Head of the Network of NGO’s for the Advancement of Women Hazel Brown says it is time for the relevant stakeholders to come together to determine the root causes of violence against women and work on providing solutions to the problems.

Referring to the number of recent incidents in which women have been the prime targets, Brown said there seems to be greater sensitivity by the media in terms of what is reported and what is selected to be on the front page of the daily newspapers.

She added that it could also be an issue of more people now reporting crimes.

Speaking to reporters prior to the start of yesterday’s rally to commemorate International Women’s Day in Port-of-Spain, Brown asked, “Why are more people becoming violent? Just like we are trying to find the root causes of traffic accidents, we can begin to teach people to make their homes and communities safe.”

Walking along the Brian Lara Promenade as she perused the various booths set up to showcase products and services available to battered women and other vulnerable groups in society, Brown said, “If you make it safe for women, it will be safe for everybody else.”

Declaring that it had to start with children, Brown said there was no one solution to the problem.

Urging the population to accept responsibility and try to find ways in which they can make a difference, Brown said focus must be paid to boys, girls and churches.

Recalling two serious cases of child abuse which involved pastors, Brown said there were different kinds of interventions available.

“Children have to learn how to recognise violence because they are very easily confused. People who love them say beat them, and they can’t tell the difference between abuse and love. 

“They kind of look alike and it’s the same people doing it,” Brown said.

Deputy political leader of the People’s National Movement, Joan Yuille-Williams, also paid a visit to the various booths before setting off on the march.

The Breastfeeding Association of T&T, Women Working for Social Progress, Women of Worth and the Network of NGO’s for the Advancement of Women were also present.

Also “handing” out free hugs yesterday was Synergy TV’s Stephan Reis, who held aloft a placard advertising his wares.

In a brief interview, Reis saidduring his first ten minutes at the venue, he had already “given” out 45 hugs to both men and women.

Asked to reveal the reason behind his unusual offer, Reis explained that there were too many negative situations and violence affecting women nowadays and that it cost nothing to offer comfort to others who might be in need of it.

Port-of-Spain mayor Keron Valentine also issued a proclamation declaring March 8 as International Women’s Day in the capital.

In the one-page document, Valentine supported the work by Network of NGO’s for the Advancement of Women as he reflected on their efforts to improve working conditions at all levels; efforts to promote HIV/Aids awareness; the development of information communication technology especially for women in rural areas; and its policy input in the development of a draft National Gender Policy and Action Plan for the country.

Police were called to the home of former Petrotrin executive chairman Malcolm Jones as over 50 Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) members protested in the driveway to his San Fernando home yesterday, demanding that he be removed from government’s standing committee on energy.

So intense was the workers’ rejection of Jones, that they remixed their traditional union song, We Shall Overcome, to sing, “Malcolm Jones must make a jail. Deep in my heart, I do believe, Malcolm Jones will make a jail.

“Malcolm Jones has failed then and he will fail now,” OWTU president general Ancel Roget said as he addressed the media in St Joseph Village. 

The union took umbrage at Jones’ response to the state’s decision to drop a US$109 million case against him for the construction of Petrotrin’s failed $2.7 billion Gas to Liquids plant. 

“I did absolutely nothing wrong. It was in the best interest of the company, Petrotrin and the country. But if I had to, I would do it all over again,” Jones said to the GML Enterprise Desk last week.

However, those comments had him retreating inside his home yesterday and he even refused to comment on the union’s protest against him yesterday. When reporters rang his intercom, he said he had no comment to make. About ten minutes later, two police officers went onto the property, spoke to Jones, returned outside and supervised the union’s gathering.

“We are calling on the Government to do the correct thing. Mr Jones cannot make any valuable contribution to this country on any matter at all and especially in energy matters. When he was given profound and enormous responsibility for Petrotrin, the crown jewel of this country, a major state enterprise, he would have failed miserably,” Roget said

He said Jones and the former board of directors went ahead with the Gas To Liquid project despite the union's researched advice that it would have failed. He said the union had suggested that money be spent on exploration and increased production in Trinmar’s Soldado field. He said this was disregarded, leading Petrotrin to lose billions of dollars.

“One of the things that continue to infuriate and incense the workers is the way in which Mr Jones dismissed this. As far as he is concerned, he did absolutely nothing wrong. As far as he is concerned, the failure of Petrotrin under his stewardship, there is nothing wrong with that. Indeed, the statement that he made last week Friday was a very profound one and that statement further incensed the Petrotrin workers.

“The Petrotrin workers were denied their variable pay for the financial year 2009 to 2010 despite the fact that the company made a profit on the basis of the workers’ input. The retirees did not get an increase for that period, simply because the company claimed they made a loss in that period.

“Therefore, we are saying that the statement made by Mr Malcolm Jones, he is quoted as saying ‘I did absolutely nothing wrong,’ I mean looking back after the fact when every citizen of this country would recognise that Petrotrin failed under his stewardship, he is saying that he did absolutely nothing wrong, but even worse, he is quoted as saying, ‘it was in the best interest of the company, Petrotrin, and the country.’

“But hear this, he went further to say in the face of all this outcry, that if he had to do it, he would do it again. We think that this was a display of gross disrespect, arrogance and contempt for the Petrotrin workers and for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Government must drop cases against the union

Roget said the People’s Partnership only took Jones to court to give money to their attorney friends despite them knowing that the case would collapse. Now that the People’s National Movement oversaw the withdrawal of that case, he said they should order Petrotrin, National Petroleum and T&TEC to cancel their court appeals against the union.

“Mr Jones cannot get special treatment and the workers of Petrotrin, the workers of this country, OWTU members, be singled out for a different type of treatment.”

In the face of mounting public pressure for her resignation over her alleged influence in the acquisition of a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) home for her male companion, Housing Minister Marlene McDonald has written to the Integrity Commission to ask if there is an ongoing probe involving her and what was its status.

Through her attorney, Michael Quamina, the one-page letter, addressed to the commission's registrar and dated Tuesday, said that course of action had become necessary as McDonald had become a victim of public persecution by some.

