An Italian national living in Alyce Glen, Diego Martin, who is alleged to have introduced the Giant African Snail into T&T years ago, yesterday denied these claims.

Instead, the man claimed he was a victim of the invasion just like everyone else in the West Trinidad but was an unfortunate victim of his neighbours’ “malice and spite.”

Speaking to the T&T Guardian on Wednesday, director in the Research Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Deo Nandlal, said it was suspected the snails had been brought into the country eight years ago by a foreigner. It was first detected in Alyce Glen before spreading to Carenage and Westmoorings.

On condition his name not be used, however, the businessman yesterday confirmed he was visited by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture in 2008, who questioned him and also collected samples of the snails which had been found in his garden at the time.

But he denied he was responsible for the snail’s presence in T&T, saying he had been married and resident in the country since 1970. He said he observed the snails in his garden but was unaware they were notifiable pests at the time.

However, he said his neighbours, who he admitted he had some troubles with, may have given the ministry officials a different story and they visited his home.

After realising that he too had an infestation, he said the ministry officials told him the snails could have entered the country via fruits and vegetables being imported from the region, treated the problem and left. That was the last time he had seen officials from the ministry, he said. He stressed that he has always complied with regulations governing local trade.

Meanwhile, the task force set up by ministry to deal with the problem, is scheduled to meet today to discuss new strategies to combat the current invasion of snails sweeping through agricultural lands in Orange Grove and Macoya.

 Children as young as seven and eight are contemplating suicide due to traumatic incidents in their lives.

This according to Mary Moonan, programme coordinator of Childline who spoke to members of the media after the opening ceremony of the Judicial Reform and Institutional Strengthening (Jurist) Project launched at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Childline is a free, confidential telephone helpline and listening service for children in trouble or danger.

“What we are seeing are emerging trends of children who are quite traumatised at an early age by things that they ought not to be concerned with. So they are thinking of suicide.

“It is a very heart rendering situation and you ask yourself what has happened in the family that someone so young would think about those things,” Moonan said.

On what may lead to suicidal thoughts in young children, she said the core issue was a lack of support within the home.

“If you don’t have a father present...you have a mother who sometimes would hold down two jobs just to keep things going so the children are quite often neglected emotionally...they don’t have that emotional support.

“When they go home the mother is not there. They come home to an empty house and sometimes they have very little self worth. They don’t know why they are in this world,” Moonan said.

Moonan said more children have been reaching out to Childline for help but this was not just for sexual offences alone.

Asked to provide sexual offences statistics involving children she referred to the Police Service saying the statistics compiled by Childline would not be a representation of the national trend.

On its website the Police Service reported 388 cases of rape, incest and sexual offences for the year to date.

She also expressed concern that the family unit was “fast disappearing,” adding that the extended family was also in jeopardy as in some cases grandmothers were working resulting in children not having anyone to turn to.

“So these children really feel very alone and it is a sad situation,” Moonan said.

Saying this was not in the country’s best interest she asked, “When these children grow up you ask yourself how functional will they be? Can they operate as normal? They are traumatised and need help?”

She said when a troubled call came to Childline, counselling was provided by trained personnel and in serious situations the caller was referred to other agencies for help.

Moonan said while yesterday’s launch was welcomed what was also needed was the implementation of laws and a change in culture to properly tackle the problem of violence, including sexual offences against women and children.

Canadian High Commissioner Carla Hogan Rufelds said there have been daily reports of sexual violence against women, an indication that this remained a serious problem, both in terms of numbers and the difficulties in bringing the perpetrator to justice.

The Jurist Project is a five-year regional Caribbean judicial reform initiative funded under an arrangement with the Canadian government. It is being implemented in at least six countries on behalf of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) and the heads of judiciary of Caricom. The project works with judiciaries in the region to support their own efforts to improve court administration and strengthen the ability of the courts and the judiciary to resolve cases efficiently and fairly.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert says his workload was too heavy and he was grateful for Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s “intervention” in appointing Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister PM, Stuart Young, to chair the Cabinet’s Finance and General Purposes sub-committee .

“His intervention has taken a lot of pressure off of me,”Imbert said yesterday denying he was being punished for his performance and recent controversies including his “0-0-0” wage restraint statements and “rioting” quip about gas price hikes.

Rowley confirmed in Parliament on Wednesday that Young now chairs the F&GP committee — which deals with major matters before Cabinet decides on them.

Imbert headed that since Government assumed office in September last year.

UNC MP Ganga Singh had asked if it was accepted protocol for the Finance Minister to chair F&GP. Rowley said former PNM Minister Lenny Saith had chaired F&GP for five years though he wasn’t in Finance.

Saith was Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister and had headed Planning, Public Administration and Information, and Energy. Imbert said yesterday the change was made by the PM two weeks ago.

“My workload is extremely heavy. In addition to Finance duties and the difficult task of restructuring of the economy in the face of the collapse in energy revenues, establishing the new public procurement system, implementing the property tax, managing the Government’s divestment programme for 2017, etc, etc, I chair several other Government committees and have oversight of over 50 State enterprises also.”

“The PM was of the view, that I was very much overloaded. The adjustment will free up some of my time to attend to my substantive work, which I appreciate.”

When OAS worker Norris Mendoza got laid off last year, he started working PH to get money to support his family and to send his eldest daughter, Elise, to university.

But Mendoza’s dreams of seeing his daughter graduate were brought to an abrupt end on Wednesday night, when two men posing as passengers hijacked, robbed, stabbed and shot him dead.

Police believe Mendoza, 44, picked up two men at High Street, Princes Town, but it is uncertain what happened along the way.

