He said before a packed congregation at the St Martin de Porres RC Church in Gonzales, Belmont at the funeral for Jamilia De Revenaux, who was murdered two Sundays ago at MovieTowne, Port-of-Spain.

Her throat was slit.

A man De Revenaux knew, has since been detained by police.

During his inaugural ‘Conversations with the Prime Minister’ series in Maloney last week Monday, Rowley told women at the event, “I’m not in your bedroom. I am not in your choice of men. You have a responsibility to determine who you associate with and to know when to get out and the State will try to help.” The comments were deemed by several feminist groups as insensitive with one group saying Rowley demonstrated a terrible lack of judgement and faulty reasoning.

“Sisters, the Prime Minister was not wrong, so let us look out for ourselves,” Fr Harvey declared.

“It is not easy,” the priest continued.

“People may laugh at you because you do not have a man. Don’t let it bother you.” He said Jamilia used to tell him she knew her responsibility as a parent was to bring up her daughters in the right way and to make the right choices. “All I can do is applaud her for that,” Harvey said.

“She was right. It is my hope all of you who have daughters will make sure they understand the choices they make.” On the Prime Minister’s comments, Fr Harvey said, “All he was saying is women need to watch out for themselves and be careful when they choose. Some people took it as an insult and even as a challenge.

“What I have discovered not only about this situation but others as well, is it is not simply about one woman and one man. It is a little more than that.

And if the Prime Minister made a mistake by not mentioning men at the same time, that is his problem…not mine. But we better understand it is both men and women who carry a responsibility for the future of our society.” Harvey pointed out there is need to train and educate men on how to deal with their feelings.

At the service, which saw a heavy police presence, Fr Harvey was the lone speaker as one of Jamilia’s closest friends Porsche Lewis became overwhelmed and could not continue with her tribute.

All Lewis was able to say was that De Revenaux meant a lot to her and welcomed her into her home whenever she needed to talk.

Addressing women in the congregation, Fr Harvey said, “As women you have to learn how to choose to some extent.

You won’t know a man just because you meet up with him.

You have to give it some time.

We cannot carry down the Prime Minister and say what he is talking is rubbish. While people are fighting whether the Prime Minister is right or wrong, criminals are getting away.” Turning to the men, Fr Harvey said, “Brothers, we are not off the hook. A woman is not a thing. Women are human beings….

bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh. That is what God says to us. She must be treated as a person. She will tell you things sometimes to get you vex and as a person she has choices to make. We as men have to respect these choices. When we get vex, we have to know how to control it.” The priest said society is as strong as its weakest link, noting there are some weak links running around and pulling society apart.

Following the service, Jamilia’s body was escorted by police to the Tunapuna Cemetery for interment.

It was just on 1 am on Monday when Zanda gave his charges the count and for the next seven minutes and 41 seconds the beautiful sound of the national instrument (steelpan) engulfed the Queen’s Park Savannah. By 1.10 am patrons were filing out of the Savannah in droves.

Even if Pan Trinbago and the National Carnival Commission (NCC) had named last Sunday “Pan Day” it would have been too much for patrons to take. The popular Savannah Party ran for 17 hours having started at 9.45 am.

Patrons wanting to support their large band had to sit through 30 Small Bands and 14 Medium Bands before they got a taste of their favourite orchestra.

The Large Band category began at 10.30 pm with Republic Bank Exodus doing a Pelham Goodard and BJ Marcelle arrangement of “Good Morning”. Their seven minutes and 29 seconds performance was a great start to this section of the evening as Marcelle brought an energy to Exodus.

The North Stand was pumping as CAL Invaders was announced, everyone was dancing and singing “We jamming Still” as the band took just about ten minutes to set up. They used cards to indicate their intentions with slogans like “We Never Win Panorama but we jamming still”.

Bp Renegades came in at number three and there was an excitement about the players, their performance was not just playing but singing and dancing. Renegades put on a show for patrons as players did Duvone Stewart’s arrangement of “Good Morning”.

Five of the 14 large bands played the Jovan James composition for the judges including Skiffle. They performed a Kendall Williams, Odie Gonzales and Mark Brooks arrangements of the song.

