Orin Gordon

Editor-in-Chief

With exquisite bad timing, President Barack Obama declared, in an interview with ABC News early on Friday, that the US and its allies had contained Isis. Then Friday night’s attacks in Paris happened. 

Obama may have been talking about Isis’ territorial gains in Syria and Iraq, but he must wish he could take that statement back today. “I don’t think they’re gaining strength,” the US President had said. “What is true, from the start our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them. 

They have not gained ground in Iraq and in Syria…you don’t see this systemic march by ISIL across the terrain. “What we have not yet been able to do is to completely decapitate their command and control structures,” he added. “We’ve made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters.”

Friday night in Paris, ISIL’s command and control structures looked very much intact. Even allowing for the view of intelligence professionals that terror attacks are increasingly cellular—planned and executed at source rather than from a Middle Eastern central command—the level of organisation suggested something rather higher than cellular command, or a series of opportunistic attacks.

We’ve come a long way since 9/11, so despite the terrible tragedy, some perspective is needed. 9/11 threw transatlantic travel into chaos for days. From London, where I watched it unfold, we couldn’t place a phone call to any country in the Caribbean with the +1 XXX numerical prefix. 

We grumble at taking our shoes off at Piarco, and shake our heads at coming straight off intransit flights and being marched through the machines again, something that Panama, for example, has the good sense not to put its intransit passengers through. 

Three years before 9/11 was the World Cup in France, and those of us who went to see Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz take on the world could move around with relative freedom, even with heavy security. Bombs went off on Friday at the Stade de France, where the ’98 final took place. Six and counting were killed. The terrorists had planned to kill far more. 

Seventeen years ago, they’d surely have succeeded in doing so. 

However unfortunate Obama’s analysis looks today, success in containing Isis/ISIL, either on the battlefield or in our cities (a battlefield of sorts for terrorists anyway), is not down to the US alone, or the US and its allies.

The question of how and why some of our young men and women find succour in the twisted, quasi-religious message of ISIL, so much so that they answer the call to arms, is one we need to answer and address urgently. The number of Trinidad and Tobago citizens who have made their way to the battlefield may be comparatively small, but it is nonetheless a chilling development.

What can we, as residents and citizens of this country offer by way of a message to counteract that appeal? And how can we work with Imams to bring them back, both physically and mentally? Isis, as Obama learned to his chagrin, won’t be defeated by armed might alone.

No Trinis have so far been reported injured or dead following Friday’s horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs.

The ministry said yesterday that the information was based on feedback received from the T&T Embassy in Belgium, which has responsibility for France. It added, however, that T&T’s Honorary Consul in Paris, as well as the Trinis in France Association and the T&T French Association will continue to liaise with the T&T Embassy in Belgium.

Over 129 people were reportedly killed in explosions and random shootings now claimed by the Islamic State militant group. The co-ordinated attacks hit a concert hall, a stadium, restaurants and bars almost simultaneously. According to reports, the first of three explosions took place outside the Stade de France stadium on the northern fringe of Paris, where France were playing Germany in an international football friendly. 

France President Francois Hollande, who was attending the game, has since described the events as an “act of war” organised by ISIS.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, in a brief statement yesterday, conveyed heartfelt condolences to Hollande and the French people. 

“As the Government and people of France struggle to come to terms with these attacks, the rest of the world is also gripped by shock, sadness and outrage,” the statement said. 

“No nation should ever have to face such tragedy and it is hoped that nothing of this nature will ever befall any nation again.”

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar also said her thoughts and prayers were with the government, people of France and with the families who lost their loved ones in the senseless attacks.

She condemned the attacks, saying they demonstrated that there remains a greater need for world leaders to work together to combat the threat of terrorism no matter what form it takes or where it strikes.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of so many innocent people. Terrorism is a cancer in our civilised world and there is no justification for such savage acts of murder and terror,” Persad-Bissessar said. 

“I join the rest of the international community in condemning this shooting rampage and mass hostage-taking that French President François Hollande called an unprecedented terrorist attack on France.”

She added, “We must never look the other way when innocent people die at the hands of terrorists. My thoughts and prayers are with the Government and people of France and to the families who lost their loved ones in these senseless attacks.” (See pages A7, A9 & A10)

Nationals still trembling 

• Melissa Yacoob, who left Trinidad on Tuesday to attend classes for her masters degree, arrived in Paris on Wednesday and was just a few districts away from where the attacks took place on Friday.

Contacted yesterday, she and her husband, Irfan Hosein, were awaiting a train to Brussels at the timne of the attacks. She said some of the metro lines had been closed off. They arrived safely in Brussels last night. 

Yacoob said Friday’s tragic events were a very unnerving experience.

The political specialist with the US Embassy here in Trinidad said they were staying at the Latin Quarter. 

That’s in an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. The attacks happened on the 10th and 11th arrondissements.

“We were very fortunate,” she said. 

While she and Hosein did not witness any of the events, they were terrified over what they saw on the news.

Via WhatsApp, she said, “What was terrifying is hearing on the news that some of the perpetrators were on the loose and the authorities were unsure if anymore attacks were going to take place in other districts. The streets of Paris went dead, save for the blaring sounds of sirens all through the night.”

She added, “Reading and hearing about acts of terrorism from afar is a very different feeling from being in the midst of it. This morning (Saturday) there was an air of sadness wherever we went.” 

• Aruna Maharaj, of Madame Maharaj School of Cosmetology, was also in Paris on Friday. 

On her Facebook wall, she posted, “The shootings and bombing in Paris are just a few blocks from my hotel, I’m ok, thank you for your messages and calls. Please keep me in your prayers.”

Efforts to contact her via Facebook proved futile. 

• University of the West Indies lecturer Dr Kris Rampersad, who is chair of the Education Commission of the Unesco General Assembly, is also in Paris for its general conference, which began on November 3 and is expected to end on November 18. 

On Friday, Rampersad posted on Facebook, “Bombings in Paris just now, 26 reported killed various districts. 60 hostages in theatre...entire city emptied out.”

This was followed by, “Paris in panic...no reasons given ...orchestrated attacks.”

In response to someone, Rampersad said, “I am OK. ..was having dinner and someone living near the restaurant rushed me to home as no taxis and metro shut down.”

She did not respond to messages sent via Facebook yesterday though. 

As tends to happen in major cities after terrorist attacks, life in Paris yesterday morning continued almost as normal. 

