Of the top 200 students in last year’s Secondary Entrance Examination (SEA), 115 came from denominational schools. It is a statistic Education Minister Anthony Garcia said needs to change and he is calling on government primary schools to pull up their socks.

Garcia was speaking at the Ministry’s 2015 SEA Recognition Ceremony at the Southern Academy for Performing Arts (SAPA) in San Fernando on Saturday. He said Government allocates most of its education resources  to its primary schools and research has to be done to ensure that all students have the same learning opportunity.

He said out of the 483 primary schools in T&T,  447 are government run or government-assisted with the rest operated by private boards. The minister expressed concern that the top 200 students of 2015 came from only 68 schools and only 28 of them government-operated.

“As a Government and more so as a minister, who together with Dr Lovell Francis has been charged with the responsibility for education, we must look at these figures very closely,” Garcia said.

“While I pay tribute and we honour our students for their achievements, we have to make sure no one is left behind. Therefore, everything must be done to ensure that the other schools . . . fall in line and ensure that their students always have an equal opportunity. 

“When I spoke about the role of the church in education, I think it is important to underline the good and invaluable contribution that the church is making in education, Garcia said. out of the 18,310 students writing the exams, 9,307 were boys and 9003 were girls. However, of the top 200, 74 were boys and 126 were girls. While congratulating the girls, he said boys in general need to do some self reflection.

“It is important for us to take note of these figures because as a Government, over the years, most of our resources that are spent on youth in education are directed towards the Government schools and so the Government schools have a responsibility to step up to the plate. 

“And while I congratulate the denominational schools, I think the government schools must really pull their socks up so that they too can have many more students working hard to ensure success.”

The minister said for students to be top achievers, parents must accept responsibility and ensure their children’s diligence in their studies. He said teachers are also important to supplying quality education and only a minority try to sully the profession. He added that if Cabinet approves the recommendations from last February’s National Consultation on Education next week, the primary school curriculum may be improved to provide more lessons on T&T’s history.

For the second straight year, members of the National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) were blocked by police from marching to Charlie King Junction, Fyzabad, during Labour Day celebrations yesterday.

This year, police officers in riot gear formed a barricade across the roadway, effectively ending Natuc’s procession at around 1 pm as the group crested Lum Tack Hill in Fyzabad. Secretary general Michael Annisette, who spoke workers with a microphone, brought the march to a halt and said the police had stopped his vehicle from going any further. 

Less than 200 metres away at Charlie King Junction, leaders of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) could be heard addressing workers. Annisette spent some time speaking with the officers, telling them they could not prevent his members from entering Charlie King Junction in remembrance of labour leader Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler.

Surrounded by members, a defiant Annisette  later told the T&T Guardian the labour group was being targeted by those in power. 

“They are saying we can’t pass here because we wasn’t in some stakeholder meeting, but we would have written to them three weeks ago telling them the route we will be passing,” he said. 

“And as I pointed out to the senior officer, there is a historical antecedent about Fyzabad and if you deny us the right to march through Fyzabad, it’s serves no purpose coming to Fyzabad, you are destroying the concept of what the Fyzabad march means to us.”

“You allow one group to go so and then tell us have to go another route. No, that cannot be so.”

Annisette said the presence of a few dozen armed heavily-armed officers accompanying Natuc’s leg of the Labour Day march was reminiscent of anti-apartheid marches in South Africa.

“We have a concern in Natuc that we are here on a peaceful march and look at how many armed police have come out and are marching in front of us. That conveys an impression that we are in South Africa, when Mandela was fighting for apartheid.

“I don’t mind police coming, but what is the need for all of this tear gas and those kind of machine guns...big, big guns, against workers? Come on! And there are children in the march too.” He claimed the move was an attempt to destabilise Natuc.

“This is the only union being treated in this manner. Fyzabad is a public place, Fyzabad is not the domain of any one public group or federation...I am a citizen of T&T and if I am denied the right to march through Fyzabad on this Labour Day, this tells me that we are going back into the 19th century.”

However, the police officers did not budge and Natuc members eventually compromised by leaving their music truck and banners behind and walking to Charlie King Junction in pairs flanked by heavily armed officers who cleared a path through the crowds for them to pass, one at a time.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday paid tribute to labour leaders past and present who have contributed to the growth and development of T&T. In his Labour Day message, Rowley said he fully expect all sectors of society, will continue to work together to better the country’s circumstances in the future.

“The Government is fully cognisant of the important role played by the labour movement through its representation of the interests of workers. 

“Moreover, we exist in an environment where all of us, government, civil society, private sector and labour are inextricably linked and dependent on one another for survival and our success. 

“Recognition of this is a major breakthrough in helping us navigate our present circumstance and improve the lives of our citizens,” he said.

“Though doing this will by no means be easy, I am reminded of the words of the Black Stalin, ‘We can make it if we try.’ This, in essence, was the message of Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler, Adrian Cola Rienzi, Arthur Andrew Cipriani and many other labour leaders throughout our history. 

“They set about to positively impact on existing circumstances and as a result impacted upon our nation,” Prime Minister Rowley said.

Also sending Labour Day greetings was the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce which said the labour movement has successfully defended, protected and advocated for workers’ rights and the national interest from then to now.

“The pivotal role the movement has played and continues to play in the entire industrial relations eco-system is clearly documented in our nation’s socio-economic history. 

From Cipriani to Rienzi and Butler, a number of great leaders and personalities have emerged over the years—all of whom have done yeoman’s service in their approach to social dialogue, justice and equity,” the Chamber said.

The group reiterated its commitment to the consultative approach to labour relations as initiated by the T&T government through the National Tri-partite Advisory Council.

Merthlyn Scipio had made plans to celebrate Father’s Day with her common-law husband Winston Blaze on the Chaguaramas Boardwalk. Instead, yesterday she was recounting how he was killed by a close male relative on Saturday night. 

Relatives said Blaze, 55, was trying to give fatherly advice to the 41-year-old suspect after he was disrespectful to his mother. An argument ensued which ended with Blaze, a farmer with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, being killed outside his St Julien’s Village, Princes Town home.

Police said at around 7 pm, Blaze and the suspect were arguing in the yard when the suspect picked up a large stone and threw it at Blaze striking him on the neck. Blaze fell to the ground unconscious. His 26-year-old daughter Crystal tried unsuccessfully to revive him. 

