In a telephone interview yesterday, Bartlett also noted that her expectations for the mid-year budget review, which is due to be presented today in the House of Representatives by Finance Minister Colm Imbert, was non-existent as nothing new could be expected from the Ministry of Finance.

“I have no expectations for budget review,” Bartlett said adding, “We already know what was spent. What can the Minister of Finance say to us… that he is holding off property tax as he should until everything is streamlined better.” “While I would want to pay my property tax, I have to say the government is making a hue and cry about property tax, what is the income generated from property tax…$460 million dollars but you have taken 255 million and wasted it as far as we are concerned,” she said.

“We cannot afford that kind of expenditure at this time,” she said.

Bartlett said the country had come to a virtual standstill as there were no incentives to stimulate the business sector and cited a large High Street San Fernando shopping Mall which was on the verge of becoming desolate due to tenants leaving the Mall. “The country is at a standstill right now I can tell you that we are looking as though the country is going to shut down at any minute now because after one o’clock on High Street, San Fernando we hardly have any shoppers. It’s like a ghost town,” she said.

In a statement that made no mention of the late businessman, the company said no directive had been issued by the Ministry of National Security to fly national flags at half mast and so no such directive was in effect.

“As you are aware, correct flag protocol dictates that flags are to be flown at half mast only on official occasions of public mourning as is the case when the Head of State, Prime Minister or other dignitary dies.

“Recently, flags in Trinidad & Tobago were flown at half mast in observance of the deaths of former Prime Minister, Patrick Manning and former Cuban President, Fidel Castro. No such directive is in effect at this time.” “We can however report that we experienced difficulty in hoisting the flag this morning, when a winching mechanism which is used to raise the flag along the length of the pole, malfunctioned.

“We are reliably informed by our technical team that as a result of recent disuse, the winching mechanism ‘seized’ when operated today.” The statement said that any photographs depicting the flag at half-mast were likely taken during that period.

“The issue was subsequently resolved, and at around 10 am the flag was lifted to full mast and was flown in its ‘correct’ position for the remainder of the day – a fact that anyone who was in the area after that time can readily attest to.” The flag at Macoya has not been flown for weeks due to a lack of foreign currency to buy replacements.

The flag is 2,160 sq ft in size (its dimensions are 60 feet by 36 feet) and it is flown on a pole 150 feet in height.

“Due to the high winds at this location, the flag is changed every two to three months.

A shipment of Flags was received this past weekend and our team set about to install a new flag this morning.” The company said they fully bear the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars for this flag as a display of national pride

Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine reminded Rishi Pancham, in the San Fernando Magistrates’ court, that he had 14 convictions over the past ten years. The magistrate however took into consideration that he pleaded guilty to the charge that on March 26, he stole the washer and pipes from Arthur Samaroo in Claxton Bay.

Asked why he committed the act, Pancham confessed to magistrate Antoine, “I am a drug addict.” Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said that when confronted by police as to why he stole the items from Samaroo’s businessplace on Southern Main Road, Claxton Bay, Pancham, 43, also of the same address, replied, “Boss, I tief the fence posts and the pressure washer; I sell them things a long time ago.” Asked what he had been doing to ‘kick’ his drug habit, Pancham told Magistrate Antoine that he had been making preparations to enrol at the Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Piparo. “I was fixing up my papers to go,” Pancham said. Magistrate Antoine told Pancham that she considered his guilty plea, and also the fact that no weapon was used against anyone in the commission of the crime. She told him that a fitting sentence for the offence, considering all the circumstances, would be two years in jail.

Tableland did not play matches against Queen’s Park and Merry Boys last weekend, citing significant financial strain as the reason.

Tableland will, however, compete in the remaining matches of the three-day competition.

Rampersad, who met with other members of the National League on Monday night, said after the season has concluded, the league plans to meet with the various clubs to determine what measures can be taken to improve their day-to-day running.

Rampersad said Bamboo and Dreadnought, two clubs that play in the East/North-East Championship Division, have also defaulted matches recently but he is uncertain if their issues are also financial.

Rampersad said the National League is gathering more information before a decision is made on the clubs that defaulted matches.

Rampersad said, “What we have decided to do is examine the whole thing, we have asked a Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board official to get all the information in respect to Tableland.

There were two other clubs (Bamboo and Dreadnought) that have defaulted the last couple games. We’re just gathering all the information and then we will meet in another few days to collate the information and decide what course of action we will take.” Rampersad believes clubs may have problems at an administrative level and more discussion needs to take place.

“We also have looked at the bigger picture and we feel that clubs are falling away administratively.

After this season we need to look at their whole administrative structure. We are going to meet with them and find out there weaknesses. We have a fair idea, but we want to know what is happening in relation to their communities. We will be visiting those clubs in clusters and after that we will compile a report and then decide how we can assist the clubs, whether it is administrative, cricket (matters) or development (matters). Clearly there is a need for us to bring our clubs in line with proper structure.” Rampersad said the National League may meet again this week on the matter.

Declaring the GCP opened in its auditorium, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said, “What we expect today, is that as Government moves into one and a half million square feet of first class office space, there would be significant reduction of rental of private sector premises.” The plaza, he continued, is an extremely costly piece of infrastructure and Government would be the first to acknowledge there was underestimation of costs and significant management issues .

These issues, he added, “should in no way defeat the product of the vision.” Housed within the plaza are the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs; Immigration Division and the Board of Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise Division of the Ministry of Finance .

The new facility will save Government $18.3 million annually in rental and the plaza will house 3,291 public servants in stateof- the art offices, reducing the number of public officers working in unsuitable work spaces which draws scrutiny from the Occupational Health and Safety Agency and the ire of representative trades unions .

