Wendell Williams, who experienced the tragedy of his mother losing her home in a Boxing Day fire in Marabella, rushed to the scene of another house fire in San Fernando yesterday to help.

Although the wooden structure was almost destroyed when Williams arrived, he armed himself with a hose and assisted in protecting the house next door until Mon Repos firefighters arrived.

Neighbours said the fire broke out at a house located between North Road and Vistabella Road around 7 am.

Williams, a fitness trainer, said he and his athletes were at the “100 steps” between Mount Moriah Road and North Road when they noticed the thick smoke.

Williams said “I was doing some training with my athletes on the 100 steps and saw the blaze. It was just natural for me to come down because my mother lost her house just a couple of days ago. I decided that I wanted to come and render assistance.

“The house that is burning down right now was on fire so I asked Tanty if everyone here was alright. I took a hose and started wetting the house but I don’t know if anyone was there. The house was engulfed in flames so I could not see if anyone was at home. But God is working,” Williams said.

The owner of the house next door said he was changing his grandson’s clothes when he heard a sound like running water. When he looked out, he saw his neighbour’s house on fire.

“I came downstairs, picked up the hose and told my wife to call the fire brigade. I started to do what I could have done to ensure that the fire did not spread across to my property.”

The owner of the destroyed house, known only as Ronnie, was not at home at the time. Some residents suspected arson as they said he had problems with other people in the community.

The house had no electricity and running water, and there were not much furniture and appliances. Fire officers were yet to determine the cause of the blaze and an estimate of the losses.

On Boxing Day, 26 people were left homeless after fires destroyed three houses in Marabella, and a home and two businesses in Moruga.

What do former Soca Warrior Stern John, goalkeeper Clayton Ince, West Indies cricketers Rayad Emrit, Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine, athletes Darrel Brown, Marc Burns, Kai Selvon, 2016 Calypso Monarch Devon Seale, 2016 International Soca Monarch Aaron “Voice” St Louis, and Akeem “Preddy” Chance have in common? They all attended El Dorado Secondary Comprehensive School, now El Dorado East Secondary School.

While each of them are unique and have excelled in their various disciplines, they are like blades of grass touched by a common wind of influence and guidance—their teacher Fasal “Moosh” Mohamed, who is also known as the Godfather, who came up with the 1986 and 2009 Intercol champions school’s nickname “Blue Thunder.”

These days, the quiet, unassuming 60-year-old retiree in the widebrimmed hat is like a one-man Cepep crew cutting grass with his weed whacker, planting trees and plants, and maintaining the landscape in the Paradise Gardens, Tacarigua community.

At Christmas time he puts up a creche and lights in the neighbourhood for residents and children to enjoy. The technical/vocational teacher’s passion and caring has been passed on to students who have been taking underprivileged children under their wings and doing volunteerism.

During the interview, one of Mohamed’s former students Gerion Williams, a drummer who has played for Maxi Priest, Shurwayne Winchester and CAL Invaders, stopped by to ask if he could come to Tunapuna Boys’ RC Primary School’s football game to continue his teacher’s legacy of support and motivation, and providing them with refreshments.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian, Mohamed said “The school is in a catchment area for children coming from troubled areas like Maloney and La Horquetta.

“There was a lot of violence in the beginning when I started in 1979. At staff meetings I said the children needed some self esteem. I see them playing football, cricket, we needed to tap and channel their talent and I got them involved initially in football and pan. We borrowed pans from Sforzata Steel Orchestra, went to our first school festival in 1983 and came last, then we decided to get our own pans and came second in Junior Panorama in 1986.”

He said the sports department put him in charge of the school’s feeding programme.

Mohamed said the school’s athletes and football team were not getting proper nutrition, they would train in the afternoon and eat a pie and soft drink.

At the time he lived in Pt Fortin and would leave home at 5 am to bring fresh fish and “bubble a pot”. Mohamed said they also supplemented the students’ fare with produce they grew themselves from the school’s agricultural department, and he made fresh juice. He said he raised donations with the help of parents and teachers because the school did not have money to buy food or supplements.

Mohamed said most times he would use money from his own pocket to provide for his students as he was involved in “everything” in El Dorado.

He said he also did silk screen printing to raise funds for the school’s pan side to travel overseas and trimmed the hair of children at the St Mary’s Orphanage in Tacarigua, on Saturdays as many were students from the school.

Mohamed said he once sold his vehicle to enable the school’s music students to buy tickets to go England, he asked the parents to invest in costume jewelry and steelpans and sell them in England for “good pounds”.

He said he invested money in three students, paid for their tuition to go by Nervin “Teach” Saunders, Invaders arranger in Arouca.

Mohamed said the three students in turn had to teach other children in school music theory and pan which enabled the students to travel the world, and many went on to become music teachers and musicians.

When bandits stormed Flourishing Supermarket, San Fernando, on Friday, they did not go after the liquor or cash in the drawers, instead they robbed customers.

According to police, three armed bandits entered the supermarket along Cipero Road, Retrench Village, around 11.45 am and shouted out that a robbery was taking place.

They robbed Rajin Lochan, 49, of $1,600 and the keys to his white Nissan AD Wagon. Carl Mitchell, 39, was robbed of two cell phones valued $1,000. Peter Crawford was robbed of $2,400, and 48-year-old Lelawatie John was punched in her face.

The bandits then ran out of the supermarket and escaped in Lochan’s wagon. Ste Madeleine police have so far arrested one man and were searching for the other two suspects up to yesterday afternoon.

The Sunday Guardian has compiled a list of New Year’s greetings from people across different sectors of the country.

Here’s what they wished for T&T in 2017.

Leader of the Tobago Forwards, Christlyn Moore:

My wish is that in 2017 Tobago finally takes it place at the national table and that Tobagonians see the long-awaited change in governance in the Tobago House of Assembly.

Director General of the T&T Civil Aviation Authority, Ramesh Lutchmedial:

My wish for the country is peace, prosperity, and a rise in oil prices.

