In his submissions to Justice Mira Dean Armorer in the San Fernando High Court last week, Maharaj said for a SoE to be declared nationally, the threat must not be to the safety of some people only, but to the citizens generally whose safety must be guarded and more than just the police service is required to do so.

Then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar held an emergency cabinet meeting in August 2011 and then advised the president who, Maharaj told the judge, had to be satisfied in accordance with Section 8 (2) of the constitution which mandates that the threat to public safety was on an extensive scale.

Within days of the SoE, more than 1,868 persons were arrested by police under the Anti-Gang law which was passed mere months before in Parliament.

The majority of them were not charged with any offences but were kept at the Maximum State Prison then released after Director of Public Prosecutions, Roger Gaspard, petitioned the Magistrates Court in Port of Spain, San Fernando and Princes Town, to release the men on nolle pros applications.

“All of the detainees were arrested in Port of Spain, the environs of San Fernando and Princes Town which was indicative of the fact that the emergency situation in the country was not widespread but sporadic.” Maharaj was at the time arguing a constitutional motion filed by one such detainee, Earl Elie, who was detained for 13 days without charge and who wants the court to declare that the SoE under the People’s Partnership government, was unlawful on the ground that at the time, no public emergency existed to empower the then president to act under Section 8 (2).

The State is challenging the motion in which Senior Counsel Russell Martineau is arguing the case on behalf of the Attorney General.

Martineau began replying to Maharaj’s submissions last week.

The case continues on April 11 after which the judge will fix a date for judgment.

The event and the presence of this distinguished duo were certainly a most timely reminder of the greatness that Caribbean people are capable of, even as this country goes through a period of great socio-economic challenge.

Sir Everton Weekes – one of the legendary “three W’s” of 1950s West Indies cricket with Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Clyde Walcott – a sprightly and witty 92-year-old, can surely inspire our region’s cricketers to rise out of their current slump.

Sir Trevor noted that Sir Frank’s greatness went far beyond athletic prowess on the cricket pitch, noting his nurturing qualities and his advocacy of West Indianness. Most of all, however was Sir Frank’s absolute lack of any bitterness and harbouring of no grudges, such as at the inordinate length of time for the region to appoint its first ever black cricket captain, himself.

Sir Trevor said he also saw this similar trait of fathomless tolerance in former South Africa President Nelson Mandela upon release from 26 years in jail.

Sir Frank, Sir Everton, Sir Clyde, Sir Trevor and President Mandela are all icons to inspire us.

Even amid yesterday’s grim news of “100 dead” this year, each of us can be inspired to rise above this era’s challenges of fear, hardship and uncertainty, by crafting a vision that draws on the life-lessons of such icons. We’d be surprised to find any other population of one million people that have produced world-class icons of excellence in such variety and with such consistency.

To name but a few in each category, our better-known icons are in sport (Hasely Crawford, Keshorn Walcott, Brian Lara, Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy), beauty queens (Penny Commissiong, Giselle Laronde- West and Wendy Fitzwilliam), literature (VS Naipaul and Earl Lovelace), music (Machel Montano, Angela Hunte, Heather Headley, Billy Ocean, Haddaway) and Carnival arts (Peter Minshall, Rosalind Gabriel, Len Boogsie Sharpe), and dance (Dai Ailian, the Mother of Modern Chinese Dance). TT produces worldclass practitioners in fashion (Heather Jones, Peter Elias and Saville Row’s Andrew Ramproop), architecture (Colin Laird), steelband (Johan Chuckaree, Mia Gormandy and Liam Teague). The country’s downstream energy-sector was built by the likes of Prof Ken Julien. The late Hazel Ward-Redman, Holly Betaudier, Dr JD Elder and Joyce Wong Sang were facilitators of TT’s performance culture. In journalism, Anne Hilton, George John and Keith Smith (all deceased) helped us understand who we are. Abroad, we boast of the appointments of Los Angeles Times publisher, Davan Maharaj, and Howard University President, Dr Wayne Frederick, among others. The late former president Arthur NR Robinson, Karl Hudson-Phillips and Stokely Carmichael all contributed to human rights at a global level.

As individuals, families, communities, institutions and a society overall, we must each be inspired the stories of our national icons of excellence.

Can we too have the spirit of sacrifice, self-discipline, consistent focus and vision to likewise aspire to excellence in each of our chosen paths? Even at the humblest of levels, excellence can be strived for. The CEPEP worker can be the eyes and ears of his/her community to improve residents’ safety. The doubles vendor can create efficiencies to keep his/her prices affordable. The mischievous youngster can graduate from class clown to being tomorrow’s Learie Joseph or Kenneth Supersad. As we remember the greatness of the “three W’s” as our Caribbean heroes, we’d also encourage our youngsters to research the stories of the legion of icons of excellence who have strode the world stage from their humble beginnings in little Trinidad and Tobago.