It was approaching the midnight hour when Len Boogsie Sharpe and Phase II Pan Groove appeared on stage. They played Boogsie’s arrangement of his composition Red White and Black. This is a song to watch, it is as good as Good Morning but not as popular.

La Brea Nightingales performed Tyrell Marcelle’s arrangement of “We are Conquerors” but did not make any impression on the audience.

As Birdsong rolled on stage the stands were clearing, especially the North Stand and the band from Tunapuna played Mia Gormandy’s arrangement of Pan Kingdom. Gormandy’s debut at arranging in this category was warmly greeted.

Desperadoes took under 15 minutes to set up on stage as “Zanda” led his band with intensity.

It was not easy coming after Desperadoes but it never bothered Liam Teague and PCS Silver Stars, the youths of this band posses an energy that is comparable to none.

Their performance of Teague’s arrangement of We are Conquerors with so much energy at that hour in the morning speaks volume for them.

FCB Supernovas provided the small collection of patrons with a musical rumble in the jungle at about 1.45 am. This too was a pleasing journey. The music magic continued as Robbie Greenidge and MHTL Starlift took the stage to do his arrangement of Good Morning.

The combination of Ken Professor Philmore and Keet Styla (Designer) Pan Soldiers could not relive the glory days of their former collaboration Pan by Storm but the players worked hard to execute Professor’s arrangement.

At 2.30 am T&TEC Tropical Angel Harps came on to perform Clarence Morris’ arrangement of Orlando Octave’s “Single”. Pan has got to be spiritual for players to come that hour in the morning and exert so much energy after waiting so long to play.

The band from “Hell yard” on Duke Street came up at about 3.15 am and their followers coolly walked into the Grand Stand to hear them perform. Massy Trinidad All Stars played to a small audience, albeit their followers and supporters and for seven minutes and 52 seconds in windy conditions, the players changed the temperature of the Savannah with their excitement.

They put on a show that patrons enjoyed before leaving for home.

In the end the judges gave Desperadoes one point more than All Stars for their performance.

Following is the list of placings with the top ten steel orchestras going to the final on Carnival Saturday night.

PANORAMA SEMI-FINALS 2017
Results – Conventional Bands – Large
Band…………………………………………………………….Selection………………………………….Total
Desperadoes……………………………………………Good Morning………………………………….282
Massy Trinidad All Stars……………………………… Full Extreme………………………………….281
BpTT Renegades……………………………………..Good Morning………………………………….276.5
PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars………………….We are Conquerors………………………………….276
Republic Bank Exodus………………………………Good Morning………………………………….273
T&TEC Tropical Angel Harps…………………………………Single………………………………….272.5
Phase II Pan Groove (in partnership with HADCO).Red, White & Black……………………272.5
Caribbean Airline Invaders………………………….. Full Extreme………………………………….271
FCB Supernovas………………………….. Rumble In The Jungle………………………………….270
Skiffle………………………………………………………Good Morning………………………………….266
MHTL Starlift…………………………………………….Good Morning………………………………….266
NLCB Fonclaire…………………………………Panorama Soldiers………………………………….264
NGC La Brea Nightingales…………………We Are Conquerors………………………………….259
Birdsong…………………………………………………..Pan Kingdom………………………………….259

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley gave this response to a question from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar in the House of Representatives yesterday.

“I can advise that the discussion between the parties are ongoing,” Rowley said.

Indicating that both Government and CL Financial have to reach consensus before moving forward, Rowley said persons would be advancing a variety of positions as they seek to reach an agreement.

The Prime Minister said the National Gas Company (NGC) has not taken any decision regarding its pension plan and he was not aware about any issues regarding NGC workers who could be affected by the sale of two of the company’s gas platforms to Spanish energy company Repsol.

Later in the sitting, Acting Energy Minister Colm Imbert said he would have to do a further investigation before he could determine whether there was a case for compensation for vehicle owners affected by a situation where super gasoline was contaminated at seven National Petroleum (NP) stations.

Imbert said he was advised that the problem has been corrected.

In making the call, the NPTA is calling on the school’s principal, the school supervisor and teachers to recuse themselves from the at the Mayaro Government Primary School to be removed from investigations into incidents at the school which led to nine year old student, Tristan Khan’s elbow being broken.