Alive, Sharon Inglefield:

A new year, a fresh start, same dreams, and new hope. Arrive Alive wishes you a happy and safe 2017.

Criminologist Prof Emeritus Ramesh Deosaran:

The country’s physical well-being has been badly hit, in particular, by troubling crime, a fallen economy, and weaknesses in public administration and consumer services. The demoralising and stressful consequences have been hard on the population, especially on the salaried middle class. My very fervent wish for 2017 therefore is for quick and sustainable improvements in these areas so that the promises of a democratic society and the national anthem will be achieved. In this, our elected officials, from councillors to MPs, now have an obvious and special oath-driven duty.

Minister of Public Administration and Communications, Maxie Cuffie:

My wish is for a people who hold steadfast to their ideals, yet know when compromise is necessary and important to achieve even if it means letting go of strongly held traditions...a greater sense of personal responsibility and greater recognition that the changes we wish to see begin with us.

CEO of the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association, Brian Frontin:

My expectation in 2017 is for continued tourism industry leadership by the joint-private sector stakeholders’ associations and the prioritisation of tourism as a meaningful contributor to the economy of T&T.

Social activist Diana Mahabir-Wyatt:

My first wish is that teachers would learn to manage classrooms with love, not verbal violence. My second wish is while everyone else is wishing for peace and prosperity, I just wish for something practical—that WASA will co-ordinate with road paving and repairs so that those in the ministry that are responsible will get work filling potholes and repaving roads and then ensuring that WASA does not move in the following month to dig them all up again. They did a magnificent job around the savannah.

Designer Peter Elias:

Many are anxious to improve the current circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves. We look to the Government for the leadership and example, but ought to be held accountable for our action or inactions. May God always bless our nation.

President the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association, Gregory Aboud:

In wishing everyone happiness for 2017, I feel obligated to say that I was taught that true happiness is not possible without peace. In wishing therefore, peace for everyone in 2017 I want to share that I was also taught that true and lasting peace is not possible without forgiveness. In hoping for peace, I know that we will not have peace in our country unless we have peace in our homes and that we will not have peace in our homes unless we have peace in our hearts; to have peace in our hearts we must be capable of forgiveness. My ultimate wish therefore is that beginning with our nation’s leaders and through all ranks of the society peace and brotherhood will follow from our willingness to forgive each other and from our conviction that to love our country we must love each other.

By mid 2016, the forecast was for the 2016 murder toll to be between 460 to 461. By December 30, the body count was 455 and over the next day seven more were added to the tally, taking the 2016 toll to 462.

However, this was not the highest ever recorded in T&T—last year’s murder toll was 88 less than the 2008 tally of 550 murders.

The first murders were recorded just as 2016 dawned, when six-year-old Jodel Ramnath and pensioner Alvina Warner, 68, were shot dead in what police said was ongoing warfare between the Rasta City and Muslim gangs in the Port-of Spain Division.

However, the recurring theme for the year was the murder of women, many of which remain unsolved. The most recent, that of bank employee Shannon Banfield whose decomposing body was found in the storeroom of IAM and Company Limited on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain three days after she was reported missing on December 8. She had been smothered to death. A worker at the store where Banfield’s body was found, Dale Seecharan, has been charged with her murder.

Banfield was one 45 women killed for the year. On the day her body was found, another woman, Cheryl Joan Cooper, was gunned down outside her home at Harmony Hall, near Gasparillo. She had been shot five times at close range.

Early in the year, the murder of Japanese musician Asami Nagakiya grabbed headlines. Nagakiya’s body was found Ash Wednesday under a tree in the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Two other brutal killings of women followed soon afrewe. The first was 26-year-old mother of three, Eden Nekeisha Teesdale, whose headless body was found in a barrel floating in the Mitan River, Manzanilla, on March 15. Teesdale lived at Embarcadere, San Fernando.

One month later, in the same river, another woman’s body was found. The body of Felicia Persad was found floating near the river bank. Investigators said as a concrete block was tied to the plastic in which the body was found wrapped. Persad had been reported missing on April 2.

Anessa Murray, of Cascade Gardens, Cascade, was found shot to death in the driver’s seat of a grey Nissan Slyphy off a dirt road at Penn Trace, Cunupia on February 3.

On March 14, the body of Annmarie Bain, 48, was found down a precipice off the Blanchisseuse Bypass Road Arima. The Preysal woman had been bludgeoned to death with the claw of a hammer, her autopsy revealed. The semi-nude body of her husband, Raj Sookhai, also bludgeoned but with stab wounds to the neck and back as well, had been found at Manzanilla beach hours earlier. 

Four days after she disappeared, the decomposing body of 34-year-old Lisa Matagoolam was found at the bottom of a 20-foot precipice in Gran Couva on September 15. Her hands and feet had bound. Her boyfriend Michael Ramdeo was later charged with her murder.

On October 10, the decomposing body of Vanessa “Buffy” Ackee, a prostitute, was also found  down a precipice, this time off Morne Coco Road. An autopsy revealed that she died after her neck was broken.

With the body count steadily rising as the year progressed, the T&T Police Service (TTPS) came under fire for its low crime detection rate. Head of the Homicide Bureau Senior Supt Sacenarine Mahabir blamed the problem on people being afraid to go to the police for fear of retaliation.

By August, the polticians the Central Division had overtaken Port-of-Spain as the country’s crime hotspot with the highest number of murders. On August 26, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon told police divisional commanders to take charge of their “real estate”. A few months later, divisional commanders were reshuffled in the hope that there would be a turnaround in the murders, particularly in the Northern and Central Divisions. There was minimal, if any effect.

Police were on alert bracing for reprisals following the murder of Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis who was shot dead at his carwash on July 17. One of his attackers, Thomas “Hamza” Sharpe, was killed in the gun battle while Alexis’ friend Kevin Escayg, 43, a project manager of Saldenah Terrace, Macoya, was also killed. Escayg’s son, Kirchard Scott, five, was shot in the abdomen during the incident at Freedom Street, Chaguanas.

