Reputed gang leader Rajaee Ali is receiving special privileges in prison, according to a senior prisons officer. This was the evidence tendered yesterday in defence of a lawsuit filed by Ali who is claiming inhumane treatment at the Port-of-Spain Prison.

Ali, who is on remand for the murder of Dana Seetahal, SC, and conspiring to murder radio announcer Kevaughn “Lerbz” Savory, is one of the best treated prisoners as he received special privileges and attention, prisons supervisor Christopher Vidale stated.

In the affidavits obtained by the T&T Guardian, the prisons officer said Ali was being kept in solitary confinement in a high security cell at the prison, known as F1, because of the high-profile nature of his alleged crimes and the fact that he escaped from the Golden Grove State Prison in Arouca while on remand for separate charges in 2007. 

Vidale claimed Ali was also given a mattress and a fan which normally could not be held in overcrowded cells. Other inmates on remand usually slept in make-shift hammocks. “I am not aware as to the reasons why the claimant was given his own fan but this was a case of special treatment and is quite irregular,” he stated. 

Besides being kept apart from other inmates, Ali is also complaining of being denied his daily one-hour “airing time” afforded to all remand prisoners under the Prisons Service’s regulations. 

Another prisons officer, Ian Hypolite, who is assigned to supervise Ali’s movement outside his cell, denied that allegation as he claimed Ali would sometimes refuse to leave his cell or would ask to cut his “airing time” short. 

While Hypolite claims a logbook had been created specifically to monitor Ali’s movements, he admitted the records might be incomplete as he could not say whether other officers maintained entries like he did. Hypolite also denied Ali’s allegation his cell was infested with vermin.

During a brief hearing of the case before Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, who is representing the State, asked for additional time to file additional evidence. Mendes request was not opposed by Ali’s lawyer Gerald Ramdeen. 

After granting the extension, Donaldson-Honeywell suggested that the court may have to do a site visit at the prison before the case went to trial. She also suggested that Ali could be cross-examined from the prison, using video conferencing equipment, if prisons officials had security concerns. 
The case has been adjourned to March 7. 
 

The disclosure of information on the local business community’s use of foreign exchange was lawful, necessary and in the best interest of T&T’s financial system. That was the response made by the Central Bank of T&T late yesterday following criticism from the private sector and concerns raised by Finance Minister Colm Imbert.

Following public concern regarding the disbursement of and access to foreign exchange, Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran revealed the top users of foreign exchange in T&T. 

During Senate debate on Wednesday Imbert claimed the release of the information may have been a criminal offence. He said there was a view that Rambarran breached at least three laws, namely the Central Bank Act, the Financial Institutions Act and the Exchange Control Act.
Imbert said he had received letters from financial institutions and others condemning the governor’s actions.

He said information in the banking system was transmitted to the Central Bank and “for one reason or another the Central Bank gathers the information about the purchases, transactions of banks and their customers and it keeps the information and each one of these laws says it is an offence to disclose that information.”

He said he could not ignore the letters he received and added that legal advice was now being sought. “It would be irresponsible of me not to seek advice as to whether the allegations made have any kind of basis or not.

“It would be irresponsible of me, having received this correspondence to just bury my head in the sand, throw it in a draw and forget about it. I am telling you tonight that it was not a good idea.This is what happened after the dissemination of that information,” he added.

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce also berated Rambarran for sharing the information. 

On Monday, the chamber said it wholly condemned the “clear breach of confidentiality on the part of the governor of the Central Bank” when he deliberately opted to identify by name, companies and businesses deemed to be top users of foreign exchange in the country.”

Referring to the same laws as Imbert, the Central Bank maintained  there had been no breach of confidentiality. In the release, the bank said it was of the firm view that information regarding T&T’s foreign exchange was of public concern and was therefore justified in its decision to name the companies with the highest demand for it.

The bank said the disclosure was necessary and in the best interest of the financial system, depositors, customers and other shareholders. 

“Those who have publicly criticised Governor Jwala Rambarran for the disclosure have suspiciously failed to refer or consider the Central Bank's mandate which guides its independent functions,” it added.

Chapter 79 of the Financial Institutions Act states that information may be disclosed if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the financial system in the country. The bank said it was of the firm view that information regarding T&T's foreign exchange was of public concern and it was therefore justified in its decision to name the companies with the highest demand for it.

Conspiracy claims

During Senate debate Opposition Senator Wade Mark said he felt there was a conspiracy against the Central Bank governor and pointed fingers at the Government.

“I believe this is all part of a conspiracy on the part of the Government to undermine the Central Bank governor,” he said.

He claimed Government was mobilising its forces and accused the Chamber of Commerce of trying to undermine the independence of the Central Bank.

However ,Independent Senator, Dhanayshar Mahabir, said focus needed to be placed on the concerns of private citizens.

“I hear the business community complaining all the time. The information from the governor showed me that the business community was getting large sums at the same time no one is heeding my case as a private citizen when I need $40,000 Canadian and all I could get in a bank is $1,000,” he added.

He said the disclosure of information placed the access to foreign exchange in a different context.

“Maybe the business community is crying a little louder than it should and the private citizens are not being heard and I was very happy to know that some people are getting $150 million and I can’t get $40,000 Canadian,” he added.

Conspiracy claims

During Senate debate Opposition Senator Wade Mark said he felt there was a conspiracy against the Central Bank governor and pointed fingers at the Government. “I believe this is all part of a conspiracy on the part of the Government to undermine the Central Bank governor,” he said.

He claimed Government was mobilising its forces and accused the Chamber of Commerce of trying to undermine the independence of the Central Bank. However ,Independent Senator, Dhanayshar Mahabir, said focus needed to be placed on the concerns of private citizens.

