Jason Jones, the LGBTQI activist who in April won an historic challenge to clauses of T&T’s buggery laws, says he has received death threats in the face of comments he made about Archbishop Jason Gordon following a meeting of religious leaders on Monday which spoke out on the issues of gay marriage and changes to the Equal Opportunity Act.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday from London, Jones said in one of the messages the person told him “he will throw kerosene on me and light me up.” He said it seemed to be a “recurring thing you know, after ‘fire bun them,’ which sadly has been imported from Jamaica dancehall.”

Jones said he is a “very proud Trinbagonian” and found it “quite shocking and worrying that people who I love should want to see me dead.”

He blamed the latest threats on the “underlying tone of hatred and division” espoused by the religious leaders on Monday.

But Jones said under the United Nations Charter, “We are all born free and equal. I am equal to Roman Catholic Archbishop Jason Gordon and he needs to get that into his head.”

He said having grown up in the Roman Catholic Church serving as an acolyte and going across the country “singing with the Goretti Group, my experience in the Roman Catholic Church has always been very positive.”

The Archbishop’s reaction, he said, “has come truly like a bolt out of the blue, especially after Gordon made the statement after my historic victory at the High Court supporting to decriminalisation of homosexuality. How on the one hand can he say two months ago that he supports decriminalisation, and now say we do not have the right to get any remedial action if we are discriminated in the workplace or in our homes or in our families or other institutions?”

He said there are many in the LGBT community who see him as “a beacon of hope, I have had a number of messages from young LGBT people who were contemplating suicide, I am seeing what I so as giving them hope.”

But while he lives his life “fairly openly so that there is hope for the voiceless,” he said it has opened him to “very vile assaults.”

In the past year, he said he had received more than 70 death threats and more came yesterday after his comments about the Archbishop. But he said he could only speak about the Archbishop because he is Roman Catholic. Despite those threats, Jones said he will continue the fight for the LGBT community “to give voice to the voiceless.”

Meanwhile head of the Local Anglican Church Bishop Claude Berkeley admitted yesterday that he was in the dark about why he was not invited to the meeting of religious leaders on Monday, During the meeting, heads of the Roman Catholic, Hindu, Muslim and Pentecostal faiths agreed to lobby Government to entrench in law that marriage be between a “biological male and a biological female.”

Berkeley said he did not know if there was a “breach of communication” with his office but in any event, said the Anglican Church has adopted a resolution of the Church of England that marriage is between a man and a woman. He could not comment on the specific lobby of the religious leaders to include the terminology “biological,” saying he abides “strictly by the position we have adopted by the Church as my position, that while we recognise persons of a sexual orientation who are members of the church, we are not authorised to ordain those persons or organise those persons for marriage rights because the church’s teaching is marriage is between a man and a woman.”

He said he also did not want to “just jump in” on the position adopted by the religious heads to lobby Government on the issue of including LGBT persons in the Equal Opportunities Act, saying it was something that required “study and deliberation, because those are complex questions and I think sometimes we have a tendency to give simple answers to complex questions that are not often adequate.”

It was complex, he said, since by virtue of not wanting to “marry persons of same-sex orientation, that is a measure of exclusion,” while on the other hand, the Equal Opportunity Act is to “allow people to function or not to be debarred from opportunities available to citizens because of categories, I don’t know. I don’t want to become embroiled in a matter I don’t have a sense of.”

Sangre Grande resident Keegan Roopchand is now saying the so-called Carnival terror plot was a scripted hoax he was given to recite by Jordanian security officials who tortured him to ensure he said what they wanted him to.

During his recent four-month detention in Jordan, Roopchand said he was dragged out of a vehicle by his beard, stripped naked, searched in “humiliating ways” and pressured by Jordanian authorities attempting to link him with a terror plot in T&T and the Islamic State (ISIS). He claims the Jordanians “scripted a plot”, rehearsed it with him many times and he was forced to go along with it. “I was living a lie to survive,” he added on being questioned by FBI officials also.

Word of so-called plot resulted in action by national security forces here in Trinidad which led to the detention of several Muslims, raiding of their homes and of mosques across the country. Eventually, however, the detained suspects were all released and police are yet to lay any charges arising out of this action although the Government continues to claim the threat was real.

Roopchand issued a detailed statement yesterday, following an initial one last Sunday in which he distanced himself from claims in a Newsday article alleging certain details on the February Carnival disruption plot given by an (unnamed) couple detained in Jordan earlier in the year.

Roopchand, his wife and two children, were held in Jordan in January. Reports were that they were detained by Jordanian authorities following collaboration between local and international agencies and they gave information on the February plot to disrupt Carnival. The wife and children were deported back here in April. Roopchand was deported last month. None of them was charged by Jordanian authorities but on their return home they were interviewed by police.

Yesterday, however, Roopchand said, “My wife and I have never been involved in any terror plots or plans to disrupt/destabilise Carnival, nor are we part of any Islamic cell. This ordeal has and continues to be extremely emotionally demanding. Each member of my family was subjected to torture, even my children. My wife remains mentally damaged.”

Roopchand’s story of his detention attempted to reply to some queries on it. He stood by statements that the family journeyed to Jordan pursuing further education through four-year courses.

“I pre-qualified for a BA programme in Islamic studies; my wife was interviewed and accepted to do a BSc in nursing at the same university. We were granted entry to Jordan and spent our first week finalising enrolment. We’d saved funding for food, rent, tuition payments and bi-yearly visits to Trinidad. We didn’t sell our home in Trinidad anticipating return,” Roopchand said.

“On January 23, 2018, our apartment was forcefully entered by heavily armed Jordanian authorities. They searched the house, convinced we had weapons. They found none. We were taken to another location for questioning. That was the last I would see or hear from my family until my return to Trinidad.”

Over two months, Roopchand claimed he was interrogated for hours.