“My client has noted with alarm the continued pressure being brought to bear upon the Integrity Commission by her political opponents, along with a particular interest group, to act on certain allegations with respect to her role in the allocation of a house by the Housing Development Corporation to Mr Michael Carew, while my client was not the minister responsible for that agency,” the letter said.

Describing what was called “inappropriate pressure” being mounted upon McDonald, combined with “inappropriate calls” for her resignation, Quamina said that was being done without awaiting the commission's findings.

“That being said, some time has in fact elapsed since the press reported that a complaint was made with respect to the allegations, and in an immediate response my client has expressed her intention to co-operate fully with the Integrity Commission, should the commission consider it necessary to conduct an investigation,” Quamina wrote.

“To date, my client has received no notification whatsoever that an investigation is being conducted. In light of the unfortunate public campaign being consistently waged by those opposed to my client, a speedy resolution to this matter is now in the best interests of all concerned. 

“Accordingly, my client has instructed me to write to enquire from you as to the status of the complaint,” he added.

Since January this year, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has defended McDonald in the matter, insisting that she will not be asked to step down over it and calling on those levelling the accusations to bring the evidence to prove their claims. 

But Fixin’ T&T leader and activist Kirk Waithe has described Rowley’s position as disrespectful and contemptuous to the people of T&T. Waithe had recently reiterated his call for the removal of McDonald amid allegations of abuse of public office.

McDonald has been referred to the police and the Integrity Commission over questions of whether she used her position in 2008 as a minister to influence the allocation of an HDC  unit to her partner.

She has since denied specific claims that she requested a file for Carew and that she had a beneficial interest in a Fidelis Heights in St Augustine home allocated to Carew.

Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge had written to the commission on the issue, calling for an investigation into whether McDonald had breached specific sections of the Integrity in Public Life Act, when she was a Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs in the former Patrick Manning administration.

In particular, he referred to Section 24 of the Act, which states:
A person to whom this part applies shall ensure that he performs his functions and administers the public resources for which he is responsible in an effective and efficient manner and shall:
(a) Be fair and impartial in exercising his public duty
(b) afford no undue preferential treatment to any group or individual
(c) arrange his private interests whether pecuniary or otherwise in such a manner as to maintain public confidence and trust in his integrity.

Section 24 (2) A person to whom this Part applies shall not:
(a) Use his office for the improper advancement of his own or his family’s personal or financial interests or the interests of any person
(b) engage in any transaction, acquire any position or have any commercial or other interest that is incompatible with his office, function and duty or the discharge thereof
(d) directly or indirectly use his office for personal gain.

Sturge provided documents to the commission purportedly showing that in 2008 McDonald recommended the allocation of a government housing unit for her spouse, allegedly provided funds for Carew to buy the Fidelis Heights unit in St Augustine and then organised to have the property rented.

In response, however, McDonald had said she would not be distracted by Sturge’s “wild goose chase” as she denied claims that she owned a home from the HDC.

The inconsolable father of six-month-old baby, Maleek, who was mauled to death by the family’s pet dog on Tuesday, has given permission to his close friends to euthanize the animal.

“I have to get rid of that dog. I can’t bear to see it alive. I can’t even live and see that dog because everyday it will hurt me for how he killed my son,” Khan said.

Khan, 30, said hours after the tragedy on Tuesday, many well-wishers, family and friends wanted to kill the dog immediately but he said he was still determined to get rid of the dog, named Simba, in a humane manner.

Simba, who was a Rottweiler-mixed breed, was scheduled to be put to sleep by a veterinarian late yesterday. Khan said, however, he took good care of Simba for over a year and grew very fond of him.

Recalling what he was told happened on Tuesday, Khan said this wife, Keisha, who is pregnant, was cleaning the yard and had baby Maleek, who was eating an ice cream at the time, in the pram, near to where Simba was chained, when tragedy struck.

“The dog stretched and stretched until one of his paws hooked onto the pram and tilted it over. When the child fell with the pram the dog grabbed at the pram and the child and that was it,” Khan said as he broke down in tears again.

“It is a loss. We coming along you know but it is a terrible loss. I can’t believe what happened. There are no words to express what I am going through at this point,” Khan said.

However,  Khan still expressed surprise at the attack, saying the dog was accustomed seeing the baby around and had never showed any signs of wanting to attack Maleek. The baby was initially scheduled to be buried under Muslim rights yesterday. 

However, due to the absence of the pathologist at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, the autopsy was re-scheduled for today. Once the autopsy is done today the funeral is expected to be held immediately after.

No conflict of interest exists. That’s the view of Law Association president Reginald Armour to whom Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi passed the Petrotrin report on the Malcolm Jones matter.
 
This followed revelations yesterday in Companies’ Registrar records showing that three directors of a company, known as Abox Investments Ltd, in 2004 were attorney Armour (listed at 90 Maraval Road), attorney Vanessa Gopaul (same address) and attorney Al-Rawi (at 45a St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain). The record was stamped November 9, 2004.

Al-Rawi recently said he had passed the Jones’ report to the association. That body wrote him recently seeking a copy since members wanted to examine it, the T&T Guardian learned. On the Abox company where he and Al-Rawi once served, Armour said he and Gopaul sold their shares in the company years ago and have no financial interest in it. “There’s no conflict of interest,” he added.

Al-Rawi confirmed Armour was a participant in the 2004 venture but later sold his interest. Noting that conflict of interest could only arise if there was information one had that caused one to be in conflict with the issue at hand, he added.

“As a professional lawyer, I have worked with Mr Armour on the same legal team in loads of matters. I have also worked against him on different legal teams opposed to his point of view,” he said.

Saying the Abox matter was irrelevant, he said there could be no conflict of interest in the current Jones’ report matter since it was a pure independent legal perspective offered by the Law Association in relation to the Petrotrin discontinuation of the matter against Jones. He maintained he assisted transparency with the Petrotrin issue by putting the file out for viewing by the Law Association.

