On Friday, Newsday. exclusively reported. that a senior official. from the National Security. Ministry had. contacted an official. from the centre to discuss. shipping the bodies. of two murder victims. and a suicide victim. from Tobago. Forensic. pathologist Dr Valery. Alexandrov described. the plan as “ludicrous”,. expressed fear about. contamination of evidence. and said he was. willing to go to Tobago. to perform the autopsies. provided that fellow pathologist. Dr Hughvon. des Vignes takes one of. his days this week.

A Tobago House of. Assembly source said. a pathologist claimed. there was a shortage of. attendants at the Scarborough. Mortuary and. as such, no autopsies. could be done.

Alexandrov said this. was a poor excuse since. when he made his own. enquiries, he found. there were enough attendants. in Tobago to. allow for autopsies.

Yesterday Moore said. to solve the problem of. Tobago autopsies there. should be a pathologist. permanently rostered. in Tobago. She said. some may argue that. the State can send pathologists. to Tobago to. do autopsies, which has. been the practice, but. this arrangement also. brings challenges. She. explained the pathologists. receive no extra. fees, have to pay their. own parking at the airport. and are responsible. for their own transportation.

“There is a cost to. them personally to do. this. This sets up poor. working environment.

Add to that to the uncertainty. of travelling. (to Tobago) and it is. very frustrating.”. Moore said the pathologists. must receive. benefits for travelling. between the islands. and it should not fall on. them personally to pay. the costs. She also called. for the forensics department. in Tobago to be. properly resourced.

She said there is no. outcry in Tobago as yet. but there is an inordinate. lag in autopsies. when deaths occur and. they are not done on. the same day as happens. in Trinidad. She added. that the wait for autopsies. is sometimes up to. 10 days and this has become. “routine”.

“It seems as though. in planning and operationalising. this arm of. state resources Tobago. was an afterthought.”. National Security. Minister Edmund Dillon. yesterday said he has. requested a report from. Forensic Science Centre. director Arlette Lewis. over the plan to ship the. bodies.

He explained the. ministry had dealt with. this situation in the past. and the instruction is. that one pathologist has. to go to Tobago.

“As director she must. take control of the situation.

I do not see the. sense with sending the. bodies to Trinidad. The. director has to sort that. out. If she can’t then I. will intervene,” he added.

Asked about the. time line for Lewis to. submit the report, Dillon. said it “must be. treated with as a matter. of urgency.”. Dillon reported. he “got wind of ” the. plan to ship the bodies. during Parliament. on Friday and he was. “very much concerned.”. He explained this is an. inconvenience to the. family who would have. to come from Tobago. for the autopsy and then. take back the body for. burial.

Speaking to reporters. during the Prison Service. Annual Sports and. Family Day, Prison Service. Sports Complex,. Arouca, Dillon also said. he has directed Lewis. to go through the ministry’s. permanent secretary. to “deal with the. situation” by getting one. of the pathologists to go. to Tobago to perform. the autopsies.

“If there are any issues. pertaining to them then. plan B would of course. be to contract a pathologist. and let he or she. go to Tobago and we. will deal with the issues. of those who were reluctant. to go to Tobago,” he. said.

The three bodies in. question are that of Iris. Benjamin, 71, of Black. Rock who committed. suicide by consuming a. poisonous substance on. May 14, and two men,. Dexter Providence and. another who has not. been identified as yet,. who were shot dead at. Mason Hall Link Road. on Wednesday. The. bodies remain at the. Scarborough Mortuary.

Benjamin’s relatives are. waiting for her body. to be released for final. rites.

Three calls to the cellphone. of Tobago House. of Assembly Chief Secretary. Kelvin Charles. yesterday.

It is all well to arrive at a conclusion based on evidence of some sort, or arrive at a decision, or arrive at the function, but what of culture? It seems to be the one elusive destination. From year to year the question comes up in some form when people discuss this idea of Arrival Day.

For Indo-Trinidadians May 30 is still Indian Arrival Day, the day on which the first shipload of Indians arrived on the island to begin work on sugar plantations where they would eventually morph into the recalcitrant minority and then recalcitrant majority by 2010.

It has been a significant journey, creatively to politically.