“I was asked questions related to journeying to the Islamic State and developing chemical and explosive weapons. These claims were false. I denied them. But they were convinced that due to my educational background (BSc Physics) I knew how to make such devices—a false accusation.”

He said he was also kept in solitary confinement for over three months.

“In the small cell I would be exposed to extremely loud sounds and bright lights always on. On occasion, I was blindfolded, hand-cuffed and forcefully dragged by my beard from a vehicle. I was then punched repeatedly and put to face a wall,” he said.

“I thought I was about to be executed. I recited the Shahdah and waited for a bullet to pierce the back of my head. Another routine activity was that I was stripped naked and searched in a humiliating manner.”

Roopchand said during interrogation, Jordanians would describe “horrific methods of torture they would execute if we didn’t comply. These were described to both my wife and myself and included threats of lengthy imprisonment, burning and maiming our children. My wife was told I’d been hanged for not complying; also that she’d be taken to a location where ‘bad things’ would happen to her.”

He said the Jordanians presented accusations and claims in different ways, one of which was proposing hypothetical situations.

“They said for example ‘If someone would do this, how would it happen?’ Or ‘how would someone get to Syria from Amman?’ Not complying or answering resulted in punishment. They’d ask me to endorse statements from my wife though the information was untrue. I was told that if she lied they’d increase her punishment, describing horrible acts. I had no choice but to substantiate claims for our safety.”

He added, “I now understand she experienced mental issues and perhaps made up stories so that they would lessen her punishment. She’s still suffering the effects of this experience, unable to determine fact from Jordanian fiction. Hour by hour, daily, the Jordanians fabricated so-called plots twisting our words and taking advantage of our mentally weakened state. Many gaps in the fabricated stories were covered by claims there was a ‘cell’ (in T&T) and that ‘no one’ knew ‘the full plan’. The Jordanians scripted a plot and rehearsed it with me several times.”

The ruling People’s National Movement will continue to adhere strictly to the words of T&T’s National Anthem that every creed and race will find an equal place and that the watchword ‘Tolerance’ will remain the overriding characteristic defining all relations amongst various religious denominations, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has assured.

The Prime Minister gave the assurance in alluding to “recent events which have impacted the Muslim community,” according to a statement from PNM general secretary Daniel Dookie.

The statement also conveyed Eid ul Fitr greetings to the Muslim community.

Last week, guns, ammunition, a ski mask and holster were found hidden in the ceiling of a Cunupia mosque. Rowley later received flack for statements he made about the discovery, in which he suggested searches of the homes of Muslim suspects’ and several mosques in connection with a suspected Carnival terror plot were justified because of the latest gun find in the mosque.

UNC MP Ganga Singh called for him to apologise to the Muslim community and Rowley subsequently issued a statement seeking to assure his comments weren’t an attack on the Muslim community.

The PNM’s statement yesterday noted that Rowley said the celebration of Eid ul Fitr comes at the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, where greater emphasis is usually placed on family prayer.

“It ought never to be doubted that the family gathering together for prayer is one of the most powerful examples that parents can offer to their children. It is a legacy which many inherited from their own parents and today stand as witnesses, passing down the practice to the next generation,” the PM said.

“This prayer reminds that all of us are dependent upon a Higher Being for our existence, our sustenance, and our deliverance. It is my own prayer that the example of the Muslims during this period would serve as an example to the rest of the national community as we strive to rebuild the broken bonds of family life, and discipline ourselves to better manage the resources in our possession.”

According to the PNM’s statement, Rowley said to the Muslim community, “May Allah accept your good deeds, forgive your transgressions and sins, and ease your suffering, Eid Mubarak.”

A warning from the Auditor General’s office that “there is significant risk,” that diplomatic bags could be abused and used for “unauthorised packages, if there is not proper oversight in use of the bags.

The Auditor General’s Department appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, when committee member Randall Mitchell asked about “significant weakness in the movement of the diplomatic bag” identified in the Auditor General’s 2017 report.

Acting Auditor General Lorelly Pujadas, as part of its audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the body “would do a sample of overseas missions,” but it was not the department’s mandate to “audit the overseas missions.” That mandate, she said, “is vested with the Comptroller of Accounts, the Treasury Division.”

But when it did an audit of three missions, she said, “in a particular mission we attended,” they could not find the records of the Duplicate Schedule of the Bags and the contents, which was in keeping with written guidelines.

Asked by Mitchell what that weakness could mean for T&T “with respect to the potential for abuse,” Pujadas said there was “a risk the diplomatic seal could be used in unauthorised packages. It is a significant risk.”

She said it was up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “as well as the missions, as well as the Treasury, to ensure that the controls are developed and complied with.”

All the Auditor General’s Department could do, she said, was to highlight the issue, “but it is a risk.”

Committee member Paula Gopee-Scoon said she was “quite alarmed” at the status of this country’s residence in Geneva.

In September 2011, Cabinet approved the refurbishment of the residence to the tune of $13.7 million. But in 2015, the Cabinet approved “$27.3 million a 100 per cent increase, notwithstanding that the actual cost to December 18, 2015 was $24.9 million.”

The Auditor General’s department had visited the project in August 2017. Asked by Gopee-Scoon how much of the work was completed at the time of the visit Assistant Auditor General Gaitree Maharaj responded, “We were not able to determine the percentage completed. I will venture to say 90 per cent.”

Asked by Gopee-Scoon about authorisation for “a double furnished professional kitchen, a kitchen elevator, a smart toilet and bathtub with spa jets,” which was not approved by the Cabinet, Maharaj said, “this may have been approved by the Ministry.”

She admitted that there was no documentary evidence of approval for the scope of work.

Gopee-Scoon also expressed concern about “the fact that no tenders committee was used for a contractor for the project.”

Public Administration Minister Marlene McDonald, who fell ill after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting and had to be hospitalised, was expected to be transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex to be monitored overnight.

