"My roof is gone...I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding."

Those were the frantic few words posted by the Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on his Facebook page on Monday night, just before power went out and all communication lines went down as Hurricane Maria ravaged through the island as a category 5 hurricane.

Skerrit later posted that he was rescued and last night was evacuated from the island.

During the powerful hurricane, with winds up to 200 mph, Skerrit kept in touch with the people of Dominica via postings.

An early post read: "We do not know what is happening outside. We not dare look out. All we are hearing is the sound of galvanize flying. The sound of the fury of the wind. As we pray for its end!"

As Hurricane Maria was bashing Dominica, Skerrit chose to send out an immediate call for help.

"We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds. It is too early to speak of the condition of the air and seaports, but I suspect both will be inoperable for a few days. That is why I am eager now to solicit the support of friendly nations and organisations with helicopter services, for I personally am eager to get up and get around the country to see and determine what’s needed," Skerrit said.

Initial reports reaching Skerrit on Monday suggested widespread devastation.

"So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace," Skerrit said.

He added that his greatest fear was waking up yesterday to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.

"So far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with. The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn away roofs in the city and the countryside," Skerrit said via his Facebook post during the hurricane.

"I am honestly not preoccupied with physical damage at this time, because it is devastating…indeed, mind boggling. My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured."

T&T Guardian understands all communication towers on the island are down and are expected to be so for a while. Only Ham Radio Operators are in communication with one another and the outside world.

In an immediate response, the T&T Government yesterday named six people to form part of a Rapid Needs Assessment Team and Operational Support Team to be sent immediately to Dominica. The T&T Coast Guard (TTCG) and T&T Air Guard (TTAG) also readied personnel and maritime assets to transport emergency relief supplies to the island.

According to a release from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), the TTCG vessel left for Dominica at midnight and a helicopter from the National Helicopter Service Limited leaves at daybreak today to help in the relief efforts in Dominica.

The OPM said several agencies have been assisting with coordinating relief efforts, including the OPM, Ministries of National Security, Foreign and Caricom Affairs, the TTDF, NHSL, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), Caribbean Airlines and the Immigration Department.

"The Government of T&T has also been liaising with the Caricom Secretariat and other Caricom members throughout the day to obtain information and work out the logistics of providing support and assistance to Dominica," the OPM said.

The ANSA McAL Group has committed to donating some of its own products from various sectors to the hurricane relief effort and has called on its employees and the public to drop off essential items at all Standard Distributors across T&T between 8 am to 4 pm, as well as Alstons Shipping Limited, Building #10, ANSA McAL Centre, Uriah Butler Highway and Endeavour Road, Chaguanas.

The donation window started on Monday and will continue to October 9.

A complete list of essential relief items can also be found on the company website at www.ansamcal.com

"Mom…I thought I was never going to see you guys again…I had given up. I couldn't fight off the guy."

Those were the words of the 17-year-old MIC Institute of Technology (MIC-IT) trainee involved in the hostage drama at the school on Monday to his mother after his ordeal.

The woman, who did not want either her son or herself identified as they were still severely traumatised, yesterday told the T&T Guardian it was her son's first day of training at the institute. He is doing an electrical and air conditioning course.

Up to last night she said her son was complaining of chest and stomach pains and was having problems swallowing as his neck and windpipe were damaged from the gunman's choke hold.

The mother said her father and two close family friends dropped her son off at the training centre at about 7.20 am.

"About 30 minutes after my husband got a call and was told for us to come down right now at the school because something has happened to our son."

She said when they got there they saw heavily armed police on the road and on the institute's compound and noticed the area was cordoned off.

"We were told to go straight to the principal's office. When I walked in I was told my son was held hostage at gunpoint. I saw my son sitting on a chair with his head bent to his knees. I started to cry and he said to me not to cry that I will make him cry, but he broke down. He was very scared," the mother said.

"My son told me that when the gunman grabbed him he was told to do everything he (the gunman) said. He told me that the gunman told him that if he didn't do what he said that he would blow his f---ing head off."

The woman said her son hasn't slept since and may need professional and spiritual counselling to return to that state of normalcy.

Police said yesterday that they are still investigating the case and were yet to charge the 32-year-old Santa Cruz Man man held after the ordeal.

According to reports, the suspect arrived at the O'Meara campus in a taxi with a 20-year-old female trainee. The taxi driver got out the vehicle and went to campus security indicating the passengers had been arguing and the man threatened to kill the woman. Police were contacted but when they arrived the suspect engaged in a shootout with them. The suspect ran into the school hall and grabbed the teenager, who had on headphones and did not realise the commotion going on around him. The suspect held a gun to the teen's head for 10 minutes before police convinced him to give up.

