Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe says she cannot be upstaged by anyone. She was responding to allegations that former Tourism Development Company (TDC) chairman Dennise Demming tried to upstage her in presenting a vision for the tourism sector.

Breaking her silence one week after the firing of Demming, Cudjoe in an interview yesterday said she and Demming worked hand-in-hand to boost tourism.

Asked if Demming, who has a wealth of knowledge in the sector, made her look incompetent as a minister, Cudjoe chuckled.

“That is so funny. Over the time Dennise had been chairman we worked hand-in-hand in getting tourism out there. I cannot be upstaged. 

“Look at this, I cannot be upstaged neither can Dennise because we have our own style, personalities and our own way of doing things. To say upstaging and that kind of thing... that is no way in my deliberation and consideration or anything like that. Trust me, I did not really see any upstaging.”

She had no qualms about the upstaging talk that had been plastered on social media.

“I really think it is nonsense. It’s so petty and foolish to me. How can a Cabinet sit and make a decision based on upstaging?” Cudjoe asked.

Several times during the interview, she insisted  she had nothing personal against Demming.

“At the end of the day there is still love and respect for Dennise Demming. I don’t hold any bad feelings for anybody on that. I don’t see any room for that,” she said. 

However, while Cudjoe vowed to improve the tourism industry, she admitted the TDC was fraught with shortcomings of not having a marketing strategy and lacked collaboration with units within the ministry.

Following her dismissal, Demming called for better governance in terms of how State boards executed their functions.

She said once people did not understand their roles and responsibilities, they were going to trip over each other.

 Cudjoe said she felt the relationship between the TDC and ministry needed strengthening, collaboration and to work on the same page.

“While the rest of the region had been experiencing positive growth for us in some of our major markets, our numbers have been dwindling,” Cudjoe said.

Based on that, Cudjoe said she began asking the TDC questions.

“You can not tell me you want to go out to the world travel market or whatever trade show and the reason why you want to go is because you have been going for the last ten years. Yes, you have been going for the last ten years but you have to show me what have you been able to produce,” she added.

Cudjoe said when she asked TDC for its marketing strategy, she was presented with a list of trips. Apart from that, there was a duplication of functions with the ministry and TDC’s research units, while there were some shortcomings which she was trying to iron out, she explained.

Cudjoe described Demming as a “upright, straightforward and knowledgable woman. Denise Demming and I have been friends for quite some time,” she said.

She said Cabinet appointed Demming and based on information presented to it, it deliberated and decided to terminate her services.

She said the sacking was based on facts.

By the end of June, plans should be operationalised for retroactive payment of the $1 million death benefit to the families of protective services officers killed in the line of duty, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has confirmed.

Rowley did so in Parliament yesterday while replying to questions from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar during the questions for the PM segment. 

The $1 million death benefit was offered to members of the protective services—including police, fire, and prisons officers—by the past People’s Partnership administration in September 2014, and the Rowley-led People’s National Movement administration recently confirmed it would be honoured.

Yesterday, Rowley said the matter is currently before Cabinet and in the “not too distant future” an appropriate policy would be completed. He said the issue was more complex than just doing a cheque since “side issues” had arisen, prompting Government to work toward a “robust” policy. The most major “side issue” was exactly who the claimants might be, who the beneficiaries might be, as well as the circumstances involved.

He said by the end of June the plan should be operationalised. He confirmed it would be effective retroactive to the time it had been announced in 2014.

Rowley also said the issue of what is taking place in neighbouring Venezuela—where that country is reported to be on the brink of economic collapse—will likely be among discussions on the table when Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro comes to T&T on Monday for a brief visit. He said Government recognises the situation is tenuous and, in the light of the economic and political issues across the gulf, is monitoring what is happening to ensure it is not caught off guard in terms of a possible refugee influx. He acknowledged T&T has obligations under international law. Living Waters is the local body which handles refugee issues under the auspices of the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Rowley said he wasn’t aware of Venezuelans seeking refugee status in T&T, but knew of people “seeking aid and succour” (from media reports) and coming to T&T to buy household items from T&T, including LPG gas.

“We have to consider if this exportation is sustainable,” he added, noting Venezuela was T&T’s closest neighbour, just seven miles away.

Replying to queries about rising crime in Central Trinidad, Rowley outlined plans on joint patrols now underway, which he said was one of the responses to the criminal element. He said this will target spikes and surges in crime. He added it was felt previously that Laventille and East Port-of-Spain were the main areas hit by crime, but other areas were also experiencing the same problem.

He was asked by Opposition Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial if the joint patrols he referred to would also be in her constituency, since they hadn’t been seen there. Rowley said he could only report what the security services had said and to the best of his knowledge the patrols go wherever they’re needed. He said he couldn’t answer on a constituency basis.

On government’s plans concerning the 80 kmh speed limit, Rowley said the Works Ministry, which is looking at the limit for various roads, should not be “detained too long” again on this. He said a speed limit is considered in the context of the roadways and the ministry would decide based on the location and design of the roads.

On expected payments for cane farmers, Rowley said Government was committed to making the payment, but certain queries had arisen and an audit was being done to ensure people who are to be paid are there to get it.

Relatives of five T&T nationals detained in Venezuela on alleged terrorism charges for two years are appealing to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who will be here on Monday, to release the men.

The relatives, led by wives of two of the men, yesterday delivered a letter of appeal to this effect to the Venezuelan Embassy to give to Maduro. They will also be asking the Government to intercede for them with Maduro during his visit.

The men, Wade Charles, Dominic Pitilal, Asim Luqman, Andre Battersby and Leslie Daisley, who are of Islamic faith, were detained under anti-terrorism laws after Venezuelan intelligence agency Sebin raided their Caracas hotel rooms in March 2014. 

They have been subject to court hearings in recent months, but there has been no headway in having the matter determined, attorney Nafeesa Mohammed said yesterday. She accompanied the women to the Venezuelan Embassy yesterday morning to deliver the letter, following which they delivered a similar one to the National Security minister’s adviser. The letter calls on Maduro to release the men on humanitarian grounds.

Mohammed added, “We’re also asking Government to appeal to whoever is representing T&T at Monday’s meeting with Mr Maduro to seek release of the men.”

Mohammed said the families were taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the impending visit of Maduro to T&T on Monday. 

Maduro is coming for a brief hours-long visit with Government. Government officials said on Thursday he had requested to visit T&T to meet with the Government and could not outline reasons for this beyond saying it would likely continue talks on energy, trade and foreign affairs which had been ongoing between the countries. The meeting will be held at the Diplomatic Centre, the Office of the Prime Minister stated yesterday.