Around 10.30 pm, officers were on patrol when they saw Mendoza’s Wingroad parked off a deserted road off Fifth Company, Second Branch Trace, Indian Walk, Moruga.  The car’s headlights were on and a door was open. As the officers approached, two men jumped out the car and ran, police said.

Further checks revealed blood in the back seat and when the officers followed the bloody trail downhill, they found Mendoza’s body down a precipice. His hands were tied and he had several stab wounds in his chest. 

A photograph of a bloodied body with handcuffs was being circulated on social media yesterday, but senior officers denied Mendoza was handcuffed when he was found dead.

At the family’s Poui Trace, Moruga home, Mendoza’s aunt Margaret London said the entire community was saddened by his untimely death. She said Mendoza got laid off last year after the $7.4 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project was shut down.

“Since then he trying to make ends meet. He used to do a little construction and he used to cut people yard with the weedwacker. He loved his wife and his daughters. He was a kind-hearted family man,” London said, adding Mendoza was looking forward to celebrating Christmas.

Mendoza’s wife, Kristy, said they were supposed to start Christmas cleaning yesterday. The family had already put up a Christmas tree and Mendoza hoped his family could enjoy a special Christmas with the extra money he earned.

Kristy said Mendoza never worked the graveyard shift.

“He was careful not to work late. I went to church and he was supposed to pick me up at 9.30 pm. When he did not come I got worried,” Kristy said.

She said sometime later she got a call that Mendoza was found dead. She said Mendoza never received his outstanding wages or his severance payments from OAS.

“Now he is gone and we have to find a way to cope with this,” Kristy said.

Police said they have not yet arrested anyone in connection with Mendoza’s death. Anyone with information can contact CrimeStoppers at 800-TIPS.

RADHICA DE SILVA

Joan Cheryl Cooper received death threats over a year ago, following an ongoing land dispute. When she was finally gunned down in Marabella yesterday, her relatives still could not believe the threat had materialised.

“How could this happen? I thought it would end with a cuss out but look! She dead now,” Cooper’s brother, Derrick Aberdeen, wept as he gazed at Cooper’s body in the front seat of a white Nissan Sentra at Grenada Terrace, Harmony Hall, Marabella.

The killing occurred around 6.30 am, a day before Cooper, 53, was expected to appear in the San Fernando High Court to testify in the land dispute case. Cooper’s boyfriend Carl Edmund, who worked as a landscaper, was also shot in the left side of the chest and was listed in stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital last night.

Police said Cooper and Edmund had just come out their driveway when a man dressed in white walked up to their car and fired. The shooter then ran to a nearby street, jumped in a waiting car and drove off. The man was seen fidgeting with an item in his car before ambushing the couple. Cooper was shot in the abdomen and died within minutes.

Aberdeen said he last spoke to Cooper about a month ago. He said she had lodged a report at the Marabella Police Station after the threats were made and police investigated it and later charged the offender.

Describing Cooper as a kind-hearted and loving mother, Aberdeen said she lived for sometime at Bayshore, Marabella, but moved out about five years ago to live with Edmund. Aberdeen said Cooper worked with CEPEP and was devoted to her five children—Simon, Sheldon, Natty, Shivaughn and Kesha. 

“We grew up with love. We had different fathers but all we ever knew was love,” Aberdeen said.

He explained that it was this kind-heartedness that led to the land dispute. He said sometime ago a relative’s home was burnt down and arson was suspected but no one was ever arrested. 

Police said yesterday that they were looking for CCTV footage to help them locate the killer. Several of Cooper’s family, including her daughter Shivaughn Moffat, said she planned to go to court as usual today.

“The lawyer has to know what happened. My mother did not deserve this. She was a good woman,” Moffat wept. 

“I was not expecting her life to be in danger. I was expecting something, but not this.”

An autopsy is scheduled to be done on Cooper’s body today. Anyone with information on her killing can contact CrimeStoppers at 800-TIPS or call the San Fernando Homicide Bureau.

Trying to find who was at fault in Monday night’s accident that left six people dead is not of great concern to the police service, since both drivers died and no one can be prosecuted. What the lawmen hope to achieve is getting drivers to be more cautious and courteous on the road.

Speaking at the weekly police press briefing yesterday, Road Safety Coordinator, Constable Brent Batson, reminded drivers that after you have received the green light you should still wait three to four seconds before proceeding through an intersection. He said a colleague who arrived at the scene and saw “flesh and steel intertwined” was so traumatised he had to leave.

Kapil Deonarinesingh They should advertise safety driving tips on the TV and radio stations because people does switching lanes on the highway jus so without there indicators on. How hard it is to put on yuh indicator? To me that is what causes many accidents on d highway.....senseless driving

Jerome Smith So they goin tuh beef up harassing careful drivers about window tints, fading license plate numbers, inspection stickers, wearing seat belts, car paint quality and car music. While they do that to raise revenue for government reckless drivers goin undetected.

Law enforcement and domestic abuse to make the love partner comply follow the same thought process. T&T have any laws that draw upon positive motivation. Or draw upon awarding desired behaviours? When these decision makers goin the realize they bulldog approach ain’t the solution?

Christal Fye If there is no one to enforce it what is the sense. They could bring back hanging too.

Sista Doll They need to send out the relevant authorities an enforce the dam law on a regular basis,an not just when they are in the moods.....simple!!!

Dixie-Ann Belle Using cameras at intersections and ticketing offenders would be a welcome method.

Fast-track city

T&T does not have any major emergency plan to deal with the aftermath of a major earthquake said Gregory Aboud, President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA).

