Time running out for 56 police inspectors, who say they may be forced to retire at 55 if they are not allowed to sit a promotion exam and be elevated to the first division.

The inspectors, who were on an order of merit list way back in 2008, are crying discrimination and claiming they are being denied their right to have their assessment for promotion completed. 

ASP Joanne Archie, the police public relations officer, is among those listed for promotion.

But acting Commissioner Stephen Williams said there is a process to be followed, and based on the outcome of several court actions, the police are now in a position to move forward with that task, which has already started.

Attorney Sunil Gopaul-Gosine, acting on behalf of 11 of the officers, said the inordinate delay has already resulted in several officers who failed to move on to the first division having to retire at the mandatory age of 55. Others had died while waiting for this promotion and several more were close to retirement age, he said. 

At a news conference at his Keate Street, San Fernando, office on Tuesday Gopaul-Gosine said if these officers are promoted they will be able to assume first-division status, enjoy greater benefits and retire at a later age. As it stands now, he said, if the assessment is not done soon, many of his clients will be forced into early retirement.

The attorney said his clients believe they are being severely prejudiced.

CoP: exam soon

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CoP Williams explained that the initial delay had to do with two court actions, one preventing the promotion for the 2008 and 2012 merit lists, and a second in which the court favoured the officers from the 2008 batch who challenged the first action on the basis that their promotion should not be blocked by an injunction. 

He said the injunction had nullified the process, but in light of the latter decision, the TTPS had engaged a company to do fresh assessments, and to identify and import new books on management and policing, as the books given before the court action were no longer useful.

Williams said the officers would have a period to study the content of the books, in areas like standing orders, rules and regulations, in preparation for a written examination. Once they pass that exam, the candidates will be interviewed for promotion.

Anthony Gloster, at whose Diego Martin home police claimed businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman was murdered, did not provide police with a concrete alibi for the day she was kidnapped. 

“I would have been liming or hustling around the neighbourhood, painting, toting water or things like that. I cannot really say cause that time was long,” Gloster told police when he was initially arrested, three weeks after Naipaul-Coolman was snatched in front of her home in Chaguanas.

The claim and Gloster’s responses to several other questions related to the crime were revealed yesterday by Insp Creighton Hudson, the latest witness in the trial of Gloster, his two bothers and nine of their neighbours as the trial resumed yesterday

According to Hudson, during the interview on January 7, 2007, he asked Gloster to give a daily account of his activities in the previous month.

Gloster said he spent most of the time home with his family except for one day when he went to a mall to purchase a Christmas gift for his girlfriend. 

When questioned over his knowledge of Naipaul-Coolman’s kidnapping, Gloster claimed he only heard about it from his relatives and on television news reports. 

“People all over were talking and saying they kidnapped a woman somewhere in Chaguanas and I remember meh grandmother saying ‘Thank God we not rich’,” Gloster, who claimed he only visited central Trinidad once in his life, said. 

Gloster also denied he heard his friends, who he is on trial with, talking about the incident. 

“I don’t think any of my friends would put down work like that,” Gloster said.

Hudson completed his evidence relatively quickly as the non-contentious statement were not the subject of lengthy cross-examination.  

Naipaul-Coolman was abducted on December 19, 2006. A $122,000 ransom was paid by her family but she was not released and her body has never been found. 

Prosecutors are contending that the businesswoman was held captive at Gloster’s home at Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, before she was killed, dismembered and her body buried. 

Before the case was adjourned by presiding Judge Malcolm Holdip yesterday afternoon, prosecutors were able to call on another witness to testify. 

In his brief evidence Insp Sheldon David detailed how he arrested accused Ronald Armstrong, months after Gloster and several other of his friends were initially questioned and released by officers. 

David said on May 10, 2007, as he was on patrol in Diego Martin, he saw Armstrong walking at the side of the road.

He said he informed Armstrong homicide detectives were looking for him as they believed he had information which could assist in their investigation.

“I told him about his rights to have a family member or legal representative present and he said ‘That's alright let's go’,” David said. 

His testimony ended where he handed over Armstrong to his colleagues at the Arouca Police Station. David was not cross-examined by defence attorneys. 

Prosecutors are expected to call another witness when the trial resumes today.

Concerns have been expressed that Cable & Wireless Communication’s (CWC) proposed US$3 billion acquisition of regional cable provider Columbus International (also know as FLOW) could lead to a decline in telecommunications competition across the region and anti-competitive behaviour in T&T. The atmosphere was created after CWC announced in London yesterday that its board had agreed on terms to purchase 100 per cent of Columbus International Inc, the fibre-based telecommunications and technology services provider for US$1.85 billion. CWC will also assume Columbus’ US$1.17 billion in net debt.

CWC said it would finance the US$1.85 billion acquisition cost through the payment of US$707.5 million in cash and the issue of 1.55 billion new ordinary CWC shares to Columbus’ three major shareholders — John Risely, John Malone and Brendan Paddick — worth US$1.14 billion. If the transaction is approved, the three main Columbus shareholders will own about 36 per cent of CWC and collectively will be the telecommunications provider’s largest shareholders. The proposed transaction will bring together CWC, which has 5.7 million mobile, fixed line and Internet customers in Panama, the Caribbean and Seychelles, with the 700,000 residential of Columbus in the Caribbean, Central America and the Andean region. In T&T, the acquisition will mean CWC, which owns 49 per cent of majority state-owned TSTT, acquiring FLOW’s cable TV, Internet and telephone services. The CWC announcement said the completion of the transaction was conditional on it receiving regulatory approval in Barbados, Jamaica and T&T.  