On December 4, Alexis’ brother, Mervyn, was also killed not too far from where Robocop was murdered.

Police were baffled at the killings of six men in the Northern Division, including two fathers and sons, who were all shot dead. On November 15, Leon Sobers, his son Shivon Sobers and Joel Alexander were killed at Reid Lane, D’Abadie. Police linked their deaths to the murders of Frank Joseph, his son Kevin Plaza and Plaza’s best friend Ricardo Singh on November 5.

Toward the end of the year, the group Powerful Ladies of T&T (PLOTT) released statistics which showed that 75 per cent of murders were committed using guns. The majority of victims were males of African descent and most of the killings took place between 6 pm and 10 pm.

At the final police briefing for the year on December 23, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams said although there were 42 more murders than in 2015, it had been a reasonably successful year.

“We have seen an increase in murders but we have seen a two per cent decrease in the overall total of murders shootings, woundings and murders,” he said,.

Williams said there was a 23 per cent decline in rapes and other sexual related offences, a 34 per cent reduction in kidnappings and 19 per cent reduction in larceny of motor vehicles. However, fraudulent offences were up by 62 per cent.

Akim Gonzales had planned to spend New Year’s Day with his girlfriend Mary Britto and his family.

However, he did not live to see 2017 as he was shot dead near his relatives’ home on Saturday night.

Police said Gonzales, 22, of Old Tramline Road, Princes Town, was spending time with relatives at Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando.

At around 10.30 pm, relatives were told he had been shot and went in search of him.

He was found lying face down in a bushy area at the back of a plywood house near the San Fernando landfill.

He had been shot three times.

Supt Yussuf Gaffar, ASP Rohan Pardassie and ASP Ali Mohammed led investigators to the murder scene at a squatting community and interviewed several people there.

However, no suspect was held and a motive is yet to be determined for the killing.

Gonzales’ death took the murder toll for 2016 to 462.

At a friend’s home yesterday, Gonzales’ girlfriend said she last saw him around 9.45 pm when they were liming at a Princes Town bar.

She said he had an argument with some other bar patrons over “small talk” and left in a taxi and went to visit his aunt in San Fernando.

She later got a phone call from Gonzales’ mother, who told her to go to the hospital because he had been shot.

She was on her way when she got another phone call telling her to go to Broadway where she found out that he had died at the scene.

Britto said Gonzales grew up on Lady Hailes Avenue and had many friends and relatives there.

She said he was shot in the leg during a robbery at a Princes Town bar last year and had not been able to do any rigorous work since.

However, he had planned to buy a car this year to work.

“We were planning for the new year to see if he could get a job that he was able to do so he could buy a car and try to keep the family together.

“He always wanted children and we wanted to start our own family, but now he is gone.

“Today, we had plans of going by his mother for the New Year’s Day and spend it with his family in San Fernando.

“Every year since we were together, that is what we did.

“Whoever did this to him, it was unfair,” she said.

Although the public health system was plagued by drug shortages, overcrowding at hospitals and the Zika virus pandemic during 2016, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said it was the best year for maternal mortality and influenza.

He is promising that 2017 will be even better as he plans to reduce waiting times for patients at public health institutions and strengthen the supply of drugs.

Deyalsingh spoke with reporters during his visit to the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday to congratulate the women who gave birth to the first babies of 2017 at that institution.

The minister said there were only three maternal deaths last year and after the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) was invited to audit the country’s health systems, it was discovered that postpartum haemorrhage was the main cause of such deaths.

He said strengthen maternity care, PAHO-trained local obstetricians, nurses and midwives on postpartum haemorrhage, resulting in the lives of three mothers being saved through implementation of new protocols and measures.

“I had challenged the public health system that by the year 2020 our maternal mortality rate should match that of developed countries,” Deyalsingh said.

“That means that we measure maternal mortality in developed countries as 30 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

“That is the rate for developed countries worldwide.

“If we scale that down to Trinidad and Tobago, where we have between 17,000 to 20,000 live births per year, it means in Trinidad and Tobago you should not have more than three to four maternal deaths per year.

“I had challenged the public health system to work with me to achieve that by 2020, but we have achieved that in 2016, so we are already at developed country status in 2016.

“We are collectively ahead of the schedule. It just goes to show what policy intervention can do.

“I am so pleased to report to the country of these great strides.”

He said new protocols on Caesarian-sections will be developed for all regional health authorities and will be institutionalised as best practice.

While the infant mortality rate is declining, the minister said there is a problem in how it is measured in T&T.

The minister said a team has been set up to standardise the reporting of infant mortality.

According to the minister, the infant mortality rate at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital went down by 50 per cent between January and July 2016 over the same period in 2015.

He said figures on the Zika virus have “more of less plateaued” at 460 infections and after numerous complaints about the ambulance service, it has been greatly improved.

In 2015, at least four people died from the H1Ni (Swine flu) influenza. However, with flu vaccine protocols being introduced last year, there were no influenza deaths.

“I want to build on those successes for 2017 to start to look at things like waiting times.

“We as a country must have waiting times which are more acceptable and more patient focused.

“We have made great strides in the past few months in tackling the drug supply system.

“We are going to work that even harder in 2017,” Deyalsingh said.

Eight families in south Trinidad welcomed new arrivals in the first hours of 2017 yesterday.

Among them was Linda Deonarine whose baby boy, Nile Zane, was the first born at the San Fernando General Hospital. He arrived at 1.07 am weighing 2.07 kilogrammes. However, the first baby born in the south west region was a girl delivered by Tenisha Thomas at 12.07 am at the Point Fortin Area Hospital.

Deonarine, who underwent an emergency Caesarian-section said the experience was “okay” and her family was anxious to meet the newborn. Another of the early arrivals for the year, born at 4.21 am, was Tenille who came 28 days earlier than expected to parents Selene Mahadeosingh and Keon Bruce. The baby girl, the couple’s second child, weighed 2.66 kilogrammes.

Mahadeosingh said she and Bruce had returned home from taking her mother and brother back to their home on Saturday at around 9.30 pm when she began to feel like her baby was ready to be born.

