KINGSTON—The Portia Simpson Miller-led administration has been threatened with a lawsuit after Gerald Perreira, a Guyanese Muslim leader, was barred from entering the country to attend the 19th anniversary celebration of the Million-Man March. Perreira said while on his way to Jamaica on Friday to participate in the celebration, headed by Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan, he was ordered off a flight in Antigua and Barbuda and told that  Jamaican authorities had refused him permission to land.

Perreira, who is the chairman of the Black Consciousness Movement Guyana (BCMG) says he plans to lodge a complaint with the Guyanese government and will seek redress in the form of legal action against the Jamaican government. He added that being barred from entering Jamaica is a breach of his right to freedom of movement as a Caricom national. 

Perreira has also accused the United States of pressuring Jamaica to prevent certain persons from entering for the 19th anniversary celebration of the Million Man March. He is the second Caribbean national to have been denied entry to Jamaica for the event. Last week, Yasin Abu Bakr, leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen was also denied entry into Jamaica and deported back to T&T.

Bakr was refused leave to enter Jamaica due to national security concerns. At a press conference on Friday, Bakr said he intended to take legal action and called on local authorities to investigate his case.

CMC

A quantity of cocaine and marijuana have been recovered after police and coast guard intercepted a pirogue at La Tinta Bay, Chacachacare Island on Friday.

One man was arrested while another escaped, police said. According to reports, Coast Guard Special Naval Unit officers along with police officers chased a pirogue on Friday until it ran aground on the island. A bag containing five packets of cocaine weighing 5.5 kilogrammes and ten packets of marijuana weighing five kilogrammes was seized.

The cocaine has an estimated street value of $2,200,000.00, while the marijuana is worth $67,500.00. The driver and the drugs were handed over to the Organised Crime, Firearms and Narcotic Bureau.

Last Tuesday Coast Guard officers arrested six Venezuelans and seized 27 packets of marijuana near Maracas Bay. Coast Guard reports are that around 11.15 pm the fishing boat was spotted off Maracas Bay. The men were arrested and taken to Staubles Bay where they were handed over to the police. The drugs weighed 17 kg with an estimated street value of $170,000.

My name is Eric Julien and I met my Bajan wife on the Internet.

I lived in La Brea all my life, up until when I moved to Barbados in 2012. I had a good reason for moving: getting married to a Bajan in 2010! It was a bit tricky in the beginning, all the hurdles, which I’m still jumping through. But I like the place and am trying to make it work.

I’m a Seventh Day Adventist. I think I’m both religious and spiritual. I accept Seventh Day doctrine. I take what I believe on faith.

I met Kim online. I saw her profile [on Carib Singles Web site] and, by her statements, she seemed to be a no-nonsense kind of person. I had to come up with a witty opening. So I said, “Greetings, Positive Person.” She went for that, big time.

Going to meet Kim in Barbados was a big first for me because it was the first time EVER on an aircraft in my 41 years of living! Which I achieved thanks to the US embassy in Port-of-Spain. They refused my application for a visa: I was divorced, didn’t own a house or car. They felt, if they let me in, I would be hiding in Brooklyn all now. People might think that half of Trinidad is in Brooklyn but half my own siblings are really there. I’m the third of four and the two eldest have lived in America for the last 26 years.
 It wasn’t frightening to go on a plane for the first time as a grown man. It was more of a childlike excitement. When the plane started taxiing and turned to takeoff, it was, and still is, for me, one of the most exciting moments in life. The night before I leave on a flight, it’s hard to sleep, I’m looking forward to it so much!

Kim came to Grantley Adams airport to pick me up. Walking out there and seeing her for the first time is something I will never forget. I knew, from that moment, “Yeah… This is THE ONE.” She took me to Miami Beach, one of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen, to take in the sunset. The whole thing of being in the presence of this person in that setting.

We had our first quarrel the day I was to leave, after about six days. It was over a phone call I took, trying to show restraint with the person on the other end of the line, [she] felt I was being secretive. But it was really somebody wanting to get up in my business that I didn’t want to put on the wadjang behaviour.

We got married in 2010 in Barbados at a hotel that’s now closed down. But I don’t think of that as a bad omen, just an economic fact of life on an island where the whole tourism product fluctuates.
 
One of the things that made me fall for Barbados was a Sunday trip we took to Speightstown. From the time I drove through there, I saw, in my mind, a movie happening. It just had that look. And that is something that has been in me since: I must do something visually with that. I will make a movie out of that, somehow.

I miss my friends from Trinidad. Maybe it’s because of the community I grew up in but all those guys are like my parents’ other children. Everybody call my parents “Mom” and “Dad.” A lot of them belong to the same religion as myself.

You don’t look over your shoulder all the time in Barbados. But I never felt any fear in moving around Trinidad. I don’t drive so there were a lot of times I will have to travel at nighttime with my big bag of videography equipment. From Maraval to Port-of-Spain to La Brea. When people in Barbados say somewhere is “too far,” I just laugh.

The best part of meeting my wife online was the whole idea of being able to connect with somebody who I never-ever met in life and in a whole other country to the one I grew up in. Prior to that, the furthest off of Trinidad I had been was Tobago; and that was by boat.

A Trini is a friendly, laidback person who just enjoys life.

I am still largely connected to T&T. It will always be a part of me, because the larger portion of my life was spent there.

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

The Customs and Excise Division of the Ministry of Finance has acquired a Multi-Mode Threat Detector machine to improve its ability to detect contraband items, including narcotics and explosives, which are smuggled into the country.