Speaking yesterday, Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TATT) CEO Cris Seecharan, said the local regulator was required to approve any change of ownership in licensed entities.
Seecharan said from a regional perspective, the acquisition of FLOW by CWC would reduce the number of players from three — FLOW, Digicel and the CWC-owned LIME — to two, Digicel and LIME. Seecharan said: “The region would be going from a position of vibrant competition among three players to the creation of an effective duopoly, which sometimes leads to a stagnation in competition that could impact on the affordability of service. “In T&T, the issue is more about the potential for anti-competitive behaviour as a result of cross-owner that CWC could own 49 per cent of TSTT and 100 per cent of FLOW.”  He said the local regulator has embarked on an analysis of how the transaction will impact competition and how the market will be affected. He said the authority was expected to conclude that exercise by February 28, the deadline set by the parties. 

Digicel concerned too
In a statement, CWC’s major competitor in the Caribbean, Digicel, said it was “naturally concerned about the clear and obvious challenges and potential issues posed by such a proposed move from a regulatory and competition perspective.” Questioned on the Digicel statement, CWC’s chief executive, Phil Bentley, said the comments were very interesting because Digicel had themselves made a bid to acquire Columbus. Bentley said: “That's a response of, if you like, a scorned lover because they didn't buy the assets.  “So I think it's a bit rich of them to complain about us buying it because they wanted to buy it themselves. I would be very happy for you to make that point. It feels like sour grapes to us.” Asked whether CWC outbid Digicel for Columbus, Bentley said with a laugh: “Well, they didn't get the business. You can draw your own conclusion from that.” Asked to respond to Bentley’s allegation that Digicel had bid for Columbus, the Digicel spokesperson Antonia Graham said: “We would not comment on that.”

Customers getting choice
Told that the local telecom authority had expressed some concerns about the transaction, Bentley said CWC would be writing to the regulators on the issues of concern to them. “What I would say is that Digicel has been acquiring companies and rolling out fibre,” Bentley said. “I think we are confident that we will make the case that this is good for giving choice to customers. We think it is good for rolling out investment faster. It’s not often that people invest US$3 billion in the Caribbean and hopefully, people will see the positive side to that.”

Digicel said the proposed transaction raised a number of issues that would need to be addressed, including such matters as fairness in spectrum allocations, local loop unbundling and price bundling generally. The Jamaican-based company said: “A myriad of other likely issues will only become apparent once Digicel and other agencies and bodies have been fully appraised of the details of the proposed transaction and the likely resultant impact on the telecoms market in the region.”
 

More than a month after the post became vacant, President Anthony Carmona has appointed certified anti-money-laundering specialist attorney David West as director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA). In a statement yesterday, the President’s information officer Theron Boodan said West would be sworn in at the Office of the President, Circular Road, St Ann’s, at 11 am today. 
West has previously been a state prosecutor in the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, director designate of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) at the Finance Ministry and head of the Central Authority Unit (CAU) at the Ministry of the Attorney General.

He has been at loggerheads with the Government on several issues, including the Section 34 issue, and has publicly criticised the Government’s delays in complying with recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2013. At the time West said if T&T did not prosecute anyone involved in white-collar crimes the country could be blacklisted and placed on the list of non co-operative territories. West served as a member of the Cabinet appointed-committee on AML in 2010. In an interview before the announcement, Boodan said the name of the new chairman of the Integrity Commission would be divulged soon. He said interviews had taken place over the past few weeks to find suitable candidates for vacant posts. 

Police Service Commission chairman Prof Ramesh Deosaran resigned on September 1 after serving for three years and four months. A day later, Police Complaints Authority head Gillian Lucky also resigned to serve as a High Court judge. Former Integrity Commission chairman Kenneth Gordon left office on October 31 after serving his three-year term. 
Saying there was no need to hire a recruitment agency or advertise, Boodan said: “We have a potential chairman for the Integrity Commission. Someone has already been interviewed.” 
He agreed there were difficulties in getting candidates as concerns were raised about the personal attacks often made on those appointed to serve on state commissions.
Boodan said background checks must be done on candidates to determine their level of qualification, political affiliation and political ambitions, as well as their field of expertise. 
In the case of the Integrity Commission, Boodan said the chairman by law must have a certified background in sociology.
“It takes time to find a suitable candidate. Sometimes you find somebody and you have to check out the person to see whether they are suited for the position. 
“Each position requires certain qualifications and expertise. When you find someone you have to write the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader and then wait for their response,” he explained.
Asked whether having to declare their assets under the Integrity in Public Life Act deterred potential candidates, Boodan said in some cases candidates might be reluctant to declare their assets.
He added: “The majority of them, however, were talking about being embarrassed in public without redress. They are humiliated for serving their country.” 
He said the declaration of assets was an issue that should be taken up by the executive arm of government.
Boodan also said he did not see how delays in making presidential appointments were affecting issues of crime and corruption.
“Operations are going on and issues are being dealt with. There are vacancies and we are working to fill those but we just cannot pull some names out of a hat and make appointments because if the candidates fail, the Office of the President will be held responsible,” Boodan said.
Secretary of the Police Social and Welfare Association Sgt Michael Seales was in a meeting yesterday and was not available for comment. 
On Tuesday he said the operational accountability of the police was hindered by the absence of heads of the PCA and the PSC.

