The bill lets a fireman get a “pension, gratuity or other allowance” for a post in which he/she acted for three years before retirement.

It effects one aspect of a 2012 memorandum of agreement between the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) and the Fire Service Association (Second Division) for 2008 to 2010.

Imbert said the bill follows similar past legislation to give higher superannuation benefits upon retirement for police, teachers, prison officers and local government staff.

Police benefited when in January 2004 the Pensions Act and Regulation 183 (A) of the Police Service Regulations were amended.

“On January 1, 2005, the Assisted Secondary School Teachers Pensions Act was amended to give effect to similar provisions. On January 1 2005 the Teachers Pension Act was amended to give effect to similar provisions.” He said similar provisions came by the amendment of the Prison Service Act in 2007 and the Municipal Corporations Pensions Act in 2004.

“So what we are doing here today is regularising a situation to allow a fire officer who has acted in a higher position for three years continuously prior to retirement to receive the benefits of the higher office.” “This matter was approved by Cabinet in 2012, and then the PP (People’s Partnership) government did nothing in 2012, in 2013, in 2014 and in 2015. It now falls to this Government to fix that lapse on the part of the PP government.” Naparima MP Rodney Charles hoped that the bill would not put some officers at a disadvantage.

“What happens if an officer acts for 10 years in a higher post but then reverts to his original post, compared to one acting for three years and then proceeding onto retirement?” He alluded that past service as an auxiliary fireman is not added into the calculation of a pension for someone who then became a regular service fireman.

Charles also feared that the CPO might not include in the definition of “three years continuous service” an officer who had acted for one year for one higher officer and another period for a second higher officer.

An officer who took a vacation within the three-year period might also find himself excluded, he said and called for the House to mull the whole bill rather than just one aspect.

Charles broadened the debate to call for a rise in the fines to those who impede firemen in their duties including municipal corporations failing to supply hydrants. He proposed revenue-earning by raising the fees charged by the Fire Service for services such as inspection of a plant, at present a mere $200.

Calling the Fire Service the neglected stepchild of the Ministry of National Security, Charles said officers feel neglected and unappreciated.

He said the Fire Services Association is saying no fire station in TT is OSHA compliant, including the headquarters at Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, even as he lamented the dilapidation of the Point Fortin Fire Station.

The House unanimously passed the bill. It resumes on Friday at 1.30 pm to do a private members motion on rising unemployment and continue the committee stage of Plea Bargaining Bill, plus another as yet unstated item.

But his mission serves a much grander purpose: De Freitas wants to use football as a means through which young people avoid turning to a life of crime.

“I grew up here and for the past few years I have realised that things are going in the wrong direction,” De Freitas told Sunday Newsday during a recent training session at ‘Old Trafford’ ground on Foster Road.

“We have had three murders right up here and whenever I come to visit my sister and I look at what is happening, I realised that I have to come back and make a contribution.” A certified coach and teacher, De Freitas says as a young man, football set him on the straight path.

“While everybody else used to be on all kinds of things, I was on the football field. So, I feel that this could make a contribution to take the children away from simply being in the block.” “Nowadays, by the time many young people reach 13 or 14, they on the block smoking weed and selling drugs because that seems to be the only thing they could do at this point. This is my way of trying to make this kind of intervention and give back to my community.” Football, he says, has the potential to reach many young people bent on a life of delinquency.

De Freitas, along with a nephew and friend, decided to revive football in the area last year.

They started with just eight children and within two weeks, that figure rose to 40. The Express FC Soccer School now has a membership of about 75 registered players, ranging in ages from five to 16.

And while not all the players attend the two-hour Sunday morning training sessions, interest is growing among youths and their parents.

Although football is the primary focus, efforts are also being made to teach the players elements of civics, moral values and social interaction.

Last month, manager of TT Pro League club Morvant Caledonia United, Jamaal Shabazz, was invited to talk to parents and the players.