Inv e s t i g a t i ons were conducted by the principal and the school supervisor.

Based on reports from said investigations, the Ministry of Education and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association concluded that – contrary to Khan’s own testimony – Khan’s elbow was broken by accident as the boys were “simulating wrestling acts.” Blame was further passed on to the children, as teachers said they were warned just the day before about the practice.

Because the principal and the Ministry could possibly be implicated in the matter, President of the Assocation, Zena Ramatally, is calling for an independent investigation to ensure fairness.

“The incident needs to be thoroughly investigated to come to the truth for the benefit of both the victim and the alleged bully.

We are not trying to come down on the alleged bully, but we are seeking his benefit as well.” “The principal is ultimately responsible for the safety of the students in the school. They are claiming the boys crawled through a fence in the school to get to the recreation ground. Did the principal leave the hole in the fence? Was the Ministry of Education notified of the hole in the fence? Did the teacher employ duty of care? These are the questions that need to be answered by an independent investigation.” Newsday could not reach Education Minister, Anthony Garcia, nor Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Lovell Francis, for comment.

Ramatally said going forward, a national policy needs to be implemented to sensitise students about the difference between “play” and “bullying”. She also called for at least one Health and Safety Officer to be installed in all schools to ensure students are always supervised and that their environment is safe.

Also concerned about the fairness of the investigations, attorneys representing Khan yesterday submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Education Ministry to get access to the reports.

Douglas Bayley, one of the attorneys being instructed by former Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan, said the Ministry would have 30 days to respond to their request.

A pre-action protocol letter was sent to the Ministry on February 9 threatening legal action for “the negligent failure of the education system to proactively intervene to stem a pattern of bullying against Tristan.”

He was killed by escaping inmates as he tried to foil the Port-of-Spain jailbreak of July 24, 2015.

The families of Maynard and the six others — four policemen and two prison officers — are set to benefit under a plan initiated by former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, largely spurred on by public shock at the murder of Police Sgt Hayden Manwaring who was shot by bandits as he tried to foil a robbery in San Fernando on February 19, 2013.

Our sincerest wish is that the families of slain officers who have already had to bear so much pain — traumatised by the loss of their loved ones and at the financial deprivation of the loss of a family’s main breadwinner — can be helped as quickly as possible by this compensation.

Some may say $1 million is a substantial sum, but in terms of recompense for both lost salary earnings and pension benefits, plus the loss of a father, a husband, a son from a family, the sum is paltry. We utterly lament the undue length of time that this compensation is taking to be paid, and the whole underlying uncertainty as to who if anyone would be compensated. This wait has now stretched to a time when the Treasury is greatly challenged. This tardiness is disgraceful. It is also humiliating to the families, especially when the issue gets caught up in the usual political one-upmanship.

They also stay silent for appearing to be mendicant.

A general idea of compensation was first mooted on October 25, 2013, by the then People’s Partnership (PP) Government’s minister of national security, Jack Warner.

His successor, Brigadier Carl Alfonso, on August 4, 2015, said he expected $1 million in compensation to Maynard’s family to be paid “by the end of the week.” The measure was backed by the then finance minister, Larry Howai, and the Police Social and Welfare Association, to be run by the National Security Officers Foundation.

After the September 2015 general election, the new People’s National Movement regime stayed silent on the matter. Maynard’s mother, Octavia Abraham, in December 2015 publicly implored the Government to pay the sum.

By March 2016 it said it would pay no compensation. Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon’s “excuse” was that the PP Government had put no such policy in place. A month later Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley reversed this stance, even inappropriately finger-pointing as he told Parliament, “The public should not begrudge that family getting that kind of support.” Days later, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus erroneously told a post-Cabinet news briefing only slain police officers would be compensated, the resulting outcry from Fire and Prison Associations leading Dillon on April 15, 2016, to declare that compensation is for all protective services.

By June 2016, Dillon mulled aloud whether recompense was due for two officers slain off-duty, with his ministry on October 6 saying “no,” it is only for those killed in the line of duty. Last September, Persad-Bissessar urged Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to draft compensation legislation.

Yesterday’s Newsday reported that Maynard’s family had successfully filed all requisite documents, amid seven officers selected as qualifying for payment. “Once the documents are in order and processing is complete we will honour that payment,” Dillon said.

