Reporting From Rio, Brazil

The 2016 Rio Olympics has been plagued by complaints, more complaints and then even much more from the people of Brazil, to the international media, to the athletes in the village and there is one common ground that things could have been better and probably should have been. 

Having been alerted to the problems for Team T&T by a firm and honest post from the very dedicated and disciplined Jarrin Solomon on some initial water woes, the Trinidad Guardian sought and obtained the views of our athletes on the T&T contingent.

Five-time “Sportswoman of the Year,” experienced Olympian shot putter Cleopatra Borel, who will start the action in track and field on Friday for T&T said, “I just arrived in the village and so far it’s been good for me. I always make the best, thank God and focus on what is important. I have some hard practice sessions ahead.”

Emmanuel Callender, a silver medallist from the London Olympics in the 4x100 metres relay, who could be seen enjoying himself to the maximum at the opening ceremony, was pumped up and ready. 

“I am settled and ready for battle and I believe the team is as well. There are a few things to be worked out but it is being dealt with for the team. They are focused on the task ahead,” said Callender, known as the “E-man” to everyone in Rio.

Andrew Lewis, who to many already deserves a medal for just being at these Games after his horrific injury in 2015, is buoyant.

“Everyone has settled in really nicely. Everyone is very happy with their roommates. We have a great medical staff in the village here with us, everyone is content with what they have been given, and we are all happy to be with each other from what I can see and what my fellow athletes have told me,” said Lewis. 

“We are on the 18th and 17th floor. The 18th floor is the highest floor in our building with a really nice view of the entire Olympic Park so we are very happy to be so high up. Also it helps us stay away from mosquitoes because there is a very good breeze up there. All in all we have gotten a very special spot in the Olympic village. ” 

Three-time Olympic medallist Richard Thompson said, “The majority of the team got into Rio on August 4 from the camp in Sao Paulo. I must say that the camp was a major success in many ways and the TTOC did a great job in making us comfortable and ensuring that all of our preparatory needs were met. 

“On arrival at the village, unfortunately I can’t say the same for Rio’s welcome to us. Of my three Olympic Games, this is easily the most disorganised. There are a number of issues with the accommodations. No water in some rooms, no light in some bathrooms, AC (air condition) not working. The security check points structure to enter the stadium is very inefficient, among other issues that I can pick at. But we are all here and ready to compete to the best of our ability and will not allow the obstacles in our way to stop us. We are ready to represent Team T&T.”

n See more Olympic stories on pages 

A34, A46 & A48.

Why exactly are they going to Isis?

That’s the question Government is giving priority attention to, along with ongoing moves to tighten overall security, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon has said.

In seeking to examine the factors luring people to leave T&T to join the terror group, Dillon said Government will engage the Muslim community to “dialogue on this and, together, examine root causes.” 

Dillon was contacted after the T&T Guardian was able to ascertain last Thursday from the security sector that the number of T&T nationals—fighters as well as family members—who have gone to Isis zones from late 2012 to date is now estimated at close to 120, an increase over previous figures.

Most recently, nine TT nationals were detained in Turkey, on July 27. They were held with a Syrian man who was taking them via truck to Syria for recruitment by Isis, Turkey’s Daily Sabah reported. They are now at Turkey’s Adana Migration Centre. Government is awaiting a report on the circumstances of their presence there from Turkish authorities.

Dillon said there had been a lull in the number of people Isis-bound in the latter half of last year, but confirmed the security sector has been “seeing activity.”

“In light of what has happened (nine in Turkey) although we’re still uncertain if they were really going to Isis, we’re examining what factors are luring people to leave T&T to go there; what’s happening locally with that. So we’ll be engaging the Muslim community to dialogue on this and together examine root causes,” Dillon said.

He acknowledged there may be concerns on the length of time to get information on the nine in Turkey, due to perceived “fear of the unknown” on the matter. He explained the time involved—and level of confidentiality—was to ensure that information reaching T&T security, and which would be factored into any approaches, was accurate.

The length of time may be due to questioning being done in Turkey.

Turkey, in recent years, has been the gateway to Isis conflict zones, since no visa is required for T&T nationals particularly.

In January, Turkey’s “Hurriyet News” reported four T&T nationals were held among 913 foreign jihadists from 57 countries fighting with Isis, over the period January to November 2015. T&T was the only Caribbean country. Last Thursday, security agencies confirmed two T&T nationals returned—sent back—from Turkey in January.

They are from Cocorite and Morvant, and were monitored.

So far, only one T&T person—Kareen Ibrahim—has been deemed a terrorist under the Anti-Terrorism Act. No T&T nationals have so far been listed on the United Nations’ Security Council’s list of people subject to sanctions for being involved with Al-Qaeda and Isis.

But this might change, Dillon confirmed, when T&T pursues action by the Attorney General for court declaration of 74 entities as terrorists, among other measures.

Figures up

In April 2016, Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal—a member of the PP administration’s National Security Council—told Parliament about 400 people had been indoctrinated and trained by Isis and men, women and children had left to join Isis.

Dillon had estimated the number of people who had left to be about 100 or just over. The Sunday Guardian subsequently obtained a 50-page police agency file from 2013 to 2015 listing what was described as “TT citizens who have left the country and journeyed to Syria to align themselves with the Islamic State terrorist group.”

The list comprised 32 males, 30 females and 40 children, but carried a last figure of 105.

It featured the names, gender, date of birth, last known local address of each person and date of their departure, date of arrival, their status (whether confirmed in Syria) and a photograph of each.

The list involved adult males largely of Afro-T&T descent between their 30s and 50s, and women, also largely of Afro-T&T descent, bearing Muslim names and aged between the 30s and 40s.

The children ranged in ages from two to 16 years. Boys and girls, some “mere tots and babies.”

Most adults carried Rio Claro addresses as well as Central locations—Boodram Street, Enterprise, Chaguanas, Cunupia, Edinburgh 500.

Several were East/West Corridor—Maloney Gardens, D’Abadie, Gonzales, Belmont, Richplain Road, Diego Martin, La Canoa Road, Santa Cruz, Don Miguel Road, San Juan, Morvant, Wallerfield, Aranguez, Trou Macaque, Laventille and Petit Valley.

Southern addresses included Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, Pranz Gardens, Claxton Bay, Princes Town.

Routes taken by those who departed involved Turkey, Tobago en route to Frankfurt, Germany, via Venezuela, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Panama, Egypt and London. Also via Poole, London, and transiting through Curacao and via London, Dubai and Manila.

Approximately ten-plus of the men on the list are confirmed as having been killed in battle. Departures were seen to increase over 2014-2015.

Authorities estimate that those with Isis who have been killed are approximately 15 fighters.

Security officials in recent years have mapped local “cells” in Princes Town, between Fyzabad and Point Fortin, as well as points of “criminality” in East, Central and North. 

They have cited individuals and networking which facilitate travel arrangements to the Middle East, sometimes under pilgrimage cover.

Dillon confirmed another matter “thoroughly engaging Security attention” is the pitch in Isis’ July magazine made by T&T-born Isis fighter Abu Sa’d al-Trinidadi, who some claim is Shane Crawford.

He urged sympathisers to launch local attacks on Christians, businesses, embassies and civilians. Nationals of four other states made similar pitches to countrymen. T&T Muslim leaders have rejected his call.

