Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams has appointed Deputy Commissioner Glen Hackett to investigate allegations that Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Peter Reyes was non compliant on a Caribbean Airlines flight to Tobago and that he uttered racist remarks. Williams revealed this in a telephone interview yesterday. On Thursday evening Reyes had to disembark from the flight after refusing to switch off his cellular phone.

A report was sent to Caribbean Airlines and the captain of the flight and two crew members reported the incident to the Piarco Police Station. Williams said he had assigned Hackett to investigate the matter when it was brought to his attention on Friday. “I haven’t set a timeline for him but he will treat the matter with urgency,” Williams said. “The point I would make is that the investigation has to unfold and when the matter is completed then a determination will be made.”

Once the investigation is complete, Williams said, he will decide whether Reyes committed a criminal offence, a disciplinary offence or no offence at all. “If it is determined that he committed a criminal offence, then he will be persecuted.” Asked about allegations that ACP Reyes made racist remarks while on the flight, Williams said all of the allegations made by the captain of the aircraft and his crew would be investigated. Minister of National Security Gary Griffith reserved comment on the issue.

“It would be inappropriate for me to comment on this matter until a full investigation is conducted and report submitted by the CoP, which can only be done after all information is received by all sides,” Griffith said. ACP Reyes was recently promoted to Tobago to treat with crime there, following the murder of a German couple—Hubertus Keil, 74, and Brigid Keil, 71, who were chopped to death at Minister’s Bay, Bacolet last month. Williams said ACP Reyes was stationed in Tobago where he was assigned. 

ACP Reyes has been a police officer for the past 37 years and replaced ACP Brian Headley who recently went on pre-retirement leave.

The search continues for four illegal immigrants, a Nigerian, a Guyanese, a Jamaican and a Barbadian, who escaped from the Immigration Detention Centre, in Aripo on Friday night. National Security sources said they continued their search for the men yesterday but came up with nothing.

The four, who were awaiting deportation to their respective countries, reportedly forced open a steel door at the centre around 11 pm, scaled a barbed-wire fence and escaped into the surrounding forested area. A joint police/army/immigration team carried out search exercises around the centre soon after but failed to find the men. On Saturday they extended the search to Wallerfield and Cumuto. The National Operations Centre’s Air Division also joined in with aerial searches.

The men reportedly told other detainees they did not want to be deported and felt Trinidad gave them more opportunities.

Nominations for People’s National Movement San Fernando East constituency closes today but many party loyalists are sad that the tenure of T&T’s longest serving MP, Patrick Manning, would finally come to an end. However, some of Manning’s supporters said they were in favour of the decision by the PNM executive not to screen any candidate who submits nominations after December 22.

Manning is awaiting the results of a health assessment between December 23 to 31, and wanted the party, to extend the nomination period to January 3, next year, but his request was denied. At the Village Plaza in Pleasantville yesterday, constituents had mixed views as to whether Manning should be given another opportunity to serve.

Jennifer Hosang said: “I think they should have extended the nomination date to Mr Manning because he is the most suitable candidate to serve. He is most appropriate and I think despite his health condition, he can still make a difference.” Matthew Rostant, also of Pleasantville said he was “shocked and saddened” that the PNM executive had treated Manning in such a disdainful manner.

“I feel a sort of disappointment that he will not be contesting and that he may not come back because they will not screen anybody after December 22. Mr Manning is a distinguished gentleman and he will not give up. He wanted to fight the seat. I am sad to see him go.” Other constituents said they wanted a new representative. 

Coconut vendor Errol Thomas said, “I don’t think the executive should make special provisions for Mr Manning. At the end of the day, nominations are closing tomorrow and I don’t think Manning should contest this seat at all. I think it is high time he leaves politics and enjoy his life,” Thomas added. Former PNM San Fernando East constituency public relations officer, Anthony Cook, also expressed personal views on the matter saying he too felt Manning should retire from politics.

“Personally, I don’t think he should go for nominations. He has served the country extremely well and a lot of people have benefited under his stewardship. I want Mr Manning to live his life. Politics is too strenuous at this stage,” Cook said. Daniel Simon, who lives in the San Fernando East constituency, said it will be better if Manning served as a PNM consultant.

“He has a wealth of experience and he should serve as a consultant. I don’t think serving as an MP is good for his health. Give him a VIP consultancy position,” Simon recommended. He also pointed out that Manning failed to show for one of the screening meetings so it was obvious, he could not contest the seat again. Kezlon Cooper of Orchid Gardens said it was time for someone else to get a chance to contest the seat which was held by Manning since 1971. 

Manning unavailable
Manning was unavailable for comment yesterday. His wife, former Education Minister Hazel Manning said she will relay a message to him. PNM’s Public Relations Officer Faris Al-Rawi said party matters were outside of his portfolio. He directed questions to general secretary Ashton Ford. However, he is currently out of the country and was unavailable for comment.

Last Christmas there was no yuletide joy for oil-spill affected residents of Coffee Beach, La Brea, and this year, they say, it’s no different. This was evident when the T&T Guardian visited residents last Wednesday, the anniversary of this country’s largest oil spill on record. There were no Christmas decorations adorning homes or customary soca parang blasting to spread the yuletide cheer. 

Grieving widow Agnes Bernard-Lee, 74, and grieving mother Charmaine Montano, 51, both said their Christmas will never be the same as they now mourned the loss of their loved ones. Bernard-Lee’s husband Errol, 76, and Montano’s son Keith, 27, died from cancer mere weeks apart. They both maintain their loved ones were in good health prior to last December’s oil spill, which ravaged the southwestern peninsula dumping some 7,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Paria. 

“How could I have a Christmas without Errol? My husband dead. Last year I did not have one with the oil spill and now I cannot have one ever again. He was a strong man. He used to do everything for me. He would pay the bills, paint the house and buy the groceries. In May month he take in sick and October 5 he died. They tell me it was cancer, he never had that. Everybody was shocked when he died,” lamented the wheelchair bound woman. 

Montano shared the same sorrow as her neighbour, having lost her son to leukaemia in October. “When the oil spill come up he started to complain about it and say he did not want to stay here. He would come and go after they clean up. He start to get sick in August and then he died in October,” Montano lamented. Now, she said, she was fearful for her daughters and grandchildren, all of whom lived in close proximity to Coffee Beach. 

