Senior Counsel Israel Khan has written to Director of Public Prosecution Roger Gaspard suggesting that a police investigation be launched to determine whether Chief Justice Ivor Archie is guilty of misbehaviour in public office in what he terms the “unfortunate constitutional crisis involving former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar.

Khan also wants a similar investigation into Ayers-Caesar.

Khan penned two letters to Gaspard on Monday reminding him of a letter he (Khan) had sent on June 9 requesting Gaspard to invoke his powers under Section 90 of the Constitution to request the Commissioner of Police to appoint a senior officer to “conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain whether Mrs Marcia Ayers-Caesar had committed the common law offense of misbehaviour in public office.”

This, he said, related to “the present constitutional crisis vis-a-vis the 53 outstanding matters left in abeyance” by Ayers-Caesar.

Khan noted that the CJ had said he was not to blame for the crisis and laid the blame on Ayers-Caesar. But he pointed to the “public revelations of very alarming information made by Mrs Ayers-Caesar” in the Sunday Guardian dated June 11. He said the information, if true, suggests that “perhaps the learned Chief Justice is the person to be blamed for this sordid affair and thus a police investigation should focus on him.”

Khan said a “meticulous police investigation would reveal the true facts as to who misled whom,” adding this is a “very serious matter and should not be swept under the proverbial carpet.”

The rule of law, he said ,”demands an impartial investigation into this constitutional mess in order to ascertain the true facts.”

Khan said the investigation into Ayers-Caesar should be triggered by the press release issued by the CJ, “in which he categorically stated that Mrs Ayers-Caesar indicated to the JLSC that only two summary cases and a few paper committal matters constituted the quantum of her part-heard matters and it was on that basis the JLSC advised the president to appoint her a judge of the high court.”

Subsequently, he said it was revealed there were 53 outstanding part-heard matters and simultaneously, it was announced that Ayers-Caesar had resigned her position as a judge and that the JLSC was contemplating disciplinary proceedings against her.

He said in Ayers Caesar ‘s case, it appeared that she lied to the JLSC about the magnitude of her part-heard matters because “she wanted an immediate or as soon as possible appointment to the High Court.”

“She could not have cared less. She was selfish and irresponsible,” he said.

With the CJ having placed the blame squarely at the feet of Ayers-Caesar, Khan said only a “meticulous police investigation would reveal the true facts as to who misled whom and who is to be blamed and most of all who misbehaved in public office.”

Former Law Association president Martin Daly SC says the questions posed to candidates for appointment to the High Court reinforce the case for “complete transparency.”

He made the comment during CNC3’s Morning Brew programme yesterday, after the T&T Guardian exclusively reported details of the exam given by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) to five prospective judges, including former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar.

One of the questions in section A of the exam stated: A bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Yesterday, Daly said: “We like bats and we adopt all these things. I would have failed that part of the test. That is why we need complete transparency.”

He added: “One thing is clear, this claim that they were subjected to rigorous process has gone from a claim that can’t be supported to frankly laughable.”

Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the JLSC have come under fire for the manner in which they treated the Ayers-Caesar matter, after she was forced to resign soon after being elevated to the High Court on April 12 when it was realised she still had 53 outstanding matters in the lower court. The JLSC has claimed she misled it during the interview process, but Ayers-Caesar has since denied this claim and said she was forced to resign.

Speaking about the process which the candidates were taken through yesterday, Daly said: “Where is the rigorous process if you could not go down to the note taking unit and find out how many part-heard matters a sitting judicial officer had? Where is the rigorous process with those kinds of questions and most of all they said they subjected them to isometric testing ,which did not show up that somebody was capable of misrepresentation or that somebody had a strong interest in the female anatomy.”

Ayers-Caesar, he said, “is not the only appointment being questioned, people are offended by the interest of the female anatomy for a High Court judge and how it is exposed on social media.”

He said 60 per cent of employers in the United States currently “look at social media posts” in the course of setting out to employ workers.

“That is another aspect of due diligence that is missing. At the end of the day it is about public confidence,” he said in reference to the social media posts made by Kevin Ramcharan, who was also sworn in as a judge on April 12.

Daly said “if a section of society feels that an appointee does not respect them, then they will not respect the justice that is handed out by someone who is appointed for life.”

“This round of appointments that was said to be commendable was not so commendable, that is part of the wrong of digging your heels in and not taking responsibility,” he said.

Declaring that judges have “enormous powers” and the machinery to remove them is “so cumbersome,” Daly said there is need for a high standard “to examine the credentials and background of these people.”

He said the CJ and JLSC created “this mess and they need to take responsibility.” He dismissed talk about impeachment on the CJ saying it was an issue of “taking responsibility.

The longer the situation continues unresolved, he said, “public confidence will remain undermined,” and judges will be subject to “unpleasant and unjustified attacks as happened with Justice Seepersad and people will feel they have free sheet to attack judges.”

Daly said one was left to wonder, if Ayers-Caesar informed the CJ that she had 28 outstanding matters on April 10, “why didn’t that trigger the alarm that the list of 52 triggered. The plot thickens.”

He said if she was able to find out about her outstanding matters in “less than 24 hours, it begs the question are we being given full disclosure on the material that was available? Why wasn’t the swearing-in postponed?”

Caricom states must urgently develop new strategies to win back the hearts and minds of young men now being recruited by the Islamic State (Isis), says Caricom Security Agency chief Francis Forbes.

“Let’s accept that whether we like it or not, we’re already at war,” Forbes added at yesterday’s closing ceremony of a two-day Counter-Terrorism Strategy Conference.

