Early warning sensors which can detect landslides along the North Coast Road before they occur is just one of the proposals being considered by the Ministry of Works.

Former director of the Highways Division in the Works Ministry, Roger Ganesh, said in 2006, he, along with several technocrats from UWI’s civil engineering department had put together a file on short and long-term solutions to address the issue of landslides along the North Coast Road.

“At that time we were discussing setting up sensors on the hill which would give data on soil and moisture conditions to give an advance warning when a landslide was about to take place so as to take preventative measures to minimise the inconvenience to the public,” Ganesh, who is now the chief operations officer at Coosals, said. He said none of the recommendations was ever implemented.

“Some of the problems arise from the illegal occupation of land higher of the hills and slash and burn agriculture and this has caused water to drain into areas it is not supposed to drain and this results in land, mud and rock slides.

“The long-term measure is developing technology similar to that used in Europe where very high-quality mesh wire is used to anchor rocks into the soil. But we have the expertise and knowledge here where we can develop something indigenous to this country because basically engineering is the same all over the world. We just need to make it more financially viable to us,” Ganesh said.

Earlier this week, a landslide cut off traffic along the North Coast Road, near the Maracas Lookout.

Lyndon Lara, the councillor for Maracas/Santa Cruz/La Fillette said the ministry was exploring several options including benching—identifying trouble spots to deal with the areas in a methodical way.

Describing the area as a “very difficult piece of terrain” Lara said: “I know the Ministry of Works engineers would have looked at possibly benching so that the problem would not continue over time.

“But it’s not so says the Ministry of Works has been operating in isolation to what the council would be doing...so there is collaboration.”

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said his ministry has been working with the Agriculture Ministry to clear the road and to cut down trees which pose a danger.

“We are also engaging in some geotechnical studies to see what can be done. The use of sensors is also something that is being considered,” Sinanan said.

Kristal Mohammed now has to find $400,000 in just over two weeks for her four-year-old daughter Haleema to undergo an urgent bone marrow transplant in India after the Children’s Life Fund Authority rejected her application yesterday.

Haleema was diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia Major, a blood disorder which reduces the production of haemoglobin. She is scheduled to undergo surgery at the Fortis Memorial Institute for Allogeneic Transplant in Gurgaon, India, on September 4.

On Tuesday, Mohammed filed a lawsuit challenging the delay by the Authority to consider her urgent application.

The application was filed in June and the Authority stated that it would take between one and three months to consider her case. Mohammed’s attorney Gerald Ramdeen argued that the lengthy period for considering the case was unreasonable, considering that the Authority had determined previous cases within a week.

The board effectively conceded the case and committed to reviewing the case and respond by midday yesterday.

In a letter addressed to Ramdeen, the Authority’s chairman Maritza Fernandes stated that “after careful consideration of the application and the medical reports dated 1/05/2017 and 20/07/2017 from Dr J Nunez and Dr G John, the Board of Management, Children’s Life Fund Authority had rejected the application.”

The board concluded that Beta Thalassemia Major was not considered a life-threatening illness as required by Section 19(e) of the Act. This position of the Board was based on clinical assessments of other patients with the same medical condition. Fernandes said it was confirmed and agreed at a clinical meeting with consultant paediatricians and haematologist on April 28 that once managed properly, life expectancy can extend into adulthood. She added that the application for funding contained little evidence of a definitive diagnosis of Haleema having the illness and it appeared that the requisite testing of the donor was not carried out, which may be required before treatment.

Mohammed told the T&T Guardian that she was disappointed and will meet with Ramdeen to consider further legal action.

She said those who made the decision to deny her daughter of a better life do not understand the pain and stress Haleema goes through daily.

“They don’t understand because they don’t see when she gets blood transfusions. Just Tuesday, Haleema went for blood and the doctor said she has to come back Thursday because her blood count was really low. Haleema missed this term from school because sometimes she has to get transfusions two times a week. If it is critical and she cannot get blood, her organs could fail and she could die,” Mohammed said.

Since Haleema’s story was highlighted by the T&T Guardian and CNC3, citizens have been sharing prayers and raising funds. So far the family has raised $160,000 and Mohammed said if the Authority provided the balance, they would be satisfied.

Ramdeen said the Children’s Life Fund Act was created to facilitate saving the lives of children who are unable to access life-saving medical treatment in this country.

“This is a child whose iron builds up in her blood is currently, almost at 2500 when the normal level is between seven and 140. What you have is persons sitting in their glass offices and determining these applications without any reference to the reality of what the child and her parents are facing on a daily basis.

“Only yesterday, this child waited in excess of five hours for blood at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital. That is to tell you the ordeal that this innocent five-year-old child is being put through and those that administer the Children’s Life Fund seems oblivious to that reality or simply do not care,” Ramdeen said.

China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has been awarded a $221.7 million contract by the National infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) to build the controversial Curepe Interchange, the state company’s chairman Herbert George has confirmed.

The deal with CRCC was signed off on only recently after it won the bid and contract, bringing an end to three years of controversy and delays that had surrounded the proposed mega project.

