As the nation joins in celebration of Christmas Day, it is also imperative that its core values, including that of hard-work and a commitment to family and country be observed.

This was the message from acting President Christine Kangaloo. 

President Anthony Carmona and his family are vacationing in the Cayman Islands.

Kangaloo, who described the story of Christmas as nothing short of magical, said it was also one filled with messages and images that teach and inspire. 

“The birth, in the lowliest of circumstances and of places, of an outcast child who would one day redeem the very world which prosecuted him, remains one of the most remarkable stories ever told. For T&T, it is a story whose relevance is perhaps greatest at this time in our country’s history,” Kangaloo said.

She said as in the midst of an understandable anxiety over the future, particularly as unfriendly economic skies gather, people ought not to be afraid as according to the Christmas story, in the midst of a storm there is salvation.

“As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us drive out fear with the faith which inspired Mary to open herself up to and to face head-on the uncertainties before her. 

“T&T is truly a ‘Christmas nation.’ We are a nation of wise men and women, having been abundantly blessed with our share of magic.

“Throughout our history, there has been a divinity that has guided us and shaped our ends and there have been countless guiding stars that have shone and that will continue to shine in whatever is the darkness that might overshadow us from time to time,” Kangaloo said. 

And as the New Year approaches, Kangaloo also appealed that the Christmas story take root in people’s hearts, calling for constant companion to be the guiding star.

“May we join hands and walk assuredly into the future, confident that we will yet create the nation our forefathers dreamed of and, in so doing, redeem our collective aspirations and find our salvation,” Kangaloo said.

Recovering brain surgery patient Suzanne Harripersad had a special visitor, yesterday, at the San Fernando General Hospital.

While many were at home opening their presents and sharing memories over traditional family meals, Harripersad, was greeted by her brother, Randy, 29, who wore a Santa Claus suit, and other members of the family.

Just ten days ago, Suzanne, 32, of Sumani Trace, Barrackpore, underwent a ten-hour surgery to remove a tumour from her brain.

Yesterday, she thrilled her relatives by walking from her bed to the corridor, with some assistance, to pose for pictures.

Her mother, Indra Harripersad, said for years Suzanne complained of migraine headaches, but she had no idea she was afflicted with a brain tumour.

“It hasn’t been an easy thing,” Indra said. 

“She used to have headaches that would last for half an hour at a time.”

As the years went by, her family members noticed Suzanne walked strangely, and about two years ago her eyes began swelling on a regular basis.

She was taken to an eye specialist, who recommended prescription glasses.

But a visit from a relative who works in a United States hospital may have saved her life.

“A visiting cousin told her to get a head scan because she (the cousin) has a medical background and was suspecting it could be a tumour.”

However, nothing could prepare Indra or her family for the results of the scan.

“They said she had a brain tumour and she needed surgery,” the mother of three said.

Yesterday, Suzanne’s husband of two years, Krishendath Persad, said he could not be happier with the results of her surgery.

He said the Santa visit idea came from the family as a whole, which he said was very close.

He said Suzanne loves to celebrate life, adding there was no way the family could be comfortable celebrating Christmas without her, hence the large family visit.

On December 14, a team of neurosurgeons, including Dr Jinting Lee, Dr Pedro Nunez, Dr Emmanuel Adole, Dr Helen Bissoon, Dr Suresh Boodram and Dr Steve Ramnarace operated on Suzanne.

The T&T Guardian spoke to Lee who said Suzanne’s tumour was the biggest he had ever removed.

“The tumour was on the corner of the cerebellum and her brain stem and it was very huge,” Lee said. “It had severely compressed the brain stem and cerebellum.”

Lee said because of the location of the tumour, the surgeons had to be very precise.

He said medication was being used to treat Suzanne, who will hopefully make a full recovery.

A lucky escape for three men involved in a dramatic accident yesterday in Chaguanas was described as a Christmas Day miracle by eyewitnesses.

The three were travelling in the cab of a garbage truck on the northbound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, just after the Chase Village flyover, around 2.30 pm, when it skidded across the median and ended up facing traffic on the southbound lane.

Eyewitnesses said the truck careened about 20 feet towards oncoming traffic before the driver attempted to make a U-turn, causing the vehicle to flip onto its side. It ended up on the median.

The driver’s arm remained pinned under the cab and fire officers, who were on the scene within minutes, used a crane to lift the vehicle to free the injured man.

The accident prompted several people to stop along the highway to witness the rescue efforts.

Eyewitnesses said that a combination of small miracles saved the lives of the three men and that of unsuspecting drivers heading south on the highway.

Eyewitnesses say one of the men catapulted through the windscreen, while the driver’s arm was trapped under the vehicle. Fire officers seemed unaffected as rain began falling during their rescue mission.

Curious onlookers argued with police on the scene, criticising their “lack of training” in dealing with crash victims and eyewitnesses. 

Police at the scene say that the men seemed “disoriented” and were unable to identify themselves.

Investigators on the scene credited the light Christmas Day traffic on the highway as the main reason no other vehicle was involved in the accident.

This near miss comes even as the police and road safety awareness group Arrive Alive have both ramped up calls for more road safety on the nation’s roads.

The most recent road fatality count stands at 143.

At its weekly meeting on Wednesday, Cabinet took a decision to request the President to terminate the appointment of former Central Bank Governor, Jwala Rambarran, in accordance with sections 12(e) and 12(g) of the Central Bank Act, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said in a statement on Thursday. 

That decision is unprecedented in local history, but is preceded in the Commonwealth, by the Jamaican government’s dismissal of Governor Derick Latibeaudiere in November 2009 (over compensation issues) and the February 2014 dismissal of Nigerian governor Lamido Sanusi (for alleging corruption in oil revenues). Cyprus governor Panicos Demetriades resigned in March 2014 after being pressured by the government there.

The sections of the Central Bank Act cited by the minister allow the President to terminate the appointment of a governor if he “is guilty of misconduct in relation to his duties” and “fails to carry out any of the duties or functions conferred or imposed upon him under this Act.”

It seems evident that the Cabinet formed the opinion—based primarily on legal advice from both internal and external counsel, including senior counsel, according to the minister—“that the disclosure by the former Governor of the names of the largest users of foreign exchange in T&T and the amounts of foreign exchange that they used was a breach of section 56 of the Central Bank Act and section 8 of the Financial Institutions Act.”