Two police officers from a special unit of the T&T Police Service (TTPS) were among three held last evening for possession of three illegal firearms and four crocus bags of compressed marijuana. Up to late last night, the T&T Guardian was told that the officers and a civilian were assisting police in their investigations.

Details were still sketchy up to press time, but according to police sources the trio was held in Cedros in an unmarked vehicle assigned to the TTPS. Officers had earlier received a tip-off and later intercepted the vehicle. It was during the search the vehicle that the guns and drugs were found.

It is believed the items were brought in from nearby Venezuela. The value and weight of the marijuana is yet to be determined. Investigations are continuing.

A Moruga resident lost his right arm while his three children are nursing injuries at hospital, after they were involved in a vehicular accident involving soldiers along the Moruga Road on Monday night.

Doctors had to amputate the badly crushed arm of Jamie Loubon, 28, of Basseterre Village, Moruga, during emergency surgery at the San Fernando General Hospital. PTE Denzil Toussaint, 23, of Manzanilla, also remained warded in a serious condition late yesterday due to multiple fractures and internal bleeding.

Police said Toussaint, 23, was a passenger in a T&T Regiment SUV driven by PTE Kendell Morris, 27, along with PTE Jonathan Mohammed, 23, PTE Kevin Cater, 23 and PTE Jerome Samaroo, 24.

The soldiers reported that while driving along the Moruga Road around 8.20 pm, a white vehicle veered into their path, causing Morris to swerve to the right to avoid a collision. However, they crashed into a blue Nissan Sunny B-14 driven by Loubon.

The soldiers’ SUV flipped several times before crashing into the wall of a resident’s home.

The soldiers and residents assisted Loubon and his girlfriend Cassie Funrose, 21, and their children Emanuel Funrose, four, Candy Loubon, two and Jamieson Loubon, 10 months. Moruga police and ambulance responded and the victims were taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility and later transferred to the SFGH.

Morris, Mohammed, Carter, Samaroo and Funrose were discharged while the children remained at hospital in stable condition. Cpl Rosan is continuing inquiries.

Police shot and killed a man hours after he was believed to have killed business owner Hanipha "Lucky" Bedassie at her mini mart at the corner of Huggins Street and the Chaguanas Main Road yesterday.

Bedassie, 55, owner of Lucky's Mini Mart, was found by her youngest son Torrence Bedassie, who had to jump the shop's back wall to gain entry. The woman was found lying in the back bedroom with her hands and feet bound and pieces of lace clothing in her mouth.

The suspect was identified as a Leon Johnson, of Felicity, the son of a woman who once rented an apartment two houses away.

Residents called Bedassie's sons after she failed to respond to their calls at the front of the shop.

Johnson was seen jumping over the back wall into the yard of a church and the pastor immediately notified the police.

The Chaguanas police responded to the information received and spotted Johnson running a short distance away at Connector Road.

Officers said they approached him and there was an exchange of gunfire and he was injured.

Johnson, still wearing the same clothing neighbours saw him in earlier, was taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility but died en route. A firearm and items from the mini-mart were discovered in a bag and taken to the Chaguanas CID.

In an interview outside his mother's mart yesterday, Torrence said he rushed to the scene after neighbours said something was not right. He said Johnson was known to their family years ago.

"He used to live here before and grow up with us and rent the place," he said, pointing to the house nearby.

Torrence said his mother was concerned about crime in the community and gave him updates on activity in the area.

"The bar was robbed five times before and she's never been robbed. She always looking out and say it have strange cars and things going on," he said.

Bedassie's brother, Hosein Ali, said he did not know how he would break the news to their 94-year-old mother.

"It is to tell my mother, I don't know how to tell she," Ali said.

Deena-Lee Siew, Bedassie's former daughter-in-law, described her death as "heartless."

"It don't have the words to describe what happened. She opened the shop from early as 7 (am). You can get something to trust or free. It is heartless."

Residents were surprised to hear of Bedassie's death and described her as a "very nice lady."

There will be no hearings of the fake oil scandal at state-owned Petrotrin involving A&V Oil and Gas by Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on State Enterprises.

The committee met in a private session yesterday before the start of the Senate proceedings but the T&T Guardian understands that four Government members who were present felt there was no need for the JSC to inquire into the matter at this time.

