A Barrackpore taxi driver who was savagely beaten by two schoolboys on Tuesday is calling on parents to do a better job at raising their children.

Nursing a painful gash on the head, a black eye and cuts to his neck and nose, Suresh Seujattan yesterday told the T&T Guardian that school violence was out of control. He called on the police and the Ministry of Education to act now to stem violence among the youths in the education system.

However, he said his real message was to parents, saying they should check their children’s school bags everyday as he claimed the boys had weapons during their attack.

According to a police report, around 2.20 pm Seujattan, 50, who operates his Nissan Almera sedan along the Princes Town to Barrackpore route, was parked near the Barrackpore East Secondary School, which is approximately 50 metres from the Barrackpore Police Station.

School had just finished and the boys, believed to be 14 to 15 years, asked him whether he was going to Princes Town. Seujattan said he turned the boys away because they approached him in a “rough way,” making him wary of allowing them to enter his car. Moments later, however, a group of schoolgirls asked to be taken to Princes Town and he agreed. On seeing this, the schoolboys became enraged and attacked Seujattan.

“When I started my car, they ran to the door and blocked me. He said ‘Drive, what is that?’ I came out the car and he scrambled me, you can see the marks where he scraped me on my nose. When I tried the push him off, his partner attacked me from the back and started pounding me on my face and side,” Seujattan recalled.

“I didn’t see what object they used, but it was something they had in their hands. Because I blanked them, they came back to the car to confront me. The school children in the car came out and left the car open.”

While the commotion going on, police ran out and subdued the boys. They were taken back to the station.

Relatives took Seujattan to the Princes Town District Health Facility where he was treated and discharged. He said his head, eyes and left ear were in pain. Blood was still present on the ground where the assault took place yesterday and Seujattan even showed his bloodied jersey and sneakers from the attack.

For years, Seujattan said he worked as a truck driver, but with a slowdown in the construction sector there were no jobs so he recently bought the car and started his taxi work just over a week ago. Although he was traumatised, he said he has no choice but to return to the road. He admitted, however, that he was shocked to know that such a violent act was committed by children.

“It is very terrible and it is not safe to walk around with the kind of attitude they have,” he said.

“When they sit in your car they’re getting on bad too and you can’t tell them anything. If you tell them anything, they would want to lash you...

“This is getting out of hand and it is time that the authorities come and do something about it. I have my two grandchildren growing up, what are they going to face in school?”

President of the Princes Town to Barrackpore Taxi Drivers’ Association, Chandradath Rampersad, said police needed to do foot patrols, especially when school was finished. He said the officers are usually seen patrolling in vehicles, but this was not enough.

He said the association was calling on the Ministry of Education to deal with this issue, as the school did not have enough security.

Officers at the Barrackpore Police Station confirmed the incident yesterday, but were unable to say whether the boys had been charged yet as the investigating officer was notapresent.

Contacted yesterday, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said he was unaware of the incident. He surmised that this may have been so because it happened outside the school compound, so no report was submitted to him.

However, he said although the police got involved he would be investigating the incident tomorrow as it involved school children in uniform.

On Tuesday last, the new Hindu year commenced with the celebration of “Nau Raatri.” This is a nine-day period when Hindus all over the world worship God in the female form or Goddess “Shakti.” She is revered as the driving force in all Gods and she is the ultimate cause for everything that happens. She is worshipped as mother, sister and little girls. In fact, nine girls ranging in ages from two to ten are usually selected and worshipped as “Devis” or highest forms of the said Divine Goddess.

At the outset, I would like to categorically state that the Hindu position is one of honouring women in our society. Our mother is actually our first form of God. Our wives are accorded the status of Goddess Lakshmi (one of the forms of the Divine Shakti) in our homes. As a citizen, I hope and pray that the auspiciousness and blessings associated with “Nau Raatri” pervade our entire society, such that women all over will be revered as forms of God.

My prayer is made with full cognisance that there appears to be a grave deterioration in the moral fabric of our society. There is no respect for human life, particularly our womenfolk. Where have we gone wrong? What are we to do, if we hope to effect positive changes in our society?

Last week Friday the Guardian Newspaper headline was “Mayhem.” The background picture showed five women standing side by side, weeping over the death of a young daughter, Sharlene Somai. There were two inset pictures of Sharlene Somai who was suffocated to death, and Petra Manwaring who was choked to death. Both ladies were undoubtedly beautiful women in their own right.

The newspaper headlines further carried a bullet point listing, detailing that a businesswoman was suffocated, a pensioner choked to death, a limer shot dead inside a bar, a man shot dead with multiple bullets whilst sitting in his barber’s chair. A boy aged 13 and woman aged 22 were missing.

Regrettably, reports contained in last Friday’s newspaper were in keeping with a general upsurge in crime in our society. How did we ever come to this? I have lost track of the number of murders and serious crimes for this year, 2017. I am not sure if I have become numb to crime statistics by virtue of the mass killings which are taking place or whether I am just living in a state of shock and fear. I sometimes wonder whether I am in a horrid dream or whether things are really so bad in reality.

Every time I listen to our Prime Minister speak, whether it is on finance, crime or just general political platform talk, I am reminded of Mark Antony (an absolute master of deception) in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Antony’s oration commences, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…” At the end of the day, PM Rowley’s words are nothing more than Antony’s in the theatre, emotionally charged rhetoric!

As for our Attorney General, he seems to be living the character of Richard III. He is discontented with the calm of peace and therefore sees it fit to talk all of the time, eventually leading to his self-belief that he is somehow now the “sweet-talker” of the town.

In the playwright, Richard III has begun to put his plan into action, essentially to get rid of all those who are in the way of his ultimate quest for power. Returning to reality, it appears that due to his misdirection’s, the PM has now hired a part-time former politician, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC for the AG.

