Martine Powers

When it comes to epic rivalries, it’s not often that Port-of-Spain finds itself matched up against Putrajaya, Malaysia, a city of 68,000 people just south of Kuala Lumpur. But for years, the two cities have been butting heads in a little-known campaign to lay claim to a very bizarre international recognition: the world’s largest traffic roundabout.

In Port-of-Spain, at least, it’s always been a fishy assertion, a rumour repeated so often and in so many places that it becomes an accepted part of local mythology: the roads surrounding Queen’s Park Savannah, locals say, make up the largest traffic roundabout in any city on the planet. 

“I’m not sure where the claim came from. We never claimed it to be true,” said Dr Trevor Townsend, senior lecturer in transportation engineering at the University of the West Indies, and one of the engineers who made the controversial decision to turn the savannah’s surrounding streets into a one-way ring road 35 years ago. “I guess these things happen in folklore.”
 
It’s a claim that has been repeated in all manner of literature: travel guides, tourism blogs, and even in a Facebook post by the T&T Government itself.

Citizens for Conservation T&T, a conservation advocacy group, names the savannah as the world’s largest roundabout on their Web site, and attributes that fact to the Guinness World Records—though the Guinness World Records online database makes no mention of any distinction for largest “roundabout,” “rotary,” or “traffic circle.” The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

And with its 3.7 km circumference, according to the Web site MapMyRun, the savannah does indeed seem like a pretty sizeable roundabout. The problem: Malaysia says it has the world’s largest traffic roundabout, too. It’s an oval-shaped road in the centre of the city, known as the Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah. (Perhaps Malaysia can win the award for the world’s longest roundabout name.) 

The “largest traffic circle” moniker has been ballyhooed by Malaysian government officials on Twitter, and it’s been publicised on the tourism blog Expat Go Malaysia, as well as several automotive news Web sites. Officials in Putrajaya’s city planning department did not return requests for comment.

Here’s the thing: the savannah definitely has a larger circumference, if only by a little. The Putrajaya traffic circle is 3.4 km, just a few hundred metres shy of the savannah’s perimeter, according to MayMyRun. But others suggest that the savannah, with its strange ‘L’ shape, should not really count as a roundabout at all. Putrajaya’s perfectly oval-shaped thoroughfare should earn the title by default, they say, if only because it is as round as the name suggests.

US traffic engineer shocked over claims for ‘largest traffic circle’ moniker 
But one expert, US-based traffic engineer Mark Johnson said he’s shocked that either city would promote the “world’s largest traffic roundabout” title at all. “It’s typically not something someone would want to claim,” Johnson said. Johnson, who specialises in the design and analysis of roundabouts all over the United States, said he had never heard of a city claiming to have the largest traffic roundabout, and he was not aware of any organisation that would keep track of such an honorific.

Most cities design their roundabouts to be as small as possible—not large, circular super-highways. The safety benefits of a roundabout largely come from its small size, he explained: when the circle is tight, cars are forced to slow down to about 30 kilometres per hour, which means that any collisions that do occur are usually fender benders, rather than crashes serious enough to cause injury.

“This idea of some city having ‘the world's largest’—it very well may be. But my response to that would be…in terms of a modern roundabout, you don't particularly want them to be that big,” Johnson said.

A point of pride—Townsend, UWI transportation engineer
Even so, UWI's Townsend maintains that the traffic design of the roads surrounding the savannah should be considered a point of pride to Port-of-Spain-ers, regardless of whether it counts as the largest traffic circle or not. Back in the 1970s, the roads leading around the savannah ran in both directions, with only one lane travelling each way. 

It was, Townsend recalled, a confusing mess. Four-way intersections at each corner of the savannah prevented traffic from flowing, especially as cars waited in queues to make right-hand turns and blocked other vehicles from continuing straight or turning left.

Officials decided that they would attempt to make the roads surrounding the savannah into one-way streets that would funnel traffic in a continuous direction—a last-ditch effort to alleviate the chokehold of rush hour traffic that struck downtown Port-of-Spain twice each day. At first, drivers were perplexed. “People would pass and say, ‘Y’all did nonsense!’ We did get skeptics,” Townsend recalled. 

“But by and large, the motorists had been suffering for so long that they were willing to give it a try.” Back when the direction of traffic was first altered, engineers thought that the one-way fix would likely last for only five years before traffic got as bad as it had been before the change was enforced. But over the years, he says, he has been pleasantly surprised by how well the configuration continues to guide traffic relatively efficiently.

“Thirty-five years later, it pretty much still runs—it’s very rare that you find Queen’s Park Savannah locking up,” Townsend said. “That, to me, is a testimony of how successful it has been.” 

Members of the Public Services Association (PSA), led by union president Watson Duke, yesterday staged a protest to highlight that not enough is being done to treat with Ebola. Workers from the health sector, Airports Authority, Immigration and Customs officers held a placard demonstration in front the Ebola Isolation Unit at Caura Hospital calling on Health Minister Fuad Khan to open the facility to the media to show its readiness.

Scaffolding was outside and workmen were still painting the buildings which houses the isolation unit. Duke said, “While they’ve given out protective suits, they haven’t been given any training.“Based on WHO (World Health Organisation) standards, persons must be trained, practice in what they’ve been trained in, and must develop competence before they’re certified as part of an Ebola response team.

“When the health care providers put on the suits, it’s under supervision. It has been discovered that most health care workers have become infected by self contamination. “Where is the decontamination area? When they leave that isolation unit how do they perform decontamination procedures on themselves?” He said the laboratories in Caura Hospital and the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMCS), Mt Hope, were not certified by WHO as level four laboratories to diagnose Ebola.

Duke said the Ebola isolation facility’s air-condition units did not create negative pressure necessary for isolating air to prevent it from escaping the building. He said during Carnival the streets are packed, and Ebola can be transmitted in sweat, spittle and urine. 

EWMSC, Caura ready—NCRHA spokesman
A spokesman from the North Central Regional Health Authority countered Duke’s claims and said there were “don and duff” decontamination areas at the hospital. The spokesman said Caura Hospital and EWMCS also had new incinerators to dispose of bio-medical waste and contaminated clothing. 

According to the official, a bio-containment unit was procured for Caura and was scheduled to be deployed shortly. The spokesman said nurses and doctors have been training with staff and with the arrival of hazmat suits next week, they will receive training in their use. 

The official said the reason for not ordering the hazmat suits sooner was that when a nurse contracted Ebola in the US, there were further reports from the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) that the masks health workers were using were not the proper ones.

The spokesman said when the CDC changed its guidelines, the ministry stopped its first order and went with the new CDC guidelines. The Ebola isolation units will have negative pressure and will also be fully air conditioned because operating in hazmat suits can raise body temperatures and a person can only be in the hazmut suit for a specific amount of time, the official said.

