Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has promised to monitor the Windrush issue to help T&T citizens living in England who are affected.

He made the comment yesterday after revealing he discovered there were “people from T&T who were actually deported from Britain” while attending the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

On Monday, Rowley said he met with one affected person who was grateful for the assistance she received from T&T’s mission in London when the issue became an international embarrassment.

“Actually, there was one person there who had been through the whole system ... was deemed to be illegal, sent home. Actually, it happened when she tried to renew her passport … was put out of Britain.”

The woman, Rowley said, got the deportation decision reversed and was in London to tell her story and experience of the Windrush scandal while he was there.

The Windrush scandal arose after several international reports unmasked that British citizens from the Windrush generation, many of them elderly Caribbean people, were facing deportation after being invited by the British government to the UK some 70 years ago.

Rowley said the bulk of the Caribbean people affected came from Jamaica and Barbados, with a number of citizens from T&T.

The PM said they had been given a commitment from Britain that the matter will be dealt with “right up to the level of compensation” to those affected.

Some of these citizens, Rowley said were unable to get jobs and access medical attention.

“The British Prime Minister has publicly stated in Parliament that such citizens will be identified and not mistreated.”

While arrangements have been put in place, Rowley said the T&T Government would monitor the situation closely.

Asked how many T&T nationals would have been affected, Rowley could not say, but said the numbers deported were quite small.

“We don’t have a figure but what we do know, is that, there are probably hundreds of people who are affected. The affect is so widespread that is not just the individual themselves, it is their families. It is a much larger problem.”

Defending her Project Prom initiative, Penal Debe Community Organisation head Karissa Collin yesterday denied her decision to lend graduation clothing to underprivileged students for free was motivated by politics.

Responding to critics who openly knocked her initiative after it was reported in this newspaper, Collin said she had been out of politics for two years and now that she was a young mother of two she wanted more than ever to make T&T a better place for the children.

Collin contested the local government elections in 2013 and 2016, firstly on an Independent Liberal Party ticket and later for the People’s National Movement, but lost both times as the seats were retained by the United National Congress.

“People are saying that I am doing this for politics, but it is not true. I grew up being charitable. My mother, Donna Narace, instilled this in me and I am now married to a man who is also very charitable because he grew up in a poor family. Together we are trying to help the underprivileged,” Collin said.

It was in 2011, at the age of 18 after participating in a housing census, that Collin formed the Penal/Debe Community Organisation.

“Doing that census changed my life. For the first time I realised how many people in my area were living in abject poverty and squalor,” she recalled.

“In Diamond, Debe, Hermitage and Penal, some children did not have food. When I got home that day I could not even eat. I realised that I had to help people. I started thinking about entering political life and I did. That desire to help was what led to the formation of the Penal Debe Community Organisation.”

She said the Project Prom was the brainchild of her husband Rennie Gopiesingh, who recalled not being able to attend his graduation dance because he could not afford a suit.

“The majority of people congratulated us for what we are doing but a few called to ridicule us. We know why we are doing this. If anyone wants to attend their graduation prom we are here to help,” Collin said.

She added that people from as far as Maraval and Arima called to donate dresses.

“We have set up drop-off points at Elvin’s Rim World in Debe and Lyshell’s Company at Triangular Mall, Penal. We are going to collect some dresses from Maraval. The owner of a clothing store in Princes Town called us to say we can come and collect a batch of brand new dresses,” Collin said.

She also added that volunteers have also offered to do hair and make-up for the students.

Collin said she planned to showcase some of the girls who benefited from the project, but said anyone who wanted confidentiality will be given that respect.

“We know some people may not want their friends and family to know they got a free dress, so if that is the case we won’t tell,” she added.

Gopiesingh said so far they have collected an additional 60 dresses. He said apart from this, the organisation had over 30,000 pieces of clothing to distribute along with brand new footwear. This clothing give-away will take place at the couple’s Chitar Trace, Mohess Road, Penal home on May 5 from 2-5 pm.

Anyone wanting to collect clothing can call Collin or Gopiesingh at 329-7170/ 303-9152.

Although technology is available to detect counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs, it won’t take long for someone to invent technology to defeat it, Cariri CEO Liaquat Ali Shah said yesterday.

“It is noteworthy that IBM has developed what they referred to as the world’s smallest computer. It is in reality a mini chip which would cost approximately US $0.10 that can be placed in packages or boxes that can help in the fight against counterfeiters,” he told participants at a pharmaceutical counterfeiting conference at the Hilton Trinidad.

He estimated it would take 12-18 months for another device to be invented to counter-proof the existing technology. Noting the rapid advance of 3-D technology which makes it possible to print anything, including a medicine tablet, Shah urged local pharmacists and medical professionals to have meaningful dialogue to “arrest the scourge of counterfeit drugs.”

“You are reminded that such undertaking requires a collaborative effort involving the clean—the stakeholders who do not engage in counterfeit drugs. Stakeholders, in essence are fighting the fake campaign with interventions on a number of fronts, including legal, regulatory, education and consumer vigilance and communication, not to mention information and technology.”

“The stakes are high with patients, particularly the poor and vulnerable. You can’t afford to return here in five or ten years and be in the same situation where we are in now, still talking about the need for action with virtually doing nothing,” Shah said, noting the issue of counterfeiting was so chronic that T&T cannot afford to divert from its goal to eradicate it.

The consensus among the presenters was the difficulty in managing the supply chain infiltration of medicine from the raw material suppliers to patients.