This is heartening news. We truly hope proper procedures are now in place for prompt payment to people whose grief has been unnecessarily burdened by this undue delay.

When making these calls it would seem that little thought is given to the impact of such changes on the existing curriculum.

What is even worse is that no call is made to remove items from the school curriculum. The net effect of this over the years is an overburdened curriculum at both the primary and secondary school. Curriculum changes cannot be made in a vacuum.

They must be made after careful consideration of the overall objectives of education as well as the intended outcomes.

The impact of the adjustment must also be evaluated against the rest of the curriculum.

Consideration must also be given to the capacity of the school to deliver the altered curriculum, such as teacher qualification and resource availability.

While some learned people may think that the proposed changes are desirable, consideration must be given to the willingness of parents to “buy-in” to the new curriculum.

Given the current nature and purpose of education, many parents are reluctant to accept changes that will de-emphasise cognitive development in favour of the inclusion of affective development programmes.

The current configuration of schooling allows very little room to manoeuvre the existing curriculum to include anything else without removing something. There is only so much that can be done in so many hours of school.

Schools are increasingly being called upon to fill in where other education institutions have abdicated their responsibilities to educate and nurture the child. The current approach to schooling assumes that the home, family, community, and even church have a direct role in preparing the child to take advantage of the schooling opportunity.

Failing students are usually the ones that come from backgrounds where such preparation for schooling is inadequate, making the assumptions upon which current approaches to schooling are made inaccurate.

In this context, where social capital is deficient, schools are consistently being called upon to teach what children ought to be learning at home and in their communities.

Teachers are being called upon to teach topics that are very subjective in nature and which sometimes conflicts with parental beliefs.

The social upbringing of the child is now being advocated as a prime responsibility of the teacher and the school, because parents and extended family networks are too busy or irresponsible. Is it fair to demand that these responsibilities are added to the school and the teacher? At the same time the performance of the teacher and the school is judged by the extent to which academic success is attained and not by the number of good decent human beings the school graduates.

These social issues are very time consuming to teach and in many instances require a certain amount of specialised training. The forces of miseducation also have a head start and schools have to painstakingly re-educate the child in many regards.

As a country we must be very clear about the role of schools in the national development process by firstly defining the nature and purpose of education.

The curriculum can then be defined working backwards and the resources thus identified and a commensurate structure defined to deliver such curriculum. Piecemeal and ad-hoc additions to the current curriculum will only serve to compound an already overburdened curriculum.

Proponents of curriculum a d j u s t me n t s would be well advised to bear these facts in mind when advocating for such changes.

He made the comment in response to a series of questions from Opposition MPs during Prime Minister’s Question Period in the House of Representatives yesterday.

Asked by Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial whether he would meet with women’s groups to explain statements he made on violence against women, last week at the ‘Conversations with the Prime Minister’ in Maloney, Rowley assured, “Before becoming Prime Minister and as Prime Minister I have had many conversations with women. I have been in consultation with women’s groups.” Rowley said there are seven safe houses and shelters, “at various stages of construction and completion” to prevent and protect men, women and children from domestic and sexual abuse and violence. He indicated two of these facilities are new and five are residential homes which are being refurbished.

He disclosed that the Office of the Prime Minister is collaborating with the National Security Ministry on a facility for female young offenders adding that dormitories at the Youth Training Centre (YTC) are being refurbished to international standards to treat with male young offenders.

The Prime Minister said there is existing legislation to treat with instances of domestic violence against women and said legislation will be reviewed, if necessary.

He identified the Citizens Security Programme, Cadets and Police Youth Clubs as “specific programmes outside many other initiatives” in the Education, Sports and Social Development Ministries, which deal with socialisation of men and women on issues of violence.

Rowley said human behaviour and discipline are at the core of the education system, in terms of teaching the youth to respect one another and make positive contributions to society.

Rowley’s explanations did not satisfy Princes Town MP Barry Padarath who demanded the PM apologise for his statements in Maloney.

Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis said Padarath’s outburst reflected “gross disrespect”. In advising Padarath that he breached the House’s Standing Orders, Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George directed him to withdraw his question and apologise.

