Finance Minister Colm Imbert will communicate with the police, fire and prisons associations by May 31 on final decisions concerning all matters they have raised, including requests for housing or land and on payment of outstanding back pay.

This was indicated in a statement from the Finance Ministry on Wednesday following Imbert’s meeting on Tuesday with representatives of the Associations to discuss outstanding back pay to officers. 

Imbert confirmed the Government’s proposals for the payment of these arrears, namely (a) 50 per cent be paid in cash by June 30 (b)-the remaining 50 per cent be paid in either two tranches in fiscal 2017 or through Government bonds to be issued by September 30.

The Associations indicated the issuance of bonds was not contemplated previously, and they needed more information to inform their members. Imbert assured the bonds would be competitive. 

The Association asked Imbert to consider the following:

* Arrears in the sum of $50,000 or less should be paid in cash;

* Allowances such as travel and upkeep should be paid in cash and not form part of a bond scheme;

* Pensioners should be paid all their outstanding monies in cash; 

* Benefits in kind, such as housing and/or land;

* Shares in public companies. 

Government has asked the associations to provide a list of the number of people falling below the $50,000 threshold; and the potential number of officers requesting housing or land. This will be done in a week.

Imbert committed to reviewing their proposals, but stressed the final decision rests with Cabinet. He told the Associations that by May 31, he would communicate with them on the final decisions concerning all of the matters and committed to providing full details on the proposed bonds by then. - Gail Alexander

Two juvenile courts—one in Trinidad and the other in Tobago—are expected to be established and operational by year’s end.

This was an assurance given on Thursday by the Chief Justice Ivor Archie.

Archie was delivering the feature address at the third graduation of the Drug Treatment Court (DTC) Programme, which was held in the DT courtroom at the Tunapuna Magistrates’ Court.

Archie said that the courts, when established, will institute a more understanding judicial environment with the appropriate linkages needed to facilitate the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders.

“The core objectives is to build situational capacity of juvenile courts to adjudicate cases in an efficient and effective manner in accordance with new laws and principles of restorative justice. Also, establishment of juvenile peer resolution centres to adjudicate minor offenses based on principles of restorative justice and development of a cadre of youth leaders,” Archie said.

Currently, the Judiciary is engaging in the development and delivery of public awareness campaigns to educate and sensitise the public on the reform of the juvenile justice system and project initiatives to support the implementation of the Children’s Act.

“Our youth have been under served for too long and we need to get this right. We are painfully aware of the fact that both male and female students are involved in drug use, and are mindful of the fact that s great risk is posed to our next generation of potential leaders,” Archie said.

Archie also threw out a challenge to magistrates saying that he would like to see an increase in referrals from the various courts to the DTC.

Valedictorian, Winston Cambridge, 54, of Maloney gave his life story and in the end expressed gratitude to the DTC. Today he is proud to say that he is 476 days clean from drugs.

“I used to pay $500 a day for cocaine. Many times I went to rehab but this time, the DTC has been a blessings in disguise for me. I made a conscious decision to change and here I am today, reconciled with my family. With tears in my eyes and in the eyes of my daughter, she said ‘Daddy, I thought I had lost you.’ I did not know how much my addition had impacted them,” Cambridge said.

Representing the DTC, San Fernando, graduate Kwesi Austin, 27, of San Fernando was proud to say that he has not used marijuana in 325 days.

Members of the ruling PNM have been asked to contribute “beyond their means “to help build the party’s new Eric Williams Memorial Complex at Balisier courtyard, expected to be finished by the next year.

PNM leader Keith Rowley made this pitch on Thursday while delivering the feature address at a PNM function at Balisier House courtyard—on the site of the project—marking the party’s 60th anniversary. The largely cultural event was attended by top PNM officials including organisers and financiers, MPs and senators.

Rowley said sod-turning for the new complex is imminent and as soon as the courtyard was cleared after Thursday’s function, technicians start soil-testing to sink foundations for the new building to go up alongside the adjoining Balisier House structure. The multi-storey building will house administrative offices and a shopping mall.

Rowley said it was projected members will observe the next anniversary function “in the presence of” the new building. He said resources have been flowing in from members including persons overseas. 

Rowley called on members to contribute “beyond their means” to help build the complex. He said a south constituency donated all of the $15,000 it earned from an event, to the project. He said his Diego Martin west constituency will host a cocktail party to raise funds also.” According to PNM’s website, tickets for that “Cocktails on the Hill” event cost $600 each. 

He said PNM’s being the greatest party holds the party to a higher standard and the country expects the party to aspire to the highest standard. He said it was a responsibility. Rowley, who lauded PNM founder late PM Dr Eric Williams, said PNM’s legacy has been progress. He said people who wear the label “PNM-til-I-ded” do so with pride since that generation is grateful for the things the PNM accomplished from their time. He said some things had been a dream and PNM’s coming changed that. He said it was the PNM that launched a billion dollar oil company, distributed water and power and began the telecom sector. 

He said other leadership have come, but only chose to “serve themselves.”

PNM’s Joan Yuille- Williams said celebration plans included a motorcade in September — the month also marking the party’s first year in office—from constituencies to Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain where the party was launched; and observance of the birthdays of each of the four leaders hosted in their respective constituencies.

The security booth inside the Golden Grove prison was set on fire by inmates yesterday as a near riot erupted in the exercise yard of the Remand Prison, the Sunday Guardian has learned.

The situation arose after some 500 prisoners were placed in the exercise yard while a special search of cells was conducted by officers of the Police Service, prisons and army.

A firearm was said to have been found during the search but this could not be confirmed.

Around 6 am yesterday, the joint exercise began at the Golden Grove Remand Prison and continued until after 8 pm.

Prisoners from the northern wing of the Golden Grove prison were taken out of their cells and placed in the exercise yard. Inmates from the upper northern wing are said to belong to the Rasta City gang while inmates from the lower northern wing are said to belong to the Muslim gang.

The Rasta City and Muslim gangs are at war both inside and outside the prison.

While there was some tension in the exercise yard because of the warring gangs, the situation became more agitated when 11 o’clock came and the prisoners were not let inside for food.

The lunch time at the prison usually starts at 10.30 am.

The rain also started to fall.

When 3 pm came and the prisoners were still outside in the exercise yard, the situation reportedly came to a boil.

Dinner time at the prison is usually between 2 and 2.30 pm.

The prisoners were not allowed inside for either lunch or dinner.

At that point, the prisoners set off the alarm at the security booth.

The alarm rang for up to ten minutes.

After still not being let inside the prisoners set fire to the security booth.

At this point, officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB) of the Police Service entered the exercise area to quell the disturbance, leading to a stand-off between the police and inmates.

The GEB officers dressed in full riot gear are said to have shot some of the inmates, who were throwing items at them, with rubber bullets.

Several inmates were said to have been beaten during the incident and the fire at the security booth was extinguished.

Inmates also attempted to set the laundry room on fire but were unsuccessful.

The situation was eventually quelled.

