Keron Valentine, who has held the post of deputy mayor for the past six years, is now the mayor of Port-of-Spain.

Today, the council will hold discussions on a number of issues, including selecting a new deputy mayor.

At 3 pm yesterday former Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee tendered his resignation to the Chief Executive Officer of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation.

It came two days after he announced his intention to resign in the face of a public outrage, endorsement from Prime Minister Keith Rowley and chairman of the People’s National Movement Franklin Khan, over his victim blaming comments in the wake of the murder of Japanese visitor Asami Nagakiya.

At noon yesterday he had revealed his intention to Sky 99.5 fm announcer Jessie May Ventour.

Last Friday, activists protested outside City Hall calling for Tim Kee’s resignation. Social media was bombarded with calls for this termination and activists also protested outside this country’s High Commission in London.

While speaking to media, following the discovery of Nagakiya’s corpse, Tim Kee raised questions about lewdness and vulgarity in Carnival.

He later said his words were taken out of context by media professionals.

This past weekend, Tim Kee first announced plans to resign but there was speculation on Monday after a Facebook post from his spouse defending his action and stating he had more to do as mayor.

While speaking to Ventour, Tim Kee said he had never announced any reversal of his decision to resign but had used Monday to say goodbye to colleagues and friends at the corporation.

In an interview, shortly after 5 pm, following the meeting, Valentine, 31, confirmed Tim Kee’s resignation and the provision in the Municipal Corporation’s Act which made him Tim Kee’s replacement.

He said the meeting was used to discuss the way forward and for the former mayor to hand over projects he had started.

“It was really a sad moment, an uncomfortable feeling to take over the mayorship under such circumstances but in politics these things do happen and we are all saddened by it,” Valentine added.

He said the mood of the meeting was a sombre one but added the business of the city must go on.

“We assured Mayor Tim Kee that the work of the city will go on and we will stick to his projects.

“I gave him the commitment that the projects we have started in terms of development, I will press on with the support of the council,” Valentine added.

These projects include the completion of the West Park Savannah, the changes to vending at the Queen’s Park Savannah and in the city and the installation of parking metres and wrecking.

Valentine is expected to remain in office until local government elections which is due in eight months.

Asked about the two councillors who misled the public when they told media the council had met on Monday, Valentine said the issue would be discussed.

“We are going to discuss that at the very first caucas meeting under my chairmanship but my personal take is that it was a matter of loyalty and emotions were high.

“I do understand the sentiments expressed by my colleagues,” he added.

According to the Act, the council may appoint to the office of deputy mayor “an alderman or councillor who shall hold such office until the date when the deputy mayor whom he succeeded would have gone out of office by effluxion of time.”

Tim Kee, who remained in the mayor’s office and was seen peering out a third floor window, did not speak to the media.

Instead, in a press release from his office, he accepted full responsibility for making the reference that cast a shadow on the death of Nagakiya whose body was found in the Queen’s Park Savannah on Ash Wednesday in her Carnival costume. 

“I once again extend my sincerest condolences to her family, friends and countrymen and wish that they be comforted by the outpouring of love which has been demonstrated by so many. 

“Her loss is keenly felt as if she were one of our own, as over the years she has shown a deep love for the culture of this country and the national instrument in particular,” the release stated.

He said public officials must be held to a high standard of transparency, good governance and accountability.

“I did my best and I accept full responsibility for my actions and utterances. To the people of this country who feel they have been let down, I unreservedly apologise. 

“As I demit office, I wish to encourage all of us as citizens and leaders to act in a manner that would best serve Trinidad and Tobago. To the residents of Port-of-Spain, I am indeed grateful for the opportunity to have served you,” he added.

After Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee announced yesterday he would be resigning from his office, one of his supporters, Mayor of Point Fortin Clyde Paul, clammed up.

Paul, who faced widespread criticism on social media for his comments last Friday in support of Tim Kee and in a television interview on Sunday night, was very vocal in previous interviews.

He told the T&T Guardian last Friday that women’s group, Womantra, was politically affiliated and the protest in front of Tim Kee’s office was fueled because, “I sure I could tell you is no little black boy from Laventille they holding for that murder but that is what they want you to believe.” 

Contacted again yesterday by the T&T Guardian, Paul refused to answer any questions, saying: “No comment, no comment, I don’t have anything to say at this point.” Chairman of the Opposition UNC, David Lee, posted a statement on social media yesterday calling on Paul to resign. Political leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Rekha Ramjit also issued a statement calling on Paul to resign.

Soca star Ian Alvarez (Bunji Garlin) says local artistes need to use the opportunity created by Grammy Awards featuring T&T artistes and create music which can reach wider audiences.

Alvarez said this during a telephone interview yesterday following a win for Best Dance/Electronic Album by international DJs Skrillex and Diplo on Monday night.

The two won for their album Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack U.

The album features a song by Alvarez called Jungle Bae, as well as contributions from another soca artiste, now radio announcer MX Prime.

T&T’s influence was also felt through rapper Trinidad James, a T&T national whose real name is Nicholas Williams.