However, heart attack and stroke were ruled out, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh confirmed yesterday afternoon.

The T&T Guardian learned McDonald fell ill around 11.30 am after the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Diplomatic Centre, Port-of-Spain.

Deyalsingh said colleagues called an ambulance and McDonald was taken to the nearby Port-of-Spain General Hospital’s Accident and Emergency unit and treated.

Deyalsingh and several other Cabinet colleagues, including Ministers Camille Robinson-Regis and Cherrie Ann Crichlow-Cockburn, went to the hospital to follow up on McDonald’s condition.

After speaking with her, Deyalsingh told the T&T Guardian, “She’s alert and recovering. They’ve ruled out heart attack and stroke, she’s much better and she’s conferring with doctors to find out what will be the next step.”

Around 6.15 pm, he added doctors were deciding whether she would be transferred to the EWMSC for monitoring overnight. On when McDonald would be released, Deyalsingh said, “I can’t say, she’s conferring with doctors.”

A release from the Communications Ministry confirmed McDonald did not suffer a heart attack or stroke and tests were being conducted as she was resting comfortably under observation.

McDonald’s illness comes three months after she was returned to Government in March as a minister in what was then the Ministry of Public Administration and Communication. She was brought in after Minister of that Ministry, Maxie Cuffie, had been on medical leave since last September when he suffered a stroke. Cuffie is currently in the US recuperating from neurosurgery and has requested leave from the Parliament for this month.

A month after McDonald’s March appointment, she was elevated to the full post of Minister of Public Administration/Communication. Last week, however, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley split the ministry into two, appointing Young as Minister of Communication and McDonald as Minister of Public Administration.

President of the San Juan Muslim Ladies Organisation, attorney Nafeesa Mohammed, says a dark cloud is hanging over the Muslim community, as recent police searches concerning the Carnival plot “have now painted us with a brush of terror.”

In an Eid message in which she detailed how T&T’s Muslim community became divided, Mohammed said, “Several families and households have been traumatised and are living in fear and uncertainty as law enforcement agencies carry out exercises with increased powers conferred by legislation. However, the names and reputations of several citizens have become tarnished and stigmatised.

“With the speed at which the world is travelling on the information highway, citizens are exposed to what is happening globally and we’re now experiencing some disconnects in our Jamaats which require us to re-examine, refocus and retool ourselves to confront the issues of extremism and radicalisation as the war on terror is being waged worldwide.”

She added, “With the high level of Islamphobia affecting Muslims around the world, our community is now operating in such perilous times that we need to come together to refocus and retool to keep up with today’s challenges. Crime is a major problem affecting us all- the free flow of illegal drugs, guns and ammunition is real.”

She said her organisation has helped nurture and develop T&T and subscribes to upholding the rule of law and safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in T&T’s Constitution.

“We stand ready to collaborate with authorities to help to restore peace and calm in the community,” she said.

“We’re prepared to engage in a deeper dialogue within the Muslim community and citizenry to better understand the nature and extent of disconnects that exist in our Jamaats, to analyse and identify the causes of these problems and to prescribe and implement measures and programmes to alleviate these problems.

“Having now completed a month of soulful introspection, self purification, sacrifice and devotion, I urge all members of the Muslim community to let’s refocus and do our part towards rebuilding a peaceful, more cohesive society. Our greatest asset is our diversity. On this joyous occasion of Eid ul Fitr, we pray for peace, love, unity and harmony in our country.”

GA

Children wanting to be children cannot enjoy their childhood because they are being watched over by men holding guns.This was the disheartening revelation made by a 13-year-old girl at Wednesday night’s T&T Police Service town meeting at the Mango Rose Community Centre in Port-of-Spain.

The little girl, who took to the microphone during the open floor segment, said the children in the community “need some kind of love in Mango Rose.”

“As a child, I do not like what is going on in Mango Rose. We could be in the yard and men sneaking up in the building watching over we, the children, with guns and shooting over,” she said.

“The boys playing football and they saying they ‘fraid they break glass and shooting over them. We in the court they come shooting at us.”

A businessman, who after earning an associate degree in Culinary Arts, said he started his own business, said many times he is confronted by gunmen either when leaving very early on mornings or arriving home late at nights.

He called for regular police patrols in the area, especially at nights, in a bid to keep the “normal and hard-working residents safe.”

Acting Snr Supt of the Port-of-Spain Division Floris Hodge-Griffith, in an immediate response, said her heart breaks to see people crying out to live and to go about their lives like normal people. She, however, added that whilst regular police patrols were not guaranteed “we have to find a way that the people can live.”

“I was here some time ago when there was shooting and it was a hell of an experience, very disheartening, but we are doing our part and would like to do more to ensure that the youth have a better future.”

Hodge-Griffith said she believes the rise in gangs and gang shootings stemmed from a “level of ignorance.” She told the story of a recent walk in a crime hotspot where she questioned why the youths were turning to a life of gangs and guns.

She said she was given no reason and instead suggested to their parents that if they wanted to live that kind of life, that donor cards should be signed to give permission for the donation of their respective organs when they are killed.

“I told them I will tell their parents that they should sign cards to be an organ donor because when you go to the mortuary and to forensics you see strong contributors to the progress of this country lie down flat…We just throwing away blood. Blood running down the streets of POS like nothing,” she added.

The residents also called for the re-introduction of the Mango Rose Police Youth Club, saying they are afraid to go to the existing police youth club on Nelson Street as their lives are threatened by those residents.

The senior police officers made it clear that they would not encourage segregation and gang rivalry by implementing a youth club so close by but added that they will provide a security escort for those interested to attend.The officers explained that through this it can foster unity between both sides.

A 33-year-old man was shot outside his business by thieves in Arouca yesterday. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope.

