A ray of hope has come to five children in Brickfield who have never been to school and could not read or write. The children, who live with their parents in a squatters’ settlement off Kali Temple Street in Brickfield, do not have birth certificates required for their acceptance into schools.

Between the ages of six and 15, they are now being taught to read, write and do Mathematics by social worker Christine Mathura. Mathura, who was attached to the Ministry of Education, said when her contract ended in July last year she took up a job as manager of the Life Hope Centre.

Gweneth Stuart, secretary of the centre, works closely with Mathura. The centre was set up in Brickfield, a predominantly Hindu, former sugar cane community, by Pastor Clifford Shameerudeen of the Seventh-Day Adventist church to provide avenues for the villagers’ development in all aspects of life.

“I started a preschool at the centre and held classes four days a week,” Mathura told the T&T Guardian.

Mathura, 48, a mother and grandmother, said she works at the centre four days a week from 11 am to 7 pm.

“I started the children off with the alphabet and taught them to write the letters. In six months, the 11-year-old could write the alphabet and can now read.

“The eldest, 15, was also doing very well in Maths and wanted to read and learn. But he stopped attending classes to learn the car repairs trade.”

Mathura said another government social worker, who has been assigned to the family, has been trying to secure the children’s birth certificates, but they cannot be released without the mother’s consent. The children’s mother works with the State’s Cepep programme.

The Life Hope Centre has also assisted the family in constructing a bathroom. Mathura said she has found other children in Brickfield proper who, although in school, also have reading challenges.

“These are children who are in Standards Four and Five. We set up a home work centre, a computer class and a CXC Maths class. We pay a tutor to come and teach young people preparing for exams,” she said.

The Life Hope Centre plans to introduce an adult literacy class in Brickfield too. A significant number of people suffering with diabetes and hypertension in Brickfield have also been benefiting from a health programme offered by the centre.

Mathura said, however, that she did not identify poverty as a problem in the area, even though most of the women are employed in Cepep and the men in off and on construction work. 

“People here know how to survive.” She said their health problems could have something to do with their diet. And alcoholism.
 
“We have doctors come in and attend to them and have cooking classes. 

“With government assistance, we got 40 diabetes testing devices for them and plan to start an alcoholic rehabilitation programme soon. We also offer counselling to those who need it,” Mathura said.

The centre has already started a fitness class and the women are delighted.

“They say they are feeling much better since they started exercising.”

Mathura said she has found working with the Life Hope Centre very fulfilling.

“I felt God allowed my contract to end so I could come and work with the villagers here,” she said.

“I was involved in the food card programme at the ministry and was limited in the kind of rehabilitation work I wanted to do.

“The original idea behind the food card programme was to teach recipients how to eventually go and catch a fish and wean them off state dependency. There were plans, but they never really came through.

“As a result, clients became dependent on the State and did not develop skills to find sustainable employment.”

Mathura said she now feels rewarded when villagers tell her the Life Hope Centre has brought something good to Brickfield.

“They are very willing to learn and develop. I love them. They have become a part of my life.”

Ralph Banwarie

A Sangre Grande family’s Mother’s Day celebration came to an abrupt end on Saturday night, after a man’s hand was partially severed during a cutlass attack. 

Carl Bassanta, 30, of Mary Street, Sangre Grande, remained warded at Sangre Grande Hospital in stable condition last night nursing chop wounds to both his hands. According to reports, around 8.30 pm on Saturday, Bassanta and a 33-year-old relative were at the celebration when an altercation between both men ensued. A few minutes later, Bassanta, who is employed at the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, left to go use an outdoor toilet. 

While in the toilet, however, the relative he had the altercation with approached him with a cutlass and began firing several chops at Bassanta. Bassanta tried to avoid some of the chops by placing his hands on his face and head, which resulted in both his hands being chopped. 

His left hand severed while his right hand was chopped in several places during the attack. Bassanta ran out of the toilet screaming in pain and collapsed in the yard. Relatives later assisted police in placing Bassanta in a vehicle and he was rushed to Sangre Grande Hospital for treatment.

A relative has been detained and is assisting police with their investigation. Detectives Ryan Sookdeo and Aleem Hosein of Sangre Grande CID responded to the incident and Hosein is continuing investigations.

Over a decade of physical and verbal confrontations between father and son came to an end on Sunday night when Sham Siewnarine was stabbed to death, as his mother told T&T Guardian, by his father.

The distraught woman was an eyewitness to the tragic confrontation that occurred in the home she shared with both men.

She said that Siewnarine, 28, was stabbed once in the chest. He died at his Gopee Trace, Penal home while she frantically awaited the arrival of an ambulance. 

His father is a 60-year-old retiree.

Flora Siewnarine, 57, recounted the events leading up to her only son’s death during an interview with the T&T Guardian at her home yesterday.

She said she had celebrated Mother’s Day at her daughter’s Enterprise, Chaguanas home and returned to Penal around 9.30 pm, together with the older man.

“Both of us went by my daughter for the day and when we come home, he (Sham) was not home, he had gone out drinking all day with his friends,” Flora said. 

“We went to sleep and Sham come home a little while later and start cussing and banging on the door.”

Fearful that her son would beat her and her husband for yet another time, Flora begged him not to answer to Sham’s taunts.

“I keep telling him ‘Boy don’t go outside, he will beat you again.’”

Eventually the father did go outside as Flora said Sham’s antics became too much to bear.

“Sham started playing the radio real loud and he (his father) went outside and take it off, when he came back to bed, Sham put back on the radio more loud.”

The man went outside a second time, bringing the radio into his bedroom.

“He bring it and put it on a chair and that is when Sham come in the room and start beating him. He was kicking him and using his foot to squeeze his neck and stop his breathing. I was begging him not to do it, I thought (he) was going to die.”

She was able to calm her son enough to get him away from his father and take him into the kitchen.

“I was asking him why he getting on and he tell me we lock him out the house. But I carry him in the kitchen and show him the door was open and he say ‘Mammy ah sorry.’”

Tragic end

At that point, unknown to Flora, the man had taken up a knife and come into the kitchen.

“He make one lil’ swipe across Sham throat, but it just scrape him and then I push him away. But Sham kick the man and he fall down, when he get back up, he just rush him and stab him.”

Flora said when Sham fell, she was able to put him onto a table in the kitchen, while the other man ran off in shock.

“Sham was saying, ‘Mammy, he stab me’ and I make him lie down on the table, I was using one hand to block the wound and the other to pump his chest and help him breathe.”

Flora said the older man panicked and took off the breakers in the panel box, leaving her and her dying son in the dark.

“I try to put it on back but I didn’t know what to do and the whole place was dark. I couldn’t see to do anything so I run by Sham cousin to get somebody to put back on the lights for me.

“When we come back, he was already gasping for breath and all he say was ‘Water’, I give him some to drink and then he hand just drop from mine...and that was it. It didn’t even take five minutes for him to die.”

But Flora said although she loved her son, he kept his parents “living in hell” for years.

