Naparima MP Rodney Charles says the incompetence of the Government has been costing taxpayers and the economy more than $10 billion annually to fight crime.

Charles made the statement as he delivered his contribution on a motion titled Failure to Diversify the Economy in Parliament yesterday.

He said Government had collapsed in managing the economy and businesses were struggling to keep afloat, stating that it was shocking to learn that 34 Tobago businesses had closed their doors due to a seabridge fiasco and a sharp decline in tourist arrivals.

“Deputy Speaker, the only growth industry in Trinidad is funeral homes. I would direct the Minister of Finance if he wants to raise money…tax the funeral homes because the murder rate is increasing. We dying and suffering and that there is money to be made there.”

He said the cost of crime in the country was in the tune of billions of dollars.

Calculating the costs, Charles said if on average there are 500 murders yearly, with each burial or cremation costing $20,000, this would amount to $10 million.

The other cost would be the national security budget of $6.2 billion, including collateral damage, loss of external investments, reduced tourist arrivals, retaining security guards, installing of security cameras, burglar proofing, Blink and GPS system on cars.

He said the cost of losing a breadwinner to criminals and the family’s psychological trauma could not be calculated.

“The incompetence of that Government is costing this economy more than $10 billion annually. Their policy is tax, tax, tax and waste. If I was spending my own money I would be more careful than this Government. Would I spent $400 million on a useless highway? Would I rent One Alexandra place at $700,000 a month when I have an office at the Ministry of Agriculture that is empty? At this stage it is immoral to be spending that kind of money.”

Charles became emotional when he told the House that he wrote Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat last August after a chicken farmer in his constituency suffered losses as a result of a river next to his business which needed dredging.

Charles said he got no reply from Rambharat, stating that there was a cry among the poor for help.

“But that Government would not even acknowledge the suffering people. I am almost in tears.”

Chairman of the T&T Cancer Society George Laquis says his organisation is willing to sign an agreement accepting $1.5 million from the Government but will not forget the $6 million which the Government owes the society.

Laquis said the Government has not contributed any funds to the organisation for the past three years and was currently owed some $6 million. In an interview yesterday, Laquis said he was “disgusted” by the outcome of events.

“We are going to accept the money which is just a subvention from the work we do and this is a public work.

“They (the Government) said they can’t pay us what they owe us and we will accept that but we are not forgetting the payment. They saying forget it. “

“They have a problem. We (referring to the Government) continue to build buildings we don’t know what the hell to do with,” he said.

He added: “I don’t know what the hell we doing with the buildings and there should be lifestyle changes to prevent diseases and early detection.”

Laquis said it cost the society when a man gets cancer and dies which in turn costs society to lose 25 years of productivity.

“Their focus is wrong. None of them understand healthcare delivery. It is simple as that. They don’t understand, they think putting up buildings cure disease.

“I am very disgusted, we have patients to see about. We can’t have pride and ego in this things. The politicians priority are different from ours,” he said.

Laquis stressed that the Government is more considering buildings because buildings make them look good.

“They have a million roads with pothole and building roads. The politicians want to win the next election. They do not know how to govern a country. Its all of them not only PNM,” he said.

He said the Cancer Society will be accepting the $1.5 million funds by next week and start the new arrangement which began from January 2018.

“It is a three-year agreement. We are grateful because we need the money and lived off the private sector for the past 48 years and our support was always good from the general public or individuals. That is how we survived.

“The subsidy from Government helped us keep our prices low. Its all about early detection and prevention. That’s the game its a simple formula,” he said.

Laquis said the Cancer Society told the Government that they could not forget the $6million owed to the society and we would not try to collect it at the moment.

Two men were shot dead in separate incidents in south and central Trinidad, bringing the murder toll to 131 in just 84 days for the year.

A suspected drug dealer Lyndon Jack, 39, aka Teebo and Bull, was gunned down at Teelucksingh Street, California, Couva. Police said Jack was liming with friends in front of his home around 6:45 pm when a Nissan Tiida pulled up. The occupant started firing. Jack was hit four times on the chest and hands. The suspects escaped.

Meanwhile, Paul Briggs, 35, of Khan Trace Extension, Fyzabad, was also found dead around 9 pm on Friday. Police said they received an anonymous tip that someone was found lying motionless near in a side track along the Guapo Main Road, Fyzabad, near Scotiabank. When they arrived, they found Briggs lying on the ground with gunshots to the head and chest. District Medical Officer Dr Rajkumar visited the scene and ordered the body removed to the Forensic Science Centre. No arrests have yet been made.

Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes has been re-elected unopposed as the president of the Law Association of T&T (Latt).

Mendes was returned as the head of Latt following the association's annual meeting held on Friday.

On March 15 LATT announced that Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj had withdrawn his candidacy for the post of president of the association.

Last year Mendes replaced Senior Counsel Reginald Armour as Latt's president.

Theresa Hadad was also re-elected unopposed at Latt's treasurer.

Rajiv Persad was also re-elected as the association's president following a challenge by Patricia Dindyal.

The Latt's ten senior ordinary members are Senior Counsel Elton Prescott, Darrell Allahar, Elena Araujo, Ronnie Bissessar, Frederick Gilkes, Jason Nathu, Reeyah Chattergoon,Dinesh Rambally, Lynette Seebaran-Suite and Richard Sirjoo.

