For the second time this week, arsonists have fire-bombed a San Fernando business, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

Police believe the arsonists wanted to loot Stackhouse Company Ltd, along Pointe-a-Pierre Road, which sells liquor, meats and other items wholesale and retail.

Investigators said it was the fifth business in the country to be fire-bombed in recent weeks. A report stated that the owner, Truman Lochan Dass, 52, secured the business around 11 pm Thursday, leaving behind a security officer. The officer reported that around 2 am, he heard a noise at the front of the building and on checking, saw that the showroom was on fire and two masked men in dark clothing running away.

San Fernando police and fire fighters from the Southern Division Headquarters responded and the blaze was extinguished before it spread to other parts of the building. However, the entire showroom, which had various kinds of alcoholic beverages, was destroyed.

Although T&TEC cut power to the building, shoppers were yesterday purchasing their liquor and meats for the holidays. Lochan Dass said he was not deterred by the attack and will continue to carry on his business. He said police already have the video footage of the attack. He does not believe it was a robbery attempt, instead it was “one man’s envy.” Cpl Moses of the San Fernando CID is continuing investigations.

A 36-year-old construction worker from Arima was arrested by police shortly after he fondled a 15-year-old school girl in the car park of a fast food outlet at St Helena Junction on Thursday night.

According to reports, the incident occurred around 8.45 pm while the victim’s father was inside food outlet.

Police said the father had parked in front of the restaurant and left his two daughters inside the car, before going inside the restaurant to purchase a meal.

The suspect, of Cocorite Road, Arima, reportedly knocked on the front passenger window and asked the older girl to use her cellphone.

As she lowered the window, the suspect drew a knife, placed it by her neck, unbuttoned her top and fondled her breasts. The teenager screamed for help. A nearby doubles vendor and her patrons responded. The suspect ran away but was held by police hiding under a building located a short distance away. He remained in custody up to late yesterday.

Investigations are continuing.

The sound of laughter will be absent at the home of Cyon Paul this Christmas.

Instead, his mother, Safiya Williams, intends to drown her grief of losing the nine-year-old in a bottle of alcohol.

Paul was shot dead on his way to a food car near his La Romaine home on August 19. His killer remains at large.

Williams, who is now living downstairs her mother’s house with her daughter Tyra, eight, says she feels an emptiness inside since her son was murdered.

In an interview on Wednesday, she said: “We still cannot get over this. I am feeling really sad knowing that he (Cyon) real loved Christmas, out of all the holidays Christmas is the one he loved the most. He liked to eat the ham and apple and grapes.”

Although her mom is still trying to bring some Christmas cheer in the house, Williams said Christmas will never again be the same for her.

Cyon, who had aspirations of becoming an attorney, wanted a Nerf gun and his mother had intended to buy it for him for his birthday but he was killed before his birthday which was September 25.

“I am crying every day and my daughter cries sometimes and ask why they kill her brother. I am not really eating, I can’t. I am just drinking. I cannot help it I feel like I will go mad and hurt somebody.”

She had not shopped for a Christmas tree or any Christmas gifts.

“I am not celebrating Christmas this year. My son is not around me. I will buy clothes for my daughter. She might go by her father or spend Christmas with my mother.”

Her only Christmas wish is for the person responsible for killing her son to be arrested and brought to justice.

“I will never get back my son, but at least I will get some satisfaction knowing that his killer has been caught,” said Williams.

Robert Figaro, another parent who recently lost his four-year-old daughter to tragic circumstances, said his one wish for Christmas was to turn back the hands of time.

An emotional Figaro, in a crackling voice, said: “If I had one wish it would be to turn back the hands of time to be there for my baby. All of this would never have happened.”

Jenice, his only child, was beaten to death at her Coorasal home last month allegedly by a woman who Figaro had trusted.

Since the incident, Figaro, a casual worker at Trinidad Cement Ltd, has moved out of the house and is staying by his father who lives nearby.

“I start back to work and I am burying myself in as much work as I can. Most likely I will be working for Christmas, if not I’ll be at my father’s house.”

He said it is difficult for him to stay in his house without his daughter.

“Usually at my home it is festive for Christmas. I had already planned for Jenice and the two other children to help me with the Christmas tree and decorations. I always include them in anything I am doing. I was going to buy them bicycles for Christmas.”

He said his father has been trying to cheer him up, but it’s also hard for him.

“My father real love her too. He use to call her Cinderella. He did not even put up a (Christmas) tree.”

Figaro had left his daughter with the woman and her two children at his home on the night of November 24. He returned home about an hour later after the woman called him to find his daughter unresponsive.

The woman initially told police that the child complained of belly pain and urinated on herself after eating a meal of fries, ketchup and garlic sauce.

However, an autopsy concluded that Jenice was beaten to death. The police held the woman for questioning on Wednesday night.

Investigations are continuing.

Municipal Police officers say they are “excited at the opportunity” being given to them by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to take up the mantle of community policing.

This as government moves to scrap the Community Comfort Patrol Unit and send home more than 300 people.

Head of communications at the Ministry of National Security Marcia Hope confirmed to the T&T Guardian that the unit was being scrapped.

She said “it was a financial decision given the economic situation in the country.”

But she made it clear that communities would not be “left unattended.”

