Just six months into the reign of the People’s National Movement, outgoing Congress of the People (COP) leader Prakash Ramadhar is calling for a fresh realignment of all political forces in the country to oust the party in the 2020 general elections.

Implying there may be sinister motives behind the Government’s introduction of a series of financial measures that would cripple businesses, Ramadhar yesterday questioned whether this was to redound to the benefit of PNM supporters who would have a “fire sale” on properties as a result.

Asked if the COP planned to join another coalition party, Ramadhar deftly avoided the use of the word, saying instead, “The COP is independent and stands alone at this point. But to defeat the PNM at the next general election we need all political forces to come together.

“I do not know if it will take the form of the last coalition or something new, but we can’t risk losing another election. All involved must work together.”

Ramadhar made the call after a press conference at the COP’s Operations Centre in Charlieville, Chaguanas, yesterday. The COP was part of the previous People’s Partnership coalition government which disintegrated after it lost the September 7 general elections. 

Last month, Ramadhar, responding to internal party pressure, announced his resignation as COP political leader. However, his resignation will take effect on April 24 when a new political leader is elected during the party’s internal elections.

Surrounded by senior COP members, including general secretary Clyde Weatherhead, yesterday, Ramadhar said a number of contractors and suppliers are on the brink of collapse because the Government said it has a cash flow problem. They are also being squeezed in their attempts to get foreign exchange to pay for imported goods, he said.

Ramadhar said the Government recently disclosed $32 billion in frozen accounts was available to it and asked why it wasn’t being used to pay contractors and suppliers.

VAT, he said, was also the sharp end of a spear hurting the wider population. He said a few months ago, the Government told the country it was running on fumes but is now saying it is not bankrupt. He said he is “very troubled by the Value Added Tax (VAT) con job” on food prices, mortgage increases and coming property tax, all of which will put businesses out of operation and inflict further fear and suffering on citizens, particularly those who recently lost their jobs.

He said the Government and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley have a lot of questions to answer. Ramadhar said the COP will be putting together a team to meet with the Bankers Association and other financial institutions to discuss these issues and the population will be sensitised.

He gave Rowley a four out of ten rating on his performance over the last six months and said he was “very pressed” to give the Government a five.

The Government held a two-day retreat in Tobago on Friday and Saturday after it held its weekly Cabinet meeting at the Magdalena Grand hotel Thursday. A review of the Government’s performance over the last six months was reportedly among the issues to be looked at in the retreat. 

My name is Ravi Sankar and I don’t play the sitar but I love Trinidad & Tobago music.

I know Ravi Shankar and his daughter, Anoushka, are famous for playing the sitar. I will tell people my name and I will get a little tease in-between. But I don’t really listen to sitar music. Nor to bhajans or other traditional Indian music. I love hardcore chutney. Rum songs, basically.

I’m from Madras Road, Chin Chin, more Cunupia side. That’s where I spent the whole of my life. I never went anywhere else. It’s a quiet agricultural area. I’m a farmer myself but definitely not a ganja planter!

I learned agriculture from my dad. It’s a family tradition. I don’t have any kids myself but I want to have. But I don’t have time for a relationship now. Even with what BC Pires just tell me is pretty eyes.

My favourite music is really chutney but I like parang most of all. And a little bit of soca. Not much.

I never travelled anywhere but I work with a car rental firm at Piarco International Airport and, by speaking to foreigners, I could tell Trinidad has the best Christmas. I hear about English Christmas, Canadian Christmas, all kinds of Christmas, but they don’t have the freedom to experience Christmas like us.

In a farming village, people live with more love than in a residential area, where people keep to themselves. If you need help, the village will assist you.

The nickname for my village is Goat Hill because, long time, most of the residents used to mind goat, and in a large way. We’re the second-to-last people in the village who still have goats. For meat, not for milk. Curry, not cheese.

I went to Chaguanas Junior and Chaguanas Senior Secondary schools. I was bright in school. Probably I coulda further my studies, end up with a better job than what I have. But I choose to do farming. I have a passion for it. As a sideline. But I hope to make it the main thing, a profitable business venture.

There’s a wholesale market in Macoya open during the day, from 8 am-4 pm. Most small farmers need a sideline job to survive. A small farmer has to take a whole day off work to go in a daytime market, so most small farmers can’t go to market during working hours. After work, a small farmer will go home, go in the garden with his wife and family and reap, and reach in the wholesale market for two o’clock in the morning. The current working hours in the Macoya market is only benefitting big farmers who could employ workers to go there during the day.

Most Trinidadians like Carnival but, for me, I like Christmas. I love to blow my balloons at Christmas. Hang it up in my house like in a wreath. I love the colourful ones.

Crime is killing we right now but, otherwise from that, we have a loving country, a very loving population. People still care for one another. That’s one of the things that make me very proud to say I’m a Trinidadian.

We have the best cocoa in the world and we supposed to have the best agriculture in the world! Because we have some of the best land in the world! Why we couldn’t develop the agricultural sector, too? With the drop in the price of oil, we’d be more stable today.

The only problem we have is corruption. If the government could be a little more accountable, we (would) be a First World country. Because the population we have is very small, for the amount of money that we gaining in income. If the money wasn’t being stolen, we’d have the best roads in the world, because we have a Pitch Lake. We supposed to have everything because we lack nothing.

A Trini is someone who loves mixing with different races and cultures. And, regardless of what race, love his belly and love to party.

Trinidad to me is a very loving and peaceful place. The problem here is not the people, but the bandits. Just the law and the police have to buck up, be a little more swift. Police down here, compared to the States or any other First World country, very slow.

•Read a longer version of this feature at wwwBCPires.com

Spanish energy giant Repsol E&P T&T Limited has offered a US$.5 million bid for two of the National Gas Company (NGC) of T&T Limited’s offshore fields, as the company seeks to offload assets with the energy sector continuing to struggle due to low prices on the international markets.

