“I want the JLSC to reconsider, as far as I am concerned, she is still a judge. I kept on referring to her as Justice Marcia Ayers-Caesar, as far as I am concerned, Justice Marcia Ayers-Caesar is a judge of the High Court and as far as I am concerned any such letter of resignation doesn’t have any legal effect in the circumstances,” Maharaj, a senior counsel, said yesterday.

Addressing a media conference at his Irving Street, San Fernando law offices yesterday, Maharaj disclosed that while he had discussions with Ayers-Caesar about the issue, he was not speaking as her attorney.

He however dissected the arguments put forward by the JLSC regarding her resignation, saying the removal of a judge involved the appointment of a tribunal by the President.

On April 27, 15 days after her appointment as judge, Ayers-Caesar resigned amid growing concern over unfinished cases she may have left behind in the magistracy, as the Chief Magistrate, and one day after prisoners almost rioted in the Eighth Magistrates Court in Port-of-Spain where she presided for the last seven years.

Ayers-Caesar’s resignation was announced in a statement issued by the Judiciary’s Court Protocol and Information Department.

Maharaj yesterday questioned the validity of the resignation letter suggesting Ayers-Caesar was pressured to step down.

“I saw on the newspapers, it was a headline, a letter of resignation was signed and there was some story of the circumstances it was signed and based on the knowledge of what I have of some of the circumstances, I am of the view that serious questions arise as to whether that letter of resignation can be effective in law,” he said.

“And if there has to be a letter of resignation, it has to be a letter of resignation given in circumstances which can withstand scrutiny by any reasonable courts,” he said, adding that similar cases had occurred where persons had signed deeds or contracts and the courts had been asked to determine whether they had been signed under duress or undue influence.

Maharaj said the JLSC possessed the capability to inquire about her workload as a magistrate before appointing her as a judge and “having made that appointment, the JLSC cannot use any other power to remove that judge.” “I do not see any legal barrier put forward by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission to prevent Madam Justice Marcia Ayers-Caesar from functioning as a judge,” he said, adding, “the duty is on the JLSC and I am confident that ultimately if this matter is further gone into, that this issue of not having outstanding judgements would not be an important issue.” He said the court administration department would have been able to provide reports to the Chief Justice for him to access the workload of judges and magistrates and to determine whether there were excessive delays in the magistracy or the Judiciary.

“I am of the view that the JLSC would have had access to all of the data regarding the outstanding work of the Chief Magistrate before the JLSC appointed the Chief Magistrate as a judge,” he said.

Asked whether she could be reinstated, Maharaj said, “It is not a question to be reinstated, she doesn’t have to be reinstated, she has to continue her functions as a judge.” “The JLSC has no power to say she is no longer a judge, the judge can only be removed from office if there is a genuine letter of resignation, or secondly a committee, a tribunal appointed by the President, there is a special procedure under section 137 and then that has to be a recommendation to the Privy Council and the Privy Council determines that the Judge should be removed from office,” he said.

“A judge cannot be removed from office easily,” he said.

“If the JLSC does not take steps to facilitate to continue her function as a judge, it would be open to the judge, as many judges have done, to challenge that decision and to seek compensation from the State,” Maharaj said, and cited the matter involving the late justice Richard Crane and then chief justice Clinton Bernard.

Asked whether the JLSC and Chief Justice should resign, he said, “From what I see, from what has happened so far, is not every error made by a judge or made by an administrative body merits or attracts resignation or removal from office.” “From what I have seen so far, I do not think there is any basis to ask the Chief Justice to resign, I do not agree with some of my colleagues that this matter at this stage calls for any resignation of the Chief Justice,” he added.

“What I do think however is that the Chief Justice as chairman of the JLSC has to get this matter reconsidered by the JLSC and to take steps to have reforms in the appointment process so that things like these may not happen again.” And whereas Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has said the Government cannot get involved, Maharaj said if he were still in office he would have written the Chief Justice. “I would have told the Chief Justice that you should look at this again and reconsider it,” he said.

