The issue of countering violent extremism in the United States has not been as robust or dynamic as in Europe.

According to Mokhtar Awad, a research fellow in the programme on extremism at George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, the United Sates is about five years behind the curve as it relates to programmes implemented by Europe.

Awad said: “Whatever programmes that we do talk about here in the United States or we have implemented are never going to be as ambitious or broad as the European programmes, simply because the problem is not so acute.”

He said the centre has recognised that violent extremism was not only about Islamist extremism but also white supremists and racists. However, Islamic terrorists have killed exponentially more Americans.

“The threat is understood to be generally more acute because it is connected to organised groups overseas, active conflict zones, and has its unique special characteristics.”

Awad was addressing a group of journalists from 14 countries on Monday at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, DC, as part of a reporting tour hosted by the US State Department, Bureau of Public Affairs.

The topic is Youth and Countering Violent Extremism. Awad is specialised in Islamist and Salafists groups in the Middle East region and regional politics with a special focus on emerging violent extremist organisations.

He said those who have extremist ideas may act on them but it was not always the case. Therefore, a better way was needed to intervene and not wait until they fell into the hands of gangs.

“This a problem that law enforcement cannot fix 100 per cent and we cannot wait for people who espouse these beliefs to go and commit a crime for the Government to intervene and then for us to recognise there is a problem,” Awad said.

In the United States, he said, there was no one overarching strategy.

He said the US was in the learning process and was no different from any other country grappling with the issue. He said there needed to be engagement with law enforcement and communities to raise awareness.

Data from the university showed that as of March 2016, 85 people had been charged in the United States with Isis-related offenses since their first arrests in March 2014. 

The average age is 26 and 87 per cent are males. The vast majority are Americans or permanent residents. Approximately 38 per cent of those who have been charged converted to Islam.

Awad asked: “How is it that someone who is born and raised as an American and who has no connection to Islam from any one direction, not only ends up converting but basically converts to Isis and converts to the violent interpretation of Islam?”

He said these were people who were outside of the American Muslim community.

In all 50 states, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated there are active Isis-related investigations and 24 states have had at least one charge within their borders. 

A soldier and two civilians charged with the attempted murder of a 32-year-old man are expected to be taken before a magistrate in the Sangre Grande Court tomorrow.

The victim, Anil Singh, of Robinson Lane, Guaico, Sangre Grande, is now warded in a critical condition at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital nursing a fractured skull, broken ribs and other injuries to his body from the blows he received from the three men.

The three charged are the 22-year-old soldier who is attached to Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas, and two unemployed men, ages 19 and 38, both of Guaico, Sangre Grande.

Police reported that around 5 pm on Monday, Singh was alone at his home when he was accosted by three men who began to beat him. One of the men took up a piece of wood 4x4 and started hitting Singh about the body. Singh collapsed and was left for dead as the men escaped in a car.

A report was made to the Sangre Grande police. Ag Cpl Randy Castillo, PCs Rishi Gadar, Ravinash Gadar, WPCs Stephanie Sammy and Nickel Gonzales from Sangre Grande CID responded.

On arrival at the scene, police officers found the man lying in the yard with blood pouring from his head.

He was rushed to the Sangre Grande Hospital and then transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was warded in a critical condition up to late yesterday.

The charge was laid by Detective Gadar of the Sangre Grande CID.

JOEL JULIEN

“Anyone who wants to get a taste of hell can visit Springvale, Claxton Bay, at any time whenever the nearby Forres Park Landfill is ablaze.”

So said MP for Pointe-a-Pierre David Lee during a motion at the Lower House on Friday night as he recalled what a constituent recently told him.

Lee is now calling for the closure of the Forres Park Landfill because of the health and social issues affecting residents.

“Every dry season residents prepare for a grim winter of thick smoke and toxic odours which enter their homes and living spaces within hours of the start of the fire within the dump. 

“This smoke and odour which takes hours and traps the residents in their homes prolongs for weeks causing respiratory problems, headaches and other illnesses,” Lee said.

Lee said some families are forced to relocate from their homes because of the situation.

The nearby Springvale Hindu school and its 200 students are affected each year, he said.

“I am aware that closure of the site will not be a short term measure. 

“However, in the short term I am hoping that the Government of the day will try to implement new legislative measures aimed at effectively managing waste at this site and preventing fires from occurring,” he said.

Minister of Public Utilities Ancil Isaac said the Solid Waste Management Company (SWMCOL) is “currently working on plans to upgrade and convert the Forres Park site to a fully-engineered sanitary landfill according to international standards.”

The design of the new engineered site at Forres Park is scheduled for this fiscal year, he said.

​ROSEMARIE SANT

The head of the local Roman Catholic Church Archbishop Joseph Harris is leading a petition seeking to “free” remand prisoners who have been behind bars longer than the maximum prison term they would have gotten if they had been found guilty of their crimes.

The petition which has been circulated to priests and parish administrators across the country recently aims to attract sufficient signatures to trigger mercy for hundreds of prisoners, particularly those charged with minor offences. A remand prisoner is one who has been charged with an offence but is awaiting trial. Many of them are on bail but are unable to meet the requirements to obtain bail.

This year has been declared the “Jubilee Year of Mercy” by Pope Francis and it is in this context that Harris is seeking Presidential Pardon for some incarcerated on remand.

In a letter sent to priests and parish administrators dated April 7, Harris informed his clergy that he had written to the government with the request and asked that the priests read a letter which he sent to the congregation to “sensitise their parishioners about this cause.” He has also asked that parishioners sign forms “endorsing this petition and return them to Archbishop’s House between Pentecost and Corpus Christi.” That is between May 15 and May 26.

The letter was read out in some Catholic churches last weekend and parishioners were asked to sign the petition as they were leaving. But the response was “mixed.” Some parishioners said they needed time to “think about what was being asked of them.” 

But many others were in support of the initiative, expressing the view that it was only right that we be “merciful” to those in need of it.

The GML Enterprise Desk understands that the letter from Harris came out of a meeting of the clergy at which he is said to have expressed concern that there are several young men and women who have been in prison for years, in some instances more than a decade awaiting their matters being heard, and when their matters are heard, he said, some of them may be sentenced to an additional five years in prison.

Harris argues that by “no fault of their own” these young men and women would have already spent significantly more time than the sentence imposed, and in this year of mercy he believes that having already served their time once the sentence is passed they should be allowed to go free.