He referred to Tuesday’s earthquake 6.1 tremor which hit T&T.

“It was a very sharp earthquake but it was short in duration and the country escaped from any major damage. But it does draw into question our capability to deal with a major event. We do not at this time have a settled evacuation plan in the event of a catastrophe like an earthquake. We only have plans to deal with flooding and storms but we do not have an emergency evacuation plan to cope with a major seismic event,” he said.

Davlon Seeram Do we even have an idea?

Luke Sagittarius We don’t even have a plan for crime you’ll stressing on earthquake

Jamal Peters They can’t fix a pothole properly what are the odds of handling an earthquake damaged country?

Jerome Smith DOMA decrying inability to clear out the city in the event of a disaster. But the same DOMA don’t want to decentralize their businesses out of the capital city to reduce the number of people who might need clearing out in a heavy disaster hit the city. They don’t want government to decentralize either. Hypocrites.

Harry Ramharack Any suggestions from anyone? Roadways can collapse in an earthquake.

Lucretia Violet Jupiter One sinkhole at the Lighthouse stops entry into POS, Sealots/ Beetham residents get vex, a gas truck in Central turns over in the road, all these incidents and the country shuts down. any questions?

Residents cut off

Hours after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake rocked T&T, a section of the Basta Hall Main Road in Couva caved in, rupturing a water line, and triggering angry protests by residents.

The road connects Basta Hall to Milton and the main district in Couva. The area has about 500 people.

Karlene Sonders You people wicked to the bone. Why not thank God to be alive today.

Nerissa Dqueen The earthquake is being blamed for everything now!....WASA must be feeling relieved!!

Theresa Lia Not being in Indonesia where over 100 people are dead and 9000 homeless, instead of giving thanks, you create a bonfire to protest a leak, luckily it is not dry season......then you have a raging bush fire, blame the firemen when it is not brought under control. Trini mentality.

Samantha Maria Tyson I don’t understand this concept of blocking road and burning debris, they mostly inconvenience their neighbours and other residents steups

Stephen Sookram Apparently thats what you have to do to get things done in this country, PROTEST! so what if the community is inconvenienced for a day?

Anessa Simone Hamilton This protest was organised pretty quickly eh! Now if only we could mobilise like this to lend support to others. We have a busy last few months of the year...

A second autopsy has been ordered on the body of bank clerk Shannon Banfield, after the first returned with inconclusive results yesterday.

Police sources told the T&T Guardian that because Banfield's body was in an advanced stage of decomposition her cause of death could not be immediately determined by forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday. Des Vignes reportedly performed his examination and took samples yesterday but will take some time to produce his final report.

The T&T Guardian understands the second autopsy was recommended to investigators by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in order to bolster the case. The second post mortem is expected be performed next week by one of Des Vignes' two colleagues at the centre - Dr Valery Alexandrov or Eastlyn Burris-McDonald.

Banfield's relatives refused to reveal the results of yesterday's autopsy to media personnel outside the centre yesterday, as they claimed they wished to inform other family members before the news was broadcast.

Meanwhile, the two IAM Company Ltd employees who worked at the Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain warehouse where Banfield's body was found, and were later identified as persons of interest, remained detained yesterday. The duo, Dale Seecharan and Matthew Maharaj, are from San Juan, police said.

Questions are now being asked about the length of time between Banfield's disappearance on Monday and the eventual discovery of her body on Thursday afternoon.

In a telephone interview yesterday, owner of the company, Ishmael Ali, admitted that police investigating Banfield's disappearance came to his store on Tuesday morning seeking CCTV camera footage, but left empty-handed.

"They said they wanted to check the cameras and the staff wasn't too sure they were police. My son, who has a special password for it, said to call him and he would provide it but after that they never called back," Ali said.

However, a press release issued yesterday by the T&T Police Service's Public Affairs Unit said although investigators visited the business three times after her mother reported her missing and requested the CCTV footage, none was forthcoming until her body was found.

"All the other business establishments in the area where Ms Banfield was last known to have been, including Pennywise, were approached for access to their CCTV footage and this was immediately forthcoming," the release said, adding strict protocol was followed in the investigation.

Contacted to respond, Ali maintained he co-operated with the police and was only contacted a second time on Thursday when Banfield's body was found.

"Shortly after I got the news I start to call the police in Port-of-Spain and Senior Supt Boxhill came to my office to look at the monitors. They came around 1 pm and left after 7 pm. We did not deny them anything. I co-operate with the police all the time," Ali said.

"We don't be at that store at all, so it is only staff. They (the police) could have find out who I am and come and see me and I would have helped in any way I can."

Banfield, of Mc Carthy Street, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz, was last seen leaving her work place—RBL's Independence Square branch—around 4 pm on Monday.

In a telephone conversation with her mother Sherry-Ann Lopez around that time, Banfield had said she was leaving work to purchase items at the same store (IAM) she was eventually found in. Lopez said she would normally drop off and pick up her daughter from work, but she (Banfield) decided to travel on Monday.

Banfield's body was discovered hidden under some boxes in company's third floor storeroom around 1.30 pm on Thursday by employees who were searching for the source of a strong decomposing scent which they believe was a dead rat. Banfield's purse and shopping bags were found near to her body.

Ali yesterday revealed that his two employees turned suspects were recently hired by his company.

"It is 50 years we in business. All of our employees have been working 19 years and 26 years, we don't really have too much new employees like those two," he said.

While he said the incident was very worrying, Ali said he would be attempting to reopen the business by next week to take advantage of Christmas shoppers.