James is listed as one of 11 writers of the song that won the Grammy for Record of the Year, Uptown Funk, by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.

The third T&T link to the Grammys came from Meghan Trainor’s award as Best New Artist, for her song All About the Bass.

Trainor has insisted that her song, which had topped the US Billboard Charts, was a soca tune.

She said she was inspired and encouraged by her uncle, Tobago-born soca artiste Burton Toney, who is married to her aunt. 

Last year soca star Machel Montano was added to the first round ballot of nominations for three categories.

“None of the genres in the categories were soca but T&T’s influence was still felt,” Alvarez said.

“That should be grasped as an opportunity but we have to understand that it is not an overnight thing as well.”

Alvarez said work had to be put in and artists had to invest their time to ensure the T&T sound reached further.

He said it wasn’t necessarily for the personal fame and benefits for today’s soca artistes but that it was more important to provide a stepping stone for future generations.

“We need T&T to stand firm. This is a revelation of the possibilities there are for us. Here is a moment where you can move forward.

“I am sure that because of the wins last night, the name of our country was on the lips of some executive or big person in the music industry. They could be wondering what else they can find here.”

He said electronic dance music producers saw that there was an energy in the country that they could tap into.

He said artistes needed to start making more music outside of Carnival.

“We need to be us but we also need to make music in a more robust way.

“We can do some songs dedicated to Carnival but if you have an opportunity to craft your music in a way which reaches more audiences, we should do that also.”

Alvarez said he and his family celebrated the win, not only because of his involvement but because the album had something which reflected T&T.

He said there was a lot to offer from T&T and if artistes allowed it to happen, the music could consistently reach international audiences.

Orin Gordon

​Two developments of note occurred in the US last week, one day apart. The US senate on Thursday finally confirmed President Obama’s nominee, Trinidad born John Estrada, 60, as US Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago after frustratingly holding up his nomination and re-nomination for 3 years. And conservative US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in his room, the Presidential Suite, at a ranch resort in Texas. He was 79.

We’ll get to John Estrada shortly. First, let’s consider how the two things are linked. News of Scalia’s death had barely broken when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made it plain that the senate was not going to allow Barack Obama to seat a replacement on the Supreme Court in this last year in office.

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice”, said McConnell, evidently forgetting that they were in good voice last time they voted in 2012. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

Four of the 6 remaining contenders for the Republican nomination for the elections in November immediately supported that position, one of them, Florida senator Marco Rubio, citing 80 years of precedent, which supposedly holds that a president in the last year of two statutory terms – and therefore no longer politically accountable – would not make a decision as consequential as an appointment to lifetime judicial tenure.

It’s not the intention here to get into the weeds of the US constitutional history. Let’s say simply that there’s nothing in the revered document that prevents Obama from nominating, or eventually sitting, a Supreme Court justice in his final year. Nothing, that is, except Republicans’ numerical control of the senate, or the fact that it’s Scalia’s heir we’re talking about. Scalia was a rock star to the American right. A reliable right-wing vote on the hot-button political issues, even if it meant reversing his earlier legal positions, as in the new healthcare law known as Obamacare.

The animating factor is not precedent – it’s that Obama has a rare opportunity to effect a generational shift in the court, which at the moment tilts 5 -4 in favour of conservatives, and worse, to do so by inserting a Progressive jurist in place of THE conservative legal icon. It’s sacrilege – like Kanye West replacing Machel as the King of Soca.

The point is if Rubio, McConnell and Co want to slow walk or even vote down an Obama nominee, the stringing out of a far less important nomination such as Estrada’s shows that they can, and they probably will. Prediction. President Clinton the Second will be seating Scalia’s replacement after her inauguration in January 2017, and the judicial bench will operate one Justice short for more than a year.

Back to John Estrada. You’ll not find a more suitable candidate for US ambassador to this country. Trini boy from Laventille, left at 12, became a US citizen, and had a distinguished career in one of America’s most respected institutions, its Marine Corps. US senators have the power to place holds on nominations, and it’s not uncommon for a nominee to be approved by the senate without a single opposing vote, after a hold is lifted. Some holds, such as nominees for Ambassador to Mexico, were explained. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, had doubts about a nominee’s ties with Castro’s Cuba, for example.

With Estrada, it was never that clear why he didn’t sail through the process in 2013 when nominated, or 2014 when re-nominated. Or maybe it was clear. He endorsed candidate Obama in 2008, before the then senator had won his first term. In a military establishment that is close-knit and politically conservative, Estrada made enemies by preferring Obama over war hero John McCain. It looks for all the world like 3 years of political payback. No other explanation for why he wasn’t a shoo-in from Minute One makes sense.

It has been a long road, and Estrada, in a sense, is finally coming home. His unnecessarily long journey is proof that we should put nothing past the deeply, unhealthily gridlocked US congress. Thirteen per cent of people polled approve of the job congress is doing. Sounds high to me.