The two companies are expected to sign off on a deal at the end of this month which would see Repsol purchasing NGC’s platform in the Teak and Poui fields for US$.25 million each—a total purchase of US$.5 million, or approximately TT$3 million.

However, contacted for an immediate comment on the deal yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley declined, saying: “No, I am sorry, I am not briefed on that matter at this time.”

Also contacted yesterday, former minister of energy Kevin Ramnarine said he also did not know of such a deal when he was in office, although the initial contact between the companies took place under the People’s Partnership government.

According to a document obtained by the T&T Guardian, by letter dated April 22, 2015, Repsol submitted a proposal to NGC for the purchase of assets after learning of its intention to feel them off. Repsol followed this up with a letter outlining its condition for the sale of the assets on May 26, 2015 and both parties executed a confidentiality agreement on September 16, 2015, in order to facilitate an evaluation by Repsol relating to the integrity if the assets. 

By letter dated September 25, 2015, Repsol requested permission to conduct a due diligence exercise relating to the proposed acquisition. 

A Heads of Terms agreement was entered on December 30, 2015 and will remain in effect until March 31, 2016. This document was signed for and on behalf of NGC’s acting president Maria Thorne and Repsol’s business adviser Allan Russell on December 30, 2015.

According to the document received by the T&T Guardian, NGC had been providing Repsol with gas lift compression services from the two platforms in the Teak and Poui offshore fields pursuant to the Third Amendment to the Teak Compression Services Agreement and the Poui Compression Services Agreement,dated July 21, 2015.

But when the arrangement ended on December 31, NGC moved to get rid of the platforms and related equipment, including compression gear, all specialised test equipment, tools, hardware and related software.

The T&T Guardian understands that both parties agreed to a purchase price of US$.25 million (approximately TT$1.7 million) a platform, including all equipment, and, in accordance with the terms and conditions of sale, will sign off on the purchases and wrap up the deal on April 1, 2016. 

Until the purchase is completed, NGC agreed to operate their platform subject to Repsol’s approval and limit the number of offshore personnel used in those operations.

Under the agreement, Repsol is also not guaranteeing that there will be no job cuts.

“Repsol shall have the right but not the obligation to choose from the list of NGC offshore personnel for possible contracting purposes. Additionally, Repsol has no obligation to retain any of the NGC existing personnel associated with the operation and maintenance of the asset,” the Heads of Terms stated.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Repsol’s business adviser and assets manager, Allan Russell, said the topic was too sensitive in nature to give an official comment.

Minister of Energy Nicole Olivierre also did not want to say much when contacted. However, she noted that compression of low pressure gas is an important part of the country’s oil operations and ensuring the service is provided and continued was “important to both parties.”

Asked if NGC was selling the platforms because it was cash strapped and why to Repsol, Olivierre replied: “I would not really say that NGC is cash-strapped, but that NGC is… well you know, I really don’t want to comment further on this.” 

Olivierre then ended the call. NGC acting president Maria Thorne asked that questions be sent to her via her email but up to last night she had not responded. 

Conditions of NGC/Repsol Sale

7.4 In order to achieve a smooth and efficient transfer of the assets, during the interim period NGC shall designate two of its land-based personnel to provide planning and logistical support as may be required by Repsol.

7.5 Repsol shall have the right to conduct a due diligence, including but not limited to financial, commercial and legal records related to the compression business of NGC.

7.6 (a) Repsol shall have the right but not the obligation to continue with any of NGC’s existing contracts related to compression operations in the Teak and Poui offshore fields. As and from the January 1 2016.

Repsol shall have absolute discretion to restrict or cancel the rendering of any planned or existing contracts or services of NGC and use its own contracts for the execution of any works related to compression operations.

(b) Where a Repsol contractor is required to execute works related to compression operations on the assets in accordance with this sub-clause 7.6, Repsol shall:

(i) Indemnify and hold NGC harmless from and against any loss, liability (including reasonable legal expenses) or damage to any person or property whatsoever where such loss, liability or damage is caused by, results from or arises out of the performance of such works save and except to the extent of NGC’s negligence or wilful misconduct;

(ii) indemnify and hold NGC harmless from and against all claims, suits, actions and demands for any loss, injury, damage or liability (including reasonable legal fees and expenses) to any person or property whatsoever caused by, resulting from or arising out of the performance of the works save and except to the extent of the negligence or willful misconduct of NGC.

7.7 Repsol shall have the right to purchase any spares contained in NGC’s warehouse at a price to be agreed between the parties.

7.8 The parties shall use reasonable endeavors to negotiate an agreement to facilitate the supply of high pressure gas lift compression services in the Teak, Samaan and Poui offshore fields.

7.9 Repsol shall handle all operational emergencies on the NGC gas transmission system located on the assets as requested by NGC subject to the execution by the parties of an indemnity agreement. NGC shall provide suitable training to Repsol on procedures for the safe opening and/or closing of the valves on the NGC gas transmission system.

7.10 NGC shall provide to Repsol all available technical and operational information required for the safe and efficient operation of the assets.

7.11 Subject to the competition of the due diligence referred to in Clause 3 above, decommissioning liabilities will be transferred to the TSP owners upon signing of the SPA.

Police have detained a man for questioning in connection with the brutal cutlass attack on Jennifer Rampersad, who remains warded at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Her right hand was severed, as were two fingers on her left hand during the attack at her home at Sancho Road, New Grant, on Saturday morning.

The 35-year-old accounts clerk, who also suffered a fractured skull, has been moved from the Intensive Care Unit to a medical ward. However, she has not been able to help the police identify her attacker as yet due to her condition.

Rampersad, who lived with her mother and nephew, was attacked around 1.40 am.

Her mother, Irene Soodeen, was jolted out of her sleep by her daughter’s scream and found her covered in blood in the corridor of the home. Neighbours called the police after hearing the mother’s cries for help.

Police believe the attacker had a key to the house since there were no signs of forced entry. The family has since moved out of the house and changed the doors’ locks.

