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Bring it on! That was the response from attorney Nyree Alfonso yesterday, in response to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi who has vowed to take legal action against her for her knowledge and opportunity in the tendering process of the Galicia.

In a telephone interview, Alfonso said was waiting with bated breath on the AG’s move.

“I also have the most astounding position from the Government that when invited to make enquiry as to where the Government’s funds were sent to which is the owners of the vessel they indicated that they had no intention of making that inquiry.”

Alfonso said the number of times her name was called by Al-Rawi’s at the press conference leaves her to believe that they wanted to muzzle her.

At Sunday’s press conference, Alfonso said she highlighted some observations based on documentation the Government released in response to Senator Wade Mark’s motion in the Senate.

“I think I hit a raw nerve where everybody came out singing my name. Don’t shoot the messenger. Listen to the message. No political fire was pelted at anyone. It was clinical and professional.”

She said if the AG plans to take legal action: “I hope they know I will certainly be responding in a manner where I call other people to account for what I think is politically motivated.”

Alfonso insisted that she has nothing to hide.

“If you want to perpetuate the attempt to silence me by bringing litigation just understand I welcome vindication in the place where I work. Bring it on. I would be vindicated. I have instructed my attorney to find a pathway to bring litigation against these people and their attorneys because they have no evidence…because if you do that it is politically motivated.”

She said every time she brings issues regarding the Ocean Flower, Cabo Star and now Galleons Passage: “I am attacked.”

Alfonso said she was surprised after three years, the Galicia issue was now being brought to the fore.

“What manner of fairy dust are these honourable ministers thinking that I have in my back pocket that I can sprinkle in the Port Authority when I am exiting.”

Two sons of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harold Phillip have pleaded not guilty to marijuana trafficking.

Kenwyn and Kelon Phillip entered the pleas when they appeared before Senior Magistrate Debra Quintyne in the Tunapuna Magistrates Court yesterday.

During the hearing, Quintyne raised issues with the bail bonds that the siblings granted by a Justice of the Peace after their arrests last Friday.

While Quintyne did not reveal details of the bonds or her specific concerns over them, she did inquire whether the two persons, who took their bail, were present.

After being informed that they were not, Quintyne adjourned the case to tomorrow to give the brothers an opportunity to bring the individuals to court.

The siblings, ages 31 and 25, were allowed to enter pleas as the charge was laid summarily as opposed to indictably, which means that it is to be determined by a magistrate instead of by a High Court judge and jury after a preliminary inquiry.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Act, persons convicted on indictment face a $100,000 fine or up to three times the street value of the drugs (whichever is greater) and between 25 years to life in prison.

On summary conviction, persons face a $50,000 fine or up to three times the street value of the drugs (whichever is greater) and 10 years imprisonment.

Under the legislation, all drug trafficking charges are to be laid indictably.

However, section 7A of the legislation gives the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) the discretion to elect to proceed with matters summarily provided that the preliminary inquiry has begun and an accused person consents.

The brothers were arrested at their home around 7 am last Friday as officers of the Northern Division Task Force (NDTF) executed a search warrant at their home at National Avenue, Mt Hope. Police allegedly found 1.5 kilos of marijuana during the search.

DCP Phillip was the Police Service Commission (PSC) second preferred candidate for the post of Commissioner of Police.

However, like top-pick DCP Deodat Dulalchan, his nomination has been rejected by Parliament, which has taken issue with the recruitment process used by the PSC.

The Law Association will have to wait a little while longer to find out if it can resume its investigation into misconduct allegations levelled against embattled Chief Justice Ivor Archie.

Five Law Lords of the Privy Council yesterday reserved judgment in Archie’s appeal in which he is challenging the decision of three of his colleagues to dismiss his lawsuit over the investigation.

However, an abrupt end to the hearing at the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court in London, England, had some attorneys questioning whether the panel had already made up its mind.

Archie’s lawyers Phillip Havers, QC, and newly appointed Senior Counsel Ian Benjamin spent a little over two hours addressing the panel before they took a break.

Senior Counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith was expected to respond to their submissions when the court resumed but was later informed that his contribution was not required.

“Mr Hamel-Smith, despite the eloquence of Mr Havers and Mr Benjamin, the Board has given this matter careful consideration over the short adjournment and has reached the conclusion that we don’t need to call upon you. We will now take time to consider the reasons for that announcement which we will let you know as soon as we possibly can,” Baroness Brenda Hale, who led the panel, said.

Some legal sources, who spoke to the T&T Guardian, suggested that the statement from the panel could be interpreted to mean that it (the panel) saw no merit in the appeal and hence did not need further submissions from the association. Others suggested that it could mean that it had no legal issues to be resolved due to alleged changes in the association’s stance on the investigation.

Whatever the reason, it will only be revealed when the panel gives its judgment on a date that its to be announced by it.

During yesterday’s hearing, Havers submitted that the investigation was unlawful as it mimicked the process for the removal of a judge under S137 of the Constitution.

Under the section, the President appoints a tribunal after misconduct allegations against a CJ or judge are referred by the Prime Minister.

The tribunal, which includes a chairman and at least two other members, all with appellate judicial experience in Commonwealth jurisdictions, will then investigate. The tribunal reports to the Privy Council, which then gives the President recommendations on what action, if any, should be taken.

Havers pointed out that the association had repeatedly claimed that the investigation was to determine if allegations, made against Archie in a series of newspaper reports, last year, were true and if so to hold him accountable.

However, he noted that in its submissions in the appeal, the association is alleging that the investigation was not a fact-finding mission and was merely to determine if the allegations were sufficient to refer to the Prime Minister, as required under the constitution.