Fresh tenders went out on March 27 and closed on June 7. Of the five companies that submitted bids, three were local while two were Chinese firms.

CRCC also won the contract for the Arima Hospital, which is being built at $1.2 billion, while they constructed the Scarborough General Hospital.

“Cabinet has approved the preferred contractor China Railway. They will be the contractor doing the job. They have a joint venture with some local people, so they would do the project,” George said at his El Socorro office last weekend.

George said the cost of the project was reduced by a staggering $179 million, as the original price tag was $400 million He said the $221 million was VAT inclusive.

“So we have saved the taxpayer quite a tidy sum, a substantial sum of $179 million in getting this project off the ground. We did the tendering in a transparent way, where people were given opportunity to tender openly and that is what we got.”

He said one reason for the slash in price was that contractors had been submitting competitive bids, which was triggered by the slowed economy and stagnant construction sector, which was now gradually picking up with the number of projects Nidco had executed in the last few months.

“Contractors are coming with competitive prices,” George said.

Nidco president Esther Farmer added that they had saved millions of dollars on a number of projects they executed.

George said Nidco used a two-envelope system in the tendering process.

“One deals with technical, so it gave us an idea of the structure of your company and how you propose to engage the job, as well as if you have the experience to give us confidence that you know what you are doing and you would be able to discharge your responsibilities.”

Asked when the project will begin, George said CRCC’s contract was being prepared and should be ready and signed in next two weeks. Thereafter, CRCC will have to submit its insurance, performance bond and pre-payment bond.

“These things would take a few weeks to finalise, but once we have everything in place work will begin full speed ahead.”

Asked where the funding for the project was coming from, George could not provide the details.

“That would have to come from the Ministry of Finance. What we (Nidco) do is give the value. We will send it on to Cabinet and Cabinet is going to approve, they are the ones who source the funds. They will just send back to us and ask us to implement. They are the client and they will find the monies and so,” George said.

He said they hope work will start actually before the year’s end. The project, which is a design build package, is expected to be completed in 18 months

“So the contractor would be in place, he (CRCC) would start work, but his designers might be working out the details.”

George agreed the interchange would play a key role in alleviating traffic along the Southern Main Road and the Churchill Roosevelt Highway (CRH) which motorists have been experiencing for years.

“This project is long overdue and it’s welcoming that construction is finally going to take place,” he said.

He said Nidco would still have to ensure work was executed without causing disruption to motorists, commuters and businesses.

Work on the interchange will start from the Southern Main Road and go all the way to the bustling intersection of the CRH. At the intersection, two loops will be built for motorists to get onto the west and east lanes of the highway. The traffic lights at the CRH intersection will be removed to allow vehicles a free flow onto the four lanes that will be constructed on the interchange.

George assured that once the project got under way, it would help create jobs, stimulate the economy and eventually bring relief to thousands of frustrated motorists and commuters.

In June 2015, then Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley had raised concerns about the $400 million Curepe Interchange project and called for it to be stopped after Nidco jointly awarded Lutchmesingh Transport Company and Vinci Construction the contract.

The contract had been given to the two top bidders and was expected to start in July—one month after, following a public falling out over the tendering process.

Then former minister in the ministry of works and infrastructure Stacy Roopnarine had locked horns with her boss, Dr Suruj Rambhachan, after it was revealed that Lutchmesingh Transport had been selected for the job even though it ranked second in the tendering process.

The first ranked bidder was Vinci Construction, who lost out because of its high costing for the mega project.

However, Nidco decided to award the project jointly to the two top bidders, which then Nidco chairman Carson Charles had revealed to the T&T Guardian.

This led to calls by Rowley to the then People’s Partnership government, mere weeks from a general election, to immediately pull the plug on the contract.

This was done and resulted in Lutchmesingh Transport initiating a lawsuit against Nidco over its rejected bid for the proposed interchange. The company sought damages through the court for wasted expenditure incurred participating in the tendering process, which it claimed was rendered pointless by Nidco’s breaches of contract for the opportunity to obtain a profit-making contract.

The action was filed in April 2015, two months after it was informed that its tender for the project was not considered.

However Lutchmesingh Transport lost its million dollar lawsuit against Nidco when Justice Vasheist Kokaram upheld a preliminary application from Nidco’s attorney and struck out the matter.

When Rohan Sinanan was appointed Works and Transport Minister last November, reports surfaced on social media that he owned land once occupied by the Kay Donna Drive-In cinema on the CRH which was earmarked to be acquired for the interchange and was deemed a conflict of interest. Sinanan made it clear that while it was true he has an interest in the land with other stakeholders “what has been circulating” was not true, and he promised to recuse himself from the land acquisition process.

The Children’s Authority is calling for members of the public to come forward with information to help catch a 35-year-old man who made sexual advances to an 11-year-old girl in a series of WhatsApp messages.

Screenshots of the conversation between the man, who is married, and the child were posted on social media.

In the conversation, the man promised the child that he would give her money, buy her a Samsung cellphone and meet with her for sex this weekend.