Acknowledging that border control and security globally had become more sophisticated over the years, Finance Minister Larry Howai said, “Gone are the days when customs officers could simply eyeball arriving passengers to determine potential risks. Not only have passengers intent on nefarious deeds become highly adept at sneaking contraband into and out of our country, the sheer numbers of people entering and leaving T&T have made such simple profiling impractical.” 

Howai was speaking at the handing over ceremony of the equipment at Customs House, in Port-of-Spain on Friday. Howai said authorities needed to step up border control practices in commensurate fashion, hence the introduction of the 21st-century methods which he said were currently being deployed at all ports.

Howai said the detectors were only one of government’s approaches to increasing border security. He said 50 new officers were being trained, and allocations in this year’s budget will be put towards acquiring more sniffer dogs for the airports and training handlers.

Improved measures at the sea ports include additional container scanners. A new scanner donated by the People’s Republic of China is already in operation at the Port of Port-of-Spain, and Howai is optimistic that two which were recently bought from the US will be fully operational by the end of November.

Two additional machines are expected to arrive in the country next month, and with the help of US Customs, who are assisting in training local officers, these machines are expected to be functioning by the end of the year. US Customs and Border Patrol attaché to T&T Robert L Gross said these machines were very effective, and they were primarily used in the US, in explosives detection.

Gross said a group of T&T customs officers had just returned from Miami, where they had received seaport training, and that another group would soon be trained in handling containerised cargo and vehicle searches. He said the introduction of fibre-optic scopes and density meters would also be part of the training.

Some $.5 billion in crude oil and the survival of T&T’s economy are behind Petrotrin’s determination to berth a tanker coming from Ebola-stricken west Africa, even though it is now in a standoff with employees who are refusing to do it. Petrotrin president Khalid Hassanali confirmed the situation yesterday, telling the T&T Guardian: “I know there are some people, including Petrotrin employees, who are refusing to work. “But we will have to find a way to berth the vessel. If it doesn’t berth, the refinery will have to shut down.  “Petrotrin depends on imported crude oil to operate. If Petrotrin doesn’t operate there will be no fuel for the country.” 

Petrotrin workers have refused to berth the tanker, Overseas Yellowstone, which arrived at Pointe-a-Pierre last Friday with $.5 billion worth of crude oil from Gabon, west Africa. Gabon is not on the list of countries whose citizens have been banned from entering T&T but it borders Guinea, Cameroon and Congo. Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan announced last week that anyone coming from Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Nigeria would be denied entry to the country. 

The highly contagious Ebola virus continues its spread in west Africa and the rising death toll is now over 4,500. Cases have also been reported in the US and Spain. Hassanali said yesterday that the Health Ministry gave a certificate of clearance to Overseas Yellowstone last Friday but workers were still refusing to berth it. Workers have to go out in tug boats and pull the vessel into the Pointe-a-Pierre port. He said the tanker took the crude oil cargo ten miles off the coast of Gabon and the crew members did not go onshore. Further, Hassanali noted, the crew had been aboard the vessel for 62 days. The Ebola virus has a 21-day incubation period.

Contacted yesterday, Khan confirmed that medical personnel from his ministry had gone aboard the Yellowstone and cleared it of Ebola last week. “It’s Ebola free,” Khan told the T&T Guardian yesterday. “The vessel was also given a clean bill of health based on its history, where it came from. “It came from west Africa but never reached shore. Its crew members are people from different parts of the world,” he noted. Khan said Petrotrin workers were refusing to go on board the ship to offload it but they have no reason to act in that manner. “The ministry and its doctors take their jobs seriously. If they are using Ebola for their union problems, it’s the country that will suffer,” he said.

Crew already taken off ship
The presence of the tanker has also thrown workers at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate into a state of panic.  A source claimed after the Health Ministry cleared the tanker last Friday, six crew members were taken off and transported to Piarco Airport. “We don’t know if these crew members were changing shift, or what,” the source said. 

The source claimed that after Petrotrin workers refused to berth the vessel, Petrotrin got Point Lisas tug boat workers to bring six crew members ashore. “The Government is banning people coming from West Africa into the island on airlines but they are being allowed to come in at the sea ports,” the source added. A Plipdeco official yesterday denied the tanker was berthed at this port, saying the vessel is out at sea on its way to Pointe-a-Pierre and Point Lisas does not service oil tankers.

Another United Kingdom-registered cargo vessel, Ocean Discovery, was initially prevented last week from docking at the Chaguaramas port. The vessel stopped at two ports in Africa before arriving in Trinidad but after Health Ministry officials checked the crew they were allowed to dock.

Roget: No protocol in Place
Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget said yesterday Petrotrin workers were within their rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to refuse to berth the Overseas Yellowstone, since the company had no health protocol in place to protect the workers and the country from Ebola. “Petrotrin has not secured this port where a lot of international ships berth. Also, we don’t know which personnel crew members had contact with along their journey. Petrotrin is putting workers and the country at risk,” he said.

Roget also confirmed that crew members from Overseas Yellowstone were taken off the ship and expressed concern about that. “We don’t know who these people are and where they were taken,” he said. He added that the union got information that Petrotrin was trying to get Plipdeco workers to berth and offload the tanker. He said the union did not trust Petrotrin and was calling on the Health Ministry to intervene in the matter. “We want a committee set up to develop protocols to protect workers,” Roger said.

