Fishermen from southwestern Trinidad are challenging claims by environmental activist group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) that fish from the Gulf of Paria have been poisoned by oil spilt over the past three years. 

In a statement issued yesterday, Cedros Fisher Folk United questioned the validity of a test labelled Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) conducted by FFOS on fish samples collected last month, when a large quantity of dead fish washed ashore along the coast in La Brea.

During a press conference on Thursday, the FFOS presented the results of the its tests from the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (Cariri) which showed that samples collected on July 25 had contained between 334.99 and 2680.73 microgrammes of TPH per kilogramme of fish tested. The European Union’s recommended limit of TPH in fish is 0.002 microgrammes of TPH per kilogramme, which means that the concentration of the toxins in the fish was more than a million times above the allowable limit. 

The group questioned the FFOS’ ability to single out its results of fish caught La Brea from those caught in other points along the southwestern peninsula. 

“If the samples were taken from a specific location, subjected to certain circumstances, how can one universalise the problems of a specific area to all areas?” the release asked. The group also challenged the FFOS’ claims that the high levels of TPH were responsible for increases in people suffering from cancer in communities in that region. 

“How can one jump from possible fish contamination to a cancer spike in the south? Are cancer victims consumers of fish? What about other factors such as health styles, fast foods consumption; stress related factors; air pollution, et cetera – air toxicity must be extremely high in an area with at least three neighbouring industrial estates spewing its polluted waste – into the sea and throughout the air; and an area with poor health facilities,” the release said. 

They contended that the publicity of the issue would seriously affect their livelihoods as consumers would refuse to buy their fish. 

Extreme levels of poison

In a telephone interview yesterday, FFOS secretary Gary Aboud rejected the criticism being leveled at his organisation. 

“If the fish were three and four times the European benchmark we might have a less alarming approach but it is 1.4 million times. That is staggering. We wish we were wrong. We are just the messenger not the culprits,” Aboud said. 

“We are not in any argument with the fisherfolk. 

“We have 20 years of service and the last thing we would ever want to do is taint or destroy the livelihoods of the people we have fought long to defend,” he said. 

Aboud said it was almost impossible to say that fish caught in non-contaminated water did not pass and feed in contaminated zones due to fish migration patterns. 

“This is serious situation. How do we know that the Salmon coming through the Gulf of Paria is not swimming unto the south or north coasts. The fish are swimming in patterns unknown to us. If a fish is swimming through the contaminants and it swims down to a different area and they catch it, there is an equally injurious situation,” Aboud said. 

While the group from Cedros and the FFOS disagreed with the testing, both were in agreement that State-owned oil company Petrotrin — which was responsible for the oil leak in La Brea almost three years ago and more recent incidents of a smaller scale — should be held accountable. 

Environmental Management Agency (EMA) chairman Nadra Nathai-Gyan said that her organisation’s TPH tests on fish collected around the same time as the FFOS, were yet to be completed by Cariri. 

Nathai-Gyan said the results would be made available on Monday. Last month, the EMA dismissed allegations from the FFOS which claimed that the fish washing ashore was caused by the chemical Corexit- a dispersant used to contain and clean up oil spills in 2013. 

The EMA had said that its tests showed that the fish did not have parasites and had no traces of Corexit. It ruled that its preliminary investigations showed that the fish was dumped by trawlers operating in the Gulf of Paria.

Clearing bulk waste regularly, cleaning water courses annually and educating the public weekly about the dangers of mosquitoes are the main reasons why the Nariva/Mayaro is the only regional district with no cases of Zika virus. 

So said chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation Shaffik Mohammed. 

In an interview yesterday Mohammed called on officials from other municipal and regional corporations to stamp out the dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses through collaborative efforts following a public statement from Chief Medical Officer Dr Clive Tilluckdharry that Zika cases may be in the region of the thousands.

Saying the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation was tackling mosquito prone areas long before the central government approved a $500,000 grant to combat Zika, Mohammed said constant vigilance was needed.

Mohammed said because of this it was important to have adequate manpower and machinery to win the fight against the mosquitoes.

“You have to become proactive and educate people because prevention is better than cure,” Mohammed said. He said that the corporation as well as the County Medical Officer of Health and the Insect Vector Control department have been working continuously to weed out possible breeding grounds of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which transmits the Zika virus.

“We meet the third Thursday of each month and we discuss strategies. We have been clearing bulk waste every quarter throughout the constituency and we have evaluators who go out and educate the citizenry about keeping your surroundings clean,” Mohammed added.

“Based on research the Insector Vector department then locks down mosquito prone areas and does extensive dyna-fogging,” he said.

Mohammed, who has been chairman of heath for five years also said some water courses in Ortoire, Grand Lagoon, Latchmania Trace, Navet and Cushe are cleared manually. 

“We use backhoes to clear rivers so that each water course is not stagnating,” Mohammed said. He said emergency meetings are held regularly to discuss developments. T&T has been on high alert for Zika with 247 confirmed cases of which 78 are pregnant women. The virus is known to have caused microcephaly and other severe foetal brain defects in babies.

A 70-year-old former United States resident diagnosed with stage four cancer was granted $1 million bail yesterday after appearing on two charges of illegally importing 6,540 rounds of ammunition and a rifle into the country.

However, Morris Mewalal who last Saturday returned to Trinidad to live “out his final days” was unable to secure the bail and was remanded to the State prison. 

His attorney Subhas Panday has since written to the Prison Commissioner Sterling Stewart asking that his client be given special attention since he suffered from high blood pressure and in July 2015 he underwent surgery. In March 2016 he underwent another procedure in the United States. As a result, Panday said, Mewalal was in need of special care.

Earlier Mewalal was not called upon to plea to the charges when he appeared before Princes Town First Court Magistrate Indira Misir-Gosine.

Mewalal was charged by PC Solomon in connection with the discovery by police of the rifle and ammunition at his Lower Piparo Road, Williamsville home last weekend. The charges alleged that between July 18 and August 8 at Lower Piparo Road, Williamsville he imported into T&T without an import licence 6,490 rounds of .22 ammunition and 50 rounds of .25 ammunition; as well as the rifle. The charges were laid by PC Solomon. Mewalal’s two relatives were also arrested by the police, but they were subsequently released.

The exhibits - six sweet biscuit pans and a small cardboard box containing ammunition and a long cardboard box containing the rifle were presented in court.

In asking for bail, Panday, who together with attorney Petronella Basdeo represented Mewalal, said he lived in Pennsylvania for 22 years and underwent a surgery at the Temple University Hospital to remove a portion of his colon.

Mewalal was fitted with a colostomy bag which was subsequently removed, Panday said. 

He said Mewalal also underwent chemotherapy, but was advised to return for further treatment in November.

However, Panday said Mewalal decided to return to his homeland to live out his final days having regard to the advanced stage of the cancer. After his two relatives were arrested, Panday said Mewalal went to the Princes Town Police Station and gave up himself. He submitted that his client was not a flight risk since he surrendered his travel documents, including his passport, US green card and identification card.

Given his medical condition, he said his client’s mobility was also limited and he was a first time offender.

Panday was only able to produce to the court copies of a few medical documents since most of Mewalal’s medical reports were destroyed in a fire at his Pennsylvania apartment last week.

