The parents are demanding the boy be transferred out of the school so his reign of terror on their children, can end.’ Education Ministry sources told Newsday this was the first time they could recall the entire PTA body of a school staging a mass demonstration against a student. The parents claimed on Monday during their placard protest that this student has been physically abusing not only students but teachers as well.

In fact, they further alleged, two teachers sought and got transfers after being assaulted by the boy.

The Student Support Services Unit intervened with counselling, but interim PTA president Savitri Persad said this intervention has done little to change the boy’s behaviour.

“Personally, I don’t think he has to be removed from the school…he just needs help,” said Persad. “But the majority of parents in the PTA are adamant that he must be removed because they are fearful for the safety of their children.” Education Minister Anthony Garcia on Monday expressed doubt over the truth in the parents’ claims against the boy.

Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan, on the other hand, said the ministry is aware of the situation at the Rio Claro school and has recommended that an aide be assigned to work with the boy.

Ministry officials yesterday confirmed to Newsday that the aide was officially assigned.

According to the official, the aide is someone with the “professional expertise” to handle such cases and will be responsible for designing an “individually tailored educational plan” for the nine-year-old boy, in the hope of modifying his anti-social behaviour.

The aide will work with the child on the school premises. The source reiterated that the student has not been suspended.

The PTA is not happy with this move. “We want him removed from the school,” one parent told Newsday “Is two years now they assigning people to this boy and nothing has changed. We want him removed,” said the parent, who did not want to be publicly identified.

Up to press time, the PTA was locked in a meeting to determine whether or not they would continue protesting through the end of this week.

During the night, the families had to not only contend with swarms of mosquitoes but also the criminal element as they had no choice but to sleep in the open having absolutely nowhere else to stay. Some slept outside the building while others slept closer to the road. During the course of the night, rain fell. While the displaced families spent today trying to get alternative accommodation, for some, they will have to once again spend the night under the stars.

When Newsday returned to Harmony Hall yesterday, children were seen sitting on mattresses, some drinking infant formula from bottles.

The homeless families again apologised for illegally occupying the condemned structures and begged Housing Minister Randall Mitchell to, “have a heart” and give them a fair hearing as they push to be placed on the ‘emergency housing’ list.

“I cried last night as I watched my baby on a mattress, knowing that as of now he has no place to live. It hurts as a mother to watch your child on a mattress on the side of the road,” Alyssa Phillip said.

Phillip, 24, who is a student at the University of West Indies (UWI) pursuing Criminology, said she is ready to face whatever criticisms from the public. “Until you walk in my shoes…don’t judge me. What can I do? We who you see out here, we are not criminals or thieves.

We are families struggling to make ends meet and create a better life for our young ones. Yes, what we did was wrong…we admit that. But why treat us like dogs and make us feel dehumanised? You have thrown babies and toddlers out on the road just so,” she said.

The families said that no notices were given by the HDC of the planned eviction exercise which saw heavily armed police accompany HDC officials to the five buildings to begin the eviction process.

Mother of six Malika Lewis, 35, said her youngest child Darius, three, developed a cold after he was soaked in the rain on Monday. “We had to sleep on a mattress and rain was falling and my children were on the mattress,” she said. Lewis, a single parent said that ten years ago she applied to the HDC for a State house.

“I admit it. I took a chance coming here. But I did what I did after not hearing from the State over the years. I would go to the HDC almost every week and kept being told my case was not an emergency.

Well I am on the road. My children are on the road. Is my case still not an emergency” she asked.

A HDC official yesterday told Newsday the residents were informed on numerous occasions that they were occupying these buildings illegally. The families disregarded our notices, the official said, so they have nobody to blame but themselves for the predicament they are in. Efforts to contact Housing Minister Mitchell yesterday for a comment proved futile.

This comes after the European Union, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Chile placed a ban on Brazilian meat imports.

According to a March 21 BBC Report, the, “crisis was triggered by a huge federal police operation last Friday. It found evidence that meat-packers had been selling rotten and substandard produce for several years.” The article further stated Brazilian president, Michel Temer, held emergency meetings over the weekend and invited foreign diplomats to a steak house on Sunday evening to try to reassure them.