Princes Town police, including ASP Gomez-Cooper, Insp Yearwood, Sgt Ramlogan, Sgt Seepersad, PC Jackman and PC Mathura, went to the scene and arrested the suspect. Investigators are not sure whether he will face murder charges as there seemed to be no intent to kill Blaze. 

However, that decision will be up to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

At their home yesterday, Scipio, a Cepep worker, she said she last saw husband alive when he dropped her off in the town to meet her colleagues for an outing on Saturday. It was during that trip, she got the sad news and immediately collapsed.

“My daughter told me she took him (Blaze) down the hill and (the suspect)  stood on the platform here and pelt a stone and hit him on his head. 

“She did not tell me anything, or if they told me I can’t remember. 

“He (Blaze) used to tell him stop cursing his mother. That is what he told him yesterday and he continued doing. I don’t know what really went on after,” Scipio said.

A relative said Scipio fainted at home on Saturday and when she passed out yesterday, she was taken to a nearby health facility for treatment. Scipio’s brother Aulister said Blaze and the suspect argued constantly and the death ended years of abuse. He said Blaze had two children and four step children but was a father to all during his 30-year relationship with Scipio.

A small group from the All Trinidad General Workers Union (ATGWU) marched in the rain on Labour Day yesterday. The march began at 10 am at the Esperanza Recreation Ground where in 1934 800 sugar workers, including women, downed tools and rioted for work.

The ATGWU marched in intermittent rain through the streets of California, up the Old Southern Main Road to the union’s headquarters at Rienzi Complex, Couva.

“I was soaked at one point. I did not want to use an umbrella because other members of the union did not use umbrellas,” ATGWU president general Nirvan Maharaj said.

“The march was symbolic. Workers preferred to soak in the rain than give up the march. The ATGWU decided to celebrate Labour Day in Couva to pay respect and homage to those rioting workers in the sugar industry in 1934 who laid the foundation for the labour battles of 1937.”

Former sugar workers, who are still fighting for outstanding monies, as well as workers from the agricultural and fishing sectors were among those who participated in yesterday’s event.

It was the second time the ATGWU was celebrating Labour Day in central Trinidad. Last year, for the first time in T&T’s history, the union broke away from Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad hosted by the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), drawing criticisms from unions that participate in the event there.

Maharaj said the ATGWU did not invite politicians to their celebrations this year. They invited former prime minister in the last People’s Partnership administration, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, now Opposition Leader, to last year’s celebrations.

“They came and promised to settle ex-sugar workers’ issues. They ate, they drank and they left and the issues are still facing us,” he said. “We are not going to provide another opportunity for politicians to ride on sugar workers’ backs.”

Maharaj, in his address at a function at Rienzi Complex after the march, blamed Government, Opposition and business owners for the current plight of workers. He blamed the Government and Opposition for failing to come together to bring much needed labour reform.

“There is a need to amend the Retrenchment and Severance Benefit Act so no worker will ever be retrenched again without being paid, as was the case with the Arcelor Mittal workers,” he said.

Maharaj was also critical of management”at companies who chooses to uncompromisingly cut costs by reducing labour and retrenching workers rather than trimming wastage and accepting  lower profits. He said the current PNM administration does not seem to have a clue on what steps to take to address the problems of workers who are being retrenched by the thousands. The country seems to be running on auto pilot and appears to be on the brink of collapse, he said.

The ATGWU honoured three former sugar workers who are now between the ages of 86 and 100. John Jaglal, first vice president and head of the Industrial Relations Department was also honoured for his years of loyalty and service to the union. 

A commemorative plaque was dedicated to Adrian Cola Rienzi, founding father of the union. who led rioting sugar workers in the 1930s.

Pierre La Borde says it was an honour to bring the body his father back to T&T on the boat he built. He says his father did not like flying and preferred sailing.

La Borde said he was proud of his father’s accomplishments as his father’s books about his voyages influenced people to sail. La Borde’s father, Harold, was a well-known sailor who circumnavigated the world. Harold died in Grenada on June 12.

Pierre and his younger brother, Andre, who flew to Grenada from New Zealand, sailed with their father’s casket from Grenada to T&T. They docked the Hummingbird III at the Coast Guard headquarters at Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas around 8.40 am on Sunday.

After offloading the casket, the brothers went to Customs and Immigration and then rested until late evening after the long journey between the islands. La Borde said: “It was just a coincidence that he arrived on his birthday. That was special for us.”

The brothers said they missed celebrating Father’s Day yesterday and their father's 83rd birthday on Saturday but while they will think of him, they that he is now in a better place.

La Borde, 52, said he was five years old when he went on his first voyage with his father and was nine when they returned. He said as a child being out at sea was second nature. On reflection, he said it was a really, special childhood.

“On the second round the world voyage I was a young man of 22 when we came back. I also sailed with him across the Atlantic in the year 2000.” Andre, 46, was born in New Zealand on the couple's first voyage. He resides there with his family.

La Borde said one of the highlights of his father's career was sailing around Cape Horn which is at the bottom of South America. He compared it to climbing Mount Everest.

“The main purpose of that second round the world voyage was to say that you sailed around Cape Horn and had been through the toughest weather. It was a long journey across the Pacific.”

La Borde said he and his girlfriend at the time, Ave, accompanied his father on that journey.

“That was probably the happiest day of his life to achieve such a great goal,” he said.

Leadership in public health care system needs to be dynamic and while emphasis has been placed on creating policies, the greater challenge is to enforce those policies, says Medical Chief of Staff at the Mount Hope Women’s Hospital (MHWH), Dr Karen Sohan.

Sohan said experts at international bodies such as Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)/World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have produced well researched policies that can be adapted to T&T.

“Our efforts and energies need to be focused on the implementation of policies. It is extremely encouraging that the majority of the staff of MHWH have been working diligently to enforce policies that ensure quality maternal health care,” Sohan said.

Recently, the MHWH was recognised by PAHO for its innovation in addressing systematic issues related to maternal and child health care. PAHO’s Director Dr Carissa Etienne, during an official visit to T&T, visited the Barataria Health Centre of the North West Regional Health Authority and the MHWH. 

During her visit at the health centre, she was told of all the services provided to the community and the strides being made in providing quality health care. At the MHWH she heard of its progress in primary health care and maternal health, among other contributions to the health and well-being of the people of T&T. 

Etienne congratulated Sohan and her team and challenged them to replicate their strategy  nationally and further afield. 