Officials of the T&T Music Festival Association are appealing to the corporate sector to help ensure that this year’s 31st edition of the biennial event takes place as planned over the next three weeks.

The festival which began on Monday was scheduled to take place at Queen’s Hall in St Ann’s, Port-of-Spain; Naparima Bowl, San Fernando; and Shaw Park Cultural Centre, Tobago, through March 12, under the patronage of Culture and Arts Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly. 

The production which catered to children and amateur adults was still in need of almost $250,000.

Victor Prescod, chairman of the association, disclosed the executive committee’s dilemma at Sunday’s launch which took the form of a concert held at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.

Even though Scotiabank has signed as the Diamond sponsor for the event and the Ministry of Education, Cher-Mere, Imagine Media, the Tobago House of Assembly and the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts were also on board, the organising committee was still struggling to cover its operational expenses.

Prescod lauded the decision of Scotiabank (through the Scotiabank Foundation) to return as a Diamond sponsor and expressed delight that the bank’s contribution did not take the form of a cash injection alone.

“We are appealing to you to not only publicise the festival over the next three weeks. We have already cut the festival (programme). We have already cut our budget to the bone. If we get any further we will be cutting into the tendons and crippling the association even further. But we are appealing to you not just to publicise the festival, but to help financially. We need more corporate sponsors. We have been searching for persons to come on board to assist. Looking at the numbers right now, we are looking at a deficit of $200,000 and if we can find 1,000 persons to contribute $100 we would have raised $100,000,” he said.

Prescod continued, “The music festival is on, but we have no money to advertise. We cannot put a single ad in the newspaper. We literally have no money. I have a treasurer who has threatened to resign because she cannot operate like this. And, we have young people to serve. We have amateur musicians to serve.”

Citing that the festival groomed so many of the nation’s young people, he lamented the difficulty corporate T&T found when asked to invest in the production.

Blaming police’s “reckless shooting” for the death of Princes Town cashier Kenton Keevin Williams on Sunday, outraged residents demanded justice as they blocked the Moruga Road with burning debris yesterday.

Scores of villagers, family and friends formed a rhythm section as they gathered in the middle of the road at Indian Walk from 5 am, angered by a newspaper report in which police identified Williams as one of the gunmen who fired shots at them on Sunday.

They said police were not telling the truth and Williams, 22, of Ramdhanie Trace, had just left his home in apparent frustration after it collapsed with him and his family inside. 

His mother, Ann Marie Wells, said on Monday that her son was shot dead while on his way to deliver chocolates to his Valentine.

Villagers said Williams was innocently shot by police after gunmen opened fire on a neighbour’s home.

Speaking at the protest, Williams’ mother said police were yet to meet with her about her son’s death. She plans to visit the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) as she called for a proper investigation. 

“Nobody has come to notify me on his death. He was shot from behind,” Wells said. She also called for assistance from Moruga/Tableland MP Dr Francis Lovell.

Williams’ cousin, Princess Madina, said their protest was also to clear his name. Madina said police saw when Williams walked by but when gunmen began shooting, one of the officers ran behind a parlour and fired a shot.

She added: “I was right there talking to the police officers and when we heard the shots, everybody ran. The police officer ran behind the parlour and started to shoot. He shot once and the bullet stuck. He cracked it back and the next shot fell out on the ground right there and they found it. 

“About 13 jeeps came here the same night when that incident happened and they never searched behind the parlour. The next morning we found the two bullets there.

“Keevin walked right behind the jeep and when he passed the police were standing right there. The police saw him pass, I saw him and they shot him for nothing. He was just walking and the policeman thought he was a bandit. On the papers they said he shot back but where is the gun?” she asked.

Residents said police came into Ramdhanie Trace with a man who had rented a car from a villager and forgot his wallet in the vehicle. 

Madina said after Williams was shot, the officers got into their vehicle and drove further into the trace. They returned 15 minutes later with their headlights switched off. 

Another witness, Davey James, said they stopped the vehicle and asked the officers what happened but they claimed not to know. He said: “Had we not blocked the vehicle, they would have escaped and said bandits.”

According to VS Sankar the gunmen who opened fire while Williams was passing were shooting at his house and not the police. Sankar, who lives near Ramdhanie Trace, said his wife and a man had an altercation on Sunday afternoon. When he approached the man, he was threatened.

He added: “My wife was drinking and she got a little tipsy. A man came around my wife and I put him in place. I told him, ‘Do not come around my wife, don't be on that.’ 

“He said he was coming back for me in 20 minutes. He left and within the space of ten minutes, I heard shots ringing out.”

Sankar said when he opened the door, he saw Williams dead in front of his house. On Monday, crime scene investigators removed bullets from inside his bedroom which is believed to be from the men who shot at his house.

With him being labelled a criminal, residents said Williams was an honest, hardworking young man who worked at Market City, a produce depot, to support his mother and younger siblings. His employer, Siddiq Mohammed, said he worked with them for the past three years and was well liked by customers.