According to CSP programme director Gregory Sloane-Seale, the pilot programme instituted nine years ago in 21 targeted communities, “Managed to reduce homicides in the communities we worked in by 45 percent, woundings and shootings were down by 29 percent, and sexual assault was down by about 35 percent.” Sloane-Seale was speaking on Thursday last at the “Comeunity” Conference held at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. Over 200 community activists representing the partner communities were at the conference to plan for further safety and security measures for their communities with their partners that included the University of Trinidad and Tobago which facilitated workshops on crime and public safety and entrepreneurship; the Ministry of National Security and the Inter American Development Bank (IABD).

Funded by the IADB, Sloane- Seale said, some $185 million was spent over the nine years, or an average of less than $21 million a year.

“Crime and violence are going down in the communities we have worked in. A lot of positive things are taking place in the communities that had not been taking place nine years ago,” he said.

Some of the major challenges the CSP tackled included domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse and use especially among young people, youth delinquency and gun-related violence, academic underachievement, trauma reduction and counselling, mediation.

“We want to make sure young people have options. It’s about the importance of community engagement. Today is a testimony to those who did not sit by and just watch. You decided to get up and get engaged so that Trinidad and Tobago can be a better place,” Sloane-Seale said.

The communities targeted included Mt D’or, Farm Road, St Joseph, Arima, Sangre Grande, Pinto Road, La Romaine, Embacadere, Enterprise, Dibe, Patna, Cocorite, Covigne, East Portof- Spain and environs including St Barbs, Never Dirty, Beetham Gardens, Gonzales, and Morvant.

Three communities in Tobago – Bethel, Bon Accord and Greater Scarborough were also involved in the programme.

The overall programme included transfers of skills to build capacity and deal with risk factors to contribute to the reduction of crime and violence under-served communities.

One of the objectives of the public awareness campaign, Mark White of CMB communication company said, was to destigmatise the under-served communities, and target at risk youths mainly in the under 14 age group. CMB will conduct the awareness campaign which will begin with murals on walls days before the launch. The campaign will include traditional and social media, an art exhibition across the country and live social media interaction.

While Sloane-Seale could not speak about the future of the programme, he said, “I believe that within the ministry there is an intent to continue with the programme.

That would be left up to Cabinet.”

According to a release issued by the Public Administrations and Communications Ministry, this is the belief of the chairman of the e-Business Roundtable (eBRT), Glynis Alexander- Tam, who noted that even as the country continues to focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, TT needs to work harder to create a more open e-commerce environment.

At the Fourth Working Meeting of the eBRT on Thursday, members of the Roundtable, representing different sectors and associations, discussed what currently obtains with respect to government payments and receipts, as well as the proposed way forward, legislatively and operationally, to introduce Linx and online payments at all government agencies.

When the Roundtable was reconvened on December 6, 2016, Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie implored the members to drive the National ICT Strategy by helping to develop “realisable and implementable initiatives to help government, the public sector, the private sector and academia.” The committee has taken this mandate seriously, meeting on four occasions since then to influence Government’s ICT policy and keep the National ICT Agenda relevant.

At Thursday’s meeting, representatives from the Treasury Division of the Ministry of Finance, including the Deputy Comptroller of Accounts, outlined the necessary steps for achieving electronic payments within this financial year, stating that the Government is ready to move away from a paper-based environment.

They welcomed the input and advice from the Roundtable, whose member Associations include key stakeholders such as the Bankers Association of TT (BATT), the TT Chamber of Commerce (TT Chamber), the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and the National ICT Company (iGovTT).

Expressing that “implementation is usually our Achilles heel”, Alexander-Tam promised the Treasury their support in the initiative which is expected to be completed in this fiscal year.

In previous meetings, the eBRT have engaged with the Global Services Promotion Programme and the National Development Strategy, Vision 2030 of the Ministry of Planning and Development.

Middle order batsman Yannic Cariah, who had retired hurt on Friday, returned to score his maiden First Class century and push TT to 275 in their first innings after previously looking in tatters at 57 for five. Cariah’s 102 not out proved the bedrock in resuscitating TT’s innings.

Red Force pacers Sheldon Cottrell (3/30) and Marlon Richards (2/14) were then almost unplayable as they rocked the hosts in their reply and help bundle them out for a pitiful 104. In what looked like a carbon copy of TT’s first innings, Windwards lost wickets repeatedly but had no Cariah or Steven Katwaroo (59) in their middle order to steady the ship. It could have been worse for the Windwards but off-spinner Shane Shillingford (34) and pace Kyle Mayers (31) put up some resistance with the bat to get them to triple figures.

