Mona, batting first, could only muster 91 runs for the loss of nine wickets from their allotted 20 overs with Sadique Henry top-scoring with 43 runs from 42 balls and Romaine Morris chipping in with 17 runs.

Jovan Ali (2/24) led the bowling attack for the Trinidad campus while former TT Red Force players Bryan Charles and Yannick Ottley had identical figures (1/13).

The talented wicket-keeper/ batsman Amir Jangoo ensured the target of 92 runs was an easy victory for St Augustine with an entertaining knock of 32 runs from 16 balls, including three fours and two sixes. Also contributing to the score were Ottley (19) and the Vice Chancellor`s Sportsman of the Year 2016/2017 Vikash Mohan (25) who ended the game in grand style with a massive six over long off.Akim Fraser (1/19) was the best bowler for the losing team.

St Augustine will hope to continue winning ways when they face Open Campus tomorrow.

St Augustine suffered another defeat in football, this time it was the female team losing to Cave Hill 2-1.

Playing at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex, the host campus had a superb first half scoring two goals from Julia Taylor (14th) and Ashleigh- Ann Dussard (41st).

The visitors had a better showing in the second half and were rewarded for their efforts with a late goal in the 85th minute from Ellis Akana but it was not enough.

The St Augustine Lady Pelicans will hope to bounce back when they do battle against Open Campus tomorrow evening.

Other Scores: Basketball (Female): MONA 45 vs ST AUGUSTINE 40.

Basketball (Male): CAVE HILL 63 vs ST AUGUSTINE 48.

Netball: CAVE HILL 67 vs ST AUGUSTINE 19.

Tennis (Male): MONA 3 vs ST AUGUSTINE 2.

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.

“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.”

Attorney Gerald Ramdeen issued this warning yesterday as he condemned moves by the Archie- led body for a restart of the 53 part-heard matters left pending by Ayers-Caesar following her elevation to the High Court bench on March 12.

Ayers-Caesar subsequently resigned from the position after it was revealed that the matters over which she presided in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrate’s Court were still pending.

The decision has since triggered upheaval among some of the 53 accused and their families as well as stakeholders within and outside of legal circles.

But during a news conference at his Cornelio Street office, Woodbrook, Ramdeen said the move was unlawful.

“Every step will be taken to ensure that the 53 people affected by this decision get what they are entitled to, which is due process and protection of law and if this decision that is made by this body of persons is not reversed by Monday, then it will go to court,” he told reporters, adding the move will be unprecedented.

Claiming the “summit,” which met on Wednesday at the CJ’s conference room, Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, was “clandestinely configured” to include three Appeal Court judges and three High Court judges, Ramdeen said: “I hope that the six judges, including the Chief Justice, understand that they cannot partake. It is not a body that is set up under statute and it may well be because of what happened on the 25th (May), you will have a court action where the defendant would be the Chief Justice, three judges of Appeal, three judges of the High Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions, four members of the Law Association, the Chief Magistrate and the Registrar of the Supreme Court.” He added: “That should tell you the mess we find ourselves in and where we are as a people and where the administration of justice is today.” Ramdeen, who is representing one of the 53 accused, Akili Charles, said the decision constituted a stain on the Judiciary.

“From where I sit and from where many other people sit, what transpired on May 24, 2017, between the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chief Justice, the Law Association, members off the Criminal Bar, the Acting Chief Magistrate, the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the six judges who participated is entirely unlawful,” he said.

“If they have any regard for the Constitution, the law and the rights, most important, of the 53 people who are affected by this decision, they will all do what is right and let the Chief Justice know that what happened there should not have happened.” Ramdeen, who is also a UNC senator, reiterated that a special general meeting of the Law Association will be held on Thursday to determine whether there should be a vote of no-confidence in Archie as CJ.

He said on Friday, the JLSC also will go to court to answer an application for judicial review as to why they did not comply with the law regarding the manner in which Ayers-Caesar, Magistrate Avason Quinlan-Williams and Kevin Ramcharan were appointed as judges.

“The JLSC is responsible for the mess we have found ourselves in,” Ramdeen insisted. “We cannot solve this problem unless those who are responsible for it man-up and take responsibility for what they have done. It is the only way we can move forward.” Ramdeen, at the start of the news conference, expressed grave concerns about the press releases which were issued by the Chief Justice’s Chambers and the Judiciary, on May 18 and 25, respectively, in relation to the convening of a meeting of key stakeholders to discuss the administration of justice in the magistracy.