“PAHO/WHO will continue its technical support to the Government of T&T and its agents, and all stakeholders whose interests align to serve and provide the best quality health care to the people of T&T,” Etienne said.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Sohan expressed delight at Etienne’s comments. 

“I am particularly pleased that the director has recognised that improvements in maternal and child health require innovation,” she said, adding that three projects at the MHWH were highlighted during Etienne’s visit— collaboration of primary and tertiary health services to ensure equity of antenatal services to pregnant women, Fetal Medicine Services since October 2014 and obstetric emergency drills.

Sohan said about 70 per cent of antenatal care occurs at health centres but specialists in Obstetrics and Gynaecology are based in the tertiary hospitals.

“Therefore, we are missing the opportunity to provide expert antenatal care to the majority of pregnant women and monitor the well-being of the fetus. Any intervention in obstetrics that is going to reach the ones that need it the most must be aimed at the primary health level, so this project serves to bridge this gap.”

With respect to Fetal Medicine that deals with the assessment of the baby’s health before delivery and includes assessment of some of the most high risk pregnancies, Sohan said the MHWH is the only public institution offering these services.

“It is part of the national policy that all pregnant patients with Zika will be offered fetal medicine evaluations at MHWH,” she said.

Sohan said a six-member team from MHWH attended the PAHO sponsored work-shop on post-partum haemorrhage in April and a few weeks later they re-enacted the drills at MHWH to the benefit of the entire hospital. Post-partum haemorrhage is one of the potentially preventable causes of maternal morbidity and mortality.

According to Sohan, this is one of several measures being implemented to ensure the institution is working diligently to prepare for an anticipated increase in deliveries linSeptember, October and November. Sohan disclosed that for t March and November 2015, there were 316 and 410 deliveries respectively at the MHWH.

“Though this had been suspected previously, it was not until the data was computerised that the trend could be confirmed. This information was shared with the minister last year,” Sohan said.

“The challenge for the providers of maternal health care like myself, hospital managers, boards of the RHA’s and the Ministry of Health led by the Minister, is to prepare for the anticipated increase in numbers and therefore potential complications,” she said.

Work has already begun at the MHWH in organising resources to cope with the additional demands on the health care system, including a plan to increase the bed capacity.

Sohan admitted that there is a space issue at the MHWH as the current hospital is the exact structure that was built in the late 70’s.

“This would mean that whereas an area was designed to accommodate four beds, during these months we would increase to six to eight,” she said.

Further, the human resources would have to be re-organised to ensure quality care is maintained despite the increased work-load, involving a greater number of midwives and nurses being rostered per shift, as well as minimising time-off for doctors during this period so that teams have their full complement of staff.

Sohan said patient turn-over will need to be addressed, as last year, during this period, the waiting time for beds had increased. 

“One simple measure that was identified that could assist in alleviating this problem was twice daily ward rounds by senior staff so that patients could be discharged both mornings and afternoon, instead of the customary once a day round,” Sohan said.

Officials in Guyana have denied reports that duty free rum purchased at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) is being seized from transiting passengers in T&T. They have accused officials of Caribbean Airlines (CAL) of refusing to comply with the CJIA’s proposed solution to allow passengers to purchase duty free liquor and place them in their checked luggage rather than take it aboard the plane. 

“The issues that Caribbean Airlines is raising about interference with their TSA regulations and so on do not arise at all. The passenger has no duty-free in their hand,” a Guyanese aviation decision-maker said in an interview with a GUyana newspaper yesterday. 

The official claimed CAL’s representatives at CJIA have been telling outgoing passengers they risked having their duty free rum seized in T&T and “gave them no option.”

According to reports, CAL’s Area Manager—South America—Roy Ferguson has refused in writing to facilitate the arrangement in a sterile area where passengers’ duty-free rum purchases would  have been placed in their checked luggage. 

“Our directives had absolutely no extra-territorial effect and did not in any way impinge upon the TSA regulations or directives affecting the Piarco (International) Airport,” the official said.

Guyana’s Minister responsible for Aviation, David Patterson said CJIA’s board acknowledged that TSA rules are part of the reason for the impasse and that “this is not only a CAL matter and other stakeholders are involved.”

Patterson said CAL refused to co-operate with the CJIA board-suggested option and was unwilling  to offer any alternative. 

CAL has since requested a meeting with top CJIA officials aimed at resolving the issue. A senior airport negotiator said CJIA would be sticking to its position that CAL must facilitate the proposed solution or any other option that would allow Guyanese to take their duty free purchases to their final destination, mainly the US. 

“Either that or whatever solution that facilitates the movement through (of duty-free liquor purchases) but from our point of view it does not appear that we can rely on Caribbean Airlines to provide a solution in Trinidad to this problem. I would have to say that there appears to be a conflict of business interests and it appears that it might be in the interest of Caribbean Airlines to ensure that our duty-free (purchases) are not processed through Trinidad,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

In a media statement over the weekend, CAL said Guyana is an important destination and the airline remains committed to its customers there.

“As an international air carrier, Caribbean Airlines must comply with all regulatory directives of the sovereign states into which we operate, as do all other airlines. One such regulatory body is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which governs the security processes and conducts audits for all carriers flying into the United States of America,” CAL said.

“In light of screening rules which are in accordance with TSA measures being applied at any last point of departure (LPD) to the United States, and a recent TSA audit, a restriction on the entry of transit duty free into the sterile holding areas of all transit airports has been imposed.

Consequently, customers departing from Guyana or any other Caribbean destination with duty free items who are connecting on flights to the United States on any airline cannot enter the sterile holding area of any airport through which they transit en route to the United States. 

“Caribbean Airlines sought to balance our regulatory obligations with our customers’ desire to make duty free purchases. Unfortunately, this proved to be challenging as it resulted in damage to fragile items as well as items remaining unclaimed at the final destination. Customer comfort and convenience are top priorities of Caribbean Airlines and we continue to collaborate with stakeholders, including the Civil Aviation and Airport authorities to achieve a workable solution to ensure we remain compliant with the TSA regulations and provide quality service to our valued customers.”

Fresh moves are underway to increase the salaries of the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, the Opposition Leader and all other MPs.

This is as a Salaries Review Commission (SRC) consultant met with senior Government and Opposition MPs last week to initiate the process for the hike.

Among those who attended the one-hour meeting, which was held in Parliament last week, were House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, Senate President Christine Kangaloo, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, Rural Development and Local Government Minister Franklin Khan, Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and Opposition MPs Ganga Singh, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie and Ramona Ramdial.