According to a police report at about 6.45 am Quincy Gill, of Region Park, D’Abadie, had just parked his silver Toyota Corolla outside his food outlet and was opening his business, located at the corner of the Eastern Main Road and Lopinot Junction, Arouca, when three men confronted him.

Police said Gill was shot three times by the men, who escaped in a waiting vehicle.

Police are yet to determine a motive for the killing which has brought the murder toll to 259 for the year thus far.Investigations are continuing. RD

Police officers have praised the efforts of an unknown “Good Samaritan” for his actions in rescuing a 24-year-old woman who had jumped from a moving vehicle in a bid to escape her attacker on Wednesday night in Montrose, Chaguanas.

According to a police report, at about 9.30 pm the woman, whose identity was not released, was walking along Enterprise Street when she was forced into a vehicle by a man she knew who was armed with a gun.The woman was reportedly badly beaten about the body with the firearm by the man inside the vehicle.

However, upon approaching Montrose Junction, the woman jumped out of the moving vehicle. But the man stopped the car, got out and chased after the woman. It was during the chase that a passer-by intervened and took the woman into a vehicle. The attacker fled the scene upon seeing this.

Police said the “Good Samaritan” took the woman to the Chaguanas Police Station where an official report was taken. She was subsequently taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where she was treated and warded in a serious but stable condition.

When the T&T Guardian’s team visited Enterprise Street yesterday, a woman said she was liming with three other people when she noticed a silver station wagon drive into the street from the Old Southern Main Road.

She said in a few minutes she saw the same vehicle heading back towards them but this time heard a man’s voice loud “cussing and carrying on.”

“The man had his window down but we could not see who he was quarrelling with inside the vehicle, but it had to be someone smaller than him in size. He was cussing very hard and driving like a madman that I telling my friends and them that I hope that man don’t crash,” the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness said she knew the man to be from the Cunupia area.

“I also notice the car swerving from side to side and hearing the loud cussing but we didn’t hear any details like what he was so mad about…but coming to think of it he had to be beating the woman in the car because I really hear a woman’s voice too in the melee,” another eyewitness said.

Police sources said they received information that both the man and woman were from the Cunupia area. It is believed the man went into hiding after the incident.

In a media release yesterday, the TTPS commended the brave actions of the passer-by, “which resulted in the victim’s rescue from further physical injury.”

Investigations are continuing and an arrest of the suspect is imminent.

As the Muslim community celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr today, they are hoping that any greetings from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will include an apology for what the community believes is “all the false news and false information” which has been put in the public domain about the so-called Carnival plot.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, Muslims of Trinidad and Tobago PRO Imtiaz Mohammed said revelations by Keegan Roopchan that he was forced to go along with a so-called Carnival terror plot that was scripted by the Jordanians, raises serious questions the Prime Minister, as head of the National Security Council, must address.

That Carnival plot led to raids of mosques and homes and the detention of several Muslims for several days, but Mohammed said when the matter got to the DPP “there was not sufficient evidence to charge anybody.” He said the Muslim community had said all along that the Carnival plot was a hoax, because since then to now no “real evidence” had emerged to support the claim. He said the authorities had claimed “their source of information for this threat came from the Roopchans in Jordan and this is how they knew of the threat.”

Declaring that “people’s lives were put at stake” and that there was “character assassination” of the Roopchans, who also suffered “intimidation, aggression and hardship” in Jordan, Mohammed said this was not something anyone would “wish on their worst enemies.” He urged the authorities to “tell the truth because I don’t think they have been telling the truth all along.”

Mohammed, who was among Muslim leaders who met with the PM in March after the so-called Carnival terror plot was revealed, said the PM had given the impression at the end of the meeting there would have been further discussions with the Muslim community. Instead, he said when the weapons were found in a Chaguanas mosque recently, the PM chose to go on a political platform to link the weapons find to the Carnival terror plot.

He accused Rowley of being “mischievous,” “careless” and “reckless ” and called on him to “come out and apologise right away to the Muslim community for all the false news, all the false information put in the public space about Muslims.”

But head of the Nur el Islam Mosque in El Socorro, Imam Sheraz Ali, did not go as far as calling for an apology. Rather he wants an “investigation” by local authorities into Roopchan’s account of what happened in Jordan. He said it was “very disturbing” to have read such a “harrowing account.” While he had no way of “verifying” what Roopchan said was true, he said, “It is certainly something that should be investigated.”

Asked whether he intended to write to the authorities on the matter, Ali said he is part of a “Muslim Round Table” which meets “regularly” with the Minister of National Security “and we will certainly use whatever power we have to request him to further investigate this matter and bring it to closure.”

The last meeting of the Round Table was in February, but Ali said there was an indication that it would meet every three months.

Nafeesa Mohammed, who was fired as a legal advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister following the terror plot and who also attended the meeting of Muslim leaders hosted by Rowley, said it was regrettable no further dialogue had taken place with the Muslim community since.

Given Roopchan’s account of what transpired in Jordan, she said she is hoping the “Prime Minister will do all in his power to protect the sovereignty of the country and safeguard and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.”

Roopchan’s account, she said, seemed in contradiction with what the country had been told and the issue must be investigated. Mohammed said what had emerged was “a high level of Islamaphobia” and that Muslims had been painted with a “brush of terror,” which must be addressed.

Donald Trump’s pick as ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Joseph Mondello, has told a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that if confirmed he would seek help from federal agencies to reduce the rate of ISIS recruitment in T&T.

Mondello said yesterday that ISIS had recruited 135 members of T&T’s small Muslim community to fight elsewhere, a problem which he said “overshadows” all the other issues he expects to face. He said he was prepared to employ federal agencies to help the local government grapple with it.

Eighty-year-old Mondello was pressed by Senators on ISIS recruitment in T&T with chairman Marco Rubio saying T&T “produces more ISIS fighters per capita than any other country in the western hemisphere.” He said ISIS is trying to rebuild as an insurgency instead of controlling large swathes of territory.