“They had promised to relocate us and give us medical treatment. We always getting promises but nothing happen. After they stop the hamper and the food programme (after the clean-up was over) they never come back. That is nonsense,” Montano said. 
Controversy was sparked during the massive clean-up campaign when the highly toxic dispersant Corexit 9500 was used to control thes pill.

The dispersant, which is banned in many countries, has been linked to health complications in people who were exposed to it during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. Coffee Beach resident Tenesha Modeste, whose skin was covered with a rash and whose scalp lost patches of hair, said she was still suffering from the aftermath of the oil spill. 

“People still getting sick here. The children complaining about stomach pains and I have a rash that keeps coming and going. Petrotrin called me to get a check-up and they took blood tests and a piece of my scalp to do a biopsy. I never get back the results,” Modeste said. She said residents still felt neglected and life for them could never be the same again. She said the community felt forgotten.

Mother of seven, Nadia Montano, 31, said her twins Terick and Tersha, both two and a half, had bumps on their skin and recurring fever. 

Environment recovering
The Environmental Management Authority fined Petrotrin $20 million after the devastating oil spills, four in total, which affected 12 locations including 10.5 miles of beach. Young mangrove shoots were seen along the reef that had been coated with oil from the spill at Coffee Beach, a sign that the environment was recovering. 

Terrence Clevon Cadette, 28, said the mangrove behind his home still had oil and the wildlife he used to see there, including iguanas and birds, had disappeared. Squawking sea gulls were seen jostling each other as they perched atop the La Brea jetty near Coffee Beach. Cadette said fishermen had been fishing in the area, but their catch had decreased. 

Chaguanas Police arrested five people and seized three guns and a quantity of ammunition in two separate incidents yesterday. Senior Superintendent Johnny Abraham said around 8 am officers from the task force intercepted a vehicle along the Caroni Savannah Road and recovered one pistol and arrested three people. 

Abraham said an hour later the task force officers arrested two people driving along Flemming Street, Longdenville and recovered two more illegal pistols and a quantity of ammunition.  Abraham cautioned criminals to keep out of Central district as police would be stepping up patrols in the area.

My name is Warren Dunham and I’m a Trini when I cook.

I’m American. I live in San Diego, California. But Trinidad is a part of me that I refuse to let go of. I’m a better—and a happier— person from having lived there.

From 1973, when I was 13, until 1978, I lived in Maraval, above Boissiere Village. My dad started up the LNG project, which I hope panned out good for Trinidad. It was a big project for him.

Last time I was in Trinidad was 1988. But what keeps me going is I still cook Trini, all the time.

My couple o’ years at [the Amoco] school in Mayaro was probably the most fantastic part of my stay in Trinidad. An old man named Boysie taught me how to make crab traps out of bamboo. I caught loads. I’d stand on the Mayaro Main Road selling crabs.

Indian cab drivers would pull over, laughing. “I don’t even like crab,” one said, “but I never see a white boy sell crab, so I have to buy.”

I got two nicknames in Trinidad. The first was, “Wotless”. I know Kes the Band came out with a song called, “Wotless” a couple o’ years ago. I said, “Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah! They copying! I been Wotless since 1973.”

A friend took me to lime in St Ann’s and someone, “You bring that wotless Yankee again?” And people started calling me, “Wotless Warren”. I looked it up in the dictionary, spelling it, “Wattless” and it said, “Without wattage or power”. So I told the guys and they just cried laughing. “You,” they said, “are truly wotless!” 

A lot of friends also called me, “Mango Head”. I asked, “You call me Mango Head because I like to eat mangoes?” They said, “No, because your head shaped funny, like a Julie mango”.

Once, waiting for a taxi in Maraval, a Land Rover full of police  stopped and yelled at me across the road and I thought he said, “Oy, what they call you?” So I proudly said, “Oh, they call me, ‘Mango Head’”. It’s such a sight to see: six policemen falling out of a Land Rover, they laughing so hard.

When he finally regained his composure, he said, “No, Mango Head, I’m pleased to meet you, but what do they call this whole area we’re in?” And then I started laughing. “You mean,” I said to him, “you all is lost?” He didn’t appreciate my laughter as much as I did his.

We lived, in Mayaro, [near] Edwin Hing Wan, the famous Trinidadian artist. I’d walk down the beach and watch him paint. He lived in dirt-poor poverty. They had a one-room house with one electric bulb hanging from a cord from the ceiling.

Hing Wan was crippled and couldn’t use his fingers, but they’d strap a board to his arm with a hole in it, and put a paintbrush through the hole. And he would paint these most fantastic watercolours. Hing Wan is a T&T national treasure but probably half his artwork is scattered across the US, from people who worked in the oil business who bought these beautiful paintings as gifts.

I miss Trinidad, the place, terribly. But I do find comfort in cooking its food. Trinidad just has a big place in my heart. And my stomach.

Trinidadian food truly ends up being one of the best cuisines. By sheer accident, you can sit down for Sunday lunch and eat the food of three or four continents!

I make a mess with the split peas whenever I make dhalpuri. I only make paratha by accident, when I try to pick up my dhalpuri and it all bus’ up.

A beautiful woman named Ruby George who worked for us showed me how to make sorrel and I always make for Christmas. But, on a Sunday, I love a browned stew chicken. I grow my own herbs and make my own green seasoning.

A Trini is socially or genetically programmed to always be late. But it’s not a bad thing: because the people you’re going to see expect you to be late. Except for Jouvert. You never hear, “Sorry, I slept in”.

T&T is like rum punch: a simple basic recipe, ingredients from all over the world, and they come together to make the most beautiful drink. Trinidad has taken all its people and tweaked them. And it becomes one of the best drinks and also one of the best countries.

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

Anessa Anderson
Student, Hugh Wooding Law School

Workers in Trinidad and Tobago enjoy many legal rights. In this week’s article we look at some of these rights.

Minimum wage
The Minimum Wages Act Chap. 88:04 provides for a national minimum wage for all workers generally. This minimum wage was recently increased, effective January 2015, to $15 per hour. Employees can report non-compliance by their employer to their trade union or the Minister of Labour.