Summarised Scores:
RED FORCE 275 – Yannic Cariah 102 not out, Steven Katwaroo 59, Kharry Pierre 50; Kyle Mayers 4/24 vs WINDWARD ISLANDS VOLCANOES 104 – Shane Shillingford 34; Sheldon Cottrell 3/30, Marlon Richards 2/14, Imran Khan 2/28, Bryan Charles 2/22.

The suspect, a labourer of Sea Lots, Port of Spain, told police that he cares deeply for Joseph and was looking forward to spending today with her and their daughter who turns four today.

Newsday understands that two officers at the North Eastern Task Force, who shared a close relationship with Joseph, were also questioned by Homicide officers.

Police are also exploring new information that a hit could have been put on Joseph because she may have witnessed illegal activities in Sea Lots on Thursday. A man who police identified as a gang leader is also expected to be questioned in connection with Joseph’s disappearance. Yesterday her mother, Paula Guy, made a stirring plea to persons with information on her daughter’s whereabouts to come forward and assist. She said when her daughter left her Marie Trace, Morvant home on Thursday, she said she was going out to do police business and that was the last time she saw her. Guy said Joseph would never leave home without contacting the family and she is fearful that something sinister has taken place, but is praying and hoping that her daughter is found alive and unharmed.

Coast Guard divers yesterday searched the waters near several sunken derelict ships near Sea Lots.

While this was taking place, police officers along with a cadaver dog combed several areas of Sea Lots hoping to find the missing officer however the two searches proved futile.

Sources revealed that police received information that Joseph’s body was dumped in front of a sunken Chinese ship close to the Sea Lots area, however Coast Guard divers were unable to locate the body. Air Guard officers also carried out searches from the air.

Police from the Cyber Crime Unit are also assisting the Homicide Bureau to ascertain who are the persons Joseph spoke with on Thursday before she disappeared and when was the last time she used her cellular phone.

ACP Irwin Hackshaw said yesterday that all resources are being deployed with the assistance from other agencies to find the missing woman who enlisted in the Police Service on November 10, 2016 and was assigned to the Morvant Police Station.

Rowley, an attorney, was speaking at event titled Celebrating the Powerful Women of Arima held at the Arima Town Hall Sorzano Street, Arima yesterday. The event was held in commemoration of International Women’s Day which was celebrated on Wednesday last week. She also called on parents to teach their children to respect each other and themselves.

“It is my firm belief that we all can be empowered,” Rowley said.

“We all have the power, but many give it up by thinking that we have none. We have to do all that we can do to ensure that all women in Trinidad and Tobago are treated with dignity. We must all be able to live lives filled with opportunity; lives free from discrimination and violence. “We all have a part to play in ensuring our society is safe and secure for all…As parents we have a responsibility to our young people.

Not only must we guide our daughters, but we must teach our sons to respect our women. We must teach our children to respect themselves.” The celebration was held to recognise the women of Arima who have dedicated their lives to making a valuable contribution to this country’s development.

“They show us that we could have social economic and political empowerment,” said Rowley.

“They show us what gender equality is all about.” Among those women who were honoured were Lt Commander Kele-Ann Bourne of the TT Coast Guard – the first woman of the southern Caribbean to sail across the Atlantic, and Arima’s first female mayor Rose Janneire who also served as assistant general secretary and public relations officer of the People’s National Movement (PNM). Janniere died in July 2011 at the age of 68.

At a news conference held yesterday at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Charles Street, Port of Spain, Ramdeen and Sturge accused Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of seeking to intrude on the absolute right of any citizen committed to stand trial on indictment to have a trial by a jury. This right, according to Ramdeen, has been recognised since 1215.

He cited Al-Rawi’s removal of the requirement for the special majority on the Marriage Bill and his signal, during the debate, that because he didn’t have the confidence that the Opposition would support future legislation the Government planned to bring to the House, the Government would in future introduce legislation without the requirement for a three-fifths majority. He said the attorney general had kept that promise over the last two weeks, introducing the Indictable Offences (Pretrial Procedure) Bill, which seeks to remove the need for preliminary inquiries without the requirement for a special majority and has now introduced the Miscellaneous Provisions (Trial by Judge Alone) Bill, 2017, also without the need for a special majority. Ramdeen said there should have been far-reaching consultation with citizens on the Trial By Judge Alone bill so the people would understand how their rights to a trial by jury is being affected and the advantages and disadvantages of the new legislation.

He said the amendments made to existing legislation by the Government are very far-reaching and the bill is “fundamentally flawed.” He said it does not take into consideration the separation of powers nor the fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens and it doesn’t properly consider the Constitution as a whole. “And what the Opposition wants to signal today is that it is a very dangerous path because one doesn’t know where the attorney general and this Rowley-led Government is going to stop.

