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 mounted a successful legal challenge which has expanded access to citizens to challenge perceived violations of non-human rights provisions of the Constitution.

“That he had to pursue the case, at his own expense I presume, as far as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London is unfortunate,” Mahabir-Wyatt said in a media release yesterday. “If we recognised the Caribbean Court of Appeal, he could have done it in Port-of-Spain but that access was denied to him.

“For a citizen, in the public interest, to ask for a legal interpretation of a clause in the Constitution is surely the most fundamental of human rights in a country that respects the rule of law based on the principles of democracy. Justices Peter Jamadar, Nolan Bureaux, and Geoffrey Smith certainly thought so when the matter came before them,” Mahabir-Wyatt said.

She hailed the Privy Council’s ruling on Monday as a historic one with repercussions for the entire Commonwealth to consider as it establishes a citizen’s right to seek an interpretation of the Constitution of the country in which a citizen lives. President of the Law Association Douglas Mendes also hailed the ruling, saying it affirmed “in no uncertain terms” the role of the Supreme Court as guardian of the Constitution and protector of the rule of law.

Dumas had challenged the appointment of Dr James Armstrong and Romar Achat-Saney to the Police Service Commission (PSC) by the President, in 2013.

His challenge can now be decided by the local court. The Law Lords in their ruling said the case raised “an important question about the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear an application by a citizen for the Court to interpret a provision of the Constitution.” The appellate court and the Privy Council had found that there was no established tradition in Trinidad and Tobago which prevented a citizen with a legitimate interest in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. In their ruling, the British Law Lords also held that the question raised by Dumas was one for the court to decide.

Eyewitnesses claimed that a gunman unknown to them was seen walking towards Julien and was also seen firing several shots at the victim. The man then fled the scene after Julien slumped to the ground. The victim was rushed to the St James Infirmary where he died around 8.05 pm.

Homicide officers who went to the scene of the shooting death recovered nine spent shells and three projectiles. Investigations are continuing.

Sylvia Ester Bonas, 22, of Laventille Road appeared before Magistrate Indira Misir- Gosine who read the charge that on Harris Street, without the authority of the Commissioner of Police, did assume the name of a police officer, that is, Woman Police Officer Bonas, which the said Sylvie Ester Bonas would by law not be entitled to do, on her own.

The charge was laid under the Police Service Act 2006 and followed the arrest which took place in proximity of the courthouse by Cpl Kevin Crawford and one of the court prosecutors Sgt Gordon Maharaj. Bonas was taken before Justice of the Peace Sandra Soogrim-Ramsaran Thursday afternoon in the same courthouse and was remanded into custody to reappear yesterday.

The woman spent the night in a cell at the nearby police station and was handcuffed yesterday morning when she was taken before Magistrate Misir-Gosine in the Fourth Court. After the charge was read and Bonas pleaded not guilty, attorney Reno Teekasingh pleaded for bail, telling the court the defendant lives with her family.

Magistrate Misir- Gosine asked Bonas about her occupation and she said she was an accountant, but not qualified. She then said she was doing a course in Accounting in Small Business. The magistrate questioned Bonas further about her qualification and said, “I don’t want you to be accused of impersonating an accountant as well.” Cpl Crawford who laid the charge brought a t-shirt into the courtroom as evidence.

Bail was set at $20,000 and the case adjourned to May 25.

The match was the final chance for the Under-15 cricketers to impress the national selectors. Sachin Emrit led the way for North, scoring 59 off 109 deliveries to guide North to 205 for eight.

Emrit, who cracked four fours, was ably supported by Andrew Rambarran and Gerard Chin who scored 30 and 28 respectively.

Changoor was the chief destroyer for South, grabbing three for 30 in nine overs.

Justin Manick, Darren Samlal, Isiah Gomez, Tariq Mohammed and Pitiram all took one wicket. In reply, a 76- run unbroken fourth wicket partnership between Pitiram and captain Tariq Mohammed led South to 206/3 in 37 overs. Pitiram cracked 49 not out off 71 deliveries with three fours, while Mohammed scored an unbeaten 37 off 35 balls with three fours.