An employee of the Hays Group solicited the views of those present on the need for a pay hike.

Guardian understands that both Government and Opposition MPs came out in favour of the pay hike.

In 2011, the PSC undertook a similar exercise and three years later, in 2014 when the hike was recommended by the PSC, then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that the Cabinet had rejected the increases.

She had said then that any pay hike would not have been supported by the wider population.

One of the contentious issues over the past years has been whether an MP works full-time or part-time. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had said previously that the work of MPs is full-time and this should be reflected in the pay. Since assuming power in September 2015 the Government has increased the number of Joint Select Parliamentary oversight committees to 17 which has significantly increased the workload of ministers and MPs. There are six Joint Select Committee meetings scheduled for today; four available for public attendance and two will be in camera.

Opposition to hike

The move is being met with immediate opposition from former head of the public service Reginald Dumas. Contacted for comment yesterday, Dumas said while the SRC, an independent body, was free to make its recommendations for a salary increase for MPs they should not be accepted by the Parliament.

Dumas said, "Given the current economic situation in T&T an increase in MPs’ salaries would send an entirely wrong signal to citizens many of whom have lost their jobs in recent months and others expected to lose their jobs in the future." He said the move comes "at a time when the cost of living has gone up because of new taxes being imposed on food and other commodities."

Dumas said any acceptance of a salary hike by MPs at this time would be wrong.

Dumas said the fact that more MPs were serving on an increased number of oversight committees in Parliament was not a good enough reason for accepting any pay hike at this time. He said that there are many people serving without pay on bodies such as the Economic Development Advisory Board.

The former permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister said he was “not impressed” by the argument that MPs were doing more work and should be paid higher salaries.

He said a parliamentarian should not only think about himself or herself but about all of T&T in the prevailing circumstances. He said he wanted to know why there should be a pay hike for MPs in the wake of the government’s unprecedented withdrawal of funds from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and a proposal by Imbert to go abroad on a Road Show to get money for the country.

Support for increase

But former government minister Conrad Enill said it was because of the need to properly manage the economy a pay hike should be accepted by the MPs if and when it is recommended by the SRC.

Enill, who served in previous PNM administrations as minister of Energy and minister of Energy and Energy Affairs, said government ministers were required to manage billions of dollars on behalf of the citizens but were not being properly compensated.

“The salary considerations for government ministers have been for a very long time not consistent with the jobs they have to do,” Enill added in a brief interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday.

He said it was for that reason the best cannot be attracted to serve and even if they were attracted they did not stay.

“The country deserves the best talent that is available but talent cannot be discriminated on the basis of pay,” he insisted.

Enill said the argument that government ministers should be compensated like any other worker was foolish and unacceptable.

He said a government minister was required to do the same for the nation as a managing director or chief executive officer does for a large company.

According to Enill, a government minister, in some instances, has to manage 15 different disciplines, 3,000 people “and you have to make decisions in the best interest of T&T.”

He said that requires a certain level of competence which has a value in the marketplace. 

Enill said it was “only in T&T that we treat MPs like they are not entitled to salaries and perks of their office. That needs to be changed.”

Enill said, “Until we fix that we are not going to move towards democracy that provides us with the best people to give us the best work.”

He said, “At this point they are not being paid what they are worth.”

MORE INFO

Prime Minister

Monthly salary $48,000

Duty allowance $7,500

Transport allowance $5,550 

Cash travel grant $36,000

Maximum motor vehicle loan for $350,000 at six per cent interest

Motor repair loan of $20,000 at six per cent.

Leader of the Opposition 

Monthly Salary $29,000

Cabinet Minister

Monthly salary is $41,000 

Non-Cabinet Minister 

Monthly salary $33,000

“Happy Father’s Day” were the last words Rennie Ramlochan said to his father, Munasar, on Sunday as he left for work in San Fernando. But Father’s Day turned into a nightmare for Munasar when Rennie, the second of his four children, was involved in a car crash while returning home later that evening. He died while undergoing treatment at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Police reported that Ramlochan, 34, a machinist with IAL Engineering Services Ltd. was driving along the Digity Tasker Road in his grey Mazda 3 around 6.20 pm at the same time Sherwin Basdeo was travelling in the opposite direction in his blue Peugeot 307.

They crashed head on causing damage so severe that officers from the Mon Repos Fire Station had to use the “jaws of life” to free them from the wreckage. At their Musarapp Trace, Barrackpore, home yesterday, Munasar said when he heard about the accident and rushed to the scene, he knew his son’s injuries were critical. 

“When I arrived, he was already on a stretcher and when I saw that big cut on his face, I knew it was critical. At the hospital, they told us they were doing their best and they were putting things in his mouth, checking his pulse and trying to revive him. A little while later, the doctors came out and said they did all that they could do,” Munasar said.

With no houses near the dark area of the crash, Munasar did not want to speculate as to how the accident happened and who was responsible. He said his son neither smoked nor drank alcohol. Munasar battled to hold back his emotion as he recalled the last moment with his son.

There was no Father’s Day lime at the home and Rennie, who was not on duty, was called out to work so he left around 1 pm. Because it was a “call out”, Munasar said, he did not know what time Rennie was expected to return home. 

Police said Basdeo remained warded in a serious condition in hospital up to last night and was yet to give a statement. Cpl Rampersad of the Barrackpore Police Station is continuing enquiries.

Valdeen Shears Neptune

The sole investor to have expressed an interest in purchasing the now defunct ArcelorMittal steel plant at Point Lisas may be on the verge of pulling out.

In March, management shuttered the plant, as steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal announced a pullout and sent home more than 600 workers.

The prospective buyers are being represented by an entity called New Era Business Services. They told the T&T Guardian that they were willing to spend as much as $100 million in acquiring the facility. 

In an interview with the T&T Guardian, the representative disclosed that the firm is based in Charlieville, Chagauanas, while “the investors are regional, with an international reach.”

Even as their identity remains unknown, they have maintained their interest and rapport with the Steel Workers Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT) since the start of the ArcelorMittal fallout.

However, the representative said some aspects of the ongoing liquidation process were giving them second thoughts.

“We and the union were assured that the plant would be sold as a whole entity and not stripped. But now we are seeing where properties are being placed on the public market for sale. It raises questions about the integrity of the entire process,” stated the representative.

This includes, so far, the Goodwood Park house in which Mittal lived when in the country, along with two other executive residential houses owned by the company, as well as a corporate box at the Queen’s Park Oval.