Health and safety
Workers have often downed tools in dissatisfaction with workplace conditions. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act Chap. 88:08 employers must provide a safe and healthy work environment, protective clothing and equipment at no extra cost, and adequate training and supervision. Employees can refuse to work in unsafe environments. The Act covers both public sector and private sector employees.  

Injury at work
When injuries occur at work because of an employer’s wrongful or negligent act the Workmen’s Compensation Act Chap. 88:05 provides for an employee injured on the job to make a claim—Section 4. Where death results from the injury a dependant of the deceased may also bring a claim—Section 9. Funeral expenses may also be recovered. 

National Insurance
The national insurance system provides employed persons with many benefits including assistance with maternity, sickness, funeral grants, survivorship, invalidity and employment injury. A worker paid more than $180 per week must register and contribute to NIS. Employers who do not pay contributions for their employees will be liable under the National Insurance Act Chap. 32:01.

Leave
Vacation leave with pay is a right. Paid sick leave, normally 14 days per year, is also a right. Under the Maternity Protection and the Masters and Servants Ordinance Bill a woman is entitled to 14 weeks paid leave and to return to work in a position no less favourable than that she left. If her baby died before she left for maternity leave or in childbirth, she is still entitled to the rest of her maternity leave. A non-unionised employee alleging non-compliance has recourse to the Minister of Labour. 

Paternity leave is not mandatory by law but some institutions have made it a part of their regulations. Male teachers, for example, are permitted four days leave around the time their partner or spouse is about to deliver. 

Non-discrimination 
The Constitution guarantees citizens equal treatment from public authorities. The Equal Opportunity Act Chap. 22:03 adds another layer of protection for all workers against discrimination in the workplace. An employer cannot refuse employment or discriminate against employed persons on grounds of sex, race, ethnicity, origin, marital status, religion or disability. The Act does not, however, cover discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Employees alleging a breach may bring a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission.

Dismissal
A worker is entitled to severance pay if he is dismissed from employment in certain circumstances. Where an employee claims to have been wrongfully or unfairly dismissed, ultimate resort may be had either to the Industrial Court or High Court.

Chatting with Jahim, a little Tobago resident, on Christmas Eve...

Me: You deal with Santa?
Jahim: Yes, but he don’t come by we.
Me: You wrote him a letter?
Jahim: No…But you think if I write one and put it in the mailbox he would get it when he pass by?
Me (thinking I will get him to write a letter and then buy him whatever he asks for...that is, until he tells me he will be asking Santa for a touch screen phone).

As he grooms Winston the pony, five-year old Scottish boy, Arthur, tells a friend and me that he and his family will be spending Christmas in Tobago. 
The question of Santa arises. Does he really deliver gifts down the chimney?
Arthur nods and, when reminded that there are no chimneys in the tropics, he confidently says: “Santa has a special key that opens every door in the world.”
“Did you write a letter to Santa?” I ask.
He nods. 
“Did you post it?”
“No, I kept it,” he says. “Santa already knows what I want.”  

 I am chatting with a Swedish couple, Mi and Par, who are in Tobago for the Christmas season. Mi has spent Christmas in four different parts of the world—Bali, Kenya, Mexico and, of course Sweden. Tobago will be her fifth experience. In Sweden, she tells me, the 25th and 26th are ‘red days’ (bank holidays) and from 3 pm everyone is inside with their families, watching Donald Duck cartoons (a Swedish tradition) and drinking spiced wine. 

Typical foods include salted fish (often enjoyed with a shot of Snaps vodka), pickled herring, Christmas ham, beet root salad, Swedish meatballs, salmon and oven-baked anchovies and potatoes. Some people go up north to go skiing. Mi and Par tell me that here in Tobago they have been to the Botanical Gardens to see the huge decorative annual light display. “Really special and very unexpected! Amazingly beautiful,” Par says.

They tell me about the old lady who met them in the Botanical Gardens that night and, upon hearing that they were staying at a hotel in Bacolet, was concerned, warning them that Bacolet is a dark and lonely place and that (unbeknownst to Mi and Par) a German couple had recently been murdered on the beach there. Concerned about their safety as tourists alone at night, the old woman had then walked them to the taxi stand in Scarborough.

I have no idea what she looked like, but as the story is recounted, I imagine a petite, maybe even frail woman, wearing a simple dress with flowers on it, short grey-black afro, glasses shimmering with reflections of the twinkling Christmas lights. It’s heartening to think that an old woman would consider herself an able bodyguard for two strangers making their way through the dark.

On Christmas morning I stop at a corner store to buy a phone card. When I do not close the door properly, I reach back to open and close it again. The shopkeeper calls out: “Don’t worry, darling! This is Tobago! The door could stay open!” Inside, I ask for the phone card. He says I may have to wait, as the system is slow. “Two men just had to wait a long time for the card,” he says, “but you may be lucky.” Within a minute the slip of paper for my top-up slides out of the machine.

“You see?” he says. “You came in here with blessings.” Wishing blessings to all for the end of 2014 and beyond.

My name is Gayle Salloum and I was hijacked to Cuba when I was ten.

I was born in Maraval and went, very young, to Bayshore. And that’s where I grew up. We had a large lime of very diverse friends. 

I was a Quesnel and married Anthony Salloum, whose sobriquet is “Tone”, a businessman-slash-calypsonian. We have two beautiful daughters, Amanda, 22, and Danielle, 21. 

In 1970, I was ten and we had the Black Power Revolution. The [Chaguaramas-based] regiment had mutinied and the whole western peninsula had become a risky place. My father said, right, I want my wife and daughters safe. So we went on the “milk run” flight to Miami. 

As we took off out of Jamaica, two gentlemen walked up the aisle close behind a stewardess. One went into the cockpit and the other turned around and pointed a gun at the cabin.  And everybody just froze!

The gunman had a glass eye. I can see him before me today, very scary. He said, “Nobody stand up or move.” Over the plane’s PA system, the other gentleman said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your new captain speaking. This airline is now called, “AAFF, Afro-American Freedom Fighters”, and we are taking you to Algiers”.