Hope said “we don’t intend to leave communities unattended. Measures are being put in place to ensure that communities are monitored and covered.” She said “we are actually working on recruitment to boost the number of municipal police officers.”

Hope would not confirm reports that the CCP Unit was costing the State upwards of $70 million a month, but she confirmed that the job which those officers did would now be passed to the municipal police who would be asked to do community policing and more.

Letters have already been sent to the four companies which provide officers under the CCP indicating that the programme would end on December 31.

Chairman of the Municipal Review Committee Inspector Octave Lewis told the T&T Guardian that “we have been doing community policing for years, but we are never recognised, we are enforcing the law of the land just like the police.”

Municipal police, he said, follow “the same procedure that a police officer follows. We have been doing this for years.” According to Lewis “we are closer to the community than the regular police, and it seems that the Prime Minister has recognised this.”

Lewis said as part of their remit municipal police officers “go to schools and lecture students; if we see students idling on the streets after school liming and not making an effort to go home, we talk to them; we deal with people who have court orders; if someone is murdered and a report comes to us we have to go just like regular police.”

“We are the only group of officers who report to a civilian, the CEO of a corporation. We agree with the Prime Minister that we should fall under the Police Service Commission, we have been saying that for years. We also agree that with the proposal for the officers to fall under the Police Complaints Authority because we also have officers with errant behaviour, that will be good for us,” he said.

Lewis said municipal police are trained just like regular police officers and perform dual functions for the 14 corporations as well as at the national level in the fight against crime, but he said they are paid less than members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Force, have problems getting vehicles and some officers are not even provided with uniforms.

He said “we want to do our job. We, like the rest of the country, are concerned about escalating crime, but nobody takes us on. We have no regulations and no vehicles to work with. But if a crime happens, we —just like the police— must respond.”

Lewis said “We are enforcing the laws of the land just like the police. Our job specs include protecting and serving the municipality. This includes protecting the assets of the corporations, monitoring and controlling traffic, and responding to reports of crime.”

“However, we are small in numbers,” he said, noting that some corporations only have “two or three officers. That is not enough to do the work we are called upon to do.”

Lewis said officers are also affected by “political dimensions, the corporations don’t want to spend money on the municipal police, so we can’t get the tools we need to do the job.” He said he remains concerned that “Councils determine if we get vehicles. That is not right. There needs to be a separation of powers.”

He said this situation “has a social impact, when we don’t have vehicles and cannot go out to do our jobs and there is an increase in lawlessness.”

Lewis said he was happy that the Prime Minister has recognised the value of the officers to the country and “that he plans to increase our numbers to 1,400 with 100 officers assigned to each of the 14 corporations.”

The proposed change to the reporting line for the Municipal Police is contained in the Local Government Reform document which was formulated following a series of consultations earlier this year. The document forms the basis of legislation which the Prime Minister has indicated will be brought to Parliament in the New Year.

Lewis said “if the law is changed we will be governed by Police Service Regulations and that will be good for us.”

Finance Minister Colm Imbert says Petrotrin acted unilaterally and never informed the Government that it was starting negotiations for the 2014-2017 period with the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU).

Imbert said the Government only found out that Petrotrin had started negotiations with the union when media reports appeared about a disagreement in the negotiations.

He said the first contact Petrotrin has with him as Finance Minister on the matters by letter were dated December 21.

Imbert said in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Petrotrin advised him that any increase in manpower costs at this time would result in increased losses and further exacerbate its cash flow situation thus exposing Petrotrin to the risk of funds not being available to meet its operational expenses.

Imbert said it was “well known by all concerned that all State enterprises must seek and obtain guidelines from the Public Sector Negotiations Committee, which is a committee of Cabinet Ministers responsible for public sector negotiations, chaired by the Minister of Finance. This procedure has been in place for over 20 years.”

He said he had taken note of statements made by the President General OWTU, Ancel Roget, regarding negotiations between Petrotrin and the OWTU for a new collective agreement for the period 2014-2017, which have broken down and are currently at the Ministry of Labour for conciliation.

“Mr Roget has said that he believes that Petrotrin was mandated by the Minister of Finance to offer the Union a zero per cent increase in salaries and wages for the 2014-2017 period. However, Mr Roget is mistaken.”

Imbert noted the statement made by Stuart Young, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, at the post-Cabinet press conference, held on Thursday that the Government had not authorised Petrotrin to make any offer of any kind for the 2014-2017 period simply because the collective agreement for the previous period, 2011-2014, is currently before the Industrial Court and has not yet been settled or determined.

As a result, he said it is impossible to quantify the cost of an agreement for the subsequent 2014-2017 period.

He said he sought an explanation from Petrotrin and “it was only on Wednesday December 21, 2016 that Petrotrin for the first time sought guidance from the Minister on this matter.”

The matter, according to Minister Imbert, “is now addressing the attention of the Government and will be considered by the Public Sector Negotiations Committee at its next meeting.”

He said in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Petrotrin advised the Minister that any increase in manpower costs at this time would result in increased losses and further exacerbate its cash flow situation thus exposing Petrotrin to the risk of funds not being available to meet its operational expenses.

Efforts to contact Petrotrin Chairman Andrew Jupiter on the situation proved futile.

Busy Christmas shoppers in Port-of-Spain took a few moments off their hectic schedule to stop and look at an “adorable” bundle — a little girl swaddled in a blanket lying in a trolley cart at the corner of Queen and Henry Streets in Port-of-Spain.