When asked if they would consider bidding on these properties, the spokesperson stated that the investors had indicated from the start that they would only tender for a complete package.

“The investors are not prepared to take part in any part packaging. It was always understood to be a packaged deal. Is this not stripping the company?” he queried.

Liquidator Christopher Kelshall, in a telephone interview, responded by stating that while the properties were all listed in the auditor’s report as company assets, he had a duty to the owners (Mittal) to look after the sale of surplus assets.

“Any investor would get a completely functioning plant. In due course they will be invited to express interest, and get a package to bid on,” stated Kelshall.

He maintained, though, that the properties were unoccupied.

Market conditions unchanged

The Mittal family bailed out of Trinidad and Tobago in the face of a deep slump in global steel prices, caused by oversupply from China. Market conditions are the same for the potential new investor as they were for the previous owners. How can they make it work?

“We did our feasibility study and Mittal did not tap into the Caribbean market, those for diversified steel, specialised high-end and by-products,” the representative stated.

“This is one of the reasons we are not daunted by the production of cheap steel by the Chinese,” he added.

The greater incentive, though, is the DR-3 machine located on the site, which supports the production of specialised steel and by-products.

The machine is the only one of its kind in the Western hemisphere and ensures the viability of the plant to compete easily in the steel market.

Rumours the machine may be shipped back overseas have raised a red flag for the investors, said their representative.

“What that machine can do is beyond what any competition can do on this side of the world. We hope it is not stripped and sent back to its parent company,” he stated.

They are even considering acquiring the recently defunct Centrin Plant, where over 200 workers lost their jobs. That plant depended heavily on by-products from the Point Lisas steel plant for its sustainability.

The investors, he said, may take their business and monies to neighbouring Suriname or Guyana.

That aside, if all goes well, the investors intend to set up shop within months of purchasing, with a couple months to purge the plant and a further three months’ incubation period, then moving to full operational standards.

As for its workforce, the business consultant said, the investors maintained a rapport with the union to ensure they would have the necessary human resources.

They are also prepared to engage in re-educating and redeploying where necessary, he said.

He noted that one of Mittal’s biggest disadvantages, which had forced him to close shop here and in other countries, was the cost of labour.

However, the investors are prepared to offer workers what he described as “reasonable” salaries along with the benefits of profit sharing and stock options.

“They will now be part of the ownership of the company/plant,” he added.

While they have anticipated further expenditure of up to $100 million, they are confident that this will come from projected profits.

The representative stated they had no intention of inheriting a debt, one of the conditions for purchase that the previous owners had put to the Government.

Initially, Government had been offered the plant for just $1, while the plant was said to have incurred a $1.3 billion debt.

According to the investor, the debt figure had been revised and had increased significantly to the tune of $3.5 billion.

The only advantage to liquidation, he explained, is that you do not inherit the company’s debt. However, the representative said he is yet to sit down and discuss the issue with anyone in Government.

Following the uncompromising message to both the government and opposition from JUTM President Ancel Roget, two analysts been weighing up what it means.

Placing both political parties on notice that he was prepared to take action to improve the lot of his workers, Roget had called on the Government to inject some TT$5.7billion into the economy to provide job relief to workers suffering under the economic downturn. He suggested disbursement of $1.2billion for food production, $1.5 billion each for manufacturing for export, energy and infrastructure development. 

Economist and former minister Mary King said Roget is making the same mistake as the Government in focussing only on capital.

“Can we be globally competitive in what we do by simply providing local jobs”, she asks.

“Less and less jobs per dollar invested are created as the imported technology becomes more and more automated? In other words, can we compete in the world market with other economies that create and continue to improve the technologies we have to import?”

“Simply allocating our limited capital to production enterprises leaves us less competitive and hence a country of lower income, lower living conditions”, King argues.

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says government must be more transparent in its dealings with workers, to remove any doubt as to their actions and the possible repercussions.

Roget had called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to reign in “errant” ministers and honour the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the PNM prior to the 2015 general election, adding that certain ministers were acting as “laws unto themselves” in not sticking to agreements.

The JTUM leader cited Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s decision to pay workers 50 per cent of outstanding back pay by the end of this month with the rest being offered in bonds, as one example.

Ragoonath said both men needed to thrash out the matter.

King meanwhile is arguing for modernised job market which “will allow this country to develop the required specialised skills via the establishment of the related R&D centres, as it immediately earns some foreign exchange.” 

“A highly skilled workforce is a guarantee of sustainable employment, one that can survive creative destruction or trauma of the likes of Arcelor Mittal”, she said.

As T&T weighs up approving the construction of a Sandals Resort in Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has been engaged in a testy public exchange with Sandals Chairman Butch Stewart over Sandals’ retention of sales tax income, by what the Antiguan government has called “an unlawful agreement.” 

Sandals collects an Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) from its customers and, according to Browne, keeps 65 per cent of the yields. The Antigua and Barbuda government is trying to change this, but Stewart is claiming it means the rescinding of a concession agreement with Sandals.

The disagreement with the Antigua and Barbuda government highlights the extent to which Sandals polarises opinion about its business model in the Caribbean. The Sandals chain, founded by Jamaican billionaire Gordon Butch Stewart, has asked for significant tax concessions in other islands in which the all-inclusive hotel chain operates. 

In Antigua and Barbuda, the Sandals Resort pays no direct taxes to the government treasury, an agreement that extends for another 25 years. It also pays no taxes on imported capital items, none on food or beverage, and none on items needed for resort improvements.

Meanwhile, in Barbados, Sandals also negotiated a 25-year tax holiday on all import duties, imports and levies, including VAT on the importation or local purchase of all capital goods from Barbados—including hotel equipment, furniture, fixtures, vehicles, and computer equipment. Barbados also had to give a 25-year tax holiday on all food, alcohol and beverages imported or bought locally by the resort. 

The question the Rowley administration has to consider is whether the economic impact of permanent tourism jobs created would outweigh the tax concessions Sandals is likely to demand.

A Sandals/Beaches Resort in Tobago would boost tourist numbers, and significantly help market Tobago as a tourist destination, says one hotel industry expert. 

However, the actual nature and scope of benefits to citizens is still to be worked out. And, as Antigua demonstrates, there are cautionary concerns about the tax concessions involved.

Potential benefits

The Sandals hotel would add 750 rooms to T&T’s stock, creating jobs and boosting incomes in the food and recreation industries. 