“All I can say about him was that he was a very good person. He cashed for us and he worked with us everyday for the past three years. It was not to say he had a bad character. He worked with us right through. You are hearing that he was a bandit and that is real hard to believe. That could never be possible,” Mohammed said.

His co-worker, Kevin Williams, described him as a respectable and loving young man. Standing on the road yesterday, his cousin, Anton Wells, said: “Look here is the establishment where the young man worked. If he was a bad young man, he would have never had this support here for him today.

“I am telling you Keevin was an innocent young man who got shot behind his head. You know what they are doing? They are twisting it in the media, saying he was a bandit. We wish to clear his name and his reputation because he did not deserve to die like that.”

What police said

Around 8.30 pm Sunday, St Mary’s Police Constables Rajkumarsingh and Horsford were on enquiries at Ramdhanie Trace when they heard several explosions. The officers observed three men, dressed in dark clothing, pointing guns in their direction. 

Fearful for his life, Horsford fired a shot at the gunmen who ran into some bushes and escaped. On checking, the officers found Williams lying dead on the roadside with a gunshot wound to his head.

Corporate Communications head of the T&T Police Service, Ellen Lewis, said the incident was not yet determined as a police shooting. 

Police said a ballistic test on the bullet that killed Williams would determine if he was shot by police. An autopsy on Williams revealed he was shot once from the back of the head. 

The bullet fragmented with a piece exiting through his eye. The rest lodged in his brain.

Contacted yesterday, PCA director David West said once the family makes a complaint to them, they would look into the matter. West said the PCA also had the power to monitor police investigations but wanted the family to give a statement at its Tower D office at the International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, before the authority intervened.

Leader of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), Ancel Roget, yesterday called on the Government to expedite the setting up of the tripartite process to prevent companies from using the prevailing economic conditions to retrench workers as a first option.

Roget was speaking in an interview with the T&T Guardian following yesterday's two-hour meeting with Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus at her Tower C office, International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.

Roget said the meeting was a regularly scheduled meeting with the minister following the MOU between JTUM and the People’s National Movement (PNM), which was signed on the eve of the September 7 general election, last year.

Roget said the establishment of a tripartite mechanism was raised in the meeting.

It was in December last year that Prime Minister Keith Rowley, in an address to the nation, said he would set up the process to allow for business, labour and the Government to collectively address issues related to the country's economy in the wake of falling oil prices internationally.

Roget noted that almost two months have elapsed and the meetings have not started. He said Baptiste-Primus indicated that the Government remained committed to the process and was moving steadfastly to establish it.

Roget said he told Baptiste-Primus that it should commence before the expected mid-term review, which Finance Minister Colm Imbert said previously would be presented in late March or early April.

Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union president Vincent Cabrera and T&T Unified Teachers Association president Devanand Sinanan were among the leaders who attended the meeting.

Roget said even before the tripartite mechanism was established "employers are now sending workers home. They are using the current (economic) situation to take advantage of workers in situations where they wanted to do that in the first place."

Noting that workers were being retrenched at ArcelorMittal and other companies, Roget said, "They are using the current fall in oil and commodity prices to send workers home." That claim has been denied by employers.

But Roget said the burden of adjustment must be carried equally by everybody, and workers must not be made to bear the brunt of adjustment alone.

Roget, who is also president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), said the "Government must take a firm position on that and let the employers know they ought not to send workers home as a first option."

He said the JTUM was generally pleased with the manner in which the minister was going about her job, as she was consulting with the workers.

A man was shot and injured yesterday during a botched attempt to rob Domino’s Pizza at Four Roads Diego Martin.

The man reportedly went into Domino’s armed with a firearm and announced a hold up. He ordered the security officer to hand over his property. 

The security officer refused and a struggle ensued. Several shots were fired.

The suspect fell to the ground suffering from gunshot wounds and was then taken for medical attention to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

One glock pistol and a magazine with a quantity of 9 mm ammunition and spent shells were found on him.

In a separate incident police officers of the Port-of-Spain CID Task Force executed a search warrant in Barataria.

They retrieved a homemade pistol and eight rounds of 9 mm ammunition. The occupant of the house was arrested and charged for the offence. 

And in Siparia, officers from the Siparia CID, while on mobile patrol searched a white Toyota Fielder and retrieved 107 packets of marijuana weighing one kg per packet, one glock pistol and 17 rounds 9 mm ammunition. The officers searched the car after they noticed three male occupants acting suspiciously by running out of the vehicle into nearby bushes when they saw the officers. 

More details to follow. 

Sheron Sukhdeo, the 28-year-old businessman who was accused of assaulting his wife, has been granted $85,000 bail.

Sukhdeo appeared before a Chaguanas First Magistrate’s Court in Tunapuna, before Magistrate Joanne O’Connor.

He was charged with maliciously wounding his wife at their home at Orchard Gardens, Chaguanas on February 10. He was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm from another beating the following day.

A protection order is already in place preventing him from coming into contact with her.

Magistrate O’Connor again warned him to stay away from her and asked where he would be staying since he cannot return to their home.

