T&T is benefiting from its membership in the 53-member-nation Commonwealth. So said Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, in response to a question from reporters at a function in observance of Commonwealth Day at the Parliament yesterday.

The Commonwealth website says Commonwealth Day is held on the second Monday in March every year. It provides an opportunity for individuals, communities and organisations to promote shared Commonwealth values of peace, democracy and equality and to celebrate the association’s rich diversity.

Students from selected schools across T&T attended the event. 

In response to a question, Robinson-Regis said T&T has benefited over the years from its longstanding membership in the body.

She said T&T continued to benefit from the Commonwealth in parliamentary affairs, education and training, energy and other areas. 

“So there is a close relationship between T&T and the Commonwealth in terms of the parliamentary matters and Commonwealth scholarships attained in various member nations, including India and Canada.”

She said T&T had “sent teachers to Commonwealth countries in Africa and right now the Commonwealth Secretariat is working very closely with the T&T Government in assisting with various matters.”

Robinson-Regis said the longstanding relationship between T&T and the Commonwealth has never waned.

Canadian High Commissioner in Port-of-Spain Gerard Latulippe said Commonwealth Day “is an opportunity to reflect on the strength that our diversity represents for Commonwealth members states and the association itself.”

He said the theme of this year’s observation—An Inclusive Commonwealth—“speaks to the importance of ensuring that diversity is protected and promoted as an important contribution to the development and prosperity of all member States.” 

House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George and Senate President Christine Kangaloo were among those who attended the event.

New Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Scotland will assume office on April 1.

Operations at San Fernando City Corporation’s Carib Street Works Department got off to a late start yesterday, after a sink hole appeared in the parking lot, causing the evacuation of workers.

The hole, which measured more than 60 feet in depth, was observed on Saturday when a truck got stuck in the sinking asphalt. 

General secretary of the Contractors and General Workers Trade Union Ermine De Bique-Meade said the hole is believed to be part of an underground water system which dates back to 1898.

The infrastructure is believed to have been used by the city to provide access to clean drinking water and electricity.

Expressing concern for the safety of workers, De Bique-Meade said there were two other sinkholes on the site, which have been capped. She also expressed concerns that the new works building, which is currently under construction, could also be in danger of collapse.

“We want engineers and geologists to come here and conduct proper tests before any further work is done in that building,” De Bique-Meade said. 

She said that the drivers who were affected by the sinkhole were transferred to the Skinner Park facility.

“Contractors who came to work on these two sections on Saturday were alarmed because while they were removing the Hiab (truck) the vehicle started to sink. They removed the truck and put a barrel but it was also sinking. They excavated around the area and in the excavation we realized that the hole was filled with water,” De Bique-Meade said.

A sewerage truck was used to pump the water out of the hole but after extracting eight loads of water, De Bique-Meade said, they realized that the hole was actually a well. A private contractor was then hired to pump out the water but the hole kept refilling.

De Bique-Meade said 20 trucks were removed from the yard and sent to Skinner Park. A shuttle was arranged to take the workers to their various stations.

Initially, De Bique-Meade said, the workers planned to cover the hole with a steel plate and pave it over with asphalt but this plan was later abandoned as the hole grew larger.

“We realize now that the best thing to do is to halt the work and get a geologist to do testing before we attempt to cover it,” she added.

Mayor taking no chances with workers’ safety—

San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein who visited the site yesterday said he was taking no chances with workers’ safety. 

“We will be meeting with engineers and we will get officials from WASA to examine the hole,” Hosein said. He also said that he planned to complete the works building which has been under construction for the past 18 years. 

“I wish to assure the public that following the appearance of a sinkhole at the corporation’s Carib Street Complex, measures have been put in place to prevent any disruptions to the city's sanitation and engineering services over the coming days. The corporation retains access to a number of vehicles from the Carib Street Transportation Yard and our staff is committed to making every effort to ensure there are no interruptions to the services we provide to the residents of our city,” he said.

Hosein said the corporation’s Engineering Department was conducting a thorough investigation into the causes of the sinkhole. “I have full confidence in the corporation’s Engineering Department's ability to conduct this investigation and the necessary repairs in an efficient manner. It would be premature and irresponsible to comment on the causes of the sinkhole before the Engineering Department completes its investigation. Only a detailed investigation can really answer that question and the corporation is making this a priority,” he said.

He also said the corporation has retained the services of Caribbean Well Services Limited to assist in the investigation and repair of the sinkhole. 

Meanwhile, CEO Indarjit Singh said he did not foresee any problems with the unfinished structure.

“This well is new to us but we know about another well close by which we capped. These wells are man-made because we saw an overflow that was clogged,” Singh said. He said the corporation will continue to allow the water to accumulate and do further inspection.

After weeks of intense protests for outstanding wages, 860 employees of financially embattled Construtora OAS received the dreadful news yesterday that the company had laid them off.