“The difficulty the respondent has is that is not what the evidence shows,” Havers said.

Asked by Lord Jonathan Sumption over whether the procedure adopted by the association was similar to the work of journalists, Havers said yes but noted that the association’s exercise would command more public interest.

“There is no restriction to free speech or freedom of the press, nor are judges above public scrutiny,” Havers said as he alleged that the investigation had a devastating effect on Archie’s professional reputation.

Questioned by Sumption on what action the association could take besides referring the allegations, Havers suggested that its members may pass a motion of no confidence in him as done last year following the fiasco caused by the short-lived judicial appointment of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar.

“There is no reason why they should not do that,” Sumption said. Havers agreed.

Lords Robert Reed, Brian Kerr and Nicholas Wilson also sat on the appeal panel.

Archie was also represented by John Jeremie, SC, and Kerwyn Garcia. The association was also represented by Jason Mootoo, Rishi Dass and Robin Otway.

Former UNC government Minister Carlos John has appeared in court charged with drunk driving.

John pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before Magistrate Duane Murray in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

According to the evidence that was read in court after his guilty plea, John was charged after being involved in a car accident on Sunday night.

John was driving his Range Rover SUV along Saddle Road in Maraval when a Nissan Caravan panel van crashed into his vehicle near to Massy Stores.

John drove to the Maraval Police Station to make a report and was asked to undergo a breathalyser test after police officers noticed a strong scent of alcohol on his breath.

John recorded a reading of 79 microgrammes for every 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35. He was released on $500 bail at the police station and was ordered to appear in court yesterday morning.

During the hearing, John’s lawyers requested an adjournment to make submissions on the appropriate sentence for their client.

Murray agreed and adjourned the case to September 7.

John entered politics in 1996 and held posts on several State boards including the National Carnival Commission (NCC). He contested several general elections and briefly held the post of Minister of Infrastructure Development and Local Government.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) is hoping to submit another nomination for the post of Commissioner of Police to President Paula Mae Weekes this week.

PSC chairman Bliss Seepersad told the T&T Guardian yesterday that the commission will hold its statutory meeting this week. “We are trying to meet and deal with the process as quickly as possible,” Seepersad said in an interview yesterday.

Asked whether there were any other candidates on the list apart from Gary Griffith, Seepersad declined further comment saying there had been “too much” in the public domain already.

Last week, one of the candidates for the post of Commissioner of Police, Wayne Hayde, wrote to the PSC demanding that his name be put on the Merit List.

The commission has been seeking legal action on the matter, but Seepersad declined to say whether any name other than that of Griffith is on the list.

Hayde was one of two candidates originally ruled out by the PSC under the chairmanship of Seepersad because of his age.

Hayde is contending that age was not a factor when the notice for application for the post went out nor was it an issue when he was interviewed on two occasions.

Another person ruled out because of age is Glen Hackett.

So far three nominations from the PSC in the persons of Dulalchan, Phillip and Williams have already been rejected by the Parliament.

Dulalchan and Phillip were rejected on the grounds that they did not apply for the job of Commissioner but of Deputy Commissioner.

Williams was described by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as a “victim of the system.”

Rowley told the Parliament last Friday “with the best analysis in the world with the best marking of the score, I think we in Trinidad and Tobago must conclude that the fight against crime is not where we would like it to be,” the PM said as he thanked Williams for his service.

The Prime Minister did, however, indicate that “there are others on the Merit List who may find favour with this house.”

Williams, whose nomination was rejected by the Parliament last Friday told the Guardian he continues to do his duty. “It’s all exciting going right to the end of my stay in the Police Service,” he said.

Williams said when you join the service “you stay professional and the country requires that you commit yourself in a professional manner and build it up to the best of your ability.”

But he said, “The Police Service does not stand on its own and that is what sometimes we fail to recognise but at this point in time it’s really all up to the decision makers to make their decisions and they have made their decision so I have no difficulty with whatever decisions are made.”

Williams will proceed on 10 days’ vacation leave in August before going on pre-retirement leave in September which he says will take him to “the end of my working life in the Police Service. I retire on August 7, 2020.”

The acting commissioner declined comment on reports that Griffith may be the next Commissioner saying “I will not comment on who may be chosen.”

Whoever is chosen, he said, “I will have to hand over. That’s how it is in the Police Service.”

The Police Social and Welfare Association has expressed its own concerns about Griffith being selected but Williams said “they have their view point and they are entitled to represent the view point of the membership.”

Yesterday, President of the Association Michael Seales told the T&T Guardian that the Police Service is “demoralised and more than just being demoralised they feel marginalised and maligned.”

Seales said, “You cannot ask an officer to be a career officer and then they can’t reach the pinnacle of their careers, that is really an insult,” he said as he explained that a police officer like any other worker in any organisation “would expect to work their way to the top once they get the opportunity to do so and to take advantage of those opportunities.”

First Division senior officers are due to meet tomorrow (Wednesday) and Seales said “whatever mandate they give to me I will represent their mandate.

He said at tomorrow’s meeting officers will have the “opportunity to air their views on how this has impacted them.”

Principals of private secondary schools have met their commitment and have supplied Finance Minister Colm Imbert with documentary evidence of the cost of running their schools including “private information with respect to the private students intake and how much the private parents pay.”

Spokesman for the Association of Private Secondary Schools Anthony Mc Collin, acting vice principal of the Corpus Christi College, told the T&T Guardian that the information was sent to Imbert via email on Sunday and “I personally dropped a hard copy off to the Ministry of Finance this morning (yesterday).”

The request for the document with the breakdown of how the association arrived at $5700 and the additional information was requested by Imbert at a meeting last Thursday with the association.