This year the East Indian community celebrates 100 years since indentureship was declared illegal and the shipping of Indians to these shores was stopped. And so this year, we have two occasions on which to reflect on the travels through time.

Such occasions that mark significant events in the nation’s history are also occasions to reflect on just how far we have journeyed from one point to the other as a community and as a nation. It is an opportune time to rethink strategies for development, and for those involved in social activism and education, to step back and think about relevance.

Relevance is always a key whether it relates to marketing or culture.

Today we debate marriage laws, tomorrow we debate property taxes and I cringed when the Minister of Finance stated on a television interview two weeks ago, that property taxes are a part of the nation’s history since 1818.

“Dear Lord!” I exclaimed, “the man is quoting history now as if it means that it’s the reason we should accept his decisions.” But history is not an excuse for accepting the way that things are.

It’s a living, breathing concept with twists and turns that cause events to unfold in particular ways, or not.

And that’s why we must recognize it as a moving force. We are constantly making and re-shaping histories — personal, community, national, international.

They are all intertwined in ways that we cannot see sometimes.

The concept is everywhere.

We see history at work in the attitudes to land, to property, to women, to success and yes, to arrival and so too, there are ways in which attitudes can be changed.

But the idea of arrival as a definite point, that we sometimes hear, seems to be rooted, I imagine, in the way in which we define success. As if success is based on one formula. As if, to be successful means x and y, where x and y are constants. And therefore “to arrive at”, seems to have taken on the form of having accomplished and therefore keeping it that way, with little consideration for changes in circumstances and the passage of time.

But arrivals also presuppose points of departure. It’s a notion that I particularly like. When one learnt to improvise, the teacher said, “Find a new place from which to begin. If you did the first improvisation from point a, think point b next time. That has to come naturally. Practice, practice. When it becomes a part of your entire psyche, it will flow.” I find this idea of becoming a part of psyche essential to understanding of our identities. When on each arrival day we lament the loss of culture even as we celebrate achievements, it might be more useful to think about preserving what is already still alive and perhaps re-shaping the existing into a form that is palatable for a generation that has moved along. Essentially it is sifting out that which is relevant.

It is often a difficult battle — the pull and tug between tradition and change. But it is simple if we know that there is no one identity. That notion of homogeneity is somewhat of an illusion.

How do I as an individual define myself as Indian or African, or Hindu or Muslim or perhaps nothing at all? There are many entry points as there are exit points.

When do I choose to depart from this point, to branch into the other section of a continued identity, is I believe what signifies a point of arrival. “There are many branches in the tree of life” says one Hindu leader, and so too, there are many branches in that which we term our identity. How we find the balance is the next step of the journey.

According to police reports, Richardo Francis, owner of Chan’s Mini Mart on the corner of Back Street and Crown Street, was at the grocery at about 12 pm when a group of men entered and announced a hold-up.

Neighbours said they heard one gunshot before the men escaped in a white car. Francis was rushed to the Arima Health Facility but was pronounced dead on arrival.

When Sunday Newsday visited the scene, Francis’ wife was seen being comforted by relatives.

Many in the area expressed shock over the incident. A woman described Francis as a “sweet sweet man” who did not deserve to die the way he did.

“They always say the good ones go first but we weren’t ready for him to go, not like this,” she said.

In an unrelated incident, a woman was discovered dead by her relatives at about 4.30 yesterday afternoon.

According to police reports, the woman was found with chop wounds at her home on Boyie Trace, Cunupia. Relatives said she was last seen alive on Friday night with a close male relative.

Police are continuing their investigations into both incidents.

There is a growing awareness by customers worldwide who are dissatisfied with the lack of transparency by banks with regard to bank charges and fees.

The headline for an article by Sam Dunn in The Daily Mail in September 2014, reads, “Victory over bank charges could open payout floodgates: Court backs customer over hefty overdraft fees.” The article highlights a long-standing customer of Lloyds Bank who won a landmark court victory over unfair overdraft charges which were crippling his account.