There was mass panic in the plane. We circled in the air for four hours or more, while they decided where to refuel. At the time, [TT PM] Eric Williams and President Castro were liaising regarding flights between Trinidad and Cuba. Eric Williams called Fidel Castro, who, being the king of hijacking, offered Cuba as a refueling stop and that went down real well with the hijackers, who thought they’d be taken care of by their hijacking comrade.

I wanted to see the gun so I begged my mum and she said, “Okay, just get up and pretend to fix your dress and peep”. The gunman walked straight to me and put the gun to my head and said, “Down!” Well, I freaked! And it made everyone in the plane even more anxious. 

We landed in Havana and all I remember was it was long and very, very, very hot. The engines were off and inside the plane was boiling. People were tired and terrified. Then we saw green “regiment” trucks make a circle around the plane, but far, far off—and then they started coming closer and closer towards us. 

Captain Bower came over the PA and said, “Please remain calm. The two gentlemen will disembark and be taken to Algiers on another plane”. As the two men left, the entire plane clapped and cheered. The men were put promptly into jail where they didn’t spend as luxurious a night as we did. We were bussed to a beautiful hotel. The next morning, we finally flew to Miami. 

After the trauma settled, that became the story I had to give to school, to ballet class, to this, to that. And now to BC Pires and the Guardian. 

Many years later, Patrick Manning hosted a dinner for Fidel Castro at the prime minister’s house and my husband and I were invited—and I went to meet Fidel and thank him. But the dinner was nothing like I hoped: Fidel Castro was kept far away, unreachable. 

Pat Bishop and her choir performed Handel’s Messiah—they were spectacular, making a tacky dinner, 500 people crammed into tents who wanted to say they saw Fidel Castro, into something really incredible. Fidel, through an interpreter, made the usual da-da-dah-dah-dah speech thanking everybody on Earth. And then he and his entourage swept away. I turned to my husband and said, “Let’s go” and didn’t even look back to see if he was following me. 

I went straight up to Fidel Castro and put out my hand. And he shook it. And I said, “I’m so sorry to disturb you but I was a little girl on a plane hijacked to Cuba many years ago and I always wanted to tell you I was really, really scared and you made me feel very safe”. He looked at me with these lovely, lovely eyes, and held my hand with both hands and, in Spanish, said, “I remember that and we were all very lucky it turned out the way it did”. 

It sounds a little kinda twee but I would say a Trini is a rainbow. 

In my journey, in my walk in my life, Trinidad & Tobago is a love-hate relationship. 

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

Two police officers are under investigation after a video of them pushing and slapping a man in a wheelchair in San Fernando went viral yesterday.

The video, which had been shared almost 2,000 times by yesterday afternoon, was seen by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joanne Archie, who immediately ordered an investigation into the incident.

Warning: video contains coarse language.

“I am livid,” Archie said.

“We really cannot condone that type of behaviour in the police service.”

The video, which was recorded on Saturday on Lower High Street, San Fernando, shows an unidentified man in a wheel chair being pushed into oncoming traffic on a one-way street by a female police officer before hurtling into a parked vehicle.

Less than a minute later the man was slapped across the face by a male police officer, dressed in a jersey and jeans, who appeared to show him his badge before the confrontation.

“I sent the video to Senior Superintendent in charge of the Southern Division (Cecil Santana) and he will identify the officers and begin an investigation immediately.

Archie expressed anger and disappointment over how the officers handled the matter.

She said the police officers took an incorrect approach to the situation.

“Whether he was in the road or whether he was abusive and using obscene language he could have been arrested.

“Depending on his mental state, they could have taken appropriate action but the officers used physical force and that situation did not require the use of that level of force,” Archie said.

The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) , in a media release, announced that it would also conduct an investigation into the incident.

“The PCA is aware of a video that has been circulating on social media of alleged impropriety of persons who appear to be officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).

“Pursuant to the functions of the Police Complaints Authority Act, the PCA has initiated an independent investigation into the incident.”

The PCA called on the eyewitnesses to the event or people with information on the incident to kindly contact the PCA at 800-2PCA or 627-4383 or email to info@pca.org.tt.

In a brief telephone interview yesterday, CEO of the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) Beverly Beckles was left momentarily speechless after viewing a copy of the video forwarded to her by the Guardian.

“This is certainly unbelievable that a human being could treat another human being, wheelchair or not, in this manner,” Beckles said.

“I am confused. These are human beings.”

She said it was unfortunate that the incident had to occur since the terrain in San Fernando was not accessible for people with disabilities.

San Fernando’s city centre is made up of sloping hills.

The NCPD is located in San Fernando.

“There are no walkways or pathways for people with disabilities who use either crutches or wheelchairs and the pavements are high and usually quite crowded,” Beckles said.

“As individuals and citizens we ought to be respecting each other. This is crazy. I feel as though as a society we have completely lost it, if officers who are there to protect and serve are treating people like that.”

The Law Association is calling on the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) to act swiftly and decisively on misconduct allegations leveled against High Court Judge Carla Browne-Antoine. 
In a press release issued yesterday afternoon, the association’s vice president Gerry Brooks acknowledged receipt of a complaint letter sent to the JLSC by acting senior State prosecutor Brent Winter, earlier this month. 

While he admitted that the association did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the complaint or pronounce on Winter’s grievances, Brooks said: “It (the association) calls upon the JLSC, the duly appointed body in law, to act expeditiously and take any or all action deemed appropriate in the circumstances.” 

As he stated that he was confident that the rule of law will be maintained throughout the ongoing process, Brooks said his organisation was willing to assist in the resolution of the matter. 
According to the letter which was sent to JLSC chairman Chief Justice Ivor Archie, on December 8, Winter accused Brown-Antoine of being biased and acting unfairly by holding off-the-record meetings with State prosecutors during trials at the Port-of-Spain High Court. 

The letter was copied to the association as well as to president of the Criminal Bar Association Pamela Elder, SC. Winter claimed the most recent meeting was held one month earlier, on November 6, shortly after she empanelled the 12-member jury in a murder trial before her. Brown-Antoine has since recused herself from the case for reasons unrelated to Winter’s allegations. Judicial sources said the JLSC is expected to appoint an independent investigator to probe the allegations before it decides on whether disciplinary charges should be brought against Brown-Antoine. 