Al-Rawi said the Abox company was not involved in the issue at hand. “If there was to be a parting of the ways on the basis of this kind of situation, then nobody in T&T would be able to speak to me on any matters since my years of practice I have interacted with almost everyone in the legal profession in some form or fashion.” 

The association concluded its discussions on the Jones’ report on Tuesday. The file concerned Petrotrin’s discontinuation of the legal matter against Jones started in the past PP administration’s tenure involving the controversial Gas to Liquids (GTL) plan.

Former chairman of the Integrity Commission (IC) Ken Gordon yesterday criticised Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for having no confidence in the IC, insisting his statement will undermine the institution’s effectiveness.

Gordon said while Rowley did not have the luxury to speak as a private person “as a leader of our country, his public rejection virtually condemns this important institution to national ridicule,” Gordon said yesterday in a telephone interview.

“For a Prime Minister to publicly say that he has lost confidence in the commission, what do you expect the normal person who gets a judgment against them in the Integrity Commission to say? 

“He has virtually knocked the legs. It is unfortunate that the Prime Minister should openly declare a lack of confidence, in as an important institution of this sphere as the Integrity Commission,” Gordon said.

His comments came one day after Rowley addressed an anti-corruption conference hosted by the T&T Transparency Institute at Hilton Trinidad where he stated that he had no confidence in the IC but, at the same time, it was an institution that has to deal with allegations against people in public life.

In response to Rowley’s statements, chairman of the IC Justice Zainool Hosein said: “He (Rowley) is entitled to his views... he can express his views.”

Gordon said Rowley’s statements “virtually undermines any prospect of its (the commission’s) effectiveness but I must also add that the manner in which the commission has handled the resignation of its former deputy chairman Justice (Sebastian) Ventour, it leaves much to be desired and raises some serious questions. 

“Perhaps, others also share that view and as he (Ventour) has made it clear, so does the Prime Minister,” he added.

In 2013, Gordon was viewed as having compromised his position as chairman of the IC after confirming that he had a meeting at his home with Rowley five days before the explosive email disclosures in Parliament.

Gordon said while the IC had “this sanctified silence... which almost frustrated its position on things,” few people understand the work of the IC.

Meanwhile, former deputy chairman of the IC Justice Sebastian Ventour said the institution “has the right to carry its reputation like Caesar’s wife... to be above reproach. 

“Their operating word being integrity. I am not saying that the people who are part of the commission do not have integrity. I am saying we need to have people who are strong but we also need to have structures in place.” He said while the IC was an independent body, it had its purpose.

Ventour said the IC should focus on reducing corruption and establishing more powers.

“We need to confront corruption head-on. This country needs to be turned around with corruption and wrongdoing. We are not ready yet to deal with corruption, which is like a cancer eating away at the morality of the democracy of this country.” 

Ventour said a key component of dealing with corruption was establishing whistleblower protection.

“We need to get laws to protect people who want to disclose wrongdoing in society. People are not coming forward to say what they know about corruption because they can be victimised,” he added.

Last May, Ventour tendered his resignation from the IC, saying he was “flabbergasted” with the commission’s decision to terminate its investigation into Emailgate. Before resigning, Ventour said under Gordon’s chairmanship “we had done some extensive work... recommendations for changing the commission to give it more teeth because they were referred to as a toothless tiger.” He wondered what had happened to those recommendations.

Ventour said while he was there, the IC maintained its integrity and honesty but he lost faith in the institution which led him to resign.

“I left the commission because I was not in favour of what they said,” he added.

Ventour said only President Anthony Carmona has the authority to introduce a new commission under the remit of the Constitution.

“The President would normally get the approval of both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader when a member of the commission is being appointed. They both can approve or disapprove if they so wish but that is to the extent of their involvement,” he said.
Former chairman of the IC Dr Eric St Cyr refused comment.

Flashback
On January 27, 2011, Keith Rowley was cleared by the IC of any wrongdoing of the Landate matter.

The police investigation of the Landate issue began in August 2006. Then Integrity chairman St Cyr revealed there was no probe into Rowley. St Cyr had said the matter had ended and he knew that a letter was issued to Rowley. The matter was referred to the IC by former Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

Rosemarie Sant

Fewer than ten of the 20 students suspended from the Chagaunas North Secondary School, who were sent to the now defunct Couva West Secondary School for assessment and rehabilitation, made it to the school yesterday.

The students are required to report daily to the school for the rest of the term and the school supervisor is required to submit a daily report to the Ministry of Education.

Asked whether the low attendance had to do with transportation issues or lack of interest, CEO of the Ministry of Education, Harrilal Seecharan, said the ministry was awaiting a report from the supervisor and will do follow-up with parents to determine why the students were not where they were asked to be.

He said the ministry was willing to provide whatever assistance the students needed to ensure they attended the facility. This includes, if necessary, providing school transportation and school meals. 

Letters were sent to the parents of the students asking them to attend the first day of “school” with the children. 

A team from the School Support Services is being joined by social workers, counsellors and other trained personnel to assess and determine their specific needs.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia said before identifying the school, which has been closed for a number of years, supervisors “did a thorough check of the building to determine whether it was structurally sound and to ensure  there were no intrusions of any kind of negative elements” whether those were criminal or homeless people who had taken shelter in the facility.

He said the students and the parents would be asked a questions to determine, among other things, whether issues at home could account for their behaviour and what could be done to help change their behaviour. Seecharan said the ultimate aim was to “assist the students through guidance counselling, conflict resolution and support to address relationships.” 

Parents are required to be there, he said, for the “orientation” and then they would be invited to return on a “needs be basis as determined by the officers from the Student Support Services and other experts.”

Seecharan said there was a similar centre in South East Port-of-Spain which was operational and the ministry was in the process of trying to identify other venues, “because the aim is to provide the support across the board.” 

Seecharan said while the minister had the power under the Education Act to remove a child from school they were “trying to facilitate and support the children whether it involves rehabilitation or bringing them back into the school system but we don’t intend to leave them on their own,” he said.

The ministry, he said, already had resources from the Student Support Services and other internal resources but he said they also intended to partner with other institutions, including MIC and YMCA “for similar type intervention.”