Maharaj said he was willing to challenge the JLSC’s decision against allowing Ayers-Caesar to continue as a judge.

“If for some reason, the judge has to challenge it and I am asked to challenge it, I will undertake that responsibility and if I have to take that responsibility, I would be prepared, if the judge decides to challenge it, I would be prepared to go to the highest level to prove that the rights of the judge have been violated.” On May 5, 11 senior counsels in a joint statement called on the JLSC to provide information about the states of Ayers-Caesar’s unfinished cases in the magistrates’ court. Days later, the JLSC disclosed Ayers-Caesar had dismissed 16 cases in one day in the Couva court, after accepting her appointment to the High Court.

In a statement, the JLSC said they had been misled by her.

Also last week, former attorney general Anand Ramlogan initiated legal action on the constitutionality of the composition of the JLSC, specifically the inclusion of two retired judges.

Last Friday, Ramlogan asked that the JLSC not make any new appointments until the issue is determined by the court.

Marper Farm and three national reforestation and watershed rehabilitation nurseries currently boast more than one million seedlings.

The Prime Minister said, “For the better part of last year and this year, we are focusing on cultivating planting material because we believe that if we provide people who have the aptitude for planting with the right planting material, then it will go a long way towards boosting the agricultural sector.” Rowley was optimistic that based on what he saw during his visit that within the next two to three years, the unavailability of planting material will no longer be an issue.

Saying this was an important part of phase one of increasing domestic production, Rowley said, “I hope that when we begin to plant more, that we will eat what we produce because that is the only way we can reduce the import bill.”

Two of the actions seek to have the courts review the implementation process of the controversial tax while the third is a constitutional challenge to the property tax. In the judicial review and constitutional claims former transport minister Devant Maharaj, United National Congress activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj and Chaguanas resident Lutchmidat Ramcallie, are asking the Government to hold its hand on the implementation of the Property Tax until it amends the legislative provisions and before the court determines the actions.

Government has been given until next week to respond otherwise the three will approach the courts with their legal challenges.

In the constitutional claim, which will be argued by a team of attorneys led by Senior Counsel Avory Sinanan, Ramcallie has argued that it appeared that the Government was simply motivated to collect as much money as it could by collecting property taxes as opposed to collecting the taxes according to law.

Sinanan and his team have asked the Government to reconsider the manner in which it is seeking to implement property taxes and repeal the unconstitutional provisions of the Property Tax Act. In their challenge, the Maharajs – who are represented by a team of attorneys led by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan SC, argued that they felt the public has been ambushed by the government and the haste with which it has moved to implement the property tax in flagrant disregard of the enshrined fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution means that the government has been prepared to sacrifice the rule of law on the altar of political expediency.” Ramlogan contends that under the 2009 Act, the deadline for the filing of any Valuation Return Form (VRF) was April 1, 2010.

He argued that if citizens had failed to do so by that time, the commissioner had six months to forewarn them that they could be prosecuted for non-compliance.

Ramlogan said no amendment was made to the Act and, as such, the State cannot simply impose a new deadline for the filing of the VRF.

“April 1, 2010, having come and gone, the only power which the commissioner has under Section 6 is the power under Section 6 (2) to call upon the owner ‘to file a return failing which he may be liable to conviction under this section’. Thus, the Commissioner will effectively be seeking to forewarn about the risk of and/or initiate criminal prosecution some seven (7) years after the grounds for same arose and some six and a half years after the deadline for doing so expired under section 33 of the Summary Courts Act.

This is plainly untenable,” he said.

“The government cannot impose the property tax without a lawful assessment and hence the mad rush to do so for the sake of raising much needed revenue from a financially beleaguered public without reference to the rule of law is reminiscent of the proverb “the way to hell is paved with good intentions,” Ramlogan maintained.

He stressed that the Finance Minister could not simply bypass Parliament and impose a new deadline without amending section 6. “This is a most serious violation of the most basic and elementary principles of constitutional law,” Ramlogan wrote.

He searched the house and village for hours, but efforts to find his daughter proved futile.

