Mohammed, 56, was shot dead at his Lilian Heights, Arima home on Monday when three men entered his yard and demanded that he and his wife hand over their licensed guns.

While there have been no arrests as yet, police from the Homicide Bureau say they are following certain leads.

They are seeking to recover surveillance footage which may assist them in identifying the killers.

The suspects are believed to have scaled a wall at the back of the house where three water tanks are located. They hid behind the tanks and waited for Mohammed, the son of former police commissioner Noor “Kenny” Mohammed, to leave the house.

As he emerged at about 5.30 am and was about to enter his car, the men approached him. He was shot once in the chest, twice behind his head and chopped on his left hand.

The killers stole his gun and then robbed his wife of hers which was in a safe in the house.

The first, as enunciated by the Prime Minister, is that squatters will have to pay property tax.

I fully agree with the comments of Dr Allen Sammy, former chairman of the Land Settlement Agency, that once a squatter pays the property tax, a contract will be created in which that property and even the land on which it is built will now legally belong to the squatter.

Had I known this before, then instead of subjecting myself to a pernicious bank mortgage, I would have done like thousands of others and staked out a piece of land somewhere.

In the past two weeks, a squatter has built a brand new residence on the mountain overlooking my backyard.

I suppose the Government will send a helicopter to collect the property tax from him.

The Government is encouraging the wholesale squatting of lands in TT . That is absolute madness.

The second issue is the possible reality that citizens will have to pay property tax for 2016 and 2017 in one go. Really, Mr Finance Minister? You have been suspiciously quiet on this one.

On Tuesday, Imbert said the “big-shot” owner of a mall will have to pay $3 million in property tax for one year. That means the cost of living in TT will escalate. No business owner in TT will swallow that amount of money under any circumstances.

Linus F Didier Mt Hope

According to reports, at midday on Friday last, officers of the Customs and Excise preventative branch, acting on information, conducted a ‘sting’ operation at the shed and placed the officer under surveillance.

It was alleged that after the officer transacted business with one of the importers, a truck was loaded with items from Curacao which was then seized by the Customs and Preventative branch officers who announced their presence. Documents were seized from the importer as well as the truck driver and the Customs and Excise officer was also interrogated.

Sources revealed that the officer had been under surveillance after it was reported to senior customs and excise officers that the officer was allegedly involved in undervaluing imported items and was then being paid a handsome price for doing so. Customs and Excise officers are expected to search the home of the officer as part of investigations.

While we can all sit back and watch the death of Venezuela’s democracy, we should not be so inhumane to allow its children, elders and sick (to highlight those at risk) to die of starvation and malnutrition.

The Maduro regime has caused the collapse of the food and pharmaceutical industries and they now control who gets food (not medicine) and how much, depending on if you agree with his revolutionary and socialist ideology or not.

If you don’t, you won’t be able to access the recently implemented CLAP food programme that consists of bagging the food that the Maduro regime thinks you should eat, and selling it to you at what they also think is a “justice price.” Venezuela’s public and private health sectors have collapsed and only those who can leave the country and find medication have a chance of surviving.

Venezuelans and NGOs have been calling for international organisations such as the Red Cross and United Nations to help citizens (not the Maduro regime) to ensure access to medicine and food through a humanitarian channel that can guarantee that goods and supplies will be distributed to those in critical need, and not to the Venezuela Army which is another arm of the Maduro political party PSUV.

Since 2014, concerned citizens in TT have made many attempts to send food and medicine to Venezuela, but only a limited quantity can be sent through the normal couriers which have increased the shipping price due to the demand.

The people of Venezuela need our help, TT , let’s not leave politicians in our Latin American and Caribbean region to do what they do best, which is to impoverish the population so that they can remain in power.

So today I call to all the humanitarian NGOs and concerned citizens to help break down the barriers and facilitate the opening of a humanitarian channel to Venezuela so that organised and credible organisations in TT can ship and distribute the food and medication being donated by thousands but which is not being allowed to enter Venezuela.

You, TT , those who can help need to step up and do what is morally right.

HEIDI DIQUEZ via email

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar cannot just say she is sorry for not repealing the Act and move on when one of the coalition partners, the Congress of the People (COP), had campaigned heavily against the tax going into the 2010 general election.