Rubio told Mondello that the issue was of concern because “there are numerous daily non-stop flights between Trinidad and Tobago and Miami and Kennedy Airport. So we should care a lot about what’s happening there. It’s very close to home.”

The figure of 135 was an increase on the number given in early March by the Commander of US Southern Command, Navy Admiral Kurt W Tidd, who told a Pentagon briefing that the Government of T&T had spoken of “100 or so” persons who “have gone to that particular fight,” adding it was a concern to the T&T Government.

“They have focused on it and so I think it is an area we all have into consideration,” Tidd said then.

Yesterday at the Senate hearing, Mondello was asked if he had ever been to T&T. He admitted “never” but he said there is “poverty” in Trinidad and Tobago, “there are social and economic problems despite the fact they have a very high” gross domestic product.

“We have to have some messaging going on there, to let people understand what we believe, what we are,” he said.

Mondello also promised to urge the T&T Government to drop its support in the Organization of American States for Venezuela, led by President Nicolás Maduro.

In his opening statement before the committee in Washington DC, Mondello thanked Trump for nominating him to the post. He said, “Being considered for the post of ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an extraordinary high point in my life.”

Trump named Mondello ambassador to T&T after Mondello, as GOP leader, endorsed him at a time when few thought he could win the nomination, much less the presidency.

Following the hearing, senators on the committee will submit written questions to Mondello for the record. The panel will then vote on his nomination and if it’s approved the full Senate will take a final vote. (R Sant)

Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young yesterday expressed skepticism about claims made by Sangre Grande resident Keegan Roopchand that the so-called Carnival plot was a scripted hoax he was forced to recite by Jordanian security officials who tortured him.

In an exclusive story in the T&T Guardian yesterday, Roopchand, who was detained for four months in Jordan, insisted he was pressured by Jordanian authorities attempting to link him with a terror plot in T&T and the Islamic State (ISIS). He also claimed the Jordanians “scripted a plot”, rehearsed it with him many times over and forced him to go along with it.

Speaking at the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, Young recalled the population was alerted about a “terrorism threat” ahead of Carnival and the national security agencies had carried out a number of operations.

“It is important to note that that information came from our partners...international intelligence agencies, both the Jordanians and other allies of T&T. We find it very interesting,” Young said, noting the word “scripted” was used by Roopchand.

“Let us be honest here, we are now seeing a script being recited by Mr Roopchand and others. It plays no part of what is taking place with the ongoing investigations from the part of deterring law enforcement from doing what it has to do.”

In fact, Young said National Security Minister Edmund Dillon has been working with his ministry and meeting with heads of law enforcement to put proper measures in place. Having met with law enforcement officers trained in anti-terrorism during his recent trip to Australia, Young said “they shared information with us, as well as legislation on how they deal with it.”

Young said when he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London recently and met with anti-terrorism and intelligence agencies.

“What took place at Carnival is very real intelligence. In fact, when we were doing the operations we built it out. We had some things take place very recently last week with some heavy arms and ammunition finds in a certain place. This is part of the real narrative.”

He said it was expected that people who are accused would want to give their side of the story, but that was “being analysed.” He reminded that when Roopchand returned to Trinidad from Jordan he was detained and interviewed.

“And at that stage he chose to say nothing. So it is not surprising now two…three weeks later he has a long statement and a long script that we have concerns about when we look at with a level of skepticism. There is an ongoing and continuing investigation, part of which continues to be the whole monitoring of persons who there are concerns with respect to.”

Asked if the T&T Government will communicate with the Jordanian government to verify Roopchand’s claim, Young replied, “Do not for a moment think that we have not already done what you have just described…not us but law enforcement agencies and that an investigation is taking place, in building our file and evidence.”

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will on Monday meet with heads of all national security agencies at a National Security Council (NSC) meeting to discuss the country’s crime situation.

Heading the list of issues to be addressed by Rowley, who chairs the NSC, will be the Anti-Gang Bill and what benefits the country has obtained since it was proclaimed last month.

At yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon also spoke about the Rasta City and Muslim gangs who have infiltrated the Laventille district, which he visited on Wednesday with acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and MP Fitzgerald Hinds.

Dillon said the main issue between these gangs was retaliation, for which they had no reason.

“So there is a lot of senseless killings taking place in our country…senseless to the extent that even bystanders who don’t belong to any gang whatsoever are being caught in the crossfire.”

However, he said the police “must be hard” on those who possess illegal guns.

“There would be a heavy law enforcement approach to treat with those elements who continue to disrupt our societies and communities by bearing illegal arms and it reach a stage where there are random shootings now.”

Having recovered 1,064 guns last year, Dillon said in the last five months 500 firearms were seized.

Asked if the Anti-Gang Bill had reaped any benefits for T&T, Dillon said, “I can say quite categorically it will reap benefits and that is straight from the Commissioner of Police (acting).”

Even before the bill was proclaimed, Dillon said the TTPS had started discussions with the Director of Public Prosecutions to look at lessons learnt from the country’s 2011 state of emergency, where several people who were arrested had to be released.

He said people have already been arrested under the new anti-gang act but could not give a figure.

“That is as far as I am aware.”

Communications Minister Stuart Young interjected, saying that the PM has asked for meeting with heads of national security agencies.

“These are some of the questions we will be asking the police service when we meet with them on Monday because we have the same questions as you. We are not the ones who go out there. Part of the discussions we expect to take place with the NCS is getting the answers.”

BOBIE-LEE DIXON

bobie-lee.dixon@guardian.co.tt

From as far back as 2000, there were unsettling issues said to be happening at the Hindu Credit Union run by businessman Harry Harnarine.