Those laws impose a duty of confidentiality on all officers of the Central Bank, which is required to maintain the secrecy of information passed to it by T&T’s commercial banks as the Central Bank serves as banker to the country’s financial institutions and also as regulator and supervisor of the country’s commercial banks.

In other words, in the same way that a bank has an obligation to maintain the confidentiality of a customer’s accounts, the Central Bank must maintain the confidentiality of the information passed to it by commercial banks.

The Financial Institutions Act (FIA), at section 8(1) under the rubric of confidentiality, states: “No director, officer or employee of the Central Bank or person acting under the direction of the Central Bank shall disclose any information regarding the business or affairs of a licensee or any of its affiliates or information regarding a depositor, customer or other person dealing with a licensee, that is obtained in the course of official duties.”

That section makes it clear that Central Bank governors have a duty of confidentiality not to disclose any information obtained in the course of official duties.

On that basis alone, the President could have summarily terminated the appointment of former governor Jwala Rambarran.

In seeking to defend the decision by the former governor to disclose the names of some of the country’s main foreign exchange users, the Central Bank published a statement on its Web site and publicly on December 8.

That statement, which negates the perception that the Government did not allow Rambarran the right to be heard, quoted section 8(6) of the FIA.

That section allows disclosure of information that would be in the best interests of the financial system of T&T or in the best interests of depositors, other customers, creditors or shareholders of such a licensee.

The Central Bank statement, which was drafted no doubt by the former governor, does NOT outline how the breach of confidentiality would be in the best interests of the financial system of T&T or of depositors, customers, creditors or shareholders of those licensees.

Instead, the statement said the use of T&T’s precious foreign exchange reserves “is an issue of public concern and justifies the dissemination of the identity of the main recipients to whom such reserves are distributed.”

The Central Bank Act, it must be noted, allows disclosure of information that is in the best interests of T&T’s financial system or in the “best interests” of licensees. It does not allow disclosure of issues of “public concern” because if it did then the Central Bank would have been obliged to make public the names of those Clico directors who received monies under the first distribution to non-assenting policyholders.

In addition, the former governor’s statement conveniently ignores section 8(7) of the FIA, which states: “Nothing in this section authorises the Central Bank or any person acting under the direction of the Central Bank to disclose information about a particular depositor or creditor of a licensee, except where such disclosure is required by any written law or ordered by the Court.”

It should be noted that contravention of section 8 of the FIA is an offence for which the offender “is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $600,000 and to imprisonment for two years.”

The Central Bank statement of December 8 also seeks to defend the former governor by quoting the Central Bank Act at section 56 (1), which states: “Except in so far as may be necessary for the due performance of its objects, and subject to section 8 of the FIA, every director, officer and employee of the Bank shall preserve and aid in preserving secrecy with regard to all matters relating to the affairs of the Bank, any financial institution…or of any customers thereof that may come to his knowledge in the course of his duties.”

The Rambarran statement underlines and emboldens the first clause of the quote. But the statement fails to enlighten the public on how the breach of the expected confidentiality is necessary for the “due performance of the Central Bank’s objects” or what are the objects of the Central Bank.

If one takes the Oxford dictionary definition of objects as being a goal or purpose, the question then becomes how is the disclosure of some of T&T’s largest users of foreign exchange necessary for the due performance of the Central Bank’s goals or purposes.

The Central Bank’s “objects,” or its goal and purpose,” is encapsulated in its mission statement, which reads: “The Bank shall have as its purpose the promotion of such monetary, credit and exchange policies as would foster monetary and financial stability and public confidence and be favourable to the economy of Trinidad and Tobago."

In short, the goal and purpose of the Central Bank (its objects) is to promote monetary and financial stability, public confidence and a favourable economy for T&T.

The question is this: How does the naming of some of the largest users of foreign exchange promote the country’s financial stability, public confidence and a favourable outcome for T&T?

The December 8 statement by the Central Bank also ignores the Exchange Control Act, which is strange considering the fact that the disclosure involved the use of foreign exchange.

Section 44 of the Exchange Control Act states: “No person who obtains information by virtue of this Act shall disclose that information otherwise than in the discharge of his functions under this Act or for the purpose of any criminal proceedings; but nothing in this subsection shall apply to information lawfully received by a member of the public in the course of an ordinary transaction between such person and the Bank.”

Congress of the People (COP) political leader Prakash Ramadhar says the Cabinet acted as judge, jury and executioner in the decision made to dismiss Jwala Rambarran as Central Bank governor.

Ramadhar said the Cabinet acted simply on the basis of legal advice without any clarity as to allegations and questioned whether Rambarran was given the appropriate opportunity to be heard.

On Wednesday, Cabinet recommended to the President that the employment of Rambarran as Central Bank governor be terminated. Alvin Hilaire was appointed as the new governor.

In a news release yesterday, Ramadhar said the secrecy of cabinet’s decision was compounded by the fact that it did not even form part of an announcement at the customary post-cabinet media briefing. 

“The fact that this was actioned while His Excellency (Anthony Carmona) is out of the country and so swiftly by the PNM’s Senate President (Christine Kangaloo) acting for him, also adds to the appearance of kangaroo court action,” said Ramadhar.

“Despite the allegations of criminal wrongdoing against the Central Bank governor, there is not a word of any criminal conviction, far less charges involving him in government’s reasons for dismissing him summarily,” he said.

“This action by the present regime, the Cabinet and Acting President was conducted in a manner which smacks of being surreptitious and in defiance of the rule of natural justice and all norms of governance in dealing with the holders of such independent offices.” 

The United National Congress (UNC), in a separate statement, also criticised Rambarran’s dismissal.

In a release issued by UNC chairman David Lee, the party described Rambarran’s removal as undemocratic.

“In addition to interfering with the independence of the Central Bank, the government’s actions through the Acting President has now dragged the independent presidency into the political arena. 

“This is not just about whether such action is legal. It is about perception of what is just, right and above all ethically correct,” Lee said.

He noted that the action followed the firing of Indar Maharaj, president of the National Gas Company; sending Housing Development Corporation senior managers on administrative leave; the dismissal of hundreds of Unemployment Relief Programme and Community-based Enhancement Protection and Enhancement Programme personnel; as well as the refusal to renew contracts of hundreds of workers in the public sector. 

Lee compared Rambarran’s dismissal to moves against former House Speaker Occah Seapaul who was placed under house arrest and the attempted impeachment of then chief justice Satnarine Sharma.