“I hear the business community complaining all the time. The information from the governor showed me that the business community was getting large sums at the same time no one is heeding my case as a private citizen when I need $40,000 Canadian and all I could get in a bank is $1,000,” he added. He said the disclosure of information placed the access to foreign exchange in a different context.

A local doctor is urging citizens against dismissing body pains as “gas” and to instead seek a medical opinion for any discomfort they may experience.

Anesthetist and intensivist Dr Peng Ewe, one of the three doctors who successfully removed the world’s second largest tumor from a Sangre Grande man last week, said citizens have a culture of dismissing every body pain they experience as gas. But a lot of times it is not and could be a tell tale sign that something is wrong.

“Pain is always an issue,” another member of the team, general vascular surgeon Dr Steve Budhooram said. In the case of the patient from whom the eight-pound tumour was removed, he said: “He had no pain so he felt all was well.

“It is the same thing with cancer of the breast. You still see a lot of women with advance cancer of the breast because it doesn’t pain but the moment you get a benign lesion in the breast because this is painful they seek help.”

Urologist and lead surgeon who performed the historic surgery, urologist Dr Lall R Sawh, advised men especially once they cross age 45, to do annual prostate examination. He said a lot of men shy away from this examination because of homophobia.

Sawh said it was one of the commonest cancers in this country, “yet men are not coming forward and even when they come forward they don’t want your finger in their rectum.” He said women are more accepting of medical examinations and did their annual breast examinations and pap smear to ensure they were cancer free. 

“We (men) are horrible in terms of taking care of our health and we need to be much more proactive in looking after our own health. Our health is our own responsibility, not the responsibility of doctors and nurses,” Sawh said.

Both doctors Ewe and Budhooram said the incidence of colorectal cancer (also known as colon cancer, rectal cancer, or bowel cancer) was on the rise in T&T. 

Ewe said gastroenterologists picked up two to three cases every week. They advised susceptible patient, which includes older people, those with inherited genetic disorders, diabetes sufferers and those who are obese, to see their doctors.

Signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss and feeling tired all the time. Dr Sawh said the tumour, which was removed from the 52-year old patient at the Southern Medical Clinic, San Fernando, on December 2, has been sent to the lab for analysis to determine if the growth was cancerous.

The patient was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and is recuperating at his home. Medical records state that it was the largest tumour removed in the western hemisphere and the second largest in the world. The largest was 5.018 kilogramme, approximately 11 lbs, in a New Delhi Hospital at The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India.

For the second time in a week, the Coast Guard have assisted police in catching drug traffickers, this time seizing close to $5 million in marijuana and cocaine in the Gulf of Paria.

On Tuesday, two suspects from Carenage were handed over to the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB), along with the drugs and two illegal pistols. 

According to a media release yesterday, Coast Guard Interceptor 033 was patrolling the waters off Chaguaramas when around 1.15 pm they were approaching a pirogue with two occupants, which suddenly sped off in another direction.

The pirogue was intercepted after a short chase and escorted to Coast Guard headquarters, Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas. Two large, blue plastic containers were found. In them were 41 packets of marijuana weighing 21.92 kilogrammes, with an estimated street  value of $2,183,582.72 and two packets of cocaine weighing 2.26 kilogrammes, with an estimated street value of $2,787,840. Two Glock 9mm pistols were also retrieved from the containers.

Lt Comdr Kirk Jean-Baptiste said the pirogue had no fish and it appeared the men’s mission was to traffic drugs into the country. The bust comes after the Coast Guard held four men following a gun deal in Toco on December 3. 

A report stated that Coast Guard and police were on a joint patrol in Toco when around 1.15 am, they noticed two men in a blue Honda CRV drive to the waterfront to meet two other men in a vessel as it approached the shore. 

Police said they observed all four occupants making a transaction and as the officers approached, the men darted into the vehicle and sped off. The officers fired warning shots and when the men failed to stop, the vehicle’s tyres were shot out. 

The men got out and ran but the officers pursued and arrested three of them. A pistol and two magazines loaded with several rounds of ammunition were recovered. Jean-Baptiste said the routine operations were part of the Coast Guard’s vigilance in its crime-fighting efforts.

A High Court judge yesterday used a human rights forum to make a strong call for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation and matters of privacy, starting with the amendment of laws which now affect people in such a manner. 

Justice Frank Seepersad made the call at the symposium organised by the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine, in partnership with the European Union.

“We cannot bury our heads in the sand. The world has changed, relationships have evolved and an individual’s right to determine whom he or she should love and forge a future with should be respected,” Seepersad told the forum.

“The courts should not be shackled by antiquated laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and should not have to mete out treatment that is inconsistent with the treatment that is afforded to heterosexual couples.” 

He slammed the criminalisation of anal sex between consenting homosexual couples and the failure to recognise civil partnerships or marriages between consenting same sex couples

Before an audience of leading jurists, intellectuals and activists, he suggested “that the law has to be dynamic. It has to evolve and it has to be relevant to the society and in this global era it is ill-advised to operate as if we are in a vacuum.  

“Our laws should conform to international accepted standards and our citizens have every right to be afforded the same level of respect and protection that citizens in other parts of the developed world enjoy.” 

The renowned jurist said judges were the guardians of the Constitution and acted as the upholders of the fundamental rights and freedoms therein contained.

Accordingly, he said, judges played or ought to play a pivotal role in advancing the protection of human rights. He said the human rights challenges that faced judges could be readily remedied if there was the political will to do that which was right.

“The challenge for the Judiciary arises when internationally recognised human right norms are not incorporated into domestic law,” he said, in his discourse at the Noor Hassanali Auditorium, UWI.

To illustrate the point, he zoomed in on the controversial topic of sexual orientation and same sex unions. He noted that the Republic Constitution contained no explicit provision that covered non- discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.  

“Our equality legislation is primarily focused on equality of opportunity and makes no provisions with respect to discrimination that is premised upon sexual orientation,” he added.