In one of the screenshots, it appeared that a parent of the girl responded to the man after reading the previous chats and told the sexual predator that a report was going to be filed with the police.

In a statement yesterday, the Children’s Authority advised parents and guardians to be aware that sexual grooming is a reality and a crime.

“Sexual grooming occurs when an adult befriends a child by building a close relationship in order to gain the child’s trust, with the intention of later engaging the child in sexual activity.”

The Authority said according to the Children Act, 2012, the person who commits such an offence is liable “to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for 10 years; or on conviction on indictment, to a fine of $100,000 and to imprisonment for 20 years.

“Parents and guardians are advised to get to know the adults with whom their child interacts whether it is in person or online.

“They should also pay attention to adults who give unwarranted gifts or want to spend time alone with a child. Children should also be taught not to give out personal information online,” the statement said.

The Authority said if a parent or guardian suspects sexual grooming, they should take the evidence and any information about the alleged perpetrator to the police and report the matter to the Authority’s hotlines at 996 or 800-2014.

“The Authority reminds the public that child protection is everyone’s business, therefore, we all have a role to protect children from perpetrators of abuse and nurture children in an environment that encourages their development.”

Acting ACP Radcliff Boxhill said from it was a criminal offence and action must be taken against the man.

“It is a child you dealing with and some don’t know how to deal with that. We may not understand how they (children) are thinking and no blame is to be put on the child,” he said.

Boxhill said from the conversations between the adult and the child it was evident the man was making attempts to groom her.

“The grown man is attempting to groom her. The Child Protection Unit will be called in and investigate and we need the Cyber Crime Unit to find the source of the device and the conversations.

“They can be found on the handset and there will be records,” he said.

Boxhill said the information was out on social media and he was confident the police will investigate and deal with it.

“To ensure appropriate action and this situation does not continue and send the message that this will not be tolerated towards children.

“It is a criminal offence and the police will deal with it,” he said.

Users on social media expressed outrage after reading the conversations posted between the child and the man on WhatsApp.

A man from south Trinidad, wanted in the United States for defrauding that Government, has agreed to his extradition.

In a press release issued, the Office of the Attorney General said that acting AG Stuart Young signed a warrant of committal for Daveanan Sookdeo yesterday as his committal proceedings before acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle ended on Tuesday afternoon.

AG Faris Al-Rawi had signed off with the authority to proceed with the extradition after receiving the US’ request on July 28. Sookdeo was arrested hours later in Debe by Sgt Herman Narace of the Interpol Bureau.

When he was taken before Busby-Earle-Caddle to start the committal proceedings on August 2, Sookdeo indicated that he was not opposed to his extradition.

When the case came up for hearing next before Busby Earle-Caddle on Tuesday, she took evidence from Sookdeo, read the Warrant of Committal to him and committed him to the Port-of-Spain State Prison pending his removal to the US to face the charges.

Sookdeo is accused of making false claims to the US Government, stealing US Government money and Inter-state and foreign transportation of money obtained by fraud.

The offences allegedly occurred between 2006 and 2010 while Sookdeo was living in the US and Canada. He allegedly fled to Trinidad before he was arrested.

The offences carry sentences of between five and 10 years in prison if Sookdeo is convicted.

In the release the AG’s office hailed Sookdeo’s case as a victory for it and its Central Authority Unit, which handles all extradition requests.

“The Attorney General is committed to working with law enforcement agencies in the Caribbean and other international bodies to confront and fight the scourge of crime,” the release said.

Less than 12 hours after moving into his new home, CEPEP labourer Parmanand Basdeo was shot dead while riding his bicycle to work.

Basdeo, 61, a father of two, was killed within 100 metres of his Kanhai Road North, Barrackpore home.

Neighbours heard him and his attacker arguing moments before two gunshots rang out.

It was still dark around 5.30 am when Basdeo left home to meet his work crew along GP Road when he came face to face with his killer.

Investigators said after he was shot, the gunman stood over him and fired another shot to ensure he was dead. While a motive was not yet known, they suspected that it was a hit. The gunman was then seen walking south along the road but no one could describe him.

Police, including Insp Gajadhar, Insp Sookdeo, Sgt Ramlogan, Cpl Bridgemohan and woman Cpl Mohammed responded and a search for the gunman was carried out. Up to yesterday evening, no one was held.

An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov showed that Basdeo was shot from a distance with one bullet grazing his ear and the other piercing his right eye. He was then shot again in the head.

Surrounded by family and friends yesterday, his common-law wife Ramkuwarie Singh said by the time she reached, Basdeo was already dead. She said they had just moved into the house on Tuesday and had not finished unpacking.

She told the T&T Guardian that they owned no land or owed anyone money, nor had anyone threatened their lives. She recalled, “I got up this morning, cooked for him, packed his bag and I went to walk him by the gate.”

He took the bicycle and rode up the road to work. He had to reach the other junction but he never did. I just heard a gunshot but I was not sure. I wasn’t thinking that anything happened to him because I had already reached up the hill.”