Dr Devendra Singh, Specialist Medical Officer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the South West Regional Health Authority, said: “The scale of the problem is hard to quantify precisely, but WHO (World Health Organization) pooled analysis of 100 studies from 2007 to 2016, covering more than 48,000 samples, showed 10.5 per cent of drugs in low and middle-income countries to be fake or substandard.”

He added: “Drugs are on the formulary that are not effective, yet we still administer to our patients.”

Percival A Jordan, of Panama-based Pfizer, described the global situation as organised crime because pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a business. Counterfeit products have a wide scope, he said, managing to slip through the cracks in every industry and every market.

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Pharmaceutical Procurement Services head Francis Burnette said regional bodies implemented to target the challenge include Caricom Techpharm, a technical advisory group on pharmaceutical policy, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and Vigicarib, a regulatory unit within Caricom’s regional public health body. Online pharmaceutical purchases pose a greater challenge to control, as these purchases are unmonitored and usually purchased on a self-diagnosis basis, he said. Buyers in these instances will not be able to detect counterfeiting cues such as wrong packaging, educational materials to match the packaging and professional detection of the dosage and potency.

The Health Ministry has launched an audit into all implants done at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital from January 1, 2017 to date, with a time-line of one week for a preliminary report, acting Health Minister Cherrie Anne Crichlow-Cockburn said in response to queries on the issue in the Senate yesterday.

This follows an exclusive Guardian Media report that an orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital has stopped performing hip replacement surgeries after discovering that mismatched components for implants are being supplied for the procedures. The doctor - who sent a letter to PoSGH medical director Dr Anthony Parkinson on the matter - said the practice could cause other serious health issues for patients in future.

Yesterday in the Senate, Independent Senator Paul Richards asked Government what measures will be taken to address the issue of mixing components from different manufacturers for orthopaedic surgeries.

Revealing the audit, Crichlow-Cockburn said, “This is to ensure that correct devices were used in compliance with international regulatory (FDA) standards. All companies who are direct suppliers to the Regional Health Authority have been requested to provide the list of the companies that they receive their orthopaedic supplies from, and to provide the proof of verification (eg 510 (K) number) that must meet international regulatory (FDA) standards.”

She added: “Only pre-qualified companies meeting this requirement will be engaged.”

The controversial Couva Children’s Hospital will now be converted to a teaching hospital, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday.

He made the comment as he said Government had partnered with the University of the West Indies (UWI) and private firm Inter-Health Canada to get the hospital operational once and for all.

Last week, Rowley told members of T&T’s Diaspora that if no suitable operator is found for the hospital by month’s end it will be incorporated into T&T’s national health care system as the country’s first paying health care institution.

Yesterday, he said Government has teamed up with UWI and Inter-Health Canada to allow them “to kill many birds using one stone,” one of which was for Government to settle a $200 million debt to UWI which had accumulated over the years. He said UWI will provide the health training, while Inter-Health Canada will provide a new model of health care we have not seen before. Having held discussions with UWI’s

Chancellor and Inter-Health Canada, Rowley said in the next few weeks they will get details on how things will work with regards to advancing health care delivery at the hospital.

“Suffice to say, what we are aiming for is an offshore medical school run by UWI providing cutting edge service for the people of T&T and the world.”

This service, he said, will be the first of its kind.

The offshore school will also be a joint venture between the Government and UWI with input from Inter-Health Canada.

“We are hoping this will extend the whole question of medical tourism and extend to the Scarborough Hospital.”

Asked if the Couva Hospital, which was the People’s Partnership flagship project, will now become a teaching hospital, Rowley said yes.

“That would be the intention. There would be a commercial aspect to it. It is a novel arrangement.”

He said although the hospital was named the Couva Children’s Hospital, it has been outfitted with “more adult beds” which they would make maximum use of.

“We will use it as a basis to enter this lucrative area of offshore medical training.

“The new operators and owners will determine how far we go with this hospital.”

The PM said there was no need to look at additional specialised paediatric medical care, since the Wendy Fitzwilliams Paediatric Hospital provided this service.

Rowley said he also invited India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer opportunities to health care professionals to contribute to training at the hospital by teaching traditional Indian medicine, which is over 3,000 years old. He promised more details in coming weeks.

No mother, family support, education and bad company are a some of the factors in Allison Paul’s life which moulded him into the convicted rapist he is today.

This was submitted by Paul’s attorney Subhas Panday to Justice Maria Wilson who is expected on May 8 to sentence 68-year-old Paul for rape and burglary which occurred in 2006.

Paul, who was also known as Allison Ramsingh and Blacks, was in March found guilty by a jury in the San Fernando Third Criminal Court of burglary with intent to rape and rape of a woman who was then 67 years old.

She died last September at the age of 77. The woman was asleep at her home when Paul broke into the home, threatened, choked and raped the victim.

In his mitigation plea yesterday, Panday said Paul had a difficult upbringing, resulting in him spending 34 years of his life in prison for various offences.

Paul also has a pending rape charge before the court.

Panday said Paul’s mother died when he was six months old and he did not receive support from his father.

Panday said at the age of eight Paul dropped out of school and began working as a fisherboy. He said Paul, who has never even seen a picture of his mother, felt abandoned and alone.

When Paul was 17 years old he moved to Port-of-Spain where his life spiralled downwards.

All these things, he said, could have caused Paul to have deep psychological problems and lose his humanity and respect.

Panday said Paul now has problems with his eyesight, kidney, bladder and stomach.

Asking the court to temper justice with mercy, Panday said at Paul’s age and his health problems he posed no real danger to society.

However, prosecutor Trevor Jones recommended that Paul he sent to jail, after the necessary discounts were applied, to 20 years for the rape and 15 years for the burglary.

