The allegations were contained in an article in the Daily Express newspaper which suggested an alleged conflict of interest involving the official and a 15-year-old inmate who has been living at her residence.

A statement issued yesterday said the minister and other officials at the Office of the Prime Minister are deeply concerned about the issues raised in the article and, pending receipt of the report from the chairman of the Authority, the Office of the Prime Minister will investigate the matter itself. It adds that Government remains committed to ensuring the delivery of the necessary care and protection of all children in the country.

However, in a release yesterday, the Authority said the article contained “misinformed and incorrect statements” and that at the time of the placement, the child was not living at the St. Michael’s School for Boys. It said that the Authority conducted individual assessments of the children at the St. Michael’s Home in 2015 to identify ideal placement and the rehabilitative interventions which would best meet the needs of each child including psychological, medical, social and educational needs.

The Authority said that in this case, the assessment of the child recommended foster care as the best placement since the child had no relatives who could take care of him and continued placement at the St. Michael’s Home was considered inappropriate. The Authority said that based on this assessment, the court granted a change in its initial order which committed the child to the St. Michael’s Home and ordered that he be placed in foster care instead. The release said that after being placed in two successive foster care homes, the arrangements broke down and the Authority sought other arrangements which also broke down.

According to the Authority’s statement, it was after the breakdown of these arrangements and after various placements had broken down, that the child asked to see the director of the Authority, who had mentored him before assuming the position of Director. It said, “Placement with the Director was then considered. It must be noted that there is no restriction in the legislation as to who may apply to become a ‘fit person’ for any child who has no parent, guardian or other person fit or willing to care for the child. An independent investigator was engaged and the recommendation was that the child would be well placed in the care of the Director. The child’s mother was also contacted and agreed to the proposed arrangement, while working toward reunification.” The Authority says that it was unfortunate that the newspaper article gave the impression of wrongdoing by the Director as the best interest of the child and the views which he expressed were taken into account and the process was followed.” The Authority advises the public that from the beginning of this process, the intention was, and continues to be, that the child’s placement would be approved by the Court, and monitored independently and not by the Authority, in order to eliminate any conflict of interest, perceived or real.”

According to a release from the TT Police Service, 16-yearold Cameron Williams who was reported missing by his mother on Thursday March 2, has been found and returned to his family.

He was last seen leaving his Ponderosa Crescent, D’Abadie home to get a haircut in Arima.

Meanwhile, relatives of a 42-year-old woman have seeking help in finding her after her disappearance last year. Sandra Smith, was last seen at her home in Bagatelle, Diego Martin in October.

Since then no one has seen or heard from her. She is of a light brown complexion with short, dark hair.

Police are also seeking the assistance in finding 22-year-old Shannon Paul, of Cunupia. Paul of Cunupia, was last seen leaving her home at about 7.30 pm on Tuesday. She was reported missing by her husband on Thursday.

Paul is of African descent, five feet, six inches tall, with a slim build and light brown in complexion. She has tattoos of the words ‘Naima’, ‘Danny’ and ‘Makela’ on the right side of her neck, left arm and right foot respectively.

And another teenager has also gone missing.

Tasha Sandsand, 14, was last seen leaving her Foster Road, Sangre Grande home for her school, Malabar Secondary, at about 6.15 am on Monday last.

Sandsand, a Form II student, is of African descent, with a slim build and dark brown in complexion.

She was last seen wearing her school uniform, which is a white shirt, grey skirt and a white and grey tie. People with information on any missing persons can contact police at 555, 999, 911 or any police station.

According to Thomas, at about 4 pm on Wednesday, she was next door at the home of a relative when she was alerted by loud crackling sounds and upon checking observed her wooden two-bedroom house already engulfed in flames.

The fire, she said, started in some dry bushes behind her house. Thomas said all the family was left with were the clothes they were wearing at the time. She said although the Fire Services responded quickly, it was still too late. Yesterday, the distraught woman appealed to the public for assistance. She explained, “I tried to run in to save the children’s clothes but everything burn up already so I just had to run back out.” She said every year her home is threatened by bush fires but she always gets it under control.

For the first time it did not happen, Thomas told Newsday.

Daughter Chelsea Thomas, 13, is a student of the ASJA Girls College, Barrackpore, while daughters Hope Thomas, 11 and seven- year-old Mandy Stewart are students of the Fifth Company Baptist School.

Thomas’ son, Malik Thomas, four, attends pre-school. Anyone willing to help can contact the family at 393-1606.

But five Law Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England recently ruled that there was no malice by police in arresting her because they simply followed the law which mandates them to act when something illegal is found on premises and its occupants are present.