The GML Enterprise Desk was told there was a unanimous vote and that the clergy found the initiative to get parishioners to sign the petition as “a favourable thing to do,” since it was felt it “concretised the year of mercy” in this jurisdiction.

It was felt that given the slow pace of criminal justice in the country it was “inhumane” for people who had committed minor crimes to be in prison waiting more than ten years to get a trial.

Harris said the Catholic Church is a “Corporate citizen in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago” and desires a “national reconciliation among our people,” and in this year of Mercy it desires from the Lord for our country “a national proclamation of mercy.”

Harris is asking the authorities that a “review be undertaken of those who are serving prison sentences and who are found to be worthy of pardon and mercy, be granted their liberty,” and that “those charged for minor offences and have been held in remand for a long time, some of whom if and when sentenced would have already served that time in remand, that similar consideration of mercy may be afforded them.”

Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said the country is on the “verge of having a broken criminal justice system.”

Maharaj said it was unacceptable that people are in prison charged for bailable offences but are unable to get bail because they come from “families who live below the poverty line and cannot afford it. That is unacceptable,” he said. He said that is tantamount to “them pleading guilty and serving time and when their matter is tried and they are sentenced they have to serve time again, that is an injustice.”

AG: Welcome initiative
Contacted for comment Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi told the GML Enterprise Desk that the government “welcomes the support of his Grace in this very critical venture and we welcome his concern.”

The AG said he had raised similar concerns at the recent consultation on the prison system in T&T. At that consultation the AG had expressed concern that it costs the state almost $50 m a month to maintain the 2,235 prisoners in remand yard. 

He questioned then “how is a poor man with no land able to get bail? Does he stay in jail for a longer period of time for obscene language or maintenance, or is it time we accept cash deposits?”

He said there are over 2,000 prisoners on remand yard and there is need to disaggregate between crime and sentences, the issue of clearing the backlog of cases and those languishing in the prison system “we intend to deal with the issue head on.” Several factors would, however, have to be taken into account he said including a thorough analysis “and recommendation by the Director of Public Prosecutions in appropriate cases where pardon may apply.”

Obviously he said it will not apply to those charged with serious crimes and murder. For those whom it may apply, he said, process must be followed this involves “the Mercy Committee, and recommendations from the DPP. But ultimately he said “His Grace is in sync with the government on the issue.”

Breakdown of prisoners
There are currently 2,235 people on remand yard that is just over 60 per cent of the prison population which currently stands at over 3,400. 

A breakdown of remand yard prisoners indicate that 42 per cent of the prisoners are on murder charges, that calculates to 939, 11 per cent or 246 persons are on drug possession charges, 7 per cent or 156 people have been charged with sexual offences and 12 per cent or 268 people have been charged for lesser offences including child maintenance and traffic offences, coming to a total of 1,609 prisoners. 

Some 28 per cent of remand yard prisoners or 625 were unaccounted for in the statistics. Al Rawi said many of these inmates have been in prison for over 10 years in some cases 11 and 15 years waiting for their matters to be heard. 

He said it costs $20,000 to $25,000 a month to maintain someone who may not have been able to pay a $12,000 fine, “it’s like bouncing a rubber ball off a concrete block” he said. In addition he said the state spends $80 million dollars a year moving remand yard prisoners to and from courts across T&T.  

The estimated cost includes having a prosecutor assigned to each case, a police officer, health costs and others. If the 12 per cent on lesser offences were to benefit from the request by the Catholic Church that would be roughly 270 prisoners, there would be a saving of $6.75 million per month. 

Al Rawi had told the national consultation on prison reform that “every single dollar matters in our country, there must be value for money considerations.”

He said he was “pleased that someone other than the Government is looking at this way forward. This is not impossible to achieve, I am pleased his Grace is thinking the same way we are.”

Among dead bodies at the Tunapuna Public Cemetery gravedigger Ricardo Alvarez lives and cultivates organic crops, which he sells to mourners and motorists. 

It’s not an ideal place where Alvarez, 54, grows watermelons, herbs, patchoi, hot peppers, pigeon peas and melongene on a small scale, but this is how he supplements his income, relaxes himself and puts a meal on the table.

On Friday, chairman of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation Edwin Gooding said no one, including Alvarez, should be living in a cemetery, far less cultivating crops there. He said the corporation will visit the graveyard to get all unauthorised occupants out and try to assist them in whatever way possible.

“We have to treat with these people in a humane way. These people want to be on their own. Nothing is wrong in growing crops. But if people know where they are grown they would be upset over that.”

In a cramped, heated, four feet by six feet concrete tomb, Alvarez, a father of two girls, lives comfortably among his worldly possessions- two discarded car seats, a dingy mattress, a small radio and his clothing. He said he got permission to occupy the tomb from its owners—a Hindu family, who often visits him.

“They told me I can live in the tomb once I keep it clean,” said Alvarez.

Outside the tomb, Alvarez cultivates crops in three plastic troughs using soil he says he obtained outside the burial ground. Pigeon peas and water melon plants were also seen growing near the main entrance of the graveyard.

Last week, Alvarez sold eight heads of patchoi for $40 to a motorist who was passing through the cemetery. His customer did not seem too perturbed that the crops were grown in the troughs, among the dead.

“This is how I does make my little change on the side,” Alvarez confessed, while sprinkling his healthy-looking plants using a jug of water.

“People accustom buying from me. I sold quite a few things already. I too does eat what I plant because I don’t use chemicals or pesticides on my plants. Everything is organic... totally natural and healthy,” he said.

Alvarez’s passion for agriculture spans over two decades. He first started planting in Las Cuevas with other farmers.

At that time, he lived in Morvant and commuting back and forth to the fields started to take a toll on him. His family’s life was also affected. 

“The crime and violence in Morvant also made me run. That’s when I came to this cemetery and started digging graves and living. I am happy here. I am not afraid of the dead. It’s the living you have to fear.”

Alvarez said that several homeless people tried to take control of his tomb, which stands out among the others. A day’s work of grave digging can earn Alvarez as much as $600.