Well-placed sources said Senator Allyson Baksh, the daughter of A&V Oil and Gas CEO Nazim Haniff Baksh, recused herself from the meeting to discuss the matter.

However, the other representatives from the ruling People’s National Movement, Ancil Antoine, Lester Henry, Cherrie Ann Critchlow-Cockburn and Adrian Leonce, all objected to a hearing, while Opposition Senator Wade Mark and MP Fazal Karim were in favour of the inquiry.

It was Mark who wrote to JSC chairman David Small requesting they inquire into the allegations made against A&V Oil and Gas, following the publication of an internal audit report which found Petrotrin paid the company close to TT$80 million for oil it never received.

Small confirmed the committee met yesterday “and the majority felt we should not have a hearing at this time.” He said members were of the view that “there were several initiatives under way by Petrotrin.”

Small said they had written to Petrotrin and “they indicated that they have an audit report and is pursuing other strategies, including an independent investigative report. So at this time there will be no inquiry by the JSC, but this does not preclude the committee looking at the matter in the future.” 

Acting CEO and general manager of the Port Authority Charmaine Lewis says she has “absolutely no comment at this time,” on allegations levelled against the Port by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

However, president of the Tobago Chamber Demi John Cruickshank dismissed allegations by Rowley that the business community misled the country by making the situation in Tobago to be worse than it actually was because of the sea bridge fiasco.

In an historic appearance by a Prime Minister before a Joint Select Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, Rowley described the Port of Port- of-Spain as a den of “conflict, corruption and iniquity” and one which he said was in “great danger of being obliterated.”

He said, “A blind man on a galloping horse could see that something is wrong,” and if the Government did not “intervene and do something to bring it back, it will be spinning off into oblivion.”

Asked whether she felt the criticism by the Prime Minister was unfair Lewis said she had “no comment.”

She assured, however, that “if these issues come up at the JSC, and a question is put to me I will respond.”

Lewis is part of the Port team expected to return when hearings resume today. She said, “The entire forum has been one where you are allowed to be as candid as possible and I will do no different to what I did before.”

President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) Michael Annisette said Rowley needed to identify who is to blame for the Port not being ready for vessels from Panama, ”is it the management or the Board? Who is to blame for the dilapidated state of the equipment at the Port, is it the Board, the workers or the management?”

Tobago Chamber of Commerce president Demi John Cruickshank says instead of making allegations against the Tobago business community, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley must ensure that the person or persons responsible for the collapse of the Tobago economy in the last six months is/are called to account.

Responding to criticisms levelled by the PM when he appeared before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee looking into the procurement and maintenance of the ferries, Cruickshank said,“If the PM has information, we are begging him to give the information to the DPP, the Integrity Commission and the Commissioner of Police to deal with the person or persons responsible for crippling the economy. But what we highlighted was real. It was not made up.”

On Monday, Rowley told the JSC there were people in Tobago who were telling the world how bad Tobago was, “they went as far as photographing empty shelves and putting it on the internet and newspapers that Tobago running out of food and the people starving because the boat wasn’t coming. This despite the fact that these people have their hotels and guest houses that they want people to occupy.”

The PM also expressed concern that the “dissonance from Tobago” had the effect of doing as much damage as what he described as the “corrupt practice” that put the Super Fast Galicia in place.

But Cruickshank said all the chamber did was to “highlight the plight of the citizens of Tobago. We were bringing accurate information to the public.” He said this information “cannot be challenged, because we saw a serious decline in business activity and we would have voiced our concern.”

He said Rowley should realise “now is not the time to point fingers and cast blame. We all doing what we have to do to get Trinidad and Tobago and specifically Tobago in a better economic position.”

Also debunking Rowley’s statements was Hotel and Tourism Association president Chris James, who said contrary to what the PM said hoteliers had been in contact with “suppliers, travel agents, and tour operators” to get business in light of the devastation left to several tourist destinations in the region in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Rowley told the JSC there had been devastation in the US Virgin Islands, Barbuda, Anguilla and Puerto Rico, “but not a voice from Tobago saying hotels are available and Tobago is looking for business.”

James said contact had been made since last week, but he said the peak period starts in December and people who booked to those islands will “either cancel or book somewhere else, so we are hoping to get some of that business.”

The association has been asked to return to the JSC hearing when it resumes today.

Captain Alfred McMillan, the lead Consultant of Magellan Maritime Services, says somebody has “more money than sense,” as he tells the Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Land and Rural Development which is investigating issues of procurement and maintenance of the ferries, that the country is paying almost twice what it should be paying for the 28- year-old cargo vessel the Cabo Star.