The workers, skilled and unskilled labourers, truck drivers, operators, carpenters and masons, who had worked on the Solomon Hochoy Highway project for the past few years, waited anxiously as a timekeeper read the names of those who would be terminated by the Brazilian firm on April 25. The retrenchment followed last Friday’s dismissal of 644 ArcelorMittal employees as that company shut down business with a $1.3 billion debt hanging over it and in the midst of a weak global steel market. Central Trinidad Steel Ltd (Centrin) and Tube City IMS each laid off 200 workers in February and December, respectively, while Industrial Plant Services Ltd (IPSL) sent 75-plus workers home.

On March 7, Construtora OAS proposed to retrench part of its workforce during a meeting with the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU). In a letter addressed to OWTU labour relations officer, Maxine Lake, last Friday, the company’s country superintendent Rodrigo Ventura said the criteria used for selecting workers for job cuts “was based on the total for whom they are unable to provide work,” as they must now “restructure their business.” 

Construtora OAS parent company, Grupos OAS in Brazil, filed for bankruptcy last year after its access to financing was severely restricted by a corruption investigation at Brazilian state-owned oil company, Petrobras. In Ventura’s letter, he stated that due to circumstances beyond its control, the company now had a surplus of bi-monthly workers, totalling 860.

A promise was made to pay outstanding salaries next Monday for the periods ending February 29 and March 15. Although workers are not required to work between now and April 25, they are expected to be paid three bi-monthly salaries on April 7, 22 and May 2. Severance benefits, including outstanding fringe benefits and unused vacation leave, are to be paid on or before May 25. 

OWTU representative Jameel Thomas said anxiety has now set in as workers are worried about how they will feed themselves and pay their bills when the money runs out.

“You don't know when the next bag of groceries is coming in, you don't know when your next bill is going to be paid. Everybody here is unemployed and now the job hunt begins. Because of the fact that we have 860 workers here and seeing on the news that 650 workers were retrenched from ArcelorMittal, you can see what is going to take place with skilled labour.

“The market is going to be saturated with a lot of skilled labourers, operators and drivers...We are now going to be in a position where you might see your own friend or comrade in an interview room waiting to be interviewed for the same position as you. It is going to be hard,” Thomas said.

 He said while some of the workers engaged in farming and taxi services that could help to bring in income, those administrative workers who were cut were the ones who would feel the brunt of unemployment.

Nidco to complete work on site

According to National Infrastructure Development Company's (Nidco) acting president Steve Garibsingh, Construtora OAS plans to employ several local contractors to complete outstanding work so that it can leave the site by the end of May 2016.

In response to questions from the Trinidad Guardian, Garibsingh said, "In December 2015, Construtora OAS demobilized from the site for the Christmas vacation with the intention to remobilize on January 5, 2016. To date, works are yet to resume and OAS has reported that it has several issues regarding payments to suppliers, sub-contractors and workers that restrict their ability to restart works.

To meet its contractual commitments, OAS Construtora plans to engage several local contractors to undertake outstanding works on the highway, so that it can leave the site by the end of May 2016. Discussions between OAS and local contractors are ongoing. This week, OAS gave an undertaking to the OWTU to pay severance benefits to 860 bi-monthly workers directly employed by OAS on or before May 25, 2016.

“NIDCO wishes to state that it is committed through the mandate given by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to complete the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension to Point Fortin", the company said.​

A Central couple who were reported missing Sunday were found murdered, hours apart, in two different police divisions on Monday.

Police said from their preliminary reports they believed that the body of a man found on Manzanilla beach on Monday was that of 48-year-old Raj Sookhai while the body of a woman found down a precipice of the Blanchissuese Bypass Road, Arima, hours later was that of Ann-Marie Bain, 45.

Police believe that the couple were abducted and killed after a car deal at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary went sour. 

Police sources said the car deal involved a stolen vehicle. Police said relatives of the two victims will officially identify the bodies today at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, before autopsies can be done.

Police said Sookhai’s body was found around 11.30 am at the beach with stab wounds to the neck and chest. 

He was wearing only a T-shirt when he was found. Police said it was initially thought that Sookhai had drowned but after his body was examined by a doctor it was determined he was murdered. Sookhai lived in Freeport, police said.

Bain, of Preysal, was found down a precipice around 5.30 pm, off the Bypass Road. 

A Nissan Cefiro was parked along the roadway near where her body was discovered, police said. 

The killing of the couple and that of a La Brea man have pushed the murder toll to 100 at 75 days into the year.

In an unrelated killing, police are continuing investigations into the murder of a 26-year-old St Joseph man who was shot dead under a mango tree off the Priority Bus Route last Friday. 

According to police reports, around 7.30 pm, Anil Bridgelal of Cherry Drive, Farm Road, St Joseph, was shot repeatedly by a masked man who emerged from a white AD wagon on the PBR. 

The shooter escaped in the waiting vehicle.

An Upper Sixth Form potential scholarship winner of Naparima College, San Fernando, who was involved in a face-off with one of his teachers on the issue of homosexuality, said yesterday that some students verbally abuse him because of his sexual orientation, and his US$500 cell phone was smashed.