Despite the recommendations by security forces that Parisians stay inside, the streets were full, shops and cafes were open, and people sat outside restaurants smoking cigarettes as usual. 

The mood was sombre but not silent. Moroccan shop owners greeted customers with cheerful “bonjours,” perhaps overcompensating for the level of anxiety that they and other Arabs and North Africans throughout France will be feeling after these divisive, senseless attacks. 

Locals even thronged around the scenes of the attacks at the Bataclan and Le Carillon bar leaving flowers and taking pictures. There were, however, noticeably fewer tourists around. Reuters correspondent, Emily Wither, tweeted that Eurostar staff at London’s Kings Cross St Pancras said only a quarter of ticketholders showed up to catch trains to Paris yesterday. For a city with an urban population of six million, a collective emotion will be difficult to get a handle on. But a sense of sheer disbelief mixed with cruel inevitability will be shared everywhere.

It is no coincidence that the sites of the attacks were so close to Place de la Republique, the monument to France’s history and statehood where hundreds of thousands gathered and daubed defiant messages after the march involving world leaders and ordinary citizens after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January. Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks, wants to punish France for daring to stand up to it with military bombings in Syria.

A surreal, horrible Friday night

Inside the Le Bouillon-Chartier restaurant in the 9th arrondissement, my phone rang just after 10.15 Friday night local time. It was my sister in London. Seconds later, a call from Trinidad. We checked our messages and found friends had already left concerned texts. People halfway across the world knew that two kilometres away from us, at restaurants and bars in the 10th and 11th, masked gunmen had already killed at least a dozen people.

What had started off as a typically buoyant, exciting Friday night in Paris suddenly took on a surreal edge. Around us in the large, packed, constantly buzzing restaurant we began to notice more phones being checked. There was no panic amongst the mostly young crowd. If the waiting staff and restaurant manager knew of the attacks happening close by—and they must have done—they did a very good job of hiding it. 

As calls kept coming in from people watching international television news, my dinner guests began to feel nervous and expressed a desire to get home. Earlier in the evening we had been to see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and strolled down the Champs-Elysée with its Christmas decorations, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. 

On the Métro, people chattered nervously. A few fans wearing the national colours of Les Bleus were the most distressed people we’d seen all evening. In our local neighbourhood, the 18th, there was an eerie silence except for a few people outside local bars, heads in hands. Public transport was officially shut down around midnight.

A deadly toll

The volume of the detonations of the three suicide bombs close to the turnstiles at Stade de France and a McDonalds restaurant nearby were so terrifyingly loud that Patrice Evra, playing for France in a friendly against Germany, could clearly be seen on television looking around, alarmed, while making a pass. 

While supporters initially assumed the noises to be firecrackers and cheered the explosions and continued with the Mexican waves, at full-time, having clearly got the message, they spilled onto the pitch, scared to exit the stadium onto the streets of Saint-Denis. At the Bataclan, some of the crowd at the Eagles of Death Metal concert also thought the explosions were part of the show, but quickly saw that two gunmen, “not more than 25 years old, with Kalashnikovs” and looking “pretty calm,” according to one eyewitness, were firing from a balcony. 

For what must have seemed an eternity, the men calmly emptied their magazines then reloaded and fired again. “It was like a gust of wind in a wheat field. Everyone fell —dead, injured or alive. Even if we didn’t have experience of war, we suddenly understood what it’s like,” said another survivor. 

More than 80 people are known to have died in the Bataclan out of the 1,500 concert-goers at the sold out show. Many hid under dead bodies for up to two hours before police stormed the theatre.

Defiance

Graffiti artists, a staple of Paris’s expressive culture, were yesterday painting the Latin phrase, “Fluctuat nec mergitur” on boards in Place de la Republique. The words are Paris’s motto, taken from the coat of arms. In French, they translate as, “Elle est agitée par les vagues, et ne sombre pas.” In English, “She is tossed by the waves but does not sink.” 

At a meeting of the French National Assembly yesterday morning, a minute’s silence was broken by MPs spontaneously singing the French anthem, La Marseillaise. The last time it was sung in parliament was during World War I.

Aurelie Raya, a Paris Match journalist, speaking next to one of the bars attacked on Friday night, said, “They just want us dead, no debate. Debate is for intelligent people. You think we can debate with those who killed people at this café?”

The details of the billion-dollar Beetham Wastewater Treatment facility contract are currently being reviewed by the National Gas Company (NGC). 

In response to questions by the Sunday Guardian, NGC yesterday said it was “carefully reviewing the agreement and the Beetham Wastewater Reuse Plant project in its entirety.” 

The massive contract was the subject of much contention since it was ventilated in the public domain by then opposition leader, now Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, in 2014. 

Since then the project, the contract and Super Industrial Services Limited (SISL) have been open to scrutiny over the scope of works expected to be carried out before the plant is handed over to the State. 

“Once completed, NGC will engage the contractor and thereafter issue a statement as appropriate,” NGC said. It has been reported that SISL, the preferred contractor under the former People’s Partnership administration, has already been paid as much as 86 per cent of the full cost of the contract at the end of the first quarter of 2015. 

It was reported by the Sunday Guardian in July that SISL had received payments despite the job only being 66.1 per cent complete. Calculations then showed that the US$139 million already paid to SISL included a US$107 million paid to the contractor for engineering, procurement and construction and a further US$32.4 million was paid as the 20 per cent mobilisation fee. The secrecy surrounding this $1.6 billion project extended back to September 2014, when the Sunday Guardian posed questions on the award of the contract to two former executives, chairman Roop Chan Chadeesingh and then president Indar Maharaj. Both men referred questions then to dismissed communications manager Charmaine Mohammed. SISL’s silence on this contract has continued, as several attempts to contact the company’s head office proved to be unsuccessful. 

Although NGC is now unclear as to whether this multi-billion dollar project has a future, back in July its communication manager, Roger Sant, issued a statement defending both SISL and the project. The Sunday Guardian had then reported that NGC had paid SISL the majority of the contract cost and even paid a multi-million dollar mobilisation fee, external to the contract agreement.

But Sant had said then that the 20 per cent mobilisation fee—US$32.4 million—is expected to be repaid to NGC under the project agreement. 

According to the contract, obtained then by the Sunday Guardian, SISL was expected to make the first repayment of the mobilisation fee three months ago. Sant did not say whether that payment schedule was kept and NGC did not say how much that first repayment was or when in August it was expected to be repaid.