Former T&T ambassador to the United Nations, Rodney Charles is back home to lead the election campaign for the ruling People’s Partnership administration in the run-up to the 2015 general election. Charles is convinced the PP will retain political office because the PNM has stuck to its old policies which failed the party in the 2010 polls. Charles said the PNM does not have the intellectual capacity to convince the electorate to put the party back into power.

Q: Mr Charles, your political allegiance is with the People’s Partnership coalition Government, but why did you give up what in anybody’s estimation was the cushy job of our country’s ambassador to the United Nations to become PRO and campaign manager of the main component of the PP’s administration, the United National Congress (UNC)?
A: (A broad smile at the Rienzi Complex headquarters of the UNC) Well before we get there, let me say that my three-year experience at the UN was exhilarating, fascinating, and one which afforded me the invaluable opportunity to get a major understanding of international affairs.

My tour of duty there, I think, raised the profile of T&T as I visited more than ten countries, I acted for the president of the UN’s General Assembly, and T&T made its voice heard on such serious global topics as climate change, sustainable development, the role of small states, and the UN’s work in Haiti.

And at the UN—even today—I always relied on the guidance of Prime Minister Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar who was, and is, highly respected internationally. To answer the second part of your question, Clevon, at this stage of my life the future of T&T is more important than anything else. I believe that the Prime Minister is the best person to take this country forward at this time. So when Mrs Persad-Bissessar called on me to assist the campaign, I was most willing to comply with her request.

Ok, Mr Charles, let’s not get into general election campaign mode just yet, it is still more than a year to go, right?
True, true, but part of my current assignment with my colleagues in the PP and the UNC, to be brief, is to ensure that she continues in her thrust to help our country live up to its potential and achieve its destiny as the best country in the world in which to live and raise our families. The UN was a very good experience, but it’s time to move on.

Although it is a bit too early, how are preparations coming along for the 2015 polls?
Quite good and at this point, things are advancing much better than the timelines we established. As you know, the party has remained very active in the past four-plus years since we were elected as part of the PP administration. We’ve been in a continuous state of mobilisation, and we’ve engaged a number of party-building exercises to deliver various levels of training and personal development to members and activists.

You make it sound as if you’re ready to roll but…
Yes, the party is always ready, and we’ve grown tremendously since political leader and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar took charge.

Not wanting to let the cat out of the bag, what will the UNC campaign look like next year?
Our campaign will be very action and achievement focused, rooted in data. We know the distressing extent of damage we found when we took office in 2010, we know the kind of work and commitment it took to clean up that damage and start re-directing our country, and we know the kind of work we put into getting our country on a stronger, more people-centred footing.

I keep hearing that term from the UNC—‘people-centred’, exactly what does the party mean by that, isn’t all of politics ‘people-centred’?
All of politics in democracies in theory is people-centred. But in practice, we have had a different experience at a number of stages in our development. What this means is that we have broken the bad habit of the PNM government of talking people, but not necessarily acting in the peoples’ interest. We talk with the people, listen to the people, and act on their behalf.

Looking at the party’s public position and its stand against Dr Keith Rowley, leader of the Opposition, what are your views on the fitness and readiness of him to assume the mantle of leadership of T&T?
That’s simple, even four years into his tenure as the leader of his party, he has failed to enunciate policies, plans and programmes to take this country forward.

Well it’s one thing to say that, but why exactly do you say that?
Let me give an example. On the Isis matter, Rowley prefers like an ostrich to bury his head in the sand by not stepping up to the plate on an issue of global terrorism. The global community is united in its resolve to confront this issue. He still fails to understand that the fight against terrorism is a responsibility that cannot be ignored.

As a leader of the PNM we await his alternative policies on health, job creation, education and crime. He seems unwilling or unable to articulate alternative policies which will provide voters with a clear choice. We are ready for that policy debate, but the ideas on the PNM side are not forthcoming. Surely a rapid rail project, which will place thousands of taxi drivers on the breadline, is not the best that the PNM can offer us at this time.

I do not want you to anticipate me, but what you’re saying is…
In fact, my apologies, I just want to make this point...After four years as leader of his party, Rowley’s best showing has been to return to a failed and rejected Vision 2020, which he is now re-branding as Vision 2030. The people of our country rejected that vision in 2010 and to now see him having so little imagination that he has no choice but to revert to a failed vision tell us that he is fishing for ideas.

Mr Charles, some of the PNM’s critics are saying that the present leadership of the party does not have the intellectual capacity to regain political office…
But that is precisely why I referred to him rehashing old PNM failed policies. What we’re looking at is Rowley having achieved three dramatic failures with motions of no confidence, and a fabricated e-mail scandal that has ricocheted right back into his lap as his own creation and his own failure.

Speaking about that matter, whatever happened to that scandal?
That is an issue which will in the fullness of time tell us a lot about Rowley and his decision-making processes.

The PNM is now announcing a few fresh faces for the election, so clearly the backlash is not occupying Dr Rowley’s attention…
He will not admit to being worried about what happens next with the e-mail scandal but I assure you, he is quite worried because once those e-mails are proven beyond the shadow of a doubt to have been a complete fabrication, it will tell us whether we can take him seriously.

When you see Dr Rowley talking about a vision 2030, talking about the return of a rapid rail project for which they paid half a billion taxpayers’ dollars for a box of paper, talking about new people and new faces, it is as if he is afflicted with a condition that is causing him to repeat every major PNM mistake.

Mr Charles, do you honestly believe the PP can be returned for a second consecutive term next year?
The UNC and People’s Partnership have taken government beyond the boundaries we inherited. The previous government said things like children can’t get more than a certain amount of money for life-saving treatment because of the law, but we decided that a separate authority must be set up that guarantees children a fighting chance if they need medical care.

The question is not whether the UNC and People’s Partnership will get a second term, (confidently) the question now is by what majority, and that is where our work is focused.

What makes you feel so confident of a PP victory?
I’m happy to tell you…the PNM has always dominated and ruled people. But, we govern and listen to people. The PNM sees itself as being entitled to power, and being entitled to use power the way it wants. The UNC and People’s Partnership believe power belongs to the people, and believe true power resides in the population, not in the institutions of government.

Client situation
Dexter is a 28-year-old researcher and is one month away from the end of his three-year contract with the government. He is confident that his employment will be renewed at his current salary of $7,500 plus an end of contract after-tax gratuity of $54,000. Dexter is an only child and lives in a three-bedroom apartment downstairs of his father’s house.

He decided that he would continue living there even after he starts a family in 10 year’s time. Dexter used his previous gratuity and all of his savings to purchase a car but wants to rebuild his portfolio by setting aside his lump sum and 20 per cent of his monthly salary.  