“When work is scarce I would tend to my crops. The money I make from this is small. But it gives me a sense of satisfaction and keeps me out of trouble. If I could get a piece of land to plant I would do it full time. I don’t run from hard work. I really love agriculture. I think this is the only way out of the country’s economic crisis. We need to diversify from oil and gas,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said the idea of growing crops in the cemetery came to him when he stumbled upon three weather-beaten troughs at the roadside in Tunapuna several months ago. When the Trinidad Guardian visited him last week, several fully grown hot peppers were seen hanging from one plant, while a young melongene had sprouted from another.

Not far from his tomb, a variety of herbs swayed in the breeze.

“People are amazed when they come to pay their respects to the dead and see my crops. It takes away from their grief and sadness. It shows that at least there is life and something positive in the cemetery,” Alvarez said.
 

Thieves have carted away thousands of dollars worth in donated items meant to help impoverished couple Harriett and Winston Halbal and their two young sons. The incident has left the Halbals upset and annoyed.

Last December, the Halbals received an outpouring of support from the public when they were highlighted in the Sunday Guardian. Back then, their two sons, Mark Halbal, 14, and Aaron 11, were forced to study under a dim street light outside their Grass Trace, Flanagin, home because of the poor conditions in which they live.

Their story touched scores of people who came forward to help the two boys who were excelling in school despite their hardships and financial woes. Among the people who came forward to assist was a group of Sai Baba devotees, who built a $275,000 two-bedroom termite, hurricane and fire proof home for the family.

In addition to the home, approximately $90,000 worth in items, including foodstuff, clothing, furniture and appliances were also given to the family by good Samaritans and NGOs. The boxes of donated items were stored under the Halbals old, rickety house while their new home was being constructed.

“At nights, people from the village started coming into our yard and toting away our items. They practically took all our grocery items, including new clothes and bottles of perfume which was given to me. One man took 18 packs of macaroni. I don’t know if he sold it. We know who thief some of the items, but we just have to keep our mouths shut,” Harriett said, during an interview last week.

Fearing for their lives, the Halbals did not report the thefts to the police. By the time the new house was constructed, Harriett, 48, said, her old house was almost cleaned out by thieves.

“What they didn’t take was a stove, washing machine, wardrobe, a living room set and two beds,” Harriet said.

“We estimate that approximately $40,000 in items was stolen from us,” Winston said.

Harriett said she was surprised by the villagers’ behaviour since she had shared some of the foodstuff with them for Christmas.

“I wasn’t selfish or greedy. They still got.”

Winston said when they moved into their new home on February 17, their problems intensified.

“The criminals came back one night and broke the glass on a window to gain entry, but they were unsuccessful. They also chopped our steel-plated front door with a cutlass,” said Winston.

The couple said they were being envied by many because of their new home.

“While we are thankful for what we have received it has not been easy for us. We thought the donated items would have lasted a couple of months, but we are back to square one. Our cupboards are empty. I am back in the bush digging yam and cleaning people’s house to feed my children and send them to school,” Harriett said.

Two weeks ago, Winston who is medically unfit, went to help Harriett in the yam field and was bitten on his left hand by a macajuel snake and had to be taken to San Fernando General Hospital for medical attention.

Government’s moratorium on proposed tax for luxury vehicles will be based on an assessment of how long it will take a vessel with cars, to arrive from Japan, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said yesterday.

Imbert confirmed this when asked if he had worked out how long the moratorium will be. He will announce the actual timeframe this afternoon when he speaks on the issue in Parliament. In Imbert’s April 8 mid-year review of the 2016 Budget, he announced a 50 per cent increase on luxury vehicles (engine size exceeding 1999 cc). 

Last Thursday he said he had received enquiries from used and new car dealers affected by the proposal and he planned to have a moratorium to allow people to transition into the tax. He said the moratorium should be about two to three weeks and he would announce the timeframe today, when Parliament debates an order for these and other taxes prescribed in the review.

Yesterday, Imbert said he hadn’t made a final decision on the length of the moratorium, but it, “...will be based on an assessment of how long it will take the roll-on roll-off vessel, with cars, to arrive from Japan, starting from April 8 as the reference point.”

Last Thursday, he had said, apart from the intransit period of vehicles being imported, Government would also take into consideration, those vehicles not yet cleared from the Customs bond.

Today’s debate on the order for the increased taxes has to be passed within 21 days. It will be debated in the Senate tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday. Opposition MPs have signalled in debate, they’ll also be dealing with Government’s recent request for World Bank/IMF advice on revising fiscal policy. 

Former People’s Partnership minister in the ministry of finance Vasant Bharath who - prior to Government’s announcement on the external expertise - had warned Government might “take the easy way out” and “put T&T in the IMF’s hands,” said exactly as predicted, “...Mr Imbert has taken the easy way out for him and his government but a potentially perilous direction for the population.”

“By seeking IMF and World Bank assistance, he has effectively relinquished his position as Finance Minister and acknowledged he’s incapable of putting together a meaningful, coherent plan for T&T’s economy and accepted the conclusions of the Moody’s Report that there’s a high likelihood that Government’s policy response to the commodity price shock will not be as timely and effective as required, due to weak policy execution capacity,” Bharath said.

Whenever Detta Buch looks out from her Four Roads home and sees the mountain ranges in Diego Martin on fire she feels an enormous sadness. For Kenya-born Buch, 75, of Dutch and English parentage, it looks like “Eden” on fire.

“I also feel angry and disappointed. If you set fire to trees, they may never grow back in your lifetime.”

Buch, who has a degree in Fine Art, veered off her career path to form and run, virtually alone now, the Wildlife Orphanage & Rehabilitation Centre (WORC). A mother of three, she lives alone and spends most of her time rehabilitating animals, “racing” on the roads during rescues.

Since she started WORC in 1988, she and volunteers have rehabilitated and released birds, silky anteaters and other wildlife injured by bush fires and rescued by the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project—a NGO based in the St Ann’s hills.

“They are God’s creation. They have a right to be here and we were supposed to be stewards of these animals.

“Whatever happened to that? I think we have a worldwide crisis of ethics.”

Buch who came to T&T in 1978 said her father, a Kenyan farmer, instilled a love for animals and nature in his children.

“There were animals all around but everything was dry and arid and it was hard to get anything to grow.

“And you come here and it’s Eden.”

Buch said T&T is really an offshore Amazonian island, high biodiversity, and legislation must change in respect of those setting fires. This year, Buch was not able to save any animals burnt in a number of fires that wasted the remaining patches of green on western slopes of the Northern Range in Diego Martin.