Also contacted on the matter yesterday, National Security Minister Gary Griffith told the T&T Guardian to pass on all Ebola reports to a recently set up committee being overseen by the National Operations Centre. Griffith said every five minutes someone called him to report some Ebola threat. “Someone even called to report something about a pair of sneakers coming from west Africa.”
President Anthony Carmona has signed an official order declaring the Ebola virus a dangerous threat to public health. The order gives state officials the authority to take required action to stem the disease.

About the Ship: Overseas Yellowstone, registered in the Marshall Islands in the northern Pacific, stopped at several ports on the way to its Pointe-a-Pierre destination, the last being Cartagena, Colombia. An online site showed the tanker anchored yesterday in the Gulf of Paria in T&T and gave its destination as Pointe-a-Pierre.

Whether Carnival 2015 is cancelled or not depends on the exponential rise in Ebola over the next month says Health Minister Fuad Khan. He was speaking at a forum on Carnival 2015 and Ebola at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Sciences (SALISES), University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, yesterday.

Saying his ministry had not taken any suggestions to Cabinet to cancel Carnival, Khan said both the Ministry of Health and the National Security Ministry continued to monitor the spread of the virus.
Most of the panellists at the forum, including Trinbago Unified Calypsonian Organisation president Lutalo Masimba (Brother Resistance), president of PanTrinbago Keith Diaz, president of the National Carnival Bandleaders Association David Lopez and lecturer in Carnival Studies Dr. Jo-Anne Tull felt cancelling the national festival was an unnecessary decision at this point.

Diaz added that the NCBA had a database of mas players, both local and foreign, and was willing to work with ministries to provide necessary information, while Masimba said calypsonians were ready and willing to assist in any educational campaigns on the virus. “I am not saying the business of Carnival is more important than health or the public welfare but if we are serious about Ebola, Carnival is next February and the Ebola outbreak is happening now,” said Masimba.

However, Khan challenged the panellists and the audience to ask themselves if they would cancel Carnival if over the next month the cases of Ebola increased to 10,000 cases a week.
“If Ebola is not contained if it enters the country we are looking at a 50 per cent decrease in population,” Khan said. Khan responded to remarks made by other panellists that the country and citizens would feel financial losses if Carnival was cancelled. “We can’t look at it and say we will lose $4.5 billion but we must look at it in the public interest because the $4.5 million that we may lose, if we have it (Carnival) no matter what we may lose our population.”
 
He said it was not just a matter of stopping Carnival. “I love Carnival but as Minister of Health I have to watch the whole worldwide scenario. Khan said the ministry was looking at increasing activity in blood bank, one case would take about 27 pints of blood to maintain. He said the Ministry of Health also did not have enough isolation chambers. He added: “What is going on worldwide is the development of process and procedures looking at a very infectious and new disease. “The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that there is a possibility if left unchecked the virus could infect 10,000 a week. “That is what we are facing in this country and the Ministry of Health is working on watching the international exponential rise of Ebola.”

Khan said while he could understand the economics of self and could understand the economics of nationalism, there were people who looked after themselves and people who look after the national interest. “There are going to be arguments on both sides of the fence on what is going to happen in February. “Are we going to stop the Carnival, yes or no? It all depends on what the exponential rise of Ebola is going to be like in the next month or so,” he added.

A meeting will be held next Wednesday involving the authorities and all Carnival stakeholders to discuss whether Carnival should be cancelled because of the Ebola threat and a recommendation will later be made to Cabinet. This was conveyed to reporters yesterday by Brig Anthony Phillips-Spencer, head of the National Ebola Prevention, Information and Response team (NEPIR) after its first meeting with representatives from various sectors, including security, military, fire and prison services, airport, Immigration Health, Tobago House of Assembly, ODPM, the National Carnival Commission, private and public-sector agencies. 

NEPIR adopted its mission to integrate and co-ordinate all efforts to be pursued with all available capabilities to prevent Ebola spread and protect all in T&T. This includes responding and recovery aspects should any spread occur. Phillips-Spencer said the Carnival issue was considered at yesterday’s meeting in terms of NEPIR’s responsibilities. 

NCC was represented by NCC chief executive officer Allison Demas. He said his team was given information that required that a full submission be made on the issue in subsequent discussions with all stakeholders.  Spencer said that consultation would be held on October 29. He said his team would share its recommendations on the issue with Cabinet based on intelligent advice. The meeting will be held the day before the weekly Cabinet meeting. How Carnival will be handled will be the prototype for how NEPIR will determine how to handle other major gatherings, including those related to Christmas, sporting and cultural events. ”Carnival will be our yardstick to determine our capability on all of this,” he added.
After the meeting, NCC sources said at yesterday’s meeting the NCC proposed a meeting between the authorities and all Carnival stakeholders and civil society groups at the Queen’s Park Savannah on October 29.
They had noted Carnival is held in 54 regions in Trinidad and also in Tobago and there should be some caution on the issue since it was a significant contributor to the economy, from ground and air transport, restaurants and hotels, mas itself, and even banks which gave loans for costumes. They underscored Carnival is a “serious business.”
At the press conference, Phillips-Spencer said the team had several legislative proposals on the Ebola issue, including improving the advanced passenger information system as a priority. He detailed NEPIR’s plan. 
Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha) head, Dr James Hospedales,  said the Ebola threat was significant since it was the largest outbreak ever. 
He said while Nigeria and Senegal have been downgraded by the World Health Organisation, the situation continued in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea and the Congo.
Hospedales said while likelihood of someone among Caribbean islands or T&T getting Ebola was low, the impact it could have was catastrophic and all capabilites must therefore be strengthened.
Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation representative Yitades Gebre who commended the Government’s efforts on the issue, said the presence of the NEPIR team demonstrated T&T would be able to address the issue in an organised manner
Saying Ebola was a “no risk” situation for T&T, Gebre said each Ebola case could have as many as 75 contacts.
He said PAHO/WHO advised restricted movement of people from affected states but he felt as long as people did not have symptoms, they should not be banned.
Civil Aviation director Ramesh Lutchmedial said airlines worldwide were alerted by yesterday of T&T’s travel ban on  Ebola-affected states and protocols would be finalised by the end of the week for steps to be taken in the event of a plane-borne Ebola case landing in T&T.
Office of Disaster Preparedness Management’s Dr Stephen Ramroop said the ODPM was handling training, including  practising scenarios of Ebola entry via air, sea or land, and training people who would handle cases in the use of protective gear. 
That particularly involves police, who will have to issue the quarantine order for a case. Ambulances are already prepared and the ODPM has “iso-pods” for patient transfer.
The Tobago House of Assembly’s Allan Stewart detailed Tobago’s activities. 
Ahead for discussion is movement of people between both islands, transport of possible Tobago cases to the Caura quarantine unit and whether Tobago can self-support in the issue.
Phillips-Spencer said the team’s framework included points made by WHO’s checklist for Ebola prevention. 
He said an integral requirement for the effort was that it required broad dialogue and not public-sector involvement alone.
“There’s no room for hit-and-miss in this and we don’t want reactionary measures after a case occurs,” he added.

