Why has the disastrous state of accounting for the spending of billions of dollars of public funds been allowed to continue, notwithstanding the decades-long calls by successive auditors general for the establishment of quality accounting systems and rigorous monitoring of spending?

Perhaps it is that governments, opposition parties in Parliament and the Public Service are without the technical capacity and good sense to have established a modern and efficient financial system to manage state finances.

Maybe it is that political parties have deliberately left the systems, deemed by succeeding reports of the Auditor General to be inefficient with systemic deficiencies, with a purpose in mind. It may very well be the case that, in addition to the technical incapacity, we have an innate sense of dishonesty which cannot help but attach itself to the state financial system to facilitate fraud and corruption.

As reflected upon in last week’s column, the Auditor General’s 2015 report on the management of the public finances, the waste, the inadequate systems of reporting and accounting for expenditure, stretch back into the political administrative history of T&T.

One major plank of the People’s National Movement platform of 1956 was a promise to establish integrity in public office. Succeeding governments through the National Alliance for Reconstruction, the People’s National Movement and the United National Congress appointed ministers such as Selby Wilson, Gordon Draper and Wade Mark to reform the public sector. The assumption here is that in addition to the purely administrative element of the public sector, those governments understood that the financial systems were seriously malfunctioning and needed to be changed. Little was achieved; perhaps not even attempted.

The People’s Partnership government placed no special focus on transforming the Public Service.

As I made note of last week, the performance of a watchdog responsibility by parliamentary committees, the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Enterprises Accounts Committee, has not resulted in any change in accounting practices, nor has it proved capable of stopping the gross mismanagement of public funds and its inevitable associated corrupt practices.

The failure therefore of the public accounting systems also reflects on incapacity of the Parliament to prevent the leakage and possibly corrupt spending of public funds. It is another stripe against the present parliamentary system and further indication of the constitutional reform required.

But the wastage and facilitation of corruption do not end there. There is no audited figure of what has been spent on the Tarouba Complex and the efficacy of that spending; what is known is that not a ball has been rolled on the outfield; not a sport fan has been to the stadium; and almost ten years have gone by.

There has been no definitive word on the state of Napa, the cost of the damage to the building/s, the cost of the refurbishment, and who is responsible for paying the latter.

The People’s Partnership government ignored several buildings constructed under the People’s National Movement government (2003-2010) at a cost of hundreds of millions of public monies. While those buildings were left to deteriorate, $100 million was wasted (premises not occupied) on the rental of buildings such as 1 Alexandra Place. Was that deliberate action and/or inaction towards building a feeding trough from which many could feed?

The unplanned and unaccounted for spending on Life Sport reached over $400 million; the Minister of Finance, the Cabinet and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said not a word about the increased spending until the information was leaked to and published in the media.

Successive reports of commissions of enquiry have found links between poor accounting practices in the state financial system and corruption—The National Gas Company, WASA, the old ISCOTT. The Frank Rampersad team found corruption and inefficiencies galore in the state enterprise system back in 1988; the state sector of today has surpassed in size and corruption that of the 1980s.

The overall impact of having inefficient accounting systems in the public service, of the failure, even refusal to supply the AG with documents and responses on queries, of audited reports not being placed before the Parliament for years (one enterprise having not submitted such a report since its inception in 1974, and others without reports to the Parliament dating back to 2004 and even longer) is that they have become one base from which corruption has grown and spread.

There are concerns that the present government will allow the Children’s Hospital in Couva, spending on which has not been properly accounted for, to whither on the vine. Meantime, there is no agreement on how many billions have so far been expended on the Point Fortin Highway and the proportion of the work finished. Readers can add other spending which has not been adequately accounted for.

The evidence seems clear to this commentator: the inadequacies of the systems and monitoring mechanisms have been allowed to exist and spread because the political system had been and continues to be infected by race and party fanaticism. The two major parties and variations of them are aware that their tribes will vote them in at the appropriate time, and not be bothered by the mere wastage of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The issue is—who will drive the transformation to modern, structured and efficient accounting systems? Politicians will not voluntarily do it. Civil society interested in receiving value for money and intent on preventing corruption must act.

Members of the Muslim community as well as T&T-based Venezuelan activists will stage demonstrations at the Diplomatic Centre this morning “welcoming” Venezuelan President  Nicholas Maduro with lobbies concerning two different matters which they are respectively pressing for.

Maduro was scheduled to arrive in T&T last night for a 11 am meeting today with Government at the Diplomatic Centre. Islamic Front (IF) leader Umar Abdullah says Muslim groups will be lobbying for release of five T&T nationals detained in Venezuela on terrorism charges since 2014. 

Attorney for the men’s families, Nafeesa Mohammed appealed to those at today’s TT/Venezuela talks, “If President Maduro wants help from T&T in any way, Venezuela must also help us and release the five brothers detained—this should be a negotiating position,”

And Venezuelan activist Yesenia Gonzales plus Venezuelan Opposition Accion Democratica member Antonio Parrios—who’s sought asylum in T&T with several others —will also be demonstrating, seeking talks with Maduro about their country’s impending collapse,  and to ask for a date by October for a referendum. 

However  both Muslims and Venezuelans will be vying for Maduro’s attention with JTUM members who will be mounting a show of solidarity for the Venezuelan president near Queen’s Hall. Security will be tight for the meeting which focuses on energy,  trade and foreign affairs. 

Last week Government said Maduro—whose country is on the verge of economic collapse—requested the meeting. Officials expected it would  continue last October’s talks on  energy, trade security and foreign affairs.

However  Prime Minister Keith Rowley said last Friday, Venezuela’s situation would also be on the discussion table. He said Government recognises the situation is tenuous and in light of Venezuela’s economic and political issues,  is monitoring closely, including on possible refugee influx. He said T&T has obligations concerning this under international law.

Rowley said he knew of people “seeking aid and succor” and coming to T&T to buy household items from T&T including LPG gas. He said Government  has to consider  if this exportation is sustainable. He noted some may call on T&T for aid in the overall matter, but hoped “the situation wouldn’t get that far.”  Rowley however stressed T&T is “not an uninterested by-stander” in the Venezuelan matter. 

Maduro will be accompanied by ministers Delcy Rodriguez (Foreign Affairs), Eulogio del Pino, (Petroleum/Mining,  Miguel Pérez Abad,( Industry and Commerce), Alexander Yánez Deleuze, (Latin America/ Caribbean Affairs) and  Venezuelan Ambassdor, Coromoto Godoy Calderon,

There has been speculation Maduro may seek some type of assistance from T&T amid Venezuela’s crisis. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift in 2013  said late President Hugo Chavez (Maduro’s predecessor)  in 2003 when—under political pressure and unrest—had asked  T&T  to “do anything possible” to relieve Venezuela’s energy crisis. T&T sent 500,000 barrels of oil. Chavez later noted T&T came to his assistance in his “darkest hour.”