While the five junior ordinary members are Shankar Bidaisee, Trevor Clarke, Kimberleigh Peterson, Marissa Ramsoondar and Elena De Silva.

The Media Association of T&T (Matt) has appointed a steering committee to address its concerns regarding the proposed Cybercrime Bill.

Matt, in a release yesterday, said it believes the Cybercrime Bill 2017 in its current form has the potential to affect the work of journalists and the freedom of expression of the average citizen.

The Cybercrime Bill is currently before a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament.

The Matt steering committee was appointed yesterday during an emergency meeting held at the TSTT hospitality suite at the Queen's Park Oval.

The members of the steering committee are Matt Vice-President Joel Julien, former Matt president Francesca Hawkins, Dr Sheila Rampersad, Mark Lyndersay, and Kalifa Clyne.

Yesterday's meeting followed Matt's appearance on March 13 before the JSC appointed to consider and report on the Cybercrime Bill 2017.

During yesterday's meeting members were given the floor to express their thoughts on the proposed legislation and to provide guidance to the executive as Matt prepares its response to the JSC on the bill.

The committee will guide Matt's approach and strategy in dealing with the proposed legislation.

Matt has also written the JSC seeking a second meeting to present its response to the Cybercrime Bill.

Did you know that Trinidadians use Patois in their everyday language? Think of: “bosee back” (hunched back); “bazodee” (stunned or startled); “zaboca” (avocado) or “doudou” (darling).

Caribbean Yard Campus launches its Dry Season Programme from the beginning of April with three courses in Patois/Kweyol, Spanish and backyard gardening.

All courses are open to the public, and there are no pre-requisites except for your curiosity and desire to learn more about some of our home-grown Caribbean languages and traditions.

Conversational Spanish classes are linked to an optional tour of Cuba, and conversational Kweyol classes are linked to an optional tour of St Lucia.

The course in French Patois is called Nou Ka Pale Patwa. Class dates are: Thursday, April 5 to Saturday, June 23; class times are Thursdays 5 pm-7 pm and Saturdays 10 am-1 pm.

The course in conversational Spanish is called Vamos a Cuba. Class dates are: Tuesday, April 3 to Saturday, June 23. Class times are: Tuesdays 10 am-12 noon or 5-7 pm and Saturdays 2 pm-5 pm.

The backyard gardening and small farms class is called Planting People, and will teach gardening techniques and some simple projects to make your backyard more productive and delicious. Activities will include how to set up an integrated farm, ecological crop management, craft use of plants, and establishing community skills banks and business approaches to empower and better organize self-help groups. Class dates are Saturday, April 7 to Saturday, June 23. Class times are: Saturdays 8 am-12 noon.

In-class sessions in Patois and Spanish will be held at the Lloyd Best Institute in Tunapuna. The Patois course also includes a practical, interactive component in the Patois-speaking communities of Paramin, Talparo, and San Rafael. The Spanish language course comes with a series of focused presentations on different aspects of life in Cuba including doing business in Cuba, accessing the Cuban health system and understanding the arts and religion, among others. The Planting People course takes place in the hills of Caura at the Agronomics Institute.

For more details, or to register, the public is invited to call 771-4952 or 663 5463, or email: caribbeanyardcampus@gmail.com

Gerry Brooks, chairman of the NGC Group of Companies, left, shares a light moment with Norman Christie, outgoing regional president BPTT when BPTT hosted a farewell celebration in his (Christie) honour at the Savannah Terrace, Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, on Friday.PICTURE: ANDRE ALEXANDER

More than a week after being arrested, a 38-year-old mason has finally been charged with the quadruple murder which rocked the community of Sobo Village in La Brea, earlier this month.

After two days of deliberations, Ag Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard gave the all clear for police to charge the suspect with the murders of Abigail Jones-Chapman, 41, her daughter Olivia Chapman, 16, friend Michaela Mason, 14 and landlord, Micheal Scott, 69, who were killed at Scott's home at Khani Settlement, Sobo Village, on March 14.

The charges read that between March 11 to March 14, 2018, he murdered the four people.

The accused, from Gonzales Village, Guapo, was arrested around 9 am on March 16, walking along a roadway leading out of St Albans Quarry, located 200 metres off the Valencia Stretch.

Officers of the La Horquetta Crime Patrol Unit, under Sgt Vaughn Waldropt, made the arrest after receiving information that he was hiding out in the area. The suspect had a green knapsack packed with clothing at the time he was held.

In an interview yesterday, the suspect's attorney Fareed Ali said he has been visiting his client on a daily basis and was satisfied that he was getting all that was legally due to him as a prisoner.

"He is getting the opportunity to bathe and change his clothes. He is being fed and whenever I want to see him, I am was allowed to visit him," Ali said.

Jones-Chapman, a Spanish teacher at the Southern Academy of the Seventh-Day Adventists, La Romaine, was beaten to death at her apartment. Her daughter, Olivia, a student of the Point Fortin East Secondary School was also beaten and stabbed to death, while Mason's throat was slit. Scott, who is believed to have come to the defence of the females, was bludgeoned to death with a cricket stump.