The families of the five men insist the men are not terrorists and have denied that they were linked to a global movement of Muslim extremists heading to Syria as jihadists. When they were arrested, Mohammed said, they had gone to Caracas to obtain visas to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah pilgrimage.

When the men were detained, representations had been made to the then People’s Partnership government, which was handling the matter via the T&T embassy in Caracas.

Yesterday, support for the families’ issue came from the Independent Liberal Party (ILP), which stated relatives of the detained men have expressed concern for their health given Venezuela’s crisis.

The ILP stated, “Relatives said the men were only recently afforded the opportunity to appear before a judge. However, when they went to court last week their case was adjourned because there was no electricity and water in the courthouse due to the crisis. Since it is unknown how long the situation in Venezuela will persist, the prospect of the men obtaining a fair hearing remains uncertain and in limbo.

“The men have also related to their families horror stories concerning shortages of meals and medication in the prison. For example, the men have stated that prisoners are not getting regular meals and some inmates have resorted to hunting vermin inside the prison in order to eat.”

The ILP said Monday's visit by Maduro provides “ample opportunity for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses to assert the concern that should prevail for the human rights violations being perpetrated against these T&T nationals ...”

The ILP claimed Gloria Charles-John, the mother of one detainee, wants to meet Maduro to lay out her concerns.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is expressing full support for ending child marriages in T&T, saying it was not a religious issue but an inappropriate cultural practice which must be stopped.

Persad-Bissessar spoke about the issue during yesterday’s news conference of the Opposition in the Parliament. 

The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act which allows for girls to marry at age 12 and the Hindu Marriage Act which allows girls to marry at 14 have evoked controversy in recent days with the Government indicating that the age limit must be harmonised with the age for sexual consent, which is 18.

President of the IRO, Harrypersad Maharaj, and general secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Satnarayan Maharaj, have insisted that the law should not be amended but the Roman Catholic Church and Presbyterians were among those in favour of harmonising the marriage age with that of sexual consent.

Persad-Bissessar said the current law discriminates against girls as “they can be married off at an earlier age than the boys and therefore we are in favour of the standardisation of the legal age.” She said that the legal age should be increased.

She said the existing ages under the Hindu and Muslim Marriage Acts “cannot be a realistic age that anyone would want to support.” 

She added that while in the past such ages may be seen to have been reasonable “we are saying that today we are in a much more egalitarian society and those arguments are irrelevant. We must be brave enough to do what is right and in this case what is right is to revise the marriage age upwards.”

“We are all in support of the revision upwards of the age of marriage,” she added.

She is also saying that the State must ensure that “there is no accommodation for statutory rape and we must strictly enforce the law in relation to older men having sexual relations with children.”

According to Persad-Bissessar, increasing the legal age for marriage alone will not be sufficient to protect children.

Persad-Bissessar said the Opposition UNC did not share the views of the IRO president on the matter. She insisted: “It is not a religious argument at all, it has nothing to do with religion. I think it has more to do with culture and tradition,” she added.

Persad-Bissessar said T&T was a secular State and she “cannot find in any religion where God has mandated that you can get married at 12.” 

Persad-Bissessar also claimed there was “inequality of treatment and favouritism” in the almost immediate issuing of a cheque valued at over $400,000 to attorney Kerwin Garcia for legal work done for Udecott, which is chaired by Noel Garcia, his uncle. 

Two men arguing over religion on Thursday night ended with one dead and the other being sought by police for his killing. There were 188 murders up to late yesterday.

Police said Clint Julien, 36, of Maturita Extension, Arima, and others were preaching along the Eastern Main Road, Arouca, near the old police station when a group of Muslim men approached them and the two groups began arguing.

Police said the disagreement began just after 8 pm and after an exchange of words one of the Muslim men went to his car, pulled out a knife and stabbed Julien who ran along the roadway and collapsed. He was taken to the Arima Health Facility and then transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he died early yesterday.

Police said the two were arguing over Julien’s faith as Julien was a practising Jehovah’s Witness. 

After the stabbing the attacker fled and is being sought by police. When the T&T Guardian visited the address given by police for Julien, the home was locked and neighbours did not wish to speak to the media.

Police said the killing is not a case of religious persecution adding that the murder has “weakened the fabric of our cosmopolitan society.”

In an unrelated incident, which took place within the same division, a known drug addict was chopped to death early yesterday.

Police said 18-year-old Nigel “Skettle” Griffith was found dead with wounds to his head at the side of a playing field at Recreation Road, Arima Old Road, Arima. 

Residents told the T&T Guardian that Griffith, who used to do odd jobs in the area, was found around 8 am. They added that Griffith was wanted by the police and lived in a wooden shack to the back of an incomplete house one street away from where his body was found almost in a foetal position. Police said residents claimed Griffith was a “troubled youth in the area.”

Police said they received a telephone call alerting them to the discovery shortly after 8 am. When they arrived they found Griffith’s body. 

Three people, including two teenagers, were gunned down in separate incidents in South and Central Trinidad in less than 24 hours, with one murder taking place in front of a secondary school in broad daylight. 

According to reports, around 12.15 pm yesterday, Nicholas Vesprey was driving his Nissan Almera along Railway Road, Couva, in front of the Couva East Secondary School.

Vesprey was ambushed by two gunmen who opened fire on the car, hitting him several times. 

Vesprey, 40, of Bandoo Trace, Union Village, Claxton Bay, was taken to the Couva Health Facility by officers of the Couva Police Station who responded to the scene. He died while receiving treatment.

In the second incident, Akeem Phandorie, 19, had just left his mother’s Rio Claro home when he was killed.

According to reports, Phandorie was walking through the El Guanapo Housing Development in Rio Claro around 7.45 pm when gunshots rang out. 

Phandorie, who lived at the nearby Mora Heights HDC development, was found lying in the middle of the road shortly after. His body bore six gunshot wounds. 

Another man, Kareem Jarvis, of Ecclesville, Rio Claro, was also shot in the hand. Jarvis was reportedly at a nearby house repairing a water tank when the shots were fired.

Rio Claro Police yesterday said Phandorie had a matter pending at the Rio Claro Magistrates Court for a charge of a ‘sexual nature.’ 

The officers said although no motive has been established for Phandorie’s killing they believed his killer/s hid in one of the abandoned houses along the street and shot at him from there. 

In the third incident, Jamilla Wilson, 18, was at her boyfriend’s Hercules Avenue, Egypt Village, Point Fortin, home around 7.45 pm on Thursday. 

According to reports, two men ran into the yard and on seeing them, Wilson screamed and fled into the house.

In her haste to get away from the men, Wilson tripped and fell in the kitchen area. The men, who were following her, shot her multiple times about the body as she lay sprawled on the floor.