Muslim protests
But if Venezuela needs help, some Muslim activists want reciprocal treatment. IF’s Abdullah said  he’s called on Muslim activists to come to the area outside the Diplomatic Centre for a prayer vigil, lobbying for the release of Wade Charles, Dominic Jamal Pitilal, Asim Luqman, Andre Bathersby and Lesley Daisley. They’ve  been detained  in Venezuela since 2014  on terrorism suspicions.

They were held at hotel Sabana Grande along with a  22 member Muslim group which went to seek visas for  pilgrimage. That group was later released. The five—from Central Trinidad mosques—have been subject to court hearings.

Abdullah yesterday called out Muslim activists—including “sisters” he said—to demonstrate from 9 am with placards He urged them to stay away from negative  or derogatory messages and to focus on the freedom of the  detainees. He said if they are moved from the entrance to the Diplomatic Centre, they will go to the adjoining playing field.

Abdullah said he spoke to National Security Minister Edmund Dillon two days ago on the detainees. Abdullah added Dillion said he’s been having talks with his Venezuelan counterpart on the issue. Abdullah said he appealed for “good sense” at today’s meeting and was told Government would see “what it could do.”

Attorney Mohammed—who is a specialist in refugee law—said she’d join the women and children of the detainees’  in today’s demonstration. She said  Gloria Charles, one detainee’s  mother wants to meet Maduro personally to appeal for her son’s release.

Mother’s plea
 Charles has a letter for Maduro stating  her son  is the sole breadwinner for his family. Charles said the  Venezuelan  crisis  is especially hard for the detainees who depend on people on the outside to bring food  and items for them.
 Charles’ letter added:

“I’m a mother whose heart breaks every day my son is kept away...After two years in prison my son and the other men are faced with medical conditions to which treatment is limited in Sebin. There are no medications in Venezuela  The dentist hardly visits.” 

Relatives of other detainees delivered a letter for Maduro to the Venezuelan Embassy last Friday and to  Minister Dillon. Mohammed said she was pleased with Dillon’s response.

Their letter stated  “We’re appealing to and fervently begging on humanitarian grounds to give some consideration to the plight of these five Trinidadians... (their) wives have been evicted from their place of residence, children are living with low self esteem due to character assassination and not attending school. The issue of depression hovers over these women and children remain fatherless. ..”

“Can you extend the humanly  (sic)  instinct and release them so they can return home to their families and be the fathers they once were, gentle and kind to their family? Is it possible you can obliterate the false claims made against them ...They only entered your country to procure visas to travel to ....Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia for Umrah.These men had no intention and hadn’t  been involved in any subversive activity or illegal actions intended to harm any government or humankind.”

The families launched their lobby on a Muslim station last night (SUN). Dillon and Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses didn’t immediately answer calls. Maduro returns home today.

MSJ seeks trade talks
Yesenia Gonzales, an ILP member, is co-ordinating today’s protest by Venezuelans, some of whom will be bringing empty pots and pans to demonstrate the plight of their countrymen . She’s seeking a meeting with Maduro to ask for him for a date by October for a referendum in their homeland.

Yesterday’s Sunday Guardian highlighted  how desperate Venezuelans have increasingly been coming to T&T to buy supplies, particularly at Cedros, a legal entry port.

Gonzales added, “People are happy to raise their voices in T&T and will come out, at least 100,  but some are afraid  of problems entering T&T, being treated like refugees. Venezuelan Opposition Accion Democratica member Parrios said he was one of five AD members who’s sought asylum in T&T since last  October. He said he’s going through a process with Immigration on this and their members fled Venezuela due to political harassment. He said he’d been jailed for several days and cannot return.

However the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ)  which supports Maduro hopes to see movement at today’s meeting on development of the “cross-border” natural gas fields and agreement on “barter trade” between both countries, with  local manufacturers selling products to Venezuela and that country selling crude oil to T&T.  Also suggested was discussion on the feasibility of T&T supplying Venezuela with electrical power.

Ria Rambally and Rosemarie Sant 

As the debate rages on over laws on child marriage, there is scepticism from an elderly woman who was married at the age of nine, before there were even any marriage laws in this country. 

Today Dularie Baboonie Kanhai says she had no regrets about her marriage, she and her husband had a good life which produced ten children and a happy home. But she is sceptical whether young people now have the stamina and the mindset to get married at that age.

Born in Felicity, Dularie says she is 101 years old, which means she was born in 1915. She got married in 1924 at the age of nine. Her husband, of Cane Farm, Tacarigua, was 12 years old when they got got married.

Her hands are worn from years of hard work in the sugar fields alongside her husband, but she still has a magnetic smile and a memory which surpasses some younger than her. She laughed as she recounted her story. 

She said her father’s father, her Aja, wanted her to go to school. But her mother’s father, her Nana, did not, insisting that it was time for her to get married, because he said “if children go to school who will marry them?” She did not know the boy and he did not know her. Neither the groom nor the bride saw each other before the wedding.

She got her first glimpse of the boy she was getting married to on the day of the wedding.

Wedding day
She recalled “when we go to get married my brother and them saying watch the boy, so I peeping and so I see him.” She said that when they got married back then they had to cover their faces so that the boy would not see them. 

She shyly covered her mouth with her hands as she recalled her brothers promptings to peep and laughed as if the memory took her back to her childhood days and the wicked memory of doing something she should not have.

In those days Dularie said girls got married before the age of puberty (before they started menstruating) because they got the blessings of their families who would do aarti (pass a brass dish with a deya and flowers over their heads and touch their feet and forehead to bless them.) A pundit performed the marriage ceremony.

Dularie said she returned to her father’s home where she stayed until she turned ten, it was then she was allowed to go to her husband’s home in Calcutta #2 where their married life started.

They both worked in the cane fields. She had her first child at age fifteen. She and her husband had ten children. Five of them are alive today. Her husband died in his early sixties.

A bygone age
She said times have changed, “now boys and girls going to school, they get to choose who they get married to, they marry at 20 or 21, but girls don’t know how to do house work, they don’t know how to cook and clean house.” 

Long ago she said that is all that they knew and they had to make it work. Unlike Dularie, another child bride admitted she was not as happy with the way things turned out for her and now lives with the regret of never having finished her education.

While her identity cannot be revealed, the 14-year-old told her family she was “in love,” and not interested in going to school. As a member of the Christian faith, the teen approached her parents and informed them that she was seeing a man of Hindu faith in his 20s she was in love and wanted to get married.

Both families agreed to meet and consent was given for the 14-year-old girl and her suitor to be married. The marriage was registered under the Hindu faith and followed by a Christian ceremony.

The 14-year-old was removed from school and taught to cook and clean, but she was also encouraged to work. After several years, the marriage which bore no children, fell apart. Now, 22 years later, the woman, now 36, admitted to having regrets about her decision to drop out of school and get married.