"Its is Christmas time and business has been rough so we want to open back. But the place must be fumigated first and the employees have to get some counseling because they are all shaken up," Ali said.

Ali also dismissed links being made on social media between Banfield's death and that of former employee Shenese Samuel, who disappeared after she left her Lopinot home on January 24 last year for a job interview in Port-of-Spain. Ali noted that Samuel had been laid off by the company over an incident several months before her disappearance.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Harikrishen Baldeo and Senior Supt Saisnarine Mahabir of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations are continuing investigations.

A 22-year-old would-be bandit was shot in the face by an off-duty police officer after he robbed a bakery owner of $30,000 yesterday.

Police said the attempted robbery took place around noon off the Southern Main Road, Curepe.

Police said the owner of Ken Corner Spot Bakery had just withdrew the cash from a nearby bank and was returning to his business along Lyndon Street when two bandits approached him and stole the money.

The off-duty officer was alerted to what was happening next door and came outside to see the thieves making off with the loot.

The officer shot at one of the bandits, hitting him in the mouth.

His accomplice managed to escape in a waiting Suzuki Swift.

When officers searched the bleeding thief, they found the money on him. Police said the man lived in Gonzales, Belmont, and was in a serious condition at hospital last night.

PC Williams, who visited the scene with Sgt Rene Katwaroo and Snr Supt Nelson, is continuing investigations.

In an unrelated incident, the owners of Sylvie’s Roti Shop on Backchain Street, San Juan, were forced to close up shop early after a gunman opened fire outside their business place, injuring two customers.

The injured men, who remained unidentified up to press time, had just entered the business and hadn’t ordered yet when the glass doors and windows were cut op-en by bullets.

At the end of the attack, the men had been shot, one in the wrist and the other in the leg.

Employees said they were thankful the injuries were not more serious, since the recently refurbished roti-shop was filled with the lunchtime crowd.

Officers of the Barataria Police Station are continuing investigations.

A Laventille man became another casualty of the ongoing Rasta City and Muslim war on Thursday night, when he was gunned down near his home.

The shooting also injured the man’s brother and a teenage girl.

According to police, around 9.30 pm Omari “Night Man” Goodridge was with his brother Tekima Goodridge and their friend Dey-Shaun Campbell near their Dan Kelly, Laventille home, when they were approached by a gunman who opened fire.

Police said Goodridge, 25, was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

His younger brother was shot in both legs while Campbell was shot in the leg. Both Tekima, 24, and Campbell were hospitalised last night.

Speaking at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Goodridge’s mother, Terri-Ann Goodridge, said her sons spent most of the day Thursday with her and about an hour after they left she was told her eldest boy was dead and the other injured.

She added that her son was not involved in any gang activity, but said he lived in an area that had gang activity. She said, however, that he never told her of being threatened by anyone.

Another relative, who did not want to be identified, said there was once unity in the warring parts of East Port-of-Spain as “all was one.”

The relative added that Goodridge “was no saint” as he would defend himself from any attacks, but did not divulge if he was involved in any other criminal activity.

In an unrelated incident, a man’s dismembered body was found in a toilet in Malick, Barataria, yesterday.

His right hand was cut off, as were both his legs. A cutlass was found next to the body.

The debate on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Agreement (FATCA) was foiled by a second walkout by the Opposition in Parliament yesterday.

Debate on the controversial FATCA legislation now runs over to Monday — a situation which left Government MPs fuming.

|“They walked out on FATCA debate twice. We can’t pass this bill on our own, they’re guilty of dereliction of duty to the people,” Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said. “Chambers, business associations, the media, everybody should condemn them — shame on the Opposition.”

Government and Opposition had met yesterday where the legislation was to have been debated following the failure to agree in September.

Then, the Opposition had taken issue with several clauses and during final stages of debate, had walked out of the chamber. The bill which requires Opposition support for passage had lapsed. Government had promised to return it to debate after the 2017 Budget and that it would be scrutinised by a Joint Select Committee as the Opposition wanted.

The legislation facilitates US dealings with local financial entities on US citizens’ accounts. It would enable all local institutions to identify and report to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the accounts of US clients. I f not enacted, T&T could suffer sanctions from the US including a 30 per cent withholding tax on transactions and halt of online financial transactions. This stands to shut down T&T’s banking sector and the economy. The US Government has urged T&T to pass the legislation by February 2017.

Before yesterday’s debate began, however, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar raised for debate the issue of T&T’s rising crime, as a matter of urgent national importance. She cited lives lost and missing people amid a rapid escalation of crime. She said murders are being committed with impunity daily at an unprecedented rate and the situation was causing fear, with families losing loved one.

She said if that continued, it would send signals to criminals that their deeds would go unpunished and could continue. She said the situation was damaging T&T’s reputation.

“There could be no more important matter than protecting the lives of our citizens,” Persad-Bissessar said.

House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George said the matter did not qualify for debate under the regulation Persad-Bissessar had filed it and advised she refile it under regulation 16. As Annisette-George spoke, Persad-Bissessar protested the development, as did rumbling Opposition voices.

Annisette-George instructed Persad-Bissessar and UNC MP Rodney Charles to leave.

But even as Annisette-George began speaking, all other UNC MPs had already grabbed their belongings and moved to leave also. Some complaining noisily. Despite the empty Opposition benches, Government pressed on with “debate” on the bill, with statements from AG Al-Rawi, PNM MPs Fitzgerald Hinds and Stuart Young — all of whom condemned the Opposition’s walk-out.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert later began winding up debate which continues next Monday.

Nine months after his traumatic death, a mother has finally been able to prepare for her son’s funeral, but may never know how he died.