The young man said he feels threatened. But he added that he is focused on his goal and will not let this obstacle stand in his way. 

San Fernando police have taken a statement from the science teacher who in an audio clip, which has gone viral on social media, allegedly threatened to shoot the family of the student she branded as gay.

Police confirmed that Cpl Thomas did take a statement from both the teacher and the student and a file is expected to be submitted to Senior Superintendent Irwin Hackshaw for further instructions.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia confirmed that the mother of the student did contact his office, but he was not yet privy to all of the information and could not yet pronounce on what course of action, if any, the ministry would take.

Last Thursday, the female teacher used the morning assembly to criticise homosexuality and homosexual practice.

The following day, the Upper Sixth student used the same forum to tell his peers it was okay to be gay. His comment offended the teacher who had made the initial comments, so much so that she used class time to tell students at the all-male college that homosexuality was a sin.

She also branded the student who stood up in defence of the gay community as being homosexual and his parents as atheist, and threatened to fix these problems with a gun. 

Her comments were recorded and posted on social media.

The young man, who plans to study law, said he is definitely gay, but so are other students at the school. Explaining his stand against the teacher, he said his parents have raised him to be outspoken and defend the defenceless and that is what he did last Friday.

Three months after being accused of killing a reputed south drug kingpin, Dareem Payne was gunned down while walking through a track in La Brea yesterday. 

Payne, 24, of Cassava Alley, Three Hands, La Brea, died around 10.30 am while undergoing treatment at the Point Fortin Area Hospital. Police said he was walking along an alley off Bernard Street, La Brea, when he had a dispute with a man who shot him in the chest and abdomen.

Up to late yesterday, police combed the deserted alleys of La Brea in search of the suspect and the murder weapon. Several homes were also searched.

Investigators said Payne was a suspect in the murder of Curtis Williams, 50, better known as Papa Willie, who was shot dead at his Railway Road, La Brea, home on January 15. 

However, Payne’s family disputed the police’s information. Williams was shot dead in his fortified home by a man who gained access to the house by holding a baby in his arms.

Speaking at the family’s home yesterday, Payne’s sister Rachel said he died while protecting two of his friends.

“They had an issue with a man and they told Dareem about it and he warned them to stay out of trouble. He tell them if they want their belongings back, he will get it back for them. He died because he tried to play hero,” Rachel said. 

She added that Payne tried to change his life but old grievances always had a way of coming back to haunt him.

“People say he was involved in Papa Willie’s death, they blame him for plenty wrong things. If police had shot him, I would not have minded but the man who shot him is someone who we fed and who we grew up with,” Rachel said.

Describing Payne as a kind person, Rachel said although he had issues with others, he was very good to his family.

“He was not someone who could see his neighbours or friends hungry. If he have anything he would share it. Don’t tell Dareem you hungry because he would give you whatever he has,” Rachel said. 

His mother, Rhona Payne, said her son tried to change his life and was looking forward to attending Borough Day festivities in Point Fortin later this year.

Up to late yesterday officers were still searching for the suspect whose car was found abandoned near the La Brea cemetery. Payne’s body has been removed to the Forensic Science Centre in Port-of-Spain where an autopsy will be done today. 

Sgt Nemai, Ag Sgt Gookool and Cpl Ramlochan of the La Brea police station visited the scene and are continuing investigations.

Forensic reports have confirmed that murdered Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya was not sexually assaulted before she was strangled in the Queen’s Park Savannah last month.

Police sources working on the case told the T&T Guardian that samples sent for further testing abroad were returned last week and debunked suspicion that the 30-year-old had been raped and murdered. 

The samples sent for testing also included oral swabs, which police said revealed some “very useful information” as they were awaiting analysis of DNA samples taken from suspects for comparison. 

Nagakiya’s body, still dressed in her Legacy Carnival costume, was found around 9.30 am on Ash Wednesday (February 10) under a tree at the Queen’s Park Savannah by a homeless man. Nagakiya, a trained musician by profession and a tenor player with PCS Silver Stars, arrived in Trinidad on January 8 to participate in Carnival. 

Homicide officers detained one man for questioning for three days before he was released while others gave statements to the police. 

Investigations are continuing.

Alana Boodoo-Suraj 

The principal of a secondary school in Rio Claro was beaten by two students yesterday when he tried to stop a fight on the school’s compound.

The two students of the Rio Claro East High School were taken into police custody and are expected to be charged with assault, police said.

Police said that around 2.30 pm, two male form four students, ages 16, were gambling in the school toilet when a fight over money erupted.

The principal, Warren Garraway, attempted to intervene and was hit repeatedly with a dust bin cover. 

Garraway was taken to the Rio Claro Health Centre where he was treated for cuts, bruises, and swelling, police said.

The two students who hail from Libertville and Dass Trace, Rio Claro, respectively, are expected to appear before the Rio Claro Magistrates Court today. 

The incident is being investigated by Cpl Fairly of the Rio Claro Police Station.

In the past, before the development of electronic communication, homing pigeons had been used to deliver important messages.

