Hours after he proposed to marry his new girlfriend, fisherman David Hinkson was shot dead in front of his house at Sunset Beach, Point Fortin, on Wednesday night.

The murder occurred a day before Hinkson, aka “Fatman”, was scheduled to appear at the Point Fortin Magistrates’ Court for maintenance of his three children from a previous relationship. He was a father of six.

Hinkson, 37, suffered three gunshot wounds to his head, chest and abdomen and died on the spot. 

His cousin, Crystal Ward, and his girlfriend, who asked to be identified only as Molly, were inside the house listening to music when a man called out to Hinkson. 

Ward said the house was not outfitted with electricity and when the stranger came, she and Molly came out on the porch flashing the light from their cellular phones on David and his visitor, turned assailant.

“We did not recognise the man but he told us to stop shining the light on him. David seemed to know him because they were talking for about two minutes. Then we heard him shout out ‘No!’”

That was followed by three loud explosions and a thud, they said. 

“David was a heavy man and when he fell it made a loud noise,” Ward recalled. 

She and Molly dashed under the bed and hurriedly called the police. The house is located in a gutter along the steep incline of a cliff off Sunset Beach Road and Molly said it took police half-an-hour to get to the scene.

“We came out before they arrived. We do not know who would do this,” Ward said. 

While Molly stood nearby wiping away tears, Ward said on the day he died, Hinkson had proposed to Molly and asked her to be his wife.

“They were on the beach when he proposed. She is the first person he ever ask to get married to him,” Ward said. 

She revealed Molly was her friend and she introduced her to Hinkson four months ago. They moved in together shortly after and Molly said she enjoyed cooking for Hinkson.

“He would go out and catch fish and we would go out the road and sell it. We were happy together. He planned to build over the house,” Molly added. 

Hinkson’s mother, Gloria, who lives close by, said his estranged common-law wife, Melissa Halls, had brought him up for maintenance of their three children —Daniel, five, Aliyah, three and Lennon, seven—and he was due to appear in court yesterday.

Gloria said Hinkson also had two daughters—Ornella, 19, and Nikeisha, 18—from another relationship and another child with a woman with whom she was not familiar. Saying she raised Hinkson’s first two daughters, Gloria described her son as a friendly man. She said she spoke to him two weeks ago but she did not know he was planning to marry Molly.

“David was friendly with everybody. If he quarrel with you now he never hold you in mind,” Gloria added. 

Police said they were looking at surveillance cameras from houses surrounding Hinkson’s home. 

His body has been removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, where an autopsy will be done today. 

Anyone with information on Hinkson’s death can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS. Southern Division Homicide officers are continuing investigations.

A mother of two was found yesterday with her throat slit at her home at San Fabian Road, Springland, Gasparillo. 

Sue-Ann Titus was found dead by her stepfather, Horace Richards, 82, around 6.30 am.

Richards told police he awoke around 3 am and saw his daughter cooking and there was a man sitting in the kitchen. He said Titus was expected to report to work at Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) for 6 am so he thought everything was okay and returned to bed. 

But Richards got the shock of his life around 6.30 am when he walked into a laundry room and found her semi-nude body lying in blood. 

Southern Division police, including Snr Supt Adeline St Louis-Pesnell, ASP Sharon Gomez-Cooper, Insp Don Gajadhar and Sgt Susan John, responded but the suspect was long gone. A motive is yet to be determined, especially as the family did not know the man. 

One of Titus’ mobile phones was reported missing and a man working at a site behind a neighbour’s house discovered a BLU mobile phone stained with blood. It was handed over to police. Titus’ son declined an interview yesterday.

Titus was an administrative assistant at TCL and worked there for the past 20 years. Several of her colleagues gathered outside her home, wishing the news was not true. However, eyes became teary when the undertakers carried her body to their van.

Co-worker, Jinda Maharaj, described her as a friendly, outgoing and helpful person who was always willing to go out of her way to make others comfortable. He said when news reached the company, colleagues were plunged into a state of sadness and disbelief. 

Fellow churchgoers at the Revival Time Assembly, San Fernando, also could not hold back their tears.

In an unrelated incident, weeks after police seized over $40,000 from his home, a Moruga electrician was killed in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday night.

Marvin Ravello, 47, of Samuel Cooper Road, Indian Walk, was found dead by Sixth Company residents who went outside to investigate gunshots heard in the community. 

Police said Ravello was standing along Contention Road around 8.30 pm when a black vehicle drove past him and the occupants opened fire. He was hit on the right side of the face and fell on the roadside and died.

Southern Division police, including Snr Supt Adeline St Louis-Pesnell and ASP Rohan Pardasie, responded and co-ordinated searches for the suspects. However, no one was arrested up to yesterday.

Police said Ravello, who also has an address on Ormidale Avenue, Cocoyea, was recently charged with larceny and was suspected in recent robberies, shootings and drug transactions.

A source said St Mary’s police executed a search warrant at his home a few weeks ago and found $40,000 for which he could not account. He was reportedly very hostile to officers when they went to his home.

However, Ravello’s brother-in-law, Raymond Dyer, who described him as “humble” and “cool,” said he was still waiting for more news on the murder. 

Dyer told the T&T Guardian yesterday he was leaving home around 6.30 pm when he last saw Ravello. He said he did not know where he went or what he was doing in Sixth Company. 

It was only later that night a relative called him, saying he heard Ravello was killed. He said Ravello never complained about threats against him or had arguments with anyone. 

Cpl Bridgemohan is continuing inquiries.