Jones-Chapman’s younger children, ages 12 and eight, were found unharmed in Scott’s apartment upstairs.

Investigators suspect the killing stemmed from a domestic dispute between Jones-Chapman and the suspect after she ended their one-year relationship the previous week.

Members of the Spiritual Baptist parade along Coffee Street in San Fernando, in celebration of the grand opening of the Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz” Butler Village on Harris Promenade, yesterday.PICTURE: TONY HOWELL

With just over six months left in a US$2.4 million ($16 million) two-year contract with The Group DC LLC to provide lobbying services for T&T, the question is what exactly are the benefits T&T have achieved from the lobbyists.

Government, however, remains mum on this question.

The Sunday Guardian yesterday reached out to both Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young seeking an answer to the question but there were no responses.

Messages left with the secretary of Arthur Collins, the man who heads The Group DC LLC, last week also remained unanswered.

On February 16 Dr Tim Gopeesingh, the MP for Caroni East posed the question to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley during the Prime Minister's questions. However, there was no response as question time ran out that day.

"With respect to the appointment of Mr Arthur Collins as an official lobbyist of T&T, could the Prime Minister indicate the value of payments made so far as well as the remaining sum due, in light of the imminent expiration of the contract?" Gopeesingh asked.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, former minister Devant Maharaj has filed a question with the Office of the Prime Minister as well, asking for the Group DC's list of responsibilities and terms of reference and/or contractual obligations and the "tangible returns" on our investment.

Questions include:

• "What specific lobby interests that GroupDC have lobbied Washington on behalf of GORTT? What was the success of each?"

• "What is the quantum of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) that GroupDC has negotiated for T&T?"

'One of its deliverables was to raise this country’s profile'

In October 2016, The Central Tenders Board entered into a US$ 2.4 million vat exclusive contract with The Group DC LLC to assist in initiating and sustaining relationships between the Government and US Members of Congress.

T&T was scheduled to make quarterly instalments to the firm.

According to correspondence from The Group DC LLC to the Ministry of Finance, the lobbyists were strategically positioned to cultivate and enhance this Government's bilateral relationship with The United States and to address key priorities.

Among its deliverables was to raise this country’s profile in the United States Congress, establish relationships with the relevant members of Congress, and track and advocate on behalf of the Government’s legislative priorities.

It also committed to raising the visibility of this country establishing T&T as a steady and consistent presence in Washington, and engaging the legislative and executive branches of the US government on a regular and frequent basis.

The Group DC LLC also committed to identify potential private sector partners for investment and seek public-private partnership as well as to raise the country’s trade profile and advocate for policies that grow and diversify the T&T economy.

This year T&T's international profile has taken a hit because of rising crime.

Last month the United States Embassy in T&T updated its travel advisory to this country warning of terrorism and prohibiting US Government personnel from visiting various areas in Port-of-Spain, including the interior of the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Prior to using The Group DC, T&T used the services of Ainsley Gill and Associates.

Government had been using Gill’s services intermittently since 2004, under then prime minister Patrick Manning.

In 2009, Government paid US $4 million for similar services from Gill for a two-year period.

SCOPE OF WORKS

• The Group will lobby the appropriate authorities for an expansion of the benefits under the Caribbean Basin Initiative or any other alternate arrangements to include additional products and services.

• Ensure that domestic producers of rum are not negatively affected by the subsidies and other form of support provided by the US to domestic firms operating in the US and its territories.

• Monitor legislative issues affecting T&T in the US Congress and submit reports on the discussions on the same.

• The Group will also collaborate with government officials and follow up on the May 2016 visit to the US for meetings related to energy, security, commerce and anti-corruption issues.

• The Group will also work to follow up on the recent Customs Mutual Administrative Agreement between the government and the US Department of Homeland Security, whose purpose is to enhance intelligence sharing between the two nations.

• The Group will also collaborate with the GORTT on addressing the challenge of ISIS recruitment of its citizens.

Hundreds of doubles vendors across T&T have been paying higher prices for channa (chick peas) during the last six months.

However, they have been absorbing that cost and not passing it on to the consumer by raising their prices. There are assurances today that wholesale and retail prices will be reduced in the coming weeks. Officials at one of T&T's largest import grain operations said with the recent price hike, which was estimated to be between 30 per cent and 40 per cent, "businessmen including doubles vendors have been taking the hit for the last six months."

Customers moved from paying between $4 and $4.50 per pound for the small-grain channa, to paying between $5.50 and $6.50 per pound.

Operating for more than 40 years, officials at the St Augustine-based company said the last major price increase in doubles occurred in 2015, two days after Finance Minister Colm Imbert presented the 2015/2016 budget. Doubles moved from $4 to $5.

The senior manager of the company, which is importing all edible grains and other produce in bulk to be repackaged and sold locally, said over 75 per cent of our chick peas comes from Canada and Argentina."

Although they purchase chick peas from producers in the US and India as well, the official admitted external market influences sometime determined the price at which channa and other grains would be sold locally. Chief among them is the weather.

He said "if the crop in Canada and Argentina was good and the yield was as they initially anticipated, you will find that local prices will remain stable or even drop."

Over the last six months "the crop in Canada failed so that drove up the prices internationally and locally," the official said.