But in a new text on making deliveries, local criminals have turned to these birds to deliver drugs, weapons and other contraband items over the towering walls of the Port-of-Spain Prison.

Only this time they are not flying in but their bodies are being stuffed with contraband and thrown over the walls.

Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart confirmed the ingenious method criminals have been using to smuggle cellphones, drugs, cigarettes and other items behind bars as tougher security measures, including full body scanners, have been implemented at the jail.

Stewart said there was a pigeon infestation at the prison and it was not unusual to see dead birds on the compound.

Curious officers later cut open the carcasses of some birds and found drugs and other items.

“The inmates are seeking all means necessary and my officers are on the alert and vigilant and discovered these innovative ways to get unauthorised articles in the prison,” he said.

Stewart said some inmates were dangerous and evil and fixed in their ways. 

“With the advent of the security scanners they (inmates) end up with creative ways to get things into the prison even using dead pigeons. But now they stuffing things and sending it over the walls,” he said.

Prisons officers recently filed a lawsuit against the State challenging the failure to put sufficient measures in place to protect them. The lawsuit was filed in the wake of the February 29 murder of prisons officer Fitzalbert Victor. Police are working on the theory that Victor was killed on the instructions of a remand prisoner.

Claxton Bay residents are planning to start a petition to take to the Government calling for the Forres Park dump to be relocated.

Yesterday, smog from an ongoing fire at the dump caused the principal of the Springvalle Hindu Primary School to send home some 200 students.

Bush fires ignited the dump late on Monday.

Ashmeed Ghany, who lives opposite the school, had to use a nebulizer as he was unable to breathe properly on Monday night and early yesterday. Ghany, 51, suffers from Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema, a condition where water gathers in the lungs. 

He has lived his whole life in Claxton Bay and, now that he is ailing, he wants the Government to step in and relieve the hardships faced by the residents.

“This is a regular occurrence in Claxton Bay. Every year during the dry season someone lights the dump afire and we are left to suffer,” Ghany said. 

“We have been calling on successive governments for years and years to step in and move the dump and nobody has done anything.”

During an interview at his home yesterday, Ghany began gasping and his wife, Sheriffa, rushed to bring him the nebulizer to allow him to breathe.

Ghany said he had a pacemaker installed after he suffered a major heart attack last year.

“My health is not good anymore, I fall sick regularly and this situation makes it so much worse.”

Sheriffa, 44, said she intends to start a petition to take throughout the area.

“We have to do something and if we decide to protest, the question is how many people will be well enough to come out...there are so many cases of asthma and breathing problems in Claxton Bay.”

Sheriffa said residents are affected by the stench of the landfill in the rainy season.

“When it’s dry season, it’s the smoke. In the wet season, it’s the stench. It gets really unbearable and we have to face the full brunt of it.”

She said her goal is to collect 1,000 signatures to take to Prime Minister Keith Rowley. 

“I want them to know how many people, how many children, elderly, sick people are affected by this problem.”

Alan Marchan, who was called in to pick up his step-daughter Aaliyah Issac from classes at Springvalle Hindu, echoed the calls of the Ghanys.

“They need to do something about this dump, there are dozens of children who fall ill every year because of the smoke and smog,” Marchan said. 

Six-year-old Aaliyah was supposed to sit end-of-term mathematics exams yesterday. 

While she was excited about having the day off, she said some of her classmates had complained of feeling unwell before classes were dismissed.

Another resident, Rajesh Soondar, told the T&T Guardian that if Government does nothing about the dump, the residents will protest.

“We complaining for years and nobody taking us on. We will start to protest and block roads and maybe then they will hear us,” Soondar said.

A statement from the Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL), which manages the dump, said yesterday the fire at the northeastern side of the Forres Park landfill had been “significantly contained” and efforts are being made to extinguish it.

A police inspector who claimed he was framed for a crime he was investigating has been awarded over $300,000 in compensation. 

High Court Judge Frank Seepersad made the order yesterday as he ruled that Insp Harridath Maharaj, now retired, was maliciously prosecuted for illegal logging by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harold Phillip. 

In his 26-page judgment, Seepersad criticised Phillip’s investigation as he ruled that the senior officer did not have sufficient evidence to charge Maharaj with illegal logging in a protected forest reserve, when he did so in June 2004. 

“The facts upon which the charges against Maharaj were premised were fundamentally flawed and deficient and officer Phillip’s decision to charge Maharaj without the requisite evidence that was necessary so as to form a reasonable belief in Maharaj’s guilt was in the circumstances reckless,” Seepersad said as he awarded Maharaj $185,000 for being maliciously prosecuted and $65,000 in compensation for damage to his reputation by being charged for a criminal offence while in active duty. 

He was also granted interest on both sums of damages and the State was ordered to pay his legal costs for defending the criminal charges and for bringing the subsequent civil lawsuit.

In his lawsuit, Maharaj claimed that while assigned to the Santa Flora Police Station on August 30, 2003, he received a report of illegal logging at a forest reserve in Santa Flora. 