Two of his colleagues at work are encouraging him to invest in the stock market because of his age and limited commitments. However, their opinions diverge on what strategy to employ. Mike tells him to pick a good stock and invest his entire gratuity and monthly savings in that company. Steve suggests he should not put all of his eggs in one basket but split up his lump sum across three stocks plus invest in them monthly.    

Dexter knows that in the next 10 years he could have a sizeable sum from investing in the stock market but he is cautious and confused as to which advice to follow and is inclined to just leave the money in the bank as he did before. 

Nick’s assessment and advice

Dexter’s risk profile 
On the surface, Dexter appears to be a conservative invester but this might be purely as a result of his relative inexperience in the stock market and investing in general. This instinct protects him from losing his hard earned cash from a poor decision. On the other hand, he recognises the merit of taking a little more risk at least over the long haul.  

Dexter is both young and has a specific 10-year investing time horizon. This means he has a lot of life ahead of him to recover from any investment losses and during his investing time frame he could see a smoothing out of the short-term variability of the stock market. Additionally, over the next 10 years as inflation pushes up the costs of living and the values of everything, revenues and profits of companies should keep pace. 

Liquidity and asset allocation
Another factor that contributes to Dexter’s apparent risk aversion is the fact that he used all of his cash resources to purchase a car; diverting his entire upcoming gratuity and monthly savings solely to the stock market takes away his financial cushion in case something unexpected happens.

Ideally, he should have at least three to six months salary set-aside in a relatively safe and accessible instrument. These include a regular bank account, a money market account or a credit union deposit account.  Any money outside of this he could consider investing. 

Diversification, direct and indirect investing
Whilst Mike’s strategy of picking a good stock and putting all of Dexter’s money behind it may produce significant growth if the company does well; if the company does poorly it could erode much of his values and even wipe out his investment if that company should fail.

Steve’s strategy to split Dexter’s investment would spread the risk so that if one company does poorly he will not lose the entire portfolio. Of course this means that the underperforming companies could dilute the returns of the good performers.

Directly investing in the stock market every month for the next 10 years could be a hassle as each time Dexter has to place a purchase order with his stockbroker and wait to see what happens. One way to get around this challenge is to consider investing in a stock based mutual fund whereby he simply has to set up a standing order from his bank account to his mutual fund account. The mutual fund company does all of the work and the risk is spread over many more companies.  

The downside with mutual funds is where the individual stock investor benefits directly from dividends and share price increases; the returns from a stock mutual fund are diluted, as the mutual fund company has to cover its operating expenses. Some of these expenses are taken out from the funds under management and/or at the point of investing (bid /offer spreads). These costs must be compared with what the stockbroker charges when placing each purchase order. 

Dollar cost averaging versus lump sum investing
Share prices and stock mutual fund unit prices fluctuate, sometimes daily. It is quite possible that Dexter could invest a lump sum of money in a share today and the price could fall tomorrow. He then has to wait it out to see if the price recovers.  If he bought when the price was at an all-time high and then it falls and never recovers, he has to decide if to hold or cut his losses and move on. Conversely, if he buys at an all-time low then he can rest easy because is will always be “in the money”.
 
The key is: buy low and sell high, but the challenge remains that there is no way to really know if tomorrow’s prices would be higher or lower than today’s. For this reason Dexter should systematically invest his $1,500 (20% x $7,500) every month and take advantage of these fluctuations in prices. 

When prices fall he would buy more units or shares—averaging down his overall cost per share or unit—when prices recover he has a greater number of shares to benefit from the increase.  What he can do with the remainder of his lump sum of $31,500 is invest tranches of it periodically when he sees his unit prices falling; thus giving him the extra boost by buying more for less. 

(Details were modified to protect client’s identity)

Nicholas Dean (Cer-Fa) is a financial coach and mentor who is the managing director of the Financial Coaching Centre. He can be contacted at:
nickadvice@gmail.comwww.FinancialCoachingCentre.com 

Two more families were plunged into mourning after two people died in separate road accidents near Caroni and Gasparillo yesterday morning. Sade Hernandez, 28, a mother of one, and Kyle Mendoza, 23, died yesterday, increasing the number of people killed in road accidents within the space of two days to four. Hernandez, a secretary at General Earth Movers, was being driven by a friend Nicholas Wilson in her car when the accident took place.

A police report stated that around 3 am, Wilson was heading south along the Solomon Hochoy Highway and crashed into a wreck of another vehicle on the side of the road. Police said earlier there was another accident near Gasparillo and the crashed car was still on the scene. Hernandez, who was in front seat, died on impact. Wilson was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he was treated.

At Hernandez’ Thomas Street, San Fernando, home yesterday her parents, Jacqueline Hernandez and Albert Hutson Niles, were distraught over the death of their last daughter. “I don’t know what happened. She now start to live her life,” sobbed the mother. She described her daughter as a respectful person. She said they have no idea how to explain to her six-year-old daughter Shyann that her mother was dead.  

Jacqueline said Hernandez left home around 9 pm on Saturday, but she did not know where she went. The other accident took place around 9.15 am. Police said Mendoza was driving south along the Uriah Butler Highway after dropping off a friend at the Grand Bazaar, Valsayn. On reaching close to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, police said Mendoza’s car skidded off the road and slammed into a tree. The car split in two, with one side plunging into the nearby ravine.

Other motorists stopped and tried to assist Mendoza, but he was pinned behind the wheel. When the fire fighters arrived they used hydraulic cutting tools to free Mendoza from the car, but by then he was already dead. T&T Guardian was told that Mendoza lived at Caratal Road, Gasparillo, but his father lived at Freeport. Investigations are continuing.

Other weekend fatalities
On Saturday around 4 am Richard Kevon Bailey, 28, of Union Hall, San Fernando and Kamau Daniel Forrester, 33, of Sobo Village, La Brea, were killed in a head-on collision at Mosquito Creek, La Romaine.

Police warning
On Friday, the Police Service issued an advisory pleading with motorists to exercise care on the roads and it has noticed a trend over the last three weekends of a sharp increase in road deaths with speed and lack of seatbelt use being the main factors. Data showed that as at Friday, 128 people died on the road for the year, compared with 125 for the same period last year.

The discovery of two decomposing bodies on Saturday have not dimmed the hopes of Gail Harford who believes that her mother Irma Rampersad and one of her sisters would be found alive. On Saturday, police found the bodies of Harford’s niece one-year-old Shania Amoroso and the body of woman nearby. Speaking with the media at her Emerald Drive, Arima home yesterday, Harford, the eldest of Rampersad’s seven children said her mother’s presence is still with her.  

“I still have hope. I personally have a lot of hope because me and my mother were real close and I haven't felt that connection, that pain yet so I keeping hope,” Harford said. Rampersad, 49, and her 17-year-old daughter Felicia Gonzales, a student of Malabar Secondary School and 19-year-old Jenelle Gonzales, Shania’s mother were abducted from their Brasso Seco home on October 26. 