Forbes is executive director of Caricom’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), which hosted the event.

Discussions by regional stakeholders and international experts strategised on tackling areas - from arms, financing and returning fighters, to preventing radicalisation - to build a collaborative regional framework to deal with terrorism.

At next month’s annual summit, Caricom leaders are expected to finalise clampdown plans on terrorism via proposed legislation, provisions concerning returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFS) and recovery of their assets.

Impacs and the US are tracking 200 people from the Caribbean and South America who joined ISIS and agencies are monitoring several returning FTFS, Forbes says.

“Terrorism represents a clear and present danger to Caribbean people and industries including tourism. But we’ve agreed to be resolute in our collective stand. We cannot be oblivious to the fact there may be persons among us who may be terrorist-minded or terrorist sympathisers,” he said.

“Let’s send a collective message: Caricom has no room for terrorists.”

Forbes urged Caricom to urgently “do all possible to minimise and reduce the seemingly ready pool of ISIS volunteers among us.”

“Trained experienced FTFs represent a significant threat to the region for perhaps years to come. Our resolve must be to share information willingly and have mechanisms in place,” Forbes said.

“Our way of life in the region is a huge challenge to target hardening: we like to enjoy ourselves in large gatherings with loud music. Unfortunately, the environment is changing and we’re learning to ‘break a wine’ with one eye in front and one behind - we need to be prepared.

“Terrorists only have to succeed once to make a point. We have to succeed every single time in prevention - our chances of success lie in the ability to co-operate, collaborate and network.”

Both Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier General Rodney Smart, now on vacation and acting Chief of Defence Staff Hayden Pritchard have purchased apartment units at the posh Housing Development Corporation (HDC) Victoria Keys development, Housing Minister Randall Mitchell confirmed yesterday. But both went through the proper process and it was all done above board.

Smart and his wife, Karen, applied for a three bedroom/two bath unit worth $2.4 million in April this year, while Pritchard was assigned a two bedroom/two bath unit worth $1.85 in February this year.

Mitchell confirmed the information after Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal initially did so during the UNC’s Monday Night Forum.

The purchase of Smart’s unit, Moonilal claimed, came around the time the media got hold of a letter from the Chief of Defence Staff stating it was former CDS Kenrick Maharaj, “acting on his own volition”, who authorised the visit of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s children to the shooting range at the army’s Camp Cumuto. His letter cleared the AG of any wrongdoing.

“We have received information of houses and housing units distribution at Victoria Keys. One of the units, costing $2.4 million, was given to one Rodney Smart and Karen Ollivere Smart,” Moonilal told supporters.

“If there is another man with this name I apologise but this is the name of the Chief of Defence Staff. And how did he pay?”

Moonilal claimed Pritchard also purchased an apartment unit at Victoria Keys at a cost of $1.85 million.

“Unless there is another Hayden Pritchard, that is the name of the acting Chief of Defence Staff. If there are any dots, I don’t know. You connect the dots. I ascribe no act of wrongdoing to these gentlemen.”

Photographs of Al-Rawi’s children posing with high-powered weapons were brought into the public domain through Moonilal in Parliament since October last year.

After public pressure to make a statement on the matter, the T&T Defence Force (TTDF) announced it had established a board of inquiry (BOI) to investigate the situation but withheld on releasing its findings.

On April 25 the TTDF, in the letter signed by Smart, responded to Sturge’s request and “deduced that the Attorney General’s children were not allowed to have high-powered weapons belonging to the Defence Force in the presence of the Attorney General and members of the TTDF”. However, it cleared the AG wrongdoing.

But soon after the TTDF report was made public, Maharaj called on Smart to “retract and amend” the statements made, saying he had nothing to do with the AG’s family’s visit to Camp Cumuto. The army, however, has stuck to its statement and said the case was now closed.

The story took a new turn at the UNC’ meeting at St Helena when Moonilal, quoting from documents, said the purchase of units by Smart and Pritchard around the time of the TTDF report may well be coincidental. He said, however, that the two men have a duty to tell the truth on “Armygate”.

Moonilal said senior police officers, now retired, benefited from inducements by the former government members and called on the police to investigate circumstances where police officers and others may have received inducements to act in a particular way. He said police officers and others got government houses and bus route passes.

Contacted yesterday, Civil Military Affairs Officer, Major Al Alexander, said he did not know anything about Smart and Pritchard purchasing HDC houses and promised to get feedback on it and return a response to the T&T Guardian. Up to press time he had not responded.

Al-Rawi could not be reached as calls to his cellphone went unanswered yesterday.

Following the launch of the Housing Development Corporation’s (HDC) upscale Victoria Keys development “in and around February 2017”, the housing corporation identified through its sales office “a clear sales process on a first come, first serve basis,” says Housing Minister Randall Mitchell.

He said Hayden Pritchard applied for a unit at Victoria Keys on February 20, 2017.

Rodney Smart and Karen Smart applied for a unit on April 13, 2017.

Mitchell said all was above board with their purchases.

But he did not identify Smart and Pritchard as the Chief of Defence Staff and acting Chief of Defence Staff, respectively.

“Both prospective purchasers followed the established, transparent, and fair sales process and both have satisfied the HDC’s requirements.

But he noted, “Both prospective purchasers have settled their sales agreements, made their respective down payments and are in the process of securing mortgages prior to completing their respective purchases.”

Mitchell said Moonilal recently came into possession of information concerning Smart and Pritchard through an answer to a question filed in Parliament.

These matters are in the public domain and therefore do not infringe on the privacy of the individuals, he said.