Jones said there was a disturbing trend in crimes of robberies and burglaries where female victims were raped.

“In the Caribbean region, we take rape too lightly. Rape leaves a lifelong scar on victims,” said Jones.

He said Paul broke into the woman’s house with the sole intent to rape.

He said the testimony of another woman, who claimed he raped her coupled with his aggressive behaviour in court, showed Paul’s true nature.

“At what point law-abiding citizens must be penalised because someone feels their parents weren’t there for them? This is his (Paul) propensity,” said Jones.

A newly-found supplemental internal Petrotrin report could vindicate A&V Drilling in the fake oil scandal, according to the company’s attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Maharaj said he could not provide the media with a copy of the Supplemental Internal Audit report leaked to him as he wanted to be fair to the Government.

The document, Maharaj said, was passed to him by St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar who got it through his constituency office. Maharaj said he intends to forward the report to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who has admitted to being a close friend of A&V Drilling owner Nizam Baksh.

Maharaj said he expected Petrotrin and the Government to take urgent steps to “redress the injustice done to A&V Drilling.”

The company’s contract with Petrotrin was terminated after the findings of two international reports stated that A&V Drilling was paid for crude oil it did not produce.

Maharaj said the document provides reliable evidence that the “present system utilised by Petrotrin in receiving and measuring crude oil was seriously flawed.”

He noted that the findings of Kroll Consulting Canada Co and Gaffney, Cline & Associates of the United Kingdom were concealed by Petrotrin officials who used it to unfairly terminate A&V’s contract.

Petrotrin is reported to have paid US$8 million to the A&V Drilling for oil it never received.

Maharaj said: “The conclusions of this Supplemental Internal Audit report were shocking and clearly identified a lack of adherence to Standard Operating Procedures by Petrotrin’s refinery personnel, inaccurate measurements of fluid volumes, poor crude sampling procedures, inadequate tankage for the proper treatment and storage of crude, poor supervision, lack of training and poor contract management as serious defects in the system.”

Saying A&V was one of the largest independent contractors which producd and supplied crude oil to Petrotrin, Maharaj said the company had produced evidence to show it expended $1.1 billion in capital and infrastructural investments in the Catshill Field for eight years so that oilwells could produce at maximum capacity. He also said Petrotrin owes A&V $96 million.

Saying that Petrotrin should have looked at its measurement systems before terminating A&V’s contract, Maharaj noted, “Petrotrin did not give A&V an opportunity to be heard or to answer any allegations against it before it compiled the Internal Audit Report or the Kroll and Cline Reports or the Supplemental Internal Audit report.” He said A&V’s lawyers were willing to meet with the government to have the matter resolved.

However, Petrotrin in a statement on December 22, last year said Petrotrin gave written notice of termination to A&V Drilling and Workover Limited, parent company of A&V Oil and Gas Ltd, after it communicated its findings to the company and gave it an opportunity to respond. At the time, Petrotrin chairman Wilfred Espinet said the board act only after careful consideration of all relevant matters.

Despite an assurance from Education Minister Anthony Garcia that salaries of school bus drivers are being processed, president of the Maxi Taxi Concessionaires Association Rodney Ramlogan says they are sceptical of the promise.

Responding to a statement from Garcia that invoices for payments for January 2018 were only received from the Public Transport Service Corporation last week Friday, Ramlogan said he found it strange that PTSC submitted their invoices in April.

“Normally we do invoices on a fortnightly basis and submit them to the PTSC. We did this since January. We have worked every fortnight for this year. It would have taken at least a month for the first payment to come in but we are entering the fifth month of the year and we have not one cent,” Ramlogan said.

He noted that under Garcia’s tenure it was the first time in 28 years that drivers were facing hardship to get their salaries.

“This is what we worked for. It is owed to us. Garcia and the ministry is saying that we are a valuable service but they are not treating us as if we are valuable,” Ramlogan said.

He also said that Garcia has accused the service of having “ghost buses.”

“There has never been any evidence of this. Last term Garcia said only 12,000 children were being transported to schools but after an investigation was done, they realised that we were responsible for transporting over 30,000 students. The ministry needs to get its act together. We need to support our families. We cannot continue to work in this manner,” Ramlogan said.

He warned that if they are not paid, the service will be shut down after the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination is completed next week Thursday.

Garcia, in a statement, said he had put measures in place to verify all invoices for payments to maxi taxi operators who are contracted by the PTSC to transport school children. He said concerns had been raised about the need to carefully review and analyse all requests for payments, in order to ensure quality service and value for money.

He noted that the review exercise conducted by the ministry had resulted in the reimbursement of approximately $ 1.7 million to the ministry.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez yesterday apologised to members of the Charlotte Street Vendors Association for making a decision to move them to George Street without first consulting them. However, the decision still stands.

On Wednesday, Martinez announced the relocation of the vendors as part of an initiative to launch the Central Business District Revitalisation Programme in the city. He said the vendors are to be relocated to the old Angostura Bond property between George and Nelson Streets.

But after the move was severely criticised by the vendors, Martinez called a meeting at City Hall yesterday to try to smooth things out.

Martinez firstly apologised to the vendors, admitting he did not consult with them after the decision was taken by the corporation to relocate them.

“I am truthful to the fact that I didn’t consult with the vendors at the end when the decision was taken and the first people that I met with when I became Mayor of Port-of-Spain was the members of the administrative team of the Vendors’ Association and we were discussing the chaos on Charlotte Street and the vendors knew what the city had to do. Let us first apologise to the Vendors’ Association for not consulting them when we decided to take the decision at the end to relocate them to George Street,” he said.

