Instead, the Siparia resident, a form four student, told police yesterday that she spent the two days hiding alone in some bushes behind her home.

Sanchez’s mother Anjela Ramlakha confirmed that her daughter emerged from the bushes yesterday and subsequently went to the Siparia Police Station.

She said Sanchez went into hiding after she discovered a text message on Sanchez’s phone. Ramlakha said Sanchez was fearful of the repercussion in the event a male relative had learnt about the contents of the text message.

“We are just glad she (is) fine,” Ramlakha said.

Newsday asked if Sanchez had any visible marks of insect bites. Ramlakha responded: “Her skin seemed fine.” On Tuesday at about 1.30 pm, Sanchez left her Syne Village to purchase an item from the bakery. When she failed to return home, relatives searched for her but she was nowhere to be found. All calls to her phone went unanswered.

Siparia police are continuing investigations.

Meanwhile, police are calling on members of the public to assist them in locating 15-year-old Akiede Thomas who is a ward of the St. Jude’s Home for Girls. Her mother Leann Alexander of Embacadere, San Fernando, said relatives last saw her at the house at about 8.30 am on Wednesday. At about 1 pm, Alexander reported her missing to San Fernando police.

Thomas was last seen wearing a pair of black three-quarter pants and a pink top. She is of African descent, five feet tall, stockily built with short black hair and of dark brown complexion, police said Anyone with information on her whereabouts can contact the nearest police station or 800-TIPS, at 555, 999 or 911.

Jazmin Mohammed told police she was the victim of physical abuse and as such left her home.

The Chaguanas woman contacted an uncle, Azard Mohammed, and told him she was with a friend in Carenage and did not wish to return home.

Azard, who spoke with Newsday yesterday, said he will be taking his niece to the police so an investigation could be carried out into her allegations of abuse.

Azard said his niece also sent him photos of her hand and other parts of her body in which she received welts from a beating with a piece of cable prior to her leaving home. Yesterday, Newsday contacted Jazmin’s mother Yasmin, who confirmed that her daughter received two lashes for her deviant behaviour but denied that her daughter was the victim of abuse.

She said, “All I want to know is that Jazmin is well and eating and is comfortable where she is, and then I would be able to rest comfortably.”

Wednesday’s Newsday report on the situation at the Port-of- Spain Prison and at Golden Grove in Arouca is likely just the tip of the iceberg. With an aging criminal justice infrastructure (some of which dates back to colonial time), it is little surprise that the State has had to tender over time for special measures to deal with these unwelcomed guests. But in recent times, it seems, the situation has become more fraught .

Truly surreal scenes were described in Wednesday’s report .

People contacted Newsday, from behind bars, to complain that rats are everywhere including in eating areas, in cells, in bathrooms, in kitchens, in prison officers’ quarters .

Videos showed rodents going about their business, oblivious to the attention they were attracting .

Is there any more striking symbol of how poor prison conditions are? Earlier this month came reports of a water shortage at the Carrera Island prison. The situation was so bad the prison authorities had to allow prisoners to bathe in the sea under their supervision .

Newsday understands that years ago, a contract was given to a local pest eradication company to exterminate the rodents and that company undertook a major fumigation of prisons. However, the contract has since expired and with the latest rat infestation, executives of the prison authorities sent tenders for companies to bid for a new contract .

While that process is underway, the rats are multiplying at a rapid rate, putting both prisoners and prison officers at risk .

This raises a number of questions .

What is the reason for the sudden upsurge of this hazard and could it have been foreseen? Why has retendering for what should be a rudimentary maintenance issue taken so long? Is the situation affected by the physical conditions? Is there some vulnerability in prison design that has allowed rats to proliferate? If large rats are sneaking in and out, what is sneaking in and out with them? This is not only a matter that should be brought to the attention of the Ministry of National Security .

It potentially involves local government and the Ministry of Health .

The later, in particular, has an interest in ensuring all public health concerns are contained. And make no mistake. While seemingly limited to behind prison bars, this is a matter that has the potential to affect well beyond .