There were several allegations about the operations of the HCU, most vocally by the Maha Sabha which called for a forensic audit of the credit union. In the same year, then minister in the ministry of finance Conrad Enill had announced publicly that HCU was under investigation. He, however, had to retract his statement after Harnarine and a group of his supporters staged a protest in front of Balisier House and later met and spoke with then prime minister Patrick Manning. But also in the same year—June 2002—confirmation of an investigation on HCU came from both minister of labour and small and micro enterprise development Lawrence Achong and Enill—an investigation into the HCU financial operations by the Ministry of Finance and the one by the Labour Ministry into the credit union's administrative affairs.

The then government and commissioner of co-operatives at the time were accused of being negligent in their supervisory roles to ensure all protocols were being observed and carried out by the union according to the Co-operatives Society Act (CSA).

In 2008 HCU had over 100,000 depositors and its total liability was estimated to be in the vicinity of $776 million.

Although Harnarine had said and maintains he was not guilty of any wrong doing, in 2012, more damning allegations came against him as the Commission of Enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union resumed on May 9, 2012, with the testimony of former HCU chartered accountant, Madan Ramnarine, who told the commission that he spotted numerous errors in the company accounting and was offered an inducement to cook the books.

On May 14, 2012, liquidator Dave Rampersad appointed by the Commissioner of Co-operatives to HCU, who gave testimony at a hearing at Winsure Building, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, confirmed and added to Ramnarine's findings.

Rampersad said there was only $98,000 in all the HCU's bank accounts and a substantial amount was owed to the Inland Revenue Authority, with some $3.1 million owed in PAYE and Health Surcharge. A staggering $1.6 accumulated in National Insurance Board deductions from employees' salaries, were never paid, and $598,000 was still owed to workers in outstanding salaries. He said The HCU also owed a substantial amount of money to the public utilities.

Rampersad had also testified about receiving threats, repeated violent behaviour and thuggery towards him and his staff from HCU's board of directors. He alleged Harnarine physically assaulted him in the corridor of a High Court during a trial of a legal matter. The threats, he said, were made to his family as well and legal adviser and he was forced to hire bodyguards for his home.

The Sunday Guardian caught up with Harry Harnarine to find out what he’s been up to and to get his view in the scheme of things surrounding the HCU fiasco.

Q: It has been just a little over a decade since the HCU fiasco broke. We understand a file, which is supposed to detail the findings of the allegations brought against you and HCU, remains before the DPP labelled inconclusive. What does this mean for Harry Harnarine? And has your legal team been pushing for a definitive on this matter?

A: First of all, that was said in Parliament by the last prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She had said during a sitting, the Coleman report on HCU would be sent to the DPP’s office for further investigations and for civil charges to be laid. But in our own investigations we have found there isn’t any investigation taking place and if there is one, so far, I have not been interviewed nor have we been asked to send anything. If there is something that they may want to do, I remain open to cooperate with any authority, as I did from the first intervention by the commissioner of co-operatives.

You have an issue with the Ministry of Labour stemming from the HCU matter. You claim the ministry has not been fair to you. Explain?

Once the credit union was placed under liquidation, we had the right to appeal. Separately and apart from the court matter, by law you have to appeal the matter to the Minister of Labour and co-operatives. The then minister was the late Rennie Dumas. He would have sent the matter to court to get interpretation and guidelines on how to proceed with it. Justice Vasheist Kokaram viewed the matter and provided the guidelines however, even after receiving such and several written correspondents from my lawyers, Dumas refused to continue with the hearing. To date, there has been none—not a single Minister of Labour after that has allowed me to speak. This hearing would have been to determine if in fact the board was guilty of any wrong doing, misconduct, or statutory breaches. Subsequently it was communicated that there was none of the above by the commissioner of co-operatives in his statement of case to the court. We feel it is at a point now where we will have to look at other legal options to either force them to quash it or really have it. It’s been 11 years, so we don’t know how possible it might be right now.

You have a legal background. What would you say could be the legal implications if any, the Ministry of Labour can face for failure to engage the hearing in such a high profile and public matter?

(Harnarine laughing) I can only assume if they really had any conclusive evidence of the allegations that were made by the Ernst & Young report, they might have been more than willing to start a trial and to really prove a point about what they have said about myself and the board.

In layman’s terms you were basically described as a thief, dealing unscrupulously with the savings and investments of clients, “feeding” yourself and relatives with loans racked up in the millions without proper paperwork or supporting documents. In 2011 you said in an interview with the media that you were not to be blamed for the collapse of the organisation. But you were the president. Are you therefore saying that you were unaware of these things happening and you had no role in it at all? What is your truth about what happened?

Me being described as a ‘thief’ or anything else was a description that only came from Sat Maharaj on 102.7FM. Even at the inquiry where members took the stand, none of them described me as anything of the sort. What they did say is that they had the pain and trauma of coming to the credit union for their money.

But they all admitted that I never hid or ran, they all would have met with me and spoken with me. Not one single person, and the evidence is there, could have said that they did not have access to me or unable to speak with me or receive payments. All received past payments on their money. Even when the inquiry was going on, the Parliament had already approved payment of the remaining one third of credit union members and they were in the process of receiving their money. So those descriptions labelling me as a ‘scamp’ and ‘thieving from poor people,’ only came from Sat Maharaj and those guys on 102.7FM.

As for lending money to family and friends, Ernst & Young at the beginning they did say that the board was reckless granting loans to themselves unsecured, but when Mr Dave Rampersad (liquidator) went in and had a full investigation, with the exception of one director who later paid off his loan in full, no other director had a single dispute regarding loans. All these allegations about directors taking loans, there was absolutely no proof in the end.

In previous conversations you have told the Sunday Guardian HCU, described as defunct, is still functioning and its assets are performing well. How is this possible with all the legal ‘hang ups’ and unsettled matters still facing HCU?