Data from T&T’s Tourism Development Company Ltd, cited in a National Training Agency report on the T&T tourism sector, stated that in 2012 there were 2,697 hotel/guesthouse rooms in T&T; and a further 94 bed-and-breakfast, self-catering facilities, for a total of 2,791 rooms. 

So an additional 750 rooms from Sandals would by itself represent roughly a 25 per cent increase in total rooms, and an up to 50 per cent increase in high-quality (4-star and above) rooms.

According to a publication by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in 2014 was TT$4,882.0 million (3.2% of GDP). This reflected the economic activity generated by hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services), as well as restaurants and leisure industries. 

The WTTC document said travel/tourism generated 27,500 jobs in 2014 (4.4% of total employment), including jobs from hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transport services, restaurant jobs, and leisure industry jobs. This was predicted to decline by 0.1% to 27,000 direct jobs in 2025.

Support for Sandals

Tourism sector expert John Bell has told the Guardian there would be several positive impacts of a Sandals hotel in Tobago. Bell is an honorary director and former director general and CEO for 28 years of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). Bell is also a current honorary member of the Trinidad Hotel Restaurants and Tourism Association (THRTA), a private sector body which lobbies for tourism development here.

Bell said Tobago’s tourism has been a “basket case” for years now due to its small airport which needs much upgrading, too few competitive, quality accommodation options, too few flights, not enough tourism incentives, restrictive foreign ownership licensing requirements, and what he calls a “complete absence” of destination brand promotion.

Calling Sandals “the most powerful resort brand in the Caribbean,” Bell welcomed Stewart’s ability to build “international consumer demand.”

He believes a Sandals resort in Tobago would attract overnight a lot more North American visitors.

It would propel upgrading of the ANR Robinson International Airport, and drive competing resorts to be more competitive, he says. He feels the tourism industry benefits would outweigh the tax concessions.

“Those who fear that the all-inclusive model precludes benefit beyond the parameters of the resort should check out the commercial life in such resort communities as Rodney Bay in St Lucia, or Ocho Rios and Montego Bay in Jamaica where the all-inclusive model predominates,” Bell said.

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) last week held preliminary talks with Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart—founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts—about the proposed construction of a 750-room hotel on the island.

Confirmation came of progress towards the project from secretary of Tourism and Transportation in the THA Tracy Davidson-Celestine.

She said construction of the hotel was in keeping with the THA’s tourism thrust.

“There are benefits to be derived with Sandals coming to Tobago. We expect more flights, recognition and tourists for Tobago. That in itself will bring more business for us.” 

Her comments came three days after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced that Tobago was earmarked for a 750-room Sandals Resort, as Government seeks to make the island punch harder as a tourism destination. The aim is to get more revenue, foreign exchange and jobs.

This project, Rowley said, would take Tobago out of the economic gloom it was facing.

Davidson-Celestine said the assembly supported the move by the PM. 

Sandals has opened its doors in Antigua, the Bahamas, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia and Turks and Caicos.

Davidson-Celestine said THA’s Chief Secretary Orville London has held several meetings with a view to understanding what will be required in terms of the level of investment that will be made.

“The discussions are continuing. It is still in its early stages.”

She said Stewart was very interested in establishing his brand in Tobago. 

“He (came) to Tobago on two or three occasions before. We had a one-on-one discussion with him as recently as last week. All of us are excited by the possibility of this project.”

Greater airlift

Davidson-Celestine said Stewart did not indicate how much he would invest, since talks were still at a preliminary stage.

“We believe the investment being made by Stewart is needed to help the island’s tourism sector to grow and develop. We really welcome this partnership.”

A project of this nature, Davidson-Celestine said, can take about 24 months from start to finish.

Questioned what would be the best location for the hotel, Davidson-Celestine said the west end of Tobago, which is within close proximity to the beaches and airport.

She expects a positive spinoff in the form of increased flights to Tobago, noting that since Sandals opened businesses in Barbados and Grenada, flights by American Airlines have increased.

These two Caribbean countries had one or two flights per week by American Airlines, Davidson-Celestine said, and “now they have daily flights.”

International tourist arrivals have “skyrocketed,” she claimed.

However, the ANR Robinson Airport is not large enough to accommodate two or three aircraft simultaneously on the ground, a shortcoming Davidson-Celestine acknowledges. It also lacks lounge facilities for higher-class travellers.

“If you are talking about bringing high-end guests to the island there is a requirement that you must have facilities for those who are travelling in business class and the rewards programme. If you look at all airports across the Caribbean and internationally, there is a hospitality area for those kinds of people who travel in those classes. So we need that.”

She said the establishment of a ferry port from Trinidad to Tobago would also open up opportunities for the island.

Competition skeptical

One criticism that Sandals has faced over its all-inclusive model is that it keeps all business within its walls, and does not bring the rest of the island into the visitor experience. General manager of Kariwak Village, Allan Clovis, is worried that the Tobago Sandals would become an “enclave.” 

“That might be a model for other countries. But we as a people have not promoted that sort of thing,” Clovis said.

And he wants to know whose money is being risked.

“How much money is Stewart putting towards this venture? They are not telling us the whole story. I am not taking away from the idea nor am I against the idea, but while Stewart is bringing his expertise and brand to Tobago, who is taking the investment risk?”

Despite the competition that Sandals would provide, general manager of Magdalena Grand Beach Resort, Christopher Forbes, described it as “a good initiative.” 

“Tobago will have a branded company on the island, as well as we would have more airlift coming directly here which is what we want. This would surely boost tourism. It’s a step in the right direction,” Forbes said.

Would Magdalena Grand lose business to Sandals? “Absolutely not,” Forbes said. 

Opposition warns against giveaway

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal called on Government to say what is the current visitors’ arrival figure for Tobago.

Moonilal said while it was good for Tobago to benefit from a new hotel “my information is that in the last ten years the arrival trendline does not support such an ambitious project.”

Like Clovis, Moonilal also questioned how much money Sandals will be injecting into this partnership.

“I hope the Government will be transparent with the Hotel Management Agreement (HMA) and not give away the country, as was done under former prime minister Patrick Manning. It was the last PNM administration who had to renegotiate some elements of the Hyatt Regency Hotel HMA to ensure that profits owed to the people of T&T for over five years could be realised.”

The number of reports of child abuse to the Children’s Authority (CA) has continued to increase exponentially since it first began operating in June 2015, with the body having now received more than 6,000 complaints. In August 2015 by contrast, just three months after they opened their doors, the CA had received just over 1,300 reports of child abuse, less than a quarter of the number of cases now.

