With tensions high in Fifth Company, Princes Town, following multiple shootings and the killing of Lance Corporal Marcus Gay, Southern Division Task Force police officers and personnel from the T&T Regiment have been deployed in the community.

Residents were still bracing for the return of army officers in the Dougla City area, who they said threatened to wipe out even women and children in their pursuit of Gay’s military issued firearm.

Contacted on the residents’ claim, T&T Defence Force senior public affairs officer, Flight Lieutenant Monique Sprott would only say that the “TTPS (Police Service) is currently investigating.”

Investigators said their probe into the shootings was continuing and they were taking statements with the hope of identifying the shooters soon.

Six people were shot, including Gay, his colleague Cpl Mark Blunt, brothers Victor and Vincent Brown, Gerard Graham and church member Renwick St Clair.

All of the victims remain warded at the San Fernando General Hospital up to yesterday with two of them under police guard.

The Browns’ younger brother, Isaiah Gibson, said they were doing better and Vincent has been talking. He said residents were a bit calmer when they learned that their injured neighbours were doing better.

Police said that around 11.15 pm on Monday, St Mary’s officers responded to a report of a shooting in Fifth Company and found Blunt lying on the roadway with gunshot wounds to his leg. Gay was lying in the grass at the side of an unfinished house with multiple gunshot wounds.

Officers also found Victor, 30, with a gunshot wound to his head and Vincent, 26, with a wound to his chest, Gerard Graham, suffered a gunshot wound to his hand and St Clair had been shot in his leg. They were all taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility where Gay was pronounced dead.

The soldiers were on reportedly on surveillance duty when they went to a wake of Angela Willie, the mother of Victor and Vincent.

The officers, who were members of an army intelligence unit were working alongside the Southern Division police to locate a suspect, who is a relative of Willie.

They said the suspect was wanted for a murder and assault among other crimes. A 26-year-old man from St Mary is being looked for as part of the police investigation.

​

How did Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley have the confidence to tell citizens that Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal will be brought before the courts?

That’s the question Israel Khan SC has officially put to Acting of Commissioner Police Stephen Williams on Moonilal’s behalf. Khan sent a letter on the issue to Williams on Tuesday.

The move is the fall-out from the remarks Rowley made about Moonilal when the PM spoke at a media briefing last Friday before he left for a US medical check-up. Rowley alluded then to a warrant he claimed Moonilal was “under” and also alluded to “when” Moonilal “appears in court” under the warrant.

Khan prefaced his concerns on the matter by noting a June 7 letter which he’d also sent to the CoP on Moonilal’s behalf over a newspaper report, which stated Moonilal was a person of interest in a police probe and his premises were searched concerning this.

Khan said Moonilal ought to have been informed of the nature of the investigation and provision of the details to the media indicated a “conspiracy between the executive and the police service” to damage Moonilal.

But following Rowley remarks last Friday, Khan said in Tuesday’s letter, “Unfortunately, it appears the fears of my client may have been legitimate based on statements by the Prime Minister.”

While Rowley had said his Government has no involvement in law enforcement matters, Khan added, “In the same breath, the Prime Minister referred to my client by his name and as a person ‘who has questions to answer about the handling of public monies and for which information was provided in a court of T&T and the court being so satisfied allowed warrants to be issued.’”

Khan quoted Rowley as saying,“‘What Dr. Moonilal was doing was protecting himself because as he named others, he carefully did not name himself while currently being under warrant – when he appears in court under the warrant that now exists he will be a victim of this same development.’”

Khan told Williams, “We are of the view that by the Prime Minister’s statements, he has indicated to citizens in a sound to those who will hear it, with its content being clear without it being spelt out, that he [Prime Minister] is sure my client will be brought before the court.”

Khan said his client “... Fears that the Prime Minister’s indication to the citizens that my client will be brought before the courts is an indication the Prime Minister is so desirous of such an outcome and may have the influence and the intrusion that compromises the police independence.

“Even the mere mentioning of such investigations by such a highly influential official such as the Prime Minster may amount to intrusion and therefore an unconstitutional action and against the rule of law.”

Khan added, “I think it is only proper that you as the Commissioner of Police make a public statement categorically stating the current state of affairs and how in fact the Prime Minister can make these promises to the citizens that my client will be brought to the courts.”

Khan also told Cop Wiliams, “One of the pillars of police-government relations is full police independence. Police must be immune from government intervention, most importantly in matters regarding the process of investigations.”

The T&T Guardian confirmed there’s been no response from the CoP yet. Williams didn’t answer calls yesterday.

A Lance Corporal with the T&T Regiment was released on $80,000 bail when he appeared in court yesterday charged with sexually assaulting two minors ages eight and 14. The offences are alleged to have taken place almost three years ago.

Curt Collins appeared before Magistrate Adia Mohammed in the Port-of-Spain court. He was not called upon to plead to the charges.

As with all cases of sexual offences, Mohammed cleared the courtroom of members of the public including media personnel before the soldier’s appearance.