Up to late yesterday the man was still in police custody.

Ag Sgt Ramlogan is continuing investigations.

Eight years after he was charged with causing the death of five people by driving dangerously along Mosquito Creek, South Oropouche, truck driver Balton Barnwell has been committed to stand trial in the High Court.

Barnwell, 76, of Fyzabad, who was previously out on $500,000 bail was yesterday granted new bail by Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington in the sum of $100,000 with clerk of the peace approval.

Barnwell’s attorney Jagdeo Singh had filed a no-case submission after the State closed its case on January 18 in the San Fernando First Magistrates Court.

State attorney Ambay Ramkhelewan then responded to the defence submissions.The State had proceeded by paper commital and had filed evidence from 13 witnesses. 

Delivering his ruling yesterday, Wellington said he went through Singh’s submissions which were quite extensive and also the state’s submissions. 

“I think this matter has to be ventilated at a trial,” said Wellington. Singh said he disagreed.

Asked by Wellington if he wished to say anything in answer to the charge or call any witnesses, Barnwell said: “No, sir.” He said he was reserving his defence for the High Court. 

Barnwell was charged by Sgt Vijay Ramdhanie with causing death by dangerous driving to Sachin Maharaj, nine; Sachin Singh, 12; Rajkumar Deonarine, 15; Rishi Ramlogan, 22; and Rajesh Ramnarine, 37, all of South Oropouche.

They were among other people in a panel van heading to a cricket match when Barnwell's truck crashed into the van near Godineau River bridge on August 15, 2009.

After two failed attempts at his life, gunmen from his Pitman Lane, Gonzales, neighbourhood yesterday pounced on 21-year-old Kyle Williams and fatally shot him. 

Last December, gunmen shot him in the mouth leaving him with bullet fragments in his jaw. In September last year, Williams was shot in the back after a “strange jeep” was seen in the area. 

Speaking with the media yesterday, Williams’ aunt, Sherry Ann Trotman, said she was forced to raise him after his parents died. 

She added that it had been hard for her raising her sisters children along with her five. On arrival at the crime scene yesterday Trotman disregarded the caution tape and attempted to make her way home but was stopped by police officers. 

After being consoled by neighbours Trotman was allowed to leave the cordoned off area. She lamented that the killing of her nephew was on the shoulders of the police who after numerous reports failed to act. 

“I don’t want to hear allyuh, allyuh know what going on and not doing nothing,” Trotman cried.

Also speaking with the media was Williams’ sister, Andrea, who said there was an ongoing war in the area between men who were once schoolmates. 

She added her brother had two matters pending, one for shooting and another for possession of cocaine, and with the war in the area he was forced to remain indoors or just outside his home.

“This is not the first time or the second time, this has been going on too long. It is overbearing. The police know everything that is going on and they are not doing anything about it. 

“We are women and we can’t even walk the road. I have to pay a driver for my children to go to school, which is right down the road. You could tell me that is right? The police have to do something about it because everyone need justice,” Andrea said.

She said the people responsible for the war were not from the area but were fuelling the war for reasons unknown. 

She recalled having to duck for cover in March last year after gunmen opened fire on her home. Since then she has been back and forth and after 6 pm no one ventures outside.

The ongoing war claimed the life of a schoolboy last year. Yakini Charles, 12, was shot and killed on his way home from school on September 15. 

According to police reports, Charles, a Form One Tranquility Government Secondary School student, was heading back to his home at Pitman Lane, Gonzales, around 8.30 am when he was shot in the back along St Andrew Lane, Gonzales. 

Charles ran along Olton Road after being shot but collapsed and was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital by a truck driver who saw him lying on the roadway. Charles died while being treated.

Williams too died at hospital and is believed to have been a witness to a murder that happened in the area about two years ago. Police suspect that was the motive behind the attempts on his life, culminating yesterday morning. 

According to police reports around 9.30 am yesterday residents heard gunshots and later found him bleeding at the side of the road. 

Williams, who was released on bail a few months ago, was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he died.

The 11-year-old primary school student who was charged with trafficking marijuana last Friday was granted $20,000 bail when he appeared before Arima magistrate Indar Jagroo yesterday. He pleaded not guilty.

The boy, a fifth standard student, was held at his school around 3 pm after a fellow classmate allegedly told security on duty the child had the 23 grams of marijuana and was showing it off. The child was also held with a lighter and two cigarettes. Lawmen said the student’s house was searched but nothing was found on the premises. Officers said the boy was taken into custody at the Arouca Police Station where he spent the weekend before his court appearance yesterday. 

The matter was adjourned to May 10 after it was learnt he was preparing for the Secondary Entrance Assessment. The child was placed in the custody of his father after the court heard he was in his mother’s care when the alleged incident happened. The magistrate also ordered that a probation officers report be submitted for the next hearing. (JLV)

In the last eight months, hundreds of squatters have encroached on State lands in the Sangre Grande and Point Fortin areas.

The land grabbing in these two districts has now become a major concern.

The fact that the Commissioner of State Lands’ position became vacant last May with the retirement of Ian Fletcher has only intensified the squatting problem.

Yesterday, Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat confirmed in a text message that Clyde Watche has been appointed to act as Commissioner of State Lands.

Watche, who has the power to contain squatting, yesterday refused to take a call from the T&T Guardian.

His secretary, who identified herself as Ms Sonny, advised our newspaper to speak to the ministry’s communication officer Brent Zephyrine, who did not respond to a voice message on his cell phone.

Weeks before last September 7 general election, squatters started invading forested areas and existing squatting communities in Valencia/Sangre Grande/Matura which has a population of 10,000 land grabbers, while Point Fortin is another district in which they have settled.

In 2010, former CEO of the Land Settlement Agency (LSA) Dr Allen Sammy had estimated the squatting population in T&T to be 200,000.

Of the 200,000 Sammy stated that 50,000 squatting families live on State lands.