He confirmed this was responsible for the increase in the price of channa in the local market during the last six months.

Estimating that by mid-April, "prices will drop," the official revealed that business owners had a particular pricing structure they utilised when purchasing goods which included minimum and maximum base figures.

He said doubles vendors had something to look forward to, "as they will soon start to benefit as the prices are set to fall."

Along with channa, red beans was also said to have cost consumers about 20 per cent more during 2017.

The official said the price of red beans was also expected to fall in the coming weeks. Consumers can expect savings on other grains as well.

The population of T&T has been expressing concerns about the $2.5 million (TT) spent so far on MP for La Horquetta/Talparo Maxie Cuffie who has been on sick leave since suffering a debilitating stroke on September 5, 2017, and who continues to be absent from the job.

While Cuffie is currently in the US undergoing treatment, there has been mixed reactions from constituents—many of them claiming that they are not getting proper representation.

His office remains open to the public, however, and measures are in place for the continuation of policies put in place by the MP, office staff said.

Other residents questioned whether operations were on cruise control for the area, while some had their own preference of candidates from the community in the event Cuffie continued on extended sick leave and a by-election is called.

Meanwhile, work by regionalbodies for the community had not  stopped. The Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation is responsible for general maintenance of the area in La Horquetta, while the Couva/ Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation administers to the Talparo region, and Cepep (The Community- based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme) continues to operate in both areas, office staff said.

PNM La Horquetta/Talparo constituency executive chairman Philip Watts said in Cuffie’s absence, the executive had organised the constituency in such a way that constituents’ needs would be dealt with and ministers had been invited to the constituency to deal with issues people may have.

However, more people were dissatisfied with the lack of representation. Will a deus ex machina be introduced into the constituency in the form of Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to resolve the situation? After all, he is already filling in and has been visiting Cuffie’s office on several occasions to listen to constituents’ complaints pertaining to road repair and infrastructure works.

Asked about claims that he was a shoo-in for Cuffie if a by-election is called, Sinanan said there was no vacancy for an MP in La Horquetta/ Talparo, there can be only one— Maxie Cuffie.

Sinanan said these were just rumours and that he had never givenm it any thought.

He said in his capacity as minister he was assisting Cuffie at this time, but that was the extent of his job in the constituency—to ensure residents were represented.

On Friday evening, days after he spoke to the Sunday Guardian, a post on Cuffie’s Facebook page went up announcing that Sinanan would be meeting with constituents on constituency office day at the Caparo sub-office, 317 Main Road, Caparo, on April 5, at 3:30 pm.

There will be a subsequent meeting at La Horquetta constituency office on April 12.

Residents are asked to make an appointment at 672-3473 or 664- 8770, Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm. Watts said the PNM had a strong constituency and he did not think it will come to a by-election. He said in the event a by-election was called, however, he was very sure the PNM will retain the seat since the executive was managing things and they did not have a problem.

In the 2015 general election Cuffie garnered 10,428 votes for the PNM in the La Horquetta/Talparo constituency to the UNC’s Jairam Seemungal 7,606 votes. In the 2010 general election, Seemungal won with 8,712 votes to the PNM representative, Nadra Nathai-Gyan’s 7,633 votes.

People continue to get representation —office staff

When the Sunday Guardian visited Cuffie’s constituency office on Tumpuna Road, Arima, a representative, Thaddeus Caraballo said even in the absence of Cuffie, residents continue to receive representation. “Thousands of people would have come to the office...They will be getting assistance through a well-structured system that he has put in place and that system hasn’t changed.

“It’s just that the physical person, the body is not here right now, but the system is still in place and continues to be the same.

“In terms of representation, persons who need individual assistance and care are taken care of by office officials while other projects such as infrastructure are handled by Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan who comes to the office quite often to see the constituents.”

Caraballo said every piece of information about the residents’ circumstances was being relayed to Cuffie who was doing quite well and was extremely thankful for the outpouring of love, support, and prayers from citizens, despite some of the loathsome comments on social media.

La Horquetta

Even after 5 pm one day, the La Horquetta Plaza in Phase 1, Sel Duncan Avenue, had few shoppers— with a capacity to accommodate 30 plus shops, it had dwindled down to six tenants.

A tenant revealed that the $1,850 monthly rent was prohibitive, they had tried negotiating with the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) which had an office on the premises to reduce the rent to $1,000 to no avail.

The La Horquetta Community Swimming Pool, on Slinger Francisco Boulevard, remains closed after two months due to a lack of chlorine.

La Horquetta Sporting Academy coach Jude John said residents were split right down the middle in calling for a replacement for Cuffie or a by-election, which will become more strident as time goes by with his absence from his constituency.

He said there was a correlation between when the football club was established in 2011 and the decrease in serious crimes for the last four to five years when “hot sports” displaced the hot spot of crime in La Horquetta.

Another resident, Fiona Mahabir said the recreation parks needed serious fixing and they needed playground equipment for children. She said she was concerned that there were no sidewalks on the boulevard for the children who were forced to walk on the road.

Mahabir said she can definitely suggest Sheldon Jones who lived in the community as a replacement for Cuffie and if he was elected as MP, everyone would be treated impartially.