He veered into an explanation the exorbitant prices of the Victoria Keys units. He said at Victoria Keys, a one-bedroom apartment costs $1.4m, a two-bedroom, $1.850m, three-bedroom, $2.4m and a penthouse, $4.5m.

He said in 2016, Cabinet approved the offer for sale of 206 apartment units at Victoria Keyes on the open market at open market prices.

“Therefore, from the date of launch in and around February 2017, 206 apartment units were free to be purchased by anyone at the stated open market prices.

“The prices were determined through the assistance of independent valuators, Terra Caribbean and Linden Scott.”

Mitchell said the reason for offering these 206 units at open market prices without offering any subsidy is because the total cost for construction for the Victoria Keyes development, drastically escalating under the last government at $650 million, had gone way over and above the cost of low to middle income housing units with luxury amenities such as a swimming pool, club house, tennis court.

He said at open market prices, the Government hopes to recover as much money as quickly as possible to continue its housing construction programme for those for whom it was intended, that is, low and middle income earners.

He said from February 2017 to the time of this response to the T&T Guardian, the HDC has entered into sales agreements and received deposits of over $160 million on real estate at the Victoria Keyes Development.

“These much needed funds will be injected back into Government’s housing construction programme where it will service those who are in most need.

“The HDC is targeting around $350m from its total sales and we are currently engaged in a marketing drive to boost it.”

Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste- Primus, in responding to queries about the June 11 death of National Flour Mills plant superintendent McAllister Charles and NFM’s safety compliance, said the compound has been inspected. She did so in the Senate yesterday.

Baptiste-Primus said the area was inspected by Occupational Health and Safety inspectors and found to be fully compliant with safety standards.

OSH’s inspection on Monday pertained to the entire NFM compound. An OSH report is being done following information on the cause of death, she said.

Also in the Senate yesterday, Opposition Senator Khadijah Ameen said Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh acted irresponsibly by “tossing aside” public views about pensioner Christopher Philip’s recent death outside the Port-of- Spain General Hospital.

Philip’s body was found on the hospital grounds last week after he sought attention.

Deyalsingh said Philip was attended to twice and told the remain on site, but “disappeared twice.” He said no protocols were broken. Eyewitnesses claimed Philip was put out of the hospital.

Ameen told the Senate, “The jury’s out on the matter. This pensioner died on the hospital grounds yet there are conflicting reports from the public and minister—the public must judge who’s telling the truth.”

Ameen also rejected Senator Franklin Khan’s call for a Joint Select Committee comprising Government, Opposition and independent senators to consider the Winston Welch committee’s reports on Health Care Delivery, regional health authorities and to rationalise the system of public sector doctors in private practice.

Khan said there’d been a clamour for JSCs and this was an opportunity to participate.

Ameen said Parliament’s job was to formulate legislation and hold the Government to account on spending, while the Cabinet is the entity to formulate policy.

She said the Government was abdicating its responsibility of doing the latter by seeking JSC deliberation on the reports.

Ameen added: “You’re in charge, but you’re yet to take charge. The Cabinet should do its work on these reports. If Government wants us to be part of policy-making, resign and call a general election!”

She said Government was trying to have the controversial issue of public sector doctors working in the private sector, handled by a JSC. But she said Government was the one which must decide on that.

A Marabella man is the country's latest murder victim. 

Everton Moses, 35, was gunned down outside his Riverside Drive, Marabella home around 8.30 pm on Tuesday.

According to reports, officers responding to reports of gunshots in the area found Moses face-down with multiple injuries to the head and body.

Initial reports state over 30 spent shells were found on the scene and police believe Moses was attacked by multiple shooters.

ASP Neptune, Insp Don Gajadhar and other officers of the Homicide Bureau visited the scene.

While Angela Moses was sitting at home waiting for her son Everton to return to celebrate her 57th birthday on Tuesday, gunmen were pumping dozens of bullets into his body, killing him on the spot.

Speaking at her Riverside Drive, Marabella home yesterday, Moses said she was at a loss as to why her son was killed. Everton, 35, was the second of her 15 children and the father of a 13-year-old girl.

According to reports, he was shot several times while walking along Seaview Drive, Marabella, around 8.30 pm on Tuesday.

Police recovered over 30 spent shells from the scene and believe a couple shooters used high- powered weapons to kill Everton. Police said he was not known to them.

“He was a very friendly person who was always making jokes with everyone, he didn’t have any quarrels or disputes, we are all in shock over this,” Moses said yesterday.

“I don’t have a clue why they kill him. He was not a fella in any gang things or anything like that.”

However, she said the family was told that Everton had won money in a card game before leaving the game to go back to his home.

“I don’t know if they were going to rob him or what, we just don’t know,” she said.

But Moses said her son had promised to return home early to celebrate her birthday.

“He used to usually go out every night to lime with his friends, but we were having a little get-together for my birthday and he said he would come back early to lime with me.

“I was expecting him to come back and I was sitting down watching some TV when someone call and said he got shoot by the trainline.”

She said Everton worked various jobs, as he had worked as a labourer for WASA, but his dream was opening his own business.

“He wanted to open a little business to sell fruits for himself, to have his own fruit stall and work for himself.”

Officers from the Southern Division Homicide are continuing investigations.

Government is eyeing the UK’s move towards a “Drugalyser” which tests for excessive drug use by motorists.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi confirmed this yesterday in Parliament, hinting at consideration of the UK system. He alluded to the “Drugalyser” while speaking on proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicle law.