The former TT and Guyana head coach’s message was well-received, says De Freitas.

“He really reached the parents in getting them to understand that if they invest in their children, through sport, football could carry them to places, which is really what we are trying to do – get the children away from the negative influences.” Some players have already begun to show potential, observes De Freitas, who is also the youth coach at Santa Rosa FC.

“Some of them, I will take with me to Santa Rosa FC and they will get the opportunity to see play (time) and see where it will go.” One of his gifted girls is being sought for national trials which he says will raise the profile of the club. .

De Freitas, who now lives in Trincity, says the club has not had any major problems with indiscipline.

“When we started, there was one boy who could not behave.

We spoke to him and he stopped coming.” The Express Football Club began in 1978 and quickly became a household name in Sangre Grande and environs.

“From 1978 to 1980, all of the players came from Foster Road and we had a policy that we are not bring anybody (from outside) on the team, no matter who you know, who your friends are who could play. We were not bringing anybody to play for Express.

“All the other teams in Grande used to bring four or five players.

We used to say we totally local and compete against the so-called big players.” However, De Freitas explains there was an exodus of men from the Foster Road area in 1981.

“A lot of them who were rastafarians went up to Toco after they were convinced to leave,” he recalls.

“We literally lost three-quarter of the football team and so the rest of the guys had to get players to come and play with us.” The club rebuilt itself and between 1983 to 1986, dominated all of the leagues in Sangre Grande.

“Garth Pollonais, Marlon Wiltshire (former players) and others came to bolster the team but by that time, the younger generation of boys started to come in. And so we had a nice combination of the older boys and younger ones.” De Freitas says as the players grew older the team dissolved.

“So, when we decided to restart the club, we said is only one name we could call it – Express Football Club Soccer School.” Apart from unearthing the talents of the youths, the club, which is registered with the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, has plans to construct an activity centre near the site of the recreation ground.

“We trying to get HDC (Housing Development Corporation) to give us permission. We will raise funds through the Commission for Self-Help where children could come and do their homework and where single mothers in the area could pursue courses.

This is a long term plan.” De Freitas praised the parents for embracing the idea and for assisting with fundraising ventures, such as sno-cone and pholourie sales during training sessions.

The club also visited the popular Harry’s Water Park, Rio Claro, before the Easter season. De Freitas also wants the club to participate in a tournament in Tobago during the July-August vacation.

“Whether we win or lose it does not matter. It is about participation.”

In fact a good gauge of a community’s desirability is reflected in the quality and standard of houses.

While I agree with some form of nominal property tax, the infliction of punitive taxation on all homes is an attack on the freedom and enjoyment of personal property. This is typical PNM-style fiscal policy where self-reliance and property pride are penalised to encourage State dependence and lacklustre, mediocre, Third World accommodation.

Reduction in Government’s wanton spending and the curtailing of wasteful projects and penalising officials for costly mistakes will obviate the need for much of the $500 million estimated harvest from the property tax. I am therefore in no mood to enhance my property in any way and in fact may have it “run down” to lessen my liability.

Ugly houses reflect an ugly country.

I can also assure all citizens that this tax will be passed on to the lower and middle classes with a pernicious multiplier effect. Do you know that super grade housing where rent is collected in US dollars are exempted? Future generations are robbed via depletion of the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and the current generation is being brutalised via taxation. I hope the next administration is kinder.

Listen to the ground well, Mr Minister of Finance.

ALTON DANIEL via email

Chasing 218 to win, Central Sports opener Kamil Pooran gave them a solid start with a knock of 71 but with wickets falling around him, Babwah arrived to stroke 52 from 79 to steer them to the target for the loss of eight wickets. Jovan Ali (3/19) and Ansil Bhaggan (3/5) had threatened the Central Sports batsmen but Babwah and Pooran’s knock shifted the tie.

At Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal, Merry Boys are fighting to stay in the match with their openers looking solid at 71 without loss in their second innings against First Citizens Clarke Road United Resuming on 167 for six in reply to Merry Boys’ 152 all out first inninsg score, Clarke Road were dismissed for 213 with Yannick Ottley reaching 74. Merry Boys, batting a second time, erased the 61-run deficit by the close of play with Mario Belcon (34 not out) and Rishaad Harris (33 not out) looking at ease.

Summarised Scores: QUEEN’S PARK 437/8 declared (Daron Cruickshank 127, Justin Guillen 72, Terrance Hinds 70, Nicholas Alexis 59; Vikash Mohan 4/82 vs ALESCON COMETS 117 (Steven Katwaroo 26, Vikash Mohan 25; Darren Deonarine 4/18, Kevon Cooper 3/37) and 239/3 (A Gobin 96, Vikash Mohan 74, Steven Katwaroo 36 not out).

MERRY BOYS 152 AND 71/0 (Mario Belcon 34 not out, Rishaad Harris 33 not out) vs CLARKE ROAD 213 (Yannick ottley 74, Adrian Ali 73; Amir Khan 6/65).

POWERGEN 183 and 166 (Jeron Maniram 38; Shazan Babwah 6/65, Rakesh Maharaj 3/40) vs CENTRAL SPORTS 132/9 and 220/8 (Kamil Pooran 71, Shazan Babwah 52; Jovan Ali 3/19, Ansil Bhaggan 3/50.

It is about helping children to overcome the violence they see around them in their homes and communities, particularly those in crime hot-spots, Homer Andrews (not his real name), a teacher at a primary school in west Trinidad.

Andrews does not agree with a proposal by the National Primary Schools Principals Association to reduce the lunch hour, mainly to limit fights, which in some cases lead to injuries, among students.

The suggestion is to be discussed with stakeholders Education Minister Anthony Garcia said last week, and, for now, is not a policy.

Andrews also disagrees with the views of TT Unified Teachers Association president Lynsley Doodhai that the lunch break is teachers’ time, that a period for them to recharge.

Lunch time is the children’s time, which Andrews says they need especially at the all boys school where he is one of four men on a teaching staff of 18.

This gender imbalance among teachers adds a special challenge to maintain discipline, said Andrews.

Supervision of the boys, which is required, at lunch time fall on the men, as the women do not go into the school yard and play with them.

Even for physical education, which on the timetable, it is the men who either carry out the exercises or assist the women who find it difficult to get the boys to listen to them.

When he was at the teachers training college, Andrews was one of 10 men from a batch of 60.

Most teachers coming out of the University of Trinidad and Tobago and the University of the West Indies today, he said, are women and many of them cannot discipline children whose role models are gang members and gang leaders.

This is the scenario for Andrews’ school which is in a depressed community where gang wars, even among schools, are common. As a result, the boys do not know how to play and socialise in school because they do not have men they can look up to and learn from where they live.

If there is no police presence in the area, he said, the male teachers have to walk to certain street corners to ensure some children do not get into fights with children from other schools.

“Female and male teachers in schools in communities like mine,” he said, “have to be tough.” Teachers, too, he said, have to be careful because they are unaware of gang affiliations.

Andrews however sees lunch time as an opportunity to help children relate with each other, but schools need either more teachers or volunteers to supervise and play with them on their break.

On the notion that lunch time is teachers’ time Andrew said, “that may apply at some schools but not where I teach because teachers are required to supervise children during the break, and that role tends to fall mainly on the male teachers.” Most times, when there is a problem, the male teachers are called on to talk to or to discipline the student.

Disciplinary measures was a big problem since corporal punishment is banned and suspension is seen as a holiday by the children.

To curb indiscipline, Andrews said, his school instituted measures such as “internal suspension” which makes students do community service in the school.

Like Andrews, some teachers from public and private schools, as well as parents Sunday Newsday interviewed, support leaving the one-hour lunch break because they felt it allowed children to release pent up energy and to socialise. And it was also seen as necessary for teachers to reboot and focus on the afternoon classes.