“I fed up make report at the Penal Police, every time they just come and talk to him and leave, they never lock him up or anything. Sham used to beat us all the time, when he was sober he was a real nice person, but anytime he drink it was like living in hell.”

“He was always threatening to kill us and beating me and the man up.”

She said that now she is alone, she does not know how she will cope without the men in her life.

“One dead and the other one lock up...I don’t know how to cope with this, I really don’t know what I will do.”

The older man was taken to the Siparia Health Facility on Sunday night after being held by officers of the Penal Police Station, and was treated and discharged.

He remains in police custody. 

Officers at the Penal Police Station confirmed that he had made several reports about Sham Siewnarine in the past. The officers further confirmed to the Guardian that the father of the dead man is the only suspect in the case. 

A Mother’s Day lime turned into a wake on Sunday afternoon when a 35-year-old man was gunned down while at a party close to his home at Eastern Main Road, Tacarigua. 

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Susan Austin said her son, Kevon Austin, was supposed to have spent the afternoon with her, his grandmother and other relatives, but their happy day turned into one of mourning after he was shot. 

According to police reports, Austin got into an argument with some men while he was at the party. Police said one of the men pulled out a gun and fired at him. The gunman and his friends ran off as Austin collapsed and lay dying. The shooting took place around 5 am, police said. The number of people murdered is now 164, 30 more than for the same period last year.

“It was a bittersweet Mother’s Day for me, he would usually call me for Mother’s Day but then this come and happen. I didn’t know what to do. Everyone has to go some day. At first I couldn’t take it. We was supposed to go by my mother later in the day for a little lime,” Susan said, adding that her son was a construction worker who had turned his life around.

In an unrelated incident, the body of a man found at the side of the road on Saturday was identified as Adonis Khan, 48, of Edinburgh Village, Chaguanas. Khan was positively identified by his son Afraz “DJ Imran” Ali who said his father was a street dweller having been addicted to drugs. An autopsy revealed Khan died of a heart attack. 

While several Independent Senators didn’t attend yesterday’s meeting with the Attorney General on the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Bill, the Opposition UNC has reluctantly agreed to meet with the AG on the bill this morning.

This, as Senators prepared to debate the controversial bill this afternoon where several Independents are expected to air their views on it.

In debate last Tuesday, Independent Senators Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir and Melissa Ramkissoon rejected the bill. The Opposition, also panning the proposed law, cited concerns about the SSA director being a political appointee, called for amendments to allow an independent oversight body to supervise the SSA and urged deeper examination by a Parliament select committee.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi then invited Opposition and Independent Senators to separate meetings with experts on the bill ahead of today’s debate. 

The Independents were asked to meet the AG at 4 pm yesterday. But the Opposition took issue with being relegated to a meeting at 11.30 am today (two hours before debate on the Bill). The Opposition had threatened to “storm” yesterday’s meeting with the Independents at Tower D, Parliament office.

Al-Rawi wrote both Independent and Opposition benches on Sunday, noting that the UNC Government had held in-camera sessions with Independent members on bills, claimed the PNM wasn’t invited and explaining why separate meetings were being held.

T&T Guardian checks with Independent Senators yesterday confirmed that Senators Hugh Roach and Stephen Creese had been scheduled to attend yesterday’s 4 pm meeting.

Creese said he wanted to hear what was being proposed. He wondered if the issues the AG wanted to address hinged on national security and couldn’t be discussed in today’s public debate.

“Right now I’m still neutral on the bill,” Creese said prior to the meeting.

No-shows 

Prior to the meeting four of the nine Independents told T&T Guardian they could not attend for various reasons.

Independent Senator Sophia Chote said she was not attending the AG’s meeting and had set out her reasons in an email to Al-Rawi. She said it was not appropriate to make those public but her thoughts would be clear on the overall matter - bill included - when she speaks in debate, likely today.

Independent Taurel Shrikissoon said he had a prior engagement and emailed the AG that he was unable to make it yesterday. He said he would give his presentation in the Senate today. Independent Jennifer Raffoul, also absent, is scheduled to speak in today’s debate.

Independent Senator David Small, speaking to T&T Guardian en route to the airport, said he was bound for an overseas meeting and had missed last week’s debate also due to a Washington meeting. Small said while he wasn’t against anti-crime mechanisms, he thought the bill was too wide and needed refocussing.

“I am not greatly perturbed but there are a couple issues we need to sharpen. It needs a second look. Divergence of view is healthy democracy. Perhaps in the meetings, things will be explained. We have to try to work out as many flaws as we can for T&T,” he added, suggesting scrutiny by a special committee. Independent Paul Richard was unavailable. 

At a media briefing, at the Parliament yesterday, members of the Opposition explained why they would attend today’s meeting.

“While our senators are extremely displeased by your handling of this matter, we are left with little or no choice but to accept your invitation to attend a meeting... at 11.30 am (today).”

The Opposition’s letter, detailing its displeasure at Al-Rawi’s actions, called on Government to delay debate for at least a week for its members to caucus on matters raised in the meeting.

UNC slam process 

UNC’s Gerald Ramdeen said the AG’s meeting with the Independents flies in the face of criticisms his (AG’s) leader Keith Rowley made in April 2013 when he complained about the then People’s Partnership government holding meetings with Independents on legislation. 

Ramdeen said mistakes were made in the past and the UNC intended to do the right thing. “The PNM said we must work together but this isn’t working together,” he added.

UNC’s Wade Mark said the AG’s brief meeting with the Opposition today demonstrated contempt for the Opposition.

Al-Rawi, during a break in the meeting with those Independents who attended yesterday’s meeting, said “several” came. He declined to say who.

He said the meeting wasn’t a lobby but involved national security officials clarifying issues. He said it was advisable to separate the Independents and Opposition since the former didn’t operate under a “whip’ (leader) but the Opposition did.

He said the UNC forgot the PP had held meetings with Independents on bills. Al-Rawi also said Rowley’s April 2013 remarks on “secret” meetings with Independents was in the context of the then PNM Opposition not being invited those meetings. 

On whether the Government was giving the Opposition too short a time for today’s meeting, he said the Opposition had already said it wouldn’t support the bill. He said the Opposition’s amendments were being studied. 

Even though there has been a noticeable decrease in speeding on the nation’s highways with the introduction of speed radar guns, a teenage driver died yesterday from injuries sustained in a collision.

Sunil Maraj, 19, of Temple Street, Warner Village, Charlieville, was seriously injured after he collided with a car along the Munroe Road flyover on Sunday. He succumbed to his injuries around 2.30 am yesterday at the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex, Mt Hope.

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, relatives of the dead teen said drivers were still disregarding the law and believed that led to the death of Maraj. 

Relatives claimed he was heading east along the flyover when another vehicle, a tow truck, gave him a “bad drive” forcing Maraj to swerve and collide with an oncoming car, driven by one of Maraj’s cousins. 

The truck, they said, never stopped.

