The term of the National Infrastructure Development Company’s (Nidco) board of directors has expired, leaving the protracted multi-million dollar Curepe Interchange Project stalled until next year. 

The T&T Guardian also understands that the Nidco board held its final directors meeting on Thursday and it was only then that the outgoing board was apprised of the continuing stalemate between the negotiation committee and Lutchmeesingh Transport Contractors (LTC), the second ranked contractor for the overdue project. In a brief interview yesterday, Nidco president Dr Carson Charles confirmed the board term had ended without a decision on the interchange project.

The outgoing board was chaired by Krishendath Ramoutar while Prof. Winston Suite was deputy chair. Other former board directors included Mandavi Tiwary, Reneelise Khan, Hilda Goodial, Vanda Thomas-Lync, Ramzan Hosein, Rabindra Outar, David de Souza, Peter Ramadhar, Amrish Maharaj and Hollis Eversley.

Though there are several projects under Nidco’s remit, it is the Curepe Interchange Project that garnered the most attention after junior minister in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Stacy Roopnarine, wrote to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on September 2 expressing concern that her boss, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, was involved in and influencing board level decisions with regards to contractor selection for the project.

Though Roopnarine later cleared the air, saying that the process of selection was only brought to her attention after her letter was made public, Rambachan has refused to comment on the issue to the media. 

In a previous interview, Rambachan did not comment on whether he met with the board on September 2, 2014, but the T&T Guardian received a copy of board minutes labelled “6.4 Director’s meeting with Minister Surujrattan Rambachan.” That document stated that the chairman, Ramoutar, informed the board that Rambachan “invited” them to a meeting on September 2 “to discuss “several urgent project management and procurement issues.” 

Charles also confirmed to the T&T Guardian that there were not going to be any further discussions with Vinci Construction on the Curepe Interchange project. He also confirmed that Vinci will not be considered for this project. “We cannot be in negotiations with one company and keep the door open with another. There is no way we can continue talks with Vinci,” Charles said.

History of interchange
In November 2012, with the Grand Bazaar project nearing completion, Nidco president Dr Carson Charles said he expected to proceed with the Curepe Interchange as soon as the Grand Bazaar Interchange was handed over. By October 2013, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar opened the Grand Bazaar Interchange and said then that the Curepe Interchange project was expected to begin by January 2014. 

Police are calling on contractors and representatives of construction companies whose heavy equipment was damaged in a recent spate of arson attacks to come foward to help identify five suspects, who are in police custody. The suspects, who are all from Kelly Village, Caroni, were arrested on Monday following the latest attack on a batching patch at Mausica Road, D’Abadie, on December 1. 

Police said one of the suspects, aged 30, was identified by witnesses to the attack, during an identification parade at the Arima Police Station on Thursday night. While the other suspects were not identified in the incident at a site operated by Kallco Ltd, police sources said they provided information on the man who allegedly hired them to commit similar acts at construction sites in east and central Trinidad.

In a brief telephone interview yesterday, head of the Northern Division, Snr Supt David Abraham, said his detectives had already begun building their case against the main suspect but needed additional information to support the case before they approached the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice. “All information will be treated with the strictest confidence,” Abraham said.

Latest incident
Around midnight on December 1, two men entered Kallco’s compound, threatened security guards, shot at buildings and equipment before setting several pieces of multi-million dollar construction equipment ablaze. The damage was minimised by the swift response of police and fire officers, police said.

Over the past few months, similar attacks have also been reported at several major construction sites including at the new Caroni Highway, the Valencia Overpass and at a jobsite of the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension at Guapo. Anyone with information which may assist police in their investigation is asked to contact Sgt Rene Katwaroo and detectives of the Arima CID at 667–3563.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says peace has returned to several crime hotspots across the country because of quality houses provided by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Moonilal was speaking at the presentation of keys ceremony for 253 successful applicants for houses at Greenvale Park, La Horquetta, yesterday. The ceremony marked the culmination of the presentation of keys to 1,000 new homeowners across the country for Christmas.

He said many of the HDC projects the PP Government inherited from the former PNM administration were being constructed in crime hotspots. Moonilal said now there was “peace in La Horquetta. We have peace indeed in Laventille, in Morvant, in Beetham, areas that were synonymous with crime. We have had months and months of peaceful existence in these communities driven by the HDC and our policy to build peace for economic prosperity.”

He said the Government had constructed more than 6,000 units, with an additional 7,000 expected to be constructed in the next 12 to 24 months. The minister said the HDC had worked with the police and the Defence Force to implement strategies to make the communities safe. He appealed to the new homeowners to keep an eye out for anyone or group which might be a security threat to the community.

Moonilal said ministers did not need any material gifts from citizens but he urged constituents to remember their MP Jairam Seemungal in prayer. 

The search for missing US Army veteran Kevin Petway ended after police found out he was back home in New York. A report said that Ste Madeleine investigator Sgt Prescott spoke to 59-year-old Petway by phone yesterday morning. Petway, of Queens, New York, told police that after he left his wife Radica Petway’s home at Dooglin Street, Mt Stewart Village, Princes Town, he headed straight to Piarco Airport and left on a flight around 9 am Thursday.

He told the investigator he was “safe and sound” and had not been kidnapped. Radica confirmed that her husband had returned home, but did not say why he left the country. Instead she expressed thanks to those who assisted in searching for him.

