Head of the Northeastern Division Snr Supt Surrendra Sagramsingh said police officers will have more power to put gang members behind bars if the Anti-Gang legislation is approved.

He was commenting yesterday during a visit to the Morvant/Laventille Secondary School where he accompanied the manager of the TTPS Victim and Witness Support Unit Asha Corbie, to offer support in the wake of the murder of 15-year-old schoolboy Joshua Andrews on Monday.

Since Monday’s incident, where Andrews and “PH” taxi driver Devon Fernandez were killed, residents and students of the school claimed they are being threatened by criminals in the area that “snitches get killed.”

Sagramsingh is now lobbying for legislation that will protect witnesses, similar to laws in the Bahamas where witnesses can testify under anonymity.

“We realise that crime has taken a spiral upwards position. We have seen in different jurisdictions that there is legislation that actually support the police intervention with regards to gang-related offences…this is my humble opinion,” he said.

Corbie said her unit has devised a plan and communicated it to the principal of the school.

“We will be visiting affected families and not just providing counselling services but will be looking at other needs that may exist and see how best we can connect them with other agencies that can assist,” she said.

She officers are now seeing how best they can alleviate that sense of fear and pain that the students, principals, teachers and family members are experiencing.

Sagramsingh said that there exists the possibility of arrests soon in the case. A joint police and army raid in the district on Tuesday netted four people wanted for recent shootings, woundings and outstanding warrants.

High court judge Gillian Lucky is denying reports that Chief Justice Ivor Archie asked her to do any favours for a man identified as Kern Romero.

In a media release issued yesterday, Lucky stated that Romero was a client who sought and received legal advice when she was in private practice.

The Sunday Express had alleged that Lucky was asked by Archie to assist Romero when she held the post of Director of the Police Complaints Authority.

Lucky said her dealings with Romero "are protected by legal professional privilege," but clarified her interaction with Romero never occurred when she chaired the PCA or in her time as a high court judge.

She is also stating that "there was no prior conversation" between Archie and herself in which the CJ indicated he was assisting Romero following the death of his close relative and no meeting with her was set up by him.

A weekend report alleged that Lucky was asked to hire another close friend of Archie as a driver.

But Lucky said she was "never requested and never accommodated a request from any person, including the Chief Justice to hire any individual as a driver while she was Director of the Police Complaints Authority."

At no time, Lucky stated did she have any knowledge that Romero was a "convicted fraudster."

Romero was charged and appeared in court in 2015 on charges of fraud.

Archie is currently under investigation by a Committee of the Law Association on allegations of misconduct levelled against him relating to seeking assistance from the HDC for housing for unnamed persons and a discussion he allegedly had with someone who is not a judge on the issue of security for judges.

Two senior counsel have been retained to advise the committee on whether there are grounds to get the Prime Minister to invoke section 137 of the Constitution.

The two senior counsel retained are former AG of Belize Eamon Courtney and president of the Grenada bar association Francis Alexis.

An interim report submitted to the Council of the Law Association is yet to be sent to the two SCs pending a response from the CJ on allegations made against him.

A note will be take to Cabinet today which could determine the future of the Children’s Hospital in Couva.

So said Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh who took part in a flu vaccination drive held at the Tunapuna market yesterday.

He said the note would “point the way forward” regarding how the ministry would be “advising Cabinet how to operationalise” the hospital.

Asked whether a decision would then be take to bring the hospital into operation the minister said, “Cabinet may or may not make a decision tomorrow (today).

“They may send it to the finance and general purposes committee for further detailed discussion. I cannot predict whether Cabinet makes a decision or not,” Deyalsingh said.

He said the committee was a subcommittee of the Government which receives notes which requires further detailed analysis.

On the collapse of the hospital’s cooling tower the minister said contractors were already attending to this. He said seismic and sabotage activity had been ruled out, adding that engineers were still to determine the cause of the collapse.

Regarding the drive the minister said vaccination was available at 33 health centres throughout the country and was free.

Saying that the flu season was from October of one year to May of the following year Deyalsingh said when he came into office he inherited 6,000 flu vaccines but has since been increased by 70,000.

“This is almost 12 times the number of vaccines,” the minister said.

But he said the flu vaccines for any year was an estimation of the strain of the flu circulating in any point in time.

