Young, speaking at yesterday’s post Cabinet meeting at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort in Lowlands, Tobago, said a company set up to deal with the project, the Golden Grove Buccoo Company Limited, met a month ago and that another meeting was scheduled for today.

“We intend to begin the negotiations process with the Sandals international team, it is moving along and we want to get it done as swiftly as possible,” he said.

Young, who was expanding on a response given by Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles as to the status of the project, was careful to point out that it was in the negotiation stage.

“Understand this is a negotiation process and we will also be engaging in the necessary application for the relevant statutory approval. In that process, and in addition to that process we will, in the appropriate time, engage in consultation. Until we have something signed off on, we will keep the public of Tobago in particular, and Trinidad abreast as we move forward on the project,” he said.

Charles said the meeting today will involve key stakeholders, to further discussion and move the process forward.

“A company has been established, so we will flesh out the detail of the process to be used going forward. The project is on its way,” he said.

Charles also reported that Cabinet has agreed to the acquisition of a cargo ferry and to consider a custom built new fast ferry.

“I’m sure tenders are about to go out on the acquisition of the cargo ferry to replace the Galicia, and more than that Cabinet agreed to pursue the acquisition of the new fast ferry.

“As you are aware, the current ferries are pretty aged, therefore we have to move in a timely manner to ensure their replacement.

This one will be a custom built fast ferry, therefore it requires a certain amount of lay time to allow for its manufacture,” he said.

“It is a priority issue for the new board (of the Port Authority) and that is why we are taking the position that we are going to try and procure one as quickly as possible that is already out there that we can source. At the same time, we will put in our order to have one that is custom built,” he added.

Stuart clarified that “Cabinet did agreed two week ago that in addition to going out to tender for a cargo vessel between Trinidad and Tobago, we are going to procure the purchase of a cargo and fast ferry vessels. It is already in progress and very soon you will see, it will be for the international procurement of these vessels,” he said.

Asked whether crime in Tobago was discussed at the Cabinet meeting, Charles said it was not, nor were plans for a desalination plant in southwest Tobago as announced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley following a Cabinet meeting at the same Magdalena venue in March last year.

Yousef Hosein, speaking with Newsday yesterday, said he was contacted by the school supervisor for the area to discuss the incident.

He told the official that he had one request and that was for the alleged attacker to be allowed to return to school and not face a seven-day suspension. “I don’t want him to miss classes,” Hosein said.

“What will he do at home for all those days? They have test coming up.” Acknowledging that boys will be boys, Hosein said the boy who hurt his son needs help and that was his reason for going public with the incident in the first place. He is also calling on the nation to pray for the speedy recovery of his son.

Hosein also showered praises on the chairman of the South West Regional Health Authority, Anil Gosine, for what he called the “good services” offered to his son at the San Fernando General Hospital on Tuesday.

Eshan was injured during the lunch-time break on Tuesday when the other student allegedly pushed him to the ground and beat him up.

The Ministry of Education has since launched an investigation into the alleged claims of bullying at the school. Additionally, a meeting with parents of both students is scheduled for Monday at the Couva Education Office.

Meanwhile, counselling by the Student Support Services Division of the Ministry of Education is being offered to both students.

Eshan is expected to return to school this morning.

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia has launched an investigation into the incident at the Ste Madeleine Secondary School which we trust will be as prompt as it is thorough. Many fingers are being pointed in many directions to seek to attribute blame, which initial indications suggest is plentiful enough to share around.

While the Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Lovell Francis, has correctly observed that pupils are the privileged beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded education and while he is right to chide their misbehaviour on the fateful day, we also see their misconduct as likely reflecting their anxieties at the conflict playing out in front of their youthful eyes between adults who on all sides should really have known better.

The pupils’ minds were probably akin to those of children who witness a row between their mother and father, where a stable and nurturing environment is replaced by a conflict that provokes the turmoil of torn loyalties within the child.

From either a legal or medical/ psychological standpoint, a child is not yet deemed to have the full capacity of adult responsibility, however disagreeable their actions may be in our sight.

Anecdote suggests that perhaps most incidents of pupil misconduct occur when there is a lack of supervision by teachers, and we would further suggest that the mere fact of pupils witnessing conflict between adults would serve to rile up the pupils and lead to their unsettled behaviour.

TTUTA, which supported the teachers’ protest against the administration, complained that the conflict is long-standing and that the ministry and the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) had failed to step in to resolve it.

The union published a list of alleged grievances in a paid press advert, earning a pre-action protocol letter in reply, after which ten teachers plus union officials held their protest, with its unfortunate eventual turn of events.

Garcia has vowed to consult lawyers to see if the action was in fact contrary to the Education Act and had brought the school system into disrepute. TTUTA president Lynsley Doodhai hit back to say that Garcia, himself a former TTUTA leader, should know that teachers had the legal right to picket.