Police believe a fugitive, aided by the family, is behind their disappearance and now double murder. Rampersad’s husband Peter Sylvester said his family would not assist a wanted man. He said if he knew of any fugitive in the area he would have gotten rid of them. Sylvester said he was certain that the body found was not that of his wife as there was a navel ring stud on the body and his wife’s navel was not pierced. Both relatives thanked the police for their diligence in searching for the family.

Harford’s godfather, Anthony Hernandez, 80, who spoke at his Paria home said Rampersad used to come to his home and chat over coffee and the idea that she and her daughters and granddaughter were abducted and possibly killed was just “nerving” to him. Hernandez, who has been living in the area for over 30 years said entire north coast community was concerned because “you never know what could happen next”.

Search to continue today
Police yesterday started their search for the remaining two relatives around 8 am near the spot where the first two bodies were found. The bodies they said were inside duffle bags at least two miles into the Brasso Seco forest, a hike down from the family’s home. The child’s skull, they said, was spilt in two and the woman had a piece of cloth in her mouth and a bullet wound to the face.

Yesterday’s search had to be cut short around 4.30 pm due to heavy rainfall. Police have four people in custody. The autopsies for the two bodies would be done today while police say they intend to continue their search for the missing two members of the family. 

Dr Wayne Kublalsingh said yesterday that he was prepared to suspend his protest action and end his hunger strike if the Government was serious about mediation in the dispute over the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin. This has been his first sign of calling off the hunger strike which began 54 days ago. 

Speaking during a telephone interview, Kublalsingh, the leader of the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM), revealed that Trade and Communications Minister Vasant Bharath had visited his home last week and he had made the proposal and was now awaiting feedback. “The only thing that can work at the moment is the process of mediation,” he said, as the HRM was prepared to “stop work for seven days while mediation continues and the hunger strike will be suspended.”

He said for mediation to work there must be someone mutually acceptable and independent to negotiate between the HRM and government representatives. Chief among the issues to be determined, he said, was for the mediation team to examine the Armstrong Report, the alternative route suggested by the HRM, and the Government’s plan for the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the highway.

“If the Government accepts the Armstrong process or the Optimum Connectivity Plan with practical modifications if necessary and any other plan that is economic and practical, the hunger strike will come to an end,” Kublalsingh said.

Offer for COP help rejected
Political leader of the Congress of the People (COP) Prakash Ramadhar yesterday announced that he was willing to set up a team to meet with the HRM leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh to discuss the current impasse and bring an end to the 54-day hunger strike. But in an immediate response Kublalsingh rejected the offer. “I think the COP is out of place to call on us to end the hunger strike as a pre-condition.  That is arrant nonsense,” he said.

During an emergency press conference at its Flagship House on Tragarete Road, Woodbrook, yesterday, Ramadhar announced the COP had convened a conflict resolution team to meet with Kublalsingh. Stressing that the invitation was not an attempt at mediation, Ramadhar said the members of the team would be announced if Kublalsingh agreed to the meeting, and would include relevant stakeholders.

He said they intended to invite Minister of Works Dr Suruj Rambachan, as well as management officials of the National Insurance Development Company (Nidco), project managers of the highway, to sit in. He said the meeting would be conditional and hinged on Kublalsingh’s agreement to end the hunger strike. Ramadhar said the invitation had been extended in response to the views of COP’s members and the public, who were clamouring for a humanitarian intervention to save Kublalsingh’s life.

In a statement on the weekend, members of the party’s Diego Martin constituency appealed to Ramadhar to intervene in the matter and save Kublalsingh whom they described as a “patriot and someone whom this country cannot afford to lose.”

Medical director at the San Fernando General Hospital Dr Anand Chatoorgoon said doctors did all they could to save Navin Singh, but the flesh-eating bacteria that attacked him affected all of his vital organs with a vengeance, and removing the dead tissue from his leg and high-powered antibiotics proved insufficient.

Chatoorgoon said even if the doctors at the Princes Town District Health facility had diagnosed Singh as suffering from necrotising fasciitis when he first sought medical attention there, five days before his death, chances are that he would not have survived. He said investigations into the death are continuing, but from a first glance, he did not think the doctors who failed to pick up the cause of Singh’s illness were negligent.

“This condition, rare as it is, is lethal. It kills, it gallops, it destroys the tissues. It poisons the tissues in the leg, which in turn ends up releasing toxins which attack all of the organs of the body. “So by the time you really make the diagnosis, by the time it more or less comes to the surface of the limb, the patient is very sick by then and in most instances, it is very difficult to reverse the condition,” Chatoorgoon said.

“We treat bacterial infections with antibiotics, but then you have to know which bacteria you are dealing with, because not all bacteria are sensitive to all antibiotics. That is a challenge, to find out which organisms you are dealing with and which high-powered antibiotics you can give.”

When Singh was referred to the hospital, he said, he was far gone, but doctors did everything possible to ensure his survival, taking him into the operating theatre to remove the dead tissue from his leg, which was poisoning his bloodstream and affecting his brain, heart, liver and kidneys. But he said what the doctors encountered was a rotten leg and try as they might, they could not have reversed the condition.

Chatoorgoon expressed sympathy for Singh’s family, saying how helpless the doctors felt when they could not save him. But, he concluded, “There was nothing more we could have done.” He said hard as it is for the family to accept, he wanted to tell them that maybe this was Singh’s destiny. “It is hard and sad for the family to hear, but he came for 30 years on this earth. When God wills, man could do nothing to stop it.”

Minister responds
Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said he has already spoken to the chairman of the South West Regional Health Authority, Dr Lackram Bodoe, under whose jurisdiction both the Princes Town and San Fernando hospital fall. Khan said Bodoe had told him an investigation would be done. Khan said he was aware of the rare disease and that it acted quickly.

ABOUT THE CASE
Singh, of Gajadhar Lands, Princes Town, died on October 30, two days after his 30th birthday. He died from septic shock and necrotising fasciitis of the right leg. Necrotising fasciitis is a serious bacterial infection that spreads rapidly and destroys the body’s soft tissue. Known as a flesh-eating infection, this rare disease can be caused by different types of bacteria.

Hard to diagnose
Responding to the concerns raised by Singh’s parents Bhagwantee and Andy Weekes about the death of their firstborn son, who was initially diagnosed with a pinched nerve, Chatoorgoon said necrotising fasciitis was very difficult to diagnose. There is no obvious cause for the condition, which involves multiple organisms getting very deep into the muscles, leaving no visible signs for a medical practitioner to detect.

