It is very disappointing that he would disrespect his peers (although Leon “Smooth” Edwards is in a different class from him, having won nine Panoramas.

All Stars has won ten overall).

When Stewart won on four occasions in the medium category, he had no problem with the judges’ decision and his fellow arrangers accepted the decisions. However, it would appear that if he does not win then the judges are not listening.

The great ones, Jit Samaroo (deceased), Clive Bradley (deceased), Edwards, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, all exhibit/ed class and work/ed harder the following year. All Stars was placed sixth last year, took the loss and worked towards a win this year.

Stewart also talks about being placed third on five consecutive occasions. He needs to look at how many times All Stars and Phase 2 were placed in second and third positions.

He a good arranger but must not disrespect his fellow arrangers.

They work just as hard as he does.

I also need to correct Ryan Hamilton- Davis’ February 27 article which stated that All Stars’ last win was in 2011. In fact, All Stars won in 2012 and 2015.

Noble Stanley Diego Martin

On Wednesday last, the suspect pleaded guilty to three counts of stalking and harassing David and was ordered to stay 50 feet away from her home and her children’s school.

During the court hearing, the man told the magistrate he could not explain why he could not stay away from David, but he was warned that any breach of the order would not be tolerated.

However, David said despite the warning and the order of the court, the man turned up outside her home that very afternoon but stayed about 55 feet away.

The police were called and the man was warned but not charged.

On Saturday, David left home to run some errands and when she returned, she found her pet dog had been poisoned.

She said the poisoning of her dog was the last straw. And while she is contemplating moving out, she feels she should not run away from her situation but go public so that the authorities would know of her predicament and maybe someone would be willing to assist.

David said her troubles started when she bought the Tunapuna house last year and noticed the man passing and looking at her. She said he exposed his private parts on one occasion to her 17-year-old daughter, but when the police were alerted they simply warned him and did not charge him.

She said the man would show up outside her children’s school and, on several occasions during the early hours of the morning, would appear in front of her house, blow his car horn, remain there for hours watching the house, then leave when daylight came.

She said she decided to take civil action and, in December last year, the man was warned not to venture close to her home pending the outcome of the matter, but he continued his stalking.

David thought her troubles had ended last Wednesday when the order was granted against the man, but now she is fearful he might take the stalking further.

“I cannot understand why this man is doing this to me,” David told Newsday yesterday.

“From what I have gathered, the last tenant in this house was also a victim of this man’s stalking and was forced to leave. But I will leave of my own free will. I will not allow this man to run me out.

But I am appealing to anyone in authority to assist me.” She said she spoke with neighbours who admitted knowing the man, but said they never thought he would go as far as poisoning her dog.

David said the man even entered her premises several times, yet was never arrested and charged.

Instead, she said, the police kept asking her why she did not have a man or a male relative present to assist her.

“Are they for real?” she asked.

“Why should I bring a man into my house with my daughters because of this incident? The authorities must be able to deal with this situation, because I know there may be other incidents just like this and women have nowhere to turn to.

With International Woman’s Day being celebrated on Wednesday, I hope someone takes up my plight.” Newsday contacted Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Crime, Irwin Hackshaw, who said he would be speaking with head of the Northern Division Senior Supt McDonald Jacob to assign an officer to investigate the complaints made by David.

According to Hackshaw, he found it strange that no police action has been taken against the suspect, but promised some form of relief for the distressed woman.

Imbert, who is also acting Energy Minister, made this revelation in a statement to the House of Representatives.

He said on October 26, 2016, Petrotrin reported a net loss, after tax, of $533 million in its unaudited financials for the year ending September 30, 2016.

Prior to this, Imbert said, Petrotrin declared a total comprehensive loss of $998 million for 2015 and a total comprehensive loss of $341 million for 2014.

“When added, this equates to published losses of $1.9 billion over the last three years,” Imbert said.

However he disclosed, “It has recently come to the Government’s attention that Petrotrin’s refinery operation has been unprofitable for the last five years, from 2011 to 2016, a matter that was not revealed before.” Imbert said rather than declaring these losses, Petrotrin has been carrying them, “as a deferred tax asset to be written off against future profits.” As he explained that a deferred tax asset is treated as an asset on the company’s balance sheet rather than as a liability, Imbert stated it is retained for the purpose of reducing income tax expense in future years.

However Imbert said if the deferred tax asset remains unusable or it cannot be reasonably determined when it can be used, it needs to be written off the balance sheet and gradually brought back into the books whenever profitability occurs. Questioning why Petrotrin never reported this $4.2 billion loss under the former People’s Partnership (PP) government, Imbert said Government is committed to returning Petrotrin to profitability. However he said for this to happen, “the truth about the company’s financial situation must be known to all concerned.” Recalling that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley spoke about Petrotrin’s financial challenges in an address to the nation in January, Imbert vowed that Government will determine the reasons for this unacceptable situation.