“He was found and I am happy to know that he is back safe and sound. I would like to thank each and everyone who helped in the search and everything they have done for us, especially the T&T Police Service, the radio and television stations and the newspapers.” Petway, a US citizen who fought in the Vietnam war, and his wife, Radica, who has dual citizenship, were vacationing at her house. 

Between 9 pm and 9.30 pm on Wednesday, he left the house, saying he was taking a walk to Jai’s Supermarket to buy a few items. After an hour passed and he had not returned, Petway became worried and contacted police. They later learned that the supermarket had closed at 8.30 pm. 

A 50-year-old farmer was killed while crossing the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Aranguez on Thursday night. Around 6.15 pm, Krishna Sookraj, of Cyrus Street, Aranguez, was riding his bicycle south to north along the westbound lanes near the Aranguez overpass when a black SUV collided with him. Police said Sookraj, who had just left his garden and was returning home, was pitched over 100 feet before he landed in the middle of the road. He was pronounced dead on the scene. 

Police first-responders found the driver of the SUV, Simon Singh, who stopped to help Sookraj, sitting at the side of the road in an emotional state. Singh, of Princes Town, was taken to the Barataria Police Station, where he was questioned for several hours by investigators. He was only allowed to leave after he passed a breathalyser test and provided a statement to police. 

Speaking to reporters following an autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday morning, Sookraj’s relatives said they were still shocked by his death. They said he would normally cross the highway without any problems. “He was always busy, and always working hard. When he get hit, he was trying to head home. He never used to make joke with that. He would work hard all day, but when it was home time, it was home time.

“Right now, we taking it very hard. We saw the man who hit him sitting on the culvert there before the police take him away. It was hard seeing him there, but we will try to deal with this as best as we can,” a relative said. Investigations are continuing. 

Police officers assigned to the Immigration Division’s have joined the hunt for “fugitive” Africans Musah Ibrahim and Time Kings, and are expected to make a break in the case within the next 24 hours. Intelligence sources told the T&T Guardian yesterday the investigating team, which comprised police, immigration and National Operations Centre (NOC) personnel, had received vital information.

“Intelligence is developing on the search. We think within the next 24 hours we will have a break in the investigation,” one investigator said. NOC executive director Commander Garvin Heerah said yesterday the chief immigration officer had advised that anyone harbouring or protecting the men could be found liable under the law of aiding and abetting them. “But this will be determined by the Immigration Division,” Heerah said. 

He added that anyone having information on Ibrahim’s and Kings’ whereabouts was asked to call E-999 or Crime Stoppers and pass on the information “which will be treated with the strictest of confidentiality.” Chief immigration Officer Gerry Downes said yesterday Ibrahim and Kings have not been found. However he declined to say anything further on the investigation. 

Ibrahim and Kings went missing last Friday, after they failed to report to the Immigration Division for deportation. On Sunday, 11 African nationals were deported to their home countries of Nigeria and Ghana after they failed in a legal bid to stop their deportation. The Government chartered a Caribbean Airlines Ltd flight to Ghana at a cost of $2.6 million to take the deportees home.

High Court Judge Vasheist Kokaram ordered that Ibrahim be released because the State could not give a definite time-frame for his deportation. One of the conditions of his release was that he report to immigration authorities several times a week. He had been locked up at the Immigration Detention Centre, in Arima, for 19 months.

Kambon: They are afraid
Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) head Khafra Kambon expressed disapproval of Immigration’s treatment of Ibrahim and Kings as criminals. Kambon, who had been in contact with the men’s wives, said the men had not turned themselves in and while he did not condone their actions, he was not surprised they were afraid to do so.

“I think it is so unfortunate that people in unfortunate circumstances to begin with would now be criminalised, because they are now seeing themselves as a criminal and as fugitives of justice. It is a very unfortunate use of language to term them,” he said. Kambon said the men were required to report to Immigration last Friday and because of medical challenges they could not make it. He said the men’s wives took in medical certificates on their behalf, but immigration officers refused to accept them.

He said the men had been told if they turned up they would be arrested and deported and not allowed back in T&T. “These guys do not want to live that way, I am sure. I am sure if they are told they can come in a normal way, they will. They do not have to hide. It makes no sense. It does not benefit their family. 

“Once they do not feel physically threatened—and they have every right to feel physically threatened—I cannot say the guys are not going to do it. I do not know why they create this sense of threat,” Kambon added.   

Even as oil prices fall, the popular Christmas flea market at Mid Centre Mall in Chaguanas opened on Thursday with shoppers carefully watching their pockets. The mall’s carpark was full yesterday and a steady stream of shoppers trickled in and out of the flea market. Store owners, street vendors and those who come out to sell only at Christmas remained optimistic. “The flea market opened only two days now. The week before Christmas is chaos,” a woman in full Muslim wear, a seasonal vendor, said.

She sat under her tent, which was filled with accessories, ornaments and clothes, but no shoppers. She did not look worried and said their busiest times were on evenings after working hours and weekends. In another tent, a young man with an Indian accent and Indian wear said, “It’s hard to say yet. “Right now, people only buying for children. I sell jewelry, toys, slippers. The toys selling most.” 