New PCA head’s CV
West has over ten years’ experience in dealing with extradition and mutual legal assistance and assisted in drafting several laws, including  the Financial Intelligence Unit Act 2009, Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2009, the Anti-Terrorism Act 2010 and the Financial Obligations Regulations 2009.   
He was junior counsel to Andrew Mitchell, QC, who prosecuted the first money laundering case in T&T.
West was responsible for drafting the amendment to the Extradition Act 1985 and is recognised internationally for his success in extraditing a number of suspects, the most notable being the “JFK terrorist bombers” and seven people involved in the kidnapping and murder of US citizen “Balo” Maharaj. 
West was also involved in the extradition of Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh up until August 2010. 
He has a BSc in economics and law, an LLB (Hons) and is a certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS) at El Dorado Chambers. 
CAMS certification is recognised worldwide by financial institutions and government agencies as an indication of anti-money laundering (AML) expertise.
West studied at Brunel University and is a past student of Naparima College. 

How the PCA head is chosen
Under the Police Complaints Authority Act, the director and deputy director are appointed by the President on the joint advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
If they cannot agree on the joint advice, the President appoints the director and the deputy director after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley invoked the ire of Speaker Wade Mark yesterday after Rowley clashed with Government MPs and also with the Speaker himself during debate on the Procurement Bill as Parliament resumed after a vacation break. Rowley asked whether Mark was entering the debate after Mark sought to rebut a People’s National Movement (PNM) claim that the Government alone had adjourned Parliament in July and the bill had lapsed. 

In a stormy resumption of Parliament, Mark also repeatedly warned about MPs’ behaviour, particularly the PNM’s. Disagreements arose during Planning Minister Bhoe Tewarie’s piloting of the bill, designed to promote accountability, transparency and efficiency and reform the procurement process. It was passed unanimously in the Senate and was returned to the House for the passage of amendments made in the Senate. 

Saying the bill had been delayed too long and MPs had missed an opportunity to pass it last term, Tewarie drew PNM protest when he said he was sceptical of the PNM’s position on procurement reform because of the PNM’s conduct in the Joint Select Committee (JSC) stage, the PNM’s absention from the JSC report and silence on other aspects.

In reply, PNM MP Colm Imbert said the Government had adjourned Parliament last July and the bill had lapsed but as it had 26 seats, it could have passed the bill without PNM votes, since Government had enough for a special majority vote. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar attempted to object when Imbert spoke about the adjournment. That drew loud protest from Rowley and PNMites. 

Speaker Mark said: “Member for Diego Martin West, cool it. You don’t have to be shouting across the floor. Listen, next year before September is election, but right now let’s conduct ourselves in a dignified fashion. This kind of ‘rangutang’ behaviour, I don’t like it. I’m telling you, I don’t like it.” Mark added: “I want honourable members to conduct themselves as honourable. I don’t think it was fair to say what you just said.

“I made it very clear and the records would show I made a statement some time ago, (that) when the Leader of Government Business moved for the adjournment of the House then, not a single member of the Opposition objected. “If a member of the Opposition had objected, the Speaker would have had to reflect and take a decision in the matter. 

“So I don’t think it’s fair to say the Government abused its authority. It was a decision of the entire House to adjourn. The House took a decision of which the Speaker carried out that mandate.” But Rowley took up Mark’s statements, asking if the Speaker was entering the debate. Mark said: “No I’m not in the debate, I’m clarifying.”

PNM MPs continued to protest repeatedly. Rowley, who had previously accused Persad-Bissessar of trying to mislead the public on the issue of the vacation period for the House, angrily protested that what Imbert had said was what had happened and it was not proper. Mark told Rowley: “Don’t argue while I’m on my legs. I’m on my legs, don’t speak like that while I’m on my legs... I’m saying, do not speak while I’m on my legs. If you have problems with the Speaker, file a substantive motion.”

Imbert, continuing his contribution, noted criticism of Government by the Joint  Consultative Council (JCC) on the Invader’s Bay issue.  He claimed the bill did not properly deal with land disposal. Noting the State was T&T’s biggest land owner and owned over 50,000 acres, he said the situation might lead him to conclude the Government was trying to dispose of State land to friends and family. He did not identify anyone specifically.

Imbert also earned a rebuke from Mark when he loudly told a Government MP to shut up. Mark said: “You can’t tell an MP to shut up, only the Speaker can.”

Cabinet is giving consideration to the remuneration of health care workers who may have to treat Ebola cases, Health Minister Fuad Khan says. He said so in Parliament yesterday as he addressed the current worldwide concerns and T&T’s readiness for the deadly virus.

Public Services Association president Watson Duke had called for extra remuneration and an insurance of at least $10 million for health care workers who will be asked to work in the special Ebola unit Government proposes to set up to deal with any suspected cases of the virus. Yesterday, Khan said while some may have attempted to profit from the matter and peddle fear and hysteria, he was presenting the facts on it.

“Significant progress has been made in making T&T ready to control any possible outbreak of Ebola through good preparation, proactive public education, early detection and rapid response, isolation and treatment, contact tracing, co-ordination between agencies and investment in emergency response,” he said. 

Recounting Government’s action in the issue so far, including spearheading a Caricom meeting on this, Khan said the training of staff at health facilities and ports of entry to detect and isolate suspected cases was ongoing  Cabinet had also approved importation of an Odulair Unit two-bed Ebola treatment unit. Upgrades to allow for handling of any Ebola cases have begun at the Caura Ebola Treatment Centre and Piarco International Airport, he said.

Khan said 20 hand-held thermal scanners for ports of entry have been ordered and are expected in two weeks. Thirty Hazmat (Hazardous Material) Level A suits are also expected in four weeks. Specifications for two mass screening thermal scanners are being evaluated and are expected to be ordered within the next week, with delivery in three weeks.