“It presents with pain, and if a young, healthy man comes with pain in his leg and there is nothing obvious to see, you would think of the possibility of a pinched nerve in the back. No doctor would think of this condition because it is so rare, and especially at this time, when we have ChikV virus, which had a lot of joint pains—so bad that sometimes patients cannot walk.” He said that is why Singh would have been given an injection for the pain and sent back home. 

Singh, 30, might have been experiencing a variety of mild symptoms before the severe pain in his leg caused him to see a doctor, he said, and by the time the disease manifested itself for doctors to actually see signs, it would have been too late for him.

Environment Management Authority (EMA) chairman Dr Allan Bachan says it will open a post very soon in Valencia to address illegal quarrying. Bachan, addressing a joint select committee in Parliament on Friday, however, admitted he was still waiting for police to be assigned to assist the authority there. 

He told the JSC, which was chaired by Senator Elton Prescott, that the EMA had received approval for the re-assignment of officers to the post, but was still waiting for acting Commissioner Stephen Williams to assign them. The issue of quarrying was also raised at the EMA’s last appearance before the JSC in July. At that session Bachan said the EMA needed 100 more police officers, since most of the work it did was very sensitive and in some instances had led to death threats. 

At Friday’s hearing, Bachan, together with EMA director Phillip Vilain, technical director Hayden Romano and environmental manager David Persad, re-appeared before the JSC to address questions  about its policies and procedures.

He stressed that the issue of illegal quarrying and the protection of natural resources is a major concern for the authority. He said the EMA had been collaborating with other state agencies, including the Energy and Energy Affairs Ministry, to address quarrying and the environmental degradation of the Northern Range. Bachan did not say how many police officers the EMA had asked for.

Contacted by the T&T Guardian, Williams said the EMA had asked for support. “We have given the undertaking that we will provide Special Reserve Police (SRP) to assist with the policing aspect and before the end of the year they will receive some of the officers that they have requested,” Williams said.

Bachan: We have many challenges

The EMA chairman admitted the authority was challenged in many ways to effectively carry out its duties. He said apart from limited manpower, the very legislation it has to operate creates a challenge. In fact, Bachan said, the current legislation is “soft.” “When the EMA Act came into being it was intended to be soft legislation. So it is cheaper to pollute and break the law than to follow good practice. It is one of the issues we have recognised,” Bachan said.

He said the air pollution rules and water pollution rules were being revised to make them more relevant and strong. The EMA, he said, has no laboratory and this, he said, makes it difficult for the authority to address complaints about pollution. Companies seeking licences to pollute have to do their own tests for three years and provide the information to the EMA to be granted a licence to pollute.

“It is unacceptable to say someone is providing data on themselves. It should be the responsibility for us to assess the tests. The legislation has not worked for us to ensure the proper protection of the environment,” Bachan said. Small budgetary allocations, he said, also prevented the EMA from being effective. He said it often had to rent equipment to do tests because the money it was allocated was not enough to buy equipment.

Tourism Minister Gerald Hadeed raised the issue of the five dead sea turtles that were entangled in gill nets this week and asked why the EMA had not stopped the use of such nets, which have been banned around the world. But Dr Amery Browne said in all fairness to the EMA, banning gill nets in T&T must be a government policy decision and cannot be a decision taken by a regulatory authority.

Bachan announced that the EMA intended to establish an office in Tobago to deal with environmental complaints there. He also said it would soon launch an environmental hotline and an environmental channel.

A novel lawsuit challenging the legality of re-appointing a high court judge who resigned to deliver outstanding judgments has been struck out. In his judgment in a constitutional interpretation case earlier last week, High Court Judge Ricky Rahim ruled that although the Constitution does not contain any explicit provision providing for the procedure, it should be interpreted widely to facilitate it as the practice aids in the proper administration of justice. 

“The court has therefore adopted an interpretation of the relevant sections in keeping with a view to generous construction which gives full recognition to the effect of fundamental rights and freedoms set out in the Constitution. “In this regard, it is the finding of the court that a litigant is entitled to the delivery of judgment by the judge who would have presided at trial,” the judgment stated.

Rahim proffered the opinion as he rejected the lawsuit brought by Tunapuna housewife Shirley Sookar, who challenged the Judiciary’s decision to reappoint former High Court Judge David Myers to deliver judgment in her family’s decade-old property dispute. 

The judgment is of significant importance as the practice has been employed at least twice since then. Earlier this year, Integrity Commission deputy chairman Sebastian Ventour briefly resigned from his post to deliver his decision in three outstanding cases. 

Rahim upheld submissions from the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC), which stated that Sookar’s claim that the drafters of the Constitution precluded the practice was improbable because it had been effectively practiced several times in the past. He disagreed with Sookar’s claim that Myers’ eventual judgment was null and void because he was not bound by a judicial oath when he deliberated on the case and ruled against her. 

Describing her contention as speculative and misconceived, Rahim said Myers was bound by the oath at all material times including when he heard evidence in a trial in 2000 and again when he was reinstated in 2011. “There is no evidence as to when Justice Myers may have deliberated on this case. Certainly it is equally possible that he may have deliberated prior to his resignation,” Rahim said. 

He also ruled out her claim that her constitutional rights were infringed by Myers’ reappointment as he stated that she would have only been affected if the process was not practiced, forcing her to redo her case before a different judge. “In those circumstances Sookar would no doubt have been entitled to mount a very strong argument that the relevant provisions would have deprived her of judgment and therefore the right of protection of the law,” Rahim said. 

While he ruled in favour of Myers reappointment, Rahim described Myers’ decision to resign to practice law in Barbados with 31 of his judgments still outstanding as “highly unsatisfactory and unacceptable.” “It also does not augur well for the administration of justice in that such affairs erodes public confidence in the system of justice to which the nation subscribes and in the judiciary as an independent institution,” Rahim said.

However, Rahim was careful to note that Sookar’s lawsuit, filed before Myers’ brief return, did not challenge the time delay for the decision in her case but only Myers reappointment. Sookar, who has indicated her intention to appeal Rahim’s decision, was ordered to pay the State’s legal costs for defending the claim.

Legal teams
Sookar was represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, and Larry Lalla, while British Queen’s Counsel Timothy Straker and local attorneys Kelvin Ramkissoon and Zelica Haynes-Soo Hon represented the office of the Attorney General. The JLSC was represented by Douglas Mendes, SC, and Imran Ali.

About the case
Shirley Sookar’s lengthy legal dispute began in 1999, when her mother-in-law Dolly Sookar and sister-in-law Routi Ramroop sued her husband Meetoolal after he attempted to evict them from a apartment building he owned at Fairley Street, Tunapuna. 
The trial began before Justice David Myers in 2000 and was completed in 2002. 