“I would encourage young people to do defensive driving (course)...all drivers, whether young or old. Make it compulsory to do some defensive driving. It does help,” one of Maraj’s uncle’s said, adding the speed guns does not make him feel any safer on the road. 

Maraj was heading home around 2 pm when the accident happened. His relatives said the teen looked up to his uncles and enjoyed fishing and bird-rearing. 

Retrenched highway workers have threatened violence and vow to dispose of the remaining assets of their former employer, Brazilian construction company Construtora OAS, if they fail to get their outstanding salaries and severance pay by the end of the week.

For several hours yesterday the workers’ protest caused traffic gridlock in several areas in South Trinidad as they blocked the Golconda Connector Road and the South Trunk Road, La Romaine, demanding their monies.

“We want we monies right now,” they shouted, as other workers dragged an old water tank and pieces of wood across the Golconda Connector Road, preventing access to the highway. 

Only ambulances and undertakers on their way to the Forensic Science Centre were allowed through the blockades. 

At the Mosquito Creek, pieces of steel and other discarded material from the construction site were dragged across the South Trunk Road.

Riot Squad officers from the Police Service were called in and by 2 pm, the road blocks were cleared. However, the incensed workers spent most of the day outside OAS gates at Golconda, demanding to speak with OAS country manager Rodrigo Ventura and project director Ailson Agib Pereira. Nobody responded as several OAS expatriates had evacuated the company’s offices since 9.20 am.

Worker representative from the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union, Jameel Thomas, claimed 860 workers, 60 local contractors and some managers were owed in excess of $200 million.

He said during a previous meeting, OAS officials promised the outstanding payments by last week Thursday. However, Thomas said even though workers received payslips, they never received any monies in their accounts.

“What is frightening now is that OAS has sent home its payroll staff. The human resource manager was also sent home. The OAS superintendent said we will get money but we are still owed two outstanding salary payments for the April 15 and April 25. We are asking the management for weeks now but they saying they cannot pay us because Nidco (the project manager) has stopped them from selling their equipment.”

Expressing fear that the managers will pack up and go, Thomas called on Government to intervene and compel OAS to pay severance pay.

Ex-workers want Govt to intervene

Many of the workers said they were waiting on their severance pay to settle their debts. Nikisha Mitchell, who has two children, said she has not been able to find a job since she was laid off in January. 

“It hard for me because the bills piling up.” Former scaffolder foreman Frankie Rampersad said he was puzzled as to why the company would issue payslips but not send outstanding salaries to the workers’ bank accounts. “Something is amiss and if we don’t take action this company could leave T&T when the contract ends in May,” Rampersad said. Another worker, who works in the administration department, said at a staff meeting Ventura promised that all salaries would be paid by May 15.

Spokesman for the contractor Alister Rambharack said more than 60 contractors and suppliers were owed more than US$40 million. He called on Nidco to release OAS’s US$280 million performance bonds deposit and allow the company to pay off workers.

“Nidco is operating based on the committee that the Government formed. AECOM, the engineering firm hired by Nidco, has indicated that they never overpaid OAS. Nidco is not communicating with OAS and Government is playing politics with our lives,” Rambharack said.

Saying local contractors and workers were facing the biggest losses out of the stalled highway project, Rambharack said it was time for Government to reach out and help workers. Nidco’s project manager Earl Wilson yesterday declined comment. However, Nidco’s corporate communications manager Ingrid Ishmael said the non-payment of workers was a matter between OAS and the workers. 

Asked whether it was possible for performance bonds to be released to OAS to pay workers, Ishmael said workers were being misinformed. 

MORE INFO

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On May 2, prior to his departure from T&T, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said the contract with Construtora OAS for the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project to Pt Fortin may be terminated and the Government was seeking to “extricate” the State from a very “difficult, scandalous arrangement.” He said the Attorney General’s Office was guiding Nidco in the matter. He said the project had to be completed under new contractors.

Damian Devenish, who has been living at Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, for the past eight years, is one of over 100 Trinidadians who have been left homeless and jobless since the worst wildfire in Alberta’s history broke out about one week ago.

Last Tuesday, Devenish, 39, was at his Timberlie home, which is located one kilometre away from where the forest fire broke out, when he received the evacuation bulletin that the entire town of about 83,000 residents had to be evacuated immediately.

Fort McMurray is in the heart of Canada’s oil sands country and the region has the world’s third-largest reserves of oil.

As much as a quarter of the country’s oil production has been halted by the fire, raising concerns about the effect on the Canadian economy. There are warnings the blaze could burn to the edge of a facility run by Suncor Energy but officials said the risk of damage was low.

Devenish, originally from Lange Park, Chaguanas, is permanently employed at Syncrude Canada Limited as a heavy equipment operator.

Currently housed in a caravan miles away from Fort McMurray, he told the T&T Guardian yesterday he was worried about his home, his personal belongings and his prized racing car which he left behind.

“I think my house survived, not 100 per cent sure as yet but I can’t get back to town for a few weeks,” Devenish said.

Recalling the last few moments before fleeing, Devenish, who packed only a week’s supply of clothes and his personal documents, including his passport, in his SUV, described the situation as chaotic.

“I saw people abandoning their cars and running with their shirts covering their faces because the heat was so intense that their cars started to melt.

“I saw a man abandon his truck, back up his caravan off his truck, took his wife and new-born baby, a dog and a bag of dog food and drove through the grass to avoid the traffic and to escape,” Devenish said.

“I thought to myself how lucky I am to come out alive but I was also thinking about how many friends who lost everything and the only thing they had were the clothes on their backs. I ended up giving some of my clothes to people who did not get time to pack,” he added.

In the past week, Devenish has been house hopping by friends in Calgary and Edmonton and for the past three nights have been staying in a mobile home.

“Thousands are homeless, jobless and many of them have lost everything in the fire. Right now, at least 1,000 vehicles are seen parked along the road as they are said to be running out of fuel. The nearest gas station out of town is 200 kilometres away. It is very grim,” he said.

“There are dozens of water bombers and helicopters with water baskets also trying to help the hundreds of fire fighters on the ground to put out the fire. I am seeing people setting up tents alongside the highway as they either have nowhere to go or ran out of fuel or their cars overheated or just that they are exhausted. The fire is still raging out of control,” he added.

Devenish said he was in touch with his mother, who is in T&T.

“She is very worried but I assured her that I was about 700 kilometres away from the fire so, she calmed down a bit.”

Asked how he was coping, Devenish replied: “The whole of Canada has been extremely helpful. We are getting either free or cheap stuff for Fort McMurray residents. Restaurants, hotels, gas stations, everywhere we go we are getting help.”

The last damage assessment estimated 1,600 structures, mostly homes, burned in the south and southwest areas of the city, 435 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

According to officials, even though the fire has largely pushed through Fort McMurray, the town is still too dangerous to enter. 

The city’s gas has been turned off, its power grid is damaged and the water is undrinkable. 

One analyst from the Bank of Montreal estimated insurance losses could exceed Can$9 billion. 