NEPIR’s job
• Prevention: Monitoring Ebola and designing/building capabilities to scout outside T&T on risk of threats that could challenge T&T.
• Robust screening plan.
• Surveillance at borders/communities on what could emerge.
• Making full testing capability available in T&T and at international/regional levels from PAHO/WHO, Carpha.
• Information strategies and public community engagement to prepare public to ensure measures to prevent Ebola or respond/recover from any spread.
• Response on swift, effective containment, involving effective rapid response from various first responders  (ambulance, fire, police, Defence Force, Coast Guard for sea-entry cases).
• Strong tracing capability to follow contacts any case may have had to halt spread.
• Extensive aggressive infection control and readiness to manage a possible case, including its removal to containment and protection of first responders/health workers involved.
• Case management relating to the proposed Caura quarantine centre and treatment centres.
• Managing burials.

Three policemen have been granted bail, totalling $300,000, on allegations of armed robbery, kidnapping, assault and drug possession. PC Ainsley Gay of the Southern Division Task Force and Special Reserve Policemen (SRP) Avinash Hajarie, 25, and Jeremy Tenia, 27, of the Princes Town Praedial Larceny Squad, appeared yesterday in the San Fernando Magistrate’s  Court, which was packed with police who came to support them. 

Gay, 29, was charged with armed robbery and the SRPs were jointly charged with two counts of misbehaviour in public office, stemming from allegations of kidnapping and assault. Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan told Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardinez-Ragoonanan the files have to be sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a State attorney to be appointed. The charge against Gay, who has five years’ service, is that on October 15, armed with a gun, he robbed Rodney Tannis at Orchid Gardens, Pleasantville, of $2,800. It is further alleged that on the same day at the Marabella Police Station three grammes of marijuana and 0.1 gramme of cocaine were found in his possession. The charges were laid by Cpl David Simon of the Professional Standards Bureau.
The magistrate expressed concern about the manner in which a justice of the peace granted bail to Gay at the San Fernando Police Station on Sunday. 

Noting bail was granted to him separately on each charge amounting to $100,000, as opposed to one bail to cover all charge, she said:  “Let’s say he absconded on one charge. What are we going to do? I really have a problem when a JP proceeds to give bail in this manner. I am not saying it can’t be done but it has to be better.” Apart from that, she said, the property used to secure Gay’s bail had two owners. “I want to know how one person could take bail when two people own the property,” she said. The bailor was not in court. The magistrate granted defence attorney Cedric Neptune’s request for the matter to be adjourned today for those issues to be sorted out. 

Hajaree, who has two years’ service, and Tenia, who has one year service, were jointly charged with two counts of misbehaviour in public office. The charges are that on September 14 at Debe they assaulted Basraj Toolsie, occasioning him actual bodily harm and falsely imprisoned him and took him away against his will. Those charges were laid by Cpl Joefield of the Professional Standards Bureau. They were each granted $100,000 bail to cover both charges by a justice of the peace at the station on Sunday.  Hajaree was represented by attorneys El Farouk Hosein and Dane Halls and Tenia was represented by Neptune. The magistrate approved their bail and adjourned the case to February 24.

A cheese paste sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate was the first meal hunger-striker Ravi Maharaj was given after he decided to end his five-day protest action against environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh yesterday. His decision to end the strike came two days after he collapsed outside the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), St Clair, where he began his protest last Wednesday.
Maharaj, who is warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, is expected to be discharged today.

The 29-year-old Maharaj, who is in favour of the disputed Debe to Mon Desir section of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, had condemned Kublalsingh’s decision to embark on a second hunger strike.
Lying on his hospital bed, Maharaj said he was feeling much better than he was over the weekend. He said he was given intravenous (IV) drips and had also been resting. "My decision to quit was really because of my condition. But now people will look up to me and be inspired," Maharaj said. Maharaj vowed to continue his fight by other means, this time taking it to south Trinidad. “I’m bringing the hunger strike to an end but I intend to take a different action now,” he explained. “I intend to go down to the areas of Debe to Mon Desir and try to highlight and try to bring to the fore the feelings of the people who live in that area and whether or not they do in fact support or oppose the highway and see who is in the majority and the minority.” 