While the parties were given several dates for the delivery of the judgment, it was not handed down until Myers returned in July 2011 after resigning three years earlier. At the date of the judgment both Dolly and Meetoolal had already passed away. 
Ramroop eventually won the case, with Myers ruling that she was a licensee of the property and was entitled to live there rent free.

After futile searches for two missing men, the police are now calling on the public to come forward if they have information about the disappearance of Michael Knights and Cedros fisherman Ian Dookie. Police said the two cases remain open, but they have no new leads. Knights, the nephew of calypsonian Luta (Morell Peters), was last seen at his workplace at the Marabella Secondary School, where he was a stores attendant with MTS. 

He left his Third Street, San Fabien Road, Springland, Gasparillo, home for work with his father Eric Knights, around 6.30 am on August 5 and was dropped off under the flyover in Gasparillo. Co-workers said Knights was at work for the entire day and was last seen heading towards Gasparillo. He was wearing black pants, a yellow long-sleeved shirt and brown shoes and had a black knapsack.

Dookie was last seen on October 31, when he left his home at 3 am and got into a taxi which took him to Icacos to begin work. He has not been seen since and calls to his cell phone have gone unanswered. Police have interviewed several people, including a man who may have been the last person to see him alive. Relatives of Knights, 25, and Dookie, 38, used the police town meetings held at Gasparillo and Cedros to appeal for help to find their loved ones. 

At the Cedros meeting Deputy Commissioner of Police Glen Hackett told the Dookie family he had referred the matter to the Anti Kidnapping Squad (AKS) and had also appointed Insp Anderson Parryman to follow up. Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams told Knights’ father Eric he felt his pain and assured the police would do their best to find him. Senior Supt Cecil Santana also assured the investigation into Knights’ disappearance was continuing.

These assurances, however, brought little comfort for the families, who continue to lose sleep over the missing men. Ian Dookie’s father Michael confirmed that members of the AKS have been visiting regularly, but there is no new information. Dookie said this loss has taken a toll on the entire family, especially his wife, Sheila, who cries and prays constantly for her son’s return.  

“She is so worried, like she’s tripping off, you can’t understand what she’s saying. She cries a lot still, but she also praying right through.” Dookie was last seen wearing black three-quarter pants and a black chequered jersey. Anyone with information on Knights can contact Marabella police station at 652-6777 or relatives at 684-2246. People can call Cedros police station at 690-1196 with information on Dookie.

As we sit waiting, the German woman and her two children tell me about the puppy they rescued from Mt Irvine Bay in 2013 and took back to Germany. Many tourists, mainly Europeans, fall in love with one or more “Tobago terriers” or cats and spend thousands of dollars to fly them back to their country to live lives of love and luxury.

From her iPhone the woman shows me photos and videos of the pup, now a dog, lounging in a designer dog bed, sleeping with the children, curled up on a sofa, playing outdoors with their other dog (adopted from the streets of Croatia), going for walks in a park, running in the snow. “What’s her name?” I ask. “Puppy,” the woman responds, smiling fondly.

We are at the Canaan/Bon Accord Community Centre for the T&T Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (TTSPCA) annual free SPOTT clinic (Spaying Prevents Overpopulation in T&T). Almost a dozen vets and vet students from Trinidad are in Tobago to operate on the pets being brought in by owners. I am there with my dog. Others are there with dogs and cats in various stages of drowsiness. Some pets are already spreadeagled on the table, knocked out cold, oblivious to the scalpel.

In addition to health benefits for animals, the importance of spaying/neutering becomes evident when statistics like these are considered: 
In six years, one un-spayed female dog and her un-spayed offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs. One un-spayed female cat and one un-neutered male cat and their offspring can result in 420,000 kittens in seven years. A female cat can have 29 litters in ten years. A male cat can sire as many as 2,500 kittens in a single year, and a male dog can sire almost as many puppies. (Source: the Watauga Humane Society, USA.)

A woman and dog approach the front desk. The representative in charge of registration asks the dog’s name. “Puppy,” the woman responds. As the day unfolds, four other dogs named “Puppy” are brought in. Three of them belong to the same owner. One man’s canine has a more mature name—“Dog.” “I never really named him,” he tells me when I ask. Two people register their cats simply as “Kitty”. 

Pets with less species-specific names include Tiny and Tom (cats), Molly, Patches, Prince, Bear and Fatty (dogs). “How you could name the dog Fatty?” one woman calls out to the owner upon overhearing the name. “She was fat as a puppy. She only now getting slim!” the owner calls back.

“Millie,” the name given that day to the homeless dog from Milford Court, is in a recovery cage, slowly emerging from drugged stupor. She has been picked up by an animal lover who brought her to be spayed—a responsible thing to do for even (or especially) a “stray” animal.

After years of giving birth to countless offspring, Millie can finally retire from her unwitting job as a puppy factory. She will be housed at the TTSPCA for recovery and, in a few days, returned “home” to Milford Court, where she will be fed by members of the public who know her.

Esther Waldron, a die-hard animal lover, is there with three dogs. One of her other dogs at home (the mother of Prince, featured in the photo) is due to give birth any day to Prince’s future siblings. Esther is hoping to find loving homes for all of the pups and, once they are born, will advertise them via the TTSPCA. “A dog’s love is unconditional, just like the love of God,” she says.

My name is Burton Sankeralli and I am a founder-member of the Philosophical Society of T&T.
 
I spent most of my life in highly boring Valsayn and no one “comes from” there, really. So I’d have to say I come from the whole of Trinidad. There is a certain privilege involved in living in Valsayn. But there’s also a certain screwing up of one’s consciousness.
 
Every now and then I get [told] I look white but, in other parts of the world, not so much. In Trinidad, I stand out. Unless I walk through West Mall.
 
Indo-Trinidadians find my name funny, because “Sankar” is Hindu and “Ali” is Muslim. And, of course, I grew up Catholic. The name would have been like Shakur Ali, originally, when that branch of my ancestors came from India. But the clerk at the docks wrote it down wrong when they came off the boat: so it’s a Trinidadian name!
 
Within the context of Trinidad society, I’ve been getting whiter as the years go by: I did not grow up being regularly called white. I also get called “Spanish” or “Chinee.”Now and again, maybe, an “Indian” might pass. But Trinidad is like that, as any schoolteacher would know. You look at a class roll, call an Indian name, and a Chinese boy sticks up his hand.
 
I went to St Mary’s College. Until form five. I was an academic failure. I guess that qualified me to become a philosopher.
 
I didn’t really like school much in the first place; and then I found religion. I was Catholic. I’m in the Orisha tradition now. I belong to an Orisha shrine. Needless to say, I stand out there, too. Can’t act anonymously. I don’t think I really fit into the conventional academic or even social milieu.
 
When I left the regular school system, I decided to pursue a degree in theology. I did a four-year UWI programme at Mt St Benedict. The Catholic tradition in theology is a very intellectual one and draws a lot on ancient philosophy.
 