Personal protective equipment has been purchased, including category three coveralls (Hazmat suit type), N95 masks, overhoods, overboots, rubber boots and face shields. Standard protective equipment was distributed to all health facilities between October 3 and 19 and Category 3 coveralls will be delivered by November 19, he added. 

Opposition MP Colm Imbert yesterday criticised the Government for seeking to approve new procurement legislation that gave the proposed regulator too much power. He was speaking in Parliament yesterday during debate on new procurement legislation, which was brought by Planning and Sustainable Development Minister Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie.

Imbert said the law provided no checks and balances for the official, who was to be appointed by the President. A review panel should be established to look at certain decisions of the procurement regulator, he said. Without a review panel there would be a lengthy and costly process to challenge any decision of the regulator, he said. “It will take you years and will cost you millions to challenge a decision of a procurement entity,” he added.

Imbert said in Grenada there was a procurement board which reviewed the decisions of a procurement entity there. Based on the proposed law, there was nobody to review the decisions made by the regulator other than the High Court, he said, telling legislators T&T “must be the only country in the world that has that situation.”

Describing the bill as defective, Imbert said when it became law and the regulator was appointed for a seven-year term he or she “can suspend procurement, terminate procurement, can overturn a contract.” That could only be challenged via the lengthy and costly court process and that situation could not be accepted in any progressive nation, he argued. 

He added: “You can’t have that because what the Executive is doing is handing over its development programme to an unelected official who will not and cannot be removed by anybody in practice and would have supreme power.”

He said the Opposition drafted amendments to the legislation to prevent that situation but they were not accepted by the Government. One of them, he said, would provide for the regulator to be removed by the findings of a tribunal appointed by the President following a resolution of both Houses of Parliament. 

Tewarie made no mention of that during his presentation earlier, he said, and did not address the issues that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said would be dealt with during the October break. But Works and Infrastructure Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, who spoke after Imbert, said there were provisions in the legislation for the removal of the regulator and the conditions for removal of the regulator were clearly spelt out in the legislation. 

“The regulator,” he said, “cannot just get up an decide that ‘I will put pressure on somebody and I will do this and so on.’ It cannot happen like that. “There are checks and balances in the legislation to deal with these particular matters.” He said the bill also provided for the behaviour of the regulator to be debated in Parliament if necessary.

Following that, the Finance and the Economy Minister “can then make recommendations to the Cabinet for the removal of the regulator and this can then be put to the President for action,” he noted. He said Imbert omitted to mention that provision.

Griffith mum on res
Contacted last night, National Security Minister Gary Griffith said the operation to bring the family back to T&T was ongoing.
However, he declined to say at what stage it had reached.
“I am obliged to respect the privacy of the family until they at least get to London. I prefer not to comment now because to do so will compromise the operation.”

Three Petrotrin managers’ positions were terminated or have resigned following the Pointe-a Pierre/Marabella oil spill earlier in the year, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said yesterday. Ramnarine did so in Parliament, responding to Opposition questions. 
He said it was anticipated there would be another termination or resignation of a manager and disciplinary action was to be taken against two employees.

Ramnarine said Petrotrin’s vice-president (refining and marketing) Madhoo Bachan was among those who resigned and was no longer on suspension with full pay. He said Bachan resigned on October 10. Ramnarine said he could not say why Bachan resigned but the latter took a personal decision and had not been terminated. Ramnarine said Bachan was replaced from October 11 by Jonathan Barden, who had acted in the post during Bachan’s suspension. 

Barden, a chemical engineer, who was previously Petrotrin’s senior manager (refining), has 25 years’ experiences in oil refining in four countries and 16 years’ experience at BP. Ramnarine said Petrotrin’s internal business investigation into the oil spill started on August 6 and ended on October 9 and was done by a cross-functional team, comprising managers of seven areas and an OWTU representative.  

An independent investigation and root-cause analysis were done by Pricewaterhouse Coopers into the Tank MP6 leaks. Ramnarine said that confirmed the need for observance and updating of systems and procedures. The report was submitted to the board on October 6 and referred to Petrotrin management on October 31.

He said an industrial relations investigation was done by the company’s IR Department to determine whether due process was followed in the maintenance and operations of Tank MP6. Arising from investigations on the Tank MP6, recommendations on systems and procedures were made to ensure there was no recurrence of an oil spill from the tank farm, he added.

Ramnarine said 19,512 barrels were discharged from Tank MP6 and all except that lost to evaporation or absorption in the soil was recovered. “No oil reached the sea,” he said. 

Tobago police are investigating the circumstances under which a five-year-old girl drowned on Thursday. The child has been identified as Kevel Edwards of Mason Hall. The T&T Guardian understands that the girl died after she swallowed water from a pool in her yard. Police said Kevel was playing in an inflatable pool at her home at Sandy River, Mason Hall, when her mother, Cainelline Matthews-Edwards, took her out of the pool and left her nearby while she went inside to get a towel.

When Matthews-Edwards returned she discovered the child’s body floating in the pool. Police said the child was taken to the Scarborough General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday. Scarborough police are investigating. 

A masked man barged into the Claxton Bay home of scrap iron dealer Timothy Francois, 55, on Thursday night and pumped two bullets into his head, killing him instantly. Francois’s girlfriend, Rehana Brown, 24, who was lying in bed with him around 10.30 pm when he was shot escaped because the gun failed to discharge when the killer pointed it at her and pulled the trigger.

At this point the assailant fled into some bushes. A handyman, who was at Francois’s home when the incident occurred, was also shot at by the man. The handyman has not been seen since. Police said there was no trail of blood to indicate he was injured and believe shock may have caused him to go into hiding. Police are investigating a cause for the killing as Francois’ children said he was a good man who had no enemies. 

