People with disabilities, we were told in headline news, would be “afforded all rights flowing from this binding legal instrument.” This ratification happened despite the fact that the USA has not as yet done so.

This was a landmark event and led to a series of high-profile workshops and information sessions. One of the most important pieces of information that these sessions offered was that our government had to submit an obligatory report two years after ratification.

This report would state and measure how far the country has progressed in implementing the principles of the convention. In tandem with this, non-government organisations (NGOs) were advised to write a shadow report that would in effect create checks and balances to ensure real progress in matters pertaining to those with disabilities.

Over the past two years, individuals and NGOs have readied themselves for all the changes that ratification would bring and for the process of reporting. There was a week-long training workshop hosted by the US Embassy; there have been meetings; NO DES (Network and Outreach for Disability Education and Sensitisation) at UWI held a symposium and representatives of the various disability groups formed a shadow reporting committee.

And then lo and behold, shortly after all the speeches and the events at the Hyatt and the formation of a CO DO-led shadow reporting team, we discovered that by some strange, unaccountable and deeply mysterious strategy, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website (http://tbinternet.ohchr.

org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/ SessionsList.aspx?Treaty=CRP), Trinidad and Tobago is not scheduled for any CPRD State Party Report this year or in future sessions.

Why? No one knows.

However, for the past year the CO DO-led shadow reporting group has been simply treading water. And thus far no progress has been made in actually writing a report.

And why should there be any progress? After all the Government is making no report. There is nothing to shadow. Why were disability activists who took time off from their work to attend meetings not told this? Because in this cynical world of Trinidad and Tobago, wasting time is possibly the best way of keeping people quiet. So here we go again.

What is more, many would seem to have been aware that these representatives from so many groups who travelled to Port-of-Spain on countless occasions were simply wasting their time.

Those who participated in the various committees of the CRPD steering committee may well wonder what it was all about and whether this whole charade was an act of cynicism.

But all the activity and media hype have served one purpose. They show that we play games with the lives of others and in particular with the marginalised.

They demonstrated the truth of the old adage that it is how things seem rather than how they are that really matters in the public domain.

So we seemed to be busy looking at the law and at services and in particular at education for children and adults with disabilities. But in reality it was all a show.

The biggest part of the carnival parade was the appointment of the inter-ministerial committee “to promote, protect and monitor for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” with letters dated July 20, 2015. This was in preparation for the obligatory report.

Those appointed to this inter-ministerial committee were mandated to “prepare and submit a comprehensive report on the measures taken to give effect to the obligations under the convention and on the progress made on that regard within two years after entry into force of the convention.” I do not know why or how this report is not now forthcoming. What I do know is that those on the shadow reporting committee were not told. I also do not know whether those on the inter-ministerial committee were in the know. If they were, then they are guilty of a serious breach of their obligations to “continuously engage in dialogue with the community of people with disabilities to provide for their involvement and full participation in the monitoring process.” Would those involved in the various disability groups be willing to sacrifice potential grants or salaries to actually agitate and further their cause? For one of the age-old strategies in dealing with activists is making them part of the establishment.

Ma y – be I have mi s s e d s o m e – t h i n g .

But was this all a game?

Talk show hosts on radio and television and their enthusiastic followers express outrage and offer suggestions to resolve this problem.

Many propose zero tolerance as the answer. This makes for a powerful sound bite, inspiring false confidence in the Government’s or school officials’ determination and ability to curb school violence. But the indisputable evidence from numerous studies shows such a policy, and its concomitant twins, suspension and expulsion, leads to numerous negative outcomes, including later entry into the criminal justice system.

The American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force reported in 2008 that severe punishment at schools neither reduces violence nor promotes learning. The United Nations Panel of Experts Report on School Discipline recommended in 2016 that “the US Government develop guidelines on how to ensure school discipline policies and practices comply with international human rights standards.” These experts recommended that “positive behaviour intervention and support and restorative practices in school discipline should be used for reducing disciplinary incidents and improving learning in schools.” Bullying, as well as other aspects of school misbehaviour, is not peculiar to Trinidad and Tobago. Research by Morrison presented at the International Conference on Violence in Schools and Public Policies in 2002, revealed that “bullying in schools is a worldwide phenomenon and that statistics from Australia mirror that of countries such as Canada, Scandinavia, Ireland, and England and show that 50 percent of children have been bullied at school at least once.” So what is the solution to this problem which has been described as a social justice as well as a public health problem? A study of behaviour management in schools in Australia (Slee, 1995) revealed that the abolition of corporal punishment in schools did not lead to a re-evaluation of the nature and exercise of power and authority in schools and suspensions and expulsions became the substitute.