Imbert was accompanied to that meeting by Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat.

Another meeting is scheduled for this Friday, but Imbert told the principals that Garcia will not be present at this week’s talks since he is proceeding on vacation, “but that’s okay,” Imbert is reported to have said.

Yesterday, Mc Collin said, “Garcia’s presence or absence is of no real concern to me at this point in time.”

According to Mc Collin, Imbert indicated that “he has been given the mandate to settle this issue as quickly and efficiently as possible, so I take it that since the Minister of Education should have had to brief Mr Imbert on what our discussions would have been prior to his intervention and since it is in the hands of this committee which would have been set up by the Prime Minister, Garcia’s absence is therefore not significant.”

Mc Collin said principals are “just going to wait and see what happens.”

He said they have had the discussions “back and forth,” and the principals have submitted all information required. “I think hope for me is something dried up at this stage, I just continue to wait and see what happens,” he said.

Private schools have warned they may be forced to close their doors if the issue of the fee increase is not settled.

Mc Collin explained that when the arrangement started in the late 1990’s it was on the basis of the schools taking in 14- plus students.

The majority of students at that time were private, which left the schools room to negotiate with private parents to increase fees.

Even though the fee paid by the Government at that time was “not adequate,” Mc Collin said the difference was made up by the school’s ability to enrol more private students.

Today more than 90 per cent of the student population at private secondary schools are placed there by the Government.

Because the Government pays $1,200, Mc Collin said the schools can no longer negotiate with private parents who are clamouring against the fees they currently pay, “because they are saying why must we pay such a substantial amount when there are children sitting in the same classroom with the private students who are getting the same opportunities for education at much less. So clearly that has put us in a difficult situation.”

Mc Collin said in some cases private students pay four times what the Government is paying per child per term. The figures have been given to the Finance Minister as requested.

Mc Collin made it clear that contrary to what the Government may think “we are not trying to dig out anybody’s eyes, but the reality is that we have been under paid since the contract started with $750 which was never the cost to educate a child.

Mc Collin said it was unfair “the school compounds are being used without a rent being paid and the Government pays for nothing.”

The private schools through the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Ssventh Day Adventist Boards pay for the upkeep of the schools, all the material the students need and security. Annually, he said the schools are millions of dollars in the red because they virtually subsidise the cost of education for the government students.

Mc Collin said up to yesterday payments for the last school term were still outstanding, and with their July pay date of July 28 approaching they are hoping that they will get the outstanding payment owed to them by the end of this week.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has vowed to take legal action against attorney Nyree Alfonso for breach of fiduciary duty, stating that she used her knowledge and opportunity in the tendering process of the Super Fast Galicia for her own personal gains.

Al-Rawi made his position clear at a press conference at the Ministry of Works and Transport, Port of Spain, which was attended by Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan and National Infrastructure Development Company chairman Herbert George.

The AG was responding to a press conference held on Sunday by Alfonso, UNC Senator Saddam Hosein, sacked Port Authority of T&T (PATT) acting general manager Charmaine Lewis and UNC activist Devant Maharaj who raised concerns about the safety of the Galleons Passage.

Insisting that the vessel is safe for passenger use, Al-Rawi brought the media up to speed with two course of legal actions which have been commenced.

While legal action has been taken against Intercontinental Shipping Services Ltd (ICSL) last year for breach of contract for the withdrawal of the Galicia on April 21, 2017, the AG said “action has been flagged and will be commenced against Nyree Dawn Alfonso (NDA) and company for alleged breach of fiduciary duty specifically to the procurement of the Galicia.”

As for Lewis, he said, she has questions to answer in relation to the request for the extension of the Galicia managed under her tenure.

“It is therefore imperative in the round that you consider the information which is being drip fed to you in a scandalous fashion by spokesperson for the UNC. Be careful of saboteurs. Because if you would go this far out of your way to deprecate a process that is transparent, then be careful about the potential of sabotage.”

Al-Rawi said those who have been ill-speaking the Galleons Passage “have had action flagged to be taken against them or who have been the subject of disciplinary action leading to dismissal from office.”

The AG said there was an exchange of pre- action protocol correspondence among the PATT, Ministry of Works and Transport, the AG’s office, attorney for ICSL and Nyree Alfonso, who is represented by attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who has since responded to the pre- action protocol.“In the course of passing correspondence between attorneys, Ms Alfonso was put upon notice of the Government’s stated intention to commence legal action against her specifically for breach of fiduciary duty.”

The breach focused specifically, Al-Rawi said on Alfonso “using her knowledge and opportunity of the tender process made known to her in her capacity as attorney-at-law for PATT for her own personal gain and that of her appointed agent ICSL.”

He said Alfonso was hired by PATT on or about December 30, 2013 seeking her advice with respect to the continued operation and termination of the MV Warrior Spirit.

Al-Rawi said Alfonso was also retained to locate a short term vessel for the Warrior Spirt and in the course of that retention she identified five vessels among them being the Galicia which Leon Grant identified as the preferred vessel.

Grant who was dismissed as T&T Inter-island Transport CEO, the AG said has been the subject of action by PATT in relation to his suppression of evidence concerning the Cabo Star.

He said nine people were invited to participate in the tender process. Of the nine only NDA was not involved in ship leasing business.

In evidence before a JSC, Al-Rawi said Alfonso claimed that she told PATT that she should not have been invited as a tenderer.

“However, she later admitted that she had responded to the invitation and in fact appointed an agent in the person of ICSL. The basis by which ICSL submitted its bid was on the express disclosure that it was acting as the agent for Ms Alfonso’s company,” Al-Rawi said.