The security list obtained by T&T Guardian concerning people who went to Syria over 2013-2015 to join Isis begins with information on Shane Dominic Crawford described as also known as “Asadullah.”

Crawford is believed to be Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi—the pitchman in the latest Isis magazine’s “kill call”.

Crawford’s date of birth is given as February 22, 1986. Address then, as Wallerfield. 

His date of departure from T&T is listed as November 27, 2013.

Status was given as “Confirmed in Syria.” No return date was listed.

In Isis’ magazine, at-Trinidadi said, “The taghut government of Trinidad then plotted against us, claiming we were planning on assassinating the prime minister and a number of other ministers in order to cause chaos and panic in the country. 

“That would have been an honor for us to attempt, but the reality of our operations was much smaller, as I described before. 

“We were imprisoned for terrorism along with some Muslims who merely knew us as well as others whom we had never even met before...They were unable to make a case against us and we were freed, and despite being placed under surveil­lance, we went back to doing what we knew we had to do...”

UNC activist Barrington “Skippy” Thomas, who knew Crawford for over 13 years, said Crawford was always with him on UNC activities, but wasn’t his bodyguard and didn’t work for the UNC. He said Crawford was there to “watch his back,” and was along in PP’s 2010 campaigns and subsequently.

“I loved him like a brother, we’re both Baptists. I helped him with money when he wanted to get into fishing business. He used to buy and sell fish.

“Shane was with me—after I was moved from URP—when I verbally attacked the PM (Persad-Bissessar) and the crowd wanted to lynch me.

“He supported anything I was involved in. He was there when I contested Tobago elections, when I had to take tough URP decisions. 

“That same Robocop, killed recently, told me some of my colleagues wanted my demise. Shane told him that wasn’t happening.

“Shane was an idealist, a disciplinarian—hated weed, coke and crime. When on the campaign trail I wanted to stop for a drink, he wouldn’t want to. He was against injustice and oppression—an angry young man.”

Thomas said Crawford was angry even before the PP’s 2011 state of emergency during which at-Trinidadi/Crawford claimed he was arrested.

Asked about Crawford’s magazine statements—that it would have been an honour to kill the former PM—Thomas said, “If I’d known he wanted to do that I’d have discouraged him. He’d hailed her as a person who subscribed to his ideals. Maybe (the statements) meant it would have been a badge of honour to kill her.

“As a brother, he has my unflinching, unrepentant support on injustice. Anytime I seem him again, I’ll embrace him—but I don’t share Isis’ beliefs.”

Thomas said Crawford told him he was leaving T&T three days before his departure.

“He said he intended to ‘participate in an exercise that would transform T&T from a swamp of injustice to an oasis of justice’. It struck me. He didn’t say where he was heading.

“There were businessmen involved—he often referred to the ‘bossman’. 

“He sold his TV and possessions to go. We embraced when he left, I never heard from him again. I’m sure if he was dead, I may have known.”

Thomas said he’s godfather to a child Crawford had with one of two wives. None of them is in T&T, he added.

IN TOMORROW’s GUARDIAN: The motivation to go to Isis and measures to deal with it.

When Keshorn Walcott won the gold medal in the javelin event at the London Olympics he was promised various gifts by the then government for his accomplishment.

Among the gifts promised to Walcott were the renaming of both his alma mater Toco Secondary School and the Toco Lighthouse in his honour.

These two accolades were meant to give recognition to the village where the Olympic champion was born and raised.

However, almost four years later, Walcott’s name still does not appear on either the school or the lighthouse.

The failure of the People’s Partnership government to abide by their promises to Walcott in this regard was cited by Toco residents as an example of politicians continually “selling dreams” to the community.

The residents said they are tired of unfulfilled promises.

And as a result of this, the residents are sceptical that major infrastructural projects proposed for their community will actually come to fruition.

Among the major projects the People’s National Movement Government, now in power, has signalled its intention to undertake in Toco are the construction of a fast ferry port and a highway from Valencia.

While on the campaign trail for last year’s general election, Dr Keith Rowley promised that his Government, once elected to office, would build a port in Toco to link Trinidad with Tobago as well as an “A-class road” to Toco from Valencia.

Toco is the most northeasterly village in Trinidad and is the closest point to Tobago, which is some 35 kilometres away.

The State-owned National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Nidco) has already issued a request for proposals for the two projects.

The projects are being done in partnership with the Ministry of Works and Transport.

The idea of construction of a port in Toco has had a long history going back to the 1950s.

It was originally conceived as a port for the fishing industry, as well as a shelter to provide access to the east coast fisheries resources, and an out station for the Coast Guard.

In 2000, then Works and Transport minister Sadiq Baksh proposed the construction of a ferry port valued at US$71 million.

This was, however, eventually shelved after months of agitation by environmentalists.

Last Thursday, a site visit of the proposed fast ferry port in Toco was conducted by hopeful consultants.

“The consultant shall undertake documentation review, preliminary engineering studies, site selection, conceptual designs, cost estimates and preparation of Design-Build tender documents utilising FIDIC yellow book 1999 form of contract for the establishment of a new Port facility and maritime infrastructure. The consultant shall indicate whether any upgrades are needed at Scarborough Port and prepare cost estimates as requested,” the request for proposals from Nidco states.

This comes on the heels of a request for consultancy services for route selection and conceptual designs for the proposed Valencia to Toco highway project in April.

On April 22, a site visit for the proposed route selection and conceptual design of that highway was conducted.

‘They does start hot and sweaty then stop’

With the two major infrastructural projects being proposed for Toco, the Sunday Guardian visited the village to get the views of the residents on the situation.

“To be honest they keep selling us dreams. We keep hearing about all types of projects in the area which start hot and sweaty then are eventually stopped. The Government just keeps teasing our imaginations,” Chris Williams said.

Williams highlighted three projects along the Toco Main Road which should have all been completed by now.

Williams pointed to a sign for a reconstruction programme for bridge B1/19 which started in January 2014.

The duration of the project, which listed Nidco as the executing agency, was estimated at 11 months.

“That project should have been more than done by now and that is just one that started and stopped,” he said.

He highlighted a reconstruction programme for bridge B1/22 which was supposed to have been completed by March as a second project that was started and stalled.

“When we constantly see things like this, work start in a huff and puff and then just stopping, how can I really believe in what is being said,” Williams said.

Fisherman: We seeing 

real trouble

One of the proposed sites for the Toco port is the already constructed Toco Fishing Centre.

Fishermen there said they would be happy for a port once they were consulted in the process and their concerns taken into consideration.

“If they thinking about us then it will be better for us because right now we seeing real trouble,” Calvin Bishop said.

Bishop said no renovation work was being done on the facility and things are falling apart.

He said the shutting down of an ice machine last weekend showed that the fishermen were not being treated properly.

But it was Leroy Johnson who questioned whether the Government would keep its promises to the community when it had not kept its promises to Toco’s Olympic Champion. 

“We look forward to anything that would make our area better but we have just become so numb to hearing promises and then not having it come to pass. They promised Keshorn that they would name the school and the lighthouse after him. Look, another Olympics has come around and nothing has been done,” Johnson said.

Johnson, however, believes that Walcott will again win Olympic gold and Toco will be put in the spotlight again.

“He is peaking at the right time. He will win the gold and I would not even be surprised if he breaks the world record,” Johnson said.

Walcott was the flag bearer for the T&T team at the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Brazil on Friday.