Jacqui Regrello, a housewife from Tecoma Boulevard, La Horquetta, said she was not seeing a representative for the residents and Seemungal was a good MP for the area as he served in that capacity prior to Cuffie.

She said the area needed more parking spaces, while the play parks and football fields in Phase 2, 5 and 7 needed refurbishing.

Pele Peru, from Marjorie Padmore Avenue, Phase 2 said Carapo Councillor Kenan Gibson would do a good job as MP for the area, because she lived in the community, was a young lady who had potential, and he knew her from school.

Peru said the La Horquetta Phase 2 Recreation Ground needed regular maintenance, when workmen cut the tall grass at the ground recently they had to stop when they discovered a machete snake in the underbrush.

He said the new stadium in Phase 7 was also taking a while to complete.

Peru said every Easter the community had sports and marching, but none were held this year and last year most likely due to the violence and the Phase 5 and 7 gang warfare.

Ash Diaz, from Phase 1, said before Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and the PNM held its public meeting at the La Horquetta Regional Complex on February 22, the neighbourhood was spruced up, benches painted, holes filled, while all the time nothing was done.

He said the walls of the box drain river were being cracked by vegetation growing out of them and he wanted a home study centre to be established at the La Horquetta Plaza.

Talparo

On entering the more rural areas of Cuffie’s constituency in San Rafael, Brazil, and Talparo, the roads became narrower and more pockmarked with potholes. The two bridges in San Rafael can only accommodate a single lane of vehicles, a landslip was marked off on the Talparo Main Road, and a man on top a tractor being transported on a flatbed truck had to lift low, overhanging wires in order to pass.

San Rafael resident Tremaine Shaw said it was ironic that the Arena Dam in Brazil was the largest ever built in T&T, yet the area experienced water shortages with homeowners getting water three days a week and flooding.

There was a lamppost in a drain while other drains were filled with stagnant water and overgrown vegetation.

San Rafael retiree Franklin Narine has been waiting for nine years for the Ministry of Works to fill a stagnant lake of water which had caiman preying on his fowls and ducks behind his house and which caused his son to contract dengue twice.

On Cuffie’s health, Narine said he wished him all the best, that people were talking about the cost for his medical expenses but it came with the job and conditions in holding office.

Narine said he had no problem with whatever money the Government spent on Cuffie’s health, however as for his representation, he had never seen him.

Pratap Ramlal, from Brazil, said residents had a non-existent MP that people said was alive, but nobody knew if this was true as they did not have a picture of him.

He said the area needed a lot of upliftment, the Brazil Community Centre was in disrepair for the last 20 years.

Ramlal said the former MP for La Horquetta/Talparo Jairam Seemungal at least did something to help the people but they voted him out of office and nothing was happening.

Brazil resident Charmaine Kalloo said Seemungal’s office was on the Talparo main Road in Brazil, and from 3 am he was in attending to his constituents’ needs.

Priya Mahabir said Seemungal did a lot for the people, he often walked through the area meeting his constituents, people could drop in any time to see Seemungal, unlike Cuffie.

She said it was Seemungal who paved all the roads in the area which now suffered from a lack of maintenance.

Brazil resident Michael Diaram said residents only saw Cuffie on two occasions, when he was campaigning in the area just before the September 7, 2015 general election and for the funeral of murdered teen Rachael Ramkissoon in January 18, 2017.

He said for Christmas not a child got a toy in Brazil, except under the PP Government.

Diaram said whatever community work was done in Brazil—such as the T&TEC installation of lights and the launch of a windball cricket league at the Brazil Recreation Ground on July 9, 2011—was done under Seemungal.

Ronald Christian, from Brazil, said while the youths needed jobs, the box drains and road works were done by contractors outside of the community.

He said crime was getting “sticky” with several business places being robbed but by “outside people.”

Christian said Longdenville/Talparo Councillor Ryan Rampersad “did plenty” for residents bringing up trucks and equipment to clear the area, asking residents what they wanted, and he was responsible for getting the Brazil pavilion ready for Cuffie to open the facility one week before local elections in 2016.

The hiring of lobbyists, The Group DC LLC, by the Government “must bear fruit that can be enjoyed by all” citizens of this country, Opposition Member of Parliament for Barataria/San Juan Dr Fuad Khan has said.

Khan made the statement in a release yesterday in response to the uncertainty still surrounding exactly what benefits T&T have achieved from the lobbyists.

In October 2016, the T&T Government entered into a US$2.4 million (over TT$ 16 million) agreement with The Group DC to provide lobbying services for this country.

“When the Prime Minister finally admitted to hiring a lobbying firm in the United States of America in 2016, he did so with the usual brand of hesitancy and surreptitiousness with which we have no become accustomed. Nonetheless, after a year and six months of service to this nation, the taxpayers who are footing the US$2,000,000 bill are none the wiser as to their function and more importantly the results which they have produced, if any at all,” Khan stated yesterday.

“In the midst of this fiasco, however, uncertainty still looms over this contract regarding the procurement and selection of the GROUP DC LLC as the service provider tasked with this substantial, if not superfluous function,” Khan stated. Khan said this would not be the case, however, if Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, or one of the relevant ministers “would shed some light as to the function of this company and its Managing Director, Arthur ‘Art’ Collins.”