This quote from an article by Rachel Reeves in The Times in April 2017, headed “Unfair bank charges are putting our economy at risk,” sums it up: “It’s high time that the banks were also forced to end these greedy practices and stop ripping off millions of customers.” Bankers seem to share the view that charges and fees imposed on customers can be done at their whim and fancy and they should not be called on to provide an explanation. Their charges come at you left, right and centre with the most ridiculous being the monthly fee deducted from a dwindling account, then a fee to withdraw from that account, and a fee to use your debit card. How does that encourage saving? Not to mention all the red tape and trail of documents requested from you to open a new account.

Then, if you require a loan some time later, you go through the entire process again as though they have no records, only this time they ensure that your last relative must pay off your loan if, God forbids, you drop dead from working too hard to pay it.

There is also their practice that a person must be permanently employed for at least a year before being considered for a loan.

Has it occurred to them that someone can be permanently employed at the same company for as much as nine years and subsequently lose their job, so it makes more sense to consider how long that person has been consistently employed? It’s high time that customers realise the great power they have in exercising their right to choose, their right to withhold their services and their right to speak up when they are wronged. After all, banks are in the business of making money by either keeping or lending your money and then charging you exorbitant fees to do so.

However, your greatest power is in your numbers when you stand united, and it wouldn’t take very long for bankers to see that the only reason they can continue as a business is because of you.

VASHTI BOWLAH via email

“I don’t think it is fair for anybody to pass judgement on Marcia Ayers-Caesar without hearing what her side is,” Ramdeen said during a news conference at his Cornelio Street office, Woodbrook.

“The very least that she is entitled to is to give us her side of the story as well.” Ramdeen said there were differing views on whether she should be reinstated as Chief Magistrate.

“The difficulty with that is that we have only heard one side of the story. So, one cannot fairly say what conclusion you can come to because the Judiciary and the JLSC (Judicial and Legal Services Commission) have given us their side.

“But, we need to hear from Mrs Marcia Ayers-Caesar because the entire complexion to his story might change when you hear her side.” In another development, Ramdeen claimed that mermbers of the JLSC are expected to bring a motion at the meeting of the Law Association on Thursday to allow law officers who work in the office of the Attorney General and other government offices,, who are not financial members of the association, to vote at this meeting.

“You will see another debacle there on Thursday,” he told reporters.

“We are not getting any better and all of that is stemming from the fact that tose that are responsible for where we are will not manup and take responsibility for what they have done.”

However, Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal countered that terrorism was in the country long before the People’s Partnership (PP) government took office and there were two attempts to overthrow a government. He said, “and if you do not get your act together and deal seriously with these matters there may be another attempt.” Dillon and Moonilal faced off in the House of Representatives during the debate on a motion brought by Opposition MP Rodney Charles on the “exponential growth” in the crime rate as manifested in murders, disappearance of persons among other crimes.

According to Dillon, Charles was not aware that Life Sport has “Trinidad and Tobago on the world map right now. It is the genesis of where we are in terms of the ratings we receive right now.” Quoting a newspaper article in which a previous PP government minister is reported to have said millions of dollars was paid to the Jamaat al Muslimeen group, which had among its members criminals and ghost gangs, Dillon repeatedly asked, to loud desk thumping, “Did you fund the Cadet Force during that period?” In his contribution, Moonilal said on demitting office, “I warned this Government that we had persons going to foreign lands to be radicalised and it posed the single most critical element of a threat to this country.

We warned you about that.” Terrorism is the single biggest threat to TT, he said, and he thought Dillon would have announced that Government had established a unit to deal with returning nationals who would pose a security threat.

A similar terrorist attack as happened in Manchester, he said, could happen here, but instead Government members were burying their heads in the sand while the rest of their anatomy remained outside.

Earlier, Dillon claimed Government was continuing to bring a sense of security on the nation’s borders through successful patrols by the Coast Guard in terms of illicit drugs, illegal weapons and trafficking of persons.

He said recent patrols led to two major drug seizures with one being the largest haul since 1999.

As recent as Thursday, he said, the Coast Guard made another $2 million drug bust.

Moonilal said while Dillon boasted about the seizures, he did not say the Coast Guard used high speed vessels bought under the last government that could chase down drug-runners in shallow waters and not offshore patrol vessels that move at two miles an hour in deep sea.

Those vessels, he said, could not have been bought by Government which “cannot buy a boat to carry two trucks to Tobago.” Admitting crime detection is not where it should be, Dillon said in addition to training crime scene investigators, the DNA custodian Government hired has completed the review of the software that is required. He said Government was in the process of procuring the necessary software to develop the DNA data base.