A Carenage woman was stabbed to death in her bedroom and her husband critically injured early yesterday morning in a case police were still trying to decipher up to last night.

Police reports stated that the couple’s 14-year-old daughter, Keisha Edwards, heard screams in her parents’ bedroom around 2.10 am and later found her mother, Andrea “Hannah” Edwards, 37, dead on the ground and her father, Raul Joseph, 42, with stab wounds. 

Police said one of Joseph’s sons from a previous relationship later took his father to Westshore Medical where he remains warded in a serious condition. 

But police said another theory being offered was that a man in dark clothing entered the house and attacked the two. A man in dark clothing was seen fleeing the house, police said they were also told. 

What has baffled police, however, is that the house, located at Moya Trace, off Haig Street, Carenage, was described as heavily “fortified,” making it almost impossible to break into the home. 

Police added they received information that Joseph and Edwards had a rocky relationship.

In 2010, Joseph’s father, Peter Salvary, 65, had his throat slit at Big Yard, Carenage. Salvary, a mason, was killed on January 7. He was attacked around 2.30 am, police reports stated.

Joseph, the owner of a party boat named “Top Cat”, had a collapsed right lung and stab wounds to the chest and back, while Edwards, an assistant cook, had stab wounds to the abdomen and chest.

On Edwards’ Facebook page, her most recent post was a video of a friend celebrating his birthday. The post was uploaded at 6.35 pm. On Joseph’s Facebook page, many friends posted their condolences for his wife and get well wishes to him.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian near the scene of the incident, Edwards’ younger sister, Sophia, said she was an ambitious woman who dragged that trait out of her. 

“She was a very loving and giving person and was hardworking. She recently got a job at a food place on Mucurapo Road as a cook and was working Sunday to Sunday. She had a real sweet hand, she could cook anything.

“She was always encouraging me to do the right thing. I will miss her ambition. She had the ambition to make you feel like you could do anything. I could tell you that because I was weak in that area and she always encouraged me. To know that she come from so far, only to go through this. It is like a nightmare,” Sophia said of her sister.

Edwards added that she and her sister, despite their ups and downs, spoke everyday except the day before she died as she had no credit on her cellphone to call her. She said she had been hearing conflicting reports surrounding her sister’s death, with some claiming an intruder did it while other reports suggested a dispute led to the incident.

Edwards said: “You see this on TV and you wish that it would never happen to you. Right now I would just like to find out the cause of this. Why did this happen?”

With this killing and three others yesterday, the murder toll rose to 289 for the year.

Cabinet has decided to award scholarships to 400 students who wrote the recent Caribbean Education Secondary Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE).

But principals across T&T, who have been identifying their top performing students and assessing how many scholarships their schools may get, will have some more waiting to do.

The Education Ministry has not yet received the list of scholarship winners from CAPE and CSEC, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair. 

However, once the ministry gets the lists, its Scholarships Selection Committee would be hard at work, he assured.

Giving a breakdown of the results, the minister said in the CSEC 58.1 per cent of the Form Five students who wrote the examination got full certificates or five and more passes. He said while students performed creditably well in subject areas like physical education and sport, religious education and economics, the ministry remained concerned about performances in mathematics and English A.

Some 54.1 per cent of the CSEC students passed mathematics in 2016, a slight decline from the 61.1 per cent who passed in 2015. Of those who wrote English A, 72 per cent passed, an increase from the 64.6 per cent in 2016.

In Unit One of the CAPE, written by Lower Six students, 94.6 per cent of those who wrote the exam achieved a passing grade. In Unit Two, written by Upper Six students, 94.1 per cent passed.

Garcia said the results showed a slight improvement from 2015. He said last year almost the same number of students achieved passing grades in the examinations.

Asked how many students got no passes, Garcia said his ministry was still tabulating the figures but said nine per cent got below the lowest passing grade of five in CAPE.

He said “30-something” per cent of those who wrote the CSEC got grades below the lowest passing grade of three.

Garcia said the ministry had put strategies in place to deal with its concerns over the performance of students, particularly in the areas of English A and mathematics.

Many students did not read and the ministry wanted to encourage children to get into critical thinking, he said. He suggested poetry as a good start. Children are also grappling with understanding concepts.

“There concerns with algebra. When they don’t get a hold on algebra, it militates against them getting good grades,” he said.

Curriculum officers, ably assisted by school supervisors, have been mandated to go to the schools and meet principals and head of departments to make sure what was on the syllabus was being taught and being done in a timely manner, Garcia said.

A new group, involving an Opposition Senator and a United National Congress political activist, and close to 100 workers marched around the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) yesterday demanding the removal of the Prime Minister.

The group, the Stakeholders Movement, had to be cautioned by police for using loudspeakers and road blocking. They were steadfast, braving midday rain and walked single file outside the St Clair office as Prime Minister Keith Rowley chaired his weekly Cabinet meeting.

On Wednesday, the organisation was granted permission to protest but it was not clear as to who the organisers were, but the participants were clear as to their purpose, demanding Rowley’s removal from public office.

UNC Senator Gerald Ramdeen who arrived at 11 am rallied protesters to begin marching in front the office along Gray Street.

However, they were asked to provide a copy of the permit to the police after they were advised to move the demonstration to St Clair Avenue as it had not been specifically stated that they were free to assemble on that particular street. 

UNC activist Barrington Thomas was highly critical of the police attempts to break up the protest and disperse the demonstrators.

Addressing supporters around 1 pm, under the watchful eyes of police officers, Thomas said though they were given permission to assemble and also have a public announcement system, they had not been given permission to play it beyond the decibel level of a car radio.