Colm Imbert continues to remain clueless over managing the economy. He has raised gas and diesel prices twice and no one has rioted yet.

He has dipped into the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund twice and no one has rioted yet. Consequently he appears to have no target to increase jobs and decrease poverty since no one has rioted yet. Not a single investor has confidence in the economy as he continues to fail as a Minister of Finance.

The Minister of National Security has not got a hold on any aspect of crime fighting as yet. One cannot help but wonder whether there is a thought that if mass murders go unchecked, there will be a decrease in the wage bill for the Government.

Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC is quoted as saying that “will power is needed for death penalty.” He is absolutely, 100 per cent right. But what he forgot to say was there should have been a basic requirement for recruitment of Ministers, namely brainpower!

The real life-preserving question is what to do? Is the real mayhem occurring in society or is it taking place in the Government of Trinidad and Tobago? It is becoming clearer that this Government is clueless and does not know how to take control of the reigns of governance.

But is the real mayhem occurring in society or is it taking place in our Government?

A Government Senator has called on all members of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist faith to join him in Enterprise at 6 am on Palm Sunday to pray for the crime-riddled community where a temporary police post has recently since been set up in an effort to halt the killings.

“We cannot sit and just see these young men slaughter themselves and not offer love and attention,” said Cummings as he called on Baptists, non Baptists, residents of central Trinidad and non residents to say a prayer for the young men.

He added: “All Baptist people from all over T&T I invite you to pray with me..I call on each and everyone of you to join with me in Enterprise. We going to sing, we going to shout and call on Jesus.”  Calling on them to dress up in their nice Baptist clothes,  Cummings asked them to come to Enterprise and “shout like never before” and pray for the community.

Commenting on crime situation, Archbishop Patrick Brown said Spiritual Baptists should revert to the old time days when they took charge of their communities and prayed for the villagers, particularly young people. “I think the Spiritual Baptist now have to come together and in every community they have to give prayers and thanks to get this crime how we want to get it. More prayers, rejoicing and talking to youths in the areas. If you are in a community you should be able to control people in your area.”

Also commenting to Archbishop Barbara Burke criticism of the $40,000 Government funding for their celebrations, Brown said he was not concerned about the money. “Money will not solve crime, prayers and love and unity will serve that.”  

Cummings said he believes that funding Burke referred to was allocated to just one group.

In a press release issued yesterday afternoon, the Regiment’s Public Affairs Unit said it was greatly concerned by inaccuracies over a link to the high-profile investigation and Samaroo’s death on Thursday being circulated on social media web sites.

“The acting Commanding Officer of the T&T Regiment Dexter Francis condemns the false allegations of involvement by Warrant Office Class Two Omar Samaroo in an ongoing high profile case or being a member of a Board of Inquiry assembled to carry out any investigation of that nature,” the release said.

Samaroo, 47, who served in the Defence Force for over 27 years, was found with a gunshot wound to his head in his quarters at the Regiment’s Camp Cumuto base in Wallerfield that morning. He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope where he died later that night. Homicide detectives believe that he committed suicide.

“These inaccuracies are having the effect of unfairly tarnishing the image of warrant officer Samaroo and the Regiment by extension. The Regiment laments this series of unfortunate events,” the release said.

The release also stated that the irresponsible behaviour would affect current investigations.

“These allegations are baseless and are a misrepresentation of the highly distinguished career of WO2 Samaroo. WO2 Samaroo served his country with distinction as a member of the Regiment for the past 27 years and had an unblemished record up to the moment of his untimely passing,” the release said.

The controversy with the photographs arose in October last year after Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal presented them during a Parliamentary debate.

The children were later identified as Al-Rawi’s by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who heavily criticised the unidentified soldiers who leaked the images taken during a private security briefing at the Camp Cumuto base.

Samaroo will be awarded full military rites with his funeral scheduled for tomorrow morning.

T&T National Shane Dominic Crawford  is among those sanctioned by the United States for alleged ISIS involvement.

The Department of State yesterday posted that Crawford and other foreigners identified as El Shafee Elsheikh, Anjem Choudary, Sami Bouras and Mark John Taylor were currently believed to be  foreign terrorist fighters in Syria carrying out terrorist activity on behalf of ISIS, including acting as an English language propagandist for the group.

Crawford, also known as Asadullah, Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, Shane Asadullah Crawford and Asad,  is listed with several others as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs)” under Section 1(b) of the United States’ Executive Order  13224, which has  imposed sanctions on foreigners “determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”

The Department of State also said that as a consequence  US nationals  were  generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Taylor and the others who are identified as all of their property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction was frozen.

Today’s (yesterday’s) action notifies the US public and the international community that Elsheikh, Choudary, Bouras, Crawford, and Taylor have committed or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism. Designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other US agencies and other governments. In an interview with the T&T Guardian in February this year,  Crawford’s mother, Joan, had said she was unsure whether her son was still alive. “I used to hear regularly from him, but this is the longest I haven’t heard. My belief though is if anything happens it’s by Allah’s hand,” Crawford said last Friday.“Allah loaned me my children for a certain time. When he’s ready to take them, he will. They’re his—whatever comes, I’m prepared,” she had said.

Crawford, who had a record of alleged crime, left for Syria not long after being detained in the 2011 state of emergency, among 15 involved in an alleged plot to assassinate former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. No charges were laid.

Archbishop Barbara Burke is recommending a limited state of emergency in crime-infested Enterprise as law enforcement officers are seemingly impotent.

Burke made the call while speaking to members of the media during yesterday’s Spiritual  Shorter Baptist  Day Celebrations held at the empowerment hall in Maloney.

Yesterday was also observed as 100 years since the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance was proclaimed in November 1917.