Government has 14 days to pay outstanding monies owed to cane farmers or face the court. Close to a thousand farmers gathered outside the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), in St Clair, yesterday demanding immediate payment.

Chanting “we want we money now,” the farmers said their cost of living had also become very burdensome since they have very little on which to survive. 

After delivering a pre-action protocol letter at the OPM, the group then marched to the Ministry of Planning and to the Ministry of Agriculture and then to the Office of The Attorney General where similar letters also were delivered.  

The legal letters were on behalf of 2,322 members of the Cane Farmers’ Co-operative Society, the Direct Delivery Cane Farmers’ Society, the Cane Farmers’ Association of T&T and the T&T Islandwide Cane Farmers’ Association.

Attorney representing the group, Gerald Ramdeen, said most of the farmers were elderly people who were prepared to fight to the end to get their money.

“The cane farmers have now signalled their intention to the Prime Minister and to the Cabinet that they are now going to court to force the Government to honour their promise to the cane farmers in 2015,” Ramdeen said. He added that two final payments were still outstanding, one at the end of last year and the other this year. 

Ramdeen said during his election campaign in Couva, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had promised he would not turn his back on the farmers but since assuming office he had done exactly that. He said in response to a question from the leader of the Opposition, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, which was raised in Parliament in January, Rowley had made it clear he had no intention to pay the farmers. 

The PM, Ramdeen added, had said that was based on legal advice which he had received. 

“The Prime Minister claimed he was following legal advice which was given to the former prime minister. 

“That is very strange because when the first budget was delivered by the Finance Minister $103 million was allocated to pay the farmers. So where was the legal advice that he (Rowley) was speaking about?” Ramdeen asked.

Former planning minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie, who was also present, said the monies came from the European Union and the first tranche was given in April 2015 which was paid to farmers in July of that year. However he said, the second, which was $75 million, was not paid until November of that year hence the payment was delayed.

“The final payment will come from the Treasury which will be $30 million. The total grant from the EU is $97 million of which $27 million has been paid,” Tewarie added.

More protests

Also protesting outside the OPM were foreign used car dealers who called on Government to rescind its changes to the foreign used car policy which saw a reduction in the permissible age of vehicles from six years to four years. The dealers also maintained they were not consulted before the changes were made.

In 2008 the age limit was reduced to five to four years which pushed prices out of the range of the lower and middle class consumers which resulted in over 200 foreign used companies closing up shop by 2010. 

In 2011 the association lobbied the then government and the age limit was raised from four to six years, which saw popular cars like the Nissan Tiida that were set around $100,000 in 2008 reduced to $75,000.

“All of us have to stop playing, the time for playing is finished!” So said Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart who has warned prisoners under his care that despite the threats being advanced towards his officers, they will continue to perform their duty fairly and fearlessly, even at the risk of losing their lives.

Speaking to reporters as he emerged from a three-and-a-half- hour meeting at the Ministry of National Security, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Stewart urged everyone, including the media, to unite “in the fight against the crime and wickedness that is going on through the land.”

Unwilling to reveal what was discussed during the meeting which also included the heads of the Police and Fire Services, as well as the heads of the respective associations, Stewart said Minister Edmund Dillon had promised to work on “short-term goals.”

Pressed to say what steps were being taken to assure prisons officers, who reside in high risk areas that the issue of housing would be revisited immediately, Stewart replied:

“We have certain strategic plans in place. The minister is working on immediate short-term goals and we want to give him that opportunity. 

“We had discussions and the minister said he would be working on it with alacrity and assiduously and I want to give him an opportunity to do that.”

There has been a renewed call by the Prisons Officers Association for prisons officers who reside in high risk areas to be relocated. Just last month, Fitzalbert Victor was gunned down while washing his car outside his house at Prizgar Lands, Laventille. He was the third prisons officer to be killed in under six months.

Asked if that issue was not a top priority for him as the head of the Prisons Service, Stewart again said: “I have come out of discussions with the minister. The minister has given us certain assurances and I have that confidence in the minister that we will see certain action coming out this meeting. I want to give him that opportunity.”

As he was asked what next for officers, Stewart said: “Action, we hope. We live in that hope and faith that decisive action will be taken. Time will tell how immediate it is.”

To his officers, Stewart implored them to continue to operate in a professional manner.

“We are committed as a service to the protection of society and reduction in crime. We will continue with doing what we have to do, fair and fearlessly in a professional manner in carrying out our service as servants of the State and as servants of the people of T&T,” he added.

Asked if he was aware a cellphone had been seized recently from a high risk inmate and that the number of a senior officer had been found stored in the call log, Stewart said he was unaware but that checks would be made.

Association responds

Even as Stewart called on officers to be patient, president of the Prisons Officers Association, Cerron Richards, expressed his dissatisfaction over the outcome of the meeting. "The Prisons Officers Association is not happy with the outcome. I am not pleased at all," he said, adding:

"I am unable to tell my officers who reside in high risk areas as to when they will be treated with. I thought this meeting would have treated with that and by and large, I must say that I am disappointed."

Admitting that security issues were discussed, Richards reaffirmed: "The threat level to prisons officers remains very high. The reality is that prisons officers are being hunted down and killed and we don't think the response is in keeping with the type of realities we are facing."

He added: "We believe that this has to be treated expeditiously, as a matter of emergency and that is what we are not getting. The minister talked about looking for information and I am disappointed."

On the heels of the mauling death of six-month-old Maleek Khan by the family’s pet Rottweiler, the Police Service is urging parents to be more vigilant by ensuring the dogs are properly secured. The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon while the child was at his home in Charlieville, Chaguanas.

Public Information Officer of the Police Service, ASP Michael Pierre, at a press briefing held at Police Administration building in Port-of-Spain yesterday said it was important for owners to also know the temperament of their dogs.

“One must know the aggression that the dog conveys so we would suggest that you would take all precautionary measures to secure your dog because it limits the movement of persons in the roadway... if your dog is ferocious.

“if your property is fenced make sure the dog cannot jump the fence to go after people walking on the roadway,” Pierre said.