“We look forward to the voices of the Law Association, the trade union movement and other civil society and professional organisations, who have in the past acted as a government watchdog,” the statement said.

A Marabella family of ten was terrorised on Christmas Eve when three bandits entered their home, robbing them of cash, cellphones and a rented Nissan Tiida sedan.

According to reports, around 11.30 pm, the family, who asked not to be identified, was at its Central Street, Marabella, home when three men entered the family property and announced a robbery. Two of the men were armed with guns.

The family members, several of whom had come from overseas for the holidays, were ordered to lie on the ground, while the men ransacked the house, searching for cash and valuables.

A 90-year-old woman was assaulted by the men as they demanded to know where the family kept its money.

The bandits made off with over $2,000 in cash and several cellphones.

The men also took the Nissan Tiida sedan that was rented by family members for the holiday season.

PC Mohammed of the Marabella Police Station is continuing investigations.

In an unrelated incident, a San Fernando man who refused to hand over his valuables to bandits was shot while standing in his front yard.

According to reports, around 10 pm on Christmas Eve, Sherwyn Boodoo, of Victoria Village, San Fernando, was approached by three men, two of whom were armed with guns.

The men ordered Boodoo to hand over his valuables, but he refused.

He was shot in the foot and the robbers ran off without any loot.

PC Crawford of the Mon Repos Police Station is continuing investigations.

Cindy Raghubar

GML ENTERPRISE DESK

Many people forget the tragedy of fatal road accidents and fewer remember the families left behind.

But for those who survive, empty houses and memories remind them each day of their losses.

Rikash Ramcharan, 19, lost his parents and brother to a cross-median crash in July.

He had to abandon his studies at Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (Cape) level earlier this year to find a job, and concentrate on taking care of his younger sibling, 14-year-old Nigel Ramcharan. 

Both boys were orphaned after an accident along the Uriah Butler Highway claimed the lives of their mother, 36-year-old Nanda Ramcharan; father, 47-year-old Mahadeo Ramcharan; and brother, 13-year-old Nyron Ramcharan, earlier this year.

A man driving a garbage truck lost control of his vehicle after the truck was hit by a Lancer motorcar on the northbound lane, crossed the median and crushed the family’s blue Honda Civic travelling on the southbound lane. 

It was July 29, and the three were returning to their Sookhan Trace, Barrackpore, home from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where Nyron had undergone his weekly dialysis for a chronic kidney condition. 

Rikash and Nigel were not with them when tragedy struck.

Now, the pair live alone in the incomplete house started by their father. 

Although the boys recently received most of the material necessary to complete their home from a generous San Juan man, they have no means and not nearly enough money to supply the labour cost.

Rikash said “things have been rough” since the accident but he was grateful for all that the Good Samaritan had given to them. “Is just for me to provide the labour.” 

He said after the accident they were promised help from both the then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and former member of Parliament for that area Clifton De Coteau. Government help never came. 

Rikash recalled that he went with an uncle to the MP’s office every week for two consecutive months and was not able to meet De Coteau a single time.

Rikash does not intend to give up because he wants to “try and put a smile on Nigel’s face.”

He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “My brother, he don’t show it but when I watch in his eye, I could see the pain.” 

Rikash said the loss has been especially difficult for Nigel because, as younger siblings, Nigel and Nyron were inseparable.

“Sometimes he does be by himself and you does just see the pain in him that he miss them a lot. Now without them it does be so hard. We does have to battle for ourselves. I have to take care of Nigel, grow him up good.”

The teenager who now acts as brother, mother and father told us he hardly sleeps at night as thoughts and memories of his family keep him awake. 

“Every day goes by I think about them, in work all the time, how life would have been with them.”

A smile seemed to creep across his lips, but left as quickly as it came. “There is a nice big banner picture home with the three of them, we look at it and we talk to them...Sometimes you does feel like they are right there with you, and then, is just like that everything gone.”

Following the accident, the teenagers received one session of counselling. 

Need for closure

President of road safety awareness group Arrive Alive Sharon Inglefield, who lost her son to an accident, believes “every fatal collision is preventable” and avoidable.

She said an increasing number of breadwinners were being lost through fatal road accidents.

The GML Enterprise Desk analysed the T&T Police Service’s records and statistics of road traffic accidents for the year so far, and the data show that more than half of the total number of people killed were younger than 36 years. So far, 143 people have been killed for 2015 in road accidents—112 men, 21 women and ten children.

Inglefield blamed a substandard judicial system for the stresses and inability of families to get closure following the death of loved ones. “You’re talking about a lack of closure for that family because they feel something should be done through our court system...the cases are not being called, that gap needs to be filled so that people understand that compassion is needed in doing their jobs and the responsibility is huge.” 

Victims, she said, needed to know that their interests were being considered. Inglefield urged the T&T Police Service, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the relevant authorities to ensure these families got the necessary support.

In Cunaripo, one passes an old, smiling man sitting in front of Scotty’s Recreation Club, green pumpkin fields with blue water barrels, gnarled trees with hanging vines, and a century-old Presbyterian school, to reach a destitute family of 18 who live at the edge of the forest.

In the tiny, blue house next to Ma Sankar’s Estate in remote Guaico, Tamana, off Sangre Grande, grandmother Joan Lopez lives with her husband, nine grandchildren and seven children of her own. How they survive is a near miraculous tale.

The children, aged between six and 18, have no pipe-borne water to use. They depend on rainwater and a truck-borne supply.

Until 2003 when they got electricity, a battery-powered television was their main entertainment in the silent village. 

“When Christmas came I used to pay $10 to charge the battery every six days so the children could watch their shows,” Lopez said.

The family had been getting by on the meagre earnings Lopez and her husband, Ellis, made picking oranges and grapefruit on McDowell’s citrus estate in Tamana.

When the owners died and the estate closed, things took a turn for the worse. Ellis, a skilled mason, got work off and on constructing houses and one daughter got a job as a security officer.

Their incomes are what the entire family lives off of. That, “little handouts” and the kitchen garden Lopez cultivates on a small strip of the landlord’s land around the house. 

“I plant tomatoes, bodi, baigan, fig, pumpkin, caraille, pepper and plantain,” Lopez said. The produce from the garden helps put food on the family’s table and brings in a few extra dollars from the market.