His lawyer said he had not arranged for a place to stay, but assured the Magistrate that Sukhdeo would find somewhere else.

The wife was present in the court today for the hearing.

His matter was adjourned to March 15.

Crime Watch talk show host Ian Alleyne also appeared before the Magistrate today. Yesterday Alleyne was detained at Sukhdeo’s Orchard Gardens home for allegedly obstructing an officer on duty, resisting arrest and using annoying language. He was later charged for those three offences.

A video captured by both CNC3 and TV6 cameras showed Alleyne and Beyond the Tape host Inspector Roger Alexander in a fracas outside Sukhdeo’s home. Alexander subsequently arrested Alleyne.

Last night Alleyne was granted bail in the Chaguanas police station. At the court his bail was ratified.

Alleyne pleaded not guilty to all three charges and his case was adjourned until March 22.

 The Ministry of Health confirms that T&T  has reported its first laboratory case of Zika.
 
This case is a 61-year-old woman.
 
The case was confirmed today, at 2.30 pm by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
 
The blood sample which was tested was tested by CARPHA was sent by a private laboratory.
 
The patient recently travelled to New Zealand in January 2016. However, as New Zealand is a Zika-free country, the indications are that this is a locally acquired case.
 
The Ministry is in the process of acquiring more details about the confirmed case. This will be done primarily to determine the patient’s well-being, as well as to ensure that the Ministry of Health continues its eradication efforts in the area.
 
While the Government works at managing this threat, the public is also reminded to take personal responsibility in dealing with mosquito borne diseases.
 
Citizens are advised to:
 
1. Dispose of all unwanted containers/items that may collect water.
 
2. Cover water barrels, drums or buckets with a tight fitted lid.
 
3. Keep your drains and guttering clean.
 
4. Empty and scrub the sides of water vases.
 
5. Wear clothing to cover your arms and legs.
 
6. Apply insect repellent to exposed skin.
 
7. Sleep under a mosquito bed-net.
 

The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) plans to increase its well-drilling programme as it moves to identify new water sources to address the shortfall in the water supply to Tobago.

Over the past several months Tobago has been reeling under the pressure of low water supplies. The situation has impacted most significantly the tourism industry with president of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association, Chris James, telling the GML Enterprise Desk “hotels are already facing cancellations because of the problem.”

The development comes on the heels of a prediction by the Met Service that parts of the Caribbean, including T&T, will face a severe drought this dry season. James confirmed that WASA trucks in Tobago have been doing yeoman service “with a daily supply of water to hotels.” However, he said it was just not enough. 

“You can turn off the water and try to regulate the supply but we need much more than the 2,000 gallons of water we get a day,” he said.

WASA, through its communications manager Daniel Plenty, told the GML Enterprise Desk the authority was also concerned about the situation in Tobago. He said: “It is actively engaging the attention of management with a view to bringing the situation under control and within acceptable levels to supply the needs of the hoteliers and the wider business community.”

Plenty said the water supply to segments of Tobago was currently being impacted “by significantly reduced production at several of WASA’s water treatment facilities on the island.” 

That cut in production, he added, was due in part to “dry weather conditions which have extended from last year’s dry season into the wet season 2015 and now to the 2016 dry season.”

Currently the two major water treatment plants in Tobago—Courland and Hillsborough—are producing at 20 per cent and 40 per cent capacity respectively. According to Plenty that was “significantly below where it should be at this time of the year.”

Other water sources in Tobago, such as Hillsborough West, Highlands Road and Kings Water Treatment Plants, he said, were “presently generating 30 per cent of normal production” and the Hillsborough Dam was in urgent need of desilting. As a result Crown Point and environs, Scarborough, Mt St George, Concordia, John Dial, Mason Hall, King’s Bay and Speyside are all experiencing water problems.

However, residents in Tobago are raising questions about the low water supply. They recalled that several years ago EarthWater Technologies Inc came in to do a well water project and there was a promise that Tobago had enough ground water and therefore should not experience water problems. James recalls that WASA had promised that Tobago would get a 24/7 water supply but he said that was indicative of how Tobago was treated.

“We are told an awful lot of things but the sad reality is that nothing is happening,” he said. 

The water problems in Tobago started last year but James said they were even more concerned that less than two months into the new year “things are so bad.” He wants to know “where are the wells which EarthWater drilled ten years ago? Were they really drilled or just identified?” he asked.

James said they were told that when the wells came on stream “Tobago would no longer have water problems because there are millions of gallons of water which can be safely accessed” but the reality which Tobago faces, he added, was far different. James said the WASA people on the ground in Tobago did everything they could.

“Whether they have enough water trucks I don’t know. The water trucks up and down filling up tanks. There is just no water in the pipeline. The authorities need to tell us what is happening,” he added.

He said: “It was bad last year but it started much later. These last few months have been horrendous. My biggest concern is that we don’t know how we will get through the next few months. We have Jazz Festival and normally it’s very busy in the period leading up to Easter.”