His girlfriend was removed from the home by police. Francois, whose left leg was amputated from below the knee a year ago as a result of diabetes, was the father of four sons, one of whom died as a toddler. One of them, Shawndell, who lived with him, was at home when the incident occurred but in a different room of the house and was not harmed.

Newly-appointed director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) attorney David West said one of his first objectives was to ensure the organisation has the legislative teeth to deal with pertinent matters, including extra-judicial killings. He made the comments while fielding questions from the media after he was sworn in at President’s House, St Ann’s, yesterday. The PCA’s deputy director Master Ralph Doyle was reappointed for another term.

“Just before I came in here I had a chance to meet briefly with Master Doyle and we agreed that legislation would be the number one priority to get to Cabinet so we can get those ‘teeth’ like what Barbados and Jamaica has,” West said. 

On complaints by his predecessor, Gillian Lucky, about the lack of co-operation from the police in the timely submissions of files and other important documents, West said he first would have to meet with acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams. “My approach would be to meet with the acting Police Commissioner and develop some protocols on how we move forward in unison. “I don’t want any aggravation between the two bodies... we are all one, we are all one T&T,” he added.

West, the former head of the Central Authority, said he was honoured to be selected and thanked Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley for jointly recommending him. On what skills he would bring to the organisation, he listed those as his “communication skills and legal background.

“Also my law-enforcement background. I think I have the right mix in these departments. I have dealt with police officers before and I dealt with the public, so I think I have the right mix for the job,” West added. Asked if he was surprised to be selected, he said he was not as Lucky had told him she had recommended him. “I agreed to the recommendation so I was not surprised,” West added.

He said he intended to maintain a cordial relationship with the media and to hear the grievances of everyone. “I want the media to know I am approachable and I am also very independent and the office is independent and I will be vocal where I see it fit,” West said. Lucky resigned last month to become a High Court judge. Her resignation came on the heels of the resignation of Prof Ramesh Deosaran as head of the Police Service Commission. 

Lucky had complained that because of the shortcomings in the legislative purview of the PCA, it was ineffective at handling some of the complaints it received. She had said there was a need to look at the criteria for evidence, including allowing the use of witness statements in their absence as a result of death or threats. Other measures she recommended included a 24-hour forensic science centre.

The North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) recently paid off a $40 million bill it owed to Medical Associates Private Hospital, St Joseph. The authority’s CEO, Kumar Boodram, confirmed that to the T&T Guardian after its director Dr Rodney Ramroop disclosed that the authority owed millions of dollars to several medical private institutions. Ramroop was speaking at the NCRHA’s public board meeting yesterday at the Eric Williams auditorium, La Joya Complex, St Joseph.

He explained that the money would have been spent because the NCRHA had to outsource patient treatment and care because its hospitals were not equipped with either the medical experts or the necessary facilities. “Because we had no neurosurgeon, any patient with cranial, brain and spine problems had to be sent to private institutions. One we owed over $33 million and that was before 2012,” Ramroop said.

But he said because there were now three neurosurgeons at the NCRHA, this outsourcing has ceased. There were also gaps in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department, including no paediatric ENT service and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU). “We had to send children to the adult ICU and it was a challenge for the staff there to keep adjusting medication,” he added.

Ramroop said he believed the NCRHA spent millions of dollars for patients to die at private institutions. He explained: “When the patients were sent to the private institutions for ICU care, most of them die within two to three days because they don’t take responsibility and assess our patients. They don’t have high dependency care there and the onus is on us to provide that.”

Boodram said over a period of a year, the NCRHA was able to liquidate the $40 million bill, including a single patient’s bill which amounted to $1.6 million. The chairman of the NCRHA board, Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, said five ambulances had now been bought for the NCRHA but the process was long and cumbersome.

She added: “The process of acquiring these ambulances took almost the entire tenure of this board because it required proper specification and alignment of needs, a rigid tendering process and finally approval from the Ministry of Health, which was received by letter, dated September 23, 2014.

“It is expected that these ambulances will be delivered within the next two months, so members of the public, patients of the NCRHA, finally you will have designated ambulances for your needs.” Boodram said the ambulances cost $3 million and were acquired through the Massy Group. See Page A8

Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne is hot on the trail of Marlon Charles’s killers. Charles, a 36-year-old psychiatric nurse attached to St Ann’s Hospital, was found dead in his vehicle near the Caroni Bird Sanctuary in the early hours of October 31. He had gone
missing hours earlier after leaving a birthday celebration with colleagues. Alleyne first visited his relatives at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, where an autopsy was being conducted. 

Charles’s mother Sheila said she received a call from her son’s cell phone approximately at 4.06 am on October 31. The person, she said, was not her son and initially asked her if she had any money but then hung up. Both Alleyne and police remain baffled over the case, as it is still uncertain if Charles was abducted or lured by someone he knew or the motive behind the killing. 

Alleyne and his cameraman subsequently examined Charles’s body at the funeral home and aired the footage live to show the injuries he sustained. Charles was shot once in the side and once behind his head. Alleyne followed up on some information he received and passed it to Sr Supt Johnny Abraham. He said he knows Charles left work and met up with a friend from central and went to a bar for drinks. Alleyne said he is also aware of a stop they made at an ATM to withdraw cash. 

Alleyne is asking anyone with information on the case to text him on 294-4081. In another case, Alleyne visited and interviewed the family of murder victim Indra Diaz. Diaz, 36, was killed by a bandit at her Madras Road, Kelly Village home on October 29, as she and her husband were having an outdoor dinner. The murder weapon, a gun, was found by investigators a few meters from her home in an empty lot of land next door. 