He said while in many countries there had been a gradual acceptance of the right to enjoy a meaningful union with a partner of choice, to be able to own property jointly and to receive estate entitlements, in T&T the Sexual Offences Act criminalises buggery as between homosexual couples and did not recognise civil partnerships or marriages between consenting same sex couples.

“This position is viewed as being consistent with the right to enjoy family life and also the right not to be discriminated against because of sexual orientation. Our citizens have and enjoy no such rights and/or entitlements if they decide to be involved with a partner of the same sex,” he said.

He also cast light on T&T’s discriminatory Immigration Act which prohibits entry to homosexuals, a matter which is now engaging the Caribbean Court of Justice in the case of openly gay Jamaican attorney Maurice Tomlinson. 

Referencing matters affecting the right to privacy, he referenced the recent case of West Indies cricketer Lendl Simmons who was ordered to pay $150,000 in compensation for leaking sexually explicit photographs of account executive Therese Ho, with whom he had an extra-marital affair.
Seepersad said the court determined that there was no common law right to privacy and there was no tort of the misuse of private information. 

However, he pointed out that in Europe, the European Convention or Human Rights recognised that there was a right to privacy and therefore issues relating to privacy were determined with regard to the human rights element as laid down in the convention. Seepersad also called for the abolition of the death penalty. 

GML ENTERPRISE DESK

Retired chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission Norbert Masson says there is a plan in the making to improve the operations and overall efficiency of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

Speaking to the GML Enterprise Desk days after his retirement, Masson, 82, said: “Many things are happening and I hope they will continue.”  

One project which he was hoping to see come to fruition was the International Standard Organisation (ISO) certification for the EBC, a project which is being done in conjunction with the Organisation of American States. He explained that ISO/TS 17582 defined specific requirements for eight processes that were fundamental to any election. 

These include voter registration; registration of political organisations and candidates; electoral logistics; vote casting; vote counting and declaration of results; electoral education; oversight of campaign financing and resolution of electoral disputes.

The standard creates the framework for an electoral quality management system that will help organisations like the EBC provide more reliable and transparent electoral services. It also creates a certification system against which electoral bodies can be assessed.

Masson said two ISO experts and a specialist in electoral management visited the EBC recently. 

“They audited our systems. They are to submit a report showing the gaps. Based on those recommendations we are going to make the necessary changes to be accredited under the ISO standard. That is going to take some time,” he added.

Asked why this certification was so important to the EBC, Masson said: “Because it will make us a world-class organisation. We trying to get the competent network. When Trinidad and Tobago is accredited we will be the first country in the English-speaking world to have such certification.”

Once accredited, he said, some of the problems which currently existed would be addressed, including the question of online registration, renewal of citizens’ ID cards who have not changed their addresses within a day. 

“A procurement policy will be put in place and the issue of campaign financing will be addressed,” he added.

That issue of campaign financing, however, is tied to the legislators and he admitted requires legislation, but Masson said: “I see the Government seems to be doing something about it. We will wait and see.”

Masson, who retired on December 4, said he was satisfied though that in his two stints as chairman of the EBC there have been improvements as the EBC sought to modernise and upgrade its operations.

He said: “All our offices are now inter-connected electronically, people getting identification cards in days, we now have field officers, a legal department and we are working with a strategic plan that was approved by Cabinet. 

“ The plan is for the period 2012-2016. Cabinet also approved the human resource aspect which provided for an increase in staff.” 

Masson reflected on the dark shadow hanging over the EBC as he demits office, the legal challenge brought by the United National Congress challenging the commission’s decision to extend the polls on September 7, by one hour, for Trinidad, because of bad weather. 

The political party filed challenges for six of the marginal constituencies which is yet to be determined by the High Court. Masson said: “That matter is before the courts and I have been advised that I cannot speak on it but that was not done by one individual, the commission agreed on it.”

Under his watch, he said, the commission oversaw numerous elections, including Tobago House of Assembly, local government and general elections. Asked whether he was satisfied with the conduct of all of them, he said: “Absolutely.

“All the elections under my watch were free and fair, all calls for recounts were dealt with and settled, everything was above board, absolutely.”

Over the years there have been other concerns about the electoral process, not least of which was the quality of the electoral ink, but it was one which he said he acted on promptly on assuming the chairmanship ten years ago. He said: “I did what was necessary so we no longer get criticisms.

The EBC, he said, purchased the ingredients for the ink which were sent to the government chemist for production. “The government chemist produces the ink. It is now standard and there are no longer any complaints,” he added.

Only recently the UNC held its internal elections and there were complaints from voters that the ink washed off easily. Electoral officer of the party, Dr Rampersad Parasram, told the media that the ink used was the same brand used by the EBC, but Masson said: “I do not know what ink they used.” He told us he regretted not being able to achieve more during his 30-odd years at the organisation but he said a major stumbling block was bureaucracy. 

He explained:  “While the commission and its commissioners are independent the department that serves the commission is staffed by public servants subject to all the bureaucratic laws that govern the public service, to get staff and accommodation takes years.” Masson said the commission had been trying to move the Diego Martin Registration office out of the EBC headquarters, at Scott House, Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, “but getting a simple thing like accommodation is a whole rigmarole. 

“People who live in Diego Martin should not have to come to Port-of-Spain but getting the approval from the Government department that is responsible is a problem.”

Some of the high points of his tenure, he said, were improvements in the registration process, a handbook was produced with input from the commission’s staff on registration procedures.

Another achievement, he said, was the inter-connection of all offices “so if someone goes to Arima to register, their information is sent electronically to Port-of-Spain to ensure that the registration is expedited.”

He is confident that the EBC is today in a better place than when he assumed office. His one regret is not being there when the commission achieves ISO certification, but he said: “Time marches on, you pass the baton. It is a race that will continue from generation to generation. “Do as much as you can and pass the baton. Pass it at a time when the organisation is in a better shape than when you started.”