However, when it was time to voice their concerns, the majority of the vendors did not specifically address the issue of the George Street move, but focused on the breakdown of the programme that had been set up to facilitate their operation on Charlotte Street.

Vendor Crystal Daniel complained that Port-of-Spain City Corporation councillors were not seen walking on Charlotte Street and such drastic measures should not have been taken by the corporation. She accused the councillors of being absent on the streets and taking in air-condition while working between 8 am to 4 pm.

“Things cannot get out of hand overnight. It takes a process and now we let it get out of hand? Everybody playing the blame game,” she said.

Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald, who was also present, said she was born in east Port-of-Spain and assisted the vendors even when she was in Opposition. However, she said two people were being paid by the corporation specifically to assist the vendors. But she said from the comments she heard, the councillors were not walking the streets, there was a communication breakdown and illegal vending was a major problem.

“Two people were hired to take care of the vendors to supervise and walk the street ensuring things go right, that there was not suppose to be a breakdown. I want to state that a Cabinet note cannot circumvent the laws of the land. You have to take it to Parliament and amend it in order to arrive at what you want.”

An irate Juliet Davy attempted to interrupt McDonald, but later said it was she and Melba Boxhill who were the ones hired to assist the programme. But Davy said they were “running the programme” without assistance and resources from the corporation.

“We running this programme assistance and resources from the corporation and we managed to keep it going. We live in a society where thanks is out the window. I am hurt to tears,” she said emotionally.

One vendor admitted they were vending illegally, but in a reference to the recent ruling against two clauses of the buggery law, pointed out there were other things which were previously illegal which were now being made legal.

The meeting was also attended by Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein, acting fire chief Roosevelt Bruce, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management head Neville Wint and Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke. Bruce and Wint said they agreed with the mayor’s initiative as there were safety and emergency issues which were an issue on Charlotte Street due to the activity on the vendors. Bruce gave an example of an ambulance with a sick patient being unable to make its way down the street.

Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan yesterday defended himself against claims by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal that he (Sinanan) acted “improperly and unethically” by travelling from Miami to the Piarco International Airport with a radar system for the limping T&T Spirit.

During yesterday’s sitting of Parliament, where a motion of no-confidence was raised against Sinanan, Moonilal read out a letter dated April 1, 2018 from the Port Authority of T&T (PATT) to the comptroller of Customs and Excise at the Piarco International Airport, advising that Sinanan would be travelling with “a radar system for the T&T Spirit” vessel on Caribbean Airlines flight BW 483, which was scheduled to land on April 1. The letter requested permission for Customs and Excise to clear the part.

PATT asked the comptroller to “transact this matter” on its behalf. PATT also said in the letter that the equipment was a critical replacement for the vessel to resume operations on the inter-island sea bridge.

“Now how you reach there? You bringing back a rear view mirror for your car? You bringing back a radar system and the Minister of Works is bringing in a radar system into T&T?”

Moonilal said, adding this should have been the job of a public servant and not Sinanan.

Moonilal said Sinanan, who holds a diplomatic passport, would have certain immunities according to the Geneva Convention and would not have been searched at the point of entry and exit.

Moonilal questioned who bought the radar system.

“How was it purchased? Did the minister buy it with money from his pocket? A minister ought not to be involved in that way, in purchasing goods and services for a State-enterprise … and a minister that carries a diplomatic passport, it has other implications for going through airports.”

Moonilal said it was “highly improper” and “unethical” for Sinanan to travel with the equipment.

“A minister cannot be dragging bags across airports. You are not a porter. If a ticket holder carries a diplomatic passport, they (immigration) cannot search nothing. You cannot verify what you bring in. This speaks to a minister’s overreach and interference and personal and intimate dealings with a State enterprise.”

In defence, Sinanan later admitted to the T&T Guardian that the PATT had purchased the part in Miami and needed it immediately for the vessel.

At that time, Sinanan said he was in Miami and opted to travel with the part, which would have taken a week to get to Trinidad if sent through a courier service. He said PATT was willing to send someone to collect the part, but in the interest of time he did the needful.

“I wanted to see the boat back up and running so the company, they (PATT) purchased the part from there, they delivered it to me and I brought in.”

He said the T&T Spirit was out of commission for several hours due to the unavailability of the radar system. PATT would have footed the bill for the part, Sinanan said.

“I see nothing improper about it. I did noting untoward.”

Canadian anti-corruption authorities must investigate Canada-based Bridgemans’ Services Group’s (BSG) source of funding to buy the “Ocean Flower 2,” since there are rumours in T&T the money came from a particular car dealer, says UNC MP Suruj Rambachan.

Rambachan made the call in Parliament yesterday in piloting a motion of no-confidence against Works Minister Rohan Sinanan.

Calling for Prime Minister DR Keith Rowley to revoke Sinanan’s appointment, Rambachan listed failures under Sinanan’s tenure, particularly with the Tobago seabridge. He cited procurement and operation of vessels marred by allegations of corruption and nepotism, widespread stakeholder criticism and public uproar.

Accusing Sinanan of negligence, he said Sinanan presided over use of vessels with serious safety defects, risking lives and noted calls for Sinanan’s removal from a wide cross section of T&T stakeholders.

Rambachan called for a Government conscience vote on the motion and on Tobago East and West MPs - and Tobago-born PNM MP Rowley to express how they feel. Rambachan said Sinanan as minister was ultimately responsible for Port Authority actions and with the widespread public indictments against him, he should have resigned.

He particularly took issue with Sinanan’s removal of the “Galicia” from the seabridge, which started problems, and contracting of BSG’s vessels.