It added that Friday’s raids at meat-processing plants ended in the arrest of more than 30 people.

“The government suspended more than 30 senior civil servants who should have spotted the unhygienic and illegal practices – they are being investigated for corruption. Three packing plants have been closed and another 21 are being investigated… Operation Weak Flesh was launched in the early hours of Friday in six Brazilian states after a two-year investigation. Federal police carried out raids in 194 locations, deploying more than 1,000 officers, ” the article said.

In a release issued to media, the agriculture ministry said, “The Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries today imposed a temporary restriction on imports of all meat products from Brazil.

This step is being taken as a precaution in the light of news this week of an investigation into that country’s meat industry which has raised serious health and food-safety concerns.” It added that yesterday, the Ministry also advised the Chemistry, Food and Drugs Division of the Ministry of Health to embark upon an immediate recall from supermarkets and other retail outlets of corned beef, chicken patties and chicken nuggets originating from Brazil. The recall does not affect meat products which do not originate from Brazil.

The release said futher, “Also, with immediate effect, the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries will stop issuing import permits for meat products from Brazil. These restrictions also apply to permits that have recently been issued, regardless of the status of these imports. This means that import permits for Brazilian meat products that are on order, in transit, landed or bonded in Trinidad and Tobago will be cancelled.” Rambharat assured the public that he is working with several agencies, including the Ministries of Health, Trade, Local Government, the Customs and Excise Division, and the Consumer Affairs Division to protect consumers from potentially unsafe Brazilian meat.

Rambharat said, “I want to emphasise that the products subject to recall are processed meat products only, as Trinidad and Tobago has never issued permits to import raw beef or chicken from Brazil. So while we are cancelling imports of all meat products, the food items being recalled are the corned beef, chicken patties and chicken nuggets made in Brazil.” The relese added that Rambharat was working with Dr Amery Browne, Trinidad and Tobago’s ambassador in Brazil, “to be kept informed of actions being taken by the South American country to restore integrity to its valuable meat-producing sector.” It advised citizens to report stores where items subject to this food-safety recall were still being sold by calling the Consumer Affairs Hotline toll-free at 800-4277.

He referred to Section 15 of the HSF Act which indicates that where petroleum revenues collected in any financial year fall before the estimated petroleum revenues for that financial year by at least ten percent, withdrawals can be made from the fund, based on whichever is the lesser amount. The minister said this is either 60 percent of the amount of the shortfall of petroleum revenues for that year or 25 percent of the balance standing to the credit of the fund at the beginning of the year.

“In this case, 25 percent of the balance in the fund would be US$1.43 billion and 60 percent of the shortfall in revenue is US$251 million. So the lesser amount has been used,” Imbert explained.

The minister also said it is public knowledge that the projected fiscal deficit in the budget of $6 billion will be financed by a combination of borrowing and a withdrawal from the HSF. Against this background, Imbert said the $1.71 billion or US$251 million withdrawal from the HSF, “is therefore consistent with the 2017 Budget statement.” He told senators that the net asset value of the HSF on March 17 was US$5.721 billion. Recalling that the previous figure given on March 3 was US$5.695 billion, Imbert said this meant the fund increased in value by US$26 million over the last two weeks. The minister said an examination of the period May 16, 2016 to March 17, 2017, showed that the HSF increased in value by US$301 million, from US$5.420 billion last May to US$5.721 billion, last Friday.

Imbert further explained that this second drawdown is US$50 million less than the income earned by the Fund over the last ten months. He said after this drawdown, the actual value of the HSF will be US$5.470 billion which is US$26 million more than previously estimated, and US$50 million more than the balance after the first drawdown last year.

But while the situation could have been handled better by the State over the long term, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) had no choice but to take the action it took on Monday.

No State enterprise should allow citizens to put themselves at risk by occupying buildings that have been condemned. While being homeless is not a tenable situation for any family, being housed in premises that endanger life and limb or premises that simply do not conform to the required safety standards is equally unacceptable.