Republic Bank will be offering an On-the-Job training opportunity to a Port-of-Spain student following concerns by the Jamaat al-Muslimeen that the student did not initially obtain the opportunity because she wears a hijab.

Republic Bank president/managing director Nigel Baptiste yesterday confirmed the student would be contacted.

He said the matter was a “misunderstanding,” and the young woman in question would be provided with the opportunity for the two-week stint if she was still available.

Baptiste was contacted after the Jamaat’s Fuad Abu Bakr spoke about the matter.

Last Friday, there was word that a protest to highlight the young woman’s matter was to be held outside Republic’s Independence Square branch.

Abu Bakr said the protest had been in the works, but was not done last Friday since they did not obtain police permission. 

Abu Bakr said the young woman had applied to take part in the company’s OJT programme and initially received approval. He said she informed the bank she would be wearing her hijab, but said she was told it was not allowed.

“It’s outdated our banking sector should have such a policy, if that’s what it is,” he added.

Abu Bakr noted an Equal Opportunities judgement last month where Giselle Glaude, of St Joseph, won a $150,000 award for discrimination on the basis of her religious beliefs after her employers dismissed her for wearing her hijab at work. 

The matter with the bank pre-dated that judgement, he added. But Abu Bakr said he was aware of other cases, including one involving a Port-of-Spain store.

Contacted, Republic’s Baptiste said a misunderstanding had occurred regarding a two-week attachment that the bank annually participates in with a Belmont girls’ secondary school. Every year the bank facilitates five students for two-week stints to provide them with some working experience during the July/August holidays.

He explained, “Unfortunately, there was a mix-up this year when one of the young girls turned up in a hijab. The bank has no policy against the wearing of hijabs and a number of our staff have done so in the past and continue to do so.”

T&T Guardian was told that for reasons the bank “is still not quite clear about,” the girl was not allowed to participate in the two-week programme. 

Baptiste, however, said, “Republic’s Human Resources department plans to reach out to her and the school to apologise and clear up the matter.

“We’re sure that subject to her availability, she will be provided with the opportunity for the two-week stint.

“Republic Bank has always and will always respect the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and religious freedoms enjoyed by all citizens of T&T.”

Following Republic’s comments, Abu Bakr said the Jamaat will still look to take legal action even though the bank seemed to have recanted its position. But in the light of Baptiste’s comments, he said the group would meet and discuss if it would still go forward with this week’s proposed protest.

He said the comments from the bank had not been communicated to the young woman so far, since the last correspondence she received did not state that. He suggested the bank contact her on the issue.

A teenaged boy and a Maloney man were shot dead in separate incidents.

According to police reports J’Ouvert celebrations were being held in Sea Lots around 1.30 am yesterday when a gunman opened fire.

Fourteen-year-old Jerrel Roberts of Pioneer Drive in Sea Lots, was shot in his head.

Roberts was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital by relatives.

The gunman fled the scene.

Roberts eventually died in hospital hours after the shooting.

Officers of the Port-of-Spain Division are continuing investigations into the killing.

The Sea Lots street parade was unauthorised, police said.

No motive has been determined for the shooting as yet.

Maloney man murdered

Six hours before Roberts was shot, a 38-year-old man was killed in an unrelated incident in Maloney.

According to police reports, around 7.30 pm on Friday night residents of Building 4, Maloney Gardens, said they heard gunshots in their area.

Sunil Mohammed was later found shot dead lying in a pool of blood.

No motive has been determined as yet for Mohammed’s murder.

Building 4 in Maloney came into the national spotlight in 2013 when the body of six-year-old Keyana Cumberbatch was found killed and stuffed in a barrel inside an apartment there.

Investigations are continuing.

Chairman of the National Issues Committee of the T&T Association of Retired Persons Ltd (TTARP) Cecil Paul says the Government must state its justifications to stop funding tertiary education for students 50 and over.

Paul said, “They also need to say how many people are in the age group of 50 and over who access the programme. We are going to press them for that because it is discrimination.”

He said, however, TTARP was okay with the means testing. 

So far, the Government has not said how many people were in the category of 50-plus accessing Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) funding or likely to be affected from next year.

In an interview on Friday, Paul said the category most likely to be adversely affected was those who were “doing it” for promotion to get a better pension. He said many mature students also enrolled in programmes because of their commitment to social or volunteer work.

“They are the ones who want to do a two-year diploma course to help in the community and so on. It would have an impact. I don’t know the extent. I don’t have numbers, so I can’t say.”

Paul said there were many jobs in the public service which required specific qualifications like MBAs. 

He said if Government was scrapping the funding to students 50 and over, “then let us know how many are affected.”

“Don’t just take a decision and don’t explain it to the public.” 

TTARP has close to 40,000 members.

In a radio interview on Friday, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said people already enrolled in programmes would continue to receive funding, while those who applied and have been accepted this academic year would receive funding for the 2016/2017 year. 

Costaatt pres: We will step up to assist students 50 and over

President of the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of T&T (Costaatt) Dr Gillian Paul said of the 8,000 or so student population, close to 1,300 were over the age of 50.

“It would be a significant portion because we really support a lot of adult students coming back to college for the second time,” Paul said. 

Education Minister Anthony Garcia, in justifying the change, said it was felt that mature students would have been gainfully employed for a number of years and that would have afforded them the opportunity to save for their education.

But Paul said, there were scenarios of people 50 and over who were working for most of their lives and who had no possibility without Costaatt of achieving a qualification that would earn them a better salary.

She said it was important to note that the salary difference between someone with CXC passes and one with an associate degree was up to $3,000 to $4,000 a month.

“So that could be a significant impact on a household that does not have anybody who has any tertiary level studies and in that case, the college will step up and support those 50 and over who fall into that category,” Paul said. 

She said the college understood that the Government had to make decisions and “I have no issue with that.”

Paul added that the college would try to find an internal mechanism to support the profile of the student it normally supported.

“That’s the real issue for us.”

She said, “We are going to look at each individual story and try to understand whether this is somebody who really worked or is working...potentially earning sufficiently to be able to manage on their own or to benefit from whatever the means test brings or is this somebody who is really independent of the means test.”

Karim: Govt’s action deceitful

Former minister of tertiary education and skills training Fazal Karim said the Government has received value for the billions spent on the programme since 2004. 

However, in an interview with the Sunday Guardian, he described last week’s announcement to stop funding mature students by the Government as “discriminatory and deceitful.”

In a column in today’s paper titled The Gate Betrayal (See Page A20), Karim said the removal of Gate funding to mature students will discourage continuing education and adult education. 

T&T could boast of a highly educated workforce which could attract greater investment, Karim said. He questioned, “Are our programmes aligned to industry needs?”

Karim added, “T&T required highly skilled workers for areas such as agriculture, finance, technology, manufacturing, and engineering. The focus should be on building skills and harnessing those skills for new business growth.”

Karim said there was a critical need for graduates to become more entrepreneurial, therefore entrepreneurship should be added to the curriculum. 

“Not everyone will become entrepreneurs but the entrepreneurial mindset needs to be developed,” he said. 

Had it not been for the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) programme, 65-year-old retiree Motilal Boodoosingh would not have been able to pursue his dream of studying literature.

“I got a chance to do something I always wanted to do. I used the degree programme to enhance my skills and my ability to deliver,” he said.

Boodoosingh graduated magna cum laude from the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of T&T (Costaatt) in November 2015.