In fact, the credit union is in receivership, so you will see in its description ‘Hindu Credit Union Cooperative Society in brackets-Liquidation.’ The certificate was never cancelled. That could have only happened if the commissioner determined that we were all guilty and the matter is finalised. And that was a blessing because at the end of the day with the ten years, we were able to get a stay—no selling of any assets of the credit union or no fire sale of loans. Most of the loans had a duration time of ten years and it’s now coming to the closing time of paying off loans...I am still president with residual powers as directed by the liquidator.

A new Hindu Credit Union has been formed—the Hindu Parivaar Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited, which launched in Barrackpore in April, are you involved in any way with this credit union?

I am not. But I do have some advice for them. I don’t think any financial institution should be named after any religion. I say so especially if you become a large-scale credit union. We live in a plural society. In retrospect, I feel by allowing the credit union to grow into a billion-dollar organisation inclusive of groups, it allowed the Hindu leaders to see the credit union as a Hindu organisation rather than a financial institution. The growth of HCU was not from Hindus, it was from T&T.

How has the whole HCU fiasco affected you professionally and personally? This happened in the public eye.

I spent almost seven years of my time not going on the employment market, even making it to study law. I have decided in the good times, the members have supported me and in the bad times I must be able to stand with the members. We have what we call the HCU shareholders and the depositors group and that group was very instrumental in assisting with all the legal fees. It was a challenging time but I did enjoy the love and the support from the credit union membership. I can tell you a lot of credit unions still consult me; I won’t want to call any names. But I still see myself as a champion of the ‘small man.’

It took some time for the then government to get involved even after having knowledge of what was happening at HCU, which made many become suspicious as to why. Was anyone from that then government affiliated in any way with the HCU? Did HCU fund any State or political venture?

There was no minister ever affiliated with the HCU per se. HCU did in past times assist financially with both the PNM and UNC, but no minister or political official had any shares in HCU or assets in any of the companies within the HCU group.

Any lawsuits stemming from the HCU fiasco? If yes, what are the current states of these lawsuits?

There is no personal lawsuit on me by any credit union member neither by the regulator and the commissioner cooperatives. There is no action on Harry Harnarine, neither HCU.

What is the next step for Harry Harnarine?

I have no intention of ever going back into public life. I am just into a lot of consultancy now.

Homicide officers up to late yesterday were probing two more murders in central and south Trinidad.
 The victims are 45-year-old Roderick Dibique, of Crissie Terrace, Enterprise, and clothes vendors Aaron Matis, 28, of Dumfries Road, La Romaine, and Gomez Street, San Fernando.  Both were shot on Sunday night.  Police said Dibique, who had several serious offences before the courts, including rape, was killed outside his home.  Residents told police around 7.10 pm they heard several loud explosions and saw Dibique lying outside his gate.

Police officers, from the Chaguanas CID, headed by ASP Joanne Archie, visited the scene and investigations are continuing. In the other incident, a hooded gunman casually walked up to Matis at shot him. Matis, who operated a stall close to his father’s business place at Short Street, off High Street, was liming at a bar in San Fernando when he was killed.  His father is popularly known as “Mattress.”

A Mayo woman who said she underwent surgery which made wearing a seatbelt painful yesterday was fined $1,000 or three months hard labour for failing to wear it. Idorh Medford, a gas station attendant, appeared before San Fernando Traffic Court Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan charged with the November 30, 2010 offence.

Medford, who was unrepresented, was charged with failing to wear a seatbelt, while the vehicle was in motion at the Southern Main Road, Marabella. PC Diefentallah laid the charge. The single parent said: “A couple of years ago I had a hernia operation and it pains to reverse with the seatbelt.” The magistrate advised the woman to get the “exemption” from her doctor rather than stop wearing the belt or modifying it.

Employee of Nova Coffee Shop Melissa Roaster gives a sample of Costa Rica’s freshly roasted premium Geisha Coffee during the coffee Festival at the Green Market in Santa Cruz yesterday.PICTURE:ABRAHAM DIAZ

RALPH BANWARIE

The murder of a man and the wounding of his common-law wife marred the Eid holiday at Lilly Lane, North Eastern Settlement, Sangre Grande.

Morris Francis, 27, of Blake Avenue, Damarie Hill, Guaico, was shot multiple times and died while undergoing emergency surgery at the Sangre Grande Hospital on Friday, while his common-law-wife, Alicia Neckles, 24, was shot in her chest and remained warded in stable condition up to late yesterday.

The couple had gone to visit their relatives when tragedy struck. Neckles' mom, who lives in Tobago, returned to her Lilly Lane home to spend the weekend and invited her daughter for a lime. While drinking and listening to music at the front of the house around 6.30 pm, a gunman dressed in black with his face covered opened fire on them.

A relative told T&T Guardian, “I went to the inside of my house to change the music when I heard sounds like firecracker. Within seconds, my stepdaughter Alicia came running towards me with blood pouring on her top and dripping on the floor saying 'Please help, daddy.'

"I became dumbfounded. As I approached the area where we were sitting I observed Francis lying on the grass with blood all over his body. He was still alive, attempting to say something to me, but did not see my wife. I called on neighbours for assistance, they responded and called the police. Later, I found my wife lying on the grass, playing dead to avoid the gunman. I felt relieved and thanked God.”

Police arrived within minutes and took those who were injured to the hospital.

Relatives believed it was a hit because Francis had left to purchase cigarettes at a nearby grocery and his assailant allegedly followed him.

Visiting the scene were ASP Etienne, Insp Lutchman, WSGT Lopez, Cpls De La Rosa, Jones, and others.

An autopsy will be performed on Francis at the Forensic Science Centre, St James.

Cpl Jones is continuing investigations.

Former Caribbean Airlines pilot Michael Rezende has died.

The 72 year old passed away around 10 am yesterday.