In the event that charges are proffered, Brown-Antoine will be asked to make representations before a JLSC tribunal before the commission makes its final determination. Brown-Antoine was appointed a High Court Judge in 2009, after an almost 20-year career with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) which saw her serve as Deputy DPP and acting DPP. 
Brown-Antoine was a key figure in the case against former Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma for attempting to pervert the course of justice. 

The case never reached trial after then Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicholls, the State’s main witness against Sharma, refused to testify during commital proceedings in 2007. McNicholls’ actions left him facing two disciplinary charges from the JLSC, which were eventually dropped after he fell ill and retired.

The designer of the new TT$50 note, Stephen Pond, says the images used, including the picture of the female masquerader in an award-winning costume, represented the “essence” of the country.
Pond, a senior designer with De La Rue, the world’s largest commercial banknote printer, said that in a November 14 interview with the Central Bank’s Charlene Ramdhanie. Ramdhanie said Pond was the person “who worked on our note and ultimately selected the Carnival image that was used and when the “draft” was presented to us, we all just loved it.”

In explaining the process for selection of the image, Pond said it must meet the security requirement for the note and also must be a true representation of the country. “It is about picking the right images for the process and also the one (image) you feel most captures the essence of the country.” Ramdhanie said the bank “was part of the design process in other ways, but Stephen selected the image.” And the bank yesterday expressed its disappointment over the public discontent on social networks over its redesigned $50 note.  In a statement, the bank said while it respects freedom of speech, “it is deeply disappointed by the few, who are twisting the use of this beautiful Carnival image, that reflects an element of our cultural beauty as a country.”

Some citizens have used social networks to describe the picture of the female masquerader in an award-winning costume as depicting a Hindu image, a serpent queen and even the devil.
The bank said however: “All feedback from our public outreach sessions and online survey have been 99 per cent positive. But a video expressing concern about the note was posted on Facebook and has gone viral with many people going on social media condemning those who have spoken out against the redesigned note.

Arts and Multiculturalism Minister Dr Lincoln Douglas and Minister in the Finance and the Economy Ministry Rudranath Indarsingh defended the redesigned note at the weekend saying critics were just engaging in acts of divisiveness. De La Rue has been used to design and produce T&T currency over the past 50 years. The firm is based in England.

Despite his mother’s efforts to shield his tiny body with her own, three-year-old Ravendra Gattoo was killed instantly when a truck slammed into the vehicle his family was travelling in along the M2 Ring Road, yesterday morning. Five other members of his family were rushed to hospital for treatment, with his mother listed in critical condition. Around 11.15 am yesterday, Ravendra, his mother Samantha Gattoo, his six-year-old sister Stacy, all of Bejucal, Cunupia and his grandparents, Laloutie Balraj and Balraj Maniram of Barrackpore, were travelling in a Mitsubishi four-door van driven by Gattoo’s cousin, identified only as Kumar. 

According to relatives at the scene, as soon as Kumar entered the M2 Ring Road in Picton, he saw the truck, with a 40-foot trailer, swerving along the roadway from a few hundred feet away. 
Relatives said Kumar thought the truck would not hit the van if he came to a complete stop while the truck was still at least two hundred feet away from them. However, the truck never stopped and hit the right side of the van, forcing it into a ditch on the side of the road. 

Ramoutar Balraj, the uncle of the dead child, who spoke to the Guardian at the scene, said his sister and her children were visiting their grandparents in Barrackpore over the weekend and Kumar was taking them back to their Bejucal Road, Cunupia home. “They come to spend holidays and Kumar was dropping them back home,” said Balraj. “I don’t know how my sister will take this, she don’t even know yet.”

Balraj said Samantha, his only sister, was accustomed to spending time with her family in Barrackpore. “Mantha (Samantha), does always bring the children to spend time with my mother and father. Everybody loved them two children, just yesterday I was playing with him and look at him now, just lie down there,” he said, with tears running down his face. 

He is calling for justice for his nephew’s death. “The truck driver should be charged, he telling the police ‘Is just ah accident,’ but them truck drivers doh care if people dead or live.  He could have swerved to the other side of the road! Look at that child, he life ent even start yet. I hope they lock him up!” The child’s father, Rocky Gattoo, who rushed to the scene when he was given the news, stood in the rain looking on at the body of his three-year-old son, unable to speak. The driver of the truck, who was not identified, remained on the scene speaking to police after the accident. He appeared unhurt.

Twenty-nine-year-old Kasey Bruce of Lambeau, Tobago, appeared in the Scarborough Magistrate’s Court, before Magistrate Cherylanne Antoine on Monday morning charged with the murder of 64 year THAWE Credit Union Courier Sylvert Edwards. Edwards was also laid to rest yesterday.

Bruce was not called upon to plead since the charge was laid indictably. The court heard that on December 17th 2014, Edwards was shot and killed on the compound of the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities in Shaw Park. Bruce was represented by Attorneys Keith Scotland and Asa Archie.

In addressing the court, Attorney Scotland informed Magistrate Antoine that his client had been in custody since December 18th and was only charged on December 27th. He also noted that his client was finger printed on Monday morning shortly before he came to court. Attorney Scotland added that his client was a virtual complainant in a matter currently in the High Court involving four police officers who were on suspension.

Scotland made four applications to the court:
• Disclosure of all antecedents
• Disclosure of all interview notes taken from the accused and witnesses;
• That disclosures be made if any police officer who was involved in the matter where his client is a virtual complainant was also involved in the current murder investigation; and
• If the state would be going the route of paper committal.

Prosecutor Marvin Campbell noted that no police officer was involved in both matters since the police officers have been on suspension for 11 years. He also noted that an expedited file was sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions so that a state prosecutor can be appointed  Acting Corporal Mc Donald of the Tobago Homicide Bureau laid the charge. The matter was adjourned to January 20th, 2015 

A magistrate yesterday rejected a request that a Williamsville man, accused of attempting to murder his wife and three daughters and setting fire to their home be sent to St Anns Hospital, because he hears his dead mother speaking to him.  Concerned that accused Winford Blackie, 60, could abscond because of the lack of security at the hospital, Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington instead remanded him into custody at the prison.