Training, he added, was also essential for dogs especially around children.

“For those who cannot afford training I suggest you get a poodle or get a pup,” Pierre said.

And with the Easter vacation right around the corner Pierre advised parents to do proper research before sending their child to a camp.

“You want to know the facilitators of the camp, you want to know whether in an emergency situation....in terms of health or otherwise if they can respond and you want to know whether the activities the camp would be providing for your children... whether they are suitable and satisfy the values  that you would want to have for your children,” Pierre said. He also cautioned hikers not to stray from their group so as to get lost while in the forest.

Regarding the murder investigation of Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya, Pierre said the matter was still being probed. He said while there was no update the case had not gone cold. Nagakiya,  who was found dead at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain on Ash Wednesday, was still clad in her Carnival costume.

Pressed whether any progress was being made or whether suspects were still being questioned Pierre said, “Definitely, but when we have information that we can give to members of the public we would do so.

“In an investigation of that nature it takes a lot of time therefore a lot of persons are interviewed and in that regard we have to wait until evidence is unearthed before we can move forward.”

Also, regarding the murder of prisons officer, Fitzalbert Victor, 32, was shot dead outside his Prizgar Lands home in Laventille two weeks ago, Pierre also offered no update on the case.

Sno cone vendor, Bertie Ivan Van Sertima, has appointed himself Minister of Sno Cone and Ice Affairs. Van Sertima, 55, gave himself the portfolio after “serving the people” for 33 years, he said. The title, displayed prominently at the front of his sno cone cart, is sure to elicit a smile from passers by downtown Chaguanas where he operates.

“It’s a marketing strategy,” he admitted, adding he also wanted to make people smile. Van Sertima said from sno cone he was able to purchase a Kia van and a Cube car and take care of his children.

“It’s not about how much you make, it’s how you save,” he said, offering helpful tips on saving in a recession.

“I mind my kids, went away three, four times, all through sno cone.

“If you make $10, save $5. But some people make $10 and want to spend $15.

“It could be the smallest amount you save, it will add up.

“Life is very simple. You don’t need to go university to know these things.”

Banks and insurance companies hire him to give their employees sno cones at functions, Van Sertima said. 

“They like the syrup. It’s homemade, with bayleaf, cinnamon, clove and spices.” But before he settled down into the sno cone business, Van Sertima said he was a happy go lucky adventure seeker hitchhiking all over South America.

“My father was a Dutch Portugese who worked as a military mechanic.

“I was born in Guyana but did not live there. We lived in different army bases in the region where my father worked.”

Van Sertima said by 16 he burst out on his own touring with friends in Surinam, French Guyana, Surinam, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and even reached close to the Mexican border, living for short periods wherever he chose to.

“We hitchhiked rides on trucks, trains.”

It was while living in Brazil he found a penpal from Trinidad and came here in 1979 and married her.

“We had boy, Jefferson Van Sertima, who is with the T&T regiment.”

Van Sertima’s romantic life was as colourful as his South American adventures and he divorced his first wife and remarried a second, this one half his age, he said. He fathered two children with her but didn’t stay long in this relationship either.

“I have been living by myself for the past 15 years. Maybe, I aint meet the right woman yet,” he said, still nursing some hope.

“I hang out with my grandkids.”

Van Sertima said he is not into religion but lives by his own simple philosophy. 

“Something have to be responsible for the plants and trees. Even life itself. It have to have a God. 

“The most important thing in life is to do the right thing and spread love.” He said all the homeless people in Chaguanas know him. “I buy coffee for them and give them sno cone. I don’t give them no money.” He said he lost a quarter of his sales over the last few months.

“The lil recession. But I am still thankful,” he said.

Rosemarie Sant

Ten years after the idea was first touted, the Water and Sewerage Authority says it will be issuing an invitation for expressions of interest for the construction and operation of a desalination plant in Tobago. 

Responding to questions from the GML Enterprise Desk, the authority identified the preferred site as the Cove Industrial Estate but did not go into detail on how soon the expression of interest would go out. 

CEO of the Desalination Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Desalcott) John Thompson told the GML Enterprise Desk  the company was not actively involved in the discussions for a desalination plant for Tobago at “this point in time” but there was an interest. 

He said the Cove Industrial Estate was an ideal location since it has a power plant, was close to the sea and close to the water mains so that the water could be easily pumped into WASA’s mains for distribution. 

Desalcott currently owns and operates the desalination plant at Pt Lisas, which was constructed on a build, own and operate basis and currently produces just about 50 million gallons of water a day. The plant transforms sea water into potable water.

Thompson, who is also president of the Caribbean Desalination Association, said many countries went the route of desalination plants to boost the water supply in times of drought.

The plant size which was discussed sometime ago for Tobago is estimated to produce five million gallons of water a day and Thompson said that size plant would take about 18 months to build and brought into operation. He said t if all the necessary Town and Country Planning and Environmental approvals were fast tracked, the plant should become operational in Tobago by the end of 2017. 

He estimates the cost for construction and operationalising the plant to be at just about US$50 million. The desalination plant at Pt Lisas and a smaller one in Pt Fortin are operated by Desalcott on the basis of build, own and operate.

This means that WASA only pays for water produced by the plant and not for the cost of construction of the plant. Companies on the industrial estate also subsidise the cost of the water paying a higher rate than that which WASA charges domestic customers. Thompson said over the past few years, desalinated water had become “progressively cheaper.” 

However, he said the cost of the water to Tobago would be dependent on the authorities, who need to determine whether the cost of the water would be subsidised. He said the authorities could determine whether companies on the Cove Industrial Estate and hotels which were heavily dependent on water would pay a higher rate for the water than the domestic rate.

In December last year Chief Secretary Orville London said the Tobago House of Assembly had been in discussions with WASA to discuss the utility’s water plans for Tobago. Several water wells have been drilled in Tobago and WASA had expected that commissioning of those wells would bring an additional four million gallons of water a day into the system.  