She said that at 14 years old, children choosing marriage have different expectations of the union and admits it was a responsibility for which she was not ready.

Remorseful after hacking his wife’s 65-year-old uncle to death, a Rio Claro gardener walked away from the murder scene to go home and say goodbye  to his five children.

“This is the last time you all will see me because the police will come for me just now,” the 33-year-old suspect told his children before changing his clothes and surrendering to Rio Claro police yesterday morning.

According to reports, the suspect was returning home after hours of drinking and liming with friends, when around 4.40 am when he entered Mookram Kanhai’s home along Mahabalsingh Branch Trace #2, Ecclesville with a cutlass.

He walked into Kanhai’s bedroom and began chopping him as he slept. It was believed the Kanhai got up and attempted to shield his face, but was hand was almost severed and his face severely sliced. The suspect then threw his cutlass in bushes and continued on his way home where he confessed the murder to his wife. Police searched the bushes for the cutlass, but were unsuccessful.

Investigators said the victim told them that he lived on the same acre of land with Kanhai and had asked for electricity, but was denied.  Access to Kanhai’s home was easy as the house was still under construction. There were no front and back doors and no locks on his bedroom door.

At her home yesterday, the suspect’s wife was still in disbelief and their children gathered along the stairway, puzzled as to why their father was gone. With her husband of 12 years gone, she was left to care for the children alone with no running water, electricity and other basic amenities.

“When he came home, he woke me up and told me to wake up the children. I got up and wake them and he talked to them and told them that this was the last time they would be seeing him because the police will come for him just now. I asked him what he did and he told me he killed Gobin (Kanhai).

“I was not afraid because I did not know what to believe. I did not really think he did that. It was only when he called the police and told them what he did, I realised it was true,” the woman said.

Kanhai’s nephew Narad Kanhai said before the suspect surrendered, he came to his home and confessed to the murder. He said it appeared that the suspect was drunk and only believed him when he saw him surrender to the police.

Another nephew Deonarine Harrynarine said one of his cousins also saw the suspect walk into Kanhai’s home, heard screaming and saw the suspect leave. He called his father who went across to the house and found Kanhai already dead at his bedside. Harrynarine said his uncle only recently began collecting a government pension and used to plant chadon beni to make a living. He said although Kanhai often drank and cursed loudly when he got drunk, he never troubled anyone.

Relatives said the suspect, who previously lived at Laventille and worked at a funeral home, spent most of Saturday drinking and liming with friends. They said he was at a cricket game where he had a few beers and returned home for a “sue-sue hand,” he had collected so that he could lime some more. They said he even got into an argument at the bar, but could not say what it was about.

A lot of money is being spent on on National Security now since there are unidentified murderers walking around “among us,” Prime Minister Keith Rowley has said.

Rowley made the point in addressing graduates of the University of the Southern Caribbean at the institution’s 83rd graduation ceremony at the Grandstand of the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday. He said Education had always had the highest allocation of funding, until “something  happened” and now more money is  being spent on National Security.

He added that “...walking among us today are unidentified murderers, they  might be right in front of you, (or ) buying a roti and  you don’t know who they are.”

What was worse, he said was that they are known in some communities, but there is fear in the community and people are afraid to  say anything about the situation.

The Prime Minister also expressed concern about: “....our ( T&T) menfolk”, who he said are not as “present as they should be.” He said there will be more social stresses and issues if that continues. “Whenever we hear of misconduct in T&T, it’s the men—we need to change that,” Rowley added. He also advised students not to turn their face away from governance  issues or believe it belongs only to others to deal with. 

Calling on them to  embrace change since change was very frequently needed for success, Rowley said they should pay attention to what is going on in society and if they saw the need for change they should demand it, whether, the change  involved not having 12 year  old girls marry, or in ensuring state enterprises aren’t mismanaged.

Despite the recession, the corporate community needs to continue helping society’s vulnerable said Gervase Warner, Group CEO of the Massy Group. According to their July to December 2015 Newsletter, United Way of T&T donated almost TT $1 million to Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the country.

“I just left a project called Project Care in Diego Martin where there are companies giving materials, contractors giving different skills and we have hundreds of volunteers who showed up to paint, to move stuff, to help fix Diego Martin RC School which was in a state of disrepair. At the end of today it will be completely transformed. It does not cost a lot of money to volunteer,” he said.

Warners spoke yesterday at the United Way of T&T’s National Day of Caring at the Republic Bank Staff Club, Barataria. United Way of T&T assists NGOs and Community Based Organisation (CBO’s) who are under-funded through volunteer work and donations.

Some of the $1m in donations included $150,000 which went to Bird Song, a community based organisation rooted in the steelband movement. Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA) received $200,000, Mamatoto received $127,140, the Consortium of Disability Organizations (CODO) received $120,000 while the Dyslexia Association received $150,000. Companies that contribute to United Way of T&T include the Massy Group, Atlantic, Bermudez Biscuit Company, BHP Biliton and bpTT.

Warner refused to tell other companies how much or when they should contribute, but he said many companies are making social contributions despite being hit by the recession. 

“I cannot pretend to make rules or criticise anyone else as others have to operate with their own values. We have some exposure to the energy sector but it is a large diversified conglomerate, many of our subsidiaries in T&T and other countries are doing well. 

“Overall our profits are down a little bit but we are still doing extremely well. So we will continue to contribute. 

“There are other companies fighting for survival and one of our participant companies is in the middle of layoffs and they still participate,” he said. 

Warner said large corporations had a huge responsibility to the society in which they operate and used the Massy Group as an example.

“The United Way’s office in T&T is hosted by the Massy Group.  They work out of Massy’s office space. I am on the Board of Directors of United Way. I also chair the National Day of Caring Committee,” he said. He even said their corporate executives at the Massy Group are judged by how they contribute to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

“At our Group of companies our executives have the balanced scorecard method and community involvement is one of the measures on the scorecard among others like financial measures and measures around people and customers. This does not stop because we are in a recession,” he said.

It’s been 11 years since Yvonne McIvor’s leg was blown off in an explosion in downtown Port-of-Spain and she said she has never asked why it happened to her. “I didn’t ask why it happened to me. I have this feeling that whatever happened, the hand of the Lord had something to do with it,” McIvor, 77, now, said. She has also forgiven the person who placed the explosive device in the dustbin on Frederick Street. 

“I told myself the bomb was not placed there for Yvonne. Whoever did it was wrong but I forgive him.” McIvor, who now moves around in a wheelchair in her Arima home, even doing her own cooking and baking, frequently shares her story of triumph over her terrible ordeal with people who visit her and the congregation at her church.

A retired public servant, she was 66 when the incident that was to forever change her life happened. A cancer survivor, she was walking past Maraj Jewelers in the city on July 11, 2005 on her way to the Radiotherapy Centre in St James when the device in the dustbin exploded.