Masson has spent close to 51 years serving the country in various portfolios. He was principal of the John Donaldson Technical Institute, director of the Metrication Board, director of the Institute of Marine Affairs and served as permanent secretary in what was once a mega-ministry which encompassed education, sports, culture, community development and youth affairs in the 1970s. 

He served as a commissioner of the EBC and was subsequently appointed chairman, a post he held until his retirement. His contribution was recognised at the national awards in 1984 and 2000, after he was conferred with the Medal of Merit and Chaconia Gold, in the sphere of public service.

The appointment of a new chairman now rests with President Anthony Carmona. However, the other commissioners Mark Ramkerrysingh, Lewis Charles and Dr Noel Kallicharan will carry out the responsibilities of the commission until a new chairman is appointed.

​An Arima street vendor who had threatened to kill his estranged lover and then himself, committed suicide on Tuesday after chopping the woman, who survived the attack. The incident took place around 8 pm, police said, after the man, Narine Singh, of Matura, attacked Marilyn Gallan, 56, as she walked along Pro Queen Street in the heart of the eastern borough, metres away from the police station.

Police said after chopping the woman Singh ran west along Farfan Street and collapsed on Woodford Street where he died. Police said the woman was chopped four times and remains warded in a serious condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

An employee of Circle Square Recreational Pub, where Singh was once employed, said yesterday Singh had threatened to kill the woman and then himself in the past. She said the man, who she described as “jolly and a little ignorant,” had a temper, was warned against such violent threats and would calm down. She said on two previous occasions Singh attempted to take his life, once by ingesting poison and another by jumping off a building.

Another employee said Singh met Gallan at the bar and the two began a relationship which lasted two years. “We talk to him about it, other people talk to him but we didn’t think he would do it but it wasn’t a surprise per se,” the woman interrupted, adding that the couple had broken up about two months ago. She said Gallan, who is married, ended the relationship because of Singh’s erratic behaviour.

Another street vendor, who asked not to be identified, said after seeing Singh chop Gallan he and other men chased after him. While running behind Singh they saw him pelt away the cutlass. When he was confronted the men began beating Singh who denied chopping the woman. During that struggle, police said, Singh drank poison and collapsed.

“He was just walking down the road with his bag and then start to pelt chop. It’s when we see it we intervene. I used to see them talking normal,” the vendor said. A passerby who saw a stack of cash in Singh’s pocket took it and left, one eyewitness said.

Other street vendors said Singh was gambling earlier in the day and believed he had the entire attack planned. The chopping took place just outside a shoe shop as Gallan made her way to the San Rafael taxi stand on her way home.

A Penal father who attempted to protect his friend from gunmen who were hunting him by hiding the man at his home was himself gunned down yesterday. Although Nigel Cornwall, 34, was charged for robbery back in 2008, police said, he had kept himself out of trouble since then.

Police said he was harbouring the 28- year-old Arima man suspected of being involved in criminal activities. They said the man had a dispute with known criminals in Penal and had been in hiding ever since as a hit was taken on his life. Police said around 1.20 am, Cornwall was asleep at his Lowkie Trace home with his common-law-wife, Miranda Mohammed, 26, and their son, Junior Cornwall, five, when he was awoken by someone knocking on his back door.

As he opened the door, Cornwall was shot several times in his chest and abdomen. Police believe the shooter came looking for the Arima man who was not at the house. When Mohammed awoke and went to the back door, she found him lying faced down in the yard. Cornwall, a mason, died within minutes.

Penal Police responded and searched the area for the suspect but no one was found. A relative told the T&T Guardian yesterday Cornwall’s murder was a shock to the community as he was well known and liked by everyone. She said although her family lived in the same neighbourhood, they did not know he was harbouring a friend at his home. She said relatives were yet to get the full story as Mohammed had been assisting police with enquiries all day.

“There was nothing that we knew of that would have gotten him killed because we knew him to be a fun-loving, family type of person. He was always friendly, so to say he had a mishap with someone, we don’t know. “He got along well with everybody. Almost everybody in Lowkie Trace was outside when he got shot because nobody believed that had happened to him.

“They knew him as a loving, friendly person and they are still in shock because they cannot believe that this could have happened to him. Just so out of the blue this just came along,” the relative said. His killing has taken the murder toll to 390 for the year.

The Government has no money to pay public servants their arrears in salaries and backpay resulting from wage negotiations settled by the last People’s Partnership administration, Finance Minister Colm Imbert admitted yesterday.

Imbert made the statement while speaking on a government motion on the Exemption from Import Duties of Custom in Parliament.

Blaming the last PP administration for maxing out the overdraft at the Central Bank and leaving the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government with a severe cash flow problem, Imbert said there was simply insufficient money to pay the outstanding money owed. 

He said public servants, among them members of the health sector and protective services, were owed “billions and billions of dollars.”

Imbert gave the assurance, however, that public servants, who were hoping for their arrears in time for the Christmas season, would get this month’s salary by December 18.

He also promised that he intended to raise the money, an estimated $5 billion, to pay them via special bond issues and said he had met with commercial banks yesterday to start this process.

Imbert said he would do all he could to ensure the outstanding salaries were paid at the earliest opportunity in 2016.

Asked by former planning minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie if the Government did not receive $12 million from a revenue stream left by his former government, Imbert said that was a figment of his imagination.

“I have heard references to alleged revenue streams but the paperwork was never done. No arrangements were made for these revenue streams.

“They were figments of your imagination,” Imbert shot back at Tewarie.

Imbert insisted, despite charges by the Opposition to the contrary, that “this Government is managing our fiscal finances in a prudent manner.” However, the Government has recently been confronted with a hitherto unseen cash flow problem, he added.