“The slopes are almost bare now.”

Since February, the hills there have been burning, she said. She described this year’s fire as “savage”. A major fire, which prevailing winds kept reigniting, lasted six to seven days.

“The wind would catch smoldering logs and reignite them. Then the fire would die down and reignite again.”

Apart from Bambi buckets which appeared from a helicopter at one time, Buch said she saw no one else fighting the fires.

“All the animals living in the hills, mostly birds and mammals, would have been incinerated or died from smoke inhalation.

“And this is their breeding season.”

Buch said her own house was blanketed in smoke and her bookshelves covered in ash. She is preparing for major flooding in the St Ann’s and Diego Martin areas in the upcoming rainy season because of the destruction of the trees on the hills.

“There are no trees to retain the water and it runs off into the rivers which flood when it rains.

“My house was under four feet of water in 2012 and other parts of Diego Martin were flooded out because of this.”

Despite her sadness and disappointment, Buch presses on with her mission to rescue T&T’s wildlife which she described as a “national resource.” At her home/animal hospital, she has about 13 animals, mostly birds, many rescued from previous bush fires.

A spectacled owl was rescued from a previous fire but died of smoke inhalation that same night, she said.

“A silky anteater was brought to me with singed fur and he was rehabilitated and released.”

A macaw that was being smuggled was purchased by conservationist, Marc de Verteuil and brought to Buch.

And she had a seven-foot long iguana that was being peddled on the roadside in Mayaro that a couple paid for and brought to her.

“He was damaged and being rehabilitated in a large cage. One day I found the cage empty.”

Buch even once had a giant otter that was being smuggled but was rescued and brought to her. Her day begins at 6 am and ends no earlier than 1.30 am, she said.  

“I have to feed and clean the cages and I have to stay up late to see about the animals that feed at night.

“Volunteers are very hard to get now.”

Buch runs the centre mostly from private sector donations and said she was never successful in getting a government grant.

​Rosemarie Sant 

Several prisons officers have chosen to make the prisons dormitory their homes for fear of losing their lives while living on the outside. Prisons officers said they have received death threats which they reported to the authorities, but no one has taken them seriously. The officers said it’s as if they always have to beg for attention and protection.

The officers, who spoke with the GML Enterprise Desk on condition of anonymity, said they have no line of defence and they are growing increasingly concerned about their welfare and the safety of their families. As a result, they have chosen to protect themselves by abandoning their homes and making prison dormitories, which they describe as “an open thoroughfare,” their home.

To compound the situation, the marriages of many officers have fallen apart as wives have abandoned them and migrated with their families due to fear.

While president of the Prison Officers Association Ceron Richards said that six or seven officers have opted to stay in the dormitories “based on serious security issues,” prisons officers on the ground claimed the number totals around 30 and is growing. Richards explained that threats made against the officers “have been brought to the attention of the authorities, but for some reason or the other, we don’t get any attention, we always have to beg for help.”

Richards said that every day officers put their lives at risk to the detriment of their families. 

“Many of the men their families have fallen apart because living with them is viewed as a liability. Wives have left their husbands, families have migrated, it is a real sad situation and there is no support from the State. But we believe that now is the best time for the Government to speak about officers’ safety and security given the debt that is owed to us.”

Officers said the dormitories where they live have few amenities but are outfitted with beds “for officers to rest on in between shifts.” But even this, they said, is better “than risking our lives on the outside.” 

A spokesman at the office of the Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart said they have no information that the men have been living in the dormitories. Wendell Bomparte told the GML Enterprise Desk that “the dormitories are not meant to be lived in because then it affects the men who need to rest in between shifts.” 

Bomparte said, “It is not a boarding place, living there is not allowed because there is no area you can call your own 24/7. It is for batches, when another batch comes that is somebody’s space you’re taking up.”

In early 2015, prisons officers reportedly discovered a plan for paid hit men to kill several officers who were involved in jail cell searches and raids. Even with this information in hand and a report made to their superiors, nothing has been done to protect them and their families.

One officer, David Millette, was shot dead in the driveway of his Second Caledonia, Morvant, home in November, last year.   Officers also alleged that “the close relationships which some inmates have with their seniors put our lives at risk.” This, they said, made them feel unsafe and the situation becomes worse every time an officer is attacked or loses his life.

They said since the murder of prisons officer Fitzalbert Victor in February, nothing has been done to ensure their safety and security or that of their families. Richards said the officers want to do their jobs, but they need the Government to “do what is necessary to protect prisons officers.” He said they want a Law Enforcement Safety Act, a housing policy, and the removal of officers from high-risk areas.

Richards said the prisons officers “put their lives at stake but the State continues to fail them.” He told the GML Enterprise Desk that they are meeting with Finance Minister Colm Imbert tomorrow (Tuesday), and they intend to raise with him the “issue of houses or land for prisons officers.” 

“We do not want bonds, we prefer they settle the debt owed to prison officers by giving us what we really need—HDC housing or offset the debt owed to us by giving us government land, that will be more meaningful.

“Right now many of us are renting because we cannot afford the mortgage on the open market, and because of our salaries we cannot access the government two per cent subsidy on housing loans. Renting is not the best option. Give officers houses or land so that they can manage their security,” he said.

Former national security minister Gary Griffith told the GML Enterprise Desk that when he was minister he got a list from the Police, Prison and Army of officers whose lives were under threat.

Griffith said he recommended to the then National Security Council that the officers be allocated HDC homes under the ten per cent provision which is made for members of the protective services.

But he said his recommendation was turned down by the council because “certain people felt that the ten per cent allocation was for MPs to use at their discretion.”

Griffith said the issue of housing for officers was also critical to their safety and security.

Siezed contraband returned to inmates
Prisons officers work for salaries ranging between $6,000 and upwards of $13,000 depending on their level. A prisons officer one or PO1 earns $6,000 to $8,000 a month; a PO2 earns $8,000 to $12,000;  and a prison superintendent earns between $12,000 and just under $14,000.

Prisons officers said their salaries cannot compensate them for the risk which they face daily. They said they often conduct searches on inmates and seize contraband, yet they said they are “instructed’’ to return the contraband under the pretext that it will “save officers’ lives” and also “assist in intelligence gathering.”