That said, why was this situation allowed to develop in the first place? According to reports, the illegal occupation of the decrepit buildings started a few years ago when people, learning that the structures were condemned, repaired the vandalised apartments and quietly moved in. This raises two questions. Firstly, why were these buildings not better policed? Once condemned, they should have been secured until such time as repairs or demolition action became possible.

This means the same State that had to devote resources to bringing about Monday’s situation is the same State that is to blame for it developing in the first place.

Secondly, why have these buildings been condemned? Does this relate to the initial quality of the structures put down by contractors? Or was it a question of maintenance? Or both? For decades, there have been frequent complaints about the quality of the housing stock administered by the HDC. Several issues have been flagged including: poor design, poor materials, shoddy construction work by contractors, decay due to disuse, inefficient management of empty stock, as well as myriad problems with the installation – or lack thereof – of utilities. That these buildings were condemned adds to this general malaise.

However, we must also look beyond the State on these matters.

Deeper examination of the social issues raised is required.

How can parents bring themselves to taking illegal action to occupy homes that place themselves and their children at risk? Are things so bad in our country that they literally had no other place to turn to? It is a question of social values and parental responsibility.

How have our communities allowed these types of situations? Some of the people who were evicted have now said they are willing to pay some kind of mortgage.

At the end of the day, no matter how we look at it and whom we blame, it is clear the State’s social safety net is not as robust as it should be. These families have fallen through the cracks.

The deeper question is a socio- economic one relating to the State’s ability to raise the housing stock. In the first place, why has the State not been able to keep up with the huge demand for housing.

And secondly, why have people been priced out of the ability to buy homes? The limited prospects for housing tells a disturbing tale about the shrinking middle class. It is clear that market actors have pressured homeowners into two extreme camps: those that can afford million- dollar homes and those that cannot. A free-market economy is supposed to encourage a balancing of demand and supply using the mechanism of price. If people cannot afford a home, then in theory they will work harder to try to.

In practice, however, life happens.

And salaries and wages have been suppressed for a long time (as the perennial saga of wage negotiations reminds us). The private sector has not devised a solution that would be cost-effective and profitable. And the State has failed to adequately address the gap, perhaps because it would like people to become more productive. The problem with that, however, is demonstrated by Monday’s events.

It is time we learned that applying a plaster only forces the administering of bitter, inhumane medicine down the road.

Evidence from different crime scenes can be compared to link the same perpetrator to multiple offences, whether the crimes took place locally, across the country, or halfway around the world. It can also identify a victim through DNA from close relatives.

— Excerpt of article published in the Newsday on February 11, 2007 The jury is still out on the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) Bill which was laid in Parliament on January 26, 2007 and which proposes to repeal and replace the DNA Identification Act 2000. Section 1 (2) of the Act declared that it would come into force “on a date to be fixed by the President by proclamation.” But up to 2007 this had not happened, leaving the Act, which contains provisions for the police to get a sample of bodily tissue from criminal suspects with and without consent, dead in the water.

In March 2004, Independent Senator Dana Seetahal SC, now deceased, asked the Minister of National Security, Senator Martin Joseph, also now deceased, why the Act had not yet been proclaimed.

He said in response: “The proclamation of the DNA Act 2000 is dependent on the achievement of a state of technical readiness by the Forensic Science Centre and the completion of regulations to give effect to the Act.

“The director of the centre has advised that it should attain readiness by April 2004. With regard to the enabling regulations … it is anticipated that the exercise will be completed by the end of March 2004.” The use of forensic DNA analysis in solving crime is proving to be as revolutionary as the introduction of fingerprint evidence in court more than a century ago. Canadian police have been using forensic DNA evidence for little more than a decade, and it has emerged as one of the most powerful tools available to law enforcement agencies. DNA analysis is the next generation of human identification in the science of police investigations and is considered a major enhancement for the safety of all Canadians.

Similarly in the UK, the National DNA Database has proved to be a valuable tool in the fight against crime.

If a match is made between a DNA profile at a crime scene and a DNA profile on the database, it can help police to quickly identify a possible suspect. They can then use this information as strong evidence to demonstrate an individual’s guilt of a crime.

In the UK, searching the database to find a DNA profile match helps identify a suspect in around 60 per cent of cases.