He also said Government will take the necessary steps to deal, “responsibly, proactively and professionally” with any adverse consequences which may arise from this previously unreported loss. Recalling that wage negotiations at Petrotrin were never settled under the PP, Imbert said Government authorised the company to offer the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) a six percent increase for the 2011-2014/2015 period (three percent- first year; two percent-second year, one percent-third year). He said this offer will result in an increased annual recurring cost of $98 million and a backpay liability of $427 million for Petrotrin.

Earlier in the sitting, in response to a question about squatter structures erected near Petrotrin’s pipelines in San Francique, Imbert said the company has been clear that no construction should take place within 21 feet on either side of its pipelines.

Stating this problem has been continuing since April 2014, the minister added, “The issue of compensation or relocation does not arise.”

Under the infamous Section 34, “You would not have escaped murder on the grounds of delay,” but according to the current bill, a murderer could go free on grounds of delay, she said. Contributing to the debate on the new bill in the House of Representatives yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said, “Today we stand at 97 murder. We have 11 unclassified .

A murderer could have escape with this new bill.” Clause 22 exempts “blood crimes” and “a murderer could escape” the justice system, she said, due to a delay if the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) does not proffer an indictment against the accused within 12 months or such other period as an application may permit. The accused may apply to a judge for a discharge and the judge can discharge the accused having considered the reason for delay. “You have exempted all the blood crimes. I take a strong objection to that,” she said .

Section 34 had provided for an accused to apply to the court for a discharge for certain offences given delays and so on, she said, but delays did not apply to blood crimes .

“Blood crimes could never be discharged because of delay by whichever officer is determining a prima facie case, whether it was a master or a magistrate,” she said. Blood crimes listed in the the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act of 2011 and which were repealed, she suggested, be included in the current bill before the House of Representatives .

She listed among blood crimes: treason; offences against the person; murder; conspiring or soliciting to conspiring to murder; manslaughter; shooting or wounding; assault occasioning bodily harm; kidnapping; kidnapping for ransom; knowingly negotiating to obtain ransom; rape; grievous sexual assault; sexual intercourse with children under 18 years; drug trafficking; trafficking in dangerous drugs; possession of a dangerous drug; unlawful possession of a firearm; and attempts to commit offences, among others .

Meanwhile, bypassing the magistracy in a pre-trial and handing the cases to the Office of the DPP, she said, “is a fundamental breach of the separation of powers, and therefore could not stand, and should not stand.” What Government was attempting to do, she said, was not change the process, but to change the officer who will now oversee the process of preliminary inquiries. This amounted to trespass, which in the past in similar cases, were struck out by the courts .

She questioned whether the “safe powers” vested in the magistracy from before the Constitution came into effect, set out in the Summary Courts Act, the Preliminary (Indictable Offences Act) 12:01 could be taken away and vested in the Office of the DPP. “It is my respectful view,” she said, “you cannot.” The Attorney General, she said, may want to consider the freedom of the press contained in the 2017 bill which limits coverage to accommodate the movement to open justice .

Williams is one of four teenagers who have been reported missing since last week.

Dainanne Perry-Caesar, one of Williams’ relatives, while speaking with Newsday, begged for her to return safely to her family.

“Everyone right now is crying.

If you are out there please come home. No one would be angry with you.” said Perry-Caesar.

Relatives told Newsday Williams left her home in Bliss Village, Pleasantville, to go to church, and has not since returned home. Relatives were informed that before her disappearance, she called the pastor of the church and said that she had something important to do. She then went to a nearby shop, to get a phone card.

She was not seen or heard from for days until, on Thursday last, an uncle received a call from her, from an unknown number.

Relatives said she asked the uncle where he was, but before she could tell him her location, the phone cut off. It was after that call that family members decided to make a report to the San Fernando Police Station.

Perry-Caesar, told Newsday she had a dream of her niece, the same day relatives made the missing person’s report.

“I dreamt that she was in a dark place, and she was calling out for help.” Said Perry-Caesar, “After that I told the rest of the family that it was time to make a police report. “ Shakira was last seen wearing a pink dress and slippers.

Police are also seeking the assistance of the public in finding a St Joseph teenaged girl, and a D’Abadie man.

Tamika Ramgoolam, 16, was reported missing to Chaguanas police on Saturday last by her aunt. She was last seen leaving her aunt’s home at John Peter Road, Charlieville, at about 4.30 pm on Monday February 27, wearing a peach coloured dress.

The teen is from Farm Road, St Joseph. She is of East Indian descent, five feet, six inches tall, with shoulder length black hair.

Another missing persons’ case which has gained the attention of the police is that of 16-year-old Cameron Williams, who was reported missing on Thursday last, by his mother, Michelle Lambert.