The former offshore worker studied literature and communications and said he has a keen interest in writing short stories. 

When the Sunday Guardian caught up with Boodoosingh on Friday via telephone, he showered praises on the government facility which allowed him to pursue his dream.

Boodoosingh is one of many citizens over the age of 50 who pursued tertiary education with funding through the Gate programme.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Anthony Garcia announced that Government-paid tuition fees would no longer be available to students 50 and over who were starting programmes next year.

Students already enrolled in programmes would continue to receive funding. 

Boodoosingh said his daughter and stepdaughter were fortunate to receive funding and had already paid their dues by giving back to the country.

“Even I have given back,” he said.

For four years, Boodoosingh studied for a Bachelor of Arts in literature and communication, having previously done an associate degree.

Asked why literature and not something closer to the field he had spent almost three decades in, he said, “I always loved literature but in my time I could not attend university to start with and I had to get into the engineering business...money nah...I had to care for my family.”

He believed tertiary education helped him in the area of volunteerism.

He worked as a tutor with the Adult Literacy Tutors Association and also as a remedial English tutor with the Penal Police Youth Club. 

He said, “All this thing about giving back and so on, I give back already and still giving back.”

But Boodoosingh is now disappointed that people 50 and over will no longer have access to a free tertiary education. He feels people in his age category have a lot to give back to society. 

“People over 50 have a lot to give. They can volunteer. They can improve themselves and their skills but what I found is that the people over 50 were more serious in the classes and their studies.” 

Boodoosingh, who lives in Penal, also writes short stories and has already been published a few times. 

His daughter, he said, had “several” degrees and benefited from what was the Dollar for Dollar programme and then Gate. 

His stepdaughter also accessed Gate funding. 

“But we have all paid our dues,” he added. 

‘Sad situation for those with potential’ 

Meanwhile, another mature student who was the 2015 class valedictorian at Costaatt, Arnold Ramkaran, who did not want to give his age, said he studied in order to enhance his qualifications and skills.

The Ministry of Health employee studied environmental sciences.

He said, “I was grateful for the opportunity for the Gate programme. I studied for two years part-time.

“In my earlier years I was focusing on other aspects of my life like family and children.”

Asked if he would still have pursued his education without Gate funding, Ramkaran said it depended on the cost.

He said he did not expect to “do so well” in his programme as to be named valedictorian.

“I did the best I could. The programme has helped me with my job as well.”

He said many mature students who have the potential will no longer be able to pursue their education. 

“That is a sad situation,” Ramkaran added.

Former executive director of the National Operations Centre (NOC) Garvin Heerah says foreign fighters heading to join Isis will adopt a number of circuitous routes to reach Turkey, the most common entry gate to Isis-controlled territory.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on Thursday after compiling data on the Isis route taken by foreign fighters and based on research conducted by International Business Times Research correspondent Alessandria Masi, Heerah said: “The journey that would-be jihadis take to the Islamic State group’s so-called caliphate can take place over dozens of different itineraries.”

And, it is compounded by the facets of a well-oiled transnational organised crime network. What used to be a simple crossing of the border into Syria after an uneventful flight to a Turkish airport, Heerah said, “has now become, for many aspiring holy warriors, a fragmented journey, one that can involve multiple stopovers, bribery and getting smuggled over the border.”

He said security measures recently imposed by many nations to prevent foreign fighters from joining Isis, as the Islamic State group is also known, have increased the variety of routes to the caliphate.

According to Heerah, these new routes often require a combination of land, air and sea journeys, but they all shared one element, they end in Turkey, from where the caliphate can be reached by crossing over the porous border with Syria.

Heerah said the way to get to Turkey had changed, but the country remained the most common entry point to Isis-controlled territory, as it had been since the group declared itself a caliphate with its de facto headquarters in Raqqa, Syria.

When asked about the route Trinidadians took to join Isis before reaching Turkey and Syria, Heerah said one had to be aware that the journey to Syria and Turkey was controlled by an underground network that was tied to legitimate businesses and organisations that may be covertly supporting and financing terrorism worldwide.

He said the route would take individuals through Latin and South America and then onto the European continent, where the network that is linked to transnational organised crime takes up the responsibility of moving the individuals at a cost. 

Heerah said the movement can be over road, via air and also sea and can very well take the form of the assumption of new identities and the issuance of new passports. 

He said this form of movement is called “staggering” and was prevalent in the return journeys also to the foreign fighters’ homelands.

He said the Turkish authorities knew whom they should be on the lookout for.

Earlier this month, the Turkish Interior Ministry issued a list of almost 10,000 people with suspected ties to the militant group that have been banned from entering the country.

Heerah said the Turkish authorities were working much closer now with allies and counterparts in this global fight against terrorism.

He said the names came from foreign government watch lists and were confirmed by Turkey.

Heerah said there were multiple ways to enter Turkey, however, and many border posts lacked the equipment and personnel to monitor all incoming people effectively and accurately.

The method used

Heerah said Isis online recruiters will assist potential foreign fighters in planning the trip and connect them with people who will take them to a safe house, after which they will be driven to a border crossing and smuggled into Syria, where Isis fighters will be waiting to pick them up.

He said getting smuggled across the border can cost as little as TT$100 and was generally organised and paid for by Isis.

Heerah said on the other side of the border, recruits go through training and then, depending on their skills, are deployed to various cities under Isis control in Iraq and Syria.

He said getting to Syria was the easy part of this process, but first, the potential Isis recruit must get to Turkey undetected.

Heerah said the majority of itineraries often utilised pre-existing trade, migrant or tourist routes, where an aspiring Isis recruit could blend in with other travellers.

He said last month, an Isis supporter published a book on Scribd titled Hijrah to the Islamic State, a guide on how to make the journey, or hijrah, to the caliphate.

The author advised new recruits to “buy a two-way ticket to avoid further suspicion.”

Three hours of heavy rainfall caused the Cipero River to break its banks yesterday resulting in extensive flooding to residents of Rooplal Avenue, Golconda.

Among those hardest hit were Sonnyboy Rooplal whose downstairs apartment was covered in five feet of water. 

Rooplal lost over $45,000 worth of valuables including a fridge, stove, cupboards, beds and a wardrobe.

Rooplal, who was asleep with his wife, Dolly, on the upper floor of the house, said he was awakened around 4 am to thunder and lightning. 

“My wife was up looking out the window and the lightning was flashing as bright as daylight. About 6 am when morning came and we looked out the entire front yard was like a sea,” Rooplal added. 

He said the water was gushing and pushed through the doors leading to the downstairs apartment.

“Everything was destroyed,” Rooplal said, as he swept away slush and rolled up a muddy carpet. By midday when the waters subsided, Councillor for Corinth/Cedar Hill Shawn Premchand came to help. With the assistance of neighbours, the yard was cleaned.

Neighbour Margaret Khan said she was fortunate that the water did not destroy any of her possessions. 

“It washed away the bins but that’s it. During the last flood the water came up higher,” Khan said. She added that the Cipero River was in need of dredging.

Meanwhile, Premchand said the houses were built on the river bank and it has been several years that complaints had been lodged with the Works Ministry to clear the river. 

He said a contractor closeby had backfilled extensively causing the river to become narrow. Premchand said a tree fell down in the river and was not cleared. He promised to continue to make recommendations to have the river dredged by Central Government.