There is a fear that both prisoners and prison officers could fall ill from rat-borne diseases including leptospirosis, and rat-bite fever. There is also the risk that people coming into the prisons, such as visiting family members, could suffer as well .

President of the Prison Officers Association, Ceron Richards, has accused the Government of placing the issue on the back burner .

“Calls for help on this issue, just like our pleas for stab-proof vests and CCTV cameras to be installed, are being ignored and in some cases bogged down by bureaucracy,” claimed Richards. “The Government knows they are dealing with prisoners who cannot leave the prisons and prison officers who are too devoted to walk off the job. So we have to take what we get. The only thing consistent with the State is their excuses and the fact that they are not dealing with this and other problems.” It is easy to castigate “the Government” at large when administrative officials fail in their jobs. Missing from Richards’ account is an indication of when and to whom complaints have been addressed .

However, it is clear enough in our view that more needs to be done by the State to modernise and sanitise the penal system. The system should be about rehabilitation, not a case of men and mice .

The goat racing can be made more enjoyable, however, if the organisers in Buccoo do something to avoid the injuries sustained by the “jockeys” of those goats.

The two-legged “jockey” runs alongside the four-legged goat, being dragged along at speeds not normal to the average man. My concern is the short area for these “jockeys” running at break-neck speed after the winning pole.

I have heard comments that goats weren’t bred for racing, that it is cruel to race them and that sport should be banned. But the jockeys are the ones who sustain the injuries yearly. The goats return to their stables healthy and the poor jockeys are limping around without proper medical treatment.

Food for thought.

ATHELSTON CLINTON Arima

And while I accept the importance of topics like the economy and the loss of the opportunity to construct the new BP offshore platform at La Brea, it was also refreshing to hear of his new vision for sports development, and the potential which lies in exploiting sports tourism.

The Prime Minister should be commended for suddenly embracing and adopting newly constructed centres for tennis, swimming, cycling and other sports—facilities he had opposed when he and his PNM were in Opposition.

The various sporting bodies must fan this ember of hope in order to develop the potential that Dr Rowley acknowledged. This actually was the most, if not the only, positive thing coming out of his television interview. I was very pleased to hear him share his interest in sports with us, and acknowledge the potential which these new facilities, along with older, existing facilities can bring for us. These facilities will encourage the development of our athletes and our teams for international competition and will also bring competitions in all of these sports to our country. This is called sports tourism, and it is a sector which countries have exploited to their advantage for years.

But why has it taken us so long? How long ago were some of these facilities in the promised, far less planning stages? We know, from since the Hasely Crawford gold medal in 1976, that our athletes must win medals before facilities to help them train and complete are promised, far less built.

Over the years, I have called for the development of sport as a means to building our athletes, our communities and our nation. The only times we have ever stood united and proud as a people were on the successes of our athletes and our national teams.

Years ago, when I called for the floodlighting of all our sports facilities, including rural playing fields, I was asked how the communities would afford the lighting. I argued that it was the duty of the State to fund such facilities, just as they fund street-lights along our roads and highways. Enlightenment finally came, and floodlighting now exists on most community playing fields and courts.

This is a community-building enterprise, and the development of competitive use of all these facilities will bring community pride, and unearth new athletes to bring more honour to our country.

But beyond the village playing fields and courts, the national centres for development of our undeniable latent talent will bring international teams to our country, for their training with our athletes and for international competitions to take place right here—just like long ago, when the international regimes did not require the sophisticated level of facilities we see today. Remember top international cyclists racing on a grass track at the Southern Games? Or the best international tennis stars playing at Tranquility Tennis Club back in the 1950s? Our Prime Minister has correctly recognised that these new facilities, which he originally opposed, have the potential to bring a wider range of international competition, and therefore sports tourism, to our country. However, for this potential to be achieved there must be open and obvious support for the sporting associations who seek to promote events and also to bring overseas teams here for training.

And it is here that I fear we shall fail, for we are totally absorbed with the bureaucracy of denial and delay for every citizen initiative in this land—and nowhere more so than in bringing events and personalities to Trinidad and Tobago. We have a committed propensity to complicate with old colonial bureaucracy every initiative which citizens and organisations seek to fulfill.