A man and his two sons looking at the items in tents along the flea market’s main aisle said falling oil prices were affecting his spending this year. “I’m cutting down on spending. We’re just buying the necessities. “The essentials of life,” one of his young sons added. “Food and healthcare. Toys are not essentials.” A woman looking at toys with a young child said, “Yes, I am looking at the situation with falling oil prices. I just came from the grocery and bought only the necessities.

“Instead of buying expensive toys, I am looking for cost-effective durable ones.” In a booth run by Venezuelan Raphael Naranjo, amazingly realistic wooden chiquito and moko figs, pumpkin and other fruit and vegetables were on display. Naranjo said people were paying for the items, which he and a friend painstakingly carved. “This morning a lady bought a big tray.”

Sources at the mall said crime was also a problem in Chaguanas and shopping was not on the minds of a significant number of the people who came to the area for Christmas. Purse-snatchers and shoplifters mingle in the crowd, usually in groups, sometimes as couples, posing as shoppers, scoping out the area for opportunities to steal. A woman running a booth in the flea market said they did not look like criminals. “Decent-looking, good-looking people.” 

She said one would distract the attendants in the booth while the other shoplifted items. But one of four police officers patrolling the flea market yesterday brushed off claims of high crime in the compound. “I work here year after year and there are no major robberies.” 

While there was an increase overall in sexual offences in 2014, there was an actual decrease in rapes this year compared to last year, Supt Joanne Archie says. Archie said there were 159 rapes in 2014 and 202 in 2013 and the police Crime and Analysis Problem Agency (CAPA) was yet to analyse how many were date rapes. Noting that date rapes did take place in T&T, she said the 159 rapes reported included people being assaulted while commuting, during home invasions and by people known to them.

Archie was responding to questions on a statement by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan that date rape was a fact of life in T&T. The AG, during debate on a bill to monitor precursor chemicals used in making narcotics, said there were police reports of five cases of date rape involving one or multiple partners.

He said precursor chemicals had been known to be used in date rapes where the victim was drugged through a drink given to her by someone she knew while on a date and she woke up the next morning to realise she had been raped. Archie said CAPA’s statistics showed an increase in sexual offences in 2014. She said there were 693 reports of general sexual offences in 2014 compared to 531 in 2013. 

The sexual offences for this year include rape, attempted rape, incest, sexual intercourse with minors and indecent assault. “Of the 693, 159 were rapes. But the question of how many were date rapes needs to be analysed further.” Head of the police Victims Support Unit Margaret Sampson-Browne said she had not seen an upsurge in date rapes recently. “I would say not really. We have not had frequent reports for the past six months.”

Sampson-Browne said guilt and shame on the victim’s part might be responsible for infrequent reports. “She feels she would be told, ‘Why did you go out with him?’ or, ‘Why did you accept the drink?’” She said the unit had previous reports of date rapes involving adolescents. Sampson-Browne echoed the AG’s warning to young people, especially with Christmas around the corner and Carnival following close behind.

“Women, and men, need to be aware of their surroundings and who their friends are. You can’t just go to a bar and jump into a lime.” She said, however, the real problem centred on attacks on children. “Our children are in crisis. Adults have to protect children from adults. Children cannot make reports to the police themselves.” Sampson-Browne said her information was based on interventions made by the Victims Support Unit. “Children are being sexually, physically and psychologically abused.

“There are 14- and 15-year-olds giving birth to babies and cannot remember the names of the father. “There are children of separated parents who are abused when they go by the father and abused when they go by the mother.” Sampson-Browne said even pre-school teachers have asked the unit to have sessions with their children.

She was also asked to respond to head of the Central Division Johnny Abraham’s comment that sexual offences were on the rise in Central. Abraham said more victims were coming forward because of increased trust in the division’s police. Sampson-Browne said part of the reason was that the unit also had professionals working with the police. “Once a report is made, professional interventions are made.” She said reports of rapes in the Port-of-Spain area were not as frequent as in outlying areas.

“But it does not mean it is not occurring. “There are a lot of hurting women, and men, out there who have been violated by loved ones.”

Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne was one of the first people to arrive on the scene of a fatal hit-and-run accident on the Uriah Butler Highway in Freeport. Alleyne took exclusive footage via his camera phone of the bodies of Krisendath Ramdeen, 60, and Sham Mohammed, 50, and later realised they were victims of a hit-and-run.

Eyewitnesses told Alleyne the driver of a truck was speeding along the southbound lane of the highway and rammed into the back of the victims’ vehicle, destroying the car. The driver of the truck never stopped. Alleyne was informed that the driver was from Freeport. The other occupants of the vehicle, Ramdath Ramdeen, Terrance Forbes and Nazar Nazmodeen, survived the crash but were hospitalised. The men were returning from a worksite in Chaguaramas at the time of the accident.

Alleyne made a breakthrough in the story as he was able to locate the truck and the address of the driver. The information was forwarded to Central Police who seized the truck for forensic testing. The driver was subsequently held by the police. Alleyne visited the family of the victims and assured them that justice would be served. In another big story this past week, Alleyne aired exclusive footage of two employees stealing from their place of employment, Hair for Life Beauty Shop, in Princes Town. 

The owner, who recently installed hidden cameras in the shop without the knowledge of the employees, was able to successfully capture them in the act. The footage was sent to Crime Watch to be aired. Alleyne also aired disturbing footage of a break-in at Jankie’s Jewellery, located at 2001 Plaza, Main Road, Chaguanas. 

