In the statement, which was read to the jury, Babooram admitted to stabbing Ria Ramlochan but said she had attacked him with a knife. Sgt Azam Hamid was called by the State to tender the statement which he testified he had obtained on August 16, 2005 from Babooram at the Mayaro Police Station.

Ramlochan, 26, with whom Babooram, 41, was having a relationship, lived with her 18-month-old son Ishmael Timothy Ragbir at Solomon Street. Babooram lived at Pierreville and is on trial before a 12-member jury and Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor in the San Fernando High Court.

Hamid told the court that in the presence of Justice of the Peace Sankar Mahabirsingh, Babooram said he had gone to Ramlochan’s house to talk.

Tendered into evidence and read to the jury, Babooram is quoted as having told detectives that he sat on the bed and it was Ramlochan who approached him with a knife.

“She was holding the knife tight. I went blank. She get stab in she chest. I stab she by mistake. The baby was on the bed.

When I see blood I get frightened. The baby was by the door.

I don’t know what happened to the knife.” Babooram, according to the statement, said Ramlochan was saying something but he could not ascertain what it was.

Hamid then asked Babooram what became of Ramlochan and the child and according to the statement, he replied that his mind went blank.

On August 13, Ramlochan’s body was taken out the latrine pit by cleaners from the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation.

A knife was also retrieved. Her child became entangled in a fishing net in the river.

When questioned further, Hamid testified, Babooram told detectives, “It have no third party in this.

She say love does cause the quarrelling thing. Ria is my girlfriend.

I live with Ria for six months.” The trial continues today.

Omeaku Barbour, of Spree Simon Drive, Phase 2, La Horquetta, Arima, appeared before Senior Magistrate Gillian Scotland in the Arima First Magistrates Court, charged with the murder of 36 year-old Haniel London, of 16 De Freitas Boulevard, La Horquetta.

He was represented by attorney Clement Daniel and will reappear in court on April 13. He was charged by PC Sean Thomas of Region 2 Homicide Bureau.

It is alleged that London, owner of Yardi’e MiniMart was at LH Wholesales at Majorie Padmore Avenue, Phase 2, re-supplying his business when he was approached by a man who was armed with a firearm. London was shot several times. He died on arrival at hospital.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said yesterday there were claims that there were producers in Brazil packaging and selling rotted corned beef to countries mainly in Europe and China.

Deyalsingh, speaking at the formal opening of the Women’s Outpatient Clinics and Colposcopy Centre, Mt Hope, said he was in talks with Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat, and the chief veterinary officer was doing a trace to see if any of the corned beef was finding its way here. He said if that was the case, they would issue a withdrawal of the product within 24 hours, adding that this is a serious health risk.

“As a consumer, I am driving this issue of personal responsibility,” Deyalsingh said.

“If you are going to shop today for corned beef, simply pick up the can, read the label and if you see made in Brazil exercise your right to treat yourself well until you have an official notice.

If you are uncomfortable just buy another brand. There are other brands that come from other countries.” Brazil is the world’s largest red meat exporter. In a BBC report, it was announced that Brazil’s agriculture minister Blairo Maggi will meet foreign ambassadors on Monday to reassure them and try to prevent sanctions being issued against Brazilian meat exporters.

Dubbed Operation Weak Flesh, the sting operation was launched last Friday in six Brazilian states after a two-year investigation where federal police carried out raids in 194 locations.

It was alleged that some managers bribed health inspectors and politicians to get government certificates for their products.

They accused more than 30 companies of a number of unhygienic practices. Among them were JBS, the world’s largest beef exporter, and BRF, the world’s top poultry producer.

President of the Supermarket Association, Dr Yunus Ibrahim, yesterday told Newsday that they were still awaiting guidance from the Agriculture Ministry and the Health Inspectorate. He said if it was discovered that the products are rotten or spoilt, the association would comply with all decisions made to pull the items off the shelves.

However, Ibrahim noted that if there was contaminated meat used for the corned beef, they would have been able to detect it.

“We would be able to know if the product was spoilt through the tin because there would have been swelling and leakage.

We don’t have a problem with spoiled tinned foods in this country,” Ibraham said.