Citing a recent court matter where a female helicopter pilot was granted $500,000 bail for allegedly trafficking $1 million worth of cocaine, Panday said his clients should also be grated bail since the maximum penalty for that offence and his client’s charges was 21 years.

Panday also commended the police, in particular Sgt Ramlogan, Sgt Sulliman and the Princes Town CID, for their level of professionalism in dealing with Mewalal while he was in their custody. 

Granting bail with clerk of the peace approval after prosecutor Sgt Raymond Dookoo did not object to bail, the magistrate also ordered that he surrender his travel documents.

Mewalal is expected to return to court on September 9.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Veteran field athlete Cleopatra Borel finished seventh out of 12 finalists with a best heave of 18.37 metres during the final of the Women’s Shot Put event at the XXXI Olympic Games on a cool Friday night at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

American Michelle Carter came from behind to stun the event leader and the field with a throw on 20.63 metres on her last effort that pushed the defending champion and event leader Valarie Adams of New Zealand in second place behind 20.42 metres. 

Borel, who reached the finals after she qualified in overcast conditions which comprised heavy winds and rain in the morning programme with a best effort of 18.20 metres, looked comfortable in the finals and produced efforts of 18.05, 18.24, then a foul, followed by 17.94, and 18.37 before another foul effort, but she managed to maintained her seventh place throughout the finals.

Borel, a veteran of four Olympics said after: “This is it. I’m good.”

Her relaxed demeanour was in contrast to her show of emotion earlier in the day when she learned that she had qualified.

Earlier qualification

Borel had earlier qualified for the medal round of 12. Her quest for goal and to qualify for her first Olympic finals started in a very difficult Group A , which included 18 participants among who was her regular training partner and Olympic champion Adams.

Borel, who spoke to the media after said: “I had a great career and I hope my efforts influenced young to pick up the sport.” She started off the preliminaries slowly with her first throw of 16.94 metres. Her second outing of 17.78 placed her in 11th position overall among the two groups of 36 in total. 

However, not leaving any doubt about her momentum the Mayaro-native improved to 18.20 with her third and final attempt, to finish fourth in Group A and overall eight to finish in the top 12 and qualify for the final, which was scheduled to take place last night at 9.05 pm (TT time).

An elated Borel asked the trackside interviewer “Did I make it, did I make to the finals?”

“Oh that is good, I knew I was in fourth but was not certain of overall position, I felt very comfortable today. Maybe too comfortable and this all came from my warms up which were quite good.

“Now I have to just get myself in the right motion and my mind ready for later (Friday). I have been waiting for this for four years so this is just a wonderful feeling.”

Questioned on what was needed to win a medal, she had said: “I believe I have a big throw in me and I am hoping that tonight that can happen. I just feel happy and so far so good. Now I will relax a little and plan for tonight (Friday).”

Borel has a season’s best of 18.78 and a personal best of 19.48. She will need close to her personal best to medal, given that Adams who was qualified in first place, threw 19.74.

“ I believe in myself and believe in those who have supported me in the past and feel ready to give it my best shot,” said Borel.

Scores of mourners made their way to the National Joint Action Committee's headquarters in Portof- Spain yesterday to view the body of the Chief Servant Makandal Daaga.

With the haunting rhythms of the African drums and the scent of burning incense, mourners were taken to an upper room for the viewing, which was open for about five hours.

Many of them paid their respects to a man, who most described as a "warrior for the people of T&T."

Yesterday’s proceedings were supervised by political leader, Kwasi Mutema.

Late yesterday at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Grand Stand preparations were being undertaken for Daaga's funeral service, which is expected to begin promptly at 9 this morning.

There will also be a heightened police presence at the venue.

Daaga would have celebrated his 81st birthday today.

The Emancipation Support Committee, in a statement yesterday, expressed its deepest condolences to Daaga’s wife, Liseli and his four children. Also, to the extended family of NJAC.

The Committee remembers Daaga for leading the movement which has been credited with “Having had the greatest impact on reshaping the economy and the society of T&T in the 20th Century.”

“Daaga will be an inspiration to the future generations of young people who don’t sleep to dream but dream to change the world,” the Committee said.

Daaga now joins other outstanding stalwarts of the 1970 Black Power Movement in the Caribbean who made the transition before him, such as Maurice Bishop of Grenada, Tim Hector of Antigua, Dr Walter Rodney of Guyana and from T&T Kwame Ture (who made his mark in the USA), George Weekes, Winston Leonard, Lidj Yasu Omowale and Lasana Kwesi).

The National Trade Union of T&T (Natuc) also paid homage to Daaga for paving the way for the people of descent to hold positions in banks, financial and insurance institutions. “Natuc believes the region has been robbed of one the most esteemed progressive voices. While Mr Daaga’s death marks the end of an era, the union says it was one of great pride, achievement and controversy. It says T&T should never forget that Mr Daaga spent his life pursuing justice and dignity for the working class and Africans, in particular,” the release stated.

Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal in a letter to Mutema said: "”Trinidad and Tobago—and, indeed, the developing world—has lost a leader who matched courage with campaign, idealism with insistence, motivation with mobilisation."

CEO of the Energy Chamber of T&T Thackwray “Dax” Driver sees the Caribbean Gas Chemical Ltd (CGCL) deal as a major capital investment in T&T.

Driver was giving his views about the new CGCL agreement signed on Monday between the Government and four investors- the Stateowned National Gas Company, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Mitsubishi Corporation, of Japan and local conglomerate Massy Holdings to construct a petrochemical complex comprising methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) plants in La Brea with an investment of about US$1 billion.

On Thursday, Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young raised concerns about the initial agreement signed under the then People’s Partnership which he said had the potential to expose T&T to billion of dollars in claims.

Young also claimed that former attorney general Garvin Nicholas was pressured into signing off the project development agreement on election day, September 7, 2015.

In April 2013, then energy minister Kevin Ramnarine had signed the agreement with the investors. Yesterday, Driver said major capital investments such as these add further value to the economy and drive economic growth.

“The plant’s construction will create many short-term jobs in La Brea and surrounding communities and, once in operations, there will long-term secure jobs and opportunities for economic activity for other companies selling goods and service to the facility. It is very positive for Trinidad & Tobago to attract a major investment from a diversified Japanese conglomerate,” said Driver.

He said he hoped that this investment will be a positive experience for Mitsubishi and he hoped that the corporation would consider future investments, including outside of petrochemicals.

He said methanol was used as an input in many other chemicals and demand for it tends to correlate with overall global economic growth, especially if there was growth in sectors like home construction.

“There is also significant growth in the use of methanol as a cleanburning fuel. Current global initiatives to reduce pollution and increase efficiency of transport fuels means that demand for methanol in the fuel sector is likely to increase, especially in China.”

While there is a demand for methanol in all major industrial markets, Driver said, “China is an important and growing market.”

With Government, through NGC, being a 20 per cent shareholder in this deal, Driver said returns from a major investment such as this will come in the medium to long-term.

“Government revenue will come both from the dividend payments via the NGC and from corporation and other taxes on the plant. It will not provide direct revenue to the State in the short-term.”

Driver said the Energy Chamber has a deep and ongoing relationship with the shareholders in the project. “We have worked closely with the project developers to provide training and certification in basic HSE awareness to potential construction workers in the La Brea community,” he said.

Yesterday, Nicholas did not respond to several questions emailed to him, among them if he had picked up anything unusual in the agreement.

