The Network is also calling on the Opposition to give its support.

In a release, Brown said, the Network “strongly condemns” the change of the majority votes required for passage of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Bill 2016 and called it “a dangerous precedent.” The constitutional provision on the majority votes, Brown said, was meant to protect the human rights of all citizens including women and girls.

The bill, which was passed in the Senate without the Opposition’s support, is to be debated in the House of Representatives tomorrow.

Brown noted that the Hindu Women’s Organisation has been advocating for a change in the age of consent of the different marriage acts since 1997 when Kamla Persad Bissessar as attorney general formed the first Marriage Acts Review Committee.

The advocacy continued at several international forums, including the Network supporting Trinidad and Tobago’s advocacy at Commonwealth women ministers meetings and placing the issue on the Commonwealth agenda. The advocacy, she said, included the preparation of a case study prepared by HWO President, Brenda Gopeesingh in her role as special envoy for women and girls.

In 2016 when Government announced its intention to include the raising of the marriage age to 18 years on its legislative agenda and the Leader of the Opposition indicated that she would support such legislation, Brown said, the Network joined a coalition of civil society organisations to support the change.

Seecharan made the proposal yesterday at a news conference, at the Ministry of Education, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, where Education Minister Anthony Garcia gave a report of Ash Wednesday attendance for both primary and secondary schools.

“I am not in agreement with that,” Francois said. “I think that we have to be responsible. We have been asking why Carnival Monday and Tuesday are not declared as public holidays.” Francois admitted that some parents do not send their children to school because they themselves did not go to work.

“We have no hard evidence, but in most of the instances I think it’s not just the Carnival season, a lot of them go to Carnival camps so I guess that would account for some of them when they come back, they are tired.”

In a telephone interview yesterday, Roget said the Industrial Court judge, at the last conciliation session last week, had indicated that case management discussions would take place in preparation for open court.

Case management pertains to the directions which would be applied to both parties prior to a full hearing of the case by the Court.

However, Roget said there is still “an opportunity for conciliation and conclusion of negotiations meaning it’s not over until it’s over should the company present an improved position.” Meanwhile, in a media release, Petrotrin confirmed that both the parties will continue their meetings at the court today prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on January 9, 2017.

“While parties are still in discussion, Petrotrin reiterates its commitment to participating fully in this process and to engaging with employees and their representatives.

We continue to strive for a solution that is in the best interest of all employees and that ensures the viability, survivability and sustainability of Petrotrin,” the company stated.

However, Roget recalled that the company had offered a one percent increase for the final year of the negotiating period 2011-2014 and which would have been implemented in 2019. “The union position is that we responded to their offer of the one percent by rejecting it because that additional one percent is to be implemented in 2019,” he said.

“At the same time you have a negotiations period before the court now for 2014-2017, it have two negotiations period before the court, 2011-2014 for which we are still waiting and 2014- 2017 before the court- that is the one we served strike notice on and so for the final year of 2011-2014, the company is saying that it should be implemented in the year 2019,” Roget said.

“Now obviously that could not have cut it with the union,” he said, and noted that both parties had examined Petrotrin’s operational aspects to determine where its production levels could be increased and had determined that an increase of 2,500 barrels could be achieved over time.

“Already through that initiative we have begun to see 1,050 barrels additional and as time goes on, we would reach the sustain increased production of 2,500,” he said, adding that inefficiencies had also been examined to save the company some $200 million in wastages.

He said the Minister of Finance was behind the one percent offer and called for his removal as both Finance Minister and acting Energy Minister

With regard to the alleged bullying at the Mayaro Primary School, I can see nothing in the police’s lack of action which would justify them being called to account.

The threat of court action against the Police Service is ill-advised.

Like the police, I wish to know what the parent wanted the police to do. Should the police arrest the eight-year-old child for causing the injury suffered by the nineyear- old? Ours is one of the few jurisdictions in the world where an eight-year-old can be charged for a crime and we ought to be ashamed of ourselves that this law remains unchanged to this day. I commend the police for holding their hand in this regard. As a parent, my heart goes out to any parent whose child is injured.

I have, however, consistently protested the fairly recent trend of principals handing over to the police the responsibility for incidents, other than very serious criminal ones involving much older students which take place within the precincts of the school.