The incident occurred four days after a London bombing. There was speculation that terrorists were behind the Port-of-Spain dustbin attack. There were two other similar incidents in St James and Port-of-Spain but no one was ever arrested for the offences. Some 14 people were injured. 

“I remember seeing so much blood when the bomb threw me on the ground and hearing someone say, ‘look that lady leg hanging by a piece of skin’ and hoping they were not talking about me.”

She slipped into a coma right after and spent six weeks in the hospital while doctors amputated her left leg and did surgery on her lungs after broken ribs punctured them. Her left ear was permanently damaged and she never regained hearing in that one.

Perhaps, the worst damage McIvor suffered was psychological. One night during her stay in the hospital, she woke up at 2 am and told the nurse to tell her daughter to walk in the middle of the road (to avoid the sidewalk because of danger).

When she was discharged, McIvor kept hearing the loud explosion in her ear and was terrified to be alone.

“I used to feel something was going to happen. When my husband, David, went to the market or do other errands, I would shout to the neighbour from the window and ask her to come and stay with me.”

After about four years of psychological torment, McIvor began to heal. “I am a very spiritual person and I prayed for help to cope with this life and not blame anybody.

“I rely on God every single day. I don’t care who believes and who doesn’t believe. I know I believe. It is He who gives me the strength to face every day with a smile and be positive.”

McIvor said David, 79, has been faithfully at her side throughout her ordeal. What never healed are the “phantom pains” she gets in the severed leg which have been increasing, she said.

“Sometimes, I look down where I have no leg and feel something like sharp nails dragging over my instep or feel a scraping on the heel, or shin or the big toe.”

McIvor said she read an article that said this is caused by nerve endings that are still active but which do not tell the brain the foot is no longer there.

“I realised this is something I have to live with. Just like I got accustomed to having no leg and being completely deaf in my left ear.”

McIvor refuses to let the bad experience cloud her positive outlook. “People must know they must not allow themselves to be so overtaken by the negative that there’s no room for the positive.”

Rosemarie Sant
 
Nine years after the official start of the Liquid Fuels Pipeline project, the facility located at Frederick Settlement, Caroni, is said to be only “92 per cent complete” and the National Gas Company (NGC) is now saying that completion is now targeted for the third quarter of this year.

The facility is due to become “fully operational” at the end of this year, and while the company remains mum on the cost of the facility official figures indicate that by the time the project is completed the project which was initially earmarked to cost just under $800m will actually cost taxpayers closer to $1.2 b.

The Government-funded project was initiated in December 2007 under the then People’s National Movement and was a combined effort involving Petrotrin, NGC and the National Petroleum Marketing Company-NPMC.

In August, 2009, the project was reported to be 68 per cent complete. The forecast then was for completion in September/October 2010 at an estimated cost of $739 million. 

NGC’s Acting Corporate Communications Manager Lisa Burkett did not provide information on the final cost of the project or when it would become operational. In response to a list of questions seeking information, Burkett response was: “NGC is in the final stages of completion of the Liquid Fuels Pipeline project. The project is about 92 per cent completed.” 

Seeking answers to the cost of the project to taxpayers an examination or past budgetary documents revealed in 2012-2013 State Enterprises Investment Programme the project was 95 per cent complete. It said the estimated cost was revised from $597 million to $832.3 million dollars. 

In the 2016 budgetary SEIP document indicated that the project was “99 per cent complete.” It noted that the initial estimated cost of the project was $832.8m, but that was revised to $1.128b “due to changes in the scope of works.”

The estimated expenditure on the project up to March last year according to the Finance Ministry document was $1.125b.

The document indicated that a further expenditure of $60 million was required for the period April to September 2015 and $20 million was required for 2016 for the construction of the bund wall, civil works, project management and commissioning. It  said the Jet A1 fuel pipeline was scheduled for completion and handover by the end of fiscal 2015.

Petrotrin’s Acting Corporate Communications Manager George Commissiong confirmed to the GML Enterprise Desk that commissioning with Jet A-1 fuel only has begun and will continue in the second quarter of 2016. 

Commissiong said this would continue in the second quarter of 2016 followed by commissioning with the other fuel types by the third and fourth quarter of 2016.

On Friday, NGC said “all major civil activities as per the original design are substantially completed including the two pipelines. Final mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works are currently in progress and estimated schedule for completion is by the end of Q3 2016.” 

Commissiong said in September 2014 the then government mandated that Petrotrin establish a subsidiary company to own and operate the multi-fuel pipeline and the new fuel facility at Caroni. He said the Liquid Fuels Company of T&T would therefore be “responsible for the operations of the facility post-commissioning.”

About the plant
The Liquid Fuels Pipeline system is designed to transport 1.6 million gallons or 42,000 barrels per day of refined distillates, specifically two types of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The pipeline starts at Petrotrin’s Point-a-Pierre refinery and ends at Frederick Settlement, Caroni. NGC said a jet fuel pipeline was also constructed from the Caroni facility to Piarco to serve the needs of the Piarco International Airport. 

NGC explained that “safety is premium on this project,” as the “system will make the transportation of liquid fuels safer, more reliable and more efficient.” Currently aged top loading fuel gantries at Pointe-a-Pierre and Sea Lots are used and the liquid fuels are then transported by marine tanker from Petrotrin to the NP facility at Sea Lots in Port of Spain. 

The fuels pipeline is intended to replace the marine tanker between Petrotrin and NP Sea Lots. It will also no longer be necessary for tank wagons to carry jet fuel on the roads, which means that there will no longer be need for the road tank wagons which carry the fuel to Piarco. 

The education ministry’s new head office on St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain will be handed over to the ministry by Udecott today, according to Education Minister Anthony Garcia. The 16-floor building has been undergoing outfitting since last year and is ready to be occupied. 

Lights have been on in the building night and day and floors, furnished with desks, computers and other equipment. Three weeks ago, Garcia said it would be occupied in about three months.

Garcia also said he would meet this week with the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) Board, Education Facilities Ltd (EFCL) and parents of Rousillac Hindu School on the way forward for the new school and to ascertain why the originally-planned project went from two stories to three. He said no approval was given for this and he wants to get to the “bottom” of this.

Last Friday outside Parliament, parents of students attending Rousillac Hindu School, dressed in red, protested calling on Prime Minister Keith Rowley to deliver the school which has been in the making since the past PNM adminstration. 

They said the school was largely destroyed by a bush fire in March 2003. Students were temporarily housed at the nearby SDMS temple until the undamaged part of the school was prepared by parents and students moved back there. 

They said then education minister Hazel Manning assured a new school would be built but it was the People’s Partnership government which began construction in September 2013. It was to be completed in eight months. Since then students were housed at Rousillac community centre.

Parents said construction halted in September 2015—after general elections—with 70 per cent completion of the work. They were told in October 2015, the school would be ready for delivery by February 2016. 