COSTLY NEW WELLS—WASA

WASA admitted the concerns being raised were “legitimate.” Plenty told us the authority was now in active discussions with the Tobago House of Assembly to address those concerns and some of the areas to be addressed. One option, according to Plenty, is to “increase our well drilling programme to identity new water sources.” Doing that, he said, would come at significant cost for the authority.

In the meantime, he said, WASA had increased water trucking at no cost to recipients and had increased communication with key stakeholders. “WASA is also looking into the expansion of ground water supplies through the equipping of new wells,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the harsh dry season is not just impacting Tobago. Several parts of Trinidad are also facing problems and Plenty said WASA would be publishing water schedules shortly.

Former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott), Calder Hart, has agreed to testify before the Las Alturas Commission of Enquiry via video link.

This was disclosed by the commission's attorney, Jagdeo Singh, yesterday as he responded to what he labeled a “very strange” request by Udecott’s lead attorney Kathryn Denbow for a witness summons to be served on Hart who now lives in Florida.

The disclosure by Singh comes months after questions were raised by commission chairman Mustapha Ibrahim about Hart’s whereabouts and his willingness to testify in the proceedings. Ibrahim had previously referred to Hart as an “important witness.”

Revealing his reluctance to announce Hart's agreement before, Singh explained there was nothing “extraordinary” about it. He added Hart had only recently communicated through his attorney, Tecla Duncan, that he would participate in the enquiry and that arrangements were yet to be finalised.

In response to comments by attorney Justin Phelps that it was “passing strange” to learn of Hart’s sudden willingness to testify only after Udecott had attempted to have the commission invoke its powers and serve a witness summons on Hart, Singh said they had been unwilling to disclose the identity of the witness as he “may be interfered with.”

Denbow also made a similar request for a witness summons to be served on Udecott's former chief operating officer Neelanda Rampaul. Hart resigned from Udecott on March 6, 2010, while Rampaul left on April 31, 2010. In making her applications, Denbow said both Hart and Rampaul deserved a chance to be heard on issues which had arisen during the enquiry.

Attorney Imran Ali later was said to be acting on behalf of Rampaul. Ibrahim is expected to rule on this application today.

Meanwhile, Denbow also filed a formal application challenging the admissibility of a witness statement by retired Commissioner of Valuations, Kenneth Subran on the basis that he was not a witness of fact nor an expert witness who could assist the commission in determining the matters before it.

Responding immediately, Ibrahim pointed out that after having read the witness statement submitted by the eminently qualified Subran, it was decided that he was in a position to advise on land valuation and the transfer of real estate, hence his evidence was most relevant and would be allowed.
Subran is expected to appear before the commission today. The hearing will resume at 9.30 am today.

AT A GLANCE

The commission of enquiry was set up to investigate “the entire process which led to the construction of the Las Alturas Towers at Lady Young Gardens, Morvant, and all other acts, matters or decisions done or undertaken incidental to and including the construction” of the project, which include the procurement process.

Two multi-storey units of the Las Alturas housing project began falling apart after construction and the $26 million towers were earmarked for demolition. They were part of a larger project, which was originally budgeted at $65 million and then rose to $90 million. The commission is chaired by former Justice of Appeal Mustapha Ibrahim.

The other members include civil engineers Dr Myron Wing-Sang Chin and Anthony Farrell. Attorney Laraine Lutchmedial is the secretary. They were appointed by President Anthony Carmona in December 2014.

Ann-Marie Briggs is 23 and beautiful by any standard but she is determined to change our definition of beauty. Briggs said she always dreamed of participating in a beauty pageant but could not enter the Miss Universe and Miss World contests because she cosidered herself overweight and because she had given birth.

She sought out other beauty contests which had less strict entry requirements. She found the Face of the Globe International Beauty Pageant hosted in the UK and Disneyland Paris, and after an online screening process was chosen as T&T’s representative for the April competition.

The pageant, which has different categories, is open to entrants from as young as five and has no upper age limit. Adult women can include mothers and married women. Delegates are judged on their personalities alsoand are required to help raise funds for a children’s charity, Rainbow Children’s Foundation.

“This is not only about beauty but what’s inside a woman,” she says.

Briggs, mother of a two-year old son Aiden, is also the local director of the Regency International Pageant, which has similar entry criteria.

“The aim is the make all women feel beautiful and experience what it means to take part in a beauty contest. You can be a little chubby. 

“I tell my girls they must be comfortable,” she said.

The pageant is clear about one thing though. Entrants must be naturally born females. This contest also involves helping several charities. It comes off in August in La Vegas.

Briggs said a lot of young women in T&T felt insecure about their looks because the world’s definition of beauty had been drilled into their heads. She added: “I was the only girl in a family of males and was a tomboy. I was 16 when Wendy Fitzwilliam won the Miss Universe pageant in 1998 and from then on I always wanted to be like her. 

“I met her a few times and I was blown away.

“People always told me I looked just like Wendy and I promised my mommy that, one day, I will bring home a pretty crown for her.

“I may not be able to bring home the Miss Universe or Miss World crown but I will bring one home for her.”