Within the last few days there have been a spate of killings in Enterprise.

There have also been clashes between the police and residents, the latest being on Friday when peak hour traffic along the Chaguanas Main Road was brought to a standstill, after residents blocked the road with debris and set it on fire protesting what they claim was the “unfair” arrest of 12 men from the area.

In the Senate on Tuesday National Security Edmund Dillon said it was government’s intention to build a police station in Enterprise as he urged lawmen to wage “war” on unruly or other negative elements in the community.

Burke said the limited state of emergency in Enterprise would enable the police to search homes of suspected criminals, keep people off the streets from a certain hour and “stop people from burning down the place and kicking down people door and killing them in their homes.”

But she said part of the police’s problem was its abysmal detection rate.

“Detection is low. You must be able to detect the crime first and then to charge.

“We let things go out of hand. We have to hold the bull by its horns,” Burke said

Burke also claimed that Baptist groups affiliated with the PNM Government had received more money than her organisation.

This year, Burke said, she received $40,000 from the Government, the same figure as that of last year.

But she said there was a particular group which got $350,000 this year from  the government. 

She said despite the ban being lifted on Baptist celebrations there were too many splinter groups without have true commitment to the faith.

Head  of the Inter Religious Organisation  (IRO), Bro Harrypersad Maharaj, who also attended yesterday’s celebrations, however, said a limited state of emergency would solve nothing.

“Most of the murders are actually happening around certain places and the law enforcement agencies need to be more alert in those areas and hopefully we can bring a solution to what is happening,” Maharaj said.

He said the country could only hope that plans by Dillon would bear fruit.

On the proposal to build a police station in Enterprise Maharaj said this might be a “limited deterrent,” adding that more focus ought to be placed on community policing.

“It is how the police interact with the public in general. You need to build relationships. Community policing is a step in the right direction.

“But if Enterprise people are not willing to cooperate with the police then the police could not do that much,” Maharaj said.

He said the problem was not necessarily the young gunmen in Enterprise but rather the people who were “handing” the guns to them.

Social activist Hazel Brown, who was also present, said worrying about this country’s crime situation offered no help.

“How is worrying any help? If you have to worry about crime and violence you have to think about what you can do to help,” Brown said, urging that long-term solutions must be implemented.

She said she intended to begin a project soon aimed at promoting peace in the home.

“That is where children have learnt to be violent and if you don’t start doing something now about that it will get worse,” Brown said.

On a limited state of emergency she said this was not the answer.

“If it didn’t work on the previous occasion why would it work now? People are looking for easy solutions where they might not have to do anything.

“The solutions we have to find have to involve everybody,” Brown said.

And to reach out to troubled youths she said their language must first be understood before urging them to put down the guns.

“ What is the language you will use to communicate that? Those English words? Do they use or understand that language? I don’t think they do.

“Ask them to spell ‘put down,’” Brown said.

The incomplete University of the West Indies (UWI) South Campus is costing taxpayers $250,000 in security fees every month.

With no precise date given for the doors of the Debe campus to be opened, the security bill is expected to run in the tune of millions of dollars.

On Wednesday, UWI St Augustine campus principal Prof Brian Copeland admitted that he would have to make some tough decisions to get the campus up and running with expenditure being slashed.

“We have some hard thinking to do,” Copeland told the T&T Guardian following the inauguration of the St Augustine Guild of Students at the Daaga Hall Auditorium.

Construction of the campus began in January 2012. The council has 23 members headed by its newly elected president Jonathon St Louis-Nahous. Some of those decisions, Copeland said, must be taken soon and would require little sleep.

“I am sleeping five hours a night right now…on a good night. There are some bad things about a recession and there are some good things about it. We want to use the good to move things forward. That is where the nation has to go. If we do not use this opportunity now… it will be hard for some. There will be that discomfort.”

With the campus being dormant since 2014, Copeland said he has to determine its best use in going forward. Construction of the campus began in January 2012.

Four years ago, Copeland said all faculties had discussed how they could have used the South campus to its maximum benefit.

Back then, he said Law was considered to be the flagship faculty. “But it was also opened to others. It was never really one faculty going down there. Now the use could be full occupation, which is lecturers and students there. And in some cases, we see only students going to take classes and leave. When you add that up it could be a large number. I would say in the vicinity of 500 to 600 students in the first part. So it all depends on how it is occupied.”

Overall, Copeland could not say how many students the campus would accommodate. Copeland said renegotiation of contracts was taking longer than expected, which was UWI’s biggest challenge.

“To me it is money wasting because we are paying for the facility every day. I really don’t like to see taxpayers’ money go to waste. Right now it is wasting because it is not being used. So the earlier we can get it going it would be better.”

With the building being underutilised, Copeland said it costs UWI $250,000 a month in security fees.

“The main cost is security which I understand is $250,000 a month or something like that. But I really stand to be corrected on that. It is a big property.”

Copeland kept close to his chest the estimated cost to complete the campus. Questioned if UWI had come to a compromise with law students who staged a protest on March 21 against the relocation to the South Campus, Copeland said they would ask all faculties to have a say on the matter.

“We want to accelerate that and just look at the issue and have them rethink their positions and then we would make a final decision.

It would involve students.” He said even before construction of the campus had halted, UWI had negotiated with PTSC to assist with making route adjustments.

Copeland said the shuttle service was part of a package offered to students. “We have shuttle service that will run and that will be for free. But if you are talking about UWI moving people…like a mass of people we have PTSC…. we would have to negotiate with them.”

Pressed as to when the doors of the campus will be opened, Copeland said “I am hoping at this point in time earliest possible date is January 2018. I have a suspicion it may go beyond that because we have not restarted the construction as yet. It should have started a month ago. So we are now sorting out those details.”