Thomas said they would not be deterred from their primary purpose. 

“PA system or no PA system, our call from our bellies and our voices is that the PNM must go and go now,” he said.

Pointing to the OPM building, he added: “Inside that place where they make wicked decisions to take away your food cards and take away your book grant and take away your milk for your children and take away your jobs and take away your freedom, if they think PA system or no PA system, we want to tell Rowley, Al-Rawi and that cabal in there that today is only the beginning.

“We will fight Rowley and his Cabinet till the last man is standing.” 

The group had been granted permission to march from 11 am to 2 pm, just before the scheduled start time of yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing during which the Prime Minister spoke.

Among the protesters

Among the protesters was 80-year-old cane farmer Deolal Mohan of Chaguanas. He said he wished to highlight the plight of the 9,000 workers, like himself, who had been left with rotted tractors and other equipment and were still awaiting payments from Government.

Mohan demanded to know why monies released by the European Union since March had not yet been disbursed to the people for which it was intended.

The EU reportedly handed over $75 million to Government earlier this year.

The money was part of an agreement between Government and the EU as payment for former cane farmers after the closure of Caroni (1975) Ltd.

In April, Rowley said Government intended to pay out $52 million to the cane farmers as he claimed it had not been meant for the farmers but to reimburse the Government for money spent after the industry closed its pension plans and offered enhanced voluntary separation packages.

Secretary of the Port Retirees Pension Committee, Herman Hernandez, said they too were calling on government to settle outstanding debts.

He said agreements were reached last year with the previous administration just prior to the general election which halted further negotiations.

Hernandez claimed of the 900 members, some had already passed away as the majority of them were aged 65 and over.

Joking that the issue needed some “advertisement,” Hernandez hoped yesterday’s protest would bring some relief to their ongoing plight.

Forestry employee, Conrad Eccles, said it was a similar situation as hundreds of employees were still awaiting salary payments for the last five fortnights.

Committee member, Austin Vidal, denied the protest was politically motivated saying: “This is about people, mainly those on the lower social rung of the ladder, coming together who are disenchanted for a common cause. 

“It is a movement of the people, for the people.”

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat says oil spills are an environmental issue that has to be dealt with by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and not his ministry. 

Responding to a list of questions sent via WhatsApp, Rambharat added there would be no compensation paid to crab catchers, fishermen or oyster vendors by the ministry following an oil spill several weeks ago in the southwestern peninsular.

“Oil is an environmental issue that has to be dealt with by the EMA. The ministry does not deal with environmental issues. Those affected must make a complaint to the EMA,” Rambharat stated. 

After being told the fisherfolk and vendors were reaching out to the ministry for monetary assistance, Rambharat wrote: 

“There is no compensation to be paid by the ministry. The ministry is paying no compensation. There is no basis for the ministry to compensate fishermen.”

He did not respond when asked whether he would be meeting with the affected fishermen and vendors.

On Wednesday, Otaheite crab and oyster vendors sent out a plea to Rambharat, asking for assistance as they had been out of work over the last three weeks. 

The vendors said oil which washed up in the Godineau swamp killed off the crabs and oysters and they had been unable to make their living. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Otaheite Vendors Association burned tyres and called for a meeting with Rambharat, saying they are being unfairly treated by the Fisheries Division in South.

Over the past few weeks, fishermen and vendors have been complaining of declining sales as they say statements made by secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, Gary Aboud, has frightened the public away from buying fish. 

On Tuesday, Cedros fisherfolk also called on the Government for assistance as they said their cupboards were empty and creditors were breathing down their necks. 

Former employees of Brazilian highway contractor, Construtora OAS, are calling on the Government to clear their outstanding salaries left unpaid by the contractor when it closed its operations last year. 

The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), which is representing the 1,000 former workers, yesterday met with the representatives of the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) to discuss the issue as the State-owned project management company was responsible for the still incomplete San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway. 

Speaking with reporters outside Nidco’s office in Port-of-Spain before the meeting, OWTU president general, Ancel Roget, said Nidco and the Government had a responsibility to ensure the workers were paid before it embarked on the process of seeking contractors to complete the project. “The Government, through its agent Nidco, would have fired contractor OAS, which owes these workers money. We feel that there is a duty of care and responsibility on behalf of the Government and Nidco to now make good the payment of the outstanding wages and severance payments to the workers,” he said. He claimed that the most of the workers were owed almost $30,000 each. 

“These workers are owed money and they ought to be paid at all costs. Those workers have commitments just like everybody else. Nidco would have fired OAS for whatever reason but our business is ensuring the workers are paid,” Roget added. 

He also stated he and the OWTU supported Government’s plan to complete the mega-project but maintained those who worked on the project since 2010 had to be paid first. “We agree that the highway must be completed but the workers who have already done work on it must be paid,” Roget said. 

OAS was awarded the contract for the project, initially budgeted at $5.285 billion, in May 2010. The several segments of the project had been delayed since it commenced due to protest action by environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM), a group of residents who are opposed to the project as they have to be relocated as they claimed it posed a danger to the environmentally sensitive Oropouche lagoon. 

The HRM has a lawsuit before High Court Judge James Aboud in which it is claiming that the Government breached its rights by failing to consult with them before starting the project. The lawsuit is yet to go on trial. 

Last year several of the company’s sub-contractors sued it after it failed to pay them for the services they rendered. The contract was eventually cancelled after last September’s general election, with the project almost 63 per cent complete. 