A Missing’s Person’s Report was made to the Chaguanas Police Station.

Qenusa is of African descent, slim built, light brown in complexion and has braided hair.

The search also continues for a 13-year-old primary school student of Claxton Bay.

Jilliana Bahadur disappeared just two days after writing the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SE A) examination.

Bahadur, 13, of Old Train Line, St Margaret’s in Claxton Bay was last seen leaving her home last Saturday.

Anti Kidnaping Squad officers have questioned several individuals.

Bahadur’s mother Sharon Narine said that after writing the SE A examination last week Thursday, she gave her daughter permission to spend time with relatives in Chaguanas.

Jilliana was due to return home on Monday but never showed up. She was last seen wearing a pink dress and a pair of slippers.

Anyone with information on the teenagers whereabouts is asked to call 800-TIPS or any police station.

MY CONCEPT of “mother” is seen through the lens of my own matriarchal upbringing, dominated by grandmother, mother and the women I called “auntie” out of respect. My uncle was there, and there were of course other male figures, but the women were “in charge.” They were the primary caregivers and made decisions about finances. But most of all, they were the ones who determined how the children were raised; the rules, discipline and behavioural structures and values that would be imparted.

The notion of mother is complicated.Regional authors have interrogated her influence, often against a post-colonial backdrop, and a search for sense of self — common themes in the 1950s, 60s and even the 1970s.

Merle Hodge’s Crick Crack Monkey examines the struggles of a young girl caught between the different class worlds of Tantie and Aunt Beatrice; contrasted with the safety she feels with her grandmother Ma. Ma Lammy, from Green Days, is a strong female figure, loving, focused on her family, but a person in her own right. Lamming’s In the Castle of my Skin begins and ends with the mother.

Our shared histories have produced variations of mother and, as birthing rituals of Hindu, Orisa, Christian and other communities show, she remains essential to keeping the family together.

However, the elders who shared those rituals lamented that these traditions are no longer the norm for our society. Interestingly, this week I had several experiences surrounding mothers that seem to support this.

One mother brought her little girl to dance class, but the child, who was around four years old, whined and terrorised her mother until the teacher decided to do the class with the child on her hip.

The mother was embarrassed and I thought back to my own childhood, where it never would even have occurred to me to disturb my grandmother or mother.

And even if I tried, a stern look or squeeze on the arm is all that it would have taken to dispel any thoughts of misbehaviour.

I remembered this incident while catching up with a male colleague after. He was clear that women and mothers are the driving force in the home and in matters of business. “Women are in charge,” he said. “They also have the ability to come together, much better than men, to get things done. Men are more destructive, they don’t know how to build. Their instinct is to destroy.” I’m not sure that I fully agree.

We no longer talk about post-colonial in the context of identity, family and social structure, but the truth is we’re still struggling to find ourselves. And as we search, the role of our mothers in advancing and stabilising our society is becoming more critical.

For me, the question is how do we reclaim that space previously occupied by women like my grandmother and the literary Ma who became symbols of what a mother should be? It is a complicated question, but I believe it is one to which we must urgently respond.

Dara Healy is a performance a r t – ist and founder of the N G O , the Ind i g e – n o u s Creative A r t s Network – ICAN

Rowley opted out of portions of Thursday’s debate on his Minister of Finance’s mid-term review, visiting a sapling farm in Biche and Forestry Division facilities in Rio Claro.

We hope this was not intended by the Prime Minister as an indirect commentary on the quality of the discourse that normally fills the august chamber at the International Waterfront Centre.

It is understood Rowley gave Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat a mandate to have a million saplings ready for planting in time for the rainy season. And Thursday’s tour was to allow the Prime Minister to see what progress was made on this initiative.

Rowley, a former agriculture minister, reportedly told the workers at Maper Farm that he was concerned about the wanton slashing and burning of the Northern Range.

This, he said, has made it easy for forests fires to ravage the hillside and leave areas vulnerable to major flooding and landslides during the rainy season. Even in his own constituency of Diego Martin West, Rowley said, he is very concerned about destruction of the vegetation on the hills, recalling some constituents have lost their homes because of heavy flooding linked to deforestation.