It had been suggested that 30-minute lunch worked well in some private schools. However, Oneika Bushell, whose two children attend a private school, told Sunday Newsday the proposal “is a retrograde step.” Last year, her sons’ school suggested to parents that the lunch break be reduced to half hour but the parent teachers association opposed it mainly because members felt it will rob children of play time.

Private schools, she said, should ensure supervision of students during their breaks. Parents have a role too, she said, to teach children to respect each other.

Suggesting that retirees and grand-parents could be employed part-time to monitor and supervise children during lunch breaks, Bushell said, “You don’t want strangers around your children.” Marcel De Freitas, whose children go to a public school, took issue with the view the teachers felt the lunch break was “their time” adding he was unaware that they were not required to supervise children at that time.

“TTUTA is on dotishness and that is why there is so much indiscipline in schools,” he said adding that teachers get more holidays than other professionals.

Private school teacher Maria Alexander works with a 30-minute break but is not in favour of it. She said the younger children need their break as they become restless after lunch.

Teachers at her school, she said, are rostered to monitor the children during the breaks as part of their job description. They work from 8 am to 4 pm unlike teachers who work shorter hours in the public system.

In a media statement yesterday, Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan pointed out that last Friday’s parliamentary debate on property tax was done in the “hope that the government would provide clarification on the assessment and valuation procedures being used to conduct this exercise.” “Instead, what we were provided with was the usual PNM dance of pussyfooting around the answers, either because they don’t know or they don’t care,” Khan stated, adding that tariffs such as the reintroduction of VAT and the property tax would place an extra burden on the population which already had to grapple with the billions of dollars in debt which government had accrued.

“In its current iteration, the property valuation tax is not only an infringement upon the pockets of our citizens, but also on their right to privacy and safety,” he said and wondered why homeowners were being asked to “invite strangers into our houses” during the “largest crime wave in our history.” “Based on the haphazard manner in which this project is being carried out, coupled with the public outcry against it, I am giving the nation the assurance that if returned to government, I will push for the repeal of this tax to be first on the agenda,” Khan stated.

“At a time when the people are suffering from the mismanagement of the economy by the PNM, for them to be punished for the government’s mistakes is not only cruel but apathetic. A government should be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the people whom they serve rather than force the people to serve and make sacrifices for the government,” he stated.

Meanwhile, change.org has garnered 2,730 signatures out of a goal of 5,000 for a petition titled “axe the tax again” which will then be presented to the Minister of Finance.

The petition’s founder political activist Phillip Edward Alexander stated that government could not continue to look for revenue shortfalls “in the pockets and savings accounts of the citizenry which is already reeling from depressed incomes, layoffs and reduced cash flow.” “To unleash another tax at this time will be draconian and abusive,” he stated.

“This petition calls on the Minister of Finance and the government of which he is a part to hold off on the implementation of any new taxation and instead calls on government to reduce the national operating costs and to begin the process of identifying and pursuing alternative ways of funding the economy,” he stated.

At the same time, they affirmed their A-2 short-term sovereign credit ratings. S&P also lowered their transfer and convertibility assessment for TT to A from AA-.

The man whose fingers are always on the pulse of these analyses, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, was not smothered by the news. He was quick to point out in his usual sky not falling manner that the downgrade was not surprising and that it was not that bad after all, given S&P’s more positive spin on TT’s economic outlook.

The rationale for S&P’s rating action was centered on the view that Trinidad and Tobago’s debt burden has increased sharply since 2014 amidst an economic recession. Although they acknowledge that the government has introduced austerity measures to reduce fiscal imbalances, they expected budget consolidation to be slower than was initially anticipated and interest costs to be higher.

As a result, they took the decision to lower their long-term sovereign credit ratings to BBB+ from A-. The stable outlook reflects their expectation that TT’s economy will modestly recover in 2017-2020, primarily due to higher natural gas prices and production, assisting with deficit reduction and the stabilization of the debt burden.