Blackie appeared before Wellington in the San Fernando First Court on nine charges arising out of the December 21 incident at the women’s Riversdale Road, Williamsville home. 
Blackie is accused of chopping his wife Bernadette Outram, 60, and daughters Nadisha Blackie, 25, Natalie Blackie, 29 and Nadine Blackie, 26. He was charged with attempting to murder each of the women, maliciously throwing a noxious substance namely gasoline on each of them with intent to do them grievous bodily harm and maliciously setting fire to a dwelling house. The charges were laid by PC Neckcheddy of the Gasparillo Police Station.

Instead of asking for bail, Blackie’s attorney, Annalee Girwar, asked that her client be sent to St Anns Hospital for a psychiatric report. “He hears his mother speaking to him and the instructions from his family is that his mother passed sometime ago.” Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said three of the victims were still warded at the San Fernando General Hospital and Outram was in a critical condition. If Blackie were to be remanded to St Anns Hospital, Seedan asked that the necessary arrangements be put in place to ensure that he did not abscond and cause further harm to the victims. He said Natalie and Nadine were warded in a stable condition.

Girwar said Blackie had no pending matters in court, but this could not be verified by the prosecutor because the police computerised fingerprint trace machine was not working. Girwar argued that she would be unable to take proper instructions from Blackie and an accused’s right for medical treatment cannot be denied. However, the magistrate countered that the accused’s medical status does not arise at this stage. “The problem with St Ann’s is that people walk out when they want to.”

Suggesting that the police make the necessary security arrangements, Girwar argued, “Azmon Alexander (who was dubbed the country’s most wanted man) was kept in St Anns and he did not run away.” The magistrate replied, “He probably felt safer there.” The magistrate said he may consider sending Blackie to St Ann’s on the next occasion, but he had to get an update on  Outram’s condition. Blackie was remanded into custody until January 15.

Almost a year after he escaped from the Mayaro Magistrate’s Court, Azmon Alexander re-appeared in the court yesterday handcuffed and heavily guarded by armed policemen. Alexander, 29, was captured in November by the Northern Division Task Force at Lennox Yearwood Boulevard, Malabar after an extensive manhunt for him in connection with the murder and kidnapping of a Brasso Seco family.

Arising out of that incident, Alexander was charged with over 30 offences, including the murders of Felix Martinez, 52; Irma Rampersad, 49; and Shania Amoroso, 18 months old. When he appeared before Mayaro Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan, however, the charge of escaping legal custody from the Mayaro Court on January 31 was read to him.

Alexander has over 30 pending matters for kidnapping and robbery in that court. Asked by the magistrate if he had an attorney, Alexander said he did not but intends to retain one.
He was then remanded into custody and the matter adjourned to January 26.

About 50 former prisoners and deportees staying at a Vision on Mission (VOM) halfway house may end up on the streets soon. VOM head, Wayne Chance, said the NGO had received an eviction letter from the landlord for the Champs Fleurs halfway house because they had been unable to pay the rent for seven months. Chance said VOM also owed $50,000 in rent for the San Juan office the organisation occupied. He said eight staffers left because they could not be paid.

He said the situation was a result of not getting their 2015 subvention from the Ministry of Finance, to date. He said VOM received a three-year subvention from the Government. The last ended in September. He said during the reading of the budget in September, VOM was left out, but Minister in the Ministry of the People and Social Development Vernella Alleyne-Toppin explained it was due to a mix-up.

He said VOM was promised that a note would be sent to Cabinet seeking funds for the group before the year’s end. “That did not happen,” Chance said. He said they “made out” with hampers given to them over the Christmas and he donated his ham and turkey to the halfway house. “But we have not been able to attend to the needs of those staying at the house. “We are at the end of our wits now.” 

Chance said the organisation would now publicly “speak out” about the issue until they obtained redress. “We don’t know why this is happening. We have been working with the Government on several programmes. “I believe someone is deliberately putting off paying us our subvention.” He said the renewal of the subvention usually came after an evaluation of the organisation was done by the Ministry of the People and Social Development.

“We were evaluated and found to have improved and expanded our services. “But we encountered another setback when a new NGO Unit was formed in the ministry. “The unit was not satisfied with the old evaluation and wanted to do another one.” Chance said he was hoping Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar responded to their public pleas. VOM takes in released prisoners who have no homes to go to, and people deported from the US for criminal offences.

VOM offers them a place to stay, helps them find work and apartments, and offers them counselling and rehabilitation programmes to assist with their reintegration into society. Efforts to reach Alleyne-Toppin yesterday were not successful.

Oil slicks, sex flicks, murder conspiracies and disease dominated the headlines for 2014, laying the tapestry for a new year, in which general elections will take centre stage. The Lifesport scandal, Prisongate and the deportation of illegal African immigrants were among the major issues affecting the People’s Partnership Government. 

Among those who were forced to quit the PP’s Cabinet because of alleged scandals were Minister of the People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, who was fired for allegedly assaulting an air hostess; Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma who resigned over a public spat with his ex-girlfriend Sascha Singh; and the Sports Minister Anil Roberts who resigned following an audit report on the LifeSport programme, which found widespread corruption.

The Ebola, dengue and chikungunya viruses also caused major panic this year.

Not even President Anthony Carmona and his wife Reema Carmona were spared the controversy which encompassed politicians, religious leaders and media personalities alike. Among the controversies which triggered a firestorm of criticisms was the tabling of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2014 which was passed after almost three days of heated debate without support from the PNM.

The long-awaited Dog Control Act 2014 and the passage of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Bill 2014 were among the significant legislative provisions which Government offered this year. The political infighting between former prime minister Patrick Manning and his successor Dr Keith Rowley also stirred rumblings within the PNM.

Spiralling murder statistics continued to be a hot topic over the past 12 months with Minister of National Security Gary Griffith complaining that many of his crime initiatives were being stymied by bureaucratic red tape within his own ministry.  

Oil slicks
The year 2014 started with oil slicks and ended with concerns over tumbling oil prices. 