Leanda Cirmmingham, who is only 22-months old, was there along with her two other siblings - 10-year-old Kymani Burke and six-month-old Lakyda Burke.

Baby Kymani was nearby lying in a pram.

The children are in the habit of being close to their mother, Vanessa Burke, 29, of Quarry Street, Laventille, who is a seasonal vendor.

Burke vends on the capital streets during the Carnival season, August and Christmas season. In between “seasons” Burke sells soft drinks and cigarettes near her home.

This yuletide season Burke was selling kitchen towels, mitten sets, curtain rods and decorative floor mats.

Burke, a single mother, told the T&T Guardian she is “trying to make ends meet for her children.”

Asked why she had her children with her, she replied: “The way how society has become (referring to senseless and brutal crimes towards children). I prefer to have my children within my eyesight, safe with me. I do not trust leaving my children by people, even at day cares.”

“I used to work but right now I will wait for my children to get older and start school so that I can look for a day job once more,” she said.

Burke’s Christmas wish this year is simple.

“Wake up and see that my children are happy. Once that happens I am comfortable. I don’t bound to have anything.”

Burke said she would like Kymani to get a pair of sneakers and a drone for Christmas and a tablet computer for her elder daughter, Leanda.

Former Housing Development Corporation (HDC) chairman Jearlean John found herself sprinting across the Queen’s Park Savannah, scaling barbed wire walls and hiding behind trees and bushes yesterday as she scampered for safety on hearing loud explosions while jogging.

Police later said they believed the loud explosions were scratch bombs being thrown by someone or several people in a vehicle.

In a telephone interview, John, who was in good spirits, said she was running yesterday morning along with her sister, who is visiting for Christmas, when they both heard the explosions.

“When we got to near where the US embassy is located (Marli Street) I heard the explosions. They were rapid and loud,” she said.

She said at this point she encouraged her sister, a United States citizen, to run toward the embassy.

She said the sound started getting louder and instead, she and her sister opted to hide behind a tree.

It was then that the two saw a black SUV, with the windows down and heard someone shouting.

“They were shouting, ‘look them over there,’” John said.

She said they ran further into the savannah as the SUV continued driving and turned into a street before returning to the savannah.

“We ran across the road to where there was an empty lot of land. Then we continued running. We lay down in people yards and when we heard the explosion again we jumped over people’s walls and started knocking on doors but no one would answer.”

John said someone eventually opened their door but did not speak English.

She said at this point, she dialled 999 and waited for the police.

“The police came in about six minutes and they were very professional. The senior superintendent was very helpful.”

“I am allowing the police to investigate and they will say what it was and why it was happening. I know they were rapid and loud explosions and we ran away from it.”

She said she intended to enjoy her Christmas and did not want to focus on the incident as she did not want to feel afraid. Yesterday, manager of Corporate Communications for the T&T Police Service Ellen Lewis said inquiries suggest that unidentified people, travelling in a black vehicle around the savannah at 5.30 am engaged in the reckless act of throwing scratch bombs from their vehicles at two early morning joggers.

She said investigations were continuing into the incident.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is urging citizens “to never despair” despite all the challenges the country is facing.

In her Christmas greetings to the nation, she said she knew it was a difficult time for many people to feel festive, especially when those who govern the country appear to have abdicated their responsibility to citizens, choosing to abandon the poor and vulnerable and thousands of others who face uncertainty as the year comes to an end.

She said, “Children have been victims of heinous crimes, parents and grandparents are at the mercy of rapists and murderers. Women and girls are disappearing, while an uncaring and impotent administration washes its hands like Pontius Pilate, refusing to take responsibility for protecting citizens.”

She said this Christmas, countless families were unable to find shelter or buy food and other necessities.

“My thoughts are with the thousands of people who have lost jobs, and who have little hope of finding an alternative means of survival. Even those who have incomes are finding difficulty in coping as the cost of living escalates, with a promise of more hardships to come,” she added. “Still I ask you, my fellow citizens, to never despair.”

Persad-Bissessar urged the population to continue to take courage and work together to address the challenges, saying each person had an important role to play in strengthening unity in the nation, and in moving the country forward.

“Today, in spite of our adversity we have one another. Let us share that which money cannot buy, as we reflect on the Son of God who came to us in the humblest surroundings. He had nothing to give but love and compassion, delivered with humility. He taught us how to live,” she said.

“Finally, for one night we will not have to get wet,” exclaimed Neesha Wattley as she stepped into her brand new Housing Development Corporation (HDC) home at Eden Gardens, Freeport, with her husband and four young children.

The family had been living on the river bank off Factory Road, Perseverance Road, Freeport, for the past seven years in a tiny shack with a dirt floor, no running water and no electricity.

Putting her hand over her mouth in surprise as her face lit up, an overwhelmed Wattley thanked Housing Minister Randall Mitchell, HDC and everyone who helped to make her dream come true.

Mitchell decided to make the family the 1013th to receive a HDC home in the last month after their sad plight was highlighted in the media. The family's living condition was also highlighted in June 2014 when their six-month-old baby died. The former government intervened and promised to help but nothing had been done.

Wattley, and her husband, Chris Rambhal, are market vendors.