Responding to a question in the Senate, Dillon said officers receive this training at the Police Academy specifically through a behavioural science course.

“There is a specific module in that course which focuses on dealing with the mentally ill and their special needs,” Dillon explained.

He also said officers are trained in de-escalation and interactive techniques when interacting with mentally ill people.

Responding to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark, Dillon said he did not know whether excessive force was used in an incident where a mentally ill man was killed by a police officer. Dillon also said he has not received any report on that incident. In a written response to another question, Dillon said anti-crime initiatives which have been implemented over the last year include restructuring of the Strategic Services Agency, computerisation of the Forensic Science Centre, an intensified drive to remove illegal arms and ammunition and increased dialogue between the Police Service and communities through town meetings. Dillon said this combination of focused initiatives are based upon the strategic imperatives of prediction, deterrence, detection, prosecution and rehabilitation.

The House of Representatives sits today from 1.30 pm to begin debate on the Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement Bill 2017.

“We rush to treat, but there is very little emphasis on preventative care,” Deyalsingh said.

Speaking yesterday at the formal opening of the Women’s Outpatient Clinics and Colposcopy Centre at Mt Hope, Deyalsingh said while there were roles to provide health care for citizens, whether it was cardiovascular, cancers, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the role of the ministry is to strive to get from treatment to prevention.

He said a key component to achieving this was getting the data. To this end, Deyalsingh said money has been allocated to have, not just the cancer registry up and running, but all other diseases including NCDs.

“We do not have a functional cancer registry. There is no data so we do not know how many patients we have with cancer – cervical, prostate, breast, lung – so how does Nipdec (National Insurance Property Development Company Ltd) determine how much drugs to buy? How do you forecast for drugs? For the first time, money has been allocated to bring the cancer registry up to date on software and we would have data on all other diseases,” he said.

Deyalsingh said they were unable to get a true handle on how many people were ill and with what because there was no data.

He said the $8 billion that was announced as allocated to treat NCDs did not mean that the money was just used for drugs to treat the diseases, but all direct costs provided including hospital beds, physicians, nurses and other needs.

However, he said the real cost went to loss of productivity when people had to take hours off from work to take their loved ones to clinic.

Deyalsingh said too many patients are faced with overwhelming amounts of information on diabetes, cancers and smoking and yet they still continue to not heed the messages.

He said doctors were seeing younger patients with diabetes each year because people were becoming sedentary and need to be more active, watch what they ate and monitor their sugar intake.

“I am going to be maligned for saying this, but sugar should be classified as a poison. The way we are currently using it is not good for us.” Deyalsingh said the centre would be used as a hub for NCDs and also testing for Zika – the mosquito- borne disease from the Aedes Egypti mosquito – in pregnant women.

The centre, on which construction began in 2012 and cost $79.3 million, began treating patients in December 2016.

It offers pap smears and colposcopy services, neonatology, maternal health, obstetrics and gynaecology.

CWU secretary general Joseph Remy said yesterday that the move had become necessary given Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s insistence that the plan was a Cabinet decision, informed by a report which reviewed the performance of the sector within the past few years.

“We expect that the prime minister will have the letter tomorrow (today), because it is being prepared as we speak,” Remy told reporters outside the International Waterfront Complex, Port-of- Spain.

“The minister has said that it is a Cabinet decision and as far as she is aware, it cannot be rescinded.

She also said that the report used to make the decision was confidential.

So, we are saying that the prime minister is head of the Cabinet and he has to intervene.” Remy and other CWU executive members had earlier met with Cudjoe in a lengthy meeting to address, among other things, the backlash to the Government’s decision to scrap the State entity.

He described the meeting as “a sham.” “We have exposed the Government’s attempt at further receipt because what was clear is that the Government felt by having its meeting today (yesterday) that the three labour federations will, thereafter, resume their seat at the National Tripartite Advisory Council which was clearly enunciated by the Minister of Labour (Jennifer Baptiste-Primus) at the end of the meeting. So we exposed the Government’s sham.

It was an absolute sham coming to this meeting.” Remy said Cudjoe brought nothing to the table.