Crime Watch was informed that over $9 million in jewelry was stolen from the vault in the establishment. The owners pleaded with Alleyne to help them bring the perpetrators to justice, since the police were yet to make a breakthrough in the case. This matter is currently under investigation by the police and Crime Watch. Anyone with information regarding the identity or whereabouts of the suspects is kindly asked to contact Crime Watch.

Alleyne also caught the recently launched National DUI Task Force carrying out an exercise in Chaguanas. The unit set up a roadblock near Medford Gas Station, Chaguanas, where approximately eight drivers who were driving under the influence of alcohol and failed breathalyzer tests were taken into custody. They appeared in court on Monday to answer to the charges. 

Alleyne aired the footage of the exercise and praised the police for trying to curb  drinking and driving, as too many lives are being lost on the nation’s roads.

With oil prices in decline, Petrotrin complaining about poor financial results, and Christmas just around the corner, it is not surprising that the Oilfields Workers Trade Union took the decision not to call its workers out on strike in support of their bargaining position, as they were otherwise legally entitled to do.

Because you have the power to do something does not mean that you have to exercise it. As mature and sensible as this decision was, I am certain that the executive of the OWTU will get little credit for having acted in such a responsible manner.

The trade union movement is seen as a disruptive force in society. That they battle against sexual harassment at the workplace, unsafe and unhealthy conditions at work, inequality in pay, and general injustice and exploitation of workers is seldom acknowledged or applauded, even when it gets prominent media attention. 

The reinstatement of 68 men and women is not greeted with a welcoming embrace, notwithstanding the respite from financial hardship which 68 families can look forward to. Rather, it is seen as imposing an intolerable burden on an employer’s bottom line.

The fact is that trade unions make a substantial difference to the lives of their members on a daily basis, in the improved benefits they are able to negotiate, in the summary dismissals they are able to avert. Even so, they get insufficient recognition for their contribution to the well-being of countless citizens. 

My father may have been one of the few exceptions to this general trend. He was the manager of a factory and had to come up against the might of the Transport and Industrial Trade Union, led then by the fearsome Joe Young, and later by the indomitable Albert Aberdeen, now a judge of the Industrial Court.

He stood his ground, but he accepted wholeheartedly that trade unions are a necessary, if sometimes inconvenient (to him), buffer against unfair practices in the workplace. He gained their respect for the fair manner in which he related to his workforce.

So why do trade unions suffer the reputation of being unreasonable rabble rousers, not fit to be included in boardrooms and the halls of power where, supposedly, reason is supposed to dictate the direction of society? There are two related reasons for this, I think. The first is that the natural expression of ultimate trade union power, the strike, must necessarily cause disruption to services, financial loss to the employer targeted, and inconvenience to the general public. 

No matter that strike action, when lawfully taken, is just that, sanctioned by law. No matter that the strike weapon is probably the only true counterpart to the enormously disproportionate power which employers wield against their employees. The fact that harm is caused to innocent bystanders is enough to condemn even lawful industrial action as being illegitimate.

The other reason is that the language of trade union activism is the language of protest. Trade unionists are constantly against something, or threatening something, or complaining about something. But what else can we expect from those who must confront the powerful—from the protesters in Hong Kong agitating for the maintenance of their democratic rights, to the rioters in Ferguson, St Louis, venting their anger at another unredressed police killing of an unnarmed black man, to the almost routine burning of tyres and road blockades in T&T to direct attention to a festering problem, to the brave even if futile hunger strike by the gallant Wayne Kublalsingh.

By contrast, those employers who exploit their employees or take unreasonable positions in wage negotiations are seldom seen as a bane of society or as a threat to industrial peace. Even when employers initiate industrial action by locking out their workers it is assumed that they have some good reason for doing so, even though just as much inconvenience is caused to members of the wider community and the locked-out workers are deprived of their means of survival. 

It is taken for granted that the trade union must be unreasonably rejecting the employer’s offer. This disparity in attitudes is derived in part from the fact that the power which employers exercise over their workers is the product of the way the economic and legal system operates. An employer’s right to exclude anyone from entry to his premises is an incident of the constitutionally protected right to property. It is the employer’s investment in the enterprise which provides the employment which workers need to eke out a living. So when an employer does not agree to a union’s wage proposals, he simply has to say no. It is the union which must now agitate for better conditions. 

The employer’s is the silent exercise of power and it is never couched in the language of protest. It is power which is justified ultimately by reference to the profit margin and consequent economic growth. It therefore takes on the veneer of the ordinary and the legitimate, like the air we breathe.The disparity in attitudes is reflected in the language used to describe the activities of unions and employers.

So we commonly say that unions ‘demand’ wage increases, but employers just ‘make offers’ to their employees. Workers refuse to work, but employers shut their factory gates or downsize or some such euphemism. Trade unionists are militant agitators, employers are aggressive risk takers. Trade unions pursue the narrow interest of their members, while  
employers serve the national interest. 
The job of the trade unionist is a thankless one. But, as they say, the struggle continues. 

President Anthony Carmona says it is time for the Central Bank to take an additional look at legislative reform targeted at the very banks over which it is statutorily required to regulate. He said as it stands, banks are viewed as corporate entities that stifle the fiscal capacity of the man on the street. And if the CBTT is promoting financial inclusion, then it must consider including the legislative reform necessary for fair and equitable dealings between bank and customer as they relate particularly to credit cards.

