #1, paragraph 4.1.

Per the request of Cemex, shareholders were asked to vote on the motion to replace Ernst and Young with KPMG as TCL’s independent auditor.

Espinet said Cemex had requested this because it uses the services of KPMG in the rest of its operations.

The vote went in Cemex’s favour, which means going forward, KPMG will be the firm writing up TCL’s Independent Auditor’s Report for its annual reports. Regarding by-law #1, paragraph 4.1, TCL secretary, Kathryna Baptiste, said unless amended, this bylaw would require that, “The majority of directors must be persons resident in the West Indies.” Baptiste told shareholders, “The TCL board has considered that the new majority shareholder should have available the option of appointing a majority of directors to the Board, if they so choose. However, based on the geographical profile of Sierra Trading…it is unlikely that the directors nominated by Sierra Trading would be resident in the West Indies.

Accordingly, the said sentence in paragraph 4.1 is unduly restrictive and no longer relevant in light of the current majority shareholder company.” After Espinet answering the questions of one shareholder about the proposed amendment, the motion was put to a vote and carried.

“We see it as an attempt by Government to deceive, trick and hoodwink citizens into sharing personal information with Government in circumstances where they feel they have no choice but to comply with demands or else they could face criminal prosecution,” she said yesterday at a media conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Port of Spain. Yesterday in the San Fernando High Court, Justice Seepersad presided in a matter of the Opposition challenging the property tax implementation with Devant Maharaj as claimant against the Commissioner of Valuations and Attorney General. Persad-Bissessar reported that Seepersad had granted a wider order than a previous stay which blocked the Commissioner of Valuations and those under him from receiving from the public any schedule II return/valuation form or from issuing to property owners any such form. The order is until June 27. Persad-Bissessar said there are certain areas Government was taking advantage of by saying people could voluntarily file and therefore the commissioner’s office could receive the documents. She pointed out that Finance Minister Colm Imbert had taken the position that the previous stay granted by the court left it open for Government to receive the forms and supporting documents such as land survey plan, photographs of the exterior of the property and building plans.

She said he also claimed citizens are “Happy” to pay property tax and were, “Lining up in droves, punishing themselves in the hot sun”, to do so. “What is very clear from the judgment now is that there can be no hiding behind a fig leaf that citizens can voluntarily take in forms. We took the position that this should not be done and Government should not play smart with foolishness by saying it is a ‘voluntary exercise’,” she said. She said that if any forms are received they would be in contempt of court. Asked about forms and documents previously submitted Persad-Bissessar said the Government is not able to proceed with any such information or they would be in clear breach.

She advised that the documents be either returned or scrapped as they have no force in law and should not be used in any way

The students discussed the issue of squatting and weather squatters should be made to pay it.

Yesterday, the team walked away with the grand prize of $3,000 in cash, a trophy, gold medals, and Ipad Pro tablets for each team participant, while St Augustine Girls’ High School came in second place and North Gate College placing third.

Sixteen secondary schools across Trinidad and Tobago participated in the competition by debating against each other on illegal squatting in TT.

Speaking at finals of the competition, held at the Government Plaza Auditorium, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, Acting Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Marion Hayes told the students they were now armed with more information about the issue of illegal squatting, and encouraged them to act on it, and do what is right for the TT.

“Work with us to spread the message so that your generation and future generations can live with the assurance that our natural spaces will be here for a very long time for us to enjoy.

I am sure we have some future leaders and future change agents in our midst here today, and I look forward to you being part of more public awareness efforts of this nature.” Hayes noted that there are now 55,000 families who are illegally occupying state lands and the figure amounts to roughly 200,000 people.

She said an additional 1,000 new structures are being added to the landscape every year.

“While those who are occupying state land and those who encourage its manifestation, may believe that this seemingly innocuous act is just a ‘means to an end’ to provide shelters for families in need, the story doesn’t end there.

As you would have realised through your research for this debate, there are far reaching environmental, societal and infrastructural implications that are deep and which go past the average eyes.” Hayes said the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the LSA, intends to engage other state agencies with a view to forging stronger strategic partnerships to curb further land grabbing.

She said the Government understands that shelter is important and what a comfortable home can provide for a family. “Our goal at the Ministry has always been and will continue to be, to create opportunities for deserving families, primarily the low and lower-middle income earners.

This is our policy directive, which we follow. We want everyone to lead decent, dignified and rewarding lives and we will continue to do our part to ensure that shelter remains a vital part of that equation.”

With all the mayhem taking place at the port recently, it was revealed that the contract for the maintenance of the ferries with the original Canadian firm handling both the T&T Spirit and the T&T Express had been terminated and the contract given to a local firm about a year or two ago.

I think a strong case can be made to show that since the change over, the boats’ performances have deteriorated markedly, both in terms of the longer times taken to get to Tobago (no longer two and a half hours) and the downtime of the boats, which seem to be constantly in need of repair and are unavailable for sailing.

It’s pretty obvious that the Port Authority needs to quickly rehire the Canadians to ensure the boats once again perform in a satisfactory way, which will redound to the benefit of all stakeholders.

I don’t have access to all the facts but it makes no sense to say money was saved by going local if the local firm is incapable of handling the situation.

C RODRIGUEZ via email

Bay Ferries held the contract to service the TT Spirit and TT Express fast ferries.

Speaking in the House of Representatives, Sinanan said the company’s contract included a monthly management fee of US$90,000 and a monthly operational fee of US$250,000. Sinanan is awaiting a report from the Port Authority about maintenance issues regarding the Spirit and Express.

He said the Authority is in the process of identifying vessels to replace both vessels and once identified, these vessels will be subjected to pre-charter condition survey inspection by Lloyds of London. Cabinet will then make a final decision. The minister said no cost was incurred regarding procuring of the Atlantic Provider and Trinity Transporter, for use on the domestic seabridge.

These vessels were procured after the Super Fast Galicia, acquired under the former People’s Partnership (PP) government, was pulled off the seabridge in April.

Changes were also made to Clause Five of the bill on the issue of forefeiture of security.

“It is an enduring tribute to the strength and resilience of the survivors of indentured labour, much like that of those who survived the cruelty of chattel slavery, that those of Indian origin have become a vital strand in the tapestry of our mosaic society.” “We cannot underestimate the value of any segment of our social organism,” Mahabir argued, “to the wholesomeness of our entire society. Nor can we, in a spirit of chauvinistic boasting over-emphasise the contribution of the people of any origin to the creation of our present-day social structure.” “Let us celebrate Indian Arrival Day, as we will celebrate Emancipation and the Day of the First People (on October 13), in the spirit of deep appreciation for what each has contributed in their own way to the vibrancy of our culture, to the building of our economy and to the ongoing striving to build a society which benefits us all.” Mahabir added that occasions like this are “opportunities to celebrate and appreciate the contributions of all to the building of our nation and the forging of our distinct and unique ‘Trini’ culture.” He then encouraged everyone to celebrate the enduring unity of people of all origins “as we forge the Trinbagonian nation”.

A unity which Mahabir said is admired by so many globally and yearned for by those who have faced the ravages of destructive hatred and discrimination.