The legislation, which was passed in the Senate recently, seeks to decriminalise certain traffic offences— converting them to violations in order to free up the judicial system of backlogs and of myriad traffic offence cases. The legislation also provides for red light enforcement via cameras at stop lights. It also involves a demerit point system and fixed penalties.

Al-Rawi noted the UK has a “Drugalyser” system and this experience will inform Government’s moves on the traffic management system.

UK reports describe the “Drugalyser” as using oral swabs which test for chemical compounds in the saliva . It is used to prosecute drivers whose blood samples contain more than the specified limits of certain drugs provided for in the UK’s regulations. Penalties were in synch with drunk driving penalties. But illicit drug limits in the UK were set at the lowest level that rule out accidental exposure to some drugs.

Al-Rawi also said new radio frequency identification license plates will be introduced very soon. These will work in tandem with spot and speed cameras which will be placed at all arches and bridges across T&T to track RF ID tags.

He noted there have already been 4,000 breaches of the red light at the traffic light located outside of the Parliament, “That’s no small event,” Al-Rawi added.

Al-Rawi said the Government had been spending vast amounts to ensure compliance with laws, but in the courts only six per cent of those charged annually are given verdicts. The other 94 per cent go into a backlog of cases.

Pastor Clive Dottin is urging those working in high risk communities to “display a strong degree of courage” and not allow individuals and their owners to intimidate them.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian in the wake of the attack of Roman Catholic Priest Father Clive Harvey, Dottin said he was “praying to God to protect those of us who work on the ground.”

Both Dottin and Harvey have been doing work in high risk communities such as Sea Lots, Laventille and Gonzales, ministering to young people involved in criminal activities and those who may want to turn their lives around.

Harvey was confronted early Monday by two gun toting men who robbed and tied him up. They told him they were sent to kidnap and kill him.

There were no arrests up to late yesterday as police continue their investigations. Harvey lamented that “stupid little boys” are being used by the bigger criminal element. He saw them as “victims.”

Dottin did not want to put the handle “stupid” on those involved in criminal activity, but he admitted to being concerned that “gang leaders and their thugs are infiltrating secondary schools and setting up cells. We need to address it. Set up a task force to deal with it,” he urged.

He does not believe those involved in the attack were “victims” recalling that he interviewed a 15-year- old boy “who told me he could call the shots.”

Describing the attack on Harvey as one “meant to send a signal,” Dottin said, “Whoever did it must be called to account.”

Asked if he feared a similar attack, Dottin said nothing was impossible but he “walked in faith.”

Head of the Police Youth Club Derrick Sharbodie said he is aware that Dottin had received his “own fair share of threats.”

He said the work of both men in at risk communities is well known.

“I am aware they made serious inroads in terms of handicapping the progress and by extension some of the criminal activities taking place and it had come to a point where, while some of the gangs were happy, others were very displeased.”

Sharbodie said the phone and the money “were all window dressing. The fact that they said he would be kidnapped shows they wanted to take it further.”

He is urging Harvey to “review and revise how he conducts his business in terms of working with the gangs and the groups as he needed a second or third party with him.

Asked what kind of protection is extended to religious leaders who work in the at risk communities, Sharbodie said: “the Commissioner of Police is absolutely clear that the superintendent work close by with the religious leaders so that anywhere they going there is a police presence.”

A similar service, he said, was extended to the now deceased community leader Hal Greaves.

Many times, he added, the police are not visible but they are there because of information which comes to them.

Sharbodie said following the recent incident “we will have to provide some extra form of tactical service as he goes about doing his work, it will be done very inconspicuous so as not to bring attention to him or to make him feel uncomfortable.”

He said: “Father Harvey is somebody of great value and when you have somebody of value bringing that kind of service you have to protect them.”

He commended Harvey for his position that he wanted to meet with the persons who attacked him saying “I think it is an excellent move, he is extending an olive branch, telling them I am not your enemy.”

Harsh and unjust.

That’s the Joint Trade Union Movement’s (JTUM) response to Atlantic LNG’s decision to retrench seven per cent of its permanent staff workforce as the company faces its toughest period in its 20-year history.

Criticising the move, however, JTUM’s secretary and Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union’s chief education and research officer, Ozzi Warwick, said the actions of the company were wrong and unfair to workers.

Speaking on a radio programme, Warwick said, “That method is an attempt again by employers who use this opportunity to cut staff. Could you imagine  all the years that Atlantic LNG has been in this country making huge amount of profits, all these years, and you telling me that in the last year or two with the fall of commodity prices your first response is to cut staff. And this is the point that we have been making, that is inequitable, that is unjust, and that is unfair.”

Warwick said for years the company should share the burden of adjustment.

“The fact that they have been here utilising our resources over the years and maximising profits and now rather than saying let us see how we can share the burden of adjustment,” he added.

The company was expected to begin offering VSEP packages to at least 50 workers from yesterday in the face of falling energy prices and an unprecedented natural gas shortfall.

The State has been ordered to pay almost $150,000 in compensation to an electrical engineer who was wrongfully detained by police for six hours over allegedly stealing a circuit board from a client who failed to pay for his services.

Delivering a 24-page judgement in the Port-of-Spain High Court last Friday, Justice Joan Charles ruled that police did not have reasonable cause to suspect that Azard Ali, the owner of A & E Electrical Engineering Ltd, had committed the crime when they arrested him.

According to the evidence in the case, Ali was arrested by PC Harrysingh of the Couva CID at his businessplace on December 4, 2008.

Despite informing investigators that he had seized the circuit board from TSI Energy Services Ltd in Couva after its owner failed to pay him for work done, Ali was arrested and taken to the Couva Police Station.