The effects from various mosquito-borne diseases represent a “big hole” in regional health security and there must be a collaborative approach to eradicate this scourge.

So said Dr James Hospedales, executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), while speaking at the launch of the Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week held at CARPHA's head office, Federation Park, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

“If a mosquito-borne disease can spread so easily it is a hole in our health security,” Hospedales said, adding that there were no specific treatments, vaccines or preventative drugs for such diseases as treatment was mainly for the symptoms.

The event which was a collaboration between CARPHA, the Caricom Secretariat and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) was themed, “Small Bite, Big Threat: Fight the Bite, Destroy Mosquito Breeding Sites.”

Hospedales urged that all mosquito-breeding sites be eradicated, especially with the advent of the rainy season, adding that this would assist in reducing the negative economic impact on the region.

He said Zika virus transmission has been reported in 37 countries of the Americas and since then the virus has been reported in 14 CARPHA member states.

The latest statistics released by the Ministry of Health last week revealed that 23 people had tested positive for the Zika virus in T&T and a second confirmed case of a pregnant woman had been diagnosed. 

Regional corporations throughout the country have been on campaigns to rid potential breeding grounds of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the virus, and the programmes are expected to be boosted in the coming weeks as the rainy season has already begun.

The virus, Hospedales said, has been reportedly spread at the same rate as chikungunya, which was one infection per week.

“Despite much increased public education, despite vector control, this virus has just been rolling on through.

“Zika shows that we could never let our guard down where infectious diseases are concerned, particularly as we are a very tourism-oriented part of the world,” Hospedales said.

He said throughout the Caribbean this week various governments would be stepping up their eradication campaigns with a particular emphasis on protecting pregnant women.

Chief Medical Officer at the Health Ministry, Dr Clive Tilluckdharry, who also spoke, said this country has been battling mosquito-borne diseases for many years including dengue which has remained endemic.

He warned that chemical spraying must be limited as careless and ad hoc use could have disastrous consequences.

Dr Douglas Slater, assistant secretary general of Caricom who welcomed the initiative, said Caricom was, however, concerned about the cost associated with such diseases including the risk associated with long-term costs like that of microcephaly, a condition where babies are born with unusually small heads.

He said a recent proposal was made to have taxes suspended from equipment to combat such diseases including mosquito nets.

This proposal, Slater added, was submitted to individual member states for consideration and approval.

The death of two-year-old Jacob Bastaldo has been ruled accidental.

Pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said yesterday after an autopsy on the child’s body that the injuries were consistent with a fall.

The child died on Friday at the Chaguanas Health Facility and his grandmother, Sharmaine Bastaldo, had suspected foul play in his death.

Alexandrov said from his examination the injuries were caused after the child fell on Wednesday injuring his head and abdominal cavity. 

Alexandrov said the death was accidental due to the child sustaining a combined abdominal trauma and minimal injuries to the head.

“What happened was on Wednesday the child fell and hit his head on a coffee table. The height of table was the exact height of abdomen. So the abdomen hit the corner and the injury was a ruptured liver, which is actually very significant because he was bleeding. The child lost a significant amount of blood,” Alexandrov said.

The pathologist said that the child sustained minor injuries to the head, which were described by media reports as marks of violence. 

“Bottom line is this is not a homicide, the injury is inconsistent with excessive force used by someone on this child,” Alexandrov said. 

Young Jacob was rushed to the Chaguanas Health Centre on Friday night and was pronounced dead at 7.25 pm. According to police reports, it was while at the Caroni home of his father Brandon Brown that the child’s mother noticed that her son was not responding as he usually did.

She told police around 6.40 pm on Friday, she took the child to the Chaguanas Health Centre. Less than an hour later the child died.

Very few Venezuelans are taking the chance to enter T&T illegally through unofficial ports of entry as the coastline along the South Western peninsula is being manned around-the-clock by a T&T Coast Guard vessel.

The vessel, according to villagers at Icacos, has been anchored off the coast for the past two months.

Villagers at Cedros also confirmed that and said that on a sunny and clear day one could see the anchored vessel. It is alleged that a helicopter and an interceptor “work alongside” the Coast Guard vessel.

“We see them patrolling in the air and over the ocean between Venezuela and here (T&T),” a villager (who wished anonymity) from Cedros said.

During a trip to the peninsula last Friday, some Icacos fishermen, who all wished to be unidentified, alleged that they were harassed by Coast Guard officials.

“Because of this we are unable to ply our trade properly. We cannot fish and right now we are all suffering as a result,” one fisherman, aged 54, said.

His son claimed that things were so hard that he could not take care of his children and feared that he would be sent to the courts for child maintenance.

However, T&T Guardian understands that some Venezuelan nationals take the chance to “bribe” T&T fishermen by handing over drugs, guns and ammunition in exchange to be brought into T&T through illegal ports of entry.

Some fishermen even take the Venezuelan women as wives and have them living with them here in T&T.

It is said that since the heightened coastal patrols along the coastline by the Coast Guard, this kind of trade/ human trafficking is becoming more and more difficult.

“There are one or two that still slip in. Just this morning (Friday) I saw two Venezuelans coming aboard a fisherman’s pirogue,” another Icacos villager said.

Since the crippling of the Venezuelan economy, especially in recent times, even food and water have become scarce necessities.

Scores of Venezuelans, both men and women, sacrifice 60,000 Venezuela bolivars, which is equivalent to just under US$100, to travel to T&T via a passenger ferry from Venezuela. An average of 350 Venezuelan nationals, according to unnamed Immigration sources, arrive on a monthly basis at the port in Cedros.

However, that same trip from T&T to Venezuela would cost TT$1,200 but very few Trinbagonians actually make that trip, according to Immigration sources.

Some days, according to 58-year-old Cedros villager, Mohan Seraj, scores of Venezuelans line the street and erect tables where they sell clothes, footwear, jewelry, ornaments and hammocks. Their prices start from TT$100.

During the visit to Cedros on Friday, the T&T Guardian met with two Venezuelan women who were selling items that they brought from Venezuela.

When asked to comment why they came here to sell, both Spanish-speaking women declined to answer. However, a close friend of theirs said that because of the economic crisis Venezuelans come here on a daily basis to trade their goods for money in an attempt to better their livelihood back in Venezuela.

“Some of them come for a day or two. Some of them stay for months. Sometimes they rent a room from someone here for TT$250 a day or some villagers here in Cedros feel very sorry for them and keep them in their homes for free. Some of them even spread out to other areas in Trinidad and stay permanently, most of the times illegally,” one Cedros villager said.

“They come to sell either here in Cedros or Point Fortin or as far as San Fernando. What can you really do? They are desperate and looking for a means to survive. You can’t blame them for trying,” the villager added.

When asked how the Coast Guard battled illegal entry by Venezuelans and how many of them have been taken into custody or sent back upon interception out in the high seas when they attempt to come to T&T to trade drugs, arms and ammunition for food and baby stuff, public affairs officer Lt Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste would only say:

“I am failing to understand where the concerns are because Venezuelans have been trading by sea for decades upon decades, in droves before you and I were born and it is continuing. That trade does not end. I suppose now that there is an economic situation and they have probably intensified their trade because they need to eat but there is nothing strange about those movements in terms of them trading and going back.”