Khan said Collins’ name was revealed in the Wikileaks with respect to involvement in the transfer of four Uighur prisoners to Bermuda following the closure of the Guantanamo prison where they were previously held.

“In lieu of any further information regarding the involvement of the Group DC LLC, acting as foreign principals on behalf of this government, it should be a source of concern that the citizens of this nation are being kept in the dark regarding the deals being made on their behalf especially given the history of Mr Collins.”

“The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is now and should forever be reminded of its responsibility to the citizens of this country before all others. Given the current economic climate, there is no room for the accommodation of the needs of foreign countries above those of our own people,” Khan stated.

While the Palm Sunday celebrations were taking place at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Port-of-Spain yesterday, a medical student took out a pair of dumbbells and damaged the statue of St Paul and desecrated the crucifix that was supposed to be used on Good Friday.

Yesterday signalled the start of the Holy Week on the Christian calendar.

The Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday which commemorates Jesus Christ’s triumphant arrival in Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowd.

Msgr Christian Pereira led the Palm Sunday mass at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, yesterday morning.

“During the 6.30 am celebration of Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception one member of the congregation, who is a medical student, walked into the church with a knapsack containing a pair of dumbbells,” a release from Pereira stated yesterday.

“As the congregation gathered in the forecourt for the Blessing of the Palms and the procession this gentleman proceeded to destroy the Statue of St Paul and the crucifix,” the release stated.

Pereira said the damage was “well advanced” before one of the regular worshippers, an officer with SWAT Estate Police, was able to suppress the student and hold him until the police from the nearby Besson Street Police Station could arrive.

The student’s mother was contacted, and the police had intended to release him into the care of his mother.

“Even though the reality is that a crime had been committed against the church and the desecration of sacred items there is a deeper issue than that of criminal activity,” Pereira stated.

Pereira said the cost of repair and replacement will have to be borne by the worshippers who continue to be faithful.

“The mother has more important responsibilities than finding money to compensate the church,” he stated.

Pereira said the damage was considerable and the crucifix is the one usually used in our Good Friday Liturgy.

Good Friday is the day which commemorates the day Jesus Christ was crucified.

A 26-year-old businessman from Enterprise was arrested on Saturday night for possession of three guns, ammunition, bullet-proof vests and a quantity of marijuana.

According to a police report, during an anti-crime exercise by officers of the Central Division, officers executed a search warrant at 5K Mini Mart, Southern Main Road, Enterprise, where they found and seized the items.

Police said they found three pistols, an undisclosed amount of assorted ammunition and an undisclosed amount of marijuana. The owner of the mini-mart was subsequently arrested.

The exercise was supervised by acting ASP Richard Smith.

An anti-crime campaigner is seeking the support of President Paula-Mae Weekes as he intends to stage another rally in August to protest against the rising murders in the country.

Just over a year after Kesta Stoute, 27, walked from his hometown of St Mary’s Village, Moruga to San Fernando.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Stoute said he was hopeful for Weekes’ support as he believes that with her intervention T&T can combat crime.

“My walk in 2017 I gained a lot of support from the public and a few Cabinet ministers but it’s not enough. I want to now gain that support from Her Excellency and ask her to meet with the young people of our nation so that she can listen to our views as to how we can better our country, which has become that of a war zone,” Stoute said.

“I believe that change is gonna come but it will take time and much effort. I intend to never stop until I can see the days my grandparents talked about…where they could sleep with doors open,” he said.

Stoute, who has an active role in the St Mary’s Police Youth Club and several schools in his area, said crime and murders have “hit home” for him, especially the murders of women, who in some cases were mothers and have now left their children behind.

“I want to have children and I would like to be around to see them have children and I want my parents to be around to see me have children. Why must I work hard for what I have and someone must come and take that away from me? It’s not fair. We shouldn’t be living in so much fear and duress to the criminals out here,” Stoute said.

“We must teach people that if you give a man a fish, he eats it for a day, but teach him to fish he eats for a lifetime…My motto is love of my God, my country, my family and my fellow men…This is what I live by and I intend to share with everyone I come in contact with,” he said.

Stoute is expected to send the letter to Weekes after Easter is observed.

Stoute is also planning an anti-crime rally in August and is hopeful that Weekes would also be a part by showing her full support.

On March 18, 2017, Stoute, embarked on the eight-hour walk from his hometown to San Fernando.

Stoute initially thought of staging a silent protest on the Princes Town promenade, but decided against it after being advised that he needed permission from the police.

Malfunctioning toilets on the lone cargo vessel servicing the domestic route forced passengers to relieve themselves inside and overboard the vessel during nine hours of sailing between T&T.

The recent malfunctioning was a result of rocks, lemons and clothing placed in the toilet by passengers which choked the vessel’s sewer system, according to the Port Authority.

On Saturday, head of the watchdog group Fixin T&T Kirk Waithe posted photographs on WhatsApp showing “out of order” signs stuck on the doors of the male and female toilets.

Waithe said the toilets had not functioned for five hours on the seabridge and passengers on board were forced to relieve themselves “off the side of the vessel.”

In a release issued yesterday by the Port Authority of T&T, manager of marketing and public relations officer at the T&T Inter-Island Transportation Company Vilma Lewis-Cockburn claimed that rocks were found in the toilets, which led to clogged lines.