The CA’s deputy director of Care, Legal and Regulatory Services, Christalle Gemon, last week confirmed that although the number of reports continued to increase daily, they were committed to delivering the highest level of quality care and justice for all the victims and their families. 

She spoke at a panel discussion hosted by the Single Fathers Association of T&T at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Her counterpart at CA, Legal Services manager Urmilla Seenath, spoke of the importance of a child knowing both parents. She explained that in the event that a child had to be removed from the family home while an investigation is being done, they would naturally seek the secondary parent in order to place the child with family.

If the secondary parent could not be located, the child would often-times be placed in a foster facility.

False accusations

The fathers’ group expressed concern about what they said were false accusations of abuse directed towards fathers.

After hearing from a father who is currently involved in a custody battle with his ex-wife over their young son—and who had been accused of sexually abusing his son—Gemon said this was a not a new or unknown development.

“We experienced a flood of this when we opened,” she admitted, adding that mothers would normally accuse fathers in order to “score” points before the judge when they appeared in the custody hearing.

Clinical child psychologist Dr Karen Moore was equally critical of this behaviour as she said, “There is absolutely no excuse for that,” regarding the false accusations and lies which she claimed were “inexcusable and highly destructive to the child in the situation.”

On the issue of “wounded men” who may need counselling in the face of such false and destructive accusations, both Moore and Dr Robert Moultrie, who specialises in the field of internal medicine, agreed that those men also needed to access treatment in order to move forward.

Make the laws equal

Paternity and access also surfaced as key concerns of the fathers’ group. A social worker and single father, underscoring the fact that mothers hold the advantage legally, said, “Mother’s baby, father’s maybe.”

President of the Single Fathers Association of T&T (SFATT) Rhondall Feeles said they don’t have much judicial or legislative protection.

Wiping tears from his eyes, one father told the panel of his early struggles and the financial costs he willingly undertook in order to see his daughter who had been taken to the US when she was born.

Referring to the custody arrangement as “time sharing,” the father also called for a balance in society as he said it was unfair that they were being asked to pay maintenance and not allowed to see the child except for a few hours on the weekend. 

Cocoa growers in T&T say that Government is finally acknowledging the importance of the local cocoa industry, and with a financial investment of $600,000 to assist farmers in ten different communities in the coming months. And the farmers believe that the financial boost would help to promote T&T as a global chocolate exporter.

During the launch of the Courts and Cocoa Community Project last week, farmer and chocolatier Gillian Goddard said that there were now 30 chocolate makers in T&T, compared to fewer than five a couple years ago.

Speaking at the launch, which took place at the Courts Megastore, San Juan, last week, Goddard, who is part of the Alliance of Rural Communities in T&T (ARCTT), expressed relief that whereas the nation’s back was once turned to rural communities such as Biche, Cuche and Grande Riviere, that situation is finally changing.

She wowed the audience with her extensive knowledge of chocolate-making and the use of indigenous products to create chocolate products.

Partners

The Machel Montano Foundation for Greatness and Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd are partners on the project.

Speaking about how her son’s foundation ended up partnering with the ARCTT, Government and Unicomer, Elizabeth Montano said they were always eager to help promote entrepreneurship in the industry. Her first encounter with Goddard had led to a Machel Montano chocolate bar.

They then went further in exploring the possibility of a long-term venture, accompanying Goddard to an international expo, the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle in 2014, during which she won the prize for sustainability.

Montano believes the exposure would help the farmers to become successful entrepreneurs creating sustainable businesses during these hard economic times. Absent from the launch in person, Machel Montano delivered a taped video message during which he vowed to ensure that the local cocoa industry and farmers were assisted in developing the sector and their products.

Funding for farmers

Managing Director, Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd, Errol Le Blanc said the reality was that sponsorship and donation budgets had shrunk; new proposals were subjected to increased scrutiny and accountability; there was increased competition among parties seeking sponsorship; and increased expectations from recipients who receive funding.

Le Blanc said, “The search for funding will become more competitive and the level of sustainability of projects will become a greater determining factor in successful applications.”

Courts contributed $1.5 million during the past year for various projects to improve the lives of citizens, Le Blanc said. It included the donation of solar lanterns to hundreds of children who do not have electricity at their homes; the refurbishment of a home for battered women; and the provision of basic household products to needy families. 

An injection of $200,000 into ten communities would include ten weekly sessions on chocolate making and the basics of running a business; six months plus of business development mentoring and practical support; close supervision of the chocolate production to ensure quality and consistency were not compromised; and support from The Cropper Foundation in the areas of post-harvest processing and marketing.

Bringing back 

rural Trinidad

Treated to a traditional “dancing of d cocoa” by Felix De Ramos of the Brasso Seco Tourism Action Committee, Le Blanc said, “once this initiative is successful, we plan to explore similar collaboration with cocoa-producing communities in the Windward Islands and possibly Jamaica.”

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat applauded the project which will see cocoa farmers in Brasso Seco, Grande Riviere, Biche and Cuche develop, market and promote “totally local” products. 

Rambharat, himself a product of rural Trinidad, spoke of the fundamental changes that rural communities had undergone and government’s responsibility to ensure they returned to the once thriving and viable entities they once were. 

A life of servanthood means putting your master’s needs before your own. For Msgr Christian Pereira and Fr Clyde Harvey, they spent the last 40 years of their lives doing God’s work, preparing Christians for the coming of His Kingdom.

There was little room as hundreds of disciples crowded the pews and tents outside the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, San Fernando yesterday to celebrate momentous achievement. Marking the occasion with a special mass, Archbishop Joseph Harris told the congregation that not only had these men preached the gospel, they also “walked the talk.”

Pereira, who was accepted into the seminary in 1970 and was ordained as a priest in 1976, touched the lives of many as he pioneered the youth ministry in the La Divina Pastora Parish. He later served in the Laventille/Morvant Pastoral area alongside Harvey.

Forthright about the social ills faced by the nation’s youths, Harvey co-founded Lifeline, now a hotline for suicidal and distressed people. He founded two HIV support organisations: Community Action Resource (CARe) and South AIDS Supports. He also chairs the Morris Marshall Development Fund, which provides educational and personal development opportunities to the Laventille community.

In his homily, Harris said the path chosen by both men was to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, meaning that God’s Kingdom became most important in their lives. It was a life they chose as young men, even though they knew there were few chances of career advancement with only one place each for the position of bishop and auxiliary bishop.