When the Sunday Guardian visited the prison late yesterday, a bus load of GEB officers was seen leaving.

The inmates were allowed back into the northern wing around 6 pm where they were fed.

This is the latest search of the prison to take place in recent weeks.

Last week, the Sunday Guardian exclusively reported that the Port-of-Spain prison was on high alert in response to word of a planned “violent break out” involving a man charged with murder in a high-profile case.

Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart said security had been stepped up and they are liaising with their “national security counterparts to compare intelligence.”

Last week, extra jammers were installed at both the Port-of-Spain and Golden Grove prisons.

Attempts to contact Stewart on yesterday’s exercise proved futile.

In July last year, three prisoners escaped from the Port-of-Spain prison armed with guns and a grenade.

Allan “Scanny” Martin and Hassan Atwell were eventually killed while Christopher “Monster” Selby is back in custody.

A 38-year-old construction worker has been charged with the rape of a Jamaican national in Trinidad.

The man was arrested at his Trincity home on Thursday morning by officers of the Chaguanas CID and North Eastern Task Force.

Yesterday, he was placed on an ID parade where he was identified by the victim and another witness.

The man was subsequently charged and will appear before a Tunapuna magistrate tomorrow.

According to reports, the 26-year-old woman arrived at her home in Orchard Gardens, Chaguanas, on April 24 around 5 am, when she was accosted by a man who placed a knife to her throat and demanded that she hand over her belongings.

The woman told the man she had nothing, whereupon he forced her into her home where he allegedly raped her and then escaped through the front door.

WPC Alicia Joseph is heading the investigations.

Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart says reformed prisoners in the various prisons are mentoring youths to stay away from crime and warning them that there is no future in crime.

He was speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday at the end of a rally against violence march themed “All lives matter” at the Brian Lara Promenade which began at the Croisee, San Juan. 

Stewart said, “We have a group right now who were on the walk from the female prison, YTC (Youth Training) and maximum security prison.

“They would be using their mistakes and experiences as a message and testimony to the youths to strengthen their resolve, to let them know that crime is not the way and using their stories to touch and save lives. 

“They're undergoing a training course and programme while in prison, and going out after, mentoring to the schools and institutions.

Various groups and schools, he said, also come to the YTC and prisons making tours and the mentors lecture to them about staying away from crime. “It isn’t an alternative and there is no future in crime,” he added.

Spokesman for the young mentors, Winston Jonathan, 20, an inmate of the YTC who was charged for breaking and entering with larceny said they spoke about peer pressure, what they used to do and how they ended up at the centre. 

Jonathan said the youths listened to how he and others had changed as people and they tried to give them “a little push” to see if it could change their lives. 

Secretary of the Malick Folk Performing Company, Jemma Jordan, said many of its members' lives had been affected by the violence taking place in society. Jordan said there were many avenues in which they could channel their energies such as cultural organisations because people involved in culture rarely became perpetrators of crime. 

Speaking briefly at the Croisee, San Juan, Sports Minister Darryl Smith said the majority of people in T&T were good, law-abiding citizens and they needed to send a message to the few bad apples that the nation was not going to tolerate their behaviour any longer.

JOEL JULIEN

joel.julien@guardian.co.tt

The wrong-sized Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, valued $34 million, has been installed at the Scarborough General Hospital.

As a result of this, dozens of patients who are unable to fit into the MRI machine’s tunnel now have to be flown to private health institutions in Trinidad to get their MRI scans done at taxpayers’ expense.

It costs approximately $4,000 to do a routine MRI scan.

Those MRI scans are said to be done at the Alexandra MRI Ltd, located on Alexandra Street in St Clair, Trinidad.

Alexandra MRI Ltd has the first and only open MRI unit in the Caribbean—the Philips Panorama High Field Open (HFO) machine.

The Panorama HFO offers an alternative to the tunnel-like MRI units.

The only MRI machine at a public health institution in this country that can accommodate “obese” patients is at the Couva Children’s Hospital which remains closed.

An MRI scan is a non-invasive scan that sees inside the human body. It uses magnetic fields and pulses of radio wave frequency to take pictures of tissues, ligaments, arteries, joints and structures. 

Cabinet granted approval for the purchase of an MRI machine for the Scarborough hospital costing $34 million, according to the 13th report of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Group 2).

A Magnetom Avanto MRI machine from Siemens was commissioned at the hospital last year.

However, when trial runs were being done last August, it was realised that the machine was the wrong size to accommodate “many people in Tobago.”

George Bryce, the project site manager at the hospital, wrote Patrick Caesar at the National Insurance Property Development Company Limited (Nipdec) on the issue on August 19.

“The Magnetom Avanto (MRI machine) installed at the MRI/Cath Lab facility at the Scarborough General Hospital is a 60 c.m. bore while the documents pg 35 employers requirement calls for a 70 c.m. bore machine,” Bryce wrote.

“At one of our many trial runs this morning (9.30 am August 2015), a male test patient (330 lbs weight) was unable to be processed. This was minus body coils. Think about a female patient,” he wrote.

“I wish to point out that there are many people in Tobago with body weights well in excess of 330 lbs. This machine therefore will not be able to handle these obese persons.”

“Please treat this advisory with the utmost dispatch,” he wrote.

Bryce then referred to the document provided by Siemens about the Magnetom Avanto machine.

“The Siemens document claims ‘For claustrophobic patients, Magnetom Avanto enables feet first exams for nearly all MRI procedures. For obese patents, it supports up to 250 k.g. (550 lbs), without table movement restrictions,” Bryce wrote.

The letter was copied to the head of department at Nipdec, Vyas Ramphalie; Nipdec’s project manager, Damien Leach; Yunfei Zhang, the contractor’s representative at China Railway Construction Caribbean Company Ltd (CRCCCL); David Jaikissoon, the managing director of Biomedical Technologies Ltd; Ronald Koylass, the project manger at the Ministry of Health; and Dr Rohit Doon, the adviser of Health Promotion, Communications and Public Health at the Ministry of Health.

Biomedical Technologies responds

On August 20, Jaikissoon replied to Bryce’s letter.

Biomedical Technologies Ltd is listed as a “cooperation partner” in this country on the Siemens’ Web site.

“We acknowledge receipt of a copy of your letter to Mr P Caesar concerning the Magnetom Avanto 1.5T MRI unit installed at the Scarborough Hospital.

“In this regard please see that attached published equipment specifications by Siemens which were submitted with the tender documents indicating that the unit supplied has a 90 c.m. bore which meets the tender requirements,” Jaikissoon said.

The document provided by Jaikissoon stated the Magnetom Avanto’s “magnet parameters” include a “Magnet bore diameter of 90 c.m.”

The document explained that the “magnet bore diameter” was “without shim coils, gradient coil, RF (radiofrequency) body coil” and that the “inner diameter” was actually 60 c.m.

The “inner diameter” is “inclusive of the shim coils, gradient coil and RF body coil,” the document stated.

According to Siemens’ website the “bore size of the Magnetom Avanto is 60 c.m.”