“So it is quite possible for the flu vaccine which is manufactured in a particular year not to work. So we have to guard against that by taking the country to ‘herd immunity’ which is where you vaccinate as many of your population as humanly possible so that you break the cycle of transmission.

“That is what we are trying to do by ramping up our vaccine drive,” Deyalsingh said.

On why the initiative took place at the Tunapuna market he said the aim was to make the vaccine as accessible as possible to members of the public.

“We are also on a drive through our anti-natal clinics to vaccinate approximately 18,000 pregnant women because those are the people who are susceptible.

“Also our elderly population especially those who have diabetes,” Deyalsingh said.

There will be a planned shutdown of Desalination Plant at Point Lisas to facilitate maintenance works from January 15 to 20 and the Desalination Company of T&T (Desalcott) will be implementing measures to mitigate a shortfall on the water supply.

Desalcott said the shutdown will affect the Water and Sewerage Authority’s (WASA) overall supply position in Trinidad.

Its desalination plant provides 40 million gallons daily to WASA which is used to supply the Point Lisas Industrial Estate, as well as augment the supply to areas in central and south Trinidad.

WASA is advising customers to maintain/establish a system of storage over the period of the shutdown and manage water use efficiently by reducing consumption.

This can be done by eliminating wasteful practices as well as repairing leaks and overflowing water tanks at home and in business places.

The temporary supply schedules will be published in the press, as well as on WASA’s website: www.wasa.gov.tt; Facebook page: WASA Trinidad & Tobago; and Twitter: @wasatnt.

For further information, assistance or to request a truck-borne delivery, customers can contact WASA’s Customer Call Centre toll-free at 800-4420/26.

The body of former president Professor George Maxwell Richards will be cremated after a State funeral next Wednesday— January 17—at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain and there is word that the ashes will be scattered in San Fernando where Richards was born and grew up.

Richards, the fourth President of this country, will be the first local President to be cremated.

A round-table of the planning committee organising the State funeral of the former president met at the Ministry of National Security for almost two hours yesterday when it was agreed that condolence books will be opened at key points across the country to allow citizens to pay their final respects to a man who touched the hearts of the people of the country with his humility.

While the details of where the books will be placed have not been finalised, Communications Manager at the Ministry of National Security Marcia Hope said two locations agreed upon so far are the Office of the President and the NAPA, where the Richards’ body will lie in State.

Former head of protocol at the Office of the President Lenore Dorset represented the family at the meeting which was attended by key technocrats and officials of the Ministries of National Security, Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister.

Representatives from NAPA, the Immigration Department and Belgroves Funeral Home, which is handling the funeral, also attended along with officials from the Fire Service, the Defence Force and the Police Service. A representative from the Anglican Church also attended. Richards and his family are Anglican.

Hope said, “All the ministries and respective agencies that have a role to play in the funeral met to discuss how we will proceed and who will do what.” She said they will be meeting on a “regular basis to fine tune all the arrangements.”

Hope said during yesterday’s meeting several ideas were discussed, “but those are in discussions, we need to meet again in smaller groups to discuss what could work and what can’t,” she said.

Asked about the cremation she said it was a “request from the family.”

George Maxwell Richards served the country in the capacity of President for a decade between 2003-2013. He died last Monday evening at the WestShore Private Hospital.

There is no decision yet whether the body will also lie in State at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts in San Fernando, the birth city of the former president or at UWI where he served for many years.

Hope explained that Immigration officials were part of the planning because it is expected that a number of people from overseas will attend the funeral.

The military will stage a parade at the funeral and salute the former Commander in Chief of the armed forces and as is customary at a State funeral there will be a 21 gun salute.

Another meeting of the committee is planned for tomorrow when Hope said it is expected that further discussions and decisions will be taken.

Chutney singer Kenneth Supersad can land himself in legal problems if he performs his popular hit De Raj Story at the Chutney Soca Monarch semifinals at Liv Nightclub in San Fernando on Saturday.

The attorney representing the man known as Raj, which is the subject of the song, composed from a video which went viral, has sent a letter to Supersad threatening to take him to court if does not desist from performing the song.