He said that he went to the site of the illegal activity where he met a group of officers from the Forestry Division of the then Ministry of Agriculture who said they were cutting down the teak and cedar trees for a government minister and a senior official in their ministry. 

Several days later Maharaj reportedly returned to the area with a tractor operator to collect the logs, had an argument with the group of forestry officers and left empty-handed. 

Weeks later Maharaj was contacted by Phillip and informed that there was evidence to suggest that he was responsible for the illegal activity and had instructed the forestry officers to conduct the task. He was then slapped with two charges for felling the trees without having a permit from the ministry. 

The charges were eventually dismissed after a magistrate ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove the case against Maharaj. 

While being cross-examined by Maharaj’s lawyer Jagdeo Singh, Phillip, who was the then head of the Fraud Squad, admitted that he was assigned to the case on the request of the permanent secretary of the ministry. Seepersad described this as “quite irregular” as he stated: “The Police Service must always jealously guard its processes from actual or perceived political influence and given the allegations that were made by the claimant of alleged impropriety by political office holders, greater care should have been exercised by officer Phillip.” 

Seepersad also stated that Phillip should have investigated Maharaj’s allegations against the forestry officials whose statements led to Maharaj being charged, as there were glaring gaps and deficiencies in their evidence. He also questioned why Phillip had not referred the case to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before charging Maharaj. 

In a brief telephone interview yesterday, Maharaj said he was happy with Seepersad’s judgment but that it and the “injustice” in his case were an embarrassment to the Police Service. 

“What happened to me was very alarming. The judge found all kinds of wrong activity in the case. The Police Service should feel ashamed by this,” Maharaj said. 

Maharaj was also represented by Kent Samlal.

The public’s help is being sought as police probe the murder of an unidentified woman whose decapitated and nude corpse was found in the Mitan River last night.
 
The body was discovered around 9.30 pm by a fisherman using the river in Manzanilla to head out to sea. He told police that he saw a plastic blue barrel floating with what appeared to be human foot protruding.
 
Region II Homicide Bureau led by Sgt Larry Lodhar, Manzanilla and Mayaro police responded and after fishing the barrel out of the river, they found the headless corpse with the torso cut in half.
 
Investigators are hoping that she can be identified through several tattoos on her body, which include one of a flower on her right shoulder blade and the word Empress next to it. She also had the tattoo “Leo” at the base of her back. There was also a tattoo on her right arm with only the word “Amy” recognisable and a star underneath.
 
She also had a tattoo on her neck but it was unrecognisable because of her decapitation.
 
Police are yet to find the woman’s head and up to this morning, were still searching the area.
 
Anyone with information that can lead to the identification of the woman or solving the crime is asked to contact the Region II Homicide Bureau at 640-1785, 640-7815 or Mayaro CID at 630-4333.
 
Keep posted to T&T Guardian for further details.
 

Almost overnight, the simple statement that “it is okay to be gay” has turned the spotlight on a model Naparima College Upper Six student, making him a hero in the eyes of some and a pariah to others.

The young man in question, considered an academically gifted student by his peers and teachers, having achieved nine distinctions at the CSEC Level and who hopes to win an island scholarship, has since gone from being on the “A” list to blacklist.

However, the young man, who wants to pursue a career in law so he can continue to help the disenfranchised, has sworn not to let this incident shift his focus from his ultimate goals. 

He told the T&T Guardian when he made the pronouncement in opposition to anti-gay sentiments uttered by a teacher as he spoke at the school’s morning assembly the day before, it was not intended to bring the prestigious institution into disrepute.

He said he did not envisage the teacher would have been so affected by his comment that she would have vented before Form Five classes on that and other issues, she having been chastised by her colleagues for her initial remarks.

One of the sessions, in which the teacher erroneously dubbed him as being gay, his parents as “screw ups” and “atheists” and threatened to take them and their offsprings out if she had a gun, was recorded (audio) by a student and posted to social media. The post quickly went viral and has been picked up by mainstream media, putting the institution and the teacher under a microscope. 

Issues of drug use by students, some of whom are before the court and whom she identified by name and the mode of dress of female and male teachers have also been brought to the fore. Some have called for the teacher’s removal and evaluation while support has come from various stakeholders.

However, some students have also created an online petition hoping to garner at least 1,000 signatures in support of the teacher. The student said his peers smashing his phone and labelling him gay was shocking but not unexpected.

“A lot of them think I cause the situation Miss is in. They are saying she is a good teacher and she should not have to face the repercussion for what she did but all I did was say in my very unorthodox style what a lot of people (students and staff) were thinking but were afraid to voice,” he told the T&T Guardian.

Asked why he did it, the young man, the first of four boys for his parents, said he and his siblings had been brought up by their parents to be independent thinkers, to stand up for what they believed in and to be respectful. 

“She was disenfranchising and discriminating against a large group of students, many of which I know are in the school. I don’t think that is right. 

“If she had gone up there and said the same thing about people of African descent the backlash would have been way greater than it was,” he said.