Nicholas also refused to say if he was caught in a ticklish situation in signing the agreement.

He said he had nothing to defend since he did not sign off on the document.

“I received the documents a few days before September 7, I cannot recall exactly when,” Nicholas said.

Asked if the People’s Partnership government had tried to use him as a scapegoat in this deal, Nicholas wrote “I couldn't comment on the scapegoating allegations as I have no information on this. I didn't hear what was said at post-Cabinet,” Nicholas wrote.

Responding to text messages yesterday Young said “I will be making a full and detailed statement in Parliament.” Ramnarine stated that he was “not yet ready to comment on Mitsubishi.”

Days before the last general election, then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar turned the sod for the complex.

Persad-Bissessar did not respond to a text message, while Gerry Brooks chairman of NGC Group of Companies was in a meeting

ABOUT THE COMPLEX

The project aims to produce 1 million tonnes of methanol and 100,000 tonnes of dimethyl ether (DME) per year with an investment of US$850 million or $5.4 billion.

The project will initially use 100 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas to produce the 1 million tonnes of methanol, of which 140,000 tonnes will be used to produce the 100,000 tons of DME.

Southern Division police are warning Pokemon trainers against venturing into parks and lonely areas late at nights, saying that they are making themselves a target for bandits.

A senior officer told the Guardian yesterday that San Fernando police have broken up several crowds of people searching for Pokemon since the Pokemon Go app became available in T&T last Wednesday. The officer said trainers have been coming out to Skinner Park’s secondary ground, the Southern Academy for Performing Arts and Palmiste Park around 11 pm and midnight, searching for Pokemon.

He said: “By doing this, you become a potential victim of crime. “People come out all hours of the night with their phones in their hands looking for these things. I agree that this is a free country, but they have to understand what is going on. Criminals are there and will be watching their expensive phones and waiting right there to rob them. Some people have phones that cost $5,000 and $6,000.

“It is the police who will have investigate these robberies and if they can’t provide proper information to us, we may not be able to solve it,” the officer said. Not only are they potential victims of crime, but players can also suffer road accidents.

He said he had witnessed people driving and being alerted that a Pokemon was available in the area and stopping suddenly without following proper driving regulations.

The Pokemon Go app allows users to create an avatar and using a map, locate Pokemon, creatures that exist virtually in the app. On the map, players can also find virtual

Pokestops which provide them with items, such as eggs, Pokeballs and potions. Pokestops are usually located at places of historical interest or houses of worship. There are also Pokemon gyms which serve as battle locations for virtual duels.

Accusing Trinidad Offshore Fabrication Company (Tofco) of firing locals and hiring foreigners, three shifts of unionised Tofco workers yesterday staged a protest, hampering construction of a major gas platform.

The workers who are clamouring against unfair work practices and unsafe conditions, were joined by residents of La Brea who have been picketing job sites over the past few months looking for work.

From around 5 am, the protesters blocked access to Tofco’s gates in La Brea as they called on Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus to intervene.

Tofco, an international provider of offshore fabrication and construction services, is building the topsides of bpTT Juniper platform at La Brea, near the sea side. It is one of the largest ever offshore platforms built in T&T and employs more than 500 workers on three shifts. The US$2.1 billion platform is first offshore platform ever designed and constructed with significant local input.

Representative of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union, Clyde Charles, who works as a welder said since hard times hit the country, Tofco has been employing non-unionised Mexicans to work on the platform.

“They are taking jobs that residents of La Brea are quite capable to do. Tofco does not want unionised workers so anybody who joins the union is sure to lose their job,” Charles said. He added that the OWTU had applied to the Recognition and Certification Board to legally represent Tofco workers and this was not supported by management.

“Tofco is aware of this and they are using all kinds of strategies to get rid of unionised workers. Whenever they lay off a unionised worker, they bring in a non-unionised worker. They have hired many Mexican labourers and welders,” Charles said. He also complained that some workers have been falling ill because of continued exposure to paint fumes, sandblasting dust and welding fumes.

“The last time the Occupational Safety and Health Authority did a thorough inspection of Tofco, they advised that all workers who are exposed to the fumes should be given a complete health test but this was never done,” Charles said.

He also said there was no forum to speak to management. 

Meanwhile a representative from La Brea said unemployment figures were over 80 per cent in La Brea. “People here are skilled and qualified to work but they are not offering us any work,” a resident said.

The workers and residents called on Baptiste-Primus to meet with them to discuss unfair work practices. 

General manager of Tofco, Javed Mohammed, denied yesterday that the platform construction was down saying more than 150 workers were still working on the project. He dismissed claims that workers were laid off but said the company was planning cutbacks in the future as there was now a surplus of labour. Mohammed declined to give a cost of the project or to confirm whether foreigners were being hired to complete the plant. 

“We are looking to do cutbacks. I am not going to go into further details but it is not true that we have laid off people. The site remains open for work and we are having dialogue,” Mohammed said.

Several attempts were made to contact Baptiste-Primus on her cellular phone but she did not answer.

BPTT—Platform jacket being built in Texas

In July, bpTT said it had accepted a proposal from TOFCO to relocate fabrication of the Juniper platform’s jacket and piles from TOFCO’s yard in La Brea to a fabrication yard in Texas, United States. Only fabrication of the Juniper topsides have been continued at La Brea.

TOFCO was awarded the contract for the fabrication of the Juniper jacket, topsides and piles in September 2014. The proposal to relocate some of the fabrication work was presented by TOFCO in order to preserve the project schedule. Topsides, currently being fabricated at La Brea are expected to be completed by December. 

“Keeping the project on schedule and maintaining the commitment to first gas in 2017 is a key priority for bpTT and other stakeholders involved in the project,” the company said on its website.

“Gas from the Juniper facility is important to satisfy gas contract obligations in 2017 and beyond, and a delay in the project could have negative effects on gas consumers and government revenues,” bpTT stated. The Juniper facility will be a Normally Unmanned Installation (NUI) and will take gas from the Corallita and Lantana fields located 50 miles off the south east coast of Trinidad in water-depth of approximately 360 feet.

President of the T&T Contractors’ Association, Mikey Joseph, yesterday welcomed the $300 million injection from the Government that will be used to off-set the more than $2b debt to contractors.

Joseph said the money is still better than nothing, but stated that not many contractors would have their bills settled, given the financial circumstances the country was facing.

“It is my hope that in doing that (paying contractors) they would look at the smaller contractors who would not have the resources and wear-it-all to withstand the issues of banking interest and penalties and all of that would affect their businesses severely right now. I hope they deal with this as a matter of priority,” Joseph said.

At Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, at the Office of the Prime Minister, acting Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, admitted that he had signed off on $300 million to pay contractors whose invoices have been validated.

The news came two months after Joseph called on Government to settle a staggering $2 billion outstanding payment it had for contractors.

As to whether Government can pay that entire $2 billion in the next month, Imbert said he doubts it and he has no idea where that figure came from.

He also stated that he asked big spenders such as the Educational Facilities Company Ltd, Ministry of Works and Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to provide the Ministry of Finance with validated outstanding bills.

Yesterday, Joseph said approximately $800 million was owed to the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL), while HDC had an outstanding bill of $640 million.

Other State-agencies that owe contractors Joseph said were WASA, Regional Health Authorities and Ministry of Works.