The video, which has gone viral, shows a woman confronting Raj, purportedly her husband, who is in a van with another woman. Raj’s attorney Wendy Ramnath-Panday claims the contents of his song which were taken from the video forms part of the evidence in Raj’s divorce proceedings pending in the High Court.

Ramdath-Panday said neither Raj’s identity nor the number of the court action was included in the letter for the protection of the parties involved.

“This is due to the fact that he has been the victim of repeated acts of harassment, abuse and derision,” stated Ramnath-Panday. She further stated, “My client is the same person who is known as “Raj” and has been the subject of a video which was posted on Facebook on 2nd November, 2017, the contents of which forms evidence in the High Court matter at caption. The content of the video contains footage of my client in a vehicle with a friend fully clothed and not engaging in any act of intimacy whatsoever.”

She said Supersad’s song was based on “the dramatic content of the respondent and her highly inflammatory language which totally misrepresented prior events as well as what was transpiring in the vehicle at the material time.”

She said it also contained several misrepresentations and misleading statements by the respondent, particularly where it was expressly stated that Raj was involved in an extra marital affair, form part of the evidence in the divorce proceedings.

“I am instructed that without ascertaining the truth or seeking permission from my client to repeat his name and use the details of the video you have authored a sound recording which seeks to satirize my client by exposing him to ridicule and has damaged his reputation cause him considerable hurt and distress and embarrassment.”

Supersad, the T&T Guardian was told, has been consulting with his attorneys and was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The body of former president Professor George Maxwell Richards will be cremated after a State funeral next Wednesday— January 17—at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain and there is word that the ashes will be scattered in San Fernando where Richards was born and grew up.

Richards, the fourth President of this country, will be the first local President to be cremated.

A round-table of the planning committee organising the State funeral of the former president met at the Ministry of National Security for almost two hours yesterday when it was agreed that condolence books will be opened at key points across the country to allow citizens to pay their final respects to a man who touched the hearts of the people of the country with his humility.

While the details of where the books will be placed have not been finalised, Communications Manager at the Ministry of National Security Marcia Hope said two locations agreed upon so far are the Office of the President and the NAPA, where the Richards’ body will lie in State.

Former head of protocol at the Office of the President Lenore Dorset represented the family at the meeting which was attended by key technocrats and officials of the Ministries of National Security, Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister.

Representatives from NAPA, the Immigration Department and Belgroves Funeral Home, which is handling the funeral, also attended along with officials from the Fire Service, the Defence Force and the Police Service. A representative from the Anglican Church also attended. Richards and his family are Anglican.

Hope said, “All the ministries and respective agencies that have a role to play in the funeral met to discuss how we will proceed and who will do what.” She said they will be meeting on a “regular basis to fine tune all the arrangements.”

Hope said during yesterday’s meeting several ideas were discussed, “but those are in discussions, we need to meet again in smaller groups to discuss what could work and what can’t,” she said.

Asked about the cremation she said it was a “request from the family.”

George Maxwell Richards served the country in the capacity of President for a decade between 2003-2013. He died last Monday evening at the WestShore Private Hospital.

There is no decision yet whether the body will also lie in State at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts in San Fernando, the birth city of the former president or at UWI where he served for many years.

Hope explained that Immigration officials were part of the planning because it is expected that a number of people from overseas will attend the funeral.

The military will stage a parade at the funeral and salute the former Commander in Chief of the armed forces and as is customary at a State funeral there will be a 21 gun salute.

Another meeting of the committee is planned for tomorrow when Hope said it is expected that further discussions and decisions will be taken.

MORE INFO

The body will lie in State at the Parliament tower from 10 am to 6 pm on Monday.
On Tuesday, the body will be transported through the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies en route to Napa.
The body will lie in State at Napa from 10 am to 6 pm on Tuesday.

With the Carnival season now in full swing, police are warning people who plan to gyrate on others that they can be arrested for assault if the person they want to “thief a wine on” decides to engage the police.

Speaking at the weekly media briefing yesterday, public information officer of the Police Service ASP Michael Jackman said it is an assault to touch someone without their consent.

“Any phyWith the Carnival season now in full swing, police are warning people who plan to gyrate on others that they can be arrested for assault if the person they want to “thief a wine on” decides to engage the police.