The AG said Alfonso submitted an invoice of over $800,000 in expenditure. On March 6, 2014, he said PATT’s board considered the selective tenderers report and recommended the Galicia for six months of service.

“That contract morphed into a 12 month contract and then that contract continued from time-to-time resulting in payments of close to $150 million in expenditure for the Galicia.”

In summary, Al-Rawi said there was a square breach of fiduciary on Alfonso’s part.

“It is the view of attorneys for several entities for the Government that you cannot sit as a beneficiary for a tender via your agent whilst providing advice to the PATT on the very issue. These are very serious issues.”

bobie-lee.dixon@guardian.co.tt

Trinidadian-American social justice activist Colin Warner will be available to interact with the public about the film—Crown Heights —the true story of his wrongful conviction, which caused him to serve 20 years in prison until his co-defendant Norman Simmonds, in 2001, admitted to the crime.

The film, which is a feature film in this year’s local African Film Festival and was premiered last Sunday at the Central Bank Auditorium, chronicles the life of Warner and that of his best friend Carl King—also a Trinidadian, who dedicated his life to fighting for Warner’s freedom and to prove his innocence, even losing friends and his marriage over this commitment.

The event takes place at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s and Warner will be joined by local criminologist Renee Cummings.

In 1980, even though all practical evidence proved insufficient to convict Warner in the shooting death of Mario Hamilton, outside Erasmus Hall, High School in Flatbush, New York, he was sentenced to life in prison after a false witness account and a statement by Martell Hamilton, the brother of the murdered boy, that the face in a snapshot of Warner looked slightly familiar. Warner would continually appeal his sentence but to no avail.

After Simmonds’ confession, which finally won Warner’s freedom, Hamilton had said he fingered Warner under pressure from detectives and felt awful that a man spent so much time in prison for something he did not do.

Warner lived in the borough of Crown Heights and he was just 18-years-old when he was arrested.

His remarkable story of lies, deception, racial profiling, a corrupted justice system, forgiveness and true friendship was made into a biographical crime drama called Crown Heights in 2017 by American writer and director Matt Ruskin. It is the adaptation of This American Life podcast. The film also won the 2017 Audience Award for US Dramatic Film at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Warner, now 56-years-old, was awarded US$2.7 million as compensation for his wrongful imprisonment. He now lives with his wife and daughter in Georgia, US, and is into real estate and spearheads some social justice programmes.

Cummings, in an interview with Guardian Media, said as a Trinidadian living in New York, the story of Warner’s incarceration for a murder he didn’t commit was legendary and when he was released from prison, he became a hero. She said his story is one of courage, faith and forgiveness.

“To forgive the system and the people who took away your freedom for over two decades and to find the inner peace, courage and mental fortitude to live behind bars knowing you are innocent and then to come out of prison and confront a world that you don’t know, makes Colin Warner an inspiration to all. It is a great honour to share his story with Trinidad and Tobago.”

Cummings said the event is open to the public who must reserve seating prior to the event. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to speak with Warner during a question and answer segment. For more information or to reserve seating contact 796-8988.

Senior Counsel Martin Daly says the Government has tried to “duck” the matter involving an investigation by the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) into allegations made in the public domain against Chief Justice Ivor Archie as he accused Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi of making “unscholarly” statements on the issue. Daly is cautioning that the Ag should “not be taking sides,” in the matter.

Daly said the time may be coming soon when representation may have to be made to the Prime Minister to trigger 137, in light of the current situation where the matter now before the Privy Council may not go in favour of the CJ Archie.

Speaking on the CNC3 Morning Brew, Daly said while the country has to wait for the written reasons from the Privy Council “it is unlikely that we are looking at a victory for the CJ’s team.”

On Monday the five Law Lords of the Privy Council Johnathan Sumption, Robert Reed, Brian Kerr, Nicholas Wilson and Baroness Brenda Hale, reserved judgment in Archie’s appeal in which he is challenging the decision of three of his colleagues in the Court of Appeal to dismiss his lawsuit over an investigation launched by LATT into the allegations of misconduct.

Hours after the CJ’s office issued a press release indicating for the “purpose of clarification,” that the issue before the Privy Council is “not whether the Chief Justice is guilty of misconduct,” but the “main issue is whether LATT has the authority to investigate the Chief Justice (or for that matter any judge) with a view to finding fact.”

Daly laughed when he heard the contents of the press release. He said it was clear that the CJ’s appeal went “very badly” and the release from his office was a “puerile attempt to contain damage that the appeal is likely to be lost.”

He said whatever the Privy Council writes the fact is that matters surrounding the CJ are again going to “assume extremely high profile and the only persons that will lose is the reputation of the judiciary and the image of the country. The longer this matter drags on with all the fights and so on the worse it is going to be.”

The learned Senior Counsel noted that the “particular allegations of misconduct” against Archie are “very important.” He noted that it is difficult to contemplate how the CJ will return to the Court of Appeal to preside there when “with great regret and words chosen very carefully so as not to inflame the situation, the three most senior judges have been critical of his refusal to give full answers.”

They had done so in giving their ruling in the matter he said “at personal risk of being abused themselves by zealots.”

Daly said the reputation of the judiciary is taking a “battering,” and cautioned that if the judiciary “becomes a laughing stock or the subject of general criticism the country looks bad, it affects al sorts of things how people feel about the judiciary generally it is very jaundiced already and how foreign investors view the validity of the country’s legal infrastructure.”

He said AG Al-Rawi “cannot keep ducking it, ducking it, ducking it in the manner in which he has been doing,” because all of it will come to a head once the written judgment of the Privy Council comes in.