“Let us assume that of the $300 million that has been signed off, $100 million went to EFCL and $100 million went to HDC. I know for a fact that the Minister of Finance has over $180 million in approved certified bills coming from the Ministry of Works under the Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency (PURE) programme on his desk. It tells you that not much money would be paid.”

Joseph said PURE alone would absorb two-third’s of the $300 million if they were to be paid.

He said one problem faced by some contractors was that their debts had not been fully certified.

“The reason for it is because the State enterprise when they recognise their debts is ridiculously high they stop certifying. If they don’t certify your payments you have no chance of bringing it to court after four years.”

Joseph said they were willing to meet with Imbert to have a cordial discussion in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

“We are part of the country, nation and its development. The minister does not always have to look for cash to pay contractors. We can sit down and discuss other ways (to settle the debt). We can come to an amicable arrangement.”

Senior managers at State-owned Government Information Services Ltd (GISL) are leaving the media company.

The exodus comes amid uncertainty over the government’s intentions for the organisation, increasing cash flow issues and threats from suppliers to withhold services.

The Sunday Guardian understands five senior managers have resigned since early this year, in addition to a reduction in staff from 120 to approximately 70.

The company’s accounts manager, a senior accountant, an IT manager, an acting IT manager, internal audit manager and others have resigned due to uncertainty over the future of GISL.

In June, 16 employees left the company as their contracts were not renewed and officials said their jobs had become redundant.

A source at GISL said the company was being denied services by suppliers, and had huge amounts of debt, with one supplier issuing a pre-action protocol letter over nonpayment.

“The cash flow problems aren’t new. They actually began under the last government but things have become noticeably worse.

“The newsroom is virtually non-existent, the company is in a state of limbo as staff are unsure whether the company will still be around in a week or a month,” the source said.

Questioned about the situation at the state enterprise yesterday, Minister of Public Administration and Communication Maxie Cuffie said owing suppliers was normal in the course of business. 

“Whether there is a crisis, GISL is a State-owned company. It receives subventions as per obligations by the Government. This is a year where the Government and the Prime Minister publicly, on more than one occasion, said the country has faced lowered revenues and has had to reprioritise expenditure,” Cuffie said. 

GISL receives an annual allocation of approximately $18 million.

He said GISL was not immune to the challenges being faced by the economy.

He said in light of these challenges, the Government was examining GISL, CNMG and all State-owned companies in an effort to determine what is the best formula to proceed with delivering their services while keeping in mind fiscal obligations.

“As line minister for GISL and CNMG I expect us to determine a way forward very soon.”

Asked about GISL’s mounting debt, Cuffie said the Government was looking at the matter.

An employee at the organisation confirmed to the Sunday Guardian that employees were uneasy.

“People are being given short-term contracts, some are three-month contracts, and everyone is looking to move on to find some kind of stability,” said the employee.

One of the few departments still active in the organisation is the digitisation of media archives.

The newsroom staff has been cut. IT staff were reduced from 12 in 2015 to four as mass resignations continue. According to Cuffie, who is a former CEO of GISL, a newsroom was never part of the company’s mandate because the company that was supposed to produce news was Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG).

GISL’s problems come as the Government passes the July 2016 deadline, which was recommended by the board for reintegration of the company into the Government Information Services Division (GISD.)

Following the 2015 general election, Cuffie told the Parliament about mismanagement of both GISL and the other state media company CNMG. He spoke of a GISL CEO who was also hired as a consultant for a state company which bought him an SUV vehicle, and a CNMG freelancer collecting “four salaries” under the past People’s Partnership (PP) administration.,

He said GISL and CNMG combined had spent $90 million in 2015, with $50 million spent on the “Government Working for You” initiative.

Following this, a national consultation on the role of state media was initiated by the board of the two organisations, which was then headed by former independent senator Helen Drayton.

The board delivered a report to Cuffie which recommended that the Government dissolve GISL, dispose of its television station TV4, and cease all contract work. 

The report recommended that the core operations of GISL be reintegrated with the older GISD.

It said GISL should be dissolved as a limited liability company and GISD restructured to co-ordinate the implementation of government’s information policy and provide services aligned with that particular function, as well as to support ministries and departments with the dissemination of information.

CEO mum

GISL CEO John Barry refused to comment about the state of the company or the exodus of employees and referred all questions to GISL Chairman Timothy Affonso. Affonso replaced Drayton after her resignation within months of accepting chairmanship of the board. Yesterday, the Sunday Guardian called Affonso’s mobile number nine times but received no response.

National sprint double champion Michelle-Lee Ahye ran 10.92 seconds for sixth place in the finals of the Women’s 100 metres event at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last night.

The race was won by Jamaican Elaine Thompson, 24, in a personal-best time of 10.71 seconds, ending fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s bid to win the event for a third straight Olympics. 

American Tori Bowie running out of lane five took silver in 10.83 and Fraser-Pryce, 29, challenging from lane six finished third in 10.86 seconds.

Running out of lane eight, Ahye struggled out of the blocks and never caught the five front runners. The Carenage resident booked her place in the medal round after posting a season’s best 10.90 to cross the line in the same time as USA’s Bowie in the first semi-final.

Ahye said after, “I’m happy I gave it my best in this my second Olympics to go from semi-finals to finals tonight. I brought my A game and it will continue to keep me trying to do my best. Now it’s onto the 200 metres.” 

Her compatriot Semoy Hacket failed to advance to the semi-finals after she placed fifth in the third and last semifinal heat in a time of 11.20 seconds.

Cedenio runs for medal today

Meanwhile, T&T’s Machel Cedenio clocked 44.39 seconds to win the second semi-final heat and advance to today’s final with third fastest time overall.

He will line up against defending champion Kirani James of Grenada (44.02), American Lashwan Merritt (44.21), another Grenadian Bralon Taplin (44.44), world champion Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa (44.45), Botswana’s Karabo Sibanda (44.47), Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.48), and Bahraini Ali Khamis (44.49)

T&T’s other quarter-miler in the event, Lalonde Gordon, raced in the opening semi-final heat and he crossed in 45.13 seconds to place eighth and did not progress.

After his performance Cedenio was certain of one thing: “I ran my race and I won, and now I will have to ensure that I do everything necessary to run my best race on Sunday. As I mentioned to you yesterday, I know that I needed to return a time below 44 to medal and I feel I have that in me. I’m looking forward to just going out tomorrow night and putting everthing out.”

WOMEN’S 100 METRE FINALS

1. Elaine Thompson (Jam) 10.71

2. Torie Bowie (USA) 10.83

3. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jam) 10.86.

4. Christina Williams (Jam) 10.86

5. Dafine Schippers (Ned) 10.90

6. Michelle Lee Ahye (T&T) 10.92

7. English Gardiner (USA) 10.94

8. Marie Josee Ta Lou (CIV) 11.80

Former Black Power leader and founder of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) Makandal Daaga’s funeral service yesterday was briefly disrupted by radio talk show host Ricardo “Gladiator” Welch who was apparently displeased with the alleged “hypocrisy” shown by the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government for not granting Daaga a state funeral.

The disturbance occurred during Public Administration and Communication Minister Maxie Cuffie’s tribute to Daaga at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.

Just after Cuffie, speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, said Black Power meant the power of a united black people, the rekindled latent strength of a people accustomed to being told their affirmations were too grand, an irate Welch got to his feet and began shouting “hypocrites” at Cuffie.