“They chose a path of dedicated servanthood to us and I choose that word ‘servanthood’ instead of service. Service is what good people like the Lion’s (Club) and Rotary (Club), and people like that do. They do tremendous work, they do it on their time and when they want. 

“Servanthood means total availability and it means doing things in the way the master wants it done. Servants do not make their own rules, servants follow the rules of the master and these two priests in this archdiocese chose the route of servanthood, doing everything that the master wants in the way the master wants it done so that God’s Kingdom can begin to manifest itself in our midst. That is not an easy vocation, it is quite difficult,” Harris said.

Explaining how difficult the task is, he said there are many people in T&T who have no notion of God’s Kingdom. He said that in inviting people into God’s Kingdom they are often chastised and people say all kinds of things about them.

Acknowledging each other’s achievement, Pereira and Harvey embraced each other in a sign of peace and respect, a symbol of their long lasting friendship.

Exhausted after a long night of making coconut oil at their Debe home, Telockie Chattergoon and his wife Kemawatie Ramdath slept through their neighbors shouts and warnings that the lower portion of their home was being flooded.

For the second year in a row, the couple lost over $30,000 in furniture and appliances, as muddy water and debris invaded their kitchen and living room area of their Chester Trace, Debe home on Wednesday night.

Chattergoon, 68, told the T&T Guardian the flood was caused by a nearby residential development. 

“Since they started clearing the hill opposite us, the water just rushes down whenever it rains,” he said. “Last year, we lost the tv, the fridge, two freezers and all of our food stuff.”

Chattergoon said after last year’s flood, he and Kemawatie were able to scrape together enough money from their humble coconut oil business to replace the damaged items.

“We buy a 42’ inch tv, a new fridge, new freezers everything...then to wake up yesterday morning to realise everything was destroyed again...we sleep through everything...cause we wake until after eleven that night making coconut oil.”

The pot used to ‘cook’ the coconut oil lay amongst the debris as Chattergoon busied himself trying to remove the slush from inside his kitchen.

Kemawatie, 51, said her family did not even have food to eat, as all her foodstuff was contaminated by the water. 

“My son pass just now and he wanted something to eat...I give him a mango, we don’t even have food to eat.”

In total, eight households were affected, with every family suffering thousands of dollars in losses to the water that came rushing into their homes in the dead of the night.

And as the rainy season is just beginning, pensioner Meera Boodhai, 68, who has only one leg is now calling on the Town and Country Planning Division to investigate whether the land developer violated proper procedures in filling his land.

Boodhai, who lives alone and was unable to secure any of her belongings when the water came, is placing blame for the floods on the developer.

“They filled the lands, blocked up the drains and now the water has no where to pass, it comes rushing into our homes,” she said. “I want T&C to investigate this, this cannot be right...one man cannot cause so much pain to others.”

Although she is fearful that the floods will be worse the next time it rains, Boodhai said she has no where else to live and has to endure whatever comes.

“What I will do? I have to stay here, this is my home,” she said. 

President of the Central Lawyers Association, attorney Richard Sirjoo, says the space at the newly refurbished Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court is still not enough to accommodate members of the public who have to visit the courthouse. 

The court was officially reopened last Friday at a renovated cost of $15 million. Yesterday, the court’s three magistrates sat in the building for the first time in 19 months

But by yesterday afternoon, Sirjoo took to his Facebook page to lament that although the courthouse was newly refurbished, it still could not accommodate all the people who used it.

“Whatever consideration that was done to it, the space is still a finite one; it simply cannot accommodate the volume of people who go there for service,” Sirjoo told the T&T Guardian in an interview.

“That is why in the photographs you would see a large crowd gathered in front of the court, on the pavement and spilling out onto the road.”

Sirjoo said there were four security checkpoints at the courthouse, which further slowed down the process.

“There is one by the road, where you are asked to show your ID’s before entering. 

There is a security checkpoint inside where they scan you, then you go through and you are categorised between who is going to the counter and who is going to the courtroom, that is the third.”

“And when you get to the door of the court, there is a fourth.

“Today for example, you had to have names being called over the PA system and if the person is outside, the magistrate has to sit and wait for that person to make their way through that maze, then to arrive at the court.”

He said the association is renewing its call for the library building next to the courthouse to be made into an administrative complex to accommodate the court. 

“Next door to the court is a building earmarked for the library and we are saying that building should be used to make a judicial complex in Chaguanas. 

We are saying having just three magistrates’ courts in Chaguanas is woefully inadequate.”

Secretary of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association, Insp Michael Seales, was granted $75,000 bail at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday afternoon after he appeared charged with making a seditious statement on June 24 last year.

Seales, who is currently contesting the presidency in the body’s upcoming election, appeared before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar and was represented by Pamela Elder, SC, and Owen Hinds.

Elder informed the court Seales was a serving member of the T&T Police Service and as such had an unblemished record. She added that during his 28-year career he had received many commendations, including from the US Department of Justice.

Seales was arrested on a warrant at the association’s Besson Street Police Station office. The arrest warrant carried with it $75,000 bail with surety. 

His wife, Nicole Hospedales, was allowed to be used as his surety after the Chief Magistrate informed her of the seriousness of her vow to ensure both she and Seales attend court on every occasion the matter was called. Ayers-Caesar then adjourned the matter to July 20.

Seales was supported in court by Hospedales and association members, Insp Anand Ramesar and Insp Ian Carty. He has been on suspension since June last year. It would have expired tomorrow and elections three days later.

It is alleged that Seales made the seditious statement on June 24 last year during a live interview on TV6 Morning Edition. He had claimed there was then an alleged plot by the People’s Partnership government to frustrate the Police Service to react in such a way that there would be a need for a state of emergency, thereby stalling the September 7 general election. 

Seales made the comment during the heightened wage negotiations and was suspended the following day by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams. In a release then, Williams said he made the decision “as a result of an allegation of serious misconduct.”

Speaking outside the courthouse yesterday, incumbent president of the association, Ramesar, said he stood in solidarity with his secretary.

“Having spoken to the membership, the view is that Michael is going to be the next president of the Police Association,” Ramesar said.

“He has the backing of the police and let the authorities know, we will be supporting him all the way and we have full faith in the legal system and that he will be exonerated from these allegations. 

“This is just a small hiccup in the path and we are still of full faith that it will change nothing for next week’s elections,” he added.