Only police officers, his relatives, his attorney Brent Winter and a uniformed member of the Regiment’s Military Police were allowed in court for the hearing.

The soldier is accused of three charges of indecently assaulting the children in 2014.

His father was accepted as surety for his bail by Mohammed but his relatives were still seeking approval of his bail bond to secure his release up to late yesterday.

The soldier was arrested by Cpl Reyes of the Carenage Police Station at e Teteron Base in Chaguaramas on Thursday at the end of an investigation which began after the children told their parents of the attacks and they were reported to police.

Hewas remanded to reappear in court on September 22.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says the public health systems continue to be overburdened because in many instances, patients, including pregnant women, fail to take personal responsibility.

Speaking at a press conference held at the ministry’s office in Port-of-Spain yesterday Deyalsingh said too often when patients go to the public hospitals they fail to take important information including their blood work and in the case of pregnant women, their ultrasound copies.

Citing an example Deyalsingh said on Thursday he was speaking to an obstetrician in the public sector who told him that after spending close to 45 minutes with a pregnant patient it was learnt that the patient failed to walk with past ultra sound reports.

“We now have to do another ultra sound. So because persons don’t take some responsibility it clogs the system and this is multiplied over and over,” he added.

Saying it was difficult not to have any maternal deaths in any country Deyalsingh said in any country where there are 100,000 live births per year there should be more than 13 women dying in child birth.

“When you scale that down to Trinidad where you have about 17,000 to 18,000 live births per year it means we should not have more than four per year,” Deyalsingh said.

He said for this year to date there were three recorded deaths in the public sector and one in the private sector.

Compared to the same period last year, Deyalsingh said there were no more than “three or fours deaths.”

“All in the public sector have been due to patient factors not due to any fault of the public health system.

“The one in the private sector in under investigation,” the minister said.

Saying there was “no equity” in health care in this country, Deyalsingh said there were many factors which attributed to this including people who fell into the lower socio-economic strata which placed them at a disadvantage.

“When you look at maternal mortality rates most of the women who die in child birth come from the lower socio-economic backgrounds because they don’t appreciate or have access to anti-natal care.

“ Their health status predisposes them to complications in childbirth like diabetes and obesity,” Deyalsingh said.

Pressed that those from poor background ought to access an acceptable level of health care the minister said while public health care was always free it was, however, a “partnership” and urged people to be more conscious of their personal health.

In a bid to locate T&T nationals in the hurricane-affected Caribbean countries, Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs officials are urging nationals and/or their families to make urgent contact with them.

Yesterday, Trinidadian Tim Nagee, who is said to be stranded at a St Maarten resort with partner Charlotte Ramnath, said in a video posted to his Facebook timeline that he was not sure how and when they would be able to leave the island.

“We need to get out because another storm is on its way. The place is in a mess,” Nagee said in his video.

Nagee attempted to describe the situation there now, saying there was severe looting.

“In a matter of hours everything so changed. Staff here at the hotel have all lost their homes and they have brought their families in here and still their really helpful and trying their best,” Nagee said.

Jose is said to be about 435 miles (700 km) east-southeast of the Northern Leeward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kph). The National Hurricane Center advised yesterday that Jose has gained in strength and intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

All information of missing T&T nationals, such as names; dates of birth; Passport bio-data and contact information are to be sent to the ministry via consular@foreign.gov.tt

Contact can also be made via telephone at 868-715-2154.

Local individuals and organisations wishing to provide assistance to affected countries should contact the Office of the Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), the coordinating agency, via telephone at emergency number 511 or via email at publicinfo.odpm@gmail.com

Acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert has admitted that the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government has taken note of two independent polls conducted on its two-year performance in office.

One of the polls, the GML-commissioned Louis Bertrand pool was published in the T&T Guardian on Thursday.

Bertrand’s poll stated that the PNM administration was deemed to be taking the country “in the wrong direction” by the majority of respondents in a survey of Government’s performance in the last 24 months.

The findings of the opinion poll conducted by Bertrand’s HHB and Associates showed this to be the view of a startling 83 per cent of respondents. Crime and violence was ranked as the single most pressing problem facing T&T by 66 per cent of respondents.

Pressed on the poll’s findings yesterday, Imbert said the Government had taken note of it.

“We don’t ignore these things. But we don’t overreact either. So we have taken a note of it and go through the information and we will act accordingly.”

Everyday, Imbert said he reads the three daily newspapers, with the exception of the comic strips and classifieds.

“We read the papers every day. We read everything in the newspapers. We internalise it. We digest it,” he said.

“We look at it to determine if we agree with it or not. We determine what we need to do. We have taken note of everything that has been published.”

Imbert said this included the advice given by political analysts, who suggested that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley take a firmer grip on his Cabinet as the polls were an indication of a wake-up call for the Government.

While the Government may not agree on some of the issues published, Imbert said: “If we don’t read the newspapers we would not be educating ourselves on how other people think about us.”