Welch was escorted away from the Grand Stand by several members of the audience and police but was allowed to take in the proceedings from the sidelines.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian near the end of the service, Welch said, “My actions are the result of the statement made by Ag Prime Minister Colm Imbert who said Daaga was not qualified for a state funeral, that it was only for prime ministers and presidents who died in office. 

“That was a lie because Patrick Manning, ANR Robinson, Ellis Clarke, did not die in office but were given a state funeral. 

“What disturbed me was there were PNM members sitting in the audience, Works Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, Ag AG Stuart Young and Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus.

“The current Prime Minister of this country marched in the 1970 Black Power struggle in Tobago and also in Trinidad and what was being practised upon the stage was a matter of hypocrisy.”

He said he was against hypocrisy by the current PNM administration who praised Daaga for his contributions to T&T and the Caribbean yet refused to give him a state funeral.

United National Congress (UNC) chairman Dr David Lee spoke on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar who he said could not make it because of her dental operation on Friday. 

Also present at the funeral service were several of Daaga’s colleagues in the former People’s Partnership government, former foreign affairs minister Winston Dookeran, tertiary education minister Fazal Karim, transport minister Stephen Cadiz, Planning minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie, Public Administration minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development Clifton De Coteau, Culture minister Winston “Gypsy” Peters, UNC deputy chairman Khadijah Ameen, Opposition MP Barry Padarath, UNC campaign manager Rodney Charles, and former vice-chairman of the Congress of the People (COP) Nicole Dyer-Griffith. 

Jamaat al-Muslimeen leader Abu Bakr was also at the funeral, accompanied by his entourage of bodyguards along with his son, Fuad.

Daaga was later interred at the Lapeyrouse Cemetery, Phillip Street, Port-of-Spain.

STATE contributed $100,000

Speaking to the media at Thursday’s post-cabinet press conference, acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert said Daaga did not qualify for a state funeral.

Imbert said, "There are three types of funerals recognised by the State. There are state funerals, which are the highest and are reserved for presidents and prime ministers who die in office. 

“Then you have an official funeral for former prime ministers, former presidents and sitting ministers of government, actually, Cabinet ministers in office, Chief Justices, that kind of thing and then you have the funeral with state involvement. 

"Mr Daaga was not in any groups that I mentioned, he does not qualify in accordance with the rules but we certainly believe that he qualifies for a funeral with state involvement." 

The Government, however, contributed $100,000 to Daaga’s funeral.

The Clico Policyholders Group (CPG) is questioning Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s instructions to Central Bank to remove over $400 million from Clico’s Statutory Fund.

The letter dated July 13 also instructed Clico to “advance the process towards the eventual transfer of the HCL shares and the proceeds from the sale of its Methanol Holdings (International) Ltd shares towards satisfying GORTT’s claim of approximately $2.1 billion as assignee”. 

The letter stated, “..the Minister of Finance by letter dated July 13, 2016 issued certain special directions to the Central Bank pursuant to section 44F(5) of the Central Bank Act Ch. 79:02.

“In furtherance of all powers invoked by the Central Bank by Legal Notice No 32 of 2009 and particularly the Central Bank’s powers under section 44D(1) of the Act to protect the interests and preserve the rights of all policyholders and creditors of Clico, and of the said special directions of the Minister of Finance, the Central Bank now directs Clico to...” 

Chairman of the CPG Peter Permell said, however, “This represents a significant amount of the balance due to ‘resident’ assenting policyholders who accepted the government’s 2011 offer. But are being told by the minister that they ‘gave up their right to accrued interest and these individuals no longer have a contractual arrangement with Clico, and do not form part of the Resolution Plan.’”

Permell said this was money that belongs to the assenting policyholders. 

However, documents obtained by the CPG and seen by the Sunday Guardian show that in order to facilitate an earlier settlement of liabilities to “non-resident” (non-assenting) policyholders and mutual fund holders who did not accept the government’s 2011 offer, the minister has instructed the Central Bank by same letter dated July 13 to make full payment of all outstanding liabilities due to them (ie, 100 per cent of their principal plus contractual interest).

Permell said this was “morally and legally wrong” since these policyholders should only be paid from assets that do not form part of the statutory fund. 

Insurance Act does not protect 

non-resident policyholders

He said according to the Insurance Act this category of policyholders is not protected in law by the assets of the statutory fund. Section 37(4) expressly states, “Every company carrying on long-term insurance business in Trinidad and Tobago shall place in trust in Trinidad and Tobago assets equal to its liability and contingency reserves with respect to its Trinidad and Tobago policy-holders as established by the balance sheet of the company as at the end of its last financial year.” 

Section 38(1) states, “Subject to subsections (2) and (3) the assets representing each statutory fund of a company shall not be applied directly or indirectly to any class of business other than that in respect of which the fund was established and is being maintained.”

Permell said, however, “there is a loophole,” in that Section 38(2) states, “Where the value of the assets mentioned in subsection (1) is shown on an actuarial investigation made under this Act to exceed the amount of the liabilities attributable to the class of insurance business referred to in section 37, the restriction imposed by subsection (1) shall not, subject to Section 116, apply to so much of those assets as represents the excess.” 

And finally Section 115 states, “A company shall not pay, apply, allocate or transfer any part of the assets of its statutory fund except with the approval of the Supervisor (Inspector of Financial Institutions) and on the certificate of its actuary.

Permell said this means that the only way assets could be ‘legally’ taken out of the statutory fund (in keeping with the minister’s instructions) to pay individuals other than resident policyholders “is if Clico is able to obtain an actuarial certificate from a qualified, independent actuary certifying that the total resident policyholder liabilities are less than the total market value of the assets in the statutory fund. Clico then has to write to the Inspector of Financial Institutions (IOFI), the fund’s trustee, requesting the release of the relevant assets.” 

More questions than answers

“Accordingly, it means the actuarial certificate is key and therefore begs several questions: Was an actuarial certificate issued? When was it issued? Who issued it? What precisely did it state?,” Permell said.

Permell said, “The Central Bank has already instructed Clico the next day by letter dated July 14, and Clico has made the relevant requests from the IOFI on July 19, for the release of assets from the statutory fund. Interestingly, an actuarial certificate was issued on July 15, two days after the minister’s letter to the Central Bank, by Clico’s external actuary, Mr Paul Ngai, principal and consulting actuary of the firm Prescience Consultants and Actuaries.”

Ngai’s actuarial certification states, “I have been advised by the management of Clico that the assets pledged to the statutory fund based on the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, December 31, 2015, quarterly submission total TT$17,106,118,326. In addition, I have also been provided the short-term policy liabilities calculated by the company as at December 31, 2015, and have relied on the company on the accuracy of these figures. I have valued the long-term insurance policy liabilities as at December 31, 2015.” 

Permell questioned whether Ngai failed to do his own valuation or verification of the total assets pledged to the statutory fund and to value the short-term policy liabilities relative to the statutory fund. Permell wants to know if Ngai relied instead on Clico’s, his client’s, valuations. 

Permell said that curiously the long-term insurance liabilities was only valued as at December 31, 2015. “This is unprecedented and contrary to what has been done in the past and best practice,” Permell lamented.