Valdeen Shears-Neptune

Coast Guard divers, police and Air Guard officers mounted a land, sea and air search in the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean yesterday, after four people, including a nine-year-old child and a teenager, drowned in two separate incidents at Mayaro and Manzanilla.

The bodies of pensioner Morris Sammy and his granddaughter Anna Ali were recovered, but up to press time there was no sign of Deoraj Harridass, 49, and his 13-year-old step-daughter Ranesha Basdeo.

The first drownings occurred at the Ortoire River, off the Manzanilla Road, around 7.30 am, when Basdeo went to wash her hands near the mouth of the river. Police said the child did not realise there was a 12-feet drop near the river bank and she slipped in. Basdeo, an estate constable with Allied Security Services, dived in to save her but was pulled in by the strong undercurrents. While the family hurriedly called for help, the man and his step-daughter were washed further out to sea.

They both were residents of Robert Street, Tableland. Basdeo attended the Tableland High School and was preparing to enter Form Two in September.

The family had gone on a camping trip for the weekend. Relatives milled around the area where the family had spent the night under a white tent and mattresses, but refused to speak with the media yesterday. 

One woman sat on the mattress holding her head, eyes red-rimmed. She politely told the T&T Guardian that the family had gone to the nearby Mayaro Police Station.

Several of Harridass’ friends and co-workers, dressed in their security uniforms, had gathered at the beach, upon hearing the news. One man, who wished not to be named, said the teen obviously had no knowledge of the drop in the ocean.

“Is about 12 to 15 feet right out there, you see where the water looking calm and it dark, right there she was. She must be just feel her legs give out and panicked. Knowing him, he would have tried to save her,” the man said.

Another co-worker said they shared their colleague’s grief because they had worked together for over 23 years.

Both men lamented the lack of lifeguards, as well as visible danger signs along the shore. The area, they said, is a popular fishing and family liming spot.

Nearby, however, other bathers sat undisturbed, under beach umbrellas, with children running along the shore. One family from Gasparillo sat on rocks mere metres away from where Harridas and Basdeo lost their lives. They were unaware of the drownings and were in fact taking pictures, near similarly dangerous waters. They immediately left upon hearing of the tragedy.

Further along the village, a fisherman noted that the bodies would have been pulled out by currents in the early morning high tides and would come back in with the evening tide. Search parties were sent out to retrieve the bodies along the south eastern shore.

Rough waters too much
Meanwhile, at the Mayaro Police Station, Coast Guard divers and personnel had gathered after news of a second double drowning several villages away, near a line of private beach houses. The trio, from the Claxton Bay area, had been pulled out by strong currents along the shore near Mayaro Beach houses at Coconut Grove Private Road, Mayaro.  

Robert Sammy looked on sadly as staff of the Boodoo Funeral Home removed the body of his father, a pensioner, who had drowned while trying to save his nine-year old granddaughter and her friend, Alisa Ramoutar, 10. By the time he had got to the site, his niece had already succumbed to her injuries.

Relatives said the ambulances came on the scene half an hour after a friend of the family, who had tried CPR on the child, decided to rush her to hospital. However, she died on the way.

A composed Sammy said his 74-year-old father was a good swimmer, but had probably suffered cramps and was unable to make it out the choppy waters. Ramoutar, a swimmer with Eagles Swimming Club, was able to swim ashore and alert other relatives. 

Her brothers, 16-year-old Jordan and Aaron, 14, along with their friend, Jonathan Casey, 13, had all attempted to save Sammy and Ali. The young men, upon seeing their distraught sister running into the house, did not hesitate to dive into the waters in their attempt to save Sammy and Ali. The three siblings are competitive swimmers.

“We really tried. But Alisa said she tried to hold on to Anna and she just slipped away. He (Sammy), she said, tried to hold onto two of them, and then he disappeared. She pushed and swam back in and came running, crying into the house,” explained the eldest of the three rescuers.

They were able to pull Anna’s body back to shore, but she was unconscious by then, said the younger sibling. Sammy, in the meantime, said he was grateful to Ramoutar for even trying to save the lives of her childhood friend and his father.

Mayaro police are investigating.

Valdeen Shears-Neptune

Two people lost their lives in a mid-evening vehicular accident yesterday, after the car they were travelling in skidded off the road and landed on its hood in a river in the Santa Flora fields.

Police reports are that Frank Moses and his twin brother Fankie, along with passenger Shaneice Bailey, were travelling along the Santa Flora Road to Point Fortin when the accident occurred.

According to police at the Point Fortin station, after the vehicle overturned in the river, Frankie, 52, was able to get out, but his brother and Bailey, 32, died at the scene.

Frankie, police said, worked at the Point Fortin Borough Corporation, while Bailey was an employee at a restaurant in Point Fortin. Officers said they could not tell if the two had drowned or succumbed to injuries from the crash.

In another unrelated vehicular accident, a dump truck blew its front left tyre and ran off the along the Solomon Hochoy Highway, just before the Chase Village Flyover in Chaguanas.

Police said just after 10.30 the driver lost control of the truck when the tyre blew out and ran off the highway. The vehicle, loaded with goods, cleared away several trees and stopped in a nearby ditch.

According to police at both the Freeport and Chaguanas Police Stations, no injuries were reported in that accident.

Two grandmothers cried out for justice yesterday, after losing their grandsons to gun violence in two separate incidents on Saturday.

In the second case, grandmother Shirley Addly was mourning the death of Jerome Julien, 21, who was killed while liming in a track off Blackford Lane, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz, on Saturday night. Julien, who lived at Upper Sam Boucaud, Santa Cruz, died while being taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.

Yesterday, Addly said her grandson had earlier in the day borrowed a stove top from her to cook dumplings and callaloo, which he shared with friends and two men he had stopped speaking to. He was on his way to his girlfriend’s house to drop off some of the meal when he was killed. 

Police said around 11 pm, three masked men approached a group of men Julien was with and opened fire. Julien and four unidentified men were hit. All were taken to hospital but only Julien died.

Speaking at her home yesterday, Addly described her grandson as a handsome man who did nothing to deserve his death. She noted, however, that he seemed to have associated with people “marked for death”.  She added that her grandson was given the nickname “Kemo” because he was handsome like a soap opera star and his signature smile could uplift a gloomy room.

Julien’s mother, Aleen Sween, said her son, who worked at Linda’s Bakery, was a jolly man. She said she last saw him last week when he went to visit her. She recalled her son telling her that the men he associated with were being “hunted,” but added that they were “cool fellas” and that she should not worry. 

In the first case, Vella Roberts, 59, yesterday recalled how grandson Jerrel Roberts, whom she raised as her own from a young age, was shot in the head around 1.30 am Saturday. The 14-year-old pupil, who was about to enter form three, died around 3.45 pm at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. 

Speaking to the media at her Pioneer Drive, Sea Lots home, Roberts called on the shooter and other killers to put down their guns. She said her grandchild was now one of three relatives killed by the gun in the area they called home and it was hurting her, especially having lived in the community for over 50 years.

“When will this stop? These youths not getting to live, it is time to stop the senseless killing. I lost three by gun shots. Jah see and know all, if it is revenge then the killing would not stop,” Roberts said.

“Right now I want God to come in my heart because I feeling different about this. To the shooter, you have children, how would you feel if somebody do this to them?” 

According to police reports, a street fete was being held in Sea Lots when around 1.30 am a gunman opened fire indiscriminately, hitting Roberts in the head. He was taken to hospital where he died while being treated.