A Princes Town man who struck his former boss on the head several times with a hammer and robbed him of $1,500 has been sentenced to six years hard labour. Vinay Sharma, 30, begged for forgiveness when he appeared before Princes Town Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan, but the magistrate found his actions to be “quite vicious.”

Sharma pleaded guilty on Friday to the offence of robbery with violence which took place on May 4, 2015. Prosecutor Sgt Roger Richardson said around 3 pm Sharma and another person entered Badree’s Mini Mart at Iere Village, Princes Town and announced a hold up.

Sharma struck Lochan Badree, 70, several blows to the head, causing injuries, and robbed him of $1,500 representing the day’s sale. The following day the police were on patrol when they saw Sharma walking along the road and arrested him. The officers found the black-handled hammer in a knapsack Sharma was carrying.  

Noting that Badree suffered eight lacerations to the skull and was warded at hospital for three days, the magistrate said: “It was a very violent attack on a person in order to steal his day’s earnings.” Sharma claimed he was highly intoxicated with alcohol and drugs.

Turning to Badree who was seated in court, Sharma said: “Please forgive me for what I did.”

As a result of his head injury, Badree walks with a limp and experiences dizzy spells.

“Can you make that better for him?” the magistrate asked Sharma.

The magistrate added: “The court was quite disturbed having heard a narrative of a human being taking a hammer to another of age. It was quite vicious. He gave you a job previously.” Saying Badree went through a horrifying event, the magistrate said it forever changed his life physically.

The prosecutor noted Sharma had three convictions between September and August 2013—two for assault by beating for which he was sentenced to three months each and a house breaking and larceny for which he was fined.

Saying Sharma had a history of violence and dishonesty, Rambachan said jail was 100 per cent justified in this case. He said the maximum sentence for robbery with violence in the magistrates court was ten years imprisonment.

Courtrooms are almost always filled with passion, emotions and drama. Litigation can be a stressful process and often complainants or defendants find it difficult to cope with attending court. Factors such as behaviour and appearance may actually play a part in the outcome of your case.

Stay informed: The first step in coping with a lawsuit is to get the correct information about the process. Talk to a lawyer about what to expect, what kind of time limits are in place, whether you have a good basis upon which to bring a claim or to dispute liability or claimed damages, and whether settling out of court or defending the case at trial would be more beneficial to your situation.

Communicate openly and honestly with your attorney: Nobody knows what happened better than the parties to any proceedings—not your lawyer, not their lawyer, not any witnesses and not a Judge or Magistrate or jury. Your lawyer is only equipped with the factual tools you can provide him or her. So, get involved, be candid with your lawyer, and try to stay focused on solutions.

Prepare yourself mentally: Get counselling if needed or confide in someone you trust. Increased stress or inability to manage the emotional and psychological aspects of litigation can only prevent you from fully participating in your own matter. Always communicate with your lawyer about your state of mind before attending court. 

Dress appropriately  When you enter a courtroom, always show respect for the Court. The way you look is the first thing the Judge or Magistrate will notice about you, so always consider your appearance. Dress conservatively and with care and look serious about the whole event.

No need for hostility: Attending at court can be an emotional roller coaster, but it is not the place for anger and hostility. Judges and Magistrates pick up on pointless aggression towards opposing parties or their lawyers and don’t like it. Control your feelings.

Avoid the drama: You are not the lead actor in a soap opera. Although emotions can run high, your best option is to remain calm, logical and polite. When the other side is talking to the Court, do not sigh loudly, snicker, roll your eyes or make gestures. It achieves nothing but damage to your credibility.

Trust your lawyer: Your attorney knows the lawsuit game better than you do, and for good reason: that’s what you hired them to do. Pay attention in court: Nobody is more interested in your matter than you. Once you step into that courtroom, be attentive. Be thoughtful. Be present.

Of course, your own attorney would be the best person to guide you on the litigation process, but these tips should be kept in mind if you have to attend as a claimant, defendant, petitioner, applicant or respondent in any matter before the Court. 

Oil-rich Venezuela, which is faced with a severe food crisis, will soon bring relief to its citizens by purchasing US$50 million in goods from T&T.

Confirmation came yesterday from Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

In addressing the media, some of whom were from Venezuela, Maduro described his meeting with Rowley and his Cabinet as fruitful and successful, promising to strengthen ties and the relationship with T&T going forward.

“We need to continue working hard in the future to further our relations in the premise of principles of respect, brotherhood and co-operation,” Maduro told a smiling Rowley.

Among the issues both men discussed were trade, security and repatriation of citizens who are currently detained in prisons on both sides.

The T&T Government also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Maduro to purchase gas from Venezuela, which Maduro said stood to benefit both countries.

“We look forward from Trinidad and Tobago to provide significant relief to the people of Venezuela. This relief to come from a supply of manufactured goods from Trinidad and Tobago,” Rowley told Maduro, as he shook his head in approval.

“We have created a joint venture that would be responsible to conduct all the investments required in order to tap those resources for that benefit of both countries. 

“We have also decided to increase the trade flow between the two nations. We have already established the contacts and very soon, through a revolving fund with US$50 million, we will be able to strengthen the flow of trade between Trinidad and the Eastern part of Venezuela,” Maduro said, in delivering his speech to Rowley and his Cabinet.

Following Maduro’s address, Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon spoke about the arrangements that would be put in place for Venezuela to obtain much needed food.

She said the US$50 million fund Venezuela had established would be used to purchase manufactured goods from T&T, which would be sent to the eastern states of Venezuela, which have been faced with a shortage of food for months now.

To get the ball rolling, Gopee-Scoon said her ministry had forwarded a list of all goods manufactured in T&T to Venezuela.

“It is from that list, I believe from next week, we would have the vice-minister from the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Venezuela visiting with us, along with some private sector persons. They are going to be looking at which items they would want to be sent to Venezuela,” she added.

Gopee-Scoon said the timeline for the trade to start would begin as soon as the goods were made available. 

Among the priority items Venezuela had requested, Gopee-Scoon said, were butter, chicken, pork, ketchup, rice and black beans.

“These are things that would have to be fleshed out. I believe they are going to choose eight priority items which they would want us to send to them. We are going to have all this worked out when we have a delegation from Venezuela and put up all the mechanisms in place so that we can facilitate easy passage of goods from here to there,” she added.

Although they have asked for pork, Gopee-Scoon said that was one item T&T imports which they would have to look at.

Initially, Gopee Scoon said the Government had looked at Venezuela exchanging petroleum for goods from T&T but that plan did not work out.

“However, this is a different arrangement. We are speaking now of the Venezuelan Government paying for goods from Trinidad and Tobago. So a fund has been set up and the President of Venezuela did in fact speak about it. 

“That is how we are going to kick off the trade. I believe it will be on a revolving basis. So this fund will be fed into and replenished and so on,” Gopee-Scoon said.