An email listing several questions sent to Venezuelan Ambassador Coromoto Godoy-Calderon last week went unanswered. Several calls to the Venezuelan Embassy in an attempt to speak with her were unsuccessful as she was said to be not in office.

Arrival statistics

According to data received, arrivals from Venezuela jumped by 6,000 between 2013 and 2014, from 15,008 to 21,052.

In 2015, the Governments of Venezuela and T&T agreed to expand their strategic and co-operative partnership in several areas.

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro reportedly said both nations will set in motion co-operation agreements in energy, trade, tourism, security, education and culture.

US Travel Advisory to Venezuela

Armed robberies take place throughout the country, including areas generally presumed safe and frequented by tourists. Street crime can occur anywhere and at any time of the day or night. Even upscale residential areas are not immune from street crime and home invasion robberies.

While visiting Venezuela, US citizens are encouraged to maintain a low profile and carry as little US currency as possible. Avoid conspicuous displays of wealth, such as wearing expensive watches or jewelry, and avoid having cellphones or other electronic devices visible to avoid becoming a target of crime.

Incidents of piracy off the coast of Venezuela remain a concern. Yachties should note that anchoring offshore is not considered safe. While the majority of reports involve local fisherman, foreigners have been targeted. Some of these attacks have been especially violent and resulted in the deaths of the passengers aboard the ships.

Marinas, including those in Puerto La Cruz and Margarita Island (Porlamar), provide only minimal security, and US citizens should exercise a heightened level of caution in Venezuelan waters. 

The Government has put “a temporary hold on 11,800 of 13,000 food cards recipients” as of May 1.

Last September, the ministry also stopped the monthly $500 Baby Care Grant which was the brainchild of former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Confirmation came yesterday from Minister of Social Development and Family Services, Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn, in response to comments made by former minister of the people and social development Christine Newallo-Hosein.

During a United National Congress meeting in Aranguez on Monday, Newallo-Hosein told party supporters the ministry had decommissioned hundreds of food cards given to vulnerable and poor families, while the Baby Care Grant was abruptly stopped.

Newallo-Hosein said scores of food card recipients came to her to complain that after picking up basic food items at supermarkets and taking it to the cashier, they unexpectedly discovered that their Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme cards, also known as the food cards, had been deactivated by the ministry. The cards carry values of $410 to $700. 

Many of the recipients, Newallo-Hosein said, faced “embarrassment” since they had to put back the groceries on the shelves and leave empty-handed. 

Commenting on the food card issue, Crichlow-Cockburn said as of May 1, 11,800 food card recipients had their cards put on hold. 

“But they would have already received their monies in April,” Crichlow-Cockburn said.

Monies were processed for the cards on the first of every month, she said.

During the months of March/April, Crichlow-Cockburn said the ministry’s 13,000 food card recipients who had not completed the enrolment process for the “biometric system”, were advised via the print and electronic media to do so.

“The public was advised that as an interim measure, persons who failed to enrol would have their cards placed on hold, causing a temporary disruption in access to their funds. 

“If you recognise there is an interruption with the card you would come in. So if you do not come in, is either you no longer need the card or you probably believe there is some reason why you should not come in,” she added.

Of the 13,000 recipients, Crichlow-Cockburn said only 1,200 have responded so far.

“A temporary hold has therefore been placed on 11,800 accounts,” she disclosed.

“This hold will be ongoing until a decision is made. What I would recommend is that we give them three months to come in. Before we take them off the system we will put back advertisements in the newspapers to inform them. Once they are taken off the system they would have to re-apply to get back on,” she said.

Last August, Crichlow-Cockburn had indicated that the food card programme had led to millions of taxpayer dollars being lost and that 4,000 cardholders had been decommissioned as an audit of the programme was to take place.

“The full audit has not started as yet. Usually we do internal audits. We are hopeful that if it (audit) does not start this month, at least next month,” she said.

Crichlow-Cockburn admitted that there were a number of “irregularities” with the cards “that would have given cause for concern, hence the reason why we would have requested the audit.” 

She said the cellphone numbers and addresses of many of the cardholders were wrong, while those who were contacted refused to come in for one reason or the other.

“That is a red flag. This is food to put on your table. It should be a priority.” 

The monthly budget for the programme is $24 million.

“That money comes directly from the Ministry of Finance,” Crichlow-Cockburn said.

In a previous interview, Crichlow-Cockburn stated that 3,049 food cards were issued during September 2015 to March 2016.

She also confirmed that the Baby Care Grant, which was approved for one year by the then PP government, was stopped last September. She said up to April, 447 mothers had accessed the $3,000 monthly grant to the tune of $1,079,500.

“That was the previous administration’s policy. However, I have asked the ministry to do a review of the grant and to make recommendation in going forward. That is yet to be completed,” she said.

Last April, then Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley stated that the estimated budget for the Baby Care Grant had been inflated by almost $100 million. Rowley said the then PP government had overpriced the programme and was using it in its election campaign. The grant was given a budget allocation of $120 million in 2014.

With the grant targeting underprivileged babies, Rowley said it should focus on 15 per cent of the 20,000 annual birthrate.

Showing his calculation, Rowley said that should have equated to approximately 4,000 babies and with each recipient collecting an annual sum of $6,000, the cost of the programme should be $24 million.

Angry customers

​Yesterday, Vernon Persad, former Supermarket Association of T&T president and an owner of food chain Persad Food Stores, confirmed yesterday many customers became angry when they could not access their food cards this month. 

“Some became very upset to the extent that they became slightly aggressive because of the level of frustration they were experiencing. We had to let them know this had nothing to do with the supermarkets,” he said.

United States Ambassador to T&T John Estrada has told the Guardian that one of the priority policies of the US government in T&T is the promotion of human rights.

Describing it as a “really, really big” part of America’s coming engagement with T&T on his watch, he zoomed in on women’s rights, domestic and gender-based violence, the rights of people with disabilities and LGBTI rights.

The 60-year old ex-marine, who was born in Laventille and left T&T for the US when he was 14, sat down on Friday with the Guardian at the US embassy for his first, exclusive newspaper interview since taking up his post last month.

He said it wasn’t just the Obama administration policy towards T&T—it was personal.

“That touched me when I was growing up as a kid,” Estrada said. 

“I personally witnessed domestic violence to a close family member. As a young kid...I probably was about ten, maybe 12 years old. That stuck with me at that young age, because I remember my brother and I having to try to weigh in.

“I have very strong feelings on it,” said the father of young twin daughters.

The ambassador’s concerns were echoed yesterday in a report out of Geneva, in which the US and the United Kingdom expressed concern about the human rights picture in T&T, particularly police treatment of suspects, discrimination against women and attitude towards homosexuals.

The criticisms are contained in a review exercise of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC), the “Universal Periodic Review”.