“She was reading from a document, never provided us with a written copy of the report that was used as the basis for the decision to dissolve the TDC. She eventually said it is a confidential document and they may want to lay it before Parliament and in the circumstances we can’t be provided with it.” “This was a clear attempt by the Government to pull wool over the union’s eye. They could try that with other entities, not the progressive trade union movement.” Remy said Cudjoe had apologised for the haste with which the decision was announced.

“We said straight up that her apology is not accepted because you are apologising to say that you have to hustle and make a decision at a Cabinet meeting and you had to leave the country the next day and that is why the decision was made that way. That is absolute rubbish,” he said.

“The minister must know that once there is a recognised majority union in an entity and you have issues that are going to impact on people’s employment, then by law you have an obligation under the Industrial Relations Act to meet and treat in good faith with the RMU before you would have announced that decision.”

Launched in 2007, she said this social action initiative in 27 highrisk communities is really needed now, when more questions than answers abound. Ameen said the CSP included parenting skills, conflict resolution and community safety, and empowered residents to solve local disputes and gang war. The CSP had let communities carve out youth-friendly spaces such as a play park in Mango Rose, Laventille, and had engaged youngsters in music, drama, sport and life-skills, she said.

Ameen urged Dillon to justify whatever decision he will make on the CSP’s fate, to say what it might be replaced with if at all and to mull the fate of CSP staff.

Dillon said the CSP began in 2008 and was extended twice – in 2014 (to 2016) and again in 2016 (to 2017).

After evaluations in 2014 and in 2015 (twice), the CSP’s fate will now rely on a review by the Planning Ministry.

He said Cabinet also agreed to a $25 million allocation for existing contractual obligations, plus $15.1 million from the PSIP to fund beyond April 2017.

“So the Government, in consideration of the evaluation forward, considers even beyond the April deadline in terms of the termination of the programme.” “The Government is intent on avoiding any premature announcement,” Dillon said. He said the Government is working at a time of tight budgets. Otherwise Tourism Minister, Shamfa Cudjoe, justified the decision to replace the Tourism Development Company by separate entities for each of Tobago and Trinidad.

She replied to a question on the adjournment by Opposition Senator Wade Mark who asked if the TDC’s dissolution is a ploy aimed at facilitating the establishment of a Sandals Resort in Tobago. He alleged a lack of consultation on the move, and a flagrant breach of the Industrial Relations Act.

Cudjoe said some $441 million was spent on the TDC from 2007 to 2016. The staff bill had doubled from $21 million in 2006 to $50 million in 2016, but without the 100-strong staff displaying any improved performance.

She said an independent consultant asked stakeholders on the TDC’s efficacy. The TDC was found to be incapable of executing its mandate to promote the country, with stakeholders showing dissatisfaction.

Cudjoe cited stakeholders letters saying the TDC’s role is best done by two separate entities, one for each island. Those consulted included officials in the Ministry of Tourism, TDC, Invest TT, TT Bureau of Standards, Tobago House of Assembly, Tobago Hotel Tourism and Restaurant Association, and the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” asked one passer-by. Nothing happened and everything was okay. It was just a drill.

Led by coordinator Hayden Alexander, the corporation’s Disaster Management Unit conducted an emergency drill to improve on the coordination between the various groups that must work together in the event of an emergency. Using the Incident Command System, the unit coordinated fire officers, police, municipal police, traffic wardens, and volunteer organisations like the Red Cross society and Adventist Development and Relief Agency to both test and improve their emergency responses.

Yesterday’s “emergency” which drew the attention of a crowd of onlookers was that of an earthquake.

Corporation staff members donned “blood-stained” and torn clothes to play the part of victims with injuries ranging from burns to broken limbs to spinal injuries. Their acting must have been convincing because more than a few concerned passers-by asked, “Is this real or they playing?” After staff evacuated the building, corporation unit heads gathered at a muster point outside to do head counts and determine if anyone was missing while emergency personnel stood by to rescue whoever couldn’t make it out. Those rescued were transported via stretcher and ambulance to a treatment tent set up on the promenade. There they were treated by Red Cross workers while proudly displaying their “injuries” for photographers. TTPS and municipal police and traffic wardens ensured that the roads and pathways remained clear for the movement of emergency response personnel.