Just Sunday, another resident of the area, Carlos Samuel, was gunned down outside the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) garage in San Fernando. However, Singh said they did not know Sammy.

The woman who was knocked down and killed Monday morning crossing the Eastern Main Road, Champs Fleurs, has been identified as Cheryl John.

John’s body was identified by her son-in-law at the Maloney Police Station on Monday. The man, a police officer, saw a photograph of his mother-in-law and was able to confirm her identity.

According to John’s estranged husband, Wilfred Arrendell, the mother of six was supposed to report to work on Monday morning but calls to her phone went unanswered.

Relatives went to the St Joseph Police Station and were told that there was an accident in the area, but the family was unable to view the body as the mortuary department at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex was already closed.

John, a geriatric nurse, had celebrated her 54th birthday on Sunday. Arrendell said John was a private woman who did not have a grand celebration for her birthday.

John was knocked down around 6.30 am, police said. The driver was heading west along the road when he collided with John. The driver was questioned and later released.

A report said around 7 am, the victim was attempting to cross the Eastern Main Road when the driver collided with John.

Eyewitnesses said the victim was thrown several feet in the air. She died on the spot.

In an interview, Police Constable Brent Batson, coordinator of the police road safety project, said the woman’s death was the 71st for the year compared with 83 road fatalities last year.

“Altogether we have seen a reduction in road deaths compared to 2016. The TTPS continues to express great concern with the reckless driving displayed on the road. Even with the number of traffic tickets issued by officers some drivers are engaging in very dangerous practices that have resulted in preventable tragedies,” he said.

Batson said in the past three days there were three road deaths which included Ryun Crawford, 18, who was driving a Mercedes Benz sedan, considered one of the safest car in the world. In the case of the four-year-old child killed in Monday’s Valencia Stretch crash, initial reports suggest the victim, Lexie Baptiste, was not in a child safety seat.

Former flight attendant Vinosh Maraj was yesterday fined $55,000 for trying to smuggle close to US$40,000 into the country.

Maraj, 32, of Morang Village, St Augustine, was ordered to pay the fine in one month or be sent to jail, by Magistrate Gloria Jasmath in the Arima Magistrates Court.

He had pleaded guilty to three charges stemming from the incident at the Piarco International Airport.

On the charge of bringing in restricted goods, he was fined $25,000 of in default three years hard labour. For making a false declaration he was fined $15,000 or 18 months in jail and on the charge of packaging to deceive a Customs officer he was also fined $15,000 or 18 months in jail.

The magistrate ordered that the US currency is deposited in the Treasury after the senior attorney for the Customs and Excise Divison Harricharan Kassie said the money had to be forfeited to the State.

Maraj, who had been employed with Caribbean Airlines for five years, had been in custody for a week as he was unable to secure bail.

According to the State’s case, on August 13, Maraj arrived on a CAL flight from New York. He had a 65-inch television set among his items to declare. When asked by customs officer Nicolas Joseph what else he had to declare, Maraj said he had a bottle of alcohol in his tote bag and a CAL standard operating procedure manual.

Upon searching the manual, the officer found US $36,000.

An additional US$3,054 was found in his possession.

His lawyers, Reynold Waldropt and Jeron Joseph, had argued for a non-custodial sentence citing his previous good character.

Two soldiers, accused of fleecing almost $1.5 million from the Defence Force in a payroll scam, are moving to have the State’s lawsuit seeking to recoup the funds struck out.

Lawyers representing the Lance Corporal and Private signalled their intention during a hearing of an injunction freezing their clients’ assets pending the determination of the case, at the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday.

In their substantive application, the soldiers are claiming that the AG’s office failed to comply with the court’s practice directions as it did not send a pre-action protocol letter before seeking the injunction and filing the lawsuit.

A member of Island Hikers yesterday responded to criticism following the death of Richard Baird during a trek to the Hollis Waterfalls in Aripo.

In a telephone interview with CNC3 yesterday, the member of Island Hikers, Michael Charlarie, said Baird may have slipped off a precipice after taking a short break during the return journey and hit his head on a boulder.

Charlarie was part of the team of members of protective services, villagers and members of the public who assisted in removing Baird’s decomposing body from the Aripo forest between Tuesday and yesterday.

CNC3 News showed dramatic footage of the National Operations Centre helicopter hovering in the forest as crime scene investigators loaded the body on the aircraft.

The Island Hiker member said that judging from what he saw on the scene, Baird survived the initial fall.

“The first drop was not that high. From the evidence I saw he got back up and started to move for approximately 100 metres,” Charlarie said.

He suggested Baird was possibly disoriented from the fall and appeared to have fallen off an even stepper precipice, where his body was found.

Asked how the other members of the hiking group only realised that Baird was missing until after they completed the mission, Charlarie said the 60 hikers were split into groups some of which may have passed him without realising it.

“He was in the middle of the pack. There were people much slower than him,” he said as he explained that those in front would have thought he would have caught up with them and those behind would not have known that he had stopped if he had fallen before they passed.

Charlarie described 55-year-old Baird, an IT specialist with Petrotrin, as an experienced hiker.