I regard this incident as a teachable moment. There are many lessons to be learnt, including the duty to supervise children on the playing field and schoolyard and not only within the classroom.

There is also the need, despite whatever developmental or other delay causes a nine-year-old or even an eight-year-old child to be in Standard One, the prospect of financial gain, or the danger of pecuniary loss, that children be taught to speak the truth, that they not be coached to invent or embellish stories or obscure the truth.

Failure to teach these lessons, or worse, encouragement to do the opposite, constitutes emotional abuse of a child, which has more lasting effects than physical injury.

Hazel Thomson-Ahye child rights advocate

Even today, our cadets march with rifles and the victor in a stickfight must inflict a “buss head”. A crime plan must therefore address cultural development.

Culture is not limited to manifestations of human intellectual and creative achievements, but it can also be understood as the pattern of responses people develop over time to meet everyday challenges.

Culture encompasses dispositions, assumptions, beliefs, behaviour, dress, norms and values.

It determines what a group of people finds to be acceptable or unacceptable, right or wrong, and important or unimportant.

Culture is transmitted social interaction by which new members learn to behave in ways that they believe society finds acceptable.

The process includes observation of goings-on, such as what the society rewards, and what it does not; the public behaviour of the national leaders, and the laws that are enforced and those that are not.

The family, the church, the media, peers, public opinion and the school are often listed as agents of socialisation.

Sometimes these socialising agents can become dysfunctional.

For example, when some religious leaders flaunt conspicuous consumption; when they exploit the fears and superstitions of their followers for personal gain; when pastors publicly exalt themselves; and when an IRO leader can defend child marriages as a means of consolidating wealth in families.

Religion is rapidly losing credibility as a responsible socialising agent.

What is the effect on youthful observers when the Parliament remains an arena for exchange of personal abuse and untruths; and when political decisions are designed to appease financiers, and ignore the needs of the people? People soon realise that with political affiliation one can obtain taxpayers’ money without effort from “make-work” projects.

The judicial system seems oppressive when the cost of seeking justice is unaffordable to many and cases take decades to be decided.

Members of society perceive that the police arbitrarily select the laws to be enforced and the violations to ignore; that the police can interfere with the democracy by delaying critical final reports; and that in desperation, the police now turn to prayers after all they have tried have failed.

The education system in TT reflects a lost opportunity and fails the people when bullying is swept under the carpet; when the majority of students fail in the same schools, year after year, without anyone being called to account; and when the curriculum fails to develop peaceful citizens.

Dysfunctional socialisation foments reactive sub-cultures; that is to say, groups of people who adopt behaviour, modes of reasoning, beliefs and lifestyles that are quite different to the national culture.

Within criminal sub-cultures, stealing from the rich becomes acceptable, extortion is defended and even violence and murder can be justified.

The challenge for the authorities in TT is therefore to take steps to reduce negative socialisation of our young people.

Our leaders must reflect on their public behaviour, political decisions must not be self-serving, the church must return to its foundation of humility and service and all the laws must be enforced consistently. A comprehensive crime plan cannot ignore a critical review of all the socialising forces in TT .

DAVID SUBRAN via email

After the news that the President of the US is “concerned” by what is happening in TT and the Caribbean region in general, the local gamesmanship had to end.

The sitting Opposition would have realised that it did not need any more political nails in a rotten coffin.

There is a paucity of properly workable ideas with regard to Opposition strategising. Like waiting for a three-year-old to get up from the floor after throwing a tantrum, the Opposition had to comply and sign or die another small death.. Obstructionist behaviour hurts badly. What was really politically gained by going to a joint select committee of Parliament? Nothing big. A little stitch here and another stitch there? A small/large amount of face-saving? Importantly, is everyone pleased with their extra 15 minutes of political fame? Lynette Joseph Diego Martin

Let me also say at the onset that as a citizen, where ignorance is pervasive, I have a jaundiced view about using referenda to determine courses of action.

Notwithstanding the above, I take issue with some of Sudama’s unsubstantiated views on fundamental aspects of Carnival, our national festival.

By now, it should be an undisputed fact that no national institution or political or State-driven policy is protected from the all-encompassing tentacles of corrupt dealings.