Bryce: No comment

The Sunday Guardian contacted Bryce last week on the situation but he said he had no comment to make.

More info

On May 22 last year the Magnetom Verio was delivered at the Couva Children’s Hospital.

The Magnetom Verio is the only MRI machine in a public health facility in this country with a 70 c.m. bore, the size that the Scarborough General Hospital requested.

The Magnetom Verio is said to be the first Three Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (3T MRI) in the Caribbean and one of only 300 operational in the world. 

The Children’s Hospital, however, remains closed.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said on Friday that the Couva hospital will be officially handed over to the Government on May 30.

An online group, Safe Drivers for Efficiency, has created a petition for the Government to increase the speed limit on highways to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph.)

The petition comes one day after Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds announced that from tomorrow police will be using speed guns to ticket offenders who go over the speed limit.

The speed limit is currently 80 kmph.

The petition, which had gained over 2,000 signatures by late yesterday evening, proposed variable speed limits.

The proposal included a 120kmph limit on long, open stretches of highway, 100kmph approaching simple highway intersections and 80kmph approaching complex highway intersection areas.

The proposal also included a limit of 60kmph at complex intersections. 

The petition said modern and recent vehicles were safer in crashes at these speeds and the TTPS was now equipped and legally allowed to enforce speed limits. 

It said the same 80 to 120kmph limits were presently enforced with radar guns and cameras in Spain where road maintenance and conditions are similar to this country’s. 

“We are not advocating lawlessness but are lobbying for reasonable modernisation of our laws. The reality is that thousands of people in Trinidad & Tobago have been safely commuting for decades at 100 to 120kmph on average.”

Confused, frustrated and heartbroken is how Chandrawatie Nandlal, the common-law wife of former Centrin worker David Francis, says her family feels after a High Court injunction was granted late Friday night to stop Francis’ funeral. 

However, Nandlal said she intends to challenge the injunction tomorrow. 

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian from her Perseverance, Couva, home yesterday, Nandlal said she was home around 11 pm on Friday when attorney Gerald Ramdeen and a police officer came asking for her.

“With all the things they are saying about me, my daughter started crying because she did not know what was happening,” Nandlal said. “They came and gave me the injunction, telling me I could not do the funeral again.

“I am so confused, I don’t know what to do...nobody knows what is going on with me and I am hearing talk that this woman is coming with her attorneys to take my house from me and my children.”

Francis was found hanging at the home he shared with Nandlal and their two children on April 21. He was one of some 200 workers who were given notices of retrenchment by Centrin on February 25 and at the time of his death, relatives told the media Francis was depressed over mounting debts.

An autopsy done on April 25 by pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, revealed Francis died as a result of hanging.

However, Francis’ substantive wife, Donna Francis, along with other relatives, questioned the autopsy findings and had another autopsy done on his body on Friday. The second autopsy was done at a funeral home by Prof Hubert Daisley and the results differed from Alexandrov’s findings.

Donna Francis, through attorneys Ramdeen and Suschilla Ramkissoon-Mark, applied for a High Court injunction on Friday after the autopsy results and High Court Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh granted the request. 

But Nandlal is questioning how Donna Francis could have more rights to Francis’ body than she.

“We have been living together for 19 years, he and her (Donna) got married and were together for five years before he and I pick up. When they break up, he went his way and she went hers, they didn’t have any communication and everything David and I have, we make from scratch.

“I think it is just money they are after because Centrin management had promised to pay David’s severance and to pay for his funeral,” Nandlal added.

“We just want to lay him to rest and start to heal but they are attacking us on all sides. I am going to hire my own lawyer and challenge the injunction. Right now, I am looking for a lawyer to help me because I really don’t know what is going on.”

In the meantime, Nandlal said she was going to stop holding nightly wakes for David as the expense has become too much for her to bear.

“Just to make two announcements that the funeral was put off cost $700 and every night I keep the tents and chairs is an extra cost. I really don’t want to do it, but I have to...I can’t afford to do wake every night.”

Valdeen Shears-Neptune

It was a case of repetitions, as far as residents of Trincity and environs were concerned, following the close of a meeting with a team sent by Bhagwansingh Hardware and Steel Industries Ltd.

The residents, who are protesting the construction of a five-storey commercial building at the Trincity Central Road, were represented by the community body, Trincity Advocates for a Sustainable Community (TASC).

Both parties gathered yesterday at the auditorium of the Bishop Anstey East High School, Trincity, for the second consultation meeting to discuss the residents' ongoing concerns.

During the interactive meeting, traffic in the area was raised multiple times.

Minister of Planning and MP for the area Camille Robinson-Regis said she was committed to holding discussions with Minister of Works and Transport Fitzgerald Hinds to find a long-term solution to residents’ continued traffic woes.

Also there to lend support was Dr Carol James, an executive of the Save our Green Space, who took on the construction of a sporting complex in the Tacarigua area and won in the courts.

James noted that the developers should refer to the judge's recommendations that the impact on the community, environment and residents aways be considered from the planning stage.

“People before buildings,” she urged the company’s team, which consisted of independent environmental consultant Ruquyyah Abdullah; Christian Edgehill, structural engineer of Planviron; Imtiyaz Adam, managing director of Adams Project and Construction Ltd; and Thomas McCartney, architect at OBMI.

James also noted that the developers continued to mention the area was earmarked for commercial use, but now housed a community.

The minister reminded James that there had been no change in the zoning, and reiterated that the initial plans had always earmarked the area for commercial use.

She said as MP for the area and minister she was now caught between a “rock and a hard place.”

Robinson-Regis also noted that when protest action was first taken, last year, she had stipulated that all statutory approvals be re-examined.

They were all found to be above board, she said.

James and other residents questioned if the company was setting aside the ethical and moral aspect of their grievances based on legalities.

The plan by CL Financial (CLF) majority shareholder Lawrence Duprey to repay the group’s “bailout” debt to Government involves the creation of two Clico entities, one of which should have a total asset base of $10 billion and focus solely on meeting the obligations of traditional policyholders.

Duprey detailed the proposal in a March letter to the Central Bank governor and Finance Minister Colm Imbert. 

It’s part of current moves to try and regain control of his former companies following the 2009 CLF collapse and subsequent government bailout and in the face of current government consideration to dispose of Clico assets, and possibly CLF’s, to recoup the bailout funding.

In an exclusive Guardian report last Thursday, Duprey confirmed that he was heading to legal action to block any asset sale since there had been no word from the Central Bank or the Ministry of Finance on his proposal.

Compounding the situation, the United Policyholders Group, comprising Clico policyholders, subsequently on Friday demanded attention from the Central Bank and Government on issues they also have.

In Duprey’s letter to Central Bank, he said: “The outline of the plan I have presented addresses the obligations of Clico and has not addressed the TT$2 billion injected into Clico Investment Bank. Having taken the decision to liquidate the institution, my team and I are ready to explore potential alternatives which can enhance the payout to the remaining institutional creditors without a liquidation of the valuable assets.

“In addition no attempt has been made to collect from defaulting obligors. Nevertheless we remain committed to settling all obligations.