On Tuesday, the teacher, instructed by the principal, apologised at the morning assembly but said she stood by her words, which were misconstrued and misunderstood. She also “apologised” to the young man later in the day, even though she was advised not to interact with him. 

Operating on less than half the required staff to be at optimum level, the recently formed Child Protection Unit of the Police Service have 358 cases before the courts arising out of 1,709 reports between May last year to February. The required staff needed for the unit is 216, inclusive of ten civilians. The current staff is 99 with one civilian.  

Addressing the media at the weekly press briefing yesterday, at Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, head of the unit, Supt Odette Lewis, said there were other challenges that the unit, which exists within the nine policing divisions across the country, was facing. 

Lewis said there was a lack of support from the communities where some of the victims lived and housing for some victims.

“At this time, I would say, support from the community is important. Sometimes we don’t have that. I would also say, based on our strength at present, the powers that be must be aware that we need more places of safety for our nation’s children. 

“We are doing the best we can in collaboration with the Children’s Authority. For example, forensic interviewing and medical examinations and what have you... but at the moment, we are managing. Within the next couple months, I am sure there will be an improvement,” Lewis said. 

She added her unit was “pleading and begging” communities to give the relevant information and to co-operate to ensure prosecution and convictions in the cases. 

Asked about the safety of the nation’s children given the high number of negative reports of child sexual abuse, Lewis urged parents, guardian and citizens to be vigilant. She said while the unit’s main focus was on sexual crimes against children, they have dealt with children who have been physically abused.

Fire Housing Minister Marlene McDonald as soon as possible. Making this call at a media briefing yesterday, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar condemned Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for protecting McDonald and other Government members on integrity matters.

“He campaigned during elections on accountability and transparency and against corruption, yet he appears to be shielding his minister.” Persad-Bissessar said. 

She warned that the Opposition would bring a motion of censure and revocation against McDonald and was also considering one against Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi over the state’s withdrawal of the Malcolm Jones case.

Speaking at the Opposition’s Port-of-Spain office, Persad-Bissessar noted allegations against McDonald’s conduct concerning the Calabar Foundation (and claims of a relationship with those in the foundation) and alleged granting of an HDC house to McDonald’s common-law spouse. 

In the latest, she noted an apparent breach of Parliament rules in an alleged situation where McDonald’s common-law spouse was hired in her constituency office over several years.

Persad-Bissessar added: “These allegations raise concerns regarding the Integrity in Public Life law governing the conduct of persons in public life and breaches of that Act pertains to using public office for the benefit of yourself and your family. In all these allegations, substantial evidence has been revealed, (it) points to the minister acting in violation of the Act.” (See Page A6)

She said the Prime Minister appeared to be shielding corruption at the highest levels and his statement of having no confidence in the Integrity Commission, on the eve of the adjudicating of the matters, flies in the face of his campaign trail statements on integrity in public life.

“We call on him to revoke her appointment, fire her, given the evidence. He said he wanted evidence. It’s clearly there. He has no further cause to pause. Should he fail to fire her, we intend to file a motion of censure in Parliament, seeking her immediate removal,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar accused Rowley of a pattern, in also protecting ministers Camille Robinson-Regis (on her recent $93,000 cash deposit issue) and Nicole Olivierre (on allegedly using office to benefit an organisation in which a close relative was involved). She said evidence in the McDonald and Olivierre issues were clear and that Robinson-Regis had shifted her explanations on the First Citizens deposit issue.

Also questioning Government explanations on withdrawal of the Jones’ case, she said it was hard to believe Rowley would allow a case involving $6 billion worth of taxpayers’ assets to be withdrawn and not know of the decision. She questioned the AG’s passing of the Jones file to the Law Association (LATT), since she said one has to consider who key LATT officials were and their relationship with the AG. 

She noted Company Register documents show LATT president Reginald Armour was a business partner with Al-Rawi in Abox Investments. She claimed while Armour wa now off the company, Al-Rawi remained a director as at December 2015 and his spouse “took over” Armour’s directorship.

She said Armour and Al-Rawi were Rowley’s personal attorneys in a defamation matter, Al-Rawi was ArcelorMittal’s attorney at one time and Armour now was, she added.

“The relationship and linkages are there,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar also noted that LATT’s vice-president, Gerry Brooks, a former senior ANSA McAL official, was now heading “11 or 12” boards of the Rowley Government where Al-Rawi is AG. 

She expressed concern at one person serving on so many boards and being in charge of over $40 billion worth of taxpayers’ assets. She said such directorships could amount to as much as $100,000 a month plus travelling/utility allowances.

She said LATT officials will be “compromised and conflicted” and could give a decision/comment in favour of Al-Rawi on the Jones matter and called on them to recuse themselves from comment.

Noting Petrotrin chairman Andrew Jupiter was part of Petrotrin’s previous board headed by Jones when the controversial Gas To Liquids project was done, she questioned if Jupiter participated in any decision in withdrawing the case against Jones, since that would be serious conflict of interest. 