Her boyfriend was not at home at the time. 

A female relative of Wilson’s boyfriend said Wilson was not known to the family as she had begun staying at their home about seven weeks ago.

The relative said Wilson was ‘hanging around’ in the weeks leading up to the Point Fortin Borough Day and moved in shortly after. 

Speaking at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday: Wilson’s mother, Anastasia Wilson, said, “The last time me and her talk she was giving trouble; she didn’t want to listen so she left home. She was in Form 2 in Five Rivers Secondary because she start school late.”

Wilson added that her teenage daughter grew up in the United States and gave trouble there as well.

“She was involved in the normal teenage nonsense but it got so bad that I went to court because she was being too wayward. We were getting counselling from my job and from the Victim Support Unit of the police,” Wilson said. 

Head of the Southern Division, Senior Supt Nazrool Hosein, said Wilson was originally from Pinto Road, Arima. 

Up to news time, police had not established a motive for her murder. 

All necessary measures have been put in place to ensure Reeshie Surajbally, the man accused of kidnapping and sexual indecency with two girls, is not harmed in prison.

The assurance came from Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart yesterday, a day after Reeshie Surajbally was denied bail and remanded to prison.

Surajbally, 39, was jeered by a large crowd outside the court during his appearance on Thursday on six charges, including two counts each of kidnapping, serving alcohol to a minor and sexual indecency.

The charges arose out of an incident on Monday where police officers allegedly found two sisters, ages nine and 14, naked and intoxicated in a van at Cedar Hill Estate Road, Barrackpore.

He was denied bail by Princes Town Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan for tracing to determine if he had a criminal record.

Fearing for his safety in prison, his attorney Yohan Pancham requested he be isolated from the rest of the prison population. 

In a telephone interview, Stewart said Pancham’s request was not necessary as prison staff would determine the best place to ensure his safety and security. “We are mandated to do all that is necessary to keep all our inmates safe and secure in the best humane conditions possible while maintaining control.”

General secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, Gerard Gordon, said: “History has shown inmates already on remand do not look lightly on offences such as these but I am certain that all that could be done will be done to secure the individual as is required by law so that he could be presented to court in good health. We remain a very professional organisation and we continue to try to do our best.” 

At least two men claiming to be prisoners called a radio station programme on Thursday saying they were waiting for Surajbally at the prison.

Surajbally is expected to reappear in court next Wednesday.

Minister of Works and Transport Fitzgerald Hinds yesterday accused the former People’s Partnership (PP) government of securing a US$120 million loan to solve widespread flooding in the capital city which was never put to use.

Hinds said instead of executing a comprehensive flood mitigation plan for Port-of-Spain, which the PP promised, they racked up a “US$700,000 commitment fee on that loan.”

While no work was undertaken, Hinds said, the project execution unit appointed was paid on a monthly basis.

Up to recently, Hinds said, the unit had been paid.

Hinds was addressing members of the media at a news conference at Saddle Hill Grounds, Maraval, where he spoke about his ministry’s teaming up with the country’s 14 municipal corporations to desilt, degrass and clear watercourses to prevent flooding at the start of the rainy season.

Questioned on what were his ministry’s plans to reduce frequent flooding in the city, Hinds criticised the PP for entering into a secured Inter-American Development Bank loan of US$120 million to deal with the problem, which was never used.

“They sat on it like a hen on golden eggs. They did absolutely nothing with it. Except, I can tell you accurately today that the project execution unit that was appointed to deal with it began to be paid salaries on a monthly basis. I can also tell you that Trinidad and Tobago has spent thus far about US$700,000 in commitment fees on that loan, not yet used.”

Having visited the bank last week, Hinds said his ministry was trying “to administer that project now. We are engaged as we speak in reactivating that project and to get it going.”

The mitigation plan, Hinds said, was engineered by WSP Global, formerly Genivar Inc, which now has to be tweaked.

In addition, Hinds said, installation of water pumps will also be put into the plan.

“And when that is done we would be ready, subject to the administrative issues around the loan to proceed with the work in Port-of-Spain. I look forward to it with great relish and great anticipation because these eyes too have seen the horror, trauma, suffering and horrific appearance of our capital city in the circumstance that I have described them.”

Asked when this will be unveiled, Hinds did not respond. 

Hinds said whenever there is a heavy shower, the water from the northern range would settle in Port-of-Spain and when the sea level rises, it creates a basin.

He said what contributes to the deluge was unwanted items, which citizens dispose of in water courses. 

“I am pleading with citizens to desist from throwing unwanted items in water courses since it can have a debilitating effect on marine and human lives. Trinidad and Tobago, this is not a joke. We have seen in India, Pakistan and all over the world when the rains come and there is excessive floodings, lives are at stake.”

Next week, Hinds said, the Mamoral River will be desilted and cleaned after six years of neglect.

“It would not surprise me in this country if monies have been paid to clear that (river) several times over.”

With local government reform on its way, Hinds said each corporation chairman would be able to make their own laws with regards to littering.

“We have a problem in the nation with enforcement to solve.”

Main rivers to be cleared:

n San Juan 

n East Dry River 

n St Joseph 

n Caparo

n Mamoral 

Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries are set to meet with officials of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) to decide the fate of 67 employees on Monday.

The team, which will be led by Permanent Secretary Joy Persad-Myers, will include other senior and technical officials. 

The meeting is scheduled to take place at 1.30 pm at the ministry’s office in St Clair.

Addressing concerns by the workers—most of whom have been classified as casual and regular employees, Minister Clarence Rambharat yesterday explained the rationale behind what he stressed was a “lay off” and not retrenchment.

Speaking to reporters as he left the Ministry of Health’s Anti-Microbial Resistance seminar at the Marriott Hotel, Invaders Bay, Mucurapo, to attend yesterday’s sitting of Parliament, Rambharat said his ministry had employed a “lot of casual workers” because of the particular season.

Having just completed the dry season, Rambharat said there was no longer a need for so many persons. Following an internal exercise, an initial list of 69 workers was identified. 

However, Rambharat said this number had been reduced to 67 which included a mix of both regular and casual workers.

Referring to the collective agreement with the NUGFW, Rambharat said, “It provides for the ministry to lay off regular and casual workers when there is no work for them.”

Stressing that “it is a lay off, not retrenchment,” the minister said the agreement stipulated that regular workers be given five days’ notice and that casual workers be given two days’ notice, as to their professional standing. 

Although no decision was taken up to yesterday regarding the fate of the 67 workers, Rambharat gave the assurance that the team would “strive for fairness” in their deliberations with the union. 

In fact, he said, some of the workers may actually “be retained in other positions.”

However, he warned, “There will be other NUGFW members who will be competing for the same positions.” 