Last July, former minister of lands Jairam Seemungal had reported that there were 350 squatting sites in T&T and over 10,000 squatters in the Sangre Grande district alone.

In the last week, the T&T Guardian visited Dam Road Extention and Osborne Road in Point Fortin which showed a proliferation of new squatters who erected crude galvanised and wooden structures overnight. 

At Kangalee and along the Valencia stretch new houses also dot the landscape, while there has been an expansion of makeshift homes at Bois Bande and Vega de Oropouche in Sangre Grande.

There are close to 20 sites on which new squatters have encroached.

Leading up to a general election, people have a tendency to indiscriminately grab lands because they feel no action will be taken against them, Guardian understands.

It happened in 2010 when the People’s Partnership jumped into the general election race.

There was a mad rush for lands in Cashew Gardens in Longdenville, where the police had to be called out to remove them.

“In the last few months we have seen hundreds new homes being built on these existing sites. These squatters are building make-shifts houses faster than the Housing Development Corporation,” the source said.

Yesterday, former chairman of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and environmentalist Dr Allan Bachan said while squatters were prohibited from entering protected forested areas in Valencia there had been an increase in squatting communities in Sangre Grande and the Matura districts.

“The real person to speak about this issue is the Commissioner of State Lands. It is under his jurisdiction that squatting falls. 

“The commissioner has the ability to go in there and address these issues of squatting. A lot of these squatters are non-Trinidad nationals who come from Guyana, Africa and some small Caribbean islands, and work in gas stations, security firms and supermarkets for the minimum wage. 

“I know for a fact that the squatting population has been increasing in Sangre Grande, Matura and the Valencia Stretch,” Bachan said.

Some of the squatters also live within near quarries in Valencia and Matura that operate illegally, Bachan said.

“They protect these illegal quarrying activities and stay out of the public’s sight,” Bachan said. 

Bachan said up to last year the EMA had worked in tandem with the Mineral Advisory Committee to identify spots for quarrying.

“However, one of the challenges was the invasion of squatters. We have to address the issue of squatting. Now that people are losing their jobs squatting will no doubt get out of control,” he added.

Several calls to forest conservator Johnny Seepersad’s cellphone went unanswered.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Marlene McDonald under whose purview LSA falls did not respond to a text message also.

MORE INFO

According to the State Lands Act 57:01, “the commissioner shall have the management of all lands of the State and shall be charged with the prevention of squatting and encroachment upon the same and of spoil and injury to the woods and forests on such lands, and shall superintend the settlement and allotment of State lands and the laying out of village lots in such districts as the President from time to time directs.”

It also states that “the commissioner shall also take possession of, and shall be charged with the care and letting and the collection of the rents of, all lands which may belong or escheat to, or which by virtue of any Act may be forfeited to and become vested in, the State.”

The LSA is authorised under the State Land Regularisation of Tenure Act, number 25 of 1998, “to prevent and contain further squatting on State lands and to regularise eligible existing squatters.”

“A person who is eligible for regularisation must have occupied a dwelling house on the property prior to January 1, 1998 and applied for a COC before 2000.”

Youth leader of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, Fuad Abu Bakr, has pleaded not guilty to two charges stemming from an incident at the Belmont Police Station last year.

Appearing before Magistrate Carl Quamina in the Port-of-Spain Third Magistrates Court yesterday, Abu Bakr who is himself an attorney, was represented by Alexia Romero.

Prior to reading the charges, Quamina was informed by Abu Bakr he had only received the summonses last week.

It is alleged that on July 23, 2015 at the Belmont Police Station Abu Bakr conducted an act of disorderly behaviour and also assaulted WPC Cindy Ann Chase by beating.

Before entering his plea in relation to the second charge, Abu Bakr began: “I don’t understand how I could assault an officer.”

He was later interrupted by Quamina who instructed him to enter a plea.

Requesting an expedited trial, Romero also pressed for the disclosure of all evidential material including audio visual and CCTV footage, station diary extracts and a copy of the summary of evidence.

She was also informed that approximately six or seven prosecution witnesses would be called to testify in the matter.

Ordering Romero to submit her request for audio visual and CCTV footage in writing, Quamina later adjourned the matter to May 10 for disclosure and July 26 for trial.

Background

The allegations for which Abu Bakr appeared yesterday stemmed from an incident at the Belmont Police Station in the early morning of July 24, 2015.

Abu Bakr, along with a group of members of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, had visited two police stations over the course of six hours to stand in solidarity with persons who had been detained during police inquiries.

At the Belmont Police Station, Abu Bakr had gone to support Stacy Griffith who is the wife of murder accused Rajaee Ali, who was being detained at the station, allegedly without being told why.

Abu Bakr, who is the leader of the New National Vision (NNV) political party, was among Jamaat Al Muslimeen members who got into a confrontation with police officers at the Belmont Station.

Abu Bakr subsequently filed a report with the Commissioner of Police detailing his version of the events during which he claimed he was choked and assaulted in the confrontation.

An urgent call has been made for more doctors to specialise in the field of otolaryngology to address the backlog of cases dealing with the ear, nose and throat (ENT).

Making the call was Dr Solaiman Juman, a medical otorhinolaryngologist who was speaking at the opening of the Caribbean Association of Otolaryngology’s annual conference held at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain yesterday.

“Right now we need about ten more ENT specialists to cope with the numbers because it is estimated that for every 100,000 citizens we need at least one.

“We should have at least 15 in the country but we only have about six or seven,” Juman said.

Performing surgeries also posed a problem as there were not enough operating theatres available.

“We need to look at identifying within the main hospitals particular units dedicated to ENT that have the resources including manpower.

“I work at Mt Hope and the major issue is that we are not getting enough operating time in theatres and that is causing some delay. Overall we have a lot of doctors who are willing to work but the infrastructure is not there to do the job that they need to do,” Juman said.