Police are following up on leads and motives and a suspect is being looked at for questioning. Diaz, via Facebook, had allegedly complained indirectly of “marital problems,”  her sister told Alleyne. Alleyne, who was on the scene of the crime, said the explanation that bandits stormed the house and shot her did not sit well with him, as it was very unlikely a bandit would throw away a murder weapon so close to the crime scene. 

The matter is currently being investigated and anyone with information is asked to contact police and or Alleyne at 294-4081. Alleyne also journeyed to Moruga to speak to the family of motorbiker Nigel Nicholas, who died after he ran into a panel van which was reversing out of a compound last month. He died from burns and trauma sustained about his body in the accident. 

Members of his family, close friends and the community have been peacefully protesting for justice in the case and Alleyne visited to area to get an idea of what occurred.  Alleyne said he hoped a cover-up was not in the making.  Alleyne also aired footage of a prominent businessman being robbed by armed bandits in a popular casino in Gasparillo. 

The public is asked to visit the Crime Watch fan page, view the video of the robbery and to call the Crime Watch hotlines if you recognise any of the men so they can held by the police. Shumba George also visited the set seeking help to recover money from Kell Johnson of Tobago. 

George claimed he loaned Johnson $10,000 in February 2014 to help him offset medical bills with an agreement that the sum would be returned within three weeks. On air, Alleyne called on Johnson to contact him so the matter could be settled.

BREAKTHROUGHs
Alleyne was able to solve a major problem within hours for Christina Evans of Oropune Gardens, Piarco. Evans appeared on air on Wednesday calling on the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to relocate her from the fourth floor to the ground floor of her home because of her inability to climb stairs due to an injury she sustained. HDC stepped in and promised to sort out her issues.

UNSOLVED
The public is asked to visit the Crime Watch fan page and view pictures of missing relatives Felicia Gonzales, Jenelle Gonzales and baby Shania Amoroso. The three have been missing since October 26, 2014. Anyone information on their whereabouts can contact the Blanchisseusse police or call the Crime Watch hotlines. Alleyne is also looking for Austin Martin in connection with money owed to Shami Ramdial for transporting of material.

Bank of America Corp cut third-quarter earnings by US$400 million, wiping out the surprise profit it reported last month, as the firm braced for the end of probes into foreign-exchange dealings. US regulators faulted systems and controls for currency trading and called for fines and remedial actions in draft documents sent late last month, the firm said yesterday in a quarterly report. The lender posted a loss of US$232 million, or four cents a share, for the three months ended September 30.

Regulators in the UK and US are preparing to levy fines on at least a half dozen firms after probing allegations they manipulated the US$5.3 trillion-a-day currency market, people with knowledge of the situation have said. The reviews, including scrutiny of traders’ communications and how firms policed their activities, have prompted the world’s biggest banks to overhaul operations and bolster legal reserves.

“The attributes that make a strong currency trader is someone who’s aggressive and takes advantage of opportunities,” said Mark Williams, a former Federal Reserve bank examiner who’s now a lecturer at Boston University’s School of Management. “If controls are weak or not enforced properly, they’ll take advantage of weaknesses in the system.”

The probes have meant another legal headache for Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian T Moynihan, 55, after he led the firm through more than US$70 billion in costs tied to the takeovers of Countrywide Financial Corp and Merrill Lynch and Company. Those cases culminated in a record US$16.7 billion settlement of government mortgage probes in August. He has presided over five quarterly losses since taking the top job in 2010.

Authorities on three continents have been looking into allegations that dealers at the biggest banks traded ahead of clients and colluded to rig the WM/Reuters rate, a benchmark used by pension funds and money managers to determine what they pay for foreign currencies. More than 25 traders have been fired, suspended or put on leave after the allegations became public last year, and disclosures from banks in the past two weeks show a wave of settlements is approaching.

Bank of America said yesterday that talks accelerated after it reported quarterly results in mid-October. The firm is in advanced discussions with the Fed and US Comptroller of the Currency, a person briefed on the matter said, requesting anonymity because the negotiations are private. The company is co-operating with investigations and inquiries. (Bloomberg)

Former national heavyweight boxer Wendell Joseph and his wife Erica were yesterday given keys to a new three-bedroom home at Tarodale, San Fernando, by Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal. Since September, Joseph, 68, and his wife Erica, 56, who is wheelchair-bound, have been protesting while living on cots under a tent in the Queen’s Park Savannah. 

Joseph was one of 54 recipients of new homes at a key distribution ceremony at the Housing Development Corporation’s (HDC) head office in Port-of-Spain. HDC’s Managing Director Jearlean John said, “This is the sixth time the HDC has allocated the couple a home. He (Wendell) should be in the Guinness Book of Record. I am just hoping they would go into their new place and be happy.”

Although the couple lived in five other HDC homes, John said, “it was made out as if the HDC was not concerned and we had no empathy, and the folks were just in the savannah sitting down. This is a pattern. We have newspaper clippings from 1995 where they sat right up at the President’s House. We have a whole record on the Josephs. We have done our best. Notwithstanding that, we treated him with respect and the dignity he deserved.”

HDC has spent $50,000 to retrofit the house to accommodate Erica’s disability. Doors were widened, safety rails and ramp installed, toilet and face basin relocated, switches and electrical readjusted, as well as the washroom was redesigned. Asked if the Josephs were to come back to HDC with another complaint,  John said, “He (Wendell) might say the rent is too much because in Embacadere they were paying $100 a month.” 

Joseph, whose rent is now $800 a month, promised not to move again. “This is it. I am finally going to settle my roots here,” Joseph said.