Their four children are Ezekel, eight, a pupil at the Enterprise Government School, Elesha, five, Eteisha, four, both kindergarten school pupils, and Equeisha, one.

Speaking at the simple ceremony where she received her keys, Wattley said: "My living wise for seven years was on the ground more like it. We did not have anything. My girls' teacher was our supplier of everything." She said another parent supplied the children with meals most days. “It had times we had nothing at all but God and faith kept us up.”

She urged other people in her position not to give up. She and her husband thanked everyone who helped them. Rambhal promised to keep the house clean and maintained to the best of his ability.

Mitchell said he was really moved that in spite of the challenges, Wattley and her husband stuck together and made sure they sent their children to school. The minister said a corporate citizen also pledged to pay the family’s rent for the HDC house for three years. Within that time, he said he will be making arrangements for the couple to undergo programmes through the National Training Agency so they could be in a better position to sustain their family and home.

Courts Ltd also gave the family a $20,000 credit voucher to shop at any branch, while Direct TV gave them an entertainment set. Also attending the function was HDC chairman Newman George.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is calling on citizens to remain optimistic about the future of this country.

Rowley made the statement in his Christmas message to the nation.

He said he was glad that in the midst of challenging circumstances this year we were able to overcome.

“As the year draws to a close, even in the midst of our Christmas celebrations, we all have an opportunity to reflect on the past year–our accomplishments, expectations met and those areas where we have underachieved. Perhaps, more importantly we may now re-set our goals and expectations in line with new-found knowledge and greater clarity of vision. I especially call on each citizen, each family and each community to remain optimistic about the future of our country,” Rowley said.

Rowley said his Cabinet along with the members of the National Security Council, the Police Service, and the Defence Force, are taking all the necessary steps and exploring all the avenues that are available to us, to ensure the safety and comfort of the citizens of this country.

“While I acknowledge that we are witnessing unacceptable levels of misconduct on the part of some of our citizens in our country today, I also give you the assurance that Government continues to make the issue of crime prevention our highest priority,” he said.

“Moving into the New Year, I want all of us in Trinidad and Tobago to focus on the positive developments that are taking place for our country—our collaboration with the Government of Venezuela to access natural gas for our downstream industries; the imminent proclamation of the Procurement Legislation; Government’s move to enact Whistle-blower Protection legislation; the streamlining of the Primary School Curriculum; improvement of our healthcare delivery systems, the re-modelling of Government’s housing construction programme and our new thrust in re-shaping the tourism product we offer to the visitors to our shores. All of these initiatives are designed to uplift our country and position us as a thriving, advanced and progressive Nation.

“Let us therefore resolve to make 2017 a year of peace, productivity and prosperity. Let us carry that excitement, joy and hope that we feel today, as we celebrate the Christmas Season with family and friends, into the New Year. More importantly, let us continue to aspire and work together to realise the success I know this country is capable of achieving,” he said.

Today is not a day of merriment for Sally-Ann Cuffie. It has been about two months since she can no longer use her hands after her fingers were blown off by an illegal explosive.

The 48-year-old grandmother made headlines in November after her fingers were blown off by a scratch bomb on Divali night. She had snatched the illegal explosive next to her six-month-old granddaughter, Christa after it was thrown into the car while her family was out for a drive in Las Lomas #1.

With another festive occasion 50 days later, and promises by the Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie that he would do all he could to get the illegal bomb off the streets, the licenced firearm officer said the Government had not done much to help her.

Cuffie also assured her that the matter would be investigated and someone will be held responsible.

He had then said, “It is a sad thing to see how this has affected her life and her future...she should be paid some type of compensation by those responsible.”

Although she is out of hospital she said her pains continue. The dressings on her hands have to be changed regularly as she is diabetic and still at risk for amputation if the wounds become infected.

In an interview with the Sunday Guardian at her Phipps Trace, Talparo, home on Thursday, Cuffie said although she can hold baby Christa and play with her, her role as a grandmother ends there.

“I used to babysit her and her brother whenever I was home but now all I can do is hold her for a while,” she said. “I am in constant pain with my hands, the dressings have to changed all the time, and the nail on my right ring finger became infected a few days ago and the nail had to be removed.”

However, she is still happy to be with her grandchildren.

“Just to be with my grandchildren is a blessing..but I can’t do anything for them, I can’t even get them a gift for Christmas. When I was in the hospital, I was visited by people from the Ministry of Social Development and after everything, I was given a one-time food card for $400.

“What can I buy with $400? Me, who used to work all the time to buy nice things in my home? My hands are damaged and I cannot use them, that is not my fault!”

And while talk about stricter legislation on scratch bombs continue, Cuffie said she was left grasping at straws to survive.

“I was a licenced firearm security officer, now Social Welfare telling me they have to assess my home and see what I have inside...you tell me I work hard my entire life and they want to tell me the things I buy are the reason I have to suffer for the rest of my life?”

She said she was unsure how she will entertain her neighbours who usually come calling on Christmas Day. “This is Talparo, our Christmas is moving house to house and enjoying ourselves with our neighbours. I don’t even have a piece of ham to offer anybody,” she said.

Plans for a fun family get-together for the Christmas holidays turned into a gathering for a wake when a Barrackpore mother was killed in vehicular accident which left her husband, two children and niece hospitalised.