McMillan said it “hurt him” that after he had “put time and energy with the Port Authority that they just go and throw away money. You are paying nearly twice for a vessel of lesser capacity, who do that? That is not my remit. I heard US$26,500 bandied about, somebody have more money than sense.”

Asked by Opposition Senator Wade Mark what is the maximum price in his view that should be paid for the aged vessel, he said “US$15,000 at max.”

McMillan was retained to oversee the transition from Bay Ferries to the Port Authority. He was subsequently asked by then Port chairman Christine Sahadeo “to do pro-bono work to give advice as to the suitability of the Superfast Galicia.”

He said he never recommended that the Galicia be terminated but his report detailed some issues with the vessel, which he said was not suitable because of the length of the ship and the draught. The vessel he said was berthing in a place which was not suitable.

The request for the analysis on the suitability of the Galicia for the sea bridge he said was borne out of a meeting when “the question of the Galicia damaging the Hyatt was brought up and the attendant problems that they had. I was then asked to detail what relevance there is for the vessel to stay here, is it suited for the purpose.”

McMillan said his report reflected concerns about the Galicia which includes: “a whole deck of the ship was a prison and under-utilised, the high fuel cost— the larger the vessel the more fuel it was burning to carry dead weight and a bigger ship carried a bigger charter rate.”

Responding to a question from the vice chairman of the JSC Rushton Paray, McMillan said no ship, which is commercially driven, will operate without a Charter Party.

Grimacing at the surgical cut on his chest and amputated right arm, Moruga father Jamie Loubon knows that life will never be the same.

Yet his only concern yesterday was for his three children, Emmanuel, four, Candy, two and Jamieson, eight months, who remain warded in a separate wing of the San Fernando General Hospital.

His mother, Dianne, could not hold back her grief as she claimed the soldier driving the T&T Regiment-registered Toyota Land Cruiser was reckless when he crashed into Jamie’s Nissan Sunny B-14 on Monday night.

Dianne said Jamie, 27, a mason, lost his livelihood as a result of the accident and also could not engaged in his passion for cricket, noting he was a talented spin bowler for the village’s team.

She said Jamie had also single-handedly cast the foundation for his family home along the Penal Rock Road.

It is for this reason the mother demanded that the Ministry of National Security adequately compensate her son for not only for his injuries but future loss of earnings.

“I think the Government should compensate this family. All his life he did not ask for anything from the Government, he was doing his own work and raising his family. Up to now, no solider, no police came to find out about anything in the hospital,” an upset Dianne told the T&T Guardian at her son’s hospital bed.

With bills for school fees, groceries and general upkeep, she said it would be a tough task for his wife Cassie to cover those costs and tend to his needs.

The soldiers reported that while driving along the Moruga Road around 8.20 pm on Monday, a white vehicle veered into their path, causing the driver to swerve to the right to avoid a collision.

However, they crashed into Jamie’s car, before their SUV flipped several times before crashing into the wall of a resident’s home.

Yesterday, Dianne said Cassie, who was seated in the back with the children, said there was no white car as claimed by the soldiers.

She said the impact was so great the soldiers’ vehicle cracked the wall it crashed into.

She said an investigation should be done to determine the real cause of the crash which has caused her family great distress.

A Housing Village, Coryal maxi-taxi driver was killed while his wife was in critical condition last night after bandits stormed the family’s compound on Thursday night.

Kishore Ramdin, 52, was beaten with a shovel, shot several times and his throat slit by two masked men. His common-law wife Taramatee Tambie, 59, was also shot in the stomach when she raised an alarm during the attack on Ramdin.

Police said around 2.30 am yesterday, Ramdin, who operated his 25-seater maxi on the Arima/Port-of-Spain route, was walking towards his vehicle when he was approached by the two men. One of them then took a shovel and hit Ramdin on his back and he turned around and was about to retaliate when the other man pulled out a gun and shot Ramdin. One of Ramdin’s attackers then took the shovel and slit his throat to ensure he was dead.

When Tambie ran outside and realised what was happening she began to scream for help and the gunman fired, hitting her in the stomach.

The men made their escape in nearby bushes.

Neighbours who heard the screams rushed to the home and found both Ramdin and Tambie bleeding from their injuries, before taking Tambie to the Sangre Grande Hospital and calling the police.