“He was with us before and he was pretty good,” Charlarie said.

While he admitted that the organisation would consider additional safety protocols and procedures on their next trip, he also pointed out that hiking had its inherent dangers.

“I am sure the people who are interested in safety do not participate in such activities. There are risks on hikes, even in simple activities people die,” Charlarie said as he pointed out the fact that two people drowned in family outings to Blanchisseuse, last weekend.

Police were forced to abandon their removal plans for Baird’s body after it was discovered by a resident on Tuesday, as the helicopter was unable to land in the dense forest.

The helicopter was used to ferry villagers to the site on Tuesday and they assisted police in clearing site for the aircraft to get close to the ground.

Even with the assistance, the helicopter was unable to land at the site due to the steep hillside and had to hover inches from the slope as the body was loaded.

The body was transported to the T&T Regiment’s Camp Cumuto base and then taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where the autopsy is expected today.

Two months after being released from prison on firearm-related charges, San Fernando labourer Darryl Vincent was gunned down while relaxing at his home on Tuesday night.

Vincent, 49, of Phase II, Ridgewood Gardens, Golconda had a long criminal record, including convictions for gun and drug possession.

In 2014 when police stopped him during a breathalyser exercise, he lied about being a driver for former attorney general Anand Ramlogan. He was fined $4,500 for failing to give a breath specimen and for resisting arrest. In 2003, he was acquitted of the 1997 murder of 61-year-old Rio Claro businessman Raffick “Mickey” Kabul.

According to reports, Vincent was sitting on a couch on the front porch of his home, eating a pack of peanuts. Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions around 9.48 pm and saw a vehicle speeding off.

Southern Division police, including ASP Neptune, Insp Don Gajadhar, Insp Sookdeo, Cpl Williams, woman Cpl Mohammed and PC Rambhajan responded and found Vincent slumped on the couch.

Despite police setting up a dragnet for the suspects, no one was held up to late yesterday.

An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov revealed that Vincent was shot nine times, possibly by two suspects. Alexandrov said he recovered copper jacketed and solid lead jacketed bullets from the body.

However, he said that Vincent was standing when the gunmen shot him. He attempted to block the gunshots and suffered three gunshot wounds to his left hand.

The location of the other wounds suggested that he was able to turn around and run but then suffered a fatal shot to the back. He fell on the couch and died.

Handyman killed at Claxton Bay

A Claxton Bay handyman was found murdered in the old train line community yesterday.

Premchand Anand, 60, also known as “Burroughs”, was discovered on the roadway by residents after several gunshots were heard. By the time Couva police arrived on the scene, Anand, who was bare-chested at the time, was already dead. Investigators said he did odd jobs in the community and lived along a river bank.

No one was held for his murder up to yesterday. An autopsy is expected to be done today at the Forensic Science Centre.

Yesterday’s sailing of the controversial Cabo Star cargo vessel from Port-of-Spain to Scarborough was delayed by almost two hours due to a mechanical problem.

It was the second day running that passengers on the sea bridge had experience problems with the service. On Tuesday, the T&T Express experienced mechanical problems and left the Scarborough Port for Port-of-Spain several hours late.

In a telephone interview yesterday afternoon, public relations officer of the T&T Inter-island Transportation Company, Vilma Lewis-Cockburn, explained that the issue with the Cabo Star was rectified and the ferry eventually left Trinidad around 2.10 pm instead of its scheduled time of 12.30 pm.

The delay caused a massive back-up of commercial vehicles along Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, for most of yesterday morning, as truck drivers transporting items ranging from construction material to frozen food had arrived in Port-of-Spain well before the scheduled boarding time of 9.30 am.

“This is madness. They ain’t care about us,” one driver who spent over five hours waiting to board said before eventually being allowed into the ferry terminal at Dock Road.

The drivers said they were severely hampered by the delay, as many of them would have to quickly offload their trucks upon reaching Tobago in order to make the return journey.

Many of the drivers said they did not like the leased vessel and preferred its predecessor, the Super Fast Galicia.

“It was bigger and more comfortable. It was a much better ship,” one of the drivers said.

“Since this ship come it has been late almost everyday,” another claimed.

The Super Fast Galicia ended its service of the inter-island sea bridge earlier this year after the Government refused to grant its owners, Inter-continental Shipping Company Limited, a long term lease. The vessel had been operating on a month to month basis since its original lease with the Government expired in April last year.

The absence of an alternative vessel forced the Government to find replacement vessels with two—the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower II—being sourced from Canadian firm Bridgemans Service Group. The Ocean Flower II’s contract was eventually cancelled after the vessel failed to arrive by its extended deadline of August 1.

The procurement of the vessels have been shrouded in controversy, with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley this week admitting something was not right about the Ocean Flower deal in particular.

Last Tuesday, Rowley appointed business magnate Christian Mouttet to investigate the debacle and provide a report within a month’s time.

Banker Robert Le Hunte will today be appointed Minister of Public Utilities.

His appointment will in effect reduce the workload Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who had assumed the portfolio in June after Fitzgerald Hinds was reassigned as Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.