The accident which claimed the life of housewife Elizabeth Bridgelal, 35, took place shortly after 3 am along the MS Ring Road, when the family’s Wingroad and a Toyota Hilux collided. There are conflicting versions of how the accident took place, but the vehicles were heading in opposite directions.

Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the family members who were trapped in the wagon.

Bridgelal, fondly called Liz, died on the scene.

Her husband, Devenish Bridgelal, 35, who was driving, daughter Deliza, 15, son, Emerald, nine, and niece Vishacar Samlal, 15, were warded in stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital up to late yesterday. The driver of the Hilux was also warded in serious condition at hospital.

Devenish’s sister Usha Sundar said the couple had attended a birthday party and were returning home when the accident occurred.

She said her brother and his children are aware that Brigelal died.

“He’s not the talking type but they were inseparable. He going to take that very hard. They were together 20 years.”

As Jehovah Witnesses, she said, they do not celebrate Christmas, but they had planned to have a family get-together. “We don’t celebrate Christmas, but Liz would still bake a ham, bake bread, and she would have gone to the grocery today. We were looking forward to spending the holidays together. But that squash, we have to prepare for wake,” she said as tears streamed down her face.

Characterized by untimely deaths, insane politics, and strange occurrences, people around the world see 2016 as the year the world lost its collective mind.

For many people locally, 2016’s habit of taking was more intimately felt by the thousands of people who lost their jobs in the construction sector, steel industry, public sector, and media.

The few sectors which seem to have withstood the threats associated with recession conditions included the manufacturing sector, the services sector, and the restaurant industry, which frequently saw job postings and vacancy notices throughout the year and absorbed many retrenched workers.

A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.4 per cent according to Central Statistical Office (CSO) data.

The CSO said 5,400 people, the majority of whom were women, lost their job in the second quarter of 2016. Unemployment figures rose above four per cent for the first time since 2012.

In February, close to 500 workers were retrenched at ArcelorMittal.

In March, over 800 Construtora OAS workers were laid off, while 200 workers from Centrin were also laid off.

It was ArcelorMittal which caused the most controversy after workers walked away, some after 20 or 30 years of employment with no severance.

It prompted demands from the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) and the National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) for Government to amend the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act to help retrenched workers.

Manufacturing, which saw job cuts in 2015, was a source of employment for many retrenched workers this year.

President of the T&T Manufacturers Association Ralph Balgobin, in an interview last week, said the manufacturing sector had not reduced employment and had seen some of its members increasing staff.

“We continue to place people displaced from other sectors into manufacturing jobs,” Balgobin said.

He added that while the manufacturing sector continued to automate and he expected employment creation to stabilize or grow slowly, he certainly did not expect the sector to downsize in the near future.

But downsizing and retrenchment have been a hallmark of 2016 and is expected to continue into 2017.

JTUM president, Ancel Roget,he left an envelope by your desk said the current laws to protect workers were inadequate and there was now a responsibility for lawmakers to make amendments in light of ArcelorMittal and other retrenched workers.

The retrenchment of OAS workers caused further ire from unions as many went unpaid for work undertaken in the construction of the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension.

The Oilfield Workers Trade Union called on Government to pay $23 million owed to workers by Construtora OAS.

Retrenchment woes for former workers

Timothy Bailey, former dispatcher at ArcelorMittal was one of close to 500 workers sent home after the company’s closure earlier this year.

Around Christmas time in 2015, the company had already dismissed 600 workers.

Today, Bailey is again employed and preparing to celebrate the Christmas season, but is concerned about his former colleagues, aware that many have not been able to find jobs.

“Some are trying to find work where they who was going through acan. They have become taxi drivers or do jobs they are not used to or that don’t pay well and I know some people remain unemployed,” Bailey said in a telephone interview.

He spoke of one former colleague who was murdered this year in a robbery while working as a taxi driver and another who was going through a divorce.

The emotional and mental impacts of retrenchment was supposed to be addressed by a ten-point plan set up by Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus.

The ten-point-plan to assist retrenched workers involved training and retraining of workers, setting up a national retrenchment registry, and it was expected to include a marketing plan to solicit new jobs. Based on the cries of those who remained unemployed, it was not clear what was achieved.

In October this year, Baptiste-Primus also announced that a Canadian company, Hire Pro Drivers (HPD) had identified 35,000 long-haul trucking vacancies in Canada that could be filled by T&T nationals and said there was also the “strong possibility” of workers getting permanent residence. No one could say what became of this plan.

At the time, she said, 1,848 people had lost jobs in T&T for the year.

The real number, according to many union leaders who spoke out this year, is much higher, as hundreds of contract workers who did not receive renewals were not included in that figure.

The figure was also less than the Central Bank’s estimated, 5,000 jobs lost since the final quarter of 2015 and the CSO’s estimate of 8,400 around the same period.

The Sunday Guardian called Baptiste-Primus and left a message on her voicemail last week but calls were not returned.

While Baptiste-Primus made promises to continue assisting retrenched workers, labour leaders have said Government had not done enough for labour in 2016.

0-0-0 came into effect in September

In an interview on Wednesday, President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (Fitun) Joseph Remy said the issue of labour in 2016 needed to be put in the context of a promise made by the People’s National Movement for the involvement and inclusion of unions in economic decisions.