He said apart from the limited space there were many other cases which take priority over ENT cases, resulting in a backlog of surgeries. 

While most of the major surgeries could be performed locally, cochlear implantation for hearing impaired children has to be done abroad.

“We have the access for specialists to come down here to do it but one of the problems is the cost. The implant itself is US$20,000 but regarding investment, we are trying to see if we can get politicians and industries involved.

“If you can intervene in a child who is hearing impaired and give them hearing that child becomes more productive not only for themselves but for society,” Juman said.

He said otolaryngology was a small field and only five years ago through the University of the West Indies (UWI), a postgraduate training programme in ENT began.

“The programme has been running for about five years and it is about six years long so we still have a couple of years before we start producing specialists.

“Throughout the Caribbean, not only in Trinidad, we have a shortage of ENT doctors so we are looking forward to contributing not only nationally but regionally in producing ENT doctors in the present and in the future,” Juman said.

He said since the programme started there was an overwhelming response from people interested in the field.

“So the future is looking good but it is going to take some time,” Juman added.

He said while otolaryngology covered a range of issues, one of the more pressing ones was that of throat cancer which has been linked to oral sex.

Over the years, Juman added, there has been an increase in the number of patients with throat cancer.

“One of the recent risk factors which have been identified for cancer of the oral cavity is the HPV Virus and it is possible through oral sex,” Juman said.

Health Minister Dr Terrence Deyalsingh, who was supposed to deliver the welcome address, did not attend.

Angry parents and students of the Penal/Quinam Government Primary school staged a protest yesterday, calling on the Education Ministry to open their new school building.

From around 7 am yesterday, about 60 parents and students blocked the roadway in front of the new school building along the Penal Quinam Main Road. 

Bearing placards, the protesters sat on plastic chairs along the roadway, chanting, “We want we school right now!”

The new school building has been under construction for the past two years and since then the 93 students and teachers have been housed in seven containers and the Mendez Village Community Centre.

Head of the school’s Parent Teachers’ Association Maranda de Verteuil-Mendoza said since January, parents have kept their children away from classes because of unsafe conditions in containers.

She added: “From January this term parents decided not to send children to school because we have been facing all sorts of problems with cockroaches, rats and snakes in the containers because this is a rural area.” 

“There is not enough space, no air-conditioning, one entrance and exit. This is madness, you can send our children in containers when dog kennels are better than these.

“We are here this morning not only as parents but as villagers, again fighting the cause for our children to be back where they belong. Our Prime Minister (Dr Keith Rowley) said we are sending out monsters into society but when our children are home, what do you all expect, not that we breed monsters?”

De Verteuil-Mendoza said the new school building was complete, but now the Parent Teachers Association was being told the Education Ministry was awaiting approval from the Ministry of Works to hand over the building.

“They say they are waiting for the Ministry of Works. They have to give us one piece of paper to use the school. They promised us on Ash Wednesday we would be able to use at least one part of the school compound, that is over a month now...why are you all holding our children to ransom?

“If the school is not fit for us, tell us, let us know where we stand as parents and as concerned villagers. This morning we decided to take matters into our own hands again...to bring awareness to the people who sit behind their desks all day and apparently have no idea what is going on in the country.”

Calls to Education Minister Anthony Garcia’s cellphone went unanswered. 

However, a source in the Education Ministry said the school was due for a walk-through with ministry officials, the contractor for the project and Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) officials sometime next week.

The source said the delay was being caused to some extent because the buildings needed to be approved by OSH, Fire Service and T&TEC before it can be deemed safe to house students and handed over to the Ministry of Education.

There is a strong possibility that police officers could take matters into their own hands if, at the end of this month, they are not paid their backpay.

President of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Inspector Anand Ramesar said officers were becoming increasingly upset as the monies owed for the period 2010 to 2015 were yet to be paid.

He said the tallying on the backpay would have already been done by the organisation’s finance branch.

“We want to know how far you have reached in computing the backpay and we want to know why has the payment not commenced because we are aware that a lot of police officers have had their computation completed in relation to their backpay”.

“We are in March and all we have heard was a lot of promises that it was going to commence. We heard it was going to commence last September, December, January and since January we have heard nothing,” Ramesar said.

He said once the computation was completed the figures would then have to be audited and once this was done the backpay should be paid.

Ramesar added that there was a “clear responsibility” for the finance minister to communicate with the association, whether through the line minister or acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams.

“The period we have gone without any proper communication is unreasonable in addition to which we have received several promises that it would commence and it has not...it is almost as if officers were misled.

“The membership, to say the least, is becoming a bit concerned about the issue and is becoming a bit restless. We want to know if the process has been completed or at least for how many of our police officers has the process been completed,” Ramesar said.

He said at a general council meeting held last Friday the membership reiterated that the relevant authorities must respond to their concerns and provide “clear answers”.

“Let us know exactly what is happening... whether or not there is any intention to pay the money because this is injurious to the well-being of police officers,” Ramesar added.

He said depending on what was now communicated, officers would respond, adding that the association was also exploring its legal options.

The general council, Ramesar said, was expected to meet early next month following which the next step would be determined.

“Any action that is adverse to the functionality will not be pursued by the association. 

“But we do have an awareness from an informal context that police officers not reporting for duty—resting and reflecting and all these other things that we see happen from time to time—have happened in the past and it can happen again,” Ramesar added.

The family of six-month-old baby Maleek Khan was in shock last night after he was mauled to death by the family dog at their home at Charlieville, Chaguanas.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, the baby’s grandfather, Neshard Khan, 53, said they still could not understand why the dog, Simba, a Rottweiler and German Shepherd mixed, would attack the baby boy.

Maleek is the only child to Khan’s son, Shayas, 30, and Vishma Bissoon, 23.

The senior Khan told the T&T Guardian that baby Maleek was with his mother at their Jameel Street, Charlieville, home around 4 pm when tragedy struck. 