He was kept in a holding cell and only released after the owner of TSI eventually came to the station and corroborated his claims.

In her judgement, Charles said the evidence from the officers was not credible as they failed to detail the investigations they did after receiving the report of the stolen item.

She also noted that Harrysingh had failed to review CCTV footage of the alleged theft which substantiated Ali’s claims.

“The fact of the non-production of relative records led me to the conclusion that the police were doing the company a favour rather than making any professional attempt to conduct a police investigation of a report of a crime,” Charles said.

She also suggested that Ali’s arrest may have been a ploy to intimidate him into changing his position on the company’s debt to him.

“On the evidence, it would appear that the purpose of the detention was to break Ali’s will and cause him to return the circuit board to the company regardless of the contractual issues between them,” Charles said, as she described Harrysingh’s conduct in the case as oppressive and unconstitutional.

Charles ordered that the State pay Ali $80,000 in general and aggravated damages and $25,000 in exemplary damages. She also ordered that five per cent interest be paid on the general damages from the date of Ali’s arrest to when she delivered judgement in the case.

Charles said the compensation was largely based on the embarrassment to Ali caused by being arrested in front of his staff and customers.

“A public arrest must affect his professional and business reputation and serve to lower him in the eyes of his employees,” Charles said.

The State was also ordered to pay Ali’s legal costs for bringing the lawsuit.

Ali was represented by Alana Rambarran and Kent Samlal.

Acting Finance Minister Stuart Young yesterday detailed circumstances surrounding the provision of security for the chairman of the National Lotteries Control Board, Marvin Johncilla, by the NLCB.

He did so in Parliament yesterday in response to queries by the Opposition.

Young said in June 2016 the NCLB Board halted sponsorship arrangements pending conduct of an audit by NLCB’s Marketing and PR Departments on the validity of recurrent sponsorships.

He added: “As a result of this move the NLCB chairman received a number of threats which he took seriously. He proceeded to retain his own personal security service. He brought this to the attention of the Board members in 2016.”

“His board members, having been told of the threats and security concerns, suggested or instructed and insisted he broach his security concerns with the director of the NLCB. After that, certain decisions were taken and he was provided with security services until November 2016 at which time it ceased,”

Young said he didn’t have information on if the threats were reported to the police or the cost to taxpayers’ of the initial security.

Also in the House yesterday, National Security Minister, Edmund Dillon, also told MPs that the Police Manpower Audit Committee was—up to May 31—in the first phase of its exercise.

That phase was analysis. Subsequent phases included design and implementation.

Dillon added, “The (first phase) comprises intense date gathering, including examining the Police Service’s current operational environment, the effectiveness of policies, practices and procedures; community -level perception of the service and conducting consultations with stakeholders to identify core and emerging issues”

Dillon said the team’s final report will be delivered to Cabinet by December 31.

He disagreed with Opposition perception that there was lack of public confidence in the team’s work because there was poor turnout at a recent consultation.

On categories of workers to be made redundant as a result of TSTT’s purchase of Massy Communications, Public Utilities Minister Fitzgerald Hinds replied, “Any such development is in a broad sense always possible. This possibility, however, hasn’t been contemplated and therefore not assessed to date . Therefore the likelihood doesn’t arise.”

There are to be round trip daily sailings of the T&T Express, sailings of the Water Taxi on the sea bridge, while Caribbean Airlines has put additional flights as a contingency plan to assist with the transport of people to and from Tobago over this long weekend.

Caribbean Airlines has been under pressure for the past few weeks because of the on-going problems on the sea-bridge.

Corporate communications manager of CA,Dionne Ligoure, said the airline has been doing the best it can to accommodate passengers.

Ligoure said the airline had been planning “since the start of the year for the long weekend. She said, “We have a plan of action which includes additional flights and other contingencies.”

She did not want to go into detail on the “other contingencies,” but said the airline remains ready, “demand is healthy and the flights are booked,” she added.

Corporate communications manager of the Inter-Island Ferry Service, Vilma Lewis Cockburn, said there will be “one round trip sailing of the T&T Express daily.” In addition, she said, the Water Taxi will sail Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.”

Passengers have been choosing to put their vehicles on the T&T Express and then get a flight to Tobago, because of the length of time the vessel is taking to sail to and from Tobago, the trip is now five hours long. Lewis said the vessel is “heavy in terms of vehicles but there is still space for passengers.”

Lewis Cockburn said there will also be a sailing of the Atlantic Provider today— Corpus Christi— “to ensure that the cargo requirements to and from Tobago are met.”

Normal sailing times will apply for the Provider which will leave Port-of-Spain at midday and depart Scarborough at 11 pm

President of the Hotel and Tourism Association, Chris James, said the problems on the sea-bridge has been a “real let down.”

He said while “Caribbean Airlines is doing what they can with the aircraft and crew they have, the real let down is the sea-bridge. That’s what a lot of people use to come over.”

There are three major events in Tobago this weekend, Glow Fest, Dragon Boat Racing and a Golf Tournament.

James said weekends like this usually mean high occupancy, but he said, “There have been a lot of cancellations. People just cannot get to the island because of the sea-bridge issues.”

For the year, so far, he said, there had been a 30 per cent decline in local tourist arrivals to Tobago. But he said he would only have updated figures on this long weekend by the middle of next week.

Chairman of the Port Authority, Allison Lewis, said the Board has been doing the best it can to find vessels for the cargo and passenger ferry service. But, she said, “It takes time. There is a process and we need to do proper due diligence.”

She refused to be drawn in to any discussion on reports that a Greek vessel had been sourced.