Des Vignes, Borris at FSC

Pathologists Dr Hughvon De Vignes and Dr Eastlyn McDonald-Borris will handle Forensic Science Centre duties following the recent resignation of forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, acting National Security Minister Stuart Young said yesterday.

Replying to United National Congress MP Dr Lackram Bodoe’s queries, Young said Alexandrov’s resignation is effective December 31 - but Alexandrov asked not to be scheduled with further matters up to them.

In the interim, Des Vignes will be on duty up to October. Mc-Donald-Borris will be on subsequently.

Alexandrov would be expected to return if required to deal with evidence in court matters, Young added.

Cabinet to handle Child

Marriage proclamation

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi says he’ll take a note to Cabinet next Thursday to set a date for proclamation of the Child Marriage law.

He told UNC MP Ramona Ramdial - who queried delays in proclaiming the law - that he’s formalising arrangements at the Registrar General’s Division for necessary forms to be available to the public.

Reafforestation workers paid soon

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat has assured that National Reafforestation Programme employees will be paid outstanding monies before the end of this financial year. The new financial year begins from end of October.

Delays were caused by shortfall in programme funding, he said.

Smith talking to SporTT on Boldon ban

Sports Minister Darryl Smith is taking up UNC MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie’s suggestion to meet with Sport Company of T&T (SporTT) officials to seek solutions on banning the public from using the facilities outside the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

People who exercise outside the stadium were recently banned from using it after SporTT announced it was conducting a security review. However, a group of individuals who use the facility subsequently staged a protest calling on Smith to intervene, noting that they did not feel safe using the roads outside the facility to exercise.

Replying to UNC MP Vidya Guyadeen-Gopeesingh’s queries on under-utilisation of sports facilities, Smith explained that after exercising, people from the area had been using the pool. He said this was curtailed since heavy machinery is on the site for construction work, and the Ministry didn’t “want anyone being hurt” as a result.

Tewarie, who said some of his constituents use the complex, suggested Smith meet all parties to work the issue out.

Police have 1,591 vehicles

The T&T Police Service has 1, 591 vehicles, some of which have dashboard cameras, acting National Security Minister Stuart Young told UNC MP Suruj Rambachan.

Meanwhile, drugs for diabetes and high blood pressure - Metformin and Enalapril - have been removed from the Health Ministry’s list of prescribable medicines, Health Ministry Terrence Deyalsingh also said.

Less than two hours after the House of Representatives convened after nine weeks of vacation it was adjourned to September 15, much to the chagrin of the Opposition. The move was made in just under an hour of debate after questions were answered the Speaker had to use her casting vote three times.

MPs were debating motions on Senate amendments to the Bail (Access to Bail) (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which sought to address the issue of people who may become flight risks and abscond from bail.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said what was being proposed was that “any form of security which a judicial officer may give as a requirement for a condition of bail, be it cash, be it property, be it a bond from a licensed financial institution, whatever it may be or any combination as we now propose, that the form of security be one which can be subject to forfeiture with the consent of the defendant in the circumstances set out in the bill.”

He said there is no mandatory statement of law that the provision of security can only be in very narrow circumstances. In fact, he said the practice in the High Court, magistracy and the Court of Appeal with respect to the application or requirement to give security is not one which is uncommon.

But Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar again raised Opposition concerns made during the debate that “we, in a period when crime is the number one issue in the country, and here we are making it easier for access to bail, that is what amendments are for.”

Persad-Bissessar said on the one hand the Parliament was being asked to “ease up that process and on the other hand we are being asked to consider elsewhere locking down bail with respect to crimes given this very horrid situation.”

She said the Opposition was “not in a position to support the amendments.”

With no Opposition support likely and with the Government bench down by at least two of its members - Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who is out of the country and La Horquetta/Talparo MP Maxie Cuffie, who is hospitalised, Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis suggested that the house adjourn debate on motion one and move on to motion two.

But Point-a-Pierre MP David Lee objected on the grounds that “we came after a long vacation to do the people’s business.”

A division was taken. The result was 17 for, 17 against with no abstentions. Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George used her casting vote in favour of the Government.

Robinson-Regis then proposed that the motion dealing with the Senate amendments to the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement) Bill, 2017 be dealt with. The Opposition again objected. A division was taken with a similar result - 17,17, no abstentions - and the Speaker again used her casting vote in favour of the Government.

Robinson-Regis then moved that the House be adjourned to September 15 at 1.30 pm.

However, Lee again objected saying it was “disheartening after nine weeks of vacation” they could not debate the matter.

The Speaker then put the question for the adjournment of the house to the floor and again a division was called for. The end result was 17, 17, no abstentions and she used her casting vote. The house was the adjourned.

Persad-Bissessar later told the media the Speaker had saved the day for the Government, whom she said came to the Parliament unprepared after nine weeks of vacation.

There have been three investigations into the March 2015 Day of Total Policing which brought traffic to a standstill on major highways across the country and resulted in business activity coming to a halt.