Lewis-Cockburn stated that on Thursday the toilet facilities were also clogged by rocks and had to be cleared.

“On Saturday, March 24, again the system was affected and repaired within hours. During these repairs, it was discovered that rocks were found lodged in the toilet vacuum system, which clogged the system,” Lewis-Cockburn stated.

Lewis-Cockburn stated that a similar situation had previously occurred where lemons and pieces of clothing were found in the system, as she appealed to passengers to refrain from placing objects in the toilets since this was against the law to maliciously tamper or destroy the authority’s property.

Secretary of the Inter-Island Truckers and Traders’ Association Samuel Applewhite said yesterday, in the past, male passengers would have urinated in the water or on inside walls of the vessel.

“But if there are no toilets working, passengers would find alternative ways to relieve themselves,” Applewhite said.

Apart from the non-functioning toilets, Applewhite said there are roaches and only hot water available in the washrooms, while only some air-conditioning units were functional.

Applewhite said the vessel has been taking as much as nine hours in some cases to make the journey.

For three weeks, he said, the boat sailed at a delayed time and then eventually experienced engine problems and had to be repaired.

“Before the boat came here they told us it would take five hours,” Applewhite said.

Yesterday, Applewhite said he went to buy tickets for Tuesday’s sailing but was told at the Port-of-Spain Ferry Terminal that none was available.

Applewhite said believed tickets were being sold to drivers of private cars and small vehicles and preference was not given to the truckers ahead of the long Easter weekend. Over 150 truckers use the service daily.

“The thing about it the boat came here to carry cargo and you telling truckers there is no space. This is affecting our livelihood. The boat is not sailing on Monday and Wednesday and I cannot get a ticket for Tuesday. So I am out of a job for the next three days,” he said.

If perishable goods are taken up on Thursday, he said, there was nowhere to store the items as warehouses would be open on Good Friday.

Applewhite said the truckers are at their wit’s end. The lone passenger ferry, the T&T Express, was pulled off the route on March 12, and since then ferry passengers have been accommodated by Caribbean Airlines. The T&T Spirit which has been undergoing repairs since June last year was expected to resume service on March 23, but that has been delayed.

The new passenger ferry, the Galleons Passage, purchased by the Government for US$18.4 m to service the seabridge, is heading to Honolulu, Hawaii from Japan where it is expected to arrive on March 31 before refuelling for its journey to the Panama Canal. The vessel is expected to arrive in T&T by the end of April.

PORT RESPONSE

Chairman of the PATT Lyle Alexander said yesterday he could not confirm if rocks were deliberately being flushed down the toilets. Asked if there might have been acts of sabotage by passengers, Alexander said he did not have conclusive evidence to support this claim. Alexander said Port officials would have to speak with the ship’s captain to determine what measures the crew can institute to prevent the situation from recurring. Installing cameras on the ship, he said, was stretching things a bit too far. “If stuff is getting into the system it would more than likely happen when people are in the toilet. It does, in fact, seem as though that things are being inserted into the sewer system. Rocks are not supposed to be there,” he said. While Alexander was not aware of the Inter-Island Truckers and Traders’ Association’s plight he promised to look into the matter.

“I am giving the assurance that their complaints will be looked into. If the truckers have issues with the port they can bring it to us,” Alexander said.

“Do not go to schools irate and with violent intent, instead put pen to paper and air your concerns,” president of the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) Raffiena Ali-Boodoosingh has advised parents and guardians.

Ali-Boodoosingh said parents and guardians are the voice of children and warned that they should not take their “rights and make it wrong.”

She also outlined how care and attention positively affected a schoolboy who was accused of bullying his schoolmates which eventually sparked fiery protests from parents calling on him to be barred from school.

Ali-Boodoosingh made the statements during the interfaith and sod-turning ceremony for the NPTA’s headquarters at Carlsen Field on Saturday.

“Parents you are the voices of your children. Don’t take your rights and make it wrong, don’t go to the schools irate, don’t go with weapons, don’t go with a stick to beat anybody, don’t slap down anybody, put pen to paper because when you put pen to paper then it counts and then we will see a difference,” Ali-Boodoosingh said.

“I’m not saying our children behave how they should behave all the time but sometimes all the stories we are told are not true and we have to stand up for our children. So I am saying instead of doing all those things call your PTA president, get your region involved,” she said.

Ali-Boodoosingh said the NPTA has had many success stories.

In November, parents staged a fiery protest outside the Cushe Government Primary School saying they were fed-up of the actions of one 12-year-old student at the school who they claimed was a bully.

“I told the executive we have to help that child because we couldn’t have that child being moved from school to school and being thrown out,” Ali-Boodoosingh said.

“Surprisingly when we went to school 90 per cent was against that poor, little boy and we took it upon ourselves to say we have to change that,” she said.

Ali-Boodoosingh said the NPTA worked closely with the Education Ministry and the school’s principal to help the boy.

Speaking to the principal on Tuesday Ali-Boodoosingh said the boy was “doing better and, behaving in class.”

“All it took was a little caring and attention to that child,” she said.

Ali-Boodoosingh said the theme for this year is “put children first to save the nation.”

She advised parents and guardian to attend PTA meetings.