Asked if the Government intended to offer Maduro goods at a subsidised price, given the country’s ongoing food crisis, Gopee-Scoon said: “We have not looked at price at all. There was no request at all but there will be some talks in going forward from today’s discussions.”

She said the goods would be available at cost price by the suppliers and promised that payments to suppliers would be easy and swift.

It was just another day for Lisa Ramjattan, 26, and her common-law husband, Kristian Aziz, as they went to a daycare centre in Barrackpore to pick up their two-month-old baby, Kristiano, yesterday evening.

Thinking her baby was sleeping peacefully in a playpen, Ramjattan rushed to get her phone and took a photo of him because he looked cute and the playpen was very colourful and attractive.

However, when Ramjattan attempted to pick up her baby she recoiled in horror as she realised his tiny body was cold and stiff.

An ambulance was called in but baby Kristiano was subsequently pronounced dead at the Princes Town District Health Centre. An autopsy is expected to be performed at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, today to determine the cause of death.

Ramjattan, who spoke with the T&T Guardian last evening, said she was in such shock at the time of discovery that all she could do was run outside to call Kristian, who was sitting in their parked vehicle waiting for her and the child.

“I ran out screaming something wrong with the baby,” Ramjattan said, who is also the mother of a five-year-old boy.

Ramjattan, of St Croix Road, Princes Town, said her mother, who would usually take the baby to the daycare at GP Road daily, told her Kristiano seemed normal and healthy as usual when she dropped him off yesterday.

“We went at about 3 pm and I really saw my baby sleeping on his stomach. The woman at the daycare told me that he was sleeping long time. She told me he had liked the playpen so I said I will take a photo of it and him sleeping in it so that I could buy one for him,” Ramjattan recalled.

“I didn't know all along that maybe he was dead already. It's only when I picked him up I realised something was wrong.”

She added that she noticed milk stains around the baby’s mouth and face.

“I really need to know what happened to my baby,” the mother said.

Asked if the owner of the daycare centre had reached out to her family, Ramjattan replied, “She kept saying she was sorry but nothing else. Up to now (after 7.30 pm yesterday) the woman did not contact me or my mother to say anything or to find out how we are coping, nothing.”

Ramjattan said she lodged an official report at the Barrackpore Police Station.

She also said she had contacted CNC3’s Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne in the hope of getting some kind of justice. Alleyne highlighted Kristiano’s death on yesterday evening’s show.

Up to late yesterday investigating officers were interviewing the owner of the daycare.

Will a man rob God? Some believe that the non-payment of tithes is the equivalent of this but for one man being sought by the police, robbing a church of $20,000 comes in very close.

According to police reports, one month after the death of Fr Reginald Hezekiah, parish priest at the St Charles RC Church, Eastern Main Road, Tunapuna, thieves decided to pounce on the church, robbing it at least twice and making off with $20,000 on the last occasion.

Police said PC Seeteram of the Tunapuna Police Station is investigating the most recent break-in. Police said they have a suspect in mind who is not from the area who they believe is responsible for the last break-in which took place between Friday night and Saturday morning.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Archbishop Joseph Harris said he had not been informed of the latest break-in but was aware that since Hezekiah’s death the church had been broken into at least once. Asked what message he would send to those responsible for the break-ins, Harris laughed, saying the bandits were not listening otherwise they would not be bandits to begin with. “What do you tell the bandits? God will heap hot coals on your head? Why are they bandits to begin with. We have to do something because we are an easy target,” Harris added before hurrying to a meeting.

Hezekiah, 82, who died while on vacation in the US last month, was parish priest for the past 15 years. The break-in was told to the parishioners on Sunday evening during Mass by Fr Clyde Harvey, who has been holding on since Hezekiah’s death. One parishioner told the T&T Guardian the incident had left them disturbed. “This is not the first time this church has had an issue with criminals. Some years ago (December 2009) Fr Hezekiah had to wrest a cutlass from a man who stormed in to demand money. We just hope the situation will be resolved speedily. They robbing God’s house you know,” the parishioner added.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon will travel to Venezuela next Monday to discuss the detention of five of T&T’s citizens who were arrested on suspicion of terrorism charges.

This was one of the issues Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Dillon discussed yesterday during bilateral talks between both countries at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

During a press conference with Maduro, Rowley confirmed that they had both agreed “to repatriate our citizens who are currently in detention on both sides.”

It was news that the families of the five detainees — Wade Charles, Dominic Pitilal, Asim Luqman, Andre Battersby and Leslie Daisley — have been hoping to hear for months now.

The men were arrested on suspicion of terrorism on March 19, 2014 after the Venezuelan intelligence Agency raided their hotel rooms in Caracas.

However, when Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi was questioned yesterday about if the men would have to face T&T’s judicial system, which would not be good news for their families, Al-Rawi said one should not be “so pessimistic.” 

“Let us get the facts first. The law is not to be done at the side of a room. There is a judicial process to be followed. We certainly intend to apply transparency to the equation,” Al-Rawi said.

In commenting on the matter, Al-Rawi said the issue of Trinidadians who had been held in detention in Caracas was the subject of judicial process in Caracas.

The AG said, however, that Maduro was prepared to move quickly to have the detainees sent back to Trinidad.

Al-Rawi said both leaders were clear “to move with alacrity on the issue.” 

“The issue of our citizens in Caracas is going to be the subject of a direct conversation on Monday when the Minister of National Security goes to Caracas to carry forward joint enterprise between Venezuela and Trinidad, specifically on our border and crushing, as Maduro put it, the issue of drugs and criminality,” Al-Rawi said.

How T&T would treat with the detainees upon their arrival to T&T, Al-Rawi said, was a matter for his office to manage in conjunction with Dillon’s ministry.

Insisting that a prisoner is innocent until proven guilty, Al-Rawi said: “These are allegations in a foreign territory. The method for terrorism is one which happens after conviction. Our national security network is hard at work. 

“Suffice it to say, there is constant monitoring right now to matters of terrorism and any threat there. The ones of immediate concern would be the citizens on the allegations of terrorism. That we respect is a process to be followed there.”

Al-Rawi said the People’s National Movement had been tracking the detainees since they came into office. He said that move would also reactivate the joint mechanism between the two countries.

“We have specifically tracked all of the people at immigration and the detention centre. There are a number of Caricom and foreigners nationals who have been held at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) for inordinate periods,” he said.

He said Dillon intended to clear the IDC as quickly as possible since it was untenable for some people.

Coming out of May 30 meeting, Al- Rawi said they would know when the men would be sent back.

There are 18 Venezuelans being detained at Trinidad’s IDC.

While the visit of Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro took centre stage yesterday, murderers continued to take lives, leaving four men dead and another nursing gunshot wounds in South and east Port-of-Spain. 

There were 192 murders up to late yesterday.

There is yet to be closure for any of the families of these men as police have not arrested any suspects. In the latest murder, Piparo taxi driver, Anand “Lucky” Mohammed, was shot dead outside his house on Sunday night.