One was by a Joint Select Committee of Parliament in May 2015 which heard from a number of persons, including then head of the Central Division of the Police Service Johnny Abraham who said he felt the action was meant to send a message. That claim was denied by then vice president of the T&T Police Social and Welfare Association (TTPSWA) Inspector Roger Alexander.

In May the JSC, which is headed by Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Fitzgerald Hinds, criticised acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams for his failure to take disciplinary action against officers involved in the action.

Williams had reportedly been awaiting the final report of the PCA on the matter.

Another report, compiled by Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Vincel Edwards, was and tabled in Parliament in April 2015, three weeks after the action. It found that senior police officers in charge of six of the nine police divisions “lost control of their divisions and stations respectively to a small group of junior officers,” who enacted a “malicious obedience” campaign.

Edwards recommended that those in charge of the divisions be “reprimanded” for their failure to be in control of their officers.

He also expressed concern about the Special Branch, saying it should provide support in terms of intelligence and that its officers should “avoid participating in situations like these.”

The PCA investigation, which was made public yesterday, has recommended disciplinary and criminal action against some of the officers involved in the action.

The entire East-West Corridor was affected by the police action, with traffic extending as far as San Fernando was gridlocked. There was also congestion on the Claude Noel Highway in Tobago and gridlock traffic in Scarborough. RS

Residents of New Grant, Princes Town were forced to lock their windows and doors, some too frighten to venture outdoors, as millions of locusts invaded their community yesterday morning.

However, one of the braver residents of Watt’s Road, Harold Rambaran, walked out onto the road to get a better view of the swarms of locust as they passed over his house and into the forested area across the road.

The short-horned grasshoppers left in their wake bitten leaves, with some branches almost bear after the insects had their fill and flew away.

Rambaran’s wife, Sandra, said she first noticed the locusts around 11 am.

“I did not know what it was at first. I close up the place. When my husband came from work he told me what they were,” she said.

Rambaran was not sure if the insects attacked the gardeners’ crops as they had done last week in other communities.

“We didn’t hear anything yet,” he said.

Last week, locusts had terrorised residents in Rio Claro, Agostini, Clear Water, Enid Village, Ecclesville, El Guanapo, Tabaquite Road and Deep Ravine.

There were also reports, prior to that, of the locusts invading communities in Moruga.

Commenting on the locusts during a function at Petrotrin yesterday morning, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat said they were now heading into the forest to nest.

“They have chosen the pathway from Moruga, through Mora Valley to Rio Claro and into the forests. So that is gone,” he said.

However, he said the bigger challenge is the nesting period.

“They next is the ground so we will have to intensify our work during the September to November period so we could locate the nest and destroy them because once they get wings and start to fly, it becomes very, very difficult to manage them, in this stage.”

He added: “What we saw in Rio Claro, they were high up in the trees. I saw no damage to any food crops, those were low down on the ground, they weren’t eating, they were interested in getting up in the trees.

“But when they hatch, before they get wings, that is when they are low in the ground looking for food and that is when they become destructive.”

He said as a result of this, in the first quarter of 2018 they “will be seeing signs of whether we have done a good job or whether we have not done a good job.”

Relatives of two men killed under similar circumstances in south Trinidad are baffled as to what may have triggered their deaths.

The relatives spoke with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James yesterday.

The deceased men, Ryan Alexander, 27 of Union Village, La Brea and Recardo Duntin, 35, of Samuel Cooper Road Fifth Company Moruga, were both found murdered in cars parked in lonely areas.

Duntin was found at Murray Trace, Siparia on the driver’s seat. Police suspect he was shot to the back of the head and robbed of his wallet and one of his two smart phones.

He was left with $1000 cash. Alexander was found early yesterday morning in the front passenger seat.

Alexander’s relatives said he left his home to catch crab. The father of two was described as a helpful man who was a labourer. They said he had no enemies.

Duntin’s relatives said the father of one was a quiet man, They added that on Thursday afternoon when they last saw him he was telling them about enrolling his son in a primary school in Ste Madeleine. The relatives added that vengeance will be God’s and they are hopeful that police will apprehend his killers soon.

In an unrelated killing, police were yesterday seeking assistance in identifying a man found murdered at Upper Duncan Street, Port of Spain.

Police said residents heard gunshots around 11.55 am and found the man, of African descent, face down on the ground.

The victim is believed to be on his early 20s and was wearing a pair of black slippers, blue three quarter jeans and blue jersey.

The location of the body comes two years after the headless body of David Maraj was found stuffed in the trunk of a BMW. His head was found near a dumpster in Gonzales hours earlier.

A Lance Corporal with the T&T Regiment was released on $80,000 bail when he appeared in court yesterday charged with sexually assaulting two minors ages eight and 14. The offences are alleged to have taken place almost three years ago.

Curt Collins appeared before Magistrate Adia Mohammed in the Port-of-Spain court. He was not called upon to plead to the charges.