He said he was told Maleek was left in his pram by Bissoon, who stepped away for a few minutes. He said although Simba was chained he managed to reach the baby boy and grabbed him by the head. The dog bit the baby about his face and when his mother ran to assist him she was bitten about her arm and head.

Neighbours helped rescue baby Maleek, who was then rushed to the Chaguanas District Health Centre, Montrose

“The dog is a big dog. I believe that the baby was left too close to the dog. The dog grabbed on to him and that was it. I don’t know where that mother went and what she went to do. I don’t know why she left the baby so close to the dog,” the distraught grandfather said.

Khan described the situation when he got to the house after learning of the incident as a nightmare.

“When I got there I saw blood all over the place and all I could have done was beat that dog and tell him ‘look how you kill my grandchild.’ 

“It real sad. I real beat that dog you know, just to let the dog know that what he did was wrong,” he added.

Khan said he intended to suggest to his son the dog be put down “because I don't want to see that dog ever again and I don't want that dog biting or killing anyone else.”

Khan said recently he has been plagued with problems and wondered when his troubles would end. 

He explained that the baby’s father, Shayas, iss not working currently as he had suffered a broken arm while on the job. Another of his sons, whose name he withheld for security reasons, was allegedly shot in the back of the neck by a police officer.

“I do not know when my troubles will end. Is only one after the other I have to deal with,” he said.

“Now, my grandchild! This one is the hardest. I cannot deal with this but I have to remain strong for my son, Shayas, and the rest of the family.”

At the family’s home last night, Shayas’ uncle, Sohil Khan, said the community was in shock following the incident. He said the dog was given to the family one year ago but he believed it was time to get rid of it, adding he was surprised the police did not take away the dog when they visited the home.

Parbatie Lutchman, 32, a relative of the baby’s mother, added: “We don’t know what to say. We all loved the baby, now he is gone, what can we do or say.” 

Up to late last night officers from the Chaguanas Police Station, along with Crime Scene Investigators, were at the Khan's residence processing the scene.

Baby Maleek is expected to be buried today under Muslim rites. 

— Reporting by SHASTRI BOODAN 

The jobs of about 85 offshore workers at the National Gas Company (NGC) of T&T may be in jeopardy if the State-owned company goes ahead with its plan to sell two offshore platforms to Spanish energy company Repsol at month’s end.

Noting a clause in the deal, worth US$.5 million, which said Repsol was not obligated to retain the workers assigned on the platforms in the Teak and Poui fields; workers representatives said they feared for their future.

According to the conditions of sale outlined in the deal, Repsol reserved the right to “have absolute discretion to restrict or cancel the rendering of any planned or existing contracts or services of NGC and use its own contracts for the execution of any works related to compression operations.”

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday under condition of anonymity, an NGC offshore worker said about five days ago a top NGC official met with workers at the heliport in Couva as they were getting ready to take up duty.

The worker claimed they were told by the official that affected workers would be transferred to different departments according to their qualifications and that permanent workers would be dealt with first, followed by contract workers.

“This is what we were told. Then, lo and behold another group was told something different... and now we are hearing we will be given severance packages soon. That is very unfair, if that is the case,” the offshore worker said.

The T&T Guardian understands workers were told the company would give them a definitive answer on their job status by March 15.

The offshore workers, contracted and permanent, have been employed at NGC for between five and 15 years. 

The worker noted that during a meeting ahead of the Christmas season last year, workers in the offshore department were assured that no one would be sent home.

Contacted last night, NGC Group of Companies chairman Gerry Brooks said there are several options available to NGC, but said he did not want to disclose any of them just yet. 

He said NGC is in an evaluation phase, the objective of which was “to ensure we run a far more efficient and cost effective operation, given the dynamics of the energy industry today and that is the responsibility of any company in the sector today”.

“We are very careful and there is no final decision that has been made to sell the platforms,” Brooks added.

Asked about the future of the offshore workers, Brooks replied: “When the documents come in, we will determine, in the circumstances, what is the best option in context of our employees, platforms and organisation and we want to do that deliberately and professionally and we are being careful in what we will do.” 

He said that NGC had a responsibility to all stakeholders and employees to keep them informed. (RD)

The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) says they are against any sale of the country’s assets and are questioning the National Gas Company’s (NGC) move to sell two offshore platforms before meeting with the union.

Responding to yesterday’s T&T Guardian report on the US$.5 million deal between NGC and Spanish energy company Repsol E&P T&T Ltd, the union’s president general Ancel Roget said the union would be making their own investigation into the deal.

Given the current economic slump, driven by low oil and gas prices, he said now was the time to keep all of the country’s valuable assets, especially those in the energy sector.

“We have seen that issue raised in the (news)papers this morning and we are going to make our own investigation to be able to comment further on that. Let me just say we are against privatisation and we are against selling out of the country's assets. This is a time when we ought to keep all of our crown jewels, all of our productive sectors, the energy sector, all of our platforms and all of the country's assets ought not to be sold in some fire sale. 

“We are against that and in any event, how come we can take these decision before we have an opportunity to contribute at the level of tripartite discussions. Therefore, if we are called on to contribute to what level of sacrifice or what we should do as a country going forward, how come we can hear this announcement ahead of us being called to that tripartite discussion to make a decision, which decision will impact the country for now and for in the future going forward?

“Therefore, we are against that but the precise information we need to gather, except to say again that we are against privatisation and the sell out of the country's assets,” Roget said.

The ANSA McAL group has placed a $25,000 bid for the 18-carat Order of the Republic of T&T (ORTT) medal awarded to trade unionist Adrian Cola Rienzi, which is now up for sale on eBay. 

The group’s chairman A Norman Sabga said in a statement, “ANSA McAL has decided to place the bid of US$25,000 to ensure that this historic piece of T&T is duly returned to our nation in preservation of its bestowed honour and dignity.”

The medal was awarded posthumously to Rienzi by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration in 2012, and the seller is including the original award document, signed by President George Maxwell Richards and stamped with the Presidential Seal. As of last evening, there had been one bid on the of US$25,000. 