Remember back in 2004 when the then PNM government tried to prevent the visit here of Nelson Mandela? Remember just recently an annual Rugby Sevens Tournament, featuring teams from the Caribbean, Europe and North America, was moved from Tobago to Barbados? Tobago bureaucracy could not meet the simple requisites of the tournament, so Barbados welcomed the TT promoter, and that annual tournament has found a new home in Barbados.

Hundreds of players and supporters no longer visit our shores or spend their money here.

The social and bureaucratic changes needed within our governments to facilitate sports visitors and events are monumental.

Therefore, we who are administratively stuck in the 19th century may not be able to step up to the new efficiencies required to embrace and exploit this exciting potential.

I would like to be proven wrong on this, and see us institute an easy and welcoming regime for b r i n g i n g the sporting world to our shores.

Months after undergoing potentially life-threatening surgery at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, to replace the batteries in her pacemaker, Bouville defied the odds to the point where she recently celebrated her 102nd birthday with a reception at her home on Church Road, Mayaro.

“She now holds the record of being the oldest person in the country to have pacemaker surgery,” Bouville’s only surviving daughter, Jean Charles, told Sunday Newsday.

Charles, a retired teacher, also thanked the workers at the Heartbeat Foundation for the professional manner in which they cared for her mother, before and after the procedure.

But having a new lease on life is not something the feisty centenarian takes for granted. Bouville thanked God for sparing her life for yet another year __ sentiments which were also expressed by her relatives and friends.

Despite her condition, Bouville has shown little signs of slowing down. In fact, her wit and vivid recollection of pivotal events in her life remain sharper than ever.

At the reception, she elicited raucous laughter from the gathering when she sang a song with the hook line, “Never make a pretty woman yuh wife.” One of Bouville’s grandchildren also recited a poem which she wrote especially for the occasion.

Unlike her 100th birthday reception, which was held at the Mayaro Resource Centre, Bouville’s celebration this time around was scaled down significantly, in keeping with her wishes. In terms of activities, she still attends the nearby Mayaro RC Church and prays the Rosary regularly.

However, her mobility has been compromised by a broken ankle and fractured hip – the result of an injury she sustained while coming out of a taxi in front of her home some years ago.

Bouville also enjoys looking at specific television shows, including Crime Watch and the Bold and the Beautiful.

Having borne eight children, three of whom she has outlived, Bouville’s life has been underpinned by sacrifice, hard work and a sense of duty.

An unofficial authority on the effects of World War II on Trinidad and Tobago in the years before Independence, Bouville has led an exceptional life in the face of unspeakable odds.

Her pet peeves, she said, are lazy people, unruly children and gossipy women.

Bouville was born in Caparo, central Trinidad, to a Martiniquean father and Tobagonian mother on March 11, 1915.

“I am a real callalloo,” she told Sunday Newsday.

As a young woman, her family lived in several rural communities, including Flanagin Town, Brasso, Longdenville and Sangre Grande before eventually settling in Mayaro.

Apart from working on the construction of the main roadway between Carapo and Mundo Nuevo, Bouville also recalled toiling on cocoa, coffee and coconut estates to feed her young family.

Her longest working stint was at the JN Harriman Estate, Grand Lagoon, Guayaguayare, where she spent 20 consecutive years.

But life was not all hard work for this outspoken matriarch.

Bouville said she also found time to relax, over the years, listening to calypso, dancing and singing competitively at wakes.

“Now is only nonsense they singing,” she said, lamenting the calibre of calypso that exists today.

As a mother, Bouville said her children’s upbringing was her primary focus, going to great lengths to ensure they were well-mannered, disciplined and ambitious.

She said there were no designated roles in her home.“It didn’t have no boy work and girl work. The boys have to make up bed and do everything,” Bouville told Sunday Newsday.

Bouville said she intends to live for as long as her Maker would have her.

“Everybody have they number. God give life and God take life. He have everybody name written down but my name eh call yet,” she said.