When they get a “ten days” from the Unemployment Relief Programme in the area, Lopez and Ellis take it gratefully.

She ended up with seven grandchildren after their parents died, she said. Her daughter, Erica, 35, got sick and died last November. The children’s father died three years ago.

Before she died, Erica had built a small wooden house adjoining the family home and this is where her children stay with one of her sisters. 

Two of Lopez’s daughters have one child each. Add those to her own seven and Erica’s children and that’s how 18 of them ended up living in the house. All the little children attend the 1904 Cunaripo Presbyterian School down the hill. Lopez said after their mother died state grants she had been getting, including a food card, stopped.

Lopez has created her own psychological survival mechanism to deal with her woes. “Sometimes I have and sometimes I don’t. Whatever little I have, I make it do. Even if I am frustrated I can’t do nothing about it. I have to remain calm.”

On Tuesday, the children got toys, groceries and snacks for Christmas from chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation councillor Terry Rondon who, in a Santa suit, journeyed eight miles up the winding, hilly road to the family’s home on Jubilee Street.

“Tomorrow the apples and grapes and chicken coming,” he said. And he advised Lopez, “Take the children to church, pray night and day and God will help you.”

He said he met Lopez when she was honoured at a function for taking her deceased daughter’s children under her wings.

Vowing to make her Christmas happy, Rondon said he went out begging companies for donations and many, including National Shoe and Occupational Solutions Ltd, gave generously.

“It’s important to help the less fortunate. There are too many people out there like this.”

He appealed to the Government to “look for these people and help them.”

“Not enough is being done. We have to go out and look for them.”

The T&T Police Service (TTPS) intends to continue with its voluntary breathalyser programme to keep drunk drivers off the roads for Carnival 2016.

Officers fFor the year so far over 2,500 people have been charged for drunk driving, an offence subject to a fine which can range from $12,000 to $22,500. TTPS road safety officer Brent Batson said that even this ticketing system was ineffective without stricter consequences. He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “We cannot be issuing the same driver three tickets in a month; until that penalty point comes into play, then the ticket is not really an effective deterrent to the behaviour we want to address.” The penalty point system being proposed through the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Bill 2014 which is currently before the Parliament seeks to implement a point system against drivers breaking the traffic laws and could lead to the revocation of an offender’s driver’s licence.rom the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch of the TTPS said they would heighten their testing at popular Carnival fetes next year.

In 2015, approximately 20,000 people were tested as they left fete venues and the results showed that 8,000 of them were over the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mobile, Deodat Dulalchan told the GML Enterprise Desk that drivers were encouraged to visit the tents set up by the TTPS when leaving carnival fetes because police would also be setting up road blocks at strategic places near fete locations.

“What is rather strange, though, is that even if we are doing voluntary breath-testing we have some people who don’t want to visit the tent…I mean if you have the first option to be tested so that you know your limit whether you are above and so on, so that you can take that type of preventative measures, the likelihood is great for you to be caught not too far outside,” Dulalchan said.

He said the TTPS intended to intensify its campaign to target drunk drivers and had already communicated with fete promoters the plan to continue the voluntary breath tests.

Dulalchan said that the police could not be everywhere and it worried him that people were not more careful on the nation’s roads. He said, “People need to be very conscious and focused when driving and personally do everything to mitigate the risk.”

The police remain concerned about the speed at which motorists drive and careless driving.

Dulalchan said, “We continue to be charging people for drinking and driving.” This was worrisome, he added.

Ticket system ineffective

For the year so far over 2,500 people have been charged for drunk driving, an offence subject to a fine which can range from $12,000 to $22,500. 

TTPS road safety officer Brent Batson said that even this ticketing system was ineffective without stricter consequences.

He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “We cannot be issuing the same driver three tickets in a month; until that penalty point comes into play, then the ticket is not really an effective deterrent to the behaviour we want to address.”

The penalty point system being proposed through the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Bill 2014 which is currently before the Parliament seeks to implement a point system against drivers breaking the traffic laws and could lead to the revocation of an offender’s driver’s licence.

CNC3’s Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne, this week, launched an investigation into the death of Ruth Thomas, 24, of Buen Intento, Princes Town.

Thomas was found hanging by a close male relative on December 17, at her home.

However, Alleyne said he believes that her death should not be ruled as a suicide.

Showing exclusive footage of Thomas’ body at Amo’s Funeral Home, Alleyne revealed several marks of violence about the body and said that he believes that Thomas may have been beaten and possibly killed.

He said that he believed that Thomas did not commit suicide and urged the investigators at the T&T Police to review their evidence and not “sweep the case under the carpet.”

Alleyne interviewed Thomas’ sister, Rhonda, who said that Thomas was last seen shopping two days before with a male relative who later found her body.

Thomas’ relatives insisted that the woman was not suicidal and pleaded with Alleyne to bring them justice and closure in the matter.

In another case, where the decomposing body of a woman identified as Carol Gopaul was found stuffed inside a plastic barrel last week Thursday (December 17) in Curepe, Alleyne met with Gopaul’s husband, Saheed.

Saheed disclosed critical information to Alleyne as to who may be the responsible for the woman’s murder.

Saheed said he wanted justice for his wife, who was beaten, stabbed, according to results revealed in an autopsy that was conducted at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

Alleyne said preliminary investigations suggested that Gopaul, who was a security guard, confided in co-workers that the name of someone who wanted her dead.

Saheed told Alleyne that her co-workers were very distraught and traumatised over her death and were supporting him through his time of mourning.

After highlighting the case, where a 28-year-old mother, Stacy Ramkissoon, died at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex on December 19, from swine flu (H1N1) virus, Alleyne took precautionary measures and he visited Dr Rai Ragbir, who gave him the H1N1 vaccination.

Alleyne urged members of the public to secure their health by getting themselves vaccinated.

And in the spirit of Christmas, Alleyne hosted a mega-Christmas show on Wednesday in Arima on the compound of Xtra Foods Supermarket, O’Meara Road, where patrons received gifts and hampers.

Alleyne was also joined by some of the country’s top soca parang artistes including: El Toro, Ninja, Poser, Kenny J, Runoman and Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon.

During one of his live shows in studio this week, Alleyne made a special presentation of gifts, courtesy JJ & Friends, to seven-year-old Deoraj Sewkaran and his nine-year-old sister, Rohani.

The two children, who are both Guyanese nationals, were in the country to attend their father’s funeral.