BBB+ is considered investment grade by S&P. This means that, as a country, we have adequate capacity to meet our financial commitments. However, it is felt that adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the country to meet those commitments.

One group of economists, Heitor Almeida et Al, pointed out that sovereign downgrades lead to greater increases in the cost of debt and greater decreases in investment and leverage of firms.

They also indicated that public debt management generates negative externalities for the private sector and real economic activity.

Rating downgrades lead to an increase in the cost of capital, causing firms to cut investment and deleverage. This we must look at carefully since increased interest rates will have a knock-on effect on business activity.

Once again S&P pointed out that TT continues to suffer from shortcomings in the production of economic data, which they argue hampers surveillance and policy formulation. Yet another time a rating agency is writing about our lack of economic data.

When will the new statistical agency be established? Are there now problems with this committee? Is there a minority report on this matter? Despite the stable outlook, S&P warned that if there was no gradual recovery in economic growth or there was weaker-than-expected fiscal results, they would lower the country’s rating in the next two years.

Government therefore should not be side-tracked. Its focus should be on effectively implementing structural reform that boosts economic diversification and investor confidence, firming up TT’s growth and fiscal profile while containing external vulnerabilities.

Government must also explore all means to fast track fiscal consolidation that results in a reduction in the fiscal deficit.

This will not only assist in warding off another downgrade, but can help in raising the ratings, as could sustained improvement in the quality of TT’s economic and external data.

Because of the additional feature, I asked to buy the more expensive one.

“We doh have dat to sell,” she bluntly replied.

“Well, why do you have it displayed?” I asked. No answer.

She turned and kept talking to her friend with me standing at the counter. Worse to come.

She called out to the passing young man, asking: “Do you notice any ‘ting different in me today?” Young man, looking puzzled, said no.

“Yuh eh see nutting?” she asked again. “Look at my hair, my new style, boy,” she pleaded with him, and me still standing there. Anyhow, I then insisted in getting her manager’s phone number, eventually buying the less expensive item.

This consumer experience may appear trivial. Some may ask what is my problem. But discourteous consumer service could help kill the very business which pays the employee’s salary. I have long understood the need for good industrial relations, a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, healthy work conditions, etc. But good heavens, rude, careless consumer service looks like an epidemic across the country now. From what I know, hear and read, I am not the only one. Hence, so much happiness to meet a courteous, caring clerk or public servant.

Attitude formation and change is a big subject in social psychology.

There are, of course, good attitudes, for example, in entrepreneurship, in self-reliance, generosity, kindness, loyalty towards your employer, towards keeping a clean house and community, etc. But there are bad attitudes, deadly ones that can kill a business, an organisation, even a country. You cannot develop a country, from top to bottom, without having a collective set of positive attitudes for development.

An attitude, as the dictionary explains, is also about body language, posture. You see a lot of that in stores, restaurants, at public service counters. As if you begging for service, and if you only complain, well, well. Attitudes don’t drop from the sky. They are often cultivated by the environment, structure. So for example, I wonder what kind of self-improvement or work attitudes are being cultivated in CEPEP or URP workers when you see them sitting at the roadsides, idling from eight in the morning. It takes a stout heart to overcome.

An attitude, more than what the dictionary says, has three major components – knowledge (cognition), emotion (affect) and a prepared disposition to behave in a certain way. That is, you already have a programmed mentality to sift or screen any incoming information.

Worse yet, if it is an opinion which opposes the one you already have on the particular subject – religion, politics, gender, reforms to preliminary inquiries, plea bargaining, jury trial, corruption by your political party – even when research and facts on the table.

Attitudes are stubbornly tied on to material self-interest. No wonder that all the seminars, lectures and “change agents” fail in purpose.

The enemy is the emotion which becomes the shield preserving the attitude, and the self-interest which subconsciously drives you to rationalise your original opinion. The birthplace of fanatics. Even hypocrisy.