“My husband was going to lime but I told him that something was happening so he should stay home. I went to my bed and lay on my side and it began. This birth was good, just four pushes and she was here,” she said.

The new arrivals and their mothers were visited by Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh yesterday and were presented with hampers by the South West Regional Health Authority.

Ryan Winter, 44, an Arouca father of two, became the first murder victim for 2017 when a gunman entered his home at Thomas Street at 3.30 am and shot him twice in the chest and two times to the head. He died at the scene.

Winter’s brother, Jason, said the family is shocked at his killing: “Ryan was a normal and quiet person who never interfered with nobody.

“He was not the confrontational type of person so I don’t know why they would want to kill him.”

He added that his brother sold clothes for a living and was looking forward to completing a store at his home.

“What a bad way to start off the New Year.

“Just today we all planned to go up by a friend in Valencia to cook and lime,” Jason said.

Winter’s pet dog, Fluffy, was seen running in and out of the yard as though looking for him.

In fact, a close friend of the victim said the police officers had a difficult time in getting Fluffy away from Winter’s body.

“She was growling at the police and wouldn’t let them get close to the body.

“Even when they eventually put the body in the hearse and it drove away Fluffy ran behind it and since then she has been running up and down the road looking for Ryan,” the friend said.

Investigations are continuing.

At the stroke of midnight, Cire Thomas-Lewis was the first baby born at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (POSGH). The healthy baby girl weighed in at 3.16kg and is the first child for Jeunnessa Thomas, 30, of Trincity.

Yesterday, the new mother said she prayed for baby Cire to grow up to be a powerful woman who is not easily influenced by negative people. “I want my daughter to be focused and the one to impart knowledge and positivity to those around,” she said.

POSGH’s second baby, a boy, was born at 12.34 am weighing 3.06kg. It was the third child for Kasandra Mc Donald, 34 of Morvant, who expressed happiness that her baby was born on the first day of 2017.

“I thank God for a safe delivery because it was very hard for me. I am happy my son is healthy,” she said.

Mc Donald has not yet decided on a name for her newborn but has in mind Vaughn, which perfectly blends with the name of her four-year-old son, Javon. She said Javon and her ten-year-old daughter, T’keyah, are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new brother at home.

At the Mount Hope Women’s Hospital the first New Year’s baby, Rayanna, was born at 1.12 am to Christiana Sahadeo-Pakeerah and her husband Ryan Pakeerah, of Brazil Village.

The second baby, born at 2.46 am to first time mother Vashti Rampersad, 26, of Arouca, was baby boy named Chase, while Lima Okeiffie, 39, of Maloney, gave birth her third baby after 14 years.

“Given it was so long it felt like my first. My first daughter, Racquel, 16 and her brother, Raheem, 14, are very excited about their baby sister, Jordyn Fraser. She will be their new toy,” Okeiffie said with a broad smile.

Joel Julien Investigations are continuing into the death of Joel Pompey who was found hanging in his cell days after appearing in court for the murder of his 15-year-old stepson.

Pompey, 59, of Upper Seventh Avenue Malick, Barataria, was found dead at the Port-of-Spain jail when prison officers made checks on Saturday.

He had appeared before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court charged with killing Josiah Martinez on December 16.

Homicide officers were able to capture Pompey in a church after he was chased there by Martinez’s mother Keisha Etienne and other relatives.

Apart from being charged with murder, Pompey, a former employee of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), was also charged for possession of an illegal firearm and seven rounds of ammunition and for shooting two women during the incident. In addition to those charges, which arose from an incident on December 16, he faced two charges for assaulting police officers while in custody at the Morvant Police Station on December 27.

Pompey, who pleaded not guilty to the two assault charges, was initially taken to court on Wednesday, but his appearance before the magistrate was deferred after he complained of feeling unwell and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

When he appeared in court last Thursday, he had a bandage on his arm.

Pompey was represented by Abigail Roach and was due to return to court on January 26.

Rosemarie Sant Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar plans to write to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley asking him to reconsider his Government’s position on the request for the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Legislation to be sent to a Joint Select Committee (JSC).

In an interview on Akaash Vani 106.5 FM, sister station of the T&T Guardian, Persad-Bissessar accused the Government of taking a “roller-coaster approach” to the legislation. She said through Finance Minister Colm Imbert they had agreed to the suggestion that the bill be sent to a JSC, but subsequently reneged on that commitment.

“Why are they so afraid of JSC, which is a tool utilised by Parliaments around the world, and this Parliament?” she asked.

Persad-Bisssessar said the legislation needs to go to a JSC because it is complex and infringes on people’s rights.

“Our Constitution, which is the bedrock of our democratic society ... our Constitution framers made sure that certain legislation required a special majority. You must pause for a cause and look at this legislation where rights are being breached,” she said.

“Barbados and Jamaica have IGAs but have not gone the route of breaching constitutional rights. Why are we going this route?”

Persad-Bissessar said Government is not offered an explanation as to why it does not want a JSC. She is of the view, given what is happening in the United States, that “we should have the benefit of a Joint Select Committee which gives us a wider array of opinions and greater expertise.”

The FATCA bill requires a three-fifths majority for passage. Since Government controls 23 of the 42 seats in the House of Representatives, the support of at least three opposition MPs is required for the legislation to pass.

Persad-Bissessar said the PNM claims they supported legislation requiring a special majority when they were in Opposition but the approach of her People’s Partnership administration was different.

“We tried to pass good law which resulted in the then Opposition giving its support,” she said.

Asked how the impasse could be resolved, Persad-Bissessar said ahead of the Parliament sitting on January 6, she plans to write to the Prime Minister asking him to reconsider his Government’s position.

“I would not want to think the Government would be so reckless, given their insistence on the importance of this legislation,” she said.

Asked why the Peoples Partnership Government did not haver the Bill finalized during its term in office, Persad-Bissessar explained: “We started the process by initialling the IGA in June 2014.”