ACP Persad, Supt Neville Sankar, Insps Birch, Sewak Baran, PCs Thomas, Christian and officers attached to Homicide Bureau Region II, Arouca, responded and cordoned off the crime scene to avoid people polluting it.

Villagers described Ramdin as a quiet and respectable man who seldom limed.

They said they were shocked at his killing, noting this was the first murder that had occurred in the agricultural village.

Police said they had no motive for the killing as nothing was stolen.

PC Thomas of Homicide Region II is investigating.

RALPH BANWARIE

The Ocean Flower 2 passenger ferry is now in Trinidad and Tobago waters and its owner Bridgemans Services Group Limited says the vessel is here for “a pre-planned dry-docking” following its repositioning from Asia. However, Bridgemans has also put in a new bid for the sea bridge and had a representative present during public tenders opened by the Port Authority of T&T yesterday.

The vessel docked at Chaguaramas just before 2 pm yesterday, the same day tenders closed and were publicly opened by the PATT for a new passenger ROPAX ferry for the sea bridge. The T&T Guardian understands six people tendered. One person submitted three boats, another five and four others submitted one each. The Ocean Flower 2 was among the single tenderers.

In an emailed response last evening, Bridgemans vice president Andrew Purdey confirmed they had “issued a fully compliant bid proposal in alignment with the tender offer” and the vessel offered was the Ocean Flower 2.

The Ocean Flower 2 contract was cancelled on August 8 after it failed to meet three deadlines (July 17, 26 and August 1) for arrival here, then at a lease cost of US$26,500 daily. In an exclusive interview with GML in late August, Purdey admitted the cancellation was in keeping with the exit clause of the contract which dealt with late arrival. He said then, however, that the vessel had suffered “catastrophic engine failure, losing a bearing and a piston” on its journey from Korea to the Caribbean. When the vessel got to Panama, Purdey said “we did work from head to toe.”

Yesterday, Purdey said the vessel is now “fully certified and ready for service” and confirmed the company was in possession of an irrevocable standby letter of credit in the amount of US$3 million which is contained in the Charter Party Agreement with the PATT. He said the stand-by letter of credit was not cancelled when the PATT cancelled the Ocean Flower 2 contract. Purdey could shed no light on why the letter of credit was not cancelled or whether the PATT was bound to accept the Ocean Flower2, saying “this is all under discussion with the client and only they can comment.”

But on August 21 following a meeting with stakeholders in Tobago, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had made it clear the Government was not interested in the Ocean Flower 2 when told reports were that the vessel was still reportedly coming to T&T.

The PM said then: “As far as I am aware, the Port Authority, advising the Government, the Ministry, has advised the principals of that boat that their contractual arrangements have ceased. The owners are free to travel with their boat on any ocean they wish, but coming to Trinidad and Tobago, the contractual arrangements have been terminated for cause.”

The timing of the vessel’s arrival yesterday was curious given the close of tenders for a passenger ferry.

The T&T Guardian was told yesterday that ship’s local agent Lester Kenny, of Ken Shipping and Marine, had written to the Immigration manager on September 8 indicating the vessel would arrive on September 12 for dry-docking. It only arrived yesterday.

Purdey insisted yesterday that this was a “pre-planned dry-docking to install the T-Foil’s following its repositioning from Asia.” He said while the vessel is ready for service “as is,” installation of the T-Foils would “improve ship ride performance and speed,” a process which would take less than a week.

Purdey said while the vessel was not en route to another port that “may change by the hour” as they had been asked, through a broker on behalf of FEMA, to “support the humanitarian efforts in the Caribbean” following the recent hurricane damage suffered by several countries. But he said they were “only in negotiations and nothing was certain at this time.”

Contacted yesterday, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan referred all questions on why the vessel was here to the PATT and Bridgemans. However, he said as far as he was concerned the contract for the Ocean Flower 2 was “terminated and that is as far as where we are.”

As for the vessel arriving here, he said “those questions are better answered by the owner.”

Sinanan said tenders invited by the PATT for a passenger ferry closed yesterday and he “will support the outcome of that tender.”

MINISTRY: CREDIT LETTER VOID

The Ministry of Works and Transport is insisting that the presence of the Ocean Flower 2’s in this country “is not related to the terminated contract.”

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry said the vessel is here “relative to a dry docking exercise being undertaken by its owners.”

With regard to the stand by letter of credit, the ministry said because the Ocean Flower 2 was terminated, “such letter of credit cannot be drawn down by Bridgemans Services Group.”