When this failed to bring about the desired result, schools began to look to other solutions. Restorative approaches have been proven to be the successful solution to school violence and misbehaviour.

A parliamentary inquiry into bullying in Australian schools recommended the Rozelle School as a centre of excellence. The school had been “suffering significant behavioural problems among students, and the staff felt disempowered, until they decided to embed a whole-school philosophy of restorative practices, based on building, maintaining and repairing healthy relationships, with positive results.” Restorative practices which teach principles of respect, accountability, and strengthening or repair of relationships have been adopted in many schools in Australia. Research from Hong Kong and Hungary show that bullying behaviour dropped significantly where a restorative approach was adopted.

In Hull, described as the worst place to live in the UK by the BBC in 2005, restorative practices achieved outstanding results, and in the United States, a number of high schools reported dramatic reductions in student suspensions and disciplinary referrals after instituting restorative practices (Wachtel).

Restorative practices are now in schools and justice systems on every continent. In the Caribbean, principals, deputy principals, guidance counsellors and education officers from eight Caricom countries were recently trained in restorative practices.

Jamaica was the first to mandate training for staff in its justice and education systems. Last year, probation officers, social workers, magistrates, correction officers and other juvenile justice practitioners from Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Vincent and the Grenadines came to Trinidad to be trained in restorative practices by Epiphany Consultancy Services.

The staff there is licensed by the International Institute of Restorative Practices, a graduate school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and has been conducting training since 2013. School guidance officers used to attend the training, until this was discontinued in 2014.

Bullying is regarded by psychologists as a behavioural problem, to be treated as such and not as criminal conduct. Solving the problem of bullying needs to be a multifaceted approach. The Hong Kong study (Wong &Lo, 2010) included the following recommendations: 1. The school must have a longterm anti-bullying policy that includes peace-education.

2. The entire staff (including cafeteria attendants, security and janitors) should be trained in restorative practices, eg circles to build relationship and including restorative justice to repair harm when an incident of wrongdoing occurs.

3. The victim should receive training in how to face bullies assertively.

4. Since several studies prove that bullies lack empathy, they need training that builds empathy. They should also be trained in anger management, emotional control and rational problem-solving, to seek attention in socially-acceptable ways.

5. Workshops should be organised for parents to learn restorative practices.

None of the three dozen or so studies on bullying in schools, which I have at hand and which in turn discuss several mega-studies, recommends suspension of a principal after an incident of bullying, alleged or proven, in a school. I would be interested in learning on what basis the principal of Mayaro Government was suspended.

* Hazel Thompson-Ahye is a child rights advocate

This would have followed a recent seizure by the Forestry Division of 22 blue and yellow macaws, with the 15 babies being brought to the Emperor Valley Zoo for rehabilitation.

The comprehensive registration system is intended to improve the Ministry’s enforcement efforts, which according to Minister Rambharat must be intensified with action taken against any person without permits.

De La Rosa speaking on behalf of the ZSTT welcomes this drive towards full registration and advocates that with a banding system it will be easier to identify macaws which would have been acquired from the illegal trade. It also would help to protect those macaws that were bred in captivity, banded and released back into the wild. Asked for an update on the status of the baby macaws, De La Rosa stated, “I have been monitoring the status of these baby macaws which have been quarantined since their delivery to the Zoo and can confirm that they are improving. Several of these birds came with injuries, including one with a broken wing and their general condition was unsatisfactory on arrival.” Condemning those persons who participate in what he describes as wildlife crime, De La Rosa lamented that these birds would have been removed from their nests at such a vulnerable time in their life cycle and smuggled to Trinidad to satisfy the illegal market.

The acting ZSTT President is assuring that the Zoo has the expertise to care for these birds and that its veterinarian has taken charge of the treatment regime. He is urging persons to heed the caution of Minister Rambharat that smuggling birds and animals into Trinidad and Tobago creates risk to the health and wellbeing of the country’s native wildlife species.

“BP’s decision not to utilise Trinidad and Tobago as the location to build the multi-million dollar project must not be thrown at the feet of workers and citizens who only wanted better wages but is majorly as a result of Government failing to negotiate a new contract between the National Gas Company (NGC) and BP in a timely manner.” Lee added that “the late finalisation of these negotiations, which are taking place currently, should have been done in the second quarter of 2016 but Government continued its laissez faire approach and now BP, in an effort to meet its schedule of 2019, is forced to use other means of construction.” Lee also commented on a newspaper article in which La Brea MP and former Energy Minister, Nicole Olivierre, was quoted as saying “residents must reject disruptive, hostile behaviour and look beyond the short-term construction jobs and recognise the long-term benefits to be derived from the development of new industries in the community.” According to Lee, “it is quite ironic and unfortunate that…Olivierre has sought to put the blame on past protest action of La Brea residents and former employees involved in the building of the Juniper Platform as the core reason for Energy Giant BP opting not to construct the Angelin platform within TT and more specifically La Brea.” The UNC Chairman argued that “this incident further demonstrates the inability of the Government to create a sustainable lucrative investing environment” in the local energy sector and the wider TT economy.