“The plan outlined herein to repay (i) Preferred Shares (ii) All EFPA outstanding over a ten year period, and in the case of the preferred shares—five years represents a reasonable base for discussions between the Central Bank as regulator and my team of advisors...I hope we can put the two teams together that will result in a contractual and full payout of all government outstandings.” 

Duprey said he had appointed Dr Brian Harry and Steve Bideshi, his financial advisors, to meet with Central Bank Governor Alvin Hilaire to discuss the proposal. Harry is a consultant and former president of the defunct Tourism and Industrial Development Company (TIDCO), while Bideshi is a retired Citibank executive who served as the CEO of CL Financial between July 2009 and January 2010.

In the letter to the Central Bank, Duprey said his proposal is based on Clico’s audited 2013 results and subsequent media releases. 

“My financial advisors and I have also met with executives of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citibank to understand the terms and conditions of leverage to be provided to the group, which is essential to the effectiveness of the repayment programme. 

“We’re of the opinion that the optimal solution to maximising free ‘cash flow’ to repay the Government lies in the adoption of the good bank/bad bank concept utilised in the global banking industry to resolve state bailout repayments. The most applicable one is the Citigroup model where the bank continues to present annual financial statements for Citi Holdings—(bad bank) & Citi Corp (good bank).”

Duprey proposed creating two legal entities—Clico traditional and Clico non-traditional.

He said Clico traditional will retain sufficient assets to support traditional insurance legacy liabilities. 

“Based on 2013 audited results, this entity should have a total asset base of approximately TT$10 billion and should be completely compliant with the new insurance act and will focus solely on meeting the obligations of the traditional policyholders and the redemption of the preferred shares owned by Government amounting to TT$4.9 billion.”

He added: “We believe that Clico, after the receipt of proceeds from the sale of Methanol Holdings can repay a further TT$3 billion (TT$4 billion was made in Fiscal 2014) towards the retirement of EFPA, thus leaving an estimated balance of TT$4.5–4.8 billion to be serviced on terms and conditions agreeable to both Government and our group of companies over a 10 year period.

“We’re of the opinion that Clico may not need 10 years to fully redeem the $4.9 billion preferred shares but by year five should be in a position to execute a local capital markets solution for TT$2.5 billion to fully repay Government the balance outstanding.”

Duprey said the present process of “selling” Clico’s traditional portfolio erodes the financial base for the full repayment to the Government. He asked Government to halt the process immediately.

Moves are being made by the Parliament to improve constituency management arrangements and to ensure MPs comply with the parliament’s guidelines manual on this.

And it’s possible the guidelines will be reviewed when the Parliament takes its annual recess in August.

A senior parliament official confirmed the developments last Friday, following continued calls for clarification earlier in the week about the guidelines. This followed concerns in March about some MPs hiring relatives at their constituency offices. 

Sunday Guardian was told upcoming improvements will include provision of manpower to administer constituency arrangements since there has been no compliance unit to ensure MPs adhere to the guidelines.

Questions on the guidelines—past and present—simmered up to last Monday following PNM Port-of-Spain South MP McDonald’s March 17 dismissal from the Cabinet on three sets of misconduct allegations, now under probe by police and the Integrity Commission (See Box) . One issue concerned the hiring of two persons—including someone allegedly close to her—at her Port-of-Spain South constituency office over the last 2010-2015 term.

It was later revealed that relatives of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and UNC MPs Bhoe Tewarie, Barry Padarath, and Rushton Paray, had also worked at their respective constituency offices in this 2015-2020 term.

Parliament’s 2010-2015 MPs’ manual states MPs “should not hire members of their immediate family (defined as spouse, children or parents) to work in their constituency office.”

The 2015-2020 manual states members are restricted from employing relatives including spouses/co-habitants; children/step-children/adopted children/grandchildren; parents/step-parents/grandparents; siblings; nephews/nieces; uncles/aunts; cousins.

The parliament official explained that guidelines for the last term concerning hiring practices at constituency offices were extensively changed over August-September 2015 (after the last Parliament was dissolved), not only in relation to employment issues, but also regarding how MPs contract and terminate staff.

They said, one of the reasons for the change was the issues that emerged in the last term concerning hiring practices overall, and on the recommendation of auditors, responding to public spending in constituency offices. 

There were also matters before the Industrial Court due to a “pattern” of conduct in human resource practices in the last term, they confirmed.

In the allegations against McDonald, the Fixin’ T&T group claimed that in the last term, Michael Carew—described in various news reports as McDonald’s “ common law partner,” and other terms—and his brother Lennox Carew, had been hired at McDonald’s constituency office.

Persad-Bissessar subsequently confirmed two relatives were employed at her Siparia constituency office. Noting the new guidelines for the new 2015-2020 term, she’d said she was seeking clarification from the Parliament on the situation.

UNC’s Padarath had said the employment of a relative working at his office since he became MP was terminated after he received the new guidelines in February. Padarath said he contacted the Clerk of the House and offered to repay $60,000 in salaries paid to the person.

UNC’s Tewarie also said a relative had been working at his office, but no longer was.

UNC’s Paray confirmed a distant relative was among staff he inherited from the previous MP’s tenure. He said after the guidelines were issued, he sought guidance from the Parliament and was assured there was no issue. Paray said the person remained employed part-time.

In the resulting furore, Parliament subsequently issued a questionnaire about the guidelines to MPs to fill out, and their feedback has been submitted.

But MPs Padarath and Paray, who returned to seek further clarification from the Parliament recently, said they were assured there were no sanctions and they’ve called for publicised clarification.

Clearing the air, the parliament official explained to the Sunday Guardian that guideline manuals for a term are formulated by parliament’s secretariat headed by the Clerk of the House who receives recommendations on spending of public funds.

It was noted that revisions to the manual are done from time to time, generally during the dissolution of a Parliament when audit/queries/recommendations are taken on board and a review of policies can be done concerning public expenditure.

The manual is underpinned by decisions of the House Committee—the team of MPs that deals with members’ comfort in Parliament—as well as financial regulations and other legislation that Parliament follows. 

But there is no compliance unit to follow up and ensure guidelines are adhered to, it was confirmed.

It was also confirmed that the House Committee doesn’t approve the guidelines, but can propose to the House Speaker that changes be made. 

MPs can also use the committee to review the manual and, after the dissolution of a Parliament, the incoming House Committee can examine the guidelines.

Following comprehensive overhaul of the 2010-2015 manual, they added, guidelines for the current term involve extensive ammendments regarding all HR practices, which now allow formalised contracting and termination processes 

At “this time,” they added, no sanctions apply to MPs from breach of the guidelines, “beyond public odium/disrepute which MPs will suffer if they breach it.”

How UNC MPs,

Marlene, stand

During the week, the Sunday Guardian confirmed the two employees at Persad-Bissessar’s office haven’t been paid and were sent on vacation leave.