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said he was awaiting word from the Port “they have not finalised anything.”

Lloyds of London, he said, is currently doing “checks on different vessels, they would submit a report to the port and the Port would make a recommendation to us.”

Hundreds of outpatients, including cancer patients, are continuing to suffer as a 64 Slice computed tomography (CT) scanner at the San Fernando General Hospital, which went down six months ago, remains dysfunctional.

As the waiting list grows longer, stretching into January 2018, a state of the art CT scanner continues to sit idle at the Couva Children’s and Adult hospital.

On a Facebook post on Monday, cancer survivor and former journalist Phoolo Danny-Maharaj questioned whether Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) officials were aware the scanner was down for months.

“Is it that it is functional for certain people only? Several patients recently diagnosed with cancer have been sent by doctors to have CT scans to see the extent of the spread of the disease before surgery, but for one reason or another, they are being called the day before the scheduled scan to say the scan is cancelled,” Danny-Maharaj wrote.

She added: “Then a week or two later, they are rescheduled again, only to be cancelled again on the day before the rescheduled scan. Happened today again...seems to me that some officials—higher or lower, are gaining a lot from patients’ sufferings—because alternatively patients have to ‘rake, scrape or borrow’ thousands of dollars to have a scan done at a private institution.”

A medical source said there were two scanners at the hospital—a 64 Slice and a 16 Slice scanner. However, six months ago the 64 Slice scanner went down.

A part which costs $500,000 was being sourced by the SWRHA to fix the scanner but to date it has not been repaired, the official added.

The source said more than 75 scans are done daily between Monday to Friday by the 16 slice scanner. However, these scans are done on in-patients of the hospital, as well as all emergency cases who come through the Accident and Emergency department.

More than 20 outpatients, including cancer victims, go to the hospital for scans but every day at least 10 people are turned away, the source added.

Saying the waiting list for CT-scans is in excess of 600 people, the official said it was imperative the scanner be fixed immediately.

An official also claimed the waiting list for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans was also over 600, but although a private hospital offered to do the scans free of charge the offer was rejected by the SWRHA.

The T&T Guardian understands that at a departmental meeting recently, staff was told the offer was rejected “on the grounds that the SWRHA does not have a clear policy on this” and “acceptance of the offer could be interpreted as showing favouritism towards that institution.”

Several attempts contact SWRHA chairman Dr Alexander Sinanan yesterday were unsuccessful as calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

However, in an interview yesterday, Deyalsingh said patients were not affected as there is one functioning scanner at the hospital. He confirmed, however, that the ministry was trying to source a part for the dysfunctional scanner.

“San Fernando has two CT scanners. One is down and the other is working. We are doing routine maintenance and we are looking for a part but everyone is getting a scan because one of the scanners is still working,” Deyalsingh added.

Four men were arrested within minutes after they robbed an elderly couple at their home in Barataria on Tuesday.

The arrests came after one of the victims managed to call the police for help within seconds after he and his wife were robbed.

Officers from the North Eastern Division Task Force (NEDTF), Rapid Response Unit and Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau responded and were able to hold the men while they were still on the compound.

According to a police report, at about 11.30 am the victims, aged 67 and 77, were at their Fourth Street, Barataria home when three men, one armed with a knife, entered and announced a hold up. The men then robbed the couple of cash and jewellery totalling $13,530.

One of the victims managed to put through a call to 999 telling of the robbery in progress. Officers immediate responded to the distress call and when they arrived at the couple’s home they were able to arrest a 19-year-old from Toco, a 26-year-old from Tunapuna and a 43-year-old man.

A fourth person, 26, also of Tunapuna, who was found sitting in a silver Tiida parked close to the victims’ home, was also arrested. Police believe he was the getaway driver. The men were expected to be placed on several identification parades yesterday in connection with similar offences in other Divisions.

Meanwhile, during yesterday’s police weekly press conference, police said there had been a reduction of robberies.

For the period January 1 to June 14, 2017, they said there had been 1,154 reported cases of robberies compared to 1,255 for the corresponding period last year, which represents an eight per cent reduction.

Out of the total robberies committed, 370 were committed with firearms, which represents 32 per cent, 56 were committed using knives and cutlasses, which represents 4.8per cent, and 51 were committed using physical force, which represents 4.4 per cent.

In a total of 643 (55.7 per cent) of all the robberies committed, the victims were unable to say whether the assailants were armed.

A mother of two from Wallerfield, whose family was robbed of their two vehicles during an early morning home invasion yesterday, is disappointed that police only managed to kill one of their attackers during a shoot-out shortly after the incident.

She made the statement to the T&T Guardian hours after the ordeal, as the family was washing the vehicles which had been returned to them by police hours earlier.

The woman, who spoke under the condition her name and photograph would not be published for fear of reprisal, said: “I know this may not sound nice, but I was really hoping to get a call saying that they (the police) killed all three of them.”

The woman said the gunmen entered her property around 5.40 am as her 13-year-old daughter was outside putting her school bag in their car to be dropped to school.

Trembling as she recounted details of the incident, the woman said as she opened the front door upon hearing her daughter’s screams she was greeted with a gun in her face.

She said the men forced them inside and proceeded to tie them up alongside her 14-year-old son, her bother and another male relative.

“They put everyone to lie down on the floor. They tied me up on a chair because I told them I am sick,” she said.

The woman said the men then ransacked the house, taking jewellery, money, electronics and a quantity of alcohol she had purchased the previous evening.

“They were very disrespectful. One of them opened the fridge and drank some juice straight out of the carton, like if he living here. Another tried on my brother’s shoes and left with it on his foot,” she said as she shook her head repeatedly in disbelief.