Back in July, Sant also defended the monthly payments NGC made to SISL despite the slower pace of construction of the plant. Sant said then said that the NGC was merely honouring the payment schedule as stipulated in the contract agreement and that the contractor had completed 42 per cent of the “construction related activity” by the end of May. 

The Sunday Guardian learned that newly-installed NGC chairman Gerry Brooks is spearheading cost-saving measures at NGC, which now includes the review of this multi-billion dollar project.

The chairman’s report for September 2015 recorded a profit of $130.9 million for the end of its fiscal year.

Criminologist Daurius Figueira is warning that T&T Muslims recruited by ISIS could be used to infiltrate and destabilise western countries, including those in Europe coping with an influx of refugees. 

Exactly one week after ISIS released a video featuring four Trinidad-born fighters urging T&T muslims to take up arms to fight in Syria, the terrorist organisation is claiming responsibility for the Paris attacks that killed well over a hundred people, saying that the attacks were in retaliation for France’s bombing in Syria.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian Figueira said: “There is a purpose to the video. Why produce a recruitment video only for T&T, given the comparatively small size of the Muslim population here. It accounts for only about five per cent of the population?

“The people behind the Al Raqqa recruitment video are now sending a message specifically to Muslims in T&T that there is a T&T contingent of fighters now in ISIS, trained and led by nationals of T&T. 

“The Ministry of National Security must investigate that: The formation of a T&T ISIS contingent, the message they want to send and why they want to recruit third world people whose first language is English.”

He said the only other promotional release to date in English had British Islamic State fighters in it. 

Figueira said Caricom nationals, Trinidadians and people from the Commonwealth who spoke English and were educated can be used by ISIS to take the fight on the home soil of first-world countries such as Britain and the US. 

T&T and eight other Caribbean countries enjoy visa-free travel to Europe.

He said the state agencies of the previous government had failed to penetrate and dismantle these structures and the IS video was in fact taunting the state agencies of T&T on their failure. 

He said those fighters presented in the IS video will not return to T&T except if they wanted to escape IS for some reason. 

Figueira said the major issue for T&T was recruitment here and the export of potential fighters to IS. 

According to former National Security Minister Gary Griffith, about 30 T&T nationals made the trip to Syria to fight for ISIS last year. 

The United Nations had also warned that T&T is one of a number of countries with Muslim populations that is being used as a recruiting ground for the terror group. 

Cyber hackers linked to the Islamist organisation attacked the government computers of Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Former Executive Director of the National Operations Centre (NOC) Garvin Heerah told the Sunday Guardian that the details that had surfaced in the viral videos were alarming.

He said the video and information obtained through internet surveillance continued to engage the attention of national security. 

Heerah there is continuity between the last National Security administration, and the current one led by Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon.

Heerah said the probability that that the jihadist recruits could return to T&T should not be dismissed, and all the arms of security and law enforcement, here and abroad, must work together.

A 28-year-old taxi driver who agreed to take two men to a nightclub in Port-of-Spain was ambushed and killed yesterday morning.

According to police, Tyrike George, of Le Platte Village, Maraval, had just stepped out of the Copacabana along Dundonald Street, around 4 am when he and two other men were shot at. 

Police said George, along with Daniel Dottin and David Adams, were confronted by four armed men. The gunmen apparently confronted the group and had an obscene verbal exchange before opening fire. 

At the end of the shooting, George lay dead while Dottin was shot in the arm and leg and Adams in the buttocks. 

The killing has taken the murder toll to 370 for the year, compared to 360 for the same period last year.

T&T born UK-based terrorism expert Candyce Kelshall has warned that last Friday’s deadly Paris attack is the new blueprint for future terrorist attacks.

The death toll stood at well over 100 from the attacks on seven Paris locations—cafes, a stadium and a concert hall. Some more than 300 were estimated to be injured. 

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday, Kelshall said: “The terrorist cell was able to operate below the radar and demonstrated ease and familiarity with insurgent techniques. They moved convincingly, unobserved and invisible amongst the crowds of French citizens, hiding in plain sight, not raising alarm until they commenced attacks. 

“The ability to blend in ensures lethality in this and future attacks in other cities around the world. We should be under no illusion about the fact, this is the new blueprint for future terrorist attacks.”

She also pointed out: “There are thousands of ‘seasoned fighters’ who have been to Syria and Iraq and Libya who are returning under the radar and blending into communities around the world. These citizens of our countries are a decentralised wave of insurgents whose role is destabilisation of our cities. Paris is only the first of these destabilisation missions.”

Kelshall, from T&T’s well known Kelshall family of military experts, is a Doctoral candidate and BUCSIS Research Fellow at Buckingham University and the UK’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies. 

She is an independent adviser to British Transport police and Metropolitan Police and also a CNN defence and terrorism expert. She has authored books on civil/military relations—Armed Forces and Government, and Mutiny and Revolution: Military pressure Groups.

On the manner in which the attack was carried out, Kelshall noted: “This type of hybrid attack now arising, which combines the lethality of a suicide attack with active shooters and hostage taking is complex to plan and even harder to deploy, train and prepare a tactical response to. It’s unusual, unprecedented and it is a technique law enforcement, in its present incarnation, is incapable of dealing with.

“This gives rise to the possibility that the Paris group comprised individuals with different degrees of exposure and influence to both methods of terrorist tactics—an alarming development which demonstrates the morphing of the threat we’re facing in the West.”

“Terrorism may no longer be the domain of the ‘terrorist group.’ Terrorism may be evolving to become the domain of anyone who reads and can get training from a seasoned fighter.”

Kelshall said the Paris attackers employed decentralisation, destabilisation and insurgent methodology using mixed techniques in multiple sites simultaneously. 

“It’s neither ISIS nor Al-Qaeda but a combination of both employed by invisible citizen soldiers who’ve been trained by seasoned fighters—the hallmarks of the new wave of terrorism Europe is grappling with.”

She said: “A pseudo-military terrorist unit was able to elude the combined efforts of multi-national, joint agency surveillance and monitoring. Europe is on a heightened state of alert and still a cloak of secrecy surrounded the planning and execution of the attacks. 

“This is the stuff intelligence nightmares are made of. Attackers were able to mount this sophisticated attack without coming to the attention of law enforcement.”

Saying the simultaneous, co-ordinated attacks were well planned and had significant infrastructure behind it, funding and support, Kelshall warned: “Suicide bombs and active shooters combined in six different locations is beyond the ability of any state law enforcement apparatus, without taking into account the fact that long-range strategic planning is hindered by a lack of chatter and the complete darkness which well informed terrorists now know how to ensure. 