He said a government’s expenditure in a typical month was usually around $3 billion, but in October this amounted to $3.2 billion. In September, on the other hand, he said, it shot up to $8.5 billion when it should have been no more than $3 to $4 billion. Combined expenditure over those two months totalled close to $13 billion, he said.

Imbert said the last government’s mad rush to settle payments to contractors and suppliers before the end of the fiscal year on September 30 caused this unusual pattern.

He said the Central Bank’s overdraft was mismanaged and because of this other funds could not be accessed until it was brought back to a normal level. And this was why the Government had no money at this time to pay public servants their arrears and backpay, he said.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says a claim by Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran that T&T is in a recession is now very contentious because there is no supporting data.

Rowley made the comment while responding to questions to the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives, yesterday.

Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh had asked Rowley if he agreed that the country was in a recession. 

But Rowley responded with a question. 

“Agree with whom?” he asked and took his seat.

Indarsingh persisted, saying the question was based on statements by Rambarran and Independent Senator Dhanayshar Mahabir.

Rambarran said last Friday that the country had experienced four quarters of negative growth and consequently was in official recession. Mahabir made his statement on the recession in the Senate this week.

Rowley proceeded to explain what determines a recession. 

He said to the best of the government's knowledge, it was determined “when two consecutive periods of decline have been observed by those who monitor the performance of the economy.”

He said as far as he was aware, the country was still in the last quarter of 2015. 

He added, “That quarter cannot form any basis for determining what happens with recession in the country. So, therefore, it must refer to the two previous quarters and earlier. 

“If in fact we were in recession in those two quarters, we would have expected to have heard that from him.”

Rowley said the fourth quarter of this year began in October and concludes at the end of December.

“We also do not know the source of the data to which he (Rambarran) is referring,” Rowley said.

Rowley said the quarters of decline prior to October “would have been known from statistical data acceptable and believable to determine whether or not T&T is in recession.”

He said it was former government officials “who failed to tell this country that we have been in recession and decline during their term.”

Opposition MP for Tabaquite, Surujrattan Rambachan, then asked the Prime Minister if his Government had received any official data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) or the Central Bank on the recession. 

Rowley said his Government had received no data. He said he was also not aware that the CSO, the agency that compiles the performance statistics of the country, has made any documentation available. 

“That is why this issue is so contentious, because the basis for promoting it is quite questionable,” he insisted.

Rowley said his Government did not have any problem in acknowledging “if the data does show that the economy has not grown or has remained stagnant over the last three months or so.

“What we do have a difficulty with is arbitrary, spurious data being used to determine the performance of the economy,” he said.

Rowley also denied his Government was seeking to hound Rambarran out of office.

“If there is any person taking action which would result in the termination of the employment of the Governor of the Central Bank, that person is not the Government,” he said, in response to a question by Rambachan that Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Rambarran were in a war.

Later, Chief Whip Ganga Singh made an unsuccessful attempt to have the Parliament debate as a matter of urgent public importance the controversy over Rambarran’s statement.

Singh, in presenting the motion, said the Government was using Rambarran’s disclosure on foreign exchange recipients to divert public attention away from the “calamitous social and economic impact of the mass job losses in the public and private sector over the past two months.”

According to Singh, while that was happening the “Government has manipulated public attention away from this most serious state of affairs, primarily by escalating its vendetta against the independent office of the Governor of the Central Bank.”

Deputy Speaker Esmond Forde said the matter did not qualify.

Homicide detectives are investigating the murder of a woman whose decomposing body was found stuffed in an oil drum in Curepe on Thursday. 

According to the reports, the grisly discovery was made by St Joseph Police around 4.30 pm, when they responded to a report from a resident who complained of a stench in the area. 

Police found the partially nude body of the woman hidden in a covered barrel that was left at the side of the road next to others used by residents to dispose of garbage.

Police said the woman’s cause of death could not be immediately determined as her body was in an advanced stage of decomposition. 

The victim’s body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where an autopsy will be performed after she is identified. 

No one has stepped foward to identify the body. Investigators were said to be checking their missing people database up to late yesterday in a bid to identify the victim. 

Insp Siewdass and Sgt Katwaroo of the Northern Division led the group of officers who responded to the report. 

Detectives from the Region Two Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations. 

Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre made a blooper in Parliament yesterday when she said the former People’s National Movement (PNM) administration signed an agreement with Cheniere Energy, “one of the world’s leading producers of shale gas”.

Olivierre made the statement while responding to Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie who said it was the last PNM government’s lack of initiatives in the energy sector that was responsible for today’s low oil production.

She said prior to the PNM’s departure from office in 2010, it entered into the agreement with Cheniere Energy which had developed technology for shale gas. 

It was Chaguanas East MP Fazal Karim who pointed out her blooper. Karim said Cheniere Energy is not a producer of shale gas.

He said the US company was in T&T to build an energy plant to use shale gas and the project Olivierre was referring to was one in which Liquefied Natural Gas was to be imported into the US.

Cheniere’s Web page describes the company as “a Houston-based energy company primarily engaged in LNG-related businesses.”

Olivierre said she was “also reminded by my colleagues” that the last PNM government had also finalised some agreements with Ghana for a hydrocarbon project but these and the Cheniere project were “killed” by the People’s Partnership when it came into power. She was responding to charges by Tewarie that the PNM did nothing for the future of the energy industry between 2005 and 2010.

Tewarie said oil production was at 81,000 barrels per day at present. Production was 145,000 barrels in 2005 and around 95,000 in 2010.

He said there were no new exploration contracts between 2005 and 2010 which, if awarded, would have borne fruit today.

Tewarie said the sector was re-energised by the transformation of the fiscal regime by the last administration and “that’s when investments began and drilling commenced.”

He said these initiatives would yield fruit in the next couple of years.

It was important to understand these things “in the face of the misinformation being peddled as information by the Government,” he said.