However, a harsh dry season has taken its toll on the water supply to Tobago. Prime Minister Keith Rowley said even the commissioning of the wells had not brought the level of predictability required. A harsh dry season between last year and into this year has taken its toll on Tobago with WASA having to deliver daily truck-borne supplies to hotels, businesses and consumers.

President of the Tobago Tourism and Hotel Association, Chris James, had said because of the situation some hotels had even experienced cancellations.

The ANSA McAL Group is bringing trade union leader Adrian Cola Rienzi’s Order of the Republic of T&T (ORTT) medal back home, after its bid on the e-commerce website, eBay, was accepted yesterday.

The conglomerate had bid US$25,000 for the medal, which was posthumously awarded to Rienzi and put on a seven-day auction by a Canadian company on March 4, and was still chosen although there were higher bidders. 

In a release yesterday, the group’s chairman and chief executive, A Norman Sabga, said: “Despite the incidence of higher bids on the eBay site, ANSA McAL secured the agreement of the store, Crawford Coin Stamp Militaria in Vancouver, British Colombia, to pull down the auction and recognise our initial bid. This move has ensured that the historic piece will be duly returned to our nation in preservation of its bestowed honour and dignity.” 

Sabga said Crawford’s agreed to close all other bids given the historic significance of the medal.

“We came to an agreement with the owner of the store that given the historic significance of the medal and in consideration of ANSA McAL’s noble intention to reclaim the award on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago, all other bids would be closed,” Sabga stated.

He added: “I am filled with pride and joy that we were able to ensure that this cherished national award will soon be on its way back to T&T. There are many moments in my life when I have felt we have done something really worthwhile but nothing can outmatch this by the sheer significance of its national patrimonial value and meaning.”

The was awarded posthumously to Rienzi by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration in 2012 and collected by his son, Robert Abidh-Waugh. Unconfirmed reports state Abidh-Waugh died on Mother’s Day 2013 and the medal was passed on to his wife Lori Abidh-Waugh. 

The seller also included the original award document, signed by former President George Maxwell Richards and stamped with the presidential seal. 

On Tuesday, hours after President Anthony Carmona issued a statement saying he was distraught at the prospect of someone peddling the symbol of our national honour and pride, ANSA McAL announced its decision to bid for the medal.

At 11.28 am yesterday, the medal had a total of nine bids placed by five different bidders and the countdown clock had a total of one day, ten hours and 28 minutes left. The bidding war had sent the price of the medal up to US$31,300 by March 9.

However, after Crawford’s made the agreement with ANSA McAL yesterday it closed the bidding on eBay and the bid was marked as “won” by the first bidder.
 

In the midst of a police investigation into the rape of a 29-year-old autistic woman, her saviour, who rescued her from a home where she was attacked, is also calling for her caregiver to be jailed for failing to report the incident.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Goodwill Industries of the West Indies, Barbara Alleyne, made the call yesterday after relating the story of how the woman, who has the mental capacity of a seven-year-old child, was raped by a man after she was left alone at the Arima home on February 29.

The caregiver then kept the incident secret until she was exposed. Alleyne also called on Government and those in authority to do their part to ensure that the disabled are properly protected and that perpetrators face the full brunt of the law.

It was reported that the caregiver is not registered and looks after disabled people “from time-to-time,” for which she is paid by the families. “This lady takes in people who can physically help themselves more or less but does not have the mental capacity to really relate,” Alleyne said.

Alleyne, who runs a school which caters to children with special needs, said she was horrified by the victim’s ordeal.

Alleyne said she got a text message from the victim's mother, who lives in England, informing her about the alleged rape. She said when she called the caregiver she denied knowledge of the incident and insisted no one come to the home.

Alleyne when she arrived in Arima that afternoon she parked a short distance away from the home because she did not want any confrontation. She then drove to the Arima Police Station where she was told to go to the Maloney station instead, as there was a special unit there to handle such matters. She then drove back to the caregiver’s home and parked a short distance away.

It was only after other people who also heard about the incident began calling the caregiver and telling her that “police coming” that she handed over the victim to Alleyne. But the victim was put in further distress after being threatened by the caregiver. 

“When the victim was in the back seat of my car the woman (caregiver) told her in my presence, ‘If you say anything the police will lock you up, they would not come for me.’

“The poor woman, who had already gone through hell, now had more fear instilled in her,” Alleyne told the T&T Guardian. She said that on the advice of the police the victim was taken to the Arima Health Facility to be medically examined but because of victim's limited speech capability an interview with the police was challenging. Alleyne also knocked the District Medical Officer (DMO) for a lack of professionalism.

“The police don’t even know how to interview her. They brought a DMO to examine her... that can’t even be considered an examination,” Alleyne related.

The victim has now been placed in another home at Mt Lambert and is expected to undergo an HIV test today as ordered by the DMO. Saying the incident had left her “despondent and fed up,” Alleyne questioned the effectiveness of the law when it came to such victims.

“Through what kind of eyes are they looking with it? What kind of assistance would they give? They must revisit what they have for children with disabilities,” she said.

“They keep saying they have Children’s Authority and all of that and they have nothing to give you to deal with these problems.

“You say you have psychologists and psychiatrists and you don’t. You have psychiatrists over medicating children... you can't have little children walking around like zombies,” she added. She said far too often lip-service instead of action was meted out to society’s most vulnerable.

But Alleyne said her confidence was boosted after head of the Victim and Witness Support Unit, Margaret Sampson-Browne, got involved in the matter after being told of the incident by the T&T Guardian. Sampson-Browne assured the incident would be fully probed.

“Once the matter comes to us we will be addressing it with full force... in fact double force. Rape is rape no matter what,” Sampson-Browne said.

“I have investigated a matter where the girl was 17 and she was operating in the mind of an eight-year-old. There is a system where we were able to get the relevant specialist persons to come and give the evidence and were able to get a conviction based on that,” she added.

A contractor employed by the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) to clean three of its facilities, including the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH), has been forced to downsize his staff because the authority has no money to pay them. 

Director of Premier Air Duct Cleaning Company, Ivor Reid, yesterday served 40 termination notices to staff, telling them their services will no longer be required effective today. 