The President said so while praising the work of the Central Bank as the watchdog of this country’s economy, monetary policy and financial systems over the past five decades. The President was delivering the feature address at the 50th anniversary of the Central Bank on Saturday when he made the statement. It took place at the Hyatt Regency.

He said the bank’s staff, past and current, ought to be proud of these contributions which have included expanding the network of commercial bank branches, the establishment of the Stock Exchange, Unit Trust Corporation and the Deposit Insurance Corporation among other necessary institutions.

He noted the bank's drive for legislative reform focused on the strengthening of financial supervision and infrastructure such as the electronic payment system, the creation of the Financial Ombudsman’s Office and the implementation of a monetary policy framework based on the use of the Repurchase (Repo) Rate. And more recently, its launch of the Financial Inclusion Development Agency (FIDA) which aims at taking a more structured approach at legislative reform.

But Carmona was also quick to point out that the bank's progress had not come without challenges. Elaborating on legislative reform, he highlighted the misfortunes of a few financial institutions.

"We all remember painfully, the crash and burn of the financial institutions and trust and mortgage companies in the mid-1980s, the reverberating collapse of the Hindu Credit Union in 2008 and six months later, the trauma and haemorrhage to our country’s financial, reputational and psychological well-being that was, and today remains, the Clico fiasco," he said. 

He said it was time for the Central Bank to take an additional look at legislative reform targeted at the very banks over which it is statutorily required to regulate. "The fact that bank charges and interest rates are so exorbitant needs to be examined by the Central Bank in the context of creating a sense of parity and fairness between bank and customer.” 

He also commended the Central Bank for its forward-thinking in the signing of the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the bank, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Securities and Exchange Commission to exchange information regarding suspicious illegal activities, as a certain step in the right direction.

"As the country’s watchdog in respect of the financing of illegal activities, the role of the Central Bank is clear and must be uncompromising. It must ensure that all financial institutions are compliant. If they are not, the sanctions in the implemented legislation must be enforced,” he said.  

Parliament closes tomorrow
The Parliamentary agenda for the year closes off with tomorrow’s Senate debate of the Public Procurement Bill which was recently passed in the House of Representatives. The Lower House went on a break from the week before, to a date to be fixed. This is expected to be in early January. 

Meanwhile the Senate’s focus tomorrow is completion of the Procurement Bill which was passed in the Lower House recently without amendments. The bill now has to return to the Senate to be approved there. The sitting begins at 11 am.

San Fernando East officials are awaiting official response from the party after PNM general secretary Ashton Ford said that nominations including from MP Patrick Manning could be submitted by December 22 and if Manning’s health mitigates against his contesting, he can withdraw if he wishes later on.

Ford said there was an easy solution to the current impasse concerning San Fernando East. This has been simmering  between the leadership and San Fernando East executive after the unit was asked to submit nominations for general election candidates by December 22. Manning and his executive are, however,  insistent on doing so by January 3 after Manning gets his health assessment  and addresses his unit on January 2.

After the last written appeal from S/Fernando East, Ford said there’s a simple solution, adding: “Nominations are open from now to December 22. They can make nominations and we’ll screen anytime after December 22, it doesn’t have to be Christmas, it can be after. “Mr Manning can even be nominated from now if he wishes and if his health doesn’t permit and he doesn’t want to contest, he can simply withdraw the nomination and they can send and get other nominees. It’s not a problem,” 

San Fernando East PRO Anthony Clarke said the unit is awaiting official response from the leadership on the issue. But sources close to Manning yesterday rejected Ford’s idea. They said Manning’s health assessment is upcoming and he would speak after that. 

Acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) Stephen Williams says if his colleagues are not happy with his leadership he will walk away from the T&T Police Service (TTPS). He made the comment in a telephone interview yesterday, as he responded to a media report that Government had considered a plan to amend the Police Service Commission Act so it could remove him from office and fast track the appointment of a junior to the top post.

The move was said to have been discussed at Cabinet, with the minister who proposed it offering recently appointed Superintendent Johnny Abraham, current head of the Central Division, as the man to replace Williams due to his success in curbing crime in his region. The move was reportedly eventually stopped because it did not receive the support of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association.

Contacted yesterday, Williams said he would always do his job to the fullest whether he held the substantive post or not. Asked if he was threatened by the thought that he could eventually be overlooked for the substantive post, Williams said: “Nothing threatens me. There is a God and if you believe that God has a specific role for you to play then that is for you.

“If you are a garbage collector, be the best garbage collector there is. I am a police officer and I will do my best no matter what position I hold.” Williams said he has been given five extensions as acting CoP spanning over two years and he was comfortable with what he has achieved. He said the progress and changes made under his leadership were comforting to him and his membership.

“If my people are no longer supporting me then I would be the first to go,” he said, adding he is of the age where he could retire and receive gratuity and pension from the State.

Abraham: I’d serve with pride
Also contacted yesterday, Supt Abraham said he had been busy in the field for much of the day but had been told about the story which suggested he was tipped to lead the service.  He said when he got a calling to join the service he did so with an open mind not sure it was what he really wanted to do but now he would not have it any other way. “I do my job with pride. If I do get the call I would accept it with open arms. Who wouldn’t want to aspire to be the head of their organisation?” Abraham said.