Earlier in the innings, wicketkeeper Aaron Bankay contributed 48 from 64 balls with five fours.

The wicket takers for South were Jabari Phillip (1/35), Chadeon Raymond (1/20) and Anderson Mahase (1/28). Changoor won the man of the match award.

The selectors may be concerned about the number of extras given away in the match, with North giving away 33 extras and South leaking 22 extras.

The charge read that they robbed Anjanie Mohammed of the bracelet at Gransaul Street. The charge stemmed from an incident in which the woman was walking along the street at about mid-morning when a vehicle drove close to her and stopped.

She was attacked and robbed of the bracelet which she was wearing on her right hand.

Attorney Chantal Paul yesterday pleaded for bail for all three men.

All except Ollieverre, were granted $100,000 bail each with a surety.

They are to reappear in court on June 9.

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.

“The Atlantic Provider and. the (Trinity Transporter) barge. definitely not working for us. We. tried it for the past three weeks. and it’s not working. The most. we could do is protest for a better. boat, it’s up to government to give. us something because in a matter. of weeks Tobago will be in a dire. state.”. Trucker Sheldon Lezama described. the new cargo transportation. system as a total failure.

“This provider is not providing. for us, Tobago is suffering, we. not getting enough goods across. to efficiently distribute across to. Tobago…It’s a ripple effect; because. of this whole thing we can’t. mind our families.

“What is sad is the Tobago politicians. not doing anything about. it they are just sitting back and. watching everything. It’s taking. three to four days to make one. sailing when you do get there its. taking three to four days to get. back. From a Superfast Galicia. that used to hold 150 trucks now. we have come to a stage where. we can only carry 50 trucks maximum.”. Some of their issues are. there is no passenger area, the. Atlantic Provider is too small. and slow, the Trinity Transporter. barge is unreliable and can cause. permanent damages to vehicles. and construction materials.

Members from the TT Chamber. of Industry and Commerce, Tobago. Division and the head of. the Truckers and Traders Association. Horace Amede were given. a tour of the Atlantic Provider to. see the capabilities of the vessel. which they said was not impressive.

David Wong member of the. Chamber of Industry and Commerce. said, “It’s nonsense, it’s. takes too long to get here. They. (owner of the vessel) blames the. port for keeping the vessel back. from sailing. Let the port say why. the boat gets in the port at 4 am. and is not allowed to dock till. 6.30 am.

“Why does it have to start loading. at 10 am why can’t it (Atlantic. Provider) start loading at 1 pm. and leave 3 pm.They say they. can reach there (Tobago) in five. hours so if they leave there at 3. pm they will be here at 8 pm. If. this happens the truckers can go. back to a normal sane lifestyle. where they get to work at 6 am. in Port-of-Spain; the truckers can. do what work they have to do get. back to the port and get on the. provider at 1 pm and be back in. Tobago by 7 pm.”. Amede said the attempts of the. owner to convince truckers to. accept the vessel is useless, “from. the executive stand point we cannot. tell the drivers to take it because. they are not accustomed to. these problems,” he said.

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Reports are that the men were holding containers containing gasoline. Police said the arsonists began pouring gasoline inside the compound of the night club and set it alight. The men police said, ran off leaving workers screaming and scampering to get out of the burning building.

Employees and patrons escaped unhurt. Fire-fighters of the Southern Division Headquarters were able to contain and prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings. Investigators have questioned several persons but the motive behind the arson attack has not yet been determined.

In 2016 the night club shot into the limelight when residents filed documents at the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court to object to the renewal of the club’s bar-licence.

The residents in their evidence stated that they had endured sleepless nights due to the loud music. They also testified to witnessing patrons fighting and also urinating in the yards of villagers.

The objection was made under Section 21 of the Liquor Licence Act. In 2015 a footballer, Anderson Cornwall was also robbed and shot dead while liming at the nightclub.

Cornwall who was 21 years at the time was robbed of a gold chain valued $23,000. Efforts to contact owner of the Boardroom Lounge and Night Club Aaron Ragoonanan for comment yesterday proved futile.

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.