Amidst all the manifesto slogans and Independence Day speeches, including those from the very top who, in these respects, are guilty as anybody else, much of our attitudes towards service and development are at best inappropriate – at worst, selfishly subversive. And sadly, even if oil prices rise to $200, the attitudes required for national development would not materialise. In fact, they will get worse.

Take crime and national security – our number one problem. Do you see the collective or individual attitudes required to deal with this number one problem? In fact, sometimes I wonder which is more deadly – the crime itself or our attitudes to finding solutions?

Founded by the late “Mother of Netball” Lystra Lewis in 1993, the Men’s Federation of Netball Associations, after an active five-year span, went dormant for some years.

But today, a five-team tournament will mark a revival of the sport.

Teams contesting the revival series will be Asa Nets, Chips, Jesters, Las Lomas and Malvern.

Tournament action will take place from 12.30 pm to 6 pm.

The 19-year-old stopped the clock at 11.56 seconds to win the 100-metre final last Saturday and, two days later, ran 23.99 seconds to take the 200m gold medal.

During a welcome ceremony at the VIP Lounge, Piarco International Airport on Tuesday, St Fort reflected on her successful weekend at the CARIFTA Games and said she will continue strive to improve and seek to dip below 11 seconds in the 100m and 23 seconds in the half-lap. St Fort has a 100m personal best of 11.19 achieved in 2015 and has stopped the clock at 23.55 in the 200m in 2014.

“I’m definitely looking forward to breaking 11 (seconds) and breaking 23 (seconds). Those have been my biggest goals since last year and I wouldn’t stop until I get it,” she declared.

St Fort, who is currently competing at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas, has her eyes set on more gold medals and in particular the 2017 Pan Am Jr Championships title.

“Pan Am Juniors, of course, defending my 100 metres title, and that’s about it,” she said, when asked about her goals for this year. The Pan Am Jr Championships will be staged in Lima, Peru from July 21-23 and St Fort will have fond memories of crossing the line first in 11.31 seconds in the 2015 edition at Edmonton, Canada.

Discussing her 2017 CARIFTA Games she said: “The experience was really (good). My teammates made it so much better. They were encouraging us, and that definitely got me through the double this year.” Asked to elaborate on the forms of encouragement, on and off the track, she said, “On the track, they were all there, always there, as much athletes as possible.

Off the track, they (technical staff) made sure and kept everybody focused and also kept the energy very light, so we all had the ability to do our best.” While indicating that she was not at 100 percent physically, St Fort said she makes no excuses.

“I was a bit under the weather and my voice was (somewhat) gone. I want to prove that, even under any circumstances, I’ll still compete and that’s exactly what I did,” she said.

St Fort has been under the guidance of sprint legend Ato Boldon since 2015 and expounded on their relationship.

“Being trained by Ato Boldon is a great experience. It’s very easy because he relates to us as athletes, because he did everything that we’ve done already. So anything I may feel or anything that may be (discussed), I can always consult with him. I’m constantly consulting with him,” she said.

Does she look up to him as a coach or as one of TT’s greatest ever sprinters? “Both,” she responded. “He’s a coach and an athlete. At present, it really doesn’t matter. We all go through the same trials, the same upsand- downs.” However, she was quick to point out, “if I don’t do anything for the sport, I hope to be the best role model I can be.” St Fort has a Trinidadian mother and she noted she had little or no aspiration of representing any other nation than the red, white and black.

“(My dad) definitely knew I was going to represent Trinidad from small because I used to watch the Olympics and I would say ‘mummy I’m going to represent Trinidad and Tobago’.

And my roots are here. My father knows my roots are here and he was like ‘this is the perfect choice.’” She said she frequently visits her relatives who are based in Couva.

“This is the best choice for me and the perfect choice. Trinidad and Tobago is the best country and I’m glad I’m representing the best country,” she declared.