 “I am not one who believes in crime plans, I am an action man and day to day there is a presence of police officers outside.” If he does eventually get the post, Abraham said he would mandate that police patrol the streets more, adding that as far as he is concerned only two police are needed in a station at a time.

He said his success in the Central Division was achieved because he and his colleagues are on the ground patrolling the region from Caroni in the north to Claxton Bay in the south. He said when his colleagues see him out in the field it motivates them to work harder. He said if he was to give up his love of policing he would go into agriculture.

Welfare body supports Williams
Also contacted yesterday, Police Service Social and Welfare Association president, Insp Anand Ramesar, said Williams had done a commendable job as interim head of the TTPS. He said Williams’s claim that he would step down if he is not supported by his colleagues was a credit to him, but said this should be adopted by others, particularly in the Ministry of National Security.

Ramesar said in the first division, Williams is the only man fitting the CoP status and priority should be placed on confirming him as the commissioner. But he said there was too much political interference in the running of the service. “There is no excuse for the Government, the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Ministry of National Security to allow the post to remain as it is for so long.

“This has done more harm than good to the police service, as it shows a failure in succession planning and a deterioration in morale in the TTPS,” he said. He added: “Instead of seeing the CoP is appointed, what we are seeing is a set of substitute products and for us this undermines the role and function of the TTPS and the CoP.

“We are heading into 2015 and there seems to be no appearance to fix the situation. The association is of the view that the PSC has run its course and no longer serves its purpose.” Asked what he meant by substitute products, Ramesar said the implementation of the Rapid Response Unit, the Praedial Larceny Squad and the Community Comfort Patrol (CCP) were some of the units not directly under the control of the CoP.

Griffith: It’s out of my hands
National Security Minister Gary Griffith said yesterday that he has done all he can on the process of appointing a CoP. He said legally, the only body that can make a recommendation for the post is the PSC, which is now at a standstill following the resignation of chairman, Prof Ramesh Deosaran, on August 1. He added that only the President can appoint a new PSC head and until that is done Williams remains.

He said while the acting position may hinder the promotion process and contribute to low morale, Williams has all the powers although he is acting. “My aim is to reduce crime in this country and that is my goal,” Griffith said when asked about the setting up of the substitute units. However, he noted that in no country are there neighbourhood watch groups which report to the police and dismissed Ramesar’s argument that the CCP circumvents the commissioner’s authority.

Williams: New direction in 2015
Williams says there will be a greater emphasis on other aspects of policing aimed at reducing the murder rate and reducing other serious crimes in 2015. He said while his men have been focusing on gun recoveries this year, they would not be able to properly tackle gun-related crimes because the TTPS is not responsible for the patrolling of the borders where the guns are entering.

But he reiterated that the issue of tackling crime cannot be the police’s responsibility alone. “This goes beyond raw policing but to the issue of quality of life and human behaviour. The churches and other places of worship, the family, the schools, they must all play a part. “They have a critical role to play. It is about society building. We speak about it but we are not doing anything about it.”

Williams said while the TTPS is not a psychological institution, contemporary police now have to adopt the role of mentor, psychologists and in some cases parental figures. He said the service now has 101 police youth clubs and the aim is to curb criminality tomorrow by changing the mindset of the youth today.

The National Diversity Ministry is engaging the services of a Canadian consultant to examine the Greyfriars building to see if it should be listed with the National Trust before any further discussions on whether it could be demolished or not, says Communication Minister Vasant Bharath. He responded to questions on the issue yesterday in the absence of Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie whose ministry is also monitoring the issue, along with the Diversity Ministry.

This followed widespread public outcry when businessman Alfred Galy moved to demolish the building last month. Galy bought the building from the Greyfriars board of the Presbyterian church and began demolition. After partial demolition, this is on hold after protests and while the issue is being examined.

The Presbyterian Church in T&T has distanced itself from the sale of the building and made it clear the Greyfriars Presbyterian Church resides with the Church of Scotland group which founded it, while the PCTT is affiliated with Canadian missionaries who began PCTT. Bharath said Tewarie has met with Diversity Minister Rodger Samuel on the issue, but Cabinet has not taken any decision on the matter, or discussed it. 

Bharath explained that there needed to be clarity on whether the Planning Ministry’s Town and Country Division had approved the demolition and also whether the building was listed with the National Trust. He added, “Dr Samuel has also engaged the services of a Canadian consultant to come to T&T on the matter and they have not arrived as yet.”

“It was agreed to await the arrival of the consultant to determine the authenticity of the building to see if it should be listed before any further discussions on whether it should be demolished or not.” Samuel had said the buildings were demolished even as talks were underway to list the site as a heritage site, which would have given it legal protection. 

Contacted yesterday Samuel said he was not sure of the date of the consultant’s arrival, but knew they were coming before year end. He said the person would be further assessing the structure. 

On whether the ministry was paying for their services and if so, how much, he said they were coming on the invitation of the Citizens for Conservation. When told that the T&T Guardian had learned his ministry was instrumental in the situation and asked if the Government was assisting that body with any costs, he said when things were being done “we always try to assist...”

Samuel’s phone then clicked off before the T&T Guardian could ask further questions. There was no reply after that. Tewarie was expected back from the ACP meeting in Brussels by today.

Executive director of the T&T Hospitality and Tourism Institute Dr Patricia Butcher is denying that Nigerian students suspected to be involved in terrorism had enrolled for study at the institute in 2013. Her comments came the day after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she had seen a letter sent to former Minister of National Security Jack Warner, warning that 66 Nigerians, who were involved in military attacks against the Nigerian government, had enrolled as tourism students at the Institute.