It said the letter of credit will come to an end “at its natural effluxion of time in September 2018” and as such “the interests of the public are not in any way exposed or compromised.”

Petrotrin employee Vidya Deokiesingh resigned from the Lake Asphalt Board earlier this week, Energy Minister Franklin Khan confirmed yesterday.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley last Friday said Deokiesingh had signalled his intention to resign from the LATT board and he expected the resignation shortly. Khan confirmed its been received.

This followed Petrotrin’s August internal audit report over January to June 2017 which alleged volume discrepancies occurred, causing under-supply by, and overpayment to a private operator.

A Petrotrin employee was allegedly involved.

Petrotrin presented a final report on the issue to Khan last Thursday. This is expected to be perused by Cabinet today.

Deokiesingh didn’t immediately reply to calls yesterday.

Sources yesterday claimed Deokiesingh had come gone in to Petrotrin recently after the issue broke, submitted leave application and “disappeared.”

Petrotrin president Fitzroy Harewood was said to be in a meeting and other officials could not verify if Deokiesingh was on duty in the capacity he had held—or if the situation had changed in any way.

An official Petrotrin response last night stated the company could not comment on queries over whether he had been suspended or not, since investigations were ongoing.

Yesterday, Opposition MP Dr Suruj Rambachan called on Government to make the Petrotrin report the “number one item” for discussion at today’s Cabinet meeting and to issue a subsequent statement on speedy resolution.

He added: “It should be discussed as a priority item with a view to action of some sort. From what’s known so far, the report contains very scary allegations.

“If Government is serious about being viewed as an anti-corruption administration, they should leave no stone unturned in pursuing proper resolution. It should be dealt with, with the same speed the ferry service report was.”

Concerns are being raised in some quarters of the legal fraternity about the appointment of Appeal Court Judge Charmaine Pemberton to the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC), the body which among other things makes appointments to the Supreme Court and hears complaints against judicial officers.

Senior Counsel Israel Khan said the appointment is “perfectly legal” and in keeping with the Constitution which makes provision for the selection of a member of the Commission after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

“I take it for granted there was no objection from either the Prime Minister or the leader of the Opposition, so it seems the appointment was legally perfect,” he said.

This is the first time a sitting Judge has been appointed to the JLSC and the move has caused concern in the profession, with some saying they did not think it was prudent.

Senior Counsel Avory Sinanan said on literal interpretation of Section 110-(3a) of the Constitution, a sitting judge can be appointed, “so there is no legal or constitutional impropriety in the appointment of Madame Justice of Appeal Pemberton.”

But he said it might well be that the framers of the Constitution had something else in mind since the same section provides for the sitting judge or retired judge to be drawn “from some part of the Commonwealth.” It does not refer to “the jurisdiction of Trinidad and Tobago”, he said.

Sinanan said the appointment of a sitting judge heralded a break with tradition and might be regarded by some as “a recipe for conflict” because the CJ, as the head of the Judiciary, is in effect Justice Pemberton’s boss.

Pemberton sits alongside CJ Archie in the Court of Appeal and while there is well recognised “judicial ethos and culture” for dissent in the adjudication of appeals, it might not necessarily be so in the JLSC, he said.

Despite those concerns, Sinanan has congratulated Justice Pemberton on her appointment. However, he felt President Anthony Carmona should have taken the opportunity to fill all vacancies in the JLSC and bring the body up to its full complement.

For the past three months, the JLSC has not had its full complement following the resignations of retired Justices Roger Hamel Smith and Humphrey Stollmeyer.

Following a marathon journey from Korea and six other stops, the controversial Ocean Flower 2 vessel is now in Chaguaramas for dry docking services.

The reason was given in a letter from Ken Shipping and Marine (KSM) company to Immigration authorities, Joint Select Committee member Wade Mark revealed yesterday. KSM is local agent for the Canadian firm Bridgemans Services, which owns and operates the vessel.

However, former public service head Reginald Dumas says whether there are other reasons for the vessel’s presence here should be clarified by Works Minister Rohan Sinanan or the vessel’s shippers.

After issues with the Ocean Flower II in recent months, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan said the contract was cancelled. But at the JSC session two weeks ago, Bridgemans Services vice president Andrew Purdey said the firm was still hoping to work with the Port Authority and Ministry for a”co-operative outcome.”

Yesterday JSC member Rushton Paray announced, “As we speak, the OF2 is in Chaguaramas.”

Mark then read a September 8 letter from KSM, signed by Lester Kenny, notifying Immigration that the Ocean Flower 2 was expected in T&T on September 12 at 9.30 for dry docking. It said the vessel has a 13-member crew and its last port of call was Curacao.