Stating that the ministry was not there to create jobs but that there were currently 174 public service positions that needed to be filled along with other contract positions, Rambharat said they wanted to ensure that persons with technical qualifications, competence and capacity in their respective fields were hired.

Workers protested after an internal memo by the permanent secretary regarding the termination of daily rated workers was leaked last week, prompting Mayaro MP Rushton Paray to call on Government to discontinue the practice of sending workers home.

Paray said the move was counter-productive and also posed a threat to the country’s food security. 

He said it was an inhumane action which struck at the heart of the working class. 

Responding via social media, Rambharat later said that during the period 2014/2015, an excessive number of daily paid casual employees had been retained in the Lands Division, and that there was now insufficient work to sustain the large labour force.

He said the issue of qualified personnel had also arisen and that it was on this basis, the decision to reduce the workforce had been taken. 

Rambharat yesterday promised that they would work with the union as they moved forward on the issue.

Venezuelan nationals living in T&T are attempting to send medicine and basic health supplies with family and friends who are travelling to Venezuela. However, most of these supplies are being confiscated at the airports by the National Authorities.

This was yesterday disclosed by Wilman Castillo, member of the Vast Majority of Concerned Venezuelans, living in T&T.

Castillo said the group, which is made up of Venezuelan professionals, fled Venezuela in 2003 because of the massive social and economic crisis that was already starting to flourish with the Hugo Chavez regime. 

Many of the members have found better and safer living conditions for their families here in T&T. 

The group wanting to send help to Venezuela have also reached out to other humanitarian institutions but have encountered stumbling blocks.

“They have expressed their sympathy and willingness to help from the Trinidad side but they are restricted by the government of Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has restricted any international collaboration from humanitarian or private institutions,” Castillo alleged.

“We understand directly the unprecedented struggle and crisis that they are facing. We believe that if the media helps in uncovering the horror and the crisis situation that the Venezuelans are currently experiencing, and puts pressure on the international organisations like Red Cross and the UN to provide humanitarian support, this will stop and the Maduro regime will have no choice but to allow the international help. Which by the way has already been offered and rejected,” Castillo added. 

Presently, the group, Castillo disclosed, are mostly concerned about children and other patients, including cancer patients and other critical medical conditions, for which medicine is urgently needed. 

“All our hospitals are in a deplorable status thanks to the negligence of this government (Venezuelan) over the last 15 years and with Maduro now has worsened. We hope we can help more people to survive,” Castillo said.

Attempts are being made now to send medical supplies via travellers to Venezuela in as many quantities as they can carry.

“We only know of Venezuelans and other Trinidadian friends that have helped and have been very supportive of the situation because at the moment we cannot send help in bulk. However, it is very insignificant the help we can send this way,” Castillo added.

When contacted for comment with respect to any request being made yet by any individual or groups to send aid to Venezuela, president of the T&T Red Cross Society, Lister Ramjohn, said no formal requests have been made so far but added that once requests were made and they were informed by the international body they would be ready and more than eager to assist.

Nicholas Maduro will pay a one-day visit to T&T on Monday.

More info

In February, Maduro issued a decree proclaiming an economic emergency and announced the first increase in the price of gasoline in 17 years. Thanks to inflation, gas had become practically free for Venezuelans: filling a tank cost less than 50 cents. But Maduro’s move had little impact: gas remains extremely cheap, at about six cents a gallon. This means that domestic consumption remains too high, and Venezuelan drivers use oil that could be sold on international markets at much higher prices. The incentives for smugglers to sell oil to neighbouring countries such as Colombia at great profit remain unchanged.

The president also devalued the national currency, the bolivar, by more than 60 per cent, hoping to reduce the wide gap that exists between the official rate and the black market exchange rate. But most of the economy still uses an exchange rate that trades at over 100 times the official value, and the peculiar system of multiple exchange rates has contributed to the acute shortages of basic goods. Maduro’s economic reforms have thus been utterly inadequate.

According to an article in the foreignaffairs.com website, on the political front, the government is finally paying the price for its chronic economic mismanagement. The opposition coalition won an impressive majority in the National Assembly in last December’s parliamentary elections. Although Maduro has used his control of the judiciary and other key institutions to resist attempts to curtail his power, even moderates within the opposition (such as Henrique Capriles, two-time presidential candidate and governor of Miranda, one of Venezuela’s largest states) are now advocating a referendum or a constitutional amendment to remove him from office as soon as possible.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Avinash Singh is advising cocoa farmers to sell their beans to local chocolatiers rather than leave them wasting in the fields. 

He did so in response to claims by vice president of the National Cocoa Allied Farmers Association Oscar Cadet that farmers are having difficulties to accessing international markets for their cocoa.

Cadet blamed the situation on the dismantling of the Cocoa and Coffee Industry Board. He said the replacement body—the Cocoa Development Company—has not been helping farmers find international buyers.

Singh said local chocolatiers are in need of fine flavoured cocoa beans. 

“I went to a cocoa fair recently and I was speaking to local chocolatiers and they said are they getting a cocoa supply but still need more beans. They all said they buy local beans and pay a better price but they can’t get enough beans,” he said.

He said farmers who cannot get access to international buyers can contact the local chocolatiers.

“This will remove some of the beans off the hands of the farmers,” Singh said.

He said the Agriculture Ministry is talking with Cadet and other cocoa farmers. 

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat admitted that the Cocoa Development Company is yet to be operationalised and staffed. 

“They occupied the office which was previously occupied in Chaguanas but never hired professional staff. The new board is working on a short term basis with some of the people who have some involvement in the Cocoa and Coffee Board. The board is preparing to advertise and address the farmers,” Rambharat said.

The minister challenged Cadet’s claims that more 4,000 workers were laid off because of the dismantling of a functioning cocoa board. In a radio interview earlier this week, he said he was not too sure where Cadet got his statistics and denied that there are 1,700 cocoa farmers across T&T. 

However, under the People’s Partnership government 1,700 cocoa farmers benefitted from a retroactive payment through the Cocoa and Coffee Industry Board between October 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014 after cocoa prices went up.

Rambharat said he has been meeting with chairman of the Cocoa Development Company Winston Rudder. 

“We have been holding discussions and we plan to talk to the buying agents and farmers and talk about their mandate and how they plan to approach the market,” the minister said.

The Opposition is questioning the haste with which the State-owned Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) honoured a $.4 million bill in the name of its chairman’s nephew.

Kerwyn Garcia, the husband of Senate President Christine Kangaloo, is the junior counsel for Udecott where his uncle Noel Garcia is the current chairman. His father is Arima MP Anthony Garcia.