The year David Rudder had his Calypso Music album really changed me. It was the first time I had a direct encounter with Orisha. Because David Rudder had those intimations and connections in his singing and performance.
 
I’m a lead vocalist in two bands now, one a traditional parang movement. I sing for entertainment but, right now, it’s also my day job, at least at Christmastime. I’m hoping to at least have something like a regular income three months in the year: I’m shooting for that. I’m on a very, very irregular income. My last regular-ish income was, I did a few months’ work with the First Nations.
 
Penury helps philosophy: it gives you time to think. Since the whole patronage system broke down a couple centuries ago, it’s been rough for philosophers. In other cultures, patronage and– let’s be frank –begging is considered holy but it has this awful cultural stigma in our time.
 
The Caribbean has a great intellectual tradition. But there has been a marginalisation and breakdown of this tradition, to where we have to seek refuge in rumshops. Because we don’t really have universities in this country –with the possible exception of the Adventists…Ironic, huh?
 
The Philosophical Society was formed in late 2005, early 2006 by myself, Darryl Naranjit and John Borelly. It grew out of a philosophy class under the umbrella of the then UWI School of Continuing Studies.
Studio 66, run by Makemba Kunle, has taken the burden of administering the group. Right now, we just have open meetings and people are free to come. There has been some attempt to institutionalise a membership. But I don’t know whether philosophers and artists make the best organisers.
 
The best thing about setting up society is that, when the history of Trinidad is written, they’ll say, “Well, at least there was a Philosophical Society.” No matter what other else was happening here.
 
Trinidad is really not good at process and institutions and Trinidad may sink or swim on that issue. All the institutions that work relate, somehow, to banditry: gangs; political parties; conglomerates etc.
 
Someone I parang with was strumming his cuatro, and began to sing Abba’s Fernando–the history of Mexico, people fighting for freedom, and I was ready to cry; because I realised we are not a great people: but we can be. And that’s a Trini.
 
T&T, to me, is like a marriage gone disastrously wrong. But you know you can never walk away from it. At least not permanently.
 
Read a longer version of this feature at www.BCRaw.com

Veneeta Ramsingh
Student, Hugh Wooding Law School

The Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Chap. 48:50 identifies the procedure for changing the ownership of a vehicle or transferring it to another person. Section 19 of the act sets out the instances where a person may do so other than by death. 

The procedure is generally as follows:
The vehicle must not be used for more than seven days after the change of ownership unless the new owner has been registered as such.

Within seven days after the change of ownership, the registered owner and the new owner must submit a written application signed by both of them to the licensing authority. This application gives details of the name and address of the new owner and the date of change of possession. The vehicle’s certificate of registration and the prescribed fee must accompany this application.

An officer of the licensing authority will endorse the certificate of registration and proceed to substitute on the register the name of the new owner for that of the registered owner. The officer will then date and initial the change and from that date the new owner will be deemed the registered owner of the vehicle described on the register and on the certificate of registration.

The registered owner and the new owner must both present themselves to the licensing authority. The vehicle that is being transferred must also be present at the time of the transfer to allow for proper inspection.

Can a company transfer ownership of a vehicle?
Yes. A director of the company is required to write a letter of authorisation permitting a representative of the company to act on behalf of it. This letter is to be given to the licensing authority before the procedure to transfer ownership can begin.

Can an ill or disabled person transfer ownership of a vehicle?
Yes. Where due to illness or disability a person is unable to be present for the transfer of the vehicle, an officer of the licensing division appointed by the licensing authority must visit the ill or disabled person and the vehicle, wherever they are located, to allow for the transfer. A fee must be paid by or on behalf of the ill or disabled person to effect the transfer.

Can a person who is out of the jurisdiction transfer ownership of a vehicle? 
Yes. Where the person is out of the country, the licensing authority may transfer the registration of the vehicle. To do so, the party who is attending at the licensing authority must produce a sworn affidavit stating that the other party is out of the country.  

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

Bad weather left residents of east Trinidad marooned as rivers overflowed their banks, landslides and fallen trees blocked roads along the Toco Main Road. Chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, Terry Rondon said yesterday there were landslides at Cumaca, Valencia, and flooding at Tompire South Bank, Cumana, Matura, Matelot, Toco and Valencia. A roof from a house at Farfan Trace, Balandra, also blew off as a result of strong winds, he said, and two huge trees fell across the roadway at Salybia Bay and Toco. “From 2 am to 7 am yesterday received about 70 phone calls of persons in distress because the rivers—including the Matura, Valencia and Vega de Oropouche—had bursts their banks, causing them to be marooned in their homes and endangering their livestock and pets,” Rondon said.

One major problem that occurred, he added, was the response time for officials at the corporation’s Disaster Management Unit (DMU). “Some of them could not get to Toco in time to render assistance to the people up there because of the distance, given the bad weather. The flood was disastrous. We need a Disaster Management Unit in Toco and I am not going to give up lobbying for this from now on. I have to fight for it because experiencing this first hand I know how the situation is.” Rondon said up to late yesterday, officials at the DMU were carrying out respective assessments. “Also, over the weekend two fishermen lost their boats because of the rough seas. Toco was really struck terrible this weekend,” he said. He also warned people to refrain from erecting dwelling houses along riverbanks.

Flood Warning
The Met Service in a 6 pm bulletin issued a Riverine Flood Alert and said the rainfall was associated to the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). People living in the Caroni River Basin were warned to be on the alert for rising river levels and possible overspill.
 

Members of the lobby group, Project 40, said yesterday they were optimistic their meeting with President Anthony Carmona today would have a positive outcome. Carmona is expected to meet three of its members at President’s House, St Ann’s, at 11.30 am. Spokesman for the group Gerry Williams said he and his colleagues—Khalil Hassanali and Alyssa Rostant — who will attend the meeting, were prepared and “will be going along the line of mediation. That is what we hope to achieve out of it.”  

The group, which was formed by mainly young people, supports the Highway Re-route Movement and its leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, calling for work on the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin to stop. Chike Pilgrim, another member of the movement, said Carmona’s willingness to meet with them was a good sign. “We feel it is a positive move. It is also good that our leaders are willing to hear us out. We hope the other leaders will take an example from him (Carmona),” Pilgrim added.

Phil Carr and Robin Ramdeen completed Day 29 of the relay fast at Kublalsingh’s camp outside the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, yesterday. Carr, who spent several years in London, and Ramdeen, a graphic artist, called for an end to corruption at all levels in government. Kublalsingh yesterday repeated his terms, saying once the Government agrees to an independent mediator, halts work on the project for a week, considers the alternative route submitted by the HRM and the recommendations of the Armstrong report, he will suspend his hunger strike, now in its 55th day.
On the court matter, he said, lawyers of the HRM have got conditional leave to appeal to the Privy Council for it to be heard as soon as possible. “The HRM is seeking a conservatory order to halt all works between Debe and Mon Desir pending the outcome of the substantive matter being heard before the High Court. “In the High Court, the constitutionality of the State's actions and decision to build the Debe to Mon Desir are being tested,” Kublalsingh said. 