According to police reports, the man was last seen on Ash Wednesday, leaving his Ponderosa Crescent, D’Abadie home to get a haircut in Arima. Cameron is of African descent, standing at five feet, eight inches tall, and has a brown complexion, with a tattoo on his left arm.

He was last seen wearing a dark coloured tee-shirt, and a pair of jeans. Aliyah Addie, a 13-yearold girl, was reported missing by her parents on Friday last.

According to police, Addie, of Charles Street, Gasparillo was last seen on Friday, at their home.

Addie is of mixed descent, five feet, four inches tall, with a stocky build, and a brown complexion.

She was last seen wearing a pair of multi-coloured tights and a red and black t-shirt.

People with knowledge of these four missing teens or any missing person, can call 800-TIPS or contact the nearest police station.

In Trinidad and Tobago many events are planned, including a march to be held on the weekend.

The Caribbean Alliance Against Gender-based Violence will be hosting a solidarity rally on Saturday at the Hollows, Queen’s Park Savannah, from 3 to 7 pm, not far from the site of the discovery of the body of murdered Japanese steel pan player Asami Nagakiya.

But whatever activities take place this week, this issue is one that requires sustained, long-term action.

The unacceptably high levels of violence directed at women is the first place we need to start. The nation has been rocked by a series of murders and attacks on women.

These incidents are not new. Sadly, they reflect a penchant on the part of society to dehumanise and objectify women. On Sunday, Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar diagnosed, correctly in our view, part of the problem.

“Our brothers have to understand we are not property and I think that’s the thinking, even in 2017, from a lot of men,” Ayers-Caesar said. “Women are not property and if you’re in a relationship and that relationship for whatever reason is not going the way you would like it to be, then we need to be mature and step away from that relationship.” The Chief Magistrate also noted the intergenerational nature of this problem.

“We need to come together as adults to do what is best in the interest of our children, because at the end of the day it makes no sense, a mother or father who cannot get along and then one kills the other and inevitably commits suicide,” Ayers-Caesar said. “This is trend we have been seeing and we leave these children as orphans. A lot of parents do not realise how they interfere with the psyche of their children.” But it is not just parents who play a role in this but responsible adults as a whole in all sectors of life including the arts, the media and the Police Service. The recently concluded Carnival season was a case in point.

One groovy soca, by Orlando Octave, observed, “Plenty gyal have man acting like they single.” Octave himself has been at pains to send a message of positivity at several Carnival events and he has even urged audiences to remember to fight the problem of violence against women.

That notwithstanding, his soca, in singling out the female sex, contributes to our social malaise. It should not be news that women, just like men, are sexual and can have multiple partners. If this is news, it is because society has refused to face up to the truth: women are entitled to the same status as men.

But the arts can be used to positively address these issues, and a good example of this is the ongoing installation by the artist Richards Rawlins at Alice Yard, Woodbrook, which takes a simple object, the dress, and turns it into a haunting symbol of what has gone wrong in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Chief Magistrate also commented on another aspect of the problem, which is the failure of the State to adequately resource the agencies that must act as first responders to violence against women.

Specifically, she noted room for improvement in the Police Service when it comes to the enforcement of domestic orders.

“More can be done and I think there must be some sort of sensitisation of police officers,” she said.

“It comes down to a matter of life and death in most.” The Chief Magistrate’s public comments, which came at a service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral to commemorate International Women’s Day, are a shining example of a senior public official taking the requisite moral stance. It’s time for our politicians, too, including Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, to follow suit.

There is a growing trend to blame unions for everything that goes wrong — from companies failing to governments’ failure to provide people with a better quality of life.

In the United States, many states have removed the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining and employers in other jurisdictions are learning fast from those states.

Far-right thinking has become fashionable — the rights of workers are under constant attack. Employers spend large sums of monies and exert all the political influence they can muster to demonise unions.

Here at home we have noted the employers’ call for the role and functioning of the Industrial Court to be reviewed, given its perceived bias against employers.

Notwithstanding the staunch defence mounted by some trade union leaders, the call seems to be gaining traction in some quarters.

Collective bargaining stands in the way of profits and it would seem that some are prepared to attack the very democratic institutions that enshrine and defend such rights.

The sweat of workers globally has resulted in the creation of more billionaires than ever. Globally, the gap between the rich and poor is widening at a frightening pace with dire consequences for democracy.

How do workers respond to these developments? It is very clear that if workers don’t unite against this onslaught, the rights that they take for granted will soon become threatened. The power of many must be the strategy of defence.

The infighting among unions only serves to strengthen the hands of greedy employers.

Union leaders must put aside their personal differences to strengthen the chorus of solidarity for their own survival. Political allegiances and political agendas cannot be allowed to take precedence over the collective rights of workers. The current challenge to the very legitimacy of the Industrial Court must serve as a wake-up call to all trade unions.