The officers said under the former People’s Partnership government “grabbers, jammers and bulletproof vests were ordered for all officers, yet to this day the vests are yet to be distributed.”

We are told that the “jammers were only recently installed and put into operation in Port-of-Spain, whilst in the Maximum Security Prison jammers have been operational since 2015, but are only on during the day.” The officers claimed that it was because Senior Superintendent of Prisons David Millette ordered that the jammers be put on in the night that he was murdered. They claimed that after Millette’s murder negotiations took place with the high-profile inmates and their seniors “to turn the jammers off after 8 pm.”

Prisons officers are also alleging that several senior officers had information about the impending jail break last July; the officers also say that those who are charged with protecting them (their seniors) are also aware that there is a hit list with several prisons officers named. 

They complain that “certain inmates are ‘shot callers’, so they are given and afforded luxuries that the average prisoner does not get.”

According to them, one such prisoner (name called) has a “TV and a DVD outside his cell at the Maximum Security Prison.” They also said laptops and portable DVD players are granted to prisoners by a senior officer, whom they identified, “for so-called educational use.”

They admit that a “22-inch TV was found in the remand section of the Port-of-Spain Prison D2 Division cell 14 along with an iPad, a PS4, a fan, blender, tablet, court and process handcuffs, and other contraband items.”

That cell, they said, is occupied by remand prisoner (name called) aka “Ten Cents,” who is on a murder charge. The man is said to be the leader of a well-known gang. Those who assist the prisoners, they said, are linked to some high-profile inmates and once they do what is asked of them, “they are given cutbacks.”

The officers are claiming that creative ways are found to bring arms and ammunition into the prison. They said, last year, there was a function at the prison and “guns and grenades were brought in the music boxes. They were removed while the music was being set up.”

During “Operation Clean Sweep,” earlier this year, which was led by government ministers, the officers said three guns, a silencer and six extended magazines were found, and shortly after that operation prisons officers in a routine check found more than 30 cell phones.

The officers explain that inmates have taken to “hiding their contraband goods in the roof, they remove the ceiling and hide things in there.”

Dillon: Protection of security security forces a priority
Asked about reports that several prisons officers have taken to living in prison dormitories for their own safety and protection, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said the security of the nation’s security forces was a priority for the Government. He said, “We are going to ensure the protection of all servicemen as they continue to do their jobs safely and securely.”

He did not want to go into details on what action is being pursued to ensure the security of not just the prisons officers but other arms of the national security forces whose lives may be under threat because of their jobs, but he told us, “Government and the Minister of National Security would do what is required to protect the lives of those who give their lives in service for the country.”

PRISONS OFFICERS MURDERED SINCE 2001:

2001 December 12—32-year-old Atwell Sandy shot and killed in Cascade
2003 May 4—49-year-old Winston Sandy shot dead in Laventille
2005 March 17— 49-year-old Anselm Paul shot dead in Laventille
2008 June 18—31-year-old Anim Joseph shot dead in St Joseph
2009 November 7—35-year-old Ian Seegobin shot and killed in Arouca
2010 January 23—32-year-old Nataki Halloway strangled in Gasparillo 
2010 March 28—36-year-old Bernard Kirk Thomas shot dead in Toco
2010 June 10—53-year-old Eric Simmons shot dead in Laventille
2010 July 6—35-year-old Marvin Diaz shot dead in Gasparillo
2010 August 21-21-year-old Reynold Parris shot in Malabar, died at EWMSC
2013 November 7—42-year-old Andy Rogers shot dead in Arima
2014 June 15—37-year-old Dominic Bernard stabbed to death in Pointe-a-Pierre
2015 July 17—27-year-old Andell Primus shot and killed in Morvant
2015 November 2—50-year-old Superintendent of Prisons David Millette shot and killed in Morvant
2016 February 29—32-year-old Fitzalbert Victor shot outside his Prizgar Lands, Laventille, home. He died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital

The National Security Ministry has set up an official page paying tribute to the fallen officers indicating that all of the officers murdered over the years were “targeted as a consequence of official duties.”

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon says the T&T Coast Guard has an integral role to play in the fight against crime. He was speaking during his address at the T&T Coast Guard passing out parade for the 52nd recruit intake at the Heliport Training Facility, Chaguaramas, on Saturday.

“Crime is the number one issue and the T&T Coast Guard has a key support role in the crime fighting arsenal.

“Our borders require stringent protection, which is why the Coast Guard’s maritime presence must be a dominant force, acting as a deterrent to any illegal and criminal entry of persons or items through our maritime space.

“In the fight against crime and criminality the most important resource of any organisation is its people.

“You are an asset far more important than any piece of equipment in the artillery, even the recently acquired state-of-the-art TTS Nelson 11 and the TTS Quinam, because, without you no vessel works on its own,” Dillon said.

He said T&T’s porous borders were a major source of the proliferation of not only illegal guns but illegal drugs, which were both primary drivers of crime in the country.

Dillon said that was why securing the country’s maritime boundaries as part of its overall border security strategy was of such great importance to the people. He said the Coast Guard faced the enormous responsibility of protecting approximately 280 kilometres of coastline around T&T, 180 kilometres of coastline around Tobago and 91 possible ports of entry along these coastlines.

Dillon also highlighted some of the strategic cooperation initiatives undertaken in collaboration with T&T’s regional and international counterparts. He said the Government of T&T had engaged the Government of Venezuela on strategic cooperative initiatives in the area of maritime security consistent with the agenda against cross-border crimes. 

Dillon said a decision was also taken to re-establish “VenTri” joint naval exercises between both T&T and Venezuela.

He said additionally the Government had recently approved the assignment of a Coast Guard officer to act as a liaison officer to the Joint Interagency Task Force, Southern Command in Key West, Florida further bolstering US-T&T security relations as relates to maritime protection. Dillon said if these mechanisms were successfully executed it would no doubt lead to less porous national borders and fewer guns on the nation’s streets, thereby leading to a reduction in firearm-related homicides and resulting in a better quality of life for all citizens of T&T.

Anala Mohan
Student, Hugh Wooding Law School 

Under section 4(a) of the Constitution of T&T, each citizen has the right to the enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived of this right except by due process of law. Citizens therefore have the right to legally own property or have title to land. 

To prove ownership of, or title to land, a person must show evidence of ownership. The document required to evidence ownership will be dependent on which system the land falls under since there are two systems of land title in T&T.