“I am unhappy from where I sit,” Remy said.

“While the Ministry of Labour engaged in consultation on one or two pieces of labour legislation, there has been non-performance and abject failure of leadership of the National Tripartite council.”

The National Tripartite Advisory Council was launched by Government in March.

The terms of reference of the council included oversight over implementation of government policy as enshrined in Vision 2030, identification and review of Sustainable National Development Goals, development of a culture of Innovation, Invention and use of Initiative and enhancing the level of productivity in all sectors of national endeavour.

According to Remy, the output of the council has been null.

“That was the forum where labour could have made a strong contribution to the revitalization of the economy. There is no initiative we see coming forward that could give confidence that the council is doing its work.”

Remy also criticized statements by Finance Minister Colm Imbert that Government planned to offer unions a starting point of “zero-zero-zero” for future negotiations, a promise that came to fruition in September when the Telcommunications Services of T&T (TSTT) made that offer to the Communications Workers Union.

According to the OWTU, the zero offer was also made in regard to Petrotrin workers.

Remy also expressed doubt about CSO statistics, saying it was more than likely being bolstered by make-work programmes such as Cepep and URP, which both also saw cuts in 2016.

Remy said the trade union movement wanted genuine engagement from the Government in 2017.

Last month, the Industrial Court of T&T was being blamed for decreased levels of productivity in the country and making it increasingly difficult for employers to terminate workers.

Businessman Frank Mouttet said the court has been “harsh and oppressive towards employers while favouring workers and their representative unions.”

The court earlier this month summoned CEO of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the chamber itself to court on the matter.

Gabriel Faria, the chamber president, attorney Derek Ali, and Mouttet were issued with summons to appear before the court on a charge of contempt of court over statements made by Mouttet.

The matter continues in 2017.​​

With $40 in his wallet, postal inspector Mohammed Rojan-Ali left his Princes Town home on June 23, 1989, and never returned.

​

Although 27 years have passed, his wife, Shairoon, 73, speaks of her “first love” with sincere admiration but admitted times were tough without him. “Wherever he is, he is dead,” she said.

The couple married when Shairoon was 18 and Rojan-Ali 25, and they lived happily without any arguments for over two decades, she said.

“He was my first love. He did everything for me. He spoiled me,” she told the T&T Sunday Guardian during an interview at her home on Fairfield Road in Princes Town, on Tuesday.

Even though she now suffers from arthritis, eye problems, swollen feet and other illnesses, she still manages to move around and prepare meals for her grandchildren.

It was on June 23, 1989, when Rojan-Ali, 52, left his car at home to travel to Port-of-Spain for “a big meeting.”

It was a Friday. The family had spent Father’s Day together the weekend before with their four adult children—Debbie, Lincoln, Sharon, and Winston. She said: “When that happened, I was 45 years. The Sunday was Father’s Day and then the Friday that happened.”

“He said there was a big meeting up in town and from that day, I never see that man again. I don’t know if he gone up or if he gone down.”

However, she said she was later told there was no meeting. She said she discovered something was wrong because she was sick and had given him a prescription.

“Something tell me look in the garbage and it was crumpled and in there. My belief is that he was threatened and he risked his life for his family. But I could be wrong.”

Rojan-Ali had over 33 years service with the national postal company.

She said he wore a blue and white uniform similar to a customs officer and would inspect mail for anything illegal.

She said: “He was not a womaniser, he was not a drinker, and he was not a limer.”

In fact, Rojan-Ali was a devout Muslim who prayed daily, kept fast during the Ramadan, and attended mosque regularly.

Questioned on whether he seemed upset or disturbed days before he went missing, she said he was fine. “He never brought his work home. We never had family issues and we lived really happy with the children.

“To this day, I don’t know what caused that.”

She waited all night for her husband to come home but he did not. “I could not sleep.”

Asked how she was able to carry on for the last 27 years, Shairoon said: “I have to be a really strong woman. Listen to me, you have to believe in God and if God can’t help you, no man can.”

Son: You have to move on

Last child and son, Winston, 49, said he remembered the last day he saw his father. Rojan-Ali came into the bedroom, looked at him on a bed and walked away.

Winston was then 22 and said he and his father were extremely close and did a lot together.

He pointed to his 14-year-old son sitting close by and said they too had a similar bond.

Shairoon said there were many rumours at the time that her husband was seen in different parts of the country but the police had no evidence.

Her two sons searched throughout the country for their father for almost a month.

The search even took them to the mainland in Venezuela. Muslim prayers for his safe return were held at home for a few weeks.

Winston said: “We went to Cedros, Icacos, Moruga, Mayaro, and the Caroni river bank. Up to now...nothing, and it’s 27 years now and not a trace. It’s only hearsay.”

However, he said he believed his father was dead and it was time to move on.

“That is a thing of the past. You have to think of the future now. I don’t know how he died but I am sorry we never got a body to bury him. Life has to go on.”

RALPH BANWARIE

Matelot and Grande Riviere villagers will experience a bleak Christmas this year. They have no source of income to purchase curtains, bed sheets, decoration and in some instances, they are struggling to get food to eat. Villagers said there will be no cook up and no paranging.

Many fishermen and farmers in the two villages lost their livelihood and were marooned in early December when bad weather damaged boats and engines, destroyed crops, as well as blew off roofs and destroyed household items.