Bouville also urged young people to respect their parents, teachers and the elderly.

Remember that in a democracy you can make yourself rich, poor or a fool, once you are within the law. In a democracy, riches are distributed unequally, causing many comments and protests, while in socialist states poverty is distributed equally, causing no protests.

In the last 18 months, many projects were stopped for whatever reasons and there were no protests.

So why now? The San Fernando to Point Fortin highway was stopped after billions of dollars were spent, resulting in a loss of jobs and there were no protests.

The waste water project was stopped when it was almost completed.

We will live to regret this decision when the droughts of the future make water scarce. No protests.

The Arima Hospital was stopped and is now being downsized. No protests.

The Tobago inter-island cargo carrier has come to a stop with little protest.

Although I have not read where the CSO released statistics to show that the country is in a recession, we know that is so. In a recession food (and waste water for agriculture) is of paramount importance.

So what action have we taken to increase food production? We put up the rice mill for sale because we cannot source parts that are available and we now want to purchase a cargo vessel and maintain it ourselves. Remember what caused us to place electrical generation in private hands a few years ago? Lack of maintenance.

Same machines with private management, no generation problems.

No protest on the sale of the rice mill.

Again we want to increase food production, so what do we do? Close down Caroni Green Ltd, a Government-owned food production company that is doing quite well. No protest.

We want to increase foreign visitors to Tobago so we closed down the Tourism Development Company.

No protests.

We are now building a road to Toco to increase tourism to Tobago.

Why? To shorten the time the boat takes to Tobago. In doing so we will now add four hours of land travel time to and from Toco and when there is a delay of the boat, for whatever reason, as is happening now, we will have to camp in the Toco forest until the next day.

During the September/October season when the waves are high on the North Coast and the shoreline is washing away, we will have to revert to the Port-of-Spain terminal so we will be maintaining two Tobago ports, a wet season port and a dry season port.

When an enterprising businessman carries out his action once on this road during the night, then that will be the end of subsidised tourism to Tobago.

We will be using scarce dollars to build this road to subsidise local tourists who carry curried duck, buss-up shot, alcohol and even bottled water on the boat to Tobago, adding little value to the Tobago economy.

ArcelorMittal, two methanol plants and a local steel plant were closed down with little protest.

A few years ago we closed down Caroni Ltd because God gave us oil and did not want us to be enslaved by agriculture, so we decided that Guyana will supply the rice, sugar, rum and fruits that were being produced by Caroni Ltd and we will barter these items for our expensive oil. No protests.

Today the options are reversed and we are now on our knees when we are talking to Guyanese officials.

We seem to be totally in love with all Guyanese now.

On the bright side, most of the men who lost their jobs recently will be employed in the soonto- be-constructed sawdust plant, where huge trees will be cut down in the Amazon forest and transported to south Trinidad where they will be sawn into chips and we will export these products. This will happen because Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana do not have the skills to saw these logs.

Another upcoming industry is the making of aluminium products from imported ingots. The smelting process will use electricity and not natural gas, as recently mentioned in a newspaper report, so there will be no drawdown on our limited gas reserve. In Trinidad all our electricity is generated by the combustion of natural gas so if you use electricity, we will not conserve natural gas. Politicians must understand basic science.

Finally, a few years ago when the desal plant was on the drawing board, politicians vehemently protested, and quite rightly so, saying this process is really converting scarce natural gas to electricity.

Desalinated water is five to ten times more expensive to produce than water from catchment areas.

We have since expanded desal capacity at the expense of natural gas and waste water recovery.

We have not learned a thing because we are now building a desal plant in Tobago although we have no natural gas and Tobago has the right topography for collecting rain water and storing it in a manmade dams for use in the dry season.

When the gas runs out we will have neither water nor electricity because no one is looking at alternative electricity generation.

Cuffy-Dowlat fell into a coma last Wednesday and was warded at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where she passed away peacefully two days later.

She leaves to mourn her two children, Dr Kevin Cuffy, an orthopaedic surgeon and a captain in the TT Regiment, and his brother Anderson.