Speaking at the weekly media briefing yesterday, public information officer of the Police Service ASP Michael Jackman said it is an assault to touch someone without their consent.

“Any physical touching where there is no consent with one of the parties involved is in fact unlawful and can be deemed an assault,” Jackman said when asked about unsolicited gyrating.

sical touching where there is no consent with one of the parties involved is in fact unlawful and can be deemed an assault,” Jackman said when asked about unsolicited gyrating.

The former president Professor George Maxwell Richards is being described as “a talented professional, a vibrant and respected academic, a passionate patriot, a dedicated and committed family man, and very dear friend.”

The latest tribute comes from Professor and chairman of the Board of Directors of the University of Trinidad and Tobago Ken Julien.

Describing it as “difficult to encapsulate the impact of a statesman who stood tall among his peers and countrymen–literally and figuratively–in just a few words,” Julien said the late President “embodied the ideals of excellence, dedication and compassion.”

Richards, he said, served the country “with distinction,” from his stint as an engineer in the petroleum industry; an academic in the then-fledgling Faculty of Engineering at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus.

Julien said Richards was one of the pioneers of the Department of Chemical Engineering and played an important role in developing the department’s capability in process industries, and as a senior administrator at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies, navigated the institution through some of its most difficult periods.

“At the centre of Professor Richards’ life,” he said, “was a constant search for and attainment of excellence in the fields of academia and education.”

As President of the country, he said, Richards “articulated his desire for a stronger, more unified, compassionate and progressive Trinidad and Tobago; and as Chancellor of UTT, the country’s national university, where his enthusiasm to engage with and motivate the young generation was boundless.”

According to Julien, the late president “endeared himself to those with whom he interacted.”

“His gentle, accommodating and engaging nature reflected a deep and sincere interest in people and in treating people with dignity,” he said.

The legacy of the late President, he said, is “his stellar contribution to his beloved Trinidad and Tobago, his efforts to build a better country, and in his countless accolades and achievements continuing to serve as a symbol of excellence to be emulated by current and future generations.”

Julien said, “there is a proverb that says–Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names. George Maxwell Richards will be remembered for quite some time to come, but his presence will be deeply missed.”

A soldier charged with the murder of his almost 23-month-old daughter appeared before a Sangre Grande Magistrate yesterday.

Lance Corporal Kerros Martin, 29, of Jacelon Trace, Vega de Oropouche was remanded in prison custody by senior Magistrate Debra Quintyne in the Sangre Grande First Court. The accused is expected to return to court on February 5.

Martin is accused of killing Soriah Martin on December 12, last year during an altercation at her uncle’s home in Sangre Grande.

Soriah was shot in her head while the child’s uncle, Gregory Harracksingh, was shot in his right arm. Soriah died at the hospital. The accused was also charged with wounding Harracksingh.

The 29-year-old soldier with 12 years service was last attached to the Special Forces, based at Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas.

JENSEN LA VENDE

Four men were each granted $250,000 bail yesterday after they appeared in court charged with unlawfully detaining a man in Belmont and locking him in a car trunk.

The incident was recorded and shared on social media last week.

The men, Special Reserve Police Keon Prescod, of Malabar, Che Edwards, 23, of D’Abadie, Stephen Prescott, 23 of La Horquetta and Seth Gibbs, 25 of Aranjuez, appeared before magistrate Rehana Ali yesterday in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court.

A condition of their bail demanded that each of them report to the nearest police station, to where they live Mondays and Fridays between 6 am and 6 pm. The men were also given cash alternatives of $85,000 for bail.

The men are all accused of robbing Nicholas Juman of an iPhone using violence, unlawfully carrying away Juman and falsely imprisoning him on January 6, at Lady Young Road, Belmont.

The prosecution had requested that the men be denied bail based on the seriousness of the offences and that if granted bail they would interfere with Juman.

Ali disagreed with this saying that each of the accused resided in different areas and none of them resided in the Diego Martin area where Juman lived. She said the seriousness of the allegation alone is not enough to deny bail.

The men were represented by Patrick Godson-Phillips, Kelston Pope, Chelsea John and Evans Welch respectively. The matters were adjourned to February 6.

radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

School sanitation is under threat and the health of thousands of children in the nation’s schools could be in jeopardy as some denominational boards have cut the working hours of janitors.