The common law system or the old English law system of title is governed by the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act Chap. 56:01. The newer system of registration of titles is governed by the Real Property Act Chap. 56:02, commonly called the “RPA system.”

The common law system
Under this system a landowner proves title or ownership of land by a Deed of Conveyance. The deed of conveyance must be traced back at least 20 years to be deemed a “good title” for the purpose of sale.

Title is not registered under the “old law system” but the deed itself is registered by depositing in the Land Registry. This makes it possible to trace the registered deed to the owner. This can be a lengthy and sometimes complicated process.

Further, only registered legal interests are discovered, while any existing unregistered interests would go untraced. For instance, where the land is subject to a trust or if there is an existing agreement for sale of the land, these interests would not be discovered by a title search.

The registration of titles system
The RPA system is modelled after the Australian Torrens System and was introduced in T&T to ease the problems of the old law system. Under this system the owner of property is required to lodge all his land title documents in the Land Registry. The owner proves ownership by producing a Certificate of Title.

Under this system, it is easier to determine if title is valid since it would have been thoroughly investigated and approved by the Land Registry officials before it was registered. Therefore the process of investigating title is significantly shortened.

Although only title can be fully entered on the register, non-legal interests are protected by the lodging of a caveat which is endorsed on the certificate of title. The caveat acts as a warning or caution to people dealing with the particular landowner. The system is therefore more accurate in revealing all the interests existing over the land.

It is important that landowners become aware of the nature of their title. While there are a number of advantages to the RPA system, most land owned in T&T is still under the common law system. However, landowners who so desire can have their lands brought under the RPA system. 

This column is not legal advice. If you have a legal problem, you should consult a legal adviser. 

JOEL JULIEN 

The partnership between the church and the state at our schools must be dismantled as it is detrimental to our country, president of the T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Devanand Sinanan has said.

Sinanan said the Constitution defines this country as a “secular state” and therefore questioned “why should the state give monies to certain religious bodies to perpetuate their faith?”

“We are a secular society and while we must be tolerant and respectful of each other’s religious beliefs, we must not allow the lines that separate church from state to be blurred,” he said.

“As leaders we have a sacred duty to challenge systems and arrangements that are inimical to the overall well-being of the society, even if it means we incur the wrath and anger of those that benefit from the maintenance of the status quo,” Sinanan said.

Sinanan called on current Education Minister Anthony Garcia to review the Concordat “as it is inimical to the development our country” and “perpetuates a class differential.” Sinanan said the “church-state arrangement is naked privatisation disguised as a partnership.”

“The state gives monies, large sums of it, to private entities to run schools as they see fit, at their whim and fancy, to own conveniently when it suits them.”

But even as Sinanan called for a separation of the two, Garcia signalled the government’s intention to strengthen the bond between church and state.

“We looked at violence and indiscipline in our schools and this is an area where really and truly TTUTA and the Ministry of Education have been holding hands in working together,” Garcia said. Garcia said the 1960 Concordat was being looked at. 

“It is never our intention to diminish the role of the church in education in fact it is our intention to strengthen the role the church can play in education,” Garcia said.

Sinanan and Garcia were speaking at TTUTA’s 37 anniversary function held at Centre Point Mall’s Auditorium on Saturday night. Teachers who retired over the last calender year recognised were given special tokens and a certificate.

Chairman of the Couva/Tabaquite/ Talparo Regional Corporation Henry Awong said he was alarmed by the findings of the latest report of the Children’s Authority which has identified his region as being one of three with the highest number of sexually abused children. 

And two Members of Parliament for Couva North and South, Ramona Ramdial and Rudy Indarsingh, also expressed alarm over the statistics and called on the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services to provide counselling and support for the children and their families.

Ramdial also called for stricter penalties and punishment for the offenders. She said the Children’s Authority, which became effective under the former People’s Partnership administration, has encouraged reporting by both parents and victims themselves.

“But more needs to be done. It is a terrible state of affairs for our children. These high number of cases continues to be worrying. Definitely more needs to be done, especially in dealing with broken families. More counselling, stricter penalties and punishment.”

Indarsingh said he was saddened by the report and appealed to Prime Minister Keith Rowley not to place the protection, care and rehabilitation of the nation’s children on the back burner.

Saying the abuse has the ability to disrupt the functioning of that child for the rest of his/her life, Indarsingh advocated for the The Children’s Authority to be given all tools and resources to tackle this serious issue of child abuse. 

A report compiled by the Authority over a nine-month period, May 18, last year to Feb 17, showed some 1,000 boys and girls, from ages one and upwards, were sexually abused.

The highest reports of sexual abuse against children were recorded in the districts of San Juan/Laventille (17.4 per cent)  Tunapuna/Piarco ( 13.3 per cent) and CTTRC (9.6 per cent).

“That is alarming and frightening. It is 1,000 cases you are talking about in nine months. I am sure there may be more, probably not reported,” Awong said. He noted councillors through their interaction with the community would have had unconfirmed reports of what was happening but not to that extent.

Awong said any information relating to suspicion of child abuse is reported to the relevant authorities.

Rosemarie Sant

GML ENTERPRISE DESK

The Law Association has signalled its support of a petition from the Catholic Church to pardon hundreds of remand prisoners who have been in jail without trial for periods exceeding the maximum sentence they would get if found guilty.

Law Association president Reginald Armour SC told the GML Enterprise Desk yesterday, “I support it and I am prepared to try to persuade the Council (of the Law Association) to support it. I expect they will, I have not spoken to them as yet but it will have to be done in a structured way.”

Armour clarified that his was not a carte blanche support. 

“What I am supporting is the mercy and release for those persons who have already served the period of time on remand yard for which they would be sentenced for the crimes that they are charged with, that they be given a pardon and released.”

He said the proposal will have to be “looked at carefully, but in principle the conditions of remand yard are deplorable and it needs radical fixing, and to that extent I am prepared to support the Archbishop’s proposal in a structured way.”

Armour was responding to yesterday’s T&T Guardian lead story which detailed a proposal from Archbishop Joseph Harris, who is asking for a presidential pardon to be given to prisoners charged with minor offences held on remand for a long time.

The head of the local Roman Catholic Church proposed the idea of the pardon, which he said is linked to the ‘Jubilee Year of Mercy’ and has sent out letters to priests and parish administrators requesting that parishioners sign forms endorsing the petition and return them by May 26.