MP for Caroni East Dr Tim Gopeesingh has bashed the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) for granting a Certificate of Clearance (CEC) to a company allegedly dumping human waste into a ravine. The residents in the small Kelly Village community yesterday staged a placard protest, calling for waste treatment company Ragbar Company Ltd to stop the alleged fecal dumping in the nearby Macezine Ravine.

Gopeesingh, who met with the residents yesterday, said he contacted EMA chairman Dr Allan Bachan earlier this year when residents came to him for help. He said while Bachan promised to investigate the allegations of dumping, the CEC was granted the next day.

“I have been working with the team of residents for the last year-and-a-half to no avail. I have called (the EMA) in the presence of the residents, the chairman of the EMA on a particular day and on the next day he issued the CEC to the company,” Goopeesingh said. “He issued the CEC after there were complaints by the residents.”

The residents said aside from the stench and the possible health hazards, the roads and small bridge were also damaged by the constant movement of heavy trucks. The company, owned by Ryan Ragbar, operates out of Curepe, but they purchased the land in Herrera Trace, Caroni, to establish a waste treatment plant. Though the CEC notes that the plant was expected to be completed by February 2014, to date no major construction work has been done on the property.

Gopeesingh said subsequent to that CEC approval, he made several attempts to contact Bachan, but has not been successful. According to the EMA Web site, CEC 4049/2013 was granted on July 6, 2014. Ragbar and Company applied for clearance on October 30, 2013. “It shows that the bureaucracy of the system is extremely stifling, even a minister of government cannot get things done,” Gopeesingh said.

One resident, Deochand Harrichan, said the affected community got together and had the water tested by Cariri. He said those tests showed that the ravine directly behind the business contained elevated levels of fecal matter. “We are saying that the EMA should investigate and identify the source and stop it.” 

Ragbar denies dumping
The residents also claimed that they have been threatened with violence and physical harm whenever they raise concerns about the matter with the workers or the owner of the company. 

Secretary director of T&T Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI) Mahindra Satram-Maharaj says 99 per cent of the imported raw materials used for Carnival costumes are toxic. He was speaking at TTCSI’s “I AM” Secondary School Green Building prize-giving ceremony, at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann's, on Wednesday. Satram-Maharaj said, “According to a recent baseline study undertaken by the Mas Transformation Secretariat, more than 750,000 pounds of waste are generated from Carnival costuming. 

“The study has shown that all the imported materials that went into our Carnival costumes for the last 15 to 20 years, 99 per cent of those materials are extremely hazardous.” He said “31 out of 32 imported raw materials used in the manufacturing of Carnival costuming are highly toxic and detrimental to the environment.” When asked yesterday about the casting of Hosay tadjahs into the sea, he said he could not speak for materials used in other practices other than Carnival. 

Satram-Maharaj, who is also President of the National Carnival Development Foundation (NCDF) said he wanted to believe that all materials used for any kind of costuming in T&T were conventional and found to be very harmful to the environment. 

He said some natural fabrics such as cotton were hazardous because of the dyes used. Satram-Maharaj said while artificial feathers were “very bad,” nothing was wrong with harvested feathers. The problem, he said, was with the dyes that were either carcinogenic or highly toxic. He said new materials that were environmentally friendly, renewable, and can be recycled to make Carnival costumes to reduce import costs will be unveiled in April 2015.

Satram-Maharaj said it was the organisation's goal to make T&T mas 100 per cent “green.” He said that the Carnival costuming carbon footprint has been huge, but more will be revealed when the secretariat makes the report public shortly. Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources Ramona Ramdial addressed the gathering earlier on what the Government was doing to protect the environment.

Martine Powers

The rise of the pro-highway group Citizens 4D Highway has sparked debate around the country, with some observers clamouring to learn the identity of those who financed a controversial newspaper advertisement disparaging activist Wayne Kublalsingh. (Defence attorney and temporary government Senator Wayne Sturge claims he is one of the group’s organisers.)

But who are the everyday people supporting this group and its advertisements? A deep dive into data mined from the group’s social media following offers some significant insight. Most glaringly: Only about seven per cent of the people who have “liked” the Citizens 4D Highway Facebook page come from the region that would be most directly affected by the highway—Debe, Mon Desir, Fyzabad, Siparia, Penal, San Francique, Pluck and Avocat.

Still, that’s 80 per cent more than the number of people from those communities who have listed themselves as fans of the Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) Facebook page. And when it comes to the pro-highway group’s geographic spread throughout the region, it’s clear that their staunchest supporters reside largely outside the region affected by the highway. 

Among the people who have been most active on the Citizens 4D Highway page—adding the highest number of “likes” to posts and messages—most reside in Port-of-Spain, San Fernando, Couva, Arouca and Point Fortin, with only a handful of the most active followers hailing from Siparia, Fyzabad or Penal. 

The numbers are imperfect—some people choose not to allow Facebook to make their hometown and current city public information—but they offer a picture of a group that has otherwise been shrouded in mystery. And it’s only been in recent weeks that the group has become more active—likely a response to the heightening backlash over their controversial advertisement. 

The person or group who registered the domain name for Citizens4DHighway.com chose to keep his or her name, phone number, and e-mail address concealed from the public domain name registry. However, records show that the Web site was created October 28, established with a one-year contract that costs the registrant $15 per year.

Who PNM, UNC ‘like’ on Facebook
And though supporters and opponents of the Mon Desir-Debe extension of the Sir Solomon Sochoy Highway have maintained that it’s not a political issue, their “likes” on Facebook tell another story. According to the data on the cross-section of people who choose to add support to both a highway activist group and a national political party, the highway movement is highly politicised, with demographics breaking down on predictable political lines.