Saying his hunger strike had not been in vain, Maharaj said he brought to the public’s attention the benefits of the highway, adding that the people of Debe and Mon Desir had been neglected for far too long. He said he has also shown the true effects that fasting could have on the body. Last Thursday Maharaj, who had complained of exhaustion and dehydration, wrote to Kublalsingh’s former doctor, Asante VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc, seeking treatment.

However, she declined to treat him. In an earlier interview with radio station i95. Maharaj said he believed Kublalsingh was able to complete day 34 of his strike because of the treatment he received from VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc. “I suspect a lot of that had to do with the medical care he was receiving.I though she would be able to assist me in maintaining my body a bit longer than I did. I believe she had some sort of method in maintaining Dr Kublalsingh's body for as long as he had,” Maharaj said. He said he believed VanWest-Charles-Le Blanc only recused herself from attending to Kublalsingh because she believed death was imminent.

Kublalsingh falls ill
But as Maharaj was recuperating, Kublalsingh fell ill. The leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) had just pulled up at his camp site outside the OPM when he complained of feeling unwell around 10.30 am yesterday.  He was immediately taken back to his home at D’Abadie and up to late yesterday was being kept under close watch by relatives. His wife, Dr Sylvia Moodie-Kublalsingh, who answered his cellphone yesterday, said she was worried about her husband’s condition. “He’s just getting weaker and weaker, and critically, he couldn’t even come out the car this morning (yesterday) and he asked to be taken back home. That in itself is significant, and I think that is cause for concern. “I am just hoping for the best,” Moodie-Kublalsingh said.
Asked if Kublalsingh would be taken to hospital, she said that was still undecided. 
 

The State is ready to begin paper committal proceedings against three men charged with the murder of Sgt Hayden Manwaring. When the matter was called before Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan in the San Fernando court yesterday State prosecutor Stacy Lalloo-Chung said 43 statements had been filed, sworn and served on the defence . 

But the accused — Kerron Nicholas Garcia, 20, Anthony Clement, 38, and Kelvin Wallace, 24 — complained about the representation they were receiving from their lawyers. Wallace said the attorneys were not allowing them to see the statements to give them instructions. Agreeing they ought to see the statements, the magistrate told them they would have to decide whether or not they wanted to change their attorneys. The magistrate also asked Lalloo-Chung to contact the attorneys to find out their state of readiness and which witnesses they would be requesting for cross-examination and said she expected the attorneys to contact the accused before the next adjournment date.

The three are charged with murdering Manwaring, 42, on February 19, 2013. He was shot and killed while trying to arrest robbery suspects at Butler Street, San Fernando. PC Nicholas Phillip was also shot during the incident. A fourth accused, Kofi Cropper, 40, died earlier this year. The matter was adjourned to October 30 for a status report.

Police up to late yesterday were probing the death of a 48-year-old technician from New Grant who died after being stabbed in the chest on Sunday. Investigators could not say whether Satnarine Ramphal was murdered. 

They have detained a 25-year-old woman, who claimed he committed suicide. She remained in custody up to late yesterday as investigators awaited the results of an autopsy from the Forensic Science Centre, St james. Police said Ramphal and the woman were at his Watts Road home around 10 pm when they got into an argument.  The woman told police Ramphal went into the kitchen, picked up a knife and threatened her. He then grabbed her by the hand and stabbed her in the wrist but she got away.

She said as she ran out of the house screaming for help, she heard him coughing. She turned around and saw him on the floor with blood on his jersey. Neighbours called the Emergency Health Service and Ramphal was taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility. The woman was also treated for cuts on her hands and released into police custody. Police, including Insp Ramnarine, Sgt Roget, Cpl Rosan and Sgt John, checked the house and found a kitchen knife. 

A neighbour said Ramphal, who repaired and serviced air-condition systems, had constant arguments with the woman.  PC Lewis is continuing investigations.

The Point Fortin Borough flag will fly at half-mast today in honour of former mayor Victor Chin Kit. Chin Kit, 84, died yesterday. He had been ailing for several years. Present mayor Clyde Paul confirmed Chin Kit died at his home at Clifton Hill, Point Fortin, which he shared with his wife, Naomi, who survives him, along with their two children, Ian and Dianne. Chin Kit, an electrical engineer, served as an alderman on the first Borough Council in 1980 and as the second mayor during the period 1984-1987. Paul, who served as town clerk during Chin Kit’s tenure, described him as his mentor, saying he encouraged him to stay at the borough and serve the people. “The vision for Point Fortin, which we are seeing unfolding, came from Chin Kit. The lessons I learned about public service and local government came from him. Even though he no longer was involved in active politics, he was always around giving support. Whenever I had a problem, I would go to him,” Paul recalled. Both Paul and former councillor Grantley Wells described Chin Kit as the best mayor Point Fortin ever had.

Paul said Chin Kit was a longstanding member of the PNM and the party had been in contact with his family to assist with a fitting sendoff. In the meantime, he said, he had ordered the borough’s flag to be flown at half-mast. Local MP Paula Gopee-Scoon said she was saddened by the news of his death. She said: “He has been known to have been ill for some time and perhaps it was time to go. Knowing how deeply religious he was I am assured that he is in a better place with God. 