She said after the men searched the house they took the keys to her Mazda pick-up and her brother’s Toyota Corolla and drove off.

“As soon as I was able to free myself I ran to the road and stopped a driver. The good man could not get through to the police on the phone, so he allowed me to go inside for a slipper and he drove me to the station,” she said.

She said once she made the report to PC Haven and WPC Paponette at the Arima Police Station, the police were quick and efficient in their response.

“I had bad experiences with them before but this time I could say that they did a good job and were on the ball,” she said.

According to police reports, within minutes of receiving the report from the victim, the stolen vehicles were seen heading through Carapo.

Officers from the Northern Division Task Force responded and later attempted to intercept the vehicles, causing the bandits to crash the stolen vehicles into each other. The gunmen then got out and began shooting at police, who returned fire.

One of the gunmen was shot and killed, while his accomplices managed to run away. Police recovered an illegal firearm on the scene. The deceased bandit was later identified as Keon Valdez, of KP Lands, Valencia. Investigators said Valdez was well know to police and had been recently charged with several home invasions in east Trinidad.

Police launched a manhunt for the two other suspects, but they had not been arrested up to late yesterday.

The woman said while her family was coping with the trauma of the incident, she believed it would take time for them to recover.

“I’m good now but I am sure I would not be able to sleep tonight,” she said, as she lamented that her son was also forced to miss an examination scheduled for yesterday due to the incident.

Asked if she could give advice to citizens on how to protect themselves against intruders, the woman suggested that they be alert and vigilant.

“Our situation could have been worse because they had two guns. The guns were not fake as clearly they worked when they shot at the police,” she said.

The woman said she does not think her family was specifically targeted, noting they were the latest victims in a string of home invasions in the community.

“Recently they robbed a taxi higher up the road and the driver came to our house for help. Based on his description, I believe that it was also the guys who robbed us,” she said.

Investigations are continuing.

Unemployed, unable to access proper health care and education, often mistaken for prostitutes and exploited by unscrupulous persons who force them to accept less than minimum wage when they do secure work.

These are only some of the complaints from several non-nationals who are currently seeking asylum in T&T.

According to local experts, there are over 600 refugees currently living in T&T.

Requesting anonymity, 28-year-old Sofia* who is seven months pregnant cried as she spoke of the difficulties persons like her now face.

Fleeing her native Venezuela in search of a better life, Sofia came to T&T 15 months ago and has suffered one setback after another.

Grateful to have found safe shelter as she eagerly awaits the birth of her first baby, Sofia admitted her local experience has been “complicated.”

Agreeing to share her story as part of a Refugee Awareness Workshop for Media Practitioners hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at Bretton Hall yesterday, Sofia acknowledged it was normal for T&T to introduce stricter laws for people like herself who continue to flock to these shores for aid and refuge.

Revealing she and her husband were able to enter the country on a tourist visa, Sofia said it was difficult to secure employment without a work permit while the language barrier was another impediment.

“It has not been an easy experience,” she testified.

Grateful to have her husband back at her side now as the pregnancy progresses after he was locked up at the Immigration Detention Centre, Sofia admitted they were ignorant of how to go about applying for asylum when they first arrived in T&T.

However, she credits the Living Waters Community (LWC) for their assistance in helping her survive.

Declaring that she and her fellow Venezuelans did not wish to become a burden on T&T but wanted a fair chance to work and earn their keep, Sofia is set against returning to her native country for fear of persecution.

Wanting to positively contribute to T&T’s future, Sofia appealed to the authorities to introduce the necessary legislation to help refugees enjoy a better quality of life in foreign jurisdictions.

While it was a similar tale told by Frederico* whose family has been living here for the past six years, he said in their case, their lives continue to be stagnant as they simply exist on a day-to-day basis.

Unable to work, drive or attend school/university, Frederico said he was forced to watch his friends back in Venezuela complete their studies, get married and embark on their own lives while he and his family continue to beg the local authorities for regularisation status.

Although his family received approval within five months of applying for asylum, the lack of legislation has prevented them from doing much else as the matter has now officially been stalled for the past three years.

Hungering to make an economic and cultural contribution, Frederico said his sister wants to study nursing and can be an asset to the local economy.

However, as she has been denied an opportunity due to her lack of national documentation, he said they simply wait with hope that the UNCHR and the LWC can assist in improving the situation.

Frederico’s accent betrays the length of time he has been in the country as the ‘Trini twang’ can be detected in his speech.

Claiming T&T was a nice country with welcoming arms, he too agreed that it was not easy being a refugee here.

Vastly different from the accounts of Sofia and Frederico, was that told by Pakistani couple Mohammed* and Aisha* who are parents to three young children who have all been enrolled in local schools.

With the aid of the UNHCR and the LWC, Mohammed who works for a well-known international organisation described their experience in T&T as “very good.”

Acknowledging the local crime rate, Mohammed said they were forced to flee terrorism in his native country in search of a better life.

Referring to Trinidadians as a “blessed people,” Mohammed expressed hope that crime in this country could be solved one day.

This was echoed by his wife Aisha, who said they had experienced a vastly different reaction from the authorities even though they had only been in country just over a year.

They agreed each case was different as Aisha said they had been able to obtain work and school permits, as well as open bank accounts and transact business as part of their daily lives. She ended, “We are very relaxed even though we are refugees.”

Hopeful that her three young children will soon be able to enter the public school system, Aisha said at the moment they were attending private institutions but this would change as the family anxiously await further word from the authorities as to their status in T&T.