“Surveillance of email, phone communications and messaging is now useless and irrelevant. The publicity around monitoring them ensures that those who seek to do harm no longer use them.”

A 17-year-old student, who was out celebrating his team’s Secondary Schools’ Football League victory over St Benedict’s College, was wounded when a bar patron ran into the road and fired shots wildly into the air yesterday morning.

Police said Nate Brooks, a form five student of Presentation College, San Fernando, is warded in a stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital after undergoing treatment to his abdomen.

According to reports, Brooks, who plays for Presentation, was in the Backseat of his neighbour Adesh Adhar’s car when around 3.30 am, they pulled up at Marshall’s Bar at the corner of Sutton and Cipero Street, San Fernando.

Adhar, 25, went into the bar and on his way back he heard gunshots behind him and realised he had been shot on the forearm. Adhar told police he saw a man firing indiscriminately in the road and he rushed to his vehicle and sped off. He later realised that Brooks was shot in the stomach and he drove to the hospital where they were both treated. Adhar was discharged yesterday and is assisting police with their investigation. 

Police learned that the gunmen was in the bar earlier on where he had an argument with another patron, who left shortly after. Some time later, the drunken gunman ran into the road and fired shots at no one in particular. 

Those liming nearby had to scamper for cover as the gunman fired shot in different directions before running off. San Fernando police responded and made a search for the unidentified suspect but up to yesterday afternoon, he was not found. 

PC Khan is continuing inquiries. 

A 25-year-old Chaguanas man yesterday survived an accident after his van slammed into a median near Grand Bazaar, Valsayn but as he emerged from the wreck he was hit by a truck.

Seconds later, another vehicle hit him, throwing his body into the roadway and a fourth vehicle ran over the victim’s body. The man, identified as Rennie Sookdeo, the manager of Cham’s welding shop in Chaguanas, was returning home after celebrating a friend’s birthday party in Chaguaramas.

The accident took place around 4 am while Sookdeo was driving along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway near Grand Bazaar. Officers who were first on the scene described it as “gruesome” and “unusual.” Sookdeo’s family, who live on Caroni Savannah Road, were in shock when the Guardian team visited.

They described Sookdeo as well-liked by employees at the welding shop which his father owned. Relative Kerry Maharaj said Sookdeo was pleasant but quiet and respected by many. Northern Division Police are still investigating the accident.

In a second fatal accident two hours earlier, Chaguanas police are questioning a St Augustine man, following the death of 68-year-old Una Belgrave. The man, a 28-year-old businessman, driving a Mercedes Benz, reportedly left the scene after the accident. Three other people in the Ford Laser were injured.

Hours later he went to the Chaguanas Police Station with his attorney to give a statement. He was given a breathalyzer test which he initially failed. 

While awaiting the second test he reportedly complained of feeling unwell and was taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility. He remained in police custody up to press time being questioned by investigators. 

The accident took place at around 2 am, as Belgrave returned from a friend’s wake in South Trinidad. Belgrave lived on Church Street in St Thomas Village, Chaguanas. At her family home yesterday family members were red-eyed and crying, unable to cope with their loss.

Belgrave’s son, who stood under a tent in the family’s yard, set up for his mother’s wake, could only shake his head at the tragedy. Belgrave’s nephew, an ASP in the Police Service, Wendell Lucas expressed his sorrow in a post on social media.

Lucas stated that only three weeks ago, at a police press briefing, he warned drivers to exercise caution on the nation’s roads. According to police, the Laser was heading north towards Chaguanas when a black Mercedes Benz reportedly overtook on the shoulder of the highway and collided with the Laser. 

The Mercedez Benz overturned on the roadway and the Laser ran off the road, police said. Belgrave’s body was flung from the car and she died at the scene. An ambulance arrived shortly after and took the three other occupants of the vehicle for medical treatment at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope.

A third vehicle, a white Toyota Fielder, driven by SRP Police Constable Mayers, was also struck. The road fatality toll now stands at 125.

Speed mixed with alcohol: A poisonous cocktail

In an interview last night, Arrive Alive president Sharon Inglefield said people needed to be responsible for their own safety and obey the speed limit. “We look forward to the speed management legislation and the revamping of Motor Vehicle Authority to assist our police enforcers to control the recklessness on our roads,” Inglefield said.

She reminded citizens to plan ahead by designating a sober driver or organising a taxi before events. “Speed does kill and certainly speed mixed with alcohol is a poisonous cocktail.” 

Inglefield thanked Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds for attending the group’s event at the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday.

Last week, co-ordinator of the Road Safety Project, Brent Batson, said the TTPS continued to appeal to road users to drive safely, especially as most people are looking forward to spending the Christmas holidays with their families. “We continue to appeal to all road users to obey the highway code, the speed limit and practise safe and courteous driving,” Batson said.

There are now 89 T&T nationals—including families—known to Government who have joined the Islamic State of Iraq (Isis) in the last three plus years, T&T Guardian has confirmed.

That is the most up to date figure on the situation which was given by Government early last Saturday morning, shortly after deadly terrorist attacks on Paris claimed 129 victims, left 350 wounded and the world reeling in shock and anger. Isis has claimed responsibility.

Former National Security Minister Gary Griffith and former National Operations Centre head Garvin Heerah were among experts who yesterday came out in support of laws to block T&T-born Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFS) returnees on their way back, well before they reach T&T.

Muslim community leader attorney Nafeesa Mohammed also urges rapport between state apparatus and the fragmented leadership of the Muslim community to ascertain who’s gone to Isis and why so “innocent” people in the scenario wouldn’t suffer.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon was quoted yesterday as saying Isis poses “no threat to T&T right now” and  there’s no law to stop them returning. He said if they’d committed international crime, T&T could work with foreign partners to bring them to justice, but “for now they’re still T&T citizens.”

Dillon yesterday subsequently assured, authorities are monitoring returnees. On the 89 persons with Isis, which T&T Guardian learned about on Saturday, Dillon said there are 80-plus, including about 35 men and other persons who are family members. He said several of the T&T fighters have been killed.

On assessments earlier in the year from intelligence sources that a number of those who had gone were from T&T’s   criminal fringe element, rather than conservative Muslim basis, Dillon said that assessment was still on par and those persons were believed to be intelligent.