“I want to say that I have known him in another capacity, as a family man and friend of my parents. So he has known me from childhood. “I remember him for his intelligence, his very dignified manner in conducting all affairs, deeply religious, very committed in everything he did. “He truly was a servant of the people of Point Fortin and a man of great integrity. You don't find many Victor Chin Kits any more,” Gopee-Scoon added.

Chairman of the Mediation Board, Justice Vasheist Kokaram, is urging all parties involved in the contentious Debe to Mon Desir portion of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin to go to mediation immediately, saying it is a fundamental step in dispute resolution. He added the country was anxious over the matter and hoped good sense would prevail. Leader of the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and religious bodies, like the Roman Catholic Church, have urged the Government to take part in mediation but Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has refused to do so.

In an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Kokaram said while mediation might not be the magic bullet, it was an avenue for all parties to come together to listen to concerns. He said: “I would strongly urge all parties to consider seriously mediation as a viable option to solve emotional conflict and produce everlasting solution. This must not be ignored. “Both parties must see this from their different perspectives. That type of polarised view is seen in many ways and we see it all the time in family matters.” Saying people do not live in isolation, he said engaging in mediation brought fresh perspectives which would assist in greater understanding. “In the highway dispute, the need to mediate would result in an understating of each other’s perspectives... what are the common concerns. “The process of mediation takes those discussions in a forward-thinking manner... what are the common interests we all share and how we can come up with some ideas,”  he added.

Kokaram said mediation had proven to be one of the more successful means of resolving conflict outside the legal framework. Using mediation, he added, would also result in a “buy-in”, leaving room for no uncertainty, especially by members of the public. “With mediation there is also a sense of healing and it is also less costly. It has a success rate of 75 per cent. “And even if, at the end of the day, there is litigation, parties can also mediate at the end of the litigation, as there may be many unresolved issues left,” Kokaram said. Asked if he believed Persad-Bissessar should agree to mediation, he said while that was welcome no one was obligated to do so. “You cannot force someone to mediate and mediation is not a question of conceding your position.  “On the other hand, there must be an understanding of the community being a subset of the wider community,” Kokaram added. 

Project 40 keeps camp going
A few weeks ago, the HRM camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, was too small to accommodate the large number of supporters who turned up on a daily basis. Yesterday only a handful of supporters were present. A few members of the Project 40 movement, a 40-day youth “relay fast” in support of the HRM and Kublalsingh, sat under a tent supporting each other. The 12th member to undertake a 24-hour fast was Nkosi Myers, who is studying economics at the University of the West Indies Saying young people were the future, Myers said: “No one is trying to see where they can meet each other halfway. It is not a problem they are going to face. It’s going to affect my generation and younger.” Contacted yesterday, Kublalsingh said he was getting weaker and feeling more lightheaded each day. He was visited by RC priest Fr George who prayed with him. “I am putting my body on the line and that is what it is all about. It is about going on unrelentingly. “That is what people do when they go to war... they fight... they could die or they could live... that is how it is,” Kublalsingh said.

A gunman stormed a pan theatre in central Trinidad yesterday shooting four people. Two died while the other two victims remained hospitalised up to late yesterday. Deshawn Sobers, 21, and Trevaughn Sobers, 30, died after they were shot several times while at the  New Age Trend Setters panyard at the front of their home on Enterprise Street, Enterprise, Chaguanas.

Wounded were leader of the pan side, Glenford Sobers, 73, who is physically challenged and Jamal Sobers. They are warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in serious condition.
Police said the gunman entered the premises and started shooting shortly after 1 pm. Police said four victims were shot. They said Trevaughn ran out and collapsed on the roadway. Both Deshawn and Trevaughn, who are Glenford’s grandchildren, died at the Chaguanas Health Centre while undergoing emergency treatment.

Veronica Sobers, wife of Glenford Sobers, said Deshawn had been involved in a relationship with a man who showed up at the house yesterday in a bad mood. Sobers said Deshawn ended the relationship with the man last week Friday. Veronica recalled Deshawn telling her that she was living a life of abuse. “She said, ‘Ma I can’t take this kind of life again.’ She fraid him, I say if you want to leave him, leave him,” Sobers said.

After the shooting, the man escaped in a waiting vehicle. The police, led by Inspector Teasdale and Sgt Nicolai, went to the  house and conducted investigations.  They were looking for the suspect last night. Chaguanas mayor Gopaul Boodhan, who knew Glenford Sobers personally, said he had been trying to get an artificial limb for Sobers. The mayor said he was deeply saddened to hear the news: “Trevaughn was very talented and this loss is tragic. Mr Glenford Sobers has been a stalwart in culture and was one of the pioneers of culture in Chaguanas.” The mayor said he would visit sobers at the hospital today.

The National Council on Indian Culture (NCIC) is calling on the Education Ministry and the Government to investigate an incident in which a primary school pupil was reportedly discriminated against because she had mehindi (Hindi body artwork using henna) on her hands. The call was made by NCIC president Deokienanan Sharma as the curtains came down on the nine-day Divali Nagar in Chaguanas on Wednesday night.

Addressing the audience, which included Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and several Cabinet ministers, Sharma told them he had received some disturbing news. He said the pupil who attended a San Fernando school visited Divali Nagar the previous night and had Mehindi done on her hands. He said after she went to school the following day, her parents got a telephone call from the officials to come and take her home because of the mehindi on her hands. “The mother of the child was told mehindi was not part of her uniform. “The child was discriminated against because she put Mehindi on her hands.” 