Cuffy-Dowlat was a founding member of the Congress of the People (COP) and served as a senator and a councillor for Les Efforts West/San Fernando municipal district on the council of the San Fernando City Corporation.

Cuffy-Dowlat also served as a parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Housing, when she was appointed in 1996, under the Basdeo Panday-led United National Congress (UNC) government and served for three years under former minister John Humphrey.

COP chairman Dr Anirudh Mahabir, in tribute to her yesterday, said Cuffy-Dowlat had been with the party since its inception in 2006 and first fought a general election against Dr Roodal Moonilal, of the United National Congress (UNC), in the Oropouche East constituency in 2007 but lost.

She ran again in 2010 against late prime minister Patrick Manning, who was also the political leader of the People’s National Movement, in San Fernando East where she had captured 6,109 votes but was defeated by Manning who had 9,736 votes.

“Carol was with us since inception and was very loyal. She carried the flag of the Congress and spoke out on many national issues. She was a radio talk-show host and said what she wanted to say. In the last few months, she was not able carry on as diabetes got the better of her. She will be sadly missed,” Mahabir told Sunday Newsday.

Cuffy-Dowlat, who is from Chickland Village, Freeport, attended Holy Faith Convent, Couva, and was a prize-winning student at the Sir Hugh Wooding Law School.

She practised law in the civil courts and became a director of Sou Sou Lands Ltd up until her passing.

Sou Sou Lands Ltd managing director Dr Allen Sammy described Cuffy-Dowlat as a director who gave yeoman service to most of the company’s projects which focussed on lowcost housing for low-income earners.

“She was a strong social activist and gave tireless advice to Sou Sou Lands for 40 years on land law, as it related to acquisition of State lands,” said Sammy. Sou Sou Lands Co-operative Society Ltd chairman Lennox Sankersingh yesterday said Cuffy-Dowlat had a full political life and was committed to local government reform.

“Her drive and dedication to local government will always be remembered.

She almost single- handedly organised a Caribbean conference of non-government organisations to discuss housing issues for the low income,” said Sankersingh.

In extending condolences, UNC chairman and Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee described Cuffy-Dowlat as someone extremely passionate about the governance of TT. “She was extremely passionate about the governance of our country and the welfare of citizens, and from my last conversations with her, she had a lot more that she wanted to give and to accomplish in the pursuit of national development,” Lee said in a release.

Independent Liberal Party political leader Rekha Ramjit, in a statement, also praised Cuffy-Dowlat for her passion for good governance and the welfare of citizens. “From my last conversations with her, she had a lot more that she wanted to give and to accomplish in the pursuit of national development,” Ramjit said.

Humphrey hailed Cuffy-Dowlat as someone who helped the poor to receive land deeds under the Sou Sou Lands project. She had the courage, he added, to run against Manning, “when she could have easily been given a safe seat and won”. Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein also spoke highly Cuffy-Dowlat, noting they served together on the San Fernando City Council from 2003 to 2010. “She was a true team player throughout her tenure, and a brave servant to the burgesses,” he said in a statement.

“Her desire to serve our country was unceasing from her pro-bono legal contributions, to her human rights advocacy, to her political activism.” Hosein disclosed Cuffy-Dowlat had approached him two weeks ago about joining the ministry’s project to set up volunteer networks in the municipalities.

Cuffy-Dowlat’s funeral will be held on Wednesday but details of where were not released yesterday.

This country is at a transitional stage with a number of past athletes close to the twilight of their careers, such as Pan Am champion Cleopatra Borel, 38, and three-time Olympic medallist Richard Thompson, 31. A number of TT athletes continue to show tremendous promise, namely double Carifta gold medallist Khalifa St Fort, who is trained by legendary sprinter Ato Boldon.

St Fort, who battled the flu in Curacao, was still good enough to clock 11.56 and 23.99 seconds to win the Girls Under-20 100m and 200m events, respectively, in her last appearance at the Caribbean meet. No doubt tougher tests await but St Fort has shown she is committed to giving her all in pursuit of excellence for the red, white and black.