Dillon assured that he was aware of laws that block returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) in other countries before they reach T&T. He said that is done with international allies.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi who had been Paris two weeks ago for a conference, told T&T Guardian yesterday, T&T has met with international agencies to track people who leave T&T and head to Syria and Turkey to join FTFs. He added, “We’re also looking at Section 22b of the Anti Terrorism Act dealing with terrorist financing and operationalising in fuller form. 

We’ll apply existing anti-terrorism laws in tracking and monitoring of alleged Foreign Terrorist Fighters from T&T, and specifically cases concerning potential returns. We also have a unit looking at strengthening of the package of laws to deal with terrorism and if it may be relevance to T&T’s context.”

“We assure T&T we’re sparing no effort in co-ordinating multiple resources in dealing with this so there can be efficient and confident positive outcome for T&T’s peace  of mind and security.”

President Anthony Carmona has extended condolences to the victims of the Paris bombings on behalf of the people of T&T. In a media release by the President’s office yesterday detailed a 15-minute conversation between Carmona and Heidi Picquart, Ambassador of France to T&T on Saturday. 

"The people of T&T extend deepest condolences to the families of the innocent victims whose lives have been tragically lost in Friday night’s (13 November 2015) brutal assault not only on the French way of life, culture and value system but on its very democracy. An attack on France and its democracy is an attack on all of us,” Carmona said.

He also extended well wishes to French President François Hollande in the aftermath of the attack.

“To the President and the People of France, yours is a democracy, long established and historically molded out of the strength and will of a resilient people. Your spirit and determination, in this most testing time, must be reflective of that innate will and courage and must not falter in the face of these multiple, horrific acts of terrorism. Fear must not become the master of your destiny neither must it be the basis of your future vision. T&T is with you in your time of great sadness and grief and offers its open hands in prayers, empathy, condolences and solidarity,” the media release stated. It also said that Ambassador Picquart expressed his appreciation and comfort for the call.

In his address to the diplomats, at a function he hosted to honour them, at Pier 1, Chaguaramas, on Saturday, Carmona said described the terrorist strike as a “brutal assault not only on the French way of life, culture and value system but on its very democracy. 

An attack on France and its democracy is an attack on all of us. These premeditated acts of extremism have no place in France or any progressive society, principled on inclusivity, tolerance, diplomacy and non-violence.”

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday called for immediate action on the $1.2b Beetham Waste Water project. His statements came on the heels of a Sunday Guardian story which said the project was being reviewed by the new board of the National Gas Company, which manages the project.

In a text message exchange, Rowley said: “We needed action, not an enquiry.” 

“We knew enough. I prosecuted a motion on the facts in the Parliament. The (then) PM defended the process and the questionable arrangements involving $1.2 billion of taxpayers money,” Rowley said. He was referring to his 2014 statements made in Parliament, as Opposition Leader, which queried the award process of the contract to Super Industrial Services Ltd (SISL). 
He revealed then that SISL was chosen over internationally recognised companies despite a $400 million hike in their bid price.

“I called on the then prime minister to intervene and stop...the contract,” Rowley said yesterday. He said even a Commission of Enquiry (CoE) was unnecessary at this point.

“A CoE is to unearth evidence, identify persons responsible and hold them accountable. We did not need a CoE,” Rowley said.

Rowley said he presented enough evidence and even “identified the clear conflict of decision-making involving the people at WASA and the same people at NGC” when he made the issue public. He said when he brought forward that evidence, Persad-Bissessar “put (former sports minister) Anil Roberts to respond and refused to act to save taxpayers money.”

Rowley said he was determined to stop this $1.2 billion project and even wrote to President Anthony Carmona, in March 2014, asking him to intervene.

“I sought an audience with the President and wrote to him, asking him to intervene under Section 81 of the Constitution and call on the (then) PM to explain the actions of her government in facilitating this raid on the monies in NGC accounts,” he said.

Rowley said Carmona “failed to even reply to my letter of concern which contained the documents of information and an analysis of the (allegedly) flawed procurement process,” Rowley said.

The National Gas Company (NGC), under its former board approved and paid SISL, 86 per cent of its fees for the mega-project. The company’s current chairman Gerry Brooks said yesterday the details of that contract was under “active review” and that process was expected to be completed “very shortly”. He said as the Prime Minister has already spoken out on the issue then he would not say anything further.

The T&T Guardian now understands that the Office of the Attorney General’s office is already overseeing a series of investigations into the award of a multitude of multi-million dollar mega-projects awarded under the previous People’s Partnership regime, including the waste water project and the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin.

The Government has already signaled its intention to pursue legal matters against preferred contractors who were hired by the Education Facilities Company Ltd, Brazilian construction firm, OAS Construction, building the highway, and now SISL. Efforts would also be made to recover the money paid if the contracts are found to be rigged, said a top source at the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The T&T Guardian was told that contractors can face charges associated with bid rigging, fraud and embezzlement, similar to the case involving former United National Congress (UNC) financiers Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson in two-decade old case relating to the $1.6b Piarco International Airport Project.

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According to NGC, the Beetham Waste Water project is an initiative designed to recycle waste-water to industrial standard and use it to supply clients in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. The project, once completed, is expected to provide some 10 million gallons of water per day to the full-time supply of water to over 15,000 people and should positively impact another 200,000. 

The NGC said it is involved in this project because of a "powerful synergy" among the itself, the project and the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA).

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal says he fears the United National Congress internal elections will not be fair after learning that an election committee member participated a strategy meeting for Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar last Tuesday.

Moonilal said this while responding to a claim by fellow candidate for party leadership Vasant Bharath, who said text messages were sent out on his behalf, asking people whether they would support him. Bharath launched his Team Reconnect slate at Couva South Hall on Saturday and denied sending text messages to members.

Speaking at the Asja Boys’ College Alumni’s Breakfast at School event in San Fernando yesterday, Moonilal said his team sent text messages to members, inviting them to his team’s campaign launch last Thursday. However, no one was asked who they would support and he condemned that type of campaign.

Sharing Bharath’s concern, he called on chairman of the election committee, Dr Rampersad Parasram, to ensure that the elections are free and fair.

 “I share his fears because information has come to us that last week Tuesday, there was a meeting in St Augustine at which Mrs (Kamla) Persad-Bissessar attended. She has all rights to attend and speak to supporters but we have very disturbing information that a member of the election committee participated in a strategy meeting of Mrs Persad-Bissessar.

“We also have information that the general secretary of the party was also at that meeting. If that is true, we have written a legal letter to the chairman of the election committee. 