The historic judgment was delivered two weeks ago in an appeal filed by Sandra Juman, 53, of Pond Street, La Romaine, who 19 years ago was arrested by officers of the San Fernando Police Station along with five other members of her household for possession of guns and ammunition. One male member of the family pleaded guilty to the offences in the magistrates’ court and was sentenced. Juman, who is blind, had also appeared before the same magistrate along with members of the family, but they all pleaded not guilty and the case was postponed for trial.

The police search of Juman’s La Romaine premises occurred on October 1, 1998 in which they allegedly found a bag containing two homemade shotguns and a shotgun cartridge in a bag next to a couch in the living room.

Juman and the five family members were taken to the San Fernando Police Station where she was also placed in a cell. She was kept overnight and charged the following day. When Juman had appeared before the magistrate, she was granted bail and released. The other male relative who confessed to the guns and ammuntion belonging to him was sentenced by the magistrate.

In 2001, after about 20 subsequent appearances, the case against Juman and the other relatives was discontinued after the police withdrew the charges, having regard to the confession of the male relative who had pleaded guilty. At the time, Juman was assistant secretary of the Blind Welfare Association of Trinidad and Tobago and worked at its South offices.

Attorneys acting on behalf of Juman, filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the State in the High Court for malicious prosecution, on the ground that the evidence suggested that Juman soley occupied the upstairs part of the house and not the downstairs on October 1, 1998 where the gun and ammunition were found by the party of officers who had searched the premises.

Additionally, she was blind and she could not have been deemed to have knowledge of the presence of the guns and ammunition. The police were therefore reckless in charging Juman for the offence, the attorneys had contended before retired judge Shafeyei Shah in the San Fernando High Court.

Shah, however, dismissed Juman’s claim for malicious prosecution, saying that based on the evidence of the police who conducted the search, they acted with reasonable cause and without malice in arresting Juman and charging her. In law, a person is deemed to be in constructive possession if he or she is present on premises or have knowledge and control of premises where something illegal is found. At the time when Juman was arrested, the law lords judgment stated, she was in the living room of the downstairs apartment.

Juman filed an appeal against Shah’s ruling and she lost there as well when in an oral judgment in 2012, Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee and other appellate judges Alan Mendonca and Gregory Smith, upheld Shah’s judgment.

Decao Yang, 22, of China, pleaded guilty before Senior Magistrate Gloria Jasmath in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court.

He legally entered Trinidad and Tobago on September 17, 2014 and left sometime that same year, the court police prosecutor Sgt Harold Ishmael told the magistrate. However, Corporal Howard, attached to the Immigration Department, Portof- Spain, questioned Yang on January 24 at Cipero Street, San Fernando, regarding his passport.

When produced, the prosecutor said, an Immigration stamp showed that the last time he arrived in the country legally was in 2014.

It suggested therefore that Yang came to the country at a port other than a port of entry and failed to report to an Immigration Officer.

Jasmath ordered him to pay the fine within two weeks or serve six months in jail. The fine was paid one hour after by another Chinese national who arrived at the courthouse.

Guyanese national Travais Sampson, 34, pleaded guilty for having a false stamp on his passport. He too was fined $5,000 but was given a month to pay.

It is difficult to build a nation with people who think this way.

They complain, but when the true patriots sing about the ills in this country, they protest vehemently, instead of supporting the calypsonians, who are being realistic in their songs of suffering and depravity.

Crime continues to flourish because those people, with their zigzag attitude, are not making a serious effort, together with those in power, to find solutions to all the problems affecting citizens.

The calypsonian is the mouthpiece of the people and when they sing on the country’s problems they should be supported.

The people of this country must always think about self-preservation and their families, and should not fall prey to false promises all the time, and then the great deception.

At Carnival masqueraders depict all kinds of characters and we must learn to enjoy our culture all the time.

The judging of the Calypso Monarch competition could destroy the minds of young competitors with their false and unkind results.

Terri Lyons’ performance was terrific with good lyrical content and beautiful voice control, and she did not attack anybody. She sang on a topical subject and in my opinion she did enough to win the calypso crown. The “expressions” in the winning calypso were in very bad taste and shameful.

Years ago we had true patriotic Carnival coverage by a certain TV station. Today there is no broadcast of the children’s calypso and steelband competitions and much of the Carnival celebrations.

Even the J’Ouvert has been taken away.

There are senior citizens and sick people who would like to view the celebrations at home.

Maybe the TV station would give some thought in the future to the people at home and show some love.

HORACE DESORMEAUX Maraval

With regard to music criticism there is now the controversy over Chalkdust’s (Dr Hollis Liverpool) 2017 calypso, Learn from Arithmetic.

Dr Errol Benjamin, former university lecturer; Barry Padarath, Princes Town MP; Dr Indira Rampersad, columnist; Nirvan Maharaj, head of the All Trinidad General Workers Trade Union; Sat Maharaj, secretary-general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, and a Newsday editorial have all critiqued the calypso.