Meanwhile, Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh sought to lay blame at the feet of Garcia, alleging months of unease including sporadic incidents of violence at the school, even as TTUTA in its advertisement claimed to have tried to get the ministry and the TSC over the past five years — a portion of that time when Gopeesingh himself was minister — alleging “vacillation and inaction.” TTUTA’s grievances with the school include an alleged failure to motivate, slipping pupil performance, questionable expenditure (such as on a gym and tennis court and a costly CCTV system), a blatant disregard of ILO and IRA practices, and denigration of staff.

Among its demands, TTUTA urged a proper, independent investigation, to let the ministry and TSC resolve the issues in the shortest time.

We reserve comment on the specific grievances as we would not wish to pre-empt the probe launched by Garcia. However, we too again urge the investigation be prompt, fair and thorough.

We hope the probe can also suggest better ways of conflict resolution in our educational system, to avert any repeat of last Monday’s sorry saga.

(They swear the drink actually smoked.) That night could have been a prelude to the first book I can remember reading to them: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss.

Reading tops their list of what they remember most about growing up with me. They remember a picture book by Juliet Snipe entitled The Boy With the Square Eyes, a cautionary tale about a boy who watched too much TV.

The Twits is still a favourite on my children’s list. When I read it, they laughed until they collapsed on the bed, and then they made me read each page about ten times. I reread the entire book to them countless times, and learned the value of a book, literally speaking.They turned out to be better value than oranges or mangoes while in season, because children like to have books read to them over and over again.

The BFG was their first scary book. They remember it fondly, but I remember Ijanaya’s worried look as a five-year-old, and I remember Zino sucking his thumb furiously as he stole glances at the window.

I always had plenty Christmas stories on hand. We read The Night Before Christmas, The Little Match Girl, Charlie Brown’s Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss. I bought every Christmas story I could find, and those books helped build suspense for the holiday.

Eventually, we graduated to mysteries and horror. Zino loved The Goose Bumps series, and to this day, our favourite is The Ghost Next Door. I consider it one of the best books I ever read.

What Zino says he remembers the most is my voice while reading.

He describes it as “charismatic.” “Your voice made those stories come alive. I could see them in my mind,” he says.

So 25 years later, he still has my voice in his head. Children don’t forget your voice when you read to them.

Ijanaya remembers stories by Trinidadian writer Lynn Joseph featured in A Wave In Her Pocket and The Mermaid’s Twin Sister, a book of Japanese folk tales and a collection of Greek mythology, all of which fed her creative writing.

She recalls Brother Eagle, Sister Sky, Chief Seattle’s speech about the environment. I credit that book for making her environmentally conscious.

Zino loves movies with subtitles, which have opened up a whole new world for him. His two favourite movies have been Passion of the Christ and the Hindi movie, Water.

Ijanaya is an avid reader. Reading emboldened Ijanaya to follow her dreams. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fashion design, and she combines that now with a master’s degree in library science from Kent State University.

Books, reading and research have become the foundation of her life.

This is National Reading Month, and I am thinking about how reading created a special bond between me and my children.

I always felt frustrated and guilty while my children were growing up because I didn’t have the money to take my children to Disney World. It turns out I gave them something much bigger than a trip to Disney World. They closed their eyes, and fell asleep with all of the magic that books c onj u red up

The gang leader was found with a Beretta pistol loaded with six rounds of ammunition.

It was reported that officers of the Central Division under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner of Police Surujdeen Persad and led by Senior Superintendent Kenny McIntyre and Sgt Andy Mohammed, received certain information and intercepted a vehicle with four occupants.

During a search of the vehicle, the weapon was found.

According to sources, Chaguanas police beefed-up the station after receiving word that members of the Unruly Isis were planning an assault on the station in an effort to free the detained four by any means necessary.

It is understood that officers involved in the arrest have received death threats and were told to transfer out of the division…

or else.

On Wednesday afternoon when news spread of the Unruly Isis gang member some residents of Crown Trace, Enterprise began blocking the roads and condemned the actions of the police in detaining the four persons. Police soldiers were quickly on the scene and managed to disperse the crowd.

Yesterday, ACP Persad told Newsday officers will continue to do their duty but will be on extreme alert. He said officers will not be deterred by any threat. The detained four are expected to be placed on identification parades today.

Also on Wednesday officers raided several drug blocks and detained 21 persons in connection with various offences while four persons from Moruga who were travelling in a vehicle in Couva were detained and a quantity of marijuana seized.

Officers also carried out a search under a bridge in the Enterprise area and seized a rife, two army camouflage army uniforms and a quantity of marijuana.

Tourism Secretary in the Tobago House of Assembly, Nadine Stewart Phillips, at the THA post Executive Council media briefing in Tobago, had announced the establishment of a Tobago Tourism Authority (TTA), which she said was expected to lend support to tourism stakeholders to develop the island as the premier destination in the southern Caribbean. She said the TTA has nine main functions.

Yesterday, Cudjoe said the Tobago entity will give the THA autonomy to deal with marketing Tobago. “It’s only right that the Tobago House of Assembly be given necessary authority and autonomy to treat with matters and to do so in a more focused way,” she said.