The Opposition has also questioned whether a conflict of interest has arisen with Garcia (K) representing a state enterprise when his uncle is in fact the chairman of the entity.

Contacted for comment yesterday Garcia (N) described the opposition’s claims as “ridiculous.”

A pro forma invoice dated February 2 allegedly from Garcia’s (K) office valued at $431,249.96 was submitted for work in the matter of Sunway Construction (Caribbean) Limited v Udecott.

The claim number, CV 2013-4945 (claim number 2013-04945), represents Garcia’s (K) “trial fee on brief” as a junior counsel.

According to the description on the invoice the money is owed to Garcia (K) for “assisting Senior Counsel in preparing for and advancing such submissions and appearing together with Senior Counsel at such court attendances as are necessary in relation to evidential objections; assisting Senior Counsel with all pre-trial preparation (including conferences with the client with instructing attorney and Senior Counsel and with witnesses); attendance together with Senior Counsel at the two-day trial (including opening submissions, examination in chief, cross-examination, written closing submissions).”

The amount of $431,249.96 owed to Garcia represents a payment of $383,333.29 and 12.5 per cent Value Added Tax.

On February 3, the day after Garcia is alleged to have submitted the invoice, Udecott produced cheque #0018976 drawn on First Citizens Bank Limited as payment to him.

According to Udecott’s “Purchase Requisition” form the payment to Garcia was processed on February 12.

Garcia: I don’t interfere with 

management of the state enterprise

The Sunday Guardian contacted Garcia (N) for a comment on the situation.

Garcia (N) stated he is not an “executive chairman” of Udecott and as such does not interfere with the day-to-day management of the state enterprise.

“If Udecott procured the services of a senior counsel to fight a matter and the senior counsel chose Kerwyn Garcia to be his junior counsel how does that become my business or the management’s business, who a senior counsel chooses to be his junior? So that is the first thing, it is so ridiculous,” Garcia (N) said.

“I am neither chairman of the tenders committee or a managing director, I am a chairman. The second thing is that his (Kerwyn’s) cheque was prepared in a day. I called the senior legal manager and she denies that, she says his cheque went through the normal processes and she does not know where the Opposition got that from.

“But you know what I find even more concerning is that they seem to be equating their behaviour with my behaviour. I don’t interfere with the day-to-day runnings of Udecott. I carry no brief for anybody, I have gone into Udecott and as far as I am concerned once somebody is competent to do a job let them do their job,” he said.

Garcia (N) said since he became Udecott’s chairman he has not fired “any single manager.”

“Because I am not interested in their politics. I am interested in their competence. If we continue going down this road where we are blacklisting people and people are not supposed to work because they belong to a particular political party Trinidad and Tobago will be a very sorry place in the future, a very, very sorry place,” he said.

PNM chairman: No comment

The People’s National Movement (PNM), meanwhile, is remaining silent on claims that Garcia was paid within one day by the company after submitting an invoice for over $431,000.

Speaking to the media following the party’s general council meeting yesterday, party chairman Franklin Khan said Government matters were not discussed at the party level. 

The invoice that Garcia submitted was for assisting a senior counsel. 

Khan said, “I have no comment on that. It is a Udecott matter, it wasn’t discussed at the general council. We are particular where party matters as they relate to Government matters and there is a division clearly marked in the Constitution and the law.”

A dozen female foreign nationals were detained by police for “lewd and suggestive” dancing at a bar in Sangre Grande yesterday morning.

The bar’s owner and a man who is said to have brought the women to the establishment are also in police custody.

According to reports the women were found dancing in a lewd and suggestive manner when police raided a bar located at the corner of the Eastern Main Road and Savi Street in Sangre Grande.

The police raided the bar located upstairs a supermarket around 1 am yesterday after conducting surveillance.

The 12 women, seven from the the Dominican Republic and five from Venezuela, were detained.

The 42-year-old bar owner of Barker Trace, Sangre Grande, and a 25-year-old man from Oropouche Road in Sangre Grande, who is believed to have brought the women to the bar, were also detained.

All the foreign nationals were detained pending investigations by the Immigration Division and Counter Trafficking Unit which were informed of the situation.

Spearheading the police exercise were Insp Lutchman and Supt Phillip of the Sangre Grande Police Station.

Investigations are continuing.

Former prime minister Patrick Manning has not filed his declarations with the Integrity Commission since 2011.

The Integrity Commission yesterday provided a list of the names of people in public life who have failed to file Declarations of Income, Assets and Liabilities and Statements of Registrable Interests with them for the period 2003 to 2014 as required by the Integrity in Public Life Act, Chapter 22:01 of the Laws of the Republic of T&T.

Among those named as having failed to make declarations with the Integrity Commission for the year ended December 31, 2014, are six current cabinet members.

The six ministers are Housing Minister Randall Mitchell, Works Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat, Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Sports Minister Darryl Smith.

Government senator Rohan Sinanan was also named in the list for 2014.

Opposition MP David Lee and Rushton Paray as well as Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge were also named.

Former members of the previous People’s Partnership government were also named including Anil Roberts, Vernella Alleyne-oppin, Brent Sancho, Collin Partap, Lincoln Douglas, Jairam Seemungal, Embau Moheni, Fazal Karim, and Dr Glen Ramadharsingh.

Independent Senators Jennifer Raffoul and Justin Junkere were also listed as failing to file their declarations for 2014.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Keron Valentine and his predecessor Raymond Tim Kee as well as Arima Mayor George Hadeed also failed to file their declarations in 2014.

Young and Manning were also named in the list of those who failed to file their declarations for the year ended December 31, 2013.

Former justice minister in the People’s Partnership Cabinet Herbert Volney was also named in the list for 2013 as well as PNM councillors. (JJ)

The quieter profile now in force in central Trinidad as a result of joint police/army patrols belies the badlands image the area has carried lately.

When Prime Minister Keith Rowley noted in Parliament last Friday that the problem which Laventille and East Port-of-Spain had been known for now plagues Central, it was said as matter of fact, without political malice. Indeed the problem which has simmered beneath Central’s placid plains for quite some time—contained by assorted manoeuvres within and without the law—began breaking out in recent months for various reasons.

Last week’s murder statistics showed Central Division in police listings now rivalling Northern Division for the highest number of murders—25 to Northern’s 33—showing how the axis of crime has shifted recently.

In 2014 when the ill-fated Life Sport programme scandal was at its height, then-Opposition MP Colm Imbert in Parliament accused the PP of allowing a 250-strong milita to be cultivated in the East-West Corridor via Life Sport funding. The programme halted after ex-National Security minister Gary Griffith’s revelation of criminal infiltration and elements linked to an east Trinidad mosque. Some are now in jail on other charges.