In the letters, dated yesterday, Reid wrote: “This action is as a result of the arrears in payments outstanding to our company, together with the decision to downsize the scope of services which makes your position redundant.”

Reid said he had a two-year contract with the SWRHA to clean the San Fernando General Hospitalland the Princes Town and Couva health facilities. 

He previously employed 100 workers to clean washrooms, emergency department, car park, the yard, as well as providing napkins, soap, toilet paper and garbage bags. He said the contract was for $233,000 a month but he had not been paid since October 2015.

He said he mortgaged one of his properties to keep the company afloat but that money had run out and if the SWRHA did not pay him the over $930,000 owed to him this month, he would have to downsize further the 60 remaining staff members.

Contacted for comment SWRHA CEO, Anil Gosine, acknowledged the authority was owing Reid but disagreed the figure was in the $900,000 mark. He said it was more along the lines of $500,000. Gosine also said they have been making incremental payments to Reid, pointing out he received a cheque last week.

The CEO added he was unaware termination notices were being served to the cleaning company staff and he was not prepared to say what effect that would have on the sanitation of the hospitals until he spoke with Reid. 

A large Child Protection Unit (CPU) is being set up within the Police Service to deal with crimes against children, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said yesterday.

Announcing this at yesterday’s weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, Dillon said Government had realised that within recent times there had been an increase in incidents of crime against children.

He said between January 2010 and December 2014, records showed that 1,575 males and 2,407 females were victims of crime. Statistics also showed there were 1,075 and 1,961 sexual offences against male and female victims respectively.

Against that background, Dillon said the acting Police Commissioner had determined that a dedicated, focused entity was needed to treat with crime against children in a concentrated way.

He said the unit would comprise one superintendent of police, two assistant superintendents, ten inspectors, 18 sergeants, 28 corporals, 110 constables, 36 SRPs, one business operations administrator and one other business operations assistant. It will operate across all eight police jurisdictions in Trinidad and the ninth in Tobago.

Persons will be specially selected to handle the work involved and officers would be trained appropriately and qualifications would include a certain type of temperament and education as well as an affinity for children. Apart from a “soft” approach, the unit would be programmed to treat with children and incidents against them, he added. 

The unit will work with the school system nationwide, parents, teachers and communities as a whole. Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi also said the Children and Family Court Bill to be debated in Parliament today would provide one suite of service to operationalise law and agencies, such as the Children’s Authority, to protect children, deal with management of youth offenders, family matters and other aspects concerning children. 

He said there would be special training for police on those matters, including psychometric testing of officers involved. He added there would also be a move away from the Youth Training Centre (YTC) module, where convicted offenders are housed alongside those who are not convicted, to use of half-way homes, community centres and similar facilities.

The announcement came even as reports surfaced yesterday that a 13-year-old student from a secondary school in Central Trinidad had been raped by her 15-year-old classmate.

The incident is said to have occurred on the school compound on Tuesday, when the male student, who had been pressuring his female classmate to have sex with him, forced himself on her. A report was made to the police by the child and by her mother.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia yesterday confirmed the incident and said the matter is being handled by the police.

Attorney General Faris-Al Rawi says the Government will respond to the pre-action protocol letter sent by attorneys for former cane farmers who demonstrated outside the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday to demand outstanding payment of $75 million from the European Union (EU). He said the Government’s action would be with a view to bringing the parties together to resolve the matter.

Al-Rawi told yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference the protest was an act of irresponsibility as the former PP government had five years to deal with the matter but did not. The former cane farmers went to the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday to present a 14-day ultimatum to pay an outstanding sum of money.

However, Al-Rawi said the facts of the matter must be determined and the Government was in the process of doing that. He said officials from four ministries would have to meet to advance the matter. 

Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who also spoke at the briefing, said a claim by former planning and sustainable development minister Bhoe Tewarie that the money was allocated for the farmers last October were untrue.

Imbert said the funding was to be provided on the completion of certain conditions, which included 2,000 acres of former Caroni lands to be under agricultural production, an integrated water management system and the increase in local agricultural production by ten per cent. He said those conditions have not been proven to be met under the former regime.

Imbert said consequently the funds were not released. Education Minister Anthony Garcia said at the same news conference that Cabinet yesterday appointed a task force to review the Government Assistance for Tertiary Education (GATE) programme. The programme began in 2004. The task force will be chaired by Errol Syms, a management consultant.

Garcia also said the award ceremony for recipients of the President’s Award will be held at the Southern Campus of the National Academy for the Performing Arts on Tuesday. The President’s Medal Gold and Silver will be distributed to students who excelled in the 2015 CAPE and CSEC examinations.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is reviewing the future of Cabinet Ministers Marlene McDonald and Camille Robinson-Regis and will act decisively at the appropriate time. So said Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi during an interview with reporters after yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

Housing and Urban Development Minister McDonald and Planning and Development Minister Robinson-Regis have been the subject of much criticism for their roles in two incidents. Robinson-Regis is being questioned over the deposit of more than $93,000 in a First Citizens bank account and McDonald is being probed for her role in the acquisition of an HDC apartment by a close associate.

There have been repeated calls for the ministers to resign over their alleged conduct in the respective matters.They have both denied any wrongdoing. Commenting on the McDonald issue, Al-Rawi said: “There is nothing to be acted upon (and) relative to the Camille Robinson-Regis issue. The Prime Minister has that issue under active review and the key is for the evidence and the information to be brought forward and considered which he is in the process of dealing with.”

He said Rowley had “acted and continues to act with propriety. He is known to be a man that acts in a very decisive way and there is consistency in his approach.” The AG added: “The PM has said he will deal with the issues of his Cabinet and the public statement that I am making now is that he is in the process of doing exactly that. 

“The fact that someone may have made a report to the Integrity Commission is mutually exclusive from the Prime Minister’s own view of his own position as the head of the Cabinet.   “He is reviewing these matters and I expect that the PM, being as decisive as he is, will pronounce on the matters and will do so at the correct time.” 