Issues involving how we interact with the environment are not just matters relating to one public official’s personal views and preferences. As the case of forest ranger Keith Campbell last year showed, they are matters of life and death.

Indiscriminate slashing and burning is but one of the many offences on our charge sheet.

Also appalling is the practice of quarrying – sometimes at the behest of the State – which has scarred our landscape. Reforestation has been an ongoing activity in the ministry for years. However, there has been little transparency in how this programme has been working. How effective has it been over the years? And has it remained responsive to environmental changes? Reforestation is not only important in preserving physical safety, it is key to the atmosphere as well. As a nation this country has one of the highest rates of carbon emissions per capita in the hemisphere. Trees play a vital role in the delicate ecosystem that regulates our weather.

Last month marked exactly one year since Trinidad and Tobago joined 174 other countries in signing the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement at a special high-level signing event at United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 22, 2016.

However, the fact is this agreement is more or less in tatters given the position of US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party (American philosopher and historian Noam Chomsky this week reaffirmed that the Republican Party is “the most dangerous organisation in human history” because of its efforts to reverse climate change measures).

France’s new President, Emmanuel Macron, however campaigned heavily on a stance in favour of this agreement and has even called on US scientists to come to France to continue work on the matter.

It is a good thing to see the Prime Minister taking the lead.

It speaks volumes when the head of the Government makes an effort to underline issues relating to how we treat the environment as well as to the natural habitat of our precious wildlife.

It is also important that the Ministry of Agriculture be brought into the modern era and that it be repurposed to fit our needs in an era when so much is at stake at home and abroad. That should be the next stop.

The request was made after an attorney for the JLSC requested more time to respond to the intended lawsuit against Chief Justice Ivor Archie in his capacity as chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC), over the composition of the commission with the specific issue of the presence of two retired judges as members.

Attorney Ian Roach, wrote to Ramlogan on Wednesday, informing him that he required more time to respond to the questions raised by the former AG.

Ramlogan, who is acting on behalf of former UNC minister Devant Maharaj, is questioning the constitutionality of the appointments of retired judges Roger Hamel- Smith and Humphrey Stollmeyer to the JLSC based on their age. Ramlogan had given the JLSC until 4 pm yesterday to respond. Roach, however, has asked Ramlogan to hold his hand on approaching the high court for an administrative order until May 19 so that he can take instructions from his client and respond.

In his reply, Ramlogan said his client was willing to agree to the extension but asked that the JLSC not make further appointments until the issue is determined by the court.

Ramlogan also told Roach he was not of the opinion that his client cannot go to court before May 19 to seek a conservatory order to prevent the JLSC from making future appointments.

“It would be improper and wrong for the Commission to use Section 36 as a justification for carrying on business as usual in the face of a legitimate challenge to its composition and jurisdiction,” Ramlogan said.

Members of the JLSC are CJ Archie; chairman of the Public Service Commission Maureen Manchouk and retired judges Roger Hamel- Smith and Humphrey Stollmeyer.

“The moist and unstable environment accompanying the wave produced the much welcomed early season rainfall.” From 2 am to 2pm on the Met Office recorded 11 millimetres of rainfall at Piarco, with higher rainfall at other localities.

Moist conditions are expected to continue for at least the next 24 hours. Preliminary analysis indicates that for June to December most of TT should see near normal to below normal rainfall.

The statement said the other main feature producing the rainy season, namely the ITCZ, is far south of TT, which can expect a reprieve from rain over the next couple of weeks.

“The stay, however, will be short lived especially with the expected start of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1.” The statement said the Atlantic Basin seasonal hurricane forecast for 2017 is likely to be just below average, with the expected formation of 11 named storms, four hurricanes and two major hurricanes of at least categories three, a prediction below the historical averages of 12 storms, seven hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

The Met Office also warned that if just one tropical cyclone makes landfall a country can experience an active hurricane season. “(We wish) to reassure the national community, that in keeping with our mandate, we continue to closely monitor weather conditions and will continue to advise the general public in a timely manner, about impending adverse weather conditions which are likely to affect our islands.