Christine Nedd, collected the charred remains of her 14-year-old son Darian Nedd from the Forensic Science Centre, yesterday. An the autopsy categorised his death as being undetermined.

The body was kept for nine months after his burnt dismembered corpse was found in the ruins of his home at Red Brick Trace, South Oropouche, as police awaited confirmation from deoxyribonucleic acid, (DNA) test to confirm his identity.

Nedd said while putting her son to rest would bring a certain amount of closure, the fact that the autopsy could not determine how he died was a bitter pill to swallow.

“I wanted to know how he died. His hands and feet were missing. I will never know if he died before his killer set fire to the house or if he was alive and left for the fire to consume him. That is a secret only he and his killer knows now.”

Initial reports stated that the body of the Form One student, of the Siparia East Secondary School, was dismembered when it was found amid the ruins of their wooden house on March 20.

In an interview after the body was released to a funeral home, in preparation for his interment next week, Nedd said: “I dreaded this happening. This is a real horror. All of the feelings I experienced on the day he died is coming back fresh, fresh. I could never get no justice, no satisfaction, because nothing could bring him back. But losing your son and not knowing how it happened is worse than anything I or any mother could ever experience.”

She said it has taken courage and her faith in God, to rebuild and live in the same area. Her son’s remains would be brought back to his home for a final service next week before being cremated. His ashes would be strewn on the burnt out spot of where he died.

“That is where the rest of his body is. I don’t want to separate him.”

On Tuesday, 25-year-old fisherman Roger Ragoonath re-appeared in the Siparia Magistrate’s court charged with Darian’s murder. The matter has been adjourned to January, next year.

It was Christmas 2012.

Single mom, Cheryl Alexander, lived with her four children in a small house in Jacob’s Hill, Wallerfield blocked around with plywood and galvanise sheets.

Over the dirt floor, she had spread a piece of vinyl.

She bought puzzles and other toys for the children and thought they would sit on the floor and play with them. But the rains came and flooded out their little home and ruined their Christmas.

Alexander was so sad for her children she vowed to get up and do something about their living conditions.

With the help of Government agencies she was able to build a concrete foundation for a new house on the same plot of land.

But it was as far as she got as further pleas for help were turned down. She and her family continued to live in the plyboard home for the next four years.

The dreams of her their new home remained with only its foundation for three years until Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with Republic Bank Ltd, stepped in last year.

Within a year, Alexander was able to complete her entire house and she and her children hope to move in by Christmas.

Alexander, a 46-year old Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme worker, was provided with financing to complete her house which she repays in affordable monthly payments.

“The children are so excited,” Alexander told the T&T Guardian.

She was one of six people present at a house dedication ceremony at Cashew Gardens, Chaguanas yesterday who either got assistance to build new homes or repair or complete existing ones.

The ceremony was held for June Daban, another single mom, who had a brand new house constructed on a plot of land she acquired in the Land for the Landless programme.

Pastor Ramjit Ramayah, blessing Daban’s home, described Habitat for Humanity as “angels without wings.”

“God has to use somebody. We thank God for the instrument being used. They are like angels without wings.”

Daban, 44, lived in temporary housing provided by relatives in Caroni with her a 16-year old daughter, Shelly Ann.

“It was just a place where relatives who had nowhere to go could stay until they got something better,” she said.

Daban, a National Maintenance Training and Security Company Ltd worker, said she had gotten a plot of land in Cashew Gardens about three years ago in the Land for the Landless programme where recipients were chosen by random draws.

“I went to the T&T Mortgage Finance Company right after to get a loan to build a house but was told I didn’t qualify because my fortnightly salary of $1,400 was too small,” she said.

She said Habitat for Humanity got her name and those of the other five other recipients from different agencies and she received a call from them one day last year.

“Through them, I got my house built and Shelly Ann and I will be moving in for Christmas. I thank God I have my own house.”

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Kazim Hosein has indicated his intention to clean up T&T in early January 2017.

Hosein rolled out his decision to have a nationwide campaign at the swearing in ceremony for councillors of the San Fernando City Corporation on Thursday evening.

The former mayor said just as he did in San Fernando, getting people to volunteer to rid the streets of derelict vehicles, clean abandoned lots and generally clean up the city, he intends to do the same for T&T.

He said he will not be wasting time, and once all of the mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen, vice chairmen and aldermen are sworn in , which should be concluded by next Wednesday, he intends to meet with them all the next day to start working.

“Within the next two to three weeks I want to have a national clean up within the whole country of T&T. It is going to take some planning, and I know I will get the help of all the corporations, because all of us want the same thing. We want a clean environment, we want a safe environment. This national clean up would take place by early January, but we have to get it done.”

Anderson Williams, the councillor for Les Efforts West/La Romaine, who was the third of the nine to take his oath of office and sign a declaration, received the lustiest round of applause, for having won the seat for the PNM for the first time in 24 years.

Attorney General and Member of Parliament for San Fernando West Faris Al-Rawi ,who witnessed the swearing in ceremony, said it was an historic day for the city as it had been united by one party in every single electoral seat.

Al-Rawi said the fact that they won the Les Efforts/La Romaine seat for the first time in 24 years, signals a very special obligation on the part of all councillors and all members past and present, to represent the people of San Fernando.

Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein and chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional corporation, Terry Rondon, are admitting there is need for a “proper building policy in rural areas and more particularly Toco, Matelot and Grand Riviere,” areas which are annually affected by heavy rains and winds.

The communities suffered for yet another time this week as heavy winds and rains pounded the areas leaving dozens of landslips, homes covered in slush and mud and crops destroyed.