He regarded both letters as misleading.

Ramdeen noted that while the letter from the CJ’s Chambers said the meeting would have comprised the DPP, the Acting Chief Magistrate, Registrar and a member of the Law Association and Criminal Bar, it made no mention of the fact that six other judges, also were to attend and that a decision on the part-heard matters would have been taken.

“How could the Chief Justice invite persons to convene a summit of key stakeholders to engage in constructive discussion on the administration of justice in the magistracy and then say that bearing in mind that the discussion will focus on criminal justice and then publish this where the CJ is saying that it was convened to determine the way forward for 53 partheard matters left unresolved by former Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar?” He further claimed Archie had no such powers.

“Where does the Chief Justice get the power to convene a meeting between six judges, three of the Appeal Court, three of the High Court, the Registrar, the magistracy, the Law Association to determine the way forward of matters that are before the court?… The Chief Justice has come up with this idea that you can convene a meeting of persons who he chooses to invite and that body will determine how these matters are going to be dealt with.

“This has never been done before. Where does the Chief Justice get the power to do this.

Where does this body of persons get the power to do this?” Ramdeen also claimed one of the judges, after hearing complaints that putting the 53 matters back into the Judiciary was likely to cause chaos, told Archie: “Let me do it Chief. I could clear it up in one week.” “The administration of justice is at a point that we have never reached before. That a High Court judge will say in a meeting that determines the rights and obligations of 53 people who are presumed innocent – a judge of the High Court would say, ‘Give it to me Chief, I will clear it up in a week.” Ramdeen insisted the 53 accused must have some say in the future of their matters.

Ayers-Caesar is yet to speak publicly on the matter.

Responding to a question in the House of Representatives, Khan said most of these people were, “connected to the aborted Beetham Wastewater Treatment Project” under the former People’s Partnership (PP) government.

He reminded MPs that the project was terminated after the People’s National Movement (PNM) assumed office in September 2015. Khan said some of these people were administrative assistants while others were, “displaced by offshore workers who were successfully re-deployed in 2016.” Reiterating that none of these people were permanent employees, Khan said, “NGC had followed best practice with this exercise, treating them as permanent workers under the Industrial Relations Act by affording them severance benefits.” He added, “No other company in this country has ever done that.” Khan said these people will be provided with counselling and the move is important as NGC seeks to streamline its operations for greater efficiency.

Later in the sitting, Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George rejected respective requests from Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial and Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie to have the domestic seabridge and the closure of the Preysal Government Primary School, raised as matters on the adjournment of the House.

Her complaint was made under Standing Order 32(2).

She alleged the AG’s statement had diverted the House from its business, was irrelevant and was an abuse of the privilege of freedom of speech in Parliament.

Persad-Bissessar also contended that the AG’s actions were “reckless” and were a “wilful and deliberate misleading of the House”, alleging he had said things he knew or ought to know to be untrue.

Earlier, she said two top court administrators had refuted ministerial claims that a court appeal was fixed for hearing on the said Monday at 9 am. She alleged the AG’s failure to apologise for his recklessness is an offence against the dignity of the Parliament and one which has brought this Honourable House into odium and ridicule.

“Madam Speaker, in light of the foregoing, I submit that the Honourable Attorney General has committed a contempt of this Honourable House and with your leave, I hereby request that this matter be referred to the Committee of Privileges for its consideration and report.”

They include all attorneys employed at State departments, including the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Attorney General’s Office as well as the Solicitor General’s department, among others.

Their request was made in a letter to Law Association president, Douglas Mendes,SC, in which they have asked to attend the special general meeting carded for June 1.

They said although they cannot, as law officers, go up for election to the council as they do not pay annual subscription fees, they should be permitted to attend and participate in discussions.

On Thursday of next week, lawyers will vote on a motion which calls for the resignation of Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the JLSC’s members for the imbroglio surrounding the appointment of former Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar as a judge and her subsequent resignation.

The request is expected to be considered by the association.

Just two weeks into her appointment as a judge on April 12, Ayers-Caesar resigned her judgeship, admitting she failed to inform the JLSC about the part-heard matters.

In a simultaneous statement, the Judiciary indicated that the JLSC had met and agreed to restore Ayers-Caesar to the magisterial bench but that position later changed and on Wednesday last it was decided that the 53 cases left unresolved will be restarted from the beginning.

Already there has been strong condemnation of this move, with many attorneys, including those whose clients’ are affected.