Last January, state agencies embarked on a massive clean-up drive to clear coastal waters of 7,000 barrels of crude oil which spilled from separate locations in the lead-up to Christmas. Petrotrin used the controversial dispersant Corexit 9500 to control the spill. The use of this substance, which scientists have said was far more toxic than oil alone, was condemned by environmental groups and the trade union representing oil workers. 

 The Environmental Management Authority, which fined Petrotrin $20 million, issued a statement on January 17 saying there were four spills which had an impact on 12 locations including 10.5 miles of beach. By February, six senior employees from Petrotrin including vice president of Petrotrin’s refinery and marketing department Madhu Bachan were fired in connection with the oil spill. Despite assertions of sabotage and subsequent investigations, the oil spills continued. 

 On July 9, 5,000 barrels of slop oil seeped into the nearby Guaracara River, causing dozens of residents to fall ill.  The oil spill occurred when a leak mysteriously developed at the energy company’s Tank MP6. The Marabella residents were given compensation but many of them continued to stage sporadic protests in August, September and November.

In Penal, on July 27, several residents of Digity Trace, Penal, were evacuated from their homes as another oil spill occurred. This time, Petrotrin said a two-inch union on the well head had parted, causing oil to spew onto residents’ roof tops.

On November 22, another act of sabotage was reported when bull plugs from a tank were removed causing five barrels of oil to seep into a river at Grand Ravine, Palo Seco. This happened a day after a group calling itself Anonymous T&T released a video on YouTube calling on Petrotrin to “come clean” on issues surrounding the oil spill at Marabella. The video, which featured a person dressed in black wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, was later taken down from YouTube.

Apart from damage to oil infrastructure, sabotage has also been reported this year at the OAS Constructura highway site. On December 7, masked saboteurs set fire to a multi-million-dollar crane at the OAS highway job site in Point Fortin, as a warning to the Government. The cutlass-wielding assailants ordered the National Infrastructure Company Ltd (Nidco) to “pay farmers now or face the consequences.” 

The world also witnessed a steady decline in oil prices between June and December. On September 8, during the budget presentation, Howai said there was a revenue prediction of $60.351 billion for the fiscal year 2014-2015. This revenue was based on an expected oil price of US$80/bbl (WTI) and a natural gas price of US$2.75/MMBtu (NYMEX).

Oil prices plummeted to below US$60 as the year came to a close. In late October, Cabinet met in an emergency session to discuss the issue and Finance Minister Larry Howai ordered all ministries to curtail their expenditure. Business and energy chambers throughout the country later called on Government to revise the budget.

But there was no slow-down of government mega projects including the Couva Children’s Hospital, the University of the West Indies law campus in Debe, the Point Fortin hospital, Couva Aquatic Centre and several highway interchanges.

In November, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said the only project which might be affected by the curtailing of expenditure was the completion of the Brian Lara Stadium at Tarouba. A further $200 million is needed to complete infrastructural works on the stadium. By December, Government promised to curb spending but was publicly criticised for wasting money on billboards bearing the Prime Minister’s image.

Sex flicks 
Several Cabinet ministers made news this year over allegations of sexual misconduct. In March, Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) flight attendant Ronelle Laidlow, 25, filed a complaint that Minister of the People Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh touched her breast when he reached for her identification badge, which was pinned to her blouse, and threatened to have her fired.

Police later confirmed they were investigating a report of disorderly behaviour by Ramadharsingh on board a domestic flight from Tobago to Trinidad on March 16.

On April 5, single mother Patricia Singh also made a report to police that she was made to perform sex acts on Ramadharsingh when she went to him for assistance to fast-track a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) application. Ramadharsingh was later fired by the Prime Minister who ordered that his appointment be revoked on March 24.

A week after this scandal, Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma’s alleged affair with businesswoman Sascha Singh also went viral. Singh, managing director of AMS Biotech Security Concept and AmSure T&T Ltd, who claimed to be Sharma’s ex-girlfriend, reported to officers of the St Joseph police station that he used violence against her.

Singh, 30, alleged that Sharma, 54, hit her and pushed her down at the Grand Bazaar mall on March 12. He later tendered his resignation. The DPP later found insufficient evidence to charge Sharma for any offence.

Sports Minister Anil Roberts also resigned mid-year. He started off the new year on a high note after tying the knot with his 21-year-old fiance Shandell Nichols, but took a dramatic slide in July when he tendered his resignation after an audit into Lifesport showed massive corruption.

Finance Minister Larry Howai blew the whistle on Roberts, saying it was he who retained Adolphus Daniell, the educator who was paid $34 million from the LifeSport programme for no work.

Lifesport was meant to wean young people away from a life of crime, but the audit revealed the programme had been riddled with financial irregularities; employed co-ordinators with criminal backgrounds; gave evidence of massive fraud and millions misspent; ghost centres; ghost participants; improper procurement; and theft, among other the findings.

In May, an explosive video shot inside a hotel room also went viral. It showed a man resembling a minister rolling what appeared to be a marijuana joint. The man, later dubbed as “the two pull minister” was in the company of Spanish-speaking women. The PNM later admitted to knowing about the video several months before it went public. 

And in November, another online video surfaced depicting a sex tape featuring radio DJ Kevaughn “Lerbz” Savory and a woman purported to be the wife of a former minister. Police said a hit was placed on Savory, following which six people were held in a plot to kill Savory.

Ex-LifeSport co-ordinator Rajaiee Ali; Kesh­orn Dempster; Brent La Croix; Brandon Bor­neo; his wife, Donna Dyer; and his brother, Ish­mael were charged with being members of an unnamed gang, con­spiring to murder Savory and with assisting a gang member in the commission of a gang-related act by possessing a gun and ammunition.

Ebola, dengue and ChikV
T&T was spared any outbreak of Ebola in 2014, even though health care workers had two “scares” at Mt Hope and Piarco in August and September. It was a time when the rest of the world became engrossed in the spread of the disease which has killed over 7,000 people, predominantly in West Africa, since 1976.

 In August, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared West Africa’s Ebola outbreak a “public health event of international concern.” The United States recorded its first case of Ebola with the death of Eric Duncan. As PAHO sounded its alert, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan begged citizens not to panic over Ebola saying Government would set up isolation centres in Piarco and Caura if any cases were diagnosed.