Hosein, who along with Works Minister Rohan Sinananundertook an aerial tour of the affected areas, said a solution must be found to the perennial problem.

He admitted it would not be easy, but he said they had to try.

Hosein said while on the aerial tour he was “shocked” by the devastation which he saw. He said, “When we were going over the mountain, we saw the earth and there was no greenery; that is to tell you how hard the rain fell. The gravel was coming down; it was scary to know the downpour was so heavy. We saw dozens of landslides from the air.”

Following the aerial tour, he said he subsequently returned to Toco, where he spent the day last week Friday. Hosein said he organised food, water and building materials for residents, but it was difficult to drive through because of the landslips.

“Even the T&TEC trucks were having difficulty getting into some of the areas,” he said.

Hosein said it was clear that these communities which suffered devastation annually needed more than temporary assistance. He said: “We have a Rural Development Team and I have discussed with the permanent secretary that I want the team to meet with the chairman and members of Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, members of the community, religious bodies, the schools, the fisher-folk ,we have to sit down and discuss solutions.”

From the aerial tour of the area he said they noticed that “people have built houses on the hills and river banks. It is clear that building codes in these areas are not what they should be. We need to address that. The unfortunate thing is that people have their homes already but we have to educate them about the dangers in how they are building.”

He added: “When they build a house on a river bank, the rivers invade their homes when the rains come, slush from the hills and rivers invade their homes and they are filled with slush and mud. It is a dangerous place to live, but people have houses already. It will always be like that unless we can get people to think differently, that area is prone to disaster,” he said.

Rondon agreed. He said: “We have to have a building policy in rural areas because it is very hard on us.” As councillor for the area he said, he would get serious on the issue in January.

“It will be a priority in the New Year we have to go out and educate the people,” he said.

Rondon admitted that “this is a disaster prone area because we are located between two mountains.”

He added: “Year after year it is getting worse. We did drainage, but when they cut into the mountains it cut off the drainage. Right now, I estimate the damage and losses to be in the region of two million dollars or more, because is is not just homes and personal items, it is food crops, boats, engines, nets,” he said.

“So why are people building homes on the mountains and so close to the rivers? In the dry season it is beautiful. But when the rains come and the river mouth close mud and slush gushes into homes. In one case, a man in Toco can’t live in his house again.”

Asked how people who built on the mountainsides and the river banks got water and electricity, Rondon admitted he intervened on their behalf to help them, but he said ,“I, too, have to stop helping them. I will also tell the building inspectors to issue a no cause notice to them so they can’t build.”

Rondon is lobbying for a disaster centre that can quickly mobilise to get tractors and other equipment into affected areas.”

Ten students who took turns beating a classmate have been suspended from the El Dorado West Secondary and would be sent for rehabilitation at the Learning Enhancement Centre, in Couva.

The incident which took place nearly two weeks ago, was videotaped and shared on social media, was yet another case of violence among school children.

The attack depicted in the two-minute, four-second video reportedly filmed on October 26, captured the victim being threatened and pushed before the group of female students begin punching and kicking her. She was kicked in the head by one of the attackers. Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan said yesterday the victim of the fight received counselling and had returned to school without any problems.

He said that the ministry continued to provide ongoing support for all the students involved.

Speaking on the issue as they attended a signing ceremony at the Caribbean Dockyard and Engineering Services Limited, Chaguaramas - Education Minister Anthony Garcia said he would meet with the parents of the 10 students on Tuesday.

Both Seecharan and Garcia said that strategies were being implemented to minimise and eliminate such acts of violence including stricter monitoring by principals and school supervisors.

A week ago, Minister in the Ministry Dr Lovell Francis expressed concern about the brutality of the attack as he said corrective measures had been introduced immediately in the aftermath of attack.

Francis said El Dorado West Secondary was one of the better functioning government schools that continued to do very well academically, and the incident was an isolated one which does not reflect the school’s true potential.

Trinity, this country’s largest independent exploration and production company, yesterday announced plans to raise approximately US$15 million as part of a wider financial restructuring.

Executive chairman Bruce Dingwall said the plan, if successful, will “bring to an end a period of prolonged uncertainty for Trinity, and will provide a strong foundation for the company to move forward and develop the group’s valuable interest across the Onshore, East Coast and West Coast production areas for the benefit of shareholders and the company’s other stakeholders.”

The company said in an official announcement: “The company has been in a formal sale process and strategic review of the options available to the company to maximise value for shareholders since April 8, 2015. Having considered the options available, the board believes that the restructuring represents the best approach for the group and the board now intends to focus exclusively on this funding route.”

The plan includes a placing and subscription of 187,600,000 ordinary shares which is expected to raise US$11.725 million, as well as issuance of convertible loan notes to raise US$3.275 million.

An agreement to sell US20.8 million of the company’s onshore producing assets to Touchstone Exploration Inc. fell through earlier this year and Trinity is now focusing on restructuring, which would reduce its net debt to US27.4 million from $52.5 million as at October 31.

The company said its main shareholder and a number of its directors will be active in the fundraising.The proceeds will go towards paying off creditors, covering one-off restructuring costs, and resuming drilling activities with an initial programme of four new onshore wells.

The company has entered into agreements with creditors, including Citi, to settle its debts, while its T&T subsidiaries have filed a creditors proposal.

“Reaching a satisfactory settlement with our creditors will enable Trinity to utilise the services of significant numbers of employees and contractors and continue to contribute to the economy of Trinidad and Tobago,” Dingwall said.

“Trinity takes great pride in being a locally managed company, and the close working relationships that this fosters.