Butcher said she did not know what Persad-Bissessar was talking about. “I want to say categorically that no Nigerian students have enrolled for study at our school in 2013.  The 90 Nigerians are the first batch of students we have taken in and they are participating in a short course entitled ‘Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism’ at TTHTI,” Butcher said. 

The course is running from December 8-17. She added, “I reiterate that this short course is being conducted over an eight-day period and we were told that the students are en route to Barbados, where they will be trained for  nine months in various disciplines.” She added that it was common knowledge that Minister of Science and Tertiary Education Fazal Karim had pledged to help the Nigerian government build its human capital by having them trained in T&T.

Butcher said the TTHTI is owned and managed by the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association. President of that association Arthur Welch has also scoffed at government claims that Nigerian terrorists were enrolled at the school, saying the entire allegation was “utter nonsense.” 

A news bulletin from the TTHTI in April 2013 said Nigerian students were enrolled to begin studies there from April 8 in culinary skills, hospitality, tourism and food and beverages, for which they would receive certificates and diplomas. 

Tertiary ministry liaises with Nigeria
In 2011, the Ministry of Science and Tertiary Education signed a landmark agreement with Qess Consulting Inc (Qess) of Nigeria to train Nigerian students in maritime skills, culinary skills, environmental management, rig operations, automotive service maintenance, heavy equipment operations, maintenance, shielded metal arc welding and millwright. 

In January 2012, Karim announced that 3,000 Nigerian students were expected to visit T&T over a three-year-period as part of an exchange programme to meet the growing need for skilled workers in Nigeria. Most of the training took place NESC’s main campus in Pt Lisas, Couva. Contacted yesterday, Karim referred questions to NESC chairman Feeroz Khan, but he was unavailable for comment.

Executive director of the National Operations Centre, Commander Garvin Heerah said intelligence and information-gathering on the involvement of illegal immigrant on transnational organised crime was ongoing.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the upsurge in murders continues to be a matter of concern for the Government and has assured that the fight against crime remains the “number one priority” for the People’s Partnership. The current murder toll, as of December 13, stood at 393, following the murders of cousins Eric Ruiz, 33, and Keron Ruiz, 29 and Eric’s girlfriend, Teneka Bartholomew, 23, on Friday in Valencia.

Gunmen opened fire on the three victims while they were seated in the living room of a house at Eastern Main Road in Valencia. Persad-Bissessar, speaking with reporters on Saturday afternoon during her annual Christmas Toy Drive at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, said National Security Minister Gary Griffith has a number of initiatives in the fight against crime.

However, she noted: “Every murder is a horrendous thing, every murder should not happen therefore the increasing numbers we have been seeing over the past few days is a cause for concern.” The Prime Minister said even though there has been a number of killings, “serious crimes has decreased by a great percentage. Of course, that is not a fast (enough) response.”

Persad-Bissessar, who is also Minister of the People and Social Development, said she would have to look into why the opening of the long awaited National Centre for Persons with Disabilities in Carlsen Field Chaguanas has been cancelled. The $15 million centre, which was started under former minister Glenn Ramadharsingh, was expected to be formally opened this week. However, the opening was cancelled and no new date was given. 

Persad-Bissessar said the centre was not ready to be fully opened with the equipment and staffing. But she assured it will be opened soon. 

San Fernando West MP Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan is calling on visitors to the city to utilise the Park & Ride service provided by the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) during the hectic Christmas season. 

Seepersad-Bachan was speaking at the launch on Friday at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA). PTSC’s deputy general manager Carl Ramdeo was also present. The service allows the public to park at SAPA and take the bus into San Fernando for $20 per car from 7 am to 6 pm daily. This is the second year the service has been implemented in San Fernando. 

The launch of Port-of-Spain’s Park and Ride Service took place last week on Tuesday. “We are calling on all citizens to use it, especially those who are coming from outside of San Fernando to utilise the service,” she said. “I know that sometimes we need to make a culture shift to adapt to the park and ride system.” She said there are many benefits to the service, including protecting the environment. 

“It will be safe, stress-free, they  won’t have to sit in congestion, they’ll be in safe, comfortable buses, their cars will be secure, and very important is the impact on our environment, as well.” Seepersad-Bachan called on the PTSC to make the service permanent in San Fernando. 

“As I did last year, I am once again appealing to PTSC: we want this to become a permanent park-and-ride facility for San Fernando. It may not be this particular parking facility, it could be another. And we also want to include a park-and-ride to and from the ferry service.” She announced plans to use the space at the back of the San Fernando Teaching Hospital as a carpark for those using the hospital and build an administrative complex in Tarouba.

“The Prime Minister had spoken about putting the administrative complex outside on the highway, therefore people don’t have to come into San Fernando for all of these services. Ramdeo said there are plans to move the PTSC hub out of San Fernando. “We have plans to set up a major hub in Tarouba which are already done, we are just awaiting funding,” said Ramdeo. “We want to build a mall area around the hub, so you can acess fast foods and other services at the same time.”