Le Hunte will take the oath of office at a ceremony at the Office of the President in St Ann’s today.

According to a press release from the Office of The Prime Minister Le Hunte, a career banker, who last held the position as managing director of HFC Bank Ghana Ltd, will be tasked with the responsibility and business of government including administration of the department under that ministry.

Le Hunte will also replace Walede Michael Coppin in the Senate. The incoming minister is a graduate of Economics of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He holds an MBA from the University of Manchester, UK and an MSc in Accounting from the University of West Indies.

He was an Executive Director at HFC Bank Ghana Ltd since April 2013 and its Executive Director of Risk Management until April 2015. He was also Managing Director from April 2015 up until Monday.

According to the release, Le Hunte is a former General Manager of Special Projects of Republic Bank Ltd and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Barbados National Bank Inc. He has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Barbados National Bank and served as Director at Barbados National Bank Inc & subsidiaries. He also functioned as a Director of National Enterprises Limited from June 1, 2012, to November 2013.

He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago.

Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Minority Leader Watson Duke intends to make good on his promise to swim from Tobago to Trinidad in protest against the unreliable inter-island ferry service, as well as the deficiencies in the procurement process for the Ocean Flower 2 cargo vessel.

During a news conference in Tobago yesterday, Duke said the swim is scheduled for Monday and will start at the Scarborough Fishing Facility. He said he was fed up with the sea bridge dilemma and is ready to take action if nothing is done to rectify the issues affecting Tobagonians.

He said from 8 am Monday the Minority Council and some of the fishing folk will be staging the swim protest from Tobago to Toco.

“We are not sure exactly where we will reach in so far as Toco, Sans Souci, Port-of-Spain, wherever we reach, whether it be North Coast. By whatever means is necessary, we will take it by that means, but we will commence by swimming,” he said

Duke said he was aware of the risks involved but said he is prepared to risk his life for the betterment of the island by giving a voice to all those being affected by the sea bridge woes.

“We are doing this understanding the peril out there, understanding that the water is mixed and the currents are heavy, that there are different types of fish out there that could be dangerous, understanding that it may be the very last time we come back on this side,” he said.

“We are talking about the granny who is trying to sell bunch of fig, the school child trying to attend school in Trinidad and just the father who is trying to get his glasses repair in Trinidad. All of these persons have been seriously affected. We have tried every single thing to raise this issue on the national agenda. We have definitely tried to place it there and keep it there, unsuccessfully, we have gotten a lot of talk and no action.”

The distance in the nearest points between Trinidad and Tobago is approximately 25 miles, with some describing the conditions as brutal, but Duke said the swim will be a relay with all the necessary precautions being taken to reduce any risk.

“We will have life vests, Coast Guard, fishermen around us, rescue team, doctors, nurses, but we are doing it for Tobago. We were elected to represent Tobago and we intend to live out our days as representatives to represent Tobago and represent the core beliefs of Tobago,” he said.

However, certified rescue diver Dave Elliott yesterday told the T&T Guardian that the decision by Duke and his team did not make any sense.

He said while the swim from Tobago to Trinidad was possible, it would be a disastrous task for an average individual to undertake.

“It is not physically possible to do that for an untrained person. You need to be properly trained to do those things,” he said.

“You can black out in the water. There are so much things to consider, even the wet suit you wear will determine your outcome. When you are dealing with the sea there’s a combination of different things, winds, tides, currents and waves, those things determine your speed and distance.”

He said the distance and deepness and temperature of the water were key things to consider, but the fact that many of them are untrained swimmers was even bigger.

“There’s also the risk that the wake from a ship could affect a swimmer in the water because it’s a shipping lane. Apart from other threats, an untrained swimmer is at risk of experiencing fatigue, dehydration and hypothermia can also set in.

“Honestly, I do not see them swimming past Rockley Bay (Lambeau). Surprisingly, sharks are the least of their problems,” he said.

The time consuming task of having to read 444 charges of fraud, money laundering and larceny against a policeman’s wife yesterday caused the Princes Town Magistrates’ Court to sit late into the night.

Princes Town Magistrate Indira Misir-Gosine eventually completed reading the charges to Tinisha Gosine-Ramdass around 8.05 pm in the First Court.

Almost half way into reading the charges Misir-Gosine, who started reading the charges around 1.15 pm, had put everyone on notice that they could be there until 8 pm.

The charges, which are the most ever to be laid by the Fraud Squad against one person, included over 100 of money laundering, over 100 of falsifying a document and over 150 of larceny servant in the sum of $2.8 million. She is also jointly charged with her husband, Insp Darryl Ramdass, on nine charges of being in possession of protected birds. The charges were laid by Sgt Samuel.

Misir-Gosine eventually granted Gosine-Ramdass $150,000 bail on the fraud charges and $25,000 bail on the wildlife charges and adjourned the matter to September 20.

Gosine-Ramdass, of Princes Town, first appeared before Justice of the Peace Ackbar Khan on Tuesday and was remanded to appear yesterday before a Princes Town magistrate.