Speaking in Parliament in May, Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young, called for an investigation into the project and OAS as he claimed it had cost overruns in excess of $8 billion. Young also said three days before the last general election the Government “entered into a written agreement with OAS, called Contract Addendum No 2, whereby they expressly recognised that OAS was bankrupt, and stated that they could invoke Clause 15.2 (e) of the FIDIC contract immediately terminating the contract. “However, despite this, they proceeded secretly to give up this right of termination and waived all claims against OAS, thus releasing and discharging OAS from any liability,” he added. 

While PTSC workers in the company’s South office held off on protest action yesterday, they are renewing their calls for the management team to be replaced.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Transport and Industrial Workers Union (TIWU) branch representative, Roland Woods, said the current management team could not run the service efficiently. 

“We have four people in charge who know nothing about running a bus service... they know less than us. Those are some of the problems we have to face here. 

“We have some of the best buses and they just have the buses down. This is a gold mine and they just have the buses parked up here and the people who could repair the buses, you trying to fight them down. I told them the hornet’s nest raised and I am ready to deal with that,” Woods said.

He said due to an ongoing police investigation about the theft of a bus engine, TIWU vice-president Andy Sinanan advised the workers to halt their protests. 

“The workers didn’t come out today to protest because after I spoke to Andy Sinanan he advised me that we should hold off on the lunch time protests because it is in fact illegal for us to protest outside of working hours and he told us to hold off on the protest and let the police do their jobs and conduct their investigation,” Woods added. He said he was expected to meet with several senior PTSC officials in Port-of-Spain today on the issue.

“I was hoping to have a hearing with even the minister (Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds) because you ought to have people in places that can get the job done. 

“That is what needs to be done. You have to change management and we the workers here are adamant that they change management. As long as we can prove that management is not sufficient and they cannot do the job, they need to be removed,” he said. 

Calls yesterday to the cellphone of PTSC general manager, Roland Forde, went unanswered.

The independent body appointed to manage elections in T&T acted illegally when it took a decision to extend last September’s general election by one hour due to heavy rainfall in Trinidad. 

High Court Judge Mira Dean-Armorer made the statement in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, as she dismissed five election petitions filed by the United National Congress (UNC) challenging the Elections and Boundaries Commission’s (EBC) decision. However, Dean-Armorer ruled that the UNC had failed to adduce sufficient evidence to warrant the election result being invalidated. 

“The court is prohibited from declaring an election invalid where the court finds the occurrence of a breach or breaches of an official duty or of the election rules and it appears to the court that the breach did not materially affect the election,” Dean-Armorer said as she noted that even if all the votes cast during the one-hour extension were to be deducted from the votes obtained by winning candidates, the election result would remain the same. 

“I have, in these petitions, striven to hold the balance to protect the will of the majority while ensuring that the patent mistakes have not reduced the election of 2015 to a mere sham,” she added. 

The UNC now has 14 days in which to appeal the judgment. The Court of Appeal’s eventual decision on the petitions will be final as it and not the Privy Council, has exclusive jurisdiction in election cases. 

While in her 53-page judgment, she said the EBC went beyond its constitutional and statutory remit in extending the poll, as it had no express power to do so, Dean-Armorer said she felt that the EBC acted out of “genuine concern” for voters who it felt might be disenfranchised by the inclement weather conditions on election day. 

“Torrential rains and flooding on the 7th September 2015 may have impelled the EBC to issue the directive which they did. Nonetheless, the uncontrollable weather conditions did not confer on the EBC the power to direct that the law be broken. 

“The EBC, itself a creature of statute, ought at all times to abide by the clear dictates of the law and ought not to purport to dispense with those dictates even if faced with an apparently insurmountable problem,” she said. 

Apart from the EBC’s unlawful extension, Dean-Armorer said it was in substantial compliance with election rules and regulations. 

“In my view, there is no evidence to suggest that the conduct of the election was other than free or fair. 

“There was no allegation of intimidation or of the unavailability of election material such as ballot paper or ink. There was no evidence of trickery or fraudulent counting of votes or false declaration by election officers,” Dean-Armorer said. 

She also rejected the UNC’s claim that EBC officials committed corrupt practices when they allowed voters to cast their ballots after the traditional 6 am to 6 pm period of voting had elapsed. Dean-Armorer said they were acting on the directives of the EBC and that the UNC could not prove that they acted with malicious intent. 

In addition, Dean-Armorer rejected the UNC’s contention that it had been prejudiced by the decision, as many of their election officials had issues in receiving confirmation of the extension from the EBC. 

“The evidence discloses, however, that the opposing camp had a similarly well organised machinery and because of the late notification of the extension and the uncertainty, the PNM party organisers themselves abandoned any efforts to attract supporters to make use of the extended time,” she said. 

Opposition pays legal costs

Dean-Armorer criticised the UNC for asking her to consider its supporters who failed to take advantage of the extension, as the UNC had failed to bring them to testify in court. 

“In my view, this is asking the court to embark on an exercise of pure speculation,” she said.

She also questioned the UNC’s decision to file petitions only in six marginal constituencies—La Horquetta/Talparo, Toco/Sangre Grande, Tunapuna, St Joseph, San Fernando West and Moruga/Tableland. The La Horquetta/Talparo petition had been dismissed at a preliminary stage by Dean-Armorer and later the Court of Appeal, as they ruled that it had been served on the PNM after the time frame for doing so had elapsed. 

“The ordinary man in T&T would recognise that the poll was conducted peacefully throughout the day and that the only obstacle was presented by inclement weather, over which the election laws had no control. My assessment, of the view of the ordinary man, is strengthened by the reflection that the election was challenged in only six of 39 constituencies in Trinidad, in spite of the fact that the very widespread multiple breaches took place throughout the island of Trinidad,” she said. 