He said the next hearing was January 2015 and the matter was still at the stage of evidential objections so it was unlikely it would be concluded soon. “In the present circumstances, by the time the courts make a decision, the Debe to Mon Desir highway would have already been built. “That is why the HRM cannot rely solely on the courts. The matter has been before the courts since August 2012,” he explained.

The Constitution (Amendment) Bill will now find its way back to the Lower House after the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) failed in its appeal over the constitutional motion it filed to challenge the passing of the bill in August. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said yesterday while the debate on the bill in the House of Representatives did not depend on court proceedings, the Government had decided to “hold its hand.” 

In a press conference yesterday Ramlogan announced that judges in the Court of Appeal had rejected the ILP’s appeal and ordered the party to pay the legal fees incurred by the State. In a press release yesterday, the ILP said it would appeal the decision to the Privy Council. The party must file the appeal within 21 days. Asked about the possibility of a further appeal yesterday, Ramlogan said he felt confident no court would sanction what he described as an impermissible and illegitimate transgression on the constitutional jurisdiction of the Parliament.

He said nothing had stopped the bill from going forward but out of respect for the claim filed in the High Court, the Government had held its hand. “We have allowed this matter to germinate in the public,” Ramlogan said, adding he felt the public had accepted and understood the bill. Ramlogan said it would now come up for debate in Parliament as the Government had fully supported the amendments made in the Senate. “It’s a formality that it would come up in the Lower House in due course so that it could be debated and passed.”

Ramlogan called the ILP’s action premature and prejudicial and criticised the party for challenging the bill before it had even been passed. Ramlogan, who appeared for the State with attorney Zelica Haynes Soo-Hoon, said while for an Attorney General to represent the State in a legal challenge was unusual, it was not unprecedented.  He felt it was important to appear in his own right as it involved a very serious interplay between the legislative arm of the State and the Judiciary. He added: “I felt it was a matter that touched and concerned the very architecture and structure of our Constitution, that could be violated and structured in a way that would be difficult to repair if this case were to proceed in a manner where one was to proceed with the invitation to the Judiciary, via this motion, for it to comment and make declarations on a matter that is still before the Parliament.”

A 68-year-old Point Fortin grandfather who indecently assaulted his 11-year-old granddaughter twice eight years ago was jailed yesterday for 354 days. Despite the age of the accused and his previous good character, Justice Devan Rampersad said he must be sent to jail because he breached his granddaughter’s trust and took advantage of her. “The court must also balance the interest of the public, the seriousness of the offence and the prevalence. “In this instant case a serious aggravating factor is that you took advantage of someone in your trust, your granddaughter, and that is very serious,” the judge added.

In addition, the judge said he also breached the trust of his daughter, the child’s mother, because she “trusted  you not to take advantage of the child.” The prisoner, the father of seven adult children, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault in the San Fernando First Criminal Court on October 31. The assaults took place in August 2006 when the mother left the girl and her two brothers with him and went to work. State attorney Angelica Teelucksingh said the accused touched the girl’s private area in both incidents.  

The prisoner, she said, warned the child if she told anyone what happened she would be sent to the Youth Training Centre and would never see her mother and brothers again. The mother, however, became suspicious when the man confronted her on August 22, 2006 and told her not to allow anyone but him to stay with the children. The mother subsequently spoke with her daughter who told her what had happened. They made a report to the Point Fortin police and the man was arrested but claimed he knew nothing about the allegation.

In asking for a non-custodial sentence, his attorney, Cedric Neptune, said the man would turn 69 on December 17 had never had any other matters in court and was not a threat to society. Neptune added that his client was concerned about his granddaughter having to give evidence in court and spared her that trauma. The judge said the court had in mind a sentence of 18 months but deducted one third for his guilty plea and the 11 days he spent in custody.

A Carapichaima man was jailed yesterday for two years and permanently banned from driving after his third offence for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Ramraj Ramoutar, 52, pleaded guilty last Wednesday when he appeared in the Chaguanas Magistrates Court and was remanded into custody for tracing and sentence. 

Prosecutor Sgt Ken Ali told the court that Ramoutar had two previous DUI offences and another conviction for dangerous driving for which he received fines. After the second DUI offence, he was disqualified from driving for a period. But around 7.30 pm last Tuesday he was in a car accident on Waterloo Road, Carapichaima.

While speaking to Ramoutar, PC David detected a strong alcohol odour on his breath and his eyes were red. When the breathalyser tests were done, they recorded readings of 103 and 100 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. After hearing of Ramoutar’s previous convictions, Magistrate Brambhanan Dubay jailed him and disqualified him from driving permanently.

Unless there is a new motor vehicle authority the road carnage will continue, warned Arrive Alive president Sharon Inglefield. She was commenting on the three road accidents over the weekend in which three men and a woman died. In a phone interview, Inglefield said: “To improve the competency of drivers we need a whole new motor vehicle authority because there is not enough transparency and integrity in our licensing system.”

She said a number of the accident victims were young drivers, below 35. Now that the law has finally been passed, she said police should be on the roads with radar guns to monitor speeding.
“Constant and consistant police patrols on the nation’s roads will be preventative course of action for serious collisions and therefore reduce fatalities,” Inglefield added.

In addition to enforcing the law, she said a new motor vehicle authority must be established “because without adequate enforcement the carnage will continue and it is not only the police but also the laws that are required.” Expressing condolences to the families of the four crash victims, she renewed her appeal to drivers to take care. “Arrive Alive once again is cautioning all drivers to remember that speed kills and we wish to remind you that you must obtain enough rest because the lack of sleep, combined with speed, is a fatal cocktail,” she added.

How the accidents took place
The first accident happened around 4 am on Saturday when Richard Kevon Bailey, 28, of Union Hall, San Fernando, and Kamau Daniel Forrester, 33, of Sobo Village, La Brea, died when their cars collided on Mosquito Creek, La Romaine. The second accident took place around 3 am on Sunday. Sade Hernandez, 28, of San Fernando, was in the front passenger seat of her car, being driven by her friend Nicholas Wilson, when it slammed into a parked car on the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Gasparillo. Wilson, 27, of Marabella, received minor injuries. And around 9.15 am Kyle Mendoza, 19, of Gasparillo, was driving south along the Uriah Butler Highway when he crashed into a tree near the Caroni Bird Sanctuary and his car split in two. He died on the scene.