But she said her government could not bring legislation to Parliament until the agreement was signed, which took place under the current Government.

“We had a six-month window to bring the bill to Parliament given the proroguing of Parliament in June 2015,” she said.

On the last occasion that the FATCA legislation was before Parliament, the Opposition Leader was put out of the Chamber by House Speaker Bridget Annisette-George and members of the Opposition left the sitting in support of their leader. Imbert then wound up the debate and the legislation went to the committee stage.

UNC officials told the T&T Guardian they have been meeting to discuss amendments to the legislation proposed by the Government and will be ready with a position this week.

The business community has been lobbying the Government and Opposition to pass the legislation. There are concerns that if it is not passed by the February deadline T&T’s financial sector and even average citizens could be negatively affected.

About FATCA

FATCA, the brainchild of outgoing US President Barack Obama, was introduced to help the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) track down suspected tax cheats with secret money and investments hidden in overseas banks.

Since the law was introduced in 2014, the IRS has confiscated US$10 billion from nearly 100,000 US taxpayers. Thousands of other taxpayers have rushed to file late tax returns or amend filings to avoid falling foul of fines and interest penalties.

However, expats, led by the lobby group Republicans Abroad, claim the law is unfair and breaches the right to privacy given under the US Constitution. The group is optimistic that with a Republican President coming into the White House this month the legislation will be repealed.

Although President-elect Donald Trump has not commented on his position on FATCA, the Republican platform had called for the repeal of the law and for the IRS to levy taxes based on residency. The Republicans say FATCA not only allows unreasonable search and seizures but also threatens the ability of overseas Americans to lead normal lives.

Defying a crackdown on illegal fireworks, citizens across T&T played a New Year’s Eve cat and mouse game with the police, releasing scratch bombs and noisemakers to ring in 2017.

Some citizens said it appeared the devices were noisier and the only difference from previous years was that instead of a prolonged night the period was shorter.

Officials of the Animal 360 Foundation said they got reports of five dead dogs on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway between Valsayn and Trincity alone, adding they believed this unusually large number was related to fireworks use.

“Tunapuna Pasea, very loud noises in the neighbourhood,” a resident posted on Animal 360’s Facebook page.

“In Barataria, some difficult areas still difficult. The children in the area are using scratch bombs while the midnight firecrackers are going off incessantly from all directions. No police patrolling to catch them in the act,” another citizen posted.

A Maloney resident told the T&T Guardian: “There was no decrease in fireworks up here this year. This year was quite annoying, even worse.

“There was an upgrade in the potency of fireworks. Some burst so loudly the walls literally vibrated like it was a mini bomb blast.”

An officer at the West End Station, asked if there was a decrease in the use of fireworks in that area, replied: “Absolutely not. In fact, there seems to have been a modification on the fireworks that bang out extremely loudly. They got louder.”

He said officers from the station did patrols and road blocks and met people who complained about the noise but no official reports were made and there were no arrests.

In the Sou Sou Land area of Carlson Field, an elderly couple complained that the fireworks noise was “worse this year”.

The 68-year old wife said up to yesterday afternoon her ears still felt clogged from the noise.

“My head is hurting. I didn’t sleep. They were going competition from house to house. They must have spent about $1/4 million in fireworks in this small village alone. I don’t know where people getting all this money to burn in this recession,”she said.

Officers at the Longdenville police station said they got several noise reports but no one was detained in that area either.

“They see the police vehicle miles away with its big, blue flashing lights,” said an officer who noted, though, that there seemed to have been a decrease in the amount of fireworks used.

“It could have been fear of being charged. People would have been sceptical to buy them,” he said,

Residents from other areas said there an improvement in the noise intensity and amount of fireworks being released, while police officers claimed it was quiet in some areas. Officers at the St Barb’s Police Post in Laventille said no one complained about noiseand no arrests were made. A Valencia police officer said: “It was quiet here. No detainees.” Arima police said they had “some complaints” but no one was detained.

Roger Marshall, founder of the Animal 360 Foundation, said: “Last night (New Year’s Eve) was very bad but it was not an entire night of prolonged explosions. It was a shorter period.”

He said Animal 360 got reports of the police stopping and warning people and driving through areas. He said his NGO will be hand delivering recommendations for strengthening fireworks legislation to Attorney General Faris al Rawi early tomorrow morning.

A fireworks “war” between residents of Nelson Street and Mango Rose, East Dry River, is being blamed for a fire that claimed the life of a disabled man and left 15 people homeless. The fire broke out at about 2.30 am yesterday at Building 55-57, Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain.

Dead is Jameel Allamby, 37, who used a wheelchair. He was trapped in his burning apartment and suffocated and died. His mother, Rosalyn, tried to save him, police said, but could not. Police officers had to bodily carry the screaming woman away from the scene.

“The woman kept screaming for her son and we had to withhold the truth from her that her son died. Very tragic and sad. Very heartbreaking to see this,” an officer at the scene told the T&T Guardian.

One of the affected residents, Everald Trudge, 70, who lived in an apartment on the upper floor, said the building caught on fire when a fireworks device landed on it. The fire quickly spread through some of the apartments, including his, completely destroying them. Trudge lived there with his 17-year-old grandson, Jabari Auguste.

“This is a terrible start to the New Year for me. I lost everything. I might have to live in the river now because I have no where to go,” he said.

He blamed the tragedy on a “fireworks war “ that had been waged for the past week with some residents setting off fireworks and scratch bombs “to see whose better at it.”

Trudge said: “That’s the kind of game they playing.”

An officer from the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) later told the T&T Guardian that fireworks are believed to be the cause of the blaze. The officer said even police had come under attack as fireworks had been thrown at marked police vehicles.

“It has been days now we are battling with these people. They are not firing off the fireworks in the air but using it as weapons aiming it at each other, at other people, buildings and even us, the police,” the officer said.

“They have no fear whatsoever and this is what we have to be dealing with on the ground. Many times we tried to make arrests but without any kind of success.”

The police believe the explosive devices among items stolen from a container belonging to a fireworks dealer.