“It is the forbearance, goodwill and collegiate approach of our many stakeholders that has enabled Trinity to sustain operations and we look forward to maintaining these important working relationships in the future.”

Trinity, which became a listed company on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in February 2013, operates 12 licenses—11 in Trinidad and one in South Africa. The company is based in San Fernando with a corporate office in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Christmas came two weeks early for some looters in San Juan yesterday.

Last month, on November 21, D&J Budget Mart Limited, located at Prizgar Road in San Juan, went up in flames.

D&J is a supplier of liquor and dry goods and as a result of the fire, hundred of thousands of dollars worth of items went up in flames.

The fire broke out around 1.30 am.

When the fire broke out neighbours began a bucket brigade in an attempt to battle the blaze.

The fire services eventually arrived, fought the blaze and were able to ensure that it did not spread to nearby houses.

The tide changed yesterday, however, as neighbours opted to loot the business place instead. Video footage of the looting went viral on social media site Facebook yesterday.

People were seen leaving the business place with an array of items including alcohol, soft drinks, and cheese.

Prizgar Road was packed with cars being filled with loot.

Some people escaped with items in their arms instead.

One of the men involved in taking items from D&J said the company received compensation from its insurer and that they were given the green-light by the owner to take what they wanted.

This explanation could not be verified by the Sunday Guardian.

At 8.50 pm last night, Matthew Maharaj, 18, one of two men held in connection with the death of Shannon Banfield was released from police custody. Maharaj is now questioning how he will continue with his life.

The customer attendant at I AM Company Ltd said he had been employed at the store for six weeks before he was labelled a wanted man in the media following the disappearance and subsequent death of Banfield, 20.

“I think the entire thing was very unfair because my face was in the media and now people will see that and say I am the man who kill the woman. How I supposed to get a job now? Right now I just want to go home and sleep in a comfortable bed and I wish that this just disappear,” Maharaj said.

The Sunday Guardian visited the teen’s El Socorro home prior to his release and was told by neighbours that he was a “quiet boy” and they were surprised that he would harm anyone since “he always inside and does hardly talk”.

Outside the Homicide Bureau, Riverside Plaza, last night, Maharaj admitted that by not showing up for work on Tuesday he “looked bad”, but said he was not feeling well.

On Wednesday, he went to work and stayed all day. Maharaj said he asked about the stench coming from the business but was not given a response, and he forgot about it. However, on Thursday, he arrived 25 minutes late and was sent back home. Asked where he was on Monday evening, he said he was at work but did not see Banfield at the store because it was a busy day.

He added that the storage area where Banfield’s body was discovered could only be accessed by workers. While Maharaj was still in police custody his relatives told the Sunday Guardian that around 3.30 pm on Thursday he was telephoned by a Homicide detective and they met at City Gate.

A few hours later, a media release from the Police Service stated that he and Dale Seecharan were “persons of interest” in Banfield’s death.

The relatives said the Police Service (not the Homicide Bureau) acted irresponsibly by releasing the photographs of both men, particularly since the men were both in police custody when the release was sent out.

“When I reach home I just want to bathe because I ain’t bathe since Thursday, eat something filling, and get a long lecture from my family,” Maharaj said.

Three female relatives of Maharaj who waited for his release said their hearts go out to Banfield’s family, adding that they have no idea the pain they must be feeling.

The women, who did not want to be identified, said police failed in their duties to both their family and Banfield’s family.

The women said the release of the picture already painted Maharaj in a negative light and there were social media posts calling for him to be hanged.

Maharaj’s relatives said due to the incident, he will be moving out from his El Socorro home.

Maharaj’s attorney Criston Williams said the hierarchy of the Police Service caused irrevocable damage to his client’s character.

(See Pages A6, A7, A8)

SEECHARAN IN CUSTODY

Meanwhile, Homicide sources said Seecharan, who is being kept at the Belmont Police Station, did not show up for work since the disappearance of Banfield. The excuse he gave to the lawmen was that he had the “Trump”, a nickname given to the common cold.

Officers said they seized pornographic material from his home. Last night, he was being interviewed by Homicide detectives with his attorney Larry Williams.

Asked about Seecharan, Maharaj said they barely interacted outside of pleasantries and for assistance during work hours.

Banfield, of Mc Carthy Street, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz, was last seen leaving her work place—RBL’s Independence Square branch—around 4 pm on Monday. In a telephone conversation with her mother, Sherry-Ann Lopez around that time, Banfield had said she was leaving work to purchase items at the same store (I AM) she was eventually found in.

Lopez said she would normally drop off and pick up her daughter from work, but she (Banfield) decided to travel on Monday.

Banfield’s body was discovered hidden under some boxes in company’s third floor storeroom around 1.30 pm on Thursday by employees who were searching for the source of a stench which they believe was a dead rat. Banfield’s purse and shopping bags were found near to her body.

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams says the T&T Police Service (TTPS) did all it could in the search for Shannon Banfield.

It would be unfair to claim otherwise, Williams said. Banfield, 20, was reported missing by her mother Sherry-Ann Lopez on Monday.

Lopez said her last conversation with her daughter was on Monday around 4 pm when Banfield said she was leaving her workplace at Republic Bank’s Independence Square branch and was on her way to I AM & Company Limited on Charlotte Street to shop. On Thursday, Banfield’s body was found at I AM.

Speaking to the media following the Christmas on the Hill Christmas party for kids at Sogren Trace in Laventille, Williams said the TTPS followed all the necessary steps to find Banfield.

“The Police Service would have done what was necessary in addressing that investigation in a timely manner,” Williams said.