Chalkdust was incensed. He thinks he was savaged. He said, “If they do not understand calypsoes that is their business. Calypso is for intelligent people.” In other words, all of them are stupid.

But that wasn’t nice. That is not the point or maybe that is the point. All our art, all our music should be placed under the scrutiny of our people, whether they are considered intelligent or not.

My concern is that from the outset the media, who are the prime opinion makers in this country, do not have a consistent approach to analysing our arts.

If that lapse is remedied by dedicated commentators the public would be guided to merits or flaws in our creative works.

But on the other hand the name of the calypso, Learn from Arithmetic, tells us a story. On Ash Wednesday I wrote on Facebook: “I saw a very significant You- Tube video yesterday, Carnival Tuesday, I think educators and the general public in TT should see it. Please google ‘9-year old banned from math subject test.’ “It speaks about a case of discrimination in assessment. And it also speaks about mathematics education.

The parent in this case, Adolphus Daniel, an experienced maths teacher, has clearly gained the upper hand where mathematics education is concerned.

“His son, Adolphus Noel Daniel, is an articulate youth and his passes at CXC math show an accomplishment that goes above what we are hearing about the state of mathematics education in the Caribbean. Passes in mathematics (and English) are abysmally low and as the Minister of Education said recently, remedial action needs to be taken based on data from the 2016 Secondary Entrance Assessment Examination.

“Students from 56 schools in the seven education districts were assessed. The results revealed a total of 2,478 students with English language deficits, 2,619 with mathematics deficits and 1,794 with both English language and mathematics deficits.” But I go further. If we look at the CXC results for mathematics in TT . There was a 50 percent failure rate at last year’s exams. In other words, after the failures at SE A we have become worse off.

We have to learn from arithmetic.

We have to learn from mathematics.

We have to learn about our music and musicians, calypso and calypsonians.

Aiyegoro Ome Mt Lambert

All this because of the diligence and foresight of our hard working Prime Minister who recently commissioned the Juniper platform and negotiated the purchase of gas from the Venezuela Dragon Field.

Under the astute and visionary leadership of our PM, we also can expect to lobby the international community to assist in dealing with the nation’s rampant and out-of-control crime, worsening economic climate, and continued widespread corruption.

Thelma Joseph La Brea

In that year, Short Shirt from Antigua was making waves in Trinidad with Tourist Leggo from the album Ghetto Vibes. Several steelbands had selected it as their tune of choice for Panorama and it became a crowd favourite at all the fetes.

What was the reaction from officialdom and those who control the festival? The Calypsonians Association, the precursor of Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (TUCO), then led by Gibraltar, lobbied to have Short Shirt debarred from both the Calypso Monarch and Road March competitions on the grounds that he was a non-national.

The Carnival Development Committee (the forerunner of the National Carnival Commission) then adopted that as a criterion for both competitions.

It automatically excluded not only calypsonians like Arrow (Montserrat) but also Tobago-born Lord Nelson who had taken up US citizenship (dual citizenship had not yet become an option), having lived in New York for years. The rule meant that such “foreigners,” despite singing in the tents, could never win anything in Trinidad other than popularity.

There was an outcry by younger calypsonians and the general public who found the “new rule,” particularly re the Road March, unfair.

After all, Trinidadian calypsonians had always been eligible to compete in the Road March race in Antigua and other carnivals up the islands.

Lord Nelson was deeply hurt by the new rule since his tune La La in 1976 was a close second to Kitchener’s Flag Woman in the Road March race of that year. He was hoping that the follow-up, Ah Ha, in 1977 would do the trick. At the “Clash of the Giants” (between Sparrow’s Original Young Brigade and Kitchener’s Calypso Revue, a staple fixture on the Monday before Carnival) Nelson couldn’t even appear so distraught was he. The year before he received encore after encore for La La which was a late release.

In revisiting the rule as regards foreigners as TUCO has promised to do in the year ahead, I would like to urge the organisation to revise the rule on the Road March competition.

The rule on the Calypso Monarch can stay but if the Road March is a gauge of the most popular calypso of the season, it should be open to all regardless of nationality. In doing so TUCO would finally reverse the obvious injustice done to Short Shirt, Nelson and countless others for the past 40 years.

MIGUEL BROWN via email

The UNC, despite its parliamentarians collecting their many perks of office, refuses or is incapable of keeping the People’s National Movement Government in check, while making little or no contribution in or out of Parliament.

That is an abuse.

They allow the Attorney General to circumvent our Constitution, the unacceptable crime rate to escalate, and the Minister of Finance to fiddle while the economy burns. That is an abuse.

The Opposition Leader is unwilling to recognise that she can never again lead her party into government but is holding on to her position at all cost. That is an abuse.

Yes, Lee, these types of abuse are a crime that your supporters should not allow to continue.

S Persad La Romain