“If this is true, it means that member of the election committee must resign forthwith if he was indeed participating in a meeting of strategy by Mrs Persad-Bissessar and others at a home in Tunapuna. I share Mr Bharath’s concern, I think as we get closer to the elections, we must voice our concerns. If a political party cannot run a free and fair election, that party and those leaders do not deserve to be in government and that is my position,” Moonilal said.

Calls were made to Persad-Bissessar’s cellphone and a text message sent but she did not respond. If victorious, Moonilal said he will seek to have all People’s Partnership MPs nominate him for the position of Opposition Leader, which is currently held by Persad-Bissessar. 

However, he said that issue will be dealt with after the election as his focus now was to present his case to the membership.

He reiterated Bharath, a former senator, illegitimacy to become Opposition Leader if he is victorious but welcomed his participation in the election, saying that the introduction of Team Reconnect makes the democracy of the party richer.
 

GML Enterprise Team
MICHAEL RAMSINGH and 
OTTO CARRINGTON

Imagine at five years old being able to read fluently, carry a conversation with adults and do multiplication without any real effort. 

Well it’s what Alejandro Guevara does and more than that he knows the body anatomy and can describe the importance of each body part to the full functioning of the human body. Alejandro is described by his parents Kevin and Reshma Guevara as a “child genius.”

Alejandro’s father Kevin tells Guardian Media Ltd’s enterprise team of Michael Ramsingh and Otto Carrington that Alejandro said his first words when he was a mere five months old. Seven months later at age one year old he was reading. This did not come about by chance, however, as the parents said they committed themselves that Alejandro would never face the learning struggles which they had when they were growing up.

Kevin is a security guard at the Piarco International Airport. His qualifications were the bare basics to get him the job. Alejandro’s mother, Reshma, was a store clerk and when she became pregnant she and her husband decided that she would become a stay-at-home mom and educate their baby.

The learning process started while Alejandro was in his mother’s womb. She and Kevin would read to their unborn baby, speak to him about the things going on in their lives and around them and so started his education from the womb.

Five months after he was born Alejandro spoke his first word, not the Mummy and Daddy we know most kids say first but his own name,—Alejandro—his father Kevin admits it was “rather shocking, mind blowing.” They knew then that their son was just as special as they had hoped he would be.

Over the coming months Reshma and her sister would spend every waking minute making learning fun. They read baby books to Alejandro, built puzzles and used lego building blocks to encourage his motor skills. Alejandro according to Kevin and Reshma became bored once he was taught something and became familiar with it.

Kevin tells us “for his reading ability he went through the baby books rather fast. We had to go higher up the reading level. We realise he was interested in science books, books with dinosaurs and animals.”

At just over one year old Alejandro continued to surprise his parents with his pronunciation of not just bigger words, but some of the names of the dinosaurs which even they had problems pronouncing.

But it was not the only thing that would make them realise their son was special, he soon grew tired of children his own age. According to Kevin “the normal chat for his age group was not cutting it.” Their son liked to speak to adults and older children.

Alejandro was eager to get his voice heard during the interview and often times would interrupt his parents to speak with us. His diction was clear, concise and fluent, and his pronunciation of words was impressive. He loves his “big school” and boasts that he and his family attends the St Helena Presbyterian Church.

Admittedly he gets bored easily, he is always in a hurry to move on to something else. Kevin says “to keep his interest is a little tough when he already knows he covered something, we have to keep getting advanced stuff to keep him occupied.”

Reshma says her son’s special interest is the body anatomy, he knows every body part and it’s significance to the functioning of the human body, “when he does the body anatomy he tells you how the body works.” At age five he tells his parents he wants to be a Doctor.”

Reshma says he is also eager to learn Spanish and even speaks a few words fluently. He loves the challenge of multiplication and if he does not know something eagerly seeks her help by asking questions. Reshma says it means she also has to constantly challenge herself to learn new things to keep up with Alejandro.

She describes her son as a “child genius” because according to her “he accelerates at a much quicker level than any other children I know. He reads and understands, you ask him questions about what he read and he answers, he does comprehension.”

Advanced beyond his years

By the time he entered primary school Alejandro was advanced beyond his years and his parents started calling around various organisations and the Ministry of Education to find out what was in place for so called “special children” like their son who developed beyond their years.

They hit stumbling blocks at every turn. The Ministry promised to get in touch with them but one year later they say they are still waiting.

In the meantime Alejandro is in first year at the St Helena Presbyterian School, but his teachers also recognise he has abilities beyond his years. Often the Standard Five teacher would take Alejandro away from his class and allow him to read to the Standard Five students. 

Both teachers and students we are told were impressed with how “fluent” he reads. His father tells us that because of this Alejandro has built many friendships with students at the Standard Five level.

Assistance needed

Alejandro’s parents say all they want is for something to be done by the state to assist children like their son. Without the help of the education system to push them Kevin fears that his son and others like him would “revert to normal to fit in with those around them and lose the edge which they have by the time they reach secondary school.” His fear is that children like Alejandro would “suppress everything they know in order to fit in with the kids around them.”

Reshma believes that every child is special, you don’t need to hit them to learn. According to her every child has a window of opportunity where they would soak in stuff. When that window is open she says it should not be wasted. In Alejandro’s case it was between five months old and one year. In other children it may be later. But whatever the age Reshma believes the onus is on parents to give their time to their children.

She tells us “don’t waste opportunities with children, instead of investing in yourself focus your attention on your children, the earlier you start the better because once the time goes that’s it. Just invest your time into them and they will learn.”

Hindu leaders, including one of his fiercest critics Satnarayn Maharaj, were among selected guests hosted by Prime Minister Keith Rowley at a post-Divali function at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s on Saturday.

Maharaj is an open supporter of the United National Congress and former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and has been critical of Rowley and the People’s National Movement in the past. He is the Secretary General of one of largest Hindu organisations in T&T—the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha.

A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister, had several photographs attached, including Maharaj beaming as he greeted Rowley. The Prime Minister told guests that this was his first opportunity, as Prime Minister, to celebrate a national festival at the Diplomatic Centre, according to the statement.

Using the symbolism of Divali the Prime Minister reminded those in attendance that even in the face of the horrific events that had taken place in Paris, on Friday, and other parts of the world; light will always prevail over the darkness of the worst of human behaviour, it added.