Halt the release of funds

Permell also questioned whether Ngai failed in accordance with actuarial standards of [best] practice to state whether: “(a) the methods and procedures used in the verification data are sufficient and reliable and fulfil the acceptable standards of care; (b) the valuation of policy liabilities has been made in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles with such changes as determined and directions made by the Draft Insurance (Caribbean Policy Premium Method) Regulations; (c) the methods and assumptions used to calculate the consolidated actuarial and other policy liabilities are appropriate to the circumstances of the company and of the same policies and claims; (d) the policy liabilities represented in the balance sheet of the company amounting to TT$13.8 billion makes proper provision for the future payments and meets the requirements of the act and regulations.” 

Meanwhile, Ngai states without reservation in his certificate: “‘In my opinion and based on unaudited financial and source data information provided to me by the management of Clico: the amount of short-term policy liabilities TT4.6 billion together with the total amount of long-term policy liabilities for residents (TT$9.1 billion) is less than the total market value of statutory fund assets (TT$17.1 billion)’ and, therefore, further opines that there are adequate assets to fund the final settlement of short-term liabilities so as to comply with the directions of the Central Bank.”

Permell says, “The CPG is therefore calling on the IOFI to initiate a probe into whether the actuarial certificate complies with the relevant actuarial standards of the Insurance Act and Regulations. And in the interim to immediately halt the release of any further assets from the statutory fund pending the outcome of the probe.”

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia has brought a note to Cabinet seeking to make adjustments to this country’s scholarship programme, including a potential increase in funding to international students.

Garcia said this in a brief telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian in response to questions about the scholarship programme.

“I brought a note to Cabinet with recommendations on the scholarship programme, based on the national consultation on education and in-house discussions which have taken place,” Garcia said.

The increase in scholarship funding is more than welcome to T&T students studying abroad, who have in the past complained of late payments, inadequate funding, and a delay in finding appropriate jobs on their return to this country.

One student, Keston Perry, who is currently studying in the UK, faced eviction from his landlord after the Government had failed to send several months’ worth of payments to his account.

In an interview with the Sunday Guardian, Perry, who said he was used to making “bad situations work,” said due to the amounts allocated to students in London it was sometimes difficult to find appropriate housing or to stretch the money to cover all expenses and focus on studies.

London scholars like Perry receive 794 pounds per month for living expenses. They also receive yearly allocations for educational supplies.

The Sunday Guardian forwarded a list of questions to the minister’s office and was later informed that these questions would not be answered.

PwC audit recommends increase in allowances

Whereas Garcia and ministry staff failed to provide a figure for a potential increase, the Ministry of Public Administration has commissioned a Scholarship Allowance Review done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

PwC assessed the scholarship programme and recommended increases in allowances to meet the basic needs of students, according to the economic conditions in countries where scholarship recipients studied.

In some cases, such as the UK, increases of approximately 300 pounds were recommended.

The previous adjustment in fees was done in 2005. The changes to the scholarship programme would follow a sweep of changes announced by Garcia, intended to curtail expenditure for the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses programme (Gate) by eliminating wastage.

One of the more vague changes to the Gate programme included a decision to award funding to PhD students only if their areas of interest met this country’s development needs.

While the current structure for the scholarship programme is, on paper, aligned to this country’s development needs which were identified at the inception of the scholarship programme, these development needs are at a broad, macro level.

In reality, scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit and not development needs.

The Scholarship and Training Division (SATD) manages 20 scholarship programmes. These, on paper, needs are listed as natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, law and humanities and education.

Few jobs

for scholars 

who return

While the number of scholarships has increased significantly since 2000, the difficulty in finding appropriate jobs for returning scholars has also increased.

In 2000, Government spent TT$96 million on scholarships which increased to TT$186 million in 2008.

From 2006 to 2012, the number of scholarships awarded annually moved from approximately 300 in 2006 to over 600 in 2012.

The SATD designed an Associate Professionals (AP) programme, as a transitionary job placement, to meet this demand.

This was meant to assist with certain challenges, as in 2008, the employment for returning scholars was assessed by the Ministry of Public Administration and it was determined that the Service Commission employed less than ten per cent of the scholars referred by the SATD.

A committee established by the SATD to look at the Associate Professionals programme noted that there were very few job opportunities for scholars on their return.

Scholars did not have work experience and often remained unemployed.

The AP programme was designed to provide interim employment opportunities for returning scholars to allow them to showcase their talent as potential employees and for the ministry to fulfil its obligations as outlined in the scholarship agreement.

As part of the scholarship agreement, the Ministry of Education must provide employment for returning scholars within a six-month time frame.

However, the AP programme, meant to be a stop-gap measure, was oversubscribed and faced challenges transitioning scholarship recipients into permanent positions.

Approximately 29 per cent of participants were unable to secure permanent employment following the programme’s two-year run, while about 89 per cent of those who applied for vacancies in the public service were not shortlisted for interviews due to lack of experience.

The SATD report also noted that 30 per cent of scholars did not return due to unavailability of job opportunities even though the scholarship agreement between Government and student indicated that the Government must provide opportunities. 

There are currently 466 scholars pursuing studies abroad. Locally, there are currently 1,089 scholars pursuing studies. 

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Terms of scholarship agreement

The terms of agreement between scholarship recipients and Government states that “the scholar is required to accept employment in the service of the Government in such capacity and at such renumeration as the lender may determine, for the prescribed period of obligatory service…

“The lender shall offer employment to the student within six months of reporting or completion of his or her course of study, whichever comes later.

“Should the lender fail to offer employment to the student within the six month period, the student must seek and remain in employment in T&T for a period no less than the applicable prescribed period.”

The prescribed period of employment varies according to the amount of funding awarded for the scholarship, with students receiving a scholarship of over $200,000 being required to serve an obligatory period of five years.

Students in the AP programme are paid a set rate of $8,000 per month whether they have a diploma, an undergraduate degree or a postgraduate degree.

With the experiences of the past executive of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association and the vision of the newly installed one, there is now an opportunity to heal the wounds of the T&T Police Service (TTPS). 

Former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Prof Emeritus Ramesh Deosaran said over the years, the organisation and structure of the Police Service have been harmed in several ways even though vast sums of money have been spent.

He said, “Hopefully, with the experiences of your previous executive and the enthusiasm and vision of your new executive, there is now the opportunity to heal the wounds, to press your case forward while gaining the respect of both the Government and the population you serve.”

Deosaran said while wounds existed, challenges of lawlessness and crime of all kinds from top to bottom in the society have increased. He cited the expanding nature and amount of illegal drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, border insecurity and state corruption which bring added pressures on the TTPS, while an anxious population complained.

Deosaran was the feature speaker at yesterday’s installation of the new executive of the association headed by Insp Michael Seales. 

The event was held at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre and was attended by Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of National Security and former ACP Glenda Jennings-Smith. 

Deosaran’s speech, titled A Wounded Police Service, focused on six matters about the structure and operations of the Police Service which he said merit deep concern by the Police Service, Government and the public. 

Meanwhile, Deosaran said tinkering with the TTPS must stop. He said the insertion of a Police Management Board could seriously undermine and confuse the existing powers of the Police Commissioner. 

He explained that the Constitution now gives the Commissioner “complete power to manage the Service—appoint, promote, transfer and discipline officers, except the deputy CoP (Section 123A).”

He said, “He is already manager. The Government also has to state clearly how its Police Inspectorate will affect the function of the PSC at the executive levels.”