Copeland said construction of a few of the buildings will go beyond next year. “The logistics of who would move, how we would move, phasing of classes, interlinking two campuses…so to build that dynamic over a distance of 40 miles or so…it is a chance, but it can be done.”

He cited the State University of New York which has over 60 universities in NY working in tandem with each other.

“So theoretically a lecturer could be up here (St Augustine) and deliver a course down there. It happens all over the world now. But not at a good level. We have specified that we want the level to be much better than what exist at present. And I think we have solutions for that.”

Copeland said they want to introduce the AVI system that allows audio-visual and collaborations solutions so that students can work in a classroom or across great distances.

In order to facilitate this method of teaching, Copeland said adjustments would have to be made to a few of the small classrooms.

 It is revered as an oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of downtown Port-of-Spain.

In existence for 193 years, the Holy Trinity Cathedral at Abercromby Street is beginning to lose its magnificence.

The church, led by Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley, is on an educational and financial drive to restore the edifice to its former glory.

Interim Rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain, Fr Carl Williams, said preliminary estimation put the cost at millions of dollars as there was the possibility of further structural damage due to a once leaking roof.

The church also has an immense role as several Government functions take place there annually including the ceremonial opening of the Law Term and Interfaith Services for the Defence Force and Cadets which are held every quarter.

The funeral service for former Prime Minister Patrick Manning was also held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

The key areas of the church in dire need to restoration, Williams said, included the buttress on the north eastern side of the belfry, the two largest crosses on the eastern side and cross on the western gate.

Williams said the crosses were knocked down when a 6.2 earthquake shook the country in December last year.

Some were completely destroyed while a few of the pieces were saved.

“Some were also taken down by one of the structural engineers along with the Fire Service because of the danger they posed due to a weak structure,” Williams said.

But to either rebuild or reconstruct the crosses may be challenging as they are made from limestone which has to be imported.

“Some of the crosses could be salvaged and restored with the same material. We just cannot put each and everything up there because this is a heritage site and the national trust would not allow you to do that.

“The building is almost 200 years old and we have to make sure it is preserved according the guidelines of the National Trust,” Williams said.

Williams said the church’s council was working closely with the National Trust and the Works Ministry to plan a way forward.

He said last week a team from the ministry visited the church but no final decision had been made regarding either financing or the hiring of architects.

“It is really a project for the Bishop and council. The Bishop is the one who is going to lead it. The Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop so therefore the Bishop is the one who is responsible for the Cathedral. When it comes to matters of restoration you must have the Bishop and trustees,” Williams added.

Some areas on the inside the building also need attention like missing panes of stained glass windows which are steeped in history.

“We have to find the right people to get this done. In the safety of the Cathedral the wardens check periodically to ensure the building is safe and this is reported to the vestry and to the Bishop,” Williams said.

The unique pipe organ which has brought hymns to life over the years has to be meticulously taken down, pipe by pipe and carefully stored away before interior work can be done.

This, Williams said, must be done before any interior restoration could take place so as to prevent the tubes from clogging with dust and debris.

“This is a very delicate job and the organ builder from Barbados will have to come in to do it,” he said.

A haven for the downtrodden

The Cathedral continues to open its doors promptly at 5 am until 6 pm daily.

It invites people from all walks of life come in to seek solace.

“The Cathedral is a place where people come every day for pray and meditation and we have groups meeting here. There is always some activity in the church.

“We have various youth and church organisations meeting here,” Williams said.

Describing the Cathedral as a national treasure, he said people also frequent the “Garden of Peace” which is on the church’s compound.

“It is an oasis in the city to just uplift their hearts and voices to God. This Cathedral is not just a building that is beautiful it is a place where persons can turn their hearts to God and listen to his direction and counsel,” Williams added.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port- of- Spain is of fine Gothic design. It was completed in 1818 and consecrated on May 25th, 1823, Trinity Sunday. Also in the Gothic design is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which took 16 years to build and was consecrated on February 22, 1951. It was completed by the Catholic Church and is one of the oldest landmarks in Port of Spain.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral is one of Port of Spain’s oldest landmarks. Up until 1835, the Trinity was the only Anglican Church in the island hence it has been affectionately called ‘the Mother Church of the Diocese’. Its rich history dates back to colonial days. Back then it stood as a wooden edifice called ‘Trinity Church’ catering exclusively for the British forces and English residence in the colony.

The first Anglican Church, known simply as the Trinity Church, was a modest wooden building on the corner of Prince and Frederick streets. In 18008, a great fire swept through the city, burning down every public building, including the church. Their place of worship lost, the Anglican community continued their praise in the Cabildo building (Old Town Hall) on Knox Street.

In 1809, Governor Thomas Hislop and the City Council petitioned King George III for financial assistance to construct a new church. The British Parliament granted £50,000 to the colony, £20,000 of which would be used for a gaol (prison) and the church and the rest for the erection of the Government House.

The church has embarked on a number of restoration projects including that of its first and only three manual pipe organ installed in 1914, a rare instrument in the West Indies. They have also decided to install signs at the 70 Anglican Schools nationwide.

Other projects include the establishment of a halfway house for graduates of their Tacarigua Orphanage, the construction of a multi-purpose room at the Cathedral and an archive room and library at the Bishop’s office.

In 2011 the church’s tower clock was fixed. Michael Williams, the man responsible for repairing the clock said the it played Westminster chimes every hour and strikes by number so it plays ten strokes at ten o’clock.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has told the Baptist community that the “hurdles put in front of you only served to strengthen your resolve to fight an unjust system.

Each act of violence against you, each arrest, each incarceration meant to break your spirit only fuelled your determination to have the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance repealed.

He said this in his message to the community in observance of Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day.