The landlord who was bludgeoned to death as he tried to intervene to save three females from a crazed murderer was given a hero’s send-off yesterday as hundreds gathered in the quiet community of Sobo to bid him a final farewell.

Dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with an image of retired school teacher Michael Scott’s smiling face, mourners gathered as early as 9 am at the La Brea Seventh Day Adventist Church to give their final tributes.

They came from all parts of the country, several parts of the Caribbean as well as the United States and Canada.

During the three-hour service, Scott was lauded as the man who kept the community, family and church together.

Members of his congregation Jackie Smith, Jillian Franklyn Samuel, La Toya Walker and David Beard recalled how Scott had set up a scholarship fund out of his own pocket and contributed to the academic successes of the people of La Brea.

Pastor Leslie Moses said, “This has really rocked our church. Our church is bleeding as a result of this, what I would call demonic acts of violence perpetrated against our children, our women and our elderly. We seemed to have failed Abigail, her daughter, Olivia, Michaela and Michael Scott,” Moses said.

Moses described Scott as the quintessential male.

“We see him as a hero. He could have said this is not my business but he didn’t and I believe that he knew the risk he was taking when he went downstairs to try to intervene and possibly try to save the lives of these persons who were downstairs.”

He said Scott was a very good role model of how Trinidadians and Tobagonians ought to live. Moses suggested that citizens speak out against violence.

“I suggest that whether you are a parent, a spouse, a lover, a child, a neighbour, a relative, a friend, or just a stranger when you see violence perpetrated against anybody, speak up, act up, say something and do something because our country has gone mad.”

Moses said he has been working with university students in relation to domestic violence and abuse and was convinced that “some psycho-pathological madness was going on.”

“In other words, no person in their normal mind would do something like that. There must be some family dysfunction. Families, we need to fix it. There must be some community dysfunction,” Moses said. He called on parents to talk to their sons.

Cousin Ulric Warner described Scott as a peacemaker, educator, family counsellor, family historian, musician and a strong believer in God.

MP Nicole Olivierre said her office will embark on a campaign to end violence.

She said on April 6, a seminar will be held on developing healthy relationships.

Scott’s funeral was the last funeral to be held following the quadruple murder of March 13, which shook the community of Sobo.

A 38-year-old mason, Rodger Mattison has since been charged with the murders of Abigail Jones-Chapman, 41, her daughter Olivia Chapman, 16, friend Michaela Mason, 14 and Scott at his Khani Settlement, Sobo Village, on March 14.

The suspect was arrested by police on March 16, on a road near St Albans Quarry, in Valencia, some 200 metres away from the Valencia Stretch.

Mattison will appear before a Point Fortin Magistrate today.

Frustrated with rising crime in the southern city, members of the San Fernando Business Association have pledged financial assistance to the T&T Police Service to purchase more cameras for the city.

Speaking at a meeting at the Arcade Food court on High Street on Saturday, president of the San Fernando Business Association Daphne Bartlett said business owners were very concerned about the brazen robberies, purse snatching and pick-pocketing occurring on the main shopping streets of the city.

Bartlett said the daring heist at RT Jewellers on High Street had left many people traumatised, some of whom were calling for the return of joint army/police patrols.

She also said that a CCTV camera placed at Mon Chagrin Street had reduced criminal activities in that area. Bartlett said she had checked the prices of security cameras and was willing to join with other business owners to purchase additional surveillance cameras which can be placed at strategic locations on Lower and Upper High Streets. Mucurapo Street, Lord Street, Harris Promenade, St James Street and on Coffee Street.

She also called for a police post to be set up at Kings Wharf. Owner of Vinod Jewellers, Vinod Mishra also called for the police booth to be returned at the top of High Street.

Another business owner, Adam Hosein, said that joint army/police patrols would go a long way in reducing crime.

Managing Director of Visioneer Construction Arden O’Garrow complained that the police have not been working with the business owners. He said recently he called the police to complain that residents had blocked off a section of St James Street to allow children to play on the road but no one ever responded. He also said he was mistreated by police at the San Fernando Police Station.

In response, Assistant Commissioner of Police (South) Harry Baldeo assured the business owners that he will make recommendations to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams for joint army/patrols to resume. He urged the business owners to contact the police if they needed assistance to transport large sums of money. Baldeo also urged the business owners to remain vigilant and to assist the police with crime fighting. However, he denied that crime was on the rise in the southern city.

Assistant Supt Peter Ramdeen said there was a 21 per cent decrease in serious crimes in the city. For 2018, Ramdeen said there were 15 murders in San Fernando compared to 17 for the same period last year. He said there were 21 woundings compared to 19 in 2017, 13 rapes, compared to 19, two kidnappings, compared to five last year, 31 break-ins, compared to 39, 76 robberies compared to 93 last year, 16 incidents of fraud, compared to 26 last year, 26 general larceny, compared to 49 last year, 23 vehicles were stolen compared to 29 last year and three incidents of larceny in a dwelling house, compared to eight last year. He also said there were 45 firearm offences.

Supt Yuseff Gaffar called on the business owners to meet regularly with the police at the fortnightly station council meeting.

Deputy Mayor Vidya Mungal-Bissessar said the Corporation was moving apace to open the Municipal police headquarters at Kings Wharf.