Briggs said she did not have a sponsor for Miss Face of the Globe and was financing her own trip. She said the birth of her son helped put things in the right perspective. 

“After Aiden was born, I decided to enter the Miss Universe and Miss World contests but one of their rules is that you must never have given birth.

“I could not see how giving birth and being a mom should debar me from a beauty contest. If they were thinking about your physical appearance, then I looked better than I did before.

“I worked out harder to lose that baby fat.

“All women are beautiful. Mothers should stop burning into their children’s minds what beauty is,” she added.

Briggs said she was a professional model and did work for private photography. She also owns a clothing store in Arima. She is confident of taking the Miss Face of the Globe crown. 

“I am absolutely confident I have what it takes to give it my best shot. I will make T&T proud,” she said.

Dr Clive Tilluckdharry, Chief Medical Officer, confirmed that the new case of Zika was contracted locally.

Speaking on today’s The Morning Brew on CNC3, Tilluckdharry said while he could not disclose the exact location of the woman, he revealed that she resided in the St George community. Port-of-Spain is located in the St George county.    

He said the patient is currently resting comfortably and he intends to visit her today.

Tilluckdharry said he expects more cases of Zika in the St George’s county following the diagnosis. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the virus a global threat, people contract Zika by being bitten by an infected aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type of mosquito that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The Zika virus occurs in tropical areas with large mosquito populations.

Symptoms of Zika usually appear a few days after infection and include slight fever and rash. Conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue can also occur. The symptoms usually subside in two to seven days. WHO said health authorities were currently investigating a potential link between the Zika virus in pregnant women and microcephaly in their babies. 

However, Tilluckdharry says they will not be asking women to delay pregnancy. 

Prakash Ramadhar has resigned as the political leader of the Congress of the People.

In a press release from the COP head office, COP general secretary Clyde Weatherhead stated that Ramadar tendered his resignation to the party’s national executive last night.

Weatherhead said, “In his letter, Mr Ramadhar has indicated an effective date for his decision which he suggests will ‘allow the party sufficient time to organise an election to decide on a successor and facilitate immediate transition which will ensure the continued work of the COP in charting its future which we started at the retreat last year.”

Ramadhar’s resignation will be further discussed at the National Council meeting scheduled for Sunday.

Two more murders have taken the murder toll to 66 for the year according to police.

The murders are that of Keston Ramsey, 26, and Virgil Moe, 47.

According to police reports, around 2.50 am this morning Siparia police were alerted by residents who said they heard gunshots at Marigold Drive, Quinam Road. 

Police responded and found Ramsey’s body. Police said the 26-year-old was unemployed and lived at Ritoville, Quinam Road, Siparia. He was shot in the head and chest police said.

In the second killing, Moe, of St John Street, East Dry River, was found dead on ground in his gallery around 9.45 pm. Residents reportedly responded after hearing loud explosions.

Police said Moe was not known to be involved in any criminal activity and had no idea as to a motive.

A man accused of sexual assault was shot dead this afternoon while he was sitting in the gallery of his Blanchisseuse Road Home.

According to police reports, around 2pm Baliram Ramoutar, 43, of Temple Village, Blanchisseuse Road, Arima was sitting in his gallery when a man walked up to him. 

Ramoutar was shot several times. He died on the scene. 

The murder toll is now at 67.

Ramoutar was accused of sexual assault. He was killed one day after getting bail for a sexual offence charge. 

Inspector Maharaj, Inspector Gyan, and ASP Mack are currently on the scene. 

Chaguanas businessman Sheron Sukhdeo was yesterday forced to spend another night in jail after his family failed to secure approval for his bail for a second straight day. 

Sukhdeo, who is charged with assaulting his wife Rachael Sukhdeo on two occasions last week, was unsuccessful obtaining approval from the clerk of the peace at the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court after he appeared there to answer the charges on Wednesday. 

Sukhdeo’s relatives were again unsuccessful when they revisited the court, which is being temporarily housed at the Tunapuna Administrative Complex, yesterday. 

The T&T Guardian understands that the delay was due to an administrative issue which is likely to be resolved this morning to facilitate Sukhdeo’s release.  

Insect Vector Control Division authorities handling the Zika threat are today spraying areas of St George West, including a residential area in Diego Martin, where T&T’s first official Zika case was discovered, Health Ministry officials confirmed yesterday.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, while on a spraying tour in South, announced T&T had recorded its first official Zika case after laboratory tests. 

He said the country’s first case was a woman, age 61, who had returned recently from a visit to New Zealand, where there were no reported cases of Zika.

She presented symptoms of the virus on February 10 and testing was done February 12. 

Deyalsingh said the case was confirmed by the Caribbean Public Health Agency and investigations would begin to determine how the woman contracted the virus. He added she was at her home recovering but did not state where she lived.

But senior health and municipal corporation officials yesterday confirmed the first Zika case was recorded in St George West, in a particularly thickly populated western residential community of Diego Martin. 