The arguments against the tax now occupying the attention of the Opposition were well known when the PP formed the government in 2010, so that Persad-Bissessar must now level with her supporters and say why the Property Tax Act 2009 was not repealed when she had the constitutional majority to do so. So too must Dr Roodal Moonilal, Kevin Ramnarine and Vasant Bharath.

However much we will groan under the weight of the property tax, the fact is it’s the law. And I remember Basdeo Panday telling his Cabinet colleagues when he was prime minister in 1995-2001, that you may dislike a law, but unless you can repeal it, you must obey it.

He did just that during his term by implementing the death penalty because it was the law, and he could not change it. The Rowley Government seems to be heading in that same direction.

Persad-Bissessar had the opportunity to repeal and replace the property tax when her party had 29 seats in Parliament. While it is commendable that she did not raise any taxes during her term, it is of little comfort to people who now feel burdened by the increase in their tax portfolio at this time. It is particularly onerous on the business community which is already burdened by a plethora of taxes and yet expected to be the generator of employment.

Persad-Bissessar is now promising to repeal the Act when, and not if, she returns to power. All I can say is there is an old saying, a promise is a comfort for fools.

HARRY PARTAP Tableland

National Liberation Day will begin with a street parade starting at Woodford Square from 8.30 am.

Hundreds of enthusiastic youths are expected to march through the streets of Port-of- Spain, dancing and singing to gospel music, while making positive declarations over TT .

Participants will then converge at the Queen’s Park Savannah for a grand gospel youth rally from 11.30 am. This segment will feature prominent worship leader William McDowell from the USA and other A-list local performers such as: Joel “Positive” Murray, Jaron Nurse, Blessed Messenger, Rizon, J Prince and Gates Praise.

This year’s National Liberation Day’s theme is “Worthy is the Lamb”. YFC’s director pastor Frank Porter who is spearheading the initiative said in a media release: “This year we are expecting 7,000 young people to attend Liberation Day.

We have been getting a lot of positive feedback so we expect the turnout to be even larger than in previous years.” He added: “We are going to continue to expose our youths to a positive experience on Liberation Day that can help transform their lives.

Our young people need a message of hope in these trying times, and that’s why we see the need to continue preaching the love of Jesus Christ and the hope and peace that He brings.

We reach out to both the churched and unchurched on Liberation Day. We want to let the youths know that suicide, violence and crime is not the answer to today’s challenges — Jesus is.”

The People’s National Movement needs a shorter fringe to its hairstyle so that it may see where it is going. Importantly, it needs to stop worrying about the Opposition dropping remarks about how bad it is looking.

See who talking? An Opposition wearing a skirt so skimpy when coming to allegations of corruption, it dares not bend over because of people laughing.

Supporters of both beauties need to criticise constructively as looking their best in the 2020 general election will see the winner set up for life.

Under considerable pressure, the PNM appears bedevilled by some of its educated perfectionists craving recognition. The party is looking shaky walking in high-heeled government shoes.

Wearing false eyelashes is of no help if you cannot see that the Afro-Trini base needs constructive support to believe it is as good as any and better than many and worthy of saving.

Too high a percentage of Afro- Trinidadians/Tobagonians are incarcerated for mainly petty crimes involving marijuana, or are murdering each other over drug turf. They need to look in the mirror and beautify themselves or forever reside at the bottom of the economic and political pile. Looking good is a 24/7, 365-day exercise.

The sitting Opposition needs to urgently acquire more modern make-up and clothing.

With running mascara from crying over the Health and Education Ministries, its eyes are too puffed closed to talk sensibly about looking good. Feeling bad and looking bad are not good.

The name of the voter is Joe Public. If both “ladies” are begging for a date, they had better be looking well dressed, sophisticated and educated on all levels in 2020.

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin

The man of Mason Street, Diego Martin went to the Barataria Police Station and told police that he was urinating near the Courts Mega Store on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway at about 3.30 pm when two men came out from a dark coloured car and, armed with guns, robbed him of $9,880. The money was from sales conducted that day. Inspector Edgar Beard and other police officers investigated the report and held two men, ages 21 and 23, from Santa Cruz.

Police searched their homes and the money was allegedly found. Police said the three are expected to be charged for various offences

The regional bank’s credit card products were also named best in the region by International Finance Magazine (IFM) in its International Finance Awards for 2017.