According to Daly, the AG had made “some very unscholarly statements about the threshold of 137 had not been triggered, he has no business making those statements. He does not have the facts and he ought not to be taking sides.”

But Daly said if the matter assumed high profile again all the focus will turn to what the Prime Minister will do, “he will have to make a number of assessments including political assessment as to what is more harmful to his political party and the Government’s standing if to leave it alone and duck it or the trigger 137.”

Expressing concern about statements made by the AG on the matter, Daly said he is “poised to have some very choice words to say to him (the AG) in the future if the government does not delink itself from a defence of the Chief Justice.”

He said as AG, Al-Rawi “cannot continue to say in his cavalier fashion that the threshold of 137 is not triggered, he cannot know that.”

He said the government must pay attention to the matters as they unfold “and depending on what guidance the privy Council gives, representations may be made to the Prime Minister to trigger 137,” he would not hazard a guess as to what will happen if such representation is made.

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan says his ministry will “not bow to the pressure” of persons who burn tyres and debris on the nation’s roads saying they will not condone such action as he cautioned communities which take such action that they hurt themselves and their communities.

He said, “When you burn things you damage the road, and put stress on the roadway.”

Such protests, he said, “Make it worse for the area,” and will not force the ministry into action.

On Monday, residents in Barrackpore from Monkey Town to the Number Two Scale, threw tyres and debris on the roadway and set fires along intermittent points demanding that the road be fixed, motorists had to find alternative routes in and out of the area.

Sinanan said “strange enough that area where the protest was held, Dr Roodal Moonilal spoke to me last week and we put in place a crew to go down there Monday morning to do some patching unfortunately the crew could not go because of the protest.” Moonilal is the MP for Oropouche East in whose constituency the road fall.

Because of the protests, Sinanan said, “the Director called me and said he cannot go Monday because the staff was unwilling to go down there.”

Sinanan said while the ministry recognised “there are a lot of areas that do require road reconstruction and road paving but we do have a challenge with funding at this point in time.”

He assured there is a plan to fix roads across the country, “we have a programme of works to be executed throughout Trinidad and Tobago, unfortunately all cannot be done at the same time.”

Only yesterday, he said, he approved a programme for 49 projects from the Director of Highways who is the person in charge of all the major roads.

Sinanan said, “This programme is across the country and it’s based on availability of funding. it is also based on priority and the physical nature of the road. The priority is done by the director of highways who is in charge of all roads in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

The minister insisted this was not “a response to what happened on Monday, this is something the Director had been working on and he brought it to me for approval.” Sinanan could not say whether the Barrackpore road which prompted the protest was included in the programme.

Sinanan appealed to communities for “patience and understanding.”

He said for everybody who think their roads are the worse, “if they do a survey throughout Trinidad and Tobago they would realise there are other people in worse condition than they are.”

Acknowledging that there are a number of roads to be rehabilitated Sinanan said it was “unfortunate” that not all roads can be repaired and rehabilitated “at the same time,” but he made it clear that the Ministry will not bow to the pressure of protesters “we do not support the burning of tyres and that behaviour and we will not condone that behaviour. It will not speed up the process for any area,” he said.

Mark Francois, Managing Partner of Beston Engineering Consultants, a company which does roadways across the Caribbean, told the T&T Guardian the structural damage done from such protests are not significant “if you overheat asphalt it will soften it, and then it would come back to normal.”

But he cautioned that if the fires go for hours “without being put out it could do permanent damage, it would make the road worse. They should not be doing that.”

He said it was “lawlessness,” and while he admitted to understanding people’s frustration because they may feel their issues are not being attended to, Francois said such protests are “ not helping the situation.”

Francois said the bigger issue is quality control in roadworks, he said “you see highways being paved all over, when they should at least be lasting seven years without resurfacing, you see them being resurfaced under seven years, which means the country is paying two and three times for something they should pay once for.”

Having seen instances of asphalt being put down over mud, Francois said, “You need quality control when you are spending public funds but yet people getting paid for doing that.”

While fixing potholes is important. Sometimes more is required he said.

Six years after her son was fatally shot near their Mon Repos home, a mother of nine lost another child, Reon Massey, 34, under similar tragic circumstances on Monday night.

No longer feeling safe in the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) apartment in San Fernando where she called home for decades, Janice Massey is appealing to HDC to be relocated to another community.

Even though the HDC apartment buildings are adjacent to the Mon Repos Police Station, she said her two sons Reon and Dillon were still murdered.

Massey said she did not know whether Reon, a CEPEP worker, was threatened or had any problem with anyone.

According to a police report, the murder took place around 8.45 pm at a washing shed to the back of one of the buildings.

Investigators have identified a person of interest who was known to Reon and lives in the area.

Massey said, “I was at home when I heard the shots. I knew it was gun shots because we get that now and again. They come and tell me Reon get shot. When I went outside I saw the police taking him.”

When she got to the San Fernando General Hospital she was informed that he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lamenting the crime situation, she said, “Too many people are trigger happy. I don’t know where they getting the guns.

A man was gunned down yesterday in Diego Martin.He was identified as Shaquille “Max” Samuel originally from Richplain.

According to a police report, at about 1.30 pm Samuel was walking along a track from his home which runs parallel to Mercer Road when he was approached by a lone gunman who shot him several times.

Samuel attempted to run away but fell and died.Police said he was well known to them, as he was a suspect in several gang-related activities.

Samuel’s murder has been recorded as 316 for the year so far.Investigations are continuing.

An unidentified man, who was beaten and stabbed repeatedly, succumbed to injuries at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital yesterday.

According to a police report, at about 6.15 am the victim and another man were seen fighting on Queen Janelle Commissiong Street near Abayan Restaurant.