Richardson Guevara, fisherman/farmer and father of three, asked, “You know how it feels for Christmas not to have an oil down, fish broth, fish and provision, cassava pone in your house?” In spite of this, he said he made the effort to purchase gifts for his children so they could feel the spirit of Christmas. Others were not so lucky.

Kion James, the father of a month-old baby, was crying as he sat next to some of his damaged furniture. He said he lost his boat, engine and net, and now with his home and furniture damaged it was something to be worried about, “not for myself, but my children.”

“We need a place to call home, where we can live comfortable. A home not close to the seashore but on higher grounds. Right now I have no source of income, how can I prepare or even celebrate Christmas at this time,” James said.

Preparations for Christmas this year was not the same as in years gone by where there would be a lot of activities taking place in the two communities. In fact, last Thursday there were just a few people around.

Some of the young fishermen were seen at the fishing depot looking out at sea, others were playing a game of dominoes, some mothers were seen with children sitting at the steps of the school, while others sat on the ground near the community centre.

Eunica Romney, a housewife and mother said “this year people seem less interested in their preparation, last year families were occupied painting, cleaning, and decorating their house, this is not happening.

“We live by the sea and always embrace ourselves to experience disaster, but this was the worst. Roads are still being repaired and the place looks different to what it was.” They are no longer seeing visitors or delivery vehicles coming to supply groceries, as the leaning telephone poles and wires are making it impossible for them to pass.

Villager Diana James said “we had our Christmas bulbs lighting on Wednesday, November 30, when the natural heavenly bulbs where blinking better than a Christmas tree decorated with Christmas bulbs which began at 5 pm and ended at 3 am on December 1, followed by thunder and cracking sounds of trees and electricity poles and cables, rocks tumbling down. This replaced the bamboo bursting and fire crackers.”

‘We don’t want handouts, compensate us’

Kyle Charles, a boat owner, said the villagers depended on fishing and farming for their livelihood, but the recent disaster had damaged many of their boats, nets and gears, while farmers had acres of bananas, citrus, avocados, cocoa, coffee, and nutmeg uprooted.

“We usually purchase some of the farmers’ crops for Christmas, but these have become a scarce commodity. Some of the farmers used to give free provisions—dasheen, cassava, yam, banana sorrel, but this year we have to do without this and instead have to travel out of Matelot and Grande Riviere and purchase the provision for which we have no money.”

Charles admitted that a lot of donations in the form of foodstuffs and household items were being sent to villagers courtesy Non-governmental Organisations. But while they appreciate the charity, he asked, “How long will it continue?”

“It is time the various government agencies pull together and have the farmers and fishermen compensated, so that they can get back on their feet.”

Christopher Lee, a fisherman/farmer, said they submitted three claims for damage suffered as a result of the disaster, “but all we are hearing is that the assessments are being made for payment while we suffer.”

Lee said they do not want handouts, but prefer to work, “so provide us with our compensation so that we can have our boats, engines, nets replaced and can continue with our service to our family and the country.”

Lee recalled that “in December 2010, six years ago, we had a similar disaster and we were visited by then government ministers who ensured that all families were comfortable and even got our cheques to have our boats back in the water. This present Government is only coming and they have us fill out forms and have us waiting. They saw for themselves the destruction, so why wait to pay us?” he said.

An independent director of TCL has defended the decision by the regional cement producer not to provide a price range that the company consider to be a fair offer in its rejection of the $4.50-a-share takeover offer made by Mexican cement.

On Friday, TCL published a directors’ circular in which it recommended that the Cemex offer of $4.50 a share should be rejected because it “fails to reflect the full commercial value” of the Claxton Bay-based company.

Several TCL shareholders who spoke with the T&T Sunday Guardian praised the company for rejecting the Cemex offer but criticised it for not disclosing what it believed TCL is worth.

TCL director Nigel Edwards, who led the special committee of the board that procured and analysed the fairness opinion, said the board took a strategic decision not to publicise a value on the company.

Edwards said “The main reason for that is that we believe that stating a value, even a range of values, could have the effect of placing an upper limit on any future offer that could potentially be made to the shareholders.

“If the Directors signaled that there was an upper limit, any future offeror need only offer up to that price, even if that offeror believes that the actual value of the company’s share was in fact higher than that.

“We remain of the firm view that the Directors’ Circular is in keeping with the legal, statutory and fiduciary duties of the Directors and that our position is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders.”

Cemex announced on December 5 that it was offering $4.50 a share to acquire 132.6 million TCL shares that would take its shareholding in the local company from 39.5 per cent to 74.9 per cent.

In Friday’s directors’ circular, TCL said the company is positioned to benefit from the significant operational improvement that have been instituted in the period since August 2014, when a new board headed by businessman Wilfred Espinet was elected to run the company.

According to the circular: “The company has experienced a turnaround after multiple past efforts to do so.

“The evidence of the turnaround is supported by the company’s return to sustainable profitability in 2015 and continuing to produce positive net income throughout 2016.”

SHALIZA HASSANALI

In the first quarter of 2017, the Ministry of Health intends to roll out screening for 1,000 pregnant women for diabetes on a “trial basis.” Thereafter, the figures will increase to 5,000 women being tested annually.

The announcement came yesterday from Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, as he visited the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital to congratulate six mothers who gave birth on Christmas Day to newborn babies.