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she is unfazed by the findings of the recent North American Carib­bean Teachers Association (NACTA) poll which says the PNM is leading marginals San­gre Grande, Arima, D’Aba­die/O’Meara and Lopinot/Bon Air.  The poll, published in a daily newspaper yesterday, suggested that while the latest polls show the PNM leading in the six mar­ginals, it short of a majority to capture the seats since a large per­centage of voters remain undecided. 

Persad-Bissessar, speaking with reporters at her Christmas toy distribution at Skinner Park, San Fernando, said she is not worried by the findings of the polls. In fact, she said the findings were encouraging. The poll also stated that voters expressed dissatisfaction with the repre­sentation of the sitting MPs. 

My name is Jason Mills and I’m a driver with the Tobago House of Assembly. I’m from Black Rock. Fort Bennet Street. The one with the fort. And the history. Is kind of strange: when you live next to the beach, you tend not to go as much.

My mother was mother-and-father, and she had a hard time with me. I used to run from school when I was ten and go to the beach. What saved me sometimes, from licks, was I used to put food on the table. I dive and use the spear-gun. Sometimes I throw the line. I would feel good when I come home with a pigtail bucket full of jacks and anchovy. Because I know that would feed the whole house and more.

I never went on after primary school. I didn’t pass my exam, so I went off to Mt St George Youth Camp. I was about 16, 17 then. I did my Common Entrance when I was about 14, 15. You would have gotten two chances and I failed two chances. You don’t realise, at the age of ten, 11, 12, 13, the importance of school. That’s the consequence I suffered of not having a father around. 

To this day, I don’t even know what my father looks like. Never met him. He died, I understood. I didn’t self know how to cry, because I didn’t know him. 

A lot of people have migrated to Tobago so villages, now, are mixed up with born Tobagonians and maybe a Grenadian, a Guyanese, an American, a Jamaican, Germans. It has changed the village. The first thing these people want to do is secure their spot. When, long time, we used to pass through to go to a specific plum tree, a chennette tree, if it was in somebody’s yard, you would ask to pick two mango. You can’t do that now. Because everybody is fenced up and have a big dog.

Not having a father is an unanswered question. Piece of you is lost. 

My mother used to take me to Trinidad to visit family. There was an area called Coney Island, rides to go on, the cartwheel, little horses going round. She had my brother in her hand and me on her back. And there was such a big crowd at the gate, and they were pushing her so hard that, one time, my brother came out of her hand. I was really small.

In this crowd, there was this funky, perspiring smell. And that smell stayed with me until today. From that moment to now, I never liked crowds. So I spend a lot of time with myself. Which gives me time to think.

I’ve never put a lot of thought into whether we have an afterlife. I try my best to concentrate on the moments we have now. If you take a bottle water that you buy for $6 to the petrol station and fill it with petrol, it does not come up to $6. So we pay more now for water than petrol. When I was younger, water was cool from the pipe! It’s not just you alone: it’s a whole world of other people.

I’m a driver with the THA. Events like Jazz, Blue Food, I will pick executives up from the airport, I would take sometimes a school to the clinic. The job is driving but the assignment changes and every day is different and fun.

Tobago people are not racist: they’re very protective of their own. I’ve encountered people who say Indian people shouldn’t move to Tobago. I’ve encountered Indian people talking about Tobago people. But, when you listen to the both and do your assessment, you realise it’s just people trying to find a comfort zone and a little space for themselves.

I keep myself informed, I listen to it –but I don’t like politics. You can be a normal person and make social change. You don’t have to dress up in a jacket-and-tie to make a difference. You see good people go into politics and get stupid. It can do a lot of damage to people who don’t have the discipline to deal with money and power. The best part about the job is getting paid, man.

A Tobagonian is somebody who you could get a plate of food from! Whether is dumpling and dasheen alone! Trinidad & Tobago means, to me, sister-brother: Family. If we focus on that, we’d be a better place.

Noting the prevalence of youths before the court on criminal offences, a Siparia magistrate yesterday granted bail totalling $450,000 to three schoolboys charged with beating and robbing a security officer at their school. Senior Magistrate Armina Deonarinesingh also ordered the three boys — two aged 16 and the other age 13 — not to have any communication directly or indirectly with the victim. The incident took place on December 2 at the secondary school.

It is alleged that the three boys beat and robbed security guard Akesh Monroe of a $450 gold chain. They were charged by PC Jacobs with robbery with violence. Attorney Charlene Kalloo, who represented the 13-year-old, said he was in Form One and lived with his parents, who were in court. She said he is also a first-time offender. Sean Sobers, who represented the other two students, said they were in Forms Three and Five and their fathers were in court.  

He said the boys, of Fyzabad and South Oropouche, had no criminal record.The attorneys asked for reasonable bail. The magistrate, however, noted the prevalence of young men appearing in court on very serious criminal offences. Court prosecutor Sgt Sheldon Ablacksingh did not object to bail but noted the serious nature of the offence which was allegedly committed on a law enforcement officer. 

On the request of the prosecutor, the magistrate warned them to stay away from the victim or else their bail would be revoked and they would be sent to the Youth Training Centre. Sobers also complained to the magistrate about a video relating to the incident being aired on the electronic media at night. He asked the magistrate whether she could do something to stop the media houses from showing the video which he said was highly prejudicial to the students, especially since the matter was before the court.

The magistrate said all she could do was to make announcement that the media needed to be careful since airing of the video could be prejudicial to the defendants. Each student was granted $150,000 bail and the matter was adjourned to January 12.