As with all cases of sexual offences, Mohammed cleared the courtroom of members of the public including media personnel before the soldier’s appearance.

Only police officers, his relatives, his attorney Brent Winter and a uniformed member of the Regiment’s Military Police were allowed in court for the hearing.

The soldier is accused of three charges of indecently assaulting the children in 2014.

His father was accepted as surety for his bail by Mohammed but his relatives were still seeking approval of his bail bond to secure his release up to late yesterday.

The soldier was arrested by Cpl Reyes of the Carenage Police Station at e Teteron Base in Chaguaramas on Thursday at the end of an investigation which began after the children told their parents of the attacks and they were reported to police.

Hewas remanded to reappear in court on September 22.

Taxpayers will pay an estimated $3.2 million (TT) to local consulting firm KPMG in its search for a new Commissioner of Police (CoP) and new Deputy Commissioner of Police.

The search has already begun with advertisements of the positions placed in local newspapers from September 4 to 29.

The funding for the search came from the Police Service Commission's budgetary provision for "other contracted services" for financial year 2017. This provision was revised and increased from $2.5 million to $4.55 million in order to facilitate the search for a new CoP.

No one has held the substantive post since 2012, when Stephen Williams was appointed as Acting Commissioner of Police, a position for which he has received 11 six-month extensions since that time.

Williams is expected to apply for the substantive post.

The Guardian understands that last month the Police Service Commission (PSC) contacted the Service Commissions Department regarding outstanding payments for the firm.

The firm has already submitted invoices for several deliverables, including monitoring and evaluation consultancy services to operationalise the new performance appraisal framework for the commissioner and deputy commissioners of police, and a public perception and satisfaction survey of the general public.

The firm is expected to supply the PSC with recruitment process guidelines, job competency models, application forms, feedback documents, prospectus of the Police Service, advertisement of vacancies, list of applicants and a list of eligible and ineligible applicants.

Only this week, the PSC published a vacancy notice for the positions of commissioner and deputy commissioner in the daily newspaper.

•The advertisement said the applicants must possess "a strong work ethic, thrive on challenges, be committed to reducing the level of crime within the country and dedicated to providing outstanding public service".

•It also said the applicants should be proficient in leading and managing large, complex law enforcement organisation with high public visibility.

The last such recruitment process cost the Government a reported $4 million dollars, paid to foreign consultants Penn State university, who were retained by the PSC to assist in the recruitment process.

When the position was first advertised in 2007, it was reported that 41 people applied for the job, four were locals.

The payment of a reported $4 million to Penn State had come under criticism at the time from criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran. That same figure was reported as $2.3 million in Parliament hansard by then Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner during a motion to notify the President to approve Dwayne Gibbs as Commissioner of Police. The Guardian has not been able to confirm the actual figure.

Deosaran, at the time, said he believed the PSC needed to be re-examined because the evidence showed that there were “some elements of disrepair and shortcoming” in its operations. (See story on Page A4)

Sources close to prior recruitment searches, who did not want to be named, said $3.2 million was a high price tag for a local firm to search for a local Commissioner of Police.

In August the PSC told the public that KPMG had been awarded the contract to assist with the recruitment and selection process of the CoP.

The release said on July 20, a meeting took place at the commission’s offices which brought together representatives from the Police Service Commission and KPMG T&T to discuss implementation of the project.

The recruitment phase of the project is expected to take four months.

Parliament still has veto power

According to section 123 (2) of the Constitution of T&T Parliament can veto the decision of the PSC and force the search to be restarted.

Under the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Selection Process Order) the PSC must take into account all information on the candidates and thereafter establish an Order of Merit list.

The PSC must then select the highest graded candidate on the list and submit that candidate's name to the President.

If the House of Representatives does not approve of the highest graded candidate on the Order of Merit List, subsequent Nominations in order of merit may be submitted to the House from the Order of Merit List only.

If the Order of Merit list is exhausted, the process must be recommenced.

A brief history of CoP searches

After Trevor Paul retired as Commissioner of Police in 2008, James Philbert, who was the most senior officer in the service after Paul, was appointed to act in the role.

At that time, Acting Deputy Commissioner Stephen Williams, who was the PSC’s nominee for CoP in 2008 after being recommended by Penn State, had been rejected by the PNM in Parliament.

In 2010, during a search under the People's Partnership coalition, Parliament rejected Canadian Neal Parker for the post, citing that he had been part of the evaluation team for the selection of the commissioner in 2008.

The last appointed commissioner, Canadian Dwayne Gibbs was the second-rated nominee on Penn State's evaluation.

When Nicole Olivierre, the current parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Energy, was retrenched as an assistant manager from the National Gas Company (NGC) in January 2015, “she presented herself to the office without authorisation, deceptively went past security, entered her department and made use of the computer”, NGC told the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC).

Olivierre, however, claimed that during the “notice period” of her retrenchment she went to the office to process her fuel reimbursement claims and was met by security guards who asked her to leave the compound.