There are over 2,235 remand prisoners in the nation’s jails and close to 300 could benefit from such a proposal.

Former head of the Anglican Church, Bishop Clive Abdullah, also said he had no problem with the initiative. He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “I would support it.” 

He recalled that in 1980 he headed a team commissioned by then prime minister Dr Eric Williams to look at the prison system and make recommendations.

That report, completed more than 35 years ago and submitted to the then government, recommended that the “judicial system needed to be speeded up so that people are not kept in prison for a long time.”

He said, “It is a travesty of justice for people to wait for years before their cases are heard.”

But head of the Inter Religious Organisation, Brother Harripersad Maharaj, says he is not in favour of the suggestion.

Maharaj said if any such initiative is taken “it would be like punishing the victims twice. If we just say mercy for you then we are causing a lot of pain to the victims.” 

He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “Instead of just pardon, an appeal should be made to the Chief Justice that these cases be seen as a priority. The Chief Justice should be called upon to give priority to these minor cases involving persons spending a lengthy time in prison and set a timeline either four or six weeks for completion.”

This, he said, would ensure that “these persons are not just set free because if that happens it would be disadvantageous to the victims who would feel as if they were victimised twice. Psychologically, the victims would feel hurt a second time to know that the perpetrators are walking free.” 

Maharaj also contends that given the times in which we live, with crime being what it is, “there is no guarantee that the person who is pardoned will not attack the same victims.”

He said, “I do not accept the point to pardon, but speedy justice with set timelines.”

One man was killed and another critically injured in a shooting incident in San Fernando yesterday.

The dead man was identified as Guyanese national Kemraj Persad, 30, a construction worker, of Hummingbird Avenue, Duncan Village.

Eyewitnesses said Persad, another man identified as Sean Boodoo, and the shooter were having drinks and liming at an apartment when an argument broke out and the suspect shot the two men.

Boodoo, who also lived at the same apartment, was shot in the chest and was listed in critical condition in San Fernando General Hospital last night.

A villager said he heard three explosions and thought it was fire crackers. He said he saw a man running up the road with blood on his chest.

Police said the shooter escaped in a car.

Residents said the men have been renting the apartment for over a year. Another tenant, Kumar Shivprashad, pleaded for financial help to send Persad’s body back to Guyana as he came from a poor family.

ASP Rawle Ramdeo, Insp Don Gajadhar, PC Doray and other officers of the San Fernando CID Task Force and Homicide Bureau visited the scene.

So far 149 people have been killed for this year.

A forensic ballistic report done on the weapon which killed PC Govindra Ramroop at the Guapo Police Station five months ago is now under scrutiny by the Homicide Bureau.

In an interview yesterday, Ramroop’s widow, Susan Roopnarine-Ramroop, said she was informed last week that the ballistic report was completed.

“I don’t have much information and I don’t want to say too much about it but I do know that it was handed over to homicide (bureau),” Roopnarine-Ramroop said. The distraught woman said she wanted closure.

Last month during the funeral of slain police constable Anson Benjamin, Roopnarine-Ramroop confronted National Security Minister Edmund Dillon outside the church and begged him not to allow her husband's death to become a cold case. 

She told Dillon that she was suspicious of the circumstances under which her husband died. Roopnarine-Ramroop added that the officer who shot her husband was still on active duty and had never apologised to her.

Investigators were also reluctant to speak and on several occasions told the family that they were awaiting the ballistic report. Dillon promised to look into the case within two weeks. He also appointed a liaison officer to speak to the family.

Homicide officers confirmed yesterday that the matter was under investigation.

Last November 5, Ramroop, a Special Reserve Police officer, attached to the La Brea Rapid Response Unit, was killed by a colleague at the Guapo Police Station.

Some South Western Division officers labelled his death an accident, saying one of Ramroop’s colleagues was clearing his gun when it discharged. Speaking at Ramroop’s funeral, acting Commissioner Stephen Williams told the media that firearms do not discharge accidentally and that an investigation was under way.

Nine investigations out of a total of 38 which were completed by the Integrity Commission in 2015 are now before the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), commission chairman Justice Zainool Hosein has said.

Hosein’s comments were made in the commission’s 2015 report laid in Parliament yesterday .

In his remarks on the nine completed probes, Hosein said, “It is anticipated there will be need for further collaboration with the DPP’s office as such matters progress through the system.”

Regarding 2015 activities, Hosein added, “There were several challenging investigations and a backlog of compliance matters were resolved as the Commission moved to ensure efficiency and overcome hurdles in unmasking matters that tended to disclose breaches of the Code of Conduct, provisions of the Integrity in Public Life Act as well as provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.”

Hosein didn’t identify the nine completed probes which were sent to the DPP. The report, however, detailed matters which were scrutinised in 2015. 

According to the report, the number of matters brought forward from 2014 was 40. The number of complaints received for 2015 was 28.

Total number of matters in which investigations were conducted was 65.

The total number of matters referred to the Compliance Section was three. Total number of matters carried forward to 2016 was 27.

Completed and ongoing investigations in the report involve individuals described as a former prime minister, senators, government ministers, state entities, a regional corporation, a councillor and state board member. Entities described in some matters include the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC), National Quarries and National Lotteries Control Board.

Completed matters listed include a complaint requesting a probe into the receipt of a sum of money by a government minister from the T&T Football Federation general secretary; as well as a request for a probe into circumstances in which legal briefs were given.

Another matter completed involved a complaint alleging breaches of the Integrity Act by a government minister in his role as a special adviser.

Also completed was a complaint alleging breaches of the Integrity Act by “unnamed public officers which facilitated the commencement of projects in the St Joseph constituency.” Further matters completed involved complaints against a senator alleging breach of the Integrity Act and corruption allegations against a government minister. 

Several other matters involving corruption allegations, unfair dismissal, alleged irregularities in PTSC hiring practices and unfair treatment by a public body were completed. Investigations are still ongoing into 25 matters including four complaints against a former prime minister alleging breaches of the Integrity Act in the award of land and construction of a church. 

Also ongoing is a complaint against “the Government of T&T” alleging collusion, bid rigging and corruption relative to services rendered by a contractor. (see box)

The report stated the commission intends to publish, in the first half of 2016, the names of declarants who have failed to comply with the integrity law requiring filing declarations of income, assets and liabilities and registrable interests.