Padarath said when he again sought clarification last month on the issue, he was told by the Clerk of the House there was no sanction concerning the former employee’s hiring, since no laws or rules had been broken, and because the manual was simply a guideline. He was also told MPs had the prerogative of challenging the guidelines.

Tewarie also wrote the Clerk in March, indicating the employee at his office—a niece—had resigned.

Sunday Guardian checks confirmed McDonald, also, sought clarification from Parliament via a March 22 letter which attempted to find out if any violation occurred with the employment of Michael and Lennox Carew.

The letter stated Carew was employed from June 2010 to September 7, 2015, and that Parliament’s 2010-2015 guidelines stated MPs shouldn’t hire members of their immediate family, defined as “spouse, children or parents.”

It was pointed out, Carew was neither spouse, child nor parent.

The March 22 letter explained when new guidelines were introduced this term, Carew was no longer in the employ of the constituency office. It also stated Lennox Carew was employed from 2010 to 2011 and wasn’t among the list of restricted groups outlined in the 2010-2015 guidelines.

In a March 23 reply from Parliament, it was stated that “having regard to the information provided,” it was considered “the clarification being sought was unwarranted.”

McDonald hasn’t replied to 23 Sunday Guardian queries posed to her since March 24 on issues including Carew’s status or the other matters facing her, and remains mum.

Padarath said, “It’s about time specific clarification is made to resolve the guidelines issue including who approved it, when it was approved and why specific measures weren’t taken to inform MPs.”

Padarath said proper arrangements should have been made to inform MPs of the manuals for the new term.

Paray added, “I’d hoped by after Easter the matter would have been given closure via a public statement from Parliament. Closure has to come if no rules were broken; something should be said in terms of people’s reputation, particularly regarding new MPs, such as myself seeking guidance.”

GUIDELINES

The guidelines for the current 2015-2020 parliamentary term weren’t formulated or approved by either Speaker Wade Mark in 2010-2015 or the current House Committee which recently entered office.

This was confirmed by Mark and House Committee chairman Camille Robinson -Regis during the week.

The current House Committee, appointed October 20, 2015, is chaired by Robinson-Regis. The TT Parliament Web site listed no meetings as having been held. Robinson-Regis said nothing was listed because the Committee hasn’t yet met since its inception and has had no matters referred to it. Since the Committee hasn’t met, it wasn’t the body which approved the 2015-2020 guidelines.

Robinson-Regis added, “The guidelines weren’t formulated or approved by the current 11th Parliament or current Speaker,” she added.

Mark said the 2010-2015 Parliament operated with guidelines from the previous term (Ninth Parliament) when the PNM was in office. “When I became Speaker in June 2010 I never saw any new guidelines. These matters are addressed by the parliament’s secretariat.”

He said a Speaker remains in office until a new one is elected. But he said at the end of the last 2010-2015 term he resigned two weeks before the convening of the new Parliament since he was asked to serve as a UNC senator. 

He added that the date on the guidelines for the 2015-2020 term was “September 2015” without a specific date. “Those guidelines therefore weren’t seen or approved by me. Maybe it was done by the Parliament secretariat at the dissolution of Parliament.” 

PROBE OF ALLEGATIONS

Several people—including certain PNM members—have been interviewed by police so far in the probe of allegations against McDonald concerning the Calabar Foundation, a source said.

Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge and Fixing T&T had pursued that matter, requesting a police probe as well as action by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Integrity Commission (IC) following allegations of misconduct against McDonald.

Sturge had also referred to the police, DPP and IC, allegations that McDonald assisted Michael Carew—described as someone with whom she had a personal relationship—to obtain a Fidelis Heights house during the Manning administration’s tenure when she was Community Development minister. Several past HDC officials, including the former CEO, have been interviewed by the IC on this, a source said.

JOEL JULIEN 

joel.julien@guardian.co.tt

The Trinidad Cement Limited Group (TCL) chairman Wilfred Espinet’s sale of all of his “direct holdings” in TCL has raised some eyebrows among shareholders of that company.

On April 4, some 9,542,695 of TCL’s ordinary shares were sold by a “shareholder connected to a director” in two transactions—5,612,665 and 3,930,030 shares.

“A shareholder connected to a director” purchased the entire amount that same day.

The transaction is valued at more than $33 million.

The total of 9,542,695 shares specifically represented Espinet’s entire direct holdings in TCL as at December 31.

At that date Espinet also had 742,500 in “indirect holdings,” according to TCL’s annual report.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on the issue last week, Espinet said the sale simply represented a “reorganisation” of his “affairs.”

“The sale relates to my shares specifically. It is a transaction whereby I am doing some reorganisation and the shares were transferred from some of my operating companies to a company that holds the shares now,” Espinet said.

“It is a reorganisation of my affairs,” he said.

The sale and purchase of the shares were announced on the T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE) on April 14.

The details of the transaction have not been released by either the TTSE or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

TCL shareholder Peter Permell said while he has no issue with a director or connected party buying or selling shares in a company the transaction must be done transparently.

“Firstly, I wish to make it clear that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with any director or connected/related party disposing of or purchasing additional shares in the company in which he or she is a shareholder,” Permell stated.

“However, any such ‘material change’ must be disclosed in a timely fashion,” he stated.

According to the Securities Act No 17 of 2012 a “material change” is defined as “a change in the business, operations, assets or ownership of an issuer, the disclosure of which would be considered important to a reasonable investor in making an investment decision.”

Section 64 (1) of the Securities Act 2012 introduces a new three-part procedure for treating with the disclosure requirements of material changes. 

It requires reporting issuers to file a report with the commission, certified by a senior officer, containing details of the substance of the material change within three days of the date of the change.

A notice of the material change, authorised by a senior officer, must also be published in two daily newspapers “of general circulation in this country detailing the nature and substance of the change within seven days of the change.”

A copy of the published notice must also be filed with the commission within seven days of the material change.

The determination as to exactly what constitutes a material change lies with the SEC.

The TCL celebrated a “remarkable year” last financial year as the company recorded its highest ever revenue of $2.1 billion and “successfully restructured its debt, generating positive cash flow in the reporting period,” Espinet said.

On April 22, TCL held its annual general meeting at the Hilton and the board declared the payment of an interim dividend for 2016 in the amount of four cents per share. 

“The dividend was declared after taking into consideration certain financial, legal, contractual and economic factors, and is the first such payment since the dividend for the year ended December 31, 2007,” the material change report on the SEC’s website stated.

“The dividend payment will be made on Friday July 01, 2016, to Shareholders listed on the Register of Members, as at a Record Date to be fixed,” it stated.

Several million was paid by various People’s Partnership government ministries in rent for certain unoccupied buildings over 2014 to 2015, including large sums for a St Clair property leased by the past People’s National Movement administration which the PP continued to pay for, according to the Auditor General’s latest report. 

The Auditor General’s report for October 2014 to September 2015 was laid in Parliament yesterday, along with the Public Accounts of T&T for 2015.

The report revealed ...numerous instances at various ministries /departments where financial regulations and instructions “continue to be disregarded.” 