Roberts said her grandson was not involved in any criminal activity. Outside of football he loved going to his aunt for lunch and playing cards, she said. She questioned why someone would want to kill her grandchild, adding that the shooter had no reason to be armed at a party in his own community.

On January 6, 2008, Roberts also lost her first grandchild to gunmen. Neil Roberts succumbed to injuries he sustained after being shot in the leg five days earlier when a friend, Dameon “Chucky” Charles, was killed while liming at Pioneer Drive. Two months later on March 14, her son, Damien Roberts, was killed while standing in a shop in the area. 

Both grandmothers will be at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, today for the autopsies. The murder toll now stands at 274 for the year.

Valdeen Shears-Neptune

A pensioner, his 29-year-old son and another male relative are in police custody, after officers from the Princes Town CID and the Anti Criminal Gang and International Unit raided their Piparo homes and found a stash of arms and ammunitions over the weekend.

Acting on intelligence information that a container had recently been cleared with possible contraband goods, the officers, armed with two search warrants, raided the homes on Saturday. The contingent, led by Sgt Ramlogan, seized 7.241 ammunition and five guns collectively.

At the home of the 65 year-old man, a joiner by trade, and his son, the police seized four guns and a catchment of assorted ammunition. The officers then raided the home of their 40-year-old relative, where they seized one firearm and 21 rounds of .22 ammunition.

All three men remain in police custody and police are now investigating. In an unrelated incident, a 30-year-old self-employed La Romain woman was left traumatised on Friday evening, after she was robbed and assaulted while on her way home.

According to police reports, the woman boarded a vehicle on High Street, San Fernando, but a short distance away, near the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, a passenger in the back seat announced a hold-up.

The woman was then robbed of her watch valued at $1,200, a pair of gold earrings worth $700, $1,300 in cash and children’s clothing valued at $600. But the driver also assisted the backseat passenger in the robbery.

The women’s attackers then took her to King’s Wharf, San Fernando, where they allegedly tore off her clothing and threw her out the vehicle. WPC De Boug is investigating.

Four employees of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) will appear before a Port of Spain magistrate today, charged with conspiring to defraud the CTTRC of $149,500.

The four, along with a company, were charged on Saturday after officers of the Fraud Squad consulted with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on the issue. 

Insp Dipchan, of the Fraud Squad, charged the four—CTTRC CEO Carol Dyal; Barry Samaroo, a Chief Engineer; Maniram Mohess, a county superintendent and Ian Gokool, a Road Officer 1—along with Suk-I Contractors Limited. The offence is alleged to have occurred on September 30 last year.

On Friday, police went to the CTTRC’s office, along Railway Road, Couva, and held the employees, who were being investigated for corruption. The four and the company were after an investigation into the installation of outdoor exercise equipment at the San Pablo Recreation Ground and the Todd’s Road Activity Centre.

The contract was awarded during the 2014/15 fiscal year, but cheques and other documents related to this were seized by Fraud Squad officers at the CTTRC last November. On November 25, Fraud Squad officers questioned senior employees in the accounting department, when they searched the compound and seized financial records, including cheques and files of contractors contracted by the corporation, as well as other documentary evidence associated with alleged corrupt payments to certain contractors.

Meanwhile, a contractor held in a separate sting in connection with paying a bribe to CTTRC councillor Alif Mohammed is yet to be charged, after he had to be taken to the hospital after complaining of feeling unwell over the weekend.

The 78-year-old contractor is accused of offering Mohammed a bribe to overlook shoddy work he had done on a box drain contract. 

Imam Nazim Mohammed, of the Masjid Umar Ibn Khattab Jamaat, Rio Claro, has denied suggestions that he recruited Shane Crawford to fight for extremist militant group Isis. In fact, Mohammed says he does not know, nor has he ever spoken to or prayed with Crawford at his Masjid.

Mohammed’s denial comes days in the wake of reports that Turkish authorities had thwarted an attempt to smuggle nine T&T nationals into Syria to join Isis and an article in the July edition of Isis online propaganda magazine Dabiq in which Crawford, under his Muslim name Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, was featured and made an appeal to T&T Muslims to kill christians.

In the article, Crawford said he was involved in crime before leaving T&T and was accused of being among those plotting to kill former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Identifying himself as an Isis sniper, Crawford claimed he and two T&T colleagues, Abu Abdillah and Abu ’Isa, were the first three Muslims to join Isis. He admitted to being inspired to jihad by the teaching of Ashmead Choate, the Princes Town-based Muslim scholar who was the purported ring leader of the 2011 assassination plot.

After the report surfaced there were also reports allegedly linking Mohammed to the Isis recruitment process here in T&T and of involvement with Crawford. But Mohammed has insisted that he had no friendship, association or interaction with Crawford.

“Maybe I saw him (in the mosque) and thing, but I personally don’t know him. I never spoke to him. All I know him is by seeing his photos in the newspapers. Maybe he attended my mosque, I can’t remember every face. Maybe he passed through the mosque, I don’t know. People (non members) would come from all over to attend Juma’ah,” Mohammed said, defending his position and name.

Mohammed said after giving the Khutbah (a sermon preached by an Imam) for Juma’ah he would go home. Asked if he had helped Crawford get to Syria, Mohammed said he was being blamed innocently.

“If I have to be implicated it must be on truth. If they have to imprison me for the truth, then so be it. When people want to look for a scapegoat they would come after you. But they must not do that. People must be just and truthful. If people do things, why should we be paying for that?”

Mohammed said it seemed the Government wanted to prove to the world that they were dealing with Isis.

“If you are dealing with the situation to penalise innocent people, well, let them go ahead. That is not justice. They must not do things to please the super powers and the world.”

Mohammed said his members were not into robbery, gangs, drugs, crime and certainly not Isis.

“Allah is my protector. When they can’t catch you on truth they would try to set you up. I have to be careful. I cannot convince them (police) that I don’t know him. I could only tell the truth. So if this is their system to prosecute people on assumption, well I don’t know.”

In 2009, Mohammed came under the radar when he was interviewed by FBI agents prior to the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain. The agents wanted to know if Mohammed was a threat to US President Barack Obama during his visit to Trinidad.

Thereafter, his 28-year-old mosque became a target.

For the past two years, Mohammed said he has been branded an Isis recruiter, which has led police intelligence to monitor his telephone calls and movements.

“They have intelligence checking me out...monitoring my life day and night. Sometimes the intelligence would give them wrong information, sometimes they have intelligence (police) dressed as Muslims coming to the mosque for Juma, so I have to be careful. So I don’t know who coming and going. Sometimes the intelligence lying for them too.”

Mohammed could not say who was the local recruiter for Isis. “But it certainly is not me.”

Last year, five members of Mohammed’s family, his daughter, son-in-law and three teenage grandchildren, travelled to war torn Syria, where Isis operates. 

But Mohammed, 74, claimed he had no inkling that his daughter had planned to go there with her immediate family. Mohammed said he has had no communication with his daughter since they settled in Syria, noting she had no intention of returning to Trinidad.

An Imam for several years, Mohammed said the programme his mosque offers was reformation, living good with one another and serving Allah.

“Our programme is not to kill people. If people want to know how we operate they can come and check. The people in the community know how we operate.”