He went on to claim that this country’s energy sector continues to witness “retroactive development, as all of the current plans and projects which are being hailed as successes are actually plans of the past Peoples Partnership Administration, such as the Angelin project which came into the ‘pipeline’ when the Juniper Project was started.”

Cuffie made the decision after visiting the church and hearing an appeal for contributions to renovate the church, one of the oldest in the community.

On the day he visited every member of the congregation contributed to the building fund.

“They do very good work in the community and I felt moved to help them continue that work,” Cuffie said.

The donation fulfilled Rowley’s pledge for his Government to lead by example even as he asked citizens to tighten their belts. The PM had said, “As a symbolic gesture of our own willingness to share in the necessary adjustments my colleagues and I in the Government have decided that, with effect from January 2016 and for the next two years, we will each donate five percent of our salary to a selected charity, NGO or sporting body of our choice.”

She was one of the top three students who hailed from schools from the southland.

Second and third place winners were Kevian Nelson of San Fernando East Secondary School and Leeum Quan Kep San Fernando Central Secondary School, respectively.

Fifteen students made it to the finals and they gave impressive performances as they relayed the important message about preserving and conserving waste water.

It was an learning experience for many present, including Public Utilities Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, who said the exercise was a learning experience for him because as minister, he was not even aware of some of the issues the students raised.

Deeply intellectual, well researched and sometimes humourous, the students got their point across as they urged the nation to preserve their water supply as it was vital for their survival.

Charles said she never expected to win the competition because her contemporaries all performed so well. She admitted that she started preparing late for the competition.

“They came to our school in February and I was actually delayed because I’m in Form 6 and I have exams to prepare for, so I prepared at the very last minute.

When I found out I got through I dedicated my time to studying the piece and with the help of my teacher Dwayne Ali and other students, they helped me with the words and emotions for it to sound the way it did,” an elated Charles said.

And while this was her first competition, Charles said it was something that she would be doing more.

The teenager said it was while doing her research on the subject that she became aware that waste water was something that can be reused .

“It impacts on the environment in a very bad way and we need the environment to sustain our lives, and that is where I really got the passion and drive to do this competition,” said Charles, who intends to pursue either International Relations or French.

Third place winner Quan Kep, self proclaimed “Wettest WASA Man”, kept the audience in stitches as he described how much he loved his girl, “Faucet Claire.” He definitely earned his kudos.

And although she did not make it to the top five, Abigail Charles of Bishops Anstey and Trinity College East, delivered a mind provoking piece with her “Pure Water of Our Land.” She linked her piece of waste water with what was taking place with our youth of the nation today.

“As soon as they said waste management and my environment, my mind just automatically went to our society because currently how things are going in my country and my environment right now, that is affecting me right now.

“We have programmes, but how effective are they really? And it was the perfect thing to link the crime and the youth, and how they get like the waste waters of our society,” Abigail said.

“Our pledge says ‘to the service of my God and my country’, so it is my pledge to keep our waters clean and make sure that our society is clean. When Dr Eric Williams became the prime minister I am pretty sure the vision was not the one we have in our country right now,” she added.

Abigail said as a society, we could not just sit back and just look on as our youth continued to falter.

“We can’t keep going on and saying ‘Oh God, that bad and I don’t want to hear that’. But what are we doing about it? We are just swimming in the water.If we choose to actually take the time, if you see a youth being disrespectful to somebody tell them something, don’t just sit down there and be like that is not my business.

We have to be an active part in the state of our society,” Abigail said.

He was speaking to journalists following the association’s 126th Annual General Meeting at the Radisson Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, last Thursday. The association declared that it ended the year with a profit of $1,877,782, a 21 percent increase from the $1,504,368 recorded in 2015. The association paid out dividends of five percent for the year. Its mortgage portfolio increased by 18 percent to $59 million and it recorded new loans of $12.1 million.

Inniss said that people who invested in high end property to rent to expatriate workers are hurting.

He said there was a time when property values were going “through the roof ” and people were renting houses for US$10,000 a month and they were getting those rates.

He said landlords with high end properties in places such as Westmoorings and Maraval were able to get a year’s rent in advance.