Findings included “examples of weaknesses in the system of internal control and non-compliance with legislative requirements and/or financial directives.” Concerns were also raised about lack of proper maintenance of records.

“The state of the Internal Audit function in ministries and departments remains a matter of grave concern as in prior years,” Auditor General Majeed Ali stated.

On rented properties which remained unoccupied, the report stated that a total of $47, 813,544.78 cents was paid for the period 2009 to 2015 for rental of the Alexandra Street, St Clair, building.

That cost and period encompass from the 2009 tenure of the previous PNM administration, when the building was rented, to 2015 when it was categorised under the ministry which was known as the Ministry of the People and Social Development under the past PP administration.

The report stated that Cabinet in 2009 agreed to the lease/rental of office space in a building located on Alexandra Street to accommodate the Local Government Ministry. 

Approvals were later seen for the outfitting of the building. Information received revealed that the lease was transferred to the Housing and Urban Development Ministry (effective August 1, 2014) and then to the Ministry of the People and Social Development (effective May 19, 2015). 

The report stated the building remained unoccupied from inception of the lease in December 2009. No new payments were made after June 2015.

Payments on the lease comprised the Local Government Ministry’s payment of $40,223,544.78 cents (December 1, 2009 to July 31, 2014). The Housing Ministry also paid $6.9 million (August 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015) and the Property and Real Estate Division paying $690,000 (June 1-30 2015).

The report also stated the Attorney General’s office leased a building on Pembroke Street, Port-of-Spain, in June 2012 at a monthly rental of $115,000 and it remained unoccupied until March of this year. The report stated amounts totalling $4.3 million were spent on outfitting the building. Total rental of $4.4 million was paid from the inception to September 30, 2015.

It was also noted that the Public Administration Ministry paid total rent of $5.3 million over May 2012 to September 2015 for unoccupied premises on Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain. 

Rental was discontinued last month. The report noted the situation contravened instructions to eliminate non-essential services and to use “public funds to the best advantage.”

The Gender Affairs Ministry also paid total rent of $514,146.60 over January 2015 to September 2015 for unoccupied premises at Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain. The rental is said to be ongoing. 

Rent totalling $525, 718.33 was also paid for unoccupied premises on High Street, Siparia, over June 2014 to September 2015. Rental continued to December 2015, after which the agreement was discontinued due to lack of an elevator.

The Energy Ministry also paid total rent of $851,999 over December 2014 to September 2015 for unoccupied premises in La Romaine, reportedly waiting to be outfitted.

The report noted that the $275 million head office for a Motor Vehicle Authority at Caroni Settlement has been completed and keys for the facility are ready for handover to the Transport Ministry. 

However, the legislation to establish the authority has lapsed with the last Parliament term and that building remains also unoccupied.

On another matter, the report noted that vouchers to support two transfers totalling $396,900,677.00 and schedule of accounts recording two other transfers, totalling $101,307,055.73 to the Tobago House of Assembly, were not produced for audit. 

The report also noted construction of the Education Ministry’s $8 million Southern Academy Early Childhood Centre was stopped in May 2015 after a 20 per cent advance payment of $1.6 million was made to the contractor of the project.

It was noted that a Memorandum of Understanding with the executing agency, the Education Facilities Company, was not produced. The project was stopped reportedly due to “stakeholder related” matters. The ministry indicated on April 4 that the project was temporarily on hold. 

Major weaknesses were noted in the system of the Ministry of the People’s senior citizens’ grant. A total of 1,089 overpayments, valued at $8.2 million, were found.

A sample of overpayments at the Caroni Local Board revealed four overpayments totalling $441,125.25 occurred, as people were issued with two file numbers and received two sets of payments. 

Arrangements to receive timely information on deaths from the Registrar General to minimise overpayments have not “been realised,” it noted.

MORE ISSUES IN REPORT

• PARLIAMENT: Constituency employee data forms required to record details of employees’ terms and conditions were not produced at five constituency offices visited.

• INTEGRITY COMMISSION: Showed information of 35 people employed on contract for the year at a total cost of $6.8 million but audits showed 41 employees on contract who received payments totalling $5.5 million.

• POLICE SERVICE: Cabinet approval not seen for the hiring of 163 people on two-year contracts with monthly emoluments totalling $2.3 million.

• SPORT MINISTRY: Ministry info showed 52 employed on contract for the year, costing a total of $6.5 million, but audits showed an additional 37 employees who received payments totalling $2.3 million.

• TERTIARY EDUCATION: Documents not produced to support payment of $268 million to four agencies (under transfers/subsidies). Documents not produced to support payment of $125 million. 

• OVERPAYMENTS: A continuing problem, particularly noted at Education, showing 107 cases totalling a cost of $9.5 million, compared to $ 4.3 million recovered. 

• ENVIRONMENT: $888,892 payment for construction of box drains and ten bridge crossings but site visits revealed drains and only three crossings completed.

• INLAND REVENUE: Limited scope on certain data denied by “invocation of the official secrecy provisions of Income Tax Act challenged audit of revenue at the IR division. Weaknesses in internal control and lack of access to information are “red flags to emphasise the need for more intensive investigation” into IR’s operations.

• IR: Numerous instances where documents requested for audit were not produced.

• NATIONAL SECURITY: Contracts not produced for three projects costing a total of $1.4 million.

• ESTIMATED: 52 per cent of overpayments from 2011 to 2015 were recovered over that period.

Twelve years after four people were charged with kidnapping four-year-old Saada Singh from her Vistabella school, the matter has not yet been set for trial.

Yesterday, the matter came up on the cause list before Justice Maria Wilson in the San Fernando High Court but was adjourned to next month.

The child’s former schoolteacher, Kimberly Moonsammy, her cousin Jonathon, Colleen Osbourne and Keston Franklyn are charged with kidnapping the child on June 3, 2009.

Seven years ago they were committed to stand trial in the High Court by Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan at the conclusion of a preliminary inquiry.

It is alleged that the four accused abducted Singh from her kindergarten school and took her to an unknown destination. 

She was found wandering two days later along a isolated dirt road off Murray Trace, Siparia. She was unharmed.

Moonsammy and Franklyn were represented by attorney Keith Beckles while Jonathon and Osbourne were represented by attorney Ian Brooks.

There are still some issues to be sorted out so the matter was adjourned to June 14.

A 19-year-old cashier was shot dead on Monday night as gunmen opened fire on two men killing her as she went to throw garbage outside her home in San Juan. 

According to police, around 9 pm police were alerted to gunshots on Bagatelle Road, San Juan. When they arrived they found Karin Grant dead along with a man who remained unidentified up to late yesterday.

A third man was shot in the leg and is warded in a stable condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. 

Police believe one or both men were the gunmen’s target and suspect the shooting may be in retaliation to a shooting in Laventille Road last week. 

Police said the unidentified dead man was sitting on a staircase peeling oranges when he was ambushed.

While the gunmen pounced on him, Grant was walking nearby and was shot. The second man escaped as the gunmen, with an automatic weapon, opened fire indiscriminately. 