Up to January, turf wars still appeared in play in the North—where feuding between the so-called “Rasta City” and “Muslims” gangs held the spotlight in recent years.

Islamic Front leader Umar Abdulah said the rift began years ago when “…Muslim brothers cut off a Rasta man’s locks in jail...we have to learn tolerance,” he urged the Muslim community.

The New Year’s morning attack on Beetham—by gunmen standing on Laventille Heights above Beetham—opened the year, claiming the lives of a six-year-old youngster and a 64-year-old grandmother.

Central, with its own cluster of Muslim influences from Longdenville to Chaguanas—traditional and “independent masjids”—however, recently overtook the spotlight with a rash of murders including what appeared to be reprisals in hotspots where mosques are located.

Boodram Street in Enterprise and Longdenville addresses have cropped up for approximately ten people listed on a 2013-2015 security agency list of 105—men, women and children—who left T&T to go to Syria to align with terrorist network, Isis.

The addresses pertain to men and women as well as a group headed by Anthony Hamlet who left in 2014. He was reported killed in battle in Syria. His two young sons were in Syria also (one now reported to be dead). But his wife and two daughters returned to T&T two months after they left. State assistance dealt with the matter as a human trafficking issue

Currently in Central, those watching turf war fire said flare-ups include people who have come together from different mosques, after being expelled by various Islamic leaders.

Among that rootless—residents say ruthless, posse—are alleged to be people charged in April for the October 2015 murder of one Amos Dick. 

A police statement stated the trio including a teenager charged for the murder was allegedly linked to a group known as “Unruly Isis” (UI) of Enterprise. That trio is now at Golden Grove (Remand) where unrest broke out two weeks ago after authorities swept cells for illegal items. 

With the trio “inside,” there’s been corresponding violence on the “outside” in Central where the so-called UI operates.

Ex-minister Griffith said there was significant homicide reduction after Life Sport. “But a couple major players retained ground in Central and for some strange reason were never touched even though we were advised to deal with them. Their rivals were snuffed out and only these kingpins remained—that’s why there were no turf wars in Central then.”

Central Division head Sr Supt Jayson Forde, whose squad has contained recent violence with the lock-down of several high-profile persons alleged to control turf, confirmed the situation involves a minority Muslim element.

“It’s common knowledge these minority elements are involved with guns and drugs,” he added.

“They are people hell-bent on criminal behaviour, influencing youths to submit to their will, coercing them by promises...fear is a great controller. We’ve spared no effort in trying to counteract this culture of fear and while I don’t have to do patrols, I’m on the ground with my team day and night.

“Under my watch there will be no ‘enabling’ of any criminal big or small. We entertain no threats and the public should fear no one either.”

Still trying with culprits—Imam Searles

Head of the Boodram Street mosque Imam Taulib Searles said his mosque numbers about 200 including Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis and his family.

While Searles said he hasn’t seen army vehicles, he welcomes patrols. “We have no cocoa in the sun, things are quieter now. We’re glad they’re around as the June 6 fasting month approaches. People would be safe to come to mosque.”

But he hasn’t given up on local trouble-makers. “I’m still trying with them, but the community and the country is having serious problems that need analysis; it’s not only local.”

Searles doesn’t say much about those mosque members who have gone “overseas” (Syria), save that people may have died. 

“People pass through different masjids though you may think they’re from by us...we’re not sure if they’re going based on leadership direction or what...(but) some of the world’s best minds are going away.”

He’s concerned that terrorism fears could cause Muslims to be banned from getting visas for Umrah and upcoming Hajj pilgrimages abroad. Searles, whose name is listed on a website as an agent organising 2011 Hajj tours, added, “People are concerned about blacklisting or may lose money they’ve paid for trips. We know the situation is an international concern but National Security hasn’t engaged us to put a face to what’s going on. We’ve heard talk the Attorney General is going to court to declare people terrorists—but how do you judge that? People will react if they don’t know what to expect, they must know the rules.”

Searles said he expects some of those coming to his mosque these days may “include police who may be curious about what causes a community to be destructive and about what is being said to the assembly.

“Some members weren’t coming to the mosque as they felt unsafe. But also if they stay indoors they can’t get work and crime may be affected again. At the same time patrols offer no opportunity for conversation and people cannot vent there. And what happens when patrols leave? Things return to normal. So we need ideas to engage people.” 

Cut their roots—Imam Lynch

Imam Mourland Lynch who heads Enterprise’s Circular Drive, Crowne Trace, mosque was personally touched by turmoil when his own son Akmal—whom he was grooming to take over as Imam—was gunned down last year. This, soon after he met with then PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar who had launched an anti-violence drive in the area.

“When I got the call I only had time to reach him and hold him and he kind of gasped—that was it. Since then I’ve made my peace with Allah...when they send the angel of death for me I have no fear. My heart has gone out of me since my boy’s death. He was brave and strong and tried with all his might to stay away from those fellas. 

“....So, I carry no weapons, I speak.”

Lynch relived the tragedy last week when Ryan Hercules, son of late Jamaat member Mark Guerra, was gunned down. Hercules had been providing security for the Enterprise mosque which has been under threat from the UI crew.

Lynch, who has distanced his mosque from the culprits, recounted one incident. “They killing people as if they’re chicken...pass in front the mosque, bold—no mask on—pass the man they were looking for, turn around and shoot him in the back.”

He believes there’s unease now since the shooters expect retaliation. “These youths have no parents, no love, they smoke their weed, go out. They’re not Muslims. I sent them away from our mosque, told them, this isn’t Islam’s way, they’re just pretending.”

Some of his members feel authorities waited too long in the past to get the situation under control. He subscribes to a shutdown also extending to those who harbour troublemakers. “You need to cut the roots...”

Four-pronged plan needed—Tewarie

Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie said there had been sporadic issues in Enterprise in the PP’s term. The current battle for turf, he said, requires a very focused approach to dealing with what is a national issue—not in Central alone— with networks of hotspots from East PoS and parts of east Trinidad, to Couva and parts of South
“In these areas, you need control zones where people entering and leaving can be monitored so you have an idea of what’s happening and potential for issues. That must be managed by security forces with good intelligence and technology. Also creation of safe zones, community policing at stations where collaborative strategies with communities can be done. And you need national strategic deployment of mobile patrols and electronic surveillance.”
Ex-PP minister Roodal Moonilal believes criminal elements flare up when the PNM is in power. He said the burgeoning of radical Muslim elements was a concern in the PP’s term, especially in Central and South, though there were times Central was safe and there was no geographical end to the spate of murders and pressing problems. Detailing resources given to authorities, Moonilal said monitoring of intelligence was needed “almost hourly.” 
Former Central Division head Johnny Abraham says his formula was to network with everyone “from shopkeeper to shopper...I had ears to the ground all the time; anything flared up, we handled it before it got out of hand. Early intervention is key.
“Now it’s a new generation, you wouldn’t know all the young players. Perhaps older ones might give you a heads up, but you must be on the ground...”