"We are also concerned about violence and discrimination against women, which continues to be a serious problem despite allocation of government resources to combat it, (and) the lack of respect for the human rights of LGBTI persons,” the US assessment read.

But it did give T&T credit for “efforts to improve aspects within the justice sector, like police treatment of suspects, detainees, and prisoners in their custody and security in prisons, while remaining concerned about “reports of police mistreatment and poor prison conditions.”

The UK gave the Government credit for taking steps to improve women’s rights, but called for "concrete steps to implement existing legislation on sexual harassment and violence against women.”

In tomorrow’s Guardian read more on Orin Gordon’s exclusive interview with Estrada, on America’s priorities for T&T

Good intelligence work by the security detail of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama possibly averted embarrassment of an international nature involving Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Monday.

Ghana’s tv3network.com reported yesterday that a worker at the Tema Oil Refinery was arrested by members of the Bureau of National Investigations for possession of a gun ‘in wait for President Mahama’ ahead of his tour of the refinery with Rowley on Monday.

Mahama was at the refinery with Rowley to assess the company’s performance since it resumed full operation in February this year.

Ahead of Mahama’s arrival, however, national security officers who had gone ahead of the presidential convoy arrested the man after realising his behaviour was suspicious. When he was arrested a gun was found on him. 

The man, who worked with the Environmental Department at the refinery, was reportedly among staff and management of the refinery who were waiting for the president. But the national security officers who arrived were suspicious of his behavior and quickly apprehended him and took the gun away from him. 

The man was taken away well ahead of the president’s arrival for the tour, so he and Rowley later were not even aware of the earlier activity and the tour went off without any issues. Mahama and Rowley subsequently visited the Elmina Castle and the Atuabo Gas Plants.

The network reported that this was the second time that an unauthorised armed person had been arrested around Mahama.

The first, Charles Antwi, is currently receiving psychiatric treatment for saying that he wanted to kill the president so he would become president of Ghana.

He was arrested at the president’s church, where he had frequented with his gun waiting for the president so he could carry out his plan. A vigilant church member, who became suspicious of Antwi’s behaviour, alerted the security officers, leading to his arrest. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment but was later sent for psychiatric analysis and treatment following what the judge saw as ‘unusual’ behaviour.

Rowley signed a government-to-government agreement and a natural gas memorandum of understanding (MOU) which would see both countries identifying and developing commercially and viable natural gas projects following talks with Mahama. The PM, who is currently in the final phase of a 12-day overseas assignment which has also taken him to London and the United States, leaves Ghana today.

The support of two Independent Senators — Hugh Ian Roach and Justin Junkere — last night assisted in propelling Government’s controversial Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Bill towards passage.

The vote was the climax of strong debate on the bill over several weeks in the Lower House, and this week in the Upper House again with 21 speakers there. Up to yesterday’s final stage, controversy was heavy on the bill, which seeks to expand the remit of the SSA, which can employ wiretapping in collecting intelligence.

The SSA’s ambit under the amendment would extend to collecting information, not only on drug issues (as it currently does) but also on a host of offences listed as “serious crime”. This includes treason, sedition, terrorism, terrorist financing, corruption, money laundering and other crimes.

Roach and Junkere, out of the nine Independent senators, voted with the Government in favour of passage of the bill around 9.19 pm last night. Junkere is a temporary Independent who was acting for Independent senator David Small, who is overseas.

The rest of the seven Independents and six Opposition senators voted against the bill.

Final vote on the bill was 17 for (15 Government senators plus Roach and Junkere) and 13 against (the seven Independents and six Opposition senators). The bill was subsequently placed before the Senate’s committee stage for final discussion from 9.45 pm.

Independent senators who voted against the bill were Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir, Taurel Shrikissoon, Melissa Ramkissoon, Sophia Chote, SC, Paul Richards, Jennifer Raffoul and Stephen Creese. The Independents had voiced strong concerns about the bill.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, winding up debate, said it was time to stop talking and to take action on crime. He noted T&T’s international partners have said they will not share information with T&T unless there is a single entity to handle it, as the issue of “foreign terrorist fighters is a big issue for T&T”.

He said the Solicitor General had advised the bill didn’t need a special majority vote for passage. He said sending the bill to a select committee would not work since only six people serve on such teams. He also said people were before the court facing charges in the murder of Dana Seetahal SC due to the SSA’s work.

Independent senator Chote, in her address, had said the security agencies failed murdered state prosecutor Seetahal. Saying debate was not about what people had to “hide”, she took issue with the impact of the bill on institutions such as the Integrity Commission, Police Complaints Authority and others and said the bill lacked avenues for redress. (GA)

She also expressed concern that threats might be made to people to reveal information collected on them. Chote noted that since Special Branch had said it hadn’t known about the Day of Policing, whether the SSA would have been able to improve on that.

Independent senator Raffooul also saw the bill was imposing a culture of fear on the population and affecting human rights. She said there was no justification for the impact and there would be duplication of efforts by the SSA and police.

Opposition senator Wayne Sturge, calling for withdrawal of the bill, argued a special majority was needed. He said the bill threatened journalists whose sources would no longer be confidential, since the SSA would be tapping into their sources. Sturge questioned if the SSA’s failure in drug interdiction was meant to benefit drug kingpins

Several PNM Government senators, including those who spoke yesterday - Foster Cummings and Hafeez Ali -, sought to allay concerns. Cummings accused the Opposition of rejecting the bill as it had “cocoa in the sun” and of riling up the population on the bill. Yesterday’s debate took place against a background of a protest - outside of Parliament- on the bill by a group of Congress of the People (COP) members. They included Ronald Hinkson, Jean Paul Pouchet and others plus activist Philip Alexander.

A distant relative of PNM Tunapuna MP Esmond Forde is currently employed at his constituency office and UNC Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Christine Newallo-Hosein was once employed at former UNC MP Jack Warner’s Chaguanas West office from 2007.

This is among information found on a list of employees for 40 constituency offices from 2010 to 2016. The information was released by the Parliament to Fixin’ T&T’s Kirk Waithe following a question he filed on constituency office employees, under the Freedom of Information Act.

Waithe sought similar information on PNM Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald in March. 

It revealed that Michael Carew and his brother, Lennox, were hired at her constituency office during the years 2010-2015 and 2010-2011, respectively. Michael Carew was described by some as McDonald’s “husband.” Waithe called for the Integrity Commission to probe this.

McDonald, whom Waithe had made other allegations against with regard to the Calabar Foundation and assisting Michael Carew to “get” an HDC house, was later fired from the Government on March 17. 

McDonald sought clarification from Parliament on her situation via a March 22 letter to the Clerk of the House attempting to find out if any violation occurred with the employment of Michael and Lennox Carew.

The March 22 letter stated Carew was employed from June 2010 to September 7, 2015, and that parliament’s 2010-2015 guideline manual stated MPs shouldn’t hire members of their immediate family, defined as “spouse, children or parents.” 