Several leading senior counsel have also repeated their calls for Archie and the JLSC’s resignation.

On Thursday, criminal attorney Criston J Williams, who last week wrote to the DPP asking that he either discontinue the matters against six of his clients or immediately file indictments in the High Court, bypassing the preliminary inquiry, criticised the decision.

It was his clients whose near riot at the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court led to Ayers-Caesar’s resignation.

“This is the least palatable option for persons most affected by the decision taken. I want to know if the accused were consulted on their ability to hire attorneys or would they be subjected to Legal Aid. Do defence attorneys have to start over these cases for free? What about the ability of the accused to pay for justice to be done when they already expended so much?” he said.

Newsday understands that the Legal Aid and Advisory Board’s tenure came to an end on May 15 and a new board is yet to be appointed by Government.

As a result, the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority cannot appoint attorneys to represent accused persons nor can they approve legal fees.

Opposition Senator, attorney Wayne Sturge also said, “This was the obvious way forward there was literally no other option. Sadly, in Trinidad and Tobago paper committals don’t work the way they are meant to work and with the criminal bar being so small delay is inevitable. The other obvious issue is the hardship which would be occasioned by the accused who will have to find money to pay for the new proceedings.” “I am sure that legal proceedings will be brought to reimburse them for the cost incurred which has been wasted by no fault of their own. Don’t be surprised if there is mayhem. You can’t expect a man to lose seven years of his life in custody and simply accept that the administration of justice made a mistake. We are all enjoying our liberty while they are suffering,” Sturge said.

The minister said these people made it clear that they did not want their identities to be publicised and all parliamentarians should respect that. Dillon also said the Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Task Force has not been disbanded. Later in the sitting, Deputy Speaker Esmond Forde cautioned Naparima MP Rodney Charles when Charles charged that the media was co-conspiring with the PNM to downplay crime in TT.

Include lands used for rental accommodation, units subject to licence to occupy, rent to own apartments and land used as village plazas. While the HDC is “prima facie liable to pay property tax, Mitchell added, “The renters in the HDC are not home owners and are not liable to pay property tax.” Responding to a question in the House of Representatives, Imbert said the recruitment and selection of these officers has been completed. “Given the high volume of property owners visiting the existing valuation offices, arrangements were made for additional facilities and administrative personnel to assist with the collection of valuation return forms,” Imbert indicated.

The minister said property owners were given the option of using a number of drop boxes rather than waiting in line to submit their forms.

In addition, Imbert said the ministry is currently in the process of outfitting an office in Barataria which was leased for the Port-of-Spain office of the Valuation Division. “This arrangement will also facilitate the necessary accommodation required for the increased number of personnel within the Valuation Division,”he said.

Oropouce East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal asked if the Valuation Division was continuing to collect forms from property owners “in defiance” of a May 19 ruling by Justice Frank Seepersad.

Imbert replied, “The matter is sub-judice.” The State’s appeal of that ruling will be heard by the Court of Appeal on June 6. On Tuesday, Imbert said he was advised by legal counsel that, “no injunction or other order has been granted restraining property owners from submitting valuation return forms on a voluntary basis.” Earlier in the sitting, Mitchell said Section 16 of the Property Tax Act allows the finance minister to wholly or partially exempt certain classes of land from taxation.

These include land belonging to and in occupation of the State and its servants, a statutory authority or a state enterprise controlled by the State for public purposes. “Only homeowners, the owners of property are liable to pay property tax,” he explained.

Responding to a question in the House of Representatives, Deyalsingh said, “This patient was not denied treatment.” The minister said this person was admitted to the EW MSC on May 11.

“He received all the treatment…

primary and secondary…afforded to a non-national as per protocol,” Deyalsingh said. However he said, “Someone purporting to be his guardian/girlfriend/family friend encouraged him to discharge himself against medical advice.” The minister said this person did discharge himself and was taken to Piarco International Airport by the same individual who advised him to do so.

He said the person collapsed at the airport and was taken back to the EW MSC where he subsequently died. Deyalsingh reminded Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that TT provides acute primary and acute secondary care for non-nationals.

“That’s a global practice and we stick to our WHO (World Health Organisation) convention,” he stated.

Deyalsingh also told MPs that countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, “do not provide advanced tertiary care for chronic non-pay patients in their territories.” Asked by Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe about whether additional measures should be taken if larger numbers of Venezuelan nationals come to TT, Deyalsingh said it was every individual’s responsibility to ensure they are covered for emergency medical care when they go to other countries.