Rambachan noted BSG didn’t have a vessel until after arrangements for the “Ocean Flower 2” were finalised. He cited a Dun and Bradstreet report claiming BSG was “broke,” yet later (US)$5.5 million was found to buy the boat.

“Where did the money come from? I’m asking the Canadian parliament, government and anti-corruption authorities to seek answers on where BSG got the funding, as there are rumours it came from a particular car dealer in T&T,” he added.

Claiming mishandling of recent dry docking schedules for the T&T Spirit and Express, Rambachan noted a 2017 report detailing a host of issues with both - yet the vessels had been used with all of that ongoing.

On the expected Galleons Passage arrival, Rambachan expressed concern over whether it could handle the rough water between Trinidad and Tobago. He noted current vessels are 93 metres long, but the Galleons Passage is 74 metres.

There is a division on the Police Service Commission’s process to select a Commissioner of Police.

Government members of a Parliamentary committee examining the PSC’s process to select a CoP and deputy CoP say the process was defective and they want a review of that order.

But Opposition members on the committee say the PSC acted in good faith and restarting the selection process would be a “colossal waste of money.”

Members of the Special Select Committee mandated earlier this year to examine the issue were divided yesterday on the PSC’s process, after chairman Fitzgerald Hinds laid the team’s report in Parliament. Government has three other MPs on the team.

Opposition members on the team, MPs Ganga Singh and Roodal Moonilal, who said they hadn’t seen the finished report, submitted a minority report.

The team was mandated by Parliament in February to examine the PSC’s selection process after DCPs Deodat Dulalchan and Harold Phillips were named for the top spots of CoP and DCP and nominees’ names were seen by the President’s office to Parliament for examination.

However, both Government and Opposition expressed concerns about PSC’s selection process and the committee was instructed to review it.

The report from the four Government majority members of the committee states they believed the direct involvement of PSC members in the assessment stage of the process wasn’t what was contemplated in the order (on the issue) made under the Constitution.

“Additionally, having regard to observations and findings, the committee considers that in many respects the manner in which the entire process was conducted by the PSC was defective and unreliable and may expose the PSC to allegations of arbitrariness and lack of transparency.”

They, however, admitted recognising that there wasn’t full consensus on their conclusions, “... as a minority of members believe there was no fundamental breach of the law beginning with an open tender and ending with a strategy that allowed for a unanimous method of selection, and that the flaws in the process weren’t fundamental so as to that rendered it unfair and arbitrary.”

The majority of members recommended “that the order made pursuant to Section 123 (2) of the Constitution should be subject to urgent review with the view to the establishment of well-defined guidelines for the selection of a CoP and DCoP.”

After Hinds submitted the report to Parliament, UNC’s Singh said the Opposition members on the committee hadn’t seen it.

Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she’d never heard of this happening.

Although Singh persisted, House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George said MPs would have an opportunity to speak on the report when it is debated.

The Opposition’s minority report states there is “presumption of regularity in the conduct of public bodies unless mala fides - bad faith - can be proven.”

“Therefore, in the absence of such findings the PSC acted in good faith. At all times the PSC sought and obtained legal advice on their role, involvement and boundaries,” the Opposition report said.

“It was commendable they depended on legal advice throughout this process. We agreed with the Director of Personnel Administration that the PSC did the best they could in the new circumstances - indeed the PSC charted new ground. If there were shortcomings in the use of human resource management or recruitment strategies adopted, these were not fatal and cannot nullify the outcome.”

The Opposition report added, “Given the resources, time, frustrations and clear impairment of having our law enforcement sector properly established , it would be a colossal waste of money and time to embark on this process again. Given this, we’re of the view that the notifications from the President (on the selection issue) should be affirmed by the House of Representatives.”

The Opposition also felt the PSC didn’t breach the legal notice on the selection issues or the Constitution and had acted within a High Court judgement concerning the selection process also.

Singh and Moonilal also stated they disagreed with several findings of the majority Government team. But they added that they also agreed with some of the observations.

Their report stated they’d requested more time to seek clarification on several issues in doubt in the majority report, but this wasn’t successful.

Two Opposition MPs who sat as members of a Special Select Committee (SSC) to obtain information utilised by the Police Service Commission (PSC) in the selection of candidates for the positions of commissioner of police and deputy police commissioner claimed they were “ambushed,” after Government committee members yesterday laid a final report in Parliament which they did not see.

Instead, MPs Ganga Singh and Dr Roodal Moonilal opted to compile an eight page-minority report dated April 27, which they submitted to the House.

As a result of not being privy to the report, Moonilal and Singh intend to write House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George and the Clerk of the House about the issue.

During a press conference yesterday, however, SSC chairman Fitzgerald Hinds raised questions about both MPs not affixing their signatures to the 41-page report but handing over a minority report which would have divergent views to the final report.

“As a committee, we were quite shocked and in my case I was horrified because of all of my noble and approaches to accommodate all views and not having heard one word from my two colleagues about a minority report, we were all shocked and I am personally horrified and affronted at the fact that they ran sheepishly and worst, behind our backs and submitted a minority report.”

Hinds said Singh and Moonilal had breached all ethics and showed no loyalty.

SSC members Randall Mitchell and Nicole Olivierre also expressed similar sentiments to Hinds, saying they too were taken by surprise at Moonilal and Singh’s actions, as there were no major disagreements on both sides, they having worked late on Thursday night to get the report prepared.