Williams said as soon as the police got information on Banfield’s disappearance they acted.

He said officers visited Charlotte Street in Port-of-Spain and tried to trace Banfield’s whereabouts.

Williams questioned why I AM & Company Limited was the only business place along Charlotte Street that did not cooperate with detectives.

“A private entity has rights under the law. If you don’t cooperate and the police has reasonable suspicion then the police can move one step further and take out a warrant.

“At the point in time the police had no reasonable suspicion. They had suspicion that there is a missing girl and something could have happened with her.

“So there is suspicion, whether that missing girl would have been in I AM at the time, police did not have reasonable suspicion to so point.

“So therefore taking out a warrant was not an option at that point in time,” he said.

Williams said there was nothing different the police could have done.

“There is nothing wrong with the policy (of dealing with missing people) so the police would have done what they are supposed to do.

“Instantly you receive a report of a missing person you investigate, you don’t wait, you investigate and that is exactly what the police would have done.

“In investigating you have information that the young lady would have been on a particular street,” Williams said.

“There is nothing different that the police could have done in that particular instance if they had more information which would have allowed them reasonable suspicion then they could have gone and get a warrant and search and if they had searched and not find the body then there would have been the question of the quality of the search but at that point in time, the police would have done what they were supposed to do and it is unfair to say that they police did not do it,” he said.

From beheadings and having their throats slit, to brutal sexual attacks and disappearing without a trace, women in this country are becoming more and more afraid of being attacked for being loud or dressing provocatively or worse, because they are just there, doing nothing but minding their own business.

The reaction to the murder of 20-year-old Shannon Banfield by women and men in homes, public transportation, workplace corridors, and on social media has been one of strong condemnation.

Since reporting of Banfield’s murder, prominent women have made vocal calls for government intervention, for women to take back their power, for education, and for men to stand in solidarity and support against gender-based violence.

Take back your Power

—Sunity Maharaj

Sunity Maharaj, the managing director of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies (LBIWI) immediately responded with a call to action for women to take back their power.

“Things can be easily done, information that can be made more available to women as to what to do, how to seek help when under threat,” said Maharaj in an interview.

“It is for women and all of us to recognise that the world has changed and society must be recrafted to recognise that women are no longer property. There is a lingering notion of property.”

She said there was no sense of capacity in the system to protect people, and women had the additional threat of rape.“Women have always been strong, I can’t bear the idea that women are afraid. They need to remember their personal power.”

Acknowledging that issue was not’t “simply” about murdered women, Maharaj said the State needed to get involved.

“You can hear they (the Government) are not saying anything because they do not know what to do. It is a fundamental problem with the development model.”

Men must stand up

—Gabrielle Hosein

“I think that men’s movements against violence against women need to be more active. I want to call on men to organise against violence against women, to come together and strategize on how they can play a role on stopping violence against women,” said women’s activist Gabrielle Hosein.

She said women’s safety was not guaranteed in this country and they did not feel protected by the protective services.

Hosein said she thought most women would say that ending a pervasive culture of fear about violence meant transforming the deep rooted reasons for those fears and for that violence.

“We know gender-based violence against women happens in a context where there are social norms that make the unequal relations of power between women and men a part of women’s daily lives.

“We have that kind of culture. When the Prime minister on the campaign trail says I am a loving man, but come elections day says I will beat her, in other words I am a loving man but if you step out of line I will show you who is boss. That is the language of violence normalised at the level of politics.”

Hosein said women were not safe in homes, in taxis, in work places, and in the streets.

She said police must be given resources and training to follow international best practices that have lowered the rate of violence against women in other countries.

We need more

education—Sherna

Alexander-Banjamin

Executive Director of the Organisation for Abused and Battered Individuals, Sherna Alexander-Benjamin, said one of the main things needed was education regarding the culture of gender-based violence against women and girls.

“We need to change the norms and to educate men to understand the value of a woman and her contribution to society.”

Benjamin said for things to change, a multi-sectoral approach was needed with a collaboration of government, religious leaders, civil society, and private organisations.

“It affects everyone, communities and families, and the effects of it is felt in wider society,” Benjamin said.

“Gender-based violence is not only a women’s issue. It is a men’s issue as well. We need to find other ways to resolve conflict. There is no sure-fire way that would work, it is using multiple approaches in combat.

45 women murdered so far for 2016

Shannon Banfield (Dec), Apphia Quamina, (Aug), Abiola Noel (Feb), Karen Grant (May), Vanessa Ackie (Oct), Crystal Tobias-Busby (Nov), Natalie Smart (Nov), Amanda Mayers (Nov), Anisha Ali (Oct), Judy Taylor (Oct), Jennifer Ragbir (Oct), Frieda Goodridge (Oct), Lisa Matagoolan (Sept), Carla Archalal (Sept), Summiya Davis (Sept), Tereesha Heeralal (Sept), Denise Martin (Sept), Rosemary Blackburn (Aug), Sueann Titus (Aug), Annie Sammie (July), Ardia Yearwood (Aug), Carlene Grant (July), Jenny Jones (July), Jameela Wilson (May), Crystal Ramlochan (May), Patricia Fletcher Thomas (May), Nerissa Goora (May), Karen Grant (May), Alicia Gilkes (April), Felicia Persad (April), Eden Teesdale (March), Ann Marie Bain (Mar), Gabrielle Francis (Mar), Aamina Mohammed (Mar), Angeline Ali (Feb), Aneesa Murray (Feb), Asami Nagakiya (Feb), Ishma Ali (Feb), Hassina Khan (Jan), Alvina Warner (Jan).