ISIS FACTS
The declaration of the formation of a "caliphate" (state governed by Islamic law) by Isis in June 2014 triggered a surge in the number of foreign fighters travelling to Syria and Iraq to join the group. A report published in December 2015 by the New York-based security consultancy Soufan Group estimated that 27,000 foreign jihadists made the trip from 86 countries, more than half of them from the Middle East and North Africa.

Calls for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the Government to “come clean” with the nation on his health condition have mounted, following Rowley’s recent hint that there appear o be some “changes” in his health issues which both his local and foreign doctors feel should be “investigated further.”

Politicians and analysts say his health cannot be his personal business when he’s a public figure and the country’s leader. Three weeks ago, Rowley announced he would do a medical check during a two-week vacation he was taking. 

Soon after, Office of the Prime Minister spokesman Stuart Young had said at this stage there was no cause for concern about Rowley’s medical condition, but asked people to “pray” for Rowley.

The PM left last Thursday for the US, accompanied by his wife Sharon. He is due to check into a Los Angeles clinic today following statements he made about having to check up changes in his health over the weekend.

Rowley was quoted as saying for the past 35 years he’d “managed his health issues with diligent, disciplined guidance from chosen doctors locally and in California.” He said he’d been reviewed over the years, but due to the intensity of work, hadn’t kept appointments in last 36 months until recently. Rowley after he did an examination locally and the results were transmitted to his doctors abroad, “there appeared to be some changes which both sets of doctors conclude should be investigated further.” 

He said the various processes and procedures will take about a week but added that his health matters were his personal business.

Rowley’s statements set off vast speculation in the ruling People’s National Movement and T&T quarters.

Yesterday, Congress of the People leader Dr Anirudh Mahabir, at a media briefing following his first council meeting,  said he’d noted Rowley’s statement that he’d been referred by local doctors to overseas practitioners.

Mahabir said, “It seems if he’s going to be hospitalised for a week overseas then it must be something extremely serious. Therefore, the health of the Prime Minister cannot be seen as his personal business; it’s the country’s business. 

“He should therefore come clean and let us all know what is happening and reassure the country about his health  and that he’ll be here long term; and also so that T&T can plan ahead.” 

Mahabir, a leading local opthalmologist, queried what would happen to the country’s government if the PM’s situation turned out to be serious. He expressed concern that a continuing speculative situation could lead to infighting in the PNM for leadership and “confusion” and noted possible impact which uncertainty would have on planning T&T’s future.

Also commenting on the situation, former public service head Reginald Dumas said, “I appreciate someone may not want to discuss his private matters in public. But it was the Prime Minister who raised the matter and opened the door to speculation when he said at a (PNM) function he was going on vacation, would have a check-up and asked people to pray for him. 

“I found that to be a rather strange statement to make. You don’t pray for someone who has a cold. So naturally there’s speculation. Since he’s opened the door to speculation by that statement, he has to say something to T&T.  

“He is, after, all the Prime Minister. He cannot say all of this is private. The public also has a right to know and especially since any treatment he may get is at taxpayers’ expense.”

Dumas added, “I’d hope after the diagnosis, perhaps, he says something, either he’s well or if it’s more serious than thought and if so, what’s needed, in the interest of transparency. Since he opened the door to speculation, he now has to give the information.”
Analyst: Duty to divulge  

Prime ministers Basdeo Panday, Patrick Manning and Kamla Persad-Bissessar had all disclosed health issues while in office, political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath agreed yesterday.

“I’m sure people wish Dr Rowley the best for his health, but the country should know the state of health of its prime minister, especially when the Prime Minister is in office and one would expect he’d be there for another four years.

“Once in public office, you’re in public life. When you took on the job it wasn’t as a private individual, but as a public individual. One can have as many health issues as one wants over 35 years but as Prime Minister, he’s no longer a private individual.”

Opposition MP Dr Suruj Rambachan added, “We’d like to wish the Prime Minister all the best. Anyone can fall ill. We don’t know the exact nature of his illness, but the fact he has to spend a week in hospital is an indication he’s taken this health matter very seriously.”

“Considering his statements, it is now important in the interest of stability and governance that the country and citizens are apprised of the state of the PM’s health in the shortest possible time, especially since situations like these can create uncertainty. Not only in a country like ours, but whenever leaders are ill, there are issues that affect the citizens. One has to remember he is the country’s leader.” 

Hazel sends best wishes
In the face of Rowley’s statements, government members have remained silent, while the ruling PNM has also not issued any statement of best wishes to the PM.

Acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert, contacted on Rowley’s statements, yesterday refused to say anything. He declined to say if he’d spoken to Rowley or addressed the many rumours increasing around Rowley’s health.

“You know I will not comment, no matter what,” Imbert said in an e-mailed response to the T&T Guardian.

Party members mum
PNM deputy leader Marlene McDonald, who worked closely with Rowley in Opposition, also declined comment. Communication Minister Maxie Cuffie said he only knew Rowley went on holiday and was having a check-up and didn’t expect updates. 

But the T&T Guardian confirmed that Hazel Manning, wife of late former prime minister Patrick Manning, sent Rowley a text message of best wishes on behalf of herself and sons Brian and David last Saturday.

Close associates of Rowley said yesterday, “It may not be as dire as it seems, but he seems to feel this check is necessary, since he’s 66 and turns 67 in October.”

They noted the three preceding PNM prime ministers and political leaders—the late Dr Eric Williams, George Chambers and Manning—all died at age 69. PNM officials said Rowley was due back by August 15,  in time for the start of screening of PNM Local Government nominees on August 17.

In the last seven months, Finance Minister Colm Imbert has had gallbladder removal surgery, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh contracted dengue, Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, appendicitis surgery and Local Government Minister Franklin Khan received a heart stent installation.

A 25-year-old Chaguanas woman was gang-raped and robbed by four men who broke into her home on Saturday morning. According to police reports, the woman was asleep at her Edinburgh Village home around 3.45 am when the men, all armed with knives, broke in, tied her up, robbed her, raped her, then left in her Hyundai Accent. 

Police said before stealing the woman’s $145,000 car, the four bandits stole a 32-inch TV, a Samsung tablet, a Samsung S6, $1,200 in cash and other valuables. In an unrelated incident, officers of the Northern Division also arrested a Talparo man after they found a shotgun while searching his home. 

Police said around 5pm on Saturday, the officers, led by Sgt Pitt, went to Todd’s Road where the found and seized the 12-gauge shotgun. The man is expected to be placed on identification parades later this week. 

In another incident, officers of the Couva Police Station yesterday shot and killed a pitbull that had earlier mauled another dog and was roaming the streets. 

Police said they received a report that the dog was seen roaming Annabelle Street around 9.55 am. 

When the officers arrived they saw the dog lying on the ground and when they approached it attacked them, forcing the officers to kill the animal.

Today’s marks six months since the murder of Japanese pannist and masquerader Asami Nagakiya and police probing the case have interviewed over 20 people from T&T and Japan and are also awaiting the final pathologist’s report, the T&T Guardian has confirmed.

The Japanese Embassy recently expressed hope to the T&T Guardian that the case would be solved soon by police. Embassy officials are expected to meet with police again tomorrow for a monthly update, which has been taking place since the murder.