Dumas, appearing before the JSC yesterday, also said he’d heard the vessel was in Chaguaramas. He said he’d traced the vessel’s journey from Korea to Japan to several places in Alaska, then Mexico, Panama and Curacao, on shipping sites.

“The poor boat tired - it probably needs dry docking and other things,” Dumas added.

Questioning if it would be placed on the ferry service eventually, Dumas said explanations from Kenny or Sinanan were needed. He reiterated calls for Sinanan and the Port board to resign over the ferry crisis. He said he didn’t need a report to tell him there were severe defects where due diligence on the issue was concerned, plus there was a callous approach to people’s welfare, especially Tobagonians.

Dumas said he, like Tobagonians, accepted the Prime Minister’s apology on the service, but the PM’s complaint about people publicising pictures of empty Tobago shelves didn’t sit well with many Tobagonians.

Tourism traffic coming to T&T following repeated hurricane devastation up the islands in recent weeks may help Tobago through the upcoming winter period, says Chris James, president of the Tobago Hoteliers and Tourism Association.

“But what happens after those islands rebuild to a better standard than ours?” he asked Parliament’s Joint Select Committee yesterday.

James and other THTA officials spoke about hoteliers’ predicament, especially following ferry service failures, as the JSC continued examining the seabridge.

He said following Hurricane Irma the THTA offered tour operators Tobago’s help to handle displaced tourist traffic. THTA also attempted to counteract the Caribbean’s image as an at-risk hurricane-prone area.

James confirmed that when Grenada was previously affected by hurricane, Tobago’s tourism season was better the following year.

THTA’s Carol Birchwood-James, who pointed out that Tobago has the safest harbour in the Caribbean, added that recent hurricanes could provide opportunities for Tobago to promote the yachting sector once it obtains marina facilities.

“Trinidad and Tobago once had a booming yacht sector. This could bring us foreign exchange. We can’t depend on Trinidad for everything,” she said.

THTA officials emphasised that their ailing sector needs financial assistance to rebuild. Since the last JSC meeting in Tobago three weeks ago, James said, while there have been continued staff hour cutbacks, no further businesses have closed since business people will be meeting with the Bankers’ Association soon.

“But the situation will start biting ahead. We need talks with the Bankers’ Association as soon as possible to prevent more closures,” he said.

THTA officials said a $250m loan facility needs to be revisited with low—three to five per cent—interest rates rather than high commercial rates.

THTA’s Kaye Trotman said: “We need this tourism fund to be revisited. It can’t be negotiated with the Bankers’ Association. It needs the Finance and Tourism Minister’s input.”

Members want a fund such as the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association got when their businesses were destroyed in the 1990 failed coup.

THTA members urged Government to market Tobago.

A primary school teacher, described as Santa Claus in his Petunia Avenue, Coconut Drive, Morvant community, was one of two men gunned down on Tuesday night.

According to police reports, 47-year-old Hasley “Teach” Mack had gone to buy bread at a neighbourhood parlour when he was shot along with James Julien and Jamali Haywood.

Police said around 7.30 pm a car passed and one man opened fire on those standing near the parlour along Lady Young Avenue, Morvant. The scene of the shooting is less than a stone’s throw away from the Morvant Police Station.

Police said yesterday they suspect the killers merely wanted to create a diversion as they sought their real targets in the community, since none of the men shot were involved in anything illegal.

Julien, 24, also from Morvant, died at hospital along with Mack, while Haywood is now warded in a serious condition at hospital.

Mack, a Standard Three teacher at the Escallier Anglican Primary School, Gonzales, was described by his neighbours as selfless. They gave countless stories of him going beyond neighbourly love to assist them.

“A lot of children will cry, you will see a lot of children crying because that man was a sweetheart,” one neighbour said as others recalled him giving extra lessons for free at his home.

Mack, they said, loved his cup of coffee, a memory which brought laughter to those gathered in his yard.

He was also fond of English Premier League side Chelsea, but teaching was the first love of the father of four, they added.

Relatives of Julien, who spoke at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, said his love for smoking marijuana got him killed, since he had gone to get a smoke when he was shot. Julien has a six-week-old son. A relative, who said she raised him as her own, said he was a troublesome young man who worked several odd jobs and had a pending matter for marijuana possession.

Both men were among four people killed between Tuesday night and yesterday, taking the murder tally to 356 for the year.