Rezende, who would have celebrated his birthday on July 16, would be remembered for the role he played in the May 1, 1970, hijacking of a BWIA Boeing 727 Sunjet, which originated in T&T with scheduled stops in Jamaica and the Grand Cayman.

Shortly after take-off from Kingston, Rezende, who was the First Officer at the time, was confronted by two men armed with a gun and a knife who sought to commandeer the plane and have it fly to Africa.

The hijackers later renamed the flight Afro American Freedom Flight Number One (AAFF).

After learning of mechanical problems and the fact that the plane would need to be refuelled for such a trip, Rezende and the rest of the crew which included Capt Keith Melville, Michal Bower, and Jennifer Hanna nee Selman, landed in Havana, Cuba, where the 63 passengers and crew members were held hostage for close to seven hours.

The Cuban authorities later boarded the aircraft and took the two hijackers into custody.

A report into the state of the energy sector by the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries has warned that the high natural gas prices are threatening the viability of the downstream sector and consequently jobs at Point Lisas.

There have been rumblings at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate over the price and continued shortage of natural gas which some on the estate say are threatening the economic lifeblood of the country and may even lead to plants shutting down and hundreds of people losing their jobs.

The Sunday Guardian has obtained a copy of the ministry’s report which notes that apart from higher prices there is a concern about limited gas being sent for processing.

“Given their demands, recent gas contracts with upstream companies have been at significantly higher prices. These prices pose a challenge to both the NGC and the downstream companies. The situation is compounded by the preference of the upstream companies to provide gas for LNG rather than downstream industries. As a consequence, the future of our downstream industry is being jeopardised. The GORTT is currently reviewing our options that may include a gas allocation policy to ensure the sustainability of our downstream industries,” the report stated.

Well-placed sources in the downstream sector told the Sunday Guardian that on average a methanol plant spends about $1.7 billion (TT) a year to operate in T&T. That cost includes the price of natural gas, wages and salaries, capital expenditure, and taxes to the Government. In return, the average profit on a plant is about $210 million. However, if the price of gas increases by 20 to 25 per cent then the energy companies may make on average a profit of $140 million. This figure is before the companies pay any loans they may have and dividends to shareholders. It also includes retained earnings so that the company may further invest.

The downstream sector is considered one of the greatest achievements of the country because it has allowed T&T to use its natural gas and add value to it by making products like ammonia, methanol, urea, and melamine, all of which are either essential fertilisers or used in manufacturing. It has also made T&T the envy of many energy producing countries because this country is the largest exporter of ammonia in the world and the second largest exporter of methanol in the world.

It must be noted that the downstream sector contributes billions of dollars annually to the country. An example is Caribbean Nitrogen Company which revealed that on average it contributes more than $1 billion to the economy, inclusive of wages and salaries, taxes and payments for services like electricity and water.

The report said the upstream companies have made it clear that unless their rewards match the risks they are taking they will not be prepared to reinvest in searching, finding, and producing more oil and gas.

The report stated, “Notwithstanding the super profits achieved by the upstream companies, they maintain the following views.

1) That they share a disproportionate share of the rewards for the level of risk they take.

2) The maturity of T&T as a hydrocarbon province has been occasioned by greater sub-surface and geological risks without the commensurate reward.

3) NGC and downstream companies have benefited disproportionately in the returns accruing to the sector.”

Investors make more $$ in T&T than most other jurisdictions

The ministry’s report stated that the Government’s studies on the competitiveness of this country as a hydrocarbon province show that investors make more money in this country than most other jurisdictions like Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Norway, and Nigeria.

The report also stated that while downstream producers are paying higher prices for natural gas in T&T, they are facing increased pressure from US producers who are benefiting from low gas prices due to the shale revolution.

“Considering the current market dynamics in the USA, where lower price shale is causing growth and self-sufficiency in the USA domestic petrochemical industry, producers in Trinidad and Tobago have been encouraged to actively seek alternative markets,” the report stated.

However, it was not all bad news as it noted the significant improvements in natural gas production, with a prediction of production levels reaching to 3.94 billion cubic feet per day by next year and 4.1 billion cubic feet by 2021. This, it said, could finally bring an end to what has already been seven years of gas shortages.

The report revealed, “Based on the current natural gas production forecast, it is expected that the current natural gas supply shortage will be minimised or even eliminated as upstream investment activities take place over the next five years. This will positively impact the downstream industries as they will be able to return to producing at higher capacities. A gas allocation policy is being explored to ensure that the future of the downstream industries is not jeopardised or made unsustainable by the expiry of contracts or increased natural gas prices, due to renegotiated contracts with upstream companies.”

Need for long-term solution to increase the flow of gas

Dr Roger Hosein,

Senior lecturer in Economics, UWI

In 2017 T&T recorded a current GDP of $150 billion (TT). Of this, natural gas exploration and extraction accounted for $8.9 billion and the manufacture of petrochemicals $6.3 billion. These are very significant numbers and account for about ten per cent of total GDP (these numbers do not include natural gas refining). Given the size of these numbers it is important that the downstream aspect of the gas sector in T&T be supported by an appropriate supply of gas. These downstream sectors are intertwined with the rest of the economy through backward and forward linkages including employment, the purchase of supplies from local producers, the use of local utilities payments to the State in the form of taxes.

There would likely be some temporary easing of the natural gas shortage for the downstream sector because of the coming on stream of several natural gas projects in the recent past. Both LNG and the downstream sector add value for the energy sector. Policy makers would have to be wise in their allocation formulas for the available gas to ensure as far as it is possible, that both the LNG and downstream sector survive, whilst at the same time ensuring that the T&T economy benefit most.

But the bigger issue is the search for a long-term solution that would increase the flow of gas to the downstream and LNG segments of the economy in a manner and form that maximises the gain for T&T whilst keeping its foreign investors contended. If this solution is not found, both the LNG and downstream sector face the possibility of an alarming shortfall in gas in the next few years.