The T&T Guardian obtained the name of the community but officials said due to patient confidentiality they preferred that the name of the area not be publicised. 

They said that had initially been done with the Chikungunya episode and only when that virus became widespread were the areas in which it was occurring detailed.

Insector Vector officials initially visited the particular Diego Martin community yesterday to begin spraying but many residents were not at home. 

As such, they sent out email notification through the Diego Martin Regional Corporation (DMRC) and will return to the community today to start the exercise. 

The email, however, advised residents who had young children, were pregnant or had a serious illness to vacate the area during the spraying. 

It also advised the residents to cover birds and food items and to turn off air conditioning units if they planned to stay inside, since that could trap the fog inside rooms and be harmful.

The T&T Guardian learned that residents of that area were also trying to get the DMRC to clean drains and have also alerted all residents to flush out gutterings, plant pots and other possible mosquito breeding spots. 

A schedule of spraying is also expected to be announced for other St George West areas over the coming days. 

Deyalsingh didn’t answer calls last night but is expected to give an update on the Zika issue today. 

After spreading to 21 countries, including Caribbean states—neighbouring Venezuela, Guyana, Barbados and Suriname—Jamaica recorded its first Zika case over two weeks ago.

Zika, the latest mutation of the influenza virus, is borne by the aedes aegypti mosquito. It is reported to have milder symptoms than the chikungunya virus. 

However, in Brazil where 1.5 million cases have been reported, there have been claims the virus is linked to microcephaly, newborn babies with abnormally small heads and brains. 

Investigations are also underway on claims of links with the Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an auto immune condition involving nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis and death.

At a UWI health symposium on Zika and H1N1 recently, UWI molecular genetics/virology professor Dr Christine Carrington said Zika may already be in T&T undetected, since it had mild symptoms and people might not go to hospitals for that. 

She said, however, that causative basis with microcephaly and Guillain-Barre Syndrome have yet to be firmly established. However, Carrington agreed pregnant women should be cautious. Saying mosquito eradication was necessary, she said Zika was not a threat to a healthy person who is not pregnant.

Deyalsingh at the symposium distanced himself from the possibility of abortions for a pregnant woman who may get the Zika virus. 

If such a woman wanted an abortion, they would have to consider that T&T’s law only allowed abortion if the mother’s life was in danger, he added.

Also at the symposium, Deyalsingh said businesspeople had suggested using genetically modified mosquitoes to destroy the aedes aegypti but he said the risks of introducing such a species was unknown and it would require 2.8 million such mosquitoes to destroy 20,000 female aedes aegypti.

Two days ago, the World Health Organization confirmed it’s looking at “novel approaches” to control mosquitoes known to spread the infection, including research into genetically modified (GM) insects. 

While Brazil has expressed interest in that option, Dominica recently vetoed it. An Indian company also said it has two Zika vaccine candidates ready for pre-clinical trials.

Continued division and badgering may have contributed to the resignation of Opposition MP Prakash Ramadhar from the post of Congress of the People political leader a year before his term of office ended, sources hinted yesterday.

Elections for the post of COP leader are due next year but Ramadhar resigned Wednesday night. The party, however, confirmed he remained a COP member and MP for St Augustine.

Party general secretary, Clyde Weatherhead, yesterday said Ramadhar had tendered his resignation to the party’s national executive on Wednesday night.

“In his letter, Mr Ramadhar has indicated an effective date for his decision, which he suggests will allow the party sufficient time to organise an election to decide on a successor and facilitate immediate transition which will ensure the continued work of the COP in charting its future, which we started at the retreat last year,” Weatherhead added.

Ramadhar didn’t answer calls yesterday.

But COP sources claimed yesterday that Ramadhar had become disenchanted with continuing criticism and “badgering” that dogged his tenure with the People’s Partnership government and after.

Ramadhar had been the COP’s second leader since succeeding former COP leader Winston Dookeran in 2011 and gained a second term in 2014 in a battle with his former chairman Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, who had been supported by Dookeran. 

Asked what reasons Ramadhar gave for his resignation, Weatherhead said he didn’t detail his position but said he (Ramadhar) would say more at Sunday’s COP National Council meeting. 

Asked if division in the party might have contributed to the resignation, Weatherhead said he could not speak for anyone. 

He said the COP executive would recommend how the party would proceed and that deputy leader Dr Anirudh Mahabir had been acting in recent weeks since Ramadhar was overseas. 

On the perception the COP is a “spent force”, Weatherhead said simply: “That’s not our perception.”

COP sources said with Ramadhar’s resignation elections for the leadership may have to be held by April.

Commenting on Ramadhar’s resignation last night, United National Congress leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she was surprised by the move but did not know if he had succumbed to pressure within the party.

She added it was now for the party membership to decide on a way ahead.

MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie, who had been with the COP and joined the UNC last year, added: “COP members need to come together to determine if they have the will to support the COP as a political party, or whether it needs to evolve into something else.”

Asked the ruling PNM’s thoughts on Ramadhar’s resignation, PNM general secretary Ashton Ford said: “Prakash who...?” GA