As part of her decision, Dean-Armorer ordered that the UNC pay the PNM’s legal costs for defending the petitions. However, the judge exempted it from the EBC’s costs as Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, pointed out that the EBC was found to have acted illegally. 

The decision of High Court Judge Mira Dean-Armorer to strike out five election petitions challenging the Elections and Boundaries Commission’s extension of last year’s general election by one hour now has the United National Congress (UNC) and People’s National Movement (PNM) squabbling over who scored a legal victory. 

Despite its petitions being dismissed, the UNC contended that it succeeded in its challenge over the illegality of the EBC’s decision, while the PNM also claimed it scored overall victory as Dean-Armorer refused to invalidate the election result, leaving its 28-13 margin in the election untouched. 

Speaking to reporters outside the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, after the judgment was delivered, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar claimed victory. 

“Today I declare victory on behalf of the petitioners. It has been a very gruelling exercise but I say we celebrate victory because we brought these matters for the rule of law and definitely for the democracy of T&T, and we have definitely succeeded on that limb where the judge has found the EBC acted illegally and breached the law,” Persad-Bissessar said as she addressed dozens of visibly dejected supporters who gathered outside the court. 

Without criticising Dean-Armorer’s judgment directly, Persad-Bissessar said her party was resolute in its stance that the election results should have been invalidated and would be lodging an appeal. 

“I am of the firm view now, as when we decided to bring these cases before the court, that the EBC acted illegally and these results are also illegal and should be set aside. That is the next step. I am of the firm view that we will eventually be victorious,” Persad-Bissessar said. 

She said the court’s ruling on the EBC’s decision vindicated her party, as it had been accused of wasting time with a frivolous and vexatious case. 

Like Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General and San Fernando West MP Faris Al-Rawi described the judgment as a victory. 

“It is a square victory. We are extremely pleased and elated that the judge found merit in our submissions,” Al-Rawi said. 

Asked if the Government would consider amending election legislation to more clearly define the EBC’s power and limitations, Al-Rawi said it would consider it only after the case is decided by the Court of Appeal. 

Deputy House Speaker and Tunapuna MP Esmond Ford was also present for the judgment and said he was pleased by it. 

“I am happy that the situation is over but there is still an appellate process and I trust that the court would continue to do its work. The people have spoken in Tunapuna. I won my seat by 3,800 votes.”

The Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) has launched an investigation into the death of Rio Claro father of two Motilal Dookeran.

Expressing condolences to the family in a press release, the authority stated that Dookeran, 55, came to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Rio Claro Health Centre on Wednesday.

“The patient was reviewed, treated and discharged by medial personnel at the Health Centre. He subsequently died after his return home. The authority has commenced investigations into this matter.”

Dookeran’s death was made public by his daughter Jolene who took to Facebook to express her outrage over the treatment, or lack thereof, her father received at the centre.

She complained that her father was taken to the health centre after experiencing extreme pain and numbness in both his shoulders and arms.

After waiting an hour, she said her father was prescribed medication after being told he had just slept bad and had gas pain. 

Within ten minutes of arriving home, she said, her father died. 

Jolene posted on her Facebook yesterday that a doctor from the centre contacted her family and promised that an investigation would be launched into the treatment her father received.

A total of 21 candidates were screened for the nine electoral districts within the San Fernando City Corporation at the party’s regional headquarters in San Fernando on Thursday night. 

The screening panel was led by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and other party executives. 

The party’s general secretary, Ashton Ford, told the media the party had screened candidates for the Arima and Diego Martin Corporations on Wednesday night at the Balisier House in Port-of-Spain.

“As I said last night we were at Balisier House where we dealt with Arima Corporation and Diego Martin Corporation. We took decisions for those two corporations and we will release the names after the general council on Saturday,” Ford said. 

He said the willingness of younger nominees to serve is a good sign for the party’s future. 

“I must say we are impressed with the quality of candidates coming forward, they are young people. We have a 26-year-old, a 29-year-old, so it looks as though the party is in good hands because once you offer yourself to serve the community at that age, it signals to the community that you are prepared to work and develop the city.”

Ford said the party would continue its screening until Wednesday.

“Tomorrow we will be screening for San Juan/Laventille Corporation at Balisier House and on Monday we are dealing with Tunapuna and Sangre Grande. Tuesday, there is a break, and Wednesday we are back here in San Fernando for Point Fortin, Mayaro, Siparia and Princes Town corporations.”

Although there was not a large crowd present, the nominees were well received by their supporters after their time in front of the panel. A big screen was also put up across from the office and the Olympic games were streamed live, much to the delight of those waiting outside.

At the end of the screening, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Finance Minister Colm Imbert joined supporters outside to look at the Olympic Men’s 200m race on television.

Candidate hopefuls

Hopeful candidate for Mon Repos/Navet District, Patricia Alexis, told the T&T Guardian that she was confident of her chances as she had been working behind the scenes for quite sometime in the party.

“I’ve been working with the Mon Repos/Navet District for sometime. I served as area manager with San Fernando East (constituency). I’ve also done the local government campaign with the sitting councillor and I’ve also been the campaign manager for San Fernando East, MP Randall Mitchell,” she said. 

“So I’m no new face within the constituency, we’re still doing a lot of work in the area so it’s like home, it’s like family.”

Incumbent Springvale/Paradise councillor Naigum Joseph said although he had been through the process already, it was still a learning experience. 