The PM said each year on March 30 the nation recognised and celebrates the triumph Spiritual Shouter Baptist community to openly and freely practice their religion.

He said: “We remember the oppression, struggle and humiliation of a group of people whose only ‘crime’ was a desire to praise God in their own way, as was afforded to other segments in the country.

He said today the practitioners of the religion, described as indigenous to T&T, may sing, pray, read the Bible, clap and shout without fear of punishment.

“As a Nation, we too face many hurdles. We continue to adjust to a new economic reality. As a Government we continue to do all in our power to reduce the crime and murder rate and we share your concern about the level of inhumanity which we are witnessing in our communities. At times our situation may seem reminiscent of other violent periods in our country’s history,” the PM said.

However, he said, it is at these times that “we must live by the example of the Spiritual Shouter Baptists and indeed all those who walked the path of hardship, brutality and injustice in our nation’s history.”

He added: “In their journey to freedom is the constant refrain of strength and hope…of never giving up, of never buckling under pressure because, to quote Eva in Earl Lovelace’s Wine of Astonishment, we could bear it… our shoulders could bear more weight…our flesh could hold more pain… our heart could stomach more ache, without breaking or burning or bursting.”

“Let us all mark this occasion by a commitment to remain an inclusive Nation, willing to understand and respect diversity and to treasure the freedoms we all enjoy,” he also urged.

Spiritual Baptist Archbishop Monica Randoo was a prophet without honour in her own country.

The statement was made by Spiritual Baptist leader Sterling Belgrove.

Bengrove, described by Randoo’s children as a “very close friend” of their mother, was speaking on their behalf at a function hosted by the Port-of-Spain City Corporation on Wednedsay afternoon

posthumously awarding the deceased archbishop.

Randoo, of Waterhole, Cocorite, passed away at the age of 80 on March 8.

The Port-of-Spain City Corporation gave her an award of appreciation, through her surviving children, for her social work in the community of Cocorite and for her contribution to the Baptist faith.

The award comes as Baptists celebrate the Shouter Baptist holiday yesterday.

Belgrave said not many people in T&T knew Randoo was a prophet who had the ability to interpret political, social and economic events, locally and globally, from a spiritual perspective.

He said people in Africa, Barbados, North America, England and other countries knew this and often invited her to speak on forums.

He said she was a prolific speaker and had also mastered the art of marrying spiritual prophecies with academic facts.

“She did a lot more of this outside than in her own country.”

Leader of Council Business at the corporation, Alderman Wendell Stevens, said for years Randoo had been helping them organise their Shouter Baptist holiday celebrations.

He said the event stopped in 2010 but the corporation is making efforts to restart it.

Stevens said they plan to award people from all faiths in future.

At Randoo’s funeral service at the Mount Judah Spiritual Baptist Church in Waterhole earlier this month, Belgrave lamented that when Randoo fell ill and went for a scan at a medical institution there was no one available to do it.

He said a scan would have helped family members administer the right medication for her ailment and she may have lived.

Randoo was a well-respected member of her Cocorite community and the wider Baptist circle.

She was reportedly a one-time advisor for a former PNM culture minister and an ex-employee of St Ann’s Hospital.

Known for her work among the needy, she was instrumental in getting the government’s school feeding programme started.

She was also one of the people who lobbied for a holiday for the Shouter Baptists.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community is now an integral part of our multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.

In a statement extending greeting to the community in celebration of Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day 2017 she said: “We recognise their significant contributions to national development. Their struggle for freedom of worship has been a long and arduous one, but they endured. When faced with oppression and discrimination they never lost faith or hope.”

She said when the Spiritual Baptists were fighting for the freedom to practice their religion, they were confronted by many challenges from the State.

She said: “I am proud to have been part of the Panday government which took the bold step of awarding the national holiday we celebrate today. I am also proud to have led a government which delivered State-supported education and teaching facilities for children and young people of the faith.

To the many who have contributed to the faith we owe our gratitude. I make special mention of Bishop Elton George Griffith and Archbishop Barbara Burke for their role in helping to uplift the community.

Persad-Bissessar said there were many lessons to be learnt from the Spiritual Shouter Baptists.

She said: “The unwavering resolve of the members of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community to persevere and thrive is remarkable. Today, we can look to Spiritual Shouter Baptists for inspiration in overcoming societal challenges.

“As we join in celebration of the freedom of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community amidst the attempts by some to curtail rights and freedoms, we stand to be reminded of the struggles of the Shouter Baptists to gain the rights of freedom of conscience and religious belief and observance,” she also said.

‘There is another important lesson we can learn from the Spiritual Shouter Baptists, that of the importance of community—that when we stand together and work together, we can make a difference in our country.

“Indeed, this is the only way we can bring about positive change in our society, by standing united and making a concerted effort to deal with the problems facing us.”

The High Court has granted an order brought by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to freeze the funds of Shane Crawford under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Following the move yesterday, Al-Rawi said the Government will continue to use all legal means at its disposal “to combat terrorism in all its forms.”

Crawford, also known as “Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi” and as “Asadullah,” was among a number of people sanctioned by the United States on Thursday as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” for alleged involvement in ISIS.

Al-Rawi yesterday filed an application under the Anti-Terrorism Act to freeze the funds in accordance with Section 22B(1)(b) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Chapter 12:0. He sought an Order of the High Court declaring Crawford to be a listed entity and freezing his funds. The order was granted.

The order, according to the AG, followed months of “intelligence sharing and investigative co-operation between Trinidad and Tobago and our foreign counterparts, including the United States and United Kingdom.”

Al-Rawi said unlike other jurisdictions where the process of designating terrorist entities is administrative, Trinidad and Tobago’s listing mechanism is a judicial process, whereby the Attorney General “has an obligation to make an application to the High Court only where there is sufficient evidence to satisfy the High Court that the requisite standard of proof has been met.”