“We have information that an entire container of fireworks was stolen and it is suspected that this is the same fireworks being used by the Mango Rose/East Dry River residents. The people from Nelson Street, from what we were told, have mainly scratch bombs and were using that in the fireworks war,” the IATF officer said.

Last Wednesday, president of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) Gregory Aboud called for a ban on the sale and storage of fireworks in Port-of-Spain. He made the call one day after police swooped down on street vendors to search for unlicensed sales fireworks and illegal scratch bombs.

Public Administration Minister Maxie Cuffie recently launched a campaign to stop the sale and use of scratch bombs and illegal fireworks and appealed to citizens to develop a culture of care for their neighbours and the elderly.

On December 30, the T&T Police Service warned against improper use and unauthorised sale of fireworks. In a release, the TTPS cited the Summary Offences Act Chapter 11:02 section 99 (i) which states that any person who throws, casts, sets fire to, or lets off any fireworks within any town is liable to a fine of $1000. Section 99 (2) and sections 100 and 101 define a “town” to include the cities of Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, the Borough of Arima, and every part of the area within two miles of the boundaries of cities and boroughs.

Former chairman of Petrotrin Lindsay Gillette yesterday slammed the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) for holding the country to ransom with its strike notice, which is expected to be served on Petrotrin tomorrow.

Yesterday, Gillette said the threat by OWTU’s president general Ancel Roget to shut down the state-owned company was inconsiderate and irresponsible, as he urged Government to call out the army to run Petrotrin’s refinery if workers boycott work.

“Do you think the whole of Trinidad and Tobago is in support of that strike? You are going to strike when the country is going through an economic downturn and the price of oil and gas have fallen to such drastic levels? Do you think it is right to be having those kinds of issues on the table when the country is experiencing great decline? Come on! Are they going to reach a point of draining the country of everything it has? Where is your responsibility to T&T?”

These were the questions, Gillette said, Roget needed to answer.

“It means that if you are not getting your way you would hold a gun to somebody’s head. I don’t think that is necessarily the way you resolve issues and problems..... because while you may be fighting for your workers, what about the 1.3 million people? People must exercise extreme responsibility when these things begin to occur.”

Yesterday, in the press release, the OWTU said that the period of conciliation regarding Petrotrin workers’ wage increase for the period 2014 to 2017 officially expires today and as such the union will host an emergency press conference at 10 am at the Union’s Headquarters, in San Fernando, where Roget will make a statement regarding the expiration of conciliatory talks and new information reaching the union pertaining to the negotiations.

The release also said that there was one last meeting scheduled between the OWTU and the Ministry of Labour at 1 pm today at the Ministry of Labour office in San Fernando.

Prior to this meeting, Roget is also expected to address the media at 12.45 pm.

Gillette said T&T should never be in a situation where the country has to import fuel if the shutdown lingers for a prolonged periods.

“We should not be going down that road. The reality is that we have gas and oil as a country. We should never be held to ransom. Never! No one person, no one organisation or no one company should hold a country to ranson. The answer to that is absolutely not. Little things like this can hold the country for ranson. We really have an issue at stake. That is my point.”

Gillette said if the strike action lingers, the army can be brought in to fill in for workers who would stay home.

In 2012, Gillette said Petrotrin experienced a similar situation where workers downed tools after former energy minister Kevin Ramnarine had announced that Cabinet had decided to grant a licence to a local operative, a subsidiary of Bunkering International, to run a major bunkering facility in T&T waters. The army had to be called in 2012, he said.

“We did it when we were there. The army had a big role to play. We have to get the army ready to handle any situation....this situation. The army can carry this thing for a while. They were trained in the port and the refinery. It is a fully trained functioning unit. You have many options but the army is trained to do that. There is no two ways about it. The army can do the job.”

He said Petrotrin’s managers were also trained and capable of keeping the refinery operational, Gillette said.

“There are options they can institute.”

Last Friday, Roget announced that following a marathon session of conciliation talks at the Ministry of Labour the offer by Petrotrin in wage negotiations remained at zero-zero-zero.

The OWTU has demanded ten per cent for that period.

Roget warned that if Petrotrin failed to settle negotiations by Tuesday, there would be a complete shut down of the company.

In response, president of Petrotrin Fitzroy Harewood said the company was not prepared to increase it’s zero-zero-zero offer to workers.

“Given what now seems an inevitable strike action, the company has initiated a number of contingency measures to ensure continuity of supplies to the local market for petroleum-refined products as long as reasonably possible. It also goes without saying that the company’s financial losses will be greater due to the loss of revenue expected during the period of a strike,” Harewood stated in a letter.

If the workers go on strike, approximately 4,450 of the company’s 5,000 employees will be staying away from work for 90 days.

Production of crude oil, which is used to make gasoline, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel, will be severely affected leading to shortages at the pumps.

Gillette said Petrotrin had to find ways to hammer out some kind of agreement with the OWTU.

If the strike persists, Gillette said a lot would be at stake.

He said the worst-case scenario coming out of the strike was that no fuel would be available to the public, which could cripple the entire country, mainly businesses.

Asked if importing fuel was an option, Gillette said yes, but noted that the country should never resort to this measure.

“We should never go down this road.”

Roget and OWTU’s chief education and research officer Ozzi Warwick did not respond to calls yesterday, while president of the Energy Chamber of T&T Dax Driver reserved comment.

Driver said the strike issue was a “complex matter” and the chamber would issue a press release today or tomorrow.

Two former energy ministers yesterday commented on the looming threat of a strike at Petrotrin, with both Conrad Enill and Kevin Ramnarine agreeing that T&T cannot afford a strike at this time.

Enill called on all parties—the company’s board, the government and the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU)—to come to an amicable settlement before union president Ancel Roget serves a strike notice on the state-owned company tomorrow, while Kevin Ramnarine said that based on state owned Petrotrin’s financial position they cannot afford to give a salary increases at this time.