AG ready to address issue

Contacted for comment last evening, Al-Rawi said: “I would welcome the opportunity to address this matter and I am fully prepared to exercise the broad privilege under Section 55 of the Constitution to reveal facts of the gross mismanagement and suppression of evidence on the UNC government’s part.

“I’m comfortable there’s no issue that could detain anyone in the manner threatened by Mrs Persad-Bissessar, having been the recipient of umpteen threats.”

A hammer was one of the weapons used to bludgeoned Central couple Annmarie Bain and Raj Sookhai to death, police said yesterday. According to homicide sources, Bain, whose body was found down a precipice off the Blanchisseuse Bypass Road on Monday afternoon, was beaten in the head with the claw of the hammer. She had defensive wounds to one of her hands, police said. 

Sookhai was also bludgeoned but was also stabbed on his neck and back. His semi-nude body was found at Manzanilla beach hours earlier. Detectives said a possible motive so far has been that the couple were linked to theft of a car from a police station in the Western Division last week. Police said another man, implicated in the theft, could help them in their investigations. 

The couple was last seen alive on Sunday when they went to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary to conduct a car transaction. Sookhai’s body was found around 11.30 am at Manzanilla beach with stab wounds to the neck and chest. He was wearing only a T-shirt when he was found. It was initially thought that Sookhai had drowned but after his body was examined by a doctor it was determined he was murdered. 

Sookhai lived at Raphael Road, Freeport, police said. Bain, of Preysal, was found down a precipice around 5.30 pm, off the Bypass Road. A Nissan Cefiro was parked along the roadway near where her body was discovered, police said. Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday relatives of both Bain and Sookhai did not want to be identified. 

A female relative of Bain’s said she was not employed and was well loved. She added that the 48-year-old mother of two was a “caring person.

“It real disturbing, yeah... to know the type of person she was and then to know how she died. How they kill her... they used a hammer. Right now we just holding on as strong as we can but life is on pause right now because it have nothing we could do,” she said.

A relative of Soohkai described the 43-year-old father of one as a nice person. The woman said Sookhai worked as a straightener and painter and would occasionally buy damaged cars, repair them and sell them. She added she knew nothing of allegations that he was somehow involved in the theft of a car. 

“He was a nice person who would always help. He was always giving. Anyone came to him for help he would help them,” the woman said. 

The public’s help is being sought as police probe the murder of an unidentified woman whose decapitated and nude corpse was found stuffed in a plastic barrel in the Mitan River on Tuesday night. Police hope three distinguishable tattoos on the woman’s body would be enough to identify the corpse.

It was found around 9.30 pm by a fisherman using the river in Manzanilla to head out to sea. He told police he saw a plastic blue barrel floating with what appeared to be a human foot protruding.

Region II Homicide Bureau, led by Sgt Larry Lodhar, Manzanilla and Mayaro police responded and after fishing the barrel out of the river, they found the headless corpse with the torso cut in half. 

Investigators are hoping that she can be identified through several tattoos on her body which include one of a flower on her right shoulder blade and the word Empress next to it. She also had the tattoo “Leo” at the base of her back. There was also a tattoo on her right arm with only the word “Alya” recognisable and a star underneath. She also had a tattoo on her neck but it was unrecognisable because of her decapitation.

Police are yet to find the woman’s head and up to yesterday afternoon, were still searching the area. Investigators believed the woman was dismembered after she was killed.

Anyone with information that can lead to the identification of the woman or solving the crime is asked to contact the Region II Homicide Bureau at 640-1785, 640-7815 or Mayaro CID at 630-4333.

As local contractors get set to take over work on the $7.5 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin, the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) hopes to discuss employment for retrenched workers of Brazilian firm, Construtora OAS.

Workers gathered at the company’s defunct Golconda office yesterday to collect dismissal letters and details about their severance packages after the company issued a notice to lay-off 860 workers on Friday.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, Roget said the union wanted to meet with the highway’s project manager, the National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Nidco), to discuss whether the local contractors could hire the workers. 

Although he continued to call on employers not to use the contraction of the local economy to send workers home, he said the union did not oppose the company’s proposal to retrench workers at a meeting on March 7. He said the union recognised that there were many “irregularities” with OAS’ contract.

Instead, he said its aim was to ensure workers got all their severance benefits and outstanding salaries before the company left T&T. Nidco’s acting president, Steve Garibsingh, told the T&T Guardian on Tuesday Construtora OAS planned to use several local contractors to complete the project in order to leave the site by the end of May.

Discussions between OAS Construtora and local contractors were ongoing and last Friday the company gave an undertaking to the OWTU to pay workers their severance benefits, encashment for unused vacation, outstanding salaries and salaries leading up to their employment termination date, April 25.

The highway was expected to be completed by next month. However, Construtora OAS has not resumed work since it shut down operations for the Christmas vacation, blaming it on difficulties in settling arrears to suppliers and sub-contractors.