Police said around 7.30 pm, Mohammed, 52, of Stone Road, Piparo, had just parked his purple Nissan B14 in his garage. 

Neighbours reported they heard a loud explosion and later found him lying in front his car, bleeding from a wound to his head. 

Officers from Central and Southern divisions, including ASP Cooper, Insp Pooran, Sgt Toolaram, Sgt Ramlogan, Sgt Ali and homicide detectives PC Lutchman and WPC Ransome, visited the scene.

Mohammed, who is also a landlord, was liming at Roland’s Bar, Tabaquite, earlier when an argument broke out. Patrons said Mohammed approached another man and they began to argue. 

He left the bar shortly after and it was believed he was followed home and shot in the head. It was only a few days ago that Mohammed moved from his home at Chickland Road, Caparo, and had moved the last of his stuff on Sunday.

Drive-by shooting

in La Brea

Despite frequent police patrols through La Brea on Sunday night, gunmen were able to execute a daring hit on the life of Akille Francis along the busy Southern Main Road. 

Francis, 31, of La Fortune Road, Point Fortin, was walking along the main road around 6.30 pm when a Nissan Tiida drove alongside him.

Witnesses said the occupants opened the windows and shot him several times before speeding off.

Police responded quickly and he was taken to the Point Fortin Area Hospital in an officer’s personal vehicle. However, he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Victim covered in bed

after being murdered

It was a traumatic Sunday evening for 19-year-old Sonny Pulchan who pulled a bedsheet to wake his uncle Kelvin Ramnarine, only to discover him dead with his throat slit.

Investigators believe Ramnarine, 31, of Rig Road, Fyzabad, was killed since Saturday. It appeared he was sleeping when his killer sliced his throat and took the bedsheet and covered his body.

At his Fyzabad home yesterday, Pulchan said he went looking for Ramnarine around 5.30 pm as no one had seen him that day. Despite calling several times, he said his uncle did not answer so he decided to climb through a window which had no louvres.

“I called about three times but he did not answer and the doors were locked from the inside. I jumped through the window and saw him lying on the bed, covered from his head to his shin. 

‘I thought he was just sleeping so I pulled the sheet and his face was white and there was blood on his lips. I pulled back the sheet some more and saw his neck slit. I just jumped back through the window and called his neighbour, Slimey, and he called the police,” Pulchan said.

Ramnarine’s sister, Indra Vallie, said it was unlike her brother to stay home all day and not come to their home. She said his murder was puzzling since she did not know of anyone wanting to kill him and most of the residents in the area were his family.

Man shot in the hip

Despite being shot twice, a Fyzabad man was not seriously injured when gunmen opened fire on him and his friends yesterday morning.

Reports stated that Anjel William, 21, of Dubarry Street, Nigel Williams of Winston Campbell Street and another friend, known as Akiel of Brian London Street, Fyzabad, were walking along Khan Trace around 2.30 am.

They told police that as they walked onto Winston Campbell Street, they heard several gunshots and ran off. Anjel Williams was shot twice in his hip while the other men escaped. 

He was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital by friends where he was treated and discharged. There was gunshot damage to the nearby Republic Bank branch. However officers said it was minor.

Residents of east Port-of-Spain said the sound of gunshots startled them early yesterday morning shortly before they found the body of a 24-year-old man.

According to Duncan Street residents, the area has been “so quiet” that the gunshots scared them. The gunshots they heard claimed the life of Anderson Clarke, a mentally ill man of Rose Hill, Laventille. They said the man remained unidentified for close to two hours as he was not from the area.

Police reports stated the killing happened around 8.30 am.

While his body remained unidentified, residents were heard saying they were going to play three numbers in Play Whe, four for Dead Man, 36 for Donkey and 34 for Blind Man. The residents said the man must have been an idiot to come into the area when he did not live there. 

“He hadda be blind. What he doing dey, if you not from the area,” one woman was heard saying while another man was overheard saying Clarke’s decision to venture into the hot spot area was not a wise one.

Police officers on the scene also queried why Clarke was in the area.

In an unrelated incident police are investigating the death of a 35-year-old man who was found with a piece of rope tied around his neck yesterday morning.

According to police, around 2,30 am Darshan Baliram, of Nolan Street, Felicity, was found on the floor of his garage barebacked with a rope around his neck. 

Police said they believe the man was murdered but are not ruling out suicide. Baliram was found by his younger brother who returned home after a night out liming. 

Angry residents of Vega de Oropouche staged another protest yesterday, taking their demonstration closer to Sangre Grande in an effort to get the relevant authorities to immediately address road conditions.

Close to 400 residents joined in the protest burning tyres, debris and placing mounds of dirt and fallen trees at various points on the Vega de Oropouche and Fishing Pond Roads bringing all activities in the agricultural districts to a halt. Vehicles were unable to use the road.

Yesterday’s protest began at 4 am and stretched to Boodooville Highway and El Repose making it impassable as there was no other way in or out of the villages.

Ramsumair Dookhantee, spokesman for the residents, said there are pot holes one and two feet deep. 

Several taxi drivers also complained that their cars cannot be kept clean because of the dirty water in the pot holes; also, their vehicles often needed repairs. 

One taxi driver said, “This cost us extra money...We have not increase the fares as yet because we are aware of the difficulties families are experiencing." 

Police officers and firemen responded to the protest, but they also were stranded and could not move into Vega de Oropouche until 10.30 am when a backhoe from the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation arrived and removed the dirt placed on the road at El Repose.

The backhoe broke down and assistance had to be sought from soldiers at Camp Cumuto, who arrived and removed the debris, trees, mounds of dirt and other discarded materials placed on the road.

Dookhantee said the protest will be intensified as the residents will take it to Sangre Grande until restoration work is done. 

MP for the Cumuto/Manzanilla area, Christine Newalloo Hosein, said she fully supported any protest action organised by residents.

Hosein said despite several appeals to the relevant authorities nothing has been done to alleviate the suffering of the people at Vega de Oropouche and Fishing Pond.

On April 19 the residents were assured by WASA that the laying of pipes would resume from May 1, but to date nothing has been done.

Yesterday, the residents mounted protest for a second time and called on WASA to complete the laying of pipe lines so that restoration work on the road could continue.

The road has been paved up to Nonpareil Estate.

The residents said they were also informed that money was approved by the last government to have the works on the road completed.

Terry Rondon, chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, visited the scene. He said he fully supported the residents’ protest. He said he usually never supported protests, but this one he has to. 

He said, “It is injustice to the people of Vega de Oropouche and I still cannot understand why the delay in having this road completed.” He reported that he wrote to the various agencies but received no response that the work on Vega de Oropouche would continue

Rondon again emphasised that the repairs in Vega de Oropouche and Fishing Pond Road were not under his jurisdiction but falls under the Ministry of Works. He, however, assists the residents when he can.