It was pointed out that Carew was “neither spouse, child nor parent.” The letter also noted that when new guidelines were introduced this term, Carew was no longer employed at the office. It also stated Lennox Carew was employed from 2010 to 2011 and there was no breach as he was not among restricted groups outlined in the 2010-2015 guidelines.

After McDonald, UNC MPs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Barry Padarath, Bhoe Tewarie and Rushton Paray all confirmed they had relatives working at their respective offices. 

Those people are no longer employed, save in Paray’s case. He said it was a distant relative and was approved by Parliament. 

In information released by Waithe yesterday, in the Tunapuna constituency office the list of ten employees for 2016 showed a woman carrying Forde’s name, hyphenated with another name. The woman was listed as a personal assistant with a salary of $5,000 monthly. 

MP Forde told T&T Guardian, she was a “pumpkin vine” relative who wasn’t even a first cousin.

“It’s true, she’s worked with me since November 2, 2015, but she doesn’t fall within the categories of relatives prohibited in latest parliament guidelines,” Forde said.

He said he checked with parliament’s legal adviser and the PNM’s legal adviser and had received the all-clear.

In Chaguanas West, where 36 employees were listed at one time, Newallo-Hosein is among those employed from 2007 to 2010 (at $7,500) but no information was available for her after 2010. Also listed among employees is ILP’s Sunil Ramjitsingh. In Lopinot/Bon Air, several people had double designations with two salaries, though some have been terminated.

Listing for Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s Diego Martin West office includes a $6,000 salary for a man for whom there was no job title in 2010. The person was listed as a driver in subsequent years. UNC leader Persad-Bissessar’s Siparia office had ten employees with salaries between $2,500 and $14,000. PNM’s San Fernando West office in 2016 has a clerical officer/office manager earning $18,000.

Former government minister Morgan Job is listed as a researcher (at $15,000) at the UNC’s Oropouche West office this term. 

PARLIAMENT RULES

Parliament’s 2010-2015 guidelines state that 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 restricts the employment of relatives including spouses; co-habitants; children/step-children/adopted children/grandchildren; parents/step-parents/grandparents; siblings; nephews/nieces; uncles/aunts; cousins.

Like many of his neighbours, Rasheed Alexander was unable to find a job and he, along with eight others, had decided on Monday to sign up for courses at the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC).

However, that dream of becoming a mason died along with him when he was shot dead by police at a neighbour’s home yesterday.

Hours later, Central Division Task Force officers were seen rummaging through his Mungal Trace, Orange Field, Carapichaima, home, searching for guns they believed he had hid denthere.

According to a report, officers were on patrol around 2.40 am when they saw Alexander, 21, and three other men standing behind a white Nissan AD Wagon. 

As the police vehicle drew closer, police said Alexander ran into a neighbour’s yard. Three officers chased after him and when they caught up with him, according to police he took out a gun from his pants and ran to the back of the house. 

Officers said despite calls for him to surrender, he turned on them and opened fire.

Police returned fire, shooting Alexander six times, five times in the chest and once in the left hand. They took him to the Chaguanas District Health Facility where he died while being treated. Crime scene investigators found a 9 mm Beretta pistol fitted with an extended magazine at the scene.

Alexander’s father, Donny, disputed the police account. He admitted his son had a gun but insisting that it was not loaded.

He said only on Monday he told his son to get a job and stop liming with bad company. He said he warned his son he would either be locked up or police would “deal with him.” 

Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, he said his son was not a criminal and had no criminal past. 

“Them (police) does live by a law that says innocent until proven guilty but them don’t practise it. Them is the law and what they say go. Now you can’t beat your own children but them could beat and kill your child. Nothing will come of this because them is the law. 

“If my son was a wicked fella and the police lick him down then I would have said that he live by the sword and he die by the sword but he didn’t live so. It have parents who will cover up for their children but that is not so, if my son was wicked and bad I would say he was wicked and bad. He did not deserve to die so. He make one gun mistake and they execute he. My son never get lock up yet or police never come by me all my life,” he said.

Police investigating the shooting said that swabs were taken from Alexander’s hand to determine if he fired a weapon prior to being killed by police. 

His father said he intended to take his son’s killing to the Police Complaints Authority for justice as he believes he will get no justice otherwise. 

Yesterday, as neighbours cut grass and assembled tents for the wake, a community activist said it was just yesterday that he spent some time chatting with Alexander and other young men in the community. He said they were all decent and were very respectful to him and his wife.

“Those young fellas are home, out of school. Just yesterday I had a chat with them because I got somebody from NESC to come here with some forms. He (Alexander) wanted to do masonry. Those fellas were good boys. I cut this piece of land I have next to my house and grade it so every evening they played football here.”

The retired engineer said he wanted to get Alexander and the other young men back in school because he felt young people in T&T were losing their direction. He said the young men in his community were protective of his family and would even check his home while they were away.

“I have respect for them and they have respect for me.”

ASP Jackman is carrying out investigations.

Protesting former highway workers made good on their threat to disrupt continuation of work on the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project to Pt Fortin yesterday as they blocked AECOM officials from leaving the OAS compound at Golconda, San Fernando. 

AECOM, an American firm, was given the contract by the National Infrastructure Property Development Company (Nidco) to oversee construction of the $7.4 billion project. 

Work on the project has been continuing despite weeks of protests by retrenched employees over the non-payment of salaries and severance benefits to over 860 workers and 60 local contractors.

AECOM’s resident engineer, Terry Buckley, engineer Bob Weishaupt and geotechnical technician Joe Bond met with a handful of workers, including contractor Alastai Ramharack and OWTU’s shop steward Ronnie Sealey, around 10 am after workers stormed the compound. 

Sealey asked Buckley whether Nidco could release OAS performance bonds which would be made available to them at the end of the contract. 

He said that could be used to settle outstanding debts. 

During a meeting yesterday, Buckley told workers that AECOM had no influence over the release of performance bonds. 

Saying this was a legal matter, Buckley said AECOM’s sole responsibility was to manage the construction project. 

“Our duty is to advise them on engineering issues and all matters related to the performance bonds rests with Nidco and government,” Buckley said.

He added that during a previous meeting OAS officials promised to honour an agreement to pay the workers their outstanding monies. 

Each worker was given a document with the dates of five proposed payment dates and settlement of severance payment. 

Buckley said OAS had stopped carrying out works because of its cash flow problems and overflowing debts. 

He disputed a statement made by Rowley that OAS was overpaid.

“This is a misunderstanding of what happened. I can put my hand on my heart and say we haven’t overpaid OAS. It was simply an adjustment of funds for works done. 

All payments are interim payments and it is subject to change but OAS wasn’t overpaid,” Buckley said.

Ramharack told Buckley that the retrenched workers would not allow AECOM to continue works on the project. 

“We are saying that we need AECOM to hold your hand and stop work now because this is a disrespect to the OAS workers and contractors who are lobbying for their monies,” Ramharack said. 

The workers walked off the meeting and proceeded to Nidco’s Port-of-Spain office to protest.