“The public, relevant agencies and ministries are advised to adopt measures to mitigate the potential impacts of the rainy season.” A tropical wave is an elongated area of low air pressure, oriented north to south, which moves from east to west across the tropics causing areas of cloudiness and thunderstorms.

The march included 20 students from 49 primary and secondary school along with members from the TTPS, Air Guard, Prison Service Youth Training Centre, Coast Guard, Families in Action, and Rape Crisis. Jacob said the march is all about an amnesty everyone has to get involved to deal with crime and criminality in the Northern Division.

He said with a robust will to fight against crime, the police have all the support from all stakeholders.

“The Northern Division for 2016 and as we entered 2017 is the division with the highest incidents of crime and criminality that is existing and we have to get the message across that we are not giving up.

Once we join forces together, we can redress this problem of crime in the division.” He continued, “We are getting the support from the Mayor, the MP and all personnel, from the prisons, air guard, the residents from the area. I want to thank everyone who supported the event and most importantly all the school the principals and teachers, because they ensured that at least 10 or 20 students from each school participated in this march.” Jacob said the young people are the future and they are getting the message, however, he said with all the support he believes the crime situation can be turned around.

He said the walk is an important initiative to interact with the community, because the police need to show they mean business, and welcomed their support in the fight against crime.

“The event is not a one-off event and it is a continuation of a mentorship programme that we have with schools in the area. The Prisons do it on a monthly basis, going to each schools, taking them to the prisons and other areas to meet with certain inmates who have reached a high level of reform to talk to the young people. The initiative will continue.” Jacob said the four and a half miles’ walk was incident free, and participants of the walk also got the corporation of motorists and people on the side walk along the way. He said anyone could have seen the students were concern about the crime situation in the country by the placards they carried.

Also addressing the students, former Legal Affairs Minister and St Augustine Member of Parliament Prakash Ramadhar said the march represents the future of the country where young people are sending the message that they do not want crime in the country.

Imbert issued this condemnation prior to the approval of the report of the Standing Finance Committee and the Finance Bill 2017 in the House of Representatives at 12.48 am yesterday. The Senate will debate the Finance Bill on Monday.

Bringing the debate “back to its moorings,” Imbert said it was “shameful” that the Opposition engaged in fiction rather than deal with the facts contained in the report.

He said one of those facts was an increased funding to the Parliament to implement free medical care for Opposition MPs. He said from 2012 to 2015, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her administration “suppressed” a medical plan that would have assisted then opposition PNM parliamentarians.

Imbert said former government ministers had free medical care and they, “used it for strange purposes.” He said this funding would also help Opposition parliamentarians to run their constituency offices and attend overseas conferences. “I thought they would want to debate that, “the minister quipped.

Imbert thought the Opposition would have accounted to TT about the $500 million contract the PP executed with Chinese company Huawei for telecommunications services. He thought the Opposition would want to tell the public about why the PNM is paying $18,563,000 under the National Security Ministry to settle an outstanding debt incurred by the PP to the Harris Corporation for a digital telecommunication system.

Imbert thought the Opposition would account for a $1.5 billion loan the PP took out under the Housing Development Corporation (HDC)before the September 2015 general elections.

He said the Government is now paying $296 million to pay for that loan. Imbert thought the Opposition would talk about increased funding to the Service Commissions, Servol and the Accredituation Council, which the Standing Finance Committee approved. The committee includes all 41 MPs in the House.

He thought the approval of $196 million for the Health Ministry to purchase medical supplies was something which mattered to the Opposition. “Those are the facts not the fantasy I have had to listen to all night,” Imbert declared.

He continued, “All they did for the last two days is try to buss mark.” Imbert reminded Persad-Bissessar that a procurement oversight committee under her former administration, headed by former Senate president Timothy Hamel-Smith, was actually doing what she was accusing the Government of doing with respect to selecting a procurement regulator. He said these facts are borne out in a July 2015 document.