“During the retrenchment period of 45 days (Olivierre) was of the view that the terms and conditions of employment remained unchanged, inclusive of the reimbursement of fuel purchase for her vehicle,” the EOC’s report on the matter stated.

On April 16, 2015, Olivierre lodged a complaint of victimisation against NGC with the EOC. It was the second complaint she had filed at the EOC about NGC—the first was lodged on December 13, 2012, when she complained about racial discrimination at the company. That complaint was referred to the Equal Opportunities Tribunal on June 7, 2015.

Olivierre was employed with NGC from 2002 until her eventual retrenchment. She claimed that following her initial complaint of racial discrimination she became “the subject of acts of victimisation contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Equal Opportunity Act”.

She said she believes she was victimised because of the previous complaint made against NGC and this culminated in her retrenchment.

She further stated that her position of assistant manager enterprise risk management was the only one “eliminated from the company’s risk management area” and that no other position “was even retrenched from the NGC,” the EOC complaint stated.

Olivierre said three departments—Insurance and Risk Management, Environment, Health and Safety, and Enterprise Risk Management—were merged and all existing positions were maintained except hers.

She said she was never advised of the new positions created, nor was she offered an alternative position, despite a new positions being created within the department.

“Further to this there was no other identified individual that was retrenched within the department, nor any information regarding efforts made to find any suitable alternative position for Olivierre,” the complaint stated.

NGC said the positions of head risk management and risk management assistant were eliminated. However. according to the EOC: “They did not indicate whether there were persons in these positions at the time, and if they were, whether they were accommodated elsewhere.”

NGC said Olivierre applied for a new management position in the organisation’s structure but was unsuccessful.

The company said one of the reasons for creation of the new position and Olivierre’s job becoming redundant was because her risk reports “did not assign accurately the respective level of risk and that further expertise was required”.

“Despite a request from the commission, (NGC) did not indicate in what way her reports were defective,” the EOC said.

As part of her claims of victimisation, Olivierre said when she was acting as senior manager in the Office of Strategy Management she submitted the second-quarter risk report but then NGC president Indar Maharaj did not allow it to go to the audit committee.

NGC said it would make a May 2014 risk report done by Olivierre available to the EOC for viewing but later “changed their position and said that they had decided that the report and its contents do not concern the allegations made by (Olivierre),” the EOC said.

NGC claimed it was being threatened by the EOC.

“At no point did the commission threaten NGC as they have asserted. The commission’s request for information has been in pursuant to Section 33 of the Equal Opportunity Act which empowers it to send a notice to any person requesting that they furnish information as specified therein by a given date,” the EOC said.

The matter has been referred to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

“Much of the disputes are questions of fact, the commission is not in the position to engage in cross examination of parties, weigh evidence or make findings of facts, these are matters for the Equal Opportunity Tribunal,” the EOC said, adding that the matter could not be resolved by conciliation as there are “significant variances between the parties”.

“Moreover the parties are already before the court, their swords are drawn and they are currently engaged in battle,” the EOC said.

Olivierre had indicated her desire for the complaints to be brought before the tribunal, the EOC said. The investigation is ongoing.

More info 

Olivierre served as the Minister of Energy from September 11, 2015, to October 30, 2016. She was appointed parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries on June 30, 2017.

Probe the Sandals initiative. That request has been made to the Integrity Commission by UNC activist Devant Maharaj who wants an investigation into the Rowley administration's procurement practices regarding award of a management contract for the Tobago Sandals Resort.

Maharaj sent a letter on the matter to Commission chairman Justice Zainool Hosein last Friday.

He said he was concerned about the Sandals matter because of the issues which have arisen from the procurement process for the inter-island ferries.

Submitting a list of reports on the issue from the public domain, Maharaj referenced statements quoting Sandals magnate Gordon "Butch" Stewart as saying that Dr Keith Rowley—while in Opposition—had discussed with him the possibility of Sandals being established in Tobago.

Maharaj said this particular conversation was reported in the media and has not been contested.

"Subsequently in 2016, the newly elected Rowley Administration without any tendering process essentially hand-picked Sandals Resorts to be awarded a management contract of a government-built hotel and will be the recipient of a variety of lucrative concessions.

"From all media reports it appears Government is proceeding with the Sandals arrangement and there has been no question or public enquiry as to how Sandals was selected to be the management service provider."

Maharaj said the public has not been advised if the Central Tenders Board has been involved in the award of this management contract.

He noted the plan involves a government-built hotel/resort, tax concessions, and other concessionary arrangements.

"There has been no disclosure of any Cabinet or any State Agency or entity approval of the awarding of same following a transparent competitive tendering process.

"The events in the public domain that transpired following the announcement of Sandals Resorts being offered the management contract presupposes some procurement process employed by the State to employ the services of Sandals. From all information in the public domain this appears not to be the case."