Rowley said, if Government had to rent accommodation of this quality in the city, “We are talking about a quarter billion this year. We are talking about an annual rental of about $360 million. Not that we are here for free. There would be significant maintenance cost on these structures.” Arrangements to maintain the buildings, security and other considerations will be put in place, he said. Noting there will be a number of unused buildings Government will no longer rent, he called on the owners to consider providing them for housing to the upper and lower middle class in the city. It was always Government’s intention, Rowley said, not to rely heavily on rental accommodation. Many property owners, he added, made a handsome penny renting to Government, renting in some instances, sub-standard buildings .

Noting Finance Minister Colm Imbert would have said there was 700 square feet of vacant space between the Customs and Excise and BIR buildings, Rowley said, “we are now in a position to move the Fraud Squad into those. So that the rash of unattended white collar crimes could be properly attended to.” The Finance Ministry hiring 250 people for administration of the property tax, and hiring of an additional number for VAT, will all be housed in the BIR building .

Rowley called on public servants who previously complained about poor accommodation, to show taxpayers who are footing the bill, their appreciation by improving productively and efficiency .

In times of reduced revenues, he said, Government has completed the GCP and has also done the same thing with the Brain Lara Stadium, scheduled to open on Friday. Whatever the problems were in the beginning with the stadium, he said, let it not be said that Government sank millions of dollars into nothing .

While the Plaza and stadium are big projects, he said, small projects will also be completed despite diminished revenue due to the slump in oil and gas prices. The construction of the Carenage Fish Port facility, Diego Martin Sports Complex and Bagatelle Community Centre, allowed to languish in recent years when revenue was flowing, has begun .

Touching on the ageing Portof- Spain General Hospital, Rowley said there are serious engineering difficulties there and should a sizeable earthquake hit, there could be structural failure .

“We are not embarking on building a new hospital, but we are retrofitting to deal with that real threat in our main hospital,” he said .

In responding to a question in the Senate yesterday, Dillon said out of this figure, “153 were deemed as homicides.” The minister explained that deaths are classified as natural, unnatural or undetermined.

He said unnatural causes of death include murder and suicides.

He added that for this period, 18 autopsies were defined as undetermined.

Dillon said 268 autopsies were conducted at the Forensic Science Centre in Port-of-Spain while ten were done in Scarborough.

San Fernando CID officers carried out an exercise at a guest house located at Block 2 in Palmiste during the early morning hours and arrested four persons. Two men and a 19-year-old woman , all from Venezuela were taken into custody after they were unable to produce passports.

A 27-year-old contractor from Chaguanas who was asleep in one of the bedrooms was also arrested after police found a loaded Baretta pistol under his pillow. Cpl Simon, PCs Morris, Lange and others were involved in the operation.

He assured senators that police officers, “are looking vigorously to locate the remaining four.” Dillon said it was apparent that many teenagers leave home, “of their own free will and these are domestic issues.” The minister said the Police Service is doing what it can through police youth clubs to help teenagers to make informed choices.

Dillon encouraged parents and guardians to develop better communication with their children.

In response to another question, Dillon said there are no plans to precept soldiers who were deployed recently to Enterprise in Chaguanas. Later in the sitting, Dillon said no audits were submitted for the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) to Parliament for the last five years because of the efforts by the former People’s Partnership (PP) government to dismantle the agency. He said since last January, proper metrics are being used to evaluate the performance of the SSA and there is also a unit within the ministry that assists in this exercise.

Located on the upper level, the bistro’s decor is a mix of modern creativity with spots of furniture and fittings from Morocco, Italy and Indonesia.

While the menu is essentially European local fare is also available to customers.

“Our bistro is European but you also get some local food.

When you come here, it’s like having home-cooked food.

We have callaloo, lasagne, pasta, cocktails, tea, juices, muffins, egg-based bread and much more,” said Gustavo Yuncoca, one of the owners of the business.

The other owners are Miguel Moncader and Gerard Farfan.

Paprika Bistro will also be making available to diners all of the recipes used by its chefs.

Opening hours are 10 am to 7 pm Monday to Saturday.

While the focus is on fine food, the bistro’s creative decor is sure to be a talking point with diners.

Among the restaurant’s interesting pieces, the Copo di Monti Chandelier is certainly one of the more eye-catching fixtures, along with a mural painted on the ceiling which also contains the restaurant’s name and depictions of angels The mural was done by Venezuelan Pepe Camargo who is Yuncoca’s brotherin- law.

“The artist was inspired by the culture of Trinidad and Tobago.

The angels represent different races.

The painting is called Bacchus (Roman God of Wine). “Our wine is affordable and so is our food. We want to encourage people . Wines range from $180 to $800,” Yuncoca said.

One section of the bistro’s decor contains photos of Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, Marilyn Munroe and John Lennon, among other celebrities.

Another area was designed to represent a forest, with aluminium moose heads mounted on the wall.

The food serving counter was illuminated with a bulb, shaded by a rice strainer

Moze appeared before magistrate Brambhanan Dubay yesterday in the San Fernando Sixth Court where he pleaded guilty to possession of two grammes of cocaine. Court prosecutor Sgt Gordon Maharaj told the court that PC Meah, of the Southern Division Task Force, charged him after finding the illegal narcotic.

PC Meah and other officers were on mobile patrol on Monday along Charles Street, La Romaine, when they saw Moze walking along the road. They searched him and found the cocaine.

Yesterday, the prosecutor noted that Moze had three previous convictions of a similar nature for possession of illegal narcotics namely marijuana and cocaine.

All three previous offences took place last year.

The magistrate sentenced Moze to 18 months hard labour