The Sunday Guardian used data downloaded from Facebook on who "likes" a particular group, and how two groups overlap in "likes." Basically, .442 per cent of PNM's 42,052 Facebook fans also like "C4DH" or Citizens 4D Highway; .649 per cent also like the HRM. A PNM follower is more like to support the HRM, but by a more modest margin—they are only about 1.5 times more likely to root for Kublalsingh and the highway protesters.

For UNC, 6.2 per cent of their 2,644 Facebook fans like C4DH; while only 2.26 like HRM.  A person who is a “fan” of the United National Congress on Facebook is about 2.7 times more likely to also “like” the Citizens 4D Highway rather than the Highway Re-Route Movement.

Two men who never met each other but were both excited about Christmas and planned to get married next year to their partners, were killed when their vehicles collided at Mosquito Creek, La Romaine, early yesterday morning. Richard Kevon Bailey, 28, also know as DJ Zorro, of San Fernando, and Kamau Daniel Forrester, 33, an assistant driller, of La Brea, were both described as angels by their loved ones. The accident took place around 4 am.

Police said Bailey was heading towards San Fernando in a Nissan Tiida, while Forrester was heading in the opposite direction in a Nissan Wingroad. Forrester’s car swerved onto the other lane and crashed into Bailey’s vehicle. Both men were taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

At Bailey’s Titanium Avenue, Union Hall, home, his common-law-wife of two years Asha Hunte, 33, a teacher, said he was supposed to have been one of the front line disc jockeys at the Jamaican artiste Alkaline live concert at Pleasantville Community Centre last night.  She said the promoter had rented the Tiida which he was driving. Not only was he excited about the concert, she said he was also elated about the car as the Tiida was his dream car.

Staring at the Christmas tree in the porch, she said, “He made me put up the Christmas tree about two weeks now. He was heavily into Christmas.” Although they had not yet set a date, Hunte said they planned to have a fabulous wedding early next year on Iwer George’s boat and invite all their family and friends. 

“He wanted marriage, Tiida, baby in that order,” said a tearful Hunte who described him as a jovial, loving person who loved his two children (from a previous relationship) Kendra, eight, and Kaylon, five. Hunte said she last saw him alive on Friday before she left to go to her mother’s home in Port-of-Spain. Also struggling to comes to terms with her fiance’s death, Tricia Cooper John, 36, said Forrester worked with a drilling company in Abu Dhabi, but came home about two weeks ago.

He had planned to go back next Friday so he could be home in time for Christmas. She said he had missed the last two Christmases in T&T. She said they had cancelled their dinner plans on Friday because one of the children came home sick. She said they have a four-year-old daughter together, but he also treated her two other children—ages 14 and eight—from a previous relationship like his own.

John said Forrester felt like “getting out of the house” and she did not “sweat it,” since it was his last Friday home. “Jordyn (the four-year-old) was the apple of his eye. Before he left around at 11.15 pm on Friday, he came back to give her another kiss.” She said last week Saturday he had a grand birthday party for her. Leaning on her mother Elsa at her Sobo Circular Road, home, a tearful John said they were together for seven years and had planned a “summer wedding” next year.  

She described him as a wonderful person with “the biggest heart ever.” Forrester was heading back home when the accident took place. The autopsies are expected to be done at the San Fernando hospital tomorrow. Sgt Alexander of the San Fernando Police Station is investigating.

Clinical and community psychologist Dr Dianne Douglas is urging parents to take control of their children. Douglas said it must be clear to children who is in control in the homes. In the modern world, she said, parents liked to believe that they were their children’s friends. “As much as we can be their friends, it is important that children understand who the authority is in the home.”

Addressing teachers at the T&T National Council of Parent Teacher Association third biennial parenting conference at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s, Douglas spoke at length about family life, stating that in many instances parents are often ruled by their children. Douglas stressed the need for effective discipline by parents. The theme for this year’s conference was “Reigniting Values for the 21st Century Families.”

Douglas blamed entertainers who sing lewd songs, video games and technology—mainly the use of cellphones, laptops and social media—for destroying families. She said children today are exposed to pornography, inappropriate television programmes, and bullying on Facebook. Douglas said the age group 18 to 25 were the fastest to lose their lives, contract HIV, and have children.

“The heightened use of technology has taken the home by storm and is sometimes ravaging our homes because they (parent) are unprepared. Technology is challenging many parents in the home. Technology does not love our children, it does not tell us how to raise our children, it does not put food on the table.” She said parents needed to monitor the laptops which have been given to their children by the Ministry of Education.

“They doing all sorts of things on Facebook. Don’t let no child come and tell you any nonsense that the laptop belongs to them. You signed for them. The last time I checked, they (the children) work nowhere.” The laptops should be placed in an area where the screen can be seen, Douglas said. Douglas also suggested that parents keep their children’s cellphones with them at nights. “You should also visit their bedrooms at nights to check on them.”

She urged the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) to launch a campaign to educate parents about the use of technology. Outlining the characteristic of a health family, Douglas said clear roles, goals, prayers, good communication, and having sufficient flexibility and adaptability to develop normal challenges are key. Children today, Douglas said, were not given chores because parents wanted them to excel academically.

She said tertiary level students were so dependent on parents to do everything for them that when they entered the real world, they were unable to function because they lacked life skills. “We drop them in a foreign country and turn our backs and expect them to function.” Douglas said sometimes some of this country’s brightest and best children were forced to return home to see psychologists in order to be reaccepted in universities abroad.