In November, the media was given a tour of the new containment facilities at Caura, inclusive of US$20,000 hazmat suits and two-bed isolation units.

But while T&T was spared Ebola, the cases of ChikV and dengue soared. As regional corporations continued cleaning and dyna-fogging, Professor Dave Chadee, a world expert on vector-borne diseases, said the strategies being used to fight the viruses were outdated. 

In September, PAHO declared that ChikV had infected more than one million people throughout the Americas in 2014. However, Marcos Espinal, director of PAHO’s Department of Communicable Diseases and Health Analysis, said the fatality rate for dengue in the Americas had declined more than 28 per cent in the last three years. 

Murder and conspiracy
Apart from the threats of disease, T&T also faced its fair share of murder and mayhem for 2014, with the murder toll climbing past 400. 

Several high-profile murders remained on the minds of citizens. Among these were the May 4 murder of state prosecutor and independent senator Dana Seetahal, SC, who was ambushed shortly after midnight along Hamilton Holder Street, Woodbrook, as she made her way to her One Woodbrook Place apartment. A $3.5 million reward was later offered by Crime Stoppers, but no one has yet been charged for the crime.

In August 22, the man David “Junior” Baker, 28, believed to have shot Seetahal several times, was killed by police at a house in Freeport. 

In October, the disappearance of a Brasso Seco family—Irma Rampersad, 49; her daughters Felicia, 17, and Jennelle Gonzales, 19; and Jennelle’s daughter 14-month-old Shania Amoroso—led to the capture of T&T’s most wanted fugitive Azmon Alexander, who had escaped from the Mayaro Magistrates Court on January 31 after appearing on kidnapping and robbery charges.

Alexander and his 17-year-old accomplice were charged with the murders of Felix Martinez, 52, Rampersad and baby Shania. They were also charged with gun and ammunition offences, false imprisonment, shooting at the police, burglary, robbery and other serious criminal offences. 

On November 22, the murders of German couple Hubertus Keil, 74, and Birgid Keil, 71, also made global headlines, threatening the tourism industry in Tobago. Their bodies were found on Minister’s Bay, near the mouth of the river at Bacolet Bay. There were multiple chop wounds about the necks, hands and bodies of the couple.

Because of the high crime rate, several bulletins have been issued internationally, warning about the serious crime rate. On December 4, the United Kingdom issued a warning to the 30,000 British nationals who visit T&T every year. The bulletin warned of high levels of violent crime, especially in the inner city neighbourhoods east of Port-of-Spain’s city centre, Laventille, Morvant and Barataria.

Police killings
Several police killings were also reported for 2014 which prompted widespread protests. In June, officers from the Inter-Agency Task Force responded to a report about gunfire occurring in Morvant, and shot two boys dead—cousins 16-year-old Hakeem Alexander and 15-year-old Tevin Alexander. Tevin’s mother, Lisa De Leon-Alexander, said the boys were running away from a gunman and stopped when they saw the police, but were still shot. This prompted widespread protests.

On August 14,  Beresford Asoon, a known car thief from Sangre Grande, and another man were killed by police in Central Trinidad. On September 17, St Barbs residents, enraged at the killing of their neighbour Kerron Wellington by police, set the streets on fire. 

On September 2, director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Gillian Lucky resigned in preparation for her appointment as a High Court Judge. Following her departure several residents of Laventille lamented that there would no longer be fair investigations into police killings. 
 
President’s predicament
President Anthony Carmona found himself in hot water this year as he tried to defend his wife, Reema Carmona, whose attire was criticised by comedienne and radio talk show host Rachel Price.

On October 21, it was announced via a news broadcast on CNC3 that Carmona issued a pre-action protocol letter to Price to cease comments on his wife. Price’s comments stemmed from what many considered the inappropriate attire of Mrs Carmona when she attended a United Nations fashion event for first ladies in New York.

Price lashed back saying freedom of the press was under attack. However, Carmona said, the constitutional right of freedom of expression was not a licence to defame. To date, Price claims, she has never received the letter.

In November, the President was hit with another scandal when it was revealed that he had been receiving a $28,000 monthly housing allowance since last year while occupying state-owned quarters at Flagstaff Hill, St James. Carmona and the Chief Personnel Officer, Stephanie Lewis, who approved the payment were criticised by the Opposition and the Independent Liberal Party (ILP). Calls were also made for Government to halt the payment and for Carmona to refund the money. 

Key legislative reforms
Apart from the murder and mayhem, corruption was a hot topic for 2014. Several key pieces of legislation meant to reduce crime, corruption and improper procurement practices were passed. 

The most controversial bill for the year was the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2014, which sparked protests and vigils outside the Parliament in August. The controversy began when Dr Merle Hodge, a member of the Constitutional Reform Committee, raised concerns about the run-off proposal. Hodge said the run-off was never part of the committee’s report and was an “anti-democratic contradiction of the principle of proportional representation.”

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said Hodge could have submitted a minority report if she had concerns about the Bill which contained provisions for a two-term limit for a Prime Minister, the right to recall and a second ballot run-off. In late August, after three days of intense debate, the bill was passed. Twenty-three members voted for the bill, 14 against, and there was one abstention. 

Another Bill which triggered debate was the Dog Control Act which became law on June 2. Even though the act was passed, dog owners were not happy with the implementation of the legislation. Owners of Class A (dangerous) dogs expressed concerns over the hefty $250,000 insurance that each owner of a Class A dog was required to have in the event that their pet attacked someone.

By December, several animal rights activists complained that regional corporations still had not set up animal pounds and proper facilities for tracking animals. The long-awaited report of the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 coup attempt was laid in Parliament in March. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in disclosing some of the recommendations, said that some of the commission’s findings would be taught in schools as history for the benefit of young people. 

In December, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Bill 2014 was also passed in Parliament. It had taken ten years for the bill to be passed by a special three-fifths majority. Chairman of the private pector Civil Society Group on Public Procurement, Winston Riley, welcomed the passage of the bill. The year ended with the Prime Minister announcing that the Constitution Amendment (Capital Offences) Bill 2011 would be brought back to Parliament next year as a deterrent to crime.