It is alleged that Gosine-Ramdass committed the offenses during 2011 and 2014, while she was employed as a clerk at A-Tech Products and Services Ltd in Princes Town. She was arrested following the arrest of her husband at the Piarco International Airport last Thursday.

Ramdass, 46, was attached to the Organised Crime and Narcotics Bureau based at the Piarco International Airport. Ramdass appeared in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with being in possession of five macaws, two toucans and two parrots without having the relevant permits. Ramdass, however, was allowed to continue on the bail he was granted at the police station and the matter was transferred to the Princes Town court. Ramdass, whose matter is scheduled for September 4, was in court supporting his wife yesterday.

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Six days after an alleged fight with his younger brother Paul Mark Teeluck ended in death, Penal labourer Avalon Thompson appeared in the Siparia Magistrates’ Court on charges of murder and wounding with intent.

Thompson, 36, of Latchoos Road, Penal, was charged by Cpl Sunil Ramoutar of the Homicide Bureau of Investigation, Region III on Thursday, following instructions from Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Honore-Paul.

He appeared before Magistrate Ava Vandenberg-Bailey in the Siparia Second Court yesterday. Teeluck was read the charge that on August 19, he murdered Teeluck, 28, at their home.

He was also charged with wounding his 71-year-old mother, Dhamrajayia Thompson. He was remanded into custody and the matter was adjourned until September 21.

Teeluck was chopped during an altercation with a male relative last Saturday. When Dhamrajayia tried to intervene, she too was chopped. They were both taken to the Siparia District Health Facility where Teeluck was pronounced dead.

A police motorcyclist remains warded in hospital in a critical condition after an accident in St Augustine yesterday.

According to reports around 7.25 am, the officer only identified as PC Jackson was riding on the east-bound lane of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway when he collided with another vehicle after the University of the West Indies (UWI) intersection.

Jackson, who is assigned to the Highway Patrol and Traffic Branch, catapulted from his motorbike and landed a short distance away.

Although Jackson was wearing protective gear, he still sustained serious injuries and was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope for treatment. He remained warded in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), up to late yesterday.

The driver of the vehicle that collided with Jackson was interviewed and released.

Investigations are continuing.

Emotions ran high at state-owned Caribbean News Media Group (CNMG) on Thursday, after it was announced that the company was winding down its operations to be replaced by the revived T&T Television (TTT).

Employees who turned up for work at CNMG’s Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain, office yesterday felt a sense of hopeless and helplessness over what lies ahead for them.

Many staff members could not perform efficiently and effectively due to the devastating news, several workers told the T&T Guardian.

CNMG has 112 permanent employees and 37 freelancers who are now out of jobs with CNMG’s impending closure.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian on condition of anonymity, one employee said with jobs hard to come by due to the downturn in the economy, the majority of staff will apply for whatever positions TTT advertises.

“A lot of us will have to find some way to rebuild our life and move forward. There is no guarantee that TTT will employ us. One has to remember that the media industry is contracting and a lot of people lost their jobs in recent times who will no doubt apply as well. So this will make it harder for us to remain employable. We can be edged out of the selection process,” the worker explained.

“Yesterday was a sad day for many of us, especially those who worked tirelessly to bring out the news every night. There was a lot of disappointment and anger. We thought they were going to restructure CNMG, not shut it down entirely. To me, this is a guise for retrenching workers, that is how we see it.”

The employee said Minister of Public Administration and Communications Maxie Cuffie asked the employees to cooperate as it was in their best interest. However, a senior newsroom staff member was more optimistic.

“I am not in the least bit worried. I believe when one door closes another opens,” she said.

A member of the production department said they felt betrayed for being kept in the dark for so long.

“At least the Government could have said something a long time ago. Just so, just so, we were told about CNMG shutting down. How is this fair to us? People have families to support, children to send to school and mortgages to pay. Everyone has been thrown into a tailspin,” the said.

The employee said they were waiting to hear what they will be offered in terms of benefits.

Maritime attorney Nyree Alfonso has been invited to appear before the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on September 4, when hearings begin into the procurement of the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 2.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday about her pending appearance, Alfonso said she has also been asked to give the JSC written submissions.

“I am going with no holds barred,” Alfonso said in a telephone interview.

Alfonso had been retained by the Port Authority of T&T and requested to assist them in finding a solution to what was deemed an “emergency” in 2013 when the Warrior Spirit started experiencing mechanical problems on the sea bridge.

The Port invited nine people to tender and the Super Fast Galicia won based on suitability, age, price and other factors.

Alfonso said the Central Tenders Board was involved in the procurement process and had insisted the process was done in a fair and transparent manner.

The Super Fast Galicia left the sea bridge in April after the authorities failed to sign the 18-month contract which the then line minister Fitzgerald Hinds had agreed to and subsequently refused to enter into a three year contract with the vessel.

On Monday after a meeting with Tobago stakeholders, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said based on the advice of senior counsel, legal action will be pursued against the Galicia’s owners, as they still had a contract with the Port.

Yesterday, Alfonso said while she could defend the procurement process for the Galicia, she could not say the same for the current two vessels embroiled in the controversy.