Rowley encouraged those present, as well as the national community, to let Divali’s messages of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and nobility in the face of injustice guide our lives, so that we may continue to be a nation of citizens who are able to co-exist, despite our differences, and live in harmony and peace, the statement said.

Divali was celebrated last Tuesday but persistent rain throughout the night doused deyas and interrupted festivities leaving many to light up the following night.

Invited guests included Indian High Commissioner to T&T Gauri Shankar Gupta, several other heads of local Hindu organisations, Ravi Ji, of the Hindu Prachar Kendra, Bro Harrypersad Maharaj, of the Inter-Religious Organisation, pundits and other members of the Hindu community.

The celebration followed recent public criticism from former Food Production minister Devant Maharaj that the PNM had failed to host a Divali function in recognition of the Hindu festival of lights.

Rowley and his wife, Sharon, along with the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister, Sandra Jones, greeted guests as they arrived at the Diplomatic Centre. Also in attendance were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bridgid Annisette–George, President of the Senate, Christine Kangaloo, Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament, all of whom were attired in traditional East Indian outfits. Many of them posted photos of themselves on social media yesterday.

Guests were addressed by the Indian High Commissioner who congratulated Rowley on becoming Prime Minister. Gupta lauded the citizens of T&T for the example they set in respecting each other observances.

My name is Irtha Daniel and I do many things!

I’m born and raised in Trinidad but I’ve lived in Tobago for the last five years. I first fell in love with Tobago’s beauty: every day you wake up, it’s such a beautiful day.

I live a pretty quiet part of Buccoo. Sunday School is my favourite liming spot. It’s open air, you have people selling craft and games. But a little after 3pm is my cut-off time. The music changes and the crowd changes and there’s a little seedy vibe and that’s the time to go home.

I have one child, a daughter, Terah-Leigh, who’ll be 15 soon. Her dad lives in Arima, in Trinidad. We’re not together but we’re friends now.

I came to Tobago to do community work with UNICEF on a pilot project in Speyside called “Nurturing a Child-Friendly Community”. Even though Tobago is so beautiful and so bountiful, you find that a lot of children are neglected or actually suffering a little bit.

People get so trapped in religion! Like, say, you need to get some papers by Monday, and you go to the office and wait for hours. And then you feel God has to do something for you. That’s a big part of our collective personality. If we didn’t have this “faith”, we’d get up and do things for ourselves. And, if we grew up with the attitude that we all had to do our jobs, we wouldn’t have God or the Devil to blame.

People are becoming a lot more materialistic in Tobago. A big part of the problem with us, as Trinbagonians, is what we think of as “progress”. I might have a flat screen TV or a particular car but that doesn’t mean I’ve done something; in fact, it doesn’t mean anything!

I was born and raised Catholic but my mom is now Buddhist. I’m not Buddhist, just open. I’ll go to Catholic church with my granny, if she asks me. My daughter was never baptised. Never vaccinated, either, but that’s a next story!

My faith is I believe in the universe and that we’re always learning and growing. And that’s the purpose of life. So it’s about having some moral responsibility to life, some honour.

I come from a very mixed family. I have Chinese, Amerindian, Spanish, some French and some African. I’m the fourth of seven children and the middle of three daughters. Neither the big nor the little daughter but the left out one in the corner! I’m also the brownest one, the one that looks the most Carib. Everybody else looks much more Chinese. Ever since I’m small, I’ve been a loner.

For the past ten years, I’ve loved making sandals, slippers, bags, woodwork, whatever I feel like and put my hands on. Being creative is something that comes naturally, not just to me, but to a lot of people in T&T.

My dad calls TV “the idiot box”. So we grew up reading and playing outside.

Art must make you see something in a new or different light. Otherwise it’s just telling me that the flower is pretty; and I know that already.

My dad and I are close. We talk on the phone all the time. He’s been living in the US for a long time. And the US is not high on my list of places to visit. I’ve never been.

The best part about doing many things is you really get to explore and open up different facets of yourself. As you realise you’re able to do something you only conceptualised, you realise you can do more than you think.

The down side of doing many things is not making a lot of money—and that could be “not a down side”, depending on how you look at life. I think it’s important to do what makes you happy, even if that means doing many things.

A Trinbagonian is a naturally creative person. Port-of-Spain [is] amazing: the juxtaposition of naturalness—and yet you see so many vagrants. It’s kinda gritty—but pretty. And that’s what I think makes us creative people.

T&T, the land itself, I feel so close to it. I’ve been to other places—London, Germany, Denmark—but I belong to this land. I could only be from this place.

Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com

Zwena Carrington
Student, Hugh Wooding Law School  

In T&T, human trafficking is referred to as trafficking in persons. 

‘Trafficking in persons’ and ‘trafficking in children’ are serious offences punishable by law. These offences are covered by the Trafficking in Persons Act, Chap.12:10 (the Act). This Act seeks to prevent trafficking in persons (especially women and children) and punish the offenders.
What is trafficking in persons?

Trafficking in persons is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people by means of the threat, deception or abduction for the purpose of exploitation. It is also the giving or receiving of payment or benefits to achieve the consent of child’s guardian for the purpose of exploitation’. 
Under the Act, anyone under the age of 18 years is a child.
A victim is any of the following:
• An adult or child whom the offence of trafficking in persons is committed against or whom an offence is alleged to have been committed against;  
• Anyone who has entered  the country illegally or without proper documentation and is subjected to forced labour  for domestic services or the retail sector;
• Anyone who has entered the country to work and his passport , visa or other travel documents have been  destroyed or taken by his employers;
• Anyone who has no legal status in T&T and is forced to work in brothels or clubs for the purposes of prostitution, pornography and or sexual exploits;
• Anyone who has been forced to transport illegal items within T&T or to another country;
• Anyone who would reasonably believe that he has no alternative but to submit to the labour or service demanded of  him ; or
• A child who is subjected to prostitution, sexual exploitation, child pornography, forced labour or abuse.
Neither the victim’s consent nor the past sexual conduct of  the victim is a defence to the offence of trafficking in persons.

Penalties
This Act contains extensive victim protections. 
Trafficking in persons, trafficking in children and all other related offences are indictable offences. 
A person found guilty of the offence of trafficking in persons or anyone who directs another person to commit the offence is liable to a fine of no less than $500,000 and imprisonment of no less than 15 years.  
Additionally, a person found guilty of trafficking in children or a person who assists another to person to traffic children is  liable to a fine of not less than one million dollars and imprisonment for not less than 20 years.
Moreover, a person who transports another person into or within T&T or across an international border for the purpose of exploiting that person is liable to a fine of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) and to imprisonment for twelve (12) years.