Their father, Deokeran Sewkaran, 35, was robbed, stabbed and severely burnt while at a bar in Waterloo on November 29. 

He succumbed to his injuries on December 5.

Subsequent to Alleyne highlighting the incident, one man was arrested and charged.

Alleyne, this week, also received a report on Wednesday that a Kia truck which was stolen from the Mission Road, Freeport area, and asked members of the public who may have any information to contact him at 294-4081.

National midfielder Keron Cummings, 27, was shot and wounded yesterday by a masked gunman, moments after he returned to his home from a boat cruise lime.

Cummings’ team co-manager David Muhammad strongly believes the act may have been committed under envy and is therefore calling for the police to thoroughly investigate the incident “leaving no stone unturned.”

“It seems as though the sole intention was to injure Keron in such a way to ruin his career because Keron has been top of his game more recently,” Muhammad said.

“It is clear that if the gunman really wanted him dead he would have shot him in the head or upper part of the body but he aimed for his leg. And, this of course, is a scary situation,” he added.

Cummings, 27, will definitely miss the Copa América Centenario qualifying play-offs against Haiti on January 8 in Panama City, Panama. Cummings was due to start training with the national team at 6 pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain, yesterday, ahead of the Copa playoff. 

According to a police report, at about 2 am Cummings was dropped off near Bagatelle corner in Diego Martin by a close female friend when he was approached by a masked gunman, who shot him in the leg before running off.

Cummings, who also plays for the North East Stars, was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital treated and subsequently warded. According to hospital officials, Cumming’s bone has been shattered.

He is due to undergo surgery later today.

An investigating officer said there were no signs of robbery as the motive.

Muhammad said that he, along with several other teammates, have visited Cummings at hospital.

“Keron is struggling to come to terms with this. We all are because this have left all of us in shock,” Muhammad said.

“Some of us are wondering what are the possible risks now especially if that individual (the perpetrator) is still at large and maybe targeting other top players because we still do not know for sure if it is a personal issue or an envy thing. Keron was really in top form. That is why we really want the police to launch an intensive and extensive investigation into this,” he added.

Muhammad said he already spoke to investigating officers and intend to keep in constant contact with them.

Soca Warriors Manager, William Wallace said that he was saddened over the incident and wished Cummings a miraculous speedy recovery.

Cummings was one of the players, who had threatened not to play in the playoff against Haiti but decided to go ahead with the game since they had successfully negotiated for match fees owed to them for the Concacaf Gold Cup, an International Friendly against Nicaragua and two World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala and the United States.

Cummings scored two goals this year against Mexico in an International Friendly match.

Investigations are continuing.

Business and finance experts are not surprised by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgrade of T&T from stable to negative. 

On December 24, the rating agency made its announcement that it was downgrading T&T. 

The agency had said: “The change in outlook to negative from stable reflect an, at least one-in-three chance that prolonged low energy prices and potentially poor GDP growth prospects could result in a steadily rising debt burden, leading to a downgrade in the next two years.”

In an interview yesterday, former energy minister Conrad Enill said he was not surprised by the downgrade. He said once the energy prices were no longer at the high level that they were at, then T&T would have expected a downgrade. He added that government’s expenditure had not changed but revenues had.

Enill suggested that: “Despite the fact that you have less revenue from the oil companies, the Government has decided to maintain the current level of expenditure at will, and fill the gap between income and expenditure by borrowing, selling and a couple other things. As far as internally is concerned, it is business as usual.”

He said one of the challenges ahead was the satisfaction of demand for US currency because if the demand remained high and the revenues from the energy sector were low they might not be able to fulfil that demand.

The rating agency’s downgrade came ahead of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s address to the nation tomorrow. And stating his predictions about what the Prime Minister would say to the nation, Enill said the changed conditions in T&T’s economy would be one of the items on the agenda.

“We need to get more efficient as a society, the way in which we use the resources have to change. We can no longer go after consumer spending, in the manner in which we had grown accustomed. We basically have to look at using the dollar for investment and savings. And waste wherever it exists cannot be tolerated.”

Enill added that if the Prime Minister makes his address around the points he highlighted, it means that the population would have to re-think how it does business. A devaluation is “madness” and would not be a prudent move, Enill said.

“The Government does not get up one morning and decide that it would devalue...the whole question of a devaluation or talk of a devaluation should really not be on the agenda. What should be on the agenda is how we use the resources we currently have, to create more value and at the same time, to recognise that if we do not become more productive we would be pricing ourselves out of the international market where we expect to trade with other countries.”

Kyle Gonsalves, 33, is feared drowned off the north coast, Blanchisseuse. However, his relatives and close friends are hoping and praying for a “miracle” that they would get to see their loved one again.

According to reports, Gonsalves and other relatives were seen walking along the rocks at about 4.15 pm on Boxing Day (Saturday) when Gonsalves jumped into the waters and was instantly submerged and believed to be swept away by the strong currents.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, his mother, who spoke very briefly urged all citizens of all faiths to say a special fervent prayer for her son.

She said since Gonsalves went missing family members had been searching frantically for him.

“The weather was very bad and he just jumped into the water and disappeared. We just need all the prayers that we can get right now,” Gonsalves’ mother said.

She said they had been frequenting their Blanchisseuse beach house for years but it was not normal for them to go there on Boxing Day. However, they decided to go this year to accommodate relatives who came to T&T for the holiday vacation.

One of Gonsalves’ close relatives, Danielle Gonsalves, posted on Facebook at 6.22 pm on Saturday about the incident. She pleaded with anyone who could assist with the T&T Coast Guard, boats, lights or helicopters to help them.

In a subsequent post, at about 6.25 am yesterday, she updated her post saying at one point a helicopter came but eventually left, and begged for anyone to help get another helicopter. She said up to yesterday morning there were no boats or helicopters out to help them.

However, Lt Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste, the public relations officer for the T&T Coast Guard yesterday confirmed to the T&T Guardian that Coast Guard officials have been out conducting searches from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm and again yesterday from the break of dawn.

“About 5.30 pm on Saturday we got a call that a man went to swim. Immediately a CG Action Interceptor 013 from the Tobago base responded and carried out searches. They were joined by one of the larger vessels, the CG24, which was despatched from Staubles Bay. The searched went up until 9.30 pm. This morning (yesterday) another one of our bigger vessels, the CG23 continued the search,” Jean-Baptiste said.