According to the Attorney General: “There are certain markers that one has to pass through and one cannot just accept allegations. Facts must be proven. “The Prime Minister will act decisively,” Al-Rawi insisted, adding that the PM did not push away the issues. “He didn’t say no. He dealt with issues as they came up and he has said he is actively dealing with it,” he said.

The AG said the Government just concluded its first six-month review and retreat and “the PM has said there are matters that will come out of the review from the retreat which I expect he will speak to.” He noted the PM has “very wide powers under the Constitution to manage his Cabinet and otherwise. I will not intrude upon the prerogative of the PM... he is the PM.” According to Al Rawi: “The facts are not fully out there just yet and I expect the PM will bring those out, so I will like to think  he is ahead of the curve and is managing it appropriately.”

Al Rawi also said Rowley never said he had lost confidence in First Citizens as was reported in a newspaper. 

“He said no such thing,” Al-Rawi insisted yesterday. Al-Rawi also said he did not share the view of former chairman of the Integrity Commission Ken Gordon that Rowley’s alleged comment about the Integrity Commission was based on his previous experience with the body. 

He said the Prime Minister was also expected to speak about another matter which has engaged his attention. That matter was not revealed.

Cash-strapped steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal has been fined by the Industrial Court for the procedure it used in laying off over 500 of its employees in December last year. 

Delivering judgment at the court’s headquarters, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday afternoon, its president Deborah Thomas-Felix criticised the multinational company for failing to discuss the temporary cost-cutting method with the Steel Workers’ Union before it was implemented.

While Thomas-Felix and her three colleagues agreed that the company was allowed to send workers home temporarily in a bid to “rectify its precarious economic position,” it could only do so if it gave the union advance notice and an opportunity to counter the proposal. 

She added: “There is not a scintilla of evidence to justify layoffs without proper consultation other than disdain for orderly negotiations and good industrial relations practices. “Having the right to lay off does not mean it can be applied arbitrarily or unfairly.”  

According to the evidence presented in the case, the company admitted that the lay-off was part of its financial restructuring as its profits had dwindled over the past two years due to a worldwide drop in steel prices. 

In October, last year, the company proposed that its workers take their vacation leave to facilitate the reduction in production at its Point Lisas plant. 

The union requested time from the company to solicit the views of the workers on the issue, but while doing so, the company contacted workers directly,  threatening a lay-off if the proposal was not accepted. 

The workers were eventually laid off on December 7, leading the union to file the case against the company for failing to properly inform it of the proposal and for bypassing it by negotiating directly with its members. 

The company was fined $20,000 for the former and $4,000 for the latter offence after being found guilty by the court yesterday. In its judgment, the court also ruled that the company acted unfairly towards the workers by attempting to force them to take the vacation proposal as deciding when to take their vacation was one of their fundamental rights. 

“The big stick approach by the company in forcing the vacation leave proposal is extremely unfortunate and is against the spirit of co-operation,” Thomas-Felix said. As part of the court’s judgment it ordered the company to pay the workers’ salaries for the period of the layoff which followed the threat (December 7 to January 15). 

It also reinstated the vacation leave of workers who acceded to the company’s threat before being laid off and allowed those workers who cashed in on their vacation time to keep the company’s payment as the court felt their decisions on the issue were compromised by the illegal act of the company.  

However, the court was not asked to deliberate on the company’s decision to lay off the workers for a second period which is due to expire next Monday. Immediately after the judgment was delivered the company’s legal team indicated its intention to appeal and requested that the orders of the court be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal. 

The application was strongly opposed by the union and was eventually rejected by the four-member panel of Industrial Court judges, who indicated that the application should be made to the Court of Appeal after the appeal is filed. 

Addressing media personnel and scores of workers who gathered outside the courthouse to await the judgment, the union’s president Christopher Henry praised the court’s ruling in the case and the compensation awarded to his members. 

“We have seen justice done here today. This goes a long way in lifting the spirits of our members who have been under tremendous financial pressure,” Henry said. 

However, he warned that the union would now have to resume its discussions with the company over the future of its operations.

“We feel the way forward is for the parties to sit and have dialogue as to what is our future. It must be to put things on the table that will ensure we have continuity of employment for our workers and of the steel plant, which is a major revenue earner for T&T,” Henry said. 

The union was represented by Douglas Mendes, SC, and Anthony Bullock, while Reginald Armour, SC, Derek Ali and Vanessa Gopaul appeared for the company.

Teachers, safety officers and other senior staff at the San Fernando West Secondary School are among several people on an alleged hit list organised by a group of students last week.

On Thursday, acting principal, Ronald Mootoo, reported the threats to San Fernando police and so far 15 students from Forms One to Five were suspended. However, a staff member at the school said those students were expected to return on Monday.

The whistleblower came in the form of a female student who found the list posted on Facebook by a schoolmate and reported it to one of the school’s safety officers. It included ten teachers, two safety officers, two deans of discipline and the school’s vice-principal.

“What we know is that we had about ten teachers whose names were on a list. It was reported by a student to one of the safety officers that there were about ten teachers on a list who were going to be dealt with by the students.

“I can’t say what ‘dealt with’ means but the student reported that was on the post. She named one teacher and indicated that according to the list ‘that when that teacher falls down, this time she won’t’ get back up,” Mootoo said.

Calls were made to T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Devanand Sinanan and vice-president Lynsley Doodhai but there was no response. Education Minister Anthony Garcia also did not respond to phone calls yesterday but the T&T Guardian learned that Victoria District school supervisors visited the school.

TTUTA staff representative, Indra Ramsingh-Geoffroy, said she advised teachers to individually report the matter to police and several of them did so. She said although Mootoo said he was treating the matter seriously, teachers want to know the names of students who were suspended for participation in that list. However, school officials have refused to give the names.

“What we are concerned about is that the teachers were not given the names of the students who are on that suspension list although we asked for it. We want to know who are the people we need to be careful with.”

A teacher at the school said those targeted on the list were senior members who would usually discipline students for errant behaviour but Ramsingh-Geoffroy said it was puzzling since some of the targeted teachers were quiet people. Cpl Joseph is continuing inquiries.