Nagakiya, 31, was murdered sometime between Carnival Tuesday (February 9) and early Ash Wednesday. Initial reports stated that she was last seen alive on Carnival Tuesday around 6.15 pm walking with a male companion near Picton Court, Newtown. Her body, still clad in a yellow costume from the Legends band with which she had played mas earlier, was found by a CEPEP worker in the roots of a large tree in the Queen’s Park Savannah (west). An autopsy found she had been strangled.

An accomplished pannist, Nagakiya, from Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, had been coming to T&T over the last seven years to play pan. She had played with several Woodbrook bands including Phase II and Modernaires. Her body was flown home via CAL on February 20 and she was subsequently cremated.

The T&T Guardian spoke recently to Masatoshi Sato, Embassy deputy head of mission, who said: “We understand the probe is underway and we hope the case will be solved as soon as possible.” Sato said, “We have to rely on the efforts of the authorities and we hope police will make the utmost efforts in finding who is responsible.”

Also contacted on the matter, Port-of-Spain Division Snr Supt McDonald Jacobs said police still needed to interview “several more persons from both T&T and Japan” in the case.

“It’s by no means a dead (cold) case,” Jacobs said.

Homicide officials said while people from both T&T and Japan had been interviewed, there were still several more people from both places to speak with due to inconsistencies in some submissions. 

The final pathologist’s report being awaited, they said, — noting backlogs at the Forensic Science Centre—would greatly assist in furthering progress, since it would indicate results of DNA and other testing and pinpoint signs of specifics regarding any struggle.

One of Nagakiya’s Silver Stars colleagues, drill master Marcus Ash, who was among those who put flowers at the QPS site two weeks ago, also called on the authorities to ensure the case does not go cold.

“We miss Asami every day. Just this morning I was in touch with one of our friends in Japan and she sent me a picture of her and Asami with the words ‘I miss you, Asami.’ It’s a void in all our lives,” Ash said

“We urge the police not to give up. It’s unfortunate there’s been no closure yet. Preparations for Carnival 2017 are well underway and this issue from Carnival 2016 isn’t yet solved. I assisted a St Lucia band recently and some of them are keen to come to T&T, but they’re aware of the incident with Asami and are a bit concerned. We must make it safe for our visitors.”

Ash and other colleagues will put flowers and candles at the QPS site today. 

Jason Nathu

As athletes from around the world take centre stage in Rio de Janeiro over the next two weeks, everyone is caught-up in the excitement of supporting Team TTO. But while fans are encouraged to express their support for the national team, the same rules do not apply to brands or business owners.

The Olympic brand is an attractive proposition for sponsors, due to the global visibility and goodwill associated with the games. As such, multinational corporations dish-out millions of dollars for the privilege of becoming affiliated with the Olympics. Much of this money goes towards funding the organisation of the games, and it is for this reason that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken very strict measures to protect its brand across the world.

Ambush marketing
Olympic mania presents an irresistible opportunity for companies who either cannot afford to be official sponsors, or choose not to be, to jump on the bandwagon. But the Rio 2016 Brand Protection Guidelines specifically prohibits “any intentional or unintentional attempt to create a false, unauthorised commercial association with an Olympic brand or event.”

The guidelines state it is forbidden “to use the Rio 2016 brands in association with any kind of propaganda, whether partisan, religious, political and, especially, advertising with the purpose of promoting the sale of products and services.”

In this regard, words such as “medal,” “gold,” “silver” or “bronze” may be off limits to local advertisers, if used in combination with any words or elements to suggest an unauthorised commercial association with the Rio Games. This also applies to posts on social media networks by local businesses.

These guidelines were designed to prevent “ambush marketing” a term used where an unofficial advertiser misleadingly creates an association with the games, in the minds of the public.

Intellectual property rights
The IOC has obtained international protection of its intellectual property assets through treaty law. This is further codified in Rule 12A of the Trade Mark Rules, annexed to the Trade Marks Act Chap. 82:81. 

The intellectual property of the games comprises logos, symbols (such as the rings and torch), images, videos, mascots and songs. The IOC has registered and obtained protection for multiple trademarks in T&T, and may thus be able to bring action against any person or entity who uses the marks in an unauthorised manner.

Athletes’ images
 Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter restricts the participation of athletes who are competing in the Games in advertising campaigns, during the competition period, as well as 15 days before and after competition. The rule states: Except as permitted by the IOC executive board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.

This column is not legal advice. If you have a legal problem, you should consult an attorney.

Seatbelts are meant to save lives but this was not the case for Frank Moses and his friend Jeneice Bailey, who died when the car they were in skidded off the road and plunged into a swollen river at Santa Flora, where it is believed the safety devices kept them pinned down as they drowned.

Moses’s twin brother Frankie, who was driving the car, escaped shortly before the car sank hood down into the river off the Santa Flora Main Road. The accident occurred around 4 pm on Sunday.

Frankie was too traumatised to speak yesterday, but other relatives said he told them he tried to save his brother and friend but the seatbelts were jammed tight and prevented him from getting out of the sinking car.

Frank Moses, 54, of Alexander Road, Point Ligore, worked as a foreman at the Point Fortin Borough Corporation. Bailey, 35, had two children, Kareem, 11, and Afeisha, 10, and worked at a bar close to her home. 

In an interview yesterday, Moses’s common-law wife, Joanne Assong, said he went to the market with her on Sunday morning and promised to return home early to help her clean the yard. However, she said, while at the market Moses met friend Steve Romeo, who asked him for a lift home. 

“My husband was a good, kind-hearted man. He agreed to drop home Steve, so he dropped me home first and said he was coming back to eat lunch,” Joanne recalled. 

She said she did not know what happened after that, but some time later she got a call that his car had sunk in the river.

Describing Frank as a loving husband, Assong said it was unfortunate that the seatbelt which was meant to save him ended up killing him. 

“It real hard thinking about life without him,” Assong said. 

Meanwhile, Bailey’s mother, Jill, was inconsolable and declined comment on her daughter’s death. However, Bailey’s sister, Ebonie, said the mother of two had plans to do nursing.

“She did not enroll as yet but that was what she wanted,” Ebonie said. 

She described Bailey as outspoken and fun loving. 

A neighbour, who requested anonymity, said Bailey had been out liming for much of the day. 

The bodies of the deceased were taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for autopsies. Investigations are continuing.

Rare occurrence—Batson

Former president of the group Arrive Alive and one of the coordinators at the Road Safety Council, PC Brent Batson, said yesterday that the deaths of Jeneice Bailey and Frank Moses should not deter people from wearing seatbelts.

Saying seatbelts have been proven to save lives, Batson said what happened to the two friends was a rare occurrence. He said the focus should be what caused them to run off the road and end up in the river, noting there is no real evidence to suggest that the seatbelts were jammed. 

“We do not know if the belt was jammed or if the occupants panicked. We don’t know whether the angle of the occupants was such that the survivor could not access the latch to release the seatbelts,” Batson told the T&T Guardian in a telephone interview.

“We are uncertain about how much water they could have been submerged in before they died. We cannot say the seatbelts caused the deaths because we do not know the facts.” 

He admitted, however, that seatbelts are built to lock with inertia, which is every object’s resistance to changing its speed and direction of travel. 

Batson also said there was nothing preventing people from buying seatbelt cutters in the event of an emergency. However, he pointed out that even if there is a crisis, it may be difficult for someone trapped in a car to access the glove compartment where the seatbelt cutter would be stored. He called on citizens to remember the importance of wearing seatbelts in the event of an accident, adding that one stands a better chance of survival with them on.