“Even though I am an incumbent I felt like it was still a learning process, they asked some questions about local government reform and I think I handled it well,” Joseph said. “I am confident on the work that I have done for Springvale/Paradise and I believe that the national and the local executive knows my ability and knows what I have done.”

Several incumbent candidates, including Mon Repos/Navet councillor Shaka Joseph and Cocoyea/Tarouba’s Rondell Donowa, did not offer themselves for re-election.

San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein also spoke to the media but he declined to speculate whether he would return for a second term in the office, saying, “I don’t know the future, only the master knows that.”

Hosein did say he had accomplished what he set out to do during his term as mayor, including dealing with the city’s homeless problem, traffic problems and beautification of the city.

Fraud Squad investigators are warning members of the public to be wary of fraudulent cheques and making withdrawals at automated teller machines.

Their warning came as a Marabella construction worker Hayden James, 42, was yesterday jailed for 30 months on two fraud charges relating to a forged cheque.

Noting that there have been a lot of fake commercial bank cheques circulating, the investigators said the fraudsters were well organised and professional.

“We are seeing a lot of fraud with commercial cheques, they are making the cheques and the identification cards, they are depositing the cheques in the bank and then making withdrawals.”

As a consequence, the officers are advising banks and business people to be extremely cautious when accepting and cashing cheques.

He also advised business people not to attempt to clear cheques by calling the bank because the criminals are intercepting calls. 

“So when you think you talking to someone in the bank, you really talking to one of the criminals. Go in to the banks to verify all cheques.”

Recalling the recent seizure of 500-plus fake debit cards, the officers said information from Interpol led investigators to search a room at a popular Port-of-Spain hotel where two Bulgarians were staying. Interpol had informed the local law enforcement officers that the foreigners were seen tampering with ATMs in Barbados.

“When using your ATM cards ensure there are no foreign objects or smudges before you push your card in. If your card gets stuck do not put in your pin number.” They said the criminals were hiding small electronic devices in the machines to read and record the information on the cards.

He also advised card users to try to keep minimal sums of money in the account so in the event their card becomes compromised they will not lose a large sum of money.

Yesterday, in the San Fernando First Court, before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John, James, who was arrested after he deposited a forged cheque valued $40,000, pleaded guilty to two charges.

Prosecutor Ramdath Phillip said on July 11, James went to First Citizens’ Marabella branch where he deposited a cheque made payable to him in the sum of $40,755.10 and drawn on the account of Gulf Insurance Ltd. He withdrew $35,000 and used $1,341.18 to purchase US$200.

However, the insurance company later informed the bank that they never issued a cheque bearing that number to James and he was not entitled to the money. 

He was charged by PC Hosein following an investigation supervised by Supt Tootaram Dookie, ASP Kent Ghisyawan and led by Sgt David and Popan.

James had several previous convictions, but his attorney Ainsley Lucky asked for mercy, saying, “He found himself in a desperate situation. Economic challenges propelled this man to do what he did. This was the last act of a desperate man.”

Phillip said none of the money was recovered.

Asked by the magistrate where the cheque originated, Phillip said inquiries into that were still to be carried out. 

Forde-John sentenced James to 30 months on each offence, but ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

The crackdown on illegal guns and ammunition continued yesterday as police raided crime hot spots, seizing another cache of ammunition and a shotgun.

Around 11.10 am, Sgt Joseph and PCs Kali and Ramdhanie from the Southern Division Task Force went to Nice Street, La Romaine, where they found a yellow crocus bag hidden in the bushes.

The bag contained a 16-gauge shotgun and one 16-gauge cartridge, as well as seven rounds of 5.62 ammunition.

No one was arrested.

The Southern Division Operations Unit also conducted an exercise between 1 am and 9 am and arrested four men for shooting and robbery-related offences.

The exercise was headed by ASP Ramdeen, Insp Don Gajadhar, Sgt Teeluck and Ramroop, and PCs Williams, Noel and Ragoonath from the San Fernando CID and the Canine Unit.

Several abandoned homes and overgrown lots were searched at Lawrence Street, San Fernando, close to the Housing Development Corporation’s development site.

Defending javelin champion Keshorn Walcott will literally carry Trinidad and Tobago’s last hope of gaining an Olympic Games medal at the Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro here today.

Walcott, the gold medallist from the London Games (See page A64), became the country’s last ray of hope after the country’s relay teams failed to break the medal drought last night, with two teams—the men’s 4x100 metres and 4x400 metres—being disqualified for infringements in the finals. The women’s 4x100 metre team meanwhile placed sixth in their event in a season’s best time of 42.12 seconds.

Up to press time the status of the 4x400 metre team’s protest was not clear nor was the infringement committed by the team, which clocked 2:58.84.

National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) president Ephraim Serrette told the T&T Guardian last night, “We have lodged an appeal and we have to wait to see what happens, but it is tough at this stage, everyone is concerned.”

He added, “It has been called as lane violation 163.3 on the second leg, which is to say that Lalonde Gordon may have come across too early, which would be a major setback for our team.” 

Jamaica won that race in 2:58.29, followed by the USA in 2:58.38 and Botswana in 2:59.35.

In the women’s 4x100 relay final, the quartet of Semoy Hackette, Michelle Lee Ahye, Kelly-Ann Baptiste and Khalifa St Fort, running in that order, posted a season’s best time of 42.12 seconds for fifth place.

A disappointed Ahye said: “We came out and we tried our best but on the day it was not good enough. We all wanted a medal badly but it was not to be.”