Speaking with the media yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, Grant’s older brother, Kimroy, said Grant’s mother, who is hospitalised for a heart condition, had to be sedated after hearing her daughter was killed.

“She used to like to be in all the activities... camping, hiking and those kind of things. She liked to do sports and thing. She was never in gang or anything.

“She was a person who was always home,” Kimroy said, adding his sister worked at as a cashier at a company in the Fernandes Compound, Laventille. 

The dead woman studied to become a mason with the Multi-Sector Skills Training Programme.

Kimroy added his family had constantly asked their landlord to secure the property as the area was open, causing men of ill-repute to assemble there as it was a great vantage point. 

He said: “The thing is we renting up there and the landlord has a no trespassing sign but we can't tell them that and they don't take that on. Them men have sure firepower. 

“We talked to the landlord because people get rob, tenants get order to move out because a man put up security cameras and they shoot up the place. 

“This girl was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Normally she would just come out on the step and talk to her friends and then go back inside. 

“She's not no bad person,” Kimroy said, adding that his sister, the youngest of four children and only girl, was a “normal teenager” who just started to live her life. 

“I only scrubbing blood whole day off the wall. Some of it not even her own. She used to take care of my six-year-old nephew and he keeps telling me last night that Karin dead.

“I don’t even know if he knows what that means. He used to be with her all the time, when she go and sleep, he does go to. She used to take care of him like a mother,” Kimroy said. 

The carpenter added now his cries for safety measures to be put in place have fallen on deaf ears by the landlord and his sister being killed at her home, his only option now was to move out. 

“Moving out is an option, knowing the area always hot. I working across the road from my home but this not making sense. No one want to live in the area or go in that room (where Karin slept),” he added.

Seventeen-year-old Amy Babwah grabbed her sleeping baby and hid behind a wardrobe as gunmen pumped multiple bullets into her husband’s body after storming their Marabella home on Monday night.

The teenage mom and her seven-month-old baby girl escaped injury but her 35-year-old husband, Selwyn John, died in the living room of their Bayshore home. 

John was killed one day after his neighbour, Dixon Richards, 22, who lived a few houses away from him, was shot dead in front his home. 

Richards was found by his mother bleeding from gunshot wounds at their doorsteps on Sunday. 

The murders have left residents, who believe the two shootings could be linked to a turf war, fearful for their lives.

Police reports said two gunmen accosted John shortly after 11 pm. 

John’s father, Kelvin Ramcharan, 57, who lives close by said he heard about 12 shots. 

In an interview yesterday, Ramcharan said: “He (John) now bath and gone inside. He hear the door kick and he come out the bedroom and they offload shots in he. 

“I hear it was three men. I now done bathe and change meh clothes and I sit down eating. I hear about 12 shots. I came outside and I see his wife running coming. She was crying and bawling.”

She left the baby inside the house and came for help, he added.

When he got to the house, Ramcharan said he saw John lying on his stomach. “They did not ask him nothing they just buss it on him,” said Ramcharan. 

Babwah grabbed the baby who was asleep on the bed just five feet away from the living room. “The mother tell me when he (John) come out and she hear the gunshot she gone behind the wardrobe with the baby,” said the father.

Babwah’s two-year-old son who also lives with them was by his grandmother at the time of the shooting. Ramcharan did not know Babwah’s whereabouts since she left with the police after the shooting.

John also has two other children—a nine-year-old boy and eight-year-old girl —from a previous relationship.

Admitting his son had a criminal past and previously sold drugs, Ramcharan said he did not know whether he was still involved in illegal activities. 

Ramcharan did not share a close relationship with his son but he said he did not deserve the way he met his death.

He said John was also charged for being involved with Babwah because she was a minor. In November 2014 John claimed he was kidnapped and taken to Venezuela when he appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court for missing his court date, burning Babwah’s clothes and assaulting three police officers. 

Concerned about the crime situation, Ramcharan asked: “A killing Sunday and Monday. Who next? What next?

Also expressing his concern, another resident said: “We believe is the same people who do the shooting Sunday do this. Somebody wants to control the scene. The man (John) was just trying to survive.”

John’s sister-in-law, Shadah John, called for frequent police patrols in the area. 

She claimed the police only patrol one area of the community. An autopsy said John was shot seven times. San Fernando police are investigating. 

After three failed attempts, two autopsies and a court battle over the body, fired Centrin worker David Francis, who was found hanging at his Couva home two weeks ago, will finally be laid to rest tomorrow.
His common-law wife, Chandrawatie Nanlal, said the service would take place at the family’s home at Carli Bay at 9.30 am following which his body would be cremated at the Waterloo cremation site according to Hindu rites.After three failed attempts, two autopsies and a court battle over the body, fired Centrin worker David Francis, who was found hanging at his Couva home two weeks ago, will finally be laid to rest tomorrow.

His common-law wife, Chandrawatie Nanlal, said the service would take place at the family’s home at Carli Bay at 9.30 am following which his body would be cremated at the Waterloo cremation site according to Hindu rites.

As she made preparations to say final farewell to her partner of 19 years Nanlal advised women who were involved in common-law relationships to use her as an example and put their houses in order before it was too late.

Especially to women who are in a relationship with married men, Nanlal, advised: “Make sure he get a divorce.”

Although Francis was in a relationship with Nanlal he never divorced his married wife, Donna Francis, from whom he was separated for 19 years.

Nanlal, already dealing with the loss of her partner had to endure a court battle mounted by Donna and his relatives to claim Francis’ body.

Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, sitting in the San Fernando High Court on Monday, discharged the injunction and awarded Nanlal the authority to proceed with funeral rites. He also instructed the warring “wives” to give him a dignified send-off.

“I hope that everybody in the country see what went on with me. All women who living in common-law relationships, especially those who are living with someone who is married, let that man get a divorce because this is a terrible situation I was in,” she said in a telephone interview yesterday.

“They tried to sink me,” she said of the allegations that her husband was murdered, hence a second autopsy.

“I am so sorry this had to happen to David. My husband suffered so much. If his relatives had loved him, they would not have put him and us thorough this,” she added.

Nanlal said she would do her best to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for the funeral. However, she said she would request a police presence in the event it was not.

“I want the funeral to be peaceful. I want everything to be good. He worked hard and left me in comfort. I want to do the best for him.”
As she made preparations to say final farewell to her partner of 19 years Nanlal advised women who were involved in common-law relationships to use her as an example and put their houses in order before it was too late.
Especially to women who are in a relationship with married men, Nanlal, advised: “Make sure he get a divorce.”
Although Francis was in a relationship with Nanlal he never divorced his married wife, Donna Francis, from whom he was separated for 19 years.
 Nanlal, already dealing with the loss of her partner had to endure a court battle mounted by Donna and his relatives to claim Francis’ body.
Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, sitting in the San Fernando High Court on Monday, discharged the injunction and awarded Nanlal the authority to proceed with funeral rites. He also instructed the warring “wives” to give him a dignified send-off.
“I hope that everybody in the country see what went on with me. All women who living in common-law relationships, especially those who are living with someone who is married, let that man get a divorce because this is a terrible situation I was in,” she said in a telephone interview yesterday.
“They tried to sink me,” she said of the allegations that her husband was murdered, hence a second autopsy.
“I am so sorry this had to happen to David. My husband suffered so much. If his relatives had loved him, they would not have put him and us thorough this,” she added.
Nanlal said she would do her best to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for the funeral. However, she said she would request a police presence in the event it was not.
“I want the funeral to be peaceful. I want everything to be good. He worked hard and left me in comfort. I want to do the best for him.”