Saying that dissolution of the TDC will not happen immediately but within legal parameters, Cudjoe also announced that steps were being taken to develop a Regulatory Authority which will set basic standards for all tourism operators.

Consultations with Barbados and Bahamas tourism authorities were ongoing on the establishment of this regulatory body, she added.

She says this move will make the TT tourism product attractive to the potential visitors.

“The review was done and we looked at the different structures and management of tourism in Trinidad and Tobago. One very important part of this new initiative is that the establishment of the any serious tourism destination needs to have these standards.

“Right now in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago doesn’t have a regulatory authority or basic standards…We have been in consultation with members form the Caribbean destinations, Bahamas, Barbados and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation for assistance in doing the consultations, so we look forward to these new arrangements,” she said.

Sunil Singh and Baldath Rampersad were before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court, charged with the murder of pundit Kamal Harripersad who was chopped to death at his home.

After a three-day summation, a 12-member jury panel deliberated for three hours before returning with guilty verdicts for the two men.

Harripersad, 54, of St John’s Trace, Orange Field Road, Chaguanas, was at home with his wife and children when intruders stormed the house and chopped him to death.

The men demanded money, struck Harripersad’s wife Tara Lochan on the head with a gun butt and stole cellular phones, pieces of jewellery and $300.

Lochan testified at the trial.

Singh and Rampersad were charged with the murder and, after a preliminary inquiry in the Chaguanas Magistrates Court, they were committed to stand trial in 2009.

Also testifying for the prosecution was Jagdeo Goolie Persad who claimed he was the driver of the getaway car the killers used in carrying out the crime.

Persad, who turned hostile on the witness stand, was treated as a witness with an interest to serve.

There was a hushed silence when Brown-Antoine read out the sentence of death to the two men who were represented by attorneys Sophia Chote,SC, Michelle Solomon and Keith Scotland.

State attorneys from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Nigel Pilgrim and Giselle Ferguson-Heller prosecuted.

Producers Garth St Clair and wife Natasha Nunez have decided to issue a pre-action protocol letter to the director of Quirky Films, Sean Hodgkinson who is being accused of withholding the final uncut version of the film.

At a news conference held yesterday at the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition Services Industries, Woodbrook, St Clair said he and Nunez, hosts of the radio show Eye on Dependency, have been accused of attempting to steal original works.

“We embarked on this journey with enthusiasm raising $945,000 from various sponsors to whom we made commitments to share the film for use in the field as an educational weapon against those who seek to entrap or coerce vulnerable persons to traffic drugs,” St Clair said.

“After commissioning the film, we are yet to receive the promised final uncut version as the rights of ownership have been questioned.

Instead, the company commissioned to produce and shoot this film, Quirky Films, is accusing us of attempting to steal original works. Also, we are yet to receive an accounting of how the sponsorship money was spent on the film’s production.” He said the original cost to produce the film was $600,000.

St Clair said funding for the film came from the government and State agencies and he was required to get permission from the Ministry of Health and the National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programme (NADAPP) before they could have proceeded.

“Our personal and professional reputations are being called into question over the production of the and the time has come to publicly treat with these issues for the benefit of our stakeholders. We have been trying to settle and appealed to the director. We did not want to taint the film by ventilating this in the public. We begged and pleaded off camera to settle this. If we had come together and pool our funds from events such as barbecue and cake sales and from family and friends, this press conference would not have been taking place this morning. This would have been a private battle.” St Clair said the intended purpose of the film has not been met.

“Eye on Dependency wishes to publicly state that it is prepared to substantiate all its claims with respect to the genesis and development of the idea for Trafficked.

We intend to make every effort to ensure the film is made available for its intended purpose and to announce that despite the circumstances, Eye on Dependency is continuing its public education work with the production of another film, Trafficked 2 – The Mule, as well as the Eye on Dependency television series.”

“Passengers are asked to liaise with their respective airlines for details of new flight schedules and travel information during that period,” AATT said in a release yesterday.

Apologising for any inconvenience caused to travellers, the AATT said, the ongoing routine maintenance work is necessary to ensure the safety and security of all customers and stakeholders.

Meanwhile Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) announced that as a result of the closure of the runway during the period of maintenance, several of its flights will be affected.

Passengers affected by possible cancellations will be accommodated on other services, CAL said.

Passengers travelling on CAL between March 12 and March 19 may also contact CAL’s call centres at 868-625-7200 (Trinidad and Tobago), 1-800-920- 4225 (Toll Free North America), 1-800-744-2225 (Toll Free Caribbean), 1-888-359-2475 (Jamaica).

Customers are also encouraged to visit flight track tab on the website www.caribbean-airlines.

com and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/caribbeanairlines for up-to-date information.

Balgobin, the Chairman of Angostura Holdings Limited, has been the subject of protests over the last few months over allegations of sexual harassment of a female executive at the company.