The report also stated that the commission maintains a Register of Interests to provide information to the public about the personal and business interests of people in public life.

ONGOING PROBES

* Complaint against a former government minister in the alleged solicitation of donations from contractors.

* Alleged irregularities in the importation of vehicles by a government minister.

* Anonymous complaint alleging an MP has been collecting money from CEPEP contractors.

* Allegation of insider trading by a person in public life.

* Alleged breach of the Integrity Act by an MP.

* Complaint against persons in public life, on alleged perversion of the course of justice.

* Allegation that a councillor abused and threatened workers engaged in a road paving programme.

* Alleged conspiracy to defraud the National Quarries Co Ltd.

* Alleged impropriety by personnel at a ministry in the award of contracts.

A 21-year-old hairdresser was killed in an early morning car accident on the Beetham highway yesterday. 

According to reports, around 4.30 am, Teniesha Mahabirsingh, of Bon Air Gardens, Arouca, was driving her silver Nissan Tiida along the eastbound lane of the highway when she crashed after passing the NP service station.

The car swerved, then flipped several times before landing on its hood, police said. Traffic on both the east and westbound lanes slowed to a crawl as curious motorists slowed down to catch a glimpse of the wreckage. 

Mahabirsingh, who had a four-year-old son, died at the scene. Two occupants of her car, who were not identified by police up to late yesterday, sustained serious injuries and were taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment. They remained warded in a stable condition up to late yesterday. 

Speaking with reporters at the mortuary of the hospital yesterday, Mahabirsingh’s relatives described her as kind and funny. 

“She was a beautiful child. She was special, she always had everybody laughing especially with her impersonations,” her emotional father said. 

“Nobody should have to bury their child,” he added. 

Asked if he knew where his daughter was heading, he said he did not know. 

“Honestly I dont know much. I just got the call this morning that Teniesha was in an accident and I rushed there,” he said. 

Mahabirsingh’s death took the road fatality toll for the year to 49. The comparative figure for the same period last year was 39. 

Investigations are continuing. 

Pointedly wearing a red People’s National Movement (PNM)T-shirt, former ArcelorMittal port coordinator Joanette Pariag stood at the Point Lisas roundabout yesterday to send a clear message to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley: “This is not what we voted for.”

“How many more must die Dr Rowley? Our lives are in your hands. Act now!!! This is not what we voted for,” her banner stated.

The unemployed, single mother with a daughter at the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus was among the 644 workers laid off by the steel plant in March.

With her Steel Workers Union (SWUTT) colleagues mourning the death of retrenched Central Trinidad Steel Ltd (Centrin) operator David Francis, scores of frustrated former employees of ArcelorMittal, Centrin, Tube City IMS and a few service companies created a Carnival-like atmosphere on the streets.

Francis, 50, a former operator at the company, committed suicide last Thursday at his Perseverance home. Family members said he could not face the mounting debt and other financial problems. He was among 200 workers laid off by Centrin as the company shut down operations at Point Lisas. It came as a result of ArcelorMittal’s closure. ArcelorMittal provided raw material for Centrin to produce its metal products.

It was like J’Ouvert in April as a festive rhythm section using an empty Crix tin, a metal triangle, horn, cowbell, bell and plastic bottles, accompanied passionate screams from protesters chipping around the roundabout singing, 

“Robert, we want we money, 

Imbert, we want we money, 

Rowley, we want we money, 

Jennifer, we want we money.”

The song changed to Black Stalin’s Bun Dem as they set fire to a heap of company branded coveralls. And although Couva police and estate security kept a watchful eye as they directed traffic to and from the busy industrial estate, they did nothing to restrain the protesters. 

SWUTT president Christopher Henry said Francis’ death must not be in vain and that the Government must act before another life is lost to depression. He said the union foretold the social impact the mass retrenchment would have, given the unavailability of jobs amid an economic depression.

He said company officials approached Francis’ common-law wife, Chandrawatie Nanlal, on Friday, hours after his death and offered to pay the family his severance payments. 

This was confirmed by Nanlal yesterday as she awaited the autopsy results on his body at the Forensic Science Centre in St James. 

Henry said while 200-plus workers were fired by Centrin, the company was only seeking to pay Francis’ severance while the other workers drowned in debt.

Director at Bhagwansingh Hardware & Steel Industry Ltd (BHSIL) Vinoo Ramoutar says while Central Trinidad Steel Ltd (Centrin) owes vacation and severance pay to its retrenched workforce, the company cannot release funds until it gets clearance from the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR).

Responding to a protest by the Steel Workers Union (SWUTT) in the aftermath of former Centrin operator David Francis’ suicide last week, Ramoutar said he has called a meeting to discuss the payment to the workers.

He said in order to pay severance, the company has to get clearance from BIR to ensure that none of the retrench workers are in arrears of taxes. Despite the company checking with BIR often, they were told last Thursday that their application for clearance was untouched.

“We have submitted within the time frame required, all the information to the Board of Inland Revenue and we have followed up, almost diligently, every couple of weeks and were told last Thursday that they have not even touched our file as yet. I am convening a meeting with some of the management to determine what is best to do.

“As part of the due to the workers, there is accrued vacation. I have spoken to the president of the Steel Workers Union, he called me last week and I told him we were putting things in place and things have been put in place. We are now waiting for a release of the funds to sort that out.

“We are also waiting on the Board of Inland Revenue to explain to us, what is the taxation involved in that accrued vacation. So it is not just a matter of writing a cheque and say I am settling this and I am settling that. In settling, we have taxation issues and the Board of Inland Revenue guidance to follow,” Ramoutar said.

While the Centrin branch of SWUTT has blamed the company for Francis’ frustration and suicide, Ramoutar said the board of directors and management were also saddened by his death. He admitted that the company sent representatives to Francis’ common-law wife, Chandrawatie Nanlal and offered to have his severance paid ahead of his colleagues, saying that the company still feels for the workers.

In an effort to cushion the unemployment of its 200-plus membership from Centrin, SWUTT called on the management to assign workers to jobs in other companies within BHSIL. Ramoutar said this was done since January, when the workers were served with retrenchment notices. However, some declined because of the travelling distances to Bhagwansingh Hardware outlets in Sea Lots and Trincity. (KF)