San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello said, “You saw we had a tremor yesterday (Monday) evening and they are becoming more frequent.

You never can tell what could happen so we are trying to be even more proactive to know what we will have to do and know where things can go wrong and where things can go right.” “It went very well,” said coordinator Alexander. “We found a few gaps that we have to fill, but that will always be true. Ever so often we try to do an exercise to practise how all the different units and services would work together in the event of an emergency.”

Telemundo has sought an injunction which seeks to restrain the TT Football Association from permitting any party other than Telemundo to provide Spanish- language television viewing rights in the US of Friday’s match as well as another CONCACAF WC qualifier in October .

Presiding over the injunction hearing is Justice Mira Dean-Armorer who heard from lawyers representing Telemundo as well as the TTFA yesterday .

According to its case, Telemundo is seeking protection from unfair competition, saying it legitimately struck a deal with two marketing firms to acquire the broadcast rights in the US of all CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers played outside of the US, Mexico and Canada .

Telemundo in 2014 acquired the broadcast rights from Traffic Sports and Media World, for US$30 million. Traffic Sports and Media World had acquired those rights from the Caribbean Football Union .

However, the TTFA is claiming that Telemundo no longer has those rights as the association as it took a decision to terminate the CFU’s contract with Traffic Sports and Media World, two organisations named in the 2015 US indictments involving FIFA executives for racketeering, conspiracy and corruption where it is alleged that bribes were offered for the television broadcast rights .

Telemundo, however, has countered that the US investigations and allegations relating to the FIFA indictments has nothing to Telemundo, and furthermore the TTFA did not object to Telemundo broadcasting previous matches under the same 2014 agreement .

“Telemundo is a stranger to those allegations,” its attorney Christopher Hamel-Smith,SC, argued yesterday .

He said it was a case where “one could not put the toothpaste back in the tube” once Telemundo’s reputation was damaged by not being able to provide the Spanish- language broadcast of the games to its US subscribers .

In his counter, the TTFA’s lawyer Reginald Armour,SC, has argued that the US FIFA indictments were relevant as the companies involved obtained these broadcast rights from the CFU by allegedly “paying bribes.”

Chin, who has 50 years experience teaching martial arts in TT, Canada, Guyana and Barbados, said it gives him pleasure in teaching others self defence. Chin said, “It is just a joy, I just love to help people. I like the idea of teaching people to be able to defend themselves.” Chin, who teaches his students at the Himalaya Club in Barataria and at the Fitness Planet Gym in Aranguez, said the main reason for the class is to protect women from acts of violence such as domestic violence.

“The main aim of the class is really to provide self defence classes for people, because of what is taking place throughout the world today.

“It’s geared more for ladies because, according to my girls (in the class), they said it’s nice for us ladies to fall in love but then again, we don’t know who we are falling in love with.

I have had students that told me that because of my training I have saved their lives. They have been under gun, knife and cutlass attack and they did save themselves.” Chin’s work in martial arts has also helped the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, as he has trained a number of officers.

“I have trained close to 1,000 police, and I have gotten reports from my students that they have handled men on the street empty- handed as well as with a baton.

“About 200 or 300 of them told me that they don’t feel like going to work with guns, but we know that guns are necessary now. The sort of confidence they have they feel like they don’t need guns.” One of Chin’s students that has benefitted from martial arts training is Jimmy Mohammed, who was able to defend himself against a gun/knife attack from a house intruder. Mohammed said when the bandit held him against his will, he got voices in his head to protect himself.

He recalled the incident saying, “A voice just tell me ‘well son you have to make your chance you know’. With my hands tied, and my pregnant wife inside and my little son inside, he (the bandit) told me to go to my door to open it.” After freeing his hands Mohammed utilised his training in kata to escape from the bandit.

“That was one of my most defining moments in my life. My kata is what I had to use.” Interested persons can contact Chin at 718-1915 or visit the Fitness Planet Gym (opposite Aranguez Savannah) in Aranguez.