The move came as the Ministry of Education failed to provide the necessary funding to pay cleaners and to purchase basic items such as stationery and cleaning supplies.

In a letter sent to ancillary staff members on Wednesday, general secretary of the Presbyterian Primary Schools Board Rosalind Gunness, said the cleaners grant has not been paid by the Government from October to January.

“The board is in debt of $3 million having sourced funds to pay ancillary staff for the months October to December 2017. This situation is untenable and has placed the board in a grave financial crisis,” Gunness said.

Under the circumstances, Gunness said the board cannot guarantee on-time payments to ancillary staff for January 2018 and the coming months.

Urging staff members to make the necessary adjustments to suit their situation, Gunness said the board is re-examining sanitation arrangements. She said an audit of staffing will be done.

Gunness urged principals to meet with ancillary staff members and take a log of the meeting.

Meanwhile, a cleaner at a school in Point Fortin said he is now being asked to work from 8 am to 11 am.

“This cut in hours means I won’t be able to pay my bills. I have a loan and now that my salary is cut it will be very difficult,” he said.

Another janitor said an audit of the ancillary staff employed by the boards will mean impending job loss.

General secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Satnarayn Maharaj said representatives of the Association of Denominational Boards will meet in an emergency session next Monday to discuss the problem.

He said cleaners must be present from the start to the end of the school day.

Maharaj said if that is not done, school sanitation could be compromised. He said the SDMS secured a loan to pay people for last year but funds have already run out. He said terminating staff will be the last resort.

Chairman of the Association of Denominational Boards Jewan Ramdhanie said the situation was dire and students’ health could be compromised if the matter was not rectified.

Contacted yesterday, Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis said he has been liaising with Finance Minister Colm Imbert to work on the grants paid to denominational schools.

“We have been assured that funds will be paid late this week or if not next week,” Francis said. Imbert in an earlier interview promised to do whatever he could to resolve the issue in a shortest possible time.

Judging by the slow sale of water storage tanks, it is doubtful that people are taking heed of the call by the Water and Sewerage Authority to store additional water in light of the planned shutdown of the desalination plant, hardware owners said yesterday.

The plant is scheduled to be down for maintenance works from Monday to next week Saturday. All parts of South and Central Trinidad will be affected and WASA said it will increase its water trucking capacity during that period.

At Hardware Supplies in Duncan Village, a sales worker said water tank sales have been slow.

Sales supervisor at Dansteel Ltd, Gookool Mahabir also said there was no rush by customers to stock up on water tanks.

“I think last year when people were hearing of a drought, they started to stock up on storage tanks. Back then we were ordering additional tanks but we haven’t purchased extra tanks this year because the demand is just not there,” Gookool said.

He said the downturn in the economy and the fact that people did not have money after the Christmas holidays possibly contributed to the low sales. (RDS)

The thick crude oil flowing in the heart of the south city does not belong to an uncapped well from State-owned Petrotrin.

This was revealed by the company after a crew from Petrotrin’s Health, Safety and Environment team visited San Fernando and took samples.

The main drain which runs along San Fernando Street remained slicked with oil yesterday while plastic bottles and other debris were totally covered with the crude.

In a statement yesterday, Petrotrin said the reports of oil observed along San Fernando Street was under investigation.

Petrotrin said, following a site visit, it was found that the oil did not belong to the company.

“The mystery surrounding the source of the oil has been ongoing for several decades as Petrotrin is not known to have any installations in or around that area. While the source of the oil is not yet known, Petrotrin will continue to collaborate with other stakeholders to have the matter addressed,” Petrotrin said. The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) has already been notified.

Residents of San Fernando said they were fed up of traversing along the oil-slicked road, saying the crude often gets onto people’s shoes, clothes and cars.

Seismologist Dr Joan Latchman of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre has warned that the Eastern Caribbean was ripe to deliver its largest magnitude earthquake.

Latchman gave the warning hours after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked Honduras, which led to Puerto Rico, Cayman Island, Cuba and several Caribbean islands being placed under a tsunami warning.

The quake which rattled and cracked houses in Honduras’ capital Tegucigalpa did not claim any lives or caused a trail of destruction.

The tsunami, experts forecasted, could have triggered sea levels to rise from a foot to three feet above normal.