He added that even apartments in those areas were heavily in demand and were being rented for U$ $5,000 a month fully furnished. However, he said those prices were no longer available.

“That market has practically dried up, as a result of which a lot of people have been left holding the bag.” However, he said that the market in which people buy houses in which to live is still fairly strong. “The market has continued to grow, the number of young people trying to get a property for themselves and stop renting.” He said one just had to look at the waiting list at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) where people were lined up waiting for affordable housing. He said “it was a bit unfortunate that the oil boom had brought the prices of houses outside the reach of the average man with even some young professionals being unable to afford” to buy a house.

He said this was where the association was able to help by providing saving plans for young people, citing its home downpayment plan where a young person began by contributing money for a downpayment on a house. He said savers in these plans received dividends and the plan paid dividends of five percent last year, which he said was a good return. He said housing is always important to people and there is a demand for housing and loans for housing.

Around 12.30pm on Saturday a party of officers lead by Sgt Haywood, and including Cpl Sookram, PCs Andrews, De Suze and WPC Thomas executed a search warrant for arms and ammunition at Todd’s Road in Arima where they found and seized two shotguns, nine rounds of ammunition, a bullet-proof vest and army fatigues. One person was arrested for the items seized. PC De Suze is continuing enquires.

As part of its continued public education campaign, the Authority is joining in the national recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The Authority said it plans to bring awareness of the role communities and families play in preventing child abuse and neglect, by highlighting how families and communities can keep children safe from abuse.

With the upcoming Easter holidays, parents and caregivers are reminded to observe the following tips to prevent child abuse: 1) Minimise opportunity – Eliminate or reduce “one on one” situations, to lower the risk of abuse; 2) Seek help when under stress to help you parent effectively because it’s so easy to cross the line; 3) Talk about it – Often times, children may feel ashamed to report incidents of abuse. It is important that parents and caregivers maintain open communication with children to allow them to feel comfortable to report any incidents or concerns they may have; and 4) Stay alert – Be wary of physical changes in your children (e.g. marks or redness on body; discharges when bathing or changing young children, pain or discomfort in any body part especially genitals).

“Know the non-physical signs of child abuse. Depression, fear or avoidance of a certain adult or place, difficulty trusting others or making friends, sudden changes in eating or sleeping patterns, bed-wetting, nightmares, inappropriate sexual behaviour, poor hygiene, secrecy, and hostility,” the Authority stated.

Talk to children about what is an “OK touch” – one that makes them feel happy and safe, and a touch that is “not ok” – one that hurts or makes them feel uncomfortable.

The Authority also reminded the public that child protection is everyone’s business, “therefore we all have a role to protect our children from perpetrators of abuse and nurture children in an environment that encourages their development.” All reports of abuse should be made to the Police at 999, the Authority’s hotlines at 996 or 800-2014 or www.ttchildren.org

President of Southampton Wheelers, Winston Quintal, spoke of the importance cycling plays in the community as well as the economic challenges currently.

“While it is not as easy to generate sponsorship and attract spectators due to the downturn in the economy, the league is positioned specifically during the peak of track cycling as athletes are in flying form and utilise the tribute as a maintenance event heading into the main track weekend (Easter Weekend).

“These tournaments are geared towards encouraging youths to come into the sport and also acts as a form of community development and social gathering to form positive bonds that promote unity while simultaneously honouring the local ground-breakers of the sport,” he said.

On the first day of league, PSL riders dominated the main races.

It was 1-2-3 for PSL in the Elite 1&2 25 Lap event with Akil Campbell, Marloe Rodman and Romello Crawford crossing the finish line respectively. Jabari Whiteman of Heatwave placed fourth to pick up some points.

The quartet was in action yesterday with each still in contention for honours with Day Two’s Elite 1&2 30 Lap event set to settle proceedings.

Teneil Campbell, also of PSL, continued her dominant form in the Elite Women Sprint events as she bettered Breakaway’s Dominique Lovell in both the 2-Lap and 3-Lap events.

Ashley Whiteman of Rigtech Sonics won both the 1-Lap and 2-Lap Juvenile Women events ahead of her only competitor from Arima Wheelers in Adrianna Seyjagat, ending the day on 10 points compared to Seyjagat’s six. In the Tinymite Women events, Phoenix’s Sylese Christian claimed all 10 points from the 1-Lap and 2-Lap events as she finished atop the standings in the category ahead of Madonna’s Makayla Hernandez on six points and Keira Ellis’ four points, representing Team Woods.

The Track League, which concluded last night, is sponsored by NLCB, Massy Technologies, First Citizens Bank, Plipdeco, Petrotrin and SporTT.