At Port-of-Spain, three mothers - Sian-Rose Fournillier, Janee Constance and Shanice St Cyr - delivered baby girls, while at Mt Hope, Yolande Clarke and Tricia Dindial had boys. Petlyn Patrick was the lone mother who delivered a girl.

Speaking to the media after congratulation the new parents, Deyalsingh said “we are going to be launching our NDC (non communicable disease) programme in full. And part of that is going to be, for the first time in Trinidad and Tobago, a screening process for diabetes in pregnancy, which will further reduce maternal mortality, as well as the incidents of childhood diabetes and obesity.”

In the first instance, Deyalsingh said “about 1,000 pregnant women” will be tested in 2017.

“And by year three, we want to target about 5,000 women to have them tested for diabetes while they are pregnant because that is a major complication of pregnancy ... a major cause for maternal mortality in pregnancy and infant mortality.”

In many cases, Deyalsingh said overweight babies were being born to diabetic mothers.

“And it predisposes that child to a life of diabetes. So we have to break that cycle.”

Deyalsingh said the NCD programme, which should have been attended to a decade ago, will be launched in the first quarter of next year.

“I am going to Cabinet with a note very soon that deals with another part of this issue. Hopefully, if it passes within the next two to three weeks, it would be a game changer for childhood obesity in T&T.

“A private sector doctor has stepped forward, professor Paul Teelucksingh, and he is working with the Ministry of Health to spearhead this,” he said.

The ministry will also be partnering with the Helen Bhagwansingh Diabetes Foundation with this initiative, Deyalsingh revealed.

Minority shareholders’ rights advocate Peter Permell does not agree with the decision by Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) directors to accept a price range for its shares. In fact he said a valuation of the shares needs to be disclosed to the public first.

Permell made the comment via a press release yesterday in response to the release of a directors’ circular on Friday, in which TCL stated that the Cemex offer of $4.50 per share should be rejected because it failed to reflect the full commercial value of TCL.

Permell, himself a TCL shareholder, said: “On the face of it, the director’s statement seems to suggest that the TCL board might be in possession of an official range of values for the company’s shares, which, by infrerence, could only come from some sort of formal valuation process undertaken on the company’s shares.”

Permell said: “I am advised that information regarding the valution of a company’s shares, particularly in the context of a takeover offer, quite easily qualifies as material non-public information. As a consequence, it therefore follows that timely if not immediate disclosure is required.”

He said disclosure is required because “the fundamental principle is that all persons investing in publicly listed securities should have equal access to information that may affect their investment decisions (that is whether or not to acept Cemex’s takeover offer). Thereby placing all participants in the stock market on an equal footing.”

The surprise birth of a healthy bouncing baby boy on Christmas Day was the best Christmas gift in the world for a young San Fernando  couple.

 Celeste Ahay, 21, a student, and Matthew Cooper, 21, an auto technician, were the proud parents of one of the first of two babies to be born at the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday.

 Her baby was born a few minutes before 2.30 pm while the second second baby, also a boy, entered the world at 5.49 am.

Ahay, who is studying criminology at Costaatt, was supposed to give  birth to her first baby on January 4, but according to her, God had other plans. She was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and her labour was induced sometime later that day.

 “I never wanted to have to have a Christmas baby, because I don’t like the idea of him getting one gift for birthday and Christmas. People will just say happy birthday and Merry Christmas. But it is a blessing, a wonderful day to be born, so I am happy,” Ahay said.

Cooper said his baby was his Christmas gift.

“With regards to having a Christmas baby, in my little short 21 years of being in T&T, this is one of the gloomiest Christmas I have seen in the country so far and having my son born on this day, it has brightened up my Christmas, the New Year to come.” 

The couple has not decided on a first name, but his middle name will be Matthias and his surname Ahay-Cooper. 

Thanking the medical staff for taking good care of them, Ahay said: “You would have think that because it is Christmas and they have to work on Christmas, which is a horrible day to be working on, it would have been bad. But they were all very nice. Kudos to the team of doctors and team of midwives for helping me along the process.”  

Ahay was hoping that doctors discharged them yesterday so they could spend Christmas at home. The mother of the second baby declined to be interviewed.

Unlike previous years, where companies would distribute hampers to the mothers of Christmas babies, hospital staff, confirmed that no arragement was made for that to be done this year. 

Residents of Brasso Seco have been promised they will be given continuous relief until normalcy returns in the wake of recent flooding there.

This comes from Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, who toured the area on Christmas Eve and brought some cheer to the children.

Heavy rainfall in early December brought the Brasso Seco community virtually to its knees. Subsequent flooding left a path of destruction and for two days the community was inaccessible to the rest of the country.

The disaster grabbed the attention of MP for Cumuto/Manzanilla Christine Newallo-Hosein, who carried a motion to the Parliament to talk about relief fro the community and environs.

However, on Saturday Sinanan assured residents that continued relief will be delivered to the affected areas.

During his visit, the minister assessed and examined ongoing works being carried out by the Ministry of Works and Transport.

Sinanan also told residents that “the Government’s duty is to bring services and relief to the citizens in this area and will stop at nothing to make sure that everything is back to normal.”

Also touring the area was Sinanan’s wife, Pamela, who distributed hampers and toys to residents and children.