Police who responded on the scene found the bleeding man on the ground.

He was taken to the hospital where he later died.

The other man, police said, who is from Upper Village Council Street in Laventille and went to the hospital for medical treatment.

He told police at the hospital that he was attacked and hit in the face with a piece of iron and then beaten.

Police said the wounded man claimed he fought back with a knife, stabbing his attacker several times.

A team of officers led by ASP Martin visited the scene and found the knife and the piece of iron.

Investigations are continuing.

The Ministry of Health is urging the public that during the rainy season to avoid the health risks associated with flooding.

Flood waters may carry silt, raw sewage and bacteria that can contaminate food and water and make it unsafe.

The ministry said the risk of the infectious disease Leptospirosis is especially high in flood situations, such as after a hurricane or heavy seasonal rains.

Leptospirosis is spread by bacteria and, once diagnosed early, it can be treated. Leptospirosis is spread through the urine of infected animals (usually rodents, dogs, farm animals and horses).

Animals and humans become infected by direct contact, by drinking or inhaling the infected urine, or water contaminated by urine.

The time between a person’s exposure to a contaminated source and becoming sick is 2 days to 4 weeks. Illness usually begins abruptly with fever and other symptoms.

If you believe that you may have Leptospirosis please visit your nearest health centre or your doctor immediately.

To reduce the risk of Leptospirosis, members of the public are advised to:

• Avoid contact with animal urine, especially if you have cuts or abrasions of the skin.

• Avoid contact with potentially contaminated water (e.g. streams, rivers and ponds)

• If working in areas that may be prone to contamination, wear protective clothing such as boots, aprons, eye protection, or face masks.

• Consume only clean drinking water

• Inspect food carefully to determine if it may have come into contact with flood water. Discard open containers, packages and foods contained in bags, paper, cloth, fiber or cardboard boxes e.g. flour, cereal, rice even if the packages were sealed.

• Throw away fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meat that may have come into contact with flood waters.

Members of the public in need of assistance in this regard should contact their County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) office.

A La Brea man is now hoping either Government or private citizens will help reopen an orphanage which once housed several youths.

Lester Joseph is keen to re-established the home which was set up by his mother Carmen Joseph in 1958.

Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, Joseph said his mother began taking children from the Majuba Hill area into her three-bedroom home back then and did so without ever asking for any state assistance. He said eventually the orphanage was established and it became known as the happy home for children. He said his mother was eventually awarded the Hummingbird silver medal for her contribution to the community.

But in 1994 as his mother lay on her deathbed, Lester promised that the home’s door will remain open and after marrying his wife Annmarie the couple set out providing a safe haven for children. While he worked in the oilfields during the day, Annmarie ensured the children of the home were well taken care of.

“They were all happy, the house was full of laughter and cheer, every children from the area would come and when it was time for them to leave they would cry,” he said.

The family’s generosity extended beyond the home, as Lester said whenever there were excess items donated by Good Samaritans he would distribute to the less fortunate in the area. He said the bond his wife shared with the children knew no bounds and all of the over 200 children who passed through its doors were cared for specially.

In 2016, however, life changed for Lester when his wife passed away. Shortly after, Lester suffered two strokes and failing health and lack of support forced him to make a decision. With a heavy heart, he wrote to the Children’s Authority explaining his plight and asking that the remaining children be relocated.

But as he watched the last boy leave the happy home, he said sadness overwhelmed him.

“I felt real disappointed, I made a promise to my mother and now I broke it. I loved each of those children,” a tearful Joseph said yesterday.

Joseph's cousin, Kevin Greenidge, said Lester has never been the same after the home closed.

“It's as though his world came crashing down,” Greenidge said.

However, Greenidge is now holding on to hope and is appealing to citizens willing and able to be part of a board of directors to come forward and give of themselves as the Joseph family did. He said the home stands as a landmark in the area and it will be regrettable to see its doors remain closed.

Greenidge can be contacted at 282-9134 while Joseph can be contacted at 342-9612.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Kazim Hosein last evening slammed former minister in the People’s Partnership government and current activist Devant Maharaj of attempting to embroil him in a possible scandal over the award of Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme Cepep contracts.

Hosein made the comment in response to calls by Maharaj for the acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to launch a probe into a voice recording purported to be a telephone conversation between a Government minister and Member of Parliament (MP) discussing the award of Cepep contracts.

The 24-second recording was posted on social media yesterday and was attached to photographs of the two Government officials.

In the recording, a male voice is heard saying, “Them Cepep contractors in the pool, you want any of them again?”

A female voice is heard answering no, while the male warns “Dr ..... tell me to talk to all yuh directly…don’t send no email and no text….whatever email you have delete eh.”

In his letter to CoP Williams, Maharaj said if the contents of the recording is true, it suggests “a collusion and conspiracy to award contracts to individuals in circumstances where you are making a specific request to delete email documentation.”

He said such inference of deleting emails suggested that the people speaking wish to conceal the method of distributing these contracts.

“I call upon the minister and MP involved to confirm or deny that these are their voices and to clarify the manner in which Cepep contracts are being currently determined,” Maharaj said.

But in a written response to the social media clip yesterday evening, Hosein, the line minister for Cepep, said he received the Whatsapp clip bearing the photographs of high-ranking Government officials.

“It is my understanding that this clip originated from Devant Maharaj - an individual who has fallen out of favour with his colleagues and is grasping at any way back in. I see it as an attempt to make allegations against me and draw me into a scandal,” Hosein wrote.

In defence, Hosein said he speaks with all Members of Parliament, as well as Opposition on many matters, including Cepep “and I direct them to contact the board of the company. I remain dedicated to serving my country in this office and I will not let untrue narratives prevent me from fulfilling this mandate.”