He said police governance sat on two competing principles. One was that in a democratic society, there was a fundamental principle of having civilian control over the police. 

“A democratic government, freely and fairly elected, must feel secure that the police will not take any subversive action to jeopardise its popular mandate.” 

The second, he said, was that the police, under its Commissioner, must be and feel politically independent enough to exercise their investigative powers without fear or favour, treating everyone equally in the eyes of the law. 

Therefore, he said, the question to be asked was, “To what extent does political control over the appointment of a commissioner affect his ability to investigate serious crimes allegedly committed by senior government politicians or even the prime minister himself or herself?”

Three former high-ranking officials from State-owned oil and gas company Petrotrin named in a newspaper report about unauthorised salary increases say the allegations levelled against them have left them traumatised.

Former Petrotrin presidents Kenneth Allum, Khalid Hassanali, and former vice presidents Keith Ramnath and Jamaludin Khan were named in a Sunday Express article claiming that Petrotrin was seeking to recover millions of dollars in unauthorised salary increases awarded retroactively to officials who worked in the company’s top echelon.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian, Hassanali, Ramnath and Khan said all the transactions were above board. The men said their lawyers have been in discussion with Petrotrin on the matter since March. The last correspondence from their attorneys in July to meet for further discussions received no response from Petrotrin.

“This entire matter is engaging the attention of our attorneys and I will not breach the tenets of the judicial process,” Khan said.

“My career started in 1974, more than four decades ago and I elected to stay the course with Petrotrin and its predecessors. It has been a privilege and honour to serve both the organisation and the State over this extended period. This public censure coming almost a year after my retirement in 2015 is regrettable and traumatic,” he added. Khan said, “It is my hope that this matter will be resolved expeditiously and that the true and proper circumstances are accurately ventilated.” 

The Sunday Guardian contacted Hassanali and Ramnath to get their responses to the accusations.

Hassanali said the matter was “properly settled” more than a year ago.

“This public spectacle on a matter that was properly settled by the previous Petrotrin board more than a year ago is most regrettable. It follows my retirement in November 2015 after serving nationally and especially Petrotrin with a demonstrable track record over almost 40 years having held some 26 positions of increasing responsibility and multiple secondments,” Hassanali said.

Ramnath said he was “shocked and saddened” by the allegations.

“I have to be very cautious how I respond to this because obviously this has legal ramifications. I mean we have attorneys Michael Quamina and Douglas Mendes who are in correspondence with Petrotrin and Camini Marajh, so I am very limited in what I can say but what I can say is that this whole thing has been a very emotional, shocking and traumatic experience for me. A year ago, I was confronted with suddenly having to leave Petrotrin and end my career for health reasons. That is not something that I planned for, it was not something that I wished for. The circumstances surrounding that is not something that I would wish upon anybody because my life has been irrevocably changed and not in a positive way,” Ramnath said.

“So my departure from Petrotrin is not something that I wanted because I had worked in my tenure there to do the best that I could, to do what I was hired to do which was to try and bring about positive changes to the organisation, to lead a transformation effort along with the other executives and the president and the board,” he said.

Attempts to contact Allum for comment proved futile.

The Sunday Guardian contacted a source knowledgeable about the situation to get responses to the concerns raised in the article that was published. 

Among the major concerns raised was Hassanali receiving a bonus of over $900,000 in 2015 when Petrotrin was doing so badly.

According to the source this bonus was paid in 2015 after Hassanali’s salary negotiation was settled, but the bonus was actually for 2012. 

In that year, Petrotrin made a net profit of over $1 billion and every Petrotrin employee received profit sharing of over $70,000.

Hassanali was confirmed in the role of president effective May 1, 2012, after acting in the position for about four months.

He did not receive a salary increase for the promotion at that time but a written commitment was made to him that his compensation would be addressed. 

Hassanali’s and Allum’s salaries were not addressed until 2015 and were made retroactive to 2012. 

The Petrotrin board gave chairman Lindsay Gillette the authority to negotiate Hassanali’s salary.

The salary increases received by Ramnath and Khan in 2015 were done to ensure equity of pay according to Petrotrin’s compensation policy.

Why did the other two vice presidents Ramnath and Khan receive salary increases in 2015?

Petrotrin’s compensation policy requires equity of pay for people holding similar positions. Before the increases, the other vice presidents were making as much as $150,000/month. Even after the salary increase, these two vice presidents Ramnath and Khan were making $125,000/month and still were the two lowest paid vice presidents even though they had more tenure at Petrotrin than the higher paid vice presidents. In the case of Ramnath, he was hired in 2012 as vice president, Human Resources, and had additional functions placed under him, including Security, Property Management, ICT and Supply Chain Management which is why his increase was retroactive to 2014.

According to the Express article, Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre is quoted as saying “the State-owned company is taking steps to recover unauthorised payments from its former executives.”

Olivierre said the “problem of unauthorised payments” at Petrotrin was “self-reported” by the new board and she was “pleased” that the company was seeking to recover public funds.

Petrotrin confirmed that their attorneys are already engaged in the matter.

Had PH taxi driver Ossie Calendar accompanied his wife and children to Tobago this weekend, he may have been alive today. 

Instead, Calendar’s lifeless body was found with a gunshot wound to the side of his head in San Fernando, on Friday night.

A report stated that Marabella police were responding to a report of a loud explosion along Alexander Road, Vistabella, around 11 pm. On arrival they found Calendar, 26, of Battoo Avenue, Marabella, slumped over the steering wheel of a blue Nissan Primera.

ASP Gomez-Coopers and homicide investigator Cpl Deo were at the scene and coordinated searches throughout the area for the suspect, but no one was held up to yesterday. Although there was a drug-link to the murder, investigators were unsure whether Calendar was involved. 

According to his cousin, Nicole Leonard, he was working the Couva to San Fernando route for someone with whom he had a work-to-own arrangement. 

Leonard said relatives were not sure if he was working last night. She, however, noted that there were several incidents of taxi drivers being attacked and robbed along that route. 

She said Calendar worked late at nights to make an honest living for his common-law wife Sarah Baptiste and two children, ages five and one. But investigators said that the taxi drivers who were previously attacked were stabbed and robbed but not shot. 

Robbery was ruled out as his phone, wallet and cash were found in the car. Leonard said Sarah and the children went to Tobago to visit Calendar’s mother and were trying to get a return trip back to Trinidad. 

Speaking at the Plaisance Park home where she and Calendar grew up as children, she said crime in Trinidad was appalling.

“We look at the television and see crime going on but when it reaches on your doorstep, it is very hard to deal with, especially when you wake up to the news that your family member was shot and killed. It is not nice at all,” Leonard said.

She added that it was a tragic week for relatives as Ezekiel Burton, 20, who died on Tuesday after being knocked down by a car while crossing the road in Arima was also a cousin.

When people begin to interact with Isis products on social media by retweeting, following and liking, Isis then “swarms in and makes contact.”

Dr Anne Speckhard of the United States, who has interviewed close to 500 Isis defectors, made this observation. She said there needed to be engagement on the digital battlefield where Isis was currently winning.

Speckhard serves as an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Georgetown University and is the director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism.

She was responding to the question of how people are targeted and become radicalised. 

Speckhard said Isis was good at distribution of thousands of social media posts, videos and posters that grab the attention of vulnerable people all over the globe who were attracted out of curiosity, desire to belong, desire for adventure, purpose, significance, dignity, excitement, anger over social injustices at home, depression, trauma, mental illness and a plethora of other individual vulnerabilities. 