Latchman said Honduras’ quake just reinforced what they have been saying all along “that without a doubt our system in the Caribbean can accumulate the same energy that can generate an earthquake the same size.”

She said even though our plate motion was very slow when compared to earthquake-prone Japan, “it leads to a measure of complacency with people thinking that those large earthquakes will not happen in the Caribbean.”

In the last few weeks, Latchman said a number of small earthquakes in the Caribbean have shown that the “earth systems are alive and well, while the bigger faults are loading and one day they will reach their limit and rupture.”

Given the processes she has seen at work in the last decade, Latchman said, “our systems are ripe to deliver our Eastern Caribbean the largest magnitude earthquake. That is just our reality. Such an earthquake can be devastating out to 200 kilometres and more. So the earthquake does not have to happen in Trinidad,” Latchman said, but we can be negatively affected.

As a region, Latchman said, we should be taking Honduras’ earthquake hazards seriously “and putting measures in place. It is unfortunate that the measures are not already in place. We should be using this time of calm to ensure we have our systems in place and ready for roll-out.”

Among the measures recommended were the establishment of building codes, a framework for enforcement and proper management.

“Those should be expeditiously done. We are not now outlining this. With each passing year, we make the point that the more time passes the closer we are to our significant magnitude earthquake. The delay we are allowing is not putting us in the best place.”

Mothers win in 74 per cent of the child custody cases in the local courts, Rhondall Feeles, president of the Single Fathers’ Association, told a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Human Rights, Equality and Diversity yesterday.

He said men are awarded custody only in 21 per cent of cases, while in five per cent of cases joint custody is granted.

He added that data from some 50 Family Court cases showed that the majority of non-custodial parents are men.

Feeles gave evidence before the JSC, chaired by Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, which was looking into the inequality faced by single fathers in custody matters, policies and access to programmes and services.

He said many single fathers are unable to access help because the country’s social services seem more prepared to support mothers than fathers. He gave the case of a man who was left to take care of seven children after his wife died and was told by social services personnel he could not access grants because only a mother get such support.

Director of the association Wendell Grant, a single father for the past 21 years, told the JSC he was falsely accused of sexually molesting his three children.

“A woman gave the police a piece of clothing soaked in blood. My children were taken and physically examined by a doctor. Even the boy had his anus examined,” he said

“The allegations were false because it was discovered it was goat’s blood. I had to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars for counselling for my children.”

Gadsby-Dolly agreed that data collection is necessary to inform issues and influence policies for single fathers.

“Policies may not specifically deal with the issues faced by single fathers and social service policies may not be interpreted to allow single fathers to benefit from the available grants,” she said.

The minister said there is need for consultation on a draft gender policy to clarify the term “single fathers” and for a parenting policy specifically for single fathers to address their rights and legal options.

Among the recommendations made to the JSC was introduction of an electronic payment system for maintenance and for action in cases where mothers do not adhere to court rulings on visitation rights.

Government sources yesterday shut down Opposition claims that a PNM financier was involved in the procurement of the new ferry for the domestic route.

Reliable sources told the T&T Guardian that the vessel was located through an international broker through a government-to-government arrangement.

Sources said the boat had been ordered by another country which could not meet the required payments and this allowed this country to get the vessel at the bargain price of US$17.4m. The vessel, government sources said, was still at an undisclosed shipyard.

A similar scenario took place after this country cancelled its contract for three Offshore Patrol Vessels due to mechanical faults and stalled delivery dates. The military vessels were later acquired by Brazil for a cheaper cost.

In that case, T&T was refunded its deposit of TT$1.5b by British shipbuilders BAE Systems.

No details were forthcoming on where the vessel was located and who were the international experts and how much they were paid. The vessel was sourced less than a month after the inter-ministerial team headed by Finance Minister Colm Imbert was appointed.

Imbert told the Parliament yesterday that the vessel was “identified by a worldwide search using international experts,” and was “procured by the National Infrastructure Development Company—NIDCO.”

Imbert said the vessel which was newly constructed is now “in the snagging phase which is the phase at the end of the construction of a new vessel.” The purpose of a snagging is to identify any defects which may exist.