He also cleared the air on the visibility issue.

“In most cases people from the shore don’t see us and think we are not around but we are. In this case we are conducting searches based on the tidal and current patterns because in the Blanchisseuse area, because of the strong currents he may have been pulled out and even further down the road.”

On Saturday a rough sea bulletin was issued by meteorologist Bagwandeen Ramdatt warning small craft operators, sea bathers and all other marine interests to exercise extreme caution in any sea related activities.

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Gonsalves has been employed for almost eight years at McEnearney Business Machines (MBM), a member of the Ansa McAl Group.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, MBM’s general manager Jeewan Mohan said he was hoping and praying for the best.

“I last saw Gonsalves on Christmas Eve at work as normal. The news sent chills through my body. It is hard to accept. 

“It has left me along with co-workers in shock and disbelief. This is really emotional and heart-renching for us,” Mohan said.

Gonsalves has played a critical role at MBM, according to Mohan, being part of the leadership team in steering the direction of the company along the path of success.

The PNM administration was “clearly against” former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran from the “very beginning” and is guilty of tarnishing the office of the President to get rid of him.

So said Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie who spoke on the on i95 Showdown programme yesterday.

Acting president Christine Kangaloo had signed off on the dismissal in the absence of President Anthony Carmona who is vacationing overseas.

But Tewarie, who charged that the Government has been less than forthright in the manner in which the matter was handled said, “They were clearly against him (Rambarran) from the beginning before they came into office. 

“They asked him to leave and he probably said he would not leave and they decided to make it ‘hot’ for him and eventually they used executive power and the fact of a politically-friendly acting President in order to execute the act which led to the firing of the governor,” Tewarie said.

Criticising the “use” of Kangaloo to fire Rambarran, Tewarie said this has now created a situation which has tarnished executive authority and power by the Government’s refusal to show restraint.

“They have tarnished the Presidency by using it politically. They have in fact undermined an institution which is supposed to be independent.

“If they were straightforward and clear and say what they were going to do I think it would have been more acceptable but it was clear they were against him,” Tewarie added.

He also knocked members of the business sector who openly criticised Rambarran for identifying some of the major users of foreign exchange.

“I don’t think the private sector and the Chamber of Commerce can say they are entitled to certain secrets and I don’t see why if the pool of foreign exchange belongs to the people of T&T that we cannot know who is using up the foreign exchange,” Tewarie said.

He said by Rambarran’s singling out the Forex users this “lay bare” the structural problems of this country’s economy.

“The Prime Minister has also said that he wants to know where the foreign exchange is going before he puts more foreign exchange into the system.

“There were also rumours going about...people were saying the People’s Partnership was involved in the manipulation of foreign exchange having to do with their friends, that there was Syrian Mafia....that there was a little cartel that was exchanging the foreign exchange...people were saying that the (former) governor of the Central Bank was inept. All of these things proved to be false with the revelation and in some ways he has done us a favour,” Tewarie said.

In a two-page media release subsequently issued by Rambarran, he said two days before his appointment was revoked he met with Finance Minister Colm Imbert who at that time “had ample opportunity to raise such issues.”

Rambarran, who had also said he had been in contact with his lawyers over what he described as the “complete failure of Cabinet/acting President to abide by due process of law,” signalled his intention to take legal action. 

Expressing confidence that Rambarran would be victorious in court, Tewarie said even if this was not the case it did not matter.

“In today’s world of transparency and accountability I really don’t think the Government can say they need to have secrets except for national security reasons,” Tewarie said. 

The former central bank governor had also claimed he first learned of his dismissal through electronic media at about 10.30 pm on Wednesday and received official notice of his termination at 6.30 on Christmas Eve, some 20 hours after the news first broke.

Earlier in December, Imbert had criticised Rambarran for announcing that the country was in a recession without first consulting him.

Tewarie said in his limited dealings as former planning minister with Rambarran he found the former governor to be independent in relation to the former PP administration, adding that he was often “at odds” with its previous finance minister.

“That is not unusual. I mean he (Rambarran) was not insolent and he was not at war with the former finance minister but there were instances where they had differences of opinion and I think that might have continued with the PNM, but they were less tolerant and they perhaps felt he was a pawn of the last administration,” Tewarie said.

Bring it on

​Acting Attorney General Stuart Young, who also appeared on yesterday’s radio programme, said Rambarran, like every citizen had the right to use the High Court system for redress.

“However, in this instance we have sought appropriate legal advice and we are confident in the action that was taken collectively as a Cabinet and in particular this is an instance where there is no discretion on the part of the President and he or she must act on the advice of the Cabinet with respect to the appointment, revocation or termination of the governor.

“Mr Rambarran has said he intends to approach the court for redress and at this stage we would not be commenting any further. We will just await whatever the future unfolds but in the meantime we do have a country to govern,” Young said. 

He also dismissed claims that Rambarran was surreptitiously removed saying, “What you found happening was this was actually the last convened Cabinet for 2015. 

“December 23 was the last date in 2015 that the Cabinet would have been sitting so that was the date we deliberated on and took decisions,” Young added.

A 47-year-old man was shot to death early yesterday morning in Sangre Grande.

He has been identified as Leroy “Red Z” Bethelmy of El Carmen Road, Sangre Grande.

According to a police, at about 1.30 am officers assigned to the Sangre Grande Crime Patrol Unit were on patrol along Foster Road, Sangre Grande, when they observed the body of a man lying on the roadway.

When the officers stopped they saw the man bleeding. There was a single gunshot wound to the chest.

A team of officers from the Eastern Division and the Homicide Bureau visited the scene, including Inspector Lutchman, PC Mootilal, PC Ali and PC Seebaran.

Police said Bethelmy was known to them and added that he had been detained on approximately 45 different occasions for possession of narcotics. 

Investigations are continuing.

A run to get ham for a friend almost cost one Marabella man his life on Boxing night.

Dixon Richards, 22, was liming at a neighbour’s home on Bay Road Marabella around 8 pm on Boxing night when he left to go to his house a short distance away to get ham for one of his friends.

On his way back, Richards was hit by a stray bullet when two men who were arguing with each other, began shooting at each other.

Richards, a father of one, was shot in the stomach. 

He was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He is now warded in stable condition.

His mother, Helen King, told the T&T Guardian yesterday that she now feels her son, who is a twin, should move out of the area. 