It has been confirmed to the Sunday Guardian that Abraham will not be returning to the Central posting.[DO WE NEED THIS IN THIS STORY?]

One hundred new jobs have been created with the opening of the fifth branch of JTA Supermarket at C3 Centre, Corinth, Ste Madeleine, yesterday.

Scores of customers crowded the entrance as south Trinidad’s latest multimillion-dollar investment was opened by chairman emeritus of JT Allum and Company Ltd, Carl Mack, and San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein.

JTA Supermarkets managing director, Christopher Mack, said the multi-storey building was a significant investment and was a statement of the company’s confidence in the future of T&T. He said JTA Supermarkets will do what it can to invest in the growth and development of the local service sectors.

“I think for us, certainly in south Trinidad, if you look at the ambience here, it certainly raises the bar. I think anybody from South would know JTA has the best prices and value so for us, it is about raising the bar. 

“Especially in a recessionary time, knowing that you have a destination that is first-class, yet when you are looking for value, it is going to be here in JTA,” Mack said.

With 50,000 square feet of shopping area, JTA C3 includes an in-store pharmacy, fresh meats depot, produce area, bakery, deli, juice bar and sections for wines and spirits, party items, fresh flowers, bulk items, appliances, home items and prepared foods. 

Located between Corinth Road and the Solomon Hochoy Highway, Mack said it allows for easy access from its surrounding communities.

“It is a great location because of the congestion inside of the city of San Fernando. Traffic is becoming more of an issue, so certainly a development such as this, located strategically along the Solomon Hochoy Highway has the benefit of an easy access.

“From the highway, there is Princes Town in the East, the communities extending South and we have San Fernando to our West as well.”

Already with a large employee base through their Carlton Centre, Cross Crossing, Marabella and Couva branches, he said JTA C3 has created at least 100 new jobs directly and has provided opportunities for service partners. 

The supermarket is the first business to open at the 600,000 square-foot C3 Centre, which is still under construction. Its plan includes a mall, plaza and the much anticipated MovieTowne’s eight-screen cineplex. Other businesses expected are Chuck-E-Cheese’s and Galactica. A food court and outdoor courtyard, casual dining restaurants and solar-powered skylights are some of the other features included in the project.

Mexico has its “coyotes” or human smugglers who smuggle people illegally across the border into the US. 

Venezuela has its “bachaqueros” or human bachacs, highly mobile black marketeers on motorcycles who scurry about like the insects foraging and reselling scarce and highly coveted products such as medicines, milk powder, chicken, disposable diapers, cooking oil and sugar at exorbitant prices. 

This was revealed by Dr Jesus Martinez, a visiting physician from Margarita. He was speaking about the increasing unrest in his country caused by deteriorating economic conditions, social and political upheaval marked by power and water shortages, ration lines, food riots and shortages of medicine.

The Sunday Guardian visited the home of Venezuelan national and well-known psychic, Yesenia Gonzalez, on Friday, where she translated for Martinez. 

Martinez said the Venezuelan government was not paying the laboratories and pharmaceutical sector. He said many times the medicines reached late and some were expired.

Martinez said there was a critical shortage of life-saving drugs and supplies in Venezuela, such as penicillin, steroids, epilepsy medicine, cancer drugs and pain killers. 

He said even cotton and rubbing alcohol were in short supply, so that when writing prescriptions for antibiotics he had to put down several different types, in the event patients could not get the first choice. 

Gonzalez interjected that Maduro had turned down aid from his Latin American neighbours for food and medicine claiming that they were not necessary but had spent money to purchase expensive Russian warplanes, tanks and anti-aircraft missiles. 

Martinez said his office had no electricity from 8 am to 6 pm and hospitals and clinics also suffered from blackouts. 

Gonzalez was gearing up with flags and hats in the Venezuelan national colours and organising a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s planned visit tomorrow to Trinidad.

Gonzalez said Maduro will be greeted with “cacerola,” a pots and pans protest, and “oraciones,” prayers, by Venezuelan nationals residing in T&T calling for his removal.

She said they were going to dog Maduro’s every step outside the Diplomatic Centre, which was most likely where he would meet with government representatives. 

Gonzalez said “Venezuelans living in Trinidad are very worried about what is happening in their homeland. 

“Their families are not getting basic items such as food and medicine.

“It is very sad that he called a 60-day state of emergency to prevent a referendum calling for his resignation. 

“The Zika threat is real with no chemicals for spraying and no mosquito repellents and medicines available.”

Gonzalez said Venezuela was going through a crisis with runaway crime, inflation, people dying in hospitals for lack of medicines, human rights violations and students thrown in jail. 

She said restaurants had to close down because of no electricity and water causing the food to spoil. 

Gonzalez said the protest was to send a message to Maduro and she asked what he was planning to do here or had to offer T&T. 

She said when Maduro visited Trinidad on February 24, 2015, he promised to pay a TT$315 million debt Venezuela owes CAL (Caribbean Airlines Limited) and that never materialized. 

Gonzalez said he was just coming to cause trouble and create a distraction hoping that T&T would forget that Venezuela had problems.

Bryan “Soldier Barry” Barrington, one of the men detained in 2011 in connection with an alleged plot to kill then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and members of her Cabinet, has secured a significant legal victory against the State in his attempt to be compensated for what he claims was a wrongful arrest and breach of his constitutional rights.

Barrington, a former member of the T&T Defence Force (TTDF), and 12 others were arrested separately during the 2011 State of Emergency in connection with the high-profile assassination plot.

The 13 men were all eventually released without being charged.

Barrington filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General over the situation and is seeking damages for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and several breaches of his constitutional rights.

The Attorney General did not file a defence to the claim and instead applied to have Barrington’s lawsuit struck out stating it was an “abuse of process.” 

High Court Judge Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell on April 20, however, dismissed the Attorney General’s application to strike out Barrington’s claim.

The Attorney General must now file a defence in the matter, Donaldson-Honeywell ruled.

On November 21, 2011, while at his Partap Trace, South Oropouche, home, Barrington was arrested by “approximately 15 masked police officers,” according to his statement of case filed in the High Court on October 23, last year.

Barrington said he was “not informed of the reason for his arrest.”

He was taken to the Marabella Police Station for 30 minutes and then to the Woodbrook Police Station where he was imprisoned for six days.

On November 27, 2011, Barrington was transferred to the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca where he was “interrogated by several police officers.”