Karim, in his contribution, warned the Government to “be very careful how you are firing people. When you fire people, you destroy a family and a village and a community.”

A 21-year-old Arima woman is now in police custody after stabbing her common-law husband to death during a domestic dispute, yesterday. 

The woman, from Bypass Road, Arima, told police that the argument began when she visited Michael Painter, 41, at his Sixth Street, Five Rivers, Arouca, home around 5 am yesterday after attending a karaoke lime the previous night. 

She claimed that Painter, an electrical contractor, accused her of infidelity and attacked her. The woman said that she managed to run to the kitchen where she grabbed a knife and stabbed Painter once in his chest in self-defence. 

Painter stumbled outside and collapsed in the yard where he bled to death.

The woman, whose identity has been withheld as police are yet to deem her actions self-defence, was detained at the Arouca Police Station up to late yesterday. 

Speaking with reporters at the scene yesterday morning, Painter’s relatives said the couple had been in a relationship for almost five years and had two children, ages three and four, together. 

Asked if the couple’s relationship was always turbulent, the relatives, who asked to remain unidentified, said they did not know. 

“He would not talk about that with us. He was not that type of person,” a woman, who identified herself as Painter’s aunt, said. 

Describing Painter as kind and loving, they claimed that they could not confirm the woman’s allegation that he was abusive. 

“Sometimes the train runs off the tracks. I don’t know what would have caused this because he was one of the most loved people in this community,” a neighbour said. 

Detectives of the Region Two Homicide Bureau are continuing investigations. 

Police are investigating the murder of a Guyanese national whose body was found in El Socorro, yesterday.

According to a police report, at about 2 pm, Andrew Garraway, believed to be in his early 40s, was found dead behind an apartment building at Mohammed Trace, El Socorro Road Extension.

Police said Garraway was found lying on the stomach with his pants pulled down to the ankles. There was a gaping wound to his head.

A resident yesterday described Garraway as “a very pleasant and kind person.”

"He treated everyone around here like his own family and was always willing to help whoever needed his help" the resident said.

Officers of the San Juan Police Station are investigating.

Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne has been ordered to pay businessman Shaun Sammy over $600,000 in compensation for defamation. 

Sammy received the award from High Court Master Marissa Robertson yesterday months after the High Court entered judgment in default because Alleyne failed to enter a defence in court. 

Speaking with reporters outside the Hall of Justice yesterday, Sammy said he was happy with the legal victory. 

“I have to look at the figures but I definitely want to give a portion to charity,” Sammy said. 

Sammy, his father, business magnate Junior Sammy, and the family’s company Junior Sammy Group of Companies sued Alleyne last year, after Alleyne spoke about Sammy’s then pending case for drunk driving on his Crime Watch programme. 

The programme is aired on television station CNC3, which is part of Guardian Media Limited, which also publishes this newspaper. As with previous hearings of the case Alleyne was not in court yesterday. Alleyne was also ordered to pay Sammy’s legal costs for bringing the lawsuit. 

According to police reports, Sammy was driving his vehicle along French Street, Woodbrook, around 5 pm on August 23, last year, when he was stopped by police.

A breathalyser test was done which showed he had a blood alcohol level of 86 microgrammes (mcg) of alcohol in every 100 millilitres of breath, 51 mcg above the legal limit. 

Sammy eventually pleaded guilty to the offence in October and was placed on a bond to keep the peace for three years. 

Sammy was represented by Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, Om Lalla and Derrick Balliram. 

A former head of the Police Service Commission (PSC) Ramesh Deosaran wants the Government to make public the cabinet note which has changed the rules for appointment of a commissioner of police.

Deosaran told the GML Enterprise Desk that “if it’s a mere administrative change they want to make to the legal notice, which has to do with the appointment criteria for hiring a commissioner and the manner in which the post is advertised by the Director of Personnel Administration, then it could be easily done.” 

However, he said, it was a different matter if they intended to make constitutional changes with regards to the powers of the police commissioner.

He said, it was only “if the Government publishes the note for public comment that the public will know how far the extent of the changes would go and whether it would need a special majority.”

But Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie explained that there was no need for constitutional change, since it was simply a case where Cabinet has approved an order to change the process for the appointment of a CoP, “so that where before we had to advertise with an international firm, a local firm will now handle the advertisement for the post on behalf of the Police Service Commission.” 

Cuffie said, “We are not changing the law but the process.”

The change would still be brought to the Parliament, he said, but once it was gazetted it would become law. Currently, the advertisement for a commissioner says locals, regional and international professionals can apply. That will now have to be re-defined to say only applicants from T&T will be considered. Cuffie said nationals living abroad could apply.

Deosaran raised concerns about whether the cabinet note sought to fulfil the government’s stated intention to establish an Inspectorate of Police as well as a Police Management Board. If that were the case, he said, then it would mean that there would have to be constitutional change since the two bodies would interfere with the role of the police commissioner and the Police Service Commission.

He said the wisest thing to do at this stage was to publish the note which would “have to come to Cabinet in any case, because we do not want to do something which will lead to complexities and a tangled web where they are trying to change what they already have. We cannot make the mistakes of the past.”

Asked what he felt was the best criteria for the selection of a CoP, Deosaran said, “competence, integrity, experience and a sound academic as well as professional background.” 

He said every effort must be made to ensure that those conducting the interviews “are quite capable and knowledgeable. All we can hope is that the interview process is vigilant and meticulous.”

President of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Anand Ramesar says the association welcomes the opening up of the system. He said, “We have tried the methodology of going international and that failed. When we met with the Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon we indicated we wanted a local person. It’s a decision we are on board with.”

Ramesar said there were a lot of people with capabilities and the association was looking forward to “fresh ideas and a paradigm shift.”

But he said the process of selection must be “free and fair and free from manipulation, so that the person who becomes commissioner will be selected on merit.”