“I just feel that he shouldn’t live here again, the way I feeling right now, like he should pack and leave here,” she said. “The bullet pierced his stomach and exited from the front too, the doctors said he was very lucky that it didn’t damage any of his organs.”

She said her son is gainfully employed as a security officer and is very hardworking. 

“He does not be in anything with anyone, he was just passing by and get shoot. He works with a security company and he is a very hardworking person.”

King said another man was also shot during the incident but she did not know his identity.

Police were not able to identify the second injured man either.

His job is not only demanding but quite challenging. After all, he leads 63 parishes in T&T.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Everand Harris has overcome many trying circumstances since assuming the post four years ago. Most of them have been ill health. But that has not deterred him from carrying out his responsibilities. 

He’s the second Trinidadian to assume the position of archbishop. The first was Anthony Pantin who served from 1968 to 2000. 

“It has been exciting and very tiring. For one reason or another, my health has not the been the best over those four years,” Harris said. 

He joked that before he became archbishop, he was never sick. 

Harris has battled with prostate cancer (which was detected in its early stages), internal bleeding and blood clots in his lungs. 

But as he stood atop the staircase with his towering figure at Archbishop House in Port-of-Spain, Harris looked strong and refined. 

He descended the stairs with such ease. The 73-year-old praised the priests and laity for their overwhelming support. 

“Being archbishop is great. The priests have supported me very much. I don’t have difficulty with most of them. The laity also supports me. But it is still very challenging.”

He said the Catholic following had improved and this was as a result of the (Pope) “Francis effect.”

“There has been a resurgence and that’s because of the man he is,” Harris said. 

Death penalty is wrong 

On resuming the death penalty in T&T, Harris held firmly to his opinion—no. 

“I always tell people that I am totally against the death penalty. I tell people all the time that violence breeds violence,” he said. 

There were many types of violence, he added. He said it was “violent” when a person goes to hospital and cannot get attention or treatment. 

“That is violent, yet we are surprised when people are murdering each other all the time.”

He said it would always be wrong and nobody has shown him that hanging was a deterrent. 

“I really don’t think we should be associated with such barbarity.”

He said this had always been a point of contention between him and governments.

“I have always said no to hanging.”

Harris said he believed the country was already down a slippery slope and called on the Government to reverse it. He said there was plenty to be done and believed the country had the capacity to do it. 

“The onus is on everyone.”

Money and materialism

Disappointed that society was driven by materialism, Harris called for people to rethink their purpose and what it meant to be human. 

Harris said a culture existed that focused only on self—“self-gratification and self-fulfillment.”

“Anytime money becomes a God, you lose your compassion.” 

Saying professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers were the most sought after careers, Harris having titles behind one’s name was taking over. 

He lamented that in the remote community of Matelot there were no doctors available to treat the sick and elderly. 

“We are a people who love to put titles behind our names, but does it make you a better person?”

“How many lawyers you see helping the poor? The oath they read means nothing for most of them.” 

He said it was impossible for a poor person to hire a lawyer to defend him. 

Money and fame, he said were what people craved. 

“Degrees and titles do not make you, it is much more than that. Ask yourselves what does it mean to be human,” he said. 

Lack of priests

Noting the decrease in the number of priests entering the priesthood, Harris said it was not necessarily a bad thing, since the laity was now more involved in running the church. 

Recalling when he served as rector of the seminary up to 1999, he said there were 28 students from throughout the Caribbean, nine years later, there were five students. 

“That is when we had to close it down. We closed it because we couldn’t keep it open for five people and so we sent our seminarians to the Dominican Republic, which wasn’t a bad thing.”

But Harris said since becoming archbishop, he had noticed that those who’ve entered the priesthood were all “second-career people.”

Unlike himself, who entered when he was 18, he said nowadays people were entering around the ages of 28-30 .

“So it’s later on in life when a lot of them have finished university...they have their careers and then they make an option for priesthood. 

“That means numbers are smaller but you get people who know what they want because they’ve gone out there and studied their work.”

Asked what contributed to the decrease and hesitancy, he said it was cultural and familial. 

He said: “I think it’s a cultural problem. I don’t know if it as much boys are shying away, although that is part, but I think parents have a lot to do with it. 

“There are two things, the culture in which we live is not a culture that values stability. You see it in young people where they move from one job to the next and the next. 

“They’re always searching for greener grass, more money, better pay and better conditions.

“They’re always looking for something else and that is the culture and it is therefore difficult to tell a young man that you are entering a profession where the possibilities of advancement are relatively few...only one person could be bishop,” he laughed. 

“The pay is not that good, the comfort is not something that we have too much of and we live pretty simple lifestyles. Being a priest is not about self at all.”

My name is Samantha Jagroop and I manage a luxury, high-end shoe store.

I’m from Aranguez, in San Juan. Born and grew up there. I’m not sure if it’s presently at the same state but, fortunately or unfortunately, Aranguez has a bit of a reputation as a drug area. But I felt safe growing up there.

I have two brothers, no sisters, and I’m the eldest. So I’m totally spoiled. And I get the best of both worlds, as the eldest, too. My brothers, Elvis and Rocky, are 29 and 27. 

We’re a real Hollywood family. The old TV show, Bewtiched, was before my time, but maybe not before my parents’ time.

I saw fights when I went to Barataria Secondary Comprehensive School but nothing compared to now. Fighting is like a subject at school now. I would go back to school if I could: no bills; no worries.

I want children one day—but it would have to be soon. Because I feel like I’m running out of time. I am currently in a relationship. About two years now. Now, relationships last, like, two months, three months. But I wouldn’t do that.

My Old Year’s Night is normally home with close friends and family. We cook and relax. My sister-in-law normally does most of the cooking.

Nowadays, reading is a thing of the past. If people read at all today, it’s on their phone.

I don’t have much free time. My job is not demanding but the hours are long—mall hours. Mostly on a weekend, I’ll watch movies. 

Romantic comedies, definitely, but action, too. That’s not a boyfriend influence, that’s me. Give me Vin Diesel. But I’m not a Fast & Furious girl. Neither slow & serene. My friend Neisha says I’m definitely furious!

My best quality is I’m very caring, a very softhearted person. I feel sorry fast. And a lot. I’ll watch a homeless person and give them the last dollar I have.

I adore makeup. love to explore different “looks” with it.