Information can be shared between databases in different countries to help identify criminals who commit crimes in more than one country.

It is easier to travel internationally enabling potential criminals to escape police and conviction.

A DNA database may help to keep track of criminals around the world.

Keeping a national DNA database is financially viable since the time and money saved through quickly identifying suspects through DNA evidence greatly outweigh the financial expense of keeping a DNA database.

DNA profiling may be more objective and accurate than other forensic disciplines that rely on subjective judgments and interpretations.

The chance that two unrelated people have identical DNA profiles is less than one in one billion.

The DNA database is not intended to replace conventional criminal investigations but to complement them by identifying suspects sooner.

It would be informative if the present status of the establishment of a DNA database in Trinidad and Tobago, first conceived more than 15 years ago, be made known to the public.

“The matter is well in hand,” Gopee-Scoon said in response to a question on this issue from Opposition Senator Wade Mark.

Gopee-Scoon said the Student Support Services Division of the Education Ministry is actively partnering with staff at the school to address this issue.

Addressing students and teachers yesterday on the grounds of the President’s Residence, St Ann’s on the occasion of World Forest Day observed each year on March 21, Carmona said that denuding of forests for construction is leading to flooding. Young people who understand the effects of the denudation of forests, he said, will have to make the difference to preserve the environment for future generations.

Reema Carmona, the President’s wife, in remarks noted that the agricultural sector seemed to be lacking in the country.

To improve and trigger the sector, she urged the students to go back to their schools and talk to their friends about the importance of protecting the trees, forests and the environment.

Fifty saplings provided by the Ministry of Agriculture were planted throughout the grounds.

While police are conducting investigations into the circumstances surrounding the shooting, residents remain convinced that the victim’s only crime was to dare to be friendly with a woman who is with a policeman.

Akim “Maddo” Armstrong, 35, of building 54-56 George Street was shot in the chest by an officer from the Central Police Station at 1.30 pm. Residents claimed they heard a single gunshot and minutes later saw a policeman emerge from the apartment building with Armstrong, who was bleeding from his chest.

He was taken to the Port-of- Spain General Hospital and is warded in stable condition. The bullet remains lodged in Armstrong’s body, residents told Newsday. A woman who was in the apartment at the time of the shooting, has been detained by police. Shortly after the shooting, livid residents staged a protest and blocked off Prince, Nelson and George streets with debris which was set on fire.

As soon as the fires were put out on one street by firemen, protesters – all masked – moved to another, setting fire to debris and blocking off that street with a seemingly limitless supply of old fridges, garbage bins, trash and plywood. The protest led to a massive traffic pile-up in the Capital.

Up to press time, police did not give much information on the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

According to police, officers were conducting an operation in the area and Armstrong was shot. It was claimed that an illegal substance was found at the apartment. However, residents say Armstrong was shot by police because an officer believes he (Armstrong) was romantically with his woman.

Corey Armstrong described the victim – his brother – as a quiet person who kept to himself.

Armstrong works as a messenger with the Ministry of Local Government.

While on his hospital bed, the wounded Armstrong told relatives that he and the woman had just, “gotten together.” “We begged the police officer to talk to him,” said Armstrong (C).

“He was still weak so he did not talk much. He said that some new girl he was with has a policeman friend. He told us that he heard a knock on the door and when he opened it, he heard a loud bang.

He did not even know that he was shot until he felt a burning sensation in the chest,” Armstrong said.

This was erroneous and Newsday. apologises to the officers and recruits. enrolled at the Trinidad and. Tobago Cadet Force, as well as. their parents and guardians.

The Cadet Force has referred to. a release issued by the Trinidad. and Tobago Regiment on March. 17, 2017 which pointed out that. the Defence Force (Regiment). has been investigating a claim of. sexually inappropriate behaviour. involving persons training to become. potential officers (officer. cadets) at Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas.

The Trinidad and Tobago Cadet. Force emphasised that the incident. referred to in the Newsday. story of March 20, 2017 did not. occur at the Trinidad and Tobago. Cadet Force nor did it involve any. of its cadet recruits.