Enill, who served as energy minister between 2007 and 2010, said the only thing the country would face if Petrotrin shuts down its workforce were negatives and pain, as citizens, the protective services and businesses would face major disruptions and trauma.

“I do not believe at this point the country should face that activity given the economic challenges. I think what should occur is that the company should sit with the union and work out the issues.

“We cannot continue in Trinidad and Tobago striking for everything. And we can’t continue at the same time, in not listening to what is taking place.

“We all went to school to learn things. We all should understand that if the prices of oil and gas have been reduced dramatically it means we do not have the revenues as we had before.”

Coming out of this issue should be a win-win situation for all, Enill said.

“Whatever happens it should be a negotiated settlement without putting the people of the country through pain. It is going to be painful.”

Enill said the ones to suffer the most would be the poor.

He said before the PNM came into office they had a relationship with Roget.

“They were able to sit down around a table and talk about national issues. That is what is required at this point in time. I think that somebody has to take the country’s leadership and try to resolve this issue in the shortest possible time. It cannot be that the only time you will deal with the matter is when you start to hurt people. That makes no sense.”

If this matter is not addressed in a timely fashion, Enill said the ramifications could be devastating.

“In the first instance this can shut down the country. If people can’t move freely from one place to the other... then you have two things happening, you have the whole transportation sub sector not being able transport good and services. It means you are going to have shortages (of goods) which can trigger price increases. There is a whole series of activities that can occur as result of not being able to move in the country because there is no fuel.”

Enill said in his view all this was “negatives.”

While the Government had the ability to get the army to operate Petrotrin’s refinery as a contingency plan, Enill said this was not a good use of resources.

“If we have a crime problem in the country then military resources should be able to deal with that.”

However, Enill said if the strike takes place it would become a national security issue.

“Because you are going to have a situation in the society where even the military may not be able to be transported and go where they need to go....therefore they are going to have to deal with it as though it is a threat.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Ramnarine, who served as energy minister from 2011 to 2015, said that based on state-owned Petrotrin’s financial position they cannot afford to give a salary increases at this time.

“I am saying that the financial position of the company cannot justify an increase in wages,” he told the Guardian yesterday.

Ramnarine had given statistics to show that Petrotrin’s revenue fell from TT$ 29 billion in 2014 to TT $16 billion in 2016.

This comes at a time where oil production in T&T has been falling and enegry prices globally have fallen to their lowest in decades.

The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) had given Petrotrin an ultimatum to settle negotiations with the union or there will be a shutadown of the company.

Ancel Roget, OWTU’s Secretary General speaking at a media conference last week said that the strike action would not only be aimed at the company but also at the Government.

Petrotrin has offered zero-zero-zero percent increase to the oil union for the 2011 to 2014 period.

Fitzroy Harewood, President of Petrotrin in a letter to employees had said: It also goes without saying that the company’s financial losses will be greater due to the loss of revenue expected during the period of a strike”

Ramnarine suggested that future wage increases be tied to performance.

“They need to link future increases in wages to improvements in performance of the company measured by increased oil production and increased refinery output and efficiency,” he said.

Ramnarine added that if OWTU and Petrotrin do not come to an agreement and they decide to take industrial action there should be “contingency plans” in place.

“There are established contingencies at Petrotrin, National Petroleum (NP) and Unipet to ensure the delivery of fuel to the country.”

Fifteen residents of Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain, who lost their apartments following a New Year’s morning fire are expected to meet with Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene Mc Donald today.

The fire, caused by an alleged fireworks war between residents of Nelson Street and Mango Rose, East Dry River, claimed the life of 37-year-old Jameel Allamby, 37, who used a wheelchair.

Everald Trudge, a pensioner, said yesterday he and his family lost everything in the fire.

He said the MP for Port-of-Spain South, Marlene Mc Donald visited the area yesterday and was expected to meet with the affected residents to determine what further assistance the government can provide them with, including housing accommodation, today.

Trudge said they were given mattresses and other items yesterday.

He said he had been staying at the home of a relative since the fire.

Trudge said he was hoping that a house can be allocated close by. He said there were “one or two” empty apartments on Nelson Street and was hopeful that one could be provided to him and his family.

He said certain residents were given the option to acquire housing in Barataria.

The fire began at about 2.30 am on Sunday at Building 55-57, Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain.

An officer from the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) later told the T&T Guardian on Sunday that fireworks were believed to be the cause of the blaze.

The officer said even police had come under attack as fireworks had been thrown at marked police vehicles.

“It has been days now we are battling with these people. They are not firing off the fireworks in the air but using it as weapons aiming it at each other, at other people, buildings and even us, the police,” the officer said.

“They have no fear whatsoever and this is what we have to be dealing with on the ground. Many times we tried to make arrests but without any kind of success.”

The police believe the explosive devices were among items stolen from a container belonging to a fireworks dealer.

“We have information that an entire container of fireworks was stolen and it is suspected that this is the same fireworks being used by the Mango Rose/East Dry River residents. The people from Nelson Street, from what we were told, have mainly scratch bombs and were using that in the fireworks war,” the IATF officer said.

Public Administration Minister Maxie Cuffie recently launched a campaign to stop the sale and use of scratch bombs and illegal fireworks and appealed to citizens to develop a culture of care for their neighbours and the elderly.

On December 30, the T&T Police Service warned against improper use and unauthorised sale of fireworks. In a release, the TTPS cited the Summary Offences Act Chapter 11:02 section 99 (i) which states that any person who throws, casts, sets fire to, or lets off any fireworks within any town is liable to a fine of $1000. Section 99 (2) and sections 100 and 101 define a “town” to include the cities of Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, the Borough of Arima, and every part of the area within two miles of the boundaries of cities and boroughs.

The chair of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) Nadra Nathai-Gyan yesterday identified Arima, San Juan and Tacarigua as being the noisiest communities that rang in the New Year.

The bulk of text messages and calls the EMA’s Environmental Police Unit (EPU) received from the public on Old Year’s night into the wee hours of New Year’s morning came from these areas, Nathai-Gyan said.