“There is no fair and transparent process in the acquisition of the two vessels that could be seen. I see nothing,” she said.

“What process? Letting somebody sit in the office with board members and management and offer boats they didn’t have? This was a hand selection of letting a particular provider come into the Port Authority and make a proposal, at no time were they the owners of the vessels. They got two charter party agreements before they opened the vessels, so what procurement process we talking about?”

Alfonso said the investigations now under way into the process used “must be clinical and sort out the full facts of the thing. We must sort out the facts and have full and frank disclosures in the acquisition of these two vessels. This must be done without any political spin, so that people can judge what transpired. I hope one of the five investigations will allow the full truth to come out.”

Speaking to Guardian Media on Thursday Bridgemans Services Limited PLC vice president Andrew Purdey said the company, which has its financial hub and operating headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, purchased the Cabo Star on June 9 and the Ocean Flower on June 20, 2017.

He said the vessels were purchased only after the Port Authority agreed the two vessels were suitable.

Yesterday, Alfonso said she had been told by international brokers that the hire charter for a vessel as old as the Ocean Flower 2 should be US$15,000 a day, but the price agreed to by the PATT was US$26,500.

She said the rate for the Cabo Star should be between US12000 to US$14,000, but it is being leased daily at US$22,500.

The PATT has since cancelled the Ocean Flower 2 contract after it failed to meet the contractual delivery time.

But Purdey said the vessel, which is now in Curacao, has been repaired and all the issues raised in the report from the PATT Chief Engineer Brendon Powder had been addressed. He said Bridgemans is in this for the long term and wanted to resume negotiations with PATT on the Ocean Flower.

Efforts to contact Port chairman Allison Lewis and CEO Charmaine Lewis to ascertain whether discussions had been reopened with Bridgemans on the Ocean Flower 2 were unsuccessful yesterday as they did not answer calls.

Also contacted on the issue, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan declined comment, referring the T&T Guardian to the Port Authority. See Page A6

Minister of Public Administration and Communications Maxie Cuffie yesterday said the closure of Caribbean News Media Group (CNMG) will create far more jobs with the revival of T&T Television (TTT).

“A lot of people are looking at this (closure of CNMG) as losing their jobs. I think there are other ways to look at it. I am looking at it from the perspective of new employment opportunities being created at TTT and for content producers, cameramen and videographers. I think there will be much more employment created from the transition to TTT than what currently obtains with CNMG,” Cuffie said during a press conference at his Port-of-Spain office, as he sought to explain the rationale for winding up of CNMG, which was launched in 2005.

He said with TTT’s increased local programming, jobs will be created for local producers, actors and directors. Enthused by the new move, Cuffie said the transition could bring great opportunity to the media industry and employment opportunities.

The announcement came one day after Cabinet took a decision to close CNMG’s doors and revive TTT with a mandate to focus on local programming, news and public information.

The first move of the transition, Cuffie said, would involve the Finance Ministry appointing a new board by next week to wind up CNMG’s operations. Another board will be selected to get TTT off the ground.

Cuffie said the investment in local programming would cost far less than the use of foreign programmes.

There are 112 permanent employees and 37 freelancers at CNMG who can all now apply for jobs at TTT, he said.

Yesterday, Cuffie met with worried staff and said he answered all their questions about the company’s closure.

Asked when staff start receiving their letters of notice, Cuffie said Government would have to compute what is owed to each employee and pay them their benefits, which should not take long.

He said in 2015 Cabinet had appointed a committee which was charged with examining CNMG and GISL’s operations, and they found that the television station was not fulfilling its objectives and had only a “five to six per cent market share,” while it never achieved commercial success nor a brand identity.

In addition to CNMG winding up, Cuffie said radio stations Talkcity 91.1 FM and 99.1 FM, which had less than one per cent audience ,will also be shut down, while Radio Sweet 100 will remain in operation.

In giving a breakdown of CNMG’s operations cost, Cuffie said commercial revenue had fluctuated between $30 million in 2011 to $33 million in 2015.

“Operational cost had steadily increased, while a major element had been staff cost, which jumped from $18.1 million in 2011 to $26.3 million in 2015.”

For this same period, Cuffie said expenses moved from $44 to $56 million, while subventions sky rocketed from $10 million in 2012 to $23 million in 2015. But Government reduced its subventions last year to $16 million.

“I think it came down to $14 million this year. We are operating in stringent financial times. We are struggling to pay salaries,” he said.

Asked what accounted for the increase in expenses, Cuffie said between the periods 2010/2015 CNMG became “very political and some of the expenses you saw were through the recruitment of people who were political appointees and the salaries matched that. There was activity engaged in by CNMG which had nothing to do with its core operations but had to do with the ongoing (2015) election campaign.”

In going forward, Cuffie said TTT would be partly funded by the State, contributors and its commercial operation and its objectives will not be to make profits. He also dismissed rumours that CNMG’s Maraval Road property was up for sale.

Since the announcement of the return TTT, Cuffie said he has been getting positive feedback.