He attributed the success to the joint efforts of the Ministry of National Security (Strategic Services Agency and Immigration Division), Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (Financial Investigations Branch and Special Branch), Financial Intelligence Unit and the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs (Registrar General’s Department, Central Authority and Anti-Terrorism Desk).

Crawford is now the 341st individual or entity listed in accordance with Section 22B of the Anti-Terrorist Act and the fifth designation by this country in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001).

Al-Rawi said the action against Crawford represents a new threshold in this country’s fight against terrorism and the spread of violent extremism ideologies. He said “vigorous work continues domestically and with our international partners in respect of Mr Crawford and other persons and entities of interest.”

Crawford was detained in the 2011 state of emergency as part of an alleged plot to assassinate former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He left for Syria shortly after being freed from detention.

However, Crawford’s mother Joan Crawford was quoted in a T&T Guardian interview in February as saying she does not know if he is still alive. She said she had been told by people on the ground in Syria that he had been killed during fighting there.

Dayna Le Platte, 21, one of the survivors of Thursday night’s gun attack in Maraval where three people were killed, was yesterday thanking God for life.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian while getting her wound dressed at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH), Le Platte, who was shot in the hip - with the bullet entering the right side and exited on the left -, said she was on her way to her mother’s house when the drive-by shooting occurred.

“I had just walked out of my boyfriend’s house and was on my way to my mummy’s place when I was shot and I am talking about just within a five seconds of leaving by my boyfriend,” Le Platte said.

Her cousin, Dominique, 20, was shot in the left shoulder but was also said to be doing well. She was expected to be discharged last night.

Yesterday, Dayna said she was severely traumatised by the incident.

“This crime situation is terrible and in my case I was in the wrong place at the wrong time but I am thanking God for life,” she said with a sigh of relief.

Dayna’s cousin, Joel “Joe Dog” Le Platte, 35, was one of the three men killed in the attack, which occurred along the Morne Coco Road in Le Platte Village. He was the father of two and was described as a sweetheart by his mother, who did not wish to comment further on the incident.

But Joel’s father, Thomas, told the T&T Guardian yesterday that this was the second of his children to be killed. The first incident took place ten years ago where his son, Declan, was killed during a robbery.

Thomas admitted that besides Joel selling drugs as a part-time job, he was not involved in any gangs and was never arrested and charged for anything illegal.

“Joel was not a criminal, a thief. He was a weed pusher. He worked for the government but when he get a little time he does push marijuana, but he was never arrested for any gun-related offences.

“He was not the most honest child in the world, but in this case he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time because from what we heard they (the gunman) was looking for someone else,” Thomas said.

Shortly after 8 pm, Joel was among a group of people liming in a yard just off the Morne Coco Road when a blue B-14 vehicle drove up. The car slowed down and an occupant with a sub-machine gun opened fire on the group.

Le Platte later died at hospital while Collin “Circle Boy” Letren, 25, and Kuanda “Bag Up” Critchlow, 24, were killed on the scene.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian at the Forensic Science Centre (FSC), a relative of Joel said he was shot in the head. The relative said the bullet lodged in his head, which was already swelling by the time they transferred him from the PoSGH to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mount Hope to get a CT Scan done.

“For two hours he waited to get the scan done but he didn’t make it,” the relative added.

Relatives of Letren and Critchlow were also at the FSC yesterday, but did not give any interviews to the media.

When the T&T Guardian visited the house where the shooting took place, its occupants described it as a real tragedy.

“None of them lived here, but usually they would all come here and lime right in front by the road. Some of them would sit on the wall or on the pavement or just stand around and lime. They eat something, drink something and take their little smoke,” one resident said.

Another resident, who wished not to be identified, said he heard there was a death threat to Letren and believed the gunman got information as to where he was at that time.

“We hearing that they out to kill him (Letren) long time but they take other innocent lives too, which is so unfair and usually there is a lot of children that play in the yard there. Thank God none of them was there at the time of the shooting because they could have been killed too.”

The resident added that an eight-year-old girl actually escaped the spray of bullets after she had just crossed the road to show her grandmother a piece of paper she had in her possession.

Investigating police officers said the weapon used in the attack was a high-powered sub-machine gun as it left behind several deep bullet holes in the concrete perimeter wall of the residence. Officers said they are still gathering evidence but believe the attack was gang-related and that the gunman’s target was Letren.

Investigations are continuing.

Years of threats by the criminal element to kill everyone in the Hoyte family horridly materialised for them on Thursday, after two brothers were gunned outside of their Hoyte Street, Maturita, Arima.

On Thursday morning, the youngest sister of the Hoyte family got up early and said she was waiting patiently for 10 am so that her big brother, Gerard, could order her a meal from her favourite fast-food outlet.

The 10-year-old girl was heard screaming and crying shortly after 7 am, not because she was refused the meal but because two of her brothers had been killed just a few metres from where she stood.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday, a close female relative who wished not to be identified said she believes the two were killed because they were outspoken people.

Gerard was a father of two and worked at a casino in Tobago and also carried out his own business on the side. Joel worked as a construction worker.

“For years they keep threatening to kill all of us and it’s ten children including Gerard and Joel. They shoot up the house plenty times. This time they actually started the killing with two brothers going at the same time. We are very scared,” the relative said.

Gerard was described as one who “didn’t have no cover for his mouth.”

“If he saw anything out of timing he would talk out about it. Things he didn’t like he would talk out on and his brother was quiet but followed after Gerard’s footsteps. If Gerard talk out about something, he (Joel) would have done the same thing too,” the relative said.