Former Transport Minister Devant Maharaj said yesterday that Government continued “to hide the facts,” over the new passenger ferry which has been purchased for the seabridge.

Maharaj said he found it curious that “qualified and experienced maritime individuals did not get a suitable boat for the government, but Ministers qualified in law, banking and engineering managed to get a boat.”

“Why does the Government insist on shrouding the procurement process in secrecy? What is the Rowley administration hiding? Is the Rowley administration hiding a PNM financier with this deal?” he asked.

Maharaj said the government needed to tell the country the name of the broker and how that person was retained.

The controversy surrounding the Raj soca chutney song by Kenneth Supersad has taken another twist. The estranged wife of a man called Raj who was the focus of a widely circulated social media video a few months ago is threatening to sue him for slander if he does not publicly apologise to her.

In a pre-action protocol letter sent yesterday, the woman’s attorney Saira Lakhan said her client was defamed when Raj suggested in a legal letter to Supersad that she was a dishonest and malicious person.

The man’s attorney, Wendy Ramnath-Panday, wrote to Supersad threatening legal action if he continues to perform De Raj Story. Ramnath-Panday said the content of the video form part of divorce proceedings. It shows a a woman confronting her alleged cheating husband named Raj, who is with another woman in a van.

Supersad has been advised by his attorneys to disregard the letter from Ramnath-Panday as his song did not specifically refer to her client as the person in the video. Supersad claims the Raj in his song is a fictional character.

Lakhan, in her letter to Raj’s attorney, said her client did not post the video which surfaced after she had made several attempts to salvage the marriage following an alleged extra marital affair. However, she said her client regrets the publicity which has stemmed from it.

“Further, your client also publicly slandered my client when he stated through your publicized letter that there were several misrepresentations and misleading statements in the video.

The contents of your letter purports that my client is malicious, a liar and/or a dishonest person when one examines the ordinary and natural meaning of the words you used to describe my client’s conduct and your client’s purported injury to his reputation.”

She said Raj’s “slanderous comments have caused serious and irreparable damage” to her client’s reputation and caused her further trauma and embarrassment.

Lakhan said her client denies all statements in the letter relating to her purportedly dishonest and malicious behaviour.

“In the premises, I am instructed to formally call on your client to withdraw the statements made in your letter and to publicly apologise to my client for the statements made pertaining to my client by Monday 15th January, 2018, and to immediately cease and desist from making any further defamatory statements/comments/remarks about my client.”

If there is no response in 14 days, Lakhan said legal proceedings will commence. Lakhan has served notice that they intend to add the woman Raj was allegedly having an affair with as a respondent to the matrimonial proceedings and to seek reimbursement for extensive counselling sessions and treatment for emotional distress.

The relatives of a 15-year-old girl are asking the public to assist them in finding her.

Abby Ramsaroop was last seen on January 6, in the Penal area.

According to a post on the Missing Persons Trinidad and Tobago Facebook page, “Her family is desperately trying to locate Abby. If anyone has any info on her whereabouts you are asked to contact 800-TIPS, 555, 999 or the Penal Police Station at 647-8888.”

The first major competition of Panorama 2018 takes place tomorrow when 20 bands vie for the coveted title in the Single Pan finals. The action gets going at 4 pm at the Basketball Court, Arima.

The finalists and their selections are:

1. Woodbrook Playboyz - Ah Want It

2. T&T Fire Service - Du Du Yemi aka Natasha

3. Pan Jammers - Signal to Lara

4. La Famille United - Golo

5. Metro Stars - Rant and Rave

6. Trinidad Nostalgic - By All Means

7. Chord Masters - Stranger

8. Newtown Playboys Steel Symphony - The Hammer

9. Uni Stars - Bun Dem

10. Pan Fanatics - Doh Back Back

11. San Juan All Stars - Iron Man

12. Nu Pioneers Pan Groove - Black Man Feeling To Party

13. Shades In Steel - Bounce

14. Edinburgh 500 Steel Ensemble - Rock It

15. Marsicans - Party Time Again

16. Platinum - Soca Baptist

17. La Creole Pan Groove - Signal To Lara

18. Star Sapphire - Black Man Feeling To Party

19. Curepe Polyphonics - Leave Me Alone (Rmx)

20. San Juan East Side Symphony - Dis Party Is It