Who can you contact?
Any person who is a victim of human trafficking or any member of  the general public who has information on victims or offenders of human trafficking can contact ‘Tips for Tips’ at  800-4CTU or 800-4288.
This is a toll free hotline service of the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU) of  the Ministry of National Security. Calls can be made by private numbers and without disclosing your identity. 

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

Police are currently on the scene of a murder/suicide in Penal where a 25-year-old man stabbed his wife and three-year-old daughter before hanging himself.

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Reports are that Premanth Ramkhelawan was at his Laltoo Trace home where he stabbed Aarika Bhim, 26, and his daughter Aarti Ramkhelawan multiple times. He then hung himself.

 
 
Bhim has since died, and his daughter is currently being treated at the Siparia District Health Facility.
 

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Investigations continue

As the UNC elections race heats up, leadership contender Vasant Bharath is drawing the media into the battle, charging many of its practitioners have been bought out by his political rivals.

During an interview on the Akash Vani radio programme, Panchayat, yesterday morning, Bharath said he knew, without a doubt, that media personnel on some radio stations have been bought out completely.

“I cannot even get an ad in,” he said. Hosts Satesh Mahabir and Keiron Samaroo seemed stunned by the allegations but replied they were not among those bought out.

His rivals for the leadership post of the UNC are Dr Roodal Moonilal and former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Bharath had also reportedly earlier claimed in another interview that media people were bought out over the last five years by the former People’s Partnership administration and raked in big money.

The Media Association of T&T, asked to respond, advised the questions be put in writing and forwarded.

On a separate matter, Bharath responded to critics who said the young, new faces on his slate were inexperienced.

Bharath said the UNC had not been attracting the good people but they were starting to come out now on his slate.

He said his slate had “a couple PHDs, some teachers” and some more experienced UNC members.

Bharath said those were the kind of people who would rebuild the UNC. 

As for those who find he is not grassroots enough to lead the UNC, Bharath said he could not be held at fault because he was born into a privileged family or because he was educated.

“I have never been aloof or arrogant,” he said, recalling how he defied the former administration and marched with protesting farmers, even at the risk of being expelled from Cabinet.

Bharath also believes he is the best man to rebuild the UNC because of his past experience in change management in several leading international companies.

He recalled how he took the little known brand of flour, Country Pride, and made it a household name during his stint at the Nutrimix Group of Companies.

As for the issue of Persad-Bissessar stepping down voluntarily, he said while it was not part of T&T’s culture, it was becoming norm all over the world for leaders who lost favour with their populace to resign.

A caller on the programme wanted to know why Bharath did not step out of the race also since he was rejected by the constituents of St Joseph, which he contested in the last general election.

After what was witnessed in France last Friday, those in T&T who experienced the 1990 failed coup attempt “must know that we are not just vulnerable but we are more vulnerable now than in 1990,” Prime Minister Keith Rowley warned yesterday.

“We have to be vigilant in every single area. We have to be always vigilant and cognisant that we are exposed as everybody else in the world to this particular threat,” Rowley said.

He assured that the question of returning T&T-born foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) was being addressed.

Rowley, at yesterday’s launch of a committee to examine the local health system, was responding to questions on T&T’s position following last Friday’s seven terrorist attacks in Paris. The launch was held at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

Some 129 people were killed, 352 injured (99 seriously), leading to high level global caucuses on the matter and a flurry of activity among global security sectors. 

A manhunt is on for Salah Abdelsalam believed to be the eighth person involved with the seven Paris assassins in the attacks. 

After the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, France bombed Isis locations in Syria and massive sweeps are underway in France, Belgium, Greece and other states where the attack is believed to have been hatched.

Several US states have announced they would not be taking in Syrian refugees, though the Obama administration is committed to doing this. Yesterday, a new video surfaced in which Isis insurgents warned of striking the US.

Clarifying last Sunday’s reported quotes (not the T&T Guardian’s) from National Security Minister Edmund Dillon that “ Isis wasn’t a threat to TT,“ Rowley said:

“There are a couple statements attributed to Mr Dillon. One of the perils we face (as politicians) is we are subjected to interpretation and angles. It’s one of those situations. 

“I don’t know that he was saying Isis is not a threat. This thing called Isis is a global threat and if anyone understands that, it’s the National Security Minister. 

“If you look at the story in one of the other newspapers, it’s quite clear and different to the headline story that ‘Isis is not a threat.’”

Rowley continued: “We in T&T would know this modern development can, even by us, be viewed as an evolution of 1990. 

“T&T was impacted upon by a sect in T&T, which in some way had a Middle Eastern influence so we cannot at any time take any position that we are immune to developments out there.

“Then comes the 21st century and there is this idea of this group in the Middle East which we call Isis, whose modus operandi is, as what we have seen in France. 

“And we who experienced 1990 must know that we are not only just vulnerable but we are more vulnerable now than in 1990.

“In 1990, those persons who took up arms against the State didn’t have social media and I daresay, were not as barbarous as those today who can train anywhere in the world... as unknown persons anywhere... and put one person to upset a nation. So what we should be focusing on is our readiness to respond to the threat that we all face:”

The PM said T&T’s National Security Council met fairly regularly and there were security arrangements and contingencies in place.

Saying the question of T&T’s FTF returnees will certainly be examined by Government, he added: “It’s not just a question that people can’t come back home even people who we know now we don’t want to enter our borders are entering.

“So we just have to be vigilant in every single area, in particular in co-operating with the rest of the world and persons who may be engaged in this.” 

Rowley acknowledged there could also be “persons who may never leave here but who may share the views and who may be encouraged to take action against us.

“So this is a very unusual development in history and T&T simply has to do the best that we can at the national and international levels in responding to this global phenomenon.” 

On whether T&T is involved in international “sweeps” for planners of the Paris attack, Rowley said not specifically in the last day or so “but T&T is engaging a number of regional and international initiatives geared to respond to situations.”

He noted T&T was head of Caricom’s regional security committee and was on good terms with international neighbours who were directly involved in different types of responses. 

He added: “What we have to do is stay engaged and we’re doing that. I know the population would like to know a lot about what we are doing but sometimes things are better done in a particular way. 

“But rest assured, there is a National Security Council in T&T and those persons in T&T whose duty is to respond are responding and responding as part of an international arrangement.”