He said the issue has not been conducted under the new Procurement law, either. And the procurement process in this issue "is markedly different from the process being used by the same administration in an identical project in Trinidad".

Maharaj noted that on August 10, 2016, Udecott published a request for Expressions of Interest for the Design, Finance, Construction and Operation of a luxury hotel on the site of the Ministry of Agriculture at St Clair Circle.

"This raises significant queries regarding the Sandals Tobago proposal: why a similar approach of advertising for Expressions of Interest and Requests for Proposals was not taken in relation to Sandals Tobago.

"Why the shift away from the previous pattern in which the large international hotels were designed, built and fitted/furnished at our expense."

Maharaj claimed the award of a management contract “by invitation” by the administration, to the Sandals Group "after what appears to be a private and singular proposal to Government, goes against all international procurement benchmark standards".

Government officials have said negotiations are still on-going with the Sandals group. There was no indication on when this would be concluded or if ground would be broken on the project by year-end.

Homeowners occupying the Felicity Residential Development are pleading with the relevant authorities to bring some measure of relief to them.

David Martin, chairman and spokesman for the community, said the area was overrun with bush, bandits and lacked basic services such as garbage collection. Armed with brush cutters, Martin and a group of residents started cleaning up the main road into area yesterday morning and launched their own neighbourhood watch group. He said the development has 800 housing lots at Peters Field, Chaguanas, but only 30 lots are occupied.

Martin said there are no basic services because the Estate Management Business Development company and Caroni (1975) Limited did not hand over the development to the Chaguanas Borough Corporation. Martin said because of this there are no clearing of bushes along the roadways, no garbage collection services, Cepep does not operate in the area and there is limited street lighting.

Martin said there was also a lot of criminal activity in the area. He said earlier in 2017 a woman was murdered and her body was dumped 200 feet from his house. Residents claimed that T&TEC came into the community and removed transformers and street lights from the poles and took it to another area, but had not replaced any of the fixtures. The area is also littered with massive pipelines that were for the Beetham Waster Water Project. Stefan Lai said bandits can hide in these pipes and rob residents. Lai said he and his wife are living in fear of being robbed and assaulted.

Mayor backs residents

Chaguanas Mayor Gopaul Boodhan, who was part of the exercise, said he stood in solidarity with the residents. Boodhan wants the relevant authorities to hand over the the development to the Chaguanas Borough Corporation so the necessary work can be done. Boodhan also made an appeal to landowners to clean up their empty lots.

Boodhan said the Chaguanas police also needs additional manpower to police the rapidly expanding borough.

Graduates of the Queen’s Royal College (QRC) have made their contribution around the world says President Anthony Carmona.

“I have always been a very strong advocate of nationalism and regionalism. I have seen how vibrant intellects from QRC have been able to engage the world with a level of competence. Every single life mentioned (of inductees) that has left us can be a block buster movie of human spirit and human resilience,” he said.

Carmona spoke on Friday night at the 6th QRC Hall of Honour Induction Ceremony at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port-of-Spain.

Fifteen past students of QRC were inducted. Out of this, seven were inducted posthumously and the other eight continue to make their contributions to society.

Some of the inductees who collected their awards include Lutalo Masimba aka Brother Resistance, Dr Merlyn Price and Prof Emeritus Felix Durity.

“All of these men have contributed in defining ways to shape the social, economic, political and cultural tapestry of this great nation, touching lives locally and internationally in an undeniable way.”

Carmona said QRC graduates will continue to make contribution in all fields.

“My wish for this College is that it will continue to grow, thrive and flourish even though your hall does not have a ceiling because the sky is the ceiling.

Produce more distinguished CEOs, olympic athletes, diplomats, media personalities, entrepreneurs and innovators. Each generation that enters this institution must be able to supersede that which came before,” he said.

KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan says he has been concerned about the operations of the Port Authority of T&T (Patt) since he became a minister.

The Joint Select Committee's (JSC) investigation into the procurement of the Cabo Star and the Ocean Flower 2 raises serious questions about the conduct of the Patt,.

Sinanan said while he could not comment on the JSC until the probe was complete, he was interested in the outcome as both line minister and citizen and added that he does not expect the outcome to be pleasing.

"I am really looking forward to the results because I think coming out of this JSC, it will tell us exactly what problems we have at the Port of Port-of-Spain that have been there for quite a while. It is time that we do something about it. I have been concerned since one week after I became minister. I raised that the port was in a mess and the problems that we are experiencing now were inevitable," Sinanan said.

Last week, Energy Minister and JSC member Franklin Khan said based on the information being shared in the probe, there was no discipline and no governance at Patt.

Asked whether there would be any management changes if they were found wanting, Sinanan said, "As the minister that is way out of my league. There is a board in place and I expect that when the report comes in, the board will look at it and the board will make the decisions to take the port from where it is to where a port should be."

Asked what would happen if the problem was at the board level, he said he will wait for the report before making any statement.