Our country must be reminded of the fact that the monies of workers were used to bail out mismanaged companies to the tune of billions.

Citizens must be reminded that the democratic freedoms and rights that they take for granted were won courtesy the struggle and fight of workers and their leaders.

Worker leaders were the ones who stood up to win and defend basic principles of human rights.

If left unchallenged, extreme and far-right thinking threatens to return us all to the days of enslavement and monarchs. Individuals must never again be allowed to own humans as property to be exploited at their whim and fancy.

Greedy employers must be reminded that the profits they make are courtesy of workers. Workers own labour and employers purchase this labour in a negotiated contract, the terms and conditions of which cannot be determined by employers alone.

Such contractual terms and conditions must also reflect fundamental principles of human rights, including the right to collective bargaining. These rights are not negotiable, for they form the very bedrock of modern democracies.

Employers cannot do without workers and vice versa.

Co-existence based on mutual respect must be the guiding principle of this relationship. Exploitation, greed, contempt and the demonisation of unions cannot be the prevailing thinking of employers.

Violent social upheaval is the inevitable outcome of worker- rights suppression.

The united voice of workers must be thunderous in the fight against social injustice and inequity.

The relevant laws that govern the rights of workers must be strengthened to plug the loopholes of exploitation and the integrity and sanctity of our Industrial Court must be jealously guarded and protected at all cost.

Archie said, “The release of the police report on WhatsApp was brought to my attention on Sunday and I found that this was a really low thing to do.

It is beyond me why this was released in the first place, but I have since ordered that an investigator be appointed and that persons who were privy to the information be interviewed.” She said the person responsible for the leak may not necessarily be from the Tobago Division, because information is shared with other senior officers, and it would be difficult to ascertain where the message started from.

However, she pointed out that the police Cyber Crime Unit would be asked to assist in the probe and she is hoping that the perpetrator is found.

Newsday was able to retrieve a copy of the message, which repeated the full report of a 27-year-old woman who accused a police officer of raping her on Carnival Monday night.

The message also revealed the contents of the report of the medical examination of the victim.

Last Wednesday, 21-year-old PC Christian Yorke was arrested at the Old Grange Police Station and appeared before Scarborough Magistrate Alexander Prince on Friday charged with the offence.

He is due to reappear on March 31.

Anton Thomas, of Railway Road, Couva, pleaded guilty before senior magistrate Cherril- Anne Antoine to unlawfully being on the woman’s premises for the purpose of stealing.

The charge was laid by PC Dexter Duncan. Thomas was seen hog tied in a video which went viral on Facebook on Saturday. He appeared in court with his head bandaged.

Court prosecutor Sgt Wayne Waithe told the court that a name search on the accused man was conducted but police officers were unable to check his criminal record as a result of the “system being down.” Attorney Daryl Giles told Antoine that he was informed by his client of a conviction ten years ago for which he was fined. Giles said Thomas also has a pending matter in the Siparia Magistrates Court.

Thomas, Giles said, complained that when police officers arrived at the scene he informed them that he was beaten, but police officers arrested him and took him to the Couva Police Station where he was charged.

Giles told the court that Thomas has since complained that he is now unable to see with his left eye. Waithe informed the magistrate that the claims are being investigated.

The facts of the case would be read to the court on Thursday when it is expected that Thomas’ criminal record would be produced.

Thomas was granted surety bail in the sum of $30,000 or a cash alternative of $8,000.

Seales said yesterday that during the Carnival period, the association was deluged with calls from angry IATF members who condemned certain decisions taken without their consent.

He said those officers who opted to report for duty were also considering using their sick leave.

“It also stemmed from the withdrawal of some of the equipment used for them to perform their duties,” Seales said. “Cars were taken away from them so they were unable to do patrols in the areas of Beetham, Sea Lots and environs.” Seales said the association, after taking a cursory look, found out that several officers stayed off the job and there was a plan by the remaining officers to withdraw from the job by using their sick leave privilege.

He said the association was “a bit baffled, surprised to say the least,” that the IATF officers who, he said, had demonstrated “commitment and resolve in the application and the performance of their jobs” were planning a mass sick-out. Seales said the association was troubled and was calling on Acting Commissioner Stephen Williams to look into the matter because he found it untenable and frightening.

“It leaves a gaping hole in the security and safety of residents in the Beetham and Sea Lots areas and it makes them vulnerable to anybody who will wish to bring them harm.

On the flip side, the officers are now demoralised and it threatens their safety because the vehicles used for the coverage and the method of duties compromise their safety if they are absent.” However, Newsday spoke with a senior member of the IATF yesterday who dismissed Seales’ claim that IATF officers had taken sick-out action.

He revealed there was some absenteeism during the Carnival season but said that was the norm. Only top Russian dating site royaldatingsite.com you will find beautiful single Russian women for marriage who are online now in finding suitors from the United States.