It was reported that at about 7.20 am on Thursday, Joel and Gerard Hoyte were standing outside their home when a white Nissan Tiida stopped next to them. Two of the passengers began shooting at the siblings, who attempted to run back into their yard.

But the brothers fell to the ground metres from their front gate and the gunmen got out of their car, stood over them and shot them several more times in their heads.

Investigating officers yesterday told the T&T Guardian that they got critical information that may soon lead to an arrest. Investigations are continuing.

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon believes that the lack of support from the Opposition for the Miscellaneous Provisions (Anti-Gang and Bail) Bill 2016 is partly to blame for the current situation in Enterprise and other parts of the country where the criminal element is out of control.

Speaking yesterday at a joint media conference on national security issues, and specifically gangs and anti-gang legislation, Dillon said the legislation would have given acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and the T&T Police Service (TTPS) the ability to arrest gang members without a warrant.

“The ability to classify members of being part of a gang and it would have made it easy to conduct searches and assist in the fight against crime,” Dillon said.

Williams meanwhile said there were no existing laws to deal with gangs and also no cyber crime legislation, which were both critical in tackling the current criminal gang problem.

He noted that other countries in the region had such laws and this greatly assisted them in their fight against the criminals.

Answering questions to videos being posted by alleged criminals and members of gangs in T&T, Williams said that all video clips were being analysed.

“For two reasons, to determine what part of it can be converted to evidence and what part of it can be used as information. With cyber legislation the very said person posting a clip should be an offence,” he said.

But Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who also spoke at the conference, said they would be taking the fight to the gangs of T&T.

“That means a significant change in how we engage persons who are alleged to be in this activity. It is not only legislative, it cannot be technocratic, it must be boots on the ground from the agencies that have the lawful authority to do that,” Al-Rawi said.

He commended Williams for the reorganisation of the TTPS in collaboration with the T&T Defence Force (TTDF) to making a key priority “taking the fight to the ground” with the promised, soon to be constructed police station at Enterprise.

“This is intended to be closer to an activity as a spring board and launching pad for boots going out to the fight,” the AG said.

With reference to the collapse of the anti-gang legislation, Al-Rawi said they had begun to see the media war between alleged gangs and will be reintroducing the bill in the Parliament and will be again asking for the Opposition’s support.

CL Financial majority shareholder Lawrence Duprey is now wooing Guyana in a bid to return to business there.

The Kaieteur News (KN) e-paper yesterday reported that eight years after Clico collapsed “sending shockwaves through Guyana and the Caribbean, the man in the middle of it, Lawrence Duprey, is apologising.”

The newspaper quoted a Guyanese Finance Ministry release stating Duprey and other CLF officials had met Guyanese Finance Minister Winston Jordan last week.

The paper noted that Duprey “is now interested in investing in Guyana,” adding he “hopes that sometime in the future, a resolution could be reached on how Guyana can recoup more than $5B” which his company owes Guyana. The paper said Duprey is “apparently eyeing” Guyana’s financial and housing market.

T&T’s government had to bail out the insurance giant after it collapsed in 2009. The debt, yet to be repaid, was estimated in 2016 as $23 billion. Yesterday, some Clico shareholders said they estimated it at $16 billion.

Duprey and shareholders began approaches to the T&T Government last year seeking to recover the companies.

They submitted a repayment plan last October after the shareholders’ agreement with Government expired last August.

But Government hasn’t given a decision on the agreement issue or shareholders’ bid to recover the companies which they say should be returned since Clico is solvent.

Shareholders are supportive of Government’s plan to use the Buccoo, Tobago estate - owned by two Clico companies - for Government’s proposed deal with the Sandals resort chain. But shareholders want back at least six companies and to enter into various developments also.

A report on a commission of enquiry’s probe of the Clico collapse was sent by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to the Director of Public Prosecutions last June.

Guyana’s government, also affected by the 2009 Clico collapse, took over a number of Clico buildings and used taxpayers’ money to pay off thousands of Clico policy holders.

During last week’s meeting between Guyana’s Jordan and Duprey, the newspaper said Duprey indicated he’d like to “renew his relationship with Guyana and publicly apologise to its people for the collapse of Clico Guyana.”

Duprey said CL Financial “will try to make amends for the approximately US$40M debt” owed mainly to Guyana’s NIS.

Guyana’s NIS funding was invested in a Clico subsidiary in the Bahamas “that has been until now lost,” Kaieteur News stated. The money represented losses of income for NIS and severely threatened its long-term viability.

The paper said Duprey’s CLF is interested in investing in areas, including solar energy, affordable housing, clay brick and solar for housing and “a financial model to generate savings and alleviate poverty.”

Clico’s businesses in Guyana include insurance, asset management and commercial banking services, real estate development, construction materials manufacturing, timber, downstream petrochemicals, energy, trading and agriculture.

Jordan said he’d apprise the Guyana cabinet of the discussions, the paper said. But he advised Duprey that future engagements could be conducted “on parallel tracks: discussion on recovering monies owed by CL Financial and investment in Guyana.” The men also agreed to a follow up meeting.

Kaieteur News said the Bank of Guyana would determine the status of outstanding matters relevant to Clico Guyana. It pointed out that in May 2016, Jordan had said legal action to recover the $5B-plus may be useless since it could be a “long drawn-out process.” As such, Jordan said the Guyanese government would have to find another way of recouping losses for its NIS investment in Clico.

Deputy Police Commissioner Wayne Dick says that anyone caught posting videos of prisoners inside a prison cell on social media while being held at the police stations will be held accountable for their actions.

Recently, two videos of suspects being held inside a police station cell were posted on social media.

However, many questions were raised about who was responsible for the cellphones being brought inside the cell at the police stations.

On one page alone, one of the videos was shared over 500 times and viewed by 40,000 users.