The recording made its rounds on social media one day after the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government published a notice for the pre-qualification and registration of new Cepep contractors. In the ad, applicants who applied for Cepep contracts in 2017 or 2018 were advised not to re-apply.

Documents acquired by the T&T Guardian yesterday also showed what appeared to be a letter dated January 27, 2016, sent by another Government Minister and MP to the secretary of Cepep’s Tenders’ Committee titled “Priority List for Cepep Contract Amended.”

The letter listed nine contractors and read: “The following are the names of contractors who are well-known to me and they all operate in the constituency and have a record of performance in keeping with the highest level of reliability, cost efficiency and quality of work done.”

The letter came from the MP’s constituency office with a signature attached.

Contacted on the issue yesterday, Cepep chairman Ashton Ford said he was unaware of the audio, which the T&T Guardian forwarded to him via Whatsapp. Told of its contents, Ford said he could not comment as he was “new on the job”.

Asked if he would launch an investigation into the recording, Ford replied, “He (Hosein) is the minister. He will be responsible for that, not me.”

Ford said he could also not answer any question just yet as he had a board to report to, adding he could not conduct Cepep’s business through the media.

Questioned about the transparency of the award of Cepep contracts, Ford replied, “We will see.”

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Communications Minister Stuart Young also failed to respond to Whatsapp messages sent by Guardian Media Ltd yesterday about the audio. Several calls to the cellphones of the Government officials purported to have been involved in the alleged conversation had also gone unanswered yesterday before Hosein issued the statement.

But Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who served as line minister for Cepep for five years, said the practice of ministers and MPs submitting names of contractors was not new. He said during the People’s Partnership administration and “over the years” MPs and government ministers had put forward recommendations to assist companies in their constituencies. However, he said no one made demands and all contractors were subject to the same evaluation process and had to meet all the necessary requirements before being selected for a contract.

The first local public consultation on the issue of the decriminalisation and possible legalisation of marijuana is expected to be held as early as next month.

This was the key outcome as cannabis activists met with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Fitzgerald Hinds for around two hours yesterday.

Yesterday’s meeting was facilitated after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley received a petition from Caribbean Collective for Justice (CCJ) head Nazma Muller which featured 10,000 signatures calling for the legalisation of marijuana.

Muller and her team, including criminologist Darius Figueira, CCJ director Denise Carew, Colin Stephenson, co-founder of T&T’s first incorporated marijuana law reform NGO, C420, and media personality Joshua Seemungal attended the meeting.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian after the meeting, Muller was pleased at the outcome.

“It was a productive meeting, we are going to cooperate and collaborate on the consultation so that the process can move forward and so that all stakeholders get a chance to air their views, including the medical fraternity, the drug rehab people and the church people,” Muller said.

Muller called on the public to come out to the consultations so that “everybody can have a chance to have their say on a policy that is very radical”.

She said the group is working on having the first consultation in the third week of August.

“The CCJ is pleased, at least we have brought things on to the frontburner. It is now being dealt with as a priority and we are satisfied with that and we move forward in good faith because we want to see T&T progress, we want peace and a reduction in the crime rate, which we think this will do,” Muller said.

Previously, the Government had denied a request from the Caricom-appointed commission established to look at the issue of the reform of marijuana laws in the region, when they sought to have national consultations on the issue here.

Speaking after yesterday’s meeting, however, Al-Rawi said Government needed to have criminal justice reform in place before the consultations could be held here.

“So the place and space to have this discussion could not have happened from a governmental perspective before that criminal justice focus was given,” Al-Rawi said.

Al-Rawi said the Government has spent the last two years focusing very heavily on our criminal justice system, including a fast-track court. He said the country is now ready for the discussion on legalisation of marijuana to take place.

One of the things the CCJ is lobbying for as part of the legalisation of marijuana is recognition for Rastafarians who use it as a sacrament. Muller said the timing of the meeting was perhaps divine given that it occurred the day after 126th birthday of former Ethiopia Emperor Haile Selassie I.

The informer who supplied former People’s Partnership minister Devant Maharaj with a voice recording which allegedly features a conversation between Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Kazim Hosein and colleague La Brea MP Nicole Ollivierre, over the award of Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) contracts, has gone into hiding after allegedly being threatened for leaking the clip.

On Tuesday, Maharaj forwarded a copy of the voice recording to the media attached with photographs of the two high-ranking Government officials, which later surfaced on social media. Maharaj also called on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to launch an investigation into the recording.

In the recording, a male voice is heard saying, “Them Cepep contractors in the pool, you want any of them again?”

A female voice is heard answering no, while the male warns, “Dr …tell me to talk to all yuh directly…don’t send no emails and no text. Whatever email you have delete eh.”

Maharaj said if the contents of the recording are true it suggests a collusion and conspiracy to award contracts to individuals in circumstances where there was also an attempt to delete documentation surrounding those awards.

In response, however, Hosein slammed Maharaj for attempting to embroil him in a possible scandal over the award of Cepep contracts.

In his defence, Hosein said he speaks with all MPs, as well as Opposition, on many matters, including Cepep and he directs them to contact the board of the company.

“I remain dedicated to serving my country in this office and I will not let untrue narratives prevent me from fulfilling this mandate,” Hosein added in a statement on the matter on Tuesday.

United National Congress MP Roodal Moonilal also confirmed that MPs recommending people in their constituencies for Cepep contracts was nothing new and that this was also the practice under the People’s partnership government and over the years.

Yesterday, Maharaj said shortly after the recording surfaced on social media the informer was threatened.