However, of the three districts, Nathai-Gyan said Arima was, “Particularly bad.”

She said the EPU officers who responded to the calls had to “educate the residents” about the EMA’s noise pollution control rules, which they claimed they were unaware of.

“But those who were spoken to eventually complied. The EPU went to areas where there were repeated complaints of noise disturbances in the past,” she said.

On Saturday, the EMA, which is guided by the Noise Pollution Control Rules (NPCR), 2001 reminded the public of the detrimental effect that noise, particularly that of fireworks, can have on sensitive groups such as newborn babies, the elderly, the infirm and animals.

Where noise was in excess of the prescribed levels under the NPCR, the EMA warned that they can initiate enforcement action against individuals or entities found to be in breach.

Nathai-Gyan said the unit received 40 text messages and calls from the public whose peace was disrupted by high noise levels while ringing in the New Year.

“The EPU was inundated with calls. It tells me these are the kinds of things we are supposed to be doing to make ourselves available to the public who have noise issues.”

While the EMA could not respond to all the text messages and calls, Nathai-Gyan said those that they could not handle was passed on to the police.

Asked if the EPU arrested anyone for breach of the law, Nathai-Gyan said no.

The EPU has 18 officers.

Stating that the EMA was in the midst of an operational review, Nathai-Gyan said increasing the strength of the unit will come after an assessment is made.

Tributes poured in yesterday, as the news of the death local Chutney singer, Anand Yankarran was announced.

Yankarran, 51, was hailed by many as an icon in the local music industry.

According to his wife, Vidya, Yankarran passed away at the Couva District Health Facility around 6.45am yesterday after suffering from a heart attack.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Vidya said Yankarran was in good spirits minutes before his death. Yankarran had suffered from kidney failure for a number of years and was on dialysis.

“We woke and I tested his blood pressure andsugar (levels) and all the readings were good,” she said. “We went back to lie down and a little while after he started to gasp for breath. I called the ambulance and tried to resuscitate him myself, but when they took him to the hospital he had passed away.”

Vidya said she and Yankarran, who were together for the past 17 years, enjoyed themselves with friends on Sunday as they celebrated the start of the New Year.

The two met at a Mother’s Day concert in the US in 2000.

Of their romance, she said: “It just happened... I had known about his work before and when we met things just fell into place.”

They married and lived together in the US for 14 years before returning to Trinidad.

Yankarran enjoyed a vibrant music career while in the US and also performed in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, England and Canada.

The couple settled in Exchange Development, Couva, on their return, and Yankarran would record and release his last Chutney hit ‘Pak Pak’ in 2013 and perform in the 2014 Chutney Soca Monarch.

Vidya said Yankarran had no plans to return to the stage as he retired at age 50.

She described Yankarran as a very kind, loving person. “He was soft-hearted loved to help people; anything he could do for someone in need made him so happy.”

In an interview yesterday, Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) producer, George Singh said Yankarran’s death is a devastating blow to the local music industry. He likened Yankarran’s musical contributions to that of the “Father” of Chutney music Sundar Popo, who died in 2000 after ailing with heart problems and kidney failure.

“He made an invaluable contribution to the local music industry and we are all deeply saddened by his death,” Singh said.

ANAND’S LEGACY

Anand Yankarran shot to the spotlight in the local Chutney arena in 1989 when he recorded a jingle for the Stag beer called “Zindabad Trinibago.”

He would later record the jingle on his first album ‘Victory.’ The album also included his breakaway Chutney hit ‘Nanda Baba’ in 1989.

His other hits included Jo Jo and Ranga Dal. His last Chutney release was ‘Pak Pak’ in 2013.

Yankarran came from a musical family, as his father was the late legendary Indian Classical singer, Isaac Yankarran. His brother, Rakesh Yankarran is also a renowned local Chutney singer.

He was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) for long and meritorious service to Trinidad and Tobago in 1991.

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says the Government and the Opposition must work together in 2017 to effectively deal with the problems of crime and economic growth.

Ragoonath said citizens were living in fear and uncertainty as the issues of crime and the economy continue to be of serious concern.

He said there is a great need for “bipartisanship.”

In a brief telephone interview yesterday, Ragoonath said: “Although the Government keeps talking about a crime plan, we are yet to see the real impact of that.”

He said Prime Minister Keith Rowley “was right when he said citizens were living in a degree of fear, notwithstanding the fact the police keep saying the serious crime is down.”

Ragoonath said: “Once the murder rate keeps going up people are going to be living in fear and I think that the Government and the Opposition need to work together to deal with that.”

There were 462 murders in T&T last year.

Ragoonath said he was “not sure the Government will be as open to working with the Opposition on the economy and crime as it should be, but I think that clearly the Government needs to develop some sort of relationship, not only with the Opposition, but with labour and business as well.”

He said that was necessary because “clearly, 2017 doesn’t seem to be a very promising year economically.”

According to Ragoonath, that assumption was based on “the negative growth we have had over the last few years, as well as the fact that we already hear about looming threats of strike and because the business community cannot get foreign exchange which is going to impact negatively on job maintenance. “

The Oilfields Workers Trade Union is expected to issue a strike notice at state-owned Petrotrin as talks for two new collective agreements for over 4,000 workers broke down last week.

Ragoonath added: “If small businesses cannot get the foreign exchange to pay for imports, then they are going to start sending home workers and that will impact negatively on the economy as a whole.”

The University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus, lecturer said he was “very concerned that we have to come up with real strategies to deal with the economy as well as the crime situation in the country.”

Expressing his personal view, Ragoonath said since the new Government assumed office in September 2015 “we have not been able to stop the slide and it is not necessarily related only to politics, it is related to the economy .”

The political analyst said low Christmas sales “send a message that people are living in a degree of uncertainty and that is not good for the country as a whole. People are not sure whether they could spend or should spend and those are issues which we really have to deal with.”

The Government begins a two-day retreat at the Diplomatic Centre , St Ann’s today. It will be chaired by Rowley. The event is intended to review the Government’s successes and failures since assuming office in 2015.