The International Finance Awards recognise and honour individuals and organisations in the international finance industry and celebrates the highest standards of innovation and performance. The awards highlight those who make a contribution to raising the bar in the financial industry.

This year’s winners will be honoured at a gala event and presentation ceremony in Dubai. The ceremony brings together a Who’s Who of the international finance community together under one roof.

“We are delighted to have won these two prestigious awards,” said Trevor Torzsas, the bank’s Managing Director, Cards and Customer Relationship Management, under whose portfolio the winning products fall.

“These awards are a fitting tribute to the hard work of our dedicated team of client-focused professionals whose daily mission is to provide our clients with excellent banking products and services that fit their lives.” “We were able to impress the judges with our highly rated mobile app, which has been receiving high praise from our clients, along with the impressive suite of credit card products that we have introduced to the market, most recently our CHIP, PIN and Contactless cards and our Cash Back card,” Torzsas said Since its launch last June, CIBC FirstCaribbean’s mobile app for smartphones has been downloaded by thousands of clients and has been consistently rated 4.5 and higher by users.

The app which can be downloaded from the playstore, the apple store and blackberry world is accessed via Android, Apple, Blackberry and Windows devices.

It affords users the convenience of checking their account balances, transferring funds between accounts or to other CIBC First- Caribbean clients, paying bills and locating branches and Instant Tellers™, all from their mobile device.

In addition to the CHIP, PIN and Contactless technology, the bank’s credit card products were recognized for the variety of cards on offer, co-branding, loyalty programme, customer service and security.

This represents a considerable leap from the last ranking in which we appeared at 44.

According to the compilers of the ranking, “Trinidad and Tobago’s controversial Libel and Defamation Act was partly amended in 2014 but ‘malicious defamatory libel known to be false’ is still punishable by up to two years in prison as well as a fine.” Without citing any data to back up their claim, the compilers further remark, “Most media outlets are privately-owned but those regarded as favourable to the government get the lion’s share of State advertising.” Additionally, the reporters foresee problems ahead. They state, “Several pieces of legislation set to be adopted in 2017 – the Cybercrime Bill, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Data Protection Act, and the Broadcast Code – could have a chilling effect on press freedom and free expression online if adopted.” The improvement in our ranking is surely a good thing. It is better to be perceived as friendlier to the media than not. But as with all of these rankings, things must be placed in context of the reality on the ground.

An improvement in international rankings does not mean we must now become complacent.

What does a ranking at number 34 mean when our neighbour Jamaica places eighth overall? Still, it says something when we rank higher than the UK and the US (40th and 43rd, respectively).

We must recognise that compared with many other countries we are lucky to enjoy a high degree of freedom. In the year under review, no journalist has been killed, no netizen silenced and no media assistant eradicated.

The media have also enjoyed the fact that they are self-regulated, and while efforts at consolidating their membership into a professional body are always difficult propositions in the highly competitive world of reporting, they have not had to contend with overt attempts to frustrate their freedom, as has been the case in past decades.

At the same time, the media remain subject to the “shooting the messenger” phenomenon. Additionally, in the context of a serious crime situation, what does it really mean to say there is a “free media?” Will the media be able to keep up? Wednesday’s observation of World Press Freedom Day was an opportunity for all stakeholders to reflect on what needs to be further done to strengthen the media in the long run.

The rise of social media has changed the nature of our relationship with traditional news outlets. It has democratised the public discourse, bringing to light matters that would have normally remained under the radar or out of the public eye. Citizens are now ever watchful and vigilant. And they have phone cameras to document events as they unfold. This means the media have been redefined in a sense. The media have spilled out of formal structures to more informal modes of telling the news. This is both a good and a bad thing.

Like other mediums, social media can be exploited to spread false news, to spin facts in a certain direction and to distract from fundamental issues. The rise of so-called “post-truth politics” is nothing new. Nor is “fake news.” Any tool of communication can be misused and the message misunderstood or distorted.

But balanced with this is the ability of the ordinary citizen to think critically and to conduct their own checks, using the Internet.

The media still have a vital role to play in all of this. The media should both reflect and shape society.

This week’s observation of World Press Freedom Day was another chance to recommit to this ideal in the hope of building not only a stronger media corps, but a nation moving forward.