“He (informer) called me and say somebody big in the PNM threatened him. He refused to say who because they gave him strict instructions not to share any information with me. The man is scared for his life. He is very concerned. He has gone into hiding.”

The informer, Maharaj said, is a former government employee.

Adding the informer has little confidence in the police, Maharaj said while Hosein sent out a release on the issue on Tuesday, he was yet to answer the direct questions about whether the voices in the alleged recording were those of his and Ollivierre’s.

“I just hope this matter is put to rest. Come out and say if the voice recording is yours or not,” he said.

When the T&T Guardian attempted to contact Hosein yesterday for a response to the latest allegation surrounding the issue, calls to his phone went unanswered. However, in response to text messages he replied: “I gave my simple response yesterday. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Communication Minister Stuart Young yesterday defended his colleagues.

Saying he’d noted that even UNC MP Roodal Moonilal had said consultation between Parliamentarians on potential Cepep contractors was nothing unusual, Young said “And I understand this to be so also. I don’t think there’s anything untoward with the Minister having a conversation with an MP on this.”

Young, however, couldn’t verify if it was Hosein on the video Maharaj had queried. But Young was quick to point out that very shortly, the public will be hearing some “stuff” on UNC activist Maharaj which he’ll need to hunker down and deal with himself.

New TTT launch Aug 31

Communication Minister Stuart Young says the new Trinidad and Tobago Television Ltd (TTT) will be launched on August 30 with new programming.

He noted the previous TTT was launched live on August 31, 1962— Independence Day.

Changes are currently being made at the station’s Maraval Road location where its current incarnation—CNMG—is housed. The CNMG sign is being taken down in preparation for the change.

Young said changes are being made to the broadcast content of what will soon be the new TTT. After meeting with CNMG’s board and management yesterday, he said apart from a new logo, he wanted new programming and had some “interesting ideas for the news” going forward.

He also said he’d made presentations to Cabinet last week on the issue of fast ferries from Australia and Cabinet would take some decisions “very shortly” and announcements would be made on the future of fast ferries.

Young made the announcements after yesterday’s official swearing-in of the Port-of-Spain Spain Corporation’s Belmont East councillor Nicole Young.

Young warned his namesake that she had “some shoes” to fill following late Belmont East Councillor Darryl Rajpaul, but he said he was sure she’d do so in her own unique way.

National sports shooter Robert Auerbach has won his lawsuit against acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams over a six-year delay in considering his application for a Firearm Users’ Licence (FUL).

Delivering an oral judgment in Auerbach’s judicial review lawsuit in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Justice Vasheist Kokaram ruled that Williams had failed in his statutory obligation to either approve or deny Auerbach’s application within a reasonable time.

As part of his decision, Kokaram granted Auerbach an order compelling Williams to immediately grant him a provisional licence and to also consider the application for a full licence.

In the lawsuit, Auerbach, who has been representing T&T in trap and skeet shooting since he was 14 years old, stated that the licence is a vital part of his participation in the sport as it is required for training and competing in tournaments.

As a minor and young adult, Auerbach would use his father’s licence to participate but he was forced to apply for his own because his father was unable to attend events prior to his death in 2014.

Auerbach, who won a gold medal at the 21st Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico in 2010, applied in December 2012.

Auerbach complained that over the past six years Williams never responded to the application despite several requests from him.

He claimed that as a result of Williams’ failure to process the application he could not access the Firearm Appeal Tribunal, which hears appeals from persons whose applications are rejected.

“Ultimately, as a patriot, and someone who is proud of T&T and wishes to see our national flag proudly displayed at a competition medal award ceremony, in particular for the sport which I love, this process and/or the conduct of Williams to fail and/or refuse to make a decision with regard to my applications is inexcusable, irrational and unreasonable,” Auerbach said in his affidavit for the lawsuit.

Auerbach, a former Coast Guard officer, also suggested that the licence would assist him in his new job of managing his family’s cocoa estate.

Auerbach was represented by Jagdeo Singh, Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh, Criston Williams and Lana Lakhan.

Rio Claro businessman Ashmeed Mohammed has lost his defamation lawsuit against the T&T Express Newspapers and television station, CCN TV 6, over a series of reports which alleged that he was a terrorist.

Delivering an oral judgement at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain yesterday, High Court Judge Avason Quinlan-Williams ruled that two newspaper reports published in 2014 were libellous to Mohammed.

However, she ruled that both media companies had successfully proved that their reports were covered under the Reynolds defence of responsible journalism.

Although the companies were entitled to have Mohammed pay their legal costs for defending the lawsuit, Quinlan-Williams ruled that each party should bear their own costs.

In an interview with Guardian Media after the judgement was delivered, Mohammed said he planned to appeal.

“My name was slandered. Canada banned me and I lost all my business interests there,” Mohammed said.

Mohammed, who operates an import and distribution business, filed the lawsuit after the media reports claimed that he had flown to Syria and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis).

Mohammed, who was then a Canadian resident, claimed that after the reports were published his immigration status had been revoked.

In addition to claiming that its journalists acted responsibly in publishing the reports, the media companies, which are part of One Caribbean Media Limited (OCM), alleged that they did not directly refer to Mohammed as his first name was spelt differently in each report.

While she accepted that there was sufficient public interest in the story and that the companies’ journalists performed their duties fairly, Quinlan-Williams said that Mohammed was the subject of the reports despite the difference in spelling.

In 2011, Mohammed was among a group of men who were detained during the State of Emergency as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and members of her Cabinet.

Mohammed denied any wrongdoing and was eventually freed along with the other detainees as police did not have sufficient evidence against them.

He was represented by Farid Scoon and Michael Coppin, while the companies were represented by Faarees Hosein.