In a brief interview yesterday, Dick denied that the suspects in one of the videos were from Enterprise, Chaguanas.

Dick said that investigations were ongoing to determine the source of the videos.

“Yes, investigations are being conducted to ascertain the origin of those videos.”

He said if police officers were involved in facilitating the videos they would be held responsible.

“For those police officers, if anyone is responsible they will definitely feel the wrath of the disciplinary process and be made an example if accountable,” he said.

In one of the videos, a prisoner showed 15 prisoners being kept inside a cell.

He claimed to be a resident from the Enterprise community in Chaguanas and was innocent of allegations made.

Recently, some 12 men were arrested causing residents of the area to protest at the corner of Tobago and the Old Southern Main Road at Lendore Village.

The prisoner went live on social media complaining of the conditions inside the cell.

He videotaped some 15 men crowded inside a cramped, dark area.

The prisoner showed the toilet facilities and water running freely from a pipe.

Several of the men were asleep on the ground, some were awake and one was on another cellphone.

“Look how the commissioner have we. Is 15 of we they hold, we not killing nobody in Chaguanas. They catch we and say we is terrorist,” he said.

In a separate incident, the second video posted displayed a lone prisoner inside a cell who was apparently moaning in pain.

The video was allegedly taped by a police officer at a station.

In the video the police officer was heard using obscene language several times while asking the prisoner his name and age.

“I don’t want to hear about your sister and you want to play badman? You must stop fight with the police. This is the Hyatt, lie down dey,” the police officer was heard saying.

The two Spinner dolphins which washed ashore at two La Brea beaches on Thursday morning became entangled in a fishing net and were severely hit about the body.

They both died from blunt force trauma, according to the findings of necropsies performed on both carcasses at the University of the West Indies, School of Veterinary Medicine yesterday.

Dr Carla Phillips, national coordinator of the T&T Marine Mammal Stranding Network (TTMSN), could not say how or what inflicted the blows on the animals. She said, “Something did hit them, especially the younger animal which had a very severe blow on the entire right side of the body which caused haemorrhaging in the chest and lung.”

The young male dolphin washed ashore around 8.30 am at Carat Shed beach while the adult dolphin washed up a short while later at Coffee beach. They lived for about ten to 15 minutes.

However, before TTMMSN’s veterinarian team, Dr Phillips, Dr Wade Seukeran and pathologist Dr Rod Suepaul could examine the adult dolphin someone chopped and carded off the bottom half of its body.

In a press statement yesterday, Phillips said both animals were in very good body condition and were actively feeding at the time that they became distressed. “Markings and indentations on the body of the adult animal were consistent with that of fishing nets.

The juvenile male dolphin had lesions consistent with severe blunt force trauma along the entire right side of the body. Both animals had haemorrhaged into the thoracic (chest) cavity.

The juvenile animal had extensive pulmonary haemorrhage, especially in the right lung, again consistent with blunt force trauma to the right side of the body.

“The adult animal had been cut in half just behind the dorsal fin. Abdominal organs were found to be crudely severed and removed. The sex of the animal therefore could not be determined. Necropsy findings strongly suggest that both animals perished as a result of human interaction.”

Phillips again strongly encouraged the public to avoid interaction with marine mammals that may wash ashore, desist from the practice of mutilating the animals and avoid consumption of the carcass as these animals often harbour harmful micro-organisms that can be transmitted to humans and can be detrimental to human health. She also reminded the public that marine mammals are protected and it is illegal to handle or be in possession of these animals (or parts thereof) without a permit.

The public was also advised to await the assistance of trained personnel before trying to have any contact with stranded animals.

Reports of strandings should be immediately made to the Wildlife Division -

Trinidad:

662-5114, 645-4288;

Tobago: 639-2570; 735-

4369 and the TTMMSN

at 466-2709, 735-3530.

Two men died yesterday in two separate accidents that took place in central and east Trinidad.

In the first accident, motorcyclist Andre “White Boy” Rivas, 33, of Acono Road, Maracas St Joseph, was riding his motorcycle east along the Eastern Main Road near Carib Brewery when he collided with a van heading in the opposite direction.

Photographs of Rivas were widely circulated on social media yesterday depicting him pinned beneath the van.

Police said the accident happened around 10.30 am.

Rivas’ sister-in-law, Crystal Granado, described him as the glue in the family that kept it together.

The father of three boys owned and operated a grocery in Mt D’or and was returning from the business when the accident occurred.

Granado said Rivas used the motorbike to avoid traffic when conducting business for the grocery and outside of that he would use his pickup. She said he was not a speedster on the bike if he was not avoiding traffic, he was not using it.

“He went to the doctor this (yesterday) morning for a check-up and then went to the grocery. While we were heading there we saw an accident and was complaining about how some drivers drive recklessly. About 30 minutes later we got a call that he was in an accident and he died,” Granado said adding that on her way back from the grocery she saw the motorbike and the driver of the pickup “and wanted to beat him.”

She added: “The entire community loved him, we lost a pillar in the family. His children are very angry and we are not sure how we will function without him. My sister now have to raise three boys without him.

“Drivers please pay attention on the road. Drivers need to be more careful because you are not driving for yourselves.”

In the second accident, which took place around 4 am, Stephen Mahadeo, 25, of Montrose Chaguanas was driving a black Subaru on the northbound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway opposite the Ministry of Agriculture Land and Fisheries building when he reportedly lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree on the left side of the roadway. The car to split into two and half landed in a small ravine. The other half landed on the river bank. Mahadeo did on the scene.

The accidents have taken the road death toll to 20 for the year compared to 40 for he same period last year. In a statement issued by the Police Service Road Safety Campaign, motorists were reminded that tragedies such as the two accidents are preventable if drivers and road users would exercise more care and restraint when using the nation’s roadways.