“It leaves me to wonder if they are politicising this very important and serious work of the committee in a matter before us with the appointment of a commissioner…a very serious issue in T&T, recognising the role of the commissioner of police in law enforcement and maintaining law and order in the land,” Olivierre said.

But Singh said according to Standing Orders 114, members ought to have sight of a report before the committee makes a conclusion.

“It’s is clear that it was an attempt to ambush the Opposition members of the committee,” Singh said.

Throughout meetings, Singh said Hinds had indicated that if they did not agree on matters they could compile a minority report, which was what they did. The minority report indicates their thoughts on the selection process of the PSC.

“Where ever you saw there was disagreement, we thought we owed it as a duty to the country to tell them our sentiments and not be circumscribed in any way,” Singh said.

Moonilal said it was unheard of that you can lay a report in Parliament and members of the committee not see its content.

“I was in shock when Minister Hinds got up to lay this report today in the House. I thought it was another report. We see this as a wider undermining of the Parliament,” Moonilal said.

Two schools were evacuated, a bank was forced to close and more than 100 mall workers scampered for safety when a fire broke out at Edan Centre in the heart of the city of San Fernando yesterday.

The fire started around 10 am at the Silver Rails Diner in the mall’s food court.

More than 20 firefighters from the Mon Repos Fire Station responded. Fire officers had to run a hose from High Street to San Fernando wharf, about 850 metres, to get sea water to help them douse the blaze.

The fire reingnited several times and firefighters had to return to douse the flames.

Employee Ayana Byron said she was preparing meals when she saw fire in the gas line. Byron and another employee started shouting as the line exploded.

The owner of Traditional Indian Food diner, who requested anonymity, said she heard the explosion and quickly grabbed her purse.

“I told my worker to take her bag and run,” she said.

As smoke moved through the building, more than 100 people quickly evacuated.

Afiya Forde, the owner of Urban Tredz said, “We did not know what was happening. We saw a lot of smoke. It smelt like an electrical fire.”

Manager of the mall Ashnool Mohammed said he was upstairs when the fire started.

“We have about 20 tenants in the mall and everyone lost no time in evacuating the building. The fire officers arrived within a few minutes and right now they have everything under control,” Mohammed said.

Because the flames stemmed from the gas line, the fire quickly spread to the air condition ducts in the roof. As thick black smoke billowed from the building, scores of people began uploading videos of the fire on social media.

The TTFS Aerial Platform team arrived a short while later and used a hydraulic truck to battle the flames from on top. Two front-line firemen used self-contained breathing apparatus to enter the fire zone. Within half an hour, fire officers brought the blaze under control.

During this time staff and customers from the nearby Republic Bank on Harris Promenade were evacuated.

The Westley Anglican preschool pupils were also evacuated and stayed at their muster point on the promenade.

More than 500 pupils from San Fernando Boys’ RC were also evacuated. First and second year pupils were kept in the Bishop’s men’s auditorium of Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church while the older children were supervised on the promenade.

Parents who heard of the fire came and picked up their children. Among them was Shakieel Johnson who said he heard of the fire and decided not to take any chances.

Police blocked off High Street for more than two hours and motorists had to use alternative routes. This was not the first time Edan Centre has caught fire.

In April 2015, a fire broke out on the fifth floor. A tenant, who requested anonymity, said they pay between $4,500 and $5,700 per month to rent a spot at the mall.

The tenant called on the mall owners to upgrade the building to prevent any further fires.

Trinidadians are known for their odd sense of humour and sometimes “unacceptable” Trini talk but they can get in “big trouble for their mouth” under the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2018 as an offence of Glorification of Terror is being proposed.

This proposal was made yesterday by director of the Financial Intelligence Unit of T&T (FIUTT), Susan Francois, during the Joint Select Committee of the Parliament on the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2018 held yesterday in the Parliament.

Francois said while her proposal “may be a bit contentious” it is geared towards people who praise or celebrate acts of terrorism whether directly or indirectly “in such a way that it may encourage others to commit a terrorist act or when there is an intent to incite the commission of terrorists, as well as, the risk of the person speaking, that it will fall on fertile ground.”

Francois’ drew reference to an article carried in the Dabiq magazine featuring T&T’s Shane Crawford, a designated terrorist in T&T, and referred to words he used which could have the effect of encouraging the commission of terrorist acts in T&T.

“That is the kind of situation I am talking about and I think we need to deal strongly with terrorism and protect citizens as much as we can. We need to take strong measures…If we don’t recognise the seriousness of the situation then the solutions we adopt would not be strong enough,” Francois said.

Committee member, St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar objected to word “glorious” saying there may be issues to definite the offence.

But Francois responded saying that the usage of different words may tend to “weaken the intention.”

Committee chairman Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said an interpretation of the offence may be an issue as well since Trinidadians have a “dynamic and peculiar form of humour and public commentary.”

He admitted that he is intrigued by the proposal but cautious.

“We say unacceptable things that are intended to mean otherwise. We are Trinis and there must be a careful approach,” he said.

Committee member Fitzgerald Hinds referred to the New York case involving Trinidadian, Abdul Kareem, who he said his Trini style in talking got him in trouble after he was charged for attempting to disrupt a gas line at the JFK airport.

In his defence, Hinds added, Kareem said he was being “Trini” in terms of his manner of speech.

“An investigator engaged him in conversation and in typical Trini way, he spoke Trini talk but we have to be extremely careful because it landed him in serious trouble,” Hinds said.

Francois, in another submission, proposed the extension of detention of people suspected of carrying out a terrorist act or threat to be to move from a minimum of 48 hours to minimum 14 days and to a maximum of 90 days.