KEVON FELMINE

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

A thunderstorm in Port-of-Spain, lasting less than 30 minutes, caused the drainage to overflow in Belmont, Queen's Park Savannah, St Clair, and South Quay. Along Colville Street, Tragarete Road and Ariapita Avenue, the roads had disappeared and a river took its place. Pedestrians who took cover outside businesses were forced to wade through the flood and motorists had to find alternative routes.

And while the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration predicted 11-17 named storms for the 2017 hurricane season, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said it was impossible to engineer solutions to mitigate the kind of weather brought by Hurricane Irma.

Although Sinanan, who was touring the Fyzabad constituency yesterday, was not asked about the Port-of-Spain flooding, he said the ministry continued to clear watercourses to lessen the effects of flooding.

"The engineering that has to take place for these levels of storm is virtually impossible. Basically what we’re doing is precaution and then we want to be a lot more proactive."

Asked if the country was in a better position to withstand a storm, Sinanan said his ministry will try to be as prepared as possible. He said T&T needs to learn from the experiences of its storm-ravaged neighbours as given the current weather patterns, "it is only a matter of time before something serious hit us". (See Pages A 8, editorial on A 16)

Ferdie Ferreira is not the only PNMite with concerns about the PNM Government's performance and leadership. Ferreira—the PNM foundation member whose 2012 endorsement of Keith Rowley for Prime Minister ended up in Rowley's autobiography—has, with some deep concern, altered his view.

"I backed him unswervingly in a 2012 Guardian acticle," Ferreira said yesterday.

"Unfortunately both myself and T&T continue to await the standard of leadership we expected when Dr Rowley assumed office."

While he emphasised he was not "disappointed," Ferreira was among several PNMites expressing concerns about Government's two-year stint.

Ferreira, a foundation PNMite of 1956 vintage, added, "Under their inherited circumstances, Government hasn't done badly. It's one thing to have manifesto promises; another to enter office and realise you can't implement them.

"Unfortunately Dr Rowley assumed office as the most experienced politician in T&T—a background in Government, Opposition, the Senate—I'd said that in May 2012 .

"One would have expected him to be in a better position to empathise with the standards of leadership required to deal with the current situation. But I'm still awaiting fulfillment of expectations. Our greatest expectations of him as the most qualified leader haven't been met.

"However, he has three years to meet requirements. I hope he'll apply the appropriate standards to meet the electorate's expectations—I continue to have greatest expectations of him."

Late former leader Patrick Manning's San Fernando East constituency is among PNM's strongest. Constituency chairman Kennedy Fleming believes areas of Government operation require more attention.

"We needed to tell the population what our Vision 2030 really encompassed and how we'd move from A to B. This wasn’t clear.

"Government needs to defend its objectives and convey it so citizens can understand. A piss-poor job has been done on that aspect. Plus, with limited resources, it’s important recommendations we chose are ones that reinvigorate and regenerate revenue.”

Fleming is concerned at over-detachment from the public.

“Yes, we don’t have money. People know that, but we can’t keep repeating it all the time. We need polices that give hope and not false hope. I don’t think we’re giving them hope. We need to do a better job of guiding people in all aspects.

"We also need to examine how we govern and the direction in which our leaders operate. If we don’t have the experience and expertise, please encamp with the people who have necessary skill sets to help guide us. And we must be able to accept criticism, reflect and see if it’s true or not.”

Former PNM youth officer, Dane Wilson, staunch 2010 campaigner, believes Government is doing what is necessary.

"But some mistakes have been made. Recent reviews were not unanticipated as Government approaches mid-term. The administration just needs to be a little more straightforward and communicate better on the economy's true state.

"Still, elected and appointed members also need to pull their weight and not depend on the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to handle everything.”

Wilson is perturbed with Tobago House of Assembly chief secretary Kelvin Charles’ non-appearance during the recent Joint Select Committee's scrutiny of the ferry service.

“It demonstrated lack of commitment, ‘spine,’ if you will. It was disrespectful to Parliament's JSC and PNMites who elected him to stand for Tobago and its issues. The ferry problem is Tobago's biggest. He had a right to be there even if not answering queries. Representation involves broad duty.”

While Wilson said PNM’s leadership was “doing the right things to stabilise T&T, they’re somewhat disconnected from what’s happening on the ‘ground’.

"You see it when you hear what the average person says compared to what Government says. The party also needs to have units functioning and fill the general secretary’s post.”

Ex PNM Minister Conrad Enill maintains the eight he gave on Government's performance, "given all the crap they've had to handle".

"Performance is based on how external global environments impact locally, and if T&T's population had to make the same adjustment as others similarly challenged, we may not have been.

"But we may need to adjust if external environments change T&T's service delivery infrastructure. So yes, Government needs to re-examine delivery mechanism, changing them to respond to new environments.

"We need management in sync with the external environment. Particularly, the Prime Minister needs to decide who's Government CEO. The PM isn't the CEO who handles day-to-day issues. Dr Lenny Saith was CEO of the last PNM Government."