However, to single out the Carnival arts industry as a bastion of corruption having many levels, and a cauldron of lazy, non-self-reliant people is an indication that Sudama is grossly ill-informed about the overall social and economic function, labour and production outputs in relation to the national festival and country’s economic health.

I cannot practically, usefully or realistically defend the industry’s historical significance, function and outputs in a limited space such as in a letter to a newspaper.

In this regard, it is important that Sudama and every other interested stakeholder consult numerous available local and international theses, dissertations and reports in existence over time on the TT Carnival as it impacts tourism, crime rates, net foreign exchange earnings, and funding, verifiable by the meritorious research and empirical evidence, before writing, like Sudama, off the top of his head on matters obviously outside his scope of knowledge, depth of understanding and appreciation.

It is to be regretted that from a psychological and geographical distance, perhaps situated way back in time, Sudama should make his comments and not immediately and candidly contextualise altogether the overreaching issue of misappropriation of billions of taxpayers’ monies by swathes of exceedingly corrupt and lazy individuals across certain other sectors of society, self-reliantly plotting, cheating, denying the taxman his due percentages, dividing and disharmonising the country by seducing time-honoured values and producing nothing of substantive value for others to follow.

Sudama suggests “self-reliance” is a value to be emulated.

When the late first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams, bestowed on this country the watchwords Discipline, Production and Tolerance on Independence Day in 1962, covering all areas of our lives, he inadvertently omitted a critical, commonly overlooked but bandied about and least understood watchword called “integrity.” Kathleen Pinder via email

While crime is no respecter of people, I must say the female gender has come under increased attack.

Many may be asking when this slaughter will end or slow down. The truth is no one has the answer.

When this question is put to the relevant authorities, the reply most of the time is that they are doing their best and the crime rate is of great concern to them.

I believe citizens need to take a different approach, we need more than ever to look out for each other. What do I mean by this? We need to have each other’s phone number in case of emergency. If there are strangers or vehicles that are not from your neighbourhood, discreetly observe their movement.

Did anyone see anything suspicious involving the mother and daughter who where murdered and said nothing? We need to work together, especially on our street or neighbourhood. Who knows, if we all adopt this attitude, what crime we may prevent or whose life we may save.

In the war against crime we are all involved.

We must be part of the solution. Let us look out for each other.

Arnold Gopeesingh via email

Crocky was one of the facility’s longest kept residents at the zoo.

He was discovered lying in his enclosure located near the entrance of the zoo at about 4 pm that day.

When he was first brought to the zoo, Crocky would have been over ten years old, placing him at a mature age of 55 years plus.

Curator of the zoo, Nirmal Biptah, said although Crocky began exhibiting a slowing down of activities two weeks ago from age-related causes, a full necropsy report was being commissioned to determine the exact cause of death.

President of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, Gupte Lutchmedial said Crocky’s death was heartbreaking to members of staff and the public.

“People were accustomed to seeing Crocky as soon as they walked into the zoo, he was one of the first animals that people saw.

“He did not eat in the last week and the keepers fed him twice a week.

“He got chicken as a snack and red meat, beef and horse, for his meals.

Lutchmedial said because of the size of the reptile (he estimated the crocodile to be over 800 pounds) he expected that vets would come to the zoo to perform the necropsy.

He added that Crocky would be buried at the zoo however a place has not yet been designated.

This session was coordinated by the Ministry’s Regional Administration South Division (Victoria County Agricultural Office) and facilitated by the Agricultural Assistant III (with direct responsibility for the Locust Control Programme), Rudy Ramdass.

Gangapersad, Agricultural Officer I, Victoria, acknowledged that the Ministry’s efforts were supplemented as there were some farmers who ‘had become very proactive in the management of their own holdings either through their purchase and application of chemicals and/ or by their active surveillance and responsible reporting of the locusts.’ Farmers at the session were informed of life cycle of the locust and the concomitant control strategy that the ministry has been employing.

The Ministry continues to effect its pest management strategy to treat the Marac, Moruga Food Crop Project (La Savanne), Cachipe, St. Mary’s, Santa Maria and Edward Trace areas. To report sightings of the Moruga locust and for additional information on the agricultural pest, please call the Victoria County Agricultural Office in Princes Town at