In August 2014, Deosaran resigned as chairman of the PSC, citing frustration over the failure of the government to amend the cumbersome process to appoint a CoP.

​MORE INFO

The post of commissioner of police has been vacant since 2012 when the then commissioner Dwayne Gibbs, a Canadian, resigned two years after assuming office.

Gibbs had been hailed as a face of change for the local police service who introduced a 21st century policing initiative which he said would improve the level of policing in the country. 

In his first year in office the murder rate fell by just under 30 per cent, but by 2012 he had lost the confidence of key people and the PSC under Deosaran, in evaluating the then commissioner, found his leadership skills “terribly lacking” and his level of enthusiasm to be “far from satisfactory.”

Gibbs got a “fair” grade along with his deputy Jack Ewatski, another Canadian. By July of 2012 both men were heading back to Canada with golden handshakes having each received ex-gratia payments of just over $2 million.

It would be the man who got a “satisfactory” grade from the PSC, Stephen Williams, then a deputy commissioner of police, who would then assume the role of acting Police Commissioner. It is a post which he still holds three years later.

Williams will have to apply for the job of commissioner of police and be interviewed like any other applicant.

Baby Khristha Knutt’s mother, Tiffany Rawlins, was released from police custody on Thursday night, but did not attend her daughter’s funeral yesterday.

She was not mentioned except during angry outbursts by relatives and friends.

Khristha, who would have turned two in January, was struck on the head and electrocuted, in what police described as a botched attempt to resuscitate her, after she was found unresponsive by relatives on Monday.

Khristha’s mother along with her boyfriend, a 32-year-old Coast Guard officer, and two relatives were detained by police.

The Coast Guard officer up until late yesterday evening remained in police custody and is represented by attorney Israel Khan, SC.

An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes revealed the toddler died from head injuries and electrocution.

While the two relatives were released, one on Tuesday and the other on Thursday, Rawlins’ attorney Fareed Ali served a writ of habeas corpus on the Office of the Commissioner of Police and the Office of the Attorney General, challenging the continued detention of his client.

Ali said the mother of the child had been unlawfully and wrongfully kept against her will without any reasonable or probable cause and added that she should be immediately released. 

He raised concerns that Rawlins would miss her daughter’s funeral.

Despite being released at around 9 pm on Thursday night, Rawlins, who spent five days in police custody, was not seen at Saint Rose Funeral Services Chapel in Tunapuna.

Instead, Khristha’s father, Ernest Knutt, cried inconsolably and had to leave the chapel during emotional outbursts, returning moments later.

Pastor Brian Hutchinson, a close friend of Khristha’s father, who presided over the funeral service, asked the mourners to show support.

He called on anyone wishing to show support for Knutt and his family to say a few words.

Friends and relatives spoke about a sweet and smart child who was loved by her father and by all the people she came in contact with.

Relatives spoke about asking for custody of the child, who died just over a month before her second birthday, and made curious references to her well-being while alive.

Hutchinson said he was certain that there were questions which needed to be answered but asked the mourners to leave it up to God.

“Leave everything in God’s hands. What has to be worked out will be worked out. There is a saying what in the dark must come to light. You can run but you cannot hide.”

He advised the relatives to reflect on happier days with the toddler.

“In God’s timing you will be vindicated. He is still well able to make wrongs right.”

Knutt’s mother, Desiree, was the second to have a loud, tearful outburst.

“I told Tiffany to give me the child and if she had done that then today the child would not be dead.

“I begged her and she never gave me the child. I begged her. I beg and I beg,” she said.

Kristha’s maternal grandmother, Marlene Rawlins, was one of the many people who called for justice following the child’s death.

Several other relatives expressed similar sentiments, claiming that they had asked to be given the child but were ignored.

Many seemed to view the child’s death as avoidable and the chapel was filled with an underlying tension.

Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s death.

A High Court Judge has urged attorneys for the country’s two main political parties to work together to expedite the hearing of six election petitions challenging the result of the September 7 general election. 

Justice Mira Dean-Armorer made the plea yesterday during the first hearing of the petitions since the Court of Appeal, in a majority ruling, threw out an appeal from the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) challenging Dean-Armorer’s decision to grant the United National Congress (UNC) permission to pursue the petitions. 

“I hope that everyone would work together and focus on what is important—peace and order in our country,” Dean-Armorer said, as she noted that the petitions should be dealt with expeditiously since they would affect the stability of the Government. 

“This is a matter of national importance and everyone in this court will have to clear their schedules to deal with it,” Dean-Armorer said. 

During yesterday’s hearing, Dean-Armorer set timelines for each party to file their evidence and written submissions for the petitions, with three days between June 27 and 30 being set aside for oral submissions. 

Dean-Armorer stated that she did not think that the oral hearings in June should take much time as she would not be allowing the parties to cross-examine each others’ witnesses. 

Each petition will be heard separately as evidence from voters from each of the six marginal constituencies being challenged is likely to be different. 

As the EBC and the two parties prepare their witness statements over the next three months, the High Court Registry is also expected to issue notices calling on members of the public in the affected constituencies who may wish to testify as independent witnesses to come forward. 

Central to the UNC’s petition is its claim that EBC returning officers acted illegally when they followed the EBC’s directive to extend the poll in Trinidad by one hour due to heavy rainfall. 

The party will now have to bring evidence to prove that its defeat in the constituencies was marginally affected by the EBC’s decision to extend the polling hours. 

The constituencies being challenged are Toco/Sangre Grande, Tunapuna, St Joseph, San Fernando West, Moruga/Tableland and La Horquetta/Talparo. 

The PNM on Thursday filed an application to have the petition for La Horquetta/Talparo immediately struck out due to an apparent procedural error made when it was filed shortly after the election. Attorneys for the UNC and PNM were yesterday also given instructions to file submissions on the issue. 