The National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA) has made a concerted effort to shift the focus from track events to the field in the recent past and we can certainly see the fruits of that approach beginning to bear.

Ianna Roach, a Carifta silver medallist at the 2016 Games, snapped up gold this time in the Girls U-18 shot put. Roach, in an interview prior to leaving for Curacao, told Newsday she looks up to the evergreen Borel as a role model and regularly seeks advice from the multiple Sportswoman of the Year.

Tobagonian Tyriq Horsford is another with much potential, backing up his golden performance in 2016 with another gold (76.50m) in the Boys U-18 javelin event. Javelin has never been a strong point locally but with Keshorn Walcott at the top tier internationally and Horsford following in his footsteps, things look promising for TT in this discipline.

Performing at the international level is a significant leap from the regional standard and the Ministry of Sport, NAAA and Olympic Committee need to ensure the athletes have everything required to succeed.

We have heard complaints in the past of the Hasely Crawford Stadium being inaccessible throughout the Carnival period due to cultural events being held there. Sport and culture sometimes go hand in hand but the dilemma is sport is not seasonal and preparation is crucial to each athlete’s season.

Funding is another perennial issue with Thompson and Sports Minister Darryl Smith in a recent feud over the issue. All these concerns need to be ironed out as soon as possible as Tokyo 2020 is not far away and our next Olympic medallists may have just represented this country at Carifta.

While TT’s athletics team was in Curacao performing admirably, the country’s water polo and swim teams have been campaigning at their respective championships in the Bahamas. Gold by the TT Under- 19 girls water polo team while playing undefeated is an indication that more needs to be invested in this sport to maximise this country’s potential there.

We believe the opening and immediate utilisation of the National Aquatics Centre in Couva will not only enhance the sports of swimming and water polo but allow this country to host international meets, thereby allowing our athletes to compete at the highest level right here.

Hence the new benefits that come with the now gold coloured Scotiabank PriceSmart Diamond MasterCard – three percent cash back on all PriceSmart purchases and one percent cash back on all other purchases. In addition, new card holders will get a welcome bonus of TT $200 when they spend a minimum of $950 in first four statement cycles.

The new card was launched in TT recently at The Residence Bar and Lounge, One Woodbrook Place, Tragarete Road, Port-of-Spain.

PriceSmart’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Member Relations, Jose Luis Marin, told Business Day that “another important difference is that before, in order to get the three percent cash back, you needed to spend US $1,000 a year. Now you don’t have to reach that cap to get three percent cash back.”

Both companies assured that all of the new features also apply to current card holders. PriceSmart has already launched the new gold card in the Dominican Republic. Marin said the company plans to roll it out in Barbados and Jamaica “during the next couple of months.”

PriceSmart and Scotiabank first entered a partnership eight years ago; the card was light blue in colour. The co-branded credit card has led to what Scotiabank’s Managing Director, Anya Schnoor, described as “a very successful partnership.”
Business Day asked Schnoor about the timing of the relaunch, given the current economic conditions.

She said the aforementioned benefits would be especially welcomed by customers because “in these hard economic times, you want to make sure that when you’re buying your household items, you maximise the type of rewards that you can get back.”
Speaking specifically about the timing, Schnoor explained that, “just as PriceSmart reviews their products and their market, Scotiabank is always asking ‘What would our customers, at this point, really appreciate from their financial institution?’ The answer is, they would like is a cash back. This new card also has our new chip and pin technology, which is an added benefit and security feature for our clients. So there are lots of reasons to get this new card and of course, join PriceSmart.”

Responding to the same question about the timing of the relaunch, Marin said “It’s always important to always enhance the value proposition of the credit card. That’s always something that we do in every market.”

“The same principle applies to the credit card and to items we sell – we are always trying to lower the cost so we can transfer those savings to the members.”
Asked by Business Day if PriceSmart has observed a change in customers’ spending habits over the last year or so, Marin acknowledged there’s been “a decrease in the economic spending power of the members “ but said the company continues to see “great comparative growth in terms of transactions and people continue to shop with us.”