The medal was put on auction for seven days and there are three days remaining on the auction. 

Recalling the award of the ORTT to ANSA’s Chairman Emeritus, Dr Anthony N Sabga, in 2011, the statement said further that the group “understands the significance and patriotic pride to have such an honour bestowed upon any citizen.”

If Ansa McAl’s bid is successful, Sabga hopes that President Anthony Carmona will support the decision to donate the medal to the National Museum.

“It will be a shame and dishonor to the country’s highest award and to the legacy of its awardee Adrian Cola Rienzi if the honour inherent in the ORTT medal is not returned to our beloved country,” the release further stated.

Second time sale 

This will not be the first time the medal is being sold. The T&T Guardian contacted the eBay seller, and he told us that he had bought it legally from Rienzi’s estate.

“No disrespect is intended from the sale of this item,” the seller wrote in response to queries sent via eBay. “In fact, I am hoping it is purchased by someone in Trinidad and Tobago and sent ‘home’, possibly to be put on display for all to see, rather than sitting out of sight, and forgotten, in a desk or safety deposit box in a bank.”

According to the advertisement, the medal is “Unquestionably genuine, from the estate, and VERY RARE!”

The seller lists it as “massive at 105 grams and 75mm or just under 3 inches, in height for the medallion itself.”

President Anthony Carmona issued a statement yesterday, saying that he is distraught at “the prospect of someone peddling the symbol of our national honour and pride.”

Carmona said, “The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is not a rag doll that is disposable. This ultimate symbol of our Nation’s pride and honour is sacrosanct. The intended sale of the ORTT medal offends one’s sense of patriotism.

How much is it really worth?

The T&T Guardian contacted Bobby’s Jewellery in Gulf City Mall in San Fernando, to try to find out how much it’s really worth. 

A gramme of gold is between $500 and $600TT. Leave aside the fact that 18 karat is not pure gold—24 karat is, and therefore 18 karat is 75 per cent gold and 25 per cent other metals to harden it. Let us then apply the pure gold price to the metal contained in the medal. 

At $600, and using an exchange rate of $6.5TT to the dollar, the raw street value of the gold in the medal is a little under US$10,000. 

The extra US$15,000 would represent the combination of an excessive opening bid, and the intrinsic value—that is, its rarity, which makes it a collector’s item.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he has no confidence in the Integrity Commission but, at the same time, it is an institution that has to deal with allegations against people in public life.

The Government was not into prosecuting or persecuting anybody and could tackle corruption by providing institutions with legislation to empower them to work more effectively, he said.

Rowley said so during his address to a packed ballroom at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre at an anti-corruption conference, titled Unmask the Corrupt, hosted by the T&T Transparency Institute.

He responded to comments from Transparency International chairman, Jose Carlos Ugaz, a platform speaker, on public concern over the Marlene McDonald and Malcolm Jones issues.

Ugaz indicated there was public perception the Government kept referring corruption allegations to the police but the matters were not investigated.

The Opposition has alleged that Housing Minister Marlene McDonald, when she was community development minister in 2008, used her office to secure a Housing Development Corporation house at the upscale Fidelis Heights for her common-law partner, Michael Carew, and helped him pay for it.

The matter is being investigated by the Integrity Commission but there have been public calls for her to step down. Rowley has said she would not be fired on the basis of allegations.

Jones, shot into the limelight when the State dropped a US$109 million case against him initiated by Anand Ramlogan, attorney general in the last People’s Partnership administration. 

The PP government accused Jones of breach of his fiduciary duty and alleged mismanagement in the construction of Petrotrin’s World Gas to Liquid Plant. Rowley defended the decision to quash the case.

At the anti-corruption seminar yesterday the PM basically repeated his earlier position on those two matters and corruption allegations against people in public life in general.

He said he knew a little bit about allegations since many were made against him in Parliament. However, he had to go before a committee where the allegations were referred to for investigation, he said.

In one instance, he was called upon by a former prime minister to account for a missing $10 million, he said. “In cases like that one can rely only on institutions,” he added. 

Rowley said when he formed his Cabinet, he told members if anyone felt he was coming to government to enrich himself that was the time to leave. “No one left,” he added.

He said T&T had been steadily barreling towards the international prize of being ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world.

In 2001, T&T ranked 32 on the anti-corruption index. In 2004, 53 and in 2011, 91. Between 2011 and 2015, T&T moved back to 79, but with the same score, he said.

“It appears that we were at one time reasonably decent but in a 15-year period we have gone to being among the worst in the world,” he said.

The Government looked at countries that were in T&T’s position and went on to improve its rankings, like Greece, Senegal and the UK, and found it was because it tackled corruption in public life, he said.

The State has been ordered to pay former Petrotrin executive president Malcolm Jones almost $2.2 million for his legal costs in defending a lawsuit over a failed gas to liquid plant constructed during his tenure. 

High Court Judge Ricky Rahim ordered the costs during a hearing in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, almost one week after the company decided to withdraw its case against Jones. 

The T&T Guardian understands Jones’ legal team was initially seeking more than $3 million in legal costs but agreed to accept 75 per cent of the claimed sum. 

Efforts to reach Jones yesterday for a comment on the judgment were unsuccessful as calls to his cellphone went straight to voice mail.

Speaking at a news conference last week, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi claimed that his office and the company were forced to take the decision after their legal team was advised that Jones had a good chance of defending the lawsuit, which was filed under the tenure of Al-Rawi’s predecessor Anand Ramlogan and was set to go to trial. 

Al-Rawi explained that the State’s legal team, led by Queen’s Counsel Vincent Nelson, gave the advice after Jones’ attorneys made an application for disclosure of documents related to Petrotrin’s arbitration with World GTL Inc, the company it had contracted for the plant. 