Already a few sub-contractors and suppliers won court orders and have already seized company equipment, including an asphalt plant at Golconda. With the assets going quickly, Roget said the union was skeptical the company would attempt to leave the country before paying off the workers. He said it was putting several plans in action to ensure that did not happen.

His life may be more well known as one of political contribution in many areas but the other side of former National Alliance for Reconstruction minister Lincoln Myers, who died on Tuesday, involved a deep love story with his wife Joy Persad-Myers. That love story and his lifetime of political contribution ended on this plane late Tuesday evening when Myers died at his Gran Couva home.

Myers, who was in his mid-60s, who was wed to Joy,permanent secretary in the Food Production Ministry,  had been ailing for some time and had been wheelchair-bound for the last 24 years following spinal issues and surgery.

T&T Guardian learned that after his wheelchair confinement Myers had been suffering from osteoporosis and consequent nerve damage and had been in great pain, well beyond painkiller effect, in latter years.

Politically, Myers is best remembered as a steadfast anti-corruption crusader, making his mark when he staged a  6 am to 6 pm 4O-day fast on the steps of the Hall of Justice in 1985 to protest corruption in the PNM at the time, a move widely credited with contributing to the PNM’s crushing 33-3 defeat by the NAR in the 1986 general election.

Myers deepened his political mark and the NAR’s by also defeating then prime minister George Chambers in Chambers’ St Ann’s East constituency in that historic election. His death is the second blow for his family since his wife’s father, Peter Persad, died a month ago.

T&T Guardian learned that Persad had introduced his daughter Joy to Myers years ago when both Persad and Myers had been involved in political circles. Myers died on the 40-day anniversary of Persad’s death. Friends recall an extraordinary bond of decades between Myers and his wife, whom he was introduced to when he was a government senator.

Friends described the couple as devoted. T&T Guardian learned Myers “spoiled” Joy a lot. They have two children, Marini and Nkosi. T&T Guardian learned that Myers breathed his last, children at his side, soon after Joy returned home from work Tuesday evening.

“My dad and Lincoln were close, my friends say, perhaps my father wanted company after he died. But Lincoln was a very, very, very, very special person.  I’m honoured to have been his wife,” Joy said briefly yesterday.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Myers still participated in events and formed various groups, including his last effort “One Accord”. He attended Parliament at the Red House, drawing to attention the fact that the Red House lacked elevators to facilitate wheelchair bound attendees. He had to be carried into the chamber by two aides. 

He was also roughed up by police when he participated in his wheelchair in a December 2009 protest around the Red House. A policeman attempted to lift him out of his chair to remove him. Myers also commented on political events up to late last year.

Myers’ funeral service will be at 3 pm on Saturday, at St Catherine’s RC Church, Gran Couva. Yesterday tributes and condolences poured in.

Civilian oversight bodies like the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) are becoming increasingly important given the increasing lack of confidence in the Police Service, says President Anthony Carmona.

Carmona, speaking at the inaugural conference hosted by the PCA on oversight and law enforcement at the Hyatt Hotel, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, emphasised though that any institutional authority with the remit of law enforcement oversight must retain its respect and confidence and protect its independence.

Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Carmona recommended, could assist in building confidence in oversight bodies both from the public and law enforcement perspective.

“So great is public’s pause on law enforcement that the words ‘police’ and ‘integrity’ when juxtaposed can sometimes amount to a type of misnomer. 

“The public and any self-respecting democracy intuitively crave a Police Service that is free of corruption, political influence, financial favours and misconduct in the course of executing its duties,” Carmona said.

But there were many who would vouch for the integrity of some police officers who placed their life and limb at risk in the conduct of their duties, he added. 

A former prosecutor in the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office for some 18 years, Carmona said he encountered officers who refused to fabricate evidence to ensure the conviction of a notorious gangster; who would not brutalise and coerce an accused person into signing a confession statement and who were sticklers for following assiduously the Standing Orders of the Police Service and the Judges’ Rules.

“Regrettably, I also know the other side of law enforcement, having prosecuted officers for misbehavior in public office, murder and conspiracy to murder, perverting the course of public justice and possession of dangerous drugs for the purpose of trafficking, in short, men in uniform who are unfit guardians and gatekeepers of our system of justice, due process and the rule of law. 

“And therein lies the raison de e’tre of civilian oversight. It provides a system of access for redress to the public for police misconduct and malpractice in a fair, just, transparent and independent manner,” Carmona said. He said throughout the region, countries were still trying to appreciate fully the need of impartial civilian oversight, adding that regrettably societies have grown suspicious about any and everything.

“The outcry for effective civilian oversight by the public is a response, sometimes more a reaction, seldom dispassionate, to high-profile allegations of police brutality, misconduct and abuse of power. 

“Civilian oversight, therefore, ought to be a priority in the world’s democracies, in part because of the increased information and communication of police misconduct disseminated via social media and the internet,” Carmona said.

Camera phones, he added, brought much law enforcement brutality and misconduct to light just as they were responsible for exonerating those of false allegations. He said the conference presented an opportunity to discuss crucial matters including whether the PCA should be granted prosecutorial powers.