Francois said the extension of detention will “allow investigators to access required information from other jurisdictions, if need be, where time zones can be a factor and also to establish identity of suspects or gather information on associates, to which sometimes they may have forged IDs or stolen IDs or no IDs. All these are reasons that need to give law enforcement more time to gather evidence.”

Two men who murdered a man before taking turns raping his female friend during a botched robbery are expected to be released from prison in less than 12 years.

High Court Judge Hayden St Clair-Douglas yesterday sentenced Desmond Cyrus and Michael Edwards to a total of 45 years in prison for their attack on a 25-year-old man and his friend, which occurred on November 26, 2005.

Guardian Media Ltd has opted not to use the victim’s name to protect the survivor’s identity.

In deciding on the sentences, St Clair-Douglas applied an automatic one-third discount as they pleaded guilty to the offences in May, last year.

He also subtracted the 12 years, four months and two weeks, they spent on remand before they were allowed to plead guilty.

They also pleaded guilty to charges of grievous sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery with violence, false imprisonment and attempted buggery.

As he passed the sentences, St Clair-Douglas noted the “extreme brutality and gratuitous acts of violence” committed against the couple.

While he acknowledged their expressions of remorse, he stated that there was a difference between that and their regret at being caught by police.

He also made note of victim impact statements from the female victim and the murdered man’s mother.

The female victim described her attackers as “animals” as she said that she was left mentally scarred by the sexual assault after witnessing the man’s murder.

The victim’s mother described her son’s death as “disturbing and disgusting” and said she continues to grieve and suffers from depression.

According to the evidence in the case, the couple was attacked by the Cyrus and Edwards as they stopped at a bar in Freeport.

The duo demanded the couple’s bank cards and cash but was not satisfied by what they got.

They forced the man to drive to a lonely area in Carlsen Field, where they beat him unconscious.

They then raped his friend four times and forced her to perform oral sex on them. They kicked her in her back, chest and stomach and threatened to mutilate her nipples and vagina.

After the assault, which lasted several hours, they drove off with the woman before throwing her out of the car. She walked to a nearby community and called the police.

The male victim, who suffered more than 90 per cent damage to his brain, was taken to hospital but died the following morning.

Cyrus and Edwards were represented by Keith Scotland and Kirk Hogan while Veona Neal-Munroe prosecuted.

The chairman of the National Commission for Self Help (NCSH) Edgar Zephyrine has called a meeting of senior managers at the commission as he began an “investigation” into the Abercrombie Fund, which he described as a “mystery fund” at Wednesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC)

On Wednesday, several questions were asked about the fund.

Committee member David Small questioned how an agency so strapped for cash could have made a $20 million investment in the fund at First Citizens in 2014.

Zephyrine described the fund as a “bit of a mystery” and promised to investigate the fund and present the findings to the PAEC.

He told the committee that when he came into office in December 2015 there was $5 million in the Fund.

But committee member Jennifer Baptiste-Primus said the commission had submitted documents which reflected a balance in the fund of $15 million on December 1, 2015.

She said. “I just find it strange the document gives one figure when another figure is placed before the committee.”

Zephyrine said, “We need to do some tracing to see how we got from the $15 million in the report to the $5 million the notion in my head is when the Board assumed office this is what was there.”

On Thursday, senior managers were called to a meeting at the commission’s head office in Port- of- Spain when the Abercrombie Fund was discussed.

Senior officials of the commission, who spoke to the T&T Guardian on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said they found it “laughable” that Zephyrine had told the parliamentary committee that the fund was a “mystery” since a top official of the commission had signed off on withdrawals from the fund.

One senior official said the fund, which stood at $15 million when the Board took office in December 2015, is now “just about $2 million with principal alone, all the interest has been used up.”

Asked what the money was used for, senior officials told the T&T Guardian it was used for “administrative purposes in one instance and money was withdrawn to pay gratuities after an allocation for gratuities was utilised for another purpose.” In addition, some of the money has been used to pay contractors.

The T&T Guardian was also told that the Abercrombie Fund was actually set up at the First Citizens in 2001.

“It represents a principal investment in the sum of $20 million, which was the residual amount of Infrastructural Development Funding received. It was set up as an investment account from IDF funding. They took the balance and put it in this fund to gain interest. It was supposed to be an investment,” according to one official.

This was confirmed by Krishna Ramcoomar who chaired the commission for 13 years until 2009. He said the commission invested in the Abercrombie Fund because it “generated the most interest in all the fixed deposits.”

He said, “It wasn’t much eh we talking a few million dollars, and the interest we got we used that to do internal things like if the office wanted stationary or we having a function and we had no funds to host it, we took from that. It was spent wisely on the commission.”

Ramcoomar said when he was there the fund had “four, five million dollars, or sometimes when we get the early releases we take some and we put it in the fund, so while we waiting to use it we getting interest.

We use what we had to use in grants and we put the remainder in the fund, and that money will generate the interest until we needed it.”

He said when the commission, under his watch got it’s allocations “we took what we needed based on a projection for a few months and the rest instead of leaving it idly in the banks we put it under the Abercrombie Fund which generated the most interest.”

An 18-year-old man, who falsely reported a robbery, has pleaded guilty to a charge of wasteful employment of police time. He appeared in court yesterday.

Andel Procope, of Monkey Town, New Grant, appeared before Magistrate Michelle Maharajh-Brown in the Princes Town Magistrates’ Court .

He was placed on a bond of $1000 and ordered to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for one year.

Procope initially made a report to the Princes Town Police Station on March 17, 2018, that while walking along Tramline Street, Princes Town, around 12.30 pm he was accosted by two armed men who robbed him of $2,001.00.