Jamaica secured the silver medal in 41.36 and Great Britain bagged the bronze in 41.77 seconds.

The American women retained their 4x100 relay title and helped Allyson Felix capture a record fifth Olympic gold medal. The Americans, who needed to set a qualifying time in a solo rerun hours after dropping the baton in the preliminaries and getting a second chance on protest, won the final in 41.01 seconds.

Among the men, the team of Keston Bledman, Rondell Sorillo, Emmanuel Callender and Richard Thompson were also disqualified for a lane violation, as were the United States. Video footage has shown that Callender, in the third leg, appeared to have stepped on the line during his handing to anchor man Thompson.

After the race, Callender said: “We’re disappointed. We ran as we wanted, we felt everything was okay and we are sad at the final result, but we are not giving up...There is a lot people do not know, when all they do is criticise the athletes. As athletes we come here to compete and make our country proud, so we need everyone to understand that."

Thompson added: “This is not what we wanted as we were aiming for a medal...I will go home to my family, talk to my wife and play with my son and evaluate myself and where I am. But I am not talking retirement.”

Usain Bolt, the star of the Games, completed his triple-triple, anchoring the Jamaica 4x100-metre relay to victory in the final to ensure three gold medals at three consecutive Olympics.

Bolt, 29, who has won the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay gold medals at Beijing, London and now Rio, crossed in 37.27 seconds. The Jamaicans were followed to the line by Japan, which set an Asian record to take the silver in 37.60, holding off the third-place Americans by 0.02. However, the Americans were disqualified for a zone violation. 

Along with Bolt for his final trip down the track were Nickel Ashmeade, training partner Yohan Blake and the Jamaican elder statesman, former world-record holder Asafa Powell.

Back to drawing board

​Speaking after last night’s relays, T&T Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis said we have to “get up and go back to the drawing board” after what he labelled a “tough night” for the country.

Saying the country has to be “resilient,” Lewis added, “It’s a tough night for TeamTTO in Rio. The Olympics is the ultimate test. The agony of defeat is gut-wrenching but you have to be resilient. We have to get over it, get up and go back to the drawing board.” 

He thanked all those who represented the country at the Games.

“I am tremendously grateful to the athletes who went out and gave their all for their country. Trinidad and Tobago was represented in both the men and women’s 4x100 relay final. I am proud of them,” he said.

Public relations officer of the NAAA, Peter Samuel, last night confirmed that a protest had been lodged against the 4x400 team’s disqualification.

One of the country’s leading urologists Dr Lall Sawh yesterday said he saw sudden change in the attitude of patients who came for prostate examinations.

Instead of being apprehensive, the men showed a willingness to be examined.

Sawh credited Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s statement which appealed to men over the age of 40 to get tested for prostate cancer, some of whom have immediately taken his advice.

Rowley, at his first public appearance after undergoing medical tests in the US, on Thursday said he was cancer free and urged men over 40 to do a prostate examination.

“Today at the office patients who were scheduled to come in... it was easy to examine their prostate. They told us that the Prime Minister say that we should get examined so they do it. They said they were more motivated to have the examinations done. As they walk in they were saying, okay Dr Sawh, let’s get this examination done today. There was no reluctance at all. The Prime Minister did an excellent job by urging these men to do the test. He reached out to them. And I think they have taken him seriously.”

Of the 25 patients Sawh examined at his private practice yesterday, he said between 15 and 18 came for prostate examinations.

Sawh agreed with Rowley that men refuse the examination because of the macho image they try to project.

He said men generally do not like to be probed.

“Unfortunately this is their mentality. I think it was an excellent way the Prime Minister put the message across. As a matter of fact, I want to commend him for bringing the issue to the fore because we are limited in our outreach.”

Sawh said he hoped that the attitude of men does not become a seven-day wonder.

“You know after seven days they forget everything. 

“They come in the office petrified. They don’t want to do it at all. You have to talk them into it.”

Whenever he has a lecture about prostate cancer, Sawh said, women would quicker show up than men, which defeats the purpose.

Dr Michael Rampaul, senior urologist at the San Fernando General Hospital, also agreed that Rowley’s appeal was a wise and brilliant move.

“I want to tip my hat to Dr Rowley for speaking out about the issue.”

Rampaul said while they do not have updated statistics of prostate cancer in T&T “we are finding and discovering more cases...the good thing is that we are finding them earlier and people are becoming aware.”

He said there are three stages of prostate cancer. In the early stage there are no signs. Rampaul said the disease can be cured if detected early.

Agreeing with the PM that cancer was more common among African men, Rampaul said our western diet also contributed to the disease.

For this year, Rampaul said he has diagnosed between 15 and 20 new cases of prostate cancer patients at the hospital and his private practice.

Rampaul said men are lackadaisical.

“They don’t care to go for a check-up. There is a lack of exposure and information.”

Rampaul said women get their pap smears and mammograms done.

“Women are not embarrassed by these tests and examinations. The men they have this macho thing about them...When men come for the test for the first time they are very apprehensive. They have this fear out of ignorance that it would cause pain.”

However, after the examination Rampaul said they realise it was not as bad as they thought.

Of their targeted 690 guns to remove from the hands of criminals for 2016, police have so far seized 491 from them exclusive of a handgun seized yesterday.

Given the trend, over the next four and a half months they need to recover 199 more illegal firearms to meet their goal.

For the first six months of the year police seized 397 guns, 76 more than the corresponding period last year. Yesterday, officers of the Northern Division, which have been leading in gun seizures for the year so far, arrested five people in connection with a gun found at an Arouca house.