As the global refugee crisis continues to worsen, the United Nations has warned that more and more displaced persons are seeking relief in the Caribbean, with T&T recording 400 new applications during the period January to now, which represents a 40 per cent increase from last year.

Set to observe World Refugee Day on June 20, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has started an online petition in a bid to send a message of action, solidarity, and responsibility on behalf of refugees to governments worldwide.

Seeking to make local media practitioners aware of just how dire the situation is, UNHCR protection officer, Ruben Barbado, yesterday urged people to join hands to work to end the refugee crisis and find homes for displaced persons worldwide.

He said citizens could no longer afford to sit back and ignore the plight of other nationalities, as we were all human beings entitled to certain rights and freedoms.

The previous administration adopted an official refugee policy in 2014.

Although it was envisioned through the policy that refugees would be granted permits to stay and work as well as access public assistance, there are no current avenues for refugees to legally integrate into the country.

However, with the new refugee legislation at an advanced drafting stage, it is expected that government will soon participate in the quality assurance initiative project that would result in the progressive transfer of responsibilities from the UNHCR to the State.

Endorsing the call by Barbado, Living Waters Community (LWC) Coordinator Rochelle Nakhid provided some statistics as she spoke during the Refugee Protection Workshop for Media Professionals at Bretton Hall.

T&T was listed as the third most popular country in the region behind Belize and Dominican Republic respectively, where asylum was being sought by refugees from a number of countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Africa, Asia, Syria, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Estimating that 65.3 million people had been forcibly displaced globally, Nakhid said the Caribbean was not isolated from the refugee crisis.

Revealing a 257 per cent increase in the number of asylum-seekers in the Caribbean region between mid-2015 and mid-2016, she said the numbers had continued to increase steadily from 770 refugees in 2014, to 837 in 2015 and 976 by mid-2016.

Referring to the local situation, Nakhid said there were approximately 640 refugees, asylum seekers and other persons of concern in T&T up to April 30, which was a 62 per cent increase in the number of persons who had applied for asylum in 2016 compared to 2015.

While T&T acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol in November 2000, Nakhid and Barbado agreed it was disappointing there was no domestic legislation to address the situation.

Barbado said with the lack of national legislation, the UNHCR was limited in its capacity to perform Refugee Status Determinations (RSD).

While the UNHCR can assist with registering, conducting eligibility interviews, recognition of refugee status, resettlement and increasing public awareness, the LWC’s functions include screening, psychological care, humanitarian assistance, presenting asylum seekers to the Immigration Division and ensuring their registration with the UNHCR.

The Immigration Division is tasked with registering all asylum seekers and refugees, issuing and renewing Orders of Supervision, as well as dealing with migrant matters related to their presence in T&T.

Among the concerns often raised by asylum seekers and refugees in T&T, Nakhid said persons were particularly concerned about detention, being irregular/undocumented, uncertainty over being resettled, lack of ability to work and access education, inability to access proper health care, harassment and discrimination, and lack of procedural clarity.

While education at the primary and secondary levels are free to the public, officials admitted there were barriers for many refugee children such as the ability to speak and understand English as well as the lack of available spaces.

As a result, the UNHCR through the LWC facilitates the enrollment of children of refugee and asylum-seekers in schools, along with access to public health facilities as well as the services of private doctors who provide a pro-bono facility to these persons.

National Flour Mills (NFM) Feed Mills Superintendent Mc Allister Charles, 46, was described yesterday as not only a dynamic leader but a ferocious worshipper.

Delivering the eulogy at his funeral service, Charles’ wife, Deborah said her husband spoke no negative words in any situation that he was faced with.

The funeral service was held at Miracle Ministries Christ Castle International in Chase Village.

“He was a good husband who protected me at all cost. He was the perfect gentleman. He was also playfully and lovingly provoking that no one would have gotten vex with him,” Deborah said.

“Whenever his subordinates called him on the phone he instantly gave solutions to problems at the Feed Mill Plant,” she added.

Charles was a senior minister and served, alongside with his wife, as a Discipleship Leader where he took up the role as mentor to new converts. Charles’ pastor Dr Winston Cuffie described Charles as a man of integrity and a man of faith. Cuffie pastored him for just over 25 years.

A representative from the NFM, Yvette Eastman described Charles as one who “shared his life with us and which reflected in his work.”

“He used his faith to navigate the challenges of work. We mourn his passing as he was a brother, coworker and a man of dignity,” Eastman added.

She extended condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of NFM’s Board of Director’s and management.

Charles, 46, died at 3 pm on Sunday, while warded at the St Clair Private Hospital. Charles worked at NFM for the past 25 years.

It was reported that at about 1 pm last week Thursday Charles fell from a height and sustained injuries to his head, shoulder and waist.

He was taken to the private hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and subsequently warded in an unconscious state.

NFM’s release issued on Monday said that Charles fell on the southern staircase of the Feed Mill facility.

An autopsy which was done at the Port-of-Spain mortuary on Monday revealed that Charles died from aspiration pneumonia (results from inhalation of stomach contents or secretions of the oropharynx, leading to lower respiratory tract infection), cardiogenic shock (a condition in which your heart suddenly can’t pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs), status post exploratory laparotomy (a surgical operation where the abdomen is opened and the abdominal organs examined for injury or disease) and alleged fall first degree heart block scleroderma (essentially, a conduction defect in the heart caused by an autoimmune connective tissue disease).

Investigators of the Occupational, Safety and Health (OSH) Agency have since launched an investigation into the incident.

Burial took place at the St Mary’s Public Cemetery.