“I understand the witnesses were very convincing at the arbitration proceedings and there is no reason why in the circumstances there is a reasonable likelihood that a judge would be persuaded that this was a bad business decision but not negligence,” Nelson said in written advice sent to Petrotrin and the Office of the AG in October last year that was quoted directly by Al-Rawi.

He noted that Nelson had not seen the evidence when he advised that there was a prima facie case against Jones in 2011 and was only made aware of it when Jones’ attorneys filed their application last year. 

In 2013, the Office of the Attorney General filed a $2 billion lawsuit arising out of a forensic report into the construction of the failed Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant at State-owned Petrotrin’s operations in Pointe-a-Pierre.

The plant was one of many mega projects undertaken by the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) government.

Petrotrin was claiming there was a breach of fiduciary duty in the management of the construction of the GTL plant at Pointe-a-Pierre, which had been contracted to be built at a cost of $2.7 billion to convert natural gas into a more ozone-friendly liquified form of diesel.

United States-based World GTL Inc had been contracted to equip the plant with the necessary technology and make it operational.

Although eventually completed, the plant remained non-functional due to the lack of appropriate technology and it has since been deemed scrap iron. Petrotrin initiated arbitration proceedings against the company which it eventually won. 

The lawsuit against Jones alleged mismanagement by the payment of US$190.4 million (TT$1.12 billion) towards construction of the plant, in excess of the cost of its construction. It claimed that despite concerns raised in some quarters, Petrotrin went ahead with the project. 

In October last year, with the trial of the case still pending, Cabinet appointed Jones as a member of its Standing Committee on Energy.

Jones’ legal team was led by John Jeremie, SC. Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Stuart Young was on Jones’ legal team before assuming office. The State was also represented by Gerald Ramdeen and Varun Debideen. 

For one night out of three the cold earth of the Blanchisseuse forest was his bed, his pillow was his knapsack, shrubs and leaves his blanket and when he ran out of fruits he ate fig leaves and cornflakes.

This and a determination to survive are what enabled Kevin Arthur, 25, to make it out of the forest yesterday afternoon after going on a hike last Saturday led by Fitness Walkers. The eight-hour hike, or one-way from Acono, Maracas, St Joseph, to Yarra river in La Fillette, became a three-day experience that the Ministry of Finance employee will forever remember.

Speaking with the media at the entrance of the forest yesterday afternoon, moments after exiting, Arthur, flanked by the two men who found him, Joseph Mohanlal and Kevon Burton, said the first thing he planned on doing when he returned to his Belmont home is to play his Fifa video game while listening to radio station Hott 93 FM. Arthurs said he slept the first night by the river and the other nights at a hunters’ camp he stumbled upon while trying to make his way back to Maracas, St Joseph.

Arthur said he lost the group after he stopped to eat a piece of chicken he had packed. The last member of the team of about 60 hikers was about 15 minutes walk in front of him the last time he saw them. The Yarra River separated him from the other hikers, and being afraid since he is unable to swim, when his life jacket burst while he was attempting to cross the river, Arthur found himself plunged into a predicament that would make him a local Bear Grylls, minus the eating of bugs. 

Asked about the moment he was rescued, Arthur said, “I start to call out to people cause I heard a voice. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Because I had heard a voice. I think the voice of this man here (pointing to Burton on his left), my new best friend. So I was saying ‘hello’. He answered me and they came running to me and I was thankful. This was over. Four days. I didn’t know I had that kind of strength to make it. I was praying hard.”

Government’s mid-year review will be done on Friday April 8, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced yesterday.

Imbert did so in Parliament while replying to a motion by Opposition MP Suruj Rambachan who sought annulment of government’s 12.5 per cent VAT implementation.

The mid-year review was announced by Imbert last September in his 2016 Budget presentation. 

He said that following wide consultations over the upcoming six months—September 2015 to March 2016—on the state of the economy and T&T’s financial challenges, Government would make appropriate adjustments to the 2016 Budget “if required” in the March 2016 mid-year review, to “ensure the Budget is a comprehensive regime for restoring long-term discipline.”

Imbert’s $63 billion Budget included a number of measures that have already been implemented including fuel price hikes, personal allowance tax breaks, retirees’ benefits and, most recently, the 12.5 per cent VAT implementation (although Imbert didn’t detail in the budget what the VAT would apply to.)

He also announced return of the Property Tax, institution of a Revenue Authority, NIS contribution increases from July, gaming sector regularisation and other measures and proposed projects including discussions with the Inter-American Development Bank for a projected mass transit system.

Reviews of several sectors now underway—from health and the economy to contracts in the public service—are also expected to be factored into the review. Consultations have also been held in the education sector.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley in his year-end address outlined budget measures, adding that Imbert would give “additional and more detailed measures” in his mid-year review “as we steady the ship.”

Imbert gave no details of the review yesterday and didn’t reply to queries sent by text on the matter.

The 2016 Budget was based on an oil price of US$45 and gas price of US$2.75 per mmbtu.

During yesterday’s motion debate, Imbert said while the Government had recently seen a “substantial” recovery of the oil price from US$28 to US$38, following the earlier price drop, the increase was still way below the Budget’s oil price basis of US$45 and therefore below T&T’s revenue and expenditure level if the country didn’t move away from oil dependence.

Imbert described Rambachan’s motion—which he labelled “pure histrionics”—as “irresponsible and reckless,” adding, “I reject this motion.” 

Seeking to justify the VAT implementation, Imbert said Government had to deal with a $25 billion financing gap between revenue and expenditure in 2016.

“What did you want us to do to collect the $25 billion? Retrench people? Cut wages and salaries? We not going to do that!” he said.

Imbert said former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar signed a $1.6 billion loan for T&TEC ten days before the September 7, 2015, general election. Imbert said the loan matured on February 28 recently and every other week he’s being told of short-term loans undertaken by the PP administration—all of which have been maturing since November, December, January and February.

“All they did was pander to the population,” Imbert complained, hitting the PP’s “populist” measures.