Sharma was also disturbed by a report carried by a television station stating that Cepep workers were used to clean toilets and do other work at the Divali Nagar and were given no food. Sharma said the job was tendered out and Cepep was the lowest bidder. He said the workers were officially contracted by the NCIC. Sharma also made a second appeal to the Government for assistance to complete the main building at the Divali Nagar site. The NCIC was later that night given a $2 million cheque by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Sharma told her it would come in handy to pay their bills.

Sharma said this year’s Divali Nagar was better than the previous events and noted there were several innovations. They included expanding the queen competition to the Caribbean and Florida. There are plans to take it to Indian Diaspora countries around the world, including Mauritius, he said. Seeking to show the inclusivity of the Indian festival, Sharma said at a previous Divali Nagar, the cultures of Africa, the Middle East and China were celebrated. Sharma said he hoped the Government’s support of culture would continue, not only for the NCIC but all other groups in the country.

The messages of peace, truth and good over evil and the importance of strengthening the family are desperately needed in T&T says David Abdulah, leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) in his Divali message yesterday. “Our nation is in crisis and only those who have their heads in the sand are unaware of this reality. Everywhere the institutions of state are collapsing and there is an absence of trust and confidence in both our nation’s institutions and leaders.  “Things are indeed falling apart and the centre is no longer holding. On top of this crisis of institutions and leadership, is the complete absence of vision. We are stumbling along from one crisis or issue to another with the false hope that God is a Trini and that we will have the benefit of high oil and gas prices to buy our way out of difficulty,” Abdulah said.

He said Divali teaches people to be truthful and urged that as a society there is the need to see the entire picture—the good, the bad and the ugly. “We can recognise, appreciate and strengthen all that is good. Our innate talents, creativity and the many centres of excellence which have been built by dint of hard work, sacrifice and community effort.  “We must admit of that which is bad—the “eat ah food culture”, corruption from the top to the bottom of the society, the disrespect for others. And we must condemn that which is ugly—the wanton disregard for human life, the violence, the use of our ethnic differences for partisan political gain, the valuing of money and wealth above solidarity and being our brothers and sisters’ keeper,” Abdulah added.

Saying Divali paved the way to illuminate and educate, Abdulah called for a change in attitudes and way of thinking so as to unite for the common cause of building a nation. “The light of the deya can help us to do that by bringing light and clarity to who we are as a people, from where we have come and where we need to go.  “The light of the deya can enable us to see clearly that we need a virtual ‘revolution of the mind’ which is a pre-requisite for us to challenge the status quo and usher in a T&T where there is the lasting peace that is built upon the foundation of social justice and equity for all citizens,”Abdulah said.

Even as hunger striker Dr Wayne Kublalsingh is now bedridden and talking about death, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar remains resolute in her decision that the Debe to Mon Desir leg of the Point Fortin Highway will be constructed. The PM revealed her unbending stance in her address at the closing night of Divali Nagar in Chaguanas on Wednesday night. Speaking on the Nagar’s theme of “Shiva” a Hindu god who represents the reabsorbing principle, she said for some things to take place some must be destroyed. She said while she promoted the use of consensus in policy decisions, it was also important that citizens who disagreed with certain actions of the Government abide by the law.

Persad-Bissessar said it was disturbing that the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) was unwilling to abide with the rulings of the court. On three occasions, the court ruled in favour of the continuation of the highway project. Kublalsingh was unable to continue his fast outside the Prime Minister’s Office in St Clair on Tuesday. A T&T Guardian report on Wednesday showed an emaciated Kublalsingh lying on a bed at his D’Abadie home. He said he was too weak to continue the strike at the St Clair camp and spoke about death and mortality.

Persad-Bissessar remarked on how many civil society groups had latched on to the HRM’s cause because of their own differences of opinion. She said no leader and no government in T&T have gone the democratic distance she and the People’s Partnership have gone. “I have tried to govern with conviction, strength and, at times, compassion, but at all times for the benefit of the country.
“This is the light I have lit. Let it burn forever and let no one in the future extinguish that light,” she said. Shifting to the Divali Nagar, the PM commended the National Council on Indian Culture (NCIC) for elevating the status of Divali as a festival. She said it was a special time in the life of the organisation which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Persad-Bissessar said it was also heart-warming to see the number of young artistes performing on the Nagar stage. She congratulated the NCIC for expanding Divali Nagar to the Caribbean and North America. Jamaican Rachel Beisray who won the 2014 Divali Nagar queen competition was the “first Caricom queen of Divali Nagar”, she said. The NCIC, even with its limited resources, has contributed to the resurgence of Indian culture in Guadeloupe and other international countries, the PM added.

She gave a cheque of $2 million to the NCIC to continue its work. NCIC president Deokienanan Sharma, receiving it onstage, said it cost the organisation upwards of $5 million to stage the annual nine-day event. He said the NCIC does not charge an entrance fee and the $2 million will help them pay their electricity and other bills. Persad-Bissessar, reminding Sharma that he spoke about the promotion of the festivals of other groups in T&T, said she will continue to support all, including Eid, Emancipation and the observances of the Baptists.

Commentators and writers in T&T are bulldogs in a ring, bruising each other in that clash of professional egos. This was a statement made by President Anthony Carmona during his feature address at Wednesday’s annual graduation ceremony of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus. He said that there is a crisis in intellectual discussion in T&T. “We are a society in adult distress. The disingenuous and the uncouth have a field day because of their unfettered access to print and a microphone. “We desperately need a breath of new writers and commentators who will not engage the nation with the same old, same old dialogue and that obsession with self. We await a gush of fresh breeze.”