She said such people would then be targets by Isis recruiters.

“Then like any other cult, they find what may motivate the individual to join and begin to meet those needs grooming them with attention, reinforcement, and seduction further into the group to finally overtake them leading to their own destruction and the destruction of others,” she added.

Speckhard added that the easiest target were youth because they don’t have the perspective, experience and judgement to know that utopias never pan out. 

She said Isis targeted everyone and did not mind who responded.

“They can and will use anyone who is responsive to their calls. Women are invited to come and be wives, men to be fighters and both to mount homegrown attacks.”

Isis fighters can be reintegrated into society

The author of seven books, which include Talking to Terrorists: Understanding the Psycho-Social Motivations of Militant Jihadi Terrorists, Mass Hostage Takers, Suicide Bombers and “Martyrs”; Fetal Abduction: The True Story of Multiple Personalities and Murder; and Bride of ISIS: One Young Woman’s Path into Homegrown Terrorism, Speckhard said it was possible for Isis fighters to be reintegrated into society after being in war-torn Syria.

However, she said the important thing was to uncover what first made them vulnerable to believing Isis’ lies.

“What were their needs, vulnerabilities and motivations for joining and to find how these can be redirected into nonviolent actions. 

“If an individual was passionate about world injustices and concerned about the plight of Muslims worldwide, can they turn that passion away from Isis to less violent ways to address injustices?” she said.

Speckhard said if their needs, motivations and vulnerabilities were not addressed, these continued to exist upon their return. It was important to note too that Isis fighters have taken on a lot of trauma on the battlefield and were even more vulnerable. 

“Thus, they can easily flip back into Isis even after publicly renouncing the group. Likewise, lonely individuals remain vulnerable to Isis members recontacting them and activating intimate bonds that may be idealised again after their return. So there are many deep concerns to address to safeguard society from these returnees.”

From some of her interviews she found Isis defectors said they liked many aspects of Isis, especially Shariah training in which they were taught an ideal version of Islam which included an idealised Caliphate by a very charismatic and loving teacher—although he also taught them that all others are enemies of that dream and could be killed.

She said at the end of Shariah training some were asked to demonstrate their commitment by beheading a prisoner. 

“All of them believed for a time in the dream of a utopian Islamic Caliphate and understood that it was going to be achieved via violence, but overtime the extreme brutality and corruption were turn-offs and they ultimately got disgusted and decided it was not Islamic and also fearful for their own lives.”

Speckhard said for countries in the region who are eyeing Isis it was important to look at the motivations and vulnerabilities of potential recruits and find genuine solutions.

She said, “In my view, it’s not just the military battlefield where we need to fight Isis. We also need to engage on the digital battlefield where Isis is currently winning. We need to break the Isis brand and one viable way of doing that is raising the voices of Isis insiders—defectors who are willing to denounce the group.” 

Medical student Kourdell Powell intends to give back to his community in Laventille and the country when he becomes a full-fledged doctor.

Secretary of the Association of Psychiatrists (APTT) Dr Varma Deyalsingh, treasurer of the Medical Board of T&T, heaped praises on Powell who resides in Rhyner Street, Laventille, for his commitment to medicine and social responsibility. 

Powell, a second-year medical student at UWI, Mona, spent the last four months under the mentorship of Dr Deyalsingh where he was exposed to both the private and public health system.

On presenting Powell with a Littman’s stethoscope, sphygmomanometer and a glucometer, Deyalsingh reminisced how he started social work when he was a medical student more than 26 years ago with the late MP for Laventille West, Morris Marshall. 

Deyalsingh said both he and Marshall had a plan to help end the negative stigma which overshadowed the people of Laventille and it was the duty of those who had been blessed to lend a helping hand to the youths so they can become the shining stars of Laventille. “Good things happen in Laventille and the world must know,” he said. 

Powell expressed thanks to his mentor and gave a commitment he would return to take the baton from Deyalsingh to serve his community and country.

Machel Cedenio ran the race of his life to finish fourth, just missing out on a bronze medal, in the men’s 400 metres final at the Rio Olympics last night.

In the process, Cedenio erased Ian Morris’ 24-year old record with a smashing 44.01 performance, in a race which was won by South Africa’s Wayne van Niekerk in a new world record time of 43.03.  

The previous record was held by American Michael Johnson, with a time of 43.18 seconds which was established in Sevilla, Spain, 1999.   

Pre-race favourite and defending Olympic champion Kerani James finished second in 43.76, while American  LaShawn Merritt grabbed the bronze, clocking 43.85, just ahead of Cedenio.

Cedenio, who ran from lane three, bettered Morris’ record of 44.21, which was established at the Barcelona Games in 1992. Morris just failed to hold off Kenyan Samson Kitur for the bronze medal.

The other finalists were Karabo Sibando of Botswana who finished fifth (44.25); sixth placed Ali Khamis of Bahrain (44.36), Grenada’s Bralon Taplin (44.45) and Mathew Hudson-Smith,  GBR (44.61)

Cedenio put in his best work at the finish closing in on Merritt and James as he chased down the leaders in the straight but just could not pull out that little extra to get among the medals. Ironically, van Niekerk was the man whom Cedenio beat in the semifinal when he clocked 44.39 seconds.

“I ran my race and I won and now I will have to ensure that I do everything necessary to run my best race on Sunday.  I know that there are probably going to be men faster than me in the finals but all I can do is qualify as I have done and give it my best,” Cedenio said after his semifinal finish on Saturday.

“I am feeling good, training well, loving the atmosphere, and just trying to enjoy my running while staying focused. I will just try to get some rest and leave everything else up to the day and just do my part, I am having fun and that helps and the rest of the team is fully supporting me,” he added.
Cedenio said he needed a time below 44 to medal. “I feel I have that in me and am looking forward to just going out tomorrow night and putting everything out. This rest will help.”

Cedenio was thankful for the support from the people of Trinidad and Tobago. “That really kept me more motivated to do well for my country. This is my first Olympics and I wanted to make it memorable,” he added

In the 100 metres final,  Usain Bolt became the first person to win three straight Olympic 100-metres titles, blowing down the straightaway in 9.81 seconds for his seventh overall Olympic gold.

American Justin Gatlin, Bolt’s closest pursuer over the past four years, finished second—.08 seconds behind. Andre de Grasse of Canada won the bronze. Bolt came into the Olympics not having run a 100 since June 30, when he pulled out of the  Jamaican national championships with a bad left hamstring.

The rehab began immediately, and on a muggy Sunday night in Rio, the shining star of track and field showed no signs of distress. After a typically clunky burst out of the starting block, he started pulling away from Gatlin with about 30 metres left. He’s not done. Qualifying for the men’s 200, his favourite race, starts tomorrow, with the relay on Friday.

How they finished in the 400

1. Wayde van Niekerk, South Africa (43.03 seconds WR)
2. Kirani James, Grenada (43.76)
3. LaShawn Merritt, USA  (43.85)
4. Machel Cedenio, T&T (44.01)
5. Karabo Sibando, Botswana (44.25)
6. Ali Khamis, Bahrain (44.36)
7. Bralon Taplin, Grenada (44.45)
8. Mathew Hudson-Smith,  GBR(44.61)