A hearing to determine the matter will be held on March 3.

Related cases

Besides the petitions, Dean-Armorer has also been assigned two cases in which three private citizens are challenging the EBC’s decision. Social activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj has filed a judicial review seeking the court’s clarification on whether the EBC had the constitutional power to make the decision, while Irwin Lyne and Melissa Sylvan are claiming that the EBC breached the constitutional rights of Tobagonians by not allowing them an extension. Both cases have been deferred as they would be directly affected by the outcome of Dean-Armorer’s decision on the petitions. 

The UNC is being represented by Timothy Straker, QC, Anand Ramlogan, SC, Gerald Ramdeen, Wayne Sturge and Kent Samlal. The PNM’s legal team is being led Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and John Jeremie and includes Michael Quamina, Kerwyn Garcia, Terrence Bharath and Celeste Jules. Senior Counsel Russell Martineau and Deborah Peake are leading the EBC’s legal team. 

A pre-trial review of the petitions, in preparation for the oral hearings, will take place on April 28. 

Support from the Opposition and an online petition may not be enough to keep Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran in office.

In a stinging statement yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said that Rambarran has engaged in a series of “reckless and even illegal” actions during his time as governor which made “his own situation untenable.”

Rowley, in a text exchange with the Sunday Guardian yesterday, said the media “missed the point” of his statements in Parliament on Friday and sought to further clarify the context of his debate contribution on the future of the Central Bank governor.

Rowley said contrary to media reports that his Government would not take action against Rambarran, the Government now has to act to protect the citizenry,

“The Government would simply be responding to protect the wider public interest,” Rowley said.

Rowley reiterated his denial that his Government was seeking to “hound” Rambarran out of office but said that Rambarran was in an “untenable” situation.

Hours after the media reports of Rowley’s contribution in Parliament Friday night, the Office of the Prime Minister sought to clarify the misinformation that Rambarran’s position was safe.

“The report in the media stating that the Prime Minister has told the Parliament that Government has no intention of dismissing the Governor of the Central Bank is entirely incorrect and is a patent misrepresentation of what was said in the House,” the release said.

“In response to a question as to whether the Government was taking action which could result in the dismissal of the Governor of the Central Bank the Hon Prime Minister replied that if any action was being taken which could result in the Governor being dismissed ‘such action was not being taken by the Government’,” the statement noted.

However, it added that “if it turns out that the Governor is dismissed it would be as a result of a series of his own actions and not by any action initiated by the Government. The Government would wish to make it quite clear that no public officer, regardless of what office he or she may hold, is beyond the requisite disciplinary procedures which are open to the employer acting lawfully in the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago”.

“The statement was issued immediately upon my observation that the media missed my point,” Rowley told the Sunday Guardian.

“If the Governor ends up being removed, it would not be because of any action initiated by the Government but as a result of his own series of reckless and illegal actions,” Rowley said in a text to the Sunday Guardian.

Speaking at the PNM’s children’s Christmas treat yesterday, Rowley said the issue was “diminishing the public’s confidence in the Central Bank’s ability to conduct public’s business in finance, and two, diminishing the public’s confidence in the Governor himself. If the Government allows this to continue unimpeded it will diminish the population’s confidence in the Government itself.”

Rowley said there are laws which govern the conduct of the Central Bank affairs.

“If the Governor breaches those laws then the Minister of Finance would have to look at the matter....and the Minister of Finance is looking at the matter.”

Rowley said he trusts that good sense will prevail.

On Wednesday, the Opposition Leader, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, defended Rambarran, saying that he was being “hounded” out of office by the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government. Rambarran was appointed by the People’s Partnership on Friday, July 13, 2012, after a series of meetings at a governmental retreat in Tobago. Two years later, Rambarran implemented a revision of the 20-year old foreign exchange allocation system, increasing the number of financial institutions accessing forex from eight to 12. Rambarran came under fire earlier in the month for announcing that the country was in a recession without first informing Finance Minister Colm Imbert. Rambarran also faced criticism from the business sector and Chamber of Commerce for revealing the companies utilising the largest chunk of foreign exchange. Rambarran is also facing possible legal action by the Massy conglomerate for breaching confidentiality when he revealed the names of the companies using forex.

The Sunday Guardian attempted to contact both Rambarran and Central Bank communications manager Charlene Ramdhanie by mobile phone and email but was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, president of the Penal/Debe Chamber of Commerce Shiva Roopnarine is calling on Rambarran and Minister of Finance Colm Imbert to settle the debate privately. 

Roopnarine also said there needs to be a clear and precise message sent to the population on the current state of the economy.

He said, “There is a need to stop posturing and turf-protecting.”

He was addressing members of various chambers of commerce and the banking sector on Friday night at an awards function at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts. 

A 33-year-old able-bodied seaman with the T&T Coast Guard has been charged with the death of 23-month-old Kristha Knutt. 

Emile Garraway, of Erica Street, Rock City, Laventille, was charged on Friday night with manslaughter by officers of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations. 

Garraway is expected to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate tomorrow.

Baby Knutt was pronounced dead at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital on December 7 after being brought in unconscious by a relative. 

Doctors observed marks on the baby’s body and an autopsy later revealed that Knutt died of blunt craniocerebral trauma, aspiration pneumonia and electrocution. It was revealed that a male relative attempted to use live wires from a fan on the child in a botched attempt to revive her.

She was laid to rest at the Tunapuna cemetery after a funeral service held at the Saint Rose Funeral Home, Basilon Street, Tunapuna.

Knutt’s mother was released from police custody on Wednesday night and it was reported that she viewed the child’s body but was not present at the funeral.

The investigation was spearheaded by Supt Corbett and included Asst Supt Nurse, along with other officers. WPC Lezama of the Belmont Police Station laid the charge.