Just earlier that day (Wednesday) Carmona issued a pre-action protocol letter against radio host and comedian, Rachel Price, for alleged defamation of his wife, Reema. It is reported that Price criticised Reema’s attire at a recent function on international attention and importance. Carmona said there is a continuous stream of opinions of government issues expressed daily, not only in Parliament and in print media but also on radio and social media. “Regrettably in all these forums, light-minded minds tend to recycle and state their greed opinions. “As graduates, you have a responsibility to bring more enlightened dispassionate approach to the discourse on issues of national and regional importance. “We have to replace our focus on personalities with a focus on ideas so that they opinioned and self-serving pronouncements and forms of cyber bullying are replaced by thoughtful dialogue and minded conversation.”

He said social media Web sites no longer perform an envisaged function or creating a positive communication link among friends, family and professionals. “It is a battleground where insults fly from the human quiver, damaging lives, destroying self esteem and a personal sense of self-worth.” Carmona also made reference to the draconian piece of legislation that does not allow any political party or President to appoint anyone younger than 25-years-old to the Senate. “Many countries in the world are lowering the voter age from 18 to 17 to 16. “We need to, seriously, to consider that option.  We need to bring that intellectual luminance that is sometimes lacking.”

Sharing his personal mantra to the hundreds of graduates, Carmona urged: “Try to be a better person today, not a greater person than you were yesterday. “Culture is a proper moral compass. Ensure that you invoke standards of accountability and integrity.”

Leader of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has issued his own challenge to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, calling on her to make the names of the contractors involved in the controversial Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy Highway public. Kublalsingh’s response came in wake of recent statements made by Persad-Bissessar, who reiterated the call of Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan, that the environmentalist make his medical records public.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
In an interview yesterday, Kublalsingh maintained he would easily reveal his records but had no official request from either Persad-Bissessar or Khan. “I have not received anything officially in writing from the Prime Minister regarding my records. I give her the full authority to go and get the records and if it is they are giving her problems I think the more responsible thing would be is to write me a letter requesting the records and then I would write St Clair Medical Centre saying the Prime Minister requests these records and she could go collect it herself. “I would request that all my records be released to her dating from 2012 when I began first hunger strike.

Kublalsingh said in return he thinks it was only fair and in the best interest of the country for Persad-Bissessar to say who are the contractors, the value of their contracts and the terms of their contracts. Regarding his condition he said he was still feeling very dizzy and weak as he completed day 37 of his second hunger strike against the highway. Kublalsingh said he had many visitors yesterday some of who were public officials trying to find a solution.

But he declined to identify who they were, saying they preferred to remain anonymous. “They came seeking information on the issue and finding a best way forward,” Kublalsingh added. On statements made by Persad-Bissessar questioning who has been funding advertisements for the HRM, Kublalsingh said he was surprised the PM had stooped so low. He said a combination of events including barbecues and curry-ques have helped finance the ads.

More than 150 families were forced to cancel their Divali celebrations after heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in communities and homes across south Trinidad yesterday morning. The hardest hit areas included Quarry Village, Siparia, the constituency of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, Fyzabad San Francique where some residents could not cook. They suffered property loss and were trapped in their homes. When a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the area residents said it was the worst flooding in decades, but yet they received no help from their government representatives, the regional corporation or emergency response agencies.

In the community of Standard Road, Fyzabad residents were stranded as they were cut off from the main road. Sixty-year-old Ramchan Ramnarine had to wade through a quarter mile of knee-high water to collect his Divali lunch from his daughter Diana Maharaj. Maharaj, who lives in Penal, said: “Every Divali I would drop lunch for my parents, but this year when I got here there was too much flood for me to drive through. It is the first time in the longest while that it flood so bad.”  

Another resident, Patsy Jaglal, said: “Since I here 48 years I never see anything like this. It (flood) happen so sudden we could not do anything. We cannot even cook because the water reach about four feet inside and leave about five or six inches of slush. The flour, sugar wash away.” She added: “We have bread and zaboca, ah guess we will have to eat that.” Another resident, Asha Ramrattan, said her baby’s toys, pampers, stove and other valuables floated away into the river. “All the mattresses, our clothes everything soak. We need help here.”

Quarry Village residents blamed the severe flooding on a blocked river course caused by land development works by two people in the area. Mala Sitahal said, “It is not easy to deal with, especially on an occasion like this. She said relatives came from abroad to spend this special day with them and they cannot even cook or light their deyas. “This is the Prime Minister constituency I hope she is listening and see what is happening.” She was hopeful that the Prime Minister would help them. He called on the Prime Minister since it is her constituency to do something about it. Another resident Claudette Dookie broke down in tears as she recalled how residents had to come to her rescue. “Everything in the house gone.”

Corporation chairman: Its the Worst
 Siparia Regional Corporation’s chairman Leo Doodnath said in his four years at the corporation its the worst flooding he has ever seen. Doodnath said he was out from around 9 am touring affected areas and the corporation’s disaster preparedness unit was lending assistance to affected residents. “It bad. It terrible. Most the areas in San Francique were badly hit, the Fyzabad and Siparia communities also had  severe flooding. It could be about more than 150 households affected in terms of water going into their homes. In Mulchan Trace would have been the  worst I have ever seen where two families were marooned. We could not get to them.” He said mattresses and food stuff were given to families and  shelters are on standby to assist the families who cannot stay in their homes. “But, we do hope that the flood will subside so by tomorrow we can begin mopping up the area. We have already alerted Cepep and URP.