According to police, around 6 am, officers of the Northern Division Task Force including Sgt Haywood, Cpl Sookram and Constables Andrews and Sookdeo searched the house at William Trace, Waterloo Road, Arouca, where a known firearm offender resides. 

Police said a Glock pistol and 16 rounds of 9 mm were found in the house and the five people who were in the house were arrested. 

PC Sookdeo is continuing enquiries.

Police said up to Wednesday they seized 14,675 rounds of ammunition, more than double the amount seized for the same period last year of 5,703. 

With the increase in seizures of guns police also recorded a decrease in serious crimes of 1,956 for the first six months of the year compared to 2,294 for last year. 

This country is on top of the situation involving the nine T&T nationals who were arrested in Turkey en route to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), says head of the National Security Council Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Commenting on the matter, in his first public appearance after returning from vacation, Rowley said, “Our missions abroad and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are very much in touch.”

He was speaking at Thursday’s post-Cabinet press conference, at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

Rowley said the Government was doing everything it could about Isis and was aware that citizens were being induced to join the terrorist organisation.

Regarding the detainees who were held at the end of July, Rowley said not much could be done without information from abroad.

“We have a significant amount of population that are Muslim who are open to inducement to go abroad and do that...and worse to be encouraged to commit atrocities at home. This is the world we live in 2016.”

He said the National Security Council was very aware of these situations.

“Rest assured, we, in association with our larger partners in national security, are doing what we can to minimise our exposure and be alert to the threat that you mentioned.”

He said Cabinet approved on Thursday the purchase of certain equipment for the security services to strengthen our electronic response, while our borders need to be secured.

Rowley also told trade union leaders who have ramped up protest action in the last few weeks for outstanding back pay to workers, “they cannot get more from less. Now we have far less money to discharge those debts.”

The PM said citizens were hitting the streets with placards because of pent-up aggravation over monies owed from an earlier time.

“Our obligation is to preserve jobs.”

A trip for a late-night snack cost a nine-year-old boy his life on Friday as he was shot several times in what police believe was crossfire between warring gangs in La Romaine, south Trinidad. 

Seon Paul, of Byron Street, La Romaine, was due to start Standard Two at the La Romaine RC School next month.

He was with his 13-year-old cousin Kenika Smalls and several other children sitting by the roadside in front of his grandmother’s home at around 9 pm, when his father gave him $30 to buy hot dogs. Seon asked Kenika to accompany him to a food truck on the Southern Main Road.

“I asked where we was going and he said the food truck right on the corner, so I went with him,” Kenika said. “When we reached out on the junction and turn to go by the food truck, we start hearing gunshots.”

When they heard the first explosion, the cousins began to run, trying to get out of the line of fire.

“We were running down by the gas station, trying to get behind a car and hide but when Seon try to jump in some bushes, I heard him bawl ‘Ouch’ and then he fell,” Kenika said.

When the frantic teen realised Seon was bleeding from a wound in the chest, she ran home to alert relatives.

“Two of my aunties were on the road and they ran up to see who got shoot. A lot of people came out and tried to help him and then the police came and took him to the hospital,” she said.

Seon was taken into emergency surgery at the San Fernando General Hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after 10 pm.

At her Byron Street home yesterday, his grandmother Janet Charles could barely contain her grief and wept constantly. She said her only daughter, Seon’s mother Safiya Williams, was not coping well and could not speak.

She expressed frustration with police officers who regularly patrol the area.

“The police driving up and down all day, but when it comes to take action against the fellas with the guns, they not doing anything,” she said.

“I want justice for my grandchild. He was a baby, he never so much as disrespect anyone but they kill him on the street?”

Charles said she was at home when she heard the gunshots.

“I see him when he walked out the road and about three minutes passed and I went inside in the kitchen. Then I heard ‘Pow, pow, pow, pow,’ I say ‘Oh God, I hope is not my grandchild.’”

Charles said her family tries to stay far from the ongoing drug and gang wars in La Romaine. 

“This has been going on for too long and the police can’t solve any of the murders in La Romaine,” she said. 

An autopsy is expected to be done on Seon’s body tomorrow at the Forensic Science Centre in Port-of-Spain. 

The People’s National Movement is expected to complete screening of candidates for the local government elections by the first week of September, chairman Franklin Khan said yesterday.

Khan, who spoke to the media following the party’s general council meeting at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, said while the election date is yet to be announced by the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, plans are well in train for the polls with the nomination of officers scheduled to take place from September 5 to 22, and the preliminary voters’ list will be available by September 16. The final voters’ list will be made available on September 26. 

Khan said the party will launch its local government campaign at its 46th annual convention carded for October 30. Another highlight of the convention will be the PNM’s internal elections, the second to be held under the one-man-one-vote system. Whereas the posts of political leader, chairman, vice chairman and general secretary will not be up for grabs this year, all other party positions will be contested. 

At yesterday’s meeting, Prime Minister Rowley told general council members of several party activities scheduled for the rest of the year. Republic Day on September will be a national day of prayer for T&T with a major event at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

He announced the names of candidates selected after screening exercises on August 17 for the Borough of Arima and the Diego Martin Regional Corporation, on August 18 for the San Fernando City Corporation and on August 19 for San Juan Laventille Regional Corporation.

Screening for the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation and Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation will take place at Balisier House tomorrow, on Thursday for the Port-of-Spain City Corporation and Friday for Couva, Tabaquite, Talparo, Penal/Debe and Siparia.

Screenings for Princes Town, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Chaguanas and Pt Fortin will take place in the last week of August or the first week in September.