Peaceful demonstrations yesterday by Venezuelans and local Muslims waiting to see Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro near the Diplomatic Centre, in St Ann’s, turned frantic when police blocked Maduro from their view—and him from seeing their placards—by suddenly parking two buses in front of them just as Maduro arrived.

About 100 Venezuelans and 36 local Muslims had gathered at the venue since 9 am, and hadn’t strayed from behind police barriers on the pavement from the time they arrived. The Venezuelans were lobbying for Maduro to call a referendum in crisis-ridden Venezuela. The Muslims were lobbying for release of five T&T nationals detained in Venezuela since 2014 on suspicion of terrorism. 

They stood in sun and rain holding placards, the Venezuelans beating pots and chanting, waiting.

But when Maduro’s entourage began approaching the visitors’ entrance to the Diplomatic Centre after noon, police suddenly drove two buses crossways across the road—cutting off any view of Maduro—and inciting the groups to come out from behind the barriers to rush to find spaces to see him and hold up their placards.

Confronted with that development, police then had to try and keep demonstrators back by forming a human chain. They subsequently herded the groups back behind the barriers.

Police block

Islamic Front leader Umar Abdullah, among Muslim members on the scene, began shouting, “Remove the buses! We’ll go back behind the barriers once they remove the buses. They made us believe we had freedom of expression, but they took it away by blocking our messages—remove the buses, remove the buses.” The crowd picked up the chant. Bitter complaints followed about the police’s action, which had turned the scene from a measure of order behind the barriers (albeit with noisy pot-banging) to brief chaos. 

Venezuelan-born TT-based activist Yesenia Gonzales compared the police’s intervention to protests in her homeland and security forces’ action there. “This is worse than what’s happening in Venezuela...we have no gun, we not pelting no bottle...The police had no right, to block us ... Maduro can run but he can’t hide,” she said.

“The police can do their job but I cannot appreciate them grabbing me as hard as they just did to break my hand. I have no gun...I’m talking for my life, for my country, for democracy! Everyone’s messages is getting across to the world right now. We’re tired, Venezuela has no food, no medicine, no toilet paper! Maduro must call a referendum now!”

Gonzales said her arm was hurt when police forcibly restrained her from trying to lie on the pavement—with the Venezuelan flag draped over her—near where Maduro’s car was to pass. Gonzales held up a large crucifix throughout the demonstration, saying she had predicted catastrophe for Venezuela. One woman, overcome with emotion at being thwarted in efforts to get Maduro to see their messages, burst into tears.

Demonstrators outnumbered

The episode was the climax of a long morning for the demonstrators, who were outnumbered three to one by police, soldiers (beneath a tree on the adjoining field), plainclothes officers, Special Branch officers, police and army vehicles circling frequently, and helicopters overhead. 

Dressed in their national colours, the Venezuelans waved flags, chanting for a referendum. Placards bore messages including “Fuere Dictador,” “Maduro God Forgives You—just be humble and leave Venezuela!” and the most prevalent, “Referendum Now!”

Also holding placards were the Muslim members who stood quietly, lobbying for the release of Wade Charles, Dominic Pitilal, Asim Luqman, Andre Battersby and Lesley Daisley, who were detained in Venezuela since 2014.

Pitilal’s wife appealed for his release. His mother and three little sons, ranging in age from eight to two, stood in the rain, unprotected, one holding a placard saying, “I miss my Daddy—Please come Home.” 

Luqman’s wife and children stood alongside Charles’ mother, Valerie, and his brother. Present also were Enterprise mosque leader Taulib Searles and attorney Nafeesa Mohammed, who has spearheaded the lobby to free the men. Several police took pictures of the Muslim members.

Large number of groups

Calypsonian Crazy, who displayed a picture of his Venezuelan-born mother, urged T&T and other regional states to assist Venezuela. Antonina Parrios and Endrys Razaack, of the Venezuelan Opposition Accion Democratica party, said their request for asylum in T&T after fleeing Venezuela had been turned down. They said they had been harassed in their country, their houses raided and families persecuted.

Several pro-Maduro OWTU/JTUM members who came to see him stayed away from protesters. They went near the President’s Office to catch a glimpse, boasting Maduro would talk to them. But that never happened. A handful of Steel Workers Union members with JTUM said they didn’t support Maduro, but came to make a statement to T&T and Venezuelan leaders that Venezuelan protests could happen here if the Government didn’t manage things properly.

An urgent call has been made for the Government to amend the Industrial Relations Act to ensure domestic workers are fairly treated under the law.

Making the call was Ida Le Blanc, general secretary of the National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE), who was speaking at a multi-stakeholder meeting held by the Employers’ Consultative Association (ECA) in Aranguez yesterday.

She said for far too long these workers were being taken advantage of and were also afraid to seek redress for fear of victimisation and job loss.

“We continue to call on Government to amend the Industrial Relations Act to include domestics as workers. 

“The many complaints coming from domestic workers are that employers are not paying National Insurance on their behalf and when they complain they are fired and they have no recourse because they are not considered,” Le Blanc said.

She said despite the fact that a lot has been achieved for domestic workers they, however, were not generally respected.

“Our main issue is we want recognition for domestics as workers under the Industrial Relations Act because we want to be brought up in line like any other worker,” Le Blanc added.

Saying domestic workers were the “most difficult” to organise, as there was a stigma attached to this kind of work, Le Blanc added that they continued to be fired at the whim and fancy of employers.

“Most of them are ashamed to admit they are domestic workers. 

They are also afraid that their employers would find out they are associated with the union and they could be fired. So being in a union is something they have to hide,” Le Blanc said.

At a meeting with Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus some two months ago, Le Blanc said only 63 people were registered on the domestic workers registry.

“We are calling on the Government to make that mandatory because it is all about getting a decent life for domestic workers,” Le Blanc urged.

Family life of such workers often suffered, especially when they had to go to work and leave their children home alone or unsupervised.

“When they have to leave their children to go to work a lot of the children end up in crime. Nearly in every community has a ‘pusherman’ now,” Le Blanc said.

Althea Coombs Rivas, president of the Service Workers Centre Co-operative Society Ltd, who also spoke said financial constraint was a key challenge facing the organisation.

The main reason the co-operative was formed was to give workers the power to bargain with employers regarding wages and conditions of work.

Other challenges like sexual harassment were also faced by domestic workers, Coombs Rivas said.

“Domestic workers are valuable like any other worker in the country and we deserve the respect and the recognition as any other worker.

“We understand you are scared to bring a stranger in your home but we are scared to go into people 9s homes and these days there is so much sexual harassment going about and we have to face that,” Coombs Rivas said.

She said while most domestic workers could not read and write they were doing a good job in the homes by looking after children and providing meals.

“I would really like for all domestic workers to take one day and stay home...what will happen? Nobody will be able to go to work because there will be no one to look after your home and children,” Coombs Rivas added.