The most recent of the killings was that of 49-year-old Anthony Thomas, who was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Nissan AD wagon at Spring Ville, off Trou Macaque Road, Laventille, around 12.45 pm yesterday.

Police said residents heard gunshots during a downpour and later found Thomas dead in his car. Police said the killing was not robbery related as cash and other valuables were left behind and no one from the area claimed to know who he was. Thomas, according to his driver’s permit, lived at Thomas Street, Sunshine Avenue, San Juan.

The 32-year-old Santa Cruz man who threatened to kill a 17-year-old MIC Institute of Technology (MIC-IT) trainee during a stand off with police on Monday, is now facing some 10 charges arising out of the incident.

The man, from Gasparillo Road, Santa Cruz, was initially expected to be charged last night. However, he will be placed on further identification parades today before charges are laid.

The charges include shooting at two police officers, possession of a gun and ammunition, possession of the gun and ammunition to endanger life and assault. The man is expected to be charged by two officers, a corporal and an assist superintendent (ASP), who have been investigating the crimes he is alleged to have committed.

Up to late last night investigators were going over statements and seeking advice from senior officers in relation to the best way forward with the case, as such incidents were in relatively uncharted legal territory.

Senior police sources told the T&T Guardian that the man is expected to be charged under the Taking of Hostages Act, which carries a life sentence.

According to reports, the suspect arrived at the O’Meara campus in a taxi with a 20-year-old female trainee. The taxi driver then got out the vehicle and went to campus security indicating the passengers had been arguing and the man had threatened to kill the woman.

Police were contacted but when they arrived the suspect engaged in a shoot-out with them. The suspect then ran into the school hall and grabbed the teenager, who had on headphones and did not realise the commotion going on around him. The suspect held a gun to the teen’s head for 10 minutes before police convinced him to give up after he asked to speak with his sister and a pastor.

A Maloney man was killed and his neighbour and accomplice injured yesterday morning, after they attempted to rob a maxi-taxi driver who is also a police officer.

According to police, around 12.30 am Constable Bissessar was driving his red band maxi-taxi east along the Priority Bus Route when he was stopped by the two men at the Maloney traffic lights.

Minutes after boarding the maxi, one of the two men pulled out a gun and began demanding cash and valuables from those in the maxi.

However, Bissessar pulled out his service weapon and opened fire on the men. Both men ran out the vehicle and collapsed at the side of the road.

After dropping his passengers off at the Maloney Police Station, the officer returned to the scene where one of the two men, identified only as “Mexican” and “Elisha,” had already died. His accomplice was later taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where he is was warded in serious condition.

Yesterday marked the second consecutive day police had killed a robbery suspect moments after they committed an illegal act.

On Tuesday afternoon, former Special Reserve Police officer Leon Johnson, of Felicity, was killed after robbing and murdering business owner Hanipha “Lucky” Bedassie at her mini mart at the corner of Huggins Street and the Chaguanas Main Road.

Yesterday, social media users praised police for their “good work.”

Hurricane Maria has so far claimed the lives of 31 people across the Caribbean region.

According to a report on the Weather Channel, 13 people were confirmed dead in Puerto Rico, 15 in Dominica, two in Guadeloupe and one in Martinique. But there are fears the death figure will rise as scores of people in several islands are still unaccounted for.

Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is scheduled to address the General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York today.

Skerrit will be making a plea for financial and other aid in rebuilding the island and bringing immediate relief to its people. He said 90 per cent of homes and public buildings were destroyed by Maria on Monday.

While in NY, Skerrit will meet with expatriates, friends and patrons of Dominica at the Beulah Church of the Nazarene in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, Dominica’s Ministry of Public Works and Ports yesterday announced that the air and sea ports were running again.

It said the Douglas Charles Airport and Canefield Airport were open, although it said traffic management at the latter was being done by hand-held radios as the air control tower had been damaged by the storm.

Skerrit has also given a list of the relief items they need at this time.

Items needed

Food

Water

Roofing materials

Lumber

Plywood

Windows

Doors

Nails

Roofing screws

Generators (5kva to 10kva)

Chainsaws with cans, oil, fuel

Communications equipment

Tarps/Plastic sheeting

Hygiene kits/Comfort kits

Medical supplies

Baby supplies (formula/baby food)

Wipes

Diapers

Adult pampers

Water purification kits

Fuel

Energy biscuits

Cots

Mattresses

Portable stoves

Flash-lights/batteries

Solar lanterns

Kitchen sets

Collapsible water containers (gallon)