I don’t have pets personally, but my brother has two parrots, my niece has a rabbit, and our dog, Chubby, has been in the family for over ten years. My sister-in-law has a cat who sleeps with her in her bed! It don’t make sense for me to bring home another pet!

I used to work in a music store and I listen to and love every genre: parang; hip hop; reggae; everything! I used to buy a lot of music but I don’t anymore. Young people just download music nowadays, they don’t pay for it. That’s one of the reasons I don’t work in a music store any more.

I used to sell, and listen to, jointpop CDs when I worked in Sound Research. I’m really proud they’ve been selected to go to South by Southwest in Austin.

I play mas every year. I mix it up with Fantasy and Harts. I listen to Luis Hart on the radio all the time. It’s the most appropriate station. And he’s professional.

I love to pack a cooler and go to Maracas Beach with my friend, Neisha, and sister-in-law, Lerana. The ambience and the sea breeze. And the bake-and-shark.

Christmas is my favourite time of year. It used to be Carnival but I skipped last Carnival.

I’ve been working in the shoe store for almost five years. It’s a nice experience. I think every woman loves shoes.

My responsibilities are to make sure I sell a lot of shoes—and that customers are happy with their purchases! It’s a nice feeling, when you help a client get something to match their outfit.

There isn’t a bad part of the job. My bosses are really nice. Maybe just the mall hours. Christmas time is busy but I like that. The time passes faster. And you help more people.

The crime rate is overbearing now. I don’t club or go out any more because I don’t feel safe. You’re not even safe in your own home now. And it’s getting worse.

Everything for a Trini is a fete: parang; Carnival; Christmas. They like excuses to make a lime.

Trinidad & Tobago means home to me. I love being here. Despite all the negativities, I would rather be here than anywhere else. 

I love my country.

n Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com

Young people have been warned to stay away from using social media.

Pundit Ramesh Tiwari told the last Sunday morning service at the Edinburgh Hindu Temple that “social media has now turned young people as a robotic generation.

Drawing from a recent US survey in which 50,000 people were interviewed, Tiwari said the conclusions revealed that usage of the social media continues to cause a deterioration of human values and spirituality which did not augur well for the future of the world society. 

“No matter whatever form of communication one uses, the social media does not have the future of our society and all societies, worldwide as a phenomena which would never be conductive for the future of mankind,” he said.

Tiwari called on young people to “stay away from it as much as possible as it will continually hinder the social, spiritual and ethical values now, and forever.”

He called on them to “start talking to one another, facing each other and move away from the tick-tak of the computer.”

“Mind you, the computer, if used for proper and ethical purposes, would enhance the communication process. But, its usage now is not what was really intended,” Tiwari noted.

“Facebook has now become the medium to stalk into each other’s personal business, and there is no privacy in the world anymore,” he said.

Tiwari called on young and old alike to “go to your respective places of worship, be it Hindu, Christian or Islam. The world is moving swiftly into the abysmal path and only religious responses could cause a new turn to God.”

An Aerial Cable Transportation or cable cars is what is being suggested to relieve the gridlock traffic that frequently occurs along the Western peninsula—from Port-of-Spain to Chaguaramas.

The idea came from one of T&T’s business mogul, Derek Chin of Dachin Enterprises.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian, Chin said he recently visited Asia where he had a first-hand look as to how the cable cars there operated.

He said he strongly believed that developing the cable car transit system would not only allow motorists to access Chaguaramas in quick time but also aid the boosting of the country’s economy.

“The cable car transit system can be linked from either Peakes or at MovieTowne, Invaders Bay to the scenic Chaguaramas, creating a ride that is environmentally friendly and quick time. It can also go to the islands and create a real estate boom out there,” Chin said.

He suggested that people wanting to go to the West for Carnival fetes and other functions could avoid the much-talked-about frustrating gridlock traffic, which sometimes lasted for over five hours, by using the cable cars.

“There will be a park and ride for these people and at them reaching the station in Chaguaramas there would be shuttles taking them to the different points down there example, O2 Park, Pier One, etc.” Chin said.

Asked about financing for such a project, Chin disclosed that there was already a Chinese firm lined up to finance it, in addition, to which Chin said, “also by other ways and means.”

He, however, took the opportunity to encourage public/private partnerships.

“With the public/private partnerships a lot of investment can be attracted and this should be priority as we move on to 2016. Businessmen will be using their own monies so by this there would not be so much wastage and the monies would be protected and spent properly,” he said.

He said this one sure way that the Government could venture in to help turn around the declining economy.

“This will result in stabilisation. T&T should not be deprived of all these nice things. Give the business people the guidance to do what needs to be done because they are the successful business people. Give us the chance to join together in re-building the economy,” Chin said.

Giving an example of how he was given the opportunity to boost Guyana’s economy, Chin said he was given land by the Guyanese government at a reduced price for his $220 million investment of a Movie Towne in Guyana, which is currently under construction.

“This project has already in its present stages raised the landscape of sustainable jobs and tourism,” he said.

Just like his proposed plan for the “Streets of the World” at Invader’s Bay, which is an extension of Movie Towne, Chin reiterated that it will be beneficial in terms of positivity towards the economy and creating a destination for tourists.

That project (Streets of the World) has been criticised by former president of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) Afra Raymond who claimed that it was in breach of Central Tenders Board regulations. 

Raymond said the Request for Proposals (RFP) process used in August 2011 by the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development was improper and voidable since the assessment rules were published one month after the closing date.

However, in response to the JCC’s concern, former Planning minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie had repeatedly claimed that the legal advice was that the ministry was in conformity with the law.

The current Minister of Trade and Industry, Paula Gopee-Scoon, promised to do a detailed review and analysis.

She also promised to meet and speak to Chin, early in the new year, in detail about the project, which will consist of 22 acres of ultimate destination, appealing to the entire Caribbean.

Officials of Disney and Hettema Group, who specialise in uniquely creative designs for theme parks, museums and cultural attractions, have already visited T&T and held extensive discussions with Chin on the project. The only obstacle in the way for Chin is the signing of the papers to acquire ten acres of land allotted to Dachin Enterprises so that construction can begin.

One of the main attractions will be the Main Street, a re-creation of Frederick Street, downtown Port-of-Spain, in the 1930s complete with a tramcar.

The streets will also reflect the rich culture of T&T and there will be a Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum highlighting T&T’s Carnival and its history, the history of the steelpan and calypso.