The following day, he was moved to the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Aripo.

On December 6, 2011, he was eventually released from the IDC “without having been told the reason” for his detention, Barrington stated.

In the state’s attempt to strike out Barrington’s claim the affidavit of Javier Forrester, an attorney at the Chief State Solicitor’s Department, was filed.

Forrester outlined the legal authority of the officers to arrest and detain under the provisions of the Emergency Powers Regulations (EPR) 2011 which were in force at the time of Barrington’s detention.

Forrester stated the “proper procedure” under the EPR 2011 for review of Barrington’s detention was the Review Tribunal established under the Act.

An affidavit by then deputy police commissioner Mervyn Richardson stated that Barrington was “suspected to be involved in a plot to assassinate” Persad-Bissessar and others.

As a result of this, Richardson said he was “satisfied” with Barrington’s initial detention because it “was necessary under the EPR to prevent him from acting in a manner prejudicial to public order or public safety.” Richardson said on November 22 he signed an Authorisation Notice extending Barrington’s detention for a further seven days.

On November 29, 2011, a detention order under Regulation 17 Second Schedule 1 (1) of the EPR was issued by then minister of national security John Sandy.

Richardson said that order was served to Barrington around 4.45 pm the same day it was issued.

Barrington denied being served with “any document regarding either the seven day extension allegedly authorised by Richardson or the detention order of Sandy”.

“Further (Barrington) alleges that he was never informed of his rights under the EPR during his detention,” the judgment stated.

The State said Barrington should not have approached the courts with his claims.

“It is argued that there was no basis for this claim to have been filed when the EPR specifically restricts the rights of persons detained to bring legal action to seek relief arising from their detention,” according to the Attorney General, the judgment stated.

The Attorney General stated Barrington’s “entire period of detention was in fact lawful as the procedures outlined in the EPR 2011 were properly followed.

Donaldson-Honeywell stated “strict compliance with the EPR” was required for Barrington’s three periods of detention.

“Accordingly, the application to strike out the claim is dismissed and the Defendant (the Attorney General) must file a Defence. Thereafter further directions will be considered including whether the affidavits filed thus far by the Defendant in support of the application to strike out can stand as the evidence of the Defendant or whether the State’s evidence will be supplemented by additional sworn statements. There will be no order as to costs based on the Claimant’s (Barrington) failure to file written submissions within the time directed,” Donaldson-Honeywell ruled.

Attorney Abdel Ashraph appeared for Barrington while Zelica Haynes-Soo Hon, Coreen Findley, Javier Forrester and Ryan Grant appeared for the Attorney General.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh is failing to tell the public that the Government has not been paying suppliers for the necessary chemical reagents needed to screen blood, says medical practitioner Dr Rai Ragbir.

Ragbir was speaking with the media at his Chaguanas office yesterday morning in response to a newspaper report in the Newsday which claimed that there was a shortage of blood and chemicals to process the blood.

“I think that he (Deyalsingh) is being less that honest. The problem in T&T is not a lack of blood, this is something that has been perennial. But since January of this year, the Ministry of Health has been very tardy in its payments to a supplier for reagents to screen the blood that donors donate,” Ragbir said.

He said it was important since screening was done for diseases such as the HIV1 and HIV11 viruses, Hepatitis, Syphilis Malaria, Chagas Disease and more. “This is something critical because the RHAs are saying that they have problems for surgeries, they don’t have blood for surgeries. So we cannot lie to the public.” 

Ragbir said there should be no cutting of the CDAP drug list since there is a shortage of CDAP drugs for people with cardiac problems, diabetic, psychiatric and hypertensive patients. Ragbir said there was also a shortage of reagents for dialysis since suppliers are also not being paid.

Former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) Prof Emeritus Ramesh Deosaran says the acting appointments of this country’s Police Commissioner is “an undue embarrassment and quite likely, a record heading for the Guinness World Book of Records.”

It’s been almost three years, he said, and the appointments of Stephen Williams and “a perpetual string of deputies” have been renewed every six months since 2013.

Williams will continue to act until July 31, while Assistant Commissioner of Police Deodat Dulalchan will act as Deputy Commissioner of Police until July 17. It was Williams’ seventh acting appointment. 

On Thursday, Deosaran, presented a paper at the annual Conference of Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP) at the Torarica Hotel, Paramaribo, Suriname.

It was titled—Police Governance: From Oversight Puzzle to Political Disguise. 

The paper’s objective was to help encourage the ACCP to consider the best way in which political control over Police Commissioners should be exercised in the relatively small, multi-party democracies of the Caribbean. 

He said, “While it may be uncomfortable for an individual commissioner to express his or her professional views on the matter, it will be helpful if as a professional association, the ACCP should give it some collective attention from the viewpoints of principle, experience and practice. 

“The expanding nature of the illegal drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, border insecurity and state corruption will be more effectively handled by commissioners who are secure from undue political influence.” In Jamaica, Deosaran said, the country’s constitution provides for a Police Service Commission with five members to be appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Likewise, Barbados, the Police Service Commission—its chairman and a maximum of four other members—are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. 

Zoning in on T&T, he said the 1962 Constitution stated that the members of the PSC shall be appointed by the Governor General acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister with the power to appoint, promote and discipline police officers.

The Constitution added that before the PSC appoints a Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, it must get the approval of the Prime Minister—a veto power. 

The recent amendments this year by the People’s National Movement administration requires that the appointments of a Commissioner and Deputy be nationals of T&T.

The process for recruitment requests that the PSC, through the Tenders Board Act, hires a private firm to advertise and recruit. This firm then sends a short list to the PSC who then sends the top CoP and Deputy CoP candidates to Parliament through the President. Parliament debates, then approves or disapproves. 

But Deosaran said overall, this appointment process raised some issues: 

• The PSC powers are significantly weakened;

• The PSC has become an expensive redundancy and an irrelevant rubber stamp;

• The process, though intended to be a constitutionally-driven one, has been reduced to significant privatisation, with the public officer DPA removed and the PSC vetting powers numbed;

• With the political directorate having significant determination from start to finish in the appointment process, it means political control over the CoP and Deputy CoP has been strengthened:

• Faced with such circumstances, it may be less costly, more efficient and constitutionally proper to remove the private firm and allow the PSC itself to conduct the recruitment process:

• Alternatively, let the Parliament itself arrange to hire an appropriate consultant to recruit and recommend to the President without having a PSC.

Deosaran said, “If political control over the commissioner is inevitable in a democracy, then why don’t we now do as the UK and have our commissioners elected by popular vote?”

He also asked, “Should a Commissioner of Police be appointed on a three-or-five-year contract or given permanent tenure like judges?