Former attorney general Garvin Nicholas says an Attorney General’s role goes further than “only acting when told to do so.”

Nicholas made the point yesterday in applauding AG Faris Al-Rawi for his initiative in seeking to examine the statistical groundwork concerning decriminalisation of marijuana. 

Support for the AG’s initiative came from several quarters after Prime Minister Keith Rowley subsequently said the matter wasn’t discussed with Cabinet and Government wasn’t examining it at this point. 

Nicholas, detailing how AG’s operate traditionally, said, “While I’m saddened by the behaviour of the PM on this issue, I’ll applaud the present AG for his initiative.

“It’s without question that the AG’s responsibilities go further than being legal adviser to the Cabinet or only acting when told to so do. The AG is a constitutional creature of the Government and the role is diverse and far reaching. It surely cannot be expected that every action contemplated by the AG must first receive Cabinet or prime ministerial approval.

“While ministers—the AG included—must formulate plans along the broader policy framework approved by the Cabinet, this is not to say a minister cannot seek to influence or change policy. It’s of utmost importance that ministers attempt to influence changes when necessary. However, the doctrine of collective responsibility dictates that policy changing should be done at the level of Cabinet first.”

Nicholas added, “As attorney general, I strongly believed that we as a country needed to look towards the decriminalisation of marijuana. On many occasions I was questioned by the media on the subject. I was very conscious that if the AG pronounced on an issue such as this, it would be deemed government policy, so I didn’t.

“Having not received consensus at Cabinet level for this proposal, it would have been irresponsible of me to pronounce on it. But this didn’t prevent or stop me from taking soundings or consulting. I consulted with the CJ, DPP, acting CoP, religious heads, psychiatrists, foreign partners and legal colleagues on this issue. I also received a significant body of data to support decriminalisation and the subsequent regulatory framework which I’d be happy to share with this AG for the good of all.”

Nicholas, however, said the AG must “not put the cart before the horse as he might risk falling out of favour with the PM and subsequent replacement by a younger more compliant minister.”

Political analyst, Dr Hamid Ghany, said the AG was a Cabinet member and the PM was entitled to comment on policy issues from any ministry. But he said the AG was exercising his individual ministerial responsibility and was entitled to pursue whatever initiative he thought his ministry should, which may ultimately have to be taken to Cabinet for approval. 

“So this looks more like a miscommunication gap within the Government; also the PM reacted to a headline since he said he didn’t read the story,” Ghany added.

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath said, “We have prime ministerial Government here—the PM is in charge and none of the ministers would dare do anything against his wishes. While not necessarily the best thing, as it puts all the power in the hands of one, it’s the process of Cabinet Government.

“I note this Government has many new ministers who would be on their ‘ps’ and “qs” to ensure they don’t go against the leader. The AG, while experienced, is in his first term of Government. But since the PM can hire and fire, these ministers are walking on eggshells, when you also look at how the health minister reacted after a recent issue, involving some of his statements.”

Ragoonath said: “It seems the PM is pulling them back in line every so often...it’s not a good thing as it suggests we have a maximum leadership.”

Former public service head Reginald Dumas said ministers don’t have to “run” to Cabinet for everything.

“If so, we’d be back to (Eric) Williams’ days. I recall one minister went to Whitehall urgently to ask Dr Williams how to reply to a question a journalist posed. But we can’t return to the days when Cabinet was dominated by Williams and ministers were afraid to take initiatives for fear of being clobbered.”

More info:

The AG’s statements came last Thursday when he was asked about the lobby to decriminalise “weed” which has simmered in recent years among various quarters including the Judiciary and was renewed recently with calls to the new PNM administration. Last Tuesday, Downtown Owners and Merchants Association president, Gregory Aboud, supporting the Catholic Church’s “mercy” call for certain remanded prisoners to be freed, also called for decriminalisation of marijuana beyond medicinal purposes.

In that overall context, Al-Rawi was asked the position on decriminalisation. He had started off his reply by saying his ministry is reviewing several laws, “...one of which is the Dangerous Drugs act, and yes, it’s that piece of legislation that deals with the criminalisation of cannabis.” He’d made it clear any studies, statistic-gathering, including consultations, wouldn’t be an overnight process and no snap decision would be taken.

As a man with no letters behind his name, Fr Reginald Hezekiah was described yesterday as indistinguishable from the masses as he obeyed the call by God to serve in the priesthood.

Delivering the homily at his funeral service yesterday at the Cathedral for Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, Fr Leslie Tang Kai said Hezekiah was a “true servant and child of God.”

Hezekiah, 82, passed away on April 21 at his family’s home in the US. He died of a massive heart attack.

Addressing the packed church as well as parishioners who gathered under tents set up in the churchyard, Tang Kai said despite the challenges Hezekiah faced during his travels abroad, he was always able to rely on God’s grace to ensure there were no lasting effects.

Tang Kai said: “He had his own unique way of loving God through God’s people.”

Revealing that Hezekiah had missed his initial flight to the US as he was busy ministering to parishioners, Tang Kai said it was a similar situation as he missed his return flight to T&T, this time because he had never awoken.

Joking that drama often followed Hezekiah, even in death, Tang Kai said that never prevented him from helping others and influencing people, including family and friends through his chosen vocation.

Despite his sudden passing, Tang Kai said Hezekiah remained committed to organisations, such as the Living Waters Community, as he believed in encouraging people to accept the faith.

Tang Kai appealed to the men and women present to recommit themselves and dedicate their lives to God, the church, the archdiocese and the memory of Hezekiah for his unrelenting work to promote the church.

Presenting a personal tribute, Hezekiah’s niece, Carolyn Hezekiah-Hoitela, extended condolences to both the church and the extended masses locally and abroad as she recalled fond times spent with him during his annual holiday trips.

She spoke of his love for apple-stuffed tarts and pies, especially those that were “extra crisp,” and his insistence that he “must get some to take back home.”

Like Tang Kai, she too spoke of her uncle’s inability to keep track of his travel itinerary as he was always uncertain of the exact dates of travel which often times led to the family having to “scramble” to ensure he was packed and ready to go.

Hezekiah-Hoitela also spoke of her uncle’s penchant for misplacing his collar, mainly when he was getting ready to travel.

She said that never posed a problem for him as he would quickly improvise by fashioning one of anything that was handy. His only requirement, she said, was that it had to be white.

Also in attendance at the funeral yesterday was President Anthony Carmona, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Esmond Forde, former minister Winston Dookeran and mas man Brian Mc Farlane.