As Padarath prepared to stand up, Annisette-George warned, “if you are rising, it is only to apologise and take your seat.” Padarath told Annisette-George, “I withdraw (the question) but I find it very difficult to apologise.” Some Opposition MPs thumped their desks in support of him.

When Annisette-George reiterated her instruction, Padarath replied, “I withdraw.” Some Government MPs added, “and apologise”, which Padarath refused to do.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justices of Appeal Peter Jamadar and Prakash Moosai ruled that the judge who is presiding over the case between the conglomerate and Proman Holdings, failed to demonstrate direct relevance of what he ordered, had on the case before him.

The three appellate judges also held that the judge’s ruling on the disclosure did not meet requirements of specific disclosure in accordance with the Civil Proceedings Rules and rules of the Supreme Court.

The judges were presiding over a procedural complaint brought by CL Financial and Clico against Proman and Process Energy, which purchased CLF’s shares in Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Limited in February 2009, days after government bailed out the conglomerate.

CLF is asking the court to reverse the sale of shares as it was not authorised by the State or by the government- appointed board of CLF.

At the appeal, attorneys Representing CLF and Clico argued that the main issues before the judge were the legality of the sale, whether it was in the best interest of the company and whether it was undervalued.

“It is a question of law and other transactions won’t assist the judge on the legality of the sale,” submitted Senior Counsel Deborah Peake, who appears with attorney Fyard Hosein SC, for CLF and Clico.

Appearing for Proman Holdings and Process Energy was attorney Jonathan Walker.

Peake in her arguments against the judge’s disclosure order, recommended that Proman’s attorneys file a fresh application for disclosure as they too had conceded that the original order of the judge was too wide.

Sinanan revealed this at the opening of the new Licensing Headquarters in Frederick Settlement, Caroni .

Sinanan explained, “This new entity will guide the administration of driving license issue, vehicle registration and certification .

It will strengthen the administrative, institutional and legal arrangements through which Motor Vehicle and driving licences will be managed in Trinidad and Tobago. At the same time, it will ensure that the best practices of public accountability are kept when collecting revenue and enforcing all applicable laws…” Until then, the opening of the new Licensing Headquarters brings to four the number of “full service access centres” in Trinidad and Tobago .

The other three are located in Port-of- Spain, Tobago and San Fernando .

Sinanan said, additionally, that the people in any organisation help the organisation to accomplish its vision .

Therefore, he continued, with the new building, the morale of the employees will improve, which will result in more productivity .

Notably, he pointed out that “the ministry is currently experiencing a thirty-three per cent staff shortage in the Licensing Division” and “will undertake to increase its human resources inclusive of Tobago .

In fact…I am again pleased to say that as recent as last week, Tobago has two additional officers and a further complement will be added soon.” Sinanan also took the opportunity to caution drivers to drive safely during the Carnival season. He said that the ministry has embarked upon a “special initiative” to encourage safe driving, which will include the propagating of safe driving messages via various media “from this week into the Carnival season.”

From early as 9 am, officers led by Snr Supt Radcliff Boxhill, supervised by ASP Ajith Persad and including Sgt Lopez, Cpl Budree, Constable Lewis and others staged the exercise with the assistance of colleagues from Port-of-Spain CID, Special Branch, the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit and the PoS Inter Agency Task Force.

During the searches, officers seized a sub-machinegun with a loaded magazine and a quantity of assorted ammunition while digging the earth near some abandoned houses. During the exercise, five men were arrested in connection with robberies and other serious crimes carried out in the Portof- Spain area.

Among those arrested was a 22-year-old man who held up an off-duty policeman at Independence Square two weeks ago. In that incident the officer was sitting in his car when the suspect pointed a gun at him and demanded that he hand over cash and other valuables.

The off-duty officer instead pulled out his personal firearm and fired two shots at the suspect who ran away empty handed. Officers also seized an army camouflage kit which included a helmet, pants and shirt with regimental numbers. It was found concealed in an abandoned house at Lovell Place, East Dry River.

The army kit will be sent to the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment to ascertain if it was stolen from any member of the TT Defense Force and a further investigation will be launched. Officers taking part in yesterday’s exercise also dug up several areas in East Dry River in search of arms and ammunition believed hidden underground.