Today, they bring legislation to intrude on the right to a trial by jury, tomorrow they might intrude on the right to vote, the next day they might intrude on your right to liberty. Where is it going to stop?” Ramdeen referred to a meeting in September last year between Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Rowley to discuss the crime situation. He said Persad-Bissessar indicated that the Opposition was prepared to work with the Government to deal with the crime problem facing the country.

However, he said that none of the promises made by Rowley at that meeting and none of the suggestions made by the Opposition has borne fruit.

He said that at that meeting Rowley indicated to Persad-Bissessar that whenever there is legislation which has a far reaching effect on citizens, the Government would consult with the Opposition but this has not happened. He said the Indictable Offences (Pretrial Procedure) Bill was introduced in the House with less than one week’s notice and the Miscellaneous Provisions (Trial By Judge Alone) Bill, 2017 has also been brought to the House with less than one week’s notice.

It also heralds fierce competition among steelbands for musical supremacy on the pan. It also brings to the fore calypsonians with skills ranging from the largely mediocre to the moderate to a few outstanding, all vying to gain monetary rewards and recognition.

The participation in these activities have been amplified and glorified by stakeholders and the media as the very essence of our creativity in costume design, music and song and as the celebration of our innate propensity for carefree enjoyment, gay abandon, revelry and merriment.

The question that must be asked is whether Carnival is the defining element of our culture and denotes who we are as a people; whether as a nation we are given to merriment and frolic to the exclusion of everything else or, as the Road March says, “we jamming still, we doh business;” whether as a society we engage in unbridled, feckless, crass, mindless and aggressive behaviour without thought or restraint; whether we abandon any sense of responsibility in pursuit of frenzied enjoyment and self-gratification for a limited period of time.

If it is assumed that the above-noted propensities are all part of our psyche as a people, then why do we inveigh against the assertion that we have a “Carnival mentality?” Many will argue that the above characterisation does not define us as a people or denote the complexity of our cultural expression.

The debate continues.

Nevertheless, if we agree for a moment that Carnival represents the essential embodiment of our culture, the question being asked today is what is the future of this festival and, by extension, the future of this allegedly pervasive element of the culture and whether we are in the throes of cultural demise.

Some will argue with conviction that Carnival today is even more buoyant, vibrant and energetic than it was previously.

Others maintain just as strenuously that Carnival is undeniably on the decline from what it was years ago.

Veteran calypsonian Winston Peters (Gypsy) is convinced that Carnival “is dying and fast,” that (it) “has lost its appeal as well as its creativity” and that “…the same Carnival we have here, you can get it in Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica or any other Caribbean island” (Express 6/3/17).

Carnival and pan enthusiast Martin Daly says “the delusion that our Carnival is ‘the Greatest Show on Earth’ has become a pappyshow claim” and that “…there is the withdrawal of spectators in ever increasing numbers over a decade not only from Panorama but from the two days of the parade of the bands” (Express 5/3/17).

One Patricia Blades in a letter to the newspapers laments that the mas is boring with “men and women with their bottoms pushed out, wining on each other, wearing last year’s tiny boring costumes… Revellers with a total lack of decency… Lack of innovative in costume design.” If indeed there is any credibility to these observations, then it appears that Carnival is fast losing whatever appeal it had to participants and spectators and can no longer lay claim to being the premier, culturally defining event.

Also symptomatic of the reputed decline of Carnival is what some observers regard as the creeping mediocrity of the general standard of calypsoes offered throughout the season as well as in the Calypso Monarch show.

Ken Ali in an op-ed piece (see page A13) urges that “we cannot afford another year of calypso decay” and was very kind in his assessment that “…today’s version generally lacks the creative honesty, flair, ingenuity and poetic mastery…” He then laments that “The just-ended Carn i v a l s e a s o n s a w m o r e a r t i s t e s than patrons at s o m e c a lyps o tents.”

Christian Mohammed, died at hospital on Saturday, after fighting for his life for almost 24 hours. Mohammed is the second fatality in a shooting incident which occurred on Friday afternoon.

According to reports, Mohammed, another man in his early 20s, a woman identified as Candice, 20, and 22-year-old Terrence Patrick were sitting at the front porch of a house on John Street, Enterprise, Chaguanas when two men approached the group and opened fire.

All four persons were shot several times. They were taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility, where Patrick was pronounced dead.

Mohammed and the three other victims were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Police claim that Patrick was a member of a well-known gang which operates out of Chaguanas. Homicide detectives are working on the theory that the group was attacked by members of a rival gang. Autopsies on the two dead men are expected to be done at the Forensic Science Centre in St James today