The money had been given to him by his mother to pay an outstanding bill.

Investigations were supervised by Sgt Roland Ramlogan, of the Princes Town CID, while Procope was charged by PC Caleb Ramkissoon on Thursday

It was 1962, and a nine-year-old boy decided to take part in a singing competition at his primary school in Belmont.

Having suffered from polio at the age of one, which left one of his legs damaged, the boy limped toward the stage at Belmont Boys' RC school.

"When they called my name, the transition as I stepped on the stage was a powerful kind of experience, I said 'I like this'."

The name they called that day was "David Rudder."

It is a name that has become a household one in T&T and other parts of the world now.

Next Sunday, Rudder will be celebrating his 65th birthday.

On Saturday, the night before his birthday, Rudder will have a concert at the Hotel Normandie to celebrate his life's journey with his fans.

That concert is aptly titled Rudder 6.5.

"This will be a celebration not just of my life but the people's journey through the life with my music as the soundtrack," Rudder said.

Rudder's journey has been a fantastic one.

He sat down with the Sunday Guardian for an one-on-one interview on Friday to discuss it.

After making his debut on that Belmont Boys' RC stage, Rudder's musical adventure began.

"I then joined a little group called The Solutions, the In Larks was actually the first name, and that was it, we started to do little gigs around the town and we used to make $5 a gig," Rudder said.

Rudder was the lead singer of the four-member boy band that sang soul music and R&B.

"We used to go across the island performing in different areas and even sometimes go to Barbados and come back," he said.

Eventually, however, the band disbanded as some of the other members migrated.

"But then I started to write my own songs and I would go around with my guitar. I liked folk music and the folk music was big at that time, so I listened to how they were singing their stories like Calypso," Rudder said.

Rudder said in the late 1960s he wrote and sang songs about the National Union of Freedom Fighters (Nuff) who rebelled and went to live in the Northern Range.

"So I used to write songs about these guys in the hills and actually the first songs I recorded but I was a little boy then and some important person wanted a tape to record and the engineer in the studio took my tape and recorded over it," Rudder said.

Rudder's big break eventually came when Christopher "Tambu" Herbert the lead singer of the band Charlie's Roots lost his voice.

"So they asked me if I would step in and that is how it started," Rudder said.

Rudder had previously gained a reputation as a back-up singer in the calypso tent run by Aldwyn "Lord Kitchener" Roberts.

In 1986 Rudder achieved a feat that now more than 30 years later still has not been emulated.

Rudder's song “The Hammer” won him the Calypso Monarch title, the Road March, and the Young Kings title.

It was also the song that helped Trinidad All Stars win the Panorama competition that year.

His second song "Bahia Girl" also came second in the Road March.

As Rudder performed The Hammer" and "Bahia Girl" at the Calypso Monarch there were detractors questioning if what he was singing actually qualified to be called calypso.

"There was such a great amount of noise about 'if that is Calypso?' and I wondered 'why are these people so afraid?'," Rudder said.

"I was actually very calm (when I took the stage), that is what I remember. I just went out and executed and said 'whatever happens, it happens'," he said.

When Rudder won the Calypso Monarch title he was then crowned "King David" by Slinger "Mighty Sparrow" Francisco.

"The old calypsonians would name the younger ones, they would kiss you on your left temple and name you. It was a ritual," Rudder said.

So after claiming the Calypso Monarch title, Sparrow did the honours.

Rudder described the year 1986 as "mad".

"Imagine going into a school like Holy Name Convent and as I entered the main hall the level of screaming that took place and girls fainting and teachers fanning them and trying to revive them. That was the moment when I said this thing was bigger than anything," Rudder said.

Rudder has released several iconic songs since then.

His song "Rally round the West Indies" is the de facto anthem for the regional cricket team. Its lyrics is still pertinent to the current team.

Rudder said he was currently in the process of writing his autobiography which he is contemplating naming "Bouncing on the laughter of a melody."

That line comes from his hit song "Calypso Music".

That was the song he entered the 1987 Calypso Monarch competition with as he tried to defend his title.

He eventually came second to Leroy "Black Stalin" Calliste's "Bun Dem".

CHANGING OF THE GUARDS

Rudder said his show on May 5 will be a sort of a "changing of the guard" as he features Marge Blackman and Trevon Turner.

Blackman is the daughter of Garfield 'Ras Shorty I" Blackman.

Rudder has described Turner's voice as "magical".

"You don’t get a voice like that every day," Rudder said.

On June 6 Rudder 6.5 will take place at the Sony Centre in Canada.

National scholarship winner (science) Nadia Manna is back in T&T to practise as a doctor.

Manna had placed first in the Caribbean for her CSEC and CAPE performance. She studied medicine and surgery at the University of the West Indies before specialising in clinical dermatology with the University of South Wales. She was also previously a House Officer at North Central Regional Health Authority in internal medicine. Dr Manna is a regular volunteer at national clinical outreach programmes and holds membership with the T&T Medical Association.

She began her practice this April under the mentorship of acclaimed dermatologist Dr Rachel Eckel at the Skin Health Institute. Welcoming Dr Manna to The Skin Health Institute, Dr Eckel said “Dr Manna is one of the brightest rising stars in the Trinidadian medical community. I hand-picked her because not only is she incredibly smart and talented, but she has an exceptional bedside manner that patients cannot help but be drawn to. I am delighted to have her on board as we continue to grow the offerings and excellent service we continue to provide to our patients.”

Dr Manna said she was thrilled to be part of the team at the institute and "excited to be able to serve under the excellent tutelage of Dr Eckel."