Nidco’s communications manager, Ingrid Ishmael, said yesterday the non-payment of salaries and severance was a matter between OAS and its former workers. She said workers who expected performance bonds to be released were being misinformed.

Rowley said on May 2, prior to his departure on an overseas mission, said the State was seeking to “extricate” itself from the contract with OAS. He said the project now had to be completed by new contractors.

MOTORISTS TURN ON PROTESTERS

Angry and frustrated motorists, trapped in standstill traffic, turned on protesting former highway workers yesterday pleading with them to find an alterative method of resolving their dispute with Brazilian construction company OAS Construtora.

Before dawn yesterday, a handful of protesters blocked the South Trunk Road at two separate locations as the workers entered a second consecutive day seeking to raise public support to compel the Government to intervene for them to get outstanding salaries and severance benefits.

Commuters who were stuck in traffic chastised the protesting workers. Among them were former Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union shop steward Roger Wharwood.

“This is not the way to do things. Why you block the road? You all causing innocent people to suffer. Take your protests to Nidco (the project manager for the Solomon Hochoy Highway extention to Pt Fortin) and (Prime Minister Keith) Rowley or let the union deal with this diplomatically,” Wharwood shouted from his car. 

OWTU shop steward Ronnie Sealey accused Wharwood of selling out the workers. Sealey said the protests were meant to get the attention of Works Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and Rowley.

Another motorist, Ayanna Tobias, tried to empathise with the workers, saying: “Everybody struggling in this country. We know you all get no money but you cannot make innocent people suffer because we not responsible for this.” 

By 6 am commuters came out of taxis and walked through the blockades while a few others began removing the debris themselves. 

By the time police arrived about 20 minutes laters, most of the protesters had left to block the Golconda Connector Road.

Contractor Alastai Ramharack said over 60 local contractors are owed in excess of US$40 million.

Teenager Curtis Junior Pierre was described as a respectful, vibrant and wonderful teenager at his funeral yesterday.

But when he stormed a Claxton Bay bar last month with a gun-toting accomplice, those qualities were not noticeable.

Pierre was beaten by angry patrons who turned on him as his accomplice fled. He died eight days later in hospital.

It was a sombre farewell at Compassionate Heart Ministry, Claxton Bay, yesterday where mourners congregated for the 16-year-old’s farewell.

Instead of the usual sermon, they were schooled on proper parenting methods. Pained at the death of his former Sunday school student, pastor Lyndon Ramnansingh believes Pierre was influenced by a friend. 

However, that friend who left him stranded at PJ’s Recreation Club along Mount Pleasant Road was yet to be caught by Couva police up to yesterday evening.

In his sermon, Ramnansingh said the upbringing of model and lawful citizens was not up to the Government and the police, but the role of parents.

A 6 pm curfew, getting to know their friends, monitoring their electronic devices and social network accounts and frequent conversations about their lives were guidelines that he outlined for parents.

Saying that they were accountable to God for the way their children were brought up, he said a lesson must be learnt from Pierre’s death: That parents and elders must now take control of the community.

“This boy had just become a teenager. Sometimes at that age, it is very tricky. It is when they think they know it all but that is the age when you need to guard your children. That is the age when, sometimes, you need to forcefully lock them in the house. You make sure they are inside because the Devil wants to play with their minds.

“I believe in my heart that my 15-year-old cannot be outside at 6 o’clock and I practice that today. If you go, I go. No you’re going with friends. We are living in a time when the Devil will set up your children, he will send young people in your lives to send them astray. We need to prevent them from doing so,” Ramnansingh said.

Barely able to read the eulogy, Pierre’s aunt, Cheronne Francis, said while the family is pained at his death, they accept it as part of God’s plan. 

She said Pierre had a fun-loving personality and his life promised wonderful things.

Pierre, who turned 16 on April 29, died at the San Fernando General Hospital on May 3, a week after he was beaten unconscious at PJ’s Recreation Club. Reports stated that Pierre and a gun-toting accomplice walked into the club and immediately kicked casino operator Lui Luo onto an automatic roulette machine and robbed him of almost $2,000. 

The gunman then walked into the casino room and robbed patrons of cash and jewelry while Pierre chased behind club owner, Phoolmatie John, who ran from the bar and into her house. As he kicked open the door to John’s home, there was a scuffle between John’s son, Niben Beepat, and himself. By that time, his accomplice bolted, leaving him to fend for himself.

Angry bar patrons responded to John’s cries for help and ran into the house. They dragged Pierre outside and beat him unconscious. He was taken to hospital by ambulance where he remained in a coma until his death. 

Pierre’s mother, Kndra Commissiong, in an earlier interview with the T&T Guardian, said that the patrons and bar owners went too far in dishing out vigilante justice.

“I am not saying what he did was right, but they did not have to beat him so badly,” she said then. 

“After they hit him the first blow and he fell on the ground they could have called the police. I don’t even know what they beat my son with, all his ears was bust up.”

In closing his sermon yesterday, Ramnansingh said he hoped that Pierre spoke to God during his coma so that his soul could be saved.

During the nine-month period, May 18, 2015 to February 17, 2016, the Children's Authority received approximately 100 reports of children three years and under, including newborns who were physically abused.

These statistics came to light after the tragic death of two-year-old Jacob Antonio Bastaldo last Friday.

It was initially believed the toddler was beaten to death but an autopsy showed that the death of the toddler was accidental. 

The report said Jacob suffered a ruptured liver and died from complications associated with haemorrhaging after falling off a coffee table.

The child’s mother is 18.

Expressing condolences to Jacob’s family, the authority said there were concerns of alleged abuse to baby Jacob after it was alleged that marks of violence were discovered on the child’s body.

In the “nine months and counting statistical bulletin” issued yesterday it said physical abuse represented the third leading category of abuse reported. 

It said although Section Four of the Children Act 2012 permitted only parents and guardians to apply “reasonable” corporal punishment of children while forbidding its use by anyone else, the reports of physical abuse against children were often far outside anything permissible. 

The authority made another appeal to parents and guardians to be more creative and effective in disciplining children. 

“The authority recognises that some parents and guardians are under extreme stress, have little support and may resort to corporal punishment. 

“However, research shows that corporal punishment teaches children that hitting is an acceptable response to anger. It is therefore necessary to teach our children how to manage anger without violence,” the report added.

Regarding the case of a 14-year-old girl who recently gave birth at hospital, the authority said it received the report and its emergency response team was dispatched to visit the child and her baby. 

The authority said it was providing the necessary psychosocial support and counselling to the teen mother and added that both the mother and baby were healthy and in a safe place. 

To date, of the 1,000 cases of sexual abuse reported to the Authority, 142 children were in sexual relationships with adult men, with 61 of them becoming pregnant or have had a child. 

“The authority is again calling on parents and guardians to be vigilant with their children, due to the increasing number of child sexual abuse reports,” it said. 

“The authority is of the view that this trend must not be allowed to continue and discussions must begin to change public attitude towards children, their rights and the need to end child abuse.”