On Thursday, a group of villagers held Nottingham, 28, at Hermitage Road, Macaulay near R’s Hardware and severely beat him. They pulled down Nottingham’s trousers, tied both his hands and feet and beat him for allegedly attempting to stealing a truck. Onlookers recorded the incident which went viral on social media. Cpl Brian Singh and other investigators at St Margaret’s Police Station later discovered Nottingham did not steal the truck as the villagers had assumed,

Police said the original owner sold the truck to two different men, one at Barrackpore and the other at Claxton Bay. Last year, the Barrackpore owner reported the truck missing,

Thursday’s commotion started when Nottingham, of Chaguanas, and a friend went Claxton Bay to collect a truck for the owner at Barrackpore,

On arrival, Nottingham and his friend asked to test drive the truck. But his friend drove off with the truck and villagers cornered and beat him,

The incident caused a traffic pile-up and when police arrived, they had to disburse the crowd,

Police took him to the Couva Health Facility and doctors transferred him to San Fernando General Hospital. He was treated and discharged,

Police said once arrested and positively identified, the villagers would be charged with assault,

Cpl Singh is investigating,

There is going to be legal challenges,. perhaps in all Ayers-Caesar’s. unfinished 53 cases, he said,. and the result could be that “criminals”. could walk free due to a. technicality which attorneys at the. criminal bar can use to seek their. freedom. The senior counsel said. there are accused, as well as victims. in each of these 53 unfinished. criminal cases, and the Chief Justice. has decided these cases would. be restarted before other magistrates,. following a meeting on. Wednesday with Director of Public. Prosecutions Roger Gaspard; Vice. President of the Law Association,. the acting chief magistrate, senior. magistrates, Registrar of the Supreme. Court and members of the. Criminal Bar Association.

Suenath’s view is that the issue. over Ayers-Caesar’s appointment. as a judge whilst she had these unfinished. business as a magistrate,. and subsequent revocation of her. appointment from the bench, “is. a situation that will get worse, before. it is cured”. The effect of the. decision of the JLSC which Archie. heads, Suenath told the Sunday. Newsday, is spiralling out of hand.

He joined with his senior counsel. colleague Martin Daly in calling. for Archie and the JLSC members. to do “the honourable thing”.

A senior magistrate and a judge. of the High Court, also shared their. thoughts yesterday on the ongoing. issue and whilst they were outspoken. in their condemnation of the. JLSC, recommended a cure of how. the magistracy should mend the. crisis regarding the 53 cases without. incurring any constitutional. challenges.

The judge suggested government. revisit the infamous Administration. of Justice (Indictable Proceedings). Act which was branded. Section 34, and re-enact the section. which abolished preliminary. inquiries, and place the burden of. reviewing criminal case files for. High Court trial before a Master of. the High Court.

The People’s Partnership government. in 2011, had initiated the legislation,. and after it was passed by. Parliament, the act was assented to. by former president George Maxwell. Richards.

However, government had to. repeal Section 34 when several. persons filed for discontinuance. of their cases in the magistrates’. court, such as UNC financiers Ish. Galbaransingh, Ameer Edoo and. Steve Ferguson. Section 34 in the. act prescribed a limitation period. of ten years for cases being held up. in the magistrates’ court or it becomes. statute-barred in respect of. certain offences, excluding treason,. murder, kidnapping, rape, assault,. drug trafficking and arms and ammunition. possession.

Another section of the law, however,. would have seen all preliminary. inquiries in the magistrates’. courts being abolished and replaced. by what the law had proposed. as “sufficiency hearings”.

Masters of the High Court were. to be appointed to examine the. evidence of persons charged with. murder, robbery, drug trafficking,. rape, and determine whether there. was sufficient evidence to go before. a jury for trial.

Speaking anonymously, the. magistrate said all that is required. to cure the issue of the part-heard. matters, is for the Government. to go back to the Parliament and. re-enact the particular section that. deals with abolishing preliminary. inquiries and replacing it with sufficiency. hearings. A retired judge,. in agreeing with that view said,. constitutional motions would not. arise on behalf of the accused who. may want to claim abuse of the. process by having to go through. another preliminary inquiry by another. magistrate.

Seunath, who once chaired the. Disciplinary Committee of the Law. Association for over ten years, commented,. “There is no doubt this is. going to get worse. If these 53 cases. have to go before other magistrates,. there is no doubt lawyers are going. to challenge the move. What is of. concern is that people who are culpable. of very serious crimes, may. walk free on a technicality. Men. who commit murder and caught. by the police, walking free and the. persons who would have been responsible. for this would be who?. Ask the Chief Justice and the members. of the JLSC who did not do. their job. At the end of the day, it. was their responsibility and I am. saying, they should all go. Start. with a clean slate.”. Seunath went on to say that it. seems that those who are administering. justice, were least concerned. about the consequences of making. a judicial appointment in the person. of Ayers-Caesar, but who they. ought to have known had unfinished. business in the magistrates’. court, but which runs the risk of. persons walking free for murder. and robbery.

“I say, the Chief Justice is responsible. for this blunder and he must. go. The country is yet to witness. the biggest evidence of this blunder;. wait when persons start walking. f.

Now, after years of paying taxes, saving, sacrificing and scrunting, we finally pay off our mortgage and breath a sigh of relief.

By the time this is done, most of us are retired or very near retirement age. So why in the name of God we now indirectly have to pay rent for the home we are living in, and which was purchased with blood and sweat? This in my opinion is a heartless decision by a so-called caring government.

If I am still alive next election I don’ know who I will be voting for, but I do know who I will not be voting for.

CATHY JOHN Belmont

The term ransomware is not a new one but the word was on everybody’s lips just a few weeks ago when organisations around the world tried to recover their information after being hit by a ransomware attack known as WannaCry.

According to a CNN news article, hospitals, major companies and government offices were among those that were badly affected.

The majority of the attacks targeted Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan.

In addition, hospitals in the United Kingdom, Chinese universities and global firms like Fedex (FDX) were affected.

Last week, Public Administration and Communication Minister Maxi Cuffie, in a press release, said he received an assurance from the managers of the government’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure that there are systems in place to treat with ransomware attacks.

The minister said Government’s ICT infrastructure, GovNeTT, is managed by the National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited (iGovTT) which is supported by contractual agreements with a contractor’s alliance of Fujitsu and a team of ICT companies.

In an interview with Sunday Newsday at iGovTT’s office in Chaguanas last Thursday, Head of Operations, Sherwin Ragoonanan explained that ransomware was one of the newer methods of attack.

“What the attackers try to do is hold your machine to ransom. It typically manifests itself via email when you open an attachment and at that point it starts to encrypt and lock all the files on your machines and you get a notice telling you that if you want a decryption key, you have to pay a certain amount of money to this account and they will send you the key.” He said sometimes paying them works but sometimes it does not.

“The key they send may unlock certain files but you may need to pay more to unlock the rest. So where it really hits is where you don’t have backups in place and you don’t have the ability to really restore and it’s going to take you down hard.” When the attack occurred, iGovTT was notified immediately by Symantec, a company that provides end-to-end protection.

Ragoonanan said the company was well-known for zero day protection.

“That means that on the day of an attack they have been known to come up with methods of prevention in no time.” He said two machines within an organisation in Port-of-Spain were affected by the ransomware but he said it was isolated and did not spread.

Ragoonanan said ransomware does not have any prejudice against who it is attacking.

“It can attack you at home, it can attack you in the office, it can attack the Prime Minister, it can attack a clerk, it does not matter.” People need to do everything they can to protect themselves from these types of attacks. Making sure your virus and malware signatures are up to date is one aspect, Ragoonanan advises adding that the other side of it is changing your behaviour while online.

“Don’t go to websites you don’t know about, you go to a website that gives you funny pop ups, get out of there. You see an email, this is where the email attacks are becoming more successful. They are spoofing from your address book.

You may see an email from someone that you know, and you open it up like normal, you open up the attachments like normal because the attachments may be seemingly innocent, it may be invoices or monthly report, and that is how we get